Natural Selection: Restaurant Guide 2014

CHICKS WITHOUT THE CLUCK: Natural Selection's harissa and chickpea stew with minted "soygurt."

3033 NE Alberta St., 288-5883, naturalselectionpdx.com

[STILL LIFE OF VEGETABLES] In a more perfect world, the approach to vegetarian cooking at Natural Selection would filter down, Darwin-style, to the rest of the city's meat-free cuisine. That's not saying I want everything else extinct—there are times when a sloppy bowl of rice and beans will do, and even that oh-so-rare occasion when a soy-based patty posing as a burger is welcome. But this Alberta Street spot elevates vegetables to something holy, selecting whatever is in season and assembling careful flavor and texture combinations. Best to take a date and share: For $45 a pop ($25 more for the wine pairing), you'll each get four courses and hit everything on the menu. Occasionally, dishes seem to have emerged from a perfumery rather than a kitchen—a chilled almond and apricot soup was beautiful, with rings of purple petals across a pale orange canvas, but the swirl of vanilla oil made it taste like I'd taken a swig of something from my grandmother's vanity. Other dishes are a good deal more savory, such as a recent plate of crispy polenta with spicy harissa and a small garden of green beans, peppers, peas and pickled onion on top. Desserts are a highlight, particularly those that abandon the restraint of previous courses with downright decadent cherry and cornmeal upside-down cake or ginger cream-filled beignets. REBECCA JACOBSON.

Pro tip:

Book in advance, but relax once you arrive—that table is yours for two hours. Oh, and at $4, draft beer is half the price of a cocktail or glass of wine.

5:30-10 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays. $$$.

WWeek 2015

Rebecca Jacobson

Rebecca Jacobson is a writer from Portland (OK, she was born in Seattle but has been in Oregon since the day after she turned 10) who's also lived in Berlin, Malawi and Rhode Island. While on staff at Willamette Week, she covered theater, film, bikes, drug dealers-turned-barbers and little-known scraps of local history.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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