Wildwood

• Wildwood website
• Location: NW 21st (Restaurant Row)
• Cost to fill up two people: $60 dinner, about $35 lunch

One of the nice things about living in glassland is that, unlike Seattle or San Francisco, Portland area restaurants can get away with earth consciousness and local ingredients and all that Alice Waters-style stuff without sounding pretentious.

Wildwood manages to be quintessential Portland, including a great nod to the arts (there’s a glass wall by Liz Mapelli at the reception desk), and really horrible parking. It’s also pricey–lunch is just as good, not as crowded and noisy (usually) and cheaper.

When Wildwood is on, the food’s very good. It’s not always on, unfortunately–I’ve learned to stay away from anything that looks like a heavy or carb-rich sauce there, and concentrate on whatever’s on the menu that’s as close to its natural state as possible. Grilled meat or fish, cheeses, fresh vegetables, that’s the ticket at Wildwood.

I’m also a creme brulee nut, as I’ve said, and the ones at Wildwood are uniformly excellent (ESPECIALLY if they contain raspberries). But by far the best dish I’ve had there was the simplest, and not on the menu: A co-worker and I didn’t feel like bread–long story–and asked if we could have some carrot sticks or celery or something instead.

The lunch chef put on his thinking toque, lightly steamed some fresh veggies and sent them out with a lemony vinaigrette. It was, simply, the best vegetable dish I’ve had in the last ten years. We nearly licked the plate clean. I ask for that dish every time I go back, and nobody has any idea what I’m talking about.

All in all, it’s a nice place for lunch. And maybe if everyone asks, they’ll put those veggies on the menu.