Shakespeare’s Arden was a mystical forest and enchanted escape for the protagonists of As You Like It; Portland’s Arden isn’t far off. Criminally undersung on a quiet stretch of the Pearl, it has become a cult favorite among both wine collectors and gourmands. It’s the kind of place where you can drink a 2005 pinot noir or 1989 Columbia Valley cabernet by the glass, but also skin contact malvasia, and even NA cocktails that stand up to the heady glass pours). In the kitchen, legendary Le Pigeon alum Erik Van Kley tinkers with fancy wine restaurant cliches. Sure, foie gras torchon gets a shower of truffle—but it might come with mango yuzu gel instead of the rote ramekin of marmalade and thin curls of persimmon instead of the obligatory fig. Wagyu beef tartare skips the typical dijon and cornichons for house XO sauce and cured egg yolks. Burrata with balsamic is so passé, so Van Kley goes for togarashi vinaigrette with pistachios and pomegranate seeds. If that’s what he’s pulling from the garden, count me in. —Brooke Jackson-Glidden
