Portland, Oregon is a large golf city, with a number of excellent courses in the north end of the city and just outside the city, including the award-winning Waverley Country Club, Portland Golf Club and Columbia Edgewater Country Club. The city also has an incredible dining scene, with diverse ethnic food, classic gourmet cuisine and foodie-inspired meals. Although most of the nicer restaurants in Portland are closed for Christmas, a number stay open for the holiday, and a handful actually offer special prix fixe menus.
The Heathman Restaurant
The Heathman Restaurant is a gourmet restaurant in a quintessentially Pacific Northwest style. Run by chef Philippe Boulot, 2001 winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Pacific Northwest, The Heathman Restaurant is one of the finest restaurants Portland has to offer. The menu makes use of primarily local ingredients, including vegetables grown in and around Portland, mushrooms harvested from the nearby forests, game and fowl from all over Oregon and seafood from the coast. The restaurant features a prix fixe menu on Christmas day from 1 to 9 p.m. and offers buffet seatings at 2, 2:30, 5 and 5:30 p.m.
The Heathman Restaurant
1001 Southwest Broadway
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 790-7752
heathmanrestaurantandbar.com
Marrakesh
Marrakesh is a casual Moroccan restaurant open every day, including Christmas, from 5 to 10 p.m. The standard way to dine at Marrakesh is to order a five-course prix fixe, where you may choose from 15 different dishes, including a tagine of braised hare, lamb m'rouzia, a tenderloin of lamb, chicken brochettes and a number of vegetarian dishes. The restaurant also offers a mechoui dinner, consisting of either one quarter or one half of an entire sheep cooked on a spit over an open fire and lightly seasoned with salt and cumin. The mechoui feeds eight or more people, making it an ideal choice for Christmas, but note that it must be ordered at least 3 days in advance.
Marrakesh
1201 NW 21st Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 248-9442
marrakeshportland.com
Porto Terra
Porto Terra is an upscale Tuscan restaurant, open year-round for dinner. Their daily menu is diverse and excellent, and they offer a special Christmas prix fixe menu highlighting some of the best dishes of the season. A sample prix fixe dinner includes a choice of either baby spinach or a truffle and wild mushroom consommé appetizer, a choice of honey crusted ham, seared salmon or prime rib entrée and a choice of either pumpkin pie or eggnog cheesecake for dessert. Reservations are not required, but with Porto Terra's popularity and the limited number of restaurants serving on the holiday, Christmas reservations are recommended.
Porto Terra Tuscan Grill
830 SW 6th Avenue
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 944-1090
portoterra.com
About The Author
Situated on the beautiful Mendocino Coast in Northern California, Brendan McGuigan has been writing professionally since 2003. His articles have appeared in "Pology," "San Francisco Restaurant Review," 1001 Beautiful Sights, and Visual Travel Tours. He studied linguistics and phonoly at Goddard College.
