We started our holiday season off right the weekend before Thanksgiving with a dinner out with a large group of friends in Portland, Oregon. My brother- and sister-in-law were visiting from Dallas, and we figured that the easiest and least stressful way for our gathering of six couples to get together was to book a table at a restaurant rather than ask one couple to host the rest (especially right before Turkey Day!).

We settled on Clarklewis, a Portland favorite located on the east side of the city, just across the Willamette River from the heart of downtown. The restaurant has been “the standard-bearer” of Portland’s farm-to-table movement since it opened in 2003, offering Northwest cuisine with French and Italian influences from its open kitchen and wood-fired ovens. Its menu changes daily, depending on what comes in from the long list of Northwest purveyors providing the meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, foraged items, honey and dairy products that are featured proudly and prominently. We’ve dined there several times with groups large and small and have always found the service friendly and attentive and the food always satisfying.

The restaurant was crowded and lively when we arrived on a dark, very rainy Saturday evening, but the warmth and enticing aromas wafting from the kitchen brightened our spirits immediately, as did the faces of long-time dear friends. Our table was set off to one side of the main dining room — not quite a private dining space but perfect for us. We had brought a few bottles from our private collections, which our server opened and poured throughout the evening, along with others we ordered from their generous wine list, dominated by Northwest producers.

The menu is divided into four main sections: Starters, Salads & Vegetables (plates from these two sections can certainly be shared by two or more diners for a still-generous portion), House-made Pasta & Wood-fired Pizza, and Mains. (There are always at least three or four choices on the separate dessert menu, as well.) Most of the couples in our group ordered a salad or other side to share in addition to their main entrées. Personally, I found it really difficult to decide among several tempting options in each category.

Harry and I decided to share the radicchio and pear salad, which consisted of a plate full of large treviso leaves and thinly sliced starkrimson pears dressed in a rosemary vinaigrette and smoked honey and sprinkled with grated Grana Padano cheese.  There was more than enough for the two of us, so we shared it down the table as well.

We also decided to share a side of Brussels sprouts (best to eat them in season, right?), char-grilled and served with agrodolce, toasted porcini mushroom aioli and gorgonzola cheese. The tart/sweet agrodolce provided a lively punch, as did the creamy, earthy aioli.  It also came as a very healthy portion, clearly meant to be shared.

For my entrée, the deciding factor was the answer to the question, “Which item do I rarely see on a menu?” The answer: venison. I trusted Clarklewis to do it right, and I was not at all disappointed. Served medium-rare, the meat was tender and juicy, coal-grilled and with a really lovely cranberry-pomegranate glaze, a pumpkin Bourdelaise and romanesco on a bed of creamy polenta.  It was late fall heaven in one dish, and I could eat it every night without regret. Harry opted for the pan-roasted wild Alaskan halibut served on a bed of miso spätzle with Oregon Dungeness crab, shaved Brussels sprouts, sage verde, an apple reduction sauce and turnip cream.  He said the fish was cooked to perfection, and the spätzle was perfectly tender and tasty.

We had to get dessert, and though I was pretty full, I’m glad I didn’t miss out on the sticky toffee pudding (a light and moist cake) drenched in an Old Forrester-honey toffee sauce (a dessert in itself), sprinkled with hazelnut crumble and served with a dollop of spiced white chocolate gelato.  What a lovely combination of creamy, spicy, sweet, sticky goodness!

The entire meal came with generous helpings of laughter, good conversation and cheer. By the time we looked up from our empty dessert plates, we realized that the once-crowded restaurant now was a field of empty tables. We bundled into our coats and made our way out into the night, warmed by a wonderful evening, good food and good friends.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor