12 Hot New Places to Eat and Drink in Portland, Oregon

Chef Jose Chesa, who trained at Michelin-starred spots like l’Arpège in Paris, prepares specialties from his native Catalonia, and makes the best paella in the city, caramelized around the edges and piled high with local seafood. 1818 NW 23rd Pl.; ataulapdx.com.

Purists beware: This bold, tonkotsu-style soup place makes unorthodox ramen—for instance, with Calabrian chiles and Parmesan—and snacks like okonomiyaki Tater Tots dusted with bonito. 1025 SW Stark St.; boxerramen.com.

Chef Justin Woodward uses smoked-beef powders, oyster emulsions, botanicals that are grown in a sidewalk garden and other unusual ingredients for his brilliant modern tasting menus. 1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd.; castagnarestaurant.com.

Kevin Gibson mastered the art of Northwest cooking using little more than a hot plate when he was chef at Evoe. Now, inside a full-fledged restaurant, he creates simple, clean-flavored dishes like stinging nettle dumplings in chicken broth. 2215 E. Burnside St.; davenportpdx.com.

In Portland, a.k.a. Brunchlandia, Sweedeedee produces fantastic sweets like a salted honey pie made with honey from beekeepers within 100 miles, and sandwiches like BLBs (bacon, lettuce and beet) on cornmeal-molasses bread. 5202 N. Albina Ave.; sweedeedee.com.

At Ken Forkish’s new spot, the house bread with fresh churned butter may be the best course, followed closely by the pimento double cheeseburger. 726 SE Sixth Ave.; trifectapdx.com.

This Russian bar is devoted to cold zakuski (drink-friendly snacks) and plenty of vodka—including local bottlings. Chef Bonnie Morales offers the Full Ruskie Experience: a spread of all the zakuski, including Herring Under a Fur Coat (essentially a Soviet seven-layer dip) and Slavic charcuterie. 720 SE Grand Ave.; kachkapdx.com.

There’s no drink menu at this new bar: Give the bartenders a few adjectives, and they’ll do the rest. Angel Face also serves Francophile food like steak tartare and bowls of eggs en meurette (with the option of oysters). 14 NE 28th Ave.; angelfaceportland.com.

One of Portland’s greatest bakeries now has a location across the street from Powell’s Books, and new sandwiches like roasted asparagus with romesco sauce. 1022 W. Burnside St.; littletbaker.com.

By day, veteran baker Kristen D. Murray serves things like duck confit quiche. At night, Måurice becomes Portland’s top dessert bar, with apéritifs and sweets like black-pepper cheesecake. 921 SW Oak St.; mauricepdx.com.

The city’s best bakery cart is now a brick-and-mortar place where Kir Jensen makes retro-inspired desserts like carrot cake with brown-butter cream cheese and coffee mallow pie. 3039 NE Alberta St.; thesugarcubepdx.com.

Anyone who loves pizza needs to check out Roman Candle Baking Co., sister spot to Ava Gene's, for chef Joshua McFadden's wood-fired bianca. 3377 SE Division St.; romancandlebaking.com.