Life in a blue city

RoadDawg55 said:

WestlinnDuck said:

In February of 2020, generally conceded that Paley's Place was the best restaurant in Portland and the place was packed and reservations hard to get. Now, tits up.

https://www.oregonlive.com/dining/2021/10/paleys-place-restaurant-to-close-after-thanksgiving.html

After 26 years in Northwest Portland, Vitaly and Kimberly Paley plan to close their award-winning restaurant Paley’s Place and retire after Thanksgiving service, the couple said in a phone interview Monday. The decision will be officially announced in a newsletter later today.

News of the Paleys’ plans to put their landmark restaurant and its converted Victorian home on the market had the local restaurant world buzzing early Monday. Paley’s Place, The Oregonian’s 1999 Restaurant of the Year, is one of a handful of restaurants -- along with The Heathman, Higgins, Zefiro, Wildwood and others -- that redefined Portland dining in the 1990s, pairing big-city ambition with deep ties to Oregon farms.

Paley’s Place will continue operating through the Thanksgiving holiday, typically the Northwest 21st Avenue restaurant’s busiest weekend. The Paleys will then take the month of December to sell off equipment, tie up loose ends and prepare the restaurant’s 116-year-old building for sale. The City of Portland assesses the property at $2.1 million.

“Vito and I are done,” Kimberly Paley said in a phone interview Monday. “We’ve been at this for 40 years, including 26-plus in Portland, and we’re tired. We want to go out on a high and stay loving the industry.”

The restaurant, an early pioneer in Portland’s farm-to-table restaurant scene, has earned numerous accolades over the years, including The Oregonian’s annual top restaurant honor, a James Beard Award for Vitaly in 2005 and an “Iron Chef America” win in 2011. The couple also published a cookbook with the late food writer Robert Reynolds in 2008. And Kimberly’s dining room is often singled out as the gold standard for service in Portland.

Starting in 2012, Paley’s Place became the base of operations for a major expansion, with the Paleys opening new restaurants in several downtown Portland hotels...

The Paleys’ styles of food and service were a hit in Portland, where a dining revolution was already underway. After 17 years at a single location, the couple began an expansion push, starting with Imperial, which opened on Southwest Broadway in 2012. By March 2020, the Paleys employed more than 200 people. But the pandemic proved particularly harsh for the city’s downtown core. Last summer, the Paleys cut ties with all of their downtown Portland hotel restaurants, including Imperial and The Crown pizzeria at Hotel Lucia, Headwaters and the seasonal Russian tea experience at The Heathman and the Italian/Eastern European mashup Rosa Rosa at Dossier.

After the closures, the Paleys dug their feet in at Paley’s Place, adjusting to the various state-mandated closures, reopenings and mask mandates, offering elaborate meals to go and hosting cooking classes on Instagram. Recently, the restaurant joined the growing list of Portland restaurants and bars to require proof of vaccination to dine indoors. According to Kimberly, they’ve never been busier — at least since COVID-19 cut their capacity.

“‘Busy’ is a relative word,” Vitaly cautioned. “We’re busy based on the fact that we’re at 70% capacity. But how long is this going to last when the weather changes? We’re already only open four days out of the week, and not all of our tables and chairs are out. Make no mistake, we’re tired. This has been a trying period for everybody, and continuing on this path is not an option.”

Ten years ago, Vitaly says he and Kimberly could have seen himself rolling up his sleeves and “continuing to fight.” But at 58 and 66 years old, respectively, working 14-hour days back-to-back is not an option. Meanwhile, Vitaly wonders if the pandemic has changed the face of hospitality for good. Enforcing each new COVID protocol has pushed the couple further from the graceful hospitality that enticed them into the restaurant industry in the first place. “We’ve become a bit of a flight attendant,” Vitaly said.

The award was won in 1999? They had a good run. It sounds like they want to retire over waiting it out.

BleachedAnusDawg said:

PurpleThrobber said:

46XiJCAB said:

PDX city comrades have been reading their own press clippings for too long. They don't understand that they're way down the list now.

Spokane and CDA are ringing the register.

Thanks, Antifa!

Your only problem is those are Dems moving to your area. Watch your city council races closely.