For Portland restaurants, 2008 was a bell-shaped curve. This
spring, as the economy began to cough and sputter, there was a spate of
high-profile openings including Belly Timber on SE Hawthorne, 50 Plates
in the Pearl District, and Lincoln and Belly in North and Northeast
Portland. Later in the year, the flurry of openings slowed and
Portland’s food forums and blogs became riddled with announcements of
closures. First came DF and Taqueria Nueve, followed by Mercato, Genoa,
and most recently, Portland’s newest beacon of elite dining,
Lucier.

Initially, I tried to remain optimistic. Writing on blogtown.portlandmercury.com,
I said that the closures might actually make the Portland restaurant
community stronger. However, I’ve since realized how interconnected
these restaurants are. Not only does a restaurant’s closure put several
people out of work, but its food and equipment suppliers also lose a
customer—and in order to recoup costs, suppliers may raise prices
for the rest of their clients, making it harder for restaurants still
in business to stay that way.

Still, Chef David Siegal of Belly Timber doesn’t see the recent
closures bringing his restaurant to its knees, telling the
Mercury that before opening in mid-June, he and the owners felt
confident despite economic rumblings.

“From the outset we had a moderate price level,” he says. “We
thought we’d be in a good place.” Now six months in, Siegal believes
that Belly Timber is on course, even with a slight holiday season dip.
“You have to keep in mind, we’re still trying to build a customer
base,” he said. “I think we have a good product we’re confident in, and
we don’t see a reason to change.”

There were a number of new restaurants I visited this year that
should also feel confident about their product. But how are they coping
in this economic climate?

Janis Martin of Nob Hill’s Tanuki, has the kind of confidence only
afforded by 28 years of cooking experience—but she says the
future of her eatery rests with her clientele.

“It’s more about confidence with the restaurant-going public in
Portland,” she explains. “They’re so open-minded—more so almost
than Chicago,” where she used to live and work. She notes that business
has been a bit sporadic, but that most of her customers are regulars.
She says that in 2009 diners at Tanuki can expect “more ‘out there'”
dishes that haven’t been seen locally. This news, from my experiences
there, should excite anyone with an adventurous palate and willingness
to be surprised.

In March of this year Pine State Biscuits opened with considerable
fanfare after a glowing review of their Reggie Deluxe sandwich in a
national magazine. Soon after, it wasn’t uncommon to find a line
outside of their small shop. Co-owner Kevin Atchley is pleased with the
way business has been going.

“I think we’re sort of built for a recession,” he says, “based on
the quality of the food and the prices we have.” He points out that
customers at Pine State g et plenty of bang for their buck, not to
mention, food that soothes the soul.

“Traditional home-style comfort food is the perfect thing for hard
times,” he says. “It puts people’s minds at ease.”

Atchley has no particular plans for 2009, other than to keep
building on an already impressive menu of heart-stopping goodness.
There is little doubt that the Pine State Biscuit line will be there
for awhile.

At Bar Avignon, SE Division’s neighborhood bar and bottle shop,
owner Randy Goodman, his wife Nancy Hunt, and Chef Chad Brown are
“running lean,” as Goodman puts it. They had been planning to add a few
more perishable luxury items to their jewel-like menu, but have
recently thought better of it.

“We’re keeping the menu small and focused,” says Goodman. “We’re
keeping the price point low and looking for more wine we can do at $6
to $8 per glass.”

Having spent time as the wine director and front-house manager at
Wildwood, Goodman opened Bar Avignon with the idea of being small and
flexible. “We can change things depending on the day of the week or
respond to what the weather’s doing,” he jokes, noting that recent
inclement weather hasn’t been doing business any favors. Still he says,
“We can respond to what’s happening at the farmers’ level and we don’t
have to have a $35 steak on our menu.”

As far as 2009 is concerned, “We’ll do a big party on January 20 for
the inauguration,” Goodman says. He doesn’t think everything is going
to change the next day, but by March he’d like to be hosting more
events and maybe expanding the menu. Until then, there are still
face-punchingly good dishes to be had. He recommends the brussels
sprouts.

It might be that, like these restaurants, the key to surviving in
2009 is to be small and confident—a plucky David staring down a
Goliath of bad stock-market news. It’s likely in the coming year that
Portland diners will be eating in shops with less seats, but more
dynamism, changing with the whim of chef, season, and also,
economy.