Japan has long been Portland’s culinary sister country, with tourists and restaurant branches flying back and forth as fast as our daily non-stop flights to Tokyo can carry them. But as of late, Iceland is coming on strong as an Atlantic contender for our cultural hearts.
Exhibit one: The new KEX hotel and hostel, with its accompanying restaurant, Dóttir, now open on Northeast MLK.
The spot screams vibes: a 3,000-square-foot, 110-seat space that flows from the front entrance of the hotel to an open dining area, and a bar filled with just the kind of “Carhartt beanie (and somehow-flattering-on-them) high-waisted white pants” people you want to watch at the opening of a buzzy new locale.
My first trip was a second stop on a very good Friday night: Dóttir is a great place to show up at 10 pm and sit at the bar, where Aquavit rules the land. The Lady of the Mountain ($12), a full-on Nordic booze bomb with raspberry-infused Reyka vodka, hazelnut orgeat, lemon, and a touch of skyr, the heavenly thick Icelandic yogurt that Greek wishes it could be. Another drink, the Northern Lights ($11), is a fun twist on a hot toddy with pink butterfly pea powder and in the name of all that is extra, drinkable purple sparkles on top.
