THERE HAS NEVER BEEN a more appropriate name for a restaurant
than the one given to downtown boutique hotel the Nines’ rooftop
getaway, Departure. Taking the elevator up to the 15th floor is to
leave Portland without actually leaving Portland; a contrived journey
into the heart of moneyed elegance, savage design, and restaurant-group
food concepts, for better or worse.
Stepping from the elevator, walls at odd angles and a bank of purple
light cause immediate disorientation. The feeling deepens as you pass
through a black, octagonal gangplank into the restaurant. The design
here looks as if a Kandinsky-loving couturier of gay architects had
refurbished a spaceship from Battlestar Galactica. It would all
be too much spacey geometric chaos if texture and color weren’t so
adeptly juxtaposed. In one long hallway, a line of billowy curtains
softens one wall, while the other is punctuated with large, dark,
octagonal mirrors. The bar and main dining room glow white beyond an
onyx entryway, while here and there blond wood accents soften the brash
play of colors and angles.
Like a Vegas casino, the floor plan is designed to draw you in and
make you stay. And Departure would be at home perched on top of a hotel
on the Strip—or Sunset Boulevard or anywhere in Midtown
Manhattan—where it would likely be lost in a multitude of
glimmering night spots. But in Portland, Departure is unique, at least
in terms of its aesthetic appeal.
It’s pleasing to be seated on the west deck; the bustle of Pioneer
Courthouse Square below, the oft-unrecognized architectural rhythm of
the Fox Tower pulsing a few blocks away, and the arching silhouette of
St. Johns Bridge lurking in the distance. A meal eaten here is improved
simply by the view. But though there are some fine, measured options on
Departure’s menu of pan-Asian small plates, this cuisine is prepared
better in more humble corners of the city.
What Departure does well, it does very well. A plate called
“Calamari Tenpura” comes sans tentacles, squid bodies fried intact and
stacked in a substantial tower on a bed of seaweed salad. The squid is
tender with lush sesame tones that diffuse upward from the salad
below.
Panko-crusted Kobe meatballs—all beef here is either Kobe or
Wagyu—conceal a center of foie gras that bursts onto the tongue
and melts slowly away.
Tori No Tatsuta Age is a deft play on fried chicken wings, with one
of the wing bones snipped and removed before frying, allowing the ball
of tender meat to slide from the remaining bone; the deep and toasty
flavor nicely paired with a bright hint of diakon puree.
The Shoyu Truffle Butter Rice offers an honest serving of ultra-rich
buttery rice and a variety of wild mushrooms, the flesh of which is so
similar in some cases to the flavor and texture of lobster as to be
completely startling.
But there are also epic failures on the menu. The Tonkotsu Ramen is
nearly flavorless and dull. Kani Avocado Tobiko presents a halfhearted
attempt at rolled sushi, rendering mentaiko caviar and fresh
crab into a ho-hum rice-heavy disappointment. Shiu Mai pork dumplings
present themselves as greasy and tough. And a BLT—cherry tomato
wrapped in bacon on Bibb lettuce—is whimsical but remains
ultimately an interesting trick with little interest beyond
novelty.
The cocktails at Departure are well balanced and not overly sweet,
but the price (up to $10 a drink) is anathema to intoxication. Which is
a shame, because Departure serves Portland best as a place to imbue the
spirit with swank, booze, and views, before or after a night’s downtown
entertainment.
The staff just does not seem cut out to offer truly adept dinner
service, remaining inconsistent. One evening the food was perfectly
expedited, while on another it piled up on our table all at once. On
one evening the table service remained alert and present without being
over-bearing, while on another we were frustratingly abandoned for 20
minutes while waiting for our final dish.
If you know what you want from Departure—an inexpensive beer
with friends on one of the decks while munching a plate of
calamari—it’s likely to become a favored downtown stop. But for
those looking for a dining experience to match some of Portland’s less
lofty but delicious downtown offerings, Departure will be a trip to a
fantastic geometric nowhere.