Evo Kitchen

Amazing location! Valet was easy and guys were super nice! Our room was very nice and bed was comfortable! Yeah, it's an older hotel, so there were some quirks...

We arrived for a night stay and we are greeted at the reception. The person who immediately informed us that the fireplace in our room...

I was there on September 22, 2022. I wanted to write this before, but here it is. I gave the hotel 3 stars because the reception was not friendly at all....

Oh, my sainted aunt, how do I describe our meal here? Firstly, the place we 'd originally reserved canceled on us, but serendipitously my husband got the last mezzanine table here, and what an incredible experience! From our welcome by the manager to our server Olivia and all the other staff, this dinner stands out. Olivia encouraged us to go with the 10 course chef 's tasting menu, which we did. Only we got *12* courses two extra we weren 't expecting. We started with hummus and fresh pita bread, which was creamy and delicious with crunchy chickpeas. This was followed by one tasty dish after another glazed carrots, fiddlehead salad, grilled asparagus, seared tuna with an unctuous sauce, chickpea 'fries ' with another amazing sauce, salmon, halibut, chicken, beef, the deliciousness just kept coming! And our plates were delivered when ready, by any staff that was available, with a clear explanation and a smile. There was an atmosphere of teamwork that permeated the entire restaurant. If you 're counting, that 's 10 dishes, but there were two desserts still to come a mango passionfruit sorbet and sour cream ice cream with strawberry compote and strawberry crumbles. Absolutely phenomenal! (Our mezzanine seating offered great people watching, including the awesome experience of seeing the manager deal with a rude, obstreperous Karen her entitled posse with grace, tact, and poise. What more can you ask elevated Mediterranean cuisine with stellar staff. I tell you, this is a night we will long remember, in spite of being a *tiny* bit over full with exquisite dishes. Absolutely worth making a special detour!

At peak form, the cooking here is brilliant. The bluefish pate was excellent, and the carrot and cauliflower dishes were spectacular. The kitchen has a compelling way with vegetables. On the other hand, the entrees were merely pretty good. Both the salmon and the stake were cooked a bit beyond the medium rare requested, perhaps because they were slow to be served and sat under a warming device. The recipes are complicated but not overdone or off-putting, and the creativity is impressive. Evo's protocol is a bit confusing. There are very brief menu descriptions for dishes having a lot more going on than the text suggests. Our server described dishes as sharable, which is true, but the vegetable dishes were enormously generous in quantity while the entrees were more moderate. She also indicated that dishes come out in the order the kitchen prepares them, which was sort of true, but to our (pleasant) surprise they do seem to want to produce the entrees at the same time. Our server was excellent, interactive and informative. But the pacing of the meal was erratic, with occasional long delays between courses. This was a bit puzzling because this was a weekday night and while the 20+ table seating was full, the bar seating (much more extensive) was not especially busy. Evo deserves high marks for being quiet enough for civilized conversation, which is not all that common in Portland these days. They are also gracious and thoughtful, especially concerning the delayed arrival of one of our entrees. The craft cocktail list is surprisingly short (three items, if I remember correctly), and the one I had was ok but nothing I would be excited to have again. Don't take my quibbles above very seriously, by the way. This is a very good restaurant with a talented kitchen. We look forward to returning.