Castagna Restaurant

One of the best restaurants in Portland. Without a doubt. Perfect for a special occasion. If you want to show off the top tier of the PDX food scene, bring an out of town guest here. It’s spendy for sure, but the food is beautiful and delicious.

4.5 stars but rounding up for the overall dining experience. The dishes are beautiful, food is delicious, and service/​ambiance are both excellent. I made reservations a few weeks ahead of time, and our table was ready when we arrived. We opted for the Summer Menu (07.03.15, $ 95/​person,
), which consisted of:
–Oregon Shrimp, Kohlrabi, Jalapeño (
): A delicious and refreshing bite– a great way to start the meal.
–Cucumber, Egg Yolk, Nasturtium (
): Ok– nasturtium isn’t my favorite texture wise.
–Ora King Salmon (
): Yum– the salmon was seasoned and cooked perfectly.
–Corn Seasoned w/​Clam, Pork: I can’t remember this dish and for some reason didn’t take a photo– am assuming it wasn’t that memorable.
–Rye & Olive Oil Roll Served w/​House Butter & Smoked Fat (
): Yum– I rarely dislike any bread with butter combination.
–Artichoke, Fresh Cheese, Herbs (
): Good, but nothing special.
–Cobia, Concentrate of Fish Bones (
): Just ok– cooked well and very tender, but the flavors were too light for me.
–Maitake Mushrooms, Wilted Sorrel (
): Yum– I love maitake mushrooms, and loved the sear on these.
–Kurobuta Pork, Maltaise, Burnt Beet (
): The flavors were good but the pork could’ve been more tender. The wagyu was definitely more delicious, but this was worth trying.
–A5 Wagyu, Charred Eggplant Purée, Olive & Cherry Tapenade, Grilled Romaine (+$ 30 Supplement,
): Delicious– the wagyu was cooked a perfect medium rare, and melted in your mouth. I only wish the portion was bigger!
–Rhubarb (
): Just ok for me– I didn’t like the disk of rhubarb ice.
–Goat’s Milk, Raspberry, Lime (
): Not my favorite since I’m not a big goat’s milk fan. The raspberry and lime flavors were nice though.
–Shiso Cake (
): The cherry sorbet was really good, but the fresh cherries threw me off. The shiso tuille added a nice crunch though.
–Mignardises (Strawberry Ice Cream w/​Almond Coating, Salted Caramel Between Chocolate Discs,
): The strawberry ice cream bite was reminiscent of the Good Humour Strawberry Shortcake, but in bon bon form– which means it was delicious! I could have eaten an entire bowl of these. The salted caramel was just ok, and nothing special.
Service was excellent, and I would definitely come back to try a new menu from Castagna. Out of the prix fixe meals I’ve had in Portland, this was one my favorites. Parking was ok since I went for the early seating, and there is some street parking nearby.

My wife and I had dinner here while visiting portland. We had the chef’s tasting menu with pairings and have to say it was quite the experience. Attention to detail, fresh ingredients, and an excellent wait staff and somm, this place was amazing. Thank you for a memorable celebration of food and life.

Tasting menu features many strong dishes. Sadly pacing of the meal is very poor. Long waits between courses. 4 and a half hours for the meal when if the pacing was better it would have been 3 hours.

My goodness… I need to slap myself a few times because I still cannot believe I’ve had the best meal in my entire life last night. Switching out my itinerary for this place was one of the best choices I’ve ever made. I haven’t been so excited about my entire 20-​something different plates of food where I teared up a little from being overjoyed. Go for their chef’s tasting menu if you do come, just do yourself a favor, it’s an experience you’ll never forget. The restaurant was fairly empty with just another party and my party of 2, and we took about 4.5 hours to finish, so do plan ahead to have ample time to enjoy your meal. But please, if you are to complain that each dish must be serving to ants, you can stop reading now.
They have two menus: the chef’s tasting menu for $ 155 a person, $ 75 more with wine; and the seasonal tasting menu for less dishes doe $ 89 a person, and I don’t remember how much for wine. Didn’t order the wine tasting part, not too knowledgeable about them and I want to be as sober as I can be last night. Generally I’ll be able to fully describe my meal, but I was just shocked and speechless, I’m not sure how to explain the dishes. The first course of snacks was no joke. You would be bombarded with beauties and cuties and such back to back, as if you get an amuse bouche then another one and another one. If you really count the number of plates they bring out to you, you probably get to try 20 plates of different food. Yes, 20 plates with beautiful food for ants! Yes, if you’re worried about portions, they look like bite sizes but they get pretty hefty for the last half of the meal. It’s a trip; your eyes, stomach, and brain will be so confused at the end of the meal. Every course was so delicate and detailed. Like did the chef use tweezers to put this piece of art together?! My vote for the trippiest dish was the seared beet that looked like a piece of salmon. Another dish was one of the desserts that was an ice cream, but it looked like chicken salad from the deli. You really have to be quite open minded for these dishes, I thought I knew what I was eating, but now I can truly say «I know the feeling of mindblown…»
I can’t wait to go back to Portland to pay another visit!

WoW!
Truly amazing. It was like going to Rene Di Rosa’s Art Farm in Carneros, Caifornia, amazement after amazement.
There are enough detailed, and very good reviews here that I’m not going to give you the course-​by-​course. Rather, let me give readers my free-​advice-​column :
I hate to say it, but for most people, the Café is probably the way to go. I have eaten in both and was knocked out by both.
Don’t go to the restaurant if it is the case that… you have never been astounded by food… you haven’t worked your way up to this quality by going to other Chef’s choice experiences… you don’t understand or have a slight disdain for art… you feel uncomfortable about spending 10 times more that you could have spent to get fed very well.
This restaurant is co-​evolution at its best. Go, please go if you are an evolver.
Also let me share a strategy that I use when I am going large. (And by the way, go large, the $ 55 difference for the tasting versus the dinner menu is worth every penny of it.) As much as I love wine, I did not have wine with the meal because 21 courses requires focus and freshness on the diner’s part. I started with a negroni and that was it for the alcohol. Instead I ordered chamomile tea, a wine glass, a glass of ice, and that was my beverage for the whole meal.
I went with my son, just the two of us, so there was great time for reflection and food was living evolution for conversation.
Jokingly, maybe the menu should have a warning on it: Don’t Try This At Home! And seriously, the measure of a truly great restaurant is when the experience keeps growing, positively growing, for days, weeks, and months after you have pushed back from the table.

Some meals are too exceptional for words. Each dish was indescribable. A one of a kind culinary experience. For those of you who say you left hungry, this is not your kind of restaurant. There’s an Olive Garden in Clackamas with unlimited breadsticks that might be more your speed. The point of this restaurant is not to stuff yourself silly. Take small bites. Reflect on what you’re eating. Leave feeling content.

Overall experience was sub-​par. Wouldn’t go back or recommend to a friend.
The dishes: for the most past were creative and very good. Some were fantastic, but some missed the mark.
The wine pairing: terrible experience. The pours were only enough for a sip, which felt unbelievably cheap and uncomfortable. It detracted significantly from the overall experience.
Ambiance: pretty minimalistic, not upscale.

James Beard nominating committee: If you do not give Justin Woodward the 2016 award it would be a crime. We have had many meals at Castagna and overtime is a new and exciting gustatory adventure. My palette leaves with a big smile. It is one of the finest restaurants in Portland, and is definitely a destination for all gourmands. My highlights for the Valentines meal:
Beet chip tartar
Kohlrabi with dill and sauce
Red pepper leather roll up with goat cheese
Stuffed sun choke with Oregon truffle
Dungeness crab with pomegranate pomelo and goat milk butter
The staff are excellent and very knowledgable about preparation and sourcing of their food. The wine pairings are always in harmony w/​the courses.
Sit back and enjoy the ride.
Vibe/​atmosphere: ²⁰⁄₂₀ — cool/​chic and comfortable
Staff: ²⁰⁄₂₀ — perfect
Value: ²⁰⁄₂₀ — get ready to spend some dough, but worth every penny (by which I mean every $ 100)
Food: ⁴⁰⁄₄₀
Total: ¹⁰⁰⁄₁₀₀ — perfect!

This was hands down one of the best dining experiences we ever had. We had the smaller Winter tasting menu, which was completely filling for us.
Most of the dishes we had were like explosions of different (surprising) flavors in your mouth. Very high quality ingredients, friendly and helpful staff and a nice atmosphere which doesn’t feel too «upper class».
Amazing! When we are back in Portland we are definitely coming back. Well worth the money!

This is sad. The food here is awesome. The wine pairing selections are solid. Both much better or equal to many two and a couple three star Michelins we have been to. And the wait staff were pleasant.
But, the wine pairing execution is so ridiculous that we were infuriated the entire meal. Each «pour» of wine was ~ 2 sips worth. Quite literally a splash.
So you have 1 taste of each wine by itself. Then wait 5 – 10 minutes for the paired course to be served while desperately trying not to take your 2^nd and last remaining sip. Then you have 1 taste with the course, and you are done. Simply mind-​boggling.
To be clear, we have experienced many tasting menus with pairings. We are not new to this.
I honestly questioned whether this was a joke each time the waiter poured the next pitiful taste.
If the business is doing so poorly that you have to squeeze margin out of the wine pairing, just charge more for it. The prices are cheap for such a large meal and pairing. Charge double for the pairing.
But instead, you made what should have been a tremendous meal terrible. Infuriating. The quality of food and wine selection is there. But the execution is embarrassing.

Nice try but could be better.
We’ve been to all of the Michelin restaurants in Chicago and I think this place tries to be elevated in their tasting menu, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. The price points are of Michelin level which is why we were probably disappointed for what we received. None of the dishes really stood out and the plating could have been better detailed, especially for Valentine’s Day. It looked a little boring. We were also still hungry afterwards and went to a fast food joint to get satiated. After dropping close to $ 300, you would expect to be full. The service was very nice and attentive. There’s better food in Portland at better prices to visit.

Found this on a top restaurant in PDX on
. The food was beautiful but overall it was disappointing. It’s expensive because it’s tasting menu only. Honestly 2 dishes out of about 10 were good. The rest were ok or displeasing. The crab and goat cheese ice cream were my faves.
Honestly, for the price you can find better food.

Omg! I can’t believe this place is not completely booked up for months! Justin Woodward is brilliant! The meal was creative, skillful, unique and flavors were balanced and mixed perfectly. I have been to many chef choice restaurants from LA, NYC, Lyon, London, and Prague but I have to say this meal was pretty impressive comparing to all I’ve tried so far. There is always one or two dishes from a chef choice meal that you just had to eat but really don’t like. This wasn’t the case here. Every dish was worth waiting for and definitely worth tasting. The price is amazing for this quality of food!
We got the chef tasting menu. 10 dishes with many snacks totaling about 20 dishes.
The snacks!
— pepper wrap with shiso leave and cheese (had a mild spicy kick with a creamy finish. B+)
— Kohlrabi with wasabi and oyster emulsion (refreshing taste resembling a crunchy turnip. A-​)
— clam with cream sauce, kale and pork (B+)
— trout roe with crab shell jelly (omg! How did he think of this? The jelly really had an obvious crab flavor. Well done! A+)
— mussel broth with charcoal leek, chicken skin and lemon puréed (A-​)
— caramelized carrots with raw carrots and carrot puréed (I’m not too into carrots but this is not bad. B+)
— beets chip with beef tartar (yum! A)
— fried bread with pork fat and butter (a little greasy but the fried bread is creative. B)
The main course!
— geoduck with young coconut and lardo (very flavorful! A)
— dungeness crab with grapefruit (the grapefruit looks like fish roe and adds a great tangy flavor to the creamy crab. A)
— king salmon with warm squash (B+)
— beets (Omg, this dish require some skills! I hate beets and he made it delicious and look like fish! A+)
— foie gras with apple jelly and pear (Omg! A+)
— hedgehog mushroom (B)
— squab with black trumpets and wild licorice (A-​)
— beef culottes with black olives and turnip (A)
The desserts!
I thought the best was over but the desserts are even more crazy!
— cranberry sorbet-​like sheet over a creamy base mixed with nuts, tonka and olive oil. (A)
— goat’s milk with lime meringue (love the hint of goat cheese smell without it being too overbearing. A+)
— sweet potato caramel with light ice cream and malt (my favorite! Had the flavor of cereal crunch and ice cream cone crunch. Also had a hint of burnt rice. This dish takes you back to your childhood. Well done and Yummy! A++)
Will be back!

Don’t waste your time here. We came for the prix fixe vegetarian menu and were sorely disappointed. The dishes were bland, undercooked, and lacked any true variety.
Here were a few items that especially fell flat
–Pepper wrap with shiso leaves had muted flavors and you could barely tell there was shiso or pepper in it
–Oyster Emulsion tasted much like a crispy turnip but once again lacked variety and depth in flavor
–Mussel broth with charcoal leek — This dish was especially boring, and came out completely cold and uninspired
We should have known better when we came on a Friday night and no one was there at the restaurant. Furthermore, service suffered as it took copious amounts of time just to retrieve the check, and the server mixed up our vegetarian menu and served some of us the wrong items. We ended up leaving early because we did not want to suffer through any more of the terrible food or service.
Portland has many better dining options for vegetarians and vegans, don’t waste your time or your money here. I am not sure if the other reviews on here are fake or not.
For reference, at this price point I was expecting 2 michelin star type food, this would barely muster a 15 – 18 on the zagat guide

Such a great night. Best dinner and service in our PDX in years.
Vibe was not too stuffy
Every course soooooo good
Service was extraordinary
We went for a Friday date night. We did that AND made a memory.

Another great dining experience in Portland.
Nice, white table cloth restaurant. Very nice and knowledgable wait staff. Service was excellent.
Food: Attention foodies, this is the place to be. Choice of 10 or 20 tasting menu. You can never go wrong depending how big is your appetite. WE had the 10 course summer menu. Oh la la! Everything was superb and our taste buds were jumping with joy!
Good selection of wine. We are Pinot Noir lovers so, we hit it off with the Oregon Pinot!
This place can be nominated for a Michelin star!

It was my first time venturing into this dining scene. The 10 course summer menu was presented over an interval of 2.5 hours. It’s really quite an experience; the anticipation of waiting for the next course and guessing how the flavors will be complimented. As many have echoed before me, it’s a neat choreograph and show of the cuisine. But… I couldn’t help but giggle at some of the ‘courses,’ which felt like it didn’t constitute a course. No dinner should be taken too seriously so we enjoyed exchanging our table-​side giggles.
Leah, our waitress, asked the chef to replace the pork course with another protein upon our request. I was very pleased with our substitute; the duck breast from the chef’s tasting menu. The service was attentive and accommodating, as you’d expect from a place like this.
Great ambience and staff, intriguing food and presentation.

I must say, Chef Justin Woodward definitely impressed us. We didn’t expect any less from a chef that cut his teeth at Noma and WD50. We could definitely see how many of the influences from past mentors carried over. Let me just preface by that saying that the same prefixe meal would have cost almost double in any tier 1 city in the USA, so Castagna drives a particularly strong bargain. Almost blew me away how low key this place was, and its deserving of a Michelin mention.
Beet Chip with Steak Tartar: A+
Delicious with just a hint of mustard. Beet chip was cooked to perfection. Served playfully upside down, with the tartar hidden. Beef was fresh.
Beignet: B
Served French style. Presentation was lackluster and mine was a little overdone but YMMV. My girlfriend really enjoyed hers.
Buttermilk Puff with Salmon Roe Egg Salad: A++
Puff was melt in your mouth goodness. Kind of reminded me of a puffier Chinese shrimp cracker. Served upside down again in a playful manner, with the salmon roe egg salad clinging to the top. Really enjoyed the creaminess of the salad and the crunch from the puff.
Onion Terrarium with Smoked Oil: A+
Coolest dish so far. Wonder if he got his inspiration from the Portland terrarium? Slight bite from the onion. Slight sweetness from a basic purée. Smokiness from the oil. Really delicious. Wish I could have a whole bowl of this. Topped with some greens for texture.
Oyster: B+
Not the freshest, not the milkiest, not the sweetiest. Also didn’t vibe well with the rest of the tasting menu. Seemed really out of place.
Ora Smoked King Salmon with Pickled Carrots: A+
Standard smoked salmon, but smoked to perfection (falling apart). Assorted pickles offered nice contrast. Very nordic influences.
Trout Roe, Celery Root Purée, and Powdered Horseradish: A+
Innovative on the powdered horseradish. Would advise not to include too much or it would be overpowering. Trout roe was very sweet; no signs of musk. Celery root purée was lovely.
Grilled Sturgeon: A
Cooked really well, leaning on the rare side. Again, very nordic in influence. Melted in my mouth. Served with a simple purée and seasoned perfectly.
Local Wild Mushrooms and Buckwheat Pasta: B
A tad bit overseasoned on the accompanying broth but the funk of the mushroom took my breath awy. Texture of the buckwheat pasta was amazing.
Beef Culotte, Black Olive, Tokyo Turnips: A
Beautiful slice of beef, cooked to a perfect mid rare. Tokyo turnips offered nice textural contrast. Simple dish, but the cut of meat didn’t need much accompaniment.
Huckleberry, Salted Butter Tuile, Chamomile: A
Really enjoyable desert albeit a bit standard.
Goat’s Milk, Grapefruit, Lime, Hazelnut: A+
Rich, decadent goat milk that the grapefruit and lime cut right through. Oddly enough, kind of reminded me of
We did the wine tasting as well, and we enjoyed that they focused on international wines rather than coastal US vintages. However, they erred on the sweeter more boisterous side.
All aspects considered, Castagna promotes great value and innovative dishes. Wouldn’t hesistate to come here again. The seasoning was really balanced, and each dish was consistent.

As a Christmas gift, my friend took me to Castagna Restaurant for the winter tasting menu and wine pairing. You could make reservations online with ease – the only problem is that when you change your reservation, their systems doesn’t cancel the original reservation and keep you on multiple days. Good thing, they call to confirm the day of the reservation.
We ended up going on a Thursday night at 7:30pm. The café side looked busy, but the restaurant was pretty empty. There was one group dining when we arrived and another party come later. The hostess/​waitress was very friendly, she offered to take our jackets and led us to our table. She did a wonderful job at describing all the dishes with the wine pairings. Extremely accommodating and did not judge us for eating three servings of bread, which was a mistake because it made us uncomfortably full. Before I get to the end, let me take you through our northwest gastronomy experience…
Beignet: Not the best beignet and I can’t recall the distinct flavors in it. Fried well, not greasy.
Ora king salmon: Fresh, fresh, fresh. The carrots prepared two-​ways was creative. I love the contrasting crunch and pickled carrots with the soft bite of salmon.
Kampachi: The fish was more mild than the salmon and had a clean taste. It was accompanied by turnips with a dusting of taro powder over a wasabi mousse. The taro and wasabi was not overwhelming that you get the turnip flavor.
Satsuma: It looks like an egg yolk in a wine glass. After I shot it, I was pleasantly surprised that it was a citrusy, sweet gelee.
Dungeness crab, burnt grapefruit, butter: I am allergic to crab so I couldn’t have this dish but they substituted it for an onion terrarium with smoked oil. Oh my goodness, that was probably my favorite dish of the evening. I am not a huge fan of onion… the combination of the sweetness worked well with the mildly smoked richness of the oil droplet. The texture of the custard base was very lovely.
Foie gras, apple, smoked hazelnut: I cringed when I saw Foie Gras on the menu. I love liver, but I’ve never warmed up to Foie Gras – it has a metallic oily taste to it that reminds me of a traumatizing experience involving monk fish liver. I was surprised that oilness was masked by the tartness of the apple and hazelnut. Oh, I guess I do like Foie Gras when prepared correctly.
Sturgeon finished over charcoal: I had a different sauce, must have shellfish in the original. Well-​cooked piece of sturgeon, the charred onion and acidic sauce that garnished the dish complemented it well.
Local wild mushrooms, buckwheat: Aerated mushroom? Interesting. It was such a unique presentation and the mushroom shined through.
Beef zabuton, black olive, Tokyo turnips: Perfectly cooked piece of meat, tender and succulent. The black garlic paste made this whole dish. My second favourite dish of the meal, I just want a giant platter of this.
Huckleberry, salted butter tuile, chamomile: In general, I enjoy fruit sorbets. It was such a refreshing finish to the meal.
Goat’s milk, grapefruit, lime, hazelnut: There’s a second dessert? The frozen goat’s milk the covered the top of the dish could have been more flavorful but it was light. Unfortunately, I couldn’t appreciate it because I could barely take another bite.
Petit Fours: The meal was finished with a small piece of crispy, light chocolate sandwich.
The bread had a fried texture but soft in the middle served with a bacon lardo spread. It was definitely easy to eat about three of them. I can’t recall all the wines that went with the dish, however, it all complimented very well. The food changes the taste of the wines and elevated it. The whole meal last about three hours from start to finish, at one point… two hours had gone by and we didn’t even noticed. I don’t know if it is having so many courses well spread out or the company that made time just fly. By 10:30pm, we were in a food coma. Everything was extremely delicious.