18 Calloway Row, Portland Dinner Tuesday to Sunday
Dinner by candle, and by coal.
A 40-seat dining room built around one oak fire. One menu each night, written that morning.
One oak fire, a great many candles and 40 seats. Every night there is a single menu, written that morning from whatever the farms and the boats sent us.
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The fire
Oak and applewood, lit at two each afternoon. Nearly everything on the menu passes over it.
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The cellar
Small growers from the Loire to the Willamette, poured by people who have walked the rows.
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The room
No table is turned. Your seat is yours from the first glass to the last candle.
Tonight
The menu, written this morning.
- Hearth bread Cultured butter, smoked salt, beef drippings 9
- Lobster and morels Butter-poached tail, vin jaune, spring onion 38
- Aged beef over oak Dry-aged sirloin, charred asparagus, marrow jus 52
- Apple and brown-butter tart Pouring cream, sea salt 14
- Rye, chocolate and cream Warm rye cake, whipped crème fraîche 15
A sample menu. Dishes change with the day.
The tasting menu
A long menu, every course from the fire.
Served to the whole table from half past five. Allow three hours, and tell us what you do not eat.
Late autumn Sample menu
- Oyster, ember cream
- Hearth bread, cultured butter
- Leek, hazelnut, brown butter
- Lobster, morel, vin jaune
- Aged beef, marrow, asparagus
- Sheep’s cheese, burnt honey
- Apple, brown butter, cream
$145per guest Wine pairing $85
Where to sit
Every seat looks at the fire.
Book the dining room, walk in to the counter, or take the private room and its long table for the night.
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The dining room
Tables under candlelight, a few steps from the fire. Yours for the whole evening.
Reserve a table -
The counter
Stools facing the hearth, with a short menu of their own. Never booked.
The counter menu -
The private room
One long table behind its own door, with a menu written for your evening.
Plan an evening
The kitchen
Cooked by people who eat here on their night off.
[Your story.] Vesper began as six seats and a borrowed grill. The room has grown, but the rule has not: buy from people we know by name, cook it over wood, and leave it alone.
The menu names every farm and boat, because they did most of the work.
Evenings
Nights worth a line in the diary.
- 4 Fri, December The Barolo dinner Five vintages from one hillside, poured beside five courses from the fire. $165 per guest
- 13 Sun, December Whole-animal Sunday One lamb, one long table, served family style from one o’clock until it is gone. $95 per guest Last seats
- 31 Thu, December The last night of the year Nine courses, and the fire kept in until morning. $210 per guest
Visit
18 Calloway Row, behind the green door.
Portland, OR 97205 (503) 555-0142 table@vesper.example| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Tuesday–Thursday | 5:30 PM–10 PM |
| Friday–Saturday | 5:30 PM–11 PM |
| Sunday | 12 PM–8 PM |
| Monday | Closed |
