Departure Blog

Chef Gregory Gourdet Participates in BASE Program

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This past April, Chef Gregory Gourdet of Departure participated in the BASE program in Portland.  BASE is a 6 week after school program that offers interesting classes to entertain and teach children while offering after school care for parents who need after school care.  At Beach Elementary School, Chef Gregory took over the “Star Wars” themed class teaching 5-8 year olds how to be fit and eat healthy.  Chef Gregory quizzed the kids on nutrition while they assisted in preparing fruit for Berry Luke Skywalker Smoothies and made granola Chewbacca Bars with chocolate and coconut.  All the kids had a great time and begged for more!

Happy Hours at Departure

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DEPARTURE takes happy hour to another level with a newly expanded menu and new late night hours.  Chef de Cuisine Gregory Gourdet increased happy hour offerings from eight to seventeen different menu items such as the crispy squid with ponzu sauce, shaking beef with chili and watercress, vegetable udon noodles and pork belly with house-made kimchee fried rice.  Happy hour menus are available from 4-6pm Tuesday through Thursday, and late night from 10pm to close Tuesday through Thursday and from 11pm to close Friday and Saturday nights.

Departure Restaurant + Bar, Portland, OR

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Monday, February 28th, Chef Gregory Gourdet hosted “Salon” a casual reception where chefs and restaurant owners from all over the Portland area came together to celebrate each other and the industry.  Notable guests included Yelp ambassador Don Baroussa, local writer and IACP board member Mike Thelin as well as fellow Food & Wine “People’s Best New Chef Northwest” contestants Ben Bettinger and Chris Diminno.  “This is an amazing gathering!  Nowhere else would you find this group of people mingling and hanging out together celebrating Portland,” said Byron Beck of Eater PDX.

Departure

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Happy New Year! That is Happy Chinese New Year. Chef Gregory has created a fabulous Chinese New Year menu that is being featured during in February.  The cured Coho salmon is brined in an intensely aromatic herb puree.  The salmon is accompanied by this season’s kumquats which are being poached in syrup and are added to a salad of ginger, cilantro, peanut and carrot.  This salad is dressed in five-spice vinaigrette.   A crispy element of house-made shrimp chips finishes the dish.  Chef Gregory was recently featured on Portland’s local Fox News regarding this dish & the upcoming celebration.

Departure Rolls Out New Late Night Menu

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Entering the Atomic-age inspired dining room of Departure, one of Portland’s newest food and cocktail hot spots, one immediately feels transported. With its luxe interior and sweeping roof top views of the city, Departure seems poised to become the destination for an elegant night out.

Link to Feature: NeighborhoodNotes.com

Late Shift: PDX Media Light Up Night at Departure

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Just because you work late doesn’t mean you should miss out on all the fun, right? That was the idea behind Departure Restaurant’s “special media tasting party” that didn’t start until 10:30 pm and was created specifically for those members of the fourth estate who don’t usually end their shift until the midnight hour. “Daytime” media was also encouraged to attend the event held at The Nines notable Asian eatery but most of the media folks sipping on high-flying cocktails and sakes, as well as nibbling on Chefs Matt Christianson and Jeremy Frice’s house-pickled wild ‘shrooms, Kobe meatballs with foie gras, miso black cod and “Kung Pao” style chicken oysters, were those dreamy news folks you stare at on your television screen right before you go to sleep including KATU’s Craig Birnbach, Meghan Kalkstein, KGW sports-dudes Adam Bjaranson and Joe Becker, FOX’s Sophie Soong, Andrew Padula, Brent Weisberg, and Jim Hyde pictured above with KOIN’s Kelley Day.

Link to Feature: http://www.byronbeck.com/

Bread & Butter: Departure takes Sake to a different Level

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You take an elevator to the 15th floor and are released into a long, purple-lit hall. Turn the corner and you’re in a fantasy penthouse with a look that is part luxury yacht, part airport lounge and part Starship Enterprise. There are skylights and portals and fun house mirrors, but most impressive are the windows that frame the surrounding city, the river, and the bridges. There are also two huge balconies with vertiginous views of Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Link to Feature: http://www.portlandtribune.com/