SOUTHEAST—After more than two years in development, the chef's counter restaurant, Willowhttp://seattle.eater.com/cascadia-wire, will fling open the doors at 2005 SE 11th Ave., the former home of Fenrir, on March 1, and it will offer three-course prix fixe meals all March, before ramping up to six-course menus on April 1. Headed by chefs Doug Weiler (Glyph) and John Pickett (Biwa, Ración), Willow aims to create dyed-in-the-wool Cascadian cuisine, using familiar Pacific Northwest ingredients and "barrier-breaking" techniques.
EVERYBODY PANIC—One of Portland's most iconic and classy restaurants, The Heathman Restaurant and Bar will soon vacate the iconic Heathman Hotel, where it has been grilling steaks and shaking martinis since the mid-1980s. The restaurant will relocate to another downtown location at the end of March, and it has yet to announce where or whether it will temporarily close during the process. The split has not come about amicably, according to the restaurant.
BOOK CLUB—At long last, Ox's cookbook, Around the Fire—now available for pre-sale—reveals the techniques and recipes behind the flame-ruled world of Ox, the Argentinian and Pacific Northwest-inspired Portland restaurant. Ox chef-owners Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton penned the cookbook, coming out on Ten Speed Press, with co-author Stacy Adimando, and though you would be excused for thinking so, it covers a lot more than grilling.