The Picnic House is a restaurant in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Park Heathman Hotel The Park Heathman Hotel, originally known as the Heathman Hotel, is a residential building in Portland, Oregon, that serves low-income seniors and disabled persons. Owned by Harsch Investment Properties, the building was renamed Park Tower Apart ...

, in the United States.

Description

The Picnic House is a restaurant in

downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found. ...

, originally known as the Heathman Hotel.

Thrillist Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis News ...

describes the restaurant as a "prohibition-styled eating space" with a long dining table made from 700 year-old reclaimed

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

wood and a menu of "classic, traditional American-style eats". In her

guide book A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

''Moon Portland'' (2014), Hollyanna McCollom described the restaurant as an American and French-style

bistro A bistro or bistrot , is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant, serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked foods ...

with a simple menu and the option to rent a

picnic basket A picnic basket or picnic hamper is a basket intended to hold food and tableware for a picnic meal. Picnic baskets are standard equipment at many picnics. A traditional picnic hamper is made of woven wicker. While the basic concept of a picnic ba ...

with food and wine to consume at the nearby

South Park Blocks The South Park Blocks form a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon. ''The Oregonian'' has called it Portland's "extended family room", as Pioneer Courthouse Square is known as Portland's "living room". Twelve blocks in length, it is intersecte ...

. She described the interior, which features dark wood and black-and-white tiles, as "bright and open" and "cute" and "rustic". In 2015, ''

Eater Portland ''Eater'' is a food website by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Lockhart Steele and Ben Leventhal in 2005, and originally focused on dining and nightlife in New York City. Eater launched a national site in 2009, and covered nearly 20 cities by ...

'' Mattie John Bamman said the restaurant offers "fancier, international fare". The website's Erin DeJesus has described The Picnic House as a "charming fast-casual spot" with "elevated picnic fare" including pastas, salads, sandwiches, and soups. One soup has roasted

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus ''Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the ...

with

Parmesan Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' is ...

, and salad options include

ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the ...

and vegetables. The menu also has roasted

pork loin File:British Pork Cuts.svg, 250px, British cuts of pork poly 187 219 187 194 173 196 Trotters poly 372 226 373 207 361 204 359 216 Trotters poly 171 141 166 104 287 117 294 152 Belly poly 167 102 178 27 315 23 274 102 Loin poly 361 201 371 181 ...

and

small plates Small plates is a manner of dining that became popular in US food service after 2000. ''Small plates'' may either refer to small dishes resembling appetizers which are ordered à la carte and often shared, such as tapas, or to the small Course (di ...

with pickled

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

and bavette

skewers A skewer is a thin metal or wood stick used to hold pieces of food together. The word may sometimes be used as a metonym, to refer to the entire food item served on a skewer, as in "chicken skewers". Skewers are used while grilling or roasting ...

, as well as

charcuterie Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''balloti ...

and desserts.

History

Aaron and Jessica Grimmer opened The Picnic House in mid 2012. Casey Gipson served as chef, as of 2016. The Picnic House has hosted a variety of special events and performances. In 2016, the restaurant hosted a "one-man dinner-theater show" in which Phillip J. Berns portrayed

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghost of ...

and other characters in an adaptation of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' 1843 novella ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

''. Berns performed on a staircase and was accompanied by a pianist. Shannon Gormley and Jack Russell described the "set" as a "dining room reminiscent of the first-class quarters aboard the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

". In 2019, The Picnic House and neighboring Barlow Artisanal Bar (also owned by the Grimmers) hosted a fifth annual

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

celebration. The carnival-themed party included fortunetellers, games, live music and circus performances, and raffles, as well as a costume contest, an

ice luge An ice luge, martini luge, or shooter-block is a type of ice sculpture made from a large block of ice that has a narrow channel carved through where liquid is poured, such as liquor products. Some are professionally produced from sculpturing or ...

, and a glass of

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

for toasting the

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

. In November 2018, Picnic PDX opened in

northwest Portland Northwest Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon, United States. Northwest Portland includes the Pearl District, most of Old Town Chinatown, the Northwest District, and various residential and industrial neighborhoods. A range of ...

as a "whimsical sister restaurant" to The Picnic House and Barlow.

References

External links

*
Picnic House
at

Zagat The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering ...

The Picnic House
at

Zomato Zomato () is an Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008. Zomato provides information, menus and user-reviews of restaurants as well as food delivery options fro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picnic House 2012 establishments in Oregon Fast casual restaurants Restaurants established in 2012 Restaurants in Portland, Oregon Southwest Portland, Oregon