Holdfast Dining

Every course was prepared with great care, and paired with an excellent wine. At one point I told one of the chefs that the course I had just consumed, the cornbread with honey and parmesan, was one of the best things I had ever eaten.

Totally amazing experience. I took my boyfriend here for his birthday and was totally blown away. The food was incredible and the wine pairings were amazing. Super classy, super informative, a wonderful experience.

When I first booked this place for dinner on OpenTable, there apparently was a mix-​up due to availability — I actually got a personal phone call/​voicemail from Joel (and an OpenTable rep) to change my reservation. We were SO lucky that there were still spots available the following night, which the night before we were planning to leave Portland — talk about meant to be!
We opted for one alcoholic (husband) and one non-​alcoholic (me) drink pairings so we would get to try both — I really loved loved loved their juice pairings (except the one with ginger since I hate ginger, lol) and wish all restaurants would start offering non-​alcoholic drink pairings!
Every single dish was executed to perfection and I loved how everything tasted — even the lamb, which was the «main» protein of that week. I’ve never had lamb tartare (and even now the thought makes me want to puke a little), I was able to tolerate their lamb tartare and even feel like I enjoyed it just a little… that speaks volume to me!
Their bread was SO delicious — I could just gobble that stuff up all day long… it was such a pleasant surprise when they handed out little gift boxes with a piece of the bread (and the recipe) at the end of our meal! Their signature cornbread madeleine was also another godsend — this is the only dish they serve with EVERY meal and I can’t wait to get my hands on more the next time I’m there! All the dessert dishes were so wonderful and I even loved their coffee (and I’m definitely NOT a coffee person)!
We had such an amazing time here — part of me wishes that they get more publicity so more people could try their food and find out how great they are… and another part of me wishes that no one ever finds out about them because then it would be impossible for us to get a reservation next time we’re in town!

My husband and I went to Holdfast for our anniversry, and we were incredibly happy with our choice. The atmosphere is intimate, classy yet unpretentious, and friendly with very limited seats that include perfect views of the chefs, who introduce each course and you can easily interact with, preparing the food. And the food! The food in all 9 courses was technical and intricate, but also ridiculousy tasty. Some dishes were more innovative than others, but all tasted great with a combination of unique and classic ingredients and textures. One of the courses, for example, was raw scallops, so soft they could almost melt in your mouth, with a buttermilk sauce, endives, and I believe poached or pickled grapefruit (plus more ingredients that I can’t remember). It tasted amazing and was perfectly paired with a white wine. Overall, we loved this dinner and will be going back.

Overall I felt disappointed with the money I spent here. None of the food was delicious, it was just interesting to look at. Things were plated with tweezers and dotted with dehydrated then rehydrated nonsense that was once a flavorful ingredient; now a Frankenstein of its former self.
The one seating a night deal is a nice idea, but the food is all prepared ahead of time and assembled per course which just amounts to a fancy banquet service-​type experience. Watching them plate food isn’t a spectacular show; you don’t actually see them cook anything. None of the plates felt like they were prepared hot and fresh just for you, but felt like they were kept warm awaiting their course. You’re instructed to reuse your silverware, which gets pretty messy midway through.
Biggest let downs were the first course which tasted like fake bacon bits, the under seasoned scallop on the second course, the soggy sweetbreads that tasted like Mc D’s chicken nuggets, and most disappointingly the piece of fatty rare, cold duck plated with a bunch of raw carrot strings and dried black olives. Why, just why? And what happens IF you don’t enjoy a dish? Do you speak up in front of the whole room (which is painfully quiet) and say you don’t enjoy this directly to the guy who made it risking throwing off the timing of the whole dinner? That takes some balls! Balls I don’t have. I felt too uncomfortable to speak up, but when one of the chefs took my plate which had most of the duck left, he didn’t bother to ask if I enjoyed it. They might truly believe everything they do is absolute gold. Don’t get me wrong, the chefs are nice dudes, but they need to come down to earth a bit.
Jeff gives you something like 2 ounces of wine to last you 2 courses… quite insufficient pours. The wines and pairings were good, but not enough to enjoy one small pour with 2 courses.
Overhyped and regretful experience, absolutely not worth the price for that kind of food; I left unsatisfied. The experience was interesting, if you enjoy the lack of privacy when paying $ 90 + tip (which should be included in the price for this kind of experience). One positive about the night was the coffee they served (Heart), proper French press that they ask you to self serve. Really what Portland thinks is fine dining is just average, except Le Pigeon, they’ve figured it out.

Delicious and beautifully presented food, excellent wine pairings, fun atmosphere and a great experience overall. At $ 90 per person for 9 items + wine pairing I thought this was a great deal. I’d come back in a heartbeat!

The best meal I’ve ever had. Joel and Will (along with Jeff, the wine guy) are totally passionate about creating a beautiful and delicious experience. The combinations of flavor, texture, and visual appeal are amazing. In my opinion the cost is modest, when you consider that you will be one of 16 people (at most) enjoying 9 courses along with wine pairings, prepared before your eyes. I might have expected the atmosphere to be intimidating, but quite the opposite. Go and enjoy!

Amazing food! We had fun night spending 2:30 hours watching the chefs making food, listening to the explanation of ingredients and how they cook, and tasting delicious food! Both of us left with super full stomach. 9 courses and 5 matching wines are pretty impressive! They change menu weekly, joe & Will usually work out the menu on Monday-​Tuesday, shop for materials on Wednesday, and prepare the food for 15+ hours on Thursdays & Fridays. You can taste how much love they put into the food! Looks absolutely beautiful. Only the honey yogurt and candies remain the same on the menu, everything else change a lot each week. Now they have the alcohol and non-​alcohol version menu, the juice are very inspiring too! Will go again.

Amazing food, great experience, excellent staff! Highly recommend for a unique experience and contemporary gourmet with local wine.

We just went to Holdfast dining tonight and I have to say it is probably one of the best tasting menus in Portland, Oregon. Will and Joel are not only skilled chefs, but they are articulate in explaining what they are cooking and serving, including the wine or beverage they have chosen. In addition, they have great personalities, which makes the experience even better. As far as the cost of the dinner, to me, it should be priced higher. We got 10 food tastings with wine pairings and a counter seat to boot, what more can you ask for. Awesome food, Awesome Chefs and a great ambiance! If you are looking for a place to go to experience something different other than bacon wrapped hot dogs or a biscuit with a piece of fried chicken in it with gravy and are ready for Awesome Food; broaden your horizon and step on the wild side with Holdfast! Awesome!
Thanks,
Kisar & wife

I’m a sucker for tasting menus and interesting and creative food presented beautifully. To me that is what Holdfast is. The norm is a 9 course tasting menu with beverage pairings (we picked the booze of course, but nonalcoholic pairings are an option). They do special collaborations with other prominent chefs in the area so check the online schedule. Dinners are usually only Thursday-​Sunday and its roughly $ 90 plus gratuity. You book and pay online so once again check out their website.
If you have any dietary restrictions or are a picky eater I wouldn’t recommend Holdfast. We had the pleasure of trying many different proteins in unique presentations, but be prepared to try anything from heart (this one was even weird for me and I’m a pretty adventurous eater) to spot prawn heads– delic! I’m not sure how much the menu varies with the seasons (I’m hoping a lot as I’d like to try some different items), but one of my co-​workers checked it out and had many similar items many months later from our visit.
Overall its a wonderful celebration of food and the true enjoyment of food and wine. Highly recommend!

UPDATE:
Because the dishes were so surprising and delicious the last time we visited, we couldn’t miss the 19 courses + 9 wine pairing #HoldfastDining No.204. Holdfast Dining is now open at Fausse Piste, We also met Jesse’s (winemaker) parents who were very kind to show us the wine barrel room. We can’t wait to try their Nouveau style wine!
Once again, Chef Will and Joel surprised us with the combination of ingredients that showcased beautiful food presentation and excellent balance between acidity, sweetness and oiliness. Jeff also presented great wine pairing choices with some of the hard-​to-​find wines that complemented the dish flavours.
By the 6^th course, I was already giggling from sensory hyper-​stimulation. By the 10^th course, I was actually starting to feel afraid that I will get food and wine withdrawal once I leave the table. Just to name a few: milky buttery sweetbread, cucumber purée geoduck, beef culotte surround with mouth watering fat, perfectly cooked pasta with fish roe on top, tender scallop marinated to perfection, juicy sweet raw shrimp, crispy deep fried chicken skin with spices… (check out Sophia Z’s photos).
One thing is for sure, Holdfast Dining will become the baseline of my food standard from now on every time I go to a restaurant for a tasting menu.

Best hidden or low-​key secret just by looking at the thin number of reviews and upon paying a recent visit to this lovely micro project.
Chef Will and his partner Joel are like Froddo Baggins and Samwise BABAM! And together they bind awesome deliciousness in fire woo!
Will and Joel makes their purchases in small quantities and crafts a weekly-​changing menu based on their inspiration and season. And every dinner is limited to 12 – 14 people per night and the menu is meticulously planned featuring at most two stable items.
I will let the photos speak for the inspiration and presentation of the dish and I can’t begin to describe the deliciousness of every dish.
Wine pairing is included and it is planned quite well, where the wine either compliments the dish or acts as a great palette-​cleanser.
The 10 tasting dishes will have you woo and ah about the food and everything else and man we had fresh French-​press coffee to finish the night with.
It was magical.
Cheerio!

After hearing glowing reviews of the Holdfast experience my girlfriend took me there for my birthday and we both walked away disappointed. I’m more of a function over fashion person and while I appreciate ornate decorative dishes, first and foremost they need to taste good. We eat copious amounts of self caught seafood, hence appreciate new approaches to cooking. Poached razor clam, underseasoned scallops and chewy pork shoulder don’t equate to a $ 150 before tip dining experience. Perhaps we visited on an «off» night, but one can eat much better tasting, but not as «pretty» food elsewhere. Joel and Will are great guys, skilled chefs, but the menu was if they hadn’t actually tried their food.

Holdfast is interesting but might not be to everyone’s taste. The concept is stripped down fine dining and that it is — at the commissary kitchen counter. Let me start by say the chefs are nice, charming, good at what they do and clearly passionate. The wine pairings from WineCru were good and overall I would recommend the experience if you are into trying some edgier fine food. It’s definitely more adventurous than dinner at le Pigeon (for example) and even though I’ve eaten at places like Mugaritz in Spain (one of the leading restaurants in the world of this type), I think I’ve just figured out that bone marrow, heads of things, sweetbreads etc. are just not my favorite type of food. I don’t want to take away from what they are doing which is innovative and I really admire their work — I think I’d just be happier with a more simple menu. On some of the dishes I felt they just added too many ingredients, garnishes and some of the plates were busy. Others, like their staple corn bread madeline with Parmesan cheese and honeycomb, were more successful. The squid with leek, curry and hearts of palm was excellent, the fried shrimp heads with bone marrow foam and potatoes less so (in my opinion). The fish dishes were strongest. I found the more communal aspect of dining at somewhere like Din Din more fun than this but I think I enjoy the shared experience of dining more. Anyway — Holdfast are doing good things and if you want your palette tested then go for it!

8.22.14 What can I say, hands down the best two meals I have had in a very long time.
This is the second time I have come to Holdfast and I am already planning for the next. The food is cutting edge and innovative, and the flavors are impeccable. The uni I had tonight was beyond words.
If possible, what I love more than the food is the atmosphere. Watching these two chefs create such beautiful and delicious plates, you can see how much they truly love what they do. Will and Joel, you are fun to watch and to talk to. You take such pride in what you do, it is inspirational. Thank you again for an amazing experience. I cannot wait to come back.

Tickets for this pop-​up sell out quick: within hours after the tickets are released. Get your seats fast: they only seat 12 at a time.
Honestly, I thought I was going to leave that meal hungry after seeing the pictures on their Facebook. You won’t leave hungry. Will and Joel are pretty awesome: you can see them cook, prep, and orchestrate a beautiful multi-​course, wine paired meal. If you have dietary needs, they’ll try to accommodate, but for the most part, go with an open mind and a friend so you can swap food that you don’t like.
The one thing you will get there that you cannot get from any other dining experience is that it is an intimate dining experience where you can interact with the chefs. The food is beautifully arranged, and it tastes as good as it looks. You can definitely taste the love they have put into their food.
The menu changes to what’s in season, so expect something different every month. We will be back!

Chef Will Preisch is the maestro of the new pop-​up darling, Holdfast Dining. Holdfast is a symphony of flavors, textures, and creativity without the stuffiness of fine dining in a setting that intimately connects the chef with his diners.
On Saturday, November 9^th, my wife and I celebrated my birthday at one of the most talked about dining experiences, Holdfast Dining. Chef Preisch presented 12 diners with a mind-​blowing 10 course meal paired with 5 exquisite glasses of wine. This entire culinary encounter cost only $ 75.
This value of an expertly prepared multi-​course meal is almost unheard of. The amazing 7 course tasting menu at Le Pigeon is $ 90 plus $ 45 for the wine paring. The legendary 6 course menu at Beast is $ 75 plus $ 35 for the wine pairing. Will Preisch is able to offer his 9 – 10 course meals with wine for only $ 75 because of the venue and service. Holdfast Dining pops up at KitchenCru every weekend. The space is rented by the hour and allows him to serve 12 diners at the kitchen counter without the overhead of a B&M. Your food is served personally by Will and his sous chef. Without a full service staff to employ, this allows Holdfast dining to offer this value of fine dining without an extravagant price tag.
Will is very personable while cooking and plating his dishes right in front of you. He explains each course’s theme, inspiration, and back story. One course involved pine. He told a story of calling his girlfriend from Europe because pine season was ending here. He had her stock up on pine then guided her on the phone on how to prep it to last. This is the connection Will wants with his diners and it adds so much to the experience of enjoying his food.
The 10 course meal is a symphony that while, plated so elegantly, is still prepared simply. He allows the flavors of the food to speak for themselves. Rather, sing for themselves. A highlight was a bowl of tender duck hearts, puffed grains in a truffled chicken jus topped with a local chicken yolk and garnished with Italian black truffle shavings. The richness of the egg yolk enhanced the earthiness of the truffles with the puffed grains adding a crunchy backup to this dish. He is a master of balancing flavor and texture. The first course was a buttermilk panna cotta with a layer of maple gelee topped with smoked trout roe and garnished with finger lime seeds. The panna cotta had a tang from the buttermilk that was balanced with the mild sweetness of the maple gelee. The smoked trout roe rocked the umami but tamed with the acidity and crunch of the finger lime seeds. While things sound fancy, every texture and flavor serves to enhance one another. Not one course was garnished with chives or parsley. The main protein course was lamb two ways: sous vide lamb loin and deep fried braised lamb belly. The loin was a perfect medium rare. The luscious lamb was served atop a black garlic purée. This purée was an outstanding balance of savory, sweet, and acidity. I asked Will how he prepared it. This jet black purée was cooked with black garlic, roasted white garlic, caramelized onions, squid ink, and sherry vinegar. His dessert courses slowly build to a sweet crescendo as not to overwhelm your pallette with sugar. The dessert courses started with a savory sweet «cheese» course of a cornbread madeleine topped with lardo, parmesan, and honeycomb. Next was a mildly sweeter frozen yogurt that had a savory tang with sweet honey and crunchy granulated honey. The sweet climax was a soul soothing pumpkin ice cream with a date caramel. It was a perfect concerto of desserts.
Holdfast is unique. While dining in the fully functioning kitchen, there will be food service professionals from caterers to food carts working in the kitchen prepping their own food. No pretentiousness here. It’s just a bustling kitchen, a chef, and his food. Speaking of which, since Will and his sous are the service, a gratuity is appreciated (not included in the $ 75). I gladly tipped my servers who had a long night of dishes ahead of them. The sous chef, who doubled as a de facto sommelier, was generous with the wine pairings as he would top off some of the more «thirsty» diners. Yes, tip for you!
Holdfast is well deserving of its white hot buzz. Demand is high. It is sold out through December. Will plans on releasing tickets on the 15^th of every month for the following month. You can stalk his site, but it is much easier to sign up for this mailing list. Dinners are every Friday-​Sunday. Once a month he offers a 5 – 6 course dinner for $ 55.
Add Holdfast to the list of bucket list food experiences in Portland’s culinary scene. Add Chef Will Preisch to the list of superstar Portland chefs. The symphony is a culinary melody orchestrated by a passionate chef.