Project Grace

Excellent! Talk about fun, new and inventive. Food was very well throughout with mostly locally sourced (where possible) ingredients. Corkage is a fifteen-​er or buy off their weekly changing menus for both food and wine.
I can’t add to anything John wrote, but this is a temporary Friday night venue until they open their own place Renata projected summer ’14.
Menu is pre-​set, but unlike most places they will accommodate food allergy or dietary restrictions without hesitation. Even if they have to prepare something entirely different from the planned menu.
Service is above bar… for Portland standards (you all know what I’m talking about, we are about the food in PDX, so we let service slip) .I believe this is where Renata will truly shine along with their fantastic food. They pulled some of the top chefs from San Fran, so you are in for a treat!
I do suspect they will be very pricey and exclusive to the young new money crowd. Hopefully, they can stay the course with food and service also catering to those not in their 20s where we are less fickle and would bring repeat business over years to come.
Word to the wise :
If you are hungry or a big eater you may find the prefix shared meal on the skimpy side (yes, two share most small tasting size plates). It was a bit surprising how small the portions were, but plenty for a lass like myself. The husband left hungry but gave in to the quality theme after our amazing meal. Hence, my theory regarding high end pricing when they open for good.
I wish them all the best and look forward to trying another meal at both PG and Renata!

This is a limited time opportunity — my understanding is that the chef will be opening a full time establishment later this year (2014). But for now, Project Grace exists only on Friday nights, as a pop-​up in the space where Trinket does business earlier in the day. Every week, the menu changes to items from a different region of Italy. They serve 5 courses for a fixed price. There are no choices — you get that week’s 5 items, but from my experience, I would not hesitate to try anything that this kitchen produces. We started off with cod fritters, moved on to rabbit terrine, then an astoundingly simple yet delightful pasta, chicken with roasted farro, and a caramel/​chocolate dessert. None of the portions are huge, but it all adds up to substantial meal. By clearing the table between courses, the meal feels like a leisurely, luxurious event, but there was never a substantial wait for the next item, and I believe we were done in slightly over an hour. But what an hour it was — Project Grace was the highlight of the night for me.