Vitaly Paley’s Headwaters Opens Friday

Headwaters Restaurant will officially replace The Heathman Restaurant inside of The Heathman Hotel on October 14, according to a press release just received by Eater. The wildly anticipated restaurant comes from one of Portland’s biggest chefs, Vitaly Paley (Paley’s Place, Imperial), with partner and wife Kimberly Paley and veteran restaurant manager, Garrett Peck. Ken Norris (Clutch Sausagery, Riffle NW) will head the Headwaters kitchen. Here are five things to know before planning to eat at Headwaters:

1. Headwaters will ultimately serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with brunch on weekends and regular Russian Tea Service, too; however, this Friday through Sunday, it’ll be open for dinner only, says PoMo. Expect regular lunch to begin at 11 a.m. October 17, with brunch officially starting October 22. Breakfast is currently TBD.

2. The press release shares numerous French-inspired dishes with a focus on seafood, which plays perfectly into Norris’s cooking background, for those who remember his restaurant, Riffle NW, opened in the Pearl in 2012. Headwaters will have a raw bar dubbed Sea Bar; serve a smorgasbord of seafood dishes table-side in something called Seafood According to the French; and will also offer a whole roasted fish daily.

3. Happy hour could also be something to get excited about, as it will be offered seven days a week (2 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 3 to 6 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays). Heading the bar program is Brandy Feit, who trained beneath Jeffery Morganthaler (Clyde Common) and will serve updated classic cocktails, two cocktails on tap, and KVASS Punch (KVASS is a Russian beverage traditionally made from rye bread).

4. Handling desserts and the overall pastry program is Jeff McCarthy, chef and operations manager at KitchenCru, with experience working pastry at Carlyle and Ten-01 and consulting on pastry for numerous Portland restaurants. Examples of desserts include pistachio financier, with saffron cremeux, ginger milk crumbs, and yogurt coulis, and gingerbread baba, with rum glazed hasselback pear and butter pecan ice cream.

5. There’s more to look forward to down the road, too: Headwaters will begin serving its classy, luxurious, traditional, and visually stunning Russian Tea Service mid-November.

Headwaters will fling open the doors for dinner this Friday. Get a sneak peek at how Headwaters transformed the space tomorrow, when Eater Portland reveals photos of the interior.

Headwaters [Official Site]

First Look at Vitaly Paley’s Seafood-Loving Headwaters, Opening October 14 [PoMo]

All Previous Headwaters Coverage [EPDX]