Say Goodbye to Northwest Institution Meriwether’s

Quintessential parents-in-town restaurant Meriwether’s will close May 13, the Oregonian reports. Farm-to-table before it was cool (at least nationally), Meriwether’s opened in 2004 in the 1920s restaurant space of L’Auberge. Owner John Orlando told the O that the cost of upkeep would be “several hundred thousand dollars,” so the restaurant will reopen as a rooftop joint in a five-story wooden building to go up in the parking lot. The original restaurant will become a private event space.

Meriwether’s newfound interest in an updated space is surprising, considering the restaurant’s history: The building sits on the site of the 1905 World’s Fair, the “Lewis and Clark Exposition.” Once the owners John and Renee Orlando adopted the space, the two renovated to reflect the building’s pedigree. The new building should open in around a year; expect the same feel of Meriwether’s verdant garden seating.

• Meriwether’s [Official]
• Northwest Portland’s historic Meriwether’s to close, reopen as rooftop restaurant [The O]