A Run in the Woods with Gregory Gourdet

[leaves crunching] [breathing heavily]

[serene atmospheric music]

When I moved here, I left New York battling addiction,

and I got sober a few months of living in Portland.

Portland is an extremely important place for me

because I true believe it was the starting point

of my life really changing and coming together.

For me, whenever I feel like I need

to recharge and take a step back

and just start over again like I did

when I got sober when I moved here,

walking into Forest Park represents that beginning.

We are a really forward-thinking town

and I think one of the best things

about living in Portland is there

are so many different types of diets

and so many different types of people represented

in the food scene and the eating scene.

[bright upbeat low-fi music]

Departure symbolizes a trip, a voyage.

We're hopefully creating a fantasy.

We're right smack in the middle of downtown.

We're on the roof of this hotel; it's a historic building.

We have these beautiful, iconic views of the city

throughout the whole entire restaurant.

Really, you're just supposed to be inspired

by a sea-bound voyage through Asia,

which is the concept of the restaurant.

When of our favorite traditional dishes

is a curry-rubbed whole fish, and most often times,

we get a wild Pacific snapper,

and we rub it with our house curry blend

that has about 12 different spices and aromatics

and cure it overnight, and it's roasted

at a high heat in the oven.

The skin gets nice and charred and a little bit crispy.

We have a halibut and clam curry,

and it is a green curry.

It's a Thai-inspired dish and has this beautiful curry paste

with galangal and chilies and cilantro and basil.

It's a little bit spicy.

It's definitely a little funky.

It seasons halibut and clams and a little bit asparagus

and Thai eggplant, so everything is really green.

[bright upbeat music]

Portland is an extremely amazing community

of people who truly believe in all these amazing values

of taking care of yourself, taking care of each other,

and taking care of the environment,

so it truly creates this oasis for wellness.

[bright upbeat music]