Bruce Carey Restaurants Bluehour. saucebox. 23Hoyt. clarklewis.

Bruce Carey Restaurants have defined a sophistication in dining where the designed space and world-class service are as integral to the experience as the artistry in the kitchen. Taste, sound, scent, object, and art combine to make an elevated dining event. From the sleek modern spaces by Brad Cloepfil's Allied Works and Holst Architecture to the fresh eggs from Bruce Carey's hens, no detail of the diner's experience - aesthetic or culinary - is overlooked.

It's no coincidence that Oregon-native, Bruce Carey has a degree in the visual arts as well as an enviable restaurant pedigree including San Francisco's Zuni Café and Fog City Diner. In 1990, Carey opened a restaurant with Monique Siu and Christopher Israel at the corner of NW 21st and Glisan. Zefiro, with a fresh, ingredient-driven, pan-Mediterranean menu had a phenomenal 10-year run and is still a benchmark against which Portland restaurants are compared.

The sleek and exceptionally modern Bluehour (opened upon the Zefiro closing in 2000) in the Pearl District with its classic Modern-Mediterranean menu by executive chef Kenny Giambalvo; Saucebox (since 1995), downtown, with Portland's best cocktails, DJ culture, and Chef Gregory Gourdet's enticing pan-Asian and Pacific Island menu; and the richly intimate 23Hoyt (opened 2006) with Chef Aaron Barnett's signature take on the New American Brasserie located on Portland's busiest boutique shopping avenue, all bear the BCR hallmark of contemporary elegance in fine dining.