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 Bruce Carey and Chris Israel both have degrees in the visual arts as well as enviable restaurant pedigrees including San Francisco's Zuni Café, Square One, and Fog City Diner. In 1990, Israel and Carey opened a restaurant with Monique Siu at the corner of NW 21st and Glisan. Zefiro, with Israel's 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 (since 2000) in the Pearl with its classic Mediterranean menu by executive chef Kenny Giambalvo; Saucebox (since 1995), downtown, with Portland's best cocktails, DJ culture, and Chris Israel's pan-Asian and Pacific Island menu; and the richly intimate 23Hoyt (opened 2006) with Israel's signature take on pan-Mediterranean cuisine located on Portland's busiest boutique shopping avenue, all bear the BCR hallmark of contemporary elegance in fine dining.