PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland chef Doug Adams, one of the stars of ‘Top Chef’ Season 12, is finally opening his own restaurant.
Texas-raised Adams earned praise on the Bravo TV cooking competition show for his southern dishes, advancing all the way to the finals before losing out to Mei Lin of Los Angeles (fellow Portland chef Gregory Gourdet of Departure was runner-up).
If you've made the Portland food scene rounds, you’ve probably eaten Adams’ food. He’s has worked with some of the best chefs in the city, including Andy Ricker (Pok Pok), Gregory Denton (Ox) and Vitaly Paley (Paley’s Place). Adams was most recently the executive chef at Paley’s Imperial restaurant in downtown Portland.
Adams was nominated as a 2016 James Beard Award Rising Star, in part for his famed fried chicken.
Now, he gets to launch his own restaurant. Adams will open Bullard at the new Hotel Woodlark, opening in late 2017, according to a spokeswoman for Provenance Hotels. The restaurant will be in the heart of downtown, on the corner of Southwest Alder Street and Park Avenue.
“I always wanted to open my own restaurant and, when the opportunity arose to partner with Provenance Hotels and do it here in Portland, I knew it was meant to be,” Adams reveals. “Portland is a one-of-a-kind-place with amazing indigenous products and a true sense of community. I’m incredibly excited to create a restaurant that will marry the spirit of this city with my own personal culinary heritage and be influenced by the amazing cuisine in which I continually find creative inspiration.”
Bullard is named after the Texas town where Adams grew up. In a press release, Providence Hotels said Adams "embodies the unpretentiously sophisticated, creatively adventurous vibe that defines his adopted hometown."
Adams will launch Bullard with partner Jennifer Quist, formerly of the Multnomah Wisky Library.
The Oregonian’s Michael Russell first broke the news early Wednesday morning. According to Russell, the restaurant will be open for lunch and brunch, and will feature a version of Adams’ fried chicken.
