Under-construction Woodlark hotel announces first F&B partner

Chef Doug Adams will open his first restaurant—named Bullard after the East Texas town where he was raised—at Woodlark, a new hotel being developed in downtown Portland, Ore. Adams is the first food-and-beverage partner to be attached to the project that is being developed by Portland-based Provenance Hotels, a hotel owner and operator, and NBP Capital.

Provenance and NPB purchased the historic Cornelius Hotel, built in 1908 but vacant in recent years, and the Woodlark Building, a 1912 retail and office building, and have begun construction to merge the adjacent buildings into one and reimagine them as The Woodlark, a 151-room hotel. Woodlark and Bullard will open in late 2017.

“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 said. “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.”

A standout contestant on Season 12 of BRAVO’s Top Chef, Adams embodies the unpretentiously sophisticated, creatively adventurous vibe that defines his adopted hometown. Born in Colorado and raised in Texas, Adams got his start in the kitchens of Missoula, Mont., before moving to Portland to attend the Western Culinary Institute. He launched his career in the Rose City at Lucier, did a stint in the kitchen with Chef Andy Ricker of Pok Pok fame, and helped Chef Greg Denton open MetroVino before moving to the iconic Paley’s Place. When Chef Vitaly Paley opened Imperial at Provenance Hotels’ Hotel Lucia in 2012, Adams helped to launch the restaurant as sous chef before being tapped to lead the team as chef de cuisine in 2014. At Imperial, Adams’ creative energy and leadership – and irresistible fried chicken – earned him a nomination as a 2016 James Beard Award Rising Star, the title of 2015 Chef of the Year from Eater PDX and Imperial itself the distinction of 2015 Best Restaurant from the Willamette Week.

To create Bullard, he is partnering with Jennifer Quist, a culinary mover and shaker who helped launch Portland’s iconic Multnomah Whisky Library and owned the much-loved Riffle, which closed in 2013.

Provenance Hotels is no stranger to launching projects by top culinary talent and has made a name for itself by identifying, empowering and collaborating with chefs on the rise. The company most recently partnered with another Top Chef alumni, Nina Compton, to open her first restaurant, Compere Lapin, at the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans. It has also worked with James Beard Award-winner and Iron Chef America champion Vitaly Paley, who opened Imperial at Hotel Lucia in Portland and James Beard Award-winner Jason Wilson, who opened Miller’s Guild at Hotel Max in Seattle.

The Woodlark will be designed by Portland’s Staicoff Design Studio. Like all Provenance Hotels, it will include art, the company’s signature pillow and spiritual menus, a pet program and Sealy Black Label Napa mattresses, eco-friendly bath products and complimentary Wi-Fi. The Woodlark will also have 2,500 square feet of event space for receptions, casual get-togethers and meetings.