To take the full measure of Magna Kubo, a spin-off to our 2021 Restaurant of the Year, Magna Kusina, you had to be there for Beaverton Restaurant Week. Despite its ambitions, this remains a wine bar at heart, and nearly every glass I’ve tried has been special in some way. There’s no obligation to build a full meal. Elsewhere, you’ll find things you’re happy you ordered once (celery root in a cool bagna cauda) and others you look forward to seeing again (grilled lamb ribs escabeche with apricot). Now executed by chef Matt Mayer, the menu’s other must-order is the potato chips with their pool of viscous, meniscus-defying whipped camembert. Jack) as a riff on the lox bagels Heavenly Creatures owner Joel Gunderson used to bring him on Northwest 23rd Avenue, it’s the dish I’ve ordered more than any other this year. If this happened to be your last meal, the young yellowtail toast wouldn’t be a bad start, its slabs of tender fish draped over smoky tonnato brightened with pickled onions and mustard seeds. That day, the new Northeast Broadway wine bar could have doubled for a Hollywood version of Heaven itself.

When I think of Heavenly Creatures, I think less of the dark walnut shelves lined with hard-to-find wines, and more of the clean bar topped with fresh-cut bulbs and thick candles gathering wax that I first visited in spring.

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