davenport press

July 27, 2024
“Wine Enthusiast names 2024’s best wine restaurants in the Pacific Northwest,” Koin 6

“Wine Enthusiast praised the neighborhood restaurant’s daily-changing seasonal menu with an extensive cellar and ‘unpretentious dishes’ from Chef Kevin Gibson.”

July 15, 2024
“Forward 50 Restaurants 2024,” Wine Enthusiast

“If only there were more neighborhood restaurants like Davenport, with a daily-changing local-seasonal menu from a wine-obsessed chef (Kevin Gibson) with an extensive cellar (credit to Gibson’s late partner Kurt Heilemann) built for the long haul.”

June 3, 2024
“The 50 Best Restaurants in Portland Right Now,” Portland monthly

“At 76, Portland food legend Jerry Huisinga (Genoa, Bar Mingo) has teamed up with Davenport’s ingredient Jedi Kevin Gibson—two white-jacketed titans together at last. It’s like watching Pacino and De Niro in Heat. Huisinga makes the ethereal gnocchi; Gibson makes the devastating lamb neck sugo on top. It may be the best thing you’ll eat this year.”

August 30, 2023
“Portland’s Top 50 Restaurants,” Portland Monthly

“Kevin Gibson is a quiet legend among his peers. You don’t need to stare at the plates here or deconstruct the ingredients. The best of the season is front and center in the sort of dishes you might find at a romantic spot off a main street in Europe. From the changing à la carte dinner menu, count on a masterly soup, a textbook pâté, and a perfect steak. If agnolotti in brodo is in the house, grab it. The occasional cheeseburger is a work of art, topped in summer with a juicy, thick heirloom tomato round. And know this: no one makes better scallops than Kevin Gibson. The wine list has plenty of Euro treasures, mostly $45 and up.”

“Review: Davenport,” Conde Nast Traveler

At this unpretentious fine-dining favorite, the food flawless and never fussy, and ingredients are showcased in their unadulterated states.

December 29, 2022
“Portland Monthly Food Writers’ Best Bites of 2022 at Portland Restaurants,” Portland Monthly

“Kevin Gibson has been quietly putting together one of Portland’s most considered menus in a humble but elegant dining room next door to the East Burnside Heart Coffee for close to a decade. He’s a real chef’s chef: his dishes are remarkable for their restraint, celebrated for what’s not there, rather than what is.”

August 26, 2022
”Portland, Oregon: best bars and restaurants for wine lovers,” Decanter Magazine

“In-the-know locals wallow in chef Kevin Gibson’s refined, balanced cooking and his 2,500-bottle strong wine cellar – one of the best in town (which includes many trophy bottles from Burgundy and Champagne that, according to Gibson, are consumed regularly). In fact, many of Portland’s chefs and somms have been mentored by Gibson in the nearly 40 years since he arrived from Iowa.”

February 9, 2022
“Make Davenport Chef Kevin Gibson’s Seafood Stew,” Portland Monthly

“Transport yourself to Catalonia with this nutty, toasty, tomatoey romesco de peix.”

August 31, 2021
”Portland’s Best New Cheeseburger is Hiding on Davenport’s Lunch Menu,” Portland Monthly

“Once again, acclaimed chef Kevin Gibson makes a burger for the record books—heavenly meat included.”

July 2018
“Davenport, when the wine is flowing and the food is just right,” The Oregonian

“Catch Davenport on the right night, when the wine is flowing and the food is just right, and it can feel like the beating heart of Portland's restaurant scene.”

November 2017
“Davenport is a tale of two restaurants. Both restaurants are very good,” Willamette Week

“Whatever the ingredients, the balance and poise will surprise you.”