Portland Hotel Unveils 'Iron Chef' Vacation

To celebrate Hotel Lucia's two new restaurants by Iron Chef America winner Vitaly Paley, the hotel is offering a Paley's Picks getaway package, available through June 2013.

The James Beard Award-winning chef and the boutique hotel unveiled two new restaurants just off the hotel's lobby in late 2012, Portland Penny Diner and Imperial.

Inspired by Portland's lunch wagons of the 1800s, Portland Penny Diner is a counter-service diner that has quickly become known for its house-made Italian sodas and sandwiches like The Lil' Elvis (peanut butter, marionberry jam, fostered banana, and bacon on brioche). The menu also includes Toaster Tarts, a twist on Pop-Tarts, and waffle-cut french fries served with optional curds and gravy or shaved foie gras.

"Portland Penny Diner's food is inspired in part by what I ate in diners and greasy spoons while I struggled as a young musician in New York City," said Paley. "Take that and combine it with the bounty of the Pacific Northwest with an updated twist and you have Portland Penny Diner."

The Russian-born and French-trained chef also opened the more upscale Imperial, which features his take on Pacific Northwest cuisine. Signature appetizers include Oregon Dungeness crab and shrimp Imperial flatbread, and duck meatballs with Moyer prunes and orange gremolata. Mains include fried rabbit with semolina corn cake, Imperial barrel-aged hot sauce, watermelon rind pickles, and Beaumont honey, and Potlatch pilaf-stuffed poblano peppers with cherry tomato and grilled corn relish topped with walnut cream

Guests booking the $289 Paley Picks getaway package get overnight accommodation, a $50 gift certificate to dine at Portland Penny Diner or Imperial, a signed copy of Paley's cookbook Paley's Place, and a welcome basket filled with a selection of the chef's favorite local products, including a bottle of Argyle brut sparkling wine from the nearby Willamette Valley wine country, chocolates from Cacao chocolatier, and two of Paley's fruit and nut bars.

Lauren Mack is the Special Projects Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @lmack.