Trifecta, baker Ken Forkish’s ambitious attempt to bring the cocktails, oysters and vibe of a big-city tavern to Portland, will close after six years in Southeast Portland, The Oregonian has learned.

Forkish, who informed staff about the closure Thursday afternoon, plans to keep Trifecta and its adjacent bakery open through the end of the year, with plans in the works for a send-off bash on Dec. 31.

Amid a mini rash of closure announcements, including Byways Cafe and Olympia Oyster Bar just last week, Trifecta’s is the most momentous -- and surprising -- of the year. The restaurant is a fixture on The Oregonian’s annual guide to Portland’s best restaurants, and can rightfully claim a spot at or near the top of a dozen local best-of lists: Best Portland happy hours, best burgers, best oyster bars, best desserts, best cocktails and best bakeries* among them.

(*Yes, this means our recent pick for Portland’s best croissant will soon be no more.)

Forkish opened Trifecta in November of 2013, channeling his Manhattan-sized vision into a 5,000-square-foot former auto upholsterer in what was fast becoming Portland’s new nightlife district (today, the restaurant is bookended by beer and karaoke bars). The restaurant debuted with comfy red booths and a wood-fired-everything kitchen in the back, a marble-topped bar with a leather-bound cocktail book up front and a French-inspired workshop bakery at the side where Forkish would occasionally emerge toting baskets of warm bread for dropping off at tables.

Not all of those aspects made it through the first year, but many did. In the end, it took me the better part of five years to figure out how to fully appreciate Trifecta: to fully appreciate the quality of the bakery, and to stop holding the great happy hour against it, but instead incorporate some of its simple and inexpensive elements -- the great pimento cheeseburger, the oyster sliders, the expertly crafted negroni -- into a larger meal. Soon thereafter, opening chef Rich Meyer moved on, quickly replaced by former Clyde Common chef Chris DiMinno. And much as they did after losing opening pastry chef Eve Kuttemann and opening bartenders Andy Boggs and (current Eem point man) Eric Nelson, Trifecta rolled on.

Until it didn’t.

Forkish, who also owns and will continue to operate Ken’s Artisan Bakery, Ken’s Artisan Pizza and Checkerboard Pizza, prefers to dwell on the positive.

“The thing that’s interesting is, I’m closing a really good restaurant,” says Forkish, who has been contemplating the closure for some time. “Usually, a restaurant as good as Trifecta doesn’t have to close. But there you go. The fifth stage of grief is acceptance.”

-- Michael Russell

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