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The Heathman Restaurant

(Motoya Nakamura, The Oregonian)

The Heathman Restaurant and Bar, the downtown Portland hotel restaurant that for decades ranked among Portland's very best restaurants, will close at the end of March after a spat between the owners of the restaurant and hotel.

Landry's, Inc., the Houston-based restaurant group which owns The Heathman Restaurant, announced the closure -- along with plans to open a new downtown Portland restaurant, retaining key staff -- in a statement.

The Heathman Restaurant, which opened in the 1980s inside Southwest Broadway's historic Heathman Hotel, rose to prominence under chefs Greg Higgins and his successor, Philippe Boulot, earning The Oregonian's Restaurant of the Year honors in 1988.

In 2011, Landry's, Inc. began a hostile takeover of McCormick & Schmick's, the Oregon-owned restaurant group that oversaw The Heathman Restaurant. The sale was completed in 2012. That year, Boulot left the restaurant to take over culinary operations at the Multnomah Athletic Club, handing the reins to Executive Chef Michael Stanton.

In 2014, the hotel sued Landry's, Inc., seeking to oust the restaurant over sluggish sales. Later that year, the Maryland-based La Salle Hotel Properties purchased the hotel for $64.3 million, dismissing several longtime staffers.

"There has been a clash of culture which has strained our working relationship," chef Stanton said in a statement. In the same statement, Landry's, Inc. announced plans to reopen with chef Stanton and General Manager Randy Noia in a new downtown location.

Steven Hurst, General Manager at The Heathman Hotel, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

-- Michael Russell