Prominent industry stars chef Doug Adams and his wife brewer Whitney Burnside are teaming-up to open Grand Fir Brewing in the former home of West Coast Grocery brewing in southeast Portland.

Whitney Burnside is leaving her multi award-winning stint as head brewer of 10 Barrel Brewing’s Portland location to stretch her wings and go independent. Doug Adams made a splash in the foodie world during his stint at Paley’s Place and then on Top Chef, before he opened top dining destinations like Bullard Tavern and Holler. The two married in 2019 and have a daughter together, their pairing is like a master class of beer and food that they hope to showcase both on the plate and in the glass, and reflected in the hospitality at Grand Fir Brewing.

By the time Whitney Burnside had met Doug Adams she had made a name for herself as one of the strongest voices and tastemakers in the industry. She started her career in the cellar at Laurelwood Brewing in 2009, and then blossomed as an assistant brewer at Upright Brewing before landing a gig brewing at Elysian Brewing in Seattle pre-buyout and under the direction of legendary brewmaster Dick Cantwell. After 2 years at Elysian she was looking for a change and took a job at Pelican Brewing in Pacific City. Working under brewmaster Darron Welch she designed some of her first and best award-winning beers like Queen of Hearts (World Beer Cup gold medal) and Pelicano Extra (one of the best ever Mexican-style Lagers.) It was then she was offered the role to lead 10 Barrel Brewing’s upcoming Portland location prior to their sale to ABInBev. The opportunity was too good to pass up and she later developed flagships like Pearl IPA.

Texas native Doug Adams came to Portland in 2008, working a succession of cooking jobs at high profile restaurants like Andy Ricker’s Ping and Paley’s Place before he became chef de cuisine at Imperial and Portland Penny Diner. In 2014 he competed on Bravo television networks Top Chef and came in as a top finalist at 3rd place. Known for his Texas inspired cooking and his famous world-class fried chicken, Adams embraced his roots to open Bullard Tavern in downtown Portland in December 2018. Named after his small hometown in east Texas, Bullard serves the kind of down home casual BBQ and Tex-Mex inspired dishes of Adams childhood only prepared at an elevated level that make you believe a roll your own beef rib taco can be life altering. And in 2021 he launched The Royal Coachmen, a dinner series that pops up along streams, lakes and campgrounds that combines the joys of fly fishing and outdoor cooking.

Whitney Burnside had already been developing and refining her vision for a brewery before she had even met Doug. The evolving concept has gone from intimate small plate brewpub, to custom built-out new developments, and female driven brand identities long before family and a pandemic shifted focus and coalesced into a shape that both she and Doug can call their own.

“My vision coincided with Doug’s, he was looking to get out of the restaurant industry and do something more family oriented,” recalls Whitney.

“In March 2020 when my restaurants came to a grinding halt, taking the time to have dinner with my family just sped it up for me,” says Adams. “The pandemic played a huge part in it.”

In August 2021 Doug Adams divested from the restaurants and brands he had helped create and was the face of. Burnt out on the restaurant industry and with changing priorities, he was ready for something new and less fast paced.

Before finding out that West Coast Grocery brewing was on the market and becoming available as a viable option, Whitney and Doug had secured the former Ross Island Brewing equipment and were looking for a new location. Numerous times they thought they had found the right place in an old bakery or a bank in Oregon City, they considered partnering with different restaurant groups, were offered brand new buildings and customized spaces. The options for two well known and bankable creative minds were all on the table, but each required two elements they were no longer prepared for: time, and outside money. 

“Whitney and I both come from very large operations, but we really wanted to do this on our own which meant bootstrapping a lot of things, which meant looking for a space that we can make work without tying in a lot of big partners. We were looking forward to a space that we could come in and make our own without sacrificing our independence,” says Adams.

“I had complete freedom,” says Whitney about her time at 10 Barrel. “But it’s different when it’s yours.”

But the pandemic had a way of changing people’s priorities and instead of waiting for something to happen while pursuing their own separate careers they thought ‘why not now?’

“When Whitney and I fell in love, got married, started a family, we always knew that we wanted to do something together but the pandemic sped it up and it was like ‘why wait?’” exclaims Adams.

Grand Fir Brewing comes from the heart, everything from the beer to the food is personal. What started out as an illusive ‘what if?’ type retirement plan that seemed far off in the future is coming into focus like a dream that was always slightly out of grasp. When Whitney and Adams talk about the brewpub it’s not as a brand or in the third person, it’s more like discussing your own children.

Grand Fir Brewing will start with the beers at the forefront, and everything else built up around them to support and complement. Whitney has always been interested in brewing many different types of beers, and at 10 Barrel she got to make most of them. But at Grand Fir she will first and foremost brew what she and Doug like to drink, and that starts with West Coast IPA, updated takes on classic American Pale Ale, Session IPA’s and quaffable styles like Pilsner, and even some English-style ales, and Whitney is particularly into Belgian styles of beer. We will also likely get a new iteration of the ‘Bullard Bock’, a Texas-style Bock that Whitney brewed for Doug’s Bullard Tavern modeled on his old staple Shiner Bock. The new version will be lighter, reflecting Doug’s own changing tastes.

“On our first date he said his favorite style of beer was Ambers…and then I considered whether or not I wanted to go on a second date!” recalls Whitney with a laugh.

“And I was kinda lying, that was the nice style of beer that I would drink. I drank a lot of Miller Lite and Miller High Life, and Rainier,” says Adams.

With enough chiding and introductions of new beer styles Doug’s palate has evolved out of light beers and into more flavorful and food friendly styles. These days he loves a good lager or West Coast IPA. Beers that they can both get behind are food and cocktail-inspired sours, as well as using herbs and spices influenced by Whitney’s background at a bakery and on an herb farm before she became a brewer.

“I will really have fun with beers that really speak to me, and are reflections of me, to really showcase that with every tap I have on. I want every tap to really speak to what I love,” says Whitney, which means some beers that you may expect, might never make it to the taps.

A perfect example would be NE-style Hazy IPA’s, a genre of beers that Whitney has made more than her fair share of at 10 Barrel and done exceptionally well with them. But at Grand Fir Brewing she is considering abandoning the category altogether, a move that Doug is thrilled about as he is also not a fan.

Whitney and Doug’s thinking about beer have both evolved alongside each other just like any successful relationship transforming from independence to partnership. Instead of thinking about beer or food on its own, it’s now about learning to work together instead of against each other as a functional family unit. This is food from the heart, neither fancy or basic, just satisfyingly good casual items that are familiar but delivered uncompromisingly.  Perfect for happy hour bites over beers, but with enough flair to satisfy on a date night out. 

“It has to have a nice balance of pedestrian dishes that we feel the neighborhood needs, the standards, the classics, and then a really good mix of nightly specials,” says Adams. 

Fish & Chips is the first thing he mentions when asked for specifics. Doug’s been thinking about the best way to make them ever since Whitney took him to her favorite spot on the Oregon Coast when they first started dating.

“It’s an equation of crispyness, to moistness, plus that batter staying on, that and fresh, fresh, fresh fish. I’m a beer battered guy,” says Adams.

Seafood will be a big part of the menu, look for oysters when they are fresh, perhaps even a seafood tower. 

There will be the usual suspects of smoke and pickles, stuff that I am kind of known for in town. I’m not totally ready to throw it out. I am really excited to be at the helm of a small kitchen that’s not this huge machine, it’s gonna be really personal,” says Adams. Longtime fans of his cooking will be excited to have his famous smoked then fried chicken wings, and he has aspirations to even do buckets of fried chicken on special occasions. 

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about food with beer and what that means, and what do you think of in that classic bar or brewery situation. There will be a lot of classic beer/food stuff kind of turned on its head. I think the real pull is Whitney’s beer, and hopefully my food can elevate that experience” - Doug Adams.

Doug will be able to scratch his creative itch with a more fine dining experience in the Grand Fir Supper Club. West Coast Grocery’s former Bodega Barrel Room was used as a barrel cellar for intimate tastings, at Grand Fir Brewing it will be transformed into a 12-16 private dining room for ticketed dinners and a brand new menu each week serving some of his favorite steakhouse classics like smoked prime rib, and a slow beer braised elk made for the fall Oktoberfest season.

As personal as Grand Fir Brewing is to Doug and Whitney, they want it to be just as personal to the Buckman neighborhood. As a young cook, Doug lived up the street and got to know the area well. Both are live music fans and are excited to be next to Revolution Hall, and in the same building as Strum Guitars. From connecting to benefits for the local school, to partnering with other businesses, they want to show to the neighborhood that they are there to stay and serve their needs.

“I think people want to feel like they are welcome, that they are involved, that they can relate. And I think a lot of places don’t really have that feel, they feel kind of cold on that level,” observes Whitney.

“From the guest perspective I feel like Portland is looking for that neighborhood spot that makes them feel good,” adds Adams. 

The changes that they make from West Coast Grocery to Grand Fir will be minimal as far as the layout and features. The taproom is bathed in warm light from the huge south facing glass entry that projects beautiful beams of sunlight and long shadows onto the sunken brewhouse and lower dining level. To lower the 15bbl brewhouse into the renovated building they had to remove the old doug fir sub-floor, and those beams were used to build everything from the bar to the tables and also inspire the brewery’s name. 

All the changes in-store are in service of the neighborhood, that means building out the outdoor seating with a year-round heated structure and utilizing the side rolling glass windows on 14th for to-go meal pick-ups and house cooked dinners for special occasions. The lower level partial bar they want to replace with a small stage for Bluegrass picking sessions.

Grand Fir Brewing promises weekend brunch with custom housemade bloody mary’s, and a full cocktail menu designed by some of Portland’s heavy hitters behind the bar. 

Grand Fir Brewing will begin an estimated 2 month construction and rebranding that will see new Pioneer Vessel Tanks and a fresh mural install when West Coast Grocery officially closes as of September 1st. Architects Koble Creative worked their magic to construct the space when it opened under previous ownership, and Grand Fir will keep much of it intact by playing up a European-style cafe/bistro vibe with everything you can expect from a brewpub, and a kitchen that will let Adams cooking shine by showing off what he does best.

“I don’t want to do anything else without these two…” says Adams, gesturing toward Whitney and their daughter Annie - he tears up a little. “It’s like why wait, why have a retirement goal, it’s like fuck it, lets do it now. I’ve been waiting my entire life for this project.” 

Look for Grand Fir Brewing to tentatively launch in November 2022 at 1403 SE Stark. Follow them on instagram @grandfirbrewing