Last month I wrote about Portland, Ore.’s Dining Month, running throughout the month of March, offering diners the opportunity to enjoy three-course dinners for just $29 at more than 120 participating restaurants throughout the metro area. My husband and I managed to get to the city just before the offer ran out, dining out both Wednesday and Thursday nights at a couple of well-respected and popular spots, new to us and both found worthy of future visits. clarklewis came up to bat first, located in the Central Eastside industrial district in a street-level former warehouse space. One confronts a stack of split white oak in the entryway; not simply a design element, it fuels the grill for steaks and other menu items. Our table provided an excellent view into the open kitchen where we could observe the low-key but exceedingly efficient crew preparing various dishes. clarklewis features Italian-inspired, local, organic, seasonal, sustainable fare. Winning local and national acclaim, it is a former Oregonian restaurant of the year and was named one of 10 most notable new restaurants by the Wall Street Journal in 2004. All three of us opted to order from the Dining Month menu, but we decided to start with a few items on the regular menu. Harry ordered the Loaded Potato soup while daughter Jenny and I shared a small cheese board. The soup arrived steaming hot and, as promised, loaded not only with potato but crispy bacon and tons of flavor.   Along with slices of asiago and generous chunks of a mellow Oregon blue cheese, our cheese board included perfectly roasted hazelnuts, house-made orange marmalade, course mustard and a heap of crisp pickled veggies — a wonderful blend of flavors and textures and a great opening course. As the golden beet salad didn’t tickle the fancy of any of us, we all chose the other first-course option, tasty salt cod fritters with an espelette aioli, crispy on the outside but moist and almost creamy on the inside.   I opted for an entrée of Oregon steelhead, technically a trout but with flesh the texture and color of salmon.   The crisped, salted skin contrasted with the perfectly cooked, moist meat, and the accompanying roasted fingerling potatoes, rainbow chard and lemon beurre blanc combined to create a wonderfully balanced dish that left me feeling satisfied but not too full (because, of course, dessert was to come). My husband and daughter both chose the other entrée option, tagliatelle with a plum tomato and lamb ragu (shredded, not ground) and sprinkled with pecorino. Thankfully, they shared a few bites with me, as I found it rich and hearty with a wonderful blend of flavors. They both decided on the lighter buttermilk panna cotta for dessert, served with foraged huckleberry sauce and a house cookie (shortbread-like).   I find it hard to ignore chocolate, so I went for the warm chocolate ale cake (made with Oakshire stout) with a semisweet chocolate ganache.   The cake seemed a bit dry and, while it was enjoyable, I actually decided that the wonderfully creamy panna cotta contrasted with the fruity tanginess of the huckleberries made for the most interesting taste combination. We’ve decided we’ll have to visit clarklewis again soon; I’m eager to see what the changing seasons will introduce to the menu and perhaps find out what a white oak-grilled steak tastes like. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor