Forte
Mon to Fri 7 to 4Book the room

Forte Portland: coffee, wine and event space at 900 SW 5th Avenue

FORTE

One room in downtown Portland. It runs on coffee at seven, on Oregon pinot at five, and it books for your two hundred people in between.

06:40  /  the lights are still off  /  scroll

07:00Longbottom, hot-air roasted

Longbottom, pulled at seven,
before the lobby fills.

Organic beans, roasted with hot air rather than flame, so the fruit stays in the cup. Pastry from Marsee Baking and Cheryl's on 12th arrives before the doors open.

Cafe  Mon to Fri 7:00 to 16:00Wine Down Thursday  16:00 to 20:00

A single espresso shot pulls into a warm ceramic cup on a dark walnut counter, lit from the side by cold morning window light, steam rising in fine ribbons. The camera turns slowly all the way around it.
The camera moves in off a rainy downtown Portland sidewalk, through the doors of a 1940s modernist tower, across a lobby of pale marble and bronze, and settles on a small coffee bar tucked in beside the elevators.

08:30
Off the sidewalk
and into marble.

The Standard Insurance Center has held this corner of SW 5th since the forties. Pale stone, bronze edges, windows to the ceiling. Forte sits in the lobby, so the room is already impressive before you order anything.

10:00 / sourcingThree names, credited

We buy from people we can drive to.

Whole roasted coffee beans spilled across a dark walnut counter in cold window light.Still 01 / beans

Longbottom Coffee

Hillsboro roaster, organic, hot air rather than flame. Our espresso and our filter both come from them.

A butter croissant and a scone on a pale ceramic plate on a dark walnut counter.Still 02 / pastry

Marsee Baking

Morning pastry, delivered before seven. Croissant and scone, gone by ten most days.

A simply plated catering lunch of vegetables and grains on pale ceramic.Still 03 / catering

Cheryl's on 12th

Lunch plates in the cafe and every catering order in the event spaces upstairs.

12:30 / the spacesOver a dozen rooms. Six you will actually ask about.

Pick a room. The plan and the numbers follow.

Schematic massing, level 1 and terrace. Not to scale.

Empty raked auditorium seating facing a low stage, warm wood panelling, house lights down.

01 / selected

The Auditorium

Fixed seating, low stage, full blackout. The room for an all-hands, a launch or a keynote you are recording.

Theater
150 seats
Panel set
120 seats
Daylight
None, blackout
Load in
Lobby, level 1
The same marble lobby from a locked-off camera as the light shifts from cool overcast morning to low amber late-afternoon sun raking across the stone, shadows lengthening and the colour temperature falling.

16:00

The light turns
and so does the room.

Locked-off camera, 5600K to 2700K, shadows stretching across the stone. The espresso machine goes quiet. Glassware comes out.

17:00 / wine down thursdayTerrace, 16:00 to 20:00

Two valleys,
four hours,
one terrace.

Everything we pour comes from a two hour drive. The Willamette Valley sends pinot noir off volcanic and marine sediment soils. Walla Walla sends the reds that need heat to finish.

Sourcing map / flat vector

Where the wine comes fromTwo growing regions. The Willamette Valley runs south from Portland in northwest Oregon. Walla Walla sits east, over the Washington border.Willamette ValleyWalla WallaPortland

Willamette Valley

60 miles south

Volcanic, marine sediment

Walla Walla

240 miles east

Loess over cobble

Deep red Oregon pinot noir pours into a thin-stemmed glass on a terrace table at dusk, the Portland skyline soft behind it and the city lights just coming on. The camera pushes slowly in.

By the glass

Wine by the glass and bottle
WineRegionGlassBottle
Pinot Noir, Dundee HillsWillamette Valley$17$66
Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity HillsWillamette Valley$19$74
Chardonnay, Ribbon RidgeWillamette Valley$15$58
Pinot GrisWillamette Valley$13$50
Cabernet SauvignonWalla Walla$18$70
Syrah, The Rocks DistrictWalla Walla$21$82
Sparkling Brut, méthode traditionnelleWillamette Valley$14$54

Sample pour list. Replace with Forte's current list from the CMS.

19:00 / book the room(503) 550-5590

Have the day we just showed you.

A wide crane reveal of the empty 150-seat auditorium, warm wood and neutral upholstery, the stage lit low, the camera rising and pulling back to show the whole room.

Capacity

Capacity and starting rate by space
SpaceSeatedStandingFrom
The Auditorium150—$2,400
The Terrace4880$1,600
The Boardroom16—$450
Classroom A30—$700
Classroom B30—$700
The Lobby Bar2460$1,200

Catering runs through Cheryl's on 12th. Rates hold for building tenants and for repeat bookings.

Indicative figures pending Forte's rate card.

Inquiry

Where your people sleep

Four downtown hotels hold a Forte rate. Book the room, then send this list with the invite.

  • AC Hotel Portland DowntownForte rate · 5 min walk
  • The Bidwell MarriottForte rate · 6 min walk
  • The BensonForte rate · (503) 228-2000
  • The Royal SonestaForte rate · 4 min walk