“It was like an archaeological dig in here,” says Eugene native Richard Glass of the former Bima and Fuel site occupied by his new restaurant, Olea. “I wanted to brighten it up—and to change it, to give it a different feel.” Olea exudes an industrial chic that typifies the Pearl era yet redefines the Pearl […]
When Tapeo closed in January 2004, Portland lost one of its top tapas joints. Ricardo Segura’s sophisticated spot kick-started the small-plates trend in town back in 1997, but by early 2004 Tapeo’s cramped quarters and an epicurean ennui led Segura to forsake his lease. Now he returns with a bigger, bolder project: Patanegra. “I was […]
Americans have DC; Mexicans have DF (pronounced day EFF-ay), short for District Federale, the familiar term for their capital city. Like DC, DF embraces its role as an international seat of power, nurturing a thriving cosmopolitan community. Taking a page from its namesake, DF—the new Pearl District restaurant from Taqueria Nueve owner/chef Billy Schumaker and […]
Michael and Naomi Hebberoy have changed the face of Portland’s dining scene often enough by now that it’s no surprise they’ve gone Nip/Tuck on their own public mug. Last December, the Family Supper founders closed down their Gotham Building Coffee Shop—based at their Ripe headquarters—only to reopen it this April as the Gotham Building Tavern. […]
It seems counterintuitive that no one thought of this before. While a handful of sushi restaurants in town attract the attractives with quality fish and quaint décor, none provides the stylish setting of Masu. Huge windows brighten this second-story space during the day, but at night, dim red and orange lights create an intimate atmosphere, […]
Image: Julia Raymond Yin-yang comparisons are inevitable. The stark white walls of the new Saucebox expansion might make habitués of the notoriously dark Portland restaurant recoil like so many vampires at dawn, but the aesthetic is all about familiarity. “We don’t want a new restaurant,” says Joe Rogers, co-owner with Bruce Carey. “But we want […]
They meet late at night in a secret underground chamber: a cabal of our town’s top chefs, plotting how they intend to, shall we say, “enlighten” our unschooled palates. OK, not yet. That we know of. But Pascal Chureau, chef and co-owner of Lake O’s Italian hideaway Tucci and the newly opened Pearl bistro Fenouil, […]
Kenny Giambalvo may have made his name at Bluehour, but the recent opening of Balvo gives him marquee billing. After helping restaurateur Bruce Carey kick-start the Pearl’s dining scene as executive chef at the Mediterranean-influenced Bluehour, he yearned for a venue where he could return to the flavors of his Italian family’s kitchen. Now he […]
“I just signed on for 10 years of identity crisis,” says Jamie Dunn, who recently opened the Gilt Club with fiancée Cyndi Challacombe. “We’re actually a restaurant. We just feel like a bar.” Strip-club name and full bar aside, Dunn hopes to court a following of serious foodies, not refugees from the Bada Bing. Since […]
Owned by a foursome of family and friends, artisan pizzeria Nostrana may seem to be based on a highly combustible formula. But in this case, flames are a very good thing. “You could do an entire restaurant just off one of these,” boasts Deb Accuardi of the wood-fired oven that anchors her new collaboration with […]
