Reposted from 2006, an interview with Scott Dolich of Park Kitchen and the Bent Brick, by Nancy Rommelmann. Scott Dolich, owner/chef of Park Kitchen, sits in his private office, i.e., a park bench across from the restaurant, within feet of two middle-aged dudes playing a loose game of pick-up basketball. It’s warm and windy, Portland’s first true – Read more…
Interview: Jehnee Rains of Suzette Creperie
Nancy Rommelmann Interviews Jehnee Rains – Suzette Creperie Before Jehnee Rains became a pastry chef, she was a painter, and to hear the thirtysomething Portland native tell it, the enthusiasms are the same: a fascination with color, with texture; a curiosity as to how elements might work together, and a character that finds inspiration in – Read more…
Gourmet Magazine, R.I.P.
Just received an email from a friend who works at a Conde Nast publication, saying, “I had to read this three times to make sure I was still employed,” referring to the memo, released this morning, saying the company is ceasing three of its publications, including Gourmet. I will wager everyone over a certain age – Read more…
Interview: Dave Machado of Nel Centro, Altabira City Tavern and More
History, Trade, Commerce, Warfare: “In the Center” with Dave Machado Nel Centro, Dave Machado’s latest venture, is a hard-hat-only area in late March. Standing amid buckets of grout and workers using acetylene torches, Machado explains how he came to open his third Portland restaurant in the eight-thousand-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Hotel – Read more…
Review: Alu Wine Bar and Lounge
Note: This establishment has closed “When it Alu going to open?” my husband asked last week, of the sliver of a building on NE Martin Luther King Blvd. just south of Stanton St., which seemed months under construction. Through the grapevine, I already knew the chef was Sandro Di Giovani, formerly of Noble Rot and – Read more…
Review: Terroir Restaurant
{TERROIR IS NOW CLOSED – 2.08} By Nancy Rommelmann My neighborhood, near Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Fremont Ave., is not exactly teeming with restaurants. Unless you walk up to Mississippi, there’s Pizza a Go Go and the Fifth Quadrant, both on Williams, and on MLK, a Popeye’s, a new Subway, and, a – Read more…
Interview: Heidi Yorkshire
For more than twenty years, Heidi Yorkshire has written about food, as the author of several books Heidi made a name for herself as a travel writer for Bon Appetit and other publications; a longtime wine columnist for the Oregonian, and, most recently, as Willamette Week’s lead food critic. Tart and opinionated, with an unmistakable – Read more…
Interview: Morgan Brownlow
Since returning to Portland in 2002, Morgan Brownlow has seen his star rise higher, faster, than any local chef in recent memory. After two years with Ripe and Family Supper, he became partner and founding chef at Clarklewis, which won the Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year for 2004, barely three months after it opened. More, – Read more…