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 Modera. “You remember what this place was, that skuzzy Days Inn bar?” he asks. I tell him, I do, and how depending on your mood, the purple lighting and soiled carpet and solo [...]

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 who cooks has a Gourmet story. Here’s mine: I started subscribing to the magazine at age 12, thinking it so beautiful, so sophisticated; all these [...]

For more than twenty years, Heidi Yorkshire has written about food, as the author of several books; 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 voice, Yorkshire is known to straight shoot in her reviews, something that can upset the locals, which upsets Yorkshire not at all. “I try to not worry about whether people like me [...]

{TERROIR IS NOW CLOSED – 2.08} 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 little bit south, Tiny’s and Echo. All these places slant young, and you can pretty much eat with pocket change. Whether the ‘hood can support a more upscale [...]

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 Pok Pok; that the food was German; that the upstairs would have the feel of a speakeasy. That Alu is within walking distance of our [...]

[This is part two of an interview with David Machado of Vindalho and Lauro restaurants. You can find part one by clicking here.] So, a guy walks into a bar, and _________. While you can fill in the blank with any number of amnesiacs asking, “Do I come here often?” and baby seals ordering “anything but a Canadian Club,” perhaps only once has the punch-line been, “walks out with the bartender’s job.” Dave Machado gets to tell the joke. Beginning [...]

Anyone who eats and reads—and I dearly hope that’s everyone here, now—has gotten wind of the foie gras wars. I am not going to write the entire history of what’s happened in the past twelve months, but here’s the bulleted version: • Chicago’s City Council bans foie gras in local restaurants. Angry chefs sue. Oregon, as well as New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California consider similar laws. • Portland animal rights activists stand in front of various restaurants crying [...]

Troy MacLarty After training at the Culinary Institute of America, and spending four years at Chez Panisse, Troy MacLarty landed in Portland, as chef of Family Supper, a job he left in late 2005. After stints at Simpatica and Saucebox, in November 2006, he took over as chef at Lovely Hula Hands, when it debuted at its new North Mississippi location. As cooks prepped dinner in the second-floor kitchen, MacLarty explained what Joe Montana should call any restaurant he opens; [...]

Morgon 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, according to his peers, when Brownlow is on, he is the best chef in Portland. The “on” part ended in December, when, after [...]

David Machado So, a guy walks into a bar, and _________. While you can fill in the blank with any number of amnesiacs asking, “Do I come here often?” and baby seals ordering “anything but a Canadian Club,” perhaps only once has the punch-line been, “walks out with the bartender’s job.” Dave Machado gets to tell the joke. Beginning at the bottom more than twenty years and half as many restaurants ago, the chef and owner of Lauro and Vindahlo [...]