Gentle Readers,
Maybe some of you were here back then. The date was Sept.
14, 1990. The place was Northwest 21st and Glisan. While the
tremors of a music revolution were shaking the nearby sidewalks
(The Gypsy was still a dive bar serving Bud to jaundiced
lifers, and Satyricon's restrooms should have been
marked as chemical waste zones), a new ethic, the Gallant
brother to the grunge Goofus, was being born. At that site,
conveniently kitty-corner to the pharmacy so elegantly hijacked
in Drugstore Cowboy, Zefiro came to be.
At once stylish, adventurous, cosmopolitan and hardly Portland-like
at all, the fish bowl on 21st kick-started a culinary revolution
in a town known mostly for salmon and sending James Beard
into the world. But on Saturday, March 11, after dishing
out well-heeled Caesar salads for almost a decade, Zefiro
as we know it will close forever.
This isn't a story about a rise and fall but rather about
an evolution. Bruce Carey, the last remaining of
the three original Zefiro owners, has been scheming to hop
over to the new Wieden and Kennedy compound in the
Pearl to set up shop. He had planned to keep the name Zefiro
for his new establishment but now says the name will not
travel. "It just feels like a new time," Carey told Miss
Dish, although many of his regulars are "getting weirdly
emotional about the whole thing." A new name hasn't been
chosen for the restaurant formerly known as Zefiro, so feel
free to hound Carey with suggestions.
To celebrate the end of the era, enjoy the original Sept.
14, 1990, menu and prices from March 7 to 11 (to grasp inflation
Portland-style, note that the famous Caesar was $7 back
then and presently goes for $14). Expect Carey's new restaurant
to open in June.
So who's taking up this prime piece of Portland real estate?
(Sorry--it's not Quality Pie; Miss Dish had her fingers
crossed, but even her powers of suggestion aren't strong
enough for that.) His name is Ira, his last name
is Mittelman, and he tells Miss Dish that he's originally
from Exit 5 on the Jersey Turnpike. The former proprietor
of Ira's in Cannon Beach and Ira's in Bozeman, Mont., will
call his new place in Portland (bet you five bucks you can't
guess) Ira's. Mr. Eponymous promises "vivid, live
flavors" and tells Miss Dish of serving movie stars in Bozeman
and wowing Portland ex-pats at the beach. A sneak peek at
Ira's menu shows a melange of Northwesterly dishes: a strudel
with wild mushrooms drizzled with truffle oil, lamb chops
with wasabi blue cheese and a Cuban pork stew. Prices hover
high. Mittelman calls ye olde corner of Northwest 21st and
Glisan "the location of a lifetime," but we'll have to see
if the real-estate adage about "location,location,location"
is on the money. Expect Ira's to open near the end of March.
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Willamette Week | originally
published February 16,
2000
|
