Unless You Follow Function’s Social Media Accounts Relentlessly, Most Visits Will Yield Very Pleasant Surprises

If you walk into tiny 23rd Avenue basement bar space Function PDX, you’ll discover the hardwood and black-vinyl place may have transformed into Small Bar.

(Walker Stockly)
By Matthew Korfhage

919 NW 23rd Ave., 971-712-3016, functionpdx.com. See website for event hours.

Minus the occasional spelling contest or drag-queen bingo, most bars are pretty much the same every night—Norm's at the corner, and Sam's behind the stick. But if you walk into tiny 23rd Avenue basement bar space Function PDX, you'll discover the hardwood and black-vinyl place may have transformed into Small Bar, a trial measure for a bar collaborators Nick Lopez and Reichele Caviteno hope to soon move into a space of its own. Or it could be Muselet, the resurrection of a French-centric wine spot that failed in its much larger space on the South Waterfront last year. A former chef at Bamboo Sushi might serve a discrete sushi menu, or Ración star chef Anthony Cafiero may serve you the best jackfruit vegan taco you've ever tasted. The concept flies gracefully in the face of the "same shit, different day" convention most neighborhood boozers live by—unless you follow Function's social media accounts relentlessly, most visits will yield very pleasant surprises.

(Walker Stockly)

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