Chelo Has Found a True Home at Dame and Invites You to Stay Awhile

It was a funny weekend, wasn’t it? A snowstorm colliding with Valentine’s Day, snow piling up then slushing down, delayed celebratory lovebirds stomping over piles to stuff restaurants to the gills on Saturday. Then came Sunday. And, I’ll say currently as a 9-to-5ish-er, approaching an 8 pm dinner reservation as the weekend waned felt like overtime, like frantically wringing out the last drops. But stepping into Chelo on Sunday night, that feeling melted as fast as the snow did.

Run by chef Luna Contreras, the pop-up has temporarily resided in the Dame space on Northeast Killingsworth over the past couple of years. But as of January, it appears it’s there to stay, Thursday through Sunday (Plant Based Papi’s new Italian concept Bianca currently fills the space earlier in the week).

Maybe it’s Chelo’s history with the space, but in less than two months it seems settled in Dame, nestled within the shades of rich dark blue walls and curtains. We took a couple of seats at the white marble bar, with its direct view through the plate window back into the kitchen where Contreras was dancing with ease, a huge smile on her face as she plucked prepped greens from deli containers, bringing her vegetable-forward Mexican fare to life.

For those unfamiliar with Contreras, the Chelo founder moved to Portland from the Bay Area seven years ago, over that time making a name for herself in the culinary scene with stints at the former Nightingale and Janken, competing on Netflix’s Snack vs. Chef, and nabbing the 2023 award for Eater’s Chef of the Year. She also created a line of Chelo hot sauces, named with the pop-up for her grandmother. Additionally in that time, Contreras began hormone replacement therapy, and became known as an advocate for trans youth and community.

“If I hadn’t started hormone replacement therapy, I don’t think I’d be cooking as freely and happily,” she told WW back in 2023. Flash forward two years at home in Dame and that joy feels alive and palpable.

I’m hammering on the feeling of resolve that permeates Chelo, but it’s true, down to the flavors. The dishes at Chelo feel grounded in simplicity—not their creation or preparation, but their taste, what they open within you. Nothing is overly salted or punchy, the salsas are smooth and warm, the tortillas deeply earthy, blue as the room’s décor. The gorditas de hongos ($15) intertwined the funk of Gruyère and intoxicating dankness of mushrooms, mashed up with onion for a ground-beef texture, folded into heirloom masa, topped with bright radicchio like confetti.

The current tlayuda ($30)—a Oaxacan flat tortilla in the pizza family—is heavier than it appears, laden with roasted baby carrots, winter squash and Gruyère, the “sauce” coating a smooth black bean purée. The charred chicories add a nice bitter note, and the housemade serrano hot sauce added a brightness.

But the real gem of the menu is the trucha à la plancha ($42), a deboned tender trout (an errant bone or two are the exception, not the rule), dotted with smoked roe, laid across miso-broth heirloom beans. Swimming in that broth are oyster mushrooms and delicata squash. The flavors work in cahoots like old friends in this one, and somehow, the rapini, seemingly blanched and crisped, taste dead on like a potato chip in the dreamiest way.

Let’s not forget the drinks. If you’re aiming for a cocktail, might I suggest the Roman candle ($15), a thicker-bodied drink with a light taste and back-of-the-throat heat, compliments of sambuca and mescal. I went for a chenin blanc ($10), thinking I wanted something that would stay out of the food’s way, but next time I’d go for something more playful that sparks with the dishes (skin-contact wines, I’m looking at you).

Dear reader, I sadly skipped dessert, though our bar neighbors raved about the flan. Instead, my husband and I finished our drinks and basked in what was left of the meal, the weekend, Y La Bamba’s Osos del Sol floating over our heads, as soft as the flavors themselves. A perfect pairing.

Willamette Week reviews one restaurant in depth each month.

SEE IT: Chelo at Dame, 2930 NE Killingsworth St., chelopdx.com. 5–9 pm Thursday–Sunday.