Located on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers between the Cascade and Coast mountain ranges, Portland’s culinary story has historically been one of peaks and waves. The conversation begins in 1903 with the birth of one of the city’s most famous sons, James Beard.
The late master’s journey to becoming America’s preeminent food authority began in his early childhood, accompanying his gourmandizing mother Elizabeth to Portland’s commanding produce and dry goods markets, where the future foodie legend developed an eye, taste, and appreciation for natural ingredients. Summering on Oregon’s seafood-rich Pacific coast also hugely influenced young Beard. “We went to the sea for our food, and it sustained us perfectly,” wrote Beard in his 1964 book Delights and Prejudices. Cementing his ethos of cooking with fresh and seasonal ingredients was the family’s Cantonese cook, Jue-Let, who became a father figure to Beard and likely inspired his passion for the culinary arts.
In 1937, Beard, who was gay and according to a PBS American Masters documentary of his life, “comfortable, honest and open” with his homosexuality, moved to New York City. Theater was his original ambition, but with little success in Portland and NYC he co-launched Hors-d’œuvre, Inc., a catering company devoted to food for high-end cocktail parties. Beard flourished in the role, attracting notice for events such as a 1939 gathering of the prestigious International Wine and Food Society.
With the publication of his first cookbook Hors d’Oeuvre and Canapes in 1940, and the debut in 1945 of his I Love To Eat, America’s first televised cooking show, the future “Dean of American Cookery” was well on his way.
With Beard’s legacy infused in Portland’s culinary evolution, the city’s chefs and restaurateurs of today, many from the LGBTQ community, are creating new buzz that incorporates Beard’s sworn mission of upholding “real cooking and fresh ingredients.”
Another gay Portlander who moved to NYC and got into the hospitality and events business is my friend Dean Mathiesen. “From my days growing up here to leaving and then coming back, I have seen Portland cycle through distinct periods of trendsetting culinary innovation,” said Mathiesen, who keeps a hand in event catering while running his store The Market Downstairs (instagram.com/themarketdownstairs) at Hollywood Vintage, Portland’s largest retailer of vintage clothing, accessories, eyewear, and other items. “The last zenith was around a decade ago,” he told me. “Today, culinary Portland is well into its latest culinary reinvention, with the queer community having a big say front and back of the house.” His shortlist of favorite LGBTQ-friend ly restaurants includes popular breakfast and lunch joint Midpoint Food & Drink (3524 SE 52nd Ave. Tel: 503-774-1164) in Southeast Portland. Another is Nudi Noodle Place (4310 SE Woodstock Blvd. Tel: 503-477-7425. nudipdx.com). Focused on noodles and chopstick food, both favored by Beard, this welcoming restaurant serves tasty Thai and other Asian noodles along with pasta, ramen, and rice dishes.
Jade Rabbit chef-owner Cyrus Ichiza (Photo by Jade Rabbit)
Hailing from Guam, former punk drag queen and body piercer Cyrus Ichiza hit the Portland scene as a chef in 2016 with his vegan pan-Asian restaurant and tea house Ichiza Kitchen. Mathiesen frequents Ichiza’s follow-up, Jade Rabbit (2304 Southeast Belmont Street. Tel: 503- 793-7798. jaderabbitpdx.com), for the flavor-packed all-vegan dim sum menu. Hand-made bites include the signature bunny-shaped Puto Pao Bunny Bao of steamed Filipino-style rice flour buns filled with vegan pork, black garlic, and brown sugar.
Another late culinary legend who shared Beard’s love of fresh local ingredients in cooking was Marcella Hazan, the celebrated Emilia-Romagnan whose cookbooks introduced traditional Italian cooking techniques to America and the U.K.
In Marcella Cucina (1997), she discusses how for shoppers, the word nostrani/nostrane, Italian for local or “ours,” means “it’s better because it has travelled a short distance to the market, hence it’s fresher.”
Such was the inspiration for Nostrana (1401 SE Morrison, Ste. 101. Tel: 503- 234-2427. nostrana.com) from six-time James Beard Best Chef: Northwest finalist Cathy Whims. Celebrating 20 years in 2025, her flagship restaurant’s enduring appeal includes thin-crust pizza, pastas such as fettucine with smoked Columbia River King salmon, wood-fired meats, and other inventive Italian regional dishes using ingredients sourced from Pacific Northwest farmers and ranchers.
For nightcaps, Mathiesen’s favorite Neighborhood bar is groovy Lift Off Lounge (5216 NE Sandy Blvd. Tel: 971- 302-7026. liftofflounge.com), fashioned after mid-century cocktail lounges and supper clubs.
Brandon Hightower (Photo by Brandon Hightower)
Two other close gay friends, life partners Brandon Hightower and Richard Weinstein, left Brooklyn for Portland just before the pandemic. While Weinstein has continued his work in the healthcare field as a clinical child and family therapist specializing in trauma informed and gender affirming care, Hightower has reached new heights in a career that “found him” as a New Jersey teenager. “Looking for summer work, I stumbled on a small shop serving juices and other fare,” recalled Hightower. “My all-encompassing experience there set the stage for my rise in the restaurant industry.”
His next move was to Manhattan, where he supported Chopped champion Michael Vignola at swanky steak-driven Strip House as a busser, runner, barback, and beverage steward. Moving into management, Hightower worked alongside James Beard Book Award winner J.J. Johnson, late Top Chef Masters winner Floyd Cardoz, and celebrity chef David Burke. Then he discovered Portland. “My research of America’s best food cities revealed Portland as a beacon for culinary professionals who were approaching hospitality with flair and delivering dining experiences in exciting new ways,” High tower said. “We got there, only to hit the COVID shutdown.”
Gregory Gourdet (Photo by Eva Kosmas Flores)
Hightower is a go-getter though, and following many self-pitches on Instagram, he got an audience with star chef Gregory Gourdet. Born in Queens, NY to Haitian parents, Gourdet, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and former chef de cuisine for Jean-Georges Vongerichten, was already a name in Portland for his decade-long run at stylish rooftop pan Asian restaurant Departure. In August 2020, against the headwind of the pan demic, he introduced an exciting new live-fire, Haitian-inspired concept as a pop-up.
“When I learned that Gregory was transforming his concept into a full-serv ice fine-dining restaurant, I wanted in,” said Hightower. “We met, I joined the opening team, and the rest is history.”
He was in the right place at the right time. Named after sugar cane in Haitian Creole, kann (548 SE Ash St. kannrestaurant.com) opened in 2022 and won the James Beard award for Best New Restaurant in America a year later. “Building a restaurant from the ground-up is not easy, but being part of something that you love and believe in makes it all worthwhile,” said Hightower, who served as assistant general manager of kann and its speakeasy-style bar sousòl.
Griyo Twice Cooked Pork at Kann (Photo by Eva Kosmas Flores)
In 2022, Gourdet had won a Beard award for his Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health cookbook. In 2024, he added a third for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific Region. Combining Haitian tradition with Pacific Northwest ingredients and the cuisines of the African & Caribbean diaspora, Kann stays hot with dishes like Griyo Twice Cooked Pork and Kann Coffee Rubbed Flat Iron Steak, featuring American Wagyu beef.
Hightower, who left Kann following an injury and now works at 1891 restaurant inside the historic private Multnomah Athletic Club, heralds Portland as a “come as you are” city.
“Portland celebrates folks from all walks of life, including our many service industry professionals who identify as BIPOC, queer, non-binary. And gender-non-conforming,” he said. “Our restaurants and bars are great places for visitors to experience that welcome.”
His recommendations include Hey Love (920 E Burnside St. Tel: 503-206- 6223. heylovepdx.com), the lobby bar of the boutique NEXT hotel in the vibrant Central Eastside district, serving creative cocktails amid local art and a “paradise” of plants.
“My favorite happy hour spot is Southpark Seafood (901 Southwest Salmon St. Tel: 503-326-1300. southparkseafood. com) for oysters, cham pagne, seafood towers, and creative desserts,” said Hightower. “Recently mentioned in the New York Times, AKÂDI (1001 SE Division St. Tel: 971- 271-7072. akadipdx.com), from Ivory Coast-born chef Fatou Ouattara, is a must for suya chicken wings, meat- or veggie-packed samosas, and other West African dishes.”
Luna Contreras (Photo by Lina Contreras)
Proud transgender woman Luna Contreras is among Portland’s most celebrated figures. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Contreras earned recognition including Michelin Bib Gourmand awards for her work at Mamacita and Padrecito in San Francisco before spicing up the Portland scene at Nightingale and then Chelo (2930 NE Killingsworth St. chelopdx.com).
Named for her grandmother, her traditional Mexican fonda, part of the culinary Dame Collective (dame-collective.com), is for seasonal veggie-driven stylings such as chilaquiles rellenos, fresh heirloom masa filled with ricotta, corn, peas, and street food classic huarache with confit duck and leek.
Billed as “an unabashedly Pacific Northwest gentleman’s club and lounge geared toward the LGBTQ+ community,” Stag PDX (317 NW Broadway. Tel: 503- 894-9679. stagportland.com) is Chris “Cupcake” Smith’s stage for multiple roles including chef, bartender, barback, and dancer.
In East Portland, majority queer and BIPOC women-owned TPK Brewery (5051 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Tel: 503-231-6354. tpkbrewing.com) serves old-school craft beer with creative ingredients like guava, banana puree, and black chiles. Standing for “Total Party Kill,” the tavern style venue’s “nerdy twist” includes attracting Dungeons & Dragons and like aficionados with tabletop role-playing games and professional Game Masters on staff.
Meaning “midnight snack” in Mandarin, Xiao Ye (3832 NE Sandy Blvd. Tel: 503-764-9478. xiaoyepdx.com) is a cool “first-generation American food” concept from L.A. transplants Louis Lin and Jolyn Chen. The married Taiwanese-American couple bring serious cred to the table, including a pair of Michelin-starred restaurants in D.C., with inventive offerings including the orange- and honey glazed Grilled Kauai Shrimp appetizer and Khao Soi Radiatori of Thai yellow curry with shredded chicken.
Another hip joint is the Sesame Collective’s Mediterranean-driven Shalom Y’all flows with multi-ethnic restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and more. One of two local outposts of San Francisco-based Farm house Kitchen (3354 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Tel: 503-432-8115) serves traditional Issan Thai food that Hightower says “packs a punch, will not break the bank, and has the friendliest service in town.”
Jade Rabbit Bunny Bao (Photo by Jade Rabbit)
Were James Beard alive today, he would likely recognize Portland’s circa-1870’s Old Town Chinatown, the second-oldest in the U.S. and home to heirlooms like the no frills 1922 Republic Café and Ming Lounge. Devoted to Chinese culture and cuisine, he would also appreciate Port land’s wider Asian dining scene, including Thai-driven Langbaan (1818 NW 23rd Place. Tel: 971-344-2564. langbaanportland.com), which won the coveted Beard award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2024. The Vuong family’s trio of Vietnamese pho restaurants, Ha VL, Rose VL, and Annam VL, earned Beard nominations between 2017 and 2024. Beard would also see his name Jade Rabbit Bunny Bao (117 SE Taylor St #101. Tel: 503-208- 3661. sesamecollective.com/shalomyall) for tasty dips, grilled meat and fish, and creative sides like the Lemon Zest Fries.
Named for Oregon’s first mental asylum and formerly a red-light zone, the historic 43-block Hawthorne District over going on a new 40-vendor public market, slated for summer 2026. Above all, he would surely love that his hometown, the City of Roses, is an eternally blossoming foodie capital that stays grounded in culinary tradition and natural, locally sourced ingredients.
