Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Its coming! 50 Plates opens this month



Well, its almost here. The debut of 50 Plates is becoming a reality later this month. I'm excited to be a part of the bar staff there, as we have an embarassment of riches behind the bar. Andrew Finkelman, late of Alberta Street Oyster Bar and Grill is heading things up, joined by Suzanne Allard of Castagna fame (and at least two entries in Food and Wine's cocktail books), James Pierce (the best bartender under 25 in Portland) and myself. I'm pretty excited to be working with, and learning from all of these people and the closer we get to opening night, the more my anticipation grows.

Even cooler is that I understand that we've got one of the premier baristas in town to handle our coffee program. I've always wanted to learn more about coffee and espresso, so I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

This will by my first time working in the Pearl and I'm really looking forward to it. Stay tuned for more updates.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Impressive bar talent, for sure...but opening a fine dining-ish establishment in this economy seems so risky right now, especially in the fickle Pearl. I hope for your sake that 50 Plates' sister restaurant in Beaverton is not a reflection of how the food will be. I'll still give it a try - everyone deserves a chance.

Anonymous said...

I live in south west portland and i love Jopa. It is a friendly family restaurant with great food! Sounds like 50 plates will be great too!

james "jp" pierce said...

The food is outta this world, its the last thing you should be worried about (don't worry about the cocktails eithar). When I was hired by Andrew, i remained skeptical. Two months later, after sitting (and loving every freakin minute of it) through food tastings & working two parties, I can most assuredly say that I've been blown away. I'm so glad to be a part of this team, and looking forward to continue to eat, drink, and have a blast doing it.

-james pierce

Anonymous said...

I live in Diablo 3 Goldsouth west beaverton i appreciate Jopa. It is just a helpful household restaurant together with great meals! Feels like 55 clothing GW2 Gold kaufenwill be good too!