Small Bites: A chat with David Machado

By The Oregonian

January 19, 2010, 12:00AM

Motoya Nakamura/The OregonianDavid Machado3 QUESTIONS
A short chat about what’s cooking

Chef David Machado has a deep imprint on Portland’s dining scene. He had a crucial hand in the creation of downtown spots SouthPark and Pazzo, and now he runs three well-regarded restaurants of his own: the Southeast neighborhood spots Lauro Mediterranean Kitchen and Vindalho, and Nel Centro, a destination spot that opened last year in downtown’s posh Hotel Modera. Machado’s also one of the top forecasters of food trends. We asked him to peer into his culinary crystal ball to see what’s on the horizon.

Q: 2008 was the year of the chicken wing. 2009 was the year of the sandwich. What are we going to eat in 2010?

A: Whatever continues to comfort us, especially meatballs. When we think of meatballs we think of an Italian meatball, but every culture’s got one. Every culture grinds chicken or pork or lamb or something and spices it. In keeping with frugality and trying to use up the ingredients that you have and offer things at a good price, I’m going to call 2010 the year of the meatball.

Q: Besides full tables at your own restaurants, what would you like to see happen in the next year in Portland’s dining scene?

A: I’d like to see happy hour mania slow down. It’s at a frenzy right now and is certainly related to the sad state of the economy. But it’s a challenge for operators. They’re popular and they do increase revenue, but they decrease the bottom line substantially, and so the more popular they get, the more difficult it is financially. In the old days, there was a nice balance between dinner and happy hour, but because of the difficult state of affairs, the balance is a little challenging.

Q: What are the challenges you face running three successful places?

A: They’re different markets. The two on the east side are neighborhood mom-and-pops, and the scale and the relationship that the customers have is based on that. The one downtown is big, in a hotel, and driven by different factors than the other two — arts patrons, hotel travelers, business people. The challenge for me is not so much the geography and distance between the restaurants, or even having the three: It’s the dining public relates to them differently and I have to clearly understand who’s coming to each one and why.

Here’s a big thank you to the breakfastguy blog for dining with us and for the wonderful post that follows.

Sunday Brunch at Nel Centro

I’m not going to lie to you. In fact, I’ll open with two stone-cold truths.

1, I was invited by the publicist for Nel Centro to have a Sunday brunch in exchange for me writing about them. There’s your disclaimer. I was going to do it, anyway, but I do enjoy free stuff.

2, As soon as I sat down in the place, I loved it. And I would have, no matter who was paying. It’s a beautiful place, it had no line when I was there, and it’s a perfect example of something that I think makes Portland cool: namely, it used to be the diner of a Days Inn, which is now the super-cool Hotel Modera, with a bioswale and a “living wall” and an outdoor gas fire pit.

And the first thing on the Sunday brunch menu is Potato, Fennel and Leek Puree. Right below that is Warm Hazelnut Crusted Goat Cheese with Peppers. All this in a funky old downtown hotel! In fact, as soon as I looked at the menu I whipped out my iPod Touch (they have free WiFi) and tweeted, “I am in love with the menu @nelCentro!”

Oh, and I got a fantastic cappuccino (with Caffe Umbria) from an actual Italian, who is actually named Giovanni. When I asked about a muffin or pastry while I wait, he said he’d check with the “sweet girl” to see what she has.

So we already have an Italian, sustainability running rampant, a great-looking menu, and a Sweet Girl doing something in the kitchen. So yes, I love this place. Soon, my host for the morning came in, and the Sweet Girl’s creations came out: a still-warm brioche bun and a moist cherry-walnut scone. At that point, I was done for.

According to my host, among the place’s virtues are that the tables are made from an old Willamette Valley barn, and a countertop is made with EcoTop, whose website says is “a 50/50 blend of FSC certified post consumer recycled paper and rapidly renewable bamboo fiber, bound with a new 100% water-based system.” I don’t even know what all that means!

I also don’t know what the cuisine of the Riviera is, except that I take Nel Centro’s word that it’s what they serve. Apparently, the people of the Riviera like to have Pugliese French Toast with Apple Compote and Crème Fraiche, Poached Eggs on Grilled Polenta with Cured Pork Loin and Sage Hollandaise, an Individual Quiche Lorraine, various pizzas, and a Lamb Burger with Peppers and Feta Cheese. So they eat well, apparently.

In fact, I take David Machado’s word on pretty much everything related to cooking and restaurants. He’s won all sorts of awards, was the opening chef at Pazzo Ristorante and Southpark, is the owner/chef at the Mediterranean restaurant Lauro Kitchen, does the same at the Indian place Vindalho, and as of 2009 runs Nel Centro. He seems to be what you’d call a rock star.

He joined us for a bit at the table, and I’d love to offer some pithy quotes. But for one thing, a lot of it was a restaurant version of inside baseball – nothing gossipy, just tales of crazy chefs and busy shifts and opening too early after closing too late. He seems like a really nice guy who knows how to run a successful restaurant. And I plan to have him on my radio show February 5th, so stay tuned.

Another thing was that I was too wrapped up in the food to take any notes – first the potato-fennel-leek soup, which was perfect, then the Florentine Omelet with Spinach, Mushrooms and Mornay Sauce. For my fellow ignorami, I looked up Mornay Sauce on Wikipedia: it’s a Béchamel (scalded milk and roux) sauce with white cheeses added. I can say with some authority that, when poured over a perfectly-cooked omelet of fresh spinach and mushrooms, and paired with chip-sliced potatoes sautéed with peppers and onions, it’s damn good. And at Nel Centro, it’s only $11.

So here are another couple of truths: sitting there eating for free and chatting with the successful owner/chef of a fashionable downtown restaurant, it was easy to feel a lot of gratitude for my chosen profession. On the other hand, I could also step back and see myself, and a lot of other happy people, in a very cool restaurant with great food and no lines, right in the middle of my hometown, with the new MAX line going right by the door, plus an Italian guy making great drinks and a Sweet Girl in the kitchen working magic. So yes, I love that place!

Nel Centro – that’s Italian for “in the center” or downtown – is at 1408 SW 6th. They are also on Facebook and Twitter (@nelCentro). 503-484-1099.

Brunch (menu) served Sunday only, 8 to 2. Breakfast (much lesser menu) M-F 6:30-10:30 and Sat 7:30-11:30.

Seating for 130 plus some private rooms, big groups easy. Great patio in summertime. Valet parking or pay on the street – but it’s free Sunday until 1 p.m.

Chewy jazz guitar from Mike Pardew

By Jake Ten Pas, Special to The Oregonian

January 14, 2010, 6:00PM

Economic troubles have played havoc with plenty of people’s lives in recent times. While horror stories abound, sometimes money troubles spur a change in direction that ends up being beneficial in the longer run.

In 2009, jazz guitarist Mike Pardew pulled just such a pivot. Fearing that his frequent trips south to practice and gig with Eugene jazz/funk/Afrobeat purveyors Eleven Eyes was putting a dangerous financial burden on Cadenza Academy, the music school he runs with his brother, Pardew decided to bail on the band.

“The commuting was such that I was putting myself at risk as a business owner,” Pardew says. “I didn’t want it to come to that decision.” And when downtown Portland restaurant Nel Centro offered him a regular gig, the offer to spend his weekends in Portland focusing on his own tunes was just too good to refuse.

The best part of playing at Nel Centro, he says, is that the owner and manager of the restaurant, which focuses on food from around the Riviera, are both jazz fans. In a world where jazz musicians are often expected to provide non-threatening aural wallpaper to aid in digestion, his employers at Nel Centro let him come in and cook up his own signature mix of tight chops, rhythmic complexity and emotional emphasis.

“At the root of it, it’s improvisation,” Pardew says of what defines jazz for him. “The most significant aspect to me is the emotional expression you get. The most captivating part as a listener is that no two performances are alike.”

He says that his gigs at Nel Centro have reminded him of the challenges of being a bandleader. He’s had to return to the jazz repertoire-based performances that he started out playing in Portland ballrooms at age 15. Now 29, he’s gone beyond recycling songs by the artists that influenced him — John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, John Scofield — and created a sound that balances straight-forward jazz, vintage fusion and rock and Latin elements. Heavier than your average dinner combo and complex enough for the true music geek, Pardew’s music is also easily accessible to fans of classic rock and smooth jazz sounds.

After a recent performance, a listener told Pardew that, “He really enjoyed it, especially when he stopped trying to follow it and just let it carry him along.

“If I can do that even on one song a night, I’m doing my job.”

Jake Ten Pas is a Portland freelance writer

If you go
Mike Pardew Group
Where: Nel Centro, 1408 S.W. Sixth Ave.
When: 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; no cover charge
Web sites: mikepardew.com, myspace.com/mikepardewmusic

In The Year of Amazing Dishes, food writer Patrick Coleman of the Portland Mercury fell hard for the Herb Gnocchi with Wild Boar Ragu he had at Nel Centro:

“Perfectly prepared gnocchi with lovely soft centers are permeated with tanginess from the ragu’s heady garlic and red wine notes. Paired with the heft of tender boar meat, the contrast is fantastic. While not the most dynamic dish, I still think about it all the time with a fond sigh.”