David Machado

MORE THAN ENOUGH TO BUILD A DREAM ON

Dave Machado Kicks Out an Up-Tempo Career

HERE AND NOW
David Machado is chef/owner of two highly-acclaimed Portland restaurants: The Mediterranean inspired Lauro Kitchen in Southeast Portland, and,Vindalho, the contemporary play on Spice Route cuisine, located a mile away in the same neighborhood. His third venture, Nel Centro, is based on the cuisine of the Riviera and is slated for a Spring 2009 opening. Nel Centro is located in the Hotel Modera, in downtown Portland.

A TRIO OF INFLUENCES
History, tradition, and culture are the main ingredients that unify Machado’s approach to cuisine, and he’s built an impressive career by interpreting and modernizing traditional food for the modern American palette. In that sense, Machado, a jazz lover and amateur guitarist, echoes trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, a modern traditionalist, whose ensembles reinterpret signature pieces from the jazz canon.

BACK IN THE DAY ~ THE BAY AREA
Machado graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco in 1986, and absorbed powerful and long-lasting influences during a decade in San Francisco that marked the emergence of California cuisine. He launched his first place there, Bottom of the Hill Café. “We had a wonderful six month run,” he said. “We served an eclectic world cuisine to some San Francisco notables like Bruce Aidells and Mario Batali, who were regulars. After we closed, I vowed never to fail again.”

A stint at Ruby’s as chef, was followed by a sous chef gig at Kuleto’s. At every step, Machado pocketed some essential truths that he would later build on. Consistency was a hallmark of the most successful restaurants. Dining room management, a well-trained staff, a buzz in the dining room, all were fundamental and vitally important. Rare in creative food types; he wanted to know how a restaurant’s internal economics worked. How do things pencil out? The pieces were coming together.

LIGHTING A FIRE UNDER DOWNTOWN PORTLAND
From San Francisco, Machado went to Portland as executive chef at Pazzo, in the Vintage Plaza Hotel. Pazzo was an instant phenomenon, with diners wowed by some of Machado’s signature dishes — Butternut Squash Cappalletti with Toasted Hazelnut and Sage Butter and Roasted Beet Salad with Pears and Goat Cheese. “One of the most consistent kitchens in Portland,” said one review at the time. The executive chef became general manager and Machado, burners turned up high, opened six more restaurants in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco, for Pazzo’s owners, the San Francisco based Kimpton Group.

He would later move across town to a rival, the Heathman Group, as Vice-President of Restaurants. To rave local and national reviews, Machado opened Southpark Seafood Grill and Wine Bar (where he would later become executive chef) and also opened Hudson’s Bar and Grill in Vancouver, Washington.

LAURO KITCHEN AND VINDALHO
In 2003, Machado struck out on his own. With the help of his wife Julie, he launched his first, full service restaurant, Lauro Mediterranean Kitchen, a neighborhood bistro.

Lauro Kitchen, in Southeast Portland

At Lauro, Machado managed to incorporate just about every lesson he’d learned along the way. Diners lined up night after night – entranced by dishes like Portuguese Pork and Clams with Roasted Peppers and Potatoes and Fried Calamari with Piri Piri Sauce. Lauro Kitchen was named Restaurant of the Year for 2006. Three years later, came Vindalho, an innovative and urban-chic approach to Indian food. Gourmet magazine said, “Vindalho’s seasonal, farm-fresh approach to the classic dishes of India explains why there’s so much buzz about this loft like space in southeast Portland”.

MEDIA, ACCOLADES & TEACHING
From San Francisco to Portland, from Pazzo to Southpark, from Lauro Kitchen, to Vindalho — acclaim has followed. Machado’s food and concepts have been praised in the pages of Food and Wine, Gourmet, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Oregonian, and many other national and regional publications. He has appeared on Great Chefs, Great Cities, for the Discovery Channel, and, appeared on Endless Feasts, for Oregon Public Television.

Machado has lent his considerable experience and expertise to a new generation of chefs. He has been guest instructor at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Portland Community College. He was guest instructor in restaurant management at Chemeketa Community College and, at Draeger’s Cooking School, in Menlo Park, CA.

LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE
Machado believes deeply in the intrinsic value of the public school system. He is passionate about the need to preserve and sustain local agriculture and believes that the restaurant community has a responsibility to work on behalf of the hungry and homeless. In nearly two decades in Portland, Machado has been a vigilant and tireless volunteer, board member and fundraiser lending his skills, resources and leadership to these important issues. He has been active with the following groups and organizations: Portland Farmer’s Market, Loaves and Fishes, Oregon Food Bank, Share Our Strength, Oregon Restaurant Association, and the Educational Foundation for School and Careers.

Machado is a devoted husband, father, and member of his community. He and his wife Julie – long time residents of Northeast Portland – have three children, two boys and a girl. Both restaurants sparkle a little brighter and hum a little more efficiently on those nights that Julie or two of their children wait on diners, bus tables and host.

WHAT LIES BENEATH
Underneath it all, Machado is a smart, working-class kid from Fall River, Massachusetts. The one thing he’s always known for sure is work. On those grueling, four-hundred dinner nights at Kuleto’s back in San Francisco, when the future restaurant owner was on his hands and knees cleaning a grease caked fryer at one in the morning, doubt crept in. For a moment, his mettle, dedication and career path were an open question. But he parked his doubt. Instead, he focused on other things: good food, hard work, street smarts, dues paying –it all might be enough to build a dream on. And, he was right.