Portland is known as a food town but it wasn’t always that way. Years ago the North Park Blocks was an edgy part of the Pearl with a series of restaurant failures. It was a risky location to start a new restaurant so we were a little surprised when Scott Dolich contacted me to help create his new restaurant.

Fast forward to today and it seems like a no brainer. Park Kitchen, thrived in tat location for over 14 years later and it has been named one of America’s Best Restaurants by Gourmet Magazine, The New York Times Style Magazine and Zagat. Not to be outdone, Scott was named “Top 10 Best Chefs” by Food & Wine Magazine and he’s been twice nominated for the prestigious James Beard Foundation “Best Chef Northwest “ Award.

As if that weren’t enough, Park Kitchen spawned a second restaurant, The Bent Brick and a host of former staff at Park Kitchen moved on to create their own businesses: Blueplate, Ruby Jewel, Pine State Biscuits, Simpatico, Xocolatl de David, Beaker & Flask, Cheesebar, Laurelhurst Market, Chizu, Feastworks, Holdfast Supper Club to name a few.

[Of those, I’ve had the pleasure of creating brands for Xocolatl de David, Blueplate, Beaker & Flask and The Bent Brick. I’ll post more of the design work I did for them one of these days].