Michael Mina makes his Pacific Northwest homecoming
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Michael Mina, the celebrity chef, restauranteur and James Beard Award winner, is bringing his talents home. Images: Courtesy of Mina Group
Michael Mina has spent decades building a restaurant empire from San Francisco to Dubai. This fall, he's setting his sights much closer to home and opening his first Pacific Northwest venture.
The big picture: With Bar Sprezzatura, the James Beard Award-winning, Ellensburg, Washington-raised chef will bring one of the country's better-known restaurant groups to Portland at a moment when downtown is doubling down on its culinary cachet.
- The Mina Group will take over all food and beverage operations at the historic 1927 Heathman Hotel, including the restaurant, lobby bar and hotel breakfast.
What he's saying: "Portland is really my type of city," Mina told Axios. "When I'm looking at a city to open a restaurant, I look for produce, product and clientele and then wait for the right opportunity."
Zoom in: Bar Sprezzatura will be a sibling to Mina's bar of the same name in San Francisco's Financial District. There, the Venetian bacari-inspired menu leans luxe with a $130 caviar service, lobster gnocchi and dishes that can be loaded up with uni and roe.
- Portland's version will be more relaxed, with "cozy alcoves" and "materials that aren't overly flashy," Mina said. "Sprezzatura" roughly translates to "nonchalance" in Italian, and Mina wants that ease reflected in the room, too.
- "We always ensure the right aesthetic and tone is set to feel in harmony with the community."
Best bites: Mina tapped Portland chef Justin Ramirez, who previously worked with Mina in San Francisco, to lead the kitchen. Ramirez is also known for his time at Pearl District wine bar Arden and acclaimed neighborhood eatery Coquine.
- The menu will lean heavily on Pacific Northwest produce, seafood and meats, with daily specials built around what Ramirez sources from local farms and the Oregon coast.
- Venetian-style cicchetti — or small savory snacks like crostini, olives and meatballs — will anchor the offerings alongside handmade pastas and pizzettes.
- Mina said he expects the baked clams with lardo and breadcrumbs, as well as the seasonal crudos — like a carne cruda with matsutake mushrooms — to become instant signatures.
Meanwhile, at the bar: Expect Italian-leaning cocktails (like negronis, martinis and spritzes), plenty of amaro, and Oregon touches like Clear Creek's Douglas fir brandy.
If you go: Bar Sprezzatura, inside the Heathman Hotel (1001 SW Broadway), opens this fall.