Right at the Fork

We catch up with Carlo Lamagna, chef and owner of his Magna restaurants in both Portland and Denver. Carlo is creating communities and success in promoting Filipino cuisine, so much so that he's garnered recognition from the James Beard Foundation and diners around the globe since his humble start in the business from Detroit to Chicago to Portland. He's had his eye on Denver since before he landed in Portland years ago, and so now he's reaching his dream of opening a place there. Carlo talks about the difference between his two restaurants, and how appreciative he is that his hard work has paid off.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

Chef Sam Smith has been a notable figure in the Portland culinary scene since he arrived in the city from the Bay Area. He is currently the chef at Yaowarat, Portland Monthly's 2023 Restaurant of the Year. Sam talks about the experiences of traveling through Thailand with his team doing extensive research to develop the recipes for the restaurant, as well as why the team of Sam, Akkapong Earl Ninsom, Kyle Webster and Eric Nelson is such a powerhouse.

Smith has honed his skills through experiences at renowned establishments like Zahav in Philadelphia and Ava Gene's in Portland. He has a talent and great resume helping restaurants get off the ground, contributing to the success of ventures like Spirit of '77, Ava Gene's Tusk, Sweedeedee, and Yaowarat. He was also recognized as a 2018 Portland Rising Star by StarChefs.

Sam also reveals his favorite Portland places.

Photo credit: Thom Hilton/Eater Portland

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

Join host Chris Angelus for a lively conversation with his cousin Jimmy Angelus, proprietor of San Francisco's Cole Valley Tavern and Bacon Bacon. Jim's history, which he talks about here, includes accolades from Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, criticism from Martha Stewart, mentions on Saturday Night Live, a Chopped! appearance and a host of fun stories about the fun people in his family and circle of friends, some of whom with whom you may be familiar. The most fun anecdote just may be his story of his Dad's fame as NYC's PAR-KING. You have to hear that one. Check out Jim's restaurants in SF and SFO as well as @colevalleytavern and @baconbaconsf.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

Sandra Tavares knows the people, places and things that make up a wonderful culinary and wine journey throughout Portugal. Sandra started her career as a journalist and found herself covering a burgeoning food scene, to the point where she realized she would enjoy developing tours and experiences for people, and taking them to the best Portugal has to offer, rather than just writing about them. Eventually she met her husband Vitor, and as things happened, eventually they landed in a beautiful vineyard and winery owned by Portugal's benchmark Kopke wines, where Vitor developed a restaurant to serve the local bounty that complemented the wine. And his deep contacts in the industry in turn, became Sandra's as well. Sandra is uniquely positioned to be the foremost authority on food and wine in Portugal. To that end, she designed a wonderful itinerary that our podcast host Chris Angelus' Portland Food Adventures is offering in May of 2025, on which food and wine loving folks can travel with St. Jack chef Aaron Barnett to Porto, the beautiful Douro River Valley and Lisbon to take bites and sips of the varied histories and customs of the beautiful country. The trip features two hotels and inns from the folks at Kopke as well as dining with solid Michelin-star chefs throughout the region, as well as some pub food curated by expat Don Bourassa, former Portland Yelp Community Director. This podcast is a fun journey outside of our area, but with Portland connections to keep us grounded! The Portland Food Adventures Portugal trip is here: https://www.portlandfoodadventures.com/portugal-with-kopke Sandra is here on Instagram: @simply_b_sandra Podcast with Don here, where he talks about moving to Portugal: https://rightatthefork.com/shows/2024/1/5/374-don-bourassa-international-adulting-and-inaugural-ratf-guest

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

We are delighted to have Mary Cressler and Sean Martin on the podcast to talk about their venture, Vindulge. We talk about how it came about and evolved, especially through the pandemic, when their business model had to change.

Vindulge is a wife and husband team who create delicious ways to enjoy cooking and entertaining outside with family and friends. Combined, they have two decades of experience in recipe development, entertaining, education, writing, and professional cooking.

Mary Cressler: Mary Cressler is a wine, food, and travel writer, executive editor of the award-winning blog Vindulge, and co-author of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and upcoming Fire + Wine: Backyard Pizza (publishing spring 2025). Mary writes about BBQ and wine on her website, Vindulge, which received an IACP nomination for Best Recipe-Based Blog in 2020 and 2017. Mary is a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, recipe developer, and food and wine writer with credits in Wine Enthusiast, Serious Eats, Weber Grills Online, Barbecue America Magazine, Big Green Egg, Oregon Wine Press, and many more, and is a frequent judge for wine competitions.

Sean Martin: Sean Martin started with a career in property casualty insurance. He'd always enjoyed cooking and helped co-found Ember and Vine catering in 2014. After being awarded one of Oregon's best wine country caterers in 2015, he continued to work with Mary on recipe development and ways to create approachable outdoor cooking recipes and helped co-author both books. Sean works with the culinary and beverage partners of Vindulge like Big Green Egg, Alfa Forni Pizza Ovens, and Federalist Wines.

They teach classes on wine, grilling, barbecue, and outdoor pizzas and are featured chefs at events throughout the country. They live on a small farm in Oregon wine country with their twin boys. You find explore hundreds of recipes at www.vindulge.com and follow them at Vindulge at all their socials.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

After experiencing the new Portland airport (PDX), we revisit our recent interview with Kurt Huffman of ChefStable who talks about the ins and outs of having multiple restaurants at PDX, from Grassa to Loyal Legion. Chris and Cort express how this first impression visitors will have of Oregon and Portland is key to the area's growth. And... For the first time in the Right at the Fork's 10+ year history, Chris and Cort decide it's time to talk politics on the podcast, but from the perspective of travel and how the world not only looks at our country, but how history may repeat itself for generations that never experienced fascism. Chris shares his travel experiences and how insightful he thought Rick Steves' recent episodes covering both facism taking hold in Europe and the importance of travel to open one's mind up to a larger picture. Basically, while issues are important, democracy is at stake in this election and Rick Steves does a masterful job presenting a case for thoughtful voting. While long, highly recommended programs to watch and share!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp6keXi0Ca0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2ELvxuKMUQ

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdvent

With the news that Berlu Bakery is closing (to relocate), following the perminant closure of Berlue last November - we wanted to revisit our conversation with Vince Nguyen just after his James Beard Foundation award win (Best Chef NW).

Original post

This week Portland had a big week at the James Beard Awards, and one of those big winners was Vince Nguyen of Berlu, taking home Best Chef NW/Pacific honors. And speaking of honors, it's an honor to have Vince on the podcast for a second time, this time talking about his feelings going into, during and after winning his big award. We will talk about his team, how he gets so much satisfaction from their growth, what this means for him professionally, as well as things like work/life balance and the labor situation in Portland.

We will also hear some glimpses about how Vince would like to expand Berlu and what that would take.

Enjoy this talk with Vince, who surely will endear himself to you and make you want to enjoy his talents at Berlu, if you haven't been already. And make note of his Venmo handle. It just may be a way to get a table!! :-) (That's said tongue in cheek)

This classic episode comes from September of 2023, when Nat West was shutting down his business of 12 years. He's now one of 100 candidates on the ballet for one of 12 city council positions for the new Portland city government.

Original Post

We were able to catch up with Nat West, founder, president and cidermaker at Reverend Nat's Hard Cider. Nat announced the closing of his business after over a dozen years building the business from scratch. Nat tells us what led to the close and the decision to do it, the challenges and joys he experienced, and what he plans going forward. Also, we will hear how an agnostic named his company Reverend Nat's!

Nat shares some of his favorite drinking spots in PDX as well.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

We are honored to have Bill Oakley guest host this episode of Right at the Fork, featuring Nori De Vega - one of Portland's most prominent food and restaurant video creators on Instagram and TikTok.

Nori De Vega was born in Manila, Philippines, and currently lives with her husband and two basenjis in Portland. Her immediate family originally immigrated to Reno, Nevada in the 90's before everyone but Nori decided to relocate back abroad in the early 2000's. Nori spent her formative years in the US during the school year and in Manila during winter and summer breaks.

Her passion for food comes from traveling all over the globe since she was a baby and her affinity to connect with other cultures through cuisine. Nori is a small-business advocate, tastemaker, and trusted voice in the food, wine, and hospitality space. She's the founder of Tikim, a collective that focuses on the advancement and celebration of Filipino cuisine and culture in the Pacific Northwest.

Find Nori on Instagram @nomnom_nori

Photo by Maynard Villaflores.

About Bill Oakley:

Bill Oakley made a name for himself with his work on The Simpsons and other TV shows, being one of the key writers and a showrunner for years.

Now, he's gained recognition on shows like "The Food that Made America." His love of all types of food, prompts Bills return to the podcast again, this time to talk about some of the awards bestowed on behalf of his Steamed Hams Society.

Check out Bill's apparences on Right at the Fork: Episodes #313 and #372.

Connect with Bill:

Instagram: @ThatBillOakley https://www.patreon.com/steamedhamssociety

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com

With news that L'Orange has made the New York Times list of America's Best Restaurants, wanted to return to our conversation from July 2023 with Joel Stocks.

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Joel Stocks has found a new home at his new restaurant/wine bar L'Orange with business partner Jeff Vejr, also of Las Caves. We discuss what L'Orange is all about, including the visions both he and Jeff had when opening their wine bar/restaurant in the former Willow space.

Joel has worked at some of the best restaurants in Portland, and the world. Arzak, Alinea, French Laundry to name a few, and of course Holdfast Dining in Portland. We'll hear how Joel targeted working at the French Laundry long before he got a gig there, and now that happened. Joel will also discuss how his prior experiences influences his cooking. We'll also talk travel ideas, especially Spain.

Right at the Fork is supported by:

Zupan's Markets: www.zupans.com RingSide SteakHouse: www.RingsideSteakHouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com