Men's Journal

Oregon’s P-Town is the newest foodie hot spot, marked by brash chefs serving bold but unpretentious food. We dressed these five culinary stars in similar fashion — in stylish, classic American suits.

Text by Chuck Thompson

Photographs by Gregg Segal

Fashion by Patti O’Brien

Jesse Skiles
Chef, Owen Roe Winery
Though he earned his stripes in “ironed and starched” places in New York and Seattle, Skiles, 25, is most comfortable working in street clothes in his laid-back hometown of Portland, where he’s also heir to a family legacy. “My grandmother owned a bunch of blue-collar eateries here in the 1950s doing comfort food like meat loaf, steamed vegetables, bread, and Jell-O.” Which explains why, although he’s mastered everything from northern Italian fare to wood-fired paella, Skiles isn’t above dropping a mean BLT as the special of the day.
Photographed at Champoeg State Heritage Area

Patrick Miller
Executive chef, 50 Plates
Turns out those high school aptitude tests aren’t a waste of time: Miller’s actually suggested a life in the kitchen. By 18 he had graduated from culinary school, and at 22 he was named executive chef at the four-diamond-rated Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop, Washington. “I was in over my head running a hotel kitchen at that age,” says Miller, 30. The highly addictive “gussied-up American classics” at 50 Plates — shrimp and grits, mac and cheese with chicken mousse and fennel — would suggest he’s quickly matured.
Photographed outside Brinkman Photography Studios

Andy Ricker
Owner-chef, Pok Pok and Ping
House painter. Musician. Ski bum. World traveler. The Vermont native took the circuitous route to his current status as Portland culinary star, getting hooked on the spices of Southeast Asia during a trip to Thailand in the 1990s. Since then, Pok Pok has been named the Oregonian’s 2007 restaurant of the year and Ping recently launched to rave reviews. “I opened Pok Pok in 2005 without any advertising,” says Ricker, 45. “I just told friends and put a sign out front. People started dropping by. It didn’t hurt that there were a lot of good smells coming off the outdoor charcoal grill all day.”
Photographed at Lady Luck Tattoo & Piercing of Portland, Oregon

Gabriel Rucker
Owner-chef, Le Pigeon
Rucker, 28, refuses to wear shorts as a matter of sartorial taste, but that’s not the only reason he looks forward to the cool days of fall. “Autumn foods are coming into season, and it’s rainy and chilly and overcast. The restaurant has a lot of copper and brick, so it’s got a really good feel on a cold night.” Rucker’s devotion to both blustery weather and blustery ingredients — tongue, organs, and blood pudding are favorite weapons — reflects the rebelliousness that first led him into the kitchen. “I got into cooking because I didn’t want to take math in junior college.”
Photographed at Ankeny Square

Scott Dolich
Owner-chef, Park Kitchen
The Duke University grad had no intention of cooking professionally until he took a job at a butcher shop in college. “I was short on cash — the typical college student — and started bringing home scrap meat and cooking it up in a stew. Friends would pay for the liquor, and I’d bring the meat and start the party. That’s when I realized food was something that brought people together, and that resonated with me.” No surprise then that Dolich, 41, credits the success of the small Park Kitchen (only 39 seats) to his “very personal connection to customers, employees, and suppliers.”
Photographed at The Governor Hotel

“The Portland culinary scene is kind of grassroots. we’re all young and don’t have a ton of money and are just flying by the seat of our pants.” —Le Pigeon owner-chef Gabriel Rucker

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How to Cook Like a Man—Portland Version

(click here for the rest of our Cook Like a Man package)

Gabriel Rucker: “A good two-pronged meat fork and a fish spatula are essential items. The fork can help you tell if a steak is done. Stick it in the meat, take it out, and touch it to your lips — if it’s warm you’ve got a nice medium-rare steak. A fish spatula is flexible, so it can get underneath a piece of fish or chicken and won’t stick or scrape off the food.”

Late-Summer Steak Salad with Bacon Ranch dressing

• 1 large heirloom tomato
• 1 Haas avocado
• 6 radishes
• 1 cucumber, peeled
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 bunch watercress

Chop all ingredients to desired size and toss in a bowl with salt and pepper.

Bacon Ranch Dressing

• 1-1/4 cups sour cream
• 1/2 cupbuttermilk
• 1 tsponion powder
• 3/4 tspgarlic powder
• 1/4 cuphomemade bacon bits with fat
• 2 tbspcider vinegar
• Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk. Add desired amount of dressing to salad; save the rest. (It will last a week covered in the refrigerator.) Top dressed salad with grilled and sliced steak, cooked to preference. Eat outside with cold beer and lime.

Scott Dolich: “Get five recipes, literally five recipes, and ride ’em like a pony. Do little riffs on them. Those five recipes can get you through a whole year. There’s a mystique that chefs are always working on the next great thing. The reality is, what I’m doing now isn’t much different from what I was doing 20 years ago, except now I’ve got a bigger bag of tricks.”

Andy Ricker: “A lot of guys get intimidated by cooking — you know, ‘There’s so many ingredients; I don’t want to fuck it up.’ But you can make a fantastic meal out of a potato and a piece of meat. Keep it simple and season well.”

Ju Pa Bao (Pork on a Bun)

• Pork loin chops, bone in, 3/8- to 1/2-inch-thick cut
• Head of garlic
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• butter
• Soft sandwich buns

Lay chops out on plate, and cut the head of garlic in half across the cloves, leaving the skin on. Rub both sides of the chops with the garlic. Salt the chops liberally and sprinkle lightly with pepper. Heat butter in frying pan over medium heat. Sauté chops 2–3 minutes per side on medium heat until golden brown on edges, cooked through but moist. Cut the sandwich buns in half, but keep top and bottom together. Toast in a toaster oven, basting the bun with a little butter until lightly browned. (You want a bun that’s crispy outside, soft inside.) Put each chop in a bun, making sure some butter stays on the chop. Eat immediately.

Jesse Skiles: “I grill a lot with wood. It’s a great way to add flavor. Don’t cook with softwoods — they add undesirable aromas. Hardwoods like oak, apple, and hazelnut are my favorite. The key is to have well-cured, very dry wood.”

Patrick Miller: “Meat will be a constant, so when planning a meal, start in the vegetable section and see what looks good. Yesterday I found some beautiful beets and celery, so I did salt-roasted beets on celery. The potatoes looked good, so I did caramelized potatoes with marinated roasted chicken legs.”

Braised Beef Cheeks California

• 2 lbs beef cheeks, whole
• 4 pieces bacon, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 cupred table wine
• 2 cups chopped canned plum tomatoes in juice
• 2 tbspeach chopped thyme, parsley, and oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 can prepared chicken broth
• 1 cuppimento-stuffed olives, sliced
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Pat beef cheeks dry, season generously with salt and pepper, add to pan, and brown on all sides. Remove cheeks from pan. Wipe pan clean. Place bacon in pan, render, add onion, and cook until translucent. In a heavy casserole dish, add cheeks, bacon-onion mix, wine, tomato, the herbs, and enough chicken broth to cover. Put a lid on casserole and cook in a preheated 300˚ oven for 2-1/2 to 3 hours, until tender. Periodically check the casserole; add chicken broth if it looks dry. Add olives, heat, and sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.

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This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of Men’s Journal

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