Top Honors for Quirk and Nuance
When we select chefs and wineries for the Gala, we pour through dozens of nominations, consult with area foodies and wine enthusiasts…and do some tasting ourselves, of course.
As with our featured winery today, sometimes the maker is so new that you’re not sure what’s “normal” for them. But you still know delicious when you taste it!
And sometimes a chef has such a unique perspective and broad repertoire that you are never sure what you’re going to get.
Such is the case with the unusual, complex, and delicious creations of Chef Maya Okada Erickson, our featured Gala chef.
Read on, friends, and see what we mean…Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
“Quirky Flavors and Unique Twists”
Maya Okada rickson, Langbaan, @tuilesfromthecrypt
“Quirky flavors and unique twists,” is how Chef Maya Okada Erickson describes her cuisine.
Apparently, quirk and twist are favorites of some pretty important people since Chef Maya has already been recognized by a growing list of foodies:
SF Chronicle “Rising Star Chef”
Zagat’s “30 under 30”
Forbes Magazine Featured Chef
Food and Wine's “Best New Pastry Chef” Nominee
As the resident pastry chef of Langbaan, she honors the restaurant’s Thai cuisine in her quirky desserts like a charred corn ice cream cake with corn husk caramel, puffed sorghum and fried shallots. (Ice cream sang kha-ya kao phod)
“Langbaan is an incredibly fulfilling place to work,” Chef Maya said. “It has always been a busy restaurant, filled with people who are excited to eat there.”
And she’s equally delighted with the broader food scene in Portland, visiting favorites like Jacqueline, Lovely's Fifty Fifty, Someday, and Nimblefish.
“Portland is such a fantastic place to live and cook because of the incredible nature and ingredients that are available to us. There are so many talented chefs here, each with a unique and incredible voice. It's so inspiring to cook among them.”
On November 17th at the TASTE for Equity Gala, we’ll get to enjoy her quirky, twisty creations as our featured dessert chef.
“A Pandemic Project Like No Other”
Dave & Lois Cho, CHO Wines, @getchowines
“We got into wine by playing music at wineries,” said Lois Cho.
That’s probably not a common route to winemaking but no great adventure is ever linear.
After playing music at local wineries in southern California, Dave grew his passion for the trade while meditating with monks in Burgundy and sipping through California and beyond.
Then he moved the family from California to Oregon to pursue a wine career and earned a degree in Enology & Viticulture from OSU.
All of that became “a pandemic project like no other,” Lois Cho said, when CHO Wines founded in 2020 and launched in 2021.
In just two years since, the couple has purchased 77 acres, planted 8.5 of them, and broke ground on a tasting room and winery.
For good reason…
CHO Wines has already received 90+ scores by Wine Enthusiast and James Suckling in their first release in 2021.
They were nominated by USA Today's Readers Choice 10 Best New Winery Category and their sparkling wine made The Enthusiast 100 List in 2022.
Making their second appearance at our Gala, we look forward to enjoying Dave’s style of balancing tradition and innovation in crafting “more nuanced and delicate wines,” which is already raking in honors.
We’ll enjoy BOTH of these makers’ creations–and 18 more like them!--at the Gala.
Of course, you could always visit them now too since we’ve done the hard part of picking out some of the best of our diverse food and wine scene.