After dominating Portland’s burger scene for seven years with Burger Stevens, Kate Laurents and Don Salamone are embarking on a new culinary adventure. Don’s Favorite Foods, their upcoming restaurant, represents a significant shift from gourmet burgers to Italian-inspired cuisine, reflecting Salamone’s personal heritage and fine dining background. This new venture is slated to open by the end of the year in Old Town Beaverton, promising a unique supper club experience.
Salamone’s culinary journey spans across prestigious kitchens, including Gordon Ramsey at the London, Restaurant Guy Savoy in Las Vegas, and even as a private chef for celebrities like Robbie Williams and Adele. These experiences have shaped his “expensive taste” and desire to showcase high-quality ingredients like uni and A5 wagyu, which he feels are often lacking in the current dining landscape. Don’s Favorite Foods is his answer to this, aiming to create an exceptional dining experience that highlights his culinary expertise and personal preferences.
The concept for Don’s Favorite Foods is deeply rooted in Salamone’s upstate New York upbringing and Italian-American heritage, blended with his extensive fine dining experience. This unique combination will manifest in a fixed-price, multi-course menu, entirely curated and executed by Salamone himself. The intimate setting of the former Gloria’s Secret Cafe in Old Town Beaverton, currently being transformed with midcentury furnishings and new kitchen equipment, will further enhance the supper club atmosphere.
Despite initial plans for a larger restaurant space, Laurents and Salamone opted for the cozier Beaverton location, recognizing its potential to foster a stronger connection with the community and offer something truly novel. Laurents, who initially resisted the idea of a full-service brick-and-mortar restaurant, embraced this opportunity, highlighting the “sweet spot” of a small footprint, an exciting neighborhood, and the chance to introduce a fresh dining concept.
Adding to the team is Adam Galbraith, a seasoned Seattle server and sommelier with experience at Purple Cafe and OpenTable. Galbraith will oversee service, curate drink pairings, and develop a wine list focused on French and Italian selections, complementing Salamone’s Italian-inspired menu at Don’s Favorite Foods.
Drawing inspiration from their pandemic-era pop-up, Stevens Italiano, the Don’s Favorite Foods menu will offer a refined take on Italian cuisine. Influenced by Philadelphia supper clubs like Palizzi and Her Place, the restaurant’s ambiance will feature dim amber lighting, marble tables, and approximately 20 green leather chairs, creating an intimate and inviting dining space. While lacking a full bar, cocktail consultation from Jeffrey Morgenthaler and Benjamin “Banjo” Amberg of Pacific Standard promises a curated selection of classic, easy-to-pour cocktails.
The dining experience at Don’s Favorite Foods will commence with an antipasti “snacks” course, potentially showcasing premium ingredients alongside cured meats, pickled vegetables, clams casino, and beef tartare – an array of approximately five to six flavorful bites. Salamone has also consulted with pasta expert Mike Easton of Bar Bacetto to master extruded pasta techniques, aiming to offer dishes like spaghetti and rigatoni, alongside his repertoire of hand-rolled pasta.
While not confined to a specific Italian region, Salamone expresses a fondness for Sicilian flavors, characterized by fish, garlic, capers, and lemon. He fondly recalls his mother’s simple anchovy pasta, emphasizing the beauty of simple, high-quality ingredients: “some olive oil, a little garlic and a splash of (pasta) water.” This philosophy of quality and simplicity will likely permeate the Don’s Favorite Foods menu.
Main courses at Don’s Favorite Foods will vary weekly, potentially featuring comforting dishes like ossobuco, a terrine version of Stevens Italiano’s eggplant Parmigiana, or a grand whole veal chop inspired by Restaurant Guy Savoy. Salamone also plans to incorporate his house-made “holiday sausage,” a nod to his childhood memories of working – and eating – at his family’s butcher shop during Italian festivals. This personal touch and connection to his heritage are central to the Don’s Favorite Foods dining experience.
An intermezzo cocktail, perhaps a refreshing lemon ice Sgroppino, will transition diners to the dessert course. Current dessert ideas include classic Italian sweets like tiramisu or rum-soaked cassata cake. The initial sample menu is priced at $125 per person, positioning Don’s Favorite Foods as a potentially unique set-price dining destination in the Portland suburbs, although Salamone indicates this price may adjust closer to $100 initially, excluding wine.
Don’s Favorite Foods is anticipated to open in Autumn 2023, joining a burgeoning Old Town Beaverton dining scene that includes Magna Kubo, Pip’s Original Doughnuts, and Breakside’s new beer hall and food cart pod. This new restaurant promises to be a significant addition, offering a distinctive Italian supper club experience crafted by a chef with Michelin-starred pedigree and a passion for sharing his favorite foods.
Don’s Favorite Foods will be open for dinner service Wednesday-Saturday, with potential Sunday brunch hours to follow, located at 12500 S.W. Broadway St. in Beaverton, 971-276-5582, donsfavoritefoods.com
