#449 Christopher Czarnecki - The Joel Palmer House
Right At The Fork
Christopher Czarnecki, is the chef-owner of Joel Palmer House in Dayton. a fourth-generation family restaurant specializing in wild mushrooms, now based in a historic 1857 house in the heart of Oregon wine country. The restaurant is well-known as a must visit destination while visiting the wine country. We talk with Christopher about his family's roots in Pennsylvania, why they moved to Oregon, and Christopher's experiences on the way to, and after taking over the restaurant, including his military service. Chef Czarnecki cites huge credit to his GM, Levi, and we talk about what...
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RATF Classic: #432 Jake Martin - Daphne / Astoria
Right At The Fork
As warmer weather approaches, many of us are heading to coast. Make sure Daphne in Astoria is on your list of to-dos. Here's our conversation with Jake Martin from last November. Original Post: Jake Martin began his culinary journey at 15, washing dishes in Northern California before moving sight unseen to Seattle in 1999. There, he taught himself the craft, working his way up through kitchens like Union and Maria Hines' Tilth. He moved to Portland in 2007, eventually running acclaimed restaurants Carlyle and Fenouil. This success was followed by a period of intense personal and...
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#448 Maylin Chavez - Nacar and Travel to Oaxaca
Right At The Fork
Right at the Fork is supported by: Zupan's Markets: RingSide SteakHouse: Portland Food Adventures: It's a pleasure to have Maylin Chavez join us again. This time, we talk about her latest venture, Nacar, and how she enjoys doing pop ups now versus owning her own brick and mortar restaurant. Maylin goes into her background starting in the Baja region in Mexico, what life was like as a child there, and then studying to go into social criminology, until she realized her passion was cooking. The last half of the podcast is dedicated to a discussion on...
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#447 Meg Cotner - Bridgetown Bites April '26 Update
Right At The Fork
With the recent sale of Portland Monthly, local media's coverage of the Portland food scene is surely less voluminous. But there is one person and her small team, Meg Cotner, publishing her Bridgetown Bites, online and via email push multiple times each week. We took the opportunity once again to talk to Meg about what's new and upcoming in Portland. Also, we have a discssion of the business of Bridgetown Bites as well. Key topics in this episode: Portland's culinary landscape Bridgetown Bites and local food coverage James Beard Awards and local recognition...
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#446 Patrick McKee - Estes
Right At The Fork
Chef Patrick McKee joins us for the third time on the podcast, sharing his journey of opening Estes through its popup iterations to now, his brick and mortar restaurant in the heart of a great restaurant block. We talk about his influences from Italy and family and of course, his mentor Vitaly Paley, and his vision for creating a space that honors heritage and community. We touch on how overcoming adversity shaped his character, and is a lesson to anyone that they can recover from extreme devastations. Also, Patrick talks about marriage and the...
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RATF Classic: #374 Don Bourassa - International Adulting and Inaugural RATF Guest
Right At The Fork
We flast back to January 2024 and our conversation with Don Bourassa. Original post: Don Bourassa was Right at the Fork's first guest ever in 2014. Back then, he was the Community Director for Yelp. Now, he's moved to Porto, Portugal with his wife and among his many endeavors, he writes on substack: International Adulting. We talk to Don about what's transpired in the ten years since his first visit with us, including the process of deciding to move and the ins and outs of moving to another country. Also, having traveled the world, his thoughts on...
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#445 Jackie and Adam Sappington Part 2 - Harlow, Country Cat, solpdx and their son's football journey
Right At The Fork
In the second part of our interview with a couple with deep roots in the Portland food world, Jackie and Adam Sappington share their insights on the state of Portland's food scene and the socio economic factors that affect it. Adam shares that he remains focused on their own businesses and personal goals rather than the city as a whole, while still being aware and doing their best to serve their communities. They talk about their much healthier practices now, with some moderation. They share their unique and fascinating family journey which includes two very athletic sons...
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#444 Jackie and Adam Sappington Part 1 - Harlow and The Country Cat
Right At The Fork
We are thrilled to have two of the legends of the current Portland dining scene on the podcast with us, Jackie and Adam Sappington. Back in 2007, they left Wildwood to create The Country Cat, which was one of the staples of Portland's restaurant heyday. They eventually opened The Country Cat at the airport, pioneering the idea that a great local restaurant could succeed serving people coming and going from PDX in a very special way. 8 years ago, the Sappingtons bought Harlow restaurant, a plant-based restaurant. So interested that Adam, who was such a down home Ozark...
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RATF Classic: #438 Dominic Finzo - The Screen Door
Right At The Fork
This week, we look back to our conversation with Dominic Finzo of The Screen Door. ORIGINAL POST: Dominic Finzo from The Screen Door restaurant in Portland joins us to talk about the iconic restaurant's 20th anniversary, which they will commemorate in 2026. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Dominic’s earliest memories are steeped in the comforting rhythm of Southern life—where supper was always on the table, and love was served warm by the hands of his grandparents who raised him. It was in their kitchen that Dominic first felt the magic of food—the way a meal could bring people...
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#443 Althea Grey Potter - Bar Nouveau
Right At The Fork
Althea Gray Potter shares her journey of opening Bar Nouveau, a restaurant in St. John's, Portland. She discusses her initial reluctance to open a restaurant, how it all came about, how she financed it along with the support she received from loved ones and the community\, and the significance of having a great General Manager, Heather Wallberg and how they met and agreed about the match. Althea emphasizes the significance of community and connection in the culinary world, and we touch on "authenticity" when it comes to menus, and what that means in 2026. Fun to hear some of...
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