QUESTION COCKTAIL ORTHODOXY
Why are so many gin drinks considered summer cocktails? Why not drink gin in the winter, Hebberoy asked himself. So this year he will launch two seasonal gins, named after his restaurant Gotham Bldg Tavern—herb-steeped GBT Summer Gin and black tea-infused GBT Winter Gin.
manifesto no. 2
TEACH EVERYONE
Why should the chefs be the only food experts at a restaurant? Hebberoy urges every member of his waitstaff to participate in monthly training sessions. They might prune Pinot Noir vines in the Willamette Valley, say, or watch a whole hog get butchered to learn about different cuts of pork.
manifesto no. 3
PROVOKE DISCUSSION
Why can't restaurants feed intellectual hunger? Hebberoy recently hired a writer-in-residence, novelist Matthew Stadler, to add a level of literary discourse to the restaurant experience. Stadler writes short essays, on subjects like the history of Portland dining, which are displayed on all the tables. He also organizes salons where writers and artists give lectures to provoke discussion.
manifesto no. 4
NURTURE A COMMUNITY
Who says a restaurant has to follow conventions like seating diners at separate tables or offering choices on the menu? The Hebberoys' Family Supper, which they started without a license in their own house, places everyone at a single communal table. There's a set three-course menu, for $25 a person, and the food is presented family-style. As a result, strangers serve themselves from the same platters and are encouraged to interact.
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