Northeast Foodies: The Hub is Coming
by Christina Melander
The Oregonian
While the city of Portland continues protracted negotiations to establish a year-round public market, developers Jon Kellogg and Thad Fisco are swiftly creating a marketplace for food lovers. In March they will complete the final phase of construction at the intersection of North Williams Avenue and Failing Street.
It is a nice bit of synergy that their project, christened The Hub, occupies the bones of the old Oregon Food Bank storehouse. When the drywall is up and the dust clears, The Hub will comprise 20 units and nearly 30,000 square feet, linking the existing half-block that includes the vegan-centric Nutshell restaurant and Yoga Shala with a second Ristretto Roasters coffee shop and Lincoln, a restaurant helmed by esteemed Portland caterer Jenn Louis.
Kellogg and Fisco, both 42, formed Adaptive Development Co. six years ago, setting out to salvage and reuse faltering buildings in close-in Portland. "We try to buy buildings in neighborhoods we can still afford so we can deliver the spaces at a fair rent," says Kellogg, who makes it a point to lease to local, independent entrepreneurs. The success of Pix and 5th Quadrant -- across the street in one of their rehabbed buildings -- coupled with growing momentum along the North Williams and Vancouver arterials encouraged the developers to take on the massive Hub job.
"It's an underserved neighborhood with no major grocery store," Kellogg says. "We want to create a model of urban, daily needs shopping -- a European-style marketplace that people can walk to."
Adaptive Development, currently in talks with several potential tenants, would like to sign food artisans and retailers such as a pasta maker, cheese shop, charcuterie and bakery, along with wellness-oriented businesses. (In addition to Lincoln and Ristretto, confirmed tenants include a naturopathic veterinary clinic and florist.)
Lincoln, an 80-seat eatery expected to open in summer or fall, should serve as a solid anchor. It is the first restaurant from Jenn Louis and her husband, David Welch, a restaurant-service veteran and freelance journalist. Lincoln will dish up "modern American food" akin to the simple, clean-flavored cooking Louis has honed at her 8-year-old Culinary Artistry catering, which will move over to The Hub.
"I'm not going out to reinvent anything, I just want to cook the kind of food I like to eat," Louis says. "Of course it will be seasonal because there's no other way to do it. We'll braise in the winter and grill in the summer and make great flatbreads and fritters of all sorts."
Louis, 36, and Welch, 34, gravitated to The Hub because of its convenient location and arched barrel roof, which reveals handsome original woodwork. The owners will play up the lodge aesthetic with a fireplace and a name that pays tribute to hardworking rural America and our principled 16th president.
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