Next month, former Pok Pok chef Andy Ricker will land in Portland on what he calls a “low-key pop-up tour” to take part in a two-day event at Korean wood-fired barbecue restaurant Jeju.
During its 15-year run, culminated by the pandemic, Pok Pok grew from a food truck on Southeast Division Street to one of the most famous restaurants in America. Over time, Ricker contributed to several cookbooks and Pok Pok expanded to both New York and Los Angeles.
The dinners will be Portland residents’ first opportunity to try Pok Pok’s food – without cooking it themselves – since the restaurants permanently closed in October 2020.
Working with Jeju chef Peter Cho, Ricker is planning a “greatest hits” menu featuring the most popular dishes that have made Pok Pok famous, including the restaurant’s signature Ike wings with Vietnamese fish sauce and papaya “pok pok” salads, spicy grilled wild boar neck and northern Thai pork curry Kaeng Hang Leh, and an affogato with condensed milk ice cream for dessert.
Although dinners on Sept. 8 and 9 are already sold out, Jeju owner Cho and Jeju co-owner Sun Young Park say they have reserved about 40 seats per night on their restaurant’s patio, which could be released in early September depending on how the weather turns out.
Visit Jeju’s OpenTable page for more information about the Pok Pok Dinners taking place on September 8th and 9th in Jeju, 626 SE Main St.
Further reading:
Pok Pok, Portland’s defining restaurant for a decade, is no more
Jeju in Portland serves Korean barbecue with whole animals and rockstar karaoke
—Michael Russell; [email protected]
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