Sure. Creating, chopping, slicing, dicing, plating, serving, tasting, planning, baking, pickling, sweating, shouting, talking, strategizing…. all those “ing” things. Sleeping is probably not among them. Dropping by the newly updated Bakery Bar to what now is Kerns Kitchen in NE Portland’s Kerns neighborhood, showed off all those important items on the “DO” list. And a lot more.

A Fourth Act to Envy

In cinema, the fourth act is that place you think, ok, there’s nothing left to uncover, we can relax now…but wait! Here comes something more! Surprise!

In Italian food culture? You could sit for hours around the table going through, say, four courses.

I don’t know about the sitting for hours through so much food, but it does seem that restaurateurs Nick and Sara Medici have arrived to at least a fourth place in their career. Remember Ristorante Medici, then, Paparazzi, followed by a cozy spot on NW 21st, Melt, that was all at once very artsy and very full of gooey deliciousness on the sandwich menu?

Melt

Melt

Now, Nick and Sara along with Sara’s sister Amy and her husband Rand Thomas have partnered up to create a place that reflects their own upbringing. Nick’s which was shaped by family Sunday dinners and the sisters’ farm to table meals on their grandparent’s farm.

Executive Chef Nick Medici

Executive Chef Nick Medici

Kitchen Culture

Ever notice how you go to a gathering and everybody is in the kitchen? It’s the hub. Argue politics there. Announce you are pregnant. Breaking up. Getting married. Even the small stuff like conjecturing when the sun will finally burn up and we’ll be left with no sun — like that Twilight Zone episode or the meaning of Higgs Boson. Physics at the kitchen table. Life!

kitchen

That table, real, imagined and remembered was the inspiration for Kerns Kitchen. As Sara and Nick say, “It’s a shared desire to bring people together over delicious food to nurture and nourish.” Families depend on the comfort and dependability of the kitchen table to celebrate the extraordinary as well as make the everyday memorable. At Kerns Kitchen, Nick, Sara, Amy & Rand strive to extend this same hospitality to their larger community.

The bounty of the Pacific Northwest and its multicultural influences offer the opportunity to establish what Nick loves best in a local restaurant — a casual, locally supportive, comfortable gathering spot with exceptional food. He brings this passion for essential simplicity with modern interpretation to the menus of Kerns Kitchen, featuring hearty breakfast fare and housemade pastries daily until 2 p.m., and a dinner menu featuring handmade pizzas, seasonal salads, and delicious kitchen classics like burgers, mac ‘n’ cheese, brisket dip sandwiches, and wings.

Ribs

Ribs!

Cobb Salad

Cobb Salad with HOMEMADE PICKLED VEGETABLES. yUm.

Important Info

Kerns Kitchen will celebrate their opening with a pizza party on Wednesday, Dec. 18 from 5-7 p.m. Pizza will be available on the house, with guests welcome to purchase other food and drink from the restaurant’s menu. 2935 NE Glisan St.  www.kernskitchenpdx.com

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