Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140Judy Schneider’s Minoan fresco replica was painted directly on the wall at Emilitsa. Hungry EyE 102 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine CloCkwise from top:Courtesy tempo dulu; sean kruger; Courtesy emilitsa; meaghan mauriCe ace of Knossos in Crete,” says John Regas, manager and host of Emilitsa (below), the haut-Greek restaurant on Congress Street he owns with his brother Demos Regas. “It’s from around 1500 BC.” So what’s it doing here? It’s a replica, painted by “a local artist and designer, Judy Schneider,” says Demos, executive chef. “I like art a lot, and I really liked the art at Knossos when I visited Kriti. I love this picture, and it’s appropriate since Greek cuisine is based so much on sea- food. Judy wanted to do it large scale. It’s actually part of the wall, not a sepa- rate painting. There are a couple of lay- ers of plaster over the plasterboard and she painted it directly onto the wall.” T he Regases put up the plaster,” explains artist Schneider lat- er. She painted the image right there in the dining room. When asked if she replicated the wet-plaster fresco tech- nique, she laughs. “It’s acrylic paint–sor- ry to burst your bubble. I’ve always paint- ed, and I did this painting my own way, although Demo kept on me to make the fish accurate. He pays attention to every detail.” He sure does. Emilitsa is one of the most attractive restaurants in the city. The food is impeccable and beautifully presented. A crisp glass of chilled assyrtiko with a dish of fava–made with yellow lentils from Santorini and garnished with slivers of onion and toast- ed pita triangles–are a still-life work of art. The chef de cuisine, Demos’s son Niko, has excellent taste. Are they Cretans? “We’re Spartans, actually,” says Demos, referring to the arid part of the Pelopponese renowned for its ancient warriors and, these days, for olives. LOCAL FAVORITE SINCE 1999, Portlanders have turned to Local 188 for the artistic, La Bohème vibe that reassures us that we live in a city that really cares about art and artists. The food is Latin-influenced, the dining room walls are used as an art gallery offering a chang- ing selection of art for sale. The music is al- ways good. Portlander Patrick Corrigan’s birds and fanciful images painted directly on the bar and some of the walls are part of the soul of this restaurant and two others–Sonny’s and Salvage BBQ–also owned by husband and wife artists Jay and Allison Villani. Corri- gan’s bird imagery dominates at Local, and his graphic, menu, and website art prolifer- ates at all three. “I moved to Portland in ’93,” says Woon- socket, Rhode Island native and Massa- chusetts College of Art graduate Corrigan. “I majored in illustration and did editori- al work for years. Lettering has been some- thing I’ve picked up since then. Sign paint- ing has helped hone that skill. “Allison and Jay opened an art gallery called The Pleasant Street Collective a few years pri- or to Local 188. I met them there and showed my first fine-art paintings. It was the coolest gal- lery in town. We ended up going on to open Local 188 together, whichcombinedartandartexhi- bitions with Jay’s culinary skills.”