It's an early summer morning in Portland. The sun is out and the sky is as clear blue as I can remember it ever being. The neighborhood of Westmoreland is waking up slowly -- people wandering into coffee houses and out for their morning strolls before work. You can feel the community over here and the way it embraces you the minute you turn onto the main stretch of Milwaukie Avenue.
In between the tiny boutiques and shaded cul de sacs sits Papa Haydn East. For over 35 years Papa Haydn has been dishing up delicious food and desserts, feeding our friends and our families. Our roots are as deep as those that entwine themselves underneath our street, and our heart strings stretch long enough to wrap around the city twice. These days, though, our executive chef Tim Fuller has connected us even more to the community we love.
The sprinklers are watering our backyard garden as I walk through the french doors of the patio. The restaurant-- quiet-- only the sound of kitchen prep floating through the silence. It is a special time in a restaurant for those of us who work here-- when we decide what delicious plates we will talk about today and where we have our morning coffee to perk up that smile saved just for you.
His face is deep in concentration over a sauce as I walk over to the counter. A few minutes later we wander outside onto the patio. Grabbing a chair outside, Tim, a humble & quiet food genius of 31, relaxes with a deep inhale. And we talk -- about the restaurant and his life. But mostly, we talk about the food.
Timothy Brian Fuller was born and raised all Oregon. Spending most of his time out in Morrow, outside the Dalles, he grew up canning and cooking garden and homegrown grown products with his Mother. But it wasn't until he stumbled into culinary school at the Western Culinary Institute that he truly found his love for cooking. After school he ran a bistro bar up in Montreal, Canada with classmates for five years, and then eventually found his way to us.
Within two years Tim worked his way to executive chef of Papa Haydn East where he now focuses on farm to table fare. Drawing inspiration from the farmers and the products, Tim creates simple fresh dishes that highlight the joy that is Oregon's bounty. From the Sockeye Salmon that he has brought in from a regular guest who fishes up in Alaska, to the the farmers at Gathering Together Farms – Tim has established, fostered, and maintained personal professional business relationships with farms for the first time in Papa Haydn's lifespan. A practice we cherished in the past and now will continue far into our future.
What else can we say, Tim, but thank you. Come taste the inspiration seven days a week, you'll find it hard to be anything but impressed.
