Ataula

Cristina and Emily have been close friends since they met in Culinary School in New York and discovered their shared passion for hospitality, almost thirteen years ago. They knew then and vowed that if it the time ever came to open a restaurant, they would do it together. Cristina met the Spanish Jose during an internship at Can Fabes in Catalonia and the rest was – as the saying goes – history. Cristina was the first to visit Portland when she came to town for a food styling workshop, and invited Emily along. From Puerto Rico and Chicago they rendezvoused out west and both of them fell in love with the city. After urging Jose to visit, he and Cristina moved to Portland from New York in late 2010. After two-odd years of learning the city and the studying the food scene the time had finally come. They reached out to Emily and Ataula began. Although the three of us are mostly of a fine dining pedigree, we have joined together in the hopes of creating something unique. While working in the high pressure world of the Michelin-Starred, we learned everything we could about dedicating ourselves to an uncompromising standard. And yet, as the years went by, we all began to feel that that world was not where we would end up. We never understood why great food had to require the pomp and price tag of degustation menus. And so we bring to you our vision: a restaurant that delivers the highest quality food in a more relaxed environment. We bring to you Ataula.