"He can charm
anyone out of anything. I thought he was a friend. Then
he burned me."
--Jim Wilkens
of Astoria's Cafe Uniontown
After moving to Portland last March, Ira Mittelman hung
his name over the city's most conspicuous kitchen. He spent
the next six months trying to build a clientele and reputation
to meet the high expectations that came with moving into
the old quarters of the legendary restaurant Zefiro on the
coveted corner of Northwest 21st Avenue and Glisan Street.
And then, two months ago, he vanished without a trace.
After a helping of mixed reviews, Ira's closed abruptly
on Sept. 13. Its owner hung a vacation notice on the restaurant's
door and never returned, leaving Portlanders to wonder
what had happened to the restaurateur and his grand culinary
aspirations.
Folks in Bozeman, Mont., however, weren't surprised to
hear the news. Neither were residents of Astoria or Cannon
Beach. It turns out Ira is better at abandoning restaurants
than running them.
WW has learned that Mittelman is now toiling in
California's wine country. But in Portland, where the
wounds--both personal and financial--are so fresh that
those involved won't discuss them, the question isn't
just "Where's Ira?" but also "What happened?"
Jim Wilkens thinks he knows, although he wishes he didn't.
"I am the person responsible for bringing Ira out to Oregon,
and I'd like to apologize to all the citizens of Oregon
for that," says Wilkens, owner of Astoria's Cafe Uniontown,
who hired Mittelman to cook in early 1995 after Mittelman's
restaurant failed in Bozeman.
"He can charm anyone out of anything," Wilkens says.
"I thought he was a friend. Then he burned me for $1,300."
Mittelman didn't stay long at Cafe Uniontown. He left
Astoria in October 1995 for a string of cooking jobs,
including work in Pacific City, Waldport and Washington,
D.C. But he returned in 1996 to open Ira's, on Commercial
Street.
"Ira can be pretty charming when he wants to be," remembers
Joyce Stewart, a Cafe Uniontown co-worker who let Mittelman
crash at her apartment during those months. "He even convinced
me to leave my job at Uniontown with him that fall [to
work at his new restaurant]." It soon became clear to
Stewart that her boss "knew nothing about running a restaurant,"
and Mittelman, who had borrowed money from Wilkens, soon
fell behind on bills.
The Daily Astorian says Mittelman owes it between
$800 and $900 in unpaid advertising charges. Publisher
Steve Forrester says that when Mittelman was confronted
with his delinquent bills, he acted as though he'd never
missed a payment. "The way he talked about it," Forrester
says, "I guess you'd call it 'delusional behavior.' And
the thing was, I had considered him a personal friend."
Eventually, his business partner, Phyllis Koven, was
forced to use personal funds to meet payroll. When she
could no longer afford it, she confronted her partner
with a stack of promissory notes and filed a civil lawsuit
against him.
Ultimately, it may have been that legacy in Astoria,
rather than disappointing business in Portland, that prompted
Mittelman to take his permanent vacation from Northwest
Glisan Street.
Just one week before disappearing from Portland, Mittelman
was sitting in Clatsop County Court when a judge awarded
Koven more than $60,000 in damages. Koven says she doubts
she'll ever see a dime.
Two years after fleeing Astoria, Mittelman opened another
restaurant (again named Ira's) in Cannon Beach. Once again,
he abruptly left without fully paying his rent and lease
charges.
In Portland, the story was much the same. Property managers
at ESP Property Factors served Mittelman eviction papers
Sept. 27 for unpaid rent.
Given his track record, many former colleagues wonder
whether Mittelman ever really intends to run a profitable
business. But others, such as Marco Shaw, give him the
benefit of the doubt. Shaw, a chef at Tuscany Grill, a
neighbor of Ira's in Northwest Portland, says Mittelman
was excited about his move from Cannon Beach to the city
and had high hopes for his newest Ira's location.
At least one mystery seems to have been solved. Ira's
car was seen parked at his sister Dorothy's house in Astoria
in the weeks following his Portland exit. Her landlord
confirms that Ira hid out upstairs for several weeks before
leaving to work in a Napa Valley vineyard. Dorothy Mittelman
refused to comment and would not confirm rumors that Ira
will be back in Astoria any day to pick up his belongings.
If he does return, there may be a few angry investors
and former landlords waiting for him. But plenty of people
would rather not see him again at all.
"Ira once told me that people love to give him money
when they first meet him...then once they get to know
him, they'd pay him just to go away," says Koven. "I guess
he wasn't kidding."
