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The restaurant occupying the pointy end of an odd triangular building on a busy stretch of Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard has lived a few lives in its 25 years.
Today, it wears the confusing name OK Omens, and it’s one of the most exciting places to eat seafood in Portland thanks to its young chef, Joseph Papas.
But for most of its years, the place was called Café Castagna, sibling to the dress-up restaurant next door. Its big sister was at first a fine dining restaurant specializing in Northern Italian cuisine; then it abruptly transitioned into Portland’s foremost outpost of modernist cuisine, initially under chef Matthew Lightner. But the cafe remained a supporting character, serving then-novel Euro bistro fare, including pizza and a burger before every restaurant in town added one or both to their menus.
The late chef Justin Woodward, who succeeded Lightner, steered Castagna through nearly a decade of technique-intensive and playfully imaginative tasting menus. He also rejuvenated the cafe in the spring of 2018. Brent Braun was the wine guy, who promoted natural and other oddball wines to interested diners.
Eight years on, the Castagna space is a professional office, a sad concession to modern times. Meanwhile, OK Omens is hitting new peaks with a completely different emphasis than during its two prior incarnations.
Papas’ entrée has not been accompanied by any big PR push, so it seems to have ducked much attention from the content creator crowd. Regardless, the restaurant’s latest revitalization is meaningful on its own merits, but even more so considering the venue’s storied place in Portland restaurant history.
Since taking the helm in late 2024, Papas has demonstrated an uncommon and delightful culinary aptitude. His special skill with creatures that swim and scuttle in the sea are now the sweet spot on a tight but terrific menu.
Papas’ Dungeness crab salad ($25) is a star, possibly the best item on the menu. While showing off Oregon’s premier crustacean, it also highlights sparkling fresh seasonal vegetables. The current version fills cupped spears of endive with mustard greens, arugula and purslane, as well as abundant fresh herbs like anise hyssop. This mélange changes at whim. Winter brings cress, chervil and tardivo radicchio. The greens are generously, but not excessively, anointed with luxurious “crab fat” dressing—the animal’s creamy-rich innards blended simply with lemon juice. Crunchy-chewy torn croutons add textural contrast. Big chunks of crab, fresh and full of briny flavor, elevate this dish to top form. You must order it.
Papas learned his fishcraft under Jacob Harth, whom Papas considers his mentor and best friend. Harth once ran an underappreciated Portland seafood restaurant called Erizo. The emphasis was on using “bycatch.” While some versions of seafood “sustainability” tend toward preachy bullshit, using species accidentally swept up in the catch of other fish makes simple common sense. Papas has adopted a similar credo, with a focus on diversifying the usual restaurant seafood palate. A recent menu (they change seemingly with the tides) included Pacific skate, with pan-fried and steamed versions serially on offer. But the menu has also included mackerel caught during albacore season and thorny head, a species of rockfish, obtained with black cod.
A more conventional seafood choice, MacFarland Farms trout is currently making the OK Omens menu rounds. It comes from Northern California and is known for its hormone- and antibiotic-free, algae-based diet. As a starter, the trout toast ($18) is more substantial than one might expect. Coarsely chopped pieces of fish are cured in kelp, adding savor, and meet parsley aioli and a blizzard of shaved horseradish on a thick slice of toasted Ken’s Artisan bread. Simple, summer-perfect albacore crudo ($19) reaches a similar depth with capers, shallots and creamy tonnato, all set to be scooped with sturdy housemade potato chips.
Trout reappears as an entree ($32), simply grilled over charcoal. The fish is dry-aged, similar to the dry-aging of beef, an increasingly popular trick in the West, though aging of fish to concentrate flavor and improve texture dates back to ancient Japan.
The new OK Omens has plenty of options besides seafood, and many of the more traditional dishes recall bygone Café Castagna days. The high summer tomato salad ($16), topped with a slightly creamy tomato sabayon and seasoned with green coriander, was an applause-worthy twist on a seasonal standard. The burger ($24) and onglet steak frites ($43) are straightforward interpretations worthy of feasting on. And there is pasta as well, currently rigatoncini with Sungold tomatoes, stracciatella and pistachio ($26).
The only negative under Papas has been the decline of the wine menu. Braun’s wine list was a big draw in the past. But he has surrendered his general manager title, and his role at OK Omens is now limited. According to Papas, Braun remains as the wine buyer, and he comes in monthly for tastings with staff. Still, Braun’s personable presentation of his picks and the range of unusual selections is missed.
The one flaw aside, Joseph Papas’ kitchen talent is rare and exciting. Monique Siu, the restaurant’s founder and owner, has proven once again a great judge of talent and, for a second time, shown courage to allow an untried chef to chart a new course. In its current iteration, OK Omens is far better than just OK.
EAT: OK Omens, 1758 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-231-9959, okomens.com. 5–9 pm Tuesday–Sunday.
