Chef Jennifer Jasinksi of Rioja, Bistro Vendome and Euclid Hall was recently named one of the three finalists for Denver Magazine’s Chef of the Year Award
Chef Matthew Lightner is no stranger to cooking cuisines throughout Europe and here in the U.S. Time well spent in Spain included an 18-month stint at the famed Mugaritz, said to be one of the most respected venues in the culinary world.
Lightner has also garnered much experience on the West Coast as chef de cuisine at L’Auberge in Del Mar, California in 2006, working alongside James Beard award-winning chef Paul McCabe. And later refining French culinary techniques under Master French Chefs Phillippe Boulot of The Heathman Restaurant and Bar and Francis Perrot of Fairbanks Ranch.
This year, Lightner was among the semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards and has been nominated in the category of Rising Star Chef. He was featured in Food and Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chefs 2010”
Since the opening of the restaurant, ¡Oba! has received Restaurant of the Year honors from Willamette Week magazine, Best Restaurant from Portland Citysearch, and Best Dining in Oregon, Most Creative Menu and Best New Restaurant from the reader’s poll of Northwest Palate Magazine. The Banana Malassadas were recently named as the “Best Dessert in Portland” by Portland Monthly Magazine. ¡Oba! has also garnered national attention from the New York Times, which named it as the place to eat while in Portland, and ¡Oba! has been named the “steamiest scene in town” by Fortune magazine. The Zagat Guide has listed Oba as one of “America’s Top Restaurants”. Over the past several years, Neuman has hosted his own radio show, “Dining Out” on Portland’s KOTK and KBNP, been invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City, been a guest chef on several local television programs, and has donated his talents to many high-profile charitable events. Chef Neuman has also been featured in such varied publications as Food Arts, Nation’s Restaurant News, Food & Wine, Chef Magazine, Bon Appetite, Vogue and USA Today. Chef Neuman was also hand-picked by the Cakebread family for their 22nd annual American Harvest Workshop and will be returning this fall for their 25 anniversary reuinion
