Former Couvron Chef Anthony Demes Returns to Portland

A liquor license application filed for the NW Thurman space that was most recently Mangia Pizza features a familiar name to Portland gastronomes: It appears that chef Anthony Demes, who ran the French restaurant Couvron in downtown PDX from 1995-2003 (before moving to New York City in 2004) has returned to Portland full-time. Paperwork filed in Demes' name reveals plans to open a 47-seat French fine dining establishment called Noisette.

Demes, who most recently cooked in Woodinville, Washington's famous farm-to-table spot Herbfarm Restaurant, first made a splash on the Portland dining scene in the mid-90s with Couvron, then packed up and moved back to his native east coast, where he opened a SoHo version of the French restaurant — largely to positive reviews. Couvron NYC shuttered in 2005, and Demes worked a short stint at NW's Meriweather's Restaurant before moves to Michigan and Washington state.

An employee at the Herbfarm confirms that Demes has moved back to Oregon to start his own restaurant, though few other details are available at this time. More as this one unfolds...