Victor Deras Out at Metrovino; Dustin See Named Chef

Image of Metrovino courtesy Yelp

After the departure of chef duo Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quinonez Denton earlier this year, Metrovino co-owner Todd Steele stayed in-house to anoint a replacement, and in late January, announced the promotion of sous chef Victor Deras to the head chef position. Less than two months later, Deras is out, to be replaced by current Metrovino sous chef Dustin See.

Steele confirmed the switch to the Oregonian, which reports that "Steele said Deras turned out to be a bad fit for his Pearl District restaurant. He asked the chef to step down on Saturday." See, who helped open downtown's Nel Centro in 2009 and joined Metrovino in 2010, had been promoted from line cook to sous chef during the original staff shake-up. According to Steele, See will spearhead Metrovino's upcoming new brunch menu, scheduled to debut in a few weeks.

In an interview with Eater soon after accepting the head chef role, Deras expressed interest in tweaking Metrovino's menu toward Mediterranean flavors that "[change] the way traditional Mediterranean food is." No word yet on Deras' future plans.
· Metrovino [Official site]
· All Previous Metrovino Coverage [Eater PDX]