"We're doing all the design ourselves, and honestly, we like it that way," says Urdaneta owner and chef Javier Canteras. The hotly anticipated Urdaneta is the latest restaurant to rep the explosive regional Spanish food trend in Portland, and it will be a Spanish tapas and wine bar, with a focus on Northern Spain and the Basque region. Canteras tells Eater Urdaneta is slated to open in the iconic Natural Selection venue July 9, and the restaurant is currently accepting reservations. See inside now in the photos above.
A quick recap: Born in Spain, Canteras runs the popular Basque Supper Club and won $150,000 and a mentorship from celebrity restaurateur Joe Bastianich on CNBC's Restaurant Startup. This led to research trips to Spain and New York City with guidance from Bastianich in the last six months, and whereas Basque Supper Club features more modern cooking, Canteras says Urdaneta will be both modern and traditional, aka "homey": The restaurant takes its name from his mother's side of the family.
Walk through the door and you'll find Natural Selection transformed with warmer tones and custom, Spanish-style pop-art portraits of Canteras's family. "We've built a small bar featuring a tapas display case, as they have in every tapas bar in Spain," says Canteras. "It'll highlight Basque pintxo and tapas ingredients used by the kitchen." The kitchen is still open and that formidable chopping block from the Natural Selection era remains the restaurant's centerpiece.
Urdaneta will open July 9 at 3033 NE Alberta St. to serve dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Find full menu details here shortly.
