Cafe Rowan, the brunch favorite at 4437 SE Cesar E Chavez Blvd in Portland’s Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood, is rebranding to simply Rowan as owner Spencer Ivankoe launches dinner service for the first time since opening in March 2020. Ivankoe confirmed the change directly to What Now Portland, saying dinner will run Wednesday through Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 5 to 10 p.m. on weekends, with a grand opening set for November 6.
Ivankoe said the dinner concept was always the original plan, one the COVID-19 pandemic derailed when the restaurant first opened. He’s already begun shifting the restaurant’s operations ahead of the launch, rolling out table service in place of the old counter-service model and adding reservations through OpenTable.
The dinner menu will lean on Japanese and Mexican flavors alongside seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredients, served à la carte, with a signature tuna au poivre dish, a play on the classic French bistro steak au poivre, expected to headline the lineup. Small plates will run $8 to $26 and larger plates $30 to $42, with dinner seating for 36 guests. Ivankoe tested the concept over roughly seven months with a sold-out series of guest chef dinners featuring 17 Michelin-starred chefs, an experience he said reignited his excitement to cook full dinner service again.
He’s also self-funding the entire expansion and plans to add eight staff members, including his first general manager, to support the new hours. He told What Now Portland the restaurant already completed its remodel and updated decor over the past few months, so there’s no closure planned during the transition.
“We’re excited to basically give the neighborhood and the city a place that they can love as much as they’ve loved brunch over the years, but now for dinner,” Ivankoe said. “We kind of look forward to being an all day restaurant.”
