Just a few days ago, the pizza oven was ablaze for the first time at Portland’s new Italian food hall Cooperativa.
The 5,000-square-foot space, located in the Pearl District, is a dream of Executive Chef Sarah Schafer and business partner Anna Corporeal, who ran Irving Street Kitchen, a Southern food restaurant, that closed in June.
La Cooperativa Executive Chef Sarah Schafer and business partner Anna Corporeal
In an interview with LCI earlier this year, Chef Sarah described how Florence’s Mercato Centrale had inspired her vision for a Portland version.
“It struck me, walking through there, that this is really what cooking should be about. It should be about the community and that it’s a foundation of daily life and you’re meeting your friends there and you see a neighbor reaching over for some beets or something, or you meet your loved ones for a cocktail upstairs. I started thinking, I’ve lived a life of such fine dining that I kind of want to get back to just—this is the most beautiful filled ravioli or rigatoni and I’m going to have it with this basil that’s in season. I like that idea of picking and choosing based on how I felt, what I wanted to eat that day.”
After a delayed opening due to COVID-19, Cooperativa celebrated a soft launch last week, offering visitors fresh and dried pasta, Italian imports, farm produce, and flowers. The site includes ample outdoor seating.
Cover Photo: Fresh Pasta at La Cooperativa vis Facebook