Your next innovative meal is at this pop-up restaurant in Portland

On any day of the week, you might find Ryan Fox foraging in northwest Oregon for mushrooms and herbs, visiting the farmers market, or buying seafood from fishermen.

It's not just an eccentric hobby. Fox then goes into the kitchen and prepares what he gathers at Nomad.PDX, one of the most innovative new restaurants in Portland.

Fox's approach to cooking is risky and adventurous: He takes whatever is in season - and only what's in season - and transforms it into a delicious work of art. Last winter, when ingredients were scarce, barley, potato, and cabbage dessert ("cabbage was the sweetest thing available," he says) appeared on the menu.

"In some cities, chefs will have an idea for the menu and make the ingredients work around that idea," he says. "At Nomad.PDX, the ingredients dictate the menu 100%."

It may be harder to create a menu with these constraints, but Fox approaches it as an exciting opportunity. "The challenge is very real for us," says Fox. "No one in Portland has done what we're doing."

A new approach to fine dining

The 29-year-old executive chef is redefining the dining experience. While Fox has worked at some of the most upscale restaurants in the country, Nomad.PDX is a huge departure.

"The initial reaction was, 'These people are crazy!'" Fox says. "A few got it and were on board, but most people said, 'You don't have any money, any equipment, or even a restaurant; you don't have anything to do this.' But we did it anyway."

Nomad.PDX technically operates as a pop-up restaurant from a mezzanine above a bar, although Fox and sous chef Ali Matteis hope to find a larger, permanent space, and perhaps even start their own farm. In the meantime, Fox has made sure the restaurant has a distinct look and feel. He's traded in white tablecloths, chandeliers, and even a wait staff - Fox and Matteis serve everything themselves - for a simple, intimate dining experience.

Customers eat bold, innovative fare while sitting on folding chairs, surrounded by rocks, leaves, and branches Fox collects on his foraging trips. This creates a unique juxtaposition between a bare-bones feel of the physical dining experience and a menu that's anything but basic.

"I've worked at a lot of very nice restaurants, but I never saw what chefs cared about translate to the atmosphere in the dining room," Fox says. "Chefs don't care about white tablecloths. Strip it all away and make it about the food."

The evolution of culinary innovation

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Fox grew up on a "very simple" Midwest diet. But while washing dishes for restaurants as a teenager, he fell in love with food on a deeper level.

After graduating from high school, Fox attended The Culinary Institute of America in New York. From there he floated from city to city - Chicago, New Orleans, and Las Vegas, where he landed a coveted gig at the renowned Joël Robuchon.

Eventually, he made his way to Portland, and the city's emphasis on farm-to-table aligned with own beliefs.

We're trying to tell a story with food - a personal story, but also a story of the place that inspires us.

In January 2015, he opened the restaurant with Matteis, an Oregon native who's established in the industry (she worked at New York City's Atera).

Today, Nomad.PDX offers a 15-to-20-course meal ($95). Fox tries to weave a narrative about sustainability into each dish.

"We're trying to tell a story with food - a personal story, but also a story of the place that inspires us," says Fox. "This is the bounty this area is producing for us, and this is what can be done with it. We hammer across the whole story of the Pacific Northwest, and we need 15 to 20 courses to tell it."

Fox is well aware he's treading uncharted territory and could fail - or run out of money. But he's charging ahead anyway.

"I have no fear," says Fox. "My purpose on this Earth is to feed people who want me to feed them."

Visit Nomad.PDX.

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