We recently connected with Kei Ohdera and have shared our conversation below.

Kei, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The concept as it currently operates is far from where it started. I started Pasture as a Pop-up in 2019 as a butcher shop/restaurant primarily sourcing retired dairy cows from the Tillamook region. The inspiration came from having worked with the product at Blue Hill at Stone Barns as a young cook and being blown away by flavor of these older animals. Dairy cows are retied when they are no longer producing as much milk, so they are much older and have been contributing milk to the community instead of just being raised for beef. While they are looked down upon and much tougher, proper care can result in a beautiful product with cheddar yellow fat, richly maroon meat, and a slight lactic sweetness to the beefy flavor.

With Oregon having such a bountiful dairy region, it seemed like a worthwhile endeavor to try and bring this product to the consumer. Finally opening a brick and mortar in 2022, I tried to source dairy cows yet again. Due to losses of processing facilities in Oregon to wildfires as well as other logistical issues. We were not able to create a reliable supply chain for retired dairy cows. Luckily we were able to connect to a small grass fed beef operation outside of Eugene call Hawley Ranch, where Bill and his Wife raise some of the best beef I have had the pleasure of working with.

As a whole animal butcher shop at conception, Pasture started as a butcher shop and sandwich shop to use products from the butcher case that did not sell that day in an effort to keep quality and freshness high. Not only did the beef come straght from the slaughterhouse to the shop and get processed here, but the case was constantly being cycled through the lunch program. Eventually the sandwich shop gained too much popularity to manage both and there was vigilante backlash to our butcher shop in the way of vandalism and theft. Therefore, Pasture as it exists today is simply a restaurant serving lunch utilizing local meat, produce, and wonderful bread from Dos Hermanos Bakery.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a child growing up, few things could keep my attention like food. Cooking all the time and working in restaurants from the age of 13, I made the decision to forego college in pursuit of career as a chef. With high ambitions, I chose to focus my attention on the best restaurants in the world (as listed by San Pelligrino). I worked for a time at Ryugin in Tokyo where I was born before gaining a great deal of experience at Blue HIll at Stone Barns.

After throwing myself into the fine dining side of the industry, I became jaded and could no longer justify the exploitation, long hours, grueling work, and abuse that is synonymous with fine dining restaurants. I moved to Portland, OR to seek a more honest and meaningful vision of the life of a chef. I became the chef of a vegan restaurant creating tasting menus in a much more laid back and humble setting before setting out to create a concept of my own.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When signing the lease for a concrete shell of a space here in Portland with no plumbing or electrical, I was very niave in respect to how much building out a restaurant would actually cost. Withe the pandemic inflating costs and prolonging permitting times, I had signed on for a project with just 25% of the capital I would need to complete the process. Through great luck and generosity, I was able to make up the difference. I received some funds from a gofundme in part becuase of having introduced the brand as a pop-up years earlier. I used my own savings and some helpful loans from family members. The greatest aid came in the form of a grant from a local non-profit working to support BIPOC and Women owned businesses in Portland called Prosper Portland. Without their help, I would never have been able to finish building Pasture.

To the best of my ability I leveraged credit cards and small loans to make up the rest. As it is today, it was nearly impossible to get a commercial loan for a new business. The tables and counters for the dining room I built myself. The butcher blocks, shelving and cutting boards for the kitchen I built myself. The cabinetry I built with the generous help of my father. In essence, without the help of family, community and a little DIY, I would not have come anywhere near my goal.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I am grateful to say that from early on, we have had a healthy amount of regular customers. More than half of our customers every day are returning customers. without the capital to hire a PR firm or pay for advertising, simple word of mouth has been our saving grace in getting customers in the door. I am consistently told by customers that Pasture came highly recommended by this person or that person. As it is, I had aspirations in opening to create a small business as they used to be where you could develop a raport with your butcher and trust them to offer you something that opens you up to leaving your comfort zone. I am proud to say that we did that as a butcher shop and even as a sandwich shop, anytime we put a new menu item on or give a recommendation, our customers are very receptive because they have come to assosiate Pasture with a certain level of quality.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pasturepdx.com/
• Instagram: pasturepdx

Image Credits

Glori Campbell