Growth | Land | Community
Growth rarely happens alone.
It takes care.
Shared work.
Hands in the same soil.
When we rise, we rise together.
Join us for an evening where chefs, winemakers, and farmers come together to share the harvest — an evening of food, land, and community unfolding beneath an open sky.
Guests will rotate in small groups to taste a dish and wine pairing developed by three chefs and three winemakers from the roster of TASTE's past partners in three different settings around the estate. Then we will come together for dessert and celebration during our golden hour program, culminating with dancing under the stars.
Supporting Adelante Mujeres means investing in the Latine community to cultivate opportunity, leadership, and resilience — strengthening the roots that help communities rise together.
In addition to Adelante Mujeres, proceeds from this year's TASTE for Equity Event Series also benefit two additional powerful Portland organizations: APANO, uniting Asian and Pacific Islanders to build power and advance equity, and ELSO Inc., cultivating generations of innovators and problem solvers for local and global impact.
Party bus transportation from a central location in Portland will be offered to all guests for an additional cost at the time of checkout when you purchase your ticket. Please join us to extend the evening of fun and make sure you get home safely!
Seats are limited and this event will sell out. If you’ve been to a TASTE event before, you know. If this is your first time — welcome. This table was made for you.
Join us at Cultivate
Please reach out to us with any questions: [email protected]
Accessibility Information
TASTE for Equity prioritizes making our events as accessible as possible and we believe the first step is by clearly communicating what to expect at our venues.
What you can expect at Cultivate
This event is hosted outdoors at a wine estate and vineyard. As the event flows, guests will walk through three distinct stations, adding up to a total walking distance of 0.2 miles. Our guests will encounter uneven walking surfaces, including gravel pathways and grassy terrain, which may present challenges for some. Two single-stall restrooms are available onsite in addition to a mobile restroom trailer, including an ADA accessible option. Guests will be subject to summer heat and sun exposure. Please dress accordingly and consider incorporating proactive hydration into your pre-Cultivate prep.
Accessibility Support Offerings
A golf cart (and driver) will be available to support movement between stations for those who need assistance.
Two cooling stations will be available to guests throughout the duration of the event, with one positioned in the No Clos Radio restaurant space and the other in an air-conditioned shuttle bus. Additionally, there will be non-alcoholic beverage options and water dispensers available throughout the space.
A designated low-stimulation area.
Assisted Listening Devices and ASL interpreters (available upon request).
Be advised: there will be no medical or first aid assistance available onsite. Please be mindful and bring whatever is needed for you to be safe in an outdoor environment, including bug spray, sunscreen, and allergy medications (if applicable).
If you have accessibility accommodations that you want to discuss with our event team or have questions, please contact [email protected]
Featured Chefs
Chef Fatou Ouatarra
After learning to cook at her mother's side in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, and watching her grandmother bake bread in a clay oven that she built herself, Chef Fatou Ouattara brought that heritage to Portland ten years ago through AKÂDI.
Her mission was clear from day one: "My intention with AKÂDI was always to decolonize people's minds about what African food is."
What started as one restaurant has become a gathering place for an entire diaspora — when COVID threatened to close her doors, the community lined up around the block to keep them open.
Chef Manuel Lopez
For Manuel Lopez, cooking has always been about bringing a piece of Mexico to Portland — a way to show his community where he comes from and what he grew up eating. "I'm bringing part of my childhood back to where I'm living right now," he says of the food he serves.
That connection resonated far beyond his own circle: word of mouth grew into a feature in The Oregonian, with diners telling him his food tasted like home. Now, with a new chapter opening through TASTE for Equity, Manuel is leaning into the kind of scale and visibility this next stage brings.
Chefs Tracee & Brandon Hirahara
Tracee and Brandon Hirahara met while working at Oahu's Halekulani Hotel, then traded Hawaii for Portland to build a restaurant around the food they grew up with.
Tracee's own food memories start with her grandmother's Okinawan cooking, whose favorite phrase, "kau kau," simply meant it's time to eat — and gave the restaurant its name.
When they opened Kau Kau, their Portland community showed up in force — friends helped write the business plan, paint the mural, and even build out the kitchen.
More than a decade into their Oregon story, they remain hopeful about what's next: "I think the best times are ahead, and it's just a matter of putting in the work to actually make those flowers bloom."
Dessert Chef, Rebecca Smith
Established in 2018 by Rebecca Smith, Ice Queen began with a simple setup: a foldable table, a pink Yeti cooler, and a dream. Now, it's a cherished treasure in the Pacific Northwest.
At their southeast storefront, an ever-changing paleta case awaits you: each paleta, a handcrafted work of art, echoes Rebecca's rich heritage and brings a piece of her hometown right into Portland's heart.
Her paletas, now a staple in over 50 stores across Oregon and Washington, continue to spread happiness and distinctive flavors to an ever-growing audience.
Featured winemakers
Bee Maloof, Michelle McCaw Maloof & Ross Maloof
Community matters more than convention at Maloof Wines. A partnership between Bee Maloof, Michelle McCaw Maloof, and Ross Maloof, the winery grew from a collaborative Oregon co-op spirit into a gathering place where strangers become neighbors.
Bee and Michelle bring distinct paths to the table—Bee transitioning from aerospace engineering and Michelle drawing on her background in the Marine Corps and hospitality—to create wine that is whimsical, approachable, and free of intimidation.
Backyard cookouts and blind tastings are simply invitations to spark curiosity and foster connection. The team is deeply committed to expanding representation in the industry, creating space for women and queer winemakers to thrive. Success isn’t measured only by what’s in the bottle, but by the relationships formed around it and the sense of belonging everyone shares. As Bee says, “Wine makes the world a smaller place.”
Sofia Torres McKay
Cramoisi Vineyard Sofia Torres McKay and her husband bought ten bare acres in Dundee Hills in 2011 with a loan and a leap of faith, planting their first vines the following year.
She learned to make wine in her mentor's garage and now farms biodynamically, tending her vines with the same care she gives her own children.
Along the way, she faced no shortage of people assuming she couldn't be the winemaker or owner — her answer was to embrace who she is fully: "I'm going to embrace my culture, and I'm going to embrace who I am... I'm the vineyard owner, and I'm the winemaker."
Today, through the nonprofit she co-founded, AHIVOY, she's helped 95 vineyard workers advance into new roles across the industry.
Lizzy Esqueda
Lizzy Esqueda's path to winemaking started with a single afternoon in a Brooklyn Winery barrel room — she knew almost instantly that she never wanted to leave.
Harvests in Oregon and Australia followed, and in 2021 she launched Mijita Wine Co., built on sourcing from sustainable, dry-farmed vineyards and crediting the growers who work them.
As she puts it, "Wine starts long before it reaches the bottle. It starts in the vineyard, it starts with the soil, and it starts with the people who have worked so hard all year round — their story needs to be told."
Five years in, she remains focused on depth over scale, still finding something new in every harvest.
We are grateful to our sponsors for their essential support in bringing the evening to life.
Presenting Sponsor:
Connection Sponsors:
Pay-It-Forward Sponsors:
Media Sponsor:
In-Kind Sponsors:
Accessibility Sponsor:
GET THE LATEST NEWS & EVENT UPDATES
FROM TASTE FOR EQUITY!
