'Erika Polmar is an American agritourism entrepreneur and food industry activist based in Oregon. She is the co-founder of the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), a coalition formed amid the COVID-19 pandemic that pushes for government relief for independent restaurateurs amid the pandemic. [1]
She is the founder of Plate & Pitchfork, a summer farm-dinner series in Oregon. [2]
Polmar is a graduate of St. Louis University. Polmar moved to Oregon after graduating from college. [3] [4]
Polmar began her career selling advertising for the Willamette Week. She opened the Portland office of citysearch.com and continued to work in technology product development until she was one of the millions of individuals who lost their jobs in the aftermath of the September 11th attack.
Days after the layoff, she was volunteering at a winery sorting grapes when she learned that a group of Portland chefs were planning a fundraiser for children orphaned by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and needed an organizer. [3] She produced the event, Flux, which was a success, and through the experience made contacts in the local food and wine industry.
Polmar founded Plate & Pitchfork farm dinners with Emily Berreth in 2003. Oregon Home characterized Plate & Pitchfork as a "summer farm-dinner series that features farmers, local chefs, winemakers and stellar five-course alfresco meals". [4] In 2010, Plate & Pitchfork held its first event outside of Portland metropolitan area, in Wallowa, Oregon. [2]
In 2010, Berreth stepped away from the project and Polmar grew the business to offer added hands-on cooking class events, rafting trips with chef-prepared local foods and agritourism consulting.
During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Polmar led local and national efforts to lobby local, state, and federal governments for relief for small food-related businesses in Oregon and the US. She was a founding member and leadership team member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), where her work helped lead to the creation of the $28.6B Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
In June 2020, Erika became the first COO of the IRC. She currently serves as the organization's Executive Director. Polmar is an Advisor to the Independent Restaurant Alliance of Oregon, a member of the Oregon Agritourism Network leadership team and a Member of the Board of Slow Food Wallowas.
During the surge of the Omicron variant in early 2022, Polmar reiterated her support for pushing more federal funding into the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. [5]
In 2023, Polmar founded the Plate & Pitchfork Producer Fund, a 501c3 organization that provides financial support to family-owned farmers, ranchers and food producers in Oregon.
In 2021, Polmar was highlighted in Nation's Restaurant News as part of the NRN Power List owing to work at the IRC. [6]
Swank and Swine is the collective name of the former restaurant Swank and the bar Swine, located in Portland, Oregon's Paramount Hotel, in the United States. Swank was rebranded as Taylor Street Tavern in 2022.
Mother's Bistro and Bar is a restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
Clyde Common was a restaurant and market in Portland, Oregon, United States. The business opened in 2007. In 2020, Clyde Common closed temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening in July with outdoor dining and as a market. The bar and restaurant became known as Clyde Tavern, and the part of the former dining area was called Common Market. Clyde Common closed permanently in January 2022.
Dóttir was a restaurant in Portland, Oregon's KEX Hotel, in the United States. The restaurant closed on January 1, 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon on February 28, 2020.
The Independent Restaurant Coalition is a US trade group formed during the COVID-19 pandemic by independent restaurateurs and chefs. During the pandemic the group lobbied local, state and federal governments for relief after their businesses were closed by government mandates to slow the spread of the virus. Their aim was to mitigate the impact of the closings on independent restaurants. Multiple prominent chefs and restaurateurs formed the leadership team.
Toro Bravo was a Spanish restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The restaurant closed in 2020.
Xico was a restaurant serving Mexican cuisine in Portland, Oregon's Richmond neighborhood, in the United States. The restaurant opened in 2012; sibling establishment Xica Cantina opened in northwest Portland in mid 2019. Xico closed in March 2023.
Castagna was a restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, in the United States.
Pastini is a chain of Italian-American restaurants in the U.S. state of Oregon. There are eight restaurants, as of 2017. In 2018, the company was among the largest in Oregon owned by women, with approximately 300 employees, according to Portland Business Journal.
Ate-Oh-Ate is a Hawaiian restaurant with two locations in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Named after the area code 808 in Hawaii, the restaurant's logo depicts a "happy, well-fed" pig. Ben Dyer, David Kreifels, and Jason Owens are co-chefs and co-owners.
Shift Drinks was a cocktail bar in Portland, Oregon. The bar opened in 2015 and closed in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Masia was a short-lived Spanish and Catalan restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Housed in the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland, the restaurant was owned by married chefs José Chesa and Cristina Baez and their business partner, Emily Metivier. Shortly after opening with breakfast, lunch, and dinner service in February 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Masia to close temporarily. The restaurant operated in various forms throughout the remainder of 2020, offering take-out service and special pre-packaged dinners for select holidays. The owners initially planned to close temporarily in January 2021 but confirmed the restaurant's permanent closure in March.
Beast was a restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The business earned chef and owner Naomi Pomeroy a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northwest in 2014.
Dirty Lettuce is a Black-owned vegan restaurant serving Southern, Cajun, and Creole cuisine in Portland, Oregon. Alkebulan Moroski began operating as a food cart in 2020 and opened a brick and mortar restaurant in 2021.
Yonder was a Southern restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Chef Maya Lovelace opened Yonder in northeast Portland's Cully neighborhood in 2019. The business was named one of the city's ten best new restaurants of 2019 by The Oregonian and was featured on an episode of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in 2020. Yonder closed on June 26, 2022, when Lovelace converted the space into Hissyfit.
Sunshine Noodles was a Cambodian American restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States, that operated from 2019 to 2022.
Fenouil was a French and Pacific Northwest restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The business operated from 2005 to 2011.
Rose City Book Pub is a bookstore and bar in Portland, Oregon.
Aviary was a restaurant on Alberta Street in northeast Portland, Oregon's Vernon neighborhood, in the United States. Sarah Pliner was a co-owner and head chef.