At the heart of Portlands red-hot food scene is Toro Bravo, a Spanish-inspired restaurant whose small plates have attracted critical praise and a fiercely loyal fan base. But to call Toro Bravo a Spanish restaurant doesnt begin to tell the whole story. At Toro Bravo, each dish reflects a time, a place, a moment. For chef John Gorham, its personal. Gorhams the sort of guy whod get his sous chefs name tattooed on his backside; the sort of guy wholl order rum shots for the table after you dont believe you can ingest a single thing more. Most important, Gorham believes that theres more to food than mere sustenance. The Toro Bravo cookbook tells that story: from Gorhams birth to a fourteen-year-old mother who struggledall her lifewith drug addiction, to time spent in his grandfathers crab-shack dance club, to formative visits to Spain, to becoming a father, to opening a restaurant. Its about the power of passion, relentlessness, and, of course, food.
