Q&A with Britain Stephens of FoxTrot
When Britain Stephens was 20, he remembers walking along Northwest 23rd Avenue and seeing an old Victorian house that doubled as a wine bar. He was too young to go in, but he remembers thinking, “That’s what I want to create someday.” Twelve years later, he’s realizing a dream. In January, Stephens bought the old Pied Cow, a beloved Queen Anne Victorian and started renovating the outdoor patio. Built in 1893 as the J.C. Havely House, the building hosted Southeast Portland suffragette meetings in the late 1880s/early 1900s. For many years it was Buttertoes, a restaurant with murals of mermaids and fairies on the walls, before becoming the Pied Cow, which closed last year.
This month, Stephens will open it as a restaurant/bar called FoxTrot. The inside of the building didn’t need much work—all Stephens had to do was refinish the Brazilian cherrywood floor and re-stain the trim in the front rooms. He’s added some stained glass and original artwork, as well as some Art Nouveau touches and a “curio cabinet,” but the wallpaper and booths are as they were during Pied Cow’s occupancy. He’s done a lot of work to the spacious outdoor patio, however, adding discrete covered areas, locally-made stained glass, and a stage for musical acts. We sat down with Stephens, a veteran of the Portland bar and restaurant scene, to talk about the menu, his plans for the patio, and his love of Art Nouveau.
Tell me why you chose the name FoxTrot?
To be honest, it came from about three hours just chilling on the porch with a friend of mine, saying random words and joking around and making stupid puns. And then we hit the military alphabet—like Whiskey Tango Foxtrot—and Foxtrot had a nice ring to it. It has this very masculine feeling to it, and yet it’s feminine. I feel like it’s kind of what you make it. And foxes are my favorite animal, but that’s not the reason it’s called that.
You have lots of experience in Portland’s restaurant/bar industry.
I worked at Roscoe’s, the Nest, and Whiskey Soda Lounge as a line chef.
Who is your chef?
Ben Chase. He worked at Wildwood. He’s been so bloody sweet! He brought over gifts of decor and books like the one about Maxfield Parrish.
You mentioned that the menu will be Spanish-Italian. What’s your connection to those cuisines?
It’s actually Spanish and Italian-inspired—inspired is the key word there. I don’t want to claim that we’re doing any of those things traditionally, by any stretch. It’s more the aspect of shareables, having an experience with people getting to try something together. And focusing on lighter bites.
That goes for the cocktail list, too, which will be things that are more focused on lighter drinking, overall. Negroni-adjacent.
There’s a Spanish cocktail that’s very popular right now called Marionito. It’s like a reverse Negroni—more focused on the vermouth. We’re putting different wines into cocktails so each drink has less alcohol. It should be great to be able to sit here for as long as you want and not feel wasted. I’m really trying to bring that lounge feel.
And you plan to have a cafe during the day. So there’ll be a coffee menu as well?
Lattes, espressos. So you can come get an affogato or espresso at 8 a.m. or 11 p.m. Here’s my chef!
[Chef Ben Chase arrives for a meeting.]
So you’re Ben Chase. Tell me more about the menu.
So basically, the inspiration was the classic Spanish pintxos that Britain enjoyed while he was traveling, and I’m sort of embellishing those flavors, but expanding them with Northwest ingredients using local produce. Food that’s very cocktail friendly.
What do you draw inspiration from?
The produce from local farmers. Just, whatever they have!
What are the farms that you are excited about?
Stoneboat Farm in Hillsboro. I also really love Mizuna Gardens. They exclusively grow salad greens.
Do you have any plans for dessert?
We’re going to have a rotating frozen custard. I have a good Huckleberry source.
[Ben exits to meet a contractor.]
Britain, what attracted you to Sunnyside?
I feel like it’s the hub of Portland culture. This is where the artists, musicians, and creative folk live. I grew up in the country—I lived in Damascus, but I went to Clackamas High school. When I was a very young man, I would come to Portland and I would come to this area specifically. I was blowing glass when I was 18. I would go to the Saturday Market and sell what I could just to get enough gas to get back.
You seem to be really into art and fabrication. So I just wondered what your background is—are you an artist as well?
I feel like my art might be curation—just trying to put things together.
Judging by the old signs and art I see around, I’m guessing you like Art Deco.
I’d say Art Nouveau. Deco is harder, whereas Nouveau is a bit more flow-y and organic.
So the idea with the outdoor stage is that you’ll have live music and sometimes poetry?
Music, poetry, silent movies. I’m meeting so many people here on Belmont and I’m reaching out to our neighbors. Somebody I met who helped on the patio is going to work at the cafe, and also do the bookings. He’s in the band Tellevillian, which may play here on Halloween along with Strzyga, my friends’ band.
We plan to have pop-ups each month—vintage stuff and art pop-ups. You could bring your plants, your pottery, your poetry or your photographs. We may also have night markets.
Is there anything that you feel needs improvement in Sunnyside?
I just love that I’m meeting so many people so quickly. It’s a very welcoming place. Folks will say, “Oh, Portland’s a little standoffish, tight, and people are close-knit.” But I think it’s about the mentality of going into it honestly. It’s super cliche, but if you leave yourself open to it… the sense of community and the support that I’ve gotten is just insane. People are just so happy and excited about what we’re trying to create here.