A Memory of Food- a Tribute to my Grandpa

This father's day, my Grandpa Tony will have been gone six years. He was the owner of the popular Sellwood restaurant, Jerry’s Gables. I miss him so much and I know that the rest of our family does as well. I have so many fond memories of my grandpa, but none are so fond as those of being in Grandpa’s restaurant. Grandpa was a great chef and a very generous man. He loved his food so much and wanted others to love it just as much that he would not send a dish out if it were not perfect. His restaurant was always gleaming with its polished wood plaques, white table linens, and green glass candle holders on each table.

The restaurant started life as Jerry’s Tavern, a neighborhood bar where all the locals knew your name, but did not make much money. It was started by my great-grandfather, Jerome Slavich in 1964. When great-grandpa passed on, so did the bar, to my grandfather. When Grandpa took over, he transformed the tavern into a fancy Italian restaurant.

I have many fond memories of that restaurant. The smells of the restaurant will forever linger in my mind every time I think of grandpa. When I was five years old, my family would go to dinner at the restaurant once a month. Even though there would be a line waiting down the street to get in (even if you had a reservation), grandpa always had a table waiting for us. No matter what I wanted to eat, Grandpa Tony would make it for me. If fresh halibut were on the menu, he would gladly cook me a whole fillet, even though he knew that I could not eat the whole fish myself. For dessert, Grandpa Tony would cut a watermelon in half lengthwise and hand it to me with a spoon, not caring at all that I couldn’t even finish a quarter of it. When visiting Grandpa Tony during the day, he would let me play with the sugar cubes while my Aunt Tina folded napkins into swans. 

During the summertime, grandpa would take me to the park across the street to play. He would pack a picnic lunch for us from the restaurant and we would stop at the corner store for a Squeeze-It. After swinging for what seemed like an hour, we would eat our lunches and go back to the restaurant to help prepare for the night. The upstairs of the restaurant was designed as living quarters. There was a labyrinth of rooms that were decorated with cats everywhere. When I was five years old when I found the secret passage from the upstairs living quarters to the restaurant’s kitchen. Family members would use the restaurant for birthday parties, and Grandpa would lovingly close the restaurant down for the night for our private party. 

Portlanders that remember Jerry’s Gables often have lovely memories of their times there. Many of Portland’s older residents remember the restaurant and my Grandfather even though the restaurant has been out of business since 2002. Although there were many fine dishes available in this five star restaurant, most say that their favorite was the spaghetti or chef's choice, a popular dish my grandpa created that consisted of bits of steak with sautéed mushrooms and onions over a bed of rice pilaf. Grandpa had only one rule for his cooking; cook from scratch. Everything that Grandpa Tony made, he made from scratch. Moreover, with lots of love. 

If anyone has any fond memories of Jerry's Gables in Portland, I would love to hear them.