Portland Chef Jacob Harth Hits The 2019 Eater Young Guns List

Portland chef Jacob Harth has been named an Eater Young Gun. The chef, who opened the hyper-sustainable seafood restaurant Erizo in February, is one of the 12 winners appointed nationwide as a part of the annual list celebrating outstanding young talent in the restaurant industry.

Harth began turning heads after stints at celebrated French restaurant St. Jack and Erizo’s sister restaurant, Spanish tapas spot Bar Casa Vale. He opened Erizo at 27 years old, serving foraged produce and shellfish, bycatch, and invasive species he sourced directly from fishermen — unless he caught or picked it himself. In a city where “sustainable” is used so loosely it’s becoming white noise, Harth has added fresh meaning and political impact to the word.

Harth is the first Young Gun from Portland since Yonder chef Maya Lovelace made the list in 2016. Other Portland Young Guns include Joel Stocks of Holdfast, who won in 2015, as well as pastry chef Nora Antene (then Le Pigeon; now Tusk).

• Eater Young Guns 2019, full list [Eater]
• Look Inside the Ridiculously Sustainable Seafood Restaurant from Bar Casa Vale [EPDX]
• All previous Erizo coverage [EPDX]