Former Momofuku Chef Departs Vegas for Portland, Oregon

Shaun King, the former executive chef at Momofuku at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas who planned to take over the kitchen at The Slanted Door at the Forum Shops at Caesars when it opens this summer, now plans to open a new restaurant in Portland, Oregon.

Oregon Live reports that the chef plans to do a series of popup dinners inside the Danish brewery Mikkeller over the next six months. From there, King and his wife, Jamie Neering, who handled the bar programs at chef Michael Symon’s Mabel’s BBQ and Sara’s at the Palms, plan to open their own restaurant with dishes made for the popup dinners.

King plans to serve “Japanese-leaning drinking snacks, noodle soups, and rice dishes paired with cocktails from Neering that draw inspiration and ingredients from the kitchen,” the newspaper reports.

King worked at restaurants such as SushiSamba at the Grand Canal Shoppes and the former RM Seafood from Rick Moonen at Mandalay Place.

Neering, who also worked at Velveteen Rabbit, wants to use ingredients from the kitchen in her cocktails.

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