Vtopian and Adellada Will Open in Portland's Central Eastside

What was once the location of the controversial Flour Bloom cafe, bakery, and plant shop, will become home to Vtopian Artisan Cheeses and Adelleda. We received a press release from the Vtopian folks, and here are the details.

Vtopian Artisan Cheeses

According to the press release, they have been offering dairy-free cheese in the area for close to 12 years, incorporating local, organic, and seasonal ingredients into their cheeses. They got their start selling their products at local farmers markets, building their following, and later “expanded into local markets across the region.”

Wait, Weren’t They Called Vtopia?

Sort of. Originally, Vtopia and Vtopian were related and not competitors. There’s a good explanation about the connection over on Reddit from about five years ago. The original owners, Imber and Mark, owned both businesses—Vtopia Cheese Shop and Vtopian Artisan Cheeses—and eventually sold them both (separately).

Also: In February 2022, Vtopia changed its name to Fru Fru Terra. It closed in June 2022.

Vtopian More Recently

In 2023, Ryan and Brit Snipes—who you may know as founders of The Realm Refillery on NE Broadway—opened Vtopian Cheese Shop on SE Gladstone (just up the street from the now shuttered Dullahan Pizza Pub). Their partner is Chef Riley Shepard. Together they showcased cheeses from across the country along with a curated retail section.

Their success with Vtopian led then to open Unwind, a food cart on the Company Wine Bar patio, focusing on fresh pasta.

Chef Riley Shepherd

The press release does a nice job of outlining Chef’s experience, so I’m going to include it here verbatim:

“Chef Riley draws on 17 years of experience in classical Italian and French cooking. He has worked in Michelin-starred kitchens in Chicago and New York, including Spiaggia, The Clocktower, and The Musket Room, and also served as Sous Chef at Nix in Manhattan, specializing in menu development.”

What To Expect at the New Location for Vtopian and Adellada

This space at 103 NE Grand Avenue is fairly big, so they have a lot to work with. It was, as I mentioned earlier, where Flour Bloom set up shop, which closed on April 30 of this year. Before that it was the Stark Vacuum shop.

Vtopian will expand with a counter-service cheese shop and deli, as well as making sandwiches—featuring Vtopian’s own cheeses, natch—paired with seasonal accompaniments. They’ll also have a retail and wine section.

Unwind will evolve into Adelleda, “a refined lounge and pasta residency that shares its home with Vtopian.” Fresh pasta highlighting local, organic, seasonal, and wild-foraged ingredients will be the name of the game. And their bar program will offer “cocktails crafted to match the precision and care of the kitchen.”

More on the Drinks Program

The Vtopian team has brought on Matt and Meg Hoang to help develop their beverage program. Their “impressive background and wealth of knowledge in beverage program
development” is a real boon to Vtopian and anyone they work with.

“With years of experience shaping innovative and highly regarded bar and cocktail programs at acclaimed establishments such as Kin Khao, Jeju, Nari and White Chapel, Matt and Meg bring both technical mastery and a refined creative perspective,” the press release stated.

Team Vtopian/Adelleda has been working hard on implementing their dreams for this space, and the food and drink. They aim for this new spot to be a destination for everything from a special evening, to an intimate date night, to a place to enjoy a high-quality plant-based meal. They are there to help you make great memories.

They are aiming to open Vtopian and Adelleda in early October. The cheese shop and deli will serve lunch from 11am to 3pm, with the retail section open for shopping. Adelleda will host dinner service from 5pm to 9pm, Thursday through Monday.

All the best to Ryan, Riley, and Brit as they get ready to open Vtopian and Adelleda next month!

Vtopian and Adellada [projected opening early October]
103 NE Grand Avenue, Portland
Vtopian website | Vtopian Instagram | Adelleda Instagram