Vya Brings Tapas, Vegan Paella, and More To Southeast Portland

In late February, a new tapas restaurant called Vya (pronounced “Vye-uh”) opened in the old Palomar space on SE Division. Paella—including a vegan version—is an important part of their menu. They also offer, of course, a variety of tapas, some desserts, as well as cocktails, wine, beer, cider, and no-proof drinks. We had a chance to try some, too.

I chatted with Vy and Steve Chao, the owners of Vya, to learn more about the restaurant, and here is what I learned.

Vya: Tapas Bar, Restaurant, American Bar

Vya is a tapas bar, but Vy says it resembles an American bar, too. And at the same time, “It would be considered a restaurant in Barcelona,” she said.

“So in Spain, most of their restaurants there are a kind of bar/restaurant, which is why we modeled [Vya] after this casual, what we call, the “everyday bar.” It’s in between a restaurant and a bar, where there’s movement, there’s small bites, there’s a really healthy cocktail program to encourage that co-mingling, socializing, and leaning into a higher energy that here in America we typically associate with bars and restaurants.”

She added, “We’re kind of in that middle ground.”

The Hospitality Side and the Vibe at Vya

As far as hospitality and service goes, they knew they didn’t want to go with a counter-service arrangement, where there is little to no service; nor did they want to go in the direction of dining where the service is formal. They wanted to strike a balance between casual and attentive, and looked to their experiences in Spain to help them figure it out.

“One thing we really loved about our visits to Spain is how casual the hospitality was there where you felt that your servers were wanting to give you a really good experience,” said Vy. “They were taking care of you in a way that felt warm—like they were your friends, and it wasn’t just transactional.

So they sat down with their GM, and as they thought out the menu and the vibe, they decided they wanted everything about Vya to feel like a very welcoming place. One where you feel that you can come in at any time,—drop in spontaneously—and sit down and enjoy anything from a quick bite at the bar or at one of their small tables, to a full dinner with a paella.

Vya: What’s in a Name?

So why is this place named Vya? “It was kind of a fun, tongue-in-cheek play,” said Vy. In the end, the restaurant’s name ended up being a variant of her name. Here’s more of the name’s origin story:

“The restaurant concept was really designed to center around paella,” she said. “The folklore surrounding it—some believe it, some don’t— is that it was created by a farmer husband for his wife every Sunday. The wives back then in these villages would be cooking all day, every day. And then on Sunday, it was supposed to be her rest day.”

She continued, “So he got together with all of the other men in the village, and they would make this big paella, which was like a one pot meal, so that the women of the village could rest. So the as the folklore goes, the name paella comes from ‘para ella,’ which means, ‘for her.’ We played around for a long time with variations of ‘for her,’ but it just didn’t feel personal. And so we decided to just name it after myself, as ‘Vya,’ which is the “her” in this relationship.

Vy and Steve’s History with Food and Drink

During my conversation with Vy, Steve spoke up at one point and I finally put two and two together—Vy and Steve are behind a number of restaurants and other places to eat and drink in the Portland area. Alma and Kooks are two of them. You’ll also recognize them from Doja Tea Lounge, as well as Landsdowne Social, which recently reopened.

And they both hail from the tech world, but food is a passion of theirs. Their first small business, which they opened about nine years ago, was the boba shop 5 Flavor Cafe. It unfortunately was a casualty of COVID. But they were able to successfully open Doja Tea Lounge in Tualatin just as COVID was ramping up in 2020, and it remains in business. So, along with owning Doja Tea Lounge and Doja Tea Room in Portland, they own Vya.

They’ve also partnered with other chefs and hospitality professionals to help co-own concepts with them. That includes Alma. “It sounds like there must be clones of us because we’re doing so much!” Vy exclaimed. “But really, it’s just because we’ve been able and lucky to find some really talented partners, and a team to help us build a lot of these unique concepts.”

Chef Connor Gallaher: Respect and the Ego-Free Kitchen

Chef Connor is originally from Santa Fe, and gained experience during times he spent in India, Southeast Asia, the Basque region, and Madrid. When it comes to cooking Spanish food here in Portland, he started out at Bar Casa Vale.

He also spent about five years at Urdaneta, and has a lot of good things to say about his time there—in fact, he was there when they launched the Gilda 2.0 pintxo (which is fabulous).

“I am incredibly indebted to Chef Javier and his wife Jael, who run Urdaneta,” said Connor. “Just everything—how he conducted himself, how talented and incredible a chef he is, and how humble and willing he was to teach and bring people in who didn’t know anything, and build them up from the ground floor.”

He continued, “I have always really respected that, and want to emulate that as much as I can here. I want to create a similar vibe and environment in terms of creating a welcoming kitchen, of being ego-free.”

He added, “I really want to honor that and carry that forward.”

Why This Location for Vya?

So what was it about this location that Vy and Steve found particularly appealing? They walked in when it was still Palomar, right as Ricky and his team announced their new location. They fell in love with the space in its look and feel. “We loved that it captured the essence of the kind of indoor/outdoor garden that we’d seen when we were traveling in Spain,” Vy remarked.

Steve added, “The windows and the light are amazing, and the building is spectacular—this entire building.” He also loves “the beautiful lady with a plant hair”—a mural painted on the outside of the building that is pretty well-photographed.

Vy continued, “Another big factor in our decision on the space was obviously the roof. The roof is kind of a collective amenity for the building tenants, but during rooftop season, the ground for operator has rights to be able to do pop-ups and activate that route privately. And so for us, that seemed like a really great opportunity.

“And then thirdly, when we got to talk to the landlord, our contacts there had been very supportive. The mission of the SolTerra group [the building owner] has been to activate and support small local businesses and bring creativity, energy, and vibrancy to the community. And so we found ourselves aligned with their mission, and we liked that direction. That was ultimately why we signed for this location vs some of the others that we were evaluating.”

Interior Design

They were fortunate to work with a designer they loved for purposes of the interior design. “We worked with an extremely talented designer named Ashton,” explained Vy. “She is a one-woman kind of a design outfit. She’d been in Portland for a long time, but she now currently lives in Texas, so we were working with her remotely and would bring her on site.”

Vy added, “She brings such good energy and creativity to the space. And I think she really knocked it out of the park.”

Why Spanish Food?

I was curious to better understand Vy and Steve’s seemingly deep connection to Spanish food—enough so that they wanted to open a restaurant devoted to tapas and paella. So I asked, “What is it about Spanish food and tapas and paella and all of that that you feel drawn to?”

Vy replied, “I think there’s both a philosophical answer and a personal one.”

Personal

“So a personal level, my husband and I first bonded over a work conference in Barcelona about 15 years ago. And paella specifically for us because we love, so much, the idea of it. Back then—you know, 15 years ago—there really wasn’t as much access to Spanish food as there is now.

“And so when we went to Barcelona together, we made a pact to go find and hunt for paella. And the bond actually occurred over how negative our experience was! Because, at the time, we were hunting for paella at night, after our nine-to-five conferences. We didn’t learn until many years later that paella is eaten during lunch—it’s not a dinner.

“And then we learned about the concept of frozen paella, which was just sad and tragic on so many levels. And so, we bonded over that and there was a happy ending there, obviously.”

They went back to Spain last year—this time, they were armed with the knowledge of where—and when—to actually find and try some amazing paella, and it really opened their eyes to what Spanish food could be. And that includes modernist techniques and more global flavors.

“And so for us, we really wanted to bring that here,” explained Vy. “And we were lucky enough to find Chef Connor, who was able to lean into the training that he’d gotten in Spanish kitchens here. And he really listened to some of our crazy ideas to work on and create the kind of menu that we have right now.”

Philosophical

‘The philosophical answer around Spanish food is: For us we’ve always appreciated the idea of Spanish food, which is that it’s not meant to be overly fussy,” explained Vy. “It’s really meant to be focused on really high quality ingredients and make them shine.”

She continued, “And so the food is rustic and simply prepared. And even when you’re applying modernist touches, you do it in a way that is still rooted in tradition, rooted in familiar flavors.”

Vegan Paella at Vya

I wanted to know more about the vegan paella on the menu, as it is something I don’t see every day at a tapas restaurant. And also, how great is it for those who like to eat a plant-based diet to partake in such a classic Spanish dish‽ The vegan paella has an interesting and intriguing element to it, too—more on that further down.

Vy said that when the idea of presenting a vegan paella came up, the team had a deep discussion about it.

“Vegan paella doesn’t exist in Spain,” Vy explained. “And for us, that was a creation for the Portland market, specifically because we wanted to bring that flavor and the comfort of paella to our vegetarians and vegans. And so one of the areas where we spent a long time on, as we were creating that vegan paella, is how do we bring in the unctuousness that is typically given through [animal-based] stock?”

Brassicas To the Rescue

“Because the stock with all of the collagen is such a big part of that paella eating experience, giving it that comfortable flavor,” continued Vy. “And so we found a product on the market—and this is where kind of the modernist side leans in: It’s a plant-based broccoli-derived collagen powder.

“It’s used to augment our vegetable stock—to be able to bring in a lot of that savoriness and that mouthfeel that is typically lacking when using just vegetable stock.

“One of the key members in our executive management team is a vegan. And so she was, thankfully, a willing guinea pig for us. And I remember asking her to try all of the different variations that we had and it was so fulfilling to be able to see her eyes light up when she tried Chef Connor’s vegan paella, because it was just not a flavor she had ever had before. To be able to share that experience with her was was something that we we found deeply gratifying.”

Chef Connor on the Vegan Paella at Vya

Connor remarked, “I think the collagen was a good addition to supplement the [vegan] dashi and the Shiitake, which is a great flavor, but also it’s that mouthfeel—the fatty stuff that you get from the stock that is a little bit lacking. I think the collagen really helps supplement that.

He continued, “The vegetables that we’re highlighting in there are fairly unique to Spanish cuisine, as well. Like the lima bean variant is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen here in the States. And the piquillo peppers have a very Spanish flavor. Mushrooms are just wonderful all the time, so they are essentially the stand-in for the chicken in the regular paella version—like meaty bites within the rice that can hold up to the long cook times in the broth.”

Vy said, “We spent a lot of time kind of curating our opening menu to make sure that there was a healthy amount of vegetarian and vegan options. And when we were doing the recipe testing, we tried to be really creative to bring in flavors that aren’t traditionally vegan. We wanted to make sure that we would be able to create vegan and vegetarian offerings that would appeal to people who eat that way, but also to just anyone else, through the flavors and the unique treatments that we were doing.”

She added, “And so far I think I think we’ve done pretty well. Our initial feedback on a lot of those dishes have been very positive among both vegetarians and vegans, but also omnivores.”

Favorites

I asked it they have a favorite thing on the menu or something they’re really excited about. “Oh, gosh, that’s a tough one,” said Steve. “I’m going to default to answer that I always come to, is these items on the menu are the ones that made the cut.”

Things We Tried at Vya

Judith and I stopped in to try some things (note: This meal was comped but our opinions are our own) at Vya, and here is what we ate.

Gilda

I was particularly excited to try the Gilda pintxos—this was the third place I’ve had it, the others being Urdaneta and Restaurant Ama in Hillsboro. I enjoyed the version at Vya quite a bit—the big salty olive, meaty anchovy, and crunchy pepper. It’s really a winning combination.

Jamon Croquettes

We loved the crisp and crunchy exterior but found the interior to be looser than expected. The flavors were very good, and I loved the sauce. I’d like to stop by to give it another try.

Oxtail Empanada

Nice and meaty, this was very satisfying. Loved the green sauce (mojo verde) that accompanied it—the level of acidity was a nice foil to the rich red-wine braised meat.

Vegan Paella

The star of the show, this was delicious. It starts with bomba rice, then kombu shiitake dashi, mushrooms, piquillo peppers, artichokes, and garrofón beans.

I especially liked those big beans and the caramelized rice that was on the surface and against the pan. It was savory with a satisfying mouthfeel.

Chocolate Basque Cheesecake

We were able to choose between vanilla and chocolate and we are glad we tried the chocolate. It was chocolatey, smooth, creamy—what’s not to love?

Some Final Thoughts

Vy echoed Chef Connor’s desire to build a kinder, gentler kitchen culture, and an overall welcoming culture throughout the entire operation. She said, “For us to be able to work with very talented people, and through that build a culture that we’re aligned with—one that respects, nourishes, and is welcoming to our team—is just as important to us as building one that is welcoming to our guests.”

She added, “And so we’re excited to welcome people into the space and feel the warmth. I think that comes from our team, as they’re working hard every night to take care of our guests that come in.” The evening we were in, the welcoming vibe was certainly there—I could hear it throughout the dining room.f

Many thanks to Vy, Steve, and Chef Connor for making time to chat about Vya and what they want to bring to the Portland dining scene with this thoughtful, relaxing, tapas bar in Southeast Portland.

Vya [opened February 27, 2026]
959 SE Division Street, #100, Portland
Vya website | Instagram