Seafood-Heavy Mexican Restaurant Mi Cava & Cocina Will Open in Portland | Eater Portland

"After 30 years running Mexican restaurants around the state, Rafael and Olga Mora are opening their first Portland restaurant, Mi Cava & Cocina, at 9722 SE Washington Street, where they’re shifting from Mexican standards to inventive Latin American seafood and steakhouse fare. They enlisted Olga’s cousin Ezequiel Gutierrez, a former manager at the Moras' first restaurant, to help launch the project. The menu is generally split into seafood, steak, and traditional Latin American fare and highlights ceviches with tropical fruit, black mussels with chorizo and chipotle beurre blanc, and shrimp aguachiles made with everything from squid ink to passionfruit; there will be three aguachiles — a passionfruit version with mango and cucumber, a habanero‑pineapple aguachile, and a lime‑and‑squid‑ink aguachile with rotating seasonal vegetables. Other offerings include oysters on the half‑shell dotted with finger lime jewels and nutty salsa macha, pulpo a la brasa in adobo with a fennel salad, Oregon salmon, halibut in achiote, pan‑seared scallops with orange and mezcal, Veracruz’s arroz a la tumbada with langoustine and clams, and Nayarit’s pescado zarandeado. The carne asada selection is extensive — sirloin, New York, rib‑eye and skirt cuts served either with sautéed vegetables and roasted potatoes or with guacamole, tortillas, and rice and beans — and much of the seafood and produce (and even flowers for garnishes) will be sourced from the Pacific Northwest. Mi Cava will also feature a full bar with both mocktails and cocktails, and is expected to open by late January or early February depending on construction and permits." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden