David Machado Closes Lauro Kitchen

Lauro Kitchen, chef-restaurateur David Machado's pioneering Eastside restaurant which sparked Division Street's "Restaurant Row," closed at the end of service on Sunday, May 27, after nine successful years. The business has been purchased and there are plans to start a new restaurant in the space by September of this year.

Named the 2004 Willamette Week Restaurant of the Year, Lauro Kitchen was the first independent venture for Machado and partner Daren Hamilton. "People told me I was crazy to try opening a restaurant at the corner of SE 34th and Division," Machado recalls. But Lauro quickly became a neighborhood favorite and then a citywide sensation.

Machado, who was chosen Oregon's Restaurateur of the Year 2009 by the Oregon Restaurant Association said, "We've had a terrific run here and I couldn't be more pleased." Machado is also the owner of downtown's Nel Centro, adjacent to the Hotel Modera, and Vindalho on SE Clinton Street.