Latest news with #Dimo
Eater
24-07-2025
- Business
- Eater
Dimo's Expands Orbit with Grandeur, Gestalt, and Gooey Cheese
The space on Burnside that was once home to Burnside Brewing (a touchstone of East Burnside's beer boom in the 2010s) more recently served as the production facility for Fracture Brewing. In summer 2025, it looks quite different. Though the oversized, black grain silo still towers over the parking lot outside, the brew tanks and all the hoses within are long gone, and that tall tower now bears small white letters that spell 'Dimo's.' Inside, there's a full bar, a bakery display case stocked with breads, pizza, and pastries, a small market nook with dry and refrigerated goods ranging from wines to salts, and a spacious dining room with no shortage of chairs, benches, and tables. Dimo's Italian Specialties opened its doors on East Burnside Street officially on July 6. But here's the rub: owner Doug Miriello didn't need another restaurant. The Connecticut boy who cut his teeth cooking in Los Angeles at Gjelina and Gjusta before settling into Portland had a full plate already: successful New Haven-style pizza shop Dimo's Apizza next door and two kids at home under six. But something about the space — and the opportunity to do more, in one place — struck him when Fracture ceased operations in 2024. Dimo's Italian Specialties is right next door to Dimo's Apizza. Ron Scott 'I want this to be my home,' he says. 'I don't want to do anything else. I want this to be it.' When the reservation-only supper club gets into full swing, the kitchen shifts from high-end Italian bar menu to full dinner service. Four pastas, including gnocchi dressed in lamb-tomato ragu and lasagna verde Bolognese composed of veal, pork, beef, and house-cured salumi will rotate through the lineup. Whole branzino and pollo al mattone are also on the table as options for these limited menus, and Dimo's Italian Specialities expects to complete two dinner services on those evenings. The cocktails fit the format as well: the caprese martini, for example, angles at antipasto. It's built on burrata whey, tomato water, and micro-basil clippings plucked from the kitchen's prep station. So he decided to make this new Dimo's work. Remaking the former brewspace into a full restaurant, bar, bakery, deli market, plus a thrice-weekly supper club was no modest mission. But Miriello isn't interested in dwelling on the challenges and difficulties he faced in the nine months of construction and remodeling. 'It wasn't easy to get where we are now, that's for sure,' he explains. Miriello's newest business model may sound multi-faceted, even scattershot: a multi-use space that flips from sandwich counter to cocktail bar to romantic dinner venue, from cocktail bar to boutique grocer. It sounds like the sort of thing enthusiastic young business partners might conjure. Yet each slice of it — whether focaccia or sicilian square — draws from a subject in focus: a former kitchen, a childhood memory, a family recipe. If those stay clearly in view, the result could be a restaurant with a true gestalt. 'I want to be your… whatever you want us to be,' Miriello says. 'I think you can come here and get a sandwich and then come back at night and have a drink, maybe a tartare, and just have a totally different experience.' That experience may well hinge on the strength of Miriello's team. General manager Herb Apon, previously of Loyal Legion, brings serious beer fluency, while assistant general manager Sarah Marshall 'is just going to crush the floor with service,' Miriello boasts. 'She's just a superstar all around.' Zena Smith, formerly of Fracture and now-closed Cache Cache, helms the cocktail menu. Miriello says, noting Smith's contributions as part of a larger beverage scope. Dimo's Italian Specialties Smith's previous stints at Fracture Brewing and Cache Cache have indeed instilled in her both a mixologist's meticulousness and a cook's curiosity. She explains that she hadn't intended to be a full time bartender, having previously worked as a mechanic among other vocations. She's spent the past several months 'playing with the flavors of Italy and the flavors of Doug's food,' sourcing and sampling amaros, bringing them to the forefront. Instead of putting the amaros to the side and adding little things into every cocktail as an element, she wanted to focus on the digestif's punchy bitterness, layered complexity, and unmistakably Italian profile, making it the main piece of almost all the cocktails on the menu. Of that burrata whey addition, she remarks, 'I used a little bit of that for that briny saltiness, that lactic acid flavor… almost like zero waste.' Even her sbagliato corretto — a Negroni that sees its gin subbed out for sparkling wine — draws from 'King Cocktail' Dale DeGroff, the famed bartender commonly credited with ushering in the modern craft cocktail revival. His influence is apparent, as Smith is herself enamored with the details of every measure as she pierces each cocktail's surface with a thin wheel of blood orange. Her espresso martini, one of the few cocktails sans amaro, serves as the obvious finale, evokes biscotti, conjuring the soft crunch of almond cookies dunked in morning coffee, reborn, instead, as a midnight indulgence. For all its ambition, refinement, nostalgia, the Dimo's menu still makes room for what Miriello knows Portland is always after. 'The dirtbag stuff.' The purest expression of which is undoubtedly the fonduta burger, a porcini rubbed patty halved and dunked in a warm and gooey fontina fundata. Pairing it with the cacio e pepe fries is a truly savvy play; they're peppered, punchy, and perfect for dragging through molten fontina. For all its flourishes, the heart of the menu stays simple: comfort, flavor, and a wink of indulgence. Dimo's Italian Specialties (701 East Burnside Street) is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Eater Portland All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
'We built what we couldn't find': How Feeld's CEO is redefining modern relationships
Q: Feeld emerged at a time when dating apps were already starting to crowd the market. What made you believe there was still space—and a need—for something different? Feeld came from a personal place—my partner and I were exploring non-monogamy, and there was no platform that supported that journey with respect and nuance. So we built what we couldn't find: a space grounded in curiosity, consent, and openness. From the beginning, it wasn't about competing with what already existed—it was about creating space for what didn't. A place where people could connect without fitting into predefined categories or expectations. Q: Your professional path has been a more unconventional one — how did your background in design turn into a CEO role at Feeld? My partner was actually the original founder and led Feeld from its launch in 2014. I supported him behind the scenes but, at the time, wasn't interested in participating in the business. Dimo's background is in design and advertising and we always shared a deep appreciation for intentional building, sensitivity for nuance and aesthetics. I joined Feeld to support Dimo a couple of years after the company's founding and quickly found out that my design background made me uniquely well positioned to evolve our product in our early days with a focus on the member experience. While design has always been my first language, I found myself becoming deeply immersed in the business. I pursued an MBA a little after I was appointed CPO — the business was growing and it demanded a deeper understanding from me of the implications of my decisions and vision. Pursuing my education at that time proved essential — my partner stepped down in 2021 and he proposed me as CEO. My journey has taught me a powerful lesson: true leadership often means charting an unconventional path, proving that authenticity, integrity, and putting humans first are the ultimate keys to building a thriving enterprise. Education and leaning on people with experience and knowledge as you change and grow is essential too. I try to embody that at Feeld every day. Q: How can an app like Feeld make a positive impact against the disillusionment that dating apps have created over time? That's where Feeld takes a different approach — we champion open communication and authenticity as integral to how our community navigates the platform. When designing key functions of Feeld, we ask ourselves what would inspire intimate, deep connection. Our team at Feeld intentionally avoids gamifying the in-app experience. We believe the less we interfere with prescriptive algorithms, the more authentic the connections our Members make—and at their own pace. This non-transactional approach allows them to explore intentionally, without the pressure of rushing to an end goal or quota. The ability to go back to a profile you may have previously skipped, for example, reflects our belief that attraction is a process, and human connection takes longer than a split second. Being on Feeld is part of an ongoing ****process to learn more about yourself, through connection with others. Life and love are always an evolving journey. Q: What drives you personally and how do you stay inspired and motivated as the company continues to grow globally? What truly drives me is the profound change I witness in people's lives because of Feeld. It's incredibly humbling to hear some of our Members' amazing stories about connections they've made that resonate with them. Seeing Members discover their authentic selves and explore new dimensions of intimacy – that's inspiring. I find immense motivation in working with a team of incredible people to provide a platform that supports this continuous evolution, where everyone can redefine what relationships mean for them. The fact that Feeld is a company built on human principles, putting people first, fuels me every day. We do our best to live our values inside and out, and continue to grow with our community. The sheer possibility that we can contribute to a world where love and intimacy are more openly and authentically explored keeps me motivated to lead Feeld's global growth, embracing our always-shifting ways of being. There's always something more to learn in relationships, and being at the forefront of that exploration is incredibly invigorating. And in practice, it takes a village (and more) to do what we do. Being fortunate to have the growth we do requires us to constantly change and evolve — and it would be impossible without the humans on the team. The passion, commitment, creativity and care I see day to day are incredible and continue to inspire me. Q: What is it you think people still have to learn about relationships? We've been conditioned to chase ideals that often have little to do with what we actually want or need. There's pressure to "perform" love, to meet timelines, to filter ourselves into palatable versions to gain approval. Add in endless choice and surface-level scanning, and it's no wonder people feel burnt out. There is absolutely nothing wrong with finding 'the one' — we just want people to understand that that is not their only option or that they're not enough in any way if they don't check that box. Since Feeld was founded over a decade ago, we've shifted away from prescribed realities and binary identities towards a world of autonomy and fluid self-expression. We see a real shift happening—people are starting to question old paradigms. They're valuing presence over perfection, fluidity over fixed roles. They're more open to curiosity and exploration. Feeld's growth is evidence of this change: people want space to explore connection on their own terms, and they're ready to do it differently. Dating has become a longer chapter in our lives, and it's becoming more of an open space where people are allowing themselves to be drawn to what feels joyful and true—not necessarily to reach an end point, but to be present in the experience itself and let people change us and explore together. Q: Looking ahead, what excites you most about Feeld's technological future and its continued role in redefining intimacy and relationships? The evolution of how we connect is only just beginning. I'm incredibly optimistic about technology's role in creating even more nuanced and authentic connection opportunities. What excites me most about Feeld's technological future is our unwavering commitment to putting the individual human first, even as technology advances. We're not chasing fleeting trends; we're deepening the core experience of human connection. Our goal is to continue building tools that empower radical authenticity. We want to consistently encourage people to question what's considered the norm and whether it's truly working for them. The future of connection, as shaped by tech, will be about creating an environment where individuals can endlessly learn, grow, and embrace how they're evolving personally. Feeld is ultimately about providing the tools for our Members to be fully present, explore their curiosities safely, and experience the wonder of connection in all its infinite shapes, because there's always something more to discover in relationships. For more information and to see the full E2E Tech 100 2025 list click here.
