Masia

Masia was a Spanish and Catalan restaurant in downtown Portland, Oregon, located inside the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland. It was created and operated by married chefs José Chesa and Cristina Baez with business partner Emily Metivier through White Egg Hospitality. The restaurant opened to the public on February 14, 2020, after Hyatt approached the restaurateurs about operating the hotel's food-and-beverage venue. Its launch came shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the United States restaurant industry. The restaurant occupied approximately 3,000 square feet and served breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, happy hour, take-out meals, private events, and a dedicated churro and coffee counter called 180 Xurros. The concept drew from the partners' Spanish and Catalan background and from Chesa's family history. The name referred to a traditional rural building type found in parts of Spain; a century-old masia built by Chesa's grandfather in Aragon remained in the family. Chesa used the idea as a link between family heritage, rural Spanish life, Portland's farmers and markets, and a communal farm-to-table dining ethos. Masia's food combined traditional Spanish preparations with adaptations for a Portland restaurant audience. Representative dishes included mussels escabeche prepared with vermouth, chicken and mushroom croquettes, paella, Spanish omelettes, jamón ibérico, flautas, patatas bravas, and churros served with chocolate. Brunch included bacon-and-egg paella, pastries, tortilla española, egg dishes with blood sausage, and pan con tomate, also known as glass bread with tomato. The restaurant offered several filled Spanish-bread combinations, including tortilla española, chorizo with tomato, Mahón cheese with quince, and confit tuna with olives. Its happy hour was particularly associated with vermouth, while the menu also included a burger made with grass-fed beef, piquillo peppers, Havarti, date-sherry ketchup, and mussels in vermouth. The interior sought to combine rural references with contemporary hospitality design. Sera Architects and Mortenson worked on the project, which featured neutral European tile inspired by nineteenth-century Spanish tile patterns, murals by Portland artists Ivy Campbell and Erika Lee Sears, concrete dining areas, and neon signs depicting jamón, a churro, and the phrase “hot xurros.” The 180 Xurros counter revived a format previously associated with the partners' Barcelona-style churro business, which had closed in 2018. Masia's initial operating period lasted only about one month before Oregon restrictions responding to COVID-19 sharply limited dine-in restaurant service. The business temporarily closed, reopened in July 2020, and shifted among take-out, special-event, and packaged-meal formats for the remainder of the year. It offered holiday and seasonal products including Labor Day picnic baskets and a Thanksgiving dinner for two priced at $125. The owners initially planned a temporary closure in January 2021, but in March 2021 confirmed that Masia would not reopen. The closure reflected the prolonged pandemic disruption and the gap between the operating conditions available to the restaurant and the concept the owners had intended to build.

Masia was conceived as a Spanish and Catalan restaurant connected to Portland's local food culture and to the personal history of chef José Chesa. Chesa and his wife, chef Cristina Baez, were already associated with the Portland restaurant Ataula when Hyatt invited them and business partner Emily Metivier to operate a new restaurant inside the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland. The partners organized the project through White Egg Hospitality. The name came from “masia,” a term for a rural construction traditionally found in parts of Spain. Chesa's grandfather had built a century-old example in Aragon, and the family connection gave the restaurant a direct link to Spanish agricultural life and inherited food traditions. The concept was also intended to reflect Portland's farmers, markets, local sourcing, and a sense of shared family and community. Rather than present Spanish food as a narrowly formal cuisine, the restaurant aimed to combine recognizable regional dishes, family recipes, drinks, and a relaxed all-day format. The restaurant was designed as a substantial hotel dining venue of roughly 3,000 square feet. Sera Architects and Mortenson worked on the interior, which paired contemporary concrete and a sleek layout with references to Spanish rural and architectural traditions. European tile used neutral tones and patterns inspired by nineteenth-century Spanish tilework. Local murals supplied color and visual movement, including Ivy Campbell's large abstract work and Erika Lee Sears's kitchen painting of a masia surrounded by greenery. Neon signs depicting jamón, a churro, and “hot xurros” reinforced the restaurant's playful approach to Spanish identity. Masia opened to hotel guests with a limited breakfast and lunch offering during the week before its public launch, then began full public service on February 14, 2020. It served breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, and happy hour, and it also hosted private events. Its menu ranged from mussels escabeche in vermouth and croquettes to paella, tortilla española, jamón ibérico, patatas bravas, flautas, and churros with chocolate. Brunch expanded the format with bacon-and-egg paella, pastries, egg scrambles with blood sausage, and pan con tomate. The restaurant also brought back 180 Xurros, a churro and coffee counter associated with the partners' earlier Barcelona-style churro operation, which had closed in 2018. The launch was almost immediately overtaken by the COVID-19 pandemic. Within roughly a month, Oregon restrictions sharply curtailed dine-in restaurant service. Masia temporarily closed and later reopened in July, but it could not return to the normal breakfast-through-dinner model envisioned at launch. During the rest of 2020 it moved between take-out service, limited offerings, packaged food, holiday meals, and event-style products. A Labor Day package included charcuterie, churros, Russian potato salad, and house pickles, with optional drinks. For Thanksgiving, the restaurant sold a take-out meal for two priced at $125, centered on turkey and Spanish-influenced accompaniments such as turkey croquettes with Spanish cranberry aioli, chard with jamón ibérico, and Barcelona-style crispy glass bread. In November 2020, renewed restrictions required restaurants to operate only through take-out for a defined period. Cristina Baez publicly described the effect on restaurant workers and operators as severe, emphasizing that the industry was operating under extreme pressure. Masia continued to accept digital gift-card orders by phone, but the restrictions and broader uncertainty made a return to the original business plan increasingly difficult. The owners announced plans for a temporary closure in January 2021. In March, however, Emily Metivier informed employees that the business would end operations permanently at the end of that month. The decision was attributed to the difficult preceding months and the fact that operating conditions were not returning to the expectations or vision established for the space. Masia therefore became a short-lived restaurant whose identity was defined both by its Spanish-Catalan food and by its rapid adaptation to the pandemic-era collapse of conventional restaurant service. Contemporary coverage viewed the opening as promising, particularly for its reinterpretation of dishes associated with Ataula and the return of 180 Xurros, but the concept did not survive its first year of full operating disruption.

• 2021

  Permanent closure confirmed

  [1]Masia (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  The owners confirm that Masia will not reopen after its planned temporary closure.

• 2020

  Masia opens at the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland

  [1]Masia (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  The restaurant begins public operations on February 14 with Spanish and Catalan breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, drinks, and event service.

• 2020

  Pandemic restrictions disrupt dine-in operations

  [1]Masia (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  COVID-19 restrictions force a temporary closure and prevent Masia from sustaining its original all-day restaurant model.

• 2020

  Masia reopens with alternative service formats

  [1]Masia (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  After reopening in July, the restaurant relies on changing combinations of take-out service, special packages, holiday meals, and private-event offerings.

A contemporary Portland restaurant rooted in Spanish and Catalan family cooking, rural Spanish heritage, local sourcing, communal dining, and farm-to-table hospitality.

• Restaurant dining · 2020

  Spanish and Catalan restaurant menu

  Masia's core menu covered Spanish and Catalan dishes across breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, and happy hour. Offerings included mussels escabeche in vermouth, chicken and mushroom croquettes, paella, Spanish omelettes, jamón ibérico, flautas, patatas bravas, and churros with chocolate. The menu combined family-inspired recipes with a contemporary Portland restaurant format.

• Churro and coffee counter · 2020

  180 Xurros

  180 Xurros was Masia's dedicated churro and coffee counter. It revived the partners' earlier Barcelona-style churro offering and made churros, pastries, and coffee available within the restaurant. Its return was noted as one of the appealing elements of the new venue, linking Masia to the restaurateurs' previous business.

• Packaged meals · 2020

  Take-out holiday meals

  During the pandemic, Masia developed packaged and take-out products for holidays and special occasions. Examples included Labor Day picnic baskets with charcuterie, churros, Russian potato salad, and pickles, as well as a Thanksgiving dinner for two featuring turkey, croquettes, Spanish cranberry aioli, potatoes, bread, vegetables with jamón ibérico, and accompanying drinks and garnishes.

• 2021

  Decision to end Masia operationsStrategy

  Background

  After months of pandemic-related disruption, the owners concluded that conditions were not returning to the expectations or vision established for the restaurant.

  Action taken

  A planned temporary closure became permanent, with operations ending at the end of March 2021.

  Aftermath

  Masia ceased trading and did not reopen.

  Source

• 2020

  Shift from dine-in service to take-out and packaged mealsStrategy

  Background

  COVID-19 restrictions made the restaurant's planned breakfast-through-dinner dine-in model impractical soon after launch.

  Action taken

  Masia temporarily closed, reopened in July, and used take-out service, seasonal packages, holiday meals, gift cards, and other limited formats during the remainder of 2020.

  Aftermath

  The adaptations allowed the business to operate intermittently, but the restaurant did not return to its intended operating model.

  Source

• 2020

  Launch of pandemic-era holiday meal packagesProduct launch

  Background

  Restrictions on indoor dining created demand for restaurant-prepared meals that customers could collect and eat at home.

  Action taken

  Masia introduced special offerings including Labor Day picnic baskets and a Thanksgiving take-out dinner for two.

  Aftermath

  The packages became part of the restaurant's alternative operating model during 2020.

  Source

1. 1Masia (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org