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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2004)
march 5.2004 » j u s t o u t Yfl Pnn IU DI U by SIAVQ A1HVW A0 O iO H d CULTURE ▼............ Meet the brains behind the Aalto M ic h a e l E B a r r e t t fatchout, Hawrhorne: Belmont is are tables of 60-year-olds” among quickly supplanting you as South 20- and 30-somethings. And while east Portland’s hipster hub. Leading many business owners “make a point the way is Peter Bro, gay owner of o f’ getting to know' their customers’ the Aalto Lounge, located in the heart of names, one senses that Bro’s familiari the district between 25th and 39th avenues. ty with his own regulars comes natu Together with his hi bartender/art curator rally from the sheer joy of welcoming Marne Lucas, Bro combines art, drink, good guests to his house of conversation eats and ambiance in this neighborhood and libations. landmark. Bro purchased the Aalto, where he was espite Bro’s claim that the people already on staff as a bartender, last September. are what make the Aalto a special His day job as a developer in the eastside place, he deserves credit for creat industrial district “proved to he a hard animal ing the comfort zone that he has. The to control” financially, and it was his need for nruxxJ is warm and mellow, yet capital to buy drywall that landed him the job groovy, thanks to lighting that casts at his favorite local bar. everyone present in sepia tone. When he discovered the owner was look The buzz of talk and laughter steadi ing to sell, Bro feared the worst: A new owner ly increases with the hour hand, would change not only the character of the though the music is always soft enough bar hut the staff, too. Armed with a soft heart, that it won’t disrupt your chat (but a level head and a touch of entrepreneurial loud enough to hear if you want to lis Marne Lucas and Peter Bro create “every person’s environment” night after night in the heart of the spirit, Bro bought the bar with the help of a ten to it). Add a nice Kittle of wine, a Belmont district silent partner. cold beer or one of the Aalto’s simple cocktails and you’re set for the evening. The 34-year-old sees the Aaltos role in Belmont as a “comfortable meeting place There’s a Kmus, though! mate viewing space” than a traditional gallery'. Pander the Younger did indeed tackle this that can accommodate a lot of different When Bro Knight the Aalto, he inherited Her goal is to expose “local talent" to a clien medium with taste and ingenuity. groups— an ‘every person’s environment.’ ” Marne Lucas, the lounge’s art curator and tele that enjoys a “mix of art, shopping and For Bro, Lucas is clearly a gem. As one of He describes the atmosphere as “Euro-style” twice-weekly bartender. (A u'ell-known local drinking." If steady sales are any indication, it’s the “hot” women who work alongside the and insists its feel is more a reflection of the erotic photographer, Lucas also goes by the fair to say Lucas has developed a recipe for suc “gay boys” Bro employs, her enthusiasm, people who work and play there than a pseudonym Gina Velour, her stage name in an cess, hut the charm and character that her acumen and striking beauty complement the result of conscious ambiance tinkering: “I shows add to the Aalto cannot he understated. Aalto’s other fine features. And he is gen art film called The Operation.) uinely, yet humbly, excited about the role he bought this bar, 1 didn’t create it, hut I Lucas’ knack for marketing and publicity, understand the meaning and plays in her success as a curator: “For some coupled with a discerning eye n January the Aalto featured velvet paint ings (remember those things from the 70s?) conviviality...it represents.” one like Marne, this is an excellent outlet for unique and provocative for her to flex her artistic muscle in the art by Arnold Pander, son of renowned lcxral work, enables her to Kxik A “spillover effect” is com painter Henk Pander (whose gargantuan community in a way she wouldn’t otherwise shows two years in advance mon among the commercial hough more well- t be able to." 9- by 7-foot oil painting from The War Series with quality local art—plus establishments crammed into known as a drinking occupies a gcxid chunk of the west wall). Portlanders who know Belmont probably some from elsewhere. the blocks surrounding the establishment featur A recent show, for example, Though the subject matter of Arnold’s works already know the Aalto Lounge; those who Aalto’s home near the comer of ing cocktails and a good is hardly the stuff of 70s kitsch, velvet paint have yet to discover the city’s hippest ’hexxf 34th and Belmont. With neigh selection of wine and beer, fell under Kith the “provoca tive” and “from elsewhere” cat ings are velvet paintings nonetheless, which can look forward to a warm intrcxluction bors like Stumptown Coffee, the Aalto’s new menu begs the question...why? egories, as Velour PrixJuctions from Peter Bro. W hether kxiking for a scene, offers patrons a variety of Theater! Theatre! and the Blue art or a good drink, this queer-friendly bar presented Los Angeles photog The “virtue of the work” is most impor tasty appetizers, salads and Monk, the Aalto hosts a mix has it all. JH tant to Lucas in her selection process, but light fare at moderate rapher Steve Diet Goedde’s ture of locals, regulars and visi she readily admits to the nepotism she prices. Specialties range nude portraits of The Porce tors to the district. employs as a curator. In this case, her con The A alto L o u n g e , 3356 S.E. Belmont St., is from more sophisticated lain Tw'inz, an Oregon erotic Bro resists any attempt to nection to the Pander family goes back sev open from 6p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly except Sunday. creations like “tuna and performance art duo. In Febru typecast the Aalto’s crowd, eral years: Arnold’s brother Jacob is a former Beginning March 15, happy hour is 5 to 7 p m. ary, Goedde and Lucas had insisting it attracts a wide range piquillo peppers" salad to lover of hers and worked with her on The weekdays. Lisa Dejohn's abstract chalkboard concurrent shows at the Erotic comfort food like “fried of ages and sexual orientations Operation. Still, the quality of the art is the paintings adorn the walls through March. egg over easy on roast.” Be Museum in Los Angeles. and is unpredictable from one foremost criterion, and, although the Lucas, 35 ("going on 18”), is on the lookout for a lunch night to the next. “Sometimes thought of velvet paintings invokes a feeling M ichael E B arrett pens the "Epieiueerean'' forthright in her assertion that you’ll look around at 10 o’clock menu, which is in the of discomfort to many a contemporary eye, column once a month in Just Out. the Aalto provides a more “inti preparatory stages. on a Saturday night, and there d : What’s ta eat? T : eatingout eatingout COFFEE PLAN T serving Stumptown Coffee ♦ fresh baked pastries daily sandwiches and snacks ♦ free wireless internet Mention this ad and get two for one 724 sw Washington st. (between Broadway B Park) eatingout eatingout eatingout eatingout uckmcin OHN m eatingout eatingout le _uncn D- ! tolsero O ^ e r 1 O ne Cafe o a is O n aoô o^gcmc... (»xiual or Lunch W e d -F ri 11 am - 1pm 8 3 3 8 N. LomBaRÒ 503-247-1066 1 0 value) No Reservations Need»*d B reakfast Sat & Sun tt am - 1 pm 2 1 3 SE 1 2 th (5 0 3 ) 2 3 0 -2 3 8 1 ( nupon must lx- presenl»‘d • expires ï -1 -04 J 3 7
