24,JUStpUt JANUARY S. ¿097
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Enter the Chameleon
Tho crowd at a Chameleon Halloween party dips into a
tray of incredible edibles.
After selling the Thai restaurant, Jeung added another paragraph to his
diverse resume by entering the world of antiques. He spent 3 1/2 years in
the wholesale antiques business as an import/export dealer.
“It was very fun but tough business to do,” he says. “A lot of people
are not so into Asian art, which is what 1 was dealing with. 1 was travel
ing a lot, because I would go to Asia to kx>k for antiques. I thought 1 was
done with restaurants, but I eventually realized that I miss the restaurant
»»
scene.
Meanwhile, his friends in Northeast Portland were complain
ing about the dearth of places to go for quality food and drinks in
their neighborhood. This is what gave him the impetus to launch
Chameleon Restaurant and Bar.
Ten years ago, he did. Flying in the face of superstition, Jeung opened
the doors to the Chameleon for the first time Dec. 13, 1996. The opening
night gala was the beginning of a long tradition of parties, festive events
with a serious underlying raison d’etre, since most of them double as fund
raisers for various charity causes he supports. A frequent beneficiary of
Jeung’s largesse is Our House of Portland, a nonprofit organization that
serves people living with H1V/A1DS. Beginning with the second year,
Chameleon’s December celebration became rhe Hat Party, which it’s been
ever since. Everyone attending must wear a hat—baseball caps don’t
count—and the night culminates in a contest to choose the most fabulous
hats, with prizes for the winners.
Jeung wishes to make clear that when he does fund raising, all proceeds
go to charity. “I don’t deduct my overhead costs from what the event
makes,” he says.
Or doesn’t make. A fund-raiser for Our House in the summer of 1998,
a year and a half after Chameleon opened, was a gala event: the Gilligan’s
Island Beach Party, with guest of honor Russell Johnson, better known as
the Professor from the classic television show. Four bands also played,
including Art Alexakis of Everclear, then basking in the glow of mass
commercial success. As a social event it was spectacular, but financially
speaking, it was another of those painful learning experiences.
“It was the first big event I tried to do, and 1 lost a ton of money,” Jeung
recalls grimly “I lost $12,000. 1 couldn’t pay my property tax that year.”
But he shrugs it off. “You live and you learn."
A while back, when the real estate market was skyrocketing, Jeung
planned to expand on the Chameleon site by building a five-fkxir condo
minium above the restaurant. But so far, development in the Hollywood
district has been slower and quieter than expected. “The market in
Portland has leveled out, and if I invested in it now, 1 could lose every
thing," Jeung says of the stalled project.
Business tixlay, he says, has its ups and downs. “1 pay my bills, but I’m
not making a lot of money off Chameleon. It’s not a high-volume restau
rant. Ninety percent of rhe people who come here are regulars. We have
a very loyal clientele."
Let I liein Eat C keesecake
Sissyboy performs at one of Chameleon's raucous
Halloween parties.
One chilly night in mid-December, Jeung joins a circle of his loyal
patrons at a condo in the swanky and rapidly developing South
Waterfront. They’re people from the business community: upper class, well
heeled, yet warm and amiable. Everyone in the room is a regular at
Chameleon; they’re not just Jeung’s customers, they’re his friends. A won
derful variety of appetizers are served, adding up to more than a meal: sushi
with ginger and wasabi, chilled shrimp cocktail, chicken skewers with
peanut sauce, vegetables and a delicious creamy dill dip, topped off with
cheesecake and no shortage of adult grape juice. A Christmas lights boat
show floats by on the river below as food and wine disappear. The con
vivial enclave of Chameleon regulars discusses what it loves about the
restaurant, in terms of both cuisine and atmosphere.
“The fcxxl is just superb.” “Pat and his staff male you feel at home.”
“It’s like Cheers, almost. You walk in and everyone knows your name.”
A woman who relocated to Portland three years ago from New Orleans
says Chameleon feels like family to her. “When I sit down to eat there,
it’s like I’m coming in for my meal, you know? And I’m used to goixJ
fixxJ. I’m from the gumbo and jambalaya capital of the world!"
One gentleman, who happens to be a highly placed executive in the
Rite-Aid Corporation, names his three favorite Chameleon dishes: the
chicken Caesar salad, the Chameleon wrap and the blueberry buttered
prawns (not currently on the menu). “You wouldn’t think of blueberries
with prawns, but it’s delicious the way Pat makes it,” he says. “There are
so many different flavors happening at once, it’s amazing.”
When the Working Day Is Done...
Chameleon’s 10th anniversary celebration will take place Jan. 14 in
the form of its infamous Hat Party. “The usual time to have it is mid
December, but so much was happening we had to push it.back a month,”
Jeung explains.
Hat Parties of the past have attained the prestige of civic events, with
notable guests including Mayor Tom Pot^r and former Oregon Gov.
Barbara Roberts. And Portland’s own motley crew of mutant gender
terrorists, the punk drag troupe Sissyboy, have performed at Chameleon’s
Halloween party every year since they formed. Jeung says he first
encountered Sissyboy at the now-defunct club I.C. Mummy, where they
put on their first wild shows before branching out to mainstream venues
like Holocene and Wonder Ballroom. Jeung appreciated the troupe’s
fierce, fresh take on drag.
“I checked them out, liked what they did and invited them to perform
at my party,” he says. “You can only see so much traditional drag—you
know, it’s sort of a stereotype. 1 like what they bring to it.”
. How do the depraved antics of Sissyboy go down with some of the
more conservative business types in Jeung’s circle?
“It can get pretty crazy,” he admits. “Some of the shows I’m like, ‘You’re
not going to have a fixxJ fight in here, because you’re not going to clean
it up!’ They tone it down a bit for me.”
Jeung throws four parries annually—Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve,
Halloween and the Hat Party—as well as a garden party he hosts at his
Southeast Portland home every summer for his closest friends and
colleagues. “We host a lot of private parties at Chameleon, too,” he says.
“It’s easier to do the private parties because you know what to expect.
Everything is planned out.”
Jeung is an out gay man (“for the most part,” he says) but doesn’t divide
people by their sexual orientation and is baffled by those who do. “I don’t
discriminate, like some people who have only gay friends or only straight
friends. 1 don’t understand when you go to a place with someone, and if it
isn’t just same-sex-oriented, they have attitude. If you’re going to be a jerk,
you're going to be a jerk, whether you’re gay or straight.” The recipients