The first thing I wanted to know about Morchella's return was what strange thing the chefs were going to feed us. Then Cameron Dunlap answered my email and told me about his best friend.
Cameron and chef David Stevenson have been foraging and cooking with wild ingredients for about ten years. They still go gathering together. They've also spent roughly a decade hanging out with friends around Hawthorne. So when Cameron told me their new kitchen feels like coming home, I believed him.
That detail is more interesting to me than another restaurant announcement. These two didn't discover Southeast Portland in a market-research meeting. They've been eating, drinking and spending time here for years.
HOW A FOREST BECAME A RESTAURANT
Cameron, a Georgia native who moved to Portland in the 1990s, made a career out of ingredients many of us walk right past. Through his Origin Wild dinners, he explored what could be cooked from Oregon's forests. In one memorable 2016 mishap, he fell through a rotting log while gathering spruce tips, then created a venison dish inspired by the tiny ecosystem inside it.
I would have gone home checking for ticks. He made dinner.
In 2021, Morchella opened on NE Fremont. In 2022, Bon Appétit selected the restaurant for its list of America's 50 best new restaurants, recognizing an approach to Oregon cooking that didn't need imported glamour to be surprising.
Its dining room closed at the end of 2024. Cameron publicly said he wanted to focus more on foraging and farming. Morchella kept cooking at pop-ups and private dinners, including time alongside Bonne Chance Wine Bar. The address changed. The work continued.
WHAT THE NEW MORCHELLA IS ACTUALLY LIKE
Now Cameron and David run the Morchella kitchen inside Double Down Lounge, owned by Jake and Shela Kagan, at 1429 SE 37th Avenue. It's the old 3 Doors Down space, another address where Portlanders made years of dinner memories.
The new format isn't a replica of Fremont. It's a place for cocktails and shareable, seasonal plates built around wild ingredients, garden produce and local farms. Cameron summed it up in his email: “a few less rules and a little more fun.”
And yes, the menu is still delightfully peculiar. Cameron pointed to popcorn flan and caramel made with foraged candy-cap mushrooms. Those mushrooms are known for developing a maple-syrup aroma when dried. Dessert made from mushrooms sounds ridiculous until you remember who's cooking.
For Cameron, Hawthorne isn't some clever next location. He wrote that it's where he and David have spent time with friends for the past decade. They're trying to make what he called “a little restaurant home” there.
That stays with me. Portland has watched so many restaurants close. I love when a good idea survives long enough to become something new, especially when the people behind it get to make the next version feel more like themselves.
I haven't eaten at this Morchella yet, and this isn't a review. I just think two friends bringing a forest-inspired kitchen home to their own neighborhood is a story worth telling.
BEFORE YOU GO
Morchella at Double Down Lounge — 1429 SE 37th Ave., Portland.
Kitchen hours confirmed directly by Cameron: Tuesday–Thursday 3–10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 3 p.m. until late; Sunday 3–10 p.m.; closed Monday. “Late” isn't a specific last-call time. Seasonal dishes can change; check the latest menu before visiting.
See the restaurant's current menu and updates ↗
Reporting: Original November 11, 2026 email interview with chef Cameron Dunlap for PNW Passport. Background: Eater Portland, Bon Appétit (2022), Morchella restaurant. This is an original reported feature, not a firsthand restaurant review.
The story does not end when I hit publish.
Every Monday I send a letter about what we discovered, the people behind the stories, and a few very good reasons to leave the house.
Love, Larie ❤️