gado gado

Thomas and Mariah Pisha-Duffly first met as teenagers in their hometown of Boston, Massachusetts, not in the restaurant world, but on a friend’s stoop where they spent a long, unhurried summer talking, laughing, and orbiting each other’s circles. It wasn’t until many years later, in 2008, that they officially began dating, and not long after that the idea of opening a restaurant together began to take shape. We’re so happy to share the story of that dream coming to life in the form of Gado Gado restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Tom grew up eating Indonesian, Malaysian, and American fusion food cooked by his mother, who showed love through labor-intensive, thoughtful dishes. His mother is half Dutch and half Chinese by way of Indonesia, and his grandmother — “Oma” — delighted in sharing recipes, ingredients, and stories from her life across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. At family gatherings, Gado Gado was always on the table — a dish that literally means “mix mix,” layered with rich peanut sauce, snappy beans, crispy cucumbers and fudgy eggs.