Portland, OR

The Beginning

1986

Gabriel Pascuzzi started cooking at age five, helping his parents prepare simple Italian dishes for his family of 5. Grilling on an old blue Weber grill with his father and uncles, was his first introduction to the flavors of open flame cooking.
Many years later, he apprenticed under his uncle, certified Master Chef Gary Hastings, in Big Fork MT, at 16 years old. 5 years later, after receiving his Bachelors of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University, he dove head first into the world of fine dining, working under Daniel Boulud at DB Bistro Moderne and Tom Colicchio at Colicchio & Sons in New York City. From NYC, he staged at famed world #1 restaurant NOMA in Copenhagen. From there he was CDC at Multnomah Whiskey Library. Then he took the leap, opening his first restaurant endeavor, award winning Stacked Sandwich Shop. His calling was starting to simmer, and Mama Bird was born a couple years after, falling back to those first memories learning to start the coals…