Ma Cher, the French-Cajun passion project from chefs Chase Dopson and Maggie Irwin, is quietly turning Sunday through Tuesday evenings in Northeast Portland into a little slice of New Orleans. The pop-up leans seafood-forward, with plates like butter beans and shrimp, marinated blue crab claws, and a crab jambalaya, all designed for a tight midweek dinner service. After testing the waters with a few pop-up runs around town, the pair have now settled Ma Cher into a steady weekly rhythm that diners are already talking about.
Seafood First, Southern Heart
At Ma Cher, the menu is built around Gulf seafood and classic Cajun technique, with shrimp, blue crab, and long-simmered broths doing the heavy lifting. The chefs say they buy from a one-boat family shrimp operation in Montague, Louisiana, shipping the catch overnight to keep things tasting as fresh as possible. That fishing connection, combined with Ma Cher’s compact dinner window, shapes how the team channels New Orleans flavors for Portlanders, according to Willamette Week.
From Pop-Up To Residency
Ma Cher first hit the scene as a prix-fixe residency at Dame on Northeast Killingsworth before broadening both its schedule and format, Eater Portland reported. The duo’s earlier project, Pastificio d’Oro, earned local attention before closing in 2025. When Dame itself shut its doors at the end of that year, Ma Cher was forced to find a new home, according to Portland Monthly.
Where To Find Ma Cher
These days, Ma Cher runs its midweek operation out of Cafe Olli on the Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor, serving dinner Sunday through Tuesday. Willamette Week notes the Cafe Olli address along with the 5:30 to 9 p.m. service hours, while the restaurant’s own site handles reservations and menu details. For tickets and up-to-date info, head to Ma Cher’s site.
Chefs’ Roots And What To Expect
Dopson and Irwin describe Ma Cher as a tribute to Irwin’s Acadian family background and Dopson’s Louisiana roots, a turn from their handmade pasta days that Eater Portland chronicled when the project debuted. In a KOIN video published May 20, 2026, the duo walks viewers through some of their standout dishes and the Sunday through Tuesday schedule, offering a quick visual primer for anyone curious about the menu, as shown in a video by KOIN.
