The team for Ocotillo, the coming West End brunch restaurant, seated inside the space at 211 Danforth St. From left, Melanie Reynolds; Pliny Reynolds; Wilson Rothschild; Al Zoni; Justin Dewalt; Lea Pillsbury. Courtesy of Ocotillo
The owners of Terlingua are launching a brunch restaurant this spring in the former space of The Danforth in Portland’s West End neighborhood.
“We’ve been searching for a little while for a place to do a brunch concept, and we were lucky enough to find the old Danforth building,” said Pliny Reynolds, co-owner of Terlingua along with his wife, Melanie. “I think there’s an opening for brunch in Portland, and we’re hoping to fill some of that void.”
The Reynolds are under contract to buy the building at 211 Danforth St. The 2,500-square-foot restaurant can can accommodate about 106 guests total, including seating at the bar and in barroom booths, more formal seating in the adjacent dining room, and a back patio that seats about 30. Ocotillo will accept reservations.
“We’re going to do a Terlingua-inspired brunch concept that’ll marry a lot of the Texas-style barbecue and the Mexican-inspired influences we have been working with for years,” Reynolds said. The draft menu for Ocotillo – named for a plant native to northern Mexico and the American Southwest that is a close relative of the blueberry bush – features dishes like churros, huevos rancheros divorciados, a selection of breakfast tacos and eggs Benedicts, various tortas and Texas French toast.
Ocotillo’s beverage program will be agave-centric, like at Terlingua, with brunchy drinks like Bloody Marias, a full coffee program with espresso and coffee drinks, fresh fruit juices and agua frescas. “Our cocktail program will be more focused on fresh fruits and maybe things you’d imagine yourself drinking on a beach somewhere,” Reynolds said.
Terlingua executive sous chef Al Zoni will head up the Ocotillo kitchen, while Terlingua’s Lea Pillsbury will be front-of-house manager. The Reynolds and Wilson Rothschild, Terlingua group executive chef, will oversee the project as a whole.
Ocotillo will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday to start, though they hope to expand to seven days a week by the summer. Reynolds said following interior renovations, he expects Ocotillo will be ready to open sometime in March.
“We’re trying to create a bright, natural light-filled environment,” Reynolds said. “You’ll feel a little bit of the Terlingua vibe in the color palette and some of the menu items, but we want Ocotillo to really be its own thing.”
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