A feature documentary · Portland, Oregon

FOOD.
PORTLAND.
HOME.

Food is the vehicle. Portland is the world. Home is the destination.

Watch the trailer Meet Jared & the film Explore the map
Hosted + Directed by Jared Leaf Produced by Black Bald Films + Ninety Third Story
The Film

A PERSONAL JOURNEY.
A BIGGER STORY.

Raised biracial and largely in white spaces, filmmaker Jared Leaf reconnects with his Black cultural inheritance through Portland’s kitchens, farms, food carts and family tables.

In a city shaped by Black displacement and independent invention, the people feeding Portland bring questions of history, identity and belonging to the table.

“I wasn’t discovering Black culture. I was reconnecting with something that was already part of me.”Jared Leaf · Director & host
People & Places

THE COMMUNITY
IS THE STORY.

Follow the journey from cultural inheritance to the people building Portland today, and finally to Jared’s family table. Or find a place to visit on the map.

01

ROOTS.

What do we carry with us? Land, migration, memory and the food that connects generations.

The community at Happiness Family Farm
Land · Migration · Belonging

Happiness Family Farm

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An interview at Akadi
West African food · Memory · Migration

Akadi

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Behind the counter at Cason’s Fine Meats
Vanport · Family memory · Legacy

Cason's Fine Meats

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02

BUILDING BLACK PORTLAND.

A city shaped by displacement is also a city of Black invention. These stories hold hustle, craft, humor and care in the same frame.

A conversation outside Lola’s Bussdown
Portland roots · Chinatown · After hours

Lola's Bussdown

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A burger with cheese, bacon and vegetables from Stoopid Burger
Comedy · Hustle · Humility

Stoopid Burger

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A cocktail being poured at Olive or Twist
Craft · Elegance · Ownership

Olive or Twist

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Lakayana in conversation at KISS Coffee
Civic life · Community · Black Portland

KISS Coffee / Lakayana

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CoKiea’s Kitchen owner in the kitchen
Vegan soul food · Reinvention · The future

CoKiea’s Kitchen

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Meals 4 Heels chef in the kitchen
Night deliveries · Dignity · Care

Meals 4 Heels

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A taste of the place

LOOK CLOSER.
COME HUNGRY.

Step from the story into the kitchen. Explore food clips from Akadi and Stoopid Burger, filmed for MenuMingle.

Food cooking in an Akadi pan▶ Watch food clips

Akadi

A Stoopid Burger close-up▶ Watch food clips

Stoopid Burger

03 · Home

THE SEARCH ENDS
AT THE FAMILY TABLE.

At his father’s home, Jared sits down with his father and grandmother. The journey arrives at a family table, with a meal described simply as made with love.

The homecoming story ↗Jared’s grandmother at the family table
Father · Grandmother · Homecoming

The Family Table

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The city beyond the screen

TAKE THE STORY
INTO PORTLAND.

Find the people behind the food. Open a story, explore a menu, and plan a visit.

Explore Black Portland ↗
The filmmakers

BEHIND THE CAMERA.

Jared Leaf at the Churchy premiere

Director · Host · Producer

Jared Leaf

Jared is a writer, director and producer behind Ninety Third Story. In Taste Black Portland, he turns the camera toward his own cultural inheritance, family and sense of home.

  • Spilled Milk — writer and director; winner of the 2026 HBO Short Film Award at the American Black Film Festival.
  • NO DRAMA Initiative — made with Monkeypaw, Universal and TIFF; Spilled Milk had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
  • Pan African Film Festival — 2026 Audience Award for Short Narrative for Spilled Milk.
  • Churchy, Season 2 — director of all 10 episodes of the BET series.

“For me, this is a food film. It is also a homecoming.”

Explore Jared’s work ↗
Film & TV representation

Manager: Justin Corporan-Browning · Mosaic Media Group
Agents: Joe Arciniega & Ethan More · Innovative Artists

Dru Holley holding his Northwest Regional Emmy Award

Executive Producer · Producer

Dru Holley

Dru is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and founder of Black Bald Films, telling stories of Black history, public memory and people building culture today.

  • Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts — director of the feature documentary broadcast nationally on PBS/WORLD.
  • Albina Vision Series — producer of the Northwest Regional Emmy-winning OPB series.

“Most of my documentary work has looked backward. With Taste Black Portland, I wanted to point the camera at Black people building something right now.”

Explore Dru’s work ↗
Filmmaker and producer Maria Moreno

Producer

Maria Moreno

Maria is a Venezuelan filmmaker working between Portland and Miami. Her work explores belonging and the lightness of everyday life. She brings experience across independent film, commercial production and community filmmaking to Taste Black Portland.

  • TIME, Nike and Hulu, projects in her freelance work as a producer and assistant director.
  • Sleater-Kinney and Y La Bamba, music projects among her production credits.
  • Outside the Frame, supporting film career development for emerging filmmakers.
Explore Maria’s work ↗
Cinematographer Nuk Suwanchote with his Emmy award

Director of Photography

Nuk Suwanchote

Nuk is an Emmy Award-winning Thai American director and cinematographer whose work spans documentary, narrative film and commercial storytelling. He brings that visual storytelling experience to Taste Black Portland.

  • Northwest Regional Emmy, recognition for his cinematography.
  • Amazon, Seattle Seahawks and King County feature among his commercial clients.
  • Horizon Identities: AAPI at UWT, director of the documentary exploring Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences at UW Tacoma.
Explore Nuk’s work ↗

Post-production

Desert Island Studios

A filmmaker-led, artist-owned studio in Portland working across original films and commercials. Desert Island Studios is the post-production partner for Taste Black Portland.

  • Nike / LeBron James, post-production for the LeBron XXI basketball sneaker launch.
  • Carol’s Daughter / Coco Gauff, post-production for the brand campaign.
  • Independent film, creative development, production and post-production rooted in Portland’s filmmaking community.
Explore Desert Island’s work ↗

Our sponsors & supporters

Lion Speaks

Fiscal sponsor

Lion Speaks

With thanks to our individual donors and matching-gift contributors.

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Donate through Lion Speaks ↗

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Taste Black Portland title over the Portland skyline▶ Watch the trailer

COME TO THE TABLE.

Watch the Taste Black Portland trailer.

Watch the trailer
Full Synopsis

TASTE BLACK PORTLAND

Filmmaker Jared Leaf has built his career telling Black stories, but Taste Black Portland asks him to turn the lens toward his own relationship with Black identity. Raised biracial and largely in white spaces, Jared grew up without consistent access to many of the food traditions, family rituals and community experiences he later recognized as part of his cultural inheritance.

Portland is both a food city and a place shaped by Black displacement. Through Black-owned kitchens, farms, food carts, cafés and family tables, the film follows people carrying history forward while building, experimenting and creating culture right now.

At Happiness Family Farm, land and migration begin the journey. Akadi connects West African cooking to memory and family. Cason’s Fine Meats brings MLK Boulevard, Vanport and legacy into the present. Across the city, entrepreneurship, humor, vegan soul food and Meals 4 Heels’ night deliveries reveal different ways that food can create community and offer care.

A recurring attempt to reach one of Portland's most celebrated Black restaurants becomes a thread about validation. As other doors keep opening, the unanswered invitation matters less. The journey finally arrives at his father's home, where Jared sits down with his father and grandmother around the family table.

What begins as a search through Portland's Black food culture becomes a homecoming: a film about cultural inheritance, Black innovation, family and the realization that belonging was never something Jared needed to earn.
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Explore this story ↗