Chef Ryan Callahan says he has closed his new Southeast Portland ramen shop after a carjacker stabbed him multiple times. Callahan, who opened his restaurant Menya Hokusei this summer under the Hawthorne Bridge, posted on Instagram announcing the closure, briefly describing the incident. “My restaurant doesn’t run without me,” Callahan writes. “So until I’m back on my feet we will remain closed.”
Callahan has yet to respond to a request for comment, and details remain scarce at this point; in an Instagram comment, he clarified that the incident happened in Salem, not Portland. The chef has set up a GoFundMe meant to cover his employees’ pay and his own medical bills, with an image of him in a hospital bed. “I worked so hard to achieve my dream of opening a restaurant and will be back to work as soon as I’m back on my feet to give Oregon the best ramen I can make,” he writes in the GoFundMe description. “None of us saw this coming and I just want to continue the dream and to continue to serve you guys ramen.”
The chef started his career in Salem Japanese restaurants, teaching himself how to make ramen at home with the help of online forums. After working for a company that makes food carts, he opened his own: Oniyatai Ramen, Callahan’s Salem food cart, served ramen with house-made noodles out of the Yard Food Park pod. He moved to Portland to open Menya Hokusei earlier this year.
This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.