About

Bringing food and wine together they way they were meant to be

Often, wine is an afterthought with pairings. A wine is matched with an already fully formed dish - with the result that rather than working together, they just don't work against each other. At Parallel, our goal is to make the wine the star of the show while still creating engaging, delicious food with fresh, local ingredients.

Chef & Co-Owner,
Joey Gibson

Joey grew up northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. Searching for something creative and active, he enrolled in culinary school directly after graduating high school. After working for a couple years in Georgia and South Carolina, he jumped at an opportunity to move to New York City. He used the opportunity to learn as much as possible, cooking under noted chefs such as Brad McDonald & Peter Hoffman. After eight years of the grinding big city cook-life, he moved to Portland, Oregon to be in a thriving food city that was also conducive to family life. Joey was a sous chef at Roman Candle Baking Co. and Olympia Provisions before committing full time to raising his daughter. He also took this time to launch his dream of starting his own project, Parallel Food & Drink. His southern roots, New York training, and mentorship by farm-driven chefs have given him a cooking style that is a seasonally-driven combination of comfort and fine dining.

Sommelier & Co-Owner,
Stacey Gibson

While she didn’t grow up around wine, a whole new world opened up to Stacey after studying abroad in Tuscany during college. After college, she stuck with her political science studies and briefly moved to Washington, DC. However, soon she scratched all plans and moved to New York City, where she got a job as a hostess in the Flatiron District and fell hard for the energy and pace of the restaurant floor. After managing the wine list at Momofuku Ma Peche, she moved on to Corkbuzz Wine Studio under the mentorship of Master Sommelier Laura Maniec. In 2013, after passing the Advanced Sommelier exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers, she moved to Portland to start a family and be closer to the Willamette Valley. After managing several wine lists in the city, Stacey started as the wine director for the bar at Park Avenue Fine Wines in 2017; she was a partner from 2019 until it closed in April 2022. She is excited to now dedicate her retail and service expertise to Parallel full time.

Chief of Kids’
Menu Development,
Bea Gibson

Bea is a fan of mac & cheese and pandas. Her favorite position to work at the restaurant is expo.