Dishin' It

[May 10th, 2006] After a decade in the biz, forward food thinker James Defeo has sold his venerable veggie spot, Vita Cafe , to chef Aaron Woo and his wife, Karen Woodbury (as well as his Paradox Palace Cafe to Bonnie Downey ). Woo just happens to be a clarklewis line cook who left the ripe restaurant family a mere six days before local food empire imploded in the last two weeks. Insider intel? "Nah," says Woo. "I wasn't looking to escape clarklewis, but I found a really good thing here." Look for Vita's signature eats served in a spruced-up setting. Hungry for more ripe dish? Check out Murmurs on page 13. >> Talk about a feeding frenzy: Erika Polmar , the co-creator of Plate & Pitchfork , the popular Portland dinner series that challenges chefs to really cook al fresco by creating outdoor meals at local farms, reports that reservations for its fourth season sold out in seven days. Yep, that's nine dinners in one week. What's more, two seats at the series' Grand Finale dinner are being sold on eBay (bids are up to $275 so far). Check out eBay.com item number 6626895378 to place a bid, or visit www.plateandpitchfork.com to get on P&P's waiting list.