If he were 20 years younger, Michael Stember would have been in Eugene, competing at the World Athletics Championships.
Instead, the former Olympian flew in to open a restaurant.
Stember, 44, a former Olympian who lives in Washington D.C. and owns a bar in Brooklyn, has a side hustle hosting spontaneous sushi pop-ups, globe-hopping events where he carves whole fish into sashimi for a well-heeled clientele. If you’re a cryptocurrency enthusiast with a $25,000 food budget looking to throw a party in Davos, Stember might be among your first calls.
“I just knew I had to be a part of this,” says Stember, standing over a 60-pound slab of tuna. “When the World Championships popped up in Eugene, I realized I hadn’t really let the community of runners know what I do. I kind of disappeared.”
As restaurants across Eugene increase staffing for what is expected to be 10 of the busiest days of the year, Stember is conducting his own version of “Top Chef’s” Restaurant Wars, opening a temporary restaurant from scratch with a team of employees he only met last week.
“It was an opportunity to contribute,” Stember says. “As a runner I know what it’s like to go through these things, big track meets, and not know where to gather. The Wild Duck (Cafe) would get really busy, and after that where do you go if you’re a local runner and want to be around people?”
Diners at former Olympian Michael Stember’s Family Meal pop-up, found behind Whitburger, 298 Blair Blvd. in Eugene.Michael Russell | The Oregonian
On Friday, Stember was chatting with staff dressed mostly in white in the courtyard next to Whitburger, the Whiteaker neighborhood burger shop hosting the pop-up. In the backyard, white tablecloths covered a half dozen recently acquired tables. Patio lights hung from the trees. The tuna lay on a table in the back, covered in aluminum foil.
Stember learned to cook at his mother’s side, but his obsession with high-end seafood didn’t begin until he attended Stanford University, where he trained under future University of Oregon coach and current USA Track & Field president Vin Lananna. Dismayed by the “healthy” food options offered to student athletes, he began seeking out top sushi restaurants in the area, eventually “spending most of my Pell Grant” at a high-end Palo Alto sushi shop. Craving high quality fish without the pomp, circumstance or price, he decided to take matters into his own hands, convincing a delivery guy to drop a fish off directly to his dorm, where Stember says he began preparing protein-rich meals for his fellow athletes.
Stember, who retains a runner’s frame 13 years after retiring from the sport, believes his Stanford experience hasn’t changed much for amateur athletes. Even top-level track and field programs in the United States remain behind the times when it comes to nutrition, he says, serving food he compared to “putting unleaded fuel in a race car.”
“Runners like to boast that they can eat anything,” Stember says. “And that’s true, in the sense that you will look fit and attractive. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be operating at peak performance.”
Expanding on the fuel metaphor, Stember compares diners eating a steak to the diesel truck he’s borrowing for this trip, one that requires an extension cord to start and miles of road to get up to top speed. Raw fish, on the other hand, gives a runner rapid energy and alertness, he claims.
Stember has been thinking about doing a Eugene pop-up since the event was originally planned for 2021. But as of a few months ago, he still needed a space. He called Pat Tyson, Steve Prefontaine’s former college roommate and close friend, who gave him some local contacts, eventually connecting him with Whitburger owner Natalie Sheild and Thinking Tree Spirits co-founder Emily Jensen, who is providing cocktails for the pop-up.
Salmon bruschetta from former Olympian Michael Stember’s Family Meal pop-up.Michael Russell | The Oregonian
For Stember, cooking and running are both about entertainment, whether it’s revving up the crowd after a great performance in the 1,500 meters (his best finish, 3:35, remains a Stanford record, equivalent to a 3:52 mile) or dropping off a tostada topped with glistening red tuna scraped from the bone with a spoon. His pop-up feels less like a restaurant, more like a seat-of-the-pants dinner party, with Stember sending out plates of sashimi, salmon bruschetta, steak tacos or sea urchin and saltine crackers whenever they happen to be ready.
As we talk, two track fans in Team USA caps approach the table after recognizing Stember, eager to reminisce about some of his signature runs. They had already ordered burgers and fries from Whitburger, but Stember asks if they want to try some raw salmon anyway, pausing his butchering to slice a few pieces of the fish’s fatty belly, place them in front of the men, pour on a drizzle of gluten-free soy sauce and encourage them to “pick it up with your paws.”
Stember’s Family Meal pop-up will run from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly from now until July 24 in the courtyard at Whitburger, 298 Blair Blvd. Omakase meals are available in $50, $100 or $200 “tranches,” as Stember calls them, with some dishes available a la carte. Reservations are available by emailing michael@michaelstember.com.
— Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com @tdmrussell
