Meet Joe Rogers

Joe Rogers met Bruce Carey in 1993 at Zefiro, where he became a loyal regular—drawn to the restaurant’s seductive blend of elegance, energy, and effortless cool. He was equally at home at Saucebox, where at one (or perhaps two) of its legendary late-night parties, he was famously spotted dancing on the bar, a testament to his early love for the sparkling spirit of the place.

He graduated Magna cum Laude from Portland State University in 1998 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in German, and went on to work at Full Upright Position, a modern furniture store nestled inside the Wieden+Kennedy headquarters. But the design world could only hold him for so long. Gradually, irresistibly, he caught the bug for the restaurant business—the rhythm, the spectacle, the craft—and began taking a deeper interest in the inner workings of Bruce’s growing ventures.

In 2000, he went all in, purchasing Christopher Israel’s ownership shares of Saucebox. For the next twenty years, Joe led the iconic restaurant with grace, grit, and a deep appreciation for the finer points of great food and warm, polished service. Until its closure during the pandemic, Saucebox was known not only for its cuisine and cocktails, but for the confidence and steadiness of Joe’s hand at the helm.