The Portland Phonix interviewed Karl Deuben and Bill Leavy, chef/owners of East Ender, for this week’s edition of the newspaper.
Two worlds collided when East Ender proprietors Bill Leavy and Karl Deuben met while working at Hugo’s 11 years ago. The two grew up in very different areas of the country — Deuben in Denver and Leavy on Staten Island — and were working in education and advertising, respectively, before discovering their culinary passions. Once they got their first taste (pun intended) of the restaurant business, however, they couldn’t stop, and became staples of the Portland dining scene even before founding SmallAxe Food Truck in 2012 and East Ender eight months ago.