John C Jay Is A Real Baller

Portland get your forks and knives ready! Almost legendary W+K branding man, John C. Jay has gone into the restaurant business. Jay and his wife Janet along with restaurateur Andy Ricker will open the restaurant, called Ping, in winter 2008-2009.

It will be a “cross between a izakaya (Japanese pub) and a Southeast Asian cafe and coffeehouse” located at the bottom floor of the Hung Far Low Building. Jay will design the space.

You see – Jay is on a mission to single handely revamp Portland’s Chinatown. Dude is a baller. Here’s here there and taking over a part of the city. Sexy. Portland mayor-elect Sam Adams said:

“Portland uber creative guy John C. Jay thinks Portland’s Old Town/Chinatown can be the North American hot spot for Asian contemporary culture and art, i.e. a modern Chinatown. To get a sense of what he was talking about, John suggested I check out Beijing’s 798 Art District.”

Adams actually blogged that from Beijing, so you know… Jay’s got some serious influence.

More: Come On. Who Doesn’t Love A Little Tea-Bagging?
[source]

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.