Lorenzo's Ristorante Italiano

I love that Lorenzo’s remains relatively under the radar. Mississippi street has some of my favorite spots in Portland, and we have passed this restaurant a million times, yet never really gave it a second thought. I was so pleasantly surprised by this place, and I am so excited we decided to give it a try.

I enjoyed almost every aspect of the restaurant. The space is smaller, but the building is a converted warehouse, so the vaulted ceilings lend a fantastic open feeling. There are various sizes of tables to accommodate any number of dinner party, as well as a separate area in front of the bar where you can dine “living-room style,” complete with plush couches and a small center table (four women were actually sitting on the floor around the table enjoying their dinners and chatting the night away when we were in, adding to the warm ambiance). We arrived around 7pm on a Friday night, and were promptly greeted. The restaurant was full, but we were the first in line for the next table. We headed to the adorable bar in the back of the restaurant (6 bar stools) and ordered a much-appreciated reasonably price bottle of Chianti for $18 (try finding that at many other decent Portland restaurants). The vibe inside is totally homey and relaxed, and you feel completely comfortable. Italian-inspired postcards are scattered underneath the simple glass-top tables throughout the dining area, covering the traditional red/white checkered Italian tablecloths. After roughly 20-30 minutes we were seated at a small table next to the bar. Water was cleverly served in recycled wine bottles, and the complimentary bread baskets contained pieces of two types of fresh Italian loaves. After reading all the wonderful reviews from other Yelpers, it was hard to decide what to order, but here is how we ended up:

Antipasti:
Antipasti della Casa - marinated olives, roasted mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, pickled cipollini onions, fresh mozzarella, mortadella, & cannellini bean puree. This was a nice size starter plate to enjoy with our wine…the sundried tomatoes made the dish!

Primi e Secondi:
1) Grilled Layered Chicken & Eggplant Parmesan served on top of garlic bruschetta. What I loved about this dish was that it was not your typical pound of chicken and cheese, soaked in breading and oil. This was a nice size organic chicken breast, served on top of tender eggplant, all layered on a nice piece of crunchy bruschetta. Texture heaven!
2) Penne Puttanesca with capers, olives, garlic, anchovies & onions in a spicy tomato sauce. What a great blend of flavors this was, with a nice little kick in the aftertaste. The sauce was light and the dish was filled with veggies.

Desert:
We asked the server how large the portions were because they were so cheap ($3 for tiramisu!, $4 for many others), and she said very small. In actuality, splitting one tiramisu would have been the perfect end to our large Italian meal. However, we also ordered a piece of the chocolate cake…god forbid we not get enough sweet stuff!

1) Tiramisu – Creamier than usual, perfectly layered, flavors balanced – delicious!
2) Chocolate cake – Rich, luscious chocolate cake with slivers of chocolate crème down the center – need I say more? Chocoholics beware!
3) Drip Coffee – Bold taste and the exact match for these Italian treats.

The service was less than exceptional, but by no means rude. I think they were just trying to turn tables, but you should never try to pull plates from people that are clearly still working on and enjoying their meals, it was a bit annoying. The portions here are great, of course more than you need, but not too much to leave you feeling incapacitated at the end of the meal.

This is the perfect place for a reasonably priced (yet impressive) date, or to take those family members who would be uncomfortable at some Portland’s more upscale Italian establishments. It will satisfy everyone, without a doubt. This is our new go-to Italian, for now :)

*Jayne

Low-Fat, 100% Organic, Turkey Chili

There is something to be said about the seemingly everlasting dreariness of a Northwest winter. What better way to combat it than some good ole’ fashioned home cooking? And by “good ole’ fashioned” I mean completely organic and totally healthy…haha. For weeks now Jayne has been mentioning that she was craving chili. The time has come to oblige Jayne’s food craving. The elements have finally aligned, allowing me to begin my voyage into the world of chili: A quintessential dreary Oregonian January day, the urge to cook something tasty, and actually having a day off to do it right. Here we go…

Being that it is my first attempt ever making chili, I very diligently looked to the Mecca of cooking recipes: the internet. I discovered quickly that the internet was a terrible place to look for a recipe of this sort. The people who make amazing, mouth-watering chili are not famous chefs, don’t use cookbooks, and very unlikely have sissy food blogs. They are too busy going to car shows, football games, elk hunts, and construction sites. You know, doing man things. There is a culture that surrounds it based on competition, good recipes are inherited as something of value, not something cast around with reckless abandon on something as open as the internet. Sure there is some Rachael Ray version I am sure somewhere to be found, but there is no character in that. In essence it is not what I wanted, and can be assured that it is certainly not what Jayne wants. We want the good stuff, the real deal. So in other words I am left to my own devices. I must leave the beaten path and create my own chili recipe, something that I can tweak, and tout, and someday pass down to God knows who.

I began by thinking of all the characteristics of what I enjoy in a good chili and what it will take to create this from scratch. Perhaps it is the way we are socialized, but for some obscure reason chili to me is masculine (as previously alluded). Its flavor should reflect this feeling; chili should be strong, distinct, bold, and quite spicy. That being said, the first ingredient that came to my head was whisky. Not just any whisky, Crown Royal Canadian whisky. The smooth yet crisp flavor of smoke and maple would be the perfect start to my stock. Being Latino I know my way around a chili or two. I decided that I would use dried California and Ancho chilies for the right amount of heat, and throw in a few seedless fresh jalapenos for a fresher chili flavor. Being that absolutely no ambition of ever entering a chili cook-off, or any type of cook-off for that matter, I will list my recipe below. I must say that for a first attempt I hit the nail on the head. What is listed below is a killer, ultra-healthy chili that will brighten any dreary day that Oregon decides to throw at us. I recommend that you serve it with cornbread and wash it down with an amazing bottle of red wine, as Jayne and I did. I hope that you enjoy!

The ingredients:

20 oz Fresh Ground Turkey Breast
5 Medium Tomatoes on the vine (diced)
1 green bell pepper (chopped)
5 stalks celery (diced)
3 seeded large jalapenos (diced)
2 dried California chilies (finely chopped)
1 dried Ancho chili (finely chopped)
1 medium brown onion (chopped)
2 15oz cans pinto beans
1 15 oz can red kidney beans
1 cup Canadian Whiskey
1/8 cup flour
½ tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 tablespoon paprika
½ tablespoon oregano
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cube chicken bullion
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese (shredded)

The directions:

1) In crock-pot mix whisky, tomatoes, bell pepper, bullion, celery, chilies, ½ onion, beans, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, and oregano and turn heat to high.

2) In a large non-stick skillet put in olive oil and turn to a medium heat. Once oil is hot put the other ½ of the onion in and sauté till onions starts browning. Once browning put in all of the ground turkey and season with the cayenne pepper. Continue cooking on a medium heat until turkey is completely cooked. Because of the extremely low fat content of turkey breast, it is necessary to continually stir the skillet in order to not burn the turkey because it is only being cooked by the pan, not by any grease or oils.

3) Once the turkey is cooked empty the contents of the pan into the crock pot, and continue cooking on high until it reaches a boil. This will take anywhere from 35 minutes to 1 hour. Once boiling, add flour until it reaches an appropriate consistency and then turn croc-pot to the low heat setting. Cook for at least 8 hours stirring every hour or so if needed. Serve into bowls, sprinkle top with shredded cheese and enjoy.

*Armando