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
No comments:
Post a Comment