Vito DeLullo, whose home and restaurant are a few blocks apart, has been around the area as well as the world. He worked in the Peace Corps in West Africa, traveled in Europe, graduated from California Culinary Academy in the early '90s, and for the last 15 years, cooked at such Portland hot spots as Caffe Mingo, Bluehour, the former Zefiro and Higgins
Dining Out - Say hello to Ciao Vito
Friday, September 17, 2004
By ANGELA ALLEN, Columbian staff writer
One warm late-summer night, the Antipasti della Casa brimmed with prosciutto, ripe plums and cherries, a scattering of olives and red grapes, a crescent of melon, pickled cucumber, a tangle of fennel, a small mound of red potato salad, and a crisp piece or two of bruschetta.
Another evening at Ciao Vito, which opened this spring, the platter arrived with a different cast of ingredients, each a fresh take on Italian standards.
At this exuberant North Portland restaurant on a corner of Northeast Alberta Street, where galleries, eateries and coffee spots are jumping as much as real estate prices, you can anticipate surprises despite a rather typical, simple Italian menu.
Haven't we seen a fat grilled pork chop and crisp polenta triangles in just about every Italian place? Sure, but each time you order the tried-and-true at this unpretentious place, you'll experience a different performance. If the entree is standard a pasta, a polenta or halibut dish vegetables and potato preparations vary and recombine with the day, the season and the chef's whims.
Take the plate of fried razor clams (the menu's most expensive entree at $18; the least expensive is an Italian burger at $8.50), pounded into a delightfully edible submission. They arrived one evening dressed with a pepper jam sweetened by peaches and sided by a bright, crunchy vegetable slaw. Another time, spring veggies accompanied the seafood. The jam was the same pepper flavor, but partnered with plums.
Each time, we were pleased.
As chef/owner Vito DeLullo might tell you, whatever arrives fresh from a dozen local farms he patronizes, you'll find on the plate. One regular produce contributor is Susan Christopherson's Old World Apples and organic garden in Ridgefield.
If fresh from top to bottom, Ciao Vito's menu is nothing fancy. Not only is it typewritten on a single sheet of paper, but it features only a handful of entrees, starters, desserts and pastas. When the weather cools, we're likely to see a selection of braised dishes. With such a casual style, DeLullo appears to be cultivating neighborhood ease shaped by classic, uncomplicated preparations.
And occasionally, off-the menu specials add further depth, if not excitement. A deep oval bowl of comforting chicken penne bursts with succulent chunks of chicken, mozzarella and chanterelles, flavored with garlic and enlivened with marsala wine. A barbecued lamb rib dish arrived with lamb meatballs on the side, that irresistible triangle of crisp grilled polenta, and a tart arugula salad.
A salad of fresh field greens dressed with balsamic vinegar proved as exuberant as the restaurant's spirit and name. House salads and their dressings remain a benchmark for me when judging a restaurant's kitchen.
The only argument we had with entrees was with the corn. It turned up on the pork-chop's plate shriveled, forlorn and overcooked, certainly a petty crime among culinary successes. Otherwise, we agreed that from the straightforward spaghetti Marinara for our young vegetarian to the fish and meat preparations, the food stood equal to or better than the area's best Italian/Northwest fare and at lower prices. The niche competition is tough: Portland offers a clutch of very good Italian restaurants including Pazzo, Tuscany Grill, Caffe Mingo, Genoa, Serratto and now Basilico, in the former Zefiro location in Northwest.
Desserts, made in-house, kept the bar high yet low enough to please kids' palates.
A substantial "pot" of chocolate pot de creme, adorned with chocolate biscotti served straight up, tasted deeply and darkly of top-notch chocolate. The silky panna cotta doused with a rum-caramel sauce and sprinkled with toasted almonds arrived in a large bowl, adorned with fresh end-of-the-summer fruits. It was big enough to feed more than one greedy dessert-lover.
The Boccone Dolce (translated roughly as "big sweet mouthful") was layered with meringue and Oregon berries, an unkempt pile of pure delight, if not quite as spectacular as the gold standard dished up at Papa Haydn, Portland's most celebrated dessert palace. But who's comparing at these $5 dessert prices?
DeLullo, whose home and restaurant are a few blocks apart, has been around the area as well as the world. He worked in the Peace Corps in West Africa, traveled in Europe, graduated from California Culinary Academy in the early '90s, and for the last 15 years, cooked at such Portland hot spots as Caffe Mingo, Bluehour, the former Zefiro and Higgins.
in the know
He knows his flavors, and he knows how to make a neighborhood restaurant a lot more than that. Figure into his vision very affordable wines, mostly Italian. He marks his up 15 percent, where most restaurants will double the price and add $10, or often, triple the wholesale cost.
Cocktails, as well, turned up inventive and visually appealing indicating that bartender Felicia Sledge, a Bluehour and Saucebox veteran, can mix. Her "Verde," a combination of rosemary-infused vodka, lime juice, Triple Sec and a splash of soda, stood out among aromatic drinks freshened up with fruits and herbs.
The bar's touch and kitchen's culinary acumen appear to be pulling a lot more diners than neighborhood drop-ins. The crowd looked pretty darn chi-chi the type that frequents Portland's best restaurants. Making their way to this north Portland place on a once scruffy street adds to a full house many nights, especially on weekends.
And those crowds don't help service. This is where the restaurant loses points.
During our first visit on a very busy Friday night, our order was lost somewhere between the harried waiter and the kitchen. We sat patiently unfed for an hour before we realized that a large crowd was not the sole reason for our empty table top and irritation. The minor disaster was made up for in professional fashion: The waiter packed our desserts (at no cost) in takeout containers (no place for a creamy panne cotta) because we were running late, and crossed off the wine's cost from our tab.
During another visit, our waitperson was right in tune with us for the first two courses, got busy and then vanished into some universe where we speculated she was creating our desserts from scratch. Almost a half-hour lapsed between dinner and dessert, nothing too odd in some Old World Italian restaurants, but way too long when kids are sitting at the table.
Both times, crowds seemed to divert and slow the otherwise competent service. At the same time that service declined, noise increased to scream-across-the-table levels, and with tables as tight as Ciao Vito's, you're in for some lost-in-translation moments.
More wait staff and better sound insulation would help close the gap between Ciao Vito's vision and reality. With its good food and drink and down-to-earth neighborhood ambiance, stylish enough to draw sophisticated diners, count on this place getting even better.
Ciao Vito
ADDRESS: 2203 N.E. Alberta St., Portland; 503-282-5522
HOURS: Dinner every night from 5-10 p.m. Happy hour in bar is 4-6 p.m.
RATING: (1 to 10)
Food 8
Service 5
Ambiance 6
Here's a guide: 1-2, poor; 3-4, acceptable; 5-6, good; 7-8, very good; 9-10, excellent
TYPE OF CUISINE: Italian with Northwest takes.
PRICE POINT: Moderate (dinner entrees $8.50-$17; desserts $5-$7, starters $4.50-$8.
NOISE LEVEL: Loud inside. Very loud when crowded. Seating is close.
RESERVATIONS: Prime times hard to nail on the weekends, but doable if you call a day or two in advance.
WINE LIST: Italian, reasonably priced. Full bar as well.
AMENITIES: Cute 10-stool bar inside with some of the best cocktails in town; outdoor sidewalk seating in bright chairs under yellow-umbrella tables. Smoking allowed outdoors. Wheelchair accessible. Major credit cards accepted.
HEALTH SCORE: 93 in May. The Columbian doesn't review Oregon restaurants with health inspection scores less than 80.
