Nostrana- Translation from Italian to English: Ours. They believe this invokes local, simple food from honest ingredients. The website states: Pure. Regional. Italian. This writer agrees, read further as I recap my experience and share insight from Sommelier Dustin Wilson on Nostrana’s wine list.
The restaurant was selected as the location to celebrate my friend Marc’s 30th birthday. On a Thursday night we met in a small hip style strip mall (think Frasca in Boulder) and entered the large room. A bar flanks the right wall and windows open to the street and parking lot on two sides. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the wood fired oven at the rear of the room in the open kitchen.
The chef & her team of Portland cooks (read beards and baseball caps) are uniformed together by tee-shirts adorning a pair of scissors, more on those later. A towering backbar displays a collection of spirits and vintage poster prints of Bitter Campari L’Aperativo.
As one might expect after learning about the vision of the restaurant, the menu is laid out with strong Italian roots. The first thing that jumped out to me was the word “Tonight” followed by todays date. For me this is a great sign of a quality kitchen, it means that the menu is fluid with the season, farmers market, local fishmonger and the whim of the chef. From the Antipasti section of the menu the cremini mushrooms & rhubarb mostarda made me want to try the Charcuterie plate which consisted of sopressata & saucisson salami and Prosciutto di San Daniele. It was so good that the plate didn’t make it around the table, I kept it close throughout the course.
I was disappointed to learn that the kitchen had sold out of the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a 2-inch thick 1 kilo (35 ounce) Piemontese porterhouse steak. My wallet was more than satisfied with the Tagliata a grilled rare Piemontese flat iron steak with arugula and an amazingly aromatic garlic rosemary oil. I traded a few slices of steak for a snip of Marc’s Pizze. I say snip not slice because the pizze is served uncut, as is the traditional Italian style. Each pizze is served with a pair of kitchen scissors so you can cut yourself a piece (they are surprisingly easy and fun to use, no need for a pizza cutting wheel anymore). The margherita pizze with Italian San Marzano DOP tomatoes, house made mozzarella and fresh basil was light yet full of flavor, next time I’ll start my meal with this.
The apple & rhubarb crisp which takes twenty minutes to prepare is well worth the wait. The waiter said most people order it during the main course but waiting till after dinner was cleared gave us plenty of time for coffee before the crisp arrived. The smell of cinnamon and spice filled the air as we each reached in for a bite. I also tried the house made chocolate gelato which reminded me of my daily afternoon snack when I visited Milan.
As one might guess the wine list has strong Italian roots but wine director Nicholas Suhor did a great job of highlighting some Oregon gems as well. I was surprised by how reasonably priced the selections were. One of the hardest thing about dining with a group is finding a wine that will complement everyones food, we opted for a bottle of 2007 Roero Arneies made by Bruno Giacosa, it was the perfect apéritif for the evening. From there we each turned to the selection of 15 wines by the glass.
My buddy Dustin Wilson of the Little Nell in Aspen glanced over the list and makes these recommendations incase you decide to try out Nostrana (at the very least you can impress everyone at the table with your extensive Italian wine knowledge.)
If you decide not to enjoy the Roero Arneis check out the Jermann “Vintage Tunina” which is one of the most famous “super-white” blends of Friuli. The Cigliutti Barbaresco “Serraboella” 1997 at $135 a bottle is a killer price and is in its prime time to drink. Dustin also recommends the G.D. Vajra Barolo “Bricco del Viole” 2001 which is a little known producer who makes some really pretty Barolo. The ’01 vintage was great and with a price tag of $120 its hard to pass up, this is what I’ll be drinking on my next visit.
Let me know if you make it down to Nostrana and if you find the scissors to be a good way to snip your pizze!
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