This Week's Evan's Eats
Vincenzo's -- Hollywood/Rose City Park District
This past week, during one of our afternoon walks, Bella and I noticed a new restaurant that was set to open on Thursday, November 10th. Located on NE Sacramento Ave, which is an off shoot of NE Sandy Blvd, and NE 52nd. There is a side street that is behind one of our favorite local watering holes. If you are familiar with this area, you are liking thinking, oh he’s referring to Lift Off Lounge. If you weren’t thinking of Lift Off, get a map. Vincenzo’s, pronounced vin-chen-zos, is an Italian restaurant that is operating out of the previously owned spaced where Hogan’s Goat Pizza was. Fitting for a little Italian/American restaurant to take over an American pizza place. As you are well aware, I have my opinions and bottle fed bias when it comes to pizza, and therefore, to see an authentic Italian/American restaurant move into this space left me excited to say the least.
When walking past the restaurant on the day leading up to their grand opening, I read the menu, which lead me to believe we would enjoy their food. The thing that struck me the most was the portion of the menu that gives you background on their mission and approach to food. It reads as follows:
“Vincenzo’s is a project to showcase Vinnie’s passed-down family recipes. The pizza dough is third generation; initially created when his maternal grandfather traveled to New York from Sicilia post WWII. The pasta and food dishes are meals Vinnie ate growing up, both from family that immigrated to America on his mother’s side and the family he visits in Sicilia on his father’s side. This restaurant is a compilation of his first and second-generation food experience as an American-Sicilian growing up on the West Coast.”
Vincenzo’s, you have my attention.
Vincenzo’s Review
Upon arriving at Vincenzo’s, we found ourselves admiring their A-frame sidewalk sign, the interior décor as well as the main menu hanging above their open kitchen (see above). If you read my previous newsletter, you would understand how much I enjoy seeing an open style kitchen. It gives you a sense as to what type message a restaurant is trying to speak to. Open kitchens are inviting, and it allows for its patrons to feel welcome in this experience we call dining. The sign and menu were hand painted and made specific for Vincenzo’s—a nice touch. It led me to believe that these guys were willing to go the extra mile, even on the little things, and that’s always a promising feeling. In addition to this attractive hanging menu, they offer other dishes you can order on their physical menu (see below).
When deciding over which items to pick, they all appealed to me in their own respective ways. All of the options spoke to me as your grandmother would when she wants to feed you; pleading you to eat more, even though you’re already stuffed. It’s hard to pick anything when you want to try just about everything. My Polish Chicago blood told me that these dishes would immediately tighten my arteries; my blood pressure would rise, but at the end of the day, my heart would most certainly be happy. If you don’t feel like Chris Farley at Bill Swerski’s Super Fans bar after a meal, did you really fill that empty void that saturates my internal demons? I would say Vincenzo’s came pretty close.
For me, I’ve always had eyes bigger than my stomach. The pandemic really tested me with this. I eventually was able to get my stomach to catch up to my eyes, but unfortunately, my waist line was also catching up to my inseams, and before I knew it, I felt like Ben Stiller at the end of Dodgeball.
Whenever I am stuck at such a prominent precipice, I often rely on two methods when it comes to ordering something from a good looking menu. The first being, I usually turn to Bella and just say, “You decide.” This is basically me telling her I’m having a hard time choosing something and if you don’t decide for us, I will order six different things and spend more money than either of us intend to. She knows me too well though, and has come to understand that even if she picks something that will appeal to me, I will likely want something else. I don’t know why I’m like this, but this has been an ongoing struggle since I was young. Funny enough, to this day, if I am out to eat with my mom, I will ask her to pick for me. This time I decided to utilize the second method when I find myself in dire need—I ask what they would recommend. Them, as in the nice lady working the counter at Vincenzo’s.
Appetizer
Considering we were about to gorge on a Italian style pizza, we thought, maybe a salad wouldn’t hurt to start us off, and thankfully, we were able to hone in on one. Our new friend at the counter said that the decision we made was of course the best salad they had to offer. I liked hearing this, but I also found this funny considering they had just opened the day prior. Either way, we ordered the Modena salad. See below.
The salad consisted of slow braised chicken, salsa cotta, mixed greens, pine nuts, balsamic glaze, and olive oil as the dressing. This salad did not mess around. The chicken was very tender, and full of flavor. The background of the salsa cotta balanced these flavors, and the diced bell peppers delivered a sweeter note against its balsamic, acidic counterpart. We realized after our first few bites that having this salad offered near our home could be dangerous. Of course salads aren’t bad for you, but going to an Italian/American restaurant to get a salad is like dangling a piece of meat in front of a blood hound… add to the mix my inability to resist tasty food, and I could soon find myself looking like Ben Stiller again in Dodgeball. To say the least, we would and will come back just for this salad alone. It was impressive and could be a meal in and of itself.
Drinks
In tandem with our salad, we had to order drinks. In Italy, they drink wine more so than they do water, so we decided on the house red wine. Table wine is a common motif found in Italian homes and restaurants. It’s something that should be rater easy to sip, yet still be robust, and without too many tannins. If you are new to wine terminology, tannins are basically the thing that make the back of tongue feel somewhat gritty and dry when drinking wine, specifically reds. When it comes to wine, I am also pretty particular, but please do not blame me… This is entirely, 1000% my father’s fault. Anyone who knows me, or my father, can speak to this. If you want to really understand the types of wines that interest us, give goog on Brunello di Montalcino. Anyway, the wine we had can be seen below. Nero D’Avola is a wine most commonly found in Sicily.
The wine we enjoyed is named after Avola, and can be most commonly found in the southern region of Sicily. These wines are compared to New World Shirazes, with sweet tannins and plum or peppery flavours. All in all, a solid recommendation from the counter staff. An authentic wine imported from Sicily helps to envelope the experience when dining here. Vincenzo’s also doubles as somewhat of a small market. They have reserved a space for shelving wines, as well as different types of pastas that you can buy in store and take home. The counter staff offered us a free bottle after I asked what we were drinking . I declined thinking they still needto get their feet wet before we can start taking hand outs, but the gesture really does go to show the kind of place Vincenzo’s is—an authentic Italian/American pizza and pasta destination. That being said, the more we experienced being there, the more the mission statement on their menu rang true to us. Vincenzo’s isn’t just trying to be another Italian restaurant in Portland—they are trying to embody what it means to be Italian on the west cost of the United States. The simple gesture of offering a bottle of wine to take home felt more like I was visiting a friend’s house for the meal, and uncle Vinnie was letting us take home a parting gift for coming by.
Main Course
Considering this was a new restaurant, we were more inclined to take the recommendation from the counter staff. We let them know we were leaning more towards a pizza, but that’s not to say the other dishes sounded great. We definitely be back to try some other offerings, such as their carbonara or stromboli. In the States, you can go just about anywhere to get, had tossed pizza, which is something Vincenzo’s offers—but their pizza Sicilian with thick, spongey crust really caught our attention. We were directed to try their staff favorite, the Spicy Sicilian. This pie is made with tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, pepperoni, onions, calabrese peppers, dried pepper flakes, and herbs. See the pizza below.
Now, if you were my father, you would see this pizza and immediately get up, and leave. Being from the Midwest, we see pizza cut in squares on a fairly regular basis, but usually when it comes out thick, such as the image you see above, we refer to this as Detroit style pizza. We—my father and I—have a very strong disdain for Detroit style pizza. Why? First of all, Detroit is not a city you take your family on vacation. It’s a place where you end up living, and not by choice. I have yet to meet a single person who willingly left their current city and said, “I’m moving to the coolest city in the world—Detroit.” Being from Chicago, I have dealt with my fair share of assholes and idiots that hale from this city. They’re like the dumb cousin you have to put up with at Thanksgiving. Always spouting off about their sorry excuse of a football team. They likely claim this pizza to be “Detroit style,” because it’s just as shitty as the sports teams they all worship because its the only thing going for them, and even at that, the only notable team they have is the Red Wings. The Lions have historically sucked. The Tigers are only ok because they had Miguel Cabrerra (he just retired this past season—YAY!), and The Pistons were cool back in 2004… Other than producing an economical crisis, terrible issues in regard to homelessness, and being the home of Ford and GM, the city of Detroit is subpar at best. So therefore, to claim a pizza to be just as equally as subpar to the city is fitting. Guess what(?), you can keep it.
Vincenzo’s pizza is NOT Detroit style pizza. It may look it, but it is not. You might be asking, Ok then, Abe Froman—Sausage King of Chicago—what makes this any different than a Detroit styled pie?
The dough alone is beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend. Not to mention the ingredients and the way this is prepared is outside of your standard American pizza. How would I know this? I often find myself baking sourdough focaccia, and throughout my successes and failures, I can tell you that making any type of bread is extremely challenging. That in mind, to see Vincenzo’s use their dough in the same fashion as focaccia left me pretty enamored. This pizza does not play by the same rules we are used to here in the Western United States. It is authentic in the sense that they make their bread in the form of pizza, and not the other way around, such as how us Americans do it, which is that pizza is just glorified, fatty bread. You see, the attention is in the details, and Vincenzo’s tries to make you aware that they make their food with the forethought that this isn’t just food as a means to an end, it is a labor or love, and they love making their patrons happy. Italians love bread, and this style of pizza is just a different manifestation of what we understand bread to be. I was pleased with this manifestation, and you will be too. The onions weren’t limp. They actually had a bit of crunch and snap. The pepperoni had a little zip on the end of it, and did not double as hot tub oil vat. I hate seeing pepperoni on pizza that literally holds grease… it’s just unappealing. I already know that pizza isn’t the healthiest option for dinner, but to get that extra dose of oil and grease in the form of my pizza topping just feels insulting—quite frankly, if you think that oil in your pepperoni is the way it should be present—fuck off. Thank you for avoiding this Vincenzo’s!
In summation, Vincenzo’s is a great spot to go on a Friday or Saturday night. They are open Friday-Monday, from 3-9pm. If you are looking for a little slice of Italy for reasonably priced options, I’d recommend heading to Vincenzo’s. They’ll treat you well.
Evan’s Eats Report Card: Vincenzo’s
Ambiance…………………………B
Wait staff………………………….A
Drinks……………………………… B+
Appetizers………………………. A-
Main course……………………..B
Expense……………………………. B
Overall Experience………… B