Inside Michael Mina's Bar Sprezzatura in Portland
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Bar Sprezzatura, the swanky new downtown hotel restaurant from a James Beard Award-winning chef. Photo: Courtesy of Christine Dong
Celebrity chef Michael Mina's Bar Sprezzatura opened inside the historic Heathman Hotel last week, bringing a Venetian-inspired menu with bar snacks, handmade pastas and shareable plates to downtown Portland.
The big picture: The restaurant is the James Beard Award-winning chef's first Portland venture and gives the nearly 100-year-old, recently renovated hotel a new culinary identity.
- Drawing cues from Venice's bacari, or neighborhood wine bars, Mina worked with Portland chef Justin Ramirez, formerly of Arden and Coquine, to put a Pacific Northwest spin on Italian classics using locally sourced seafood, meats and seasonal produce.
I got to preview a portion of the menu last week before the grand opening. Upon entry, the expansive ground floor immediately reads high-end swanky.
- There are wood-burning fireplaces, rich mahogany walls, plush velvet furniture, brass-accented fixtures, colorful artwork and dim, warm lighting.
- It's divided into two distinct spaces: the bar lounge and the dining area, with an exposed kitchen allowing diners to see the chefs at work.
Best bites: Featured dishes included everything from ahi tuna sashimi atop butternut squash caponata to brick quail served with roasted Kiyokawa apples, as well as fried olives, lamb sausage and Dungeness crab tea sandwiches.
- My favorites were a melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi — coated in gorgonzola cream and topped with charred radicchio and crunchy walnuts — and an olive oil-poached Alaskan halibut served with melted leeks and fregola.
- I also got to try four (4!) desserts: the limone sorbetto, tiramisu with cornflakes, panettone French toast with huckleberries and cannoli served tableside with lemon ricotta creme and toppings of your choice.
"Sprezzatura" may translate to nonchalance in Italian, but I left with a feeling of opulence.
If you go: Bar Sprezzatura (1001 SW Broadway) is open daily at 5pm.