Press

PDXGuide.com

Sept. 2003

Dining on a first-name basis

Friday, February 20, 2004
By KATHRYN KURTZ, for The Columbian

Cory, Caprial, Philippe, Greg, Vitaly, Pascal and David. A small group of accomplished, popular local chefs we recognized by first name. A sign of our affection for good people who share their culinary gifts with us. And a distinction not awarded lightly.

Some of those chefs enjoy longevity performing at their own restaurants, but David -- as in David Machado -- just opened his first pan Mediterranean-Portuguese place last July. He and co-owner/wine specialist Daren Hamilton delivered Lauro Mediterranean Kitchen to a grateful audience in the Southeast Portland neighborhood where they live.

David's lengthy chef and restaurant management resume lists popular stops such as Portland's Pazzo, Red Star Tavern & Roast House and Southpark. As part of North Pacific Management (formerly The Heathman Restaurant Group) his savvy culinary creativity helped design Hudson's at The Heathman Lodge in Vancouver. Hamilton is also an alum of high profile restaurants: Pazzo, Bluehour and Serratto. What a team. Portland is lucky they play in town.

Lauro is as much about place as sustenance. In the dark, industrial-sleek space, bright energy comes from intentionally inclusive ambiance. Designed as a single room without dividers, it embraces a bar, dining tables and banquettes sectioned at shoulder height, and a hustling exhibition kitchen with counter seating entertainment overlooking the burners.

Everyone, anywhere in that room feels part of an event.

Cement floors and tall ceilings do nothing to absorb music and buzz from animated crowds scanning for familiar faces under rosy colored lighting against wood oven flames and saute pans. Lauro is a city-styled restaurant living in the burbs.

At this no-reservations destination, show up past 6:00 for dinner and you'll wait. I called on a Wednesday at 5:30 to check seating availability, hoping maybe it was a slow night and we could rush over. "A slow night? We've never had a slow night," a staff member replied.

Whether it's Tuesday or Saturday, cuisine founded on fresh, organic ingredients from area farmers, priced just under the local market with David at the stove or expediting a plated goat cheese stuffed chicken breast with quince salad, attracts full houses from well beyond the neighborhood.

Named after the Italian word for bay leaf, Lauro's menu roams through countries touching the Mediterranean: Spanish seafood paella, pizza with Greek feta cheese and kalamata olives, culotte steak with French pommes frites and sauce Bearnaise, and Italian linguine with clams. Steelhead over wild mushroom risotto garnished with a stack of fried leeks, and roasted beet salad with pears, hazelnuts and goat cheese reflect local ingredients enriched in Mediterranean preparations.

From the Atlantic coast choices stray into Portugal where David's family ties show in an unforgettable silky dessert flan with port, and a chili based piri piri sauce (adopted from Portugal's African colonies) for dunking tender fried calamari. Morocco contributes cinnamon, preserved lemon and couscous in a green olive, fennel, almond and chicken tagine lively with flavor surprises and served in a traditional round glazed clay dish with one-inch sides. I even wanted to order the good looking American cheeseburger.

The cooking -- like David -- is assured, confident and usually on target. After eight months of fine tuning, the menu suits our unpretentious but culinary sophisticated lifestyle. A menu heavy with $5 to $10 appetizers, salads, pizza and pasta, and satisfyingly portioned but not pound-packing entrees from $13 to $18 keep Lauro reasonably priced for the neighborhood. All desserts are $5.

Lee Posey, well known for her perfectly crafted baked goods at Portland's notable Pearl Bakery, also makes memorable desserts for Lauro. Last summer a creamy zabaione complimented fresh berries and this winter is paired with marsala poached pears. Portuguese -- or maybe Greek -- thick rice pudding comes with macerated figs, and the cheese plate is lovely for sharing.

As a college student in Lisbon, the first wine I ever tasted was Mateus Rose, a cheap Portuguese wine in a fat bottle that also served as a table centerpiece. Hamilton has designed a fresh, eclectic wine list offering Portugal's better vintages and Mediterranean wines. A very drinkable French red table wine is $4 per glass and in European fashion wines come in half and full pitchers plus bottles, most of them under $40.

Our dining scene is not uptight and we enjoy first-name-only relationship with accessible chefs. Some -- like David Machado -- are their restaurant. Take them away and you destroy the restaurant.

LAURO MEDITERRANEAN KITCHEN

WHERE: 3377 S.E. Division St., Portland. 503-239-7000

WHEN: Dinner only, 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.

IF YOU GO: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover. No smoking. Full bar. Wheelchair accessible. No reservations. Dinner for one including entree and dessert: $20

RATING: (1 to 10)

Food. . . . . . . . . . 8

Service. . . . . . . . .8

Ambiance. . . . . . .6