mothra says... hail to the chef. ok, so this is a really good restaurant. alright, i said it. however............. this has been a really difficult review for me. k and i were in celebration mode about 5 weeks back and wanted to try this italianrestauranton a ave in "el-oh." although i made a reservation for 7pm, we were seated promptly in an modernrestaurantat about half full with patrons.
after a few moments, jay our server greeted us and asked for our drink order. you all know, in this aspect i am rather predictable: vodka martini, shaken, no vermouth, lemon twist. k said, "make it two." i asked what the corkage fee for my bottle of brown zin would be? jay relied: "$20.00." woof! brown from chiles valley, a few miles east of st helena has been my favorite wine for about 4 years. i have a lot of favorite wines, but if i am forced to choose, this is it. afterwards, i looked at k and we both agreed to put away our 2nd bottle that we toted in with us, a very nice chard.
jay asked for our full order and i slowed him down. i advised jay that we were in no hurry and yes we would like to order our appetizer now. jay did tell us that this was his last weekend at tucci and he was leaving the area. good luck to him.
after a short wait, our prosciutto and mellon arrived. what a beautiful plate. ripe melon with rosettes of prochutto, shaved parm, and a balsamic reduction. really a nice dish. after we finished our cocktails, we ordered our salads. all of the salads were wihin $1 or $2 of the same price point. i had perused the salad menu but nothing was inspiring me. i asked jay if there was anything off the menu. "absolutely," he mentioned. "we have a beautiful caprese that i recommend." sold. and it was beautiful. k's caesar salad arrived and she enjoyed it. later however, i was a little dismayed to find that this salad was priced at $15. what the? don't you think that a salad priced double should be mentioned by the server? back to the salads... both were very tasty. despite all this, as i mentioned in the beginning, the chef here is amazing.
onward to the entrees. the menu is elegant and simple: primarily italian and seafood.,, two of my favorites. it did not take me long to decide nor for k. jay opened our brown zin to let it breathe. 25 mins or so later, k's pappardelle agnello which is a lamb ragu and wild mushrooms arrived. my house made ravioli stuffed with shrimp, bay scallop, vegetables, herbs, ricotta, and mascarpone, all in a shrimp cream broth was presented. this homemade ravioli dish was absolutely unreal. perfectly paired with my brown zin. su-poib ! k tried a bite of my ravioli and i had a bite of her pappardelle agnello lamb ragu dish. again, the wine paired beautifully. two outstanding dishes from the chef.
dessert for me included gelato and a coffee, k enjoyed her limoncello. another 2 1⁄2 hour dinner for moth & k.
at the beginning of this review i mentioned some angst on my part. the chef, whose name is unknown to me should be crowned king of lake oswego. but the management? i just felt nickel and dimed all night long. hopefully they will open their eyes and give some back to the customer. we will be back to try other amazing entrees on this simple but elegant menu.
mothra says, .... kudos to king chef, but management needs to leave their nickels and dimes at the front door. 4.1 of 5.0