Nick's Italian Cafe

Nick's Italian Cafe, an evidently iconic institution in the state of Oregon, strangers from as far as an hour away know exactly where I’m working when I explain why I traveled across the country from New England to the Pacific Northwest. This forty-seater is an excellent spot for me, we're working with almost all of our ingredients coming from within 70 miles, minus a few specialty ingredients (Parmigiano Reggiano, Modena Balsamic- but the chef, Eric Ferguson, is making his own, it just isn't ready yet). We're getting in whole lamb, half pigs, and starting next month whole cows. Whole Cows. 5 course tasting menu, and every single thing we serve we make. I'm on starters, working 7 dishes, plus 2 salads, and 6-10 items on the lounge menu, so my speed and execution are being pushed hard when we're pushing full turns on Fridays and Saturdays (30-40 covers per turn) and a busy bar. House cured prosciutto and several varieties of salumi (gentile salami, finochiona salami, mortadella, capocollo, speck, etc) are on my list of charcuterie lessons for my time here as well as being able to really having the opportunity to completely cook with the seasons. There are no Sysco deliveries, just local farmers making visits with the ingredients that they’ve sewn, grown, and pulled out of the ground themselves. First name, personal relationships with the purveyor…wait, not the purveyor, but the farmer. You want farm to fork? Come to my restaurant. Jerusalem artichokes, spring garlic, farm fresh eggs, Oregon Pecorino cheese, Oregon grown and milled flour, Oregon grown and pressed olive oil, artichokes, halibut, oysters, all from Oregon. Offal and lamb chops, fried green garlic, lamb sausage, lamb ‘jus’. Fresh tonarelli pasta, black pepper, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, BASTA.

Simple, smart, and well, pretty damn good. I need to start taking more pictures!

Go Slow, Stay Local.
Va Piano, Rimane Locale.