June 2015
FEATURES
The Southwest Portland Post • 5
Brand new Oak & Olive Ristorante offers Italian fare in Hillsdale
RESTAURANT REVIEW
By Lee Braymen-Cleary
The Southwest Portland Post
On April 24, Maria Rosengreen
proudly opened doors of her Oak &
Olive Ristorante situated at 6363 SW
Capitol Highway. Featuring Italian eats
like nonna (grandma) used to make, its
brand new building was a long time
coming.
But potential diners’ interest was
piqued; the place has all but overflowed
from the get–go. I, for one, have eaten
there several times, my eyes taking in
the restaurant’s clean Modern Italian
country decor and the inspired 12-foot-
high chalkboard that entertains creative
children as their parents wait for orders.
“We’re excited to be part of this
neighborhood,” said Rosengreen, who
lives nearby with her husband and her
own children. She named her family-
oriented eatery a “ristorante” rather
than “trattoria” or “osteria,” all of which,
she said “share overlapping features.”
Today Rosengreen with her years
of experience in restaurants puts in 10-
hour days. “I don’t ask crazy prices,”
she states. “This is a family restaurant
serving good meals from various Italian
regions. Taste and health are important,
so we use fresh local ingredients. Our
pork, for instance, comes from Carlton
Farms.”
Their eat-in/take-out lunch
and dinner menu features salads,
sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, entrees,
not to mention desserts, Italian beers
and wines and “bambini” (a menu for
children under 12).
Customers can select from six eye-
catching salads housed in a glass cooler.
I chose their tasty, $10 large-enough-for-
four signature Oak & Olive salad.
This romaine-based mélange includes
house-marinated ricotta, red pepper,
cucumber, carrot, fresh herb vinaigrette.
Large green olives and mini-tomatoes
sliced lengthwise add an elegant touch.
“Everything is made in-house
except for the sandwich bread,” said
Rosengreen. Executive Chef Cody
Lucchesi makes the pastas and pizza
doughs, sorbets, gelatos, salads, soups
and entrees.
Los Angeles-born Lucchesi, who
worked for Southern California’s
classic, classy French fine dining
restaurants and most recently for
Portland’s South Park now revisits his
culinary childhood con brio.
A warm, low-key man, Lucchesi
delights in preparing Italian family fare.
“My Italian grandmother taught me to
love food with her Italian home cooking
when I was five and six and seven...”
Lucchesi takes pride in the ristorante’s
six pizza varieties making up 40 to 50
percent of business. They range in price
from $11 to $15.
“These are artisan pizzas baked in a
Washington-made wood stone oven.
We use a thin crust and traditional,
fresh ingredients for Italian style—not
American style—pizzas.”
Those pizzas include “Formaggio” (all
cheese);” roasted garlic; olive; Italian
with pepperoni, salami, chilies and
mozzarella; the classic “Margherita”;
and a “Picnic” with mozzarella,
arugula, apples, pancetta and pickled
mustard seeds. Anchovies and arugula
can be added for $3 each.
Feeling adventurous, I tried a
“Picnic.” What a nice surprise. A light
sweet/savory pizza with that touch
Unusual Italian country lighting can be
seen at Oak & Olive Ristorante in Hillsdale.
(Post photo by Lee Braymen-Cleary)
of apple, it can serve as a main course
or as an appetizer or, at my house, a
breakfast! Its pancetta isn’t the thin stuff
you buy packaged at the market, but
rather the thicker, chopped variety that
says “bacon.”
Then there was the lasagna! For $13 I
received a piece that easily serves two.
If their pizza is light, so too is this multi-
layered concoction. It was cheesy, yes,
but in the good sense. Fresh tomato and
basil definitely got their say.
If it is not particularly spicy, it is also
not heavy, not settling like glue in the
stomach. This, I think, is the lasagna
to introduce to children. Not that you
wouldn’t like it yourself if you shun
Brown. I tried his tasty Café Umbia
the very spicy.
brand coffee and liked its richness. I
I’ve eaten from the entrée menu
also liked his biscotti. His quite crunchy
twice, too. First it was the lamb osso
chocolate espresso cookie was good,
bucco for a reasonable $16. Served over
too. But because I like chewy cookies,
creamy polenta with mildish Italian
it was not quite my bag. It could easily
flavors, it was as intended—a comfort.
be yours, though.
Apparently, this osso bucco sells out
If you like wholesome and interesting
midway through each evening. My
Italian cuisine, visit the Oak & Olive.
only criticism is that my serving was
And don’t forget dessert. I tried affogatto.
too well done to my taste. Maybe it sat
That’s olive oil gelato with espresso!
under the warming lights too long.
Way too cool!
The roasted trout was also tasty,
For all of the restaurant’s Old World
good sized and interesting served on a
charm, modernity makes ordering
bed of finely diced zucchini caponata
take-out or eat-in a snap. You can order
along with pine nuts and herb butter. I
and pay online at www.oakandolivepdx.
gobbled, but again, I thought it slightly
com. And there’s more. Soon their
overdone.
new, electric Fiat will thread through
Oak & Olive is currently open from
neighborhoods delivering not only
11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., but plans to
pizza but also full meals.
extend hours are in
the offing. “We will
open at 8 a.m. soon.
We won’t offer a
l a rg e b re a k f a s t
menu, but I’ll be
making an Italian-
style quiche.” says
Lucchesi.
And Rosengreen
is eager to offer
an early morning
gathering time
for mothers with
kids meeting other
mothers with kids.
F o r n o w, t h e
establishment
offers early comers Restauranteur Maria Rosengreen and Chef Cody Lucchesi team
a coffee bar manned up to bring Hillsdale its own family-style Italian meals at Oak &
by barista Adam Olive Ristorante. (Post photo by Lee Braymen-Cleary)