L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 9 PORTLAND ITALIAN COMMUNITY P ortland has no shortage of good international restau- rants - whatever you are hungry for you will likely find it somewhere. Northeast Alberta Street has one of the densest col- lections of international cuisines anywhere in the city. Traveling west on Alberta from NE 32nd, y o u w i l l e n c o u n t e r T h a i , L e b a n e s e , C u b a n , I n d i a n , F r e n c h , M e x i c a n , S p a n i s h , Italian, Japanese, even a Waffle W i n d o w . A t E n z o ' s C a f f è Italiano, the doors open into the region of Puglia and you will f i n d a f l a v o r u n m a t c h e d i n Portland. Enzo's is small and cozy, the walls decorated with family pho- tos and cascades of tiny blue lights hang from the ceiling year round. White tablecloths cover the tables, shelves of wine bot- tles line the walls, and a tiled espresso bar hugs the corner across from the kitchen. This is a restaurant straight out of south- ern Italy. Chef Enzo Lanzadoro and his wife, Linh opened Enzo's in 2 0 1 0 . I t i s a f a m i l y a f f a i r ; nephew Michele manages the f l o o r a n d w a i t s t a f f , s i s t e r Carmela assists in the kitchen with specialties like stuffed cala- mari, and son Nicholas helps Enzo navigate the business side of the restaurant. U s i n g o l d f a m i l y r e c i p e s , Linh prepares all the desserts, from sweet espresso Tiramisù to her special panna cotta layered in wine glasses with chocolate a n d s t r a w b e r r i e s . Y o u n g e s t daughter Emma often sits at the espresso counter working on homework. The fourth of seven children, Enzo was born and raised in Toritto, located about 15 miles inland from the Adriatic Sea. Toritto was a small town when he was a boy and everyone was like one big family. He remem- bers the festa called La Fanova, a food competition between the different streets. "We used to build bonfires in the middle of the street with big logs; some were three, four, five meters tall. The streets were just gravel at the time. They would put out huge kettles with pota- toes and i cunnid, which is many d i f f e r e n t k i n d s o f b e a n s . Everyone from the street would bring something to contribute." The beans would cook for hours until finally late at night, the townsfolk would bring their bowls to dish up ladles of beans and meat, drizzled with olive oil. "We would just sit around the bonfires. It was a huge competi- tion who would have the best beans." Only six when his father died in a construction accident, young Enzo became his mother's shad- ow in the kitchen, developing his love of cooking and learning early the art of making good bread. "The dough speaks to you," Enzo smiles as he thinks back. "You have to know how to work it and when it is ready. I learned how to listen to the dough." In those days, there was no store to buy bread. Making bread f o r e i g h t p e o p l e e v e r y w e e k m e a n t p r e p a r i n g t e n l o a v e s weighing almost 3 kilos each. Every family's bread was baked in the central oven in Toritto; the baker would mark the loaves with the family name before putting them into the oven. He knew the exact moment that the d o u g h w a s r e a d y t o g o i n . Watching all of this made an impact on Enzo. "Food in my town was the best thing you could get." The menu at Enzo's Caffè Italiano is full of regional spe- c i a l t i e s a n d f a m i l y r e c i p e s , tempting dishes like Polpette Chitarra, Cartoccio di Mare, S u l l a R i v a , O r e c c h i e t t e Altamurane, and Sugo Barese, a traditional red sauce made with chunks of goat, beef, and pork, and slowly cooked. "Sunday was sacred – you must have Sugo Barese," he says. "It cooked all day because the meat was tough back then. Each family had its own secret. My mom used most- ly goat and some beef, usually only a bone. In the winter, she would add pork." "Walking by the doorways of Toritto on Sunday you could smell all the sauces cooking and you could tell what the family had in its sauce. You would say, 'Oh her Sugo is not that good!' " Enzo laughs as he thinks back. Enzo misses Toritto. "It does- n't change. I can still sit on the same rock that I sat on when I was nine years old." H e a l s o m i s s e s t h e w a y southern Italians talk to each other. "Being from Puglia, I miss the way we talk. Most peo- ple nowadays would think we a r e u s i n g r o u g h l a n g u a g e , offending people. But you say what you mean…and more!" Enzo pauses, "I miss the pure, relaxed way of talking. We are just honest with each other and it is funny." G r o w i n g u p i n T o r i t t o infused Enzo with a love for the wildness of Puglia and of the Murgia, where there is so much diversity in the plant and animal l i f e . P u g l i a i s v e r y u n i q u e , almost a country unto itself. " W e h a v e t h e c o l d f r o m t h e north, the warm from Africa, air currents from Montenegro, so much fresh water of the Adriatic Sea," he says. "Arugula grew w i l d o n t h e f o o t h i l l s o f t h e Murgia, wild herbs, broccoli rabe. Many vegetables originat- ed there and are now cultivat- ed." Unfortunately, the same cul- tivation that has increased avail- ability of the wild vegetables has also changed their flavor. In the arid wild of Puglia, the plants learned to pull water from the KERRY-LYNNE DEMARINIS BROWN a i r , w h i c h m a d e t h e i r f l a v o r more vibrant. Now irrigation has watered down their taste. When Enzo first opened his restaurant, patrons expected the same dishes prepared in the same way as other Italian restaurants around Portland; but one taste and the difference became clear. Southern Italian cuisine is decidedly distinct from main- stream Italian. There is another difference - the food is prepared fresh as it is ordered. "The ravioli doesn't come out of the freezer, the garlic isn't chopped until you need it, the p a s t a i s m a d e w h e n i t i s ordered," says Enzo. "That is P u g l i a - e v e r y t h i n g a t t h e moment. It is fresh, quick, fla- vorful." "It is a technique of under- standing when you're going to p u t t h e g a r l i c i n s i d e , w h e n you're going to put in the onions, when you are going to add the mushrooms, whatever you are doing. You don't just put every- thing together. Each one of them has to have their own flavor by the way you cook them." "In other words," he contin- ues, "Ingredients must be cooked in steps. When we cook shrimp – we eat a lot of those in Puglia – we cook the shrimp and then put them aside and add them back in w h e n t h e r e s t o f t h e d i s h i s cooked. In this way, the shrimp taste like shrimp." Besides the set menu, Enzo's also offers weekly specials and frequent dining events, featuring specific dishes paired with dif- ferent wines. Most recently, the restaurant held a Polipo dinner, featuring octopus prepared in different ways, from antipasto to main course. Enzo is well known for his handmade sausages and salami, and he still bakes lots of fresh bread every day. This author is particularly fond of the fresh Focaccia Barese. In the past year, the restaurant has doubled in size, adding much needed event space. The new space has become a gathering place for live music, games, I t a l i a n c o n v e r s a t i o n g r o u p s , Italian language lessons, and family celebrations. Thursday nights are movie nights, featur- ing films such as Mediterraneo, C i n e m a P a r a d i s o , L a V i t a è B e l l a , A m a r c o r d , C i a o Professore!, and other acclaimed Italian movies. Enzo's is also adding wine tastings twice a week. This is not the usual wine tasting of five or s i x d i f f e r e n t w in e s . I n s t e a d , instructor Rico Kaplan presents one grape variety at a time, high- lighting regional differences. At the first two tastings, patrons sampled three different versions of Sangiovese, two from Puglia and one from Le Marche. The added space will be like an Italian bar in southern Italy, where patrons spend together in conversation and laughter. This is Enzo's dream. "You come in, you grab a bottle of wine or a g l a s s o f w i n e a n d a p l a t e o f antipasti, and you can enjoy your time in here." Dining in Puglia on Alberta Street Chef Enzo Lanzadoro and his wife, Linh opened Enzo's in 2010

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