Vignola

It's a cold Wednesday evening in Portland and after enjoying a delightful and informative sparkling and champagne wine tasting, Kate and I settle in for a cozy encounter at Vignola.  This isn't our first time here, having enjoyed a fabulous 2006 Giuseppe Leonardi Amarone on our previous visit along with what was an exceptional dining experience and terrific service.

Ravenous, we quickly ordered 2 appetizers and selected a wine (new to us both) from the diverse and intriguing wine list.  Tonight we chose Medjool dates wrapped in bacon (who doesn't love bacon!?) and a sample platter of 3 cheeses.  I opted for 3 varieties of goat and sheep's cheeses (kitchen's choice of course).

The wine tonight: a "Vinho Tinto" 2008 Quinta de Valle Longo from Portugal.  This wine is especially ripe with flavors of plum, cherry, tobacco and black currant with well matched mild tannins, medium legs and a nice, lingering finish.  Not a bad start in our opinion, and a good reason to try something unknown as I will be looking for this label to add to my cellar at home.

The dates arrived and were neatly presented on a bed of mescaline greens.  The combination of flavors and textures of the tender, chewy, sweet dates with the very flavorful, crisp bacon along with the pungent, soft, creamy Gorgonzola was remarkable and satisfying.

The 3 cheeses, very well chosen by the boys out back, were in the styles of brie, soft and hard (almost Parmesan like).  I felt the portions could have been a little more generous for the price compared to other similar plates locally.  The compote of cherries, raisins and apricots that accompanied the plate along with the seasoned walnuts and a delightfully crisp crostini added new dimensions to each of the three cheeses.

Our entrees (we both couldn't resist opting for the steak tonight) were a bit of a disappointment.  Perhaps it shouldn't have been, as the menu simply called it steak, not flank steak or hangar steak as one might expect as to identify the cut.  The dish was prepared and served with broccoli rabbe, grilled onions and frittes and then garnished with fried julienned onions.  If one item should never be wrongly prepared and served in a restaurant, it's the proteins or main course.  We ordered our steaks medium-rare but were both served something much closer to medium-well.  The server was gracious enough (once finally inquiring about our entrees) to have them re-made for us.  While the second go around was properly cooked to desired temperature, the quality of the steak itself was still not what I would have expected to receive.

I'm not sure what's taking place with the restaurants in Portland lately, but there appears to be a trend of meat being too heavily seasoned and salted.  Maybe on this occasion it was to make up for the rather poor cut of steak we were served?  Either way, the true flavor of the meat was lost in the overabundance of seasoning that it went through during preparation.  I'm beginning to wonder if there is truly a real, honest to goodness, prepare it the way it should be steakhouse in Portland anymore...

While I love this restaurant, it's ambiance, menu and wonderful wine list and will be back again without question, I was a little disappointed to have been let down on this visit as past experiences here have always been quite exemplary. 

Tonight's visit earns Vignola 3 stars.

Cheers!

~Joe