THE LAST TIME I was in the space currently occupied by Nel
Centro, it was an inner-city motel dive bar. I was visiting from out of
town on “business,” smoking heavily and stirring up an affair in a
naugahyde booth. A man played a tinkling, jazzy melody on a small
electric piano. The patrons were drunk, haggard, and old. Nothing was
clean.
Many years later—after a thorough scrubbing and fierce
remodel—Nel Centro offers almost no clue of the lowbrow watering
hole that once welcomed the more colorful denizens of Southwest
Portland. The shoddy barfly aesthetic has given way to clean, etherized
modernism, à la Crate and Barrel, with contrasting wood grains
and various shades of brown in abundance.
From large, street-facing windows, the dining room progresses calmly
toward a showy open kitchen. Here diners can glimpse the wood-fired
oven and the mesmerizing rotisserie where chickens spin lazily in and
out of flames.
Separated from the dining room by a long runway to the host’s desk,
the rectangular bar offers plenty of seating. Outside, a stunning patio
completes the comforting chic. Everything looks mannered and
expensive.
This is also true for the food. Nel Centro’s hard-working kitchen
creates Riviera-inspired cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with
menus chockfull of high-end restaurant standards augmented by fresh
pasta dishes and wood-fired pizza.
An extended view, from breakfast to dinner, confirms Nel Centro to
be above par in most areas. Still, the restaurant does suffer some
glitches, not the least of which being a flat, lifeless, house-made
focaccia.
Sadly, cheese-stuffed saffron risotto balls (or “Arancini,” per the
menu) also completely miss the mark, tasting like tinned dishwater. The
pool of tomato fondue surrounding the risotto balls is tasty though,
with a sweetness and flavor strangely reminiscent of apricots.
A dinner entrée of herb gnocchi and wild boar ragu was easily
the best dish I ate at the restaurant—the gnocchi was permeated
with the rich, meaty, red-wine-and-garlic tanginess of the ragu. The
boar itself (large chunks of it mixed throughout) was very tender, but
firm enough to offer contrast to the soft gnocchi.
A braised lamb shank, over root vegetable puree, was just this side
of fall-off-the-bone tender, but still lush in texture. The lamb flavor
was mellower than one might expect, but the root vegetable puree, with
still-crunchy carrot bits, added brighter notes. An accompanying side
of greens was all right, but like the entire entrée, could have
used more salt.
Some dinner menu items are held over from lunch. A potato, fennel,
and leek soup, for instance, is easily slurped at either seating. Rich,
creamy, savory; the soup is made even better by stirring in a small
floating island of fried leeks.
The lamb burger is a good lunch option, though may be too fatty and
muted for some. The burger is prepared perfectly to temp, stacked atop
a hunk of sautéed red onion, topped with roasted red pepper and
warmed cow’s milk feta, and tucked into a homemade brioche bun. The
burger, like much of the food at Nel Centro, is very soft, but saved
from mushiness by the sturdy red onion.
Breakfast options at Nel Centro are fairly standard bunch-type
dishes. I ran into some trouble with what were essentially polenta eggs
benedict (though it lacked the title on the menu). The eggs were
over-poached, and had a bizarre, flavorless, watery texture. What
deliciousness there was in the zesty, buttery hollandaise, fried ham,
and (again) soft polenta rounds was completely lost to the miserable
eggs. The side of thin, crisped potato rounds, however, was
fantastic.
For a better, lighter option, the house-made granola is very good.
The mixture of oats, nuts, and raisins is flavored with vanilla and a
touch of sugar, and would mix very nicely into a bowl of yogurt.
At first glance, the price tag for some dishes may seem a bit steep,
but Nel Centro does not skimp on portions. Also, the service is in line
with cost: present, slightly fussy about the details, but allowing
diners space to breathe.
I’m happy to report that despite the changes at the corner of 6th
and Columbia, Nel Centro may not be able to keep a certain downtown
grit at bay. While eating my eggs benedict there on a recent morning, I
heard an old woman behind me.
“The good old days!” she said loudly. “The good old days!”
Her server looked at her curiously.
“Oh, I was just looking at a homeless man walking up the street,”
she said, sipping her coffee. “I used to be there. The good old days!
Now I’m 72.”
Her server came by the table and very sweetly, without
condescension, replied, “Well, I’m glad you’re not there anymore.”