Rosmarino Osteria Italiana — Restaurant in Newberg

Last evening, my wife and I participated in one of their wine pairing dinners as a celebration of my wife’s retirement. We were uneducated and inexperienced in Italian haute cuisine and had some angst, especially myself, as I tend to be a picky eater. This concern quickly dissolved.

Dario, the owner, chef, and host for this event is a charismatic showman who unquestionably loves what he’s doing and is excited to share his enthusiasm for his native Italian region’s cuisine. With a little encouragement and diner participation, we learned a tiny amount of Italian and an understanding that food and wine is an important part of Italian culture.

For these wine pairing dinners, we learned a winery offers wines and the chef builds a menu around the wines, not the other way around, which is typical and customary. Being in Yamhill County, Oregon Pinot Noir wines were served during every one of the five courses. I thought it was a bit much, having so little variety.

I will not review the wines nor each course. This would be a pointless exercise since the wines and menu will unlikely be repeated. Besides, I’m not a food or wine critic or play one on television.

This dinner was nearly sold out with a guesstimated 30-35 diners and only two empty tables located in the center of the “patio”, where the first of two seatings is served. The second serving is inside the restaurant. The patio itself is actually pretty rustic, more like a covered area behind a bar. It has a concrete floor, exposed framing, and plywood sheets for the roof. Plentiful ceiling-mounted gas heaters for colder weather will keep patrons cozy. Soft Italian music is played on speakers. I don’t want readers to be put-off by this structure as once you settle-in and start enjoying the food and wine, it has faded away and is irrelevant. We’re here for the food, right!

I do have a comment about the first course, the salad. It was to include Dungeness crab, but I don’t care for seafood in any form; too many force-fed school cafeteria fish sticks in my youth, I believe. My loss. When I asked for the crab to be omitted on my salad, there was no problem accommodating my preference. They countered with mussels as an alternative, however, as the wait staffer departed, I quickly countered with the suggestion of prosciutto. My salad did indeed lack crab and had the very best prosciutto I have ever seen or experienced. It was 99% lean, just the way I like it, without the thick layer of fat on the edges which is the norm. I savored every bite.

We learned the prosciutto, like every other ingredient except fresh produce (and I imagine several other ingredients), is imported from Italy, even the flowers which adorned one course. Authenticity throughout.

The dessert course also had another wine pairing, which unfortunately was yet another Pinot Noir blend — I was Pinoted-out and would have preferred a sweet Italian-style wine or a bubbly Asti Spumante but those are not produced by the local Oregon winery supplying wine for this dinner.

My wife and I had only other quibble — for a high-end, $150 per person dinner, we would have expected the silverware to be removed and replaced between every course. It’s a little detail which signals a premium experience. Instead, one fork was used for the first four courses and only changed-out for the dessert course. Like I said, a quibble.

This wonderful experience got us thinking about possibly traveling to Italy for a food tour. We mentioned this to our host who surprised us by saying he does lead 12-day tours in Italy! I plan to research this for consideration in 2025 or so.

Overall, we had a great time, exceeding our expectations, had new food experiences, learned a bit about Italian food beyond pasta, parmigiana, and pizza, and we expect we will be back again and again.

Side note: I also learned they also own a deli in Newberg — I have to get myself more of that...

NEXT LEVEL! Just forget your alternative dinner plans---if you want Italian, THIS is the place!

Rosmarino Osteria Italiana – A Transcendent Experience

First Visit – Classic Italian Mastery.

Forget your backup plans and make a reservation a few days agead of time—if Italian cuisine calls, Rosmarino Osteria Italiana is the answer. Having eaten my way through Boston’s North End countless times, I can say with conviction: I would happily dine here every day if I lived nearby.

On our first visit, we experienced the depth of Chef-Owner Dario Pisoni’s artistry through a special risotto—creamy, perfectly balanced, and executed with quiet precision. The cinghiale (wild boar), slow-braised and tender, spoke of rustic Italian heritage elevated to fine dining. Service was warm yet seamless, and Dario’s intuitive wine pairings left no note unresolved. It was, simply put, transcendent. Second Visit – Oregon Winemaker’s Dinner. ($165/pp)

Our return for the Oregon Winemaker’s Dinner Series was nothing short of a revelation. This five-course pairing menu, spotlighting Willamette Valley’s finest wines, revealed the restaurant’s brilliance in a new dimension.

Chef Dario’s culinary imagination and genial, exuberant personality dazzled once again. Along with Sheena and their gracious staff, he doesn’t just serve food—he creates memories, welcoming every guest as family. The Blueberry Gorgonzola Gnocchi was tender, pillowy, and brilliantly balanced, while the multi-hour braised short rib over silken polenta was sheer poetry: decadent, soulful, unforgettable. With every pairing, Dario’s knowledge and wit shined, turning dinner into a performance. Verdict. Rosmarino Osteria Italiana doesn’t merely serve meals—it stages memories. Each visit has been a masterclass in cuisine, hospitality, and the joy of food and wine in harmony. On any scale, it deserves not just five stars, but ten. To miss it would be to deny yourself one of Oregon’s—and Italy’s—most transcendent...

Our friends have been raving about this place, and my husband and I have lived a few blocks away for over a year and finally decided to go with them for one of their Saturday lunches. New favorite place! Already planning our next visits, including our anniversary next year. We LOVE pasta, and this is the best Italian food we have ever had. I had the Pasta all'Alpina and my husband had the Pappardelle al Cinghiale. I am not normally one to seek out a dish with mushrooms, but the Alpina was amazing and I even loved the mushrooms! My husband isn't normally a very adventurous eater, but he absolutely loved the wild boar with pasta. I tried a bite, and it was amazing. We had a few drinks, the espresso martini was to die for.

About the atmosphere: Knowing they offer a $125/person 5 course wine pairing dinner, I thought we would have to dress up and it would be stuffy. It was absolutely not. People were in nice clothes, people were in tshirts and shorts. Everyone was comfortable, and even the owner came out to say hi and greet each table in a pac man tshirt at the lunch. He was so nice! Maybe its different for the 5 course dinner, but we loved the feel of the place. It felt like everyone was welcome, and the focus was the amazing food.

We are going to one of the 5 course dinners in a couple months, so I will update this when that happens. Looking forward to it!

UPDATE: The wine pairing dinner was absolutely amazing. The owner/chef is delightful, and all the staff are amazing. His wife poured the wine and was hilarious and gracious. We did the Italian dinner on a Saturday, and were lucky enough to have the people who provided the wine there, talking about how it was grown/made. It was so fun. So worth the money. Everything was delicious. There was a dish I was unsure of, because I don't normally like lamb, but even I enjoyed this one! And, my hubby found a wine he actually likes! I am...