a Cena Ristorante — Restaurant in Portland

My experience at a Cena was fabulous!! From the moment we entered the door service was attentive and efficient. We had a young child with us so the service was additionally scrutinized. We were never rushed. each layer of service was timed well to adjust to the "perishable" timeline which occurs with children. My compliments to the staff for attentive yet uninvasive service The staff was knowledgeable and suggestive in their sales techniques which was greatly appreciated. Our order began with a delicious bottle of Italian wine. The wine was being poured even as the server had finishing taking our order!!! The bread course was a wonderful combination of chewy focaccia laced with olive oil and studded with tiny crystals of Kosher salt, complimented by hand rolled grana grissini, crisp and light with the hint of aged cheese. Our Grilled Octopus appetizer was superbly tender and flavorful. Garnished with greens, peppers and dried tomatoes all combine with the perfect horseradish sauce accompaniment. The spinach salad with pears, beets and goat cheese was fresh light and perfectly balanced with the proper adornment of dressing to coat the leaf greens but not pool on the plate. The short rib special was what a special should be; a menu preparation by the chef which is unique and delightful. The meat was braised perfectly, maximizing on the moist, tender and succulent qualities of the short rib and enhancing each with the traditional flavors of the preparation. Presented on a bed of tender, hand made, gnocchi in an cream sauce rich with mouth pleasures. The filet was seasoned and seared perfectly and obviously of quality origin. The seafood spaghetti was delicious and bursting with shellfish even at a half portion. I must criticize this dish on only one factor. The menu sported lobster in the preparation but we were unable to find any hidden among-st the pasta. My compliments to the quality of scallops in yet another of the menu creations we enjoyed. These scallops, obviously fresh and "dry packed" as to not dilute their naturally sweet and delicate flavor, were impeccably seared to a medium rare doneness sustaining the tender almost creamy texture of the center, while intensifying the subtle sweetness of each mollusk. My compliments to the Chef and his crew on all preparations and presentations. The dining rooms were nicely broken up to give guests a semi-private experience if desired. Our table was located comfortably near the shelves used for aging of their house made Limoncello and Nocino. If I were to make only one suggestion from my experience at a Cena it would be to evaluate the printed menus. It seems the paper, type style and contrast choices combined with lighting, which was perfect for the ambiance, did not work well together. It was extremely hard to read the menus. I think the easiest solution would be to simply adjust the type on the page to have more contrast to it's background. This was a minor issue based on the pleasures we enjoyed. I highly recommend a Cena for your...

So, I waited to do my review on this place until after we had been here a couple times, and boy does this place not disappoint!!! This is a cute little Italian place in Sellwood that features linen tablecloths, great lighting and a full service bar. As for the food, wow!!! We have tried almost everything on the menu at this point, so I will try to give a quick rundown!

We always start our evening with cocktails before wine and this place makes some amazing cocktails including housemade Lemoncello and Nocino. Both of these are very well done and we have tried many, including the fact that we have homemade both ourselves!

For the Appetizers (Antipasta Course), the Polipo (Grilled Octopus) was shockingly our favorite dish on the entire menu!! This is an absolute party in your mouth (perfect on the texture and the flavor is unbelievable). I promise this is one everyone should try, even those that do not like octopus. There is a huge difference between Octopus done right and...well, when it isn't. This place knows how to do it! The Beets (Barbabiatole) is also one of the best Beet dishes I have had (I have had many since it is also one of my favorites).

For the Pasta Dishes (Primi Course) The Lobster ravioli (Agnolotti) is absolutely a crowd favorite and we see why! Apparently it is so popular and desired they always keep it on the menu. The Gargonelli alla Norcia is perfect as well! The most disappointing is the Rigatoni (which was actually the dish we were most excited about). Perhaps it was just disappointing because we have had much better. We love spicy, however it just seemed that this dish just had spice without a balance of any other flavors.

As for the primary dish (Secondi Course) You absolutely cannot go wrong with the lamb dish! We have had their different variations of this (they seasonally change the menu) and they have all been great. Our absolutely favorite was when they did the Lamb with the huckleberry..this was just a fantastic pairing!

The wine selection is also wonderful! You will find a great selection of Italian Wines including Barollos and Barbarescos!

As for the desserts...get the Tiramisu! It is so amazing!! And the Lemon Marscapone with Huckleberry is just perfect! I actually would love to do this as a course in-between the Primi and Secondi courses as a pallette cleanser. (This is our plan for our next visit).

A few months ago we were able to share this restaurant with another couple. Her husband is Italian, and because of how picky he is with Italian food, they refuse to go to Italian restaurants. We were able to convince them and he was so impressed they have now been back on their own!

The owner is also very sweet and made an effort to stop by our table and visit...

The other day someone asked me: "what’s the best restaurant you’ve ever been to?" If you haven’t figured it out already, I obviously listed A Cena Ristorante. There’s far too many restaurants in the world for just one winner, but this one easily made my top 10 list (maybe even my top 5)! Years ago, I saw a picture of the restaurant’s pasta on Instagram. I saved it with full intentions of eating here someday. To say the least, I waited a long time to finally try what I saw in the picture. In fact, it’s one of the reasons (amongst the many other reasons: Japanese garden, Portland leather, Witch’s Castle, Voodoo Donut, etc) why I wanted to visit Portland. The wait was worth it! While I explained to the person why it’s in my top 5, I had a whole spiel about the pasta. How it’s made fresh daily; that in itself speaks volumes. I also explained that in each primi dish the noodles were tender and perfectly cooked. Our pastas included the lobster agnolotti and lamb. The agnolotti was sweet and luscious with succulent crustacean chunks. While the lamb plate had fresh mint, which put it over the top delicious. After I got the pasta conversation out of the way, I explained the antipasti. The table shared the octopus and of course complementary bread with olive oil and vinegar. I’ve eaten plenty of octopus in my life, but wow this one was so so good. It was cooked to perfection and had an amazing counterpart of creamy, crisp fingerling potatoes. Oh and the sauce; man it was to die for! 🤤 It goes without saying the bread was elite, but I particularly enjoyed the thin, brittle, and greasy cheese sticks. Finally, the last food I talked about was dessert: tiramisu. I’ve never been a fan of tiramisu, yet was so surprised and impressed that I actually really enjoyed this one! I sure hope I got my point across, to my friend, that the food was absolutely superb. I’m counting the days until I can eat here again! I also raved about the ambiance. It’s such a romantic and cozy restaurant filled with tables dressed in tablecloths; all conveniently located on a picturesque shopping street. Last but not least, I was astonished with our service. I don’t think I’ve ever been so well taken care of. Our waiter was so sweet and so attentive. He gladly explained the menu to us, was a quick to fill our water glasses, and took notice of our needs: offered us more olive oil when he saw we were running low, gave us extra plates, gave us extra utensils, etc. Hopefully, my friend takes my advice to eat here and...