thai home cooking tuesdays – sundays 11am-9pm THAIESAAN.COM 207-536-0752 849 FOREST AVE. PORTLAND, ME COME TRY WHAT MOM IS COOKING! Restaurant Review F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 1 8 7 7 pellini with clams, mussels, and lobster ($23). A round Portland, gourmet pizza is pretty competitive, and our Por- chetta pizza ($17) jumps right in- to the front of that pack. Sizzling from the glowing, wood-fired oven downstairs, it’s topped with San Marzano tomato sauce, rich bits of pork belly and loin, and mozza- rella. To serve, it’s been dressed with a lit- tle green storm of baby arugula and a few judicious drops of pomegranate balsam- ic vinegar. Everything comes together– crisp, chewy crust, divine porkiness, gooey cheese, and piquant garnishes. There’s also a classic Margherita pizza that can be em- bellished with salami, prosciutto, or meat- balls ($12 to $16). Fancier pies include the Bianco pie with roasted garlic, mozzarella, and fried sage ($13). Executive chef Lee Ska- winski is the secret weapon here. He made Portland’s Cinque Terre a haute-Italian runaway success back in the early 2000s. Skawinski and sous-chef Charles White make expert use of the restaurant’s two rus- tic wood ovens. The lunch and dinner menus are very similar (including in price), though the wood-grilled burger, the fried haddock sandwich, or your pick from a selection of paninis are unique to the lunch menu ($11 to $14). The dinner menu adds wood-grilled salmon, haddock, or scallops, along with old favorites like chicken parmigiana ($19 to $29). Steak Fiorentina for two with Tuscan white beans and anchovy-lemon dressed salad is $79. A pair of pretty little gelato-filled prof- iteroles finishes our feast–one pistachio and the other salted caramel, topped with the delicious house chocolate sauce ($6.50). We sip cappuccino ($5) as we en- joy the people-watching. The location adjacent to the Maine Mall notwithstanding, you’ll never mistake this for a mall or chain restaurant. (It does have two popular sister-establishments, the Tus- can Bistro in Freeport and Royal River Grill House in Yarmouth.) Most diners appear to be on dates or enjoying multi-generational, multi-coursed family meals. Everyone ap- pears to have caught the celebratory vibe. n TuscanTable,servinglunchanddinnerdaily11a.m.-9p.m. Sun.-Thurs.,&until10p.m.Fri.&Sat.390GorhamRd.,South Portland;536-0240;tuscantablemaine.com