{"id":566,"date":"2009-04-01T10:25:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-01T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=566"},"modified":"2010-02-19T11:43:01","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T18:43:01","slug":"paciarino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/paciarino\/","title":{"rendered":"Paciarino"},"content":{"rendered":"

reviewed by Diane Hudson April 2009<\/p>\n

Bella Notte<\/strong><\/p>\n

The zing\u2019s the thing: At Paciarino, a Milanese couple adds unforgettable sauce to the Old Port mix.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"paciarino1\"Milan in Maine? It\u2019s the dream of Fabiana de Savino and Enrico Barbiero, the husband and wife chef\/owners of Paciarino, the new Italian bistro that\u2019s drawing crowds on 468 Fore Street in the Old Port.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ran two restaurants in Milan, but fell in love with Maine after seeing a television show about it as a tourist attraction,\u201d says de Savino. \u201cWe\u2019d been to California, Florida, Nevada, and Rhode Island, but Maine looked far more intriguing, even though we didn\u2019t know a soul here.\u201d Attracted by a cleaner environment, slower pace, ocean setting, and healthy living for their six-year old, \u201cwe arrived in Portland in August and opened our doors here in January.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding the eatery\u2019s theme, \u201cMy grandmother meant everything to me,\u201d de Savino says. \u201cShe lived with us for a time, and I remember waking in the early morning hours to the scent of bolognese permeating the house. She\u2019d get up at 5 a.m. and start right in, cooking all kinds of delicacies for our enjoyment.\u201d Hence the name Paciarino, which means a favorite dish that your grandmother prepares especially for you.<\/p>\n

\"paciarino2\"Here you\u2019ll find a dazzling assortment of hand-crafted pastas (one or several of which will likely become your personal paciarino), from maccheroni to tortiglioni and ravioli, all of which can be purchased from their inviting shelves and freezers.<\/p>\n

You will be served in a warm and inviting sun-drenched space with yellows and blues\u2013totally Mediterranean in feel. And you will be served as if you matter, as if you were the only diner here.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately upon settling in at our table, our server arrived with a complementary plate of varied dipping sauces and chunks of exceptionally good crusty bread. As these sauces can be purchased here, it makes all manner of sense to get a taste from the outset. Mouthwateringly good, the sauces include marinated garlic in oil, hot spicy pat\u00e9, garlic bruschetta, caper pat\u00e9, garlic pat\u00e9, wild fennel pat\u00e9, and an unbelievably rich, tasty pesto.<\/p>\n

\"paciarino3\"As backgrounds for our sauce selections, we picked lasagna and ravioli. Not the usual piled-up-high pasta upon pasta, our lasagna with bolognese ($8.50) was instead a thinner version powerfully packed with layers of intense flavor.<\/p>\n

Ditto for the pesto ravioli with butter and sage ($8.50). Equally attractive were the ravioli ricotta & spinach with walnut sauce ($8.50), ravioli with goat cheese, and tortiglione with bolognese ($7.25). And all made, just for us, fresh every day.<\/p>\n

Shelves accompanying the tasty pat\u00e9s also offer a selection of at least 30 Italian \u201cwines we have selected because these are what we enjoy drinking in Italy,\u201d Barbiero says.<\/p>\n

Stock up for future pleasure. Very handy. Very Italian. Belissimo!<\/p>\n

paciarino, 468 Fore St., Portland. Lunch 11:30 to 2:30; dinner hours TBA in \u201cmid April or early May.\u201d 774-3500.<\/p>\n

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