The neighborhood is going wild about Porta Via, Lion's Head's new pizzeria
by Carrington Fox
Crepe Florentine $9
Porta Via pasta $8
Pizzas $7-$13
Sandwiches $5-$7
Gelato $3
Off the top of your head, name a place that is just as suitable for an ice cream treat with kids as for a romantic dinner for two. Not so easy, is it? But it's just as easy to drop by Porta Via, the new Italian eatery in Lion's Head Village, for a to-go cup of hazelnut gelato as it is to nestle into a booth for a lingering meal of pasta and wine.
That sort of versatility—coupled with an array of certified Neapolitan pizzas—is quickly making the month-old Porta Via a neighborhood sensation.
It takes between 90 and 120 seconds to cook a pizza in the 750-degree bell-shaped brick oven in the back of the sunlit dining room, so when three minutes had passed and we still didn't have our food, our server apologetically informed us that an order of 18 pizzas had gone in right before ours. He then suggested that our group migrate temporarily to the bar seats in front of the pizza oven to watch the process. No fewer than eight people were bustling in and out of the kitchen and bar, making espressos, adding logs to the fire, slicing lobes of mozzarella and squirting balsamic vinegar onto fluffy salads.
But the real choreography was on display right in front of the glass partition, where blank canvases of dough twirled overhead, then landed to be washed with house-made marinara and dotted with mozzarella, roasted mushrooms, pine nuts, artichoke hearts, olives, roasted garlic, caramelized onions and delicate shrimp and scallops. One man tossed the dough, another shoveled the pie into the oven for a minute-and-a-half, and a third quartered the thin crisp disk with a double-handled rocking knife. In what seemed like no time, our pies emerged, and we were back in our seats folding wedges of thin crust in half, marveling at the perfect blend of crispness and elasticity and arguing about whether the use of fork and knife actually compromises the flavor.
If this all sounds a little familiar, it could be because Porta Via (the name translates to "carryout") is the second incarnation of the restaurant, which originally debuted in Bellevue almost 20 years ago. Mehrdad Alviri, brother-in-law of founder Stefano Hugh, worked in the original string of stores and now, with co-owner Martin Silverman, has resurrected the nameplate, splurging on a thorough renovation of the strip mall space that housed the ill-fated Bellacino's. The result is a cheery, polished room finished with yellow walls, dark wood flooring, granite countertops and creamy white upholstered banquettes.
Go to Porta Via for the pizza, stay for almost everything else that chef Giovanni Giosa—an alumnus of Mario's and Opryland Hotel's Volare—serves. A daily special of spinach lasagna with a fine-grained Bolognese sauce layered house-made pasta sheets with sweet tomato sauce so delicate and unrelated to the indelible dark-red tang of canned paste that I almost wondered if it would even stain my clothes when I spilled some down my front.
The simple Porta Via sauce was available with a choice of pasta shape. We chose angel hair with a side of beef-and-pork meatballs and were delighted with a generous bowl of noodles twirled in creamy tomato sauce and strewn with thin strips of fresh basil.
Crêpe Florentine arrived in an oval baking dish, with bubbles of mozzarella and ricotta cheese sizzling at the edges. Four thin pancakes were painted with pesto, then folded into quarters and fanned like an array of dainty pocket squares. (Don't let the name mislead you to expect spinach—the Florentine in this case refers to Giosa's time spent in Florence, Italy.)
Also beautiful, if unseasonal, was the Caprese salad, which arranged slices of tomato and mozzarella like a line of red and white dominoes. (When we asked if the tomatoes had any flavor this time of year, our server encouraged us to order the Caprese because the tomatoes were imported from Italy. When they arrived flavorless and pink, we assumed the server confused the fresh tomatoes on the Caprese with the canned tomatoes harvested in the shadow of Italy's Mt. Vesuvius, a hallmark of pizzas certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN), the organization that will certify Porta Via's pies.) With better tomatoes as a bed for the cheese, basil and balsamic, it would be a gorgeous dish.
Among the bolillos—Spanish-inspired sandwiches on thick rolls—the meatball version oozed with sweet tomato sauce and fresh ground Parmesan cheese, but the sandwich would have benefited from different bread. The baguette had a single chewy texture rather than a crisp exterior and a fluffy inside. The consequence was an overly bready sandwich. Meanwhile, the grilled disks of house-made focaccia on the Italiano panino—aka Italian Supreme—were thin enough not to overwhelm the warm layers of prosciutto, salami, cappicola, fontina and sweet caramelized onion.
It's worth mentioning the detail of pasta salad that accompanies the panini and bolillos: Where so often a flavorless bowl of noodles fills the empty space next to a sandwich, Porta Via delivers a thoughtful medley of penne with black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and shredded mozzarella and Parmesan with a light balsamic vinaigrette. Conversely, the side salads adorning several plates were dejected piles of sagging mixed greens.
A short roster of entrées ranges from $15 chicken cutlet to $29 steak Florentine, which we did not sample. The atmosphere, service and quality of food at Porta Via could support that higher price; meanwhile, the friendly casual ambiance just as graciously invites a visit for a scoop of gelato, made fresh in the store with flavors—including tiramisu, raspberry, mango and mint—imported from Italy.
Also arriving from Italy this month, a representative from VPN will visit Porta Via to observe the pizza-making process. Assuming the authorities find the required San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and imported "00" flour up to snuff, they'll certify Porta Via with the VPN's official stamp of approval.
We've already given ours.
Porta Via is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There is a wine list, and BYOB is allowed.
Email arts@nashvillescene.com.
Related Locations
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Porta Via Italian Kitchen
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356-0001
- (based on 1 user review)
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