Olympia Provisions’ Team Opens Traditional Italian Restaurant Grand Amari | Eater Portland

"Opening May 17 inside the Hotel Grand Stark, Grand Amari will be unapologetically traditional in its approach to Italian food and beverage; I can expect arancini, squid ink bucatini with whole bay shrimp, salt-crusted branzino, and Piedmontese wines alongside amari-spiked cocktails. The concept transitions from a casual daytime Cafe Amari (7 a.m.–4 p.m.) offering Italian pastries like orange blossom-almond biscotti, amaretti, lemon-curd brioche bomboloni, and pistachio cornetti plus savory items such as nettle frittatas, an Olympia Provisions mortadella panini, and antipasti, into a full ristorante dinner service with spuntini, antipasti, pastas (cacio e pepe with candele, spaghetini pomodoro, tortelli with ricotta and sage, a Piedmontese agnolotti with mortadella espuma in trotter-Parmesean brodo) and larger proteins including pork Milanese, porcini-encrusted steak, and more salt-crusted branzino. Cocktails lean on Italian herbal liqueurs (an Old Fashioned with Sfumato, martinis with a hint of Finocchietto), the wine list is heavily Italian (Sicilian skin-contact grecanico, Barbaresco, natural sparkling from Emilia-Romagna), and the restaurant will also offer a few Portland-brewed beers. Reservations are being accepted." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden