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Ate: October 29, 2005 Published: November 6, 2005 $$$ This week was our first venture north of Myrtle Beach to check out the restaurants up there. Because we only go up to North Myrtle Beach occasionally, we really weren't sure of where to go. We drove up Highway 17, discussing our options as we drove by different places. Since we are trying to make this an adventure on our part, discovering hidden treasures, we chose not to go to any of the few places that we have been in the past. This drive took us all the way up through North Myrtle Beach and into Little River. After seriously considering a couple of other places, we chose an Italian restaurant named Portofino. We were greeted warmly as soon as we got out of the car, and were directed to a private table in the corner for two. This actually worked out to our favor, as we were able to see the whole dining room and observe the goings-on without any trouble. Based on the wood paneling and the simple, unassuming nature of the inside, my wife and I guessed that this building used to house an old, classic down-home barbeque and seafood restaurant. It still had the same simple, inviting atmosphere. This was the second time in two weeks that we were served slices of bruschetta before the waitress took our orders. I guess good Italian restaurants serve this up like Mexican restaurants bring chips and salsa. If a restaurant's bruschetta is supposed to be an indicator of the quality of the place, we felt like we had something to look forward to because theirs was very rich. The freshness of the ingredients really came through, nice and crisp. While we waited for our dinner, we just sat back and observed the dining room. The waitress was friendly and attentive, and the same gentleman who welcomed us into the restaurant also came around to chat with us and see how we were enjoying ourselves. It was still early enough that the crowd was light. It was mostly couples like us, out for a nice, quiet Saturday evening. Our entrees came with soup or salad. The soup that evening was an acorn squash soup, which was intriguing enough that we both ordered it. Served hot and fresh, it was a thick, hearty pureed soup very similar to a bisque. It had a savory aroma and a rich, nutty flavor to match. I had to give the chef credit because this was a good use of fresh, in-season ingredients and the perfect soup for a cool, early autumn evening. After enough time to polish off the bruschetta and our soup, our dinners arrived. In a first for the two of us, we had come to an Italian restaurant and neither one of us had ordered pizza or pasta. My wife had ordered the veal saltimbocca. Literally meaning "jump in your mouth," (according to Emeril Lagasse on Food TV) the saltimbocca consisted mainly of thin slices of veal perched atop beds of saut￩ed spinach. These were then topped with sliced sauteed prosciutto, mozzarella cheese and a brown sauce. My wife's guess is that is was some form of a veal reduction. Whatever the sauce was, it worked well because the saltimbocca was quite good. I ate a couple of small bites of it and I have to agree with my wife, it was good. My dinner was a very international dish called steak murphy. This dish was made up of an aged New York strip cooked with slices of Italian sausage, onions, mushrooms, hot peppers and potatoes - a lot of food. The steak was cooked wonderfully rare and was full of juices. The hot peppers turned out to be thin slices of jalapenos that were fresh and crisp; one bite told me that they hadn't been sitting in vinegar. As I ate the dish, I could taste the layers, and enjoy the different ingredients as they harmonized together but still retained their own flavors and distinguished themselves in each bite. In an evening of out-of-the-ordinary dishes, our side dish was equally unusual and intriguing. The waitress called it a potato stuffed with feta cheese, so naturally my bride and I thought it would be something like a small baked potato sliced open and filled with feta. Nope, not even close. Instead, it was more like a potato croquette made with shredded potatoes that completely surrounded a core of feta cheese and fried to a golden brown. More than anything else, it made me think of a first cousin to arancini that used shredded potatoes instead of risotto. The other side dish was probably the only understated note to the whole meal. The vegetable medley of carrots, squash and broccoli was not bad and would have been noteworthy if coupled with any other meal. But here, they seemed a little outclassed by everything else on our plates. After weeks of intending to end a meal on a sweet note, we finally decided this week to save room for dessert and boxed up half of our dinners to take home. We split a cinnamon cannoli, which was served dusted with powdered sugar and chocolate syrup drizzled on the plate. The cinnamon was liberally mixed in with the ricotta ambassade filling, creating a zing that really stood out. We both agreed that this made the perfect ending to a great meal. We've been very lucky so far in this new adventure that the two of us have embarked upon. This latest foray was no exception, and we're happy to say that up in Little River, we have found another treasure. But I don't know how hidden a treasure it is because by the time we left, the place was relatively full, and I almost backed into somebody's Lexus as we were pulling out of the parking lot. This small family-run restaurant is exactly the kind of place we love telling people about. |
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