Top Chef star Gabriel Pascuzzi is more than a little familiar with Slabtown in Portland. Northwest Raleigh Street near 21st Street was long home to his beloved neighborhood restaurant Mama Bird, where Portlanders returned for top-notch chicken and epic cocktails. But fine-dining vet Pascuzzi (noma, Collichio & Sons) was ready for a change, and earlier this year he transformed the space into Bistecca Wood Fire Steakhouse.
“It’s like night and day,” says Portland native Pascuzzi, Eater Portland’s Chef of the Year in 2017. He burst onto the local scene that year with the opening of Stacked Sandwich Shop, where the oxtail French dip became one of the most iconic sandwiches in the city. His appearance on Top Chef: Portland in 2021 catapulted him onto the national scene, and he’s just been going from strength to strength since.
At Bistecca, Pascuzzi’s love for wood-fire cooking takes the shape of a charming Italian steakhouse that’s informed by Pacific Northwest ingredients.
Read on for what to expect Bistecca Wood Fire Steakhouse, and secure your spot on OpenTable.
What to eat
Dig into the expansive menu of snacks, salads, steaks, and more starting with an order of nonna’s bread and oil. Pascuzzi found his grandmother’s recipe for this light and fluffy loaf next to a vintage mixer in his father’s basement.
Then move on to the punchy Wagyu steak tartare a la puttanesca made with trims from the steaks on the menu or the bourbon-infused soup. “Our American onion soup is one of the sleepers on the menu,” Pascuzzi says.
And you have to order steak, of course. If you’re with a group, go for the shareable bistecca Fiorentina and bone-in New York strip and pair it with sides like asparagus with bagna cauda and grilled cauliflower with gremolata. End on a sweet note with desserts inspired by an Italian bakery like the panettone bread pudding and spumoni soufflé.
What to drink
Cocktails, beer, and wine make up the tightly curated drinks menu. Many of the cocktails incorporate Italian liqueurs like the Smooth Operator with amaro Ramazzotti or the Rich and Famous with Rinomato aperitivo.
Pascuzzi is particularly excited about the wine list. He handpicked every bottle and glass pour, from sparkling pet-nats and Champagne to bottles of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. “I only go for wine that makes me go, ‘Oh! that’s nice.’”
Where to sit
With windows looking out to Northwest 21st Avenue and Raleigh Street, Bistecca has plenty of natural light and banquette seating—in other words, there’s not a bad seat in the house. Grab a table with a view of the open kitchen to check out Pascuzzi and his team manning the wood-fired oven.
When to go
The restaurant is open Thursday to Monday from 4:30 pm to 10 pm. On Mondays, Restaurant industry workers get 10% off their meals, while everyone else gets $5 off steaks and bottles of wine, $2 off appetizers and salads, and $1 off snacks, sides, desserts, cocktails, draft beers, and glasses of wine.
Caroline Tache is a food and wine writer based in Portland, Oregon.
