The last time I reviewed Solo Italiano was back in May when it first opened, and I was very impressed and wrote at the time that the food had an incredible lightness of being, each dish displaying fine subtleties of preparation and flavor. Yet until then all of the other restaurants that operated prior to Solo’s tenancy at 100 Commercial St failed as if felled by the Curse of Tutankhamen, dying inexplicably even when they were critically acclaimed. But Solo Italiano’s co-owner and chef, Paolo Laboa (along with star Portland fish purveyor Angelo Ciocca), who hails from Genoa and has cooked on both coasts in America for over 10 years, is firmly in command of his kitchen, creating Italian fare–mostly locally sourced–that is literally an unleashing of culinary finery. And after my two recent dinners last week I was left with this impression: Solo Italiano has the qualities of style and cuisine like the white-clothed dining citadels in Rome, where haute Italian fare is at its finest.
The three dining area: rear dining room, the great circular bar area and the side dining room facing the crudo station are intimate and comfortable
