Portale
Italian restaurant · Chelsea ·
Seasonally driven Italian dishes from an open kitchen
Seasonally driven Italian dishes from an open kitchen
"This restaurant, named for its chef Alfred Portale, offers a menu of Italian classic dishes in a fine dining vein, with the conventional three courses plus pizzas and desserts. The antipasti are particularly fine, including a perfect seafood salad of lobster, scallops, octopus, shrimp, and avocado. The menu also lists a handful of pasta and secondi, and the one labeled “maiale” (Italian for “pig”) combines hunks of pork with polenta and a zingy mostarda." - Robert Sietsema
"One walk down a charming, interior walkway to access Chef Alfred Portale's chic Chelsea dining room, set in a former 19th-century carriage house. The brick facade remains, while inside, the space has white-painted exposed brick walls and wood plank flooring.The well-curated Italian menu is done up in a contemporary manner and evokes the Mediterranean. Primi are a highlight, as in the agnolotti, featuring fresh pasta pockets filled with creamy ricotta and sauced with a zesty lamb ragu. A fillet of seared Ora King salmon is attractively plated with pesto-sauced cracked wheat and an array of garnishes that remind of ratatouille—diced, roasted eggplant and zucchini, a roasted red pepper vinaigrette, and a creamy-textured black olive vinaigrette." - Michelin Inspector
"Trying to book a Friday 7 p.m. reservation at Portale, I found that while OpenTable showed no available slots between 5:30 and 9 p.m., booking directly on the restaurant’s website (controlled by SevenRooms) offered same-day options between about 6:45 and 9 p.m. and allowed me to choose my seating area, illustrating how the platform can surface different inventory and seating choices that third-party platforms might not show." - Melissa McCart
"A four course prix fixe for $140 per person is on offer for Christmas Eve at Alfred Portale’s namesake restaurant. Choices include a roasted pear and bacon salad with gorgonzola; seared scallops; a seafood bucatini; chicken with polenta, mushrooms, and black truffle; and rack of lamb." - Eater Staff
"Alfred Portale now helms his own namesake restaurant in Chelsea, a continuation of the career he defined at Gotham Bar & Grill and the role that positioned him to serve as culinary director for the new Mercer Hotel project." - Melissa McCart