The Italian word sprezzatura, in English, roughly translates to nonchalance — some describe it as a “studied carelessness.” Baldassare Castiglione first used the term in 1528, in his Book of the Courtier, but these days, it’s often used by fashion aficionados
to describe a sort of unfussy, relaxed approach to style. Italian menswear consultant Vincenzo Di Luca told Gentleman’s Journal that he sees sprezzatura as “the art of doing things with ease.”
It’s a word that aptly describes celebrity chef and prolific restaurateur Michael Mina’s approach to his forthcoming Portland restaurant, opening this fall — his only in the Pacific Northwest. Bar Sprezzatura, taking over the restaurant space within the Heathman Hotel, came together naturally: The almost 100-year-old hotel needed someone to take over the dining operations. Mina had wanted to open something in Portland for years, and he had a Portland-based chef already on the Mina group payroll. “A lot of times, as chefs … you wait for the opportunity that you think fits what you do,” Mina says. “It all felt right.”
He would know. Mina, a multi-James Beard Award-winning chef and one of Robb Report’s 50 Most Powerful People in American Fine Dining, owns more than 30 restaurants around the globe, as the head of the 20-year-old Mina Group. He runs restaurants on yachts. He is the man behind luxury dining behemoths like Bourbon Steak and San Francisco’s Pabu Izakaya. His eponymous restaurant, Michael Mina, held a Michelin star for six years. He’s also a Pacific Northwesterner, having grown up in Ellensburg, Washington, where going to the rodeo was more common than visiting a fine dining restaurant.
Something ultra-luxe didn’t quite make sense for Portland, a city that is typically allergic to too many frills. When Mina saw the space, with its expansive bar and cozy feel, replicating his San Francisco Financial District restaurant Bar Sprezzatura made more sense. But it won’t be a carbon copy; he wants Portland’s Bar Sprezzatura to feel like its own restaurant. “You want the restaurant to fit the city,” Mina says. “Bar Sprezzaturra is so beverage-forward, and the restaurant can be very approachable.”
For context, San Francisco’s Bar Sprezzatura serves things like wagyu Bolognese, caviar service with porcini puree and pistachio blini, and black truffle-guanciale arancini. But that’s not exactly how Portland’s will feel, partially thanks to Mina’s boots-on-the-ground chef, Coquine alumnus Justin Ramirez. Ramirez has been in Portland for the last 11 years, a former Arden sous chef and former chef de cuisine of the Hoxton’s restaurant operations. But before he moved to Portland, he was a line cook for Michael Mina’s eponymous San Francisco restaurant, now closed; in fact, he worked there with Bar Sprezzatura Portland’s general manager, Tyler Groom, who is also a childhood friend. Ramirez returned to Mina Group a year ago, and says it was a “no brainer” to help Mina with the Portland restaurant.
Some things will remain consistent across both restaurants. Both Sprezzaturas will have a range of Venetian bar snacks, or “cicchetti,” like meatballs or olives. Handmade pastas will live on both menus, as well as a range of raw seafood dishes and pizza variations (al taglio in San Francisco, pizzettes in Portland). But Ramirez wants to work with ingredients that are specific to the Pacific Northwest. A draft of the opening menu hinted that a huckleberry conserva, for instance, would accompany ember-roasted sweet potato, and a carne cruda would come with prized Cascade matsutakes. He’s particularly excited about his Pacific Northwest baked clams with lardo and breadcrumbs. “We’re super fortunate living where we do, with all these farms, between Oregon, Washington, Idaho, all the ranches, and being a few hours from the coast,” he says. “You’ll see Pacific Northwest seafood. You’re going to see farm names that people see at the PSU Farmers Market.” The opening menu notes things like sweet caponatina made with Groundwork’s koginut squash, and grilled king salmon with a minestrone-esque preparation of Romano beans from Eloisa Farms in Albany.
At the bar, Mina Group beverage director Anthony Attanasio and Bar Sprezzatura San Francisco partner Carlo Splendorini are going for a similar ethos. The sections of the cocktail menu are similar to the original location’s, broken up into martinis, Negronis, spritzes, and original cocktails. But Portland’s menu is pulling inspiration from the restaurant’s surroundings. One of the Negronis, for instance, will use Clear Creek Douglas fir brandy and a tarragon-infused vermouth. A dirty martini will infuse Castlevetrano olive brine with local herbs, while a fruitier martini will also use a berry-infused vodka, caperberry brine, and a finish of balsamic pearls. House infusions will play a big role at Bar Sprezzatura, including things like house-made vermouths, liqueurs, and Splendorini’s limoncello, which goes into a house spritz. But he’s not sticking to just lemon. “Grapefruit-cello, blood orange-cello…” he says. “There’s a -cello for everything you want to -cello.”
The wine list will include Italian imports and West Coast wines; Attanasio has his eye on Oregon winemakers growing Italian varietals. But the cocktail list will also have an extensive selection of nonalcoholic cocktails made with dealcoholized wines and zero-proof vermouths and amari. “Anyone who sits at their bar is never going to feel like they have to settle,” Attanasio says.
Mina Group will run the full food and beverage operation in the hotel, which also includes the lobby bar — Attanasio and Splendorini plan to rotate the focus of that space, starting with barrel-aged cocktails. Upstairs, Mina will handle breakfast service for hotel guests, and down the line, they’re considering expanding their offerings downstairs as well. But for now, Mina is focused on his casual, breezy bar and restaurant.
“I love a quaint little restaurant with a nice big bar,” Mina says. “That’s where I go when I go out, the quaint little restaurant with the nice big bar.”
