One of Portland’s most hotly-anticipated new restaurants, Chalino, is located in a striking building at the base of north Portland’s N. Williams Avenue and N. Vancouver corridor. The busy bike artery between south and north Portland is also home to some of the most popular shops and restaurants in the city, and is now also host to the Courtyard at One North, a building made with surprising wooden curves and open public gardens.
Chalino itself is light and airy, with tall ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the aforementioned gardens. Afternoon sun shines through the glass-backed bar, illuminating the cocktails that appear, as if by magic, within minutes of sitting down. While Chalino does offer more complicated and alluring concoctions using turmeric root and guava puree, my favorites as the simplest: a tart, pale pink Paloma with tequila, mescal, grapefruit juice, agave, lime, soda and Himalayan salt, or the classic margarita.
But a glass of the fruity, sparkling Txakolina rosé is the perfect accompaniment to the array of small plates that follow. Chalino, which opened barely a month ago, bills itself as “Mexican-inspired” rather than Mexican — which makes sense, given that chef Johnny Leach previously worked at New York City’s Momofuku and with Han Oak’s Peter Cho (Leach helms the kitchen with Chef Dave Haddow, who worked at Portland’s Xico). Their non-Mexican influences can be seen immediately in the salsa array that arrives with the chips. The tomatillo and Thai basil is green and refreshing, while the peanut and ancho salsa is creamy, savory and hearty.
The tostadas — small, fried tortillas with a variety of toppings — are perfectly acceptable snacks. But for dinner, stick to a selection of small plates and pescados. The mushrooms mojo de ajo are an intriguing combination of tastes and textures, fried shallots providing a crunchy counterpoint to the savory, meaty preserved mushrooms. The yucca is wonderful, crisp on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside, topped with horseradish crema, pasilla chile and daikon, then accented with salty salmon roe.
Even without the chorizo, the wild nettle sopes are hearty and satisfying, topped with fermented serrano and queso oaxaca. The halibut ceviche is as striking to look at as it is to taste — small squares of crunchy, brightly colored watermelon radish and bitter orange mingle with chunks of halibut, shiso and chia seeds. It’s bright, beautiful and refreshing, in contrast to the heartiness of the seared sardines. Overall, the combination of tastes, textures and influences appear to have been executed mostly seamlessly, with the exception of the red pozole, which made an overly salty and unnecessary nod to ramen.
This is the perfect time of year for a restaurant like this to open, with warm, sunny days just around the corner, begging for a margarita (or several) and crispy yucca to while away the long afternoons while sitting in the courtyard. Here’s hoping that Chalino gets the customers it deserves — possibly among the crowds of cyclists commuting home on N. Williams Avenue.
