After hitting a pandemic-related snag (they’re behind every corner, I swear), SORELLA is finally opening tomorrow, Wednesday December 8th. I broke the news about this new project from the Acquerello team last month, but here are a few updates, including links to the dinner menu (dishes include warm Parmesan budino, striped bass with Manila clams in fennel and potato broth, all kinds of housemade pastas, comforting dishes like pumpkin minestrone, and a show-stopping, dry-aged beef timballo AKA fancy lasagna with tomato, dry-aged beef, Comté), cicchetti at the bar (Kusshi oysters with sea bean mignonette, zucchini fritti, potato-leek focaccia, sausage-stuffed and fried Calabrese chicken wing), and Italian-inspired cocktails. The wine list is also fabulous (certo), with a focus on Piemontese and Toscana wines.
Sorella chef de cuisine Denise St. Onge (Greens, Atelier Crenn, Prospect, SPQR) leads the kitchen team, working closely with Acquerello Group culinary director/Acquerello chef de cuisine Seth Turiansky (who happens to be her husband), and managing partners Suzette Gresham (Acquerello executive chef/owner) and Giancarlo Paterlini (Acquerello founder/owner), plus general manager Sean Talley (The Cavalier).
Tava Lloyd of Portland-based Harbour Creative is behind Sorella’s update—the 50-seat dining room and 30-seat bar area now have a curved, handmade cane-and-maple partition crafted by artisan woodcraftsman Jessi Davis, and there’s also a standing rail and amber-tinted glass. Loving the sassy new neon sign. Open Wed-Sun 5:30pm-9:30pm. 1760 Polk St. at Washington.
The newly expanded bar area at Sorella, with a standing rail and partition dividing the bar from the dining room. Photo: Hardy Wilson.
