From Rome To Your Home
By Michael Lee
Who doesn’t love a great home-cooked meal prepared entirely from scratch? Not many, and if traditional Italian fare sings to you like a gondolier, then Taste Unique may be for you.
Chef Stefania Toscano and her husband, Sommelier Lawrence Mc Cormick moved to Portland from Rome, Italy in June of 2008 with their two young sons, Sean, 4 and James, 6. By that winter, they embarked on a plan to open an Italian deli representative of their combined passion for good food and sustainability. After more than 8 months of detailed planning and long hours, the couple quietly opened Taste Unique at 2134 SE Division in early July, 2008 with a specific intention – to offer Portlanders authentic Italian cuisine using the highest-quality, local, sustainable ingredients that they can cook at home.
Born just outside of Naples in 1970, Chef Toscano was raised in central Italy in the town of Perugia where she grew up learning family recipes from her mother and aunts. "Everything was made from scratch, including our sausage" says Toscano speaking with a pronounced accent, "My father was an agriculturalist, and each November he would get a pig and young cow from a friend who had a farm." The family used the meat to prepare what they would need for the upcoming year including home-made prosciutto, salami and sausage. "Everyone in the family had a job, mine was to peel the garlic," she says.
Toscano moved to Rome in 1997 to assist in the opening of Le Cornacchie, a restaurant and bar where she then worked for two years. After leaving the restaurant for a career as a communications manager, she fed her passion for cooking by attending the Gambero Rosso cooking school and teaching classes on traditional Italian cooking. While working for the Sony press office, Toscano coordinated the launch of Sony Playstation, PS2 in Milan where she met Lawrence Mc Cormick who was working in external relations and marketing for Tech TV.
Mc Cormick was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1968 to an Irish father and an Italian mother. In 1972, he moved to Rome with his mother and brother where he lived until moving to Portland. He attended architecture school, however, spent ten years as a communications/marketing consultant. Like his wife, Mc Cormick has a profound passion for food as well as wine. He attended classes at the Italian Sommelier Association in Milan for three years where he refined his palette in a region known for great wine. After a brief courtship, Toscano and Mc Cormick married in 2000 and soon after began their family.
Over the years, the pair visited the Northwest a few times and fell in love with the area. "Seattle is really nice, but much too large for our taste," says Toscano. "When we decided to move to the U.S., we chose Portland. It’s a lot like Seattle, but the right size for us." "We only knew one person in Portland, our friend Stephen Tobler who is an architect that also recently moved here," says Mc Cormick. "He agreed to help us with our deli, but at the time, I had no idea that he was an award-winning designer." Tobler has worked on numerous projects around the world including the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Canal + Headquarters in Paris and the U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan. "I’m pretty sure this is the smallest project he has ever done, and we’re grateful," Mc Cormick says.
The interior of Taste Unique is fairly simple, yet incorporates highly stylized components designed by Tobler. Along the length of the kitchen stands a sizeable counter treated on the exterior with beautifully finished fir strips running horizontally with an alternating corner detail. "This reclaimed fir was actually the original floor in our Eastmoreland area house," Mc Cormick explains. "In fact, we used the same wood to build our café tables." Although the space is modest is size with seating for only 8, it boasts a very high ceiling that has a suspended wooden grid, "The ceiling treatment came from our old deck that we salvaged."
you walk in the door, you are met immediately with the aroma of freshly baked salty Roman focaccia, or pizza bianca (white pizza) as they call it, which Chef Toscano prepares every hour. Each visitor is offered a free slice either served plain, or stuffed with mortadella, salami or Nutella. In front of you is a deli case packed with freshly made fettuccine and tagliolini, hand-sliced by Chef Toscano, as well as her signature traditional lasagnas made with béchamel, ragu, mozzarella and authentic parmegiano. They also offer vegetarian lasagna prepared with fresh local zucchini and thyme.
Included in their regular menu are canneloni with your choice of spinach, meat or zucchini, baked risotto pie, and ravioli. There are daily items added depending on the availability of fresh produce supplied by local farmers markets and they vary by season. In addition, Chef Toscano offers a variety of homemade sauces such as ragu bolognese, marinara, mushroom and sausage, and amatriciana sauce. For those with a sweet tooth, Taste Unique makes tiramisu with fresh mascarpone, savoiardi and fresh moka brewed coffee as well as a variety of pastries.
"We really wanted to replicate the appeal of a traditional Italian kitchen," Mc Cormick says. "We just like the family atmosphere of the kitchen." All offerings are packaged to go and if you prefer, Taste Unique will even prepare special orders if you call ahead. They are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and have a complete menu available at tasteunique.com.
