The Blueberry Files has posted a first look at Tipo,
Tipo, the neighborhood restaurant from Central Provisions owners Chris and Paige Gould, opened last night, serving wood-fired pizzas, handmade pastas, and small plates. We went for an early dinner anticipating a crush of people, but found a pleasant, steady flow of customers in the open, well-lit space…Tipo is sure to be a hit with the neighbors. Even those used to dining on-peninsula should venture out to this relaxed neighborhood spot.
Off topic, apologies. Ordered take out from Sichuan Kitchen on Congress St. I waited for my food at the bar, the interior was sterile and soulless, perhaps still a work in progress. I listened to an owner and new bartender chit chat, they sounded like amateurs and totally unprepared for the night ahead. Left there with a bag of food and a pessimistic feeling about the meal awaiting me. But wow, was I surprised when I got home and rewarmed the food! Szechuan beef stew on noodles, cucumber salad and stir fried eggplant were exquisitely prepared and redolent with Szechuan peppercorns. The food is delicious, wickedly spicy and unlike anything available in Portland. Lesson learned, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Ronaldo – from what I hear, these folks have been through the ringer trying to get this place opened. Definitely lots to work out on our first visit yesterday (front of house needs serious attention, that younger girl can’t do it all and the her coworker was not trained or useful) but the food was solid! We needed more heat but otherwise very satisfying. Thank goodness! Looking forward to trying more of the menu.
went to tipo last night. had high hopes. pizza was terrible, doughy with a few lamb pieces and some arugula. pizza should come out hot, bubbly and crispy. If you don’t know how to cook pasta don’t put it on the menu. rye tagliatelle was served in a funky sauce. the pasta was hard and grainy and the portion size was too small for the price. charred octopus was edible but you had to search thru all of the pasta to find the pieces. I’m tired of chefs always trying to reinvent food. just make me a good red sauce with a good meatball and a doggy bag size of pasta.
I went in two Friday’s back, their one week anniversary and First Friday. We fortunately sat down right before 6:00 and were able to get our order in quick and watch the food come out fast. From that point on, we were able to thoroughly enjoy what we ate, all while watching them totally get weed-ed. Long wait times for both tables and food. It seemed like at one point they even stopped picking up the phone to receive take-out orders. Sadly for them it sounded like some of the dining room was not very understanding of opening hurdles, but overall most people looked quite satisfied.
Although it took us 45 minutes to get our bill and then have it returned to us (and they also forgot to bring us our left-overs to go as well) we both left very excited for the future. The sliced beef in chili really got our appetite and excited level up though I’m not actually sure where the tripe was in it, eggplant was truly (surprisingly) delicious, double-cooked pork was tender and flavorful but could have used a bit more heat, but the poached fish had some real authentic tingle to it showing how much potential they have.
Give them awhile to work out the service kinks, and hopefully get the spice level up a bit (though they seemed really worried about things already being too spicy, and we witnessed a Tinder-couple pretend to freak out about the heat simply so they could get their glasses of water refilled), but I am truly excited for this new addition to Portland’s dining scene.