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Nostrana—literally ‘ours’—invokes local. Simple food from honest ingredients. Pure, regional, Italian.
Presently offering dinner indoors Monday – Saturday.
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDEDNostrana
Local, is the most powerful selling word in the market and it is never taken in vain. In Italian, it is nostrani or nostrane (depending on whether you are using the masculine or feminine form), whose literal meaning is ours. To shoppers, ours means it’s better because it has travelled a short distance to the market, hence it’s fresher. An underlying, more emotional secondary message is that it will be more satisfying because the taste is the comforting one of home.
—Marcella Hazan, Marcella Cucina, MacMillan 1997
Cathy Whims
A channeler of the soul, psyche, and techniques of Italy, Chef Cathy Whims is a master of inventive regional Italian cuisine. Her many personal relationships with farmers and ranchers in the Pacific Northwest give her access to top quality ingredients, allowing her food to reflect the best of both the region and the season, in the true Italian spirit. At all three of her Portland, Oregon restaurants — the flagship Nostrana, urban pizza and cocktail spot Oven & Shaker, and her modern wine bar Enoteca Nostrana — Whims’ elemental regional Italian cooking has earned her six nominations for James Beard Best Chef Northwest.
Meet Our Team