Exactly…moved on to bigger / better, the bar traffic at Porta pays the bills.
I will say that I’ve yet to be disappointed with the food at Porta, though-- and that’s even since I learned that the executive chef had left. In fact, she was probably gone long before I heard about it.
I tend to stick with salads, pizza, meatballs, and octopus there (not all in one sitting!), but the last time I went one of my friends ordered the risotto version of one of the pastas and she was was freaking out over how good it was. That was in early July.
They no longer offer the risotto versions of the pastas. Only one lemon risotto. Went there last week.
Tried to go Sunday during the rain as our friends wanted to take us there to thank us for staying with us and the wait was 1.5 hours and they said they had been running over that.
The place prints money but it is no longer on my list of places I have to go to
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WOW! Sad to hear; hopefully once we get off-season they’ll return to the more expanded menu, but I just don’t see the crowds leaving…
I’m telling you the place has “jumped the shark”, I’ve seen it a million times, once the bar business takes off this way the restaurant is an after thought. Kiss the Porta’ days good by as a true food destination. (not that I ever even liked it)
As a daytime semi-regular at Porta I do have to disagree with your ‘shark’ assessment. I have noticed no negative changes. What I do see is a more active menu with new items being added. Some of the new items are quite good. I have to believe that there is a trained professional guiding the kitchen.
I also note that the majority of the (daytime, evening) seating is at tables, not the bar.
Just a difference of opinion.
Hell, that’s basically been the story of the Asbenny Park renassaince. As each new joint finds its place with food and booze, the ones that start with or shift to a booze first mentality profit most and last longest. I think Porta’s demise is far from eminent; but, I won’t be shocked if we see ‘Joanie Loves Chiachi’ appear on the network schedule before too long.
