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Chinese/Italian
Portland Square
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Running a multi-level dining experience - especially one with two different cuisines - is about as challenging as you’d expect, says Executive Chef Marc Cheng. But it’s certainly a fun challenge at Portland Square, where two unrelated concepts sit under the same roof. The third floor is home to Honey Chinese, while Primadonna serves up American Italian fare on the fourth floor.
The through line, Cheng says, is nostalgia. It’s not about transporting guests to China or to Italy - though one of Honey Chinese’s lead chefs is from Beijing - it’s about a sense of nostalgia that makes guests feel at home. “I was really inspired by my time in San Francisco in the 1980s,” Cheng says. “Going there as a young child, learning about North American takes on traditional dishes. It’s all about playing on that nostalgia, and on the evolution of cuisines in the North American way.”
Primadonna is specifically American Italian, a place where chicken parm and mozzarella sticks sit on red checkered table cloths surrounded by pictures of Italian American legends, both real and fictional - think Frank Sinatra and Tony Soprano. At Honey Chinese, red is a key part of the decor, as are panels on the windows that represent the seasons. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure, of sorts, for guests, but Cheng believes that INK Entertainment’s latest venture is all about making sure the guests can feel the good vibes above all else. After all, it does sit at one of the busiest, most iconic intersections in the city - King and Portland.
“The appetizer platter was kind of based on the idea of a pu pu platter,” Cheng says. “It’s kind of tacky, but it’s fun.” It’s brimming with dishes pulled from Hawaii and Hong Kong, from spring rolls to a traditional cucumber salad, shrimp toast, and wontons.
Traditional Cantonese dim sum is also available, with options ranging from a steamed shrimp dumpling to siu mai (pork and shrimp) and beef offerings.
“Cantonese chow mein is always a mixture of meats,” Cheng says. “We wanted something special, so we made a combination of all of it. You’ve got beef, pork, scallop, and shrimp. And then we gave it a fun, kind of magical presentation before we mixed it all up, because why not?”
“Pineapple is more of a Hawaiian or Filipino thing, but they introduced it in San Francisco’s Chinatown,” Cheng says. So he incorporated it into his sweet and sour chicken in another nod to nostalgia.
“The Mongolian beef sauce is actually a Szechuan-style sauce that our chef makes as part of his repertoire,” Cheng says. “But it's a North American classic, and it had to be on the menu.”
The Peking duck is done in two ways, a mixture of Beijing style and Cantonese style. The two versions are mixed together to create one unique offering.
Cheesecake gets a Chinese twist with a fragrant flower called osmanthus, which is then combined with lychee for added sweetness.
The sticky toffee pudding gets a similar treatment, made with red date salted caramel and sesame seed tuile.
Patrón Silver and Domaine de Canton are mixed with a rosehip and hibiscus-infused tea, honey, ginger, and plum wine to create a sweet flavour profile with a bit of a kick, thanks to the ginger.
The cocktail menu is loosely based on the idea of Chinese seasons, and the Chifa Colada is part of the summer offerings. It's made with matcha, pineapple, coconut milk, aloe juice and Bacardi 8 rum to give it a tiki feel.
The Sunfire is reminiscent of a spicy margarita, made with Don Julio Blanco, mezcal, red pepper, strawberry, chilli crunch, and Sichuan peppercorn.
An American Italian staple, burrata, is served with housemade bomba and a piece of crunchy focaccia bread.
Family-style meals are commonplace among Italians, and so the idea of an antipasti platter felt like a natural menu addition. Primadonna’s is served with mozzarella sticks, zucchini fritti, calamari, and nduja-stuffed olives.
In a fun twist, the chicken parm is served tableside, and the giant portion of fried chicken is loaded with spicy vodka sauce, gooey mozzarella, and basil.
What’s an American Italian spot without a pepperoni pizza? Primadonna’s is made with Ezzo pepperoni and fior di latte cheese. “It’s around 14 to 16 inches, so everybody gets a little bit bigger than a New York slice,” Cheng says.
The giant portion of pesto pasta is served with a dollop of stracciatella on top. “We wanted bigger portions of pasta to encourage sharing around the table,” Cheng says.
Three meatballs dot the top of the bolognese pasta, which is made with veal and pork ragu and Grana Padano cheese.
“I don’t like chocolate powder on top of the tiramisu,” Cheng says. “It’s just so messy. So we just put chocolate pieces on top.”
Instead of traditional vermouth, Primadonna’s Negroni uses white vermouth and infuses strawberry into the gin and adds rhubarb to the mix to create a sweeter profile.
The El Diablo presents a fruitier profile, made with Amaro Nonino for an Italian flair, Grey Goose vodka, passion fruit puree, tangerine syrup, and prosecco.
An Aperol Spritz gets an extra jolt of Italian flair with the addition of Aperitivo. It’s then mixed with prosecco and soda to create a twist on a classic.
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