[EvaB]

I noticed a "leased" sign (at long last), and now paper on the windows of the former DF location. Anyone know what is going in?

[ExtraMSG]

Metrovino, according to Food Dude, by a guy from Nick's Italian Cafe and Agrivino.

[Jason Wax]

Apparently Steele worked at Farallon and Aqua in SF prior to moving to Oregon a few years back. And MetroVino plans to have about 70 wines by the glass. I'm a bit skeptical about these high tech storage and service systems, but with that many wines available by the glass I'll definitely be stopping by once he opens.
Some links:
Article one
Article two

[ExtraMSG]

I've seen them and used them at Cinetopia/Vinotopia in Vancouver and they seem to work great.

[ExtraMSG]

Had tickets to the opera tonight and suggested a few options for my wife to choose from for a pre-show dinner: Departure, Urban Farmer, Ten-01, or MetroVino. Obviously, she decided on the latter after looking at menus online. And it is a very inviting menu. There were only a couple small differences from this one online:

http://metrovinopdx.com/menus.html

SPOILER --Click here to view--

dinner

artisan bread $4
grilled spring leeks in olive oil

3 oysters $6
cucumber mignonette, ponzu wasabi and horseradish cocktail

tataki of hawaiian yellowtail $14
with radish, meyer lemon and white soy

salmon gravlax bruschetta $10
with grapefruit, basil, edamame purée

mussels $10
belgian-style ale, herb garlic broth

raclette $10
melted raclette, potato, sausage, pickles

roasted marrow bones $11
with parsley-red onion salad and grilled bread

crispy sweetbread “vitello tonnato” $12
with radicchio, potato, egg

gratin of roman-style tripe stew $8

charcuterie of the day aq

valdeón (sp. blue) $7
with port-poached pear and toasted walnuts

cowgirl creamery red hawk (ca. cow) $8
with butternut squash and oat-pecan crumble

cabot clothbound cheddar (vt. cow) $7
with soft caraway pretzel and riesling mustard

bermuda triangle (ca. goat) $ 7
with honey drizzle, apple and fried almonds

pecorino toscano (it. sheep) $7
with strawberry-apple mostarda and hazelnuts

grilled asparagus $10
with crispy poached egg and anchovy-brown butter vinaigrette

roasted beets, orange, pine nuts, and ricotta salata $8

smoked trout and cucumber salad $13
with warm potatoes, braised pork belly and dill vinaigrette

radicchio and spinach salad $10
with strawberries, chèvre, pancetta and toasted hazelnut

chilled cream of asparagus soup $7
with fried duck confit tortelloni

alpine cabbage and bread soup $7
with bacon and melted gruyère

grilled salmon $24
with spicy clam brodo, heirloom beans, and bottarga-aioli bruschetta

scallops in green curry $23
with roasted squash, pickled red onion, cilantro and toasted peanuts

chicken-fried quail $19
with roasted beets, herbed yogurt, vadouvan lentils, and fried quail egg

slow roasted pork shoulder $20
with asparagus, new potatoes, morels and chimichurri

lamb t-bone and house made lamb fennel sausage $24
with chickpeas, broccoli raab, olives and fennel-tomato sauce

red-wine braised beef short ribs $24
with wilted spinach, blue cheese gnocchi and celery salad

dessert

hot apple pie $8
with cheddar cheese crust and cold cream

strawberry financier $8
almond-brown butter cake, strawberry-meyer lemon curd

honey yogurt panna cotta $8
with rhubarb citrus jus

matcha green tea crème brulée $8
with sesame cookies

chocolate espresso cake $8
rum mascarpone mousse and warm ganache

Definitely New American, the type of menu that doesn't speak to any specific cuisine, but would be at home in 23 Hoyt, Ten-01, or Wildwood, just as it would at fine dining restaurants up and down the Pacific. Nothing too scary or earth shattering (well, some would be scared by the marrow, tripe, and sweetbreads). Just lots of local/seasonal foods used in updated classic preps.

We ordered a lot even though we only had an hour for our meal: bread, gravlax bruschetta, sweetbreads, trout and cucumber salad, chilled asparagus soup, lamb rillettes, and chicken fried quail. We got the panna cotta for dessert.

They started us with proseco on the house. I can't remember the label. I didn't have any, just a taste of my wife's. She later had a glass of evasham wood chardonnay for $7.50. She got that more to be nice for the free booze since one glass is about my wife's max.

One of the selling points for the shop is that they have about 80 oenomatic taps, each one able to dispense wine an ounce at a time, sealing it with inert gas to keep it from spoiling. This means they're able to offer 80 different wines by the taste or glass, in addition to the bottle selection. And they can offer wines they would otherwise never risk by the glass. I can't remember the listings, but I do remember one was $75/glass. I suspect that alone will make this a draw for oenophiles.

But based on what we ate, foodies don't have to worry, because the meal was damn good.



If I'm going to pay for bread at a restaurant that already charges over $20 for entrees, this is the way I want it to be. It was a large portion of quality whole wheat bread. Not sure from where. The thing that got me to order it, though, was the promise of "grilled spring leeks in olive oil". I love leeks. I love leeks just simply braised in butter or olive oil. And these were delicious. They subtly flavored the oil and were wonderful spread on the bread. I don't normally even eat bread at a restaurant.



The charcuterie of the day was lamb rillettes with pickled rhubarb for $5. It came already smeared on the crostini. I like mine with more texture than this, but the flavor was fine, meaty, rich -- almost greasy -- and naturally sweet, a good foil for the ultra-tart pickled rhubarb.



The asparagus soup was a perfect late spring dish. I love cold soups and this one was excellent. The asparagus base was creamy and coated the inside of the mouth. It tasted clearly of asparagus. The crab salad that came with it added a nice sweetness. There was just enough to spread through the soup without it supplanting the asparagus flavor. The grated citrus was more garnish than enhancement. The cauliflower cream underneath the crab enriched the soup without diminishing its flavor. The two vegetables have a similar tonal quality and the one just broadened the other. If you didn't know there was cauliflower, I think you'd assume it was a flavored cream.



My wife's favorite item was the bruschetta, crunchy bread topped with soy bean puree, cured salmon, cucumber slices, grapefruit, and shredded basil. She said several times how much she loved that dish. The individual parts came together to make a wonderful whole, but I would have liked to see the grapefruit flavor reduced a little and the salmon flavor increased a little. Gravlax is about the mildest way to serve salmon and even with the generous portion, the grapefruit overpowered it for my tastes. Still, very nice composite flavor and complexity of textures. I bet my wife would eat here tomorrow just because of this dish.



Know what's an underused herb? Dill. I'm always weary of dill, but this meal made me want to see more around town. Here it's part of both the vinaigrette pooling on the plate and fried on top of the dish. This is another dish that did a great job of balacing flavors and textures. Honestly, I think this was more of a pork belly dish than a smoked trout dish, but it was delicious (and probably more to my palate) that way. You have this tender, smokey rich meatiness from both the trout and pork belly. Against that you have these crisp, almost juicy, cucumber slices and a brunois of mixed, crisp and bright, vegetables underneath sitting in the dill vinaigrette. I think there was red onion, cucumber, and maybe celery. Each one of those is a juicy vegetable, just what was needed to offset the rich proteins. And the dill added interest to the flavors without getting in the way of anything. Dill, of course, is a perfect match for fish, but I never thought of it working so well with pork.



The sweetbread dish had a bit of a different flavor profile from some of the others. This dish was about managing bitterness with mild proteins and starches, plus a hit of sourness. Even though the sweetbreads were the star of the dish, the raddichio really set the tone for the overall flavor. It almost brought out a livery quality in the sweetbreads, which were just like I like them, crisp on the outside and tender, but not overly soft or creamy, on the inside. Along with the potatoes and egg, the sweetbreads formed a triad of smooth, almost flat, flavors that the bitter raddichio, the tangy mustard sauce underneath, and the puckery pickles could work against.



The other dish that used dill so expertly was the chicken-fried quail, really a superb dish. First of all, the quail was great. It was juicy and tender with a breading that was as good as any fried chicken breading in town. I'm not sure the quail egg on top did much but make it look prettier, but it certainly didn't take away from the dish. The quail sat atop a bed of lentils with chunks of roasted beets and pools of yogurt-dill sauce around the outside of the plate -- earthy, sweet, and tangy, respectively. Loved that dill sauce. It went great with the quail. It went great with the lentils. It even went with the beets. And the mild dill again added interest and aroma to the dish, without getting in the way.



The only dish that didn't work for us was the dessert. I saw rhubarb and yogurt panna cotta and that made it an easy choice. But it's really a honey panna cotta with grapefruit. I think the grapefruit was a bad choice. Even my wife, who loves grapefruit, said the same. I'm not sure citrus, especially a more astringent citrus like grapefruit, goes all that well with honey or yogurt. You put any other type of fruit there -- cherries, strawberries, apples, pears, mangoes, whatever -- and it probably works a lot better. I think the honey flavor was too strong in the panna cotta, too. It should be an accent to the yogurt, not the other way around. The panna cotta was made well, though.



I like what they've done with the interior. DF was always too cold and stark feeling. The carpeting, the tablecoths, the padded bench seating, the darker colors all make for a more relaxing and inviting environment, I think. DF should have made their place more upbeat and inviting, rather than spare, but this approach works really well for MetroVino. They kept the great booths, of course.

Seemed like they had way too much staff on. Saw some people from Lucier there, everyone in their satiny shirts and bistro black pants. But there was more staff than customers and it looked like they needed something to do in a bad way. My suggestion is to go and give them something to do. That part of the Pearl even has good parking. There was a whole row of street parking right on Northrup next to the restaurant. Service, though, was attentive and thoughtful without being obtrusive. They did several little smart touches, like bringing out the check with the dessert menu, knowing we were in a hurry. And other little things.

Metrovino Bistro
1139 NW 11th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
503.517.7778
http://www.metrovinopdx.com

[Calabrese]

Damn that chicken fried quail looks good.

[Jill-O]

Lots of that looks good, esp. the gravlax, trout and quail. Seems to have an almost Scandinavian accent. ...and lots of dill. ;o)

[ExtraMSG]

I think they're just cherry-picking, like most New American, but it was a very promising meal.

[Twohearted]

ExtraMSG, on May 15 2009, 09:16 AM, said:

I think they're just cherry-picking, like most New American, but it was a very promising meal.

I like that, "cherry-picking". It's an accurate description of every New American restaurant I've ever been to. Of course, it's only cherry-picking if the food is good.

That wine system should really drive down the cost per glass. The system does work quite well and absolutely prevents spoilage of the wine since it is not exposed to any gas or material that would cause a problem. You don't see many of these systems around just yet mainly because they cost a ton.

Food looks good and decently priced. Pork shoulder with morels and chimichuri sounds strange. I need to find a place here that doesn't fry their sweetbreads. I've walked by that place many times on the way to/from the dog park.

[Flynn]

I visited last night for some wine and to check it out. They are very friendly at the bar and willing to highlight some of the more interesting selections in the oenomatic. The spirits they carry are nicely chosen as well, and they plan on getting a bottle of Hirsch 16yr bourbon in soon (one of the holy grails to be sure).

I'll be trying dinner here soon and hope they make it. I like the bar and atmosphere a lot.

[Calabrese]

http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf..._metrovino.html Porter

Chef Gregory Denton's biography on MetroVino's Web site doesn't mention his previous job. Understandably so: He was sous chef at the little-lamented Lucier, the most overpriced and underwhelming restaurant in Portland's history, which closed to few regrets. Not his fault whatsoever.

That he quickly sprang back with a new enterprise, where he is executive chef, suggests plenty of spirit, but that his new place is one of the best restaurants to open in this city in a long while is cause for celebration.

MetroVino has been slow to get off the ground, perhaps because it's in a section of the Pearl District quieter than most, drawing little foot traffic despite being ringed with condominiums.

The greater reason, I suspect, is that its name suggests a wine bar, maybe with a little bar food. Nothing could be further from the truth. MetroVino's kitchen is profoundly serious and absolutely wonderful, turning out dish after dish of imagination, aesthetic appeal and surprising combinations of flavors.

After eight dinners, I am convinced that the restaurant could not disappoint even if a demonic critic-hater spotted me and held a gun to Denton's head, demanding he destroy my taste buds forever. The chef seems incapable of producing anything but a superlative dish.

More at the link above

[jennifer]

Had dinner for the first time here last night. I love the space, it reminds me of Carlyle. Nicely done, upscale, but not at all pretentious. We sat in the booths by the windows. Very comfortable place to linger for hours over small plates and wine.

We had oysters, yellowtail tataki, a bermuda triangle cheese plate and the valdeon cheese plate, a little salad of warm permissons (they were beautifully ripe!) wrapped in bacon, peppery arugula, blue cheese & a drizzle of balsamic. So simple and lovely. We also had a salmon tartare which was light & pillowy and topped with very lightly battered onion rings and greens. Everything in this dish went so well together. And I haven't a clue how they made onion rings crispy yet so not like any typical crunchy onion ring. They were amazing. We also shared a cabbage soup, which had a very onion soup-like broth and came in a crock, and was topped with cheese & very thinly sliced bacon. A perfect little bit of warmth for a damp evening. And a carmelized pear & almond bread pudding that was to die for. That came with an almond milk granite that was just so-so. The bread pudding was made to order and had bits of chocolate in it, just wonderful.

Some other things I remember: the port-poached pears on the valdeon cheese plate were beautiful. They had a hint of spice to them and complimented the blue cheese nicely. When I saw the bermunda triangle cheese, I thought it looked like Humbolt Fog, so I had a pre-conceived notion of what I thought this would taste like and that wasn't the case at all. It's a nice cheese, but the Valdeon and those pears on the other plate stole the cheese show. I didn't care for the roasted leek-olive oil mixture that the bread came with. In fact, there was a group of us and none liked this mixture. The yellowtail tataki was addictive. It had paper thin slices of radish and cucumber and was very citrusy. Definitely a happy little dish.

The thing that was most surprising to me were the prices for wines by the glass. I was actually shocked that most were in the $15 - $30-something range and higher for a glass. There were a few $7 - $9 glasses but nothing that really attracted me. We did 2 wine flights, one was $12 and the other $20-something. Both reasonable for a flight. There were 3 wines in the flight, a bit less than half the pour of a normal glass. The Piedmont flight was nicer than the Italian flight, but neither blew me away. We ended up getting who knows how many glasses of O'Shea Cab at $19/glass. They claimed to not have any bottles but had endless # of glasses available. I think we had 8 or 9 glasses of the stuff. The glassware itself was beautiful, for anyone picky about the proper glass. Beautiful Riedel stemware, huge goblets for some, and nice full red glasses for others. I do think that they serve the reds a tad too cold. I was cupping each glass in my hands to warm the wine up some so I could really taste it. I don't know if these were fresh bottles or from the oenomatic.

All in all, I really love this place and I'll definitely be back. I love the vibe and the food, it's so comfortable and easy to graze over food, wine and good conversation. I just think I need to figure out what wines are nice at the more reasonable price points because most of what I saw seemed borderline ridiculous to me on glass prices. We left around 9pm and almost every table was filled, which was nice to see because when we'd walked in, there were a few people at the bar and that was it. I'm glad they are doing well, it's a great place.

[Jill-O]

Wow. Had a great meal here tonight with SarahWS. One of the most interesting and delicious meals I have had this year.

Started with three oysters each with a different accompaniment: cucumber mignonette, ponzu wasabi and horseradish cocktail sauce. The cucmber mignonette was my favorite but they were all pretty tasty, and the oysters were nice meaty Willapa Bay specimens. Had a taste pour of an interesting Italian bubbly I had never had before, Dama del Rovere, a Venetian Durello. Nice and crisp with the taste of apples and a great pairing with the oysters.

I had a lovely Cremant (so underated for bubbly) taste pour of a NV Domaine Huber-Verdereau as we shared bbq eel and endive salad - salt-cured foie gras, pomegranate vinaigrette, peanut brittle. Whoa, what an interesting and delicious mix of flavors and textures: creamy rich foie gras torchon, sweet eel, crunchy endive, nutty sweet brittle, and bursts of juicy tart crunchy pomegranate seeds. It was gorgeous and a great value at $15 (3 nice slices of torchon). Easily one of the best plates I have had all year.

Next was baked escargot & button mushrooms - herb-garlic butter, almonds, parmigiano reggiano, served with a generous portion of bread to dip in the garlicky buttery goodness. I finished the Cremant, and our great server really knew his wines and pairings and suggested the Terredora 2007 – Greco Di Tufo – Loggia Della Serra. Great pairing with this and also the next course...

...which was tataki of hawaiian yellowtail - radish, cucumber, citrus and white soy. Nice and fresh and light, a play of rich buttery yellowtail, bright acidic citrus, crunchy fresh radish and cucumber, salty umami soy.

Then we shared the roasted marrow bones - parsley-red onion salad and grilled bread and I splurged on a taste pour of Produttori Del Barbaresco 1999 - "Ovello." The bones were delicious, and so easy to eat because they cut them through the long way, and a nice amount of grilled toasty bread to go with. Great deep robust wine pairing, another great pairing courtesy of our fine server.

Our next course was from the list of mains (the other were all smaller plates or salads) steamed mussels and pork confit -brussels sprouts, chanterelles, parsnip, bacon sherry cream, grilled bread. The pairing suggested by the server was good, but not great, a local Maysara pinot. It's a very soft wine and without the pork, it would have worked well, but the pork was a bit smoky and aggressive in flavor, almost a bit too much for the fruity soft wine. It was OK, but a pinot with a bit more of a backbone or a bolder acidic-edged white would have been better. It wasn't a total fail, though, and the wine itself was very nice, it was just the weakest pairing. The dish was delicious and the chanterelles were kept almost whole, which was great and added beautiful texture to the dish...the parsnips were also a wonderful touch.

Our last course was dessert and a cheese selection: cabot clothbound cheddar - soft caraway pretzel and riesling mustard and parmesan pound cake - red wine-poached apples, stumptown coffee anglaise, spiced sugar. I had a pour of a Peter Lehman 2007 – Semillon - Barossa Valley, AU. The cake was gorgeous (Sarah took pics, so you may get to see the amazingly beautiful plating) and was a serving about 3 times the size of those in other restaurants for $8. It was delicious, the bite of parmesan with the spice of the apples and the wonderful coffee cream - so freakin' good and nicely paired with the Semillon (better than it went with the cheese, but I was more interested in the cake than the cheese anyway ;o).

It was a lot of food and a lot of taste pours (ranging from $3.50 -$6.50 for 1oz. [the Semillon] 1.75 oz or 2.5 oz pours - the bubbly pours were 2.5 oz.) but it seemed to be a really good value. They offer a bread plate, but everything that needed bread came with it and the portions seemed generous for the price point. I got to try six wines, and yet I drank less than 12 oz. of wine and enjoyed nice pairings...all while dining with someone who does not drink. This is a great place for that because the enomatic machines mean that you don't have to order a bottle to have a great selection of wines to choose from.

This is a great place and I encourage folks to patronize it. We got seated at 8pm, but it was full and we needed the reservation we had for the table. I am glad they are doing well and I cannot wait to go back and try more things!

Jennifer, I suggest when you go back, go for the smaller taste pours. The prices of tastes and full glasses are the same by the ounce, and if you order lots of different things and share them, you can pair something different with each plate. Also, I found that when sharing the smaller plates, a taste pour was enough to get me through the plate...and then I was ready for another wine to pair with the next one.

If folks are willing, we can try to do a group meal here in January. It will probably be over $50pp without wine, though, so save up folks! ;o)

[jennifer]

Jill-O, on Nov 14 2009, 12:24 AM, said:

Jennifer, I suggest when you go back, go for the smaller taste pours. The prices of tastes and full glasses are the same by the ounce, and if you order lots of different things and share them, you can pair something different with each plate. Also, I found that when sharing the smaller plates, a taste pour was enough to get me through the plate...and then I was ready for another wine to pair with the next one.

I was reading your post and saying to myself, "What?! Where were the taste pours on the menu?" I must've been already too tipsy to see them. hahahaaha! We all met up at Bridgeport and started on beer at 3pm, so by the time we hit Metrovino later on, well, you get the point. Anyway, I really didn't see that on the menu. I will DEFINITELY take advantage of that next time. Our bill was crazy, over $100 per person with tip. It was definitely the wine.

The food is so good here though, I'm so glad you mentioned this to me because I wanted to go back after I figured out how to do it less expensively. Those oysters were awesome, as was the tataki of yellowtail. I'm still thinking about those dishes.

What did you think about the temperature of the reds? Their glassware was nicer than almost any place in town, but the reds seemed too cold so we warmed them in our hands for a while before drinking.

[Jill-O]

The only reds I had, the Maysara and the Barbaresco, were fine in temp. I would have noticed if they were too cold, as I don't like that either. Then again, it seemed a bit warm in the restaurant to me too.

Don't get me wrong, Jennifer - my part of the meal with tip was over $90, about twice what Sarah's was with iced tea (which is a bottomless glass at $2.50 - and they lost money on Sarah last night, for sure ;o). Our total check without tip was $123 or some thing like that. But I got to try 6 wines and they paired so well with the wonderful food and I didn't have to worry about drinking too much and driving and still thoroughly enjoyed myself. That's amazing to me...and the food, service and atmosphere were great.

[ExtraMSG]

Apparently MetroVino is adding a burger at their bar for $5, paired with a glass of bubbly for $10.

See here:

http://pdx.eater.com/archives/2010/01/25/m...speculation.php

[SarahWS]

Ate here Monday night with Jill-O to celebrate my birthday. They were almost empty at 7:30 pm and the parking was easy - I wanted to shout to Portland "Where's the love?" because Metrovino certainly deserves to be packed every night.

The stand out was this crab salad - just a lovely light combination of crab, cucumber:


I had eaten the grilled broccolini with crispy poached egg, anchovy-brown butter vinaigrette, parmigiano reggiano, basil ($11) before during happy hour after I needed cheering up after paying my vet across the street for a vet certificate I knew the airline would never check but am required to carry. Still amazing and one of those combinations that make you wonder why you hadn't thought of charring the broccolini like that or deep-frying the poached egg:


We also enjoyed these salmon gravlax bruschetta with grapefruit, basil, and edamame puree ($12):


And then I pigged out these roast marrow bones with parsley-red onion salad and grilled bread (saved one for a treat on Wednesday after I warmed it up in my toaster oven):


For dessert we had the cabot clothbound cheddar with soft caraway pretzel and mustard ($8) which as Jill put it were so good she wished she could buy them by the bag and the waiter agreed that they all love to nibble on them in the kitchen.

We also had the parmesan pound cake with red wine-poached apples, stumptown coffee anglaise, spiced sugar ($8) which is still my favorite cake in Portland.

The service, as always, was amazing - thoughtful, attentive, and helpful without any stuffiness or formality.

If you have not tried Metrovino, you really owe it to yourself to try one of the best restaurants in Portland. With Sel Gris gone, they are the best restaurant of this type in Portland.

[Twohearted]

We finally ate here for the first time on Friday night and I wasn't as impressed as others. We stopped by around 7 PM and they were only about half full...not a good sign for their business.

Me - (1) sauted sweetbreads with pork belly, onions and what I think was something like cranberry cabbage or something -- (2) lamb t-bone with fennel sausage, goat cheese polenta, clams, grilled fennel, olives
Wife - pork shoulder with maitake shrooms, heirloom beans, broccolini, chimichurri

The appetizer I had was a special and while I loved that I finally found a place that didn't fry their sweetbreads, the portion was huge. I really could have made a meal of just that dish and some bread. The cabbage-like stuff on the bottom was also totally out of proportion with the rest of the dish and was very sweet. We both felt that our entrees were overdone (too many flavors) and were over salted. I love salt, but too much salt becomes a real distraction.

I think I'd go back, but would probably just graze on the wine selection and appetizers. Speaking of the wine, their selection is really impressive.

[Jill-O]

Aside from looking longingly at that whole fried fish (and not ordering it, mind you) on the entrees list, I am always more interested in the smaller plates there (some of which are not so small, really). This time, as you see above, we ordered no mains at all. Last time we ordered one main and several other dishes and shared them all. And yeah, the wine list, and the fact that you can get so many wines by the taste pour and glass is amazing here.

I have not noticed oversalting (and I am kind of sensitive to it, so I definitely would notice) there, though I do agree with you that you could exclude an ingredient or two in almost every dish and still have a nice dish. I have been pleased with the few meals I have had there, and I really like the service there too, I always feel taken care of but it never seems stuffy.

[SarahWS]

I think I've ordered one main here versus 10 plus small plates and appetizers in my 3 or 4 visits here, so you can tell where I've spread the love. I do agree with Jill-O that the plates can be pretty complex, but so far I've never felt that something should have been left off. That's why I tend to put Metrovino and Sel Gris in the same group in my head - they are both aiming for the same level of service and complexity in their dishes.

As for the salt, I haven't had a dish yet there where it was oversalted. My mom went on a no sodium diet during her pregnancies and has never been able to adjust to salt again (little to no salt when she cooks), so I really tend to be salt sensitive and don't return to restaurants where the salt is such I wake up that night several times to drink water. Haven't had that happen at Metrovino yet, so you might have had a one-off.

I think restaurants are having a tough time right now in the Pearl District as the amount of residents (a lot of those condos are empty) just isn't high enough to support the large number of restaurants. Combine that with the general economic situation, the recently extended paid parking hours and I bet fewer people are willing to stick around the Pearl after work for drinks and dinner. I have found my initial reluctance to go down to the Pearl for dinner to be totally baseless, as parking is free after 7 pm and it's amazingly easy to park around there. I really wouldn't judge Metrovino for being half empty - it's an absolutely massive space and really on the outer edge of the Pearl District. As the new park is finished and they get more established in the neighborhood, I bet they will get a larger following (although I really hope I'll still be able to stop in for their bargain of a happy hour after the vet).