Monday, November 28, 7:00 pm
Members $90, guests $115

When they opened their restaurant in 1998, close friends Paul Klitsie and Tim Cuscaden decided to name it Fratelli, which means “brothers” in Italian. As the years have passed, Klitsie and Cuscaden have added even more members to their foodie family and have become key players in Portland’s culinary scene. After years of forming close relationships with many of their farmers and purveyors, Klitsie and Cuscaden were inspired to create the Saluté Summer dinners, a series that highlights the goods of local farms. Klitsie described his farmer collaborators to Roger Porter of Willamette Weekly: “They know the art of getting something wonderful out of the earth, and sometimes it gets into my pan the same day. You have no idea what a difference that makes.”

Fratelli’s diners certainly appreciate that difference. In her review for the Portland Mercury, Katie Shimer wrote, “Fratelli is a classic…a place you can keep coming back to with confidence…that the menu will have evolved with the seasons and that your dining experience will be multi-layered and satisfying.” Although the regional Italian menu changes based on seasonal availability, Klitsie has drawn special praise for his use of tomatoes, many of which come from Cuscaden’s 1,000-square-foot organic garden. Klitsie transforms these tomatoes into ground cherry risotto with pesto and prosciutto or taglierini pasta with charred tomatoes, garlic, anchovy, and dried chiles. As Italian Cooking and Living magazine noted, Klitsie “believes in combining only a few ingredients. By conserving their integrity and displaying their elegance, Paul brings out the natural flavors in each dish.”

Klitsie, a native of the Netherlands, received his culinary training at the Hotelberufsfachschule Speiser in Germany and the Culinary School Grongingen in the Netherlands. After working at restaurants throughout Europe, Klitsie was named executive chef of Amsterdam’s Vasso, which became known as one of the city’s finest Italian restaurants. It was there that he met Cuscaden, a graduate of the CIA and the former chef de cuisine of Portland’s esteemed Atwater Restaurant. On Cuscaden’s recommendation, they relocated to Portland to open Fratelli. There, Cuscaden’s responsibilities include tending the garden and the front of the house and cultivating relationships with farmers. He has also put together the restaurant’s impeccable, all-Italian wine list, which pairs perfectly with Klitsie’s inspired cuisine.