What a brilliant move for Portland’s newest restaurant, Jing Yan,  to begin serving on Thanksgiving Eve.  There’s barely a home cook who is inclined to cook at home before the big feast, even it it’s pared down for the pandemic. Take out fits the bill.

It’s only one of three restaurants that operate atop Munjoy Hill, the city’s established luxury zip code for   condos and homeowners, renters and AirBNB residents. And an Asian restaurant is just what the neighborhood wanted.  Other would-be proprietors included a pizzeria, various Italian restaurants, Mexican, vying to fill the space.

Co-owners husband and wife Britt Lang and Leo Zhang took over the long-empty nest of the former Lolita. For now it’s take-out only for their highly inspired Asian-fusion fare.  Eventually there will be seating with tables of four spaced at least 6 feet apart in the small dining room.  Bar seating will probably not resume until it’s safe to do so, but Zhang’s expertise is his bar program learned at area restaurants  as well as Bar 4 Nine in Beijing, where the couple met.  Their chef is Chris Petrillo, who has cooked at many Portland restaurants.

90 Congress, the new Jing Yan restaurant

On Wednesday evening I ordered 4 dishes– 2 small plates and 2 larger dishes, more than enough for the two of us from our new neighborhood outpost.  The cooking is both subtle in spicing and meticulously prepared to keep everything tasting very fresh.  No sugar coated, heavily corn-starched cooking here. In other words, this is sophisticated fare with subtle intensities of flavor.

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