Dishin' It

[January 10th, 2007] Hold onto your pasta—the couple behind Southeast Ankeny's longtime Italian date destination Il Piatto has gone Asian fusion. That's right, after 12 years of wooing diners with semolina and sauce, Eugen and Lenor Bingham opened the Jade Lounge in the storefront adjacent to Il Piatto on New Year's Eve, hawking a menu packed with Thai, Japanese and Indonesian dishes, from banana-leaf-wrapped salmon to black rice pudding (entrees priced $12-$21). Knock back pert, fruit-infused cocktails with names like Buddahlicious and One Complex Trollop to round out what Lenor calls the "very sexy and not pretentious" vibe of the Jade, which is connected to Il Piatto through an arched doorway. So, what the hell does Italian-Asian cuisine smell like? "It's really weird; you can't smell the different dishes in [the separate rooms]," Lenor swears. We guess the whole new venting system, which Lenor says the couple spent "a fortune on," was worth the money. 2342 SE Ankeny St., 236-4998. Check out jadeloungepdx.com for details.