Chef Jamie Wilcox grew up with Italian grandparents, but she’s quick to clarify that she is not Italian. “I was born in the Pacific Northwest, and a lot of inspiration stems from that,” she says. “I do a lot of fishing and foraging and gardening, I’ve worked on a ton of farms. So I take the idea of Italian food a little loosely.”

That cultural mashup is fairly common in Portland, with the legacies of places like the late-great Genoa and grand dame Nostrana looming large over Portland’s restaurant scene. But at Tartuca — the new pasta and pizza restaurant landing in the former Radar space May 25 — the emphasis is less on identifying the origin of the cuisine, and more about its role in the neighborhood.