We took two out-of-town visitors to Oleana’s garden two nights ago. It was a warm Cambridge evening and our guests and my wife had a great time. After the sun stopped shining in my face so did I. I’ve never had a bad dish at Oleana, over probably 50+ encounters over the years (including pandemic takeaways), but I have occasionally encountered something that I thought a bit below their usual high standard. Not on this visit. We shared 9 dishes, all superb, each seemingly better than the last. As mentioned above, they seem now to consciously course the food, and pace it. In the order in which they arrived we had their as-always terrific za’atar bread, this time with a skordalia dip (the accompaniment has varied over the years); warm buttered hummus with its basturma wrap (crisp this time); creamy gigante beans in a spicy tomato sauce; once-again terrific spinach falafel (a must-order for us each time); salmon crudo (new to us) on a bed of beet-stained radishes(?); fat, open ended, rice-filled dolma; sultan’s delight, another must-order for us (one friend declared it the dish of the evening); their ever-changing moussaka (this time with interleaved zucchini slices); and lemon chicken on a cheesy pancake base.
Ended with a shared baked alaska and a plate of cookies. Another really great dinner.
With an excellent bottle of rosé ( a blend of Sangiovese and Aleatico), two further glasses of wine, and two turkish coffees, the bill before tip was a shade under $350. The tipping was complicated because there were two lines: service staff and kitchen. I ended up putting in a lot more than even my usual expansive amount. It’s only money though and people keep assuring me that I can’t take it with me. (I’ve hedged my bets, though. Pretty silly they’ll look when I strut around the afterlife smoking fat cigars and eating fatty steaks every meal – it’s the afterlife, and you can indulge all you want – while they clip aftercoupons and eat afterleftovers.)
To repeat myself, yet another outstanding meal.
