Inbound Thinking

Last Friday I was lucky enough to have dinner with a friend at Oleana in Cambridge. Oleana has a great reputation and a beautiful outdoor patio that was the perfect place to enjoy a meal in the early Spring weather.

Oleana has been on my list of restaurants to check out ever since I found out they had a vegetarian tasting menu. I’m not a vegetarian but my friend is, also I’m a much more adventurous eater when it comes to vegetables. We both ordered the tasting menu. The normal tasting menu is five courses plus desert, but since we both ordered it, each course came with two different dishes instead of two of the same. I’m not sure if this is the standard practice at Oleana or unique to my experience.

All of the dishes were delicious, but the thing that really impressed me was not just the individual composition (which was excellent) but the progression of all the dishes. They built ever so carefully from light and fresh to deep and developed flavors. Since I was trying to enjoy myself I did not keep detailed notes on each of the dishes, but I did jot down a rough description after dinner, here it is:

1. Whipped feta with red pepper and aleppo peppers; Warm buttered hummus; Spicy carrot puree & dukkah; Warm nicoise olives; Bread basket
2. First of spring salad with garlic cream; Mason jar layered with green grapes, cucumber and yogurt, topped with shaved ice
3. A leafy salad and a lentil salad, each with different artisanal cheeses and crispy cracker-like bread with herbs and Parmesan, one had a citrus dressing and the other a garlicky-yogurt dressing
4. Grilled asparagus with oyster mushrooms, topped with Parmesan; Cooked barley topped with roasted tomato jam
5. Ricotta and bread dumplings with red wine, porcini and kale; Vermicelli concoction with crazy assortment of vegetables and spices
6. Fragrant (rose water?) nougat glace with pistachio and rhubarb; Vanilla ice cream with brittle, ganache wrapped in apricot leather

Oleana was one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in recent memory. The waitstaff was attentive without being overbearing and very knowledgeable about both the food and wine list. I was unsure of what to drink with the tasting menu so our waiter suggested a French Gamay ( Domaine Diochen, Moulin-ã-Vent, Beaujolais) which was a great accompaniment. It started out light and fruity but stood up well as the dishes got heavier. The runner explained each dish in detail when it was delivered, and we were given plenty of time to enjoy each course before the next.

Overall, it was a fantastic meal full of adventurous flavors and I would certainly reccomend it to friends and family. I will probably be going back again later this year to try the tasting menu with a different season of produce.