Olivia

My mom's in town! To celebrate her arrival, we went to lunch at Olivia.  As it happens, we were at Olivia's first lunch ever (they'll be open for lunch every Friday and Saturday from now on).  Man, I love this restaurant. We got there about noon, and were greeted warmly by pretty much the whole staff- there were only a few other customers at this point. 

To start, Helen got the Olivia Salad, and loved it.  When it arrived, she thought she might not like it because it's just lettuce and vinaigrette (when Helen makes her own salads they are chock full of stuff, a la goat cheese/avocado/nuts/fruit/salmon/etc).  But the smoked tomato vinaigrette was quite the hit with her!  My mom and I each got the saffron-almond soup, and devoured it.  This was definitely my favorite dish of the afternoon.  Beautifully simple with just a hint of saffron, the soup came garnished with a perfect baguette crouton, avocado, and a drizzle of a great olive oil (a beautiful deep green against the vibrant orange soup).  I didn't take any pictures because we were too engrossed at this point.


And here are the before and after shots of our main courses!

Helen got the simply named Spaghetti, which came with roasted cauliflower, spinach, and an almost carbonara-like sauce with pecorino.   It was fantastic (as you can no doubt tell for yourself by her 'after' shot).  The cauliflower made the whole dish feel rich and satisfying, but not at all heavy.  Helen said she felt pleasantly full after finishing it.

My mom got the Pan Roasted Sea Trout with sauteed farm greens.  Holy god, this was delicious. The trout was moist with a beautiful seared crust, the sauteed greens were over-the-top, but that sauce was really magical- bright, citrus-y, and perfectly seasoned.  When you ate these elements all in one bite, the result was spectacular. 

I got the Seared Tuna and Beautiful Salad and it was aptly named.  The greens and shaved apple and fennel were dressed in a sweet and lively lemon-y dressing, and the tuna, seared perfectly and sprinkled with sea salt, was just delightful with them.  So good!

The food was fantastic, the service was fantastic, and the total bill came to $67, which felt like a steal.  It's a real testament to Olivia that each of us felt that our own dishes were the best of the meal.  Hooray!