Dining Reviews

Black Olive Restaurant

  I guess Jan and I belong to the “You never have enough good restaurants” school.  We always seem to enjoy trying new places and having new experiences. Then of course we get to share these experiences with you, our friends. The Black Olive is a place that you will want to try, and you too will want to share that experience with your friends.
   Our experience started when our friends here at the Buggyworks,  Rick & Merry, asked us if we would like to have dinner with them. Duh! We agreed to meet at the Black Olive which had been open for about a week. I had heard good things… but you never know.
  Rick had arrived ahead of us and already had a table and a drink. Jan and I started with water but quickly moved to a chilled white wine. We discussed the menu, and ended up with Hummus & Tapenade Plate, which I would never would have ordered on my own. But this dish was enough for the  four of us to share and get a sampling of house made Hummus which was very tasty and the also house made olive tapenade which I could have made a meal of if there were enough there.
  We also ordered the Shrimp & Grits – an unusual marriage, it would seem, but one that works perfectly. The grits, which have been made with parmesan cheese, have just enough of that sort of nutty flavor that, combined with the red pepper coulis, marries quite well with the lightly grilled shrimp. You should try this for sure.
  Our final appetizer was the Caprese Salad; the thickly sliced tomatoes are layered with fresh Mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette. A home run. The only way it could even think about being better would be with heirloom tomatoes. But that is a personal thing for me.
  For our dinners, Merry and Rick had the Pan Seared Peppered Scallops ($18). The scallops are peppered and heavily seared, but not over done, in a brown butter sauce. Then they were served over a carrot, corn, onion, and potato hash. They say it has a hint of provolone cheese but I didn’t get the hint. All in all, this is a great dish if you like scallops (which I normally don’t).
  Jan and I shared the Crusted Red Snapper ($19). The potato crust is light and flavorful and the dish is served with sautéed asparagus and red skin potatoes. There is a hint of tarragon (and I got the hint this time). The crust wasn’t too thick and seemed more like a light breading, – just right for the fish which was very flavorful and flakey.
  We did not stay for desert; Jeni’s is across the street.
So give this a try, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Black Olive   p.298 8750   a. 731 N. High Street

 

 

Pizza bonoTOGO

 

  We heard about this cute little place about two weeks ago. It lives in the Rigsby’s Kitchen bakery, Eleni-Christina.  Since the Eleni-Christina bakers do their work late at night and in the early morning, the Rigsby’s have rented/loaned the place to Bill Yerkes to perform his pizza-magic from 5pm to midnight Wednesday – Sunday nights. And it is magic.

  Bill’s pizzas were designed to be baked in the wood-burning ovens that he specializes in building, but the 1200 degree heat generated by the Eleni-Christina ovens provides a perfect alternative in the Short North.  The result is a puffy crust that bakes to crispy perfection in about 8 minutes.

  Bill suggests 19 different topping combinations, but encourages patrons to design their own. First you select your base: “A” is a fresh tomato sauce and “B” is a fresh pesto spread.  After that, anything goes. You can create your own signature pizza by selecting from 28 different toppings – all FRESH – nothing from a can – and not sliced or chopped until you make your selections.

  Our first visit to bonoTOGO was on Thursday June 12^th.   Remember the wind blowing horizontal sheets of rain, the booming thunder, the flashing lightning and the hour long downpour?  So naturally I went for take-out pizza.

  I parked at the back door since there were no parking spaces within swimming distance. I waded in. After taking a look at the most generous menu I selected the #2 San Giorgio: Italian tomato sauce, fresh (I mean really fresh) mozzarella, pepperoni and sausage. In hindsight I should have added the fresh basil. It took about 15 minutes to assemble and bake my pizza. While it was baking I tried to pay for it, but found that not only does Bill use only REAL fresh ingredients, he also accepts only REAL money – nothing plastic here. We worked out a solution and I was soon ready to head back out into the storm. By this time (a mere 15 minutes) the cascading water had gotten to the upper step of the back door, about knee high. Bill actually offered to turn my car around for me so I could just slip into the driver side. This seemed like a good idea since he was wearing shorts and sandals, but in the end I ended up taking my shoes and socks off, rolling up my slacks and wading out.

  Maneuvering around the downtown with no traffic lights, limited visibility, flooded underpasses and lots of crazed drivers I finally got the pizza home to the oven Jan had pre-heated to keep it hot while I changed out of my soggy clothes. Despite all this, the pizza was wonderful. Jan, who normally dislikes sausage, actually enjoyed this one.  We agreed that some fresh basil would have been a good addition and I, of course, would have preferred a little more kick to the sauce, but we’re not filing any complaints.

  We even returned the following evening after an open house for Anshen & Allen at The Buggyworks. This time we brought a couple of friends, Rick and Merry.  The pizzas at bonoTOGO are all 8 inches in diameter ($8), so we decided to go for the “Ménages a Trios” (3 pizzas for $20). This was perfect for the four of us.

   We ordered the #7 Puttana (Italian tomato sauce, artichoke hearts, capers, Gaeta olives, fresh mozzarella, and fresh hot peppers), the #12 Funghi (Portobello, shitake, and various other mushrooms on a bed of fresh tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, a touch of feta, a pinch of oregano, a drizzle of EVO, a bit of sea salt) and the #13 Cippolini (caramelized onions, Italian tomato sauce, Gouda cheese, julienned scallions, fresh mozzarella, and imported parmesan).  The only thing we might suggest as a compliment to the perfect crust and the fully fresh ingredients would be an extra kick of spice to satisfy our jaded palates. One other thing to be aware of – there’s only room for about 4-6 people to sit inside, but it’s eating on-site guarantees the full benefit of the unique crust.  Beverage choices are bottled waters – fizzy Pellegrino or an alternate still water selection.

  We’re looking forward to our next opportunity for “creative play” with our food. And next time we’ll save room for Bill’s Crème Puffs which he assures me are quite gooey, moist, sweet and made with a goopy chocolate sauce.

 

bonoTOGO, 641 N. High, Suite 107 (entrance is on West Russell St. between High and Park). 906-8646. Try it soon –  Bill and his wife are testing the waters in this temporary location to see if they should open up their own place.  Stop by and see for yourself.

 

Jan and Ralph Rosenfield