A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Doretta Taverna is Michael Schlow’s newest restaurant that is in the former Via Matta space. The restaurant is a complete 180 from what Via Matta was, complete with a new entrance!

The restaurant is open and airy – the large bar is the focal point in the center of the restaurant. The fresh fish are put on ice in the back for guests to see (you can kind of see it on the back left). Doretta comes from the Greek word, Doro, meaning gift.

Michael and his wife were in the house the evening that we dined at the restaurant. We had a fantastic server, Alex, who took us on a tour of the space, and he even brought us down to the kitchen to take a look at the chef’s table. I’d love to dine down here one night!

Michael’s wife Adrienne did all the artwork in the restaurant. There is a 60ft hand painted wall on the left side of the restaurant and these figures that were created with paint from a syringe.

Her artwork is visually stunning and makes the restaurant feel very homelike. You can see more of Adrienne’s art on her website. This piece, “Like This” is a 40×60 piece, I loved the bold colors.

The menu is broken down into sections: raw bar, small plates and main dishes. We want to try a little bit of everything. Meredith and I started with the cauliflower spread ($7) that is topped with caviar – I love the saltiness that the caviar brought to this spread. We also tried the roasted eggplant spread ($6) with walnuts and red pepper. Both spreads came with warm flatbreads. This was a great way to start our meal.

Next up, we had the spinach pie ($9) that has a limited availability. The dough is light and flaky – this is one of my favorite dishes!

Of course when you eat Greek food, you have to try the lamb. So we had the lamb meatballs ($12) served with cumin, tomato, yogurt and lemon zest. The dish was lighter that I thought and really not as gamey as I expected.

They have fried calamari on the menu, but we opted for the grilled octopus ($16) that tasted so fresh. It was served with sweet onions, capers and Greek olive oil. This is a great menu option in contrast to the fried calamari.

For our main dinner we HAD to try the 15 hour lamb shoulder ($28 per person). The meat was so tender and flavorful, I highly recommend trying this dish.

We also had the shrimp ($34 per person) that you are supposed to use your hands and suck out the meat, but I just can’t bring myself to do that in public, so I used a knife and fork…

Cauliflower is my thing these days. The roasted cauliflower side dish ($9) comes wth jalapeños and pistachios. This definitely could have been my main meal – I could eat this for days!

Why choose one dessert when you can order 3? We ordered the galaktoboureko, a custard, that is kind of the consistency of a firm bread pudding, with a layer or light flaky filo dough on top. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this after our server described it, but it was one of my favorite desserts of the night. I would come back and just eat dessert at the bar!

The baklava was delicious, topped with honey and pistachios. A family friend used to make this sweet treat for us, so I have a special place in my heart for this dessert!

The almond cake with smoked apple gelato was a close second to the galaktoboureko. I didn’t want this dish to end – I loved the flavor of the cake and the consistency was just right. I highly recommend visiting Doretta Taverna for dinner!

Doretta Taverna

79 Park Plaza, Boston, MA

http://www.dorettaboston.com

Tags: back bay, casual dining, celebrity chef, greek, restaurant