After a visit to the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts on Museum Mile, we walked across Central Park to dine on the Upper West Side as the guests of the new Ella Kitchen. We were greeted by Ivan, the General Manager, who explained that the restaurant’s name implies a free spirit and that their cocktails are named for women who converged the path between brave and adventurous. Their food blends techniques, ingredients and flavors mainly from various Mediterranean countries with a hint of Latin influence.

In that spirit, we opted for Ivan’s red wine suggestion of an Albanian (Yes, Albanian) Arberi Kallmet 2011 ($13/glass) that we found similar to a tempranillo, and surprisingly good after it had time to open up.

With that we had a few “bites” as they are referred to on the menu, all of which I’d recommend, including an unusual take on deviled eggs, with three saffron-brined halves topped with crunchy puffed wild rice and  chorizo set atop frisee, garnished with pickled onions ($9). Brussels sprouts lovers will enjoy their crisped smoky crunchy version drizzled with an orange-chipotle aioli ($9). And for potato aficionados, the “bravas” are a must with crispy potato chunks half drizzled with a bit spicy house-made piquillo harissa, half with saffron aioli ($8). Great with drinks.

My least favorite was the Ella salad in the hazelnut vinaigrette coating the fingerling potatoes, orange supremes, manchego slices, sous vide artichoke heart slivers, pickled fennel and smoked hazelnuts ($13). Interesting flavors but way under-seasoned.

Ivan explained the section called “Montadito,” literally means a little hopped on, or  foods served on bread, like the beet cured salmon we tried. The chef coats the fresh salmon with a paste of pureed beets, brown sugar and salt to first cure it, and then serves that on a slice of bread, with smoked yogurt and a slice of beet topped with diced salmon ($6). Quite refreshingly unusual.

When we started on the “plancha” portion of the menu with the unusual grilled octopus, we switched to a refreshingly super-crisp organic Viognier (Yalumba, Riverland, 2012, Barosa, Austria, $42), with hits of melon and green apple.  The dish offered a complex combination of flavors that all needed to be eaten together to get the full effect: a chunk of the juicy octopus, with some piperrada (sweet caramelized peppers and onions) in a puddle of creamy pureed sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), topped with pickled sunchokes, drizzled with a basil aioli. (Yes, this place likes their aioli.)

The night I was their guest, they were out of the duck leg and pork belly Pa-Ella, so we opted for the seafood one with squid, clams, shelled mussels, shrimp, diced chorizo in saffron rice ($23), which was good, albeit with seafood a bit overcooked, and missing the menu-promised peas and piquillo peppers. If you do order, don’t be in a rush as they make it to order, taking about 40 minutes.

I’m not sure how we had room for the  Ella’Wich that Ivan described aptly as heaven on a plate dessert, but we did. And, we demolished the vanilla and strawberry gelato between Levain Bakery ‘s giant chocolate chip walnut cookies ($9). Don’t miss.

 

– bonnie

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Ella Kitchen
Upper West Side
249 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10023

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