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[Dining Out]

Olive Oyl Cantina
New kid on a crowded block
BY ROBERT NADEAU

dining out
Olive Oyl Cantina
(617) 782-5660
151 Brighton Avenue, Allston
Open Mon.–Fri., 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.; Sat.–Sun., 9:30 a.m.–11 p.m.
AE, DC, Di, MC, Vi
No liquor
No valet parking
Sidewalk-level access

Leaving aside the question of why Olive Oyl’s menu has no spinach for Popeye or burgers for Wimpy, the situation here is that Marc Kadish — of the neighboring Sunset Grill & Tap and Big City — got hold of this restaurant space, where he does not have a liquor license. (Since Sunset is the place that really introduced Boston to the world of microbrewed beers and ales, this is at best ironic. In a just world, someone like Kadish would be giving out the licenses, not having to apply for them, and he’d be making sure the applicants were stocking enough microbrews and pledging to clean out the Guinness tap on a regular basis.) So Kadish fired up the 6-Burner Urban Diner, a witty satire of food madness that would have been funnier after a couple of Sierra Nevada Pale Ales, and a lot funnier if the food had been good.

Now he has sensibly retrenched with an inexpensive Italian concept that averages a little lower on the prices, and a lot higher on the taste-o-meter. It’s not as clever as 6-Burner was, but you can’t eat clever — whereas you can eat almost everything at Olive Oyl with pleasure.

The bread basket, for example, is quite similar to what they had at 6-Burner, but everything now works: the bean dip because there’s a little pesto in it; the focaccia with onions because it’s now grilled; the spicy wafers because they are loaded with garlic and cheese. Even the stale olive bread works, because it comes with a little platter of olives with a pour of fresh-smelling virgin olive oil.

Of course, these breads would be nice with a little something to drink. The choices are Warsteiner non-ale; Molson Exel, the Canadian style of hopped water; and Clausthaler, which is what the Swiss army has when the soldiers are having fewer than one. Clausthaler is generally the best of this category; Warsteiner appeals with the taste of malt, and my most recent Exel was so much like the real thing that it had a slightly off, yeasty flavor in the aftertaste.

I don’t think the appetizers are especially strong, unless you have the " smorgasbord antipasto " ($7.95). This is less a matter of Italo-Swedish fusion than of taking all the good garnishes from all the entrées and appetizers and adding to them a few slices of smoked mozzarella and pesto-topped chicken breast. Canned artichokes, cherry peppers, fresh mozzarella, olives, roasted peppers, under-grilled eggplant, and zucchini make up a generous platter of flavors. But if you also have an entrée, you’ll see the artichokes again, and possibly the grilled vegetables. If you have the chicken scaloppine with green herbs ($11.95), as I did, everything on the plate will be a rerun.

Considering that my visits to Olive Oyl were in August and September, the tomatoes on the Capri Island ($7.50) and " Not a ‘Wimpy’ House " ($3.95) salads weren’t stunning. But the fresh mozzarella and basil on the former were excellent, and so were the greens and dressing on the latter (not wimpy if you eat the cherry hot peppers, olives, and red-onion slices). In fact, the dressing rather makes the " halved Caesar " salad ($6.95), which comes as long leaves of romaine, but can be requested chopped. Romaine never goes out of season anymore, and this lively dressing will make you glad that’s true. The bruschetta with marinated tomatoes ($4.95) is very good — the right marinade being the Italian chef’s secret.

All the pasta dishes we tasted were excellent. One of the best pasta dishes of the year, in fact, is the " baked mac-n-cheese " ($7.95), a matter of just-right toothy fettuccine in a garlicky four-cheese sauce (not too much or too creamy), set off with buttered crumbs. The fettuccine is also perfect in pasta primavera with shrimp ($13.95), featuring thyme and parsley in a light sauce with broccoli and six shrimp, and in chicken and broccoli ($10.95), which does have a good creamy sauce with gorgonzola flavor. When we went to the optional ravioli, under Cantina shrimp scampi ($13.95), it was cut from pretty green-striped pasta, stuffed with creamy ricotta, and again cooked to a toothsome ideal.

Chicken cacciatore ($10.95) is a good job on a half-chicken, and steak pizzaiola ($13.95), while not competitive with Grill 23 or Abe & Louie’s, is a very decent sirloin with sautéed pizza-topping vegetables on top. The only loser in two visits was the Italian fish fry ($10.95). It’s bits of salmon and scrod, and you don’t usually see fried salmon around here. But they fry salmon on the other coast, where the salmon are leaner, and that isn’t really the problem. The problem is super-excessive salt. It may be worth another try after they read this review, though, as the side orders of " Italian frits " — seasoned French fries, guys — are pretty good. Side-dish veggies are the crunchy, under-grilled usual: squash, portobello mushrooms, and pink tomatoes.

Decaf coffee was excellent on both visits. One line of dessert runs to smoothies and milkshakes, the other to gelato, cannoli ($3.95), and tiramisu ($5.95). The last is notable mainly for size: at about four-by-six-by-three inches, it’s the biggest tiramisu I’ve seen, although a rather simple one of coffee and chocolate flavors soaked into cake and cream. The cannoli has promise, as the filling was fresh and the fried tube fairly so, but the tube wasn’t fully stuffed. Again, the kind of error you probably won’t see once they read this. The little touches of candied orange peel and chocolate microchips are dandy.

Décor and atmosphere have been simplified from the 6-Burner days, but remain rather high-key. One problem is that the big French-café windows open right onto the intersection of Brighton and Harvard Avenues — loud, with cars full of returning students, blown mufflers, and the odd motorcycle. The music inside is country, Sade, a little soul. Painted on the wall is a Haymarket’s worth of vegetables. On every table are brown paper, a cup of crayons, and a vanilla candle. As a food person, I dislike eating among scented candles. As a person who likes vanilla candles almost as much as macaroni and cheese, daughter Stephanie is in teen heaven. Since they haven’t got a liquor license, maybe that’s the idea — an all-ages bistro with bar food and no alcohol.

It’s a funny neighborhood. As I walked to Olive Oyl one night, I passed people lined up for Carlo’s (a fine but no longer cheap Italian café), while Rangoli (a rather intriguing South Indian restaurant) was empty, and there were still seats at Pho Pasteur (my first choice anytime, if I were paying). I could see why Kadish and company didn’t reopen 6-Burner as an Asian restaurant, but I’m still not so sure about vanilla candles — anybody over 18 like them at dinner?

Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com

Issue Date: September 13 - 20, 2001




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