Jon and I walked past Organika about a week ago and were enticed by their promises of local organic Italian food. So when George, Jon's uncle, offered to take us out for dinner on Tuesday and was looking for something light, I suggested we go there to check it out. Plus, it couldn't be more convenient to my office! We had a lovely time sitting outside watching the street scene, ordered a number of things and shared them all, the service couldn't have been more attentive, but the food suffered from a lack of attention to detail. I hope that with a little more time to work out the kinks it'll become the kind of restaurant I want to hit after work for a quick, reasonably priced dinner. I like the concept, I like the menu, I like the setting, I only wish I liked the food more.
Also, a word of warning: although the regular menu appetizers are all very competitively priced, they'll gouge you on the specials. Make sure you ask how much they cost beforehand.
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We started with the Selvatico Bruschetta with sautéed mushrooms, artichoke hearts, grana shavings, and truffle. The truffle was just light enough to bring out the richness in the artichoke hearts and the mushrooms without overpowering them and the light acid salad on the side was the perfect counterpoint.
Next came a Palermitano pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, anchovies, capers, and basil. It was VERY salty and not particularly appetizing to look at but most disappointingly the crust was very soggy and bland. With Keste just around the corner, Organika's gonna have to step up their game if they want to compete in the pizza department. I found it to be the most disappointing dish.
Spaghetti Di Farro Alla Carbonara had the requiste chewy texture, I'm always a little trepidacious when it comes to "healthy" pasta and the sauce was creamy, salty, and delicious but it would have benefitted from crispier meat, more onion, and some more parsley for a brighter taste and color.
There's not much to say about the hangersteak special. It was expertly cooked but it was so salty I could only eat one slice, the guys didn't seem to have that problem, and it came with a pile of salad, all for $22.
The salmon special, described as salmon caponata with "salmon instead of eggplant" was nothing of the sort. It was a piece of dry, overcooked fish next to a mound of eggplanty caponata, probably the exact same mix they put on the bruschetta. Although the caponata was yummy, sweet and slightly sour, it didn't do anything for the salmon, nor vice versa. The dish seemed like an illconceived copout and another ripoff at $22.
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