Review: Ella’s

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | October 31, 2012

I was seriously tempted by the duck a deux façons ($30), which contained both a garlic-marinated duck breast and a confit leg. But I went for the salmon udon ($25). The pan-seared feature was organic, and the sesame-ginger butter was perfect with the noodles, shiitake mushrooms, and pieces of bok choy.

Johnnie considered having the appetizing-sounding morel-dusted scallops ($27), but my country girl picked "Momma's chicken" ($23), the succulent breast marinated in buttermilk and sublime-ified further with sweet corn butter. The fabulous accompanying cheddar cheesy grits, rich and flavorful, struck the perfect kinship.

As for the kitchen-made desserts, they ranged from a fresh fried doughnut and a gingerbread ice cream sandwich to seasonal berries and a pudding trio. But at the suggestion by our server of a dark chocolate special ($9), we had to have the ganache-surrounded mousse. Delicious.

Ella's. A lengthy stay is likely.

Bill Rodriguez is at billrod.mail@gmail.com.

< prev 1 | 2 |

Topics: Restaurant Reviews , Culinary Institute of America

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY BILL RODRIGUEZ

REVIEW: EL RANCHO GRANDE | May 21, 2013
Having a yen Mexican food and limiting yourself to tacos and burritos is like craving French food and choosing french fries.

REMIXING SHAKESPEARE | May 13, 2013
From music to costumes to inserted interludes of dance and mad poetry, this staging is vivacious.

A CLOSE ENCOUNTER | May 13, 2013
The set-up couldn't be more straightforward: two strangers are having a conversation in New York's Central Park. Correspondingly, the set couldn't be more simple: a park bench in front of tall color photographs of its bucolic backdrop.

REVIEW: TRATTORIA LONGO | May 13, 2013
Preparing most Italian dishes doesn't require the complexity of organic chemistry. Fresh ingredients, a good recipe, well-timed cooking, and ecco! Benissimo!

SOUR AND DOUR SOULS | May 07, 2013
Some people are brittle and dry as tinder, but they don't have the sense to not play with matches. The two women at the dangerous center of Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane could blaze up at any moment, and we know that one or both will by the end. Each is filled with so much pent-up hatred that spontaneous combustion seems a distinct possibility.