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Vlora | 545 Boylston Street, Boston | Open daily, 5–11 pm
AE, DC, DI, MC, VI | Beer and wine | No valet parking | Access down 24 steps from sidewalk level; call ahead for sidewalk-level access via elevator | 617.638.9699 |
Lured by the promise of Albanian/Mediterranean food, I’d been waiting for Vlora to open since it was first announced in the spring. Thankfully, it was worth the wait. Named for the seacoast town where chef Aldo Velaj was born, this is a first-class establishment with lots of tasty food — only some of which is Albanian. That’s to be expected, since Velaj worked in restaurants in Italy and elsewhere in the Mediterranean before reaching the United States.Some may find the exterior off-putting, since Vlora is located in a potentially difficult, sub-street-level space on a quiet block in Back Bay. But it, too, is first class. After a fine modern makeover, the room is now open and spacious, like a trattoria off a village square. Limestone-like tiles complement the atmosphere, as do a variety of wall treatments: glass, flame-orange paint, a long box of sansevieria (snake plants), a mural of the town of Vlora, and a quarried stone pillar. Chairs are upholstered white; tables are shiny black. And the soundtrack goes from hip-hop to Middle Eastern folk in a hurry.
The food, however, is consistent while covering all the bases. We began with a basket of excellent sourdough rolls with a dip of olive oil, olives, sprigs of rosemary, and a heap of lemon pulp. The “fork-tender grilled octopus” ($11.95) is true to its name and brings three tentacles almost big enough to carry off Captain Nemo of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I’d have this as a late-night supper (served here until 1 am). The trio of pies ($8.50) — a mini spinach pie, mini tomato-onion tart, and mini feta pastry, each with terrific filo — is perfect for sharing. Albanian tava ($7.50), an individual casserole of baked summer vegetables with a creamy tomato sauce and some cheese, might remind Greek-Americans of a chef-improved tourlou. And attractive slices of pan-roasted zucchini served with tangy garlic yogurt and a garnish of fried onion strings ($7.95) were also good, though not great. Saganaki ($8.95), a big square of fried cheese with peppers and cucumbers, sounds as tempting for a bar snack as for an appetizer — which is the management’s intent.
Main dishes can be pedestrian. The best might be the grilled barbounia ($21.95), which our server described as “a whole fish like red snapper, but with a lot more flavor than red snapper.” In fact, barbounia is the Greek term for fabulous Mediterranean red mullet. Here you get three fish the size of grilled sardines; ours came fresh but somewhat overdone. Ask the server to bring this dish as soon as it’s ready, regardless of when the other entrées arrive — if you’re eating red mullet, you don’t care about anyone else’s food. (Plus, you can use the head start to deal with the bones.)
