Doretta

          I'm a big fan of Michael Schlow and have been wanting to try his newest restaurant Doretta (a Greek taverna and raw bar) for a while now. So I was excited when I saw a Gilt city deal for a five course tasting menu for two with wine pairings; I bought it and went in the same night! 

          The five course meal actually feels more like 6-7 courses! Everything is served family style, starting with greek salad and a selection of house made dips.

 

          We tried the chickpea spread with rosemary, cumin, and green chickpeas, whipped feta with spicy jalepenos, and eggplant with walnuts, red peppers, and feta. These came eith home made pita bread and veggies as a gluten free option. They were all delicious but my favorite was definitely the whipped feta; it was light and creamy and the spicy jalepeno added a nice contrast.

           Next we selected three options from the Mezze selection of the menu starting with the harissa roasted carrots with onion ash yogurt (this normally comes with spiced granola, but the gluten free version leaves it out). I don't usually like carrots unless they're raw and covered in some kind of dip (this dish was the fiance's choice) but these were cooked to the point of being candied, and were the best carrots I've ever had!

          Our second mezze selection was the grilled octopus with onions, capers, parsley, Greek olive oil and lemon. The octopus was seared with just a bit of char on the outside, and the inside melted in your mouth without being too chewy. I ate almost the whole plate myself!

          Our final mezze course was my favorite, the saganaki fondue. This was a skillet filled with melted kefalograviera (a sheep's milk cheese) with pickled cranberries, schezuan peppercorn, metaxa (a sweet liqueur) served with toasted bread or veggies. This was so good I didn't even need the veggies to dip; after the first few bites I ended up just eating the cheese with a spoon!

           We were only able to eat a couple of bites of the main courses (we took these home but wanted to at least taste them)! The pan roasted chicken with lemon, gigande beans, and fresh herb was cooked perfectly and had extremely crispy skin which is my favorite. 

          The steak was also delicious, as were the accompaniments of creamed spinach, baby purple potatoes, and cream sauce.

           Thankfully the desserts were light, and we ended up eating more than we thought we could! I loved the Greek yogurt with orange and walnuts and the raspberry sorbet was perfect for a slightly sweeter option.

          The meal at Doretta was excellent, and a tasting menu a great value (especially given the amount of food). The only section of the menu that wasn't covered was the raw bar / crudo, which I hope to go back and try soon!