Road Trip: Cincinnati: Boca-Revisit

For hubby’s birthday, he wanted to go to Cincinnati to see a good friend and to eat at Boca, which is one of his favorite places. It’s a beautiful restaurant, it’s GREAT Italian food (hello Indy, I’m talking to you) and the service is wonderful. 

There were 6 of us, so we got a lovely round booth and promptly ordered a couple of orders of pommes soufflé “1942” ($15). These are a hold over from the restaurant that was in the same spot for years and years before Boca took over. The old restaurant was the Maisonette and hubby and I dined there once when we were very young. Anyway, these things are delicious (and you can sometimes get a version of them at Vida here in Indy). They are basically like a three dimensional potato chip. I am not really sure how they make them, but I don’t care. They’re a super tasty treat. They serve them with Bernaise sauce for dipping. Also delicious. We also got the bread plate ($2/person), which is a mild sourdough local  bread served with Vermont creamery butter. It’s good bread, but nothing spectacular.

We all decided to get three courses, so I started with the Hamachi crudo ($21). You guys, this might have been my favorite item of the evening, it was so so good. And everyone who I shared a bite with agreed. It was a pretty generous portion of the raw fish sitting on top of compressed avocado, which just tasted extra buttery somehow….not sure how you compress avocado either, but after tasting this, I recommend it. There was a ponzu sauce as well, which was perfect. It had some soy in it and wasn’t overly sweet. The tart wedges of grapefruit were perfect with it to bring a sharp acidic hint (sorry I forgot a picture). If you go here, you should order this.

My second course was a scallop and Brussels sprouts dish ($24). These Brussels sprouts were apparently slow-cooked in butter for like six hours of something. They were so rich—they were dark and took on an entirely different texture—almost like a mushroom. There was a perfectly cooked scallop sitting on top as well. The whole thing was dressed with brown butter vinaigrette, giving just the hint of acid you need to cut through this insanely rich dish.

Several at the table moved on to a pasta course for their second course, and one in particular that I got to try was the gnocchi con fonduta ($16). Again, super, super rich, but so, so delicious. They were little crispy potato gnocchi topped with a rich taleggio fondue and shavings of black truffle. That cheese sauce was the thing that made it so rich, but I loved the slightly stinky edge it gave the dish. And I loved the texture from the slightly crisp edges of the dumplings themselves—even under the sauce, you still could get the texture. And the little bits of truffle on top were perfect. I love real truffle.

For my main dish I actually got chicken ($29), which is very unusual for me. But last time we were there I remembered trying the chicken that was on the menu then and really liking it. Plus, this one was served on top of mushroom and truffle risotto, so that sold me. I love risotto when it is done right, which is rare in a restaurant. But I had faith in Boca. And they did not disappoint. The risotto was creamy and full of beautiful mushrooms and the chicken was seasoned wonderfully and was so tender, it seemed almost impossible.  Great crispy skin too. Everyone who had a bite was shocked at how good it was. I mean, it’s chicken right?

For dessert I had the “buckeye candy bar” ($10). Not that I really needed dessert, but I was intrigued by this. It was like a rich creamy chocolate brownie with peanut butter nougat and gelato and a little sprinkling of salt on top. A great way to end the evening.

They also let us bring a couple of bottles of wine into the restaurant for a corkage fee, which was nice because we got to split a couple of nice bottles of red that would have been way too expensive to order from the menu.

This place knows how to do a meal just right from top to bottom (and Italian food no less!). The atmosphere, the service, the spectacular food, etc. I would kill to have it in Indy.

Boca

114 East Sixth Street

Cincinnati, OH  45202

513/542-2022

http://bocacincinnati.com 

Road Trip: Boca--Cincinnati

Wow. So, you know how I am always bitching about how Indy has no good Italian places?  Well, this restaurant, this one right here, is the reason why.  What I wouldn’t give to have this restaurant, or one like it, in Indy. And it is in Cincinnati people, it isn’t some fancy East coast or West coast spot, so it is possible to pull it off in the Midwest. 

We were visiting friends in Cincinnati and decided to pick one of the many places on my “list” to try—there are so many places in Cincinnati that I want to go to.  We had a hard time narrowing it down, but ended up choosing Boca.  On the weekends they have a prix fixe menu where you get 2 courses plus dessert for $57 or 3 courses plus dessert for $69.  I really wanted to try several of the lighter first and second course items though, but thought I might be getting ripped off since I wasn’t getting the bigger main dishes.  I asked the waiter and he said they would happily just charge me the a la carte prices for whatever I wanted (which is how they charge during the week).

So I started with the wild striped bass crudo which was amazing ($14 a la carte). The raw fish was thinly sliced and so delicate in flavor. It was topped with some quartered cherry tomatoes, a bit of cantaloupe and pickled eggplant and just a tiny bit of heat from some chilies. The eggplant was understated, but balanced the sweetness of the fruit. It was drizzled with olive oil.  Seriously, it tasted as good as it was lovely.  It wasn’t a huge portion, but just the right amount for a first course.

My second course is something I have been dreaming about ever since I ate it. It was “capalleacci di mais tartufo nero” ($12).  Holy moly was it good. It was housemade pasta stuffed with sweet corn and mascarpone (think sort of like flat tortellini) and topped with a brown butter sauce and shaved summer truffles.  That’s what I’m talking about.  It was rich, but with a sweet, slightly tangy taste from the mascarpone (and intense creaminess) but the pasta wasn’t so full that you only tasted the insides.  The sauce was light, with deep earthy flavor from the browned butter and the truffles.  I seriously wanted to order another dish of it for my dessert.  Again, the portion was not large, but just enough to leave you wanting just a tad more. And looking forward to what was next.

For me, that was a seared day boat scallop with caramelized Brussels sprouts, a brown butter truffle vinaigrette and shaved Parmigiano reggiano on top ($16).  This dish fairly blew my mind as well—I loved the combination of the brown butter with a vinaigrette—tasted like aged balsamic vinaigrette—I mean the Brussels sprouts were so caramelized with such a distinct balsamic flavor, at first you almost forgot what they were. But the vinegar taste with the sweet, buttery scallop and a nice slice of Parmigiano on top, and just a hint of truffles…well, it was seriously delicious.

Just to quickly hit on hubby’s dishes, his panzanella was the only thing that was a little disappointing throughout the evening. The bread tasted a bit like croutons, not the ripped up pieces we both like.  But his second course, the “Bavette con Bottargo” was really good. And another really good example of something different done with pasta in a classic Italian style that ISN’T MARINARA OR CREAM SAUCE.  (It really does exist).  So it was linguine pasta mixed with some roasted tomatoes and little bit of chili oil and topped with breadcrumbs and cured tuna roe. Bottarga is basically the roe pouch of a fish (tuna here) that is cured and then grated over the top.  The flavor is of the sea, but not super fishy.  The bottarga was mixed with breadcrumbs adding to the texture.  Hubby had seen Anthony Bourdain rave about it at some point and couldn’t wait to order it.  He loved it.  His sous vide wild salmon was also perfectly prepared.  “Sous vide” means the fish was slow cooked sealed in a plastic bag at very low temperatures.  Everything I have ever had cooked this way (will never forget the lamb at The Fat Duck in England. Never.) has been so good—super tender and even though it is cooked for a long time, remains rare in appearance, but the same from the outside in.  This salmon was super tender and I loved the sherry vinaigrette over it and the accompanying beets and haricot vert (fancy French word for green beans).  There were some bits of hazelnut throughout as well adding a nice little crunch.  Salmon is not my favorite fish in the world, but I would eat this again in a minute.

We also got our desserts as part of the prix fixe dinner (although by the time we got there, we could have easily skipped it). I had a perfectly nice cheese board with the right simply toasted bread, and the perfect accompaniment of quince and melon (I love some sweet with my blue cheese).  Hubby had the dark chocolate pot de crème which I thought was well done for what it was, but he was just so-so on it (he isn’t a big dessert person).  But overall I left this meal with mixed emotions. I was really happy because we had an amazing meal with good friends.  The staff is also really down to earth and friendly and the restaurant has a nice buzz to it without being too noisy.  I was a little sad though that it seems impossible for Indy to pull off an Italian place like this.  But I can keep hoping….

Boca

3200 Madison Road

Cincinnati, OH  45209

513/542-2022

www.boca-restaurant.com