Interesting to see so many varied reviews at this point in Officina's early restaurant life! As for me, 5 all the way - I liked it so much for dinner that I went back the next day in the morning for breakfast one day after their "official" opening. I'm a huge fan of Masseria, so it's great to see the Chef's cooking at a much more friendly price point at a spot that is slightly more convenient (granted, it's a completely different experience).
We arrived for dinner around 6:00pm (reservation was @ 6:30pm) with the intent to grab a drink at the bar. I admit - the layout was a bit confusing at first. You walk in, and there's a huge bar and you can see the market on the same floor. We assumed the restaurant was on the 2nd floor. The bar was very crowded, with only one seat available, so I grabbed it. My husband figured since the bar was so crowded, he'd see if we could get seated a little earlier. After a few minutes he texts me - there's a second, smaller bar on the 2nd floor next to the restaurant - 5 seats at the bar itself and a little "lounge area" which had an open couch. Perfect! We settled in and got two glasses of champagne. We noticed that the bartender was serving us had served us at Masseria - I'll be curious if he stays or goes back once the restaurant is up and running. While we were enjoying our champagne, we peeked into the dining area and noticed that there is a chef's counter - about 6-8 bar seats that face the open kitchen. When it was time for our reservation, we asked if we could sit there and they obliged - it was so fun!
Andrea, our server, was terrific. She said she came over from Masseria, and we could tell - her service was very polished. For only officially being open two nights, I thought the service was very smooth - really only one timing issues where the pastas came out before the wine arrived. On to the food...to start, we had the meatballs and the mozzarella (a break from my usual burrata). The meatballs were delicious - I loved the sauce that came with it, you honestly just wanted to lick the bowl, and the mozzarella was just so fresh. Didn't need anything other than the touch of olive oil it was served with, and the grilled bread came in handy for sopping up the rest of the sauce. We decided to go with pastas for our main course - Andrea explained that 1/2 are imported from Italy and the other 1/2 are made fresh in house, so we went for the latter. I had the pappardelle, which was fabulous, and my husband had the raviolis, which were just so fresh and light. Both pastas were cooked to a perfect al dente, and Andrea's wine paring suggestions were right on target.
For dessert, we opted for a cheese plate, which was perfect, and one of the best sparkling dessert wines I've ever had (she wrote it down on a napkin for us). The whole dinner took about 1.5 hours, which was a good time because we had a show at the Anthem to catch. We really enjoyed being in front of the open kitchen - if you enjoy this type of experience, I highly recommend it.
As I mentioned, we liked it so much we decided to return for breakfast the next day. We were the only people in there (around 9:00am on a Friday) - and, I have to admit, I was surprised that the market wasn't open yet. The only thing I found odd was that they didn't have regular coffee - probably because they are going for more of a café feel. I got a cappuccino which was delicious. For entrees, I got the sturgeon breakfast sandwich and my husband had the egg and ham sandwich. Both were delicious and very filling - we didn't eat again until dinner.
Overall, I'd definitely return, and I will - I have a dinner reservation already made for when I will be at the Anthem next! read more