Dinner at Olio

I had the pleasure of eating at Olio (http://oliostl.com/) over the weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday (ahem, Samantha Page). I've been wanting to try it out since it opened as I'm a huge fan of chef/owner Ben Poremba's other restaurant Salume Beddu (one of the best places to get a sandwich in St. Louis according to me and, well, everyone that goes there). Olio shares some of the same meats, cheeses and sandwiches as Salume Beddu, but also offers salads, dips, a huge wine list, and even pies in jars, which I regrettably did not get the chance to sample.

Photo courtesy of  St. Louis Post Dispatch

Olio is charming both inside and out. Our party sat in the wine cellar which unfortunately was too romantically lit for me to photograph. However, the intimate setting was perfect for our group. Though the main room of the restaurant was jumping with a Saturday night crowd, we were all able to talk easily across a large table without raising our voices. The staff were very accommodating of our group and split our check among several couples without any trouble.

My favorite dish was probably a pizza-like flatbread from the seasonal menu that involved anchovies, onions, olives and an amazing tomato sauce. I heard from fellow diners that the carrot harissa salad was wonderful as well, though I didn't get to try it myself.  The artisan meats and cheeses were, unsurprisingly to me, wonderful. The only disappointment was the rotisserie cornish game hen, which was a bit bland, though the vegetables it was served with were delicious. Most of the dishes we tried were around $10, aside from the game hen which was $22.

Don't you wish your kitchen looked like this?

Overall, Olio is a lovely place to get a bite and a few drinks with friends, especially if you have friends that are into wine. I also hope at some point to visit Olio's sister restaurant Elaia located next door, but since it is a bit more expensive than Olio I'll have to save up.