Whoa. Had an amazing meal last week at the new hotspot in the Southport Corridor area: Ella Elli, to celebrate my work wife’s birthday. Having extensively stalked the menu, as is typical for me, I was in a ‘can I just order one of everything’ mindset, which was only fueled when the four of us were seated in our cozy, private booth in the chic yet comfortable space.
We started out with cocktails -- the Foxglove for me (Bison Grass Vodka, Orchard Cherry Syrup, Blood Orange Liqueur, Lime). It was sweet -- but not too sweet -- and tart, and I probably could have had 10 more of them, but our fantastic waiter suggested an amazing floral white wine to go with the...
FOOD.
The birthday girl is pescatarian, which was fine by me -- the menu was more than up to the task.
First up was creamy mushroom toast. Three words that I love, but that I have never seen together. A blend of wild mushrooms mixed with creme fraiche and thyme on perfectly crusty, crispy bread. It was an umami bomb to end all umami bombs, that is until we were served...
Ricotta gnocchi with truffle and roasted mushrooms. It was honestly amazing to be with a group of people who love mushrooms, because usually there’s at least one of those people, you know? Anyway, thank god those people weren’t there. Because this was one of the best pasta dishes I have had in my life (reminder: I lived in Italy for a year!). Absolutely fluffy gnocchi, made crisp on the outside by a lil visit to the pan, tossed in a somehow perfect blend of mushrooms and truffle oil. It was such a deft use of truffle oil alongside the other ingredients -- it all came together so well that I wasn’t immediately like, ohmygodtruffleoilyes, like I usually am. It took a second for me to process everything that was happening -- roasty mushrooms, creamy pasta, truffle oil, parmigiano... just like, damn y’all. Go get yourselves #datgnocchi.
But wait! There’s more!
We got a double dose of salsa verde, first from the cauliflower with salsa verde, lemon, and shallot. The menu did not include one very important word: crispy. CRISPY shallot. Because the best healthy things are the things that taste like unhealthy things. And roasted cauliflower with crispy shallots is one of those things. Could have been too rich, but not so with the herby salsa and the kick of lemon. Delicious.
Salsa verde pt. 2 was grilled octopus with crispy potatoes and salsa verde. The octopus was meaty without forcing me to chew it for 5 minutes before swallowing. Fresh, not fishy, and I just feel so wonderfully ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about the crispy potatoes-- and I mean that in the best way possible. Because it’s like, hey, I’m gonna give you fancy grilled octopus but I’m gonna throw some HOMESTYLE TATERS in there because why not?! And it was great. Crispy potatoes are GREAT, people. Don’t forget it.
Last but not least, tomato flatbread with burrata and basil. It’s a burrata margherita pizza, folks. Made with housemade pizza dough. It was as good as you think it would be (read: v good). Give me dough + cheese and I will eat and like it, and this was no exception.
We also had homemade profiteroles for dessert, per the birthday girl’s request. I never get like #PUMPED about profiteroles as a dessert, but these were awesome. Simple, and well done -- perfect choux, super beany vanilla ice cream, and thick melty chocolate sauce. What’s not to like?
Bottom line: v pumped to move within a 10 minute walk of this place, which is happening in a month. Keep it up, Ella Elli.
