The recently opened Ela, 627 S. Third St., is a sophisticated oasis tucked into a cozy corner space just a block away from the action on South Street.
The menu at Ela, created and executed by chefs Jason Cichonski and Chip Roman, is broken down into three sub-menus, or “bites” as they call them. Each is concise — no more than five items — with plenty of pleasant surprises to be had.
By comparison, the bar menu is epic, including some fanciful cocktails named after song titles from the band Brand New (apparently they love the band there). We were brave enough to try the “Jaws Theme Swimming” ($11), consisting of spiced rum, vanilla, black strap molasses and ginger beer, which had a strong Southern charm with a faint underlying sweetness. We also partook of the “OK I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t” ($11), a pleasantly sour and potent blend of tequila, rosemary, kaffir lime, St. Germain and citrus.
The first “bite” we tried were the oysters ($15), served raw with bacon, shallots and hops. If you love oysters and bacon, the dish is heavenly. The himachi ($11), also served up raw with apple, horseradish and truffle, was bright, flavorful and quite refreshing.
The second bite had the most wow factor of the evening, with unexpected but delicious takes on items we thought had become overly familiar. The whipped foie gras ($14) was shockingly good and could have passed for a dessert. The flavors of silky smooth foie gras were subdued just enough by a bed of crushed gingerbread and topped by a nicely done huckleberry sauce, making for a wonderful dish.
The diver scallop noodles ($15) were another winning dish and a surprise — it never occurred to us that they would render the scallops into noodles. Oh, but it worked. The dish had a wealth of interesting Asian flavors and textures.
If the second bites were all about culinary showmanship, the third bites were all about showing off excellent displays of technique. The duck magret ($19) was excellent with perfectly cooked and sliced duck brought to the plate juicy and meaty, with nary a trace of the overly greasy richness that one might associate with duck. Accompanying the dish was a wonderful pretzel spaeztle, fried Brussels sprouts and a butternut-squash purée, all lending themselves well to the flavor and texture of the dish. The skate ($18) was flawless as well, making itself a fine vehicle for the flavors brought by the garnishes of red cabbage, sun choke and grain mustard.
Ela’s desserts are nothing short of obscenely good. The least decadent, but still addictive, is the red wine-poached strawberries ($8), which swam underneath a cloud of cream and shortbread. Yeah, sexy as hell. The manjari chocolate ($8) stood on the plate like a dark monument to high-end chocolatiering, filled with apricots and served with shortbreads. We heard the house favorite dessert at Ela was the hot chocolate chip cookie dough ($8), which formed a sea of warm, drinkable goodness surrounding and saturating a small island of hot bananas and a cold vanilla semifreddo. Approach this island with caution. You might never leave.
If you’re looking for a classy dinner and are ready to give yourself over to the brilliant culinary instincts of two adventurous chefs, get dressed up and head on over to Ela.