FOOD! Olio’s Wine Dinner goes to South Asia
Olio’s having another of their popular wine dinners this weekend and next. Their last wine dinner sold out, so I have high hopes for this one.
Olio’s having another of their popular wine dinners this weekend and next. Their last wine dinner sold out, so I have high hopes for this one. There are two options, Friday, April 2 or Friday, April 9. It’s rare for me to like every single thing on a tasting menu, but after seeing it, I bought my tickets immediately to the April 9 seating. The four-course dinner includes the wine and starts at 6pm sharp. The cost is $30 a person, which includes tax but not gratuity. I don’t normally drop that much for dinner, but after my last experience at Olio, I had to have more.
This time, Olio will attempt a difficult pairing: wine with the strong and opinionated flavors of Indian food. I’ve been craving Indian lately, so this was perfect. I’ve never had wine with food like this before, so I’ll be interested to see how it goes. So what if I only know what chicken tikka masala is from playing Café World on Facebook?
Call 804-355-5182 with any major credit card to book your seat. Cards are run 72 hours before each event, so you have until that time to cancel if you need to.
Here’s the menu:
Course One: Grilled breads and vegetables served with traditional Indian “Raita” yogurt dipping sauce
Course Two: Samosa dumplings filled with potato, sweet peas and fresh herbs, served with tamarind chutney
Course Three: Chicken tikka masala–a traditional Indian favorite, featuring tender chunks of yogurt-marinated and charcoal grilled chicken in a creamy tomato sauce with Indian flatbread
Course Four: Green tea cheesecake with a fortune cookie crust
(Note: limited off-street parking available!)
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Holly Gordon
Holly Gordon spends her days working with Richmond’s hearty nonprofit community and her nights singing in a community chorus. She loves her feminist book club, and is always distracted by shiny things.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
This wine dinner sounds great. Savor has a similar event monthly (which is also great!), but theirs runs upwards of $50.00.
I recently tried to give Olio a shot. I had always wanted to visit when it was European Market, but due to various reasons, it was about the only place (besides Athens Tavern) I have not visited in my 5+ years living in The Fan. I walked into Olio with my Mother, and, both staff members were busy cleaning. Given how small Olio is inside and the fact that we arrived shortly before 6pm, I was surprised I was not greeted more promptly. It took a good minute for one of the employees to raise their head and mumble “Hello.” We wanted soup, and having seen soups listed as “varies by the day” (or something similar) on the menu outside, my Mom asked what their soups were…The other employee, a stocky 30-something lady, told us “they’re listed on the board.” and went right back cleaning. She might as well not have even bothered answering, because that was very unhelpful, given that we were not standing at the front counter, which is where the “board” was located. By “board” she really meant “sign on the display counter”… Given their lack of attention to us, we decided to go elsewhere. I ended up at Delux ordering a Blue Plate special. I may give Olio another shot, but I have to say I was really disappointed in their (lack of) service.
Thanks for writing this in RoinsonSt. I’m sorry to hear about this experience, which is most definitely the rare exception to the very warm and personal service our customers receive.
After speaking with the employee in question, it seems that the two employees with whom you interacted had just serviced a MUCH greater than normal late lunch/early dinner rush, on top of two very large catering orders, and were busily trying to tidy up and restock before the start of dinner service. Not that any of this is your problem, it’s ours, but I wanted to let you know that there was a reason why the employee may have seemed distracted upon your arrival. I can assure you that she is a very nice person, and in no way meant to be rude. She has never had such a complaint leveled against her, and I will be sure that she understands how upset you were with her behavior. Appropriate disciplinary action will also be taken. Thank you again for making us aware of this incident.
holly,
don’t like referencing myself, but I guess it will have to do (would prioritize this and wikipedia above your facebook app; also, “marsala” is not “masala.”)
http://avirilenagalingam.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-is-indian-food-in-context-of.html
and c’mon richmond, every other part of the world knows that great food trumps good service unless you’re so invested in our therapeutic culture that it’s impossible to distinguish between the two due only to the foul miasma of entitlement.
I agree with Nayagan about great food trumping good service.* Every restaurant presents a different context to experience food and the quirks are often just that: minor in comparison (assuming you find something really tasty and noteworthy). I know the manager, Jason, took the complaint very seriously, but I think there’s more going on here than employee attitude. You walk into Olio and it’s a market. If I were working there, I’d hope each person was a low-maintenance shopper so I could keep working on the prepared foods. It’s tough to shift gears from production to customer service every five minutes. How is anything gonna get done? Maybe that’s just my inability to multi-task, but I sympathize with the person behind the deli-counter in this case (a physical barrier that keeps customer/server in their separate spheres). If you make someplace a regular stop, you learn to read the signs and keep the transactions efficient until you have a report with the staff. Anyhow, just my gut instinct on this one. Regardless, I like Olio, especially their beers, and I wanna try one of those wine dinners.
*in fact, I don’t really like enthusiastic service, because it makes me feel like I have to buy more stuff. So take that into consideration with my comment.
Nayagan,
Thanks for the reference. As for the marsala vs masala: I had typed it intentionally as “marsala” in my article the first time and as a typo without the r the second time, but the editor must have correct both to “masala.” An internet search shows both as correct spellings, so thanks for the clarification.
oh goodness. marsala and masala are both correct spellings, yes. however, they are not the same food. marsala uses marsala wine. was there wine or curry in your dish? masala is a spice blend. here the difference in the addition or the subtraction of “r” is a difference in FOOD.
the wine dinner sounds delicious.
Holly, thanks for the update.
I have never had nothing but beer with Indian cuisine. I suspect wine pairings with food should be challenging and interesting. I wish i could make it.
As for my experience with Olio, loved it. The people referenced in the complaint were fabulous to me. It’s not the fastest place, but when I am engaged with their employees, they are fully engaged with me. That goes a long way in my book.
two more things;
Raita–is no more a dipping sauce than spackle or stucco–it is what it is, mostly yogurt. For whatever you may like.
Chicken tikka masala–the most popular restaurant dish in the UK was also invented there. “Traditional” is a problematic word no matter the application but here it’s simply incorrect.
and in the comments: “indian cuisine” It just doesn’t exist–no more real than an ‘Indian language.”
Nayagan,
Traditional is most certainly always a problematic term, especially when it comes to describing such broad subjects as cuisine, but one cannot always be expected to be able to distinguish between the minutia of the dishes commonly sunjugated under the umbrella term “Indian Cuisine”, without having been properly exposed to its many facets. Unfortunately, there are limited options in Richmond in terms of “Indian Cuisine”, and what is available is almost always a hybrid of sorts between typical staples of what is commonly deemed “North Indian” and “South Indian” cuisine. Of course there are outliers, such as Malabar, which seems (to me anyway) to be predominantly South Indian fare, specifically Malabar style fare, although its authenticity could be argued as well, as it is certainly different than what you would generally be served in a common restaurant in Kozhikode or Wayanad. Point being no cuisine is really truly traditional outside of its own origins. Another good example is Thai food in America. It is fairly common to come across basic Central and Southern Thai dishes in most Thai restaurants, but nearly impossible to find a restaurant specializing in Northern Thai cuisine, which is quite a bit different, and quite unknown among those who have not traveled through Northern Thailand. Also, I would have a hard time pairing a masala dosa with anything other than a fresh steaming filter coffee…but that may just be me :)