Ellana’s Kitchen & Extra in Newton Centre serves the form of dishes somebody would possibly simply keep in mind for the remainder of his or her life.
Whether or not it’s the empanadas or arepas at Ellana’s, each chunk is a medley of flavors. Springy salsa balances crispy corn flour, and candy plantains meet savory shreds of beef. The restaurant serves among the finest meals on the market, and it has the scores to again it up.
In August, Yelp ranked Ellana’s because the second-best place in North America to get an arepa. Eating places in California and Illinois dominated the checklist, but the restaurant, Massachusetts’ solely entry on the checklist, ranked second.
However behind Ellana’s tasty meals and compassionate service, there isn’t any one named Ellana. The title comes from a mix of the endings of the names of the 2 co-owners, Isabel Aoun and her husband Miguel Contessi, and their two daughters, in keeping with the restaurant’s website.
Aoun stated even by faculty, she at all times preferred to prepare dinner. Aoun and her husband emigrated from Venezuela greater than 20 years in the past, after which after their children grew older, they determined they needed to do one thing new.
“The thought was spontaneously like, ‘Let’s do one thing like open a restaurant and make meals, as a result of that’s what I love to do,’” Aoun stated.
Ellana’s, which opened in 2017, is about to show 5 years previous in Could.
Many purchasers ask why the restaurant serves each Mediterranean and Venezuelan meals, in keeping with Aoun. The couple is from Venezuela, however Aoun’s mother and father are Lebanese and Contessi’s mother and father are Italian.
“I grew up with that meals, each meals—Venezuelan and Mediterranean—and once we had been pondering and doing one thing, we thought that may be form of cool to have each cuisines collectively in a spot,” Aoun stated. “Persons are amazed with that.”
For the primary two years of enterprise, Aoun discovered that the restaurant was many individuals’s first introduction to Venezuelan meals. However after time, that modified.
“Now, it’s extra like folks know extra about [Venezuelan] meals, particularly the arepa, the bread that we make,” she stated.
These arepas earn their reward.
An arepa is a cornmeal-based unleavened dough. At Ellana’s, clients can get arepas sandwiched round the whole lot from black beans and queso blanco to rooster salad and avocado.
The restaurant’s prepare dinner stated the arepa pabellón, full of black beans, queso blanco, candy plantains, and shredded beef or rooster, is actually common.
The arepas arrive straight from the grill, steaming scorching in tin foil pouches. The prepare dinner stated one of the simplest ways to eat them is true out of the foil.
At Ellana’s, only one arepa—all variations priced below $9—is sufficient to fill a abdomen. The empanadas, virtually the dimensions of a palm, are additionally filling.
The rooster empanada is generously stuffed. With each chunk, the crispy outer layer shaped by the fried cornmeal makes approach for a gentle, flavor-packed filling. The rooster has the right quantity of seasoning.
The restaurant serves 4 different sorts of empanadas—beef, cheese, whitefish, and domino, or bean and cheese. All of the empanadas and arepas on the menu are gluten free.
The restaurant additionally serves a wide range of different Venezuelan and Mediterranean dishes. Aoun’s favourite is the cachapa.
“Cachapa is sort of a pancake made out of corn,” she stated. “After which we contemporary, hand-make white cheese. “
On the Mediterranean facet of the menu, Ellana’s serves pita wraps, falafel, and rooster shawarma. These gadgets distinction with the Venezuelan ones on the brilliant chalkboard menu plastered above the register.
The inside of Ellana’s feels snug. It’s arrange like a deli, with a relaxing show case displaying menu gadgets and a ’90s-style register positioned adjoining to the case. The grill sits behind the show field, letting clients odor their meals getting cooked. They’ll sit at a brightly lit hightop in opposition to the street-facing window or tables scattered throughout the comfortable eating room.
Ellana’s serves breakfast and lunch. The restaurant is open at 19 Pelham Road Wednesday by Sunday from 10 a.m. to five p.m.
Aoun stated the pandemic hit Ellana’s very arduous. Help from the Metropolis of Newton helped the restaurant persevere, she stated.
“[The city] ordered meals for the hospitals and for folks in want,” Aoun stated. “In order that approach, they … assist the folks and assist the small companies [and] eating places. That was an enormous assist for us.”
Ellana’s Kitchen & Extra is open at 19 Pelham Road Wednesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to five p.m.
