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New in New Haven: Olives and Oil

A recent visit to New Haven brought a pleasant surprise, a new entry into the city’s already bustling restaurant scene. Olives and Oil at 124 Temple Street, New Haven is a new and worthy competitor for your attention in an area already packed with many eating options. Sure, the new kid on the block is Italian, but this place lives up to its promise of celebrating “Italian with Electric.” At the helm in the kitchen is Chef John Brennan, of Elm City Social fame. The menu includes bone marrow oreganata; a Hawaiian-style pork belly roasted for 16 hours and accompanied by pineapple marmalade; and oven-roasted rabbit, alongside classics like old school pasta fagioli, and osso bucco. On a recent evening, we indulged in a creamy burrata that was accompanied by a knockout tomato jam, basil pesto, and truffle salt, and a meatball tasting platter that included an old school meatball made from beef, veal, and pork in a six-hour sauce; a turkey pesto meatball served with an Alfredo sauce and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar; one made with just beef; and a “new school” version that included ground bacon, beef, veal, onion jam, and aged Gouda. Served over a bed of polenta, the meatballs were delicious. Visitors from the Connecticut shoreline might recognize Assistant General Manager Chris Braumann bustling about, making sure everything is just so. He grew up in Madison, and attended Daniel Hand High School. It’s nice to see another hometown boy excel.—Pem McNerney