Chef Josh Dalton and his team have been on a winning streak with Veritas and Speck downtown, plus the beloved Rosebud’s in Delaware, and they’ve continuing that strong performance with Amara, a new Mediterranean spot that makes great use of the former Milestone 229 space on The Scioto Mile!
The space has been given a beautiful revamp, with a wood-fired oven as a centerpiece to the kitchen. The curving dining room includes floor-to-ceiling windows, and it’s hard to beat the views from the patio as well.
When arriving for dinner, we got there a little earlier than the rest of our party, so we found seats at the bar to enjoy a couple drinks. Beth described her Tomato Leaf cocktail as smelling and tasting like your hands after you’ve harvested tomatoes from the garden. It blends dill-infused roku, tomato vermouth, elderflower, and basil.
And next to it is the Honey & Cardamom, a carbonated drink with Whistlepig 6-Year, Earl Grey, green cardamon, and wildflower honey.
At our table, we started with an assortment of hummus, spreads, and bread.
The classic hummus is very expertly done.
And the lamb version makes it even better, with tender braised lamb neck meat and zhoug.
The agora is a rotating hummus flavor; on our visit it featured corn and feta.
And the ikra spread is a winning combination of whipped yogurt and smoked trout roe.
Quick pause for another round of drinks: starting with the Hong Kong-inspired Leone Old Fashioned. I always gravitate towards Old Fashioneds, and I loved this version. Whistlepig 6-Year, Boulard vsop calvados, honey, date, ancho reyes verde, cocoa, orange.
Fans of the gin and tonic will love the Fig Leaf G&T with Middle West Spirits’ Vim & Petal gin, fig leaf cordial, tonic, and spices.
We sampled a few different entrees around our table. The roasted half chicken is wonderfully tender
freekeh, olive, pickled onion, herbs
Wagyu Skewer
berbere, roasted red pepper, black garlic tahini
Smoked Cauliflower
vadouvan, labneh, kataifi, mujaddara
Soft Serve 13
cardamom, kataifi, honey
Rice Pudding 13
cherries, pistachio, rose
Not pictured is the also-amazing Basque cheesecake.
Amara is open Tuesday-Saturday, 5-10 p.m.
Amara
229 S. Civic Center Dr.
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 665-5021
Web: eatamara.com
FB: Amara Restaurant
IG: @amaramediterranean
