Oleana
134 Hampshire St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-661-0505
Chef-owner Ana Sortun believes food is comfort, and Oleana is a neighborhood restaurant all about comfort.
The menu centers on Mediterranean inspired dishes, layered with flavor and unusual spice combinations. Details like spice blends and pressed coffees set the restaurant apart.
The ambiance is rich in wood, stone and iron; the interior is a contrast of earth tones with soft lighting, shades of blue and handmade tabletops of golden onyx mosaic.
In winter, the wood stove is roaring. In warm weather, Oleana’s garden blooms and buzzes with outdoor dining.
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Maura Kilpatrick
Chef at Oleana
Though she started out staffing the front of the house of many San Francisco restaurants, Maura Kilpatrick has found herself behind the scenes, side by side with some of Boston's most noted chefs.
While in San Francisco, Kilpatrick attended the California Culinary Academy receiving a graduate certificate in baking. Upon her return home to Boston, she worked for Lydia Shire, opening the bakery at Pignoli. Once Pignoli was up and running, Maura opened 8 Holyoke, with Ana Sortun and Moncef Medeb. Local publications took note.
Kilpatrick hit her stride working with Rene Becker, owner of High-Rise Bread Company and Hi-Rise Pie Company. In addition to taking charge of all baking operations, she was a key player in the opening and launching of both bakeries. Kilpatrick has made the rounds of Boston restaurants. She opened the new Harvest and worked alongside award-winning Chef Rene Michelena at La Bettolla.
Reuniting with Ana Sortun, Kilpatrick is now the Pastry Chef at Oleana, where she developed the dessert concept months in advance of opening, receiving glowing reviews from all the local newspapers and magazines.
Oleana's tremendous success spawned another Kilpatrick/Sortun collaboration: in the spring of 2008, Cambridge welcomed Sofra, a Middle Eastern bakery and café, with a menu inspired by the cuisine of Turkey, Lebanon, and Greece. The name, which comes from an ancient Arabic word meaning dining table, picnic, or kilim, is also a synonym for generosity and hospitality both of which Kilpatrick has in spades.
- Aïoli
- 1. noun A blend of ail (garlic) and oli (oil) in the parlance of the Provence region of southern France. Around here, we'd call it a garlic mayonnaise.
- Basturma
- 1. noun Armenian cured and spiced meat.
- Béarnaise
- 1. noun A classic reduction of wine, vinegar, tarragon and shallots, finished with egg yolks and butter.
- Brioche
- 1. noun A soft, yeasty French bread enriched with butter and eggs.
- Champ
- 1. noun An Irish favorite of mashed potatoes, green onions and butter.
- Chanterelle
- 1. noun A wild and nutty mushroom with a trumpet-shaped head.
- Chorizo
- 1. noun Crumbly, spiced pork sausage.
- Confit
- 1. noun Meat (usually goose, duck or pork) that is slowly cooked in its own fat and preserved with the fat packed around it as a seal.
- Coulis
- 1. noun A thick puree or sauce.
- Crème anglaise
- 1. noun Rich custard sauce, often used as a topping or plating accompaniment to fruits and pastries.
- Crème fraîche
- 1. noun Cream that is allowed to set and thicken to a velvety rich texture.
- Deglaze
- 1. noun To dissolve the remaining bits of sautéed or roasted food in (a pan or pot) by adding a liquid and heating. The resultant mixture often becomes a base for a sauce to accompany the food cooked in the pan.
- Foie gras
- 1. noun Expensive, silk-textured goose or duck liver that has been enlarged by a process you don't want to read about if you're going to eat this dish.
- Hummus
- 1. noun Mashed chickpeas flavored with lemon juice, garlic and oil.
- Lovage
- 1. noun A celery-like vegetable.
- Mizuna
- 1. noun Crisp, feathery salad greens from Japan.
- Moussaka
- 1. noun A sort of Greek "lasagna" layering minced meat (often lamb or beef) and eggplant slices, sometimes with tomatoes, béchamel sauce and cheese.
- Nougat
- 1. noun A sometimes chewy and sometimes hard sweet substance made from sugar, almonds or other nuts and honey.
- Osso bucco
- 1. noun An Italian dish of braised veal shanks with white wine, onion, carrots, celery, and tomatoes.
- Pancetta
- 1. noun Cured Italian bacon.
- Porcini
- 1. noun Smoky, meaty wild mushrooms.
- Prix fixe
- 1. noun French for fixed price, a complete meal that features a limited number of selections at a preset price.
- Ragu
- 1. noun Tomato and meat sauce from Bologna.
- Ramp
- 1. noun A wild onion.
- Ratatouille
- 1. noun A Provençal dish of eggplant, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs in olive oil.
- Risotto
- 1. noun Italian dish made from rice cooked by intermittently adding small amounts of stock or broth. Other ingredients are added as required.
- Romesco
- 1. noun Catalonian sauce of finely ground tomatoes, red bell peppers, onion, garlic, almonds and olive oil.
- Shank
- 1. noun The front leg of beef, pork, veal or lamb. Often a very tough cut of meat, the shank requires slow-cooking methods like braising.
- Shiitake
- 1. noun Bold and meaty, these are called "black mushrooms" on Chinese menus.
- Sorrel
- 1. noun A sour, buckwheat-related herb.
- Tamarind
- 1. noun A bittersweet spice made by drying and pressing the pulp from the fruit of the tamarind tree native to Asia and northern Africa.
- Torchon
- 1. noun Method of cooking foie gras by which it is placed in a towel (torchon in French) and poached.
- Tuile
- 1. noun A thin, crisp, French cookie.
- Vermicelli
- 1. noun Thin-stranded yellow (Italian) or clear (Asian) pasta.
- Za'atar
- 1. noun An herb, or spice blend of sesame seeds, sumac, and herb za'atar that is used in Middle Eastern cooking, sprinkled on bread or on grilled meat.
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