The Boston Globe - 07.08.2019

We dnesdayFood

THEBOSTONGLOBEWEDNESDAY, AUGUST7, 2019 | BOSTONGLOBE.COM/FOOD

G

onewithattributes webelievewouldbedeal-

breakers. Wedon’t eat one of those terrible vaca-

tionmealsthat leaveonefilledwithregret and

longing forwhat mighthavebeen.Oh,butit’s

predictable. It’s same-same.It’s “youwentto Paris

andI wentto Parisandwebothate theright dish-

es at theright restaurant becausewebothfollow

therightInstagramaccounts.” Weget bragging

rights. Wefeel we’ve been.Butweloseoutonser-

endipity, onromance.

(Are youin a fulfilling relationship? Would

yousay yourpartner— that truechumand

staunchsupporter— hasnoattributes youmight

have believedwould bedeal-breakers?)

The uncertainty that youwill get a table on

Oleana’s patioheightensthespecialnessof eating

in what is already anenchantedplace.It’s a secret

gardenoff HampshireStreet, a fenced-inspaceof

WHAT SHE'S HAVING, PageG7

T

here areperfect nightsthat you

canjusttellaregoingto beperfect

nights. Everythinglines upauspi-

ciously. The plan: dinnerat Olea-

na.The forecast: thunderstorms

... later. The feelinginyour
bones:there will bea spotonthe
patiowaiting foryou.You can’t
make reservationsfortheseout-
door tables.You haveto showup

andhopethat yourtimingis right.

Therearen’t somanythingsthat workthis

way anymore.Webuytickets in advance, vet the

profilesof potential loveinterests,andbookta-

bles for dinnersin far-flunglocalesbefore we

headoff onvacation.This is allvery useful.We

seethemovie wewant to see. Wedon’t date any-

BYDEVRAFIRST| GLOBE STAFF

AT OLEANA,

LEAVING A

PERFECT NIGHT

TO CHANCE

May fortunegrant youa coveted patio table

WHAT SHE’SHAVING

PHOTOSBYMATTHEWJ. LEE/GLOBESTAFF

Turkish-style profiteroleswith

sesamecaramel,cashew, halva

Charredcarrotswithlemonlabne

andhazelnutsauce

Stuffedeggplantwithcorn,

peppers,andblacktahini

Topik:a chickpea-potato mashup

withsweet date molasses

Spinachfalafelwithtahiniand
beet yogurt

Outdoor

tablesdot

thepatio

atOleana.

Tiffani Faison on nerd camp,

money, and #MeToo

ByKara Baskin

GLOBECORRESPONDENT

Tiffani Faisonhasalmost

singlehandedlytransformed

theFenway’s food-scape. Ital-

ian-AmericanrestaurantOrfa-

nois thenewest inherBig

Heart Hospitalityempire,

whichincludes Sweet Cheeks

(barbecue), TigerMama

(Southeast Asian), and Fool’s

Errand (aneccentric cocktail

barwithchandeliersandfinger

sandwiches), all along a once

quiet stretchof BoylstonStreet.

It’s slatedto openinlate Au-

gust. Faisonowns therestau-

rant with wife Kelly Walsh; Mi-

cheleCarter, formerexecutive

chef of Barbara Lynch’s Grup-

po, is the creativeculinary di-

rector.

Faisoncontinuesto expand

andaddemployees(200to

date) in a climate whenrestau-

rants— big-nameones,with

well-knownchefs — seem to be

closingregularly.

How?

“A ll of ournumbers areopen

withourmanagementteam.

Wehide nothing. Wehave a lot

of conversationsabouthowto

spendmoney in a restaurant:

Spendit like it’s yourmoney,

GETTINGSALT Y, PageG6

GETTINGSALT Y

BARRYCHIN/GLOBE STAFF

Tiffani

Faison’s

newest

restaurant

is Orfano,

anItalian-

American

spot slated

toopenlater

thismonth.