Oleana

One day, Boston will erect a statue in Ana Sortun’s honor—that’s how revelatory her Eastern Mediterranean cooking has been to the city. After a training stint in Turkey, Sortun came back to Boston and opened Oleana in 2001, introducing Bostonians to fragrant, spice-laden cooking with seasonally grown ingredients. Delicate small plates (meze) like chickpea crepes, lamb siniya and spinach falafel are both revelatory and pleasing to a wide range of palates (Oleana is nirvana to vegetarians), though larger entrées like the lemon chicken with za’atar and Turkish cheese pancake are equally flavor-packed. The homemade ice creams are a must (always keep an eye out for the salted butter varietal), as is a seat on the patio during the warmer months, ideally underneath the fig tree.