Octavia's Porch (CLOSED)

At this bland neighborhood tavern, Top Chef alum Nikki Cascone purports to celebrate her experiences growing up with a Jewish mom and an Italian dad. But the “global Jewish cuisine” is as ho-hum as the setting. While dinner begins on a promising note—with mini challah loaves delivered warm to the table—it quickly devolves. A wild-mushroom knish arrived encased in thick, gluey dough, still inedibly raw; meanwhile, the chicken breast came with sallow skin and a literal brick of dense challah-date stuffing. Even the matzo ball soup was a letdown. Dessert—including babka streaked with thick veins of bittersweet chocolate—delivers a smidgen of redemption, but there’s not enough soul or finesse to Cascone’s cooking to warrant a visit.