Onotria is back from the dead. But as with most things that come back from the dead, there’s a catch.
Onotria was a very good Italian restaurant at the corner of Bear and Bristol in Costa Mesa, but chef/owner Massimo Navarretta lost his lease a couple of years ago. The building was demolished, and a parking lot sprang up in its place.
Navarretta didn’t disappear, though. He’s apparently been operating a catering business out of a commercial kitchen on Red Hill Avenue, not far from the former restaurant, in a unit that also includes an event space and private tasting room. But then came the pandemic, which has stuck around longer than anticipated. So Onotria has been reborn to the public, for now at least, as a ghost kitchen offering takeout and delivery.
The menu changes slightly every day and includes some of Onotria’s greatest hits, like the vegetable lasagna. It’s an immensely satisfying mound of fresh, hand-made pasta layered with thinly shaved zucchini and cauliflower soaked in a creamy herb-flecked béchamel-like sauce, all of which is baked until beautifully charred.
The rigatoni with ragu of wild boar is just as it was before, and still excellent. And there’s a terrific ravioli stuffed with chicken and burrata, served in a creamy, velvety pesto.
I recognize the octopus salad, too, even if it’s not exactly the same. In the old days, Navarretta paired the octopus salad with artichokes. But artichoke season has not arrived yet, so there are no artichokes in this dish right now. However its soul is essentially unchanged. This is a wonderful ceviche-like composition of octopus, celery, tomato and onion.
As I was ordering online, I was hesitant to order the tuna crudo because it’s always a risky proposition to have raw fish delivered in some stranger’s trunk on a hot day. But I’m glad I did. The dish (it’s actually a little salad) arrives perfectly chilled, the tuna marinating in a dressing of chile-infused balsamic, with a heap of arugula on top.
I probably speak for everyone when I say I’m ready to get this pandemic over with. But for now I’m just glad Onotria is back, even if not fully back to life.
Onotria
Where: 2915 Red Hill Ave., Costa Mesa
When: Lunch and dinner, Tuesday-Saturday
Phone: 949-735-6761
Online: onotria.com
Delivery: via Doordash
This post first appeared on ocregister.com
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