Orinoco Flows

When dining out with friends, I try to not be too pushy about choosing a restaurant. Naturally, I always have a running hit list of places that I want to try, but you never want to be the person who puts up a big stink about where to go. However, when I made plans for a weeknight dinner with my oldest friend, I insisted that we go to Orinoco. First off, I figured that she's (mostly happily) put up with me through twenty years of friendship and that she would forgive me for my one-time foot stomping over where we needed to eat. Secondly, she speaks fluent Spanish and has lived in South America, so, if I needed any guidance navigating the Venezuelan menu at Orinoco, she was my girl.

Orinoco, like Gaslight, is located in the South End. Unlike Gaslight, it doesn't have the unique luxury of a parking lot. So it required three trips around the block to find a spot near the Shawmut Avenue address. Even once I squeezed my car into a tiny spot, I was still not certain that it was a legal space - at that point, I could have cared less. Needless to say, I was a little frazzled by the time I got there. As it turns out, that was not a problem. It seemed that every aspect of Orinoco is geared to put you at ease.

We arrived just as the restaurant was opening at six in the evening and we were given our choice of tables by a very affable young host. The restaurant was tiny and dark, lit only by the red votives dotting the tables and the diffused street lights coming in through the windows. We chose a snug table by the bar and, before I even sat down, I excused myself to go to the ladies room. This offered me a chance to walk through the entire restaurant and spy on the funky art work and distressed antiques that added to the decor, making for a cozy, but hip atmosphere.

As soon as I get back to the table we were greeted by our lovely waitress, who had a thick Spanish accent. She asked if we were ready to order drinks and I knew that I was going to have a glass of wine so I decided to choose quickly. I selected a glass of Torrontes, which is an Argentinian white that you don't often see on menus. The waitress tells me that it's light like pinot gris, which I actually know since I've had it before, but I appreciated that she helped give some orientation on the South American aspects of the menu - this guidance continued when she went through the specials, which is terrific. There is nothing worse than struggling through a menu of unfamiliar cuisine and feeling embarrassed about your ignorance. The staff at Orinoco know that eating Venezuelan is not an every day experience for most Americans and they seem happy to answer questions and encourage experimentation.

My friend and I decided to share both our appetizers and our entrees for the maximum tasting experience. For our first course, we went with the Palmito Ensalada and the Tequenos. The salad included several layers of flavors, including mixed greens, hearts of palm, endive, red onions, and bleu cheese in a tasty vinaigrette. Also dotting the plate are three dates wrapped in bacon, stuffed with a marcona almond - a perfect mouthful of sweet/salty and crunchy/smooth. The only culinary low light of the night was the Tequenos - guayanes cheese wrapped in dough and deep fried served with chipotle ketchup. I know what you are thinking - "fried cheese with spicy sauce, how could that go wrong?" That's pretty much the exact thought process that led me to ordering it, but it was a letdown all the same. The cheese was sort of lost in the bready coating and the ketchup, which I expected to have a homemade, chunky consistency with visual evidence of the peppers, tasted and looked like a cup of Heinz 57 with a dash of hot sauce.

Based on the advice of our waitress, we selected two of the specials for our main course. We decided to share each by eating half way through and then switching, so when they arrived, I randomly chose to start with the beef tenderloin. The meat is tender and well-prepared, but it was not the star of the dish - that honor goes to the crab picadillo. Fresh, creamy, smoky, and spicy... I could have eaten an entire plate of just that. This was served with several giant spears of asparagus - I prefer the small ones, but all the same they were prepared to a perfect degree of tender crispness. This dish was so delicious that I was a little sorry when it came time to switch. That's because I didn't know what I was missing. The other entree was lamb chops crusted in pistachios with a mixed salad. The salad was somewhat similar to the Palmito, so it was a bit overkill at that point, but it did not matter one speck. The lamb, served with a bright green herb sauce, was sensational - earthy, nutty, and unbelievably garlicky. It was so good, I thought about it all the next day.

We finished up by sharing (of course) an order of quesillo, which is traditional Venezuelan flan. I really like flan and this was as tasty as I've had - a little denser and more custard-like than a smooth, creamy Spanish flan, but still excellent. By the time we were scraping the last little smears of flan from our plate, the restaurant had literally filled to the rafters, with diners spilling out the door. Clearly, Orinoco had become a hot spot. Just as I was noticing how many people had poured in, the owner swung by our table to check in and see how we enjoyed our meal. We gushed about what we'd eaten and told him we'd be back. He mentioned that they'd become so popular, that they were opening a second location in Brookline Village. My first thought? Better parking.

I'd give Orinoco at 477 Shawmut Avenue in the South End an A-. Show up early and let your server guide your selections - you'll leave fantasizing about heading out on the next flight to Caracas.