Review: At Oliva, a Tuscan-Style Steakhouse Beckons You for Adventure and Decadence

As far as dining cycles go, Clevelanders have weathered the pandemic years and the slew of taco, pizza and fast-casual options that went with it. On the other side of that Styrofoam divide, we’ve in the past two years been blessed with a trend of openings that lean toward fine and finer dining. And if it feels like steak is at the center of that trend, you wouldn’t be mistaken. No fewer than a half dozen new restaurants slinging all manner of beef have debuted since early 2023, running the gamut from traditional steakhouses to bistro-style outposts to neighborhood taverns and novel takes on the concept.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Oliva, the Italian-style steakhouse that opened its doors early this summer in the Warehouse District downtown, stands out amongst the fray. After all, owner Lola Jacaj (formerly Sema) lays claim to one of the most sterling pedigrees on the Northeast Ohio dining scene with longtime Flats staple Casa La Luna (formerly Luca Italian Cuisine) and newish hit Acqua di Dea (formerly Acqua di Luca).

Jacaj, who worked in this very space many years ago, has turned the former Osteria spot on St. Clair into a subterranean gem. Work over the course of a year updated the space into a sleek and modern setting, buzzy yet comfortable and not overcrowded – despite adding far more seating than its predecessor. A lengthy bar, with a giant and colorful flower painting gracing the back wall, greets visitors on the right while wine-lined shelves border a cozy fireplace in the dining room. A newly opened kitchen provides plenty of energetic ambience.

The goal from the start was something more than an Italian steakhouse simply serving prime cuts. “My vision is to do a nose-to-tail restaurant, where we use every part of the cow, not just steaks,” Jacaj told Scene last year. And here, executive chef Micheal White has done just that, using beef neck in the polpette di guancia ($18), beef cheek in the ravioli ($20), beef rib in the pasta au gratin ($20), and brisket in the pasta sfoglia ripiena ($16).

To kick the night off, Oliva offers a concise list of classic cocktails, housemade specialties, a short bottled beer list, and a robust offering of wines, served by the glass or bottle and covering (naturally) a healthy selection of Italian vintages as well as American pours. Our Paper Planes ($14) were exceptional, and a mocktail Bellini (priced appropriately at $6) was light and refreshing.

As we settled into the meal, which starts with a fresh baked loaf alongside housemade butter and a dipping sauce replete with garlic and herbs, a bottle of Cherry Pie ($120) pinot noir was recommended to accompany the multi-course adventure.

Jacaj envisions diners making their way through the menu, pacing course after course from appetizers, small pasta plates, salads, sides, entrees and steaks. And while there’s certainly plenty of space to carve out a meal for one or two amongst the menu, it truly is built as a sharing experience and one that would reward repeat visits. (Given the breadth, it would take three, four or even five nights to sample one’s way through.)

We gobbled our way through the bocconcini di manzo ($18) – filet cuts rolled around ricotta and fried breadcrumbs, charred spinach and chili pepper, all atop a sweet paprika sauce. You’d do well to also order a portion of the gamberetti ($20), featuring four plump, large shrimp bathed in a white wine and olive oil sauce resplendent in its lightness. But for all the meat on the menu, the standout starter proved to be the timpano ($16). A delicate yet rich salad of veggies, goat cheese, tomatoes, raisins and pine nuts is wrapped in picture-perfect encasement of overlapped, roasted eggplant. If you’ve already run out of bread by its arrival, ask for more to sop up the goodness.

Pastas at Oliva are hardly main-course affairs, crafted instead in small-plate sizes readily built for nibbling and snacking. It’s been a while since we’ve enjoyed a gnocchi ($18) as much as the one offered here. The potato and beet version, gilded with a gorgonzola dolce cream sauce, is as pillowy as one would hope and, served with just 10 or 12 bites an order, perfectly portioned to avoid the heaviness that often comes with the dish. A sachetti ($18) featured lovely stuffed pastas filled with four cheeses in a refreshing tomato basil sauce aside fresh-cut mozzarella. While the chitara ($20) came by server and fan recommendation, and while the group enjoyed the first few bites, the pasta (a large portion of spaghetti) and sauce (veal shoulder, mushrooms, blueberries) proved less interesting and more out-of-context compared to the rest of the meal the further we dug in.

It might be traditional to offer salads to begin a meal, or between appetizers and pastas, but at Oliva, it’s suggested you dig into to some lighter bites at this point of the adventure. After the richness that came before, may we implore you to follow suit, especially with the siciliano ($10), which the kitchen will helpfully split into individual plates. Featuring shaved fennel, olives, fried capers, orange, pomegranate, pine nuts and caciocavallo cheese in a light lemon juice and olive oil dressing, it was much more than a bright break in the courses — a star in its own right.

Oliva is an Italian steakhouse but offers a small menu of mains that includes a salt-crusted Bronzino, a braised guinea fowl, and a stunning lobster tail. Coming in at $70, the latter is presented in every bit of its glory, perhaps the largest version you can picture. Fantailed and doused in buffalo butter and covered in shaved black truffles, the dish is every bit as decadent and rich as the ingredients suggest. Again, sharing and pairing is an optimal suggestion. In this case, few better bites of surf to accompany your turf exist.

Oliva, like its ilk, offers a range of steaks cut for individual enjoyment (starting at $55 for a 16 oz. ribeye) or for larger parties. Given the setting, it was hard to pass on the bisteca alla Fiorentina ($120), a cut with both a filet and a strip. At something approaching 40 oz., cut for sharing by the kitchen, it was a centerpiece that left the table in something like a trance. Delicate, perfectly seared, crusted with salt and pepper, few even reached for the side of chianti butter ($18). And any complaints that the sauce list leaned toward the rich and heavy (foie gras, $18; more truffle shavings, $15; gorgonzola dolce cream, $5), were forgotten in the minutes it took to leave the platter empty.

Sides, while offered, seem to be superfluous to a party given the extravagance and quantity of what came before, though if you were making a smaller meal and skipping some of the courses, you’d do worse than grabbing a patata al forno ($12). A whole baked potato arrives sliced beneath a creamy sauce of mascarpone, crème fresche, and parmigiano Reggiano, because who says no to that.

And as if three standout restaurants in a few square miles weren’t enough, Lola Jacaj isn’t done. She’s already laid claim to the former Hanabi spot on West 6th around the corner and has plans to open Juliet, a French restaurant, there. “I’m hoping it will be like a nice European corner to go to,” she told Scene.

We wouldn’t bet against her.

Oliva
408 W St Clair Ave, Cleveland
216-435-3505
olivasteakhouse.com

Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.