****Osso has been temporarily closed. Nothing has been reported when or if it is reopening*** Once there is an update I’ll update my post.
The thought of farm to table and eating more healthy has started to be a part of my life as I get older. What better place to decide to try than Osso. They are a farm to table restaurant in Hamden, Ohio. Which means they raise most of their animals on property and handle all the processing. Their menu and specials are always changing and evolving with the different products that are available. When you pull into their property, you will drive toward the back of the property where the restaurant is. It was dark and snowing when I was there but I for sure cannot wait to go out there in the summer and enjoy the nice open views. Once inside there is a store to the right, where we purchased some chorizo, and ham steaks. They had lots of sausage options, some cheeses and other items to purchase. To the left of where you walk in is what I am going to refer to is a hanging or drying room. Sorry guys I’m not sure of the technical term, but they had some cuts of meat hanging that you could see through a window. The dining room is split into a couple smaller sections with a fire place and tv more towards the back/center of the room. The tables had different stones in the center of them that caught our eyes and were really cool looking.
We sat at the bar that night as the restaurant was pretty busy even for it being a later reservation on a Friday night. I like the set up of the bar. It is on the smaller side making it a lot more personally. They seemed to have a decent amount of choices for drinks. I chose wine from M Cellars a local winery. I have never been there or tried their wine before so I figured it would be a good choice. My Riesling was slightly dry like I thought it should be and I could taste the apple in the wine. My husband had Angels Envy, which is a bourbon. They did have some bourbons but I am not sure how extensive their menu is.
Osso has a pretty extensive menu with lots of options. They have their normal menu with appetizers, salads, entrees, steaks, side dishes, and desserts. Then they also have a separate BBQ menu and burger menu. They run specials on certain nights of the week. Thursdays are $15 burger night and they have weekend specials. There were 4 of us that went to dinner. My husband and I both got steaks because we figured for our first time there we wanted to be able to compare them to other steak restaurants we have been too. Each steak dinner comes with a choice of a salad and a side dish, which justifies the higher price compared to other steak restaurants where your side dishes are separate. I got the 8oz filet with the pear balsamic salad and sweet potato gnocchi. My husband got the 12oz Ribeye with the pear balsamic salad and the Brussels sprouts. The steak was cooked perfect for me and a little over cooked for my husband, but he still said it still had good flavor. He just wished he would have ordered it medium rare instead of medium. He likes a lot of pink, which is not my thing. The steak is cooked and comes out with butter on top. The pear salad had sliced pears, candied walnuts, radicchio, asiago and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The flavors worked very good together and I very much like that the salad was a little on the sweeter side than most salads. The asiago cheese was a very good cheese option as it worked well with the sweetness of everything else. The Brussels sprouts were shaved which I very much enjoyed as it gave the side a different texture. They were mixed with bacon, red onion and capers. I would recommend these as a side every time. Lastly, was the sweet potato gnocchi, which I honestly do not eat a lot of gnocchi and figured this might be a healthier carb like option since it was sweet potato instead of regular gnocchi. I like the flavor with the sage pesto, I just wish it would have had a little more of the pesto sauce as the gnocchi were a little dry for me, and a couple pieces were a little more cooked then I would prefer but they were still good and I would still get them again.
Our friends decided to get the BBQ and one of the specials the Chicken Paprikash. Let’s start with the Paprikash the flavor was amazing and the chicken just melted in your mouth. If they have this as a special, get it. It was so good. Second, lets cover the BBQ wow I was shocked at how much food you get for the price. It is for sure the way to go. I did not get to try everything on the plate, which I am really sad about because as you can see that cornbread just looks amazing. I did try the French fries which I think the smaller fry works well with the dish. The pulled pork and brisket both had great flavor and texture. They were seasoned and smoked to perfection. I tried them without the sauce and thought I could eat them plain without any BBQ they were that good. My friend got the Osso BBQ, which is a maple bourbon Kansas style sauce. I didn’t get to try any but it looked really good. The sauce I did try was the Alabama which is a mayo based white sauce. White BBQ sauces are some of my favorites and this one jumped to the top of my list. I dipped my steak in it even though the steak didn’t need it.
Lastly, we ordered one of the special desserts of the night. Listen!! I only had a bite I swear but since I have been eating more healthy I will tell you this was super sweet for me. It has been a really long time since I have had anything like this, so my taste might be a little off. If you like sweet this is for sure for you. It was really good just really sweet. The ice cream is made in house, which I think is a really cool addition to all the other things they already do in house.
I highly suggest if you have not tried Osso go try it. I am a huge fan of this restaurant and their food. I love that it is farm to table I think that is a big plus. I like this farm to table concept, the more they do in house the better. Next the options in prices. If you want to go and spend a little bit of money or a lot of money both can be done here and its not like you get less for the lower price. The BBQ had so much food on the plate. Lastly, how flavorful the food was. I can’t wait to go back out once its warmer and lighter later in the day to enjoy the view and try some other options on the menu.