Sycamore

My rating: 9.3/10

Sycamore is located in German Village in Columbus, Ohio, my hometown. I've tried many restaurants in the area over the years and Sycamore may be my new favorite. All night, I was riding the high of my 1-year anniversary with my partner and the meal was the perfect pairing. The ambiance at Sycamore is excellent. The interior design is perfect and the kitchen is well-hidden. There is plenty of booth and bar seating, and the attention to detail was highlighted in the experience. The service was excellent. Our server was attentive without being too bearing. Many waiters are pushy when it comes to ordering expensive meals, drinks, etc., but our server supported our decision to dine cheaply.

I am a huge fan of meal sharing and it's the perfect way to experience as much of the menu as possible. My partner and I started with the poutine, which was excellent. There was a vegetarian gravy, cheese curds, truffle, and possibly rosemary. It was all to die for. Sycamore did not skimp on the poutine. I appreciate a restaurant's ability to provide an adequate amount of food per meal, including appetizers. I want an appetizer the whole table feels comfortable diving into. If there is too little food, each person feels uncomfortable taking a fair portion, especially if someone else is paying.

After a heavy appetizer, we decided to go lighter on the entrees and split both the ravioli and the Verde salad. If I have trouble deciding between two options, I always ask the waiter for their opinion. I get the best meals that way. Once again, a waiter can easily get more in tips if they suggest the most expensive item on the menu or get you to order more food. I asked if the Verde salad was going to be enough food as an entree and he gladly shared that it was a large salad meant to be an entree. It was large, but he easily could have said it was a side salad and gotten us to order more food.

The Verde salad was delicious. It was a flavor-packed salad, light but heavy on the dressing. The dressing was sour and thick, but not overpowering. The lettuce itself was a little sour, but when paired with the ravioli, it was the right choice.

The ravioli was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I was disappointed with the amount of ravioli, but the amount of flavor packed into each one made me forget how much there was and savor each bite. The wilted greens were flavorful but light in comparison to the ravioli itself. The artichoke, saffron, and mascarpone combination was like no other. Somehow, it was made in a way that the pasta was thick enough to hold in the filling but light enough that when you bite into the dish it just melts in your mouth. It was heavier than expected, but the filling was creamy and the pasta was cooked perfectly. I never want ravioli super cheesy again. I only want the flavor bomb that is ravioli from Sycamore.

You could taste each individual flavor within the ravioli in each bite. One bite I would get slightly sour, savory, artichoke on the left side of my tongue and creamy, sweet mascarpone on my right. It's something I've never experienced before. Each flavor was even in potency and it made for a perfect pairing. I have many more restaurants to try is Columbus, but this one will be hard to top.