Rookie mistake: a separate DineLA menu. These items aren't on the regular menu, and that is always a huge red flag. I imagine this is their attempt to make items affordable to both the customer and their business, but there's often a reason those things don't make the regular menu. But, I’ve heard some good things about Officine Brera...nevertheless I persisted.
I was wrong to persist, and I was wrong from the start. The Fegatini starter almost had potential, but I only got it because I didn't want a generic-sounding salad. It's an immediate assault. Bitter iron notes of chicken liver mousse clang and clash with a dense, nondescript batter. The mousse is a darker iteration of the spread I pick up from Trader Joe’s, and five balls per order is heavy to the point of nausea.
The Basa Padana does not improve the situation. Risotto, with rice a little less cooked than I prefer. A cheesy, buttery whatever topped with WTF sausage that resembles the grocery-store kielbasa our parents would buy for our picky kid-palates, and it looks like someone chopped up a few triangles and absentmindedly tossed it on a bed of rice for no comprehensible reason. Does not go with risotto at all.
I like the Pisarelli. Best thing on this menu, a little bowl of juicy mushrooms in and hearty bread dumplings nubbins coated with a thick layer of smoky, cheesy sauce.
Cheeky dishes excite me, but the Guancia di Manzo is a letdown. The disappointment is overwhelming. It's good beef, and the meat is fatty and soft. But it could be juicier considering the cut, and it's braised in a brown sauce that is just salt and brown.
Pesce Bianco: halibut seared dry on a pile of escarole and lentils. Worst presentation I've ever seen.
The desserts could almost save a mediocre meal if this one weren't so far gone. The Torroncino is a sweet surprise, a refreshing, chilling honey nut semifreddo.
The Cioccolato is rich, dark mousse with a gooey raspberry coulis. It's not novel or innovative, but it's definitely not bad in any manner.
Officine Brera: where DineLA comes to die. I can't even begin to express how deeply this depresses me. I hope their regular menu is better than this.
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