Ovenella Heats Up in Boca

​Artisan pizzas, inventive pastas and specialties ranging from chili-roasted "angry prawns" to citrus and ginger-marinated skirt steak with salsa verde are coming out of the kitchen of chef Mennan Tekeli at the new Ovenella (499 S. Federal Hwy., 561-395-1455) in Boca Raton.

Proprietor and former Brazilian restaurateur Ferraretto Davila tabbed the former exec chef for Dennis Max's eateries to create a chic, contemporary restaurant that could bring a bit of big-city style to the rather more staid confines of Boca. Done in black, gray and silver with white acrylic artworks and large centerpiece chandelier, the restaurant boasts indoor and outdoor dining areas to seat 150. 
​Among Ovenella's other features are a center-stage bar that's the site for "true New York-style mixology," says cocktail guru Coleman Leitch, who's done his wine and booze thing for chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Norman Van Aken. Look for hand-made mixes and garnishes in drinks like the Bacon-Maple Old-Fashioned and Blueberry-Acai Mojito. 

On the food side, an oak-fired oven turns out pizzas either red (roasted chicken, catupiry cheese, tomato sauce and mozzarella) or white (gravlax with lemon-chive crème fraiche, asparagus, brie and capers), while pastas can be as simple as whole grain spaghetti with red and yellow tomatoes, arugula, pepperonata, garlic and olive oil or as elegant as lobster and crab ravioli with jumbo lump crab sauce and wilted spinach. 

Right now its just dinner daily but expect lunch service to begin in the near future.