Description
The first word in the Ototo Food and Wine Bar name is Japanese for "little brother" and places Ototo firmly in the family of restaurants that brothers Toshi and Yasu Kizaki have already established on Old South Pearl Street. The long, narrow restaurant has a sleek, intimate front room built around the bar and exhibition kitchen, with big windows looking out on the neighborhood; it's definitely a better place to sit than the isolated dining room in back. The menu of small plates draws as much from France and Spain as it does from Japan: There's ramen on the list, but there are also sweetbreads and cassoulet. The board is divided into three sections: untouched, lightly touched and touched, meant to differentiate dishes like raw fish (Ototo has a wonderful selection of oysters) and carpaccio from pasta and pork belly, and to help you course out a dinner, eating lighter at first, then heavier. If you plan your selections carefully, you can have a very good meal at Ototo.
