Osman's

By Cynthia Wong

Cuisine editor

I am in love with Osman’s Restaurant. Friends who have not yet dined there find my enthusiasm for the eatery nearly fanatical, and those who have, cannot help but compare every subsequent meal at other establishments with what could have been had at Osman’s.

Everything at Osman’s is made in-house, including the five kinds of bread. The Ademovic’ family is so dedicated to quality and freshness that it would not be hard to believe that had they the time and space, they would churn their own butter and mine their own salt.

The 31-item dinner menu features solid Italian, French and German classics of impressively consistent quality and good value, without any foodservice preparations in which the meat is made to stand monument-like on a platform of potatoes. In this era of increasing anxiety and insecurity, Osman’s offers top-shelf comfort food. All meat dishes are served with three vegetables because “if you don’t like one, then you’ll have two others you can eat,” says owner/front-of-the-house manager/hostess supreme Mirjana Ademovic’. And the small dining room is as cozy as the neighborhood joint of your dreams. Portion sizes are soothing as well, more than sufficient for the heartiest diners and large enough for two meals for the less voracious.

Chef Osman Ademovic’s great talent and integrity have earned him legions of fans who have dined at the restaurant nearly every week since its February 2000 opening. This loyal clientele enjoys favorites such as the veal and eggplant parmigianas, which are never greasy or dry, but tender and so crispy, even under a napping of tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan, you could believe they were coated in diamonds. The catch-of-the-day-meuniere is prepared with olive oil instead of the traditional browned butter for a lighter, cleaner flavor that doesn’t mask the freshness of the lightly battered, crunchy-coated fish.

The gorgonzola ravioli possess a loveliness which almost escapes words, but figures in every other conversation with a friend who speaks of the pasta in terms and gestures normally reserved for dreams. And the newly added luxurious cheesecake, which is at once dense and ultra-creamy, yet quiveringly light and melting.

The $6.99 set lunch includes soup, salad, bread and choice of entrée. It may be Mobile’s best meal value. While the portions are scaled down, they are still generous. A beautiful tuna entree was recently featured for lunch and was nothing short of sublime. Instead of the ubiquitous, overdone seared-and-still-pink or barely-grilled, mostly raw tuna, this fillet, lightly dressed with olive oil and shallots, was grilled to almost-flakiness and was so tender and flavorful that my dining companion and I have yet to stop talking about it several weeks later.

Nothing is pre-prepared at Osman’s; when a veal parmigiana is ordered, Chef Osman pounds and breads the meat at that moment to ensure maximum freshness and quality.

“Sometimes a guest will be upset about having to wait for their food,” says Mirjana. “But the wait is because Osman prepares everything, everything to order. We try to give our guests a good dining experience, and I know that I can be proud of every meal we serve.”

Indeed, the Ademovics’ pride in their food and hard work has brought them success. Not only is Osman’s one of Mobile’s most highly-regarded restaurants, business has been steady and good enough for the family to re-invest and expand.

The Ademovics opened Osman’s with the remarkably small sum of $3,000 two-and-a-half years ago, renting the property and slowly adding kitchen equipment. Last year, they bought the property and more recently, they bought the adjacent property, which they plan on transforming into a gourmet grocery/take-out deli. Even more remarkably, they have taken no loans for these purchases. Tim Ward, formerly of The Pillars, has joined his good friend Chef Osman, lending his skills in the kitchen and adding filet mignon and beef Wellington to the menu. The Ademovics have also expanded the kitchen, adding a pizza oven to produce thin-crusted, genuinely Italian pizzas.

Osman’s now has a liquor license and offers beer and a small-but-good selection of wines by the glass and bottle, including Fat Bastard Shiraz. Guests may still bring their own bottles for a small corkage fee.

“We’ve grown slowly, steadily,” says Osman. “Making improvements gradually, like cloth napkins at night. But we keep it simple because that’s how we are.”

Some diners may wish for a more luxurious dining room or more central location, but the Ademovics are wise to not tamper with the restaurant’s success.

“I just try to feed people,” Osman says. And feed the Ademovics do, with a charm and grace that makes Osman’s a brilliant star in the Mobile food scene.

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