Audacious American fare puts this amiable Somerville landmark on the national culinary map.

The Scene
EVOO--the name's an acronym for Extra Virgin Olive Oil--attracts diners from across the country with an acclaimed menu of creative American cuisine. Area professionals and starry-eyed couples fill the comfortable, airy dining room to pay downtown prices for dreamy dishes like a creamy flan appetizer made from porcini mushrooms and roasted garlic. The welcoming bar accommodates diners looking for a light bite and a few glasses from a lengthy, intricate wine list. Sociable servers are intensely familiar with the menu's many intricacies.

The Food
Owners Peter and Colleen McCarthy set the local standard for creativity with adventurous dishes like goat cheese and caramelized onion enchiladas. The McCarthys are members of a farmers' collective, and their ever-changing menu incorporates fresh, seasonal ingredients. Delicious, colorfully titled entrees include ''Duck, Duck, Goose'' (confit, foie gras and breast meat, respectively). Desserts, including a refreshing Thai basil-infused vanilla-orange creme brulee, are no less inventive or satisfying.