Best of Boston

As chef de cuisine of Oleana, Cassie Piuma was the quiet force behind Ana Sortun’s destination-worthy Mediterranean cuisine for more than a decade. With the debut of Somerville’s Sarma, where Sortun is a partner but Piuma runs the kitchen, Piuma has made her own culinary voice heard, in the form of globe-trotting meze-style plates—Brussels-sprout bravas with spicy chorizo; luscious yogurt-laced deviled eggs; superlative fried chicken atop a tahini rémoulade—that are as distinctive as they are addictive.