food and cooking blog

After experiencing one of the Whole Hog dinners at Oliveto last year, I couldn't wait to do it again. This time I brought along a friend Susie, who had just moved to the neighborhood. While it may seem like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and doing a whole animal dinner, the one at Oliveto is one of the oldest and surely one of the best. For one thing, it's a la carte, so you can eat and spend as much as you like. This year chef Jonah Rhodehamel focused the selections and there were more rustic options, but it's not all ears and trotters.


First up was a very hearty favata bean soup made from dried fava beans. Restaurant owner Bob Klein is the mastermind behind Community Grains and really knows his beans! The soup had tender chunks of braised pork, a chewy crouton and plenty of lift from a minty herbal puree. This is the kind of soup I would make and eat all week long.


Next up was a spectacularly good lasagna from Calabria called Sagne chine it had the lightest noodles and meatballs, plus a fresh and spicy tomato sauce and thin slivers of hard boiled egg. It was the most ethereal lasagna I have ever tasted. I was tipped off that a similar recipe is in My Calabria:Cooking with Rosetta cookbook so you may want to bookmark it. The recipe includes peas, and the Oliveto version does not.



The main course we shared was not the more common porchetta, but rather spit-roasted pork leg served with roasted carrots, turnips and greens. It was lean but still juicy, full of flavor. The chef told me he gets his pork from several sources including the sustainably raised ones from Magruder Ranch and Riverdog Farm.


After a palate cleansing salad of garden lettuce, we chose a pear strudel for dessert with vin santo ice cream. The leaves of the strudel with crackly crisp, because of course, they were slathered in strutto. Ah porcine goodness from beginning to end!

Note: There may be a few more seats left for this dinner 2/10/12, but call the restaurant to find out.

Oliveto
5655 College Avenue
Oakland, CA
510.547.5356

If you live in the Bay Area, it's likely you know about Oliveto. It opened 25 years ago, is located in Rockridge, Oakland and serves wonderful Italian food, with a Slow Food sensibility. You can always count on Oliveto for great pasta, roasted meat and fish, and a commitment to using the best quality ingredients. It's also been the home for several great Bay Area chefs notably Paul Canales, Michael Tusk and Paul Bertolli.


What's new at Oliveto? A lot, to tell you the truth. For one, there is a new chef, Jonah Rhodehamel. I recently ate at the restaurant and can tell you he approaches cooking with finesse and sense of balance. It's hard to believe someone so young has already spent time at such venerable restaurants as La Folie, Americano and Quince. I particularly loved his Hoffman hen "rolata" stuffed with sausage. It reminded me of a similar preparation I had at Frances last year.


I've always been fond of the pizza served in the cafe downstairs, but it's actually gotten better now that they are using whole grain flour from Community Grains. The flour is very smooth, not rough but has a nutty flavor that really complements cheese, mushrooms and more. Unlike other whole wheat flours, Community Grains makes a flour that is not enriched. You actually get all the parts of the grain, ground together. The flour will soon be available for retail customers.


Another fabulous grain making it's way into Oliveto's menu is red flint polenta. It takes a full three hours to fully hydrate and cook, but the result is something special. Flecked with red, it has texture and body and cooks up thicker than regular yellow cornmeal. I had it topped with egg and greens.


So new that it's not even on the menu yet, are heirloom beans that Oliveto sourced from a farmer who grows a huge variety of legumes, some that are very unusual. Which ones Oliveto will end up using is still up for discussion. At a recent lunch I got to try the pigeon peas, cannellini and Christmas limas. They were prepared very simply to let their natural flavors shine through. The pigeon peas had good texture, but were not as flavorful as the cannellini which had a natural sweetness and the Christmas limas which were unbelievably meaty. They really tasted as if they had been cooked with beefy bones. The beans were just delicious served up plain, so I can't wait to see how they will make it onto the menu.

Not new, but an annual tradition, Oliveto is hosting their Whole Hog dinners March 9-12, 2011. Each night a different pig is featured, check out the schedule for more details. This is a super popular event but some later seatings are still available.

Oliveto
5655 College Avenue
Oakland, CA
510.547.5356

Photo credit:Brett Hufziger
If you are looking for a kind of late 50's early 60's glamour, it's hard to beat Eden Roc Resort, Miami, on the upper "Golden Mile" of Miami Beach. Though just a short cab ride, it feels a world away from the thumpety-thump of South Beach where the party scene is inescapable. The $200 million renovation has the place feeling fresh and modern with a cool and shimmery color palate and nods to a time when it was the resort of choice with entertainers like Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Lena Horne, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr and Elizabeth Taylor.

The property has multiple pools, a great view of the ocean but not a lot of choices when it comes to dining. Fortunately I found the new restaurant on property, 1500 Degrees, to be absolutely wonderful. Hell's Kitchen fans will recognize the name of the chef, Paula DaSilva, a past contestant who was named one of the "Top 40 under 40" by Gold Coast magazine and "Best Celebrity Chef" by Broward/Palm Beach New Times. To be honest, it's hard for me to get excited about yet another steakhouse. 1500 Degrees is described as a farm to table steakhouse, which was good news for me, because you can easily make a meal out of small plates and appetizers.


First up was the local Florida Wahoo ceviche ($13). Ceviche can be found on many Miami menus, but this one was really outstanding. It had the right balance of peppers, cilantro, onions and lime. It managed to be refreshing and savory at the same time.


I don't know if the Pork Belly Tacos with Housemade Kimchee ($7) are always on the menu, but they should be. Shatteringly crunchy morsels with melting bites of pork and juicy kimchee are a mouthwatering treat! I suppose an order of 4 is meant to be shared, but I gobbled them all up myself.


The spiciest dish I tried was the White Water Clams with Chorizo, Peppers and Aji Amarillo Pepper Broth ($15). Chewy nubs of Spanish chorizo and lots of garlic and peppers flavor the clams and the luscious broth. It was a generous portion and I will not soon forget it. The tangy broth was so good I used a spoon to get every last drop.

So as you can see, I didn't even bother ordering steak. I have no idea how the steak is, but am happy that the other dishes were by no means an afterthought. Prices are a what you would expect to find in a hotel, a bit on the high side, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

I was a guest of Eden Roc and 1500 Degrees

I've eaten at Americano three times in the past couple of months, and each time it was better than the last. Located on the ground floor of the Hotel Vitale, it's main architectural feature is a large patio that runs the length of the restaurant and faces the bay. With heat lamps, plenty of tables, chairs and even couches, it's one of my favorite outdoor dining spaces in San Francisco (Foreign Cinema is the other).

The menu has something for everybody, with plenty of appetizers for sharing or light meals, pasta, Italian entrees and even a hamburger. While I've enjoyed the fish and hearty steak entrees, it's been the pizza, pasta and appetizers that have made me a fan.


Their take on the Margherita pizza, the pizza fresca, $15 is puffy and crisp and not overburdened with toppings. It has that melting quality I love when sauce, cheese and crust all meld together.


My favorite dishes are the appetizers, $7 each or 3 for $18. The luscious tonno conserva is so rich and delicate it will wipe away any memory of domestic canned tuna. Also notable are the arancini and the artichoke and brussels sprouts fritti. None of the fried bites are greasy or heavy.


It's hard for me not to order pasta, especially when it is homemade. Chef Kory Stewart makes fantastic stuffed pasta, supple and soft, simple yet with very high quality ingredients. You can get his pasta in smaller or larger portions. If you want to try several dishes I won't blame you for ordering the small portion, but if you're like me, you will be sad when it's gone. His pastas are often dressed simply with just a bit of olive oil or butter and topped with a bit of herbs or vegetables. The version with fava beans and Meyer lemon was a wonderful expression of late spring.


While I've enjoyed several desserts the one not to miss is the Mocha Custard $5. Served in an espresso cup it is is rich and creamy and the happiest marriage of chocolate and coffee.

Americano Restaurant & Bar
8 Mission Street @ Embaracadero
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 278-3777