2012 – OLIVETO RESTAURANT AND CAFE

This Sunday’s Farmhouse Supper: Venezia

December 30, 2012

The capital of the Veneto region, Venezia is situated on the northeast coast of Italy and is known for its bridges and canals, its proximity to both the Po and Piave rivers, its opera, its warm subtropical summers, and those stripe-shirted gondoliers … among other things. A major hub for commerce, Venice became home to a cuisine of wide and varied influence. In its coastal regions seafood is a mainstay along with spices, herbs, fruits and nuts from further afar.

Please join us for our last Sunday Supper of 2012!

Frittata alle erbe aromatiche
Frittata with winter herbs and mixed salad

Bigoli in Salsa
House-made bigoli with onions, anchovies, and white wine

Pesce alla Cappucina
Cod with pine nuts, golden raisins, and lemon

Dolce
TBA

Prix fixe $40.

Served family-style. For groups of one to twelve*. Whole table must order prix fixe menu. A modest and appropriate regional wine will be available as perfect accompaniment to the meal.

call 510-547-5356 or reserve online

*Larger parties: please let us know at the time of your reservation that your table will be ordering the Sunday Supper menu so we can plan accordingly. Thanks!

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:53-07:00December 28th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

This Sunday’s Farmhouse Supper: Emilia-Romagna

December 23, 2012

Located between the Po River in the north and the Apennine Mountains in the south, Emilia-Romagna has a population of about 4.4 million people. Many associate the region with the historic, capital city of Bologna, but Emilia-Romagna also includes large parcels of outlying farmlands. The plains region of Emilia is known for its wheat and corn fields, as well as meat and dairy production, while the mountainous Romagna region is full of fruit orchards, nuts, wine vineyards, and wild game.

Antipasto de Teggio
Antipasto of pears, arugula, Parmesan and aged balsamico

Tagliatelle con Salsiccia e Fungi
Tagliatelle with sausage and mushrooms and cream

Polpette d’Artusi
Artusi style beef meatballs with pancetta, pine nuts, and warm spices

Dolci
Torta di riso in the style of the Po River plains

Prix fixe $40.

Served family-style. For groups of one to twelve*. Whole table must order prix fixe menu. A modest and appropriate regional wine will be available as perfect accompaniment to the meal.

call 510-547-5356 or reserve online

*Larger parties: please let us know at the time of your reservation that your table will be ordering the Sunday Supper menu so we can plan accordingly. Thanks!

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:53-07:00December 20th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

This Sunday’s Farmhouse Supper: Tuscany

tuscanyfarmdinner_480

December 16, 2012

What can we say about Tuscany that hasn’t already been said? The region is beloved for its striking landscapes, beautiful cities, architecture, storied past, renowned wine regions, and a cuisine that is simultaneously simple and elegant.

Tuscany contains nearly every terrain from rolling hills full of wild game, olive and grape vineyards that are crossed by mountain chains and rivers, to inland plains with grazing cattle and a coastline along the Tyrrhenian Sea abundant with seafood.

Le Gran farro
Tuscan bean and farro soup with new oil

Tagliatelle con Ragù Tuscano
Tagliatelle with beef, tomato and red wine ragù

Peposo
Beef stew with black pepper and garlic

Zuccotto
A chocolate and cream cake

Prix fixe $40.

Served family-style. For groups of one to twelve*. Whole table must order prix fixe menu. A modest and appropriate regional wine will be available as perfect accompaniment to the meal.

call 510-547-5356

or reserve online

*Larger parties: please let us know when you make the reservation that your table will be ordering the Sunday Supper menu so we can plan accordingly. Thanks!

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:53-07:00December 14th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

2012 California Olio Nuovos

New oil flight with Chef Rhodehamel’s ribollita

The winter solstice on December 21st is just around the corner, meaning the Oliveto menu has taken a turn for the late-autumnal. Think rich soups, thick stews, and ribollita — dishes that stick to the ribs, warm the cockles and pair exceptionally with peppery, vibrant olio nuovos.

Just last week the Oliveto kitchen received its first shipment of new olive oil pressed from the 2012 California harvest. We have three excellent Olio Nuovos from McEvoy Ranch, Chalk Hill Clemetis Farm in Healdsburg, and Regina from Dickson Napa Ranch. After last year’s disastrous harvest it is a welcome relief to see such fine oils from our very favorite producers.

For the month of December we’ll be offering a new oil flight along with a selection of dishes throughout the upstairs dinner menu that use these delicious oils.

If you are looking to bone up on northern California’s long and storied olive growing history (which is hard to separate out from Oliveto’s) you’ll want to check out this month’s Edible East Bay article on this very subject.

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:54-07:00December 7th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

This Sunday’s Farmhouse Supper: Piedmonte

December 9, 2012

This Sunday we’ll return to one of our favorite regions, the Piedmonte. We’ll prepare the traditional peasant dish bagna càuda (literally meaning “hot bath”): crushed anchovies and garlic in warm olive oil served with whatever vegetables are growing on the farm at that moment. We’ll follow that with a lovely pasta partially in honor of this weekend’s full moon, and some magnificent Magruder Ranch beef served in the traditional Barolo manner. Please join us!

Bagna Cauda
with crudite of seasonal vegetables

Mezzaluna con formaggio and spinaci
Half-moon shaped pasta with cheese and spinach

Brasato al Barolo
Red wine-braised Magruder beef with Community Grains red flint polenta

Dolce
TBA

Prix fixe $40.

Served family-style. For groups of one to twelve. Whole table must order prix fixe menu. A modest and appropriate regional wine will be available as perfect accompaniment to the meal.

call 510-547-5356

or reserve online

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:54-07:00December 6th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|Comments Off

This Sunday’s Farmhouse Supper: Napoli

November 25, 2012

At the north end of the Bay of Naples, along the Tyrrhenian seaside of southern Italy, lies the capital of Campania, Naples, a teeming city with close to four million inhabitants in the greater metropolitan area, surrounded by the fertile farmlands of Campania. Its climate is similar to ours, but with some summer rain. An ancient city, it has had plenty of time to develop its own home cuisine. Pompeii’s mosaics depict the abundant fish, fruits, and farm animals of the area. More recently, it is the Neapolitans who invented the thin-crusted pizza and the espresso machine. Inland, the more rural parts of Naples depend on simple ingredients such as pasta or rice, vegetables, legumes, and only occasionally meat. Mainstays of home-cooked Neapolitan cooking include zucchini, eggplant, endive, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, beans, chickpeas, and lentils.

Pate de Funghi
Crostino of Mushroom Pȃté

Timballo di Maccheroni
Baked Pasta in a Pastry Crust

Polpettone alla Napolitana
Neapolitan Meatloaf

Dolci
TBA

Prix fixe $40.

Served family-style. For groups of one to twelve. Whole table must order prix fixe menu. A modest and appropriate regional wine will be available as perfect accompaniment to the meal.

call 510-547-5356

or reserve online

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:55-07:00November 23rd, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

Berkeleyside talks truffles

Amidst the flurry of truffles Oliveto co-Owner, Bob Klein, had time for a quick chat with our friends over at Berkeleyside.

Why the passion for truffles?
I don’t know if it is a passion really, it is just something that I could do and got good at. I’ve come to know a great deal about truffles, and have probably bought (and cleaned) a couple of hundred pounds of white truffles — that’s a lot.

When did you first discover truffles, and where?
My earliest, and best memory of truffles is coming back for dinner to our truffle hunter’s house, and having him mash all the small whites into new olive oil and slather it over grilled meat.

Read the full interview at Berkeleyside.

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:55-07:00November 15th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

2012 Truffle Dinners: FULL MENU

MENU FOR TRUFFLE AND MUSHROOM DINNERS, 2012
Italian white truffles shaved tableside, offered by the gram

Tuesday, November 13 – Friday, November 16

First course
Crostino of fonduta Val d’Aostana
Pan-roasted sweetbreads with bone marrow, salsify purée, and roast Belgian endive
Crudo of Nantucket Bay scallops with black truffles, celeriac, and apple
Sformatino of Chanterelle mushrooms with vinsanto spumante
Poached farm egg with mushroom-potato hash and black truffle zabaglione
Panna cotta of Parmesan cheese and duck liver
Carne cruda of Magruder beef with black truffles
Salad of frisée, apple, and Yellow Finn potato with black truffle vinaigrette
Soup: vellutata of sunchoke with black truffle crema

Pastas
Agnolotti dal plin
Tajarin with butter glaze
Raviolo of stinging nettles, ricotta, and egg yolk
Butterball potato gnocchi with brown butter
Chestnut tortelloni of Castelmagno cheeses with honey
Cappelletti of pigeon with fonduta Val d’Aostana
Risotto bianco

Main Courses
Fontina cheese-stuffed breast of hen with black truffle spätzle, cabbage,and golden balsamic sugo
Pigeon-stuffed quail with Maitake mushroom farroto and pigeon sugo
Charcoal-grilled New York strip with potato purée, Swiss chard, and La Tur cheese fonduta
Pan-roasted wild mushroom-stuffed pork porterhouse with duck liver-stuffed date, celeriac purée, and escarole
Herb-crusted Alaskan halibut with black truffle brandade, roasted fennel, and garlic vellutata
Squash polpettone with black truffle and Walla Walla onion crema

Desserts*
Pomegranate-prosecco sgroppino
Turkish coffee ice cream-chocolate tartufi with browned butter-cardamom spuma
French Butter pear and raspberry compote with vinsanto ice cream and black peppercorn tuile
Warm Rome Beauty apple and pain d’épices Charlotte with crème anglaise and brandied black truffle confit
Crispy chestnut dumplings in mascarpone zabaglione with persimmon confetti
Bittersweet chocolate cake
Hazelnut tozzetti

* all desserts can be made alcohol free with appropriate substitutions (vanilla ice cream with the pears, pomegranate sorbetto instead of sgroppino, truffles in butter without brandy)

Chef Rhodehamel2017-09-12T15:47:56-07:00November 12th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

This Just In: 2012 Truffle Haul

The kitchen is getting its first look at this year’s truffle haul. Bob brought back these beauties from Umbria which should take us through the first night of Oliveto’s Truffle Dinners, starting next week. But never fear, we have a lot more truffles.

As we reported earlier, this year’s white truffles are scarce, which means they’re commanding meaning higher prices. We’ve become adept at working the truffle market by reading its driving forces: the moon, rainfall, and the numerous truffle fairs. And this this year there was a new player, the Russians, who were buying up everything! But never fear, we’ve got you covered.

The menu will also have a nice spattering of black truffles from Burgundy. Reservations are full to the brim on Friday, November 16th, but there’s still availability Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. The full menu will be posted here on Monday.

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:56-07:00November 9th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments

This Sunday’s Farmhouse Supper: Emilia-Romagna

November 11, 2012

Located between the Po River in the north and the Apennine Mountains in the south, Emilia-Romagna has a population of about 4.4 million people. Many associate the region with the historic, capital city of Bologna, but Emilia-Romagna also includes large parcels of outlying farmlands. The plains region of Emilia is known for its wheat and corn fields, as well as meat and dairy production, while the mountainous Romagna region is full of fruit orchards, nuts, wine vineyards, and wild game.

Crostino of Spuma di Mortadella
Crostino of Mortadella mousse

Tagliatelle e fagioli con Radicchio
Tagliatelle with radicchio and cannellini beans

Polpetti d’Artusi
Magruder beef meatballs with pancetta, currants, pine nuts, and warm spices

Dolci
Modena’s famous Torta Barrozzi with house-made nocino-whipped cream

Prix fixe $40.

Served family-style. For groups of one to twelve. Whole table must order prix fixe menu. A modest and appropriate regional wine will be available as perfect accompaniment to the meal.

call 510-547-5356

or reserve online

Catherine Meng2017-09-12T15:47:56-07:00November 9th, 2012|2012, Events, Happened already...|0 Comments