The Menu for Oceanic Dinners: It’s Like, Whoah

 oceanic-kitchen-staff

It’s going to be epic — just look at Jonah’s amazing menu.

Oceanic Dinners
June 21-24, 2016
reserve online or call (510) 547-5356

Now this is something special. Chef Jonah displays his magical touch yet again with this over-the-top menu featuring over 30 species of fish, all sustainable caught, with its method of catch listed. Some of these dishes do include meat — when else might you find pigeon be paired with a lobster Bordelaise? It’s a dramatic and gorgeous feast, one we’re grateful to offer you.Menu

Antipasti:  smaller items, soup, salads
Cold
House-cured and smoked local swordfish with Sicilian pine nuts, sultana raisins
and oregano
Kombu-cured king salmon with compressed Elephant Heart pluot; crispy skin
Crudo of tigerfish with cured tuna heart, Oro Blanco grapefruit, and avocado
Ciappa with Ft. Bragg sea urchin, house-cured lardo, and artichoke
Crudo of live East Coast scallop with coral salsa, Serpentine cucumber, and pickled
hot chilis
Antipasto of marinated local anchovies, cherry tomatoes, and roasted peppers with
olive oil
Salad of Little Gem lettuces with bagna cauda, fresh anchovy, and breadcrumbs
“Coppa di mare” with fennel salad
Soup:  chilled vellutata of Dungeness crab, coconut milk, and lemon verbena with
trout roe, Serrano chili, and anise hyssop
Garden lettuces vinaigrette

Warm
Fritto of softshell crab with Brentwood corn sformatino and romesco sauce
Pain de mie-crusted sand dab with scallop mousseline and zucchini crema
Brasato of octopus and tripe with Gigande beans, tomato, and Pecorino cheese

Primi
Rigatoni with swordfish polpettini, smoked cream, and mint
Spaghetti neri with Georgia white shrimp, tomato, and Calabrian chili
Acquerello Carnaroli risotto of sea urchin, fresh coriander, and lime
Saffron chitarra with Dungeness crab, Meyer lemon, and tarragon crema
Tortelloni of Maine lobster with mascarpone
Strozzapreti with ragù of Monterey Bay squid, Nebbiola, and ricotta salata
Potato gnocchi with salt cod, roast sweet peppers, tomato, and Sicilian fennel
Tagliatelle with razor clams, Ceci beans, garlic, and hot pepper

Secondi
Charcoal-grilled pigeon with braised Romano beans, Walla Walla onion, and lobster
Bordelaise
Charcoal-grilled sausage of lobster and chicken with peperonata, fingerling potatoes,
and salsa verde
Fines herbes-crusted king salmon with roast garlic crema, asparagus, and preserved
lemon
Cioppino of chili pepper rock cod, Prince Edward Island mussels, Manila clams, and
shrimp with grilled crostino and saffron aioli
Oil-poached white sea bass with early summer ratatouille, cherry tomatoes, and squash
blossom spumante
Roast Bolinas black cod with house-made morcilla, saffron-scented fregola, and
   salmoriglio
Farroto AQ

Contorno: TBD

Dolci    TBD

2017-09-12T15:46:35-07:00June 15th, 2016|Coming up..., Events, Monterey Fish Company|0 Comments
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Full Speed Ahead: Oceanic Dinners!

 

June 21-24, 2016

On Tuesday, Monterey Fish Market’s Tom Worthington met with chef Jonah to discuss what’s available for this year’s Oceanic Dinners. It’s an annual parlay that allows Jonah to spring to work on a massive menu, with 30-40 dishes of sustainably caught fish, listed with the method of catch.This year, the ever-changing sea has decided to be generous. Crab, squid, halibut, swordfish, and anchovy are all available. King salmon season is open all along the California coast, which means we’ll have our choice in that realm. As we do each year, we’ll look to other parts of the world for other delights.

A personal favorite, black cod, is in on the way too. It’s a gorgeous fish, marvelously fat and rich, caught by master craft fisherman Josh Churchman, who takes his boat out 25 miles to the edge of our continental shelf near Bolinas, where, using the method of vertical hook and line, he skillfully, patiently, holds his position, sinking a weighted line down into the deeps to tempt his quarry.

With all of this local abundance, Jonah is envisioning a simple, direct approach that communicates the fish’s true flavors. There will be a significant crudo section.

Amongst our regular customers, there’s always debate as to which of our special dinners is the best, and this one ranks particularly high. Fish-lovers, you will want to plan ahead for this one. Reservations will go fast.

Oceanic Dinners
June 21-24
Call 510-547-5356 or reserve online.

2017-09-12T15:46:36-07:00June 10th, 2016|Coming up..., Events, Monterey Fish Company|0 Comments
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This Just In: Devil’s Gulch Rabbit

 

Devil’s Gulch is a diversified family farm in Nicasio owned by Myriam and Mark Pasternak. Great farmers and great citizens,their hormone and antibiotic-free rabbits are bred for flavor. They taste similar to chicken, but richer, slightly sweeter, with a velvety texture to its jus.

Through the weekend, we’re serving a due of rabbit: pancetta-wrapped loin and sausage of shrimp and rabbit leg with eggplant crema and summer succotash. This dish would be simply wonderful with a light rosé.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

2017-09-12T15:46:36-07:00June 9th, 2016|Coming up..., Events, Monterey Fish Company|0 Comments
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This Just In: Alaskan Halibut

Pan-roasted Alaskan halibut, fork-smashed fingerling potatoes, saffron, English peas sott’olio, almonds, and basil. Photo by Jonah Rhodehamel via Instagram.

 Our menu is reveling in spring’s belles and beauties. Peas, artichokes, asparagus, and baby leeks have run rampant, to our delight. You’ll also find another springtime favorite — Alaskan (Pacific) Halibut, whose season has just begun.

Just as cool temperatures drive dark leafy greens to sweetness, it also drives fish to fatten lusciously, making this mild, white-fleshed fish perfect for roasting and frying. Caught longline with circle hooks (which reduces the capture of sea turtles), Alaskan Halibut is a “green-listed” fish, and is provided to us by Monterey Fish Market.

Right now, we’re serving pan-roasted Alaskan halibut with fork-smashed fingerling potatoes, saffron, English peas sott’olio, and basil. It tastes as absolutely gorgeous as it looks! We hope to be serving it through the weekend, and to see you soon.

2017-09-12T15:46:38-07:00April 8th, 2016|Coming up..., Events, Monterey Fish Company|0 Comments
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This Just In: Crab

FV Two Sisters, a crab boat off the Oregon coast. Photo courtesy of OCVA via Flickr-Creative Commons

 The Oregon Dungeness crab season is now underway, not being as hard hit as our own local fishery. Ours comes courtesy of Monterey Fish Market, and we’re folding it into a tantalizing house-made linguine with tarragon and bergamot crema. We’ll have it through the weekend or until we run out, so come in soon to enjoy!

2017-09-12T15:46:41-07:00February 4th, 2016|Coming up..., Kitchen Notes, Monterey Fish Company, This Just In|0 Comments
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This Just In: Monterey Bay Squid

stuffed-squid-600

 

We love this squid, direct from Monterey Bay, and we’re playing with its hollow form by stuffing it with fregola – a pasta which rolls like beads on the tongue – and squid tentacles, enriched with a foie gras demi-glace. This is thrown on the grill for a little smoke, and then onto a bed of vibrant, sweet gypsy peppers and lacinato kale.

Monterey Bay squid will be on the menu throughout the weekend.

2017-09-12T15:46:51-07:00October 1st, 2015|2015, Events, Happened already..., Monterey Fish Company, This Just In, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Oceanic Dinners Update: Two Weeks and Counting

oceanic-fish

 

It is two weeks to our Oceanic Dinners, and so we look to the sea to find our menu. A few days ago, we met with Tom Worthington of Monterey Fish Market to find out what we might expect from its capricious, briny depths.

He told us that the Pacific has been warmer than usual, and the winds, which “scrub” the ocean’s surface and cause an upwelling of the plankton that supports our local fisheries, have come late. Alas, no squid, and the sardine fishery has closed for the year. Both of these are usually available by now.

That said, there’s plenty of other beautiful creatures to share. Locally, the sand dabs are excellent right now, as are the Petrale sole, salmon, and white sea bass. Jonah and Tom are now casting their eyes further out, to distant waters.  We’ve got tuna on our minds, bonito, albacore, and blue fin, some of which we may smoke. According to Tom, there are these “weird clams” from the East Coast. From Alaska, halibut. Such riches.

Now we know more, and Jonah’s thinking about what he’d like to serve.

Our 14th Annual Oceanic Dinners take place June 16th-19th. (Note: due to the Warrior’s Championship series we’re moving the Oceanic Dinners back one week, now they will occur Tuesday June 23rd through Friday June 26th.)

Call (510) 547-5356 or reserve online.

2017-09-12T15:46:56-07:00June 1st, 2015|Coming up..., Monterey Fish Company, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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This Just In: Herring

Some of this year's catch. Photo: Monterey Fish Company

Some of this year’s catch. Photo: Monterey Fish Company

Tonight, you can taste this season’s catch on our primi menu — Jonah is preparing cavatelli pasta with herring, Santa Barbara sea urchin, tomato, and hot pepper. As the season progresses, expect to see the fish in salads and cured herring roe in other dishes on the menu.

This is a herring season that almost wasn’t. Up until the middle of last week, we weren’t sure if we see any herring come through the kitchen this year. It wasn’t that there was a lack of fish — the bay has been full of herring since the season started a few weeks ago. No, this year, the problem has been a matter of price.

When we met with Tom Worthington of Monterey Fish Company last week, he explained that the majority of our local herring are exported to Japan, and the high numbers of available fish had driven the price down to exceptionally low levels. We’re talking about a drop from around $3000 a ton to only $200 a ton. That’s a big jump. Because the negotiated price was so low, the local, small-scale herring fishermen simply couldn’t afford to go out and fish. (Herring fishing licenses are shockingly expensive.)

Luckily, the fishermen and the fish buyers were able to make an agreement late last Tuesday night, and we can all agree that the fish they’re catching are pretty wonderful. Chef Jonah tells us that this year’s herring are around 75% larger than last year’s, with beautiful ivory pink flesh. We hope to have herring on the menu throughout the week.

See the full menu.

Call 510-547-5356 or reserve online.

2017-09-12T15:47:05-07:00January 27th, 2015|2015, Events, Happened already..., Kitchen Notes, Monterey Fish Company, Suppliers, This Just In|0 Comments
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This Just In: Georgia White Shrimp

georgia_whites

The 2014 white shrimp season got off to a late start, but is now in full swing and catches are looking robust. Although “debate about the best wild Southern shrimp is intense,” these are some of the most flavorful shrimp we’ve ever tasted and when they become available its always minor cause for a celebration in the kitchen.

Chef Rhodehamel has had Georgia white shrimp on the menu in a classic pasta dish but with the appearance of beautiful Manila clams this week he wanted to create something special for them. Almost a soup, this antipasti has enough rich, spicy sauce for bread dipping, and yet the sweetness of these shrimp still shine through. A hearty rustic dish. Currently on the menu:

Pan-seared Georgia white shrimp and Manila clams with spicy tomato brodo and crostino

also:

Spaghetti neri with Georgia white shrimp, garlic, and tomato

2017-09-12T15:47:13-07:00September 30th, 2014|2014, Monterey Fish Company, This Just In|0 Comments
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