Several weeks into his new position, Chef Brian is ready for his announcement.  He’s happy with his new menu, as are we.  We’re ready!  Come in this weekend, raise a glass with us, say hello.

 

Introducing Chef Brian Griffith

For the past two years Chef Brian Griffith has been helping manage the Oliveto kitchen as Sous Chef—gaining a deep understanding of our largely Italian and California-Italian menu, and getting to know the sources particular to northern California farming for the best produce and meats, as well as Monterey Fish’s unsurpassed sustainable wild fish.  His illustrious CV, which lists Table 6, Denver, Carlyle, Portland, and Kadeau, Copenhagen (renown two-star Michelin restaurant), expands the roots of his native Tennessee.

So when long-time, and exceptional, Oliveto Chef Jonah Rhodehamel felt it was time for a life change, we were deeply gratified and excited that Griffith would accept the position of Oliveto Executive Chef, and the challenge of refining and creating his own direction for our kitchen.
What we anticipate, and are already experiencing, from Chef Brian’s kitchen:

—A better balance of vegetables, meats, fish, and grains on the menu.

—A deeper examination of the possibilities the diverse produce available from local regenerative farmers offers.

—A deeper examination of butchering, curing, and cooking with heritage breeds of animals.

—Expanding the already exciting pasta offerings on our menu with our dedicated pasta maker, and widening the boundaries of traditional pastas.

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At a time when serious diners in the Bay Area—and indeed in much of the world—are developing broader palates and more philosophically diverse directives as to what they eat, Brian has been considering how to make the myriad Italian culinary techniques fit happily on a balanced, creative menu, pleasing to both the traditionalist and the curious, demanding new eater.