Aged Wines, Truffle Prices, and Truffles for Home

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Truffles Prices Are In

We hate it when we’re shaving $12/gram truffles at our dinners. We’ve long rejected the common $14 to $20/gram approach. It’s not as fun.

But because these dinners are something of an institution, and diners come in ready to have at them, we sell a lot of truffles. And, we can bring the price down.

We’re happy to share the good news: truffles will be a somewhat modest $8 per gram for our Truffle Dinners. You can also purchase them to take home — email us (shelley@oliveto.com) if you are interested!

Pre-Order Aged Wine for Truffle Dinners

We were really blown away by these very well aged wines from our recent Bruno Giacosa dinner. These aged Barolos and Barbarescos are the very best wines to drink with white truffles, as they come from the same region of northern Italy. Delicious, profound, and utterly stunning,  the following are currently available from our collection:

Barbaresco, Santo Stefano, Giacosa 1979 — 425.
Barbaresco, Asili, Riserva Giacosa,  2000 — 650.
Barbaresco, Bricco Asili, Ceretto, 1985 — 270.
Barbaresco, Podere del Pajore, Giovanni Moresco, 1979 — 295.
Barbaresco, Montefico, Riserva Produttori, 1978 — 240.
Barbaresco, Asili, Riserva Produttori del Barbaresco, 1982 — 330.
Barolo, Villero, Giuseppe Mascarello, 1978 — 320.
Barolo, Ceretto Brunate, 1978 — 425.

**These must be purchased in advance, so we can prepare them and let them breathe for 6-8 hours before your dinner. In order to arrange for one of these spectacular wines, please email Shelley@oliveto.com. **

 

2017-09-12T15:46:31-07:00November 14th, 2016|Coming up..., Uncategorized|0 Comments
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The Menu for Next Week’s Truffle Dinners

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Tajarin al burro.

We’re eagerly awaiting next Tuesday, when Truffle Dinners begin, the alluring scent of truffles floats through the air, and throughout the room little swoons can be heard from rapturous diners, as Chef Jonah’s menu for this dinner is always heavenly. It will be a delicious comfort after this week’s sad news.

Truffle prices are soon to come, which we think will be moderate — we’ll keep you posted!

Dinners for Truffles & Autumn Mushrooms
November 15-19, 2016

MENU

Antipasti and salads

COLD
Carne cruda of Magruder beef ricotta salata and shaved, truffled egg yolk
Salad of shaved Brussels sprouts, bagna cauda, Parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs
Salad of roast autumn vegetables with Delicata squash and pistachios
Crudo of bay scallops with Hachiya persimmon, crispy lardo, and Moroccan olives
Garden lettuces vinaigrette

WARM
Crostino of fonduta Val d’Aostana
Sformatino of Porcini mushrooms and Parmesan cheese
Salad of warm lamb’s tongue, crispy sweetbreads, and Marble potatoes with black
truffle vinaigrette
Soup: vellutata of cauliflower and celeriac with brown butter and hazelnut pesto

Primi
Tajarin al burro
Duck egg raviolo with brown butter, fried sage, and Parmesan cheese
Agnolotti dal plin of rabbit and Fontina Val d’Aosta
Tortelli di zucca with Amaretto butter and spiced pumpkin seeds
Acquerello Carnaroli risotto with Castelmagno cheese and roast poultry sugo
Ravioli of parsley root and bone marrow with cured truffled egg yolk
Whole grain Desert King Durum trompetti with wild mushroom ragù

Secondi
Butter-poached Maine lobster with roast Kabocha squash, Swiss chard, and brandy
spumante
Cauliflower two ways: budino and “couscous” with Pecorino cheese fonduta and a
poached farm egg
Charcoal-grilled, dry-aged Magruder ribeye with wild mushrooms, roast garlic crema,
and sugo
Charcoal-grilled Paine Farm pigeon with Yukon Gold potato purée, Walla Walla onion
agrodolce, and walnut salsa
Charcoal-grilled chicken boudin blanc with Savoy cabbage, barley, and poultry sugo
Spit-roasted pork loin involtino of hazelnuts, sage, and nettles with Floriani red flint corn
polenta, Nantes carrots, and green peppercorn sugo

2017-09-12T15:46:32-07:00November 10th, 2016|Coming up..., Events, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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The Trouble with Truffle Travel

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When the restaurant began, San Francisco was really getting crapola truffles. They were flown to New York, picked over, and then sent here. So it wasn’t hard to come up with the idea of bringing them in ourselves — the truffles were really that poor.

So every year I went to Italy, in part to supply our Truffle Dinners. We ended up with really good relationships and superior truffles with very good prices — which we continue to enjoy, despite the fact that last year and this year, I’ve been unable to go, due to my responsibilities with Community Grains. It’s truly been heart wrenching because it’s something I love. I love seeing my friends. I love the adventure. I’ve been doing it for years so I’ve formed my own intimate relationship with Italy.

But amongst all the things I love and am missing, there are things that I’m not going to miss. I don’t miss getting into spats with Italian customs inspectors; I don’t miss having to get off the plane after spying my truffles abandoned on the tarmac (having been ordered off by the pilot, who feared, due to their smell, that my baggage contained illicit substances); I don’t miss worrying that I won’t be able to get back in time for Truffle Dinners.

Getting on a plane from Italy with my pricy quarry was something I learned to meet with trepidation. But still, there is nothing like going on a truffle hunt with very good friends, prying golden truffles from deep within the earth. And when Truffle Dinners roll around, and the aroma of truffles — as good as ever — rise from my plate, so will my memories of all the things I love about Italy.

We look forward to seeing you for Truffle Dinners!

Annual Truffle Dinners
November 15-19, 2016

2017-09-12T15:46:32-07:00October 21st, 2016|Coming up..., Events|0 Comments
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Food for Cooler Days | Truffles Cometh

 

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A bounty of truffles.

Our Annual Truffle Dinners dates are set – reserve for November 15th through the 19th! Here’s our early report for Italy’s truffle regions: Very warm summer, with good rains in September.  It’s the rains in September we like to see – we should be fine for truffles this year.

Food for Cooler Days

Summer’s in its final innings – we’ll see tomatoes and fennel flowers dwindle away when the rains come. The kitchen’s transitioning into cool weather food. Right now, our best pre-hibernation dishes are:

  • Tortelloni of house-made ricotta and Fontina cheeses with brown butter, Delicata squash, hazelnuts, and sage
  • Charcoal-grilled dry-aged Magruder sirloin with gremolata rustica, longcooked onions, roast mushrooms, and old aceto balsamico
  • Warm apple tarte Tatin with cinnamon ice cream, whipped crème fraîche, and candied walnut
  • In our cafe downstairs, Community Grains red flint Floriani polenta is back.
2017-09-12T15:46:32-07:00October 17th, 2016|Coming up..., Events|0 Comments
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