Sunday Farmhouse Supper – Roasted leg of pork with Cavolo Nero in Agrodolce

trentino-alto-adige-typical-mountain-vineyard

May 26, 2013

 

Antipasto

Panzanella
Tuscan-style bread salad with tomatoes, olives, capers, and chili flakes

Primo

Trompetti with Sausage and Broccoli di Ciccio

Secondo

Roasted leg of pork with Cavolo Nero in Agrodolce

Dolce

Strawberry Rhubarb “Cheesecake”: Cream Cheese Ice Cream,  
Graham Cracker Cookie, Poached Rhubarb, and Fresh Strawberries

Updated Cafe Happy Hour Menu for 2013

Monday – Friday from 4 to 6 pm
in the Oliveto Cafe.

Bar Snacks

Salumi platter
Spicy pork polpettine
Oliveto flatbread with cannellini bean purée
Garlic-roasted almonds and marinated olives

Oliveto Happy Hour Specialty Cocktails

The Oliveto
Gin, Licor 43, egg whites, Regina olive oil, lemon
8.

SideCar
Brandy, Cointreau, lemon, sugar rim
7.

Alameda Sazerac
St. George Bourbon, St. George Absinthe, simple syrup, bitters, lemon twist
9.

In addition:

$2.00 off all well drinks and wines by the glass

$3 off all wine flights

Sunday Farmhouse Supper: Brasato of Magruder Pork Shoulder

sunset-farmhouse-italy_9134_600x450

May 19, 2013

Antipasto
Crostino of house-made ciccioli with arugula

Primo
Fusilli pasta with red radicchio, mascarpone, and Grana Padano cheese

Secondo
Brasato of Magruder pork shoulder with crispy Yukon Gold potatoes

Dolce
Dark chocolate panna cotta with red wine-poached cherries

Grass-Fed Beef – The Season Begins

magrudercows_480

Three weeks ago, Oliveto got its first delivery from Mac Magruder’s ranch: a 1,187 pound heifer that has yielded about 800 pounds of delicious grass-fed beef.

Chef Jonah has developed a way of working through the animal, cutting off sections as they reach their peak to ensure highest quality and least waste. This meat found its way onto the menu about a week ago, starting with flank and skirt steak, then a ribeye blowout for Mother’s Day. Next week, expect to see sirloin and New York strip.

If you missed your favorite cut of beef this time, don’t worry – we’ll be getting another whole animal at the beginning of June, and expect to see grass-fed Magruder beef on the menu for the next eight months, animals that Mac will be finishing on irrigated pasture.

Mac is the real deal in a world where a “grass fed” label can be misleading. Watch a video here of Mac Magruder at his ranch with his family and animals.

Morels and Porcini are everywhere on the menu alongside peas, fava beans and asparagus. You’ll even find some bing cherries from Hamada Farm in Fresno.

See Chef Jonah explain a bit about his butchering process with one of last year’s Magruder animals here.

Oliveto Sommelier Esteban Brunello Featured on StarChefs.com

esteban_brunello_photo_sm[1]

Oliveto Sommelier Esteban Brunello has recently been featured in a StarChefs article, talking about some of his favorite pairings with with Executive Chef Jonah’s unique dishes. A quote:

enlargeWineSagrantino di Montefalco, Colpetrone, Umbria, 2007DishPotato-wrapped Pigeon-stuffed Quail, Farro, Wild Mushrooms, and Truffle SugoPairing Note“These Paine Farms pigeons and Wolf Ranch quail are the best I’ve ever had,” says Rhodehamel. So why choose between the two, when you could serve one stuffed inside the other! The slow-cooked farro and onion crema anchor the plate, and the earth notes continue with bluefoot and hedgehog mushrooms (stuffed in the quail, alongside the pigeon). Perigord truffles and pigeon sugo intensify and unify the other components, whose execution is a prime example of referencing historical cooking while applying modern technique.
The variety and number of earth notes in the dish set our expectations on a big wine, so Brunello brought two. The first, a Santenay Gravieres from Paul Chapelle (2005), is an “outstanding wine at a good price, with light cherries, raspberries, some floral notes, and a little bit of licorice.” Not the big wine we were anticipating, but Brunello explained that the Santenay has good earth notes with a subtle gamey quality that pulled together the mushroom and game flavor of the pigeon.
To exemplify a more classic pairing, Brunello poured a Sagrantino because, “people expect a denser, heavier wine with gamey flavors.” We liked the matching complexity of the dish and this wine, with less fruit and more earth tones. “This particular Sagrantino is not so tannic as others,” explained our sommelier, “so it’s perfect for someone who wants a heavier wine, because more tannins would overwhelm the dish.”

Wine: Sagrantino di Montefalco, Colpetrone, Umbria, 2007

Dish: Potato-wrapped Pigeon-stuffed Quail, Farro, Wild Mushrooms, and Truffle Sugo

Pairing Note: …The variety and number of earth notes in the dish set our expectations on a big wine, so Brunello brought two. The first, a Santenay Gravieres from Paul Chapelle (2005), is an “outstanding wine at a good price, with light cherries, raspberries, some floral notes, and a little bit of licorice.” Not the big wine we were anticipating, but Brunello explained that the Santenay has good earth notes with a subtle gamey quality that pulled together the mushroom and game flavor of the pigeon.

To exemplify a more classic pairing, Brunello poured a Sagrantino because, “people expect a denser, heavier wine with gamey flavors.” We liked the matching complexity of the dish and this wine, with less fruit and more earth tones. “This particular Sagrantino is not so tannic as others,” explained our sommelier, “so it’s perfect for someone who wants a heavier wine, because more tannins would overwhelm the dish.”

Read the rest here.

Bird Dinners at Take-off – Now Extended Until Saturday

The first night of Oliveto’s Bird Dinners was fabulous – so we added another night! Here are just a few highlights of the amazing dishes served by Chef Jonah and his team, from tonight, May 9, until Saturday, May 11:

birddinner_gnocchiedit

Mascarpone gnocchi with Marsala & bird sugo

*

birddinner_firedquailedit

Buttermilk-fried quail, Castelmagno cheese & celery

Some reservations still available!

Make your reservations online

or call 510-547-5356.

See the full menu here.

birddinner_guineahenedit

Roast sausage-stuffed Guinea hen with creamed nettles, new potatoes, and old aceto balsamico

This Just In: Torchon, Boudin Blanc, and Terrina for Bird Dinners 2013

Bird Dinners are ready to take off! Here’s what’s happening in the kitchen right now as everybody gets ready for Bird Dinners 2013:
Left to right:
torchon of duck liver, to be served with pain de mie;
hen and lobster boudin blanc, to be served with English peas, fava beans, and morel mushrooms;
and terrina of pigeon, to be served with frisée, house-pickled vegetables, and mustard.
These are only a few of the dishes of local birds that Chef Jonah will serve.
See the full menu here.
Oliveto’s Bird Dinners start tomorrow, May 7, and continue until Friday, May 10.
Make your reservations online or call 510-547-5356.

Bird Dinners are ready to take off!

Here’s what’s happening in the kitchen right now as everybody gets ready for Bird Dinners 2013:

bird dinner dish 3

Left to right:

torchon of duck liver, to be served with pain de mie;

hen and lobster boudin blanc, to be served with English peas, fava beans, and morel mushrooms;

and terrina of pigeon, to be served with frisée, house-pickled vegetables, and mustard.

These are only a few of the dishes of local birds that Chef Jonah will serve:  See the full menu here.

Oliveto’s Bird Dinners start tomorrow, May 7, and continue until Friday, May 10.

Make your reservations online or call 510-547-5356.

Oliveto’s New Pastry Chef & Sneak Peek at a Bird Dinner Dessert

A sneak preview at sweet things to come:
“The Bird Nest.”
This after-dinner perch was created by Oliveto’s new Pastry Chef
Kam Golightly
for the upcoming Bird Dinners.
A sneak preview of sweet things to come!

Fried chocolate pasta “twigs”, on a bed of caramel, chocolate sauce, and topped with vanilla bean ice cream “eggs.”

“The Bird Nest” was created by Oliveto’s new Pastry Chef Kam Golightly for the upcoming Bird Dinners.

Kam Golightly comes to us from Yountville, where she was Pastry Chef at Redd and nominated by Food & Wine as one of the Best New Pastry Chef contenders in 2012.

Read the rest in Paolo Lucchesi’s Inside Scoop article and in today’s San Francisco Chronicle Datebook.

2013 Bird Dinners

Full Menu Here

May 7 – 10, 2013

Call 510-547-5356 or reserve online

Sunday Farmhouse Supper: Polpettone

May 5, 2013

food still life

Antipasto of Halibut Conserva
Halibut conserva with cranberry beans, red onion, Beldi olives and pickled radish, vinaigrette


Strozzapreti e Ricotta con Prosciutto Cotto


Polpettone
Stuffed Italian “meatloaf” with mozzarella, hard-boiled hen egg, and pomodoro sauce

Dolce
Pink Lady apple tart with apple cider sauce, cinnamon ice cream, and cinnamon toast

Kumquat & Tangerine Shortcake
Murcott tangerine & candied kumquat shortcake, served with whipped goat’s milk yogurt
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!

Sunday Farmhouse Supper: Braciole di Costolette di Maiale

April 28, 2013

Woodcut_Italian_Kitchen

Insalata di Cannellini

Salad of cannellini beans, butterball potatoes, haricot verts and fresh basil

Spaghettini Aglio Olio e Peperoncino

Braciole di Costolette di Maiale
Braised short ribs served over Community Grains Red Flint Floriani polenta

Crostata di Albicocca
Apricot baked in whole wheat pastry crust, with wildflower honey ice cream

Kumquat & Tangerine Shortcake
Murcott tangerine & candied kumquat shortcake, served with whipped goat’s milk yogurt
Prix fixe $40.

Served family-style. For groups of one to twelve*. Whole table must order prix fixemenu. 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!