Edited by Dallas Mark and translated by Jessica Forbes

Whole Hog Dinners began here in 1999, and led to regular weekly deliveries to our kitchen of whole animals from Paul Willis. Soon, every other kind of whole animal followed, and three years ago we began receiving whole beef animals. So we think we’re somewhat knowledgeable in this “whole animal” thing.

But this visit with Dario Cecchini offers whole animal butchery from the vantage of one family’s collective experience, spannng over 250 years, practicing the traditional craft of butchery as well as the proper care of animals.

It serves as a reminder to us, to continue to learn and understand more deeply.

“Never Enough” written by Ben Provan. Performed by Ben with very new wife Grace Magruder-Provan, along with Kate and Mac Magruder, at their ranch on the banks of the Russian River headwaters in Potter Valley, CA.

The fine print: The Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Food Watch has deemed the local swordfish populations to be much healthier in recent years and put it back on the Best Choice list.  The swordfish we serve is local and always caught using a hook-and-line method in conjunction with an O-hook, drastically reducing by-catch.

It should also be noted, that due to elevated mercury levels in swordfish a consumption advisory has been issued for women and those with mercury sensitivity.

Last Saturday we hit the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market with Bill Fujimoto.   And no, we didn’t suffer a caterpillar attack.  That fuzzy business in the upper right hand corner is due to some unfamiliar equipment.  Apologies for the distraction.  Moving onward…

As the spring rains have finally started to subside (at least for today), many crops are just now beginning to get their first exposure to serious heat, which in turn leads to superlative flavor.  A great example of this are the Seascape strawberries from Lucero Farm.  Another great example of this is Pastry Chef Jenny Raven’s Seascape strawberry ice cream.

Our first soft shell crabs from the Chesapeake Bay came in two days ago.  We never know how long the season will last, but we do know we’ll have them on the menu this weekend.

Also…
Martin Bournhonesque, our source for impeccable arugula among other leafy greens, recently sent us a movie he made last September.  It features his prized, antique, Planet Junior push seeder; a device that was developed in the 19th century and perfected in the 1930s.  He thinks his model is 50-80 years old, and he also believes, “the older they are, the better they work.”

Martin’s farm is in Salinas (# 13 on our Farmers map) and he’s pretty sure it was spinach he was planting last September with his trusty Planet Junior.  So…

This weekend: sautéed soft shell crab with Martin’s spinach in brown butter and capers. While they last.

And just off the wire: minutes ago, our mushroom hunter Anthony showed up with a boat-load of morels foraged from the Burney area, above the Pit River.  They’ll be on the menu this weekend as well.  And everyone knows nothing says “I love you, Mom” quite like morels. And soft shell crabs.  And spinach.

]]> http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/farmers/martin-bournhonesque/this-just-in-soft-shell-crabs-martins-spinach-morels/feed 2 http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/farmers/catalan-farms/this-just-in-goats-milk-ricotta http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/farmers/catalan-farms/this-just-in-goats-milk-ricotta#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 22:20:09 +0000 Catherine Meng http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/?p=5609

Things are definitely feeling like spring around here. Meaning deliveries from our suppliers keep arriving with more & more new stuff. Meaning the kitchen in like a sparking motherboard of ideas. Meaning the menu is like that magic trick where...

Ever wonder what the difference is between those long skinny artichokes and the shorter, broader ones?  Bill Fujumoto cuts a few open and shows us how the differences translate on the plate.  The trick to determining the size of the heart is squeezing the backside. While that may sound like a perverted proverb, when selecting artichokes these are wise words to shop by.

Then we jump-cut to the kitchen and get a quick run-down from Chef Paul Canales of what he’ll be doing with these “real spring artichokes”: first a Roman-style salad, then braised whole, and from the trimmed leaves, a soup.

Last June we were troubled, as many were, to learn the news that Bill Fujimoto would be leaving Berkeley’s Monterey Market.  Bill has been a friend and supporter of Oliveto from day one, and to many restaurants. More importantly, Bill has been a virtual lifeline for many small farmers in northern California and beyond.   We were anxious around the possibility of losing such an influential voice and presence in the East Bay food community and eager to keep in contact with both Bill and his wife Judy once it became apparent that a suitable arrangement with Monterey Market would not be forthcoming.

So we were pleased as punch to find our old friend last Thursday arranging pyramids of beautiful produce at Diablo Foods in Lafayette (925-283-0737).  Bill has been working at Diablo for the past few months as a consultant.  He looks great.  He says he feel great.  And he already seems to know 87% of his customers by name.  In the short time we were there, we learned so much (there is an “official” navel orange for Chinese New Year!) and we were so inspired by that contagious-Fujimoto-enthusiasm, we decided we needed to create a mainline to the source.  Who better to tell us what we should be shopping for than Bill himself?  So, we’ll be posting Bill’s Farmers’ Market Reports -  full of fun facts, shopping tips, and insightful observations throughout the spring and into the summer.  We’ll go shopping with Bill at some of our favorite farmers’ markets in the East Bay and find out from the expert what to buy and how to buy it.  Alongside that, we’ll get Chef Canales’ take on how to cook and eat it!  Should be fun…

Established in 1979

Owners

Rick and Kristie Knoll

The Knolls bought a small, weedy plot of land in 1979 in a move to get away from the suburbs and into a more biodynamic and rural life. The couple immediately planted fruit trees, but as they were new to farming and didn’t have anybody telling them what to do or how to do it, there was no income to get them from the end of fall through to the summer harvest. For quite a while, both Rick and Christie worked part time in the city to make ends meet. Then, in 1989, they both grew fed up with the back-and-forth and Rick suggested moving to full-time farming. Kristie remembers saying to him, “I’ll do it if you figure out something for us to sell between November and June!” They began planting green garlic, which to this day is one of their popular crops. Kristie also recounts that in the early 1990’s, rosemary sales increased and allowed them to do what they really love and farm full time.

Length of Relationship with Oliveto

Over 10 years. Oliveto owner Bob Klein says with a smile on his face, “there was a brief vacation, but we’re back together again!”

Location

The unincorporated county between Byron and Brentwood

Organizations/Certifications

Certified Organic

Seasons

The Knolls keep their farm in production year-round to preserve soil quality and provide year-round work for their employees.

Main Crops

Green garlic (6 mo./yr), rosemary (year round- “we never take a break!”), and figs (4-6 mo./yr).

Secondary Crops

Leafy winter greens (rapini, arugula, chard etc.), blossoming fruit trees (apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums), varietal artichokes, carrots, potatoes.

Distribution

Eduardo, the Tairwa’-Knoll Farms driver, makes his regular delivery route through Brentwood, Orinda, Lafayette, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Mountain View, delivering to Oliveto as well as other notables like Acme, Chez Panisse, Dopo, Flour + Water, Boulevard, Perbacco, Nopa, Green’s, Rainbow Grocery, Veritable Vegetable, Greenleafe, and Whole Foods.

Community Supported Agriculture

Knoll Farms provides weekly drop-offs to CSA’s in Antioch, Walnut Creek, and Lafayette. They pick to order, working hard to supply fresh and exciting seasonal produce to each member’s basket.

Farmers’ Markets

San Francisco Ferry Building (Saturday)

Technology

Hand-picking. Knoll Farms currently employs 12 farm-hands, as well as a truck-driver, priding itself on providing reliable year-round work in a healthy pesticide-free environment.

Challenges

Weather, though the farm’s diversity translates to a more stable output— Kristie explains that what’s “bad” weather for one thing might be “great” weather for another! Diversity and integrity, though, can sometimes be a management nightmare. Keeping track of everything from farm to market is challenging! Sometimes things come in a ¼ lb Ziploc, sometimes a 1 lb Ziploc, sometimes in a 10 lb box. Workers have to know how much to pick and portion—and when, everything has to get into the right box and onto the right truck, and then to the right drop-off. With a small staff and the inescapable ups and downs of daily life, “We go crazy trying to keep everything straight, and we do make mistakes,” Kristie laughs, “But we try to keep people happy. Nobody told us what to do or how to do it when we were getting started, so we are constantly learning.”

Philosophy and Principles

According to Kristie, “We both like eating, and we like the idea of growing food for people. I make dinner most nights of the week, and my kitchen window looks out on the fig orchards. I love where I live.” In addition to the beauty of farm life, Rick and Kristie are both dedicated to doing their part to combat the industrial food system that is slowly killing us. As an expert in organic chemistry and biodynamic farming, Rick knows that “the cornernstone of our business is the soil.” It makes sense that what we’re planting in our soil is going to absorb whatever is in there and be eaten. Kristie explains that “our health depends on the health of what we eat, and you can’t grow healthy food without healthy soil. Part of the problem is television that tells us what to eat, and as a result people are obsessed with cheap food! The problem is: how healthy are we if our gut doesn’t have the microbes we need? People aren’t following their common sense.”

Strategic Advantage

“We’re small—we can do a better job. We’re in production year-round—we might not be in kick-ass production, but we keep our ground covered—which means rather than losing soil, we’re building it! Many farms out here sit idle Nov-March, they put herbicides on the ground and keep it bare which leads to soil erosion. We also supply work year-round for our workers.”

I am always excited about turning people onto good food. I always try to bring something to market that people might not immediately think looks good, for example rapini. I steam it for a while and then we cut ‘em up and toss it with olive oil and salt and serve it to people at market as a sample… and they buy it! We have people that essentially buy shit-tons of our weeds! It’s amazing, but it tastes good and I love planting the seeds in people’s minds for what you can do with something so simple. Simple foods are what people are supposed to be eating anyway, we were foragers before we were farmers or cooks. I like to plant seeds in people’s minds, and though I don’t always see the plant when it flowers, if you know what I mean, I’m happy to know that some people might take the ball and run with it.

-Kristie Knoll

]]> http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/farmers/tairwa-knoll-farms-profile/feed 0 http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/events/felsina-olive-oil-tasting http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/events/felsina-olive-oil-tasting#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:19:01 +0000 Catherine Meng http://www.oliveto.com/ourcommunity/?p=5228

Caterina Mazzocolin will be in town next week for Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri and will stop by Oliveto on Tuesday night to share some of Fèlsina's olive oils from the 2009 harvest. A complimentary tasting of three different oil varieties (Leccino 2009, Moraiolo 2009, and Plurivarietale 2009) will be offered with dinner. Also, the menu will include...