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…
For this week’s market report Bill Fujimoto stopped by the Oliveto kitchen. While the Oliveto kitchen is not exactly a farmers’ market, Chef Paul Canales sources some extraordinary produce directly from smaller local outfits that he thought Bill might get a kick out of. Most of these items appear on the menu the same day they are delivered, including…
ho 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…
Our favorite sheep herder, Don Watson, stopped by yesterday with our first spring lamb. Born just after Thanksgiving, these lamb have been raised primarily on milk and more recently, have been grazing on mustard and clover. Don’s flocks have a wide grazing range including many nearby vineyards. It’s a symbiotic relationship, with the sheep gaining additional space to roam and forage while…
Just this morning Don Watson showed up with four, first of season spring lamb, about 90 days old. We’re hanging them for a few days to help tenderize the meat & plan to have them on the menu starting Saturday night (remote possibility not until Sunday). They’ll be on the menu through Tuesday or Wednesday….
Churchill Orchard is out in the East End of the Ojai Valley where the fruit gets ripe a little later — Jim and Lisa usually spend the month of March tasting and re-tasting their spring tangerine varieties.
Churchill Orchard proprietors Jim Churchill (tasting) and Lisa Brenneis (shooting video and tasting)…..
The Toms, owners of Brookside Farm came in for dinner yesterday after the Montclair farmers market. Ann Tom had taken pictures of their farm that she wanted to share but she wasn’t sure how to email them. So she brought along her camera & we uploaded them here….
-Long stem purple artichokes that we will caramelize with garlic and mint
-Young baby fennel bulbs and cauliflower that will find their way into a special spring vegetable antipasto with pistachios and orange
-Young, tender fava greens…
We heard back from Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farm and Welling Tom from Brookside Farm in regards to our spring questionnaire. Here’s what they had to tell us…
While it is true the rain is desperately needed & supplying us with oodles of chantrelles, we can’t wait for spring. In anticipation, we sent out a brief questionnaire asking our farmers about their plans for the upcoming season. We’ll post what they report when we hear back from them. Here’s what we asked: