November 7th, 2011 by Bob Klein
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Aldo Vacca from Produttori del Barbaresco was taught that proper truffle shaving meant completely covering the dish. Here he demonstrates. This was a block-buster truffle. We ‘re at Trattoria Antica Torre in Barbaresco, famous for their hand-cut tajarin, that is made with only flour and egg yolks….
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October 25th, 2011 by Catherine Meng
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Oliveto co-owner Bob Klein and General Manager Shane Walker depart in less than a week for Italy in pursuit of truffles for our upcoming dinners. We’ve already heard some preliminary reports about the start of the season from a few of our contacts. Bad news first: Our friend Aldo Vacca in the Piedmont says…
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November 11th, 2010 by Bob Klein
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I arrived in Chianti last night. They have just had some significant rain (harder for the dogs to find the truffle) and it is cold (that’s good). The rain is supposed to have passed by tomorrow, so we are hopeful the ground will dry enough to begin harvesting…
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November 10th, 2010 by Bob Klein
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In this year’s World Pizza Championships held annually in Salsomaggiore, our tuscan truffle hunter Giorgio Secchini and daughter Denise wowed the judges with their truffle pizza: Pear Marzolo tartufi with pecorino de Pienza, and…
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November 8th, 2010 by Bob Klein
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Making a slight detour to Puglia for some sun, I drove into Cisternino for their Market Day. I’ve been to Cisternino a dozen time, but it is a maze of little streets. And when it was time to leave, I couldn’t find my car. Really. Seriously.
I tried backtracking, then…
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November 5th, 2010 by Bob Klein
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Camino pizzeria in Nieve. The wine list includes many well-priced, single vineyard, well-aged Barbarescos and Barolos. Pizza had fontina and mozzarella, two eggs and fragrant black truffles. Would have been perfect if it had been made with our whole grain flour. What an idea…
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February 11th, 2010 by Bob Klein
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After years of nagging, our wonderful Tuscan friends are coming for a brief visit. The Sacchini family, Giorgio, Paola and Denise will be here in Oakland this coming weekend. Giorgio has been the Oliveto truffle hunter and agent for the past 14 years, and also the main reason we’ve been able to get our hands on the very best truffles for our annual truffle dinners. The Sacchinis will be in the Oliveto Cafe…
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November 20th, 2009 by Bob Klein
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The truffle dinners are now in full swing and going very nicely, but I wanted to provide a brief wrap-up of this year’s trip to Italy. Monti-in-Chianti, about 10 miles north of Siena, has been the center of my activities since I began traveling to Italy (over ten years ago) to get truffles, and Giorgio Sacchini and his family have been…
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November 13th, 2009 by Bob Klein
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It’s Thursday night here, and all the truffles for Oliveto’s truffle dinners are still in the ground; collection begins tomorrow morning. It’s cold, there’s been a good amount of rain, and the local truffle fairs have ended. Now, the truffles are for us. Truffle Dinners at Oliveto are booking up, so we’ve decided to extend them through Saturday, November 21st. I’ll bring home more truffles than…
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November 9th, 2009 by Bob Klein
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Truffles are just now coming on, I encountered my first exceptional truffles last night, at the back door of Ristorante Antine in Barbaresco–I didn’t have to put my nose to it, it overwhelmed me from across the kitchen. Prices remain very low, we won’t be able to set the price for Oliveto Truffle dinners until we actually acquire them, but they should be…
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