TOMATO DINNERS
Wednesday through Saturday
August 29 through Sept. 1, 2007
 We began our Tomato Dinners fifteen years ago, at the time when locally-grown vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes first started to be plentiful in the Bay Area. Our initial dinner was historic in more ways than one. With the help of food historian Charles Perry, we created a menu using recipes from sixteenth century Italy (before the acceptance of tomatoes), the late seventeenth century (when tomatoes were first used in Italy's cuisine), and the nineteenth century (after tomatoes had become common in Italian cooking). In 1993 we offered a public discussion of the new (and since abandoned) genetically modified tomato 'Calgene' before our heirloom tomato dinners. Then, in 1994, Chef Paul Bertolli's first "Twelve Ways of Looking at Tomatoes" dinner made our tomato dinners a hot item.
Since that time tomato offerings have only become better as local farmers focused on the preferred varieties for their soils and micro-climates and developed the growing methods that best bring out the character of each. As the tomatoes change and improve, and as new varieties are introduced, the Oliveto kitchen continues to evolve our dinners.
Oliveto's tomato dinners prove just how versatile the tomato is. Refreshing tomato gelée, tomatoes distilled by dry-farming and long, slow cooking, tomatoes in sauces, tomatoes stuffed and in stuffing, variously colored tomatoes cut and sliced, tiny peeled tomatoes chilled in a vinaigrette, fresh-squeezed tomato juice cocktails, sweetened tomatoes in desserts—all conspire to make for a broad and diverse experience.
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Appetizers and Salads
Best-of-Season Heirloom Tomato Tasting
Green Olive crostone with pancetta, Green 'Brandywine' Tomatoes, and Wild Fennel
Fried Pork Trotter with 'Black Plum' Tomato Preserve
'Black Plum' Tomatoes with Smoked Swordfish and Mint
Oliveto lonza with 'Pineapple' Tomatoes, Arugula, and Muscat Vinaigrette
Dry-Farmed 'Early Girl' and 'Flammé' Tomatoes with burrata di bufala
Gratinata of Tomatoes, New Potatoes, and Wild Burgundian Snails with Flowering Thyme
Pizzetta frolla with Tomato Leaf Sauce, Basil, Hot Pepper, and caciocavallo
Cherry Tomatoes with Picholine Olives, Pine Nuts, and Honey Vinegar
Garden Lettuces with Tomato Vinaigrette
Soup and Pasta
Vellutata of New Garlic and Almonds with Green Grape Tomatoes
Sicilian-Style ravioli of Tomato conserva with Oliveto ricotta, Pine Nuts, and Marjoram
Niman Ranch Beef Tripe with Smashed Tomato crostini and salsa verde
Spaghettini aglio, oglio with Whole-Roasted Tomatoes Studded with Garlic
Conchiglie alla Norma with ricotta salata
Tomato penne alla colatura di alici, Garlic, Hot Pepper, and Tomato Leaf Sauce
Spinach gnocchi with Spicy Wild Boar ragù
Riso rosso: riso in Red Tomato brodo with Smoked mozzarella di bufala and Marjoram
Entrees
Spit-Roasted Paine Farm Pigeon with Roasted Tomatoes and 'Gypsy' Peppers
Jones Farm Rabbit Braised in Earthenware with Tomatoes, Rosemary, and Olives
Grilled Beefsteak Tomato Wrapped in pancetta, Paola's Potatoes, Anchovy and Herb Sauce
Charcoal-Grillled tagliata of Magruder Ranch Beef Loin with Cherry Tomatoes and gorgonzola dolce latte
Charcoal-Grilled Sika Venison with Roasted Plum Tomatoes and Fresh Shelling Beans
Lemon Verbena Steamed Black Cod with Tomato confit and Summer Squash
Classic ragù alla Genovese in Two Services
Hoffman Farm Hen milanese with aîoli and Tomatoes
Vegetable Side Dishes
Escarole Braised with Tomatoes and Anchovy
Fried Green Tomatoes with Tomato Mayonnaise
Involtini of Eggplant and caciocavallo
Desserts
Roasted-Pineapple Ice Cream with 'Pineapple' Tomato Syrup
Crespelle with Walnut Ice Cream and Tomato Caramel Sauce
Limoncello babas with 'Sungold' Tomato Compote
Fried Tomato-Jam ravioli
and more. . .
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