Cooking
If you live in the Bay Area, it's likely you know about Oliveto. It opened 25 years ago, is located in Rockridge, Oakland and serves wonderful Italian food, with a Slow Food sensibility. You can always count on Oliveto for great pasta, roasted meat and fish, and a commitment to using the best quality ingredients. It's also been the home for several great Bay Area chefs notably Paul Canales, Michael Tusk and Paul Bertolli.
What's new at Oliveto? A lot, to tell you the truth. For one, there is a new chef, Jonah Rhodehamel. I recently ate at the restaurant and can tell you he approaches cooking with finesse and sense of balance. It's hard to believe someone so young has already spent time at such venerable restaurants as La Folie, Americano and Quince. I particularly loved his Hoffman hen "rolata" stuffed with sausage. It reminded me of a similar preparation I had at Frances last year.
I've always been fond of the pizza served in the cafe downstairs, but it's actually gotten better now that they are using whole grain flour from Community Grains. The flour is very smooth, not rough but has a nutty flavor that really complements cheese, mushrooms and more. Unlike other whole wheat flours, Community Grains makes a flour that is not enriched. You actually get all the parts of the grain, ground together. The flour will soon be available for retail customers.
Another fabulous grain making it's way into Oliveto's menu is red flint polenta. It takes a full three hours to fully hydrate and cook, but the result is something special. Flecked with red, it has texture and body and cooks up thicker than regular yellow cornmeal. I had it topped with egg and greens.
So new that it's not even on the menu yet, are heirloom beans that Oliveto sourced from a farmer who grows a huge variety of legumes, some that are very unusual. Which ones Oliveto will end up using is still up for discussion. At a recent lunch I got to try the pigeon peas, cannellini and Christmas limas. They were prepared very simply to let their natural flavors shine through. The pigeon peas had good texture, but were not as flavorful as the cannellini which had a natural sweetness and the Christmas limas which were unbelievably meaty. They really tasted as if they had been cooked with beefy bones. The beans were just delicious served up plain, so I can't wait to see how they will make it onto the menu.
Not new, but an annual tradition, Oliveto is hosting their Whole Hog dinners March 9-12, 2011. Each night a different pig is featured, check out the schedule for more details. This is a super popular event but some later seatings are still available.
Oliveto
5655 College Avenue
Oakland, CA
510.547.5356
- Oliveto's Whole Hog Dinner 2012
After experiencing one of the Whole Hog dinners at Oliveto last year, I couldn't wait to do it again. This time I brought along a friend Susie, who had just moved to the neighborhood. While it may seem like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and...
- Why Do You Cook, Maria Speck?
I met Maria Speck, the Grain Gourmet on Twitter where her recipe tweets piqued my curiosity. She grew up in both Germany and Greece and shares her recipes and mostly Mediterranean techniques for cooking with whole grains in ways you might not expect....
- Whole Wheat Mini Pizza: Recipe
In an attempt to eat more whole grain this year, I've switched to whole wheat versions of products I used to buy in more refined form. I buy whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas and whole wheat bread. It's important to make sure wheat bread...
- Oliveto: Quick Review
Early in our relationship, before we discovered Jojo, Melissa and I celebrated special occasions at Oliveto, but it always seemed too expensive for the food. I know the cooks have mad charcuterie skills and the wine bottles talk to the food, but the bill...
- Cooking By Hand
So many cookbooks today cater to our hectic lives and offer meals which can be assembled in short periods of time. Or they offer glittering photos of dishes beyond the reach of most home chefs, food porn which is meant to impress rather than satisfy...
Cooking
Oliveto Restaurant
If you live in the Bay Area, it's likely you know about Oliveto. It opened 25 years ago, is located in Rockridge, Oakland and serves wonderful Italian food, with a Slow Food sensibility. You can always count on Oliveto for great pasta, roasted meat and fish, and a commitment to using the best quality ingredients. It's also been the home for several great Bay Area chefs notably Paul Canales, Michael Tusk and Paul Bertolli.
What's new at Oliveto? A lot, to tell you the truth. For one, there is a new chef, Jonah Rhodehamel. I recently ate at the restaurant and can tell you he approaches cooking with finesse and sense of balance. It's hard to believe someone so young has already spent time at such venerable restaurants as La Folie, Americano and Quince. I particularly loved his Hoffman hen "rolata" stuffed with sausage. It reminded me of a similar preparation I had at Frances last year.
I've always been fond of the pizza served in the cafe downstairs, but it's actually gotten better now that they are using whole grain flour from Community Grains. The flour is very smooth, not rough but has a nutty flavor that really complements cheese, mushrooms and more. Unlike other whole wheat flours, Community Grains makes a flour that is not enriched. You actually get all the parts of the grain, ground together. The flour will soon be available for retail customers.
Another fabulous grain making it's way into Oliveto's menu is red flint polenta. It takes a full three hours to fully hydrate and cook, but the result is something special. Flecked with red, it has texture and body and cooks up thicker than regular yellow cornmeal. I had it topped with egg and greens.
So new that it's not even on the menu yet, are heirloom beans that Oliveto sourced from a farmer who grows a huge variety of legumes, some that are very unusual. Which ones Oliveto will end up using is still up for discussion. At a recent lunch I got to try the pigeon peas, cannellini and Christmas limas. They were prepared very simply to let their natural flavors shine through. The pigeon peas had good texture, but were not as flavorful as the cannellini which had a natural sweetness and the Christmas limas which were unbelievably meaty. They really tasted as if they had been cooked with beefy bones. The beans were just delicious served up plain, so I can't wait to see how they will make it onto the menu.
Not new, but an annual tradition, Oliveto is hosting their Whole Hog dinners March 9-12, 2011. Each night a different pig is featured, check out the schedule for more details. This is a super popular event but some later seatings are still available.
Oliveto
5655 College Avenue
Oakland, CA
510.547.5356
- Oliveto's Whole Hog Dinner 2012
After experiencing one of the Whole Hog dinners at Oliveto last year, I couldn't wait to do it again. This time I brought along a friend Susie, who had just moved to the neighborhood. While it may seem like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and...
- Why Do You Cook, Maria Speck?
I met Maria Speck, the Grain Gourmet on Twitter where her recipe tweets piqued my curiosity. She grew up in both Germany and Greece and shares her recipes and mostly Mediterranean techniques for cooking with whole grains in ways you might not expect....
- Whole Wheat Mini Pizza: Recipe
In an attempt to eat more whole grain this year, I've switched to whole wheat versions of products I used to buy in more refined form. I buy whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas and whole wheat bread. It's important to make sure wheat bread...
- Oliveto: Quick Review
Early in our relationship, before we discovered Jojo, Melissa and I celebrated special occasions at Oliveto, but it always seemed too expensive for the food. I know the cooks have mad charcuterie skills and the wine bottles talk to the food, but the bill...
- Cooking By Hand
So many cookbooks today cater to our hectic lives and offer meals which can be assembled in short periods of time. Or they offer glittering photos of dishes beyond the reach of most home chefs, food porn which is meant to impress rather than satisfy...