Oliveto Oceanic Dinner 2011 ****

This year Oliveto did two Oceanic dinners one sourced from California and the other from the Mid-Atlantic.  At each dinner we had the majority of the menu.  Here were the highlights:

California Coast

Oyster Shooter nice and briny though bitter finish I still liked the texture.

Halibut crudo great balance texture perfectly seasoned.

Sea Urchin panna cotta crostino w/ vanilla sea salt, awesome creamy texture deep urchin flavor.

Trompetti w/ clams, I liked this very much, the texture of the trompetti very nice and the wheat worked well with the clam.

Steamed petrale sole w spumato a delicious delicate sauce over a great piece of fish.

Sand Dabs stuffed with fregula was also excellent, the savory fregula adding a meatiness to the sand dabs and the heat from Calabrian pepper.

Mid Atlaantic

Crudo of fluke with roasted Gypsy peppers, fried shallots and Piccolo Fino basil - nice though slightly underseasoned.

Lobster roll on house-made brioche - good filling, though the brioche was a bit too sweet and flavorful distracting us from the sweetness of the lobster.

Cold-smoked salt-cured striped bass with horseradish crema, oil-poached Yellow Finn potatoes and arugula - we loved these sashimi sized pieces of fish.

Three large razor clams in a umami packed sauce with octopus tentacles.

Tajarin with butter poached lobster - this was a beautiful pinkish colored sauce with chuncks of lobster on a tender noodle.

Lumache with house-smoked green eel and summer savory crema - the meat in the sauce had a delicate clammy flavor with a clam texture, perhaps we had a clam version of the dish.

Spit-roasted bluefish with creamed corn and crab stuffing - we liked this but it was a little overwhelmed by the bacon wrapping, overall meaty and flavorful.

Oliveto Whole Hog 2011 ****

Highlights were the terrine of pork trotters with spiced fruit compote, the proscuitti and the alla reuben preparation. Last night they were preparing the reuben with shoulder instead of tongue. We also enjoyed the polenta with ragu of pork heart and the chocolate caramel tart.

The presentation of the zampone was fitting for the occasion, cross sections of the leg cut into large rounds of cotecchino wrapped in skin and then one entire trotter -- toes and all on the plate. I liked the flavor of the cotecchino though others were overwhelmed by the fat of the dish and preferred the other items. Same with the gnocco fritto, which highlighted the excellent lardo and guanciale, but was overshadowed by other excellent dishes.

Everything was excellent to very good. This was my first time back since the chef change and it feels like the kitchen hasn't missed a beat. Looking forward to returning for the regular menu.

Crisp terrine of pork trotters with spiced fruit - excellent

Corned pork tongue "alla Reuben" - excellent

Tasting of prosciutti*: Olli Ossabaw, La Quercia acorn-fed Berkshire - excellent

Gnocco fritto: small pillows of fried dough with lardo, guanciale, and pancetta - good

Red Flint polenta with ragù of pork heart - good

Pancetta-fried potatoes - ok

Zampone - trotter stuffed with cotechino - ok

Prosciutto Wrapped Sea Bass - ok

Chocolate Caramel tart w/ candied bacon - excellent

Puff Pastry w/ blood orange and raspberry - good

Oliveto Whole Hog Dinner 2010 ****

Nothing beats the special dinners at Oliveto. Even with my high expectations, I have never had a disappointing meal at this restaurant and I'm in good company.


In order of most to least favorite dishes of the night:


Antipasto of pork tongue, artichokes, and black truffles - tender pork tongue and quartered artichokes in a earthy cream sauce.


Canederli: Friulian bread and pork dumplings with pork and date sugo - definitely one of the standouts of the night. Soft meatball-like dumplings on a slightly sweet date sauce that complimented the pork perfectly.


Spaghetti with pork coppa confit, Calabrian hot peppers, breadcrumbs, and oregano - a favorite from last year, and another favorite at our table again. Beautifully textured and cooked spaghetti dotted with chunks of pork coppa, in a porky, spicy sauce with nice crunch from the breadcrumbs.


Pappardelle nere with pork heart and wild mushroom ragu - You just can't go wrong with the pasta here, perfect texture and seasoning. The wild mushroom ragu was so deeply flavored with wild mushrooms it tasted like they had distilled an entire forest of mushrooms into the sauce -- it worked with the strong flavors of the pork heart.

Oliveto Tomato Dinner 2009 ***

Tomato Bloody Mary - good fresh tomato flavor, not a heavily seasoned style of bloody mary; Lightness on the spices showed off the tomato.

Insalate di carne cruda of Watson Farm lamb loin with green tomatoes and grappa*

Crudo of salted Atlantic cod and local albacore with Black Cherry tomatoes, Lipstick pimentos, and almonds.

Half dozen Miyagi oysters with Marvel Steak tomatoes and rose vinegar mignonette*

Cornetti of Oliveto wild boar prosciutto and arugula with Pineapple tomatoes and Parmesan cheese*

Panelle with San Marzano tomatoes, basil, hot peppers, and aged Provolone cheese*

Fried green tomatoes with tomato mayonnaise*

Sicilian-style ravioli of tomato conserva with Oliveto ricotta, pinenuts and marjoram** - the conserva was excellent, an ultra concentrated tomato flavor created by reducing a huge quantity of roma tomatoes into a jam, balanced well with the ricotta and pine nuts, a favorite.

Cannelloni neri of Monterey Bay squid, tomatoes and breadcrumbs** - cannelloni with deep squid ink flavor, this was another favorite. (pictured above)

Tomato Polenta torta with garlic crostini, Rossa Bianca eggplant, and smoked mozzarella* - loved the textures and comforting flavors in this one.

Tomato Penne with Manila clams, smoked king salmon, and Flamme tomato coulis. - good pasta, these guys are masters at pasta making.

Pancetta wrapped Jones Farm rabbit braised in tomatoes confit with Flageolet beans - this was a rather small portion and did not stand out.

Spicy red tomato and red miso glazed black cod with Crostata Romanesco squash - this dish was a miss because the glaze was overly sweet and lacked other flavors to balance.

Green tomato and Gravenstein apple pie with honeyed Crescenza cheese ice cream - pie was good but the cheese ice cream was a bit overpowering.

Torta di Verdure with Sweet 100 tomato compote** - this torta was made with beets and that played well against the complex savory sweet compote.

Warm Marvel Stripe tomato jelly doughnuts with brandied creme anglaise - good doughnuts, though not much tomato jelly or tomato flavor.


The pasta dishes were outstanding. Service was excellent -- this is definitely worth a trip for tomato lovers.

OLIVETO Oceanic Dinner ****

Annual Oceanic Dinner at Oliveto, a seafood menu offered for three days. All the fish is wild caught or trapped. We focused on the antipasto and pasta with a whole black bass as the finale. As usual the service was excellent.

First Course: Chilled ocotopus "soppressata" with Catelvetrano olives, celery heart, and Monte Iblei olive oil; and Green sea urchin flan with old aceto balsamico. Greek trap caught octopus, Southern California diver caught sea urchin. The octopus was thinly sliced and perhaps pressed into strips and dotted with chopped olives -- good texture soft with a slight bite to it. The standout was the sea urchin flan, as one that has both enjoyed and disliked uni, I thought this was wonderful, the flan's creaminess balanced the sea urchin flavor and spread it out so that it had a smooth sea urchin flavor rather than a concentrated punch. I would definitely order this again.

Second Course: Crudo Study I: local halibut with paddle fish caviar, spicy razor clams, yellowtail jack with peach mostarda, salted and marinated king salmon, smoked bluefish with rouille, marinated anchovies with Espelette peppers, tai snapper with summer truffles, American mackerel with salted Bing cherry preserve. I was excited to see the spicy razor clams on the half shell, briny bright flavor with a spicy kick, my other favorite was the mackerel with cherry preserve, the sweet preserve punctuated the mackerel's flavor. I also thought the smoked bluefish was distinctive, strong smoke flavor good for a bite, but probably too powerful to have more than that.

Crudo Study II: tombo with oenogarum, striped bass with candied lemon, blood clam with bay olio santa, salted and marinated king salmon, marinated anchovies with Espelette peppers, squid in its ink with golden caviar, myagi oyster with rose vinegar. This was a well composed plate, spanning a variety of flavor combinations: spiced anchovies, salty salmon, slightly bitter squid ink and lemony bass. Standouts on this study were striped bass with candied lemon, the blood clam which had a highly concentrated clam flavor and the squid which was about the creamy texture of its ink against the crunchy thin ribbons of squid. Also enjoyed the oenogarum sauce on the tombo tuna.

Third Course: Mostaccioli rossi with shaved tuna "bloodline" and zuchini crema, Wild nettle tagliolini with geoduck clams and Nocellino olive oil. The bloodline is the darker part of the tuna, they took it out and cured it. It tasted much like cured tuna heart and was excellent with the perfect mostaccioli. I have yet to have a pasta at Oliveto that I didn't like. The wild nettle taliolini was dark green from the nettle. I couldn't taste the nettle because the pasta and the sauce had a delicious deep clam flavor. The pasta took on so much geoduck flavor the clam itself added a textural contrast.

Fourth Course: Spit-roasted black bass stuffed with dried Italian sausage. This was a whole fish with a savory stuffing. The dish was hearty, rustic and a good way to fill any of the remaining space in our bellies. I would definitely eat this again, though overall it was less interesting than the other dishes.

Nothing on the dessert menu jumped out at us, and to be honest, I am still thinking about the incredible desserts we had at Babbo. We ended the night with a walk down to Tara's for ice cream, full, happy and making plans for our next visit to Oliveto.

OLIVETO***

The host's report of the meal.