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 doing a whole animal dinner, the one at Oliveto is one of the oldest and surely one of the best. For one thing, it's a la carte, so you can eat and spend as much as you like. This year chef Jonah Rhodehamel focused the selections and there were more rustic options, but it's not all ears and trotters. First up was a very hearty favata bean soup made from dried fava beans. Restaurant owner Bob Klein is the mastermind behind Community Grains and really knows his beans! The soup had tender chunks of braised pork, a chewy crouton and plenty of lift from a minty herbal puree. This is the kind of soup I would make and eat all week long. Next up was a spectacularly good lasagna from Calabria called Sagne chine it had the lightest nood......

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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 downstai......

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1500 Degrees at Eden Roc in Miami

Photo credit:Brett Hufziger If you are looking for a kind of late 50's early 60's glamour, it's hard to beat Eden Roc Resort, Miami , on the upper "Golden Mile" of Miami Beach. Though just a short cab ride, it feels a world away from the thumpety-thump of South Beach where the party scene is inescapable. The $200 million renovation has the place feeling fresh and modern with a cool and shimmery color palate and nods to a time when it was the resort of choice with entertainers like Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Lena Horne, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr and Elizabeth Taylor. The property has multiple pools, a great view of the ocean but not a lot of choices when it comes to dining. Fortunately I found the new restaurant on property, 1500 Degrees , to be absolutely wonderful. Hell's Kitchen fans will recognize the name of the chef, Paula DaSilva, a past contestant who was named one of the "Top 40 under 40" by Gold Coast magazine and "Best Celebrity ......

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Americano Restaurant Review

I've eaten at Americano three times in the past couple of months, and each time it was better than the last. Located on the ground floor of the Hotel Vitale , it's main architectural feature is a large patio that runs the length of the restaurant and faces the bay. With heat lamps, plenty of tables, chairs and even couches, it's one of my favorite outdoor dining spaces in San Francisco (Foreign Cinema is the other). The menu has something for everybody, with plenty of appetizers for sharing or light meals, pasta, Italian entrees and even a hamburger. While I've enjoyed the fish and hearty steak entrees, it's been the pizza, pasta and appetizers that have made me a fan. Their take on the Margherita pizza, the pizza fresca, $15 is puffy and crisp and not overburdened with toppings. It has that melting quality I love when sauce, cheese and crust all meld together. My favorite dishes are the appetizers, $7 each or 3 for $18. The luscious tonno conserva is so r......

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The Pineapple Room: Restaurant Review

The Pineapple Room is one of chef Alan Wong's restaurants in Hawaii and it's located in the Macy's at the Ala Moana shopping center. Here you can try some of Alan Wong's style of Hawaiian cuisine without spending as much as you might at some of his other fancier restaurants. At dinner, entrees are in the $20-30 range and are ridiculously huge. I had a green curry braised short rib that came with tomatoes, green beans and eggplant and so many enormous prawns, it was enough for dinner plus two lunches. I really enjoyed the stir-fried soy beans with garlic, chili peppers and soy sesame sauce. This is one of his signature dishes and was enough for the whole table. I inspired me to begin experimenting with a number of variations on this theme. Lee had a wonderful fish dish with a buttery sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds. My father made a meal out a few of starters including a goat cheese tart, a salad and French onion soup that had kahlua pork at the bottom of th......

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Farina: Restaurant Review

My review of a relatively new Italian restaurant in the Mission district, called Farina is up over at SF Station . Aside from a few rough spots, I liked the place and will go again. I had a good meal of mostly Ligurian style focaccia and pastas with Lee and my friend Alton. It was also fun running into author and scientist Harold McGee, former SF Chronicle restaurant reviewer Amanda Berne, chef Daniel Patterson and his wife, just one table away. I like this photo because it's a bit of a "where's Waldo?" I took it from across the street and Lee is in it....

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