Oakland's
Oliveto (5655 College Ave.) has combined two of my favorite food obsessions -- risotto and balsamic vinegar -- into a single night of family-style Italian decadence with their annual
Risotto Dinners, happening this Wednesday and Thursday. It's a five-course affair that acts as both a showcase for a a range of
aceto balsamico (like wine, it
improves with age) and a sort of rich payback for all the customers who bug them about the absence of risotto on their menu the rest of the year.
Check out the menu after the jump ....
Starting with a platter of Oliveto salumi, the meal proceeds thusly:
Antipasto: shaved spring vegetables with castelvetrano olives and Oliveto aceto balsamico
Primo: risotto in bianco with old aceto balsamico
Secondo: cotechino sausage braised in saba with English peas and Bianca di Spagna beans
Dolce: strawberries with black tea granita and middle-aged aceto balsamico
Prix fixe: $65
-- Brian Bernbaum
