Went here for the special risotto dinner. Oliveto refuses to serve risotto in their day to day menu because they feel they can’t make it correctly. Instead, they offer a risotto dinner once a year where one chef is responsible for just cooking risotto. Since the timing is crucial, the dinner’s pace may not be perfect since the risotto must be served immediately.

1. Platter of house-cured salumi
Going from memory, one was more normal, one was aged longer and it had a more intense taste (similar to a Luger steak), a third used peppers and was a bit too spicy; and a mortadella (not my favorite in general so i won’t judge it.)

2. Asparagus & Beets
I like neither but this ’salad’ was ok. The aspargus was subtle and the beets more mellow than I’m used to. A dab of balsamic vinegar added enough tang to make it interesting.

3. Risotto Bianco
Rice, butter, & parmesan. The rice was toothsome and ‘irregular’; by this, i mean you could feel each grain of rice in your mouthj. The sauce was extremely rich but delicious. The risotto definitely had more liquid than most served (I have no personal experience on how they do it in Italy.) This was very good; Manresa’s parmesan risotto was similar so i guess they make ‘perfect risotto’ too.

The risotto was very very good but allow me to nitpick:

This dish was *very* rich. A lot of butter was used; probably too much – you could taste butter on the first bite. Olivetto speaks of a “unified whole” when making their risotto but I didn’t get that. The rice was rice, the sauce sauce, and they were not unified in taste. Yes, i’d rather have this than the glop they serve at other places; but i wouldn’t mind trying the ‘unified whole’ they speak of.

4. Braised Hoffman Hen
The menu said mushrooms but i don’t recall any. This was tasty but i’m unsure why they needed to braise the meat (one of my least favorite cooking techniques unless it’s Moroccan.) Hoffman hens are already succulent; no need to cook them for awhile.

Overall, a very good traditional rustic meal. No firewords, no awe, just solid food at a relatively cheap price point ($60/person.) Definitely recommended if they do it next year.

- chuck