Marzano's atmospheric interior

MARZANO
4214 Park Boulevard (at Glenfield)
Oakland, CA 94602
510-531-4500
www.marzanorestaurant.com

Open since December, I finally made it to Oakland’s idyllic, tree-lined Glenview neighborhood for Marzano , opened by the team behind Garibaldi’s. While I sighed at yet another Rustic Italian menu, a tapped-out field in my book, expectations began to shift from first look at the medieval wood-beam ceiling and chandeliers, the Edison-era-slash-modern lighting and rustic wood tables.

The cocktail menu hooked me at first glance with bartender, Alex Conde, dubbed “fastest bartender in the West”, thankfully behind the bar on my visits. There’s classics like an Irish Sour or Savoy Hotel Special # 1, beautiful breakfast imbibements on the weekend brunch menu (Bellinis, Aperol Spritz, Orange Ramos), and a “Della Casa” selection with creative explosions of flavor ($8-10). I rave about the Ciocolatto di New York ($10). Not at all sweet, it’s Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Carpano sweet vermouth, Grappi di chocolate grappa (!) and sea salt, served up. I haven’t sipped one like this before – unique, salty, flavorful, robust. Strong and sure, the Sangue di Christo ($9) is Grappa, blood orange, Creole shrubb, aged basalmic and black pepper, while the Lambretta ($10) uses housemade almond bitters in vodka, gin, zibibbo, dry vermouth, with an orange twist. There’s a short but high-quality wine list, beers, Abita Root Beer, Bundaberg Ginger Beer and Italian sodas.

Drinks alone are worth a visit, but the food keeps up. Wood-fired in a brick oven means the Pizzas ($11-14) have blistered crusts with toppings and cheeses of such quality and flavor (love the fennel sausage) you’ll be hard pressed not to eat one by yourself, though they’re plenty big enough for two. Breakfast pizzas add an egg on top (yay!)

Chicories Salad

A Chicories Salad ($10) is fresh and bountiful, satisfying where many salads do not. Laden with fuji apples, page mandarins, toasted umbrian faro, hazelnuts, buttermilk bleu cheese and cider vinagrette, it’s an entree on its own. One of the better sharing appetizers I’ve had in awhile, the Fritto Misto ($10), is a lightly fried helping of veggies: cauliflower, sweet onions, aspargus, fennel and lemon with a spicy aioli. Everyone descends and devours. I have found service to be a bit patchy, I hate to say, though not bad, with the host and bartender graciously engaging.

Paired with a crema-heavy espresso ($3), Straus Organic Soft Serve ($4), topped with rosemary honey, nuts, caramel or, in my case, aged balsamic vinegar and sea salt (an additional $2 for toppings), is a sensual finish. As Italians quip, “A tavola non si invecchia“, or essentially, you don’t age while eating a (great) meal. With good friends and conversation, time stood still within these walls, and if I aged, it was contentedly so.

My favorite events this month…

the pig's head

MEATPAPER’S PIG PARTY at Camino

The setting couldn’t be more ideal for a pig party: wood floors, beams and chandeliers, long tables, and a roaring hearth fire with counter big enough to hold a massive pig and all array of homemade sausages, pig tails and terrines. It felt akin to a rustic, British home where we’d come for a heartwarming feast.

Celebrating the Spring issue (pig-focused, natch) of Meatpaper, the definitive meat magazine, the food/drink spread is well worth the $35 fee, though good luck snagging a table and making your way through a body-to-body crowd in the sold out event. I hate things that packed, but the vibe was convivial and Camino’s staff stayed upbeat throughout, even when descended upon coming out of the kitchen carrying Ryan Farr’s gourmet Corn Dogs with mustard sauce (I guiltily admit to being a descender).

Camino’s patient bar staff made a couple house cocktails using sponsors, like Leopold Brothers gin and St. Barths‘ Batiste Rum, while wines (from Pacific Edge), beers (Trumer Pils) and a mild hibiscus juice flowed.

Russell Moore's sausages

Leif Hedendal created some gorgeous vegetarian offerings in the midst of all the pig, like a bright Snap Pea/Blood Orange salad, Potato Salad and one of my tops, a bright Pea & Mint Crostini. Fatted Calf’s Taylor Boetticher cooked juicy, grilled Crepinettes with Becker Lane Organic Pork wrapped in. His Pork Terrine with spicy mustard on toast was nuanced. Staffan Terje of Perbacco laid out charcuterie, but better was his one-of-a-kind Bacon Marshmallows. Camino’s chef, Russell Moore, made Green Garlic & Herb Sausages (using Prather Ranch pork), and Ryan Farr’s famous Chicharrones were piled in bowls around the room. Smart move. No one could stop eating them.

With quarterly release parties for each issue of the magazine (check their website), there will be more chances to indulge in such a feast. But back at the party, butchery of the hog commenced, its head sitting proudly on the counter, overseeing the festivities.

St. George/Hangar One's hangar

MINISTRY OF RUM at St. George Distillery/ Hanger One in Alameda

Ministry of Rum… what is that, friends asked? Some cool ministry of spiritual significance, roping in followers with fine rum? Well, that’s not too far from the truth. An event focused on education in cane spirits, specifically rums and cachaças, in the massive airplane hanger of incomparable St. George Distillery, Ministry of Rum tours the country, its focus on “the noble spirit”. Mainly attended by spirits cognoscenti, it was one fine taste after another through the bustling hangar. Thanks to a well-paced crowd, I could talk reasonably with and hear from vendors about their rums, sampling different ages and styles. I heard stories of distilling processes, or in the case of delightful Sergeant Dave Classick himself, of his family who are all involved in running their distillery – his daughter and son poured tastes and mixed cocktails as we chatted.

Ministry of Rum vendors

Despite a number of highlights (El Dorado distills some beauties), I was pleased, as a Bourbon lover (who hasn’t yet met a spirit she didn’t find some good qualities to), to discover a number of sipping rums that would stand beautifully alone, paired with a fine cigar (as the Renaissance Man continued to point out). My tops at first sip: Zacapa’s rum, aged in bourbon, sherry and wine barrels, each barrel imparting another layer to the nuanced rum grown from Guatemalan sugar cane. The color of rich mahogany, it’s dense with woody, vanilla and spiced notes. Another favorite was Mount Gay’s Extra Old Rum from Barbados, one of the oldest rum distillers in existence since 1703. Aged 17 years in toasted oak barrels, it’s smoky but smooth with notes of molasses and oak on the nose.

A major perk of the evening was having some of SF’s best mixologists serving drinks made from each vendor’s rum. The line-up was stellar and they were often educating on the rums they were working with: Martin Cate, Erik Adkins, Brooke Arthur, Thad Vogler, Duggan McDonnell, Marco Dionysos, and so on. Reason enough to go, but all in all, a richly informative night… and sensory delight, the lights of San Fran twinkling in the distance. All this in an airplane hangar.

Los Angeles: Italian or Japanese?

FAVORITES:

Angelini's menu

ANGELINI OSTERIA

The best Italian I’ve eaten in Los Angeles… even LA Times calls Chef Gino Angelini: “hands down, the best Italian chef in LA.” Angelini Osteria is cramped: you’re literally sardine-packed in, but affably flirty Italian waiters and gustatory pleasures make you (almost) forget. You have to shout above the din, but even with a group of friends, I was able to hear everyone raving over their dishes. This isn’t offal perfection like my Incanto at home, rather it’s a classic pasta and meat sort of Italian osteria with intriguing specials and plenty of Italian wines. Starters like the lightly Fried Anchovies ($12) over artichokes and beets, are the right balance of hearty and veggie fresh. Risottos ($18) are creamy rich, pastas are beautiful renditions of spaghetti or pumpkin tortelli, while daily specials like Sunday’s Saltimbocca alla Romana (Veal with Prosciutto,Sage and White Wine; $22) or entrees like Breaded Veal Chop alla Milanese ($30) with zucchini fritto and eggplant, are hearty and satisfying.

Snapper Sashimi at Asanebo

ASANEBO

My favorite Japanese in LA is this humble Studio City spot. There’s sushi but there’s much more, from Izakaya-style plates to sashimi. The all Japanese staff is sweetly welcoming and food comes out without much of a wait, but cost adds up fast, so be forewarned. Paired with lovely sake selection, my last visit included a hefty Seared King Scallop ($13) cooked in olive oil and lemon, topped with Hawaiian sea salt. Red Snapper Sashimi ($20) in Japanese Yuzu with sea salt and hint of tangerine infusion, reminded me of dishes I love at Sushi Ran in Sausalito. Yes, Miso-Black Cod has been sooo done, but theirs is a buttery beauty ($17), while Japanese Ono ($24) is served slightly chilled with ginger, garlic and fresh-grated onion. Even Fried Calamari stuffed with asparagus is a gourmet eat here. Being one of the few places I get actual fresh wasabi, I eat the stuff by itself, never wanting to go back to goopy, faux wasabi again.

HONORABLE MENTION:

"Tacos" at Mori

MORI SUSHI

Mori is a brightly pristine Pico Boulevard gem with just as pristine service. My one complaint is the portions are not only an expected small, they’re often miniscule, so come prepared to either spend a lot (it looks reasonable at first glance, till you realize how hungry you still are) or as a starter meal. Still, what wins me over is that the usual sashimi/nigiri offerings are accented by delicately creative endeavors. Halibut Carpaccio ($10), topped with olive oil and yuzu juice, black pepper and pink peppercorn, was delicately fresh. Toro Tartare ($12), though long past it’s heyday, is mixed playfully here in the shape of an egg with minced toro, real wasabi, onion, pine nuts, drizzled with olive oil and soy sauce. Inappropriately-named Spicy Tuna Tacos ($8.50) are in dumpling skins, tasty, but basically two bites. There’s a somewhat reasonable $17 lunch special, but it doesn’t include any of these dishes.

"Trust Me"

SUSHI NOZAWA

With the infamous “Trust Me” motto, I find Sushi Nozawa overrated, without much to set it apart from the greats. But for straight-up sashimi (i.e. ultra-fresh piles of fish), this dingy strip mall spot has it down… and for a reasonable price. Just beware the unlisted sake prices: wanting a cheap bottle of serviceable sake, I fell back on Sho Chiku Bai Ginjo, which retails around $3.99, and I usually see at about $6 on restaurant menus. I should’ve asked. They charged $15! “Trust them” and go for the fish. But not for anything else.