Adesso Restaurant Menu
Rodney Liuzzo
I hesitated writing this post because Adesso is one of those places you don't necessarily want everyone to know about. I like it so much just the way it is: you can generally still find a seat, the bartenders still have a little time to chat, and the service is fantastic. But it's so good, in fact, that I can't help sharing, writing, raving.
Although the design and approach are quite different, Adesso is owned by the same folks who own adjacent beloved Italian restaurant, Dopo. Here, however, you'll find a more casual atmosphere with a real focus on salumi, pates, antipasti, piadinis, and expertly-crafted cocktails with housemade bitters and infused liquors. It's is a place to come mid-day for one of their few sandwiches--to sit and wile away an afternoon. A place where regulars are greeted and the pace slows, even on busy Piedmont Avenue in Oakland.
Adesso is also a place to come between the hours of 5 p.m.-6 p.m. or 11:00 p.m to 12:00 a.m. for their "Apertivo Hour." I've fallen in love with these times of the day. Truly. Reason #1: strong, smart, thoughtful cocktails. This goes a long way with me. My friend Danielle and I sat at the bar and had a chance to talk at great length with bartender Hanjiro Ambrose about the cocktail menu and the drinks he's created. I learned all about amaro and potato-based gins.
Danielle ordered the Provencale with lavender-infused gin, vermouth and cointreau. It was light and floral but not at all too syrupy or sweet. After telling Hanjiro I was into Bourbon and had lately really fallen for Aperol, he made me a cocktail with bourbon, Aperol, apricot liquor and bitters. It was incredible. He loves chatting with customers about what they like to drink or what they're curious about, and he'll custom-tailor cocktails just for you. For my second drink of the evening, I tried the Amari Cola on the regular menu which Hanjiro had concocted after hearing the story of the Coca Cola recipe on This American Life. He was inspired to put together a cocktail with a similar flavor profile and he's succeeded wildly with this blend of rye, cynar and ramazzotti amaro, grenadine, lemon, soda and a little mint. It's refreshing as a summer morning; go there. Try it.
Unlike most bars and restaurants, the cocktails and drinks aren't discounted during Apertivo Hour. However, the staff brings you small plates of foccaccia, salumi, salads, and pate to try. And this, my friends, is Reason #2 to fall hard for Adesso: free, incredible food. Danielle and I had the chance to sample the olive focaccia and the Ciccici pate which, as one of the bartenders said, is good they've all coined it "meat butter." It's made of pork shoulder which is reduced way down until it really is the consistency of butter. I actually don't generally love pates, but this was an exception.
Next our waiter brought out the squid and fennel salad: a fresh, summery dish-- the perfect balance to some of the saltier salumi. And of course, the piadina. This might have been my favorite, actually. The piadina is essentially a grilled flatbread and is quite popular as a casual on-the-go snack in Italy. The folks at Adesso roll the flatbread into more of a sandwich: ours had sausage and chiles and was just what we needed after a few strong cocktails.
After having my half of the piadina, I realized the genius in bringing you out bites to try: you're going to want to order more. Sure, if you weren't starving, you could absolutely make a small meal of the spread, but we ended up ordering a Salumi Plate with our second cocktail that consisted of a billowy burrata, pate, and three different kinds of salumi with sliced bread.
By the time we looked up from our lovely plates and empty cocktail glasses, Adesso had filled up with just a few open seats remaining. The place was filled with a great, vibrant, laid-back energy with couples and friends meeting to catch up and to revel in the playful air of early-summer possibility. For me, much of that possibility lies in many more Apertivo Hours at Adesso. I'll see you there.
These menus are part of a collection that was donated to Johnson & Wales University Library by the National Restaurant Association. Many of the menus featured were part of their menu design contests in the 1980s and 1990s.
PLEASE NOTE: Images and content in the ScholarsArchive@JWU are for educational use only. All restaurant menu design and content is the property of the restaurant and/or copyright owner. If you wish to use, reproduce, or publish the images in any form, you must contact the restaurant and/or copyright owner directly to obtain permission. Please email the ScholarsArchive@JWU administrator, for furtherinformation.
Dopo and Adesso were a pair of restaurants in Oakland, California founded and run by chef Jon Smulewitz. Dopo was founded in 2003[1] and Adesso was spun off in February 2009 when the owners acquired additional nearby space.[3][4] Both restaurants focused on charcuterie, with menus changing on a daily basis to take advantage of timely ingredients.[1][5] They have been described by the New York Times as part of a new wave of innovative restaurants that have begun to improve Oakland's reputation for food,[6] and have won extensive local acclaim, with both Dopo and Adesso being listed by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the top hundred restaurants in the Bay Area in 2012.[7]
Dopo was the first of Smulewitz's restaurants, founded in September 2003. It served Northern Italian inspired cuisine,[5] focusing primarily on charcuterie, pizza, and seafood and emphasizing dishes that are less well known.[8][9] Its style has been influenced by the California cuisine of the nearby Chez Panisse, as well as the charcuterie of Oliveto, a nearby restaurant that was one of the first in the country to have an in-house charcuterie program.[1][5] The restaurant made an active effort to use local and sustainable food where possible, with ingredients being purchased fresh from Monterey Market every day, or delivered by local farms.[8]
Adesso was split off from Dopo in early 2009.[3] Adesso's menu focused on salumi and Pt,[3] with a substantially larger array of charcuterie available than at Dopo.[1] Adesso also had an extensive bar, with well-reviewed cocktails and a large number of Italian wines.[11]
The not-so-good news, at least for some people, is that the subdued Adesso of old has been replaced with a loud dining experience. In this brand new space, constructed where the Acorn Social Club existed for years, there is no sound-absorbing carpeting or drapes. Instead, there are gleaming hardwood floors and large arched windows. As one enters, the semiopen kitchen is straight ahead with a wide open bar and lounge area on the right and an even larger dining area to the left. The walls are painted to look like sunny Mediterranean stucco, and handsome Italianate lighting gives the restaurant a soft glow.
The wood grill of yesteryear is gone. In its place is a brick oven that produces wonderful pizza with a slightly chewy crust. Take the White Pizza ($12) for example. The six wedges are flavored with garlic-infused olive oil, mozzarella, parmigiano, slivers of red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh chives and thyme, with a tangy goat cheese garnish. With an oversized glass of white wine in hand, our dinner was off to a good start.
A Warm Spinach Salad ($9) is a rare sight on most menus, so I order it every chance I get. At Adesso, it is more than enough for two people to share. Served on a stylish square platter, the slightly wilted baby spinach is showered with crisp pancetta bits, shallots, pine nuts and fresh thyme, all dressed in a blend of sherry vinegar and walnut oil. All it needed was a dash of salt.
For the main course, you can choose from a large selection of pasta dishes ($10 to $22), which go from simple to sublime. The penne with tomato sauce has a hint of garlic and fresh basil. The black pepper linguine sports shrimp, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes in a vodka-tomato cream sauce. The pappardelle is tempting with its sauted strips of beef sirloin and portabello mushrooms in a sauce of merlot wine, veal stock and fresh herbs.
The sirloin was a truly generous cut of tender beef, expertly trimmed so that the entire steak was edible. This piece of meat was good enough to stand on its own. The accompanying sauce, a blend of peppercorns and sour mash bourbon, enhanced this dish to a totally satisfying level. More of those respectable mashed potatoes and a colorful saut of pea pods, yellow and red peppers rounded out the serving. Again, it was appreciated that some creative thought was given to the side of seasonal vegetables. Too many restaurants serve a bland medley of summer squash and zucchini.
A wonderful Italian dessert seemed like the right path to take after such a perfect dinner. We shared the unusual Torta Mascarpone ($8), and it was a very generous serving. Once again, the menu at Adesso offered something other than just the requisite tiramisu. The mascarpone cream cheese was rich and creamy. Sugar had been added, and could that be Marsala wine I was tasting? The sweet mousse was studded with chocolate chips and then topped with crushed amaretti cookies. What more could you ask for?
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