Freedom and a Passion for Living

Let's talk about something that is almost sacrosanct and untouchable. Let's talk about the industry tyranny and the mental slavery rather than what is supposed to be freedom. The freedom in life as the Greek design as democracy . the freedom to decide  our own failures our own success. the resistance of trying to impose on other peoples our desires and our wishes and the tyranny of an industry that keeps on pushing and pushing to try to make food more available, more convenient, abundant but nevertheless always more contaminated, always more unhealthy for you.

 In the grand scheme of things one can always say, well food is better today than it has always been because we have such great true safeguards. To some extent. It's like a short blanket, we cover our head and we expose our feet. The same as always, in the old days there were hygienic issues because people did not know any better. Now there are issues of profitability and time consumption, the hourly wage,market, necessities now we are pulling the blanket the other way. the reality is that quality food comes from commitment. Commitment from the farmers, commitment from distributors, commitment from the operators: restaurateurs, stores, and the like. often to often its easy to use mantra, models, the coolest word of the day: "sustainable" yesterday was "organic" in between is "biodynamic" and now is "local" . All those things are important if you believe it. Its important if you actually stop preaching it and do it. I made a commitment thirty years plus ago., but it was a commitment borne out of the true belief. I was born and raised in that environment and I know the control and the safeguard that you can put in place when you believe and you know and you spend your time researching it.

 A lot of issues can be summed up very quickly, the short distance between the growers and the consumer is always the one preferred but not always the only solution. The other quality control as far as knowledge and storage, those are issues, if people transport them in a unsafe truck or unsafe manner, it pretty much deletes the first effort. The other of course is the ultimate responsibility of the producers to be able to make the food and present it to you, whether they sell it through a shopping market, or they sell it through a restaurant but often, too often, the most common place people get their food is the fast food. they sell it fast for a reason, people are in a hurry and the convenience can all get lost in translation. Now we always have a tendency to pile, to put everybody in the same lump and say "well fast food is not good for you,"  and a lot of people argue in a lot of different ways you know you can argue from a dietary standpoint, you can argue from a lifestyle standpoint and the reality is there are a lot of arguments to be made there are realities in everybody's life. anyone who has driven across the town and they're hungry the best thing to do is to stop at one of those fast food places. The other word is inexpensive and cheap. All things are equal. maybe all these things are true but in the long run people have surrendered their quality of life, why are they in a hurry? Why do they need to stop in a cubicle, grab food from their windows and put it in their lap and be driving while they're eating it. Is eating just becoming a function of life?

In our human history one of the things we do is celebrate. Celebrate life, death, friendship, love. We seem to being doing a good job of it. We like our candle lights, we like our roses, we like our table settings, expensive homes. so that means that these are important things to us. but the truly most important thing. I truly believe, to us, is the human contact. the time that we take to dedicate to ourselves the moment where we actually look at what we put in our mouth. We take the time to reflect upon what we have done so far, with just peace and quiet. As an Italian, I understand how much you guys admire us. because we make a celebration out of the smallest things, like an espresso. I remember the first time I ordered an espresso and they made me a cup of coffee.  I was horrified by the thought of drinking that much coffee.but what's more horrific was, it came in a paper cup. I explained to the barista that this was not about coffee, it was about my time. The celebration of that five, three, ten minutes that it takes to pour a little sugar in the cup stir it with a little spoon put it on the side of the cup on a saucer lift the cup like its is the greatest thing, the chalice of life, because in that brief moment nobody owns that time but me. They look at me like I was the biggest idiot that ever walked on the face of the earth. Coffee for them is just hot water, that gives you a boost. If you feel that way, you've missed the whole point of being on the face of the earth . If you're just a function of this hurricane called humanity and you don't take the time to enjoy the little things in life that us humans have created around us to enjoy. The sound of a violin, the taste of a beautiful peach in the summertime. smell the deliciousness of a slow roast veal shank, or admire the legs of a great glass of wine I just want to tell you, I don't know what you have in your bank, but you're never going to be rich. You're never going to understand what true wealth , what being alive is all about.

Let's begin this 2013 with the right attitude. If you love life as much as I do, if you enjoy the smallest things in life as much as I do, well then, lets lift a glass and celebrate a Happy New Year's and a great beginning and lets start looking forward. Just stop reminiscing what was wrong behind us last year.

We at Onotria have many great new recipes we're going to introduce to you this year, with very energized creativity, but more important a sense of ultimate celebration, because life is the most beautiful thing. and to be able to celebrate every single day in the smallest way for the smallest reasons it gives you all new meaning of living : La vita bella. like Benegni used to say, everybody truly is, we are blessed by love, blessed by friends. We are also blessed by an abundant land with

 many resources and a great, great lets freedom. Lets take advantage of it and bring it in, sink it in, share it with others and more importantly...

SALUTE !

Passionate about Life and the Pursuit of Happiness

The peaceful silence of the morning sitting at Onotria staring out the windows, at the beautiful gardens vineyards. Thinking about things that are somewhat simple somewhat important, just reflecting on the daily affair and activities. I just made a beautiful salad, with fresh fennel, cucumbers, mixed seafood, clams, calamari, seppia, tossed in a fresh tangy lemon with a beautiful seasoning, drizzle of of olive oil and I cannot help but romanticize because the senses are so awakened, so vibrant. Life is a conquest, small, big, but a conquest. Every day, when we rise to the occasion we feel empowered, we feel free. Chefs are somewhat conquistadors. They don't pillage the neighborhood they just wander around to discover new places, new flavors, new spices. All of those are usually residing within the mind. So my advice to all wannabe cooks and chefs and home cookers, is jump on the boat, be a pirate, conquer,  find new frontiers.
 Don't do the obvious, don't do too repetitious, the palate is like life, it needs to be stimulated, be excited. for years and years you have been told what's good for you, and you found out there is not too much value in spinach, and now you know why you hate them because they were not that good after all. There are so many other exciting vegetables. Get off your butt, get away from your beige neighborhood, vanilla stores.Walk on the wild side, go to Little Saigon, go to Korea Town, the Chinese stores. When you go to the vegetable market don't just buy the same old granola mixed with worthless whitebreads. Go to the little asian stand where they grow all of those amazing green leafy vegetables. Buy yourself some fresh tumeric roots, shave it like you do with your ginger and garlic, with EVOO and spray it very lightly with a little water and salt. You'll be in heaven with the flavors, close your eyes, the flavors, textures, excitement.
 Life is a carnival, don't just sit in the living room looking at the same beige wall listening to the same idiot on TV talking about things that don't mean anything aside from trying to sell you another commercial. "Wait in thirty seconds. wait", don't, get up, buy yourself some fresh persimmon, taste it. They're just as exciting as apples and pears. Buy yourself some guava, some unique flavors you've never had before. Gorgueous beautiful little colorful ball, with yellow seeds inside. That's passionfruit my friend, passion, you've got to crack the shell to get into the passion. When you taste it to your palate it wakes up your passion. Its a tangy,sweet,  sour, beautiful lemon-y, melon-y flavors, deep and long absolutely stunning. It vibrates into your brain cells. That's eating, that's discovering, that's life. When you put that beautiful first spoonful of whipping cream that you never had before, its like mothers milk. Or taste the first slice of watermelon on a summer's day, that's just happiness. so you can sit on your couch in your lounge chair and wonder, or you can get off the couch and start living. So you all know what to do, just stop being afraid of it, just do it. Happy New Years from the bottom of my heart, and if you are as passionate about life as I am, you can come to the wild side, because here at Onotria we do things the right way. Slow, fun, silly, incredibily on target. Life is worth living. Like my buddy Roberto used to say, la vita e` bella.


Salute!

Warm Holiday Wishes

      I want to wish the warmest to you and your family from Onotria, as well as from me, Massimo Navarretta, and my family. I want to bring back some of the Christmas traditions of the Southern Wine Region of Italy. Onotria Wine Country Cuisine occasionally gets its own narrations of cultural culinary experiences. We also bring back some of those celebrations because culinarily speaking we are a country close to the water. We didn't do a lot of spending and gift giving but we did do a lot of sitting and eating and enjoying conversation with our family and friends. One of the most amazing parts of the Christmas celebration was the feast of the food. Because of our vicinity to the sea, we would go and pick up Calamari, Seppia, Clams, Octopus, and all of that translated into the dinner for Christmas Eve. As well as all of the seasonal greens: the Rapini, the Escarole, and the Fennels, chestnuts, Porcini mushrooms, Ovuli. Which make our Mediterranean diet such a wonderful healthy diet.

     One of the best memories as a kid would be the excitement in finding the mushrooms and chestnuts. Also sitting by the fire and watching the chestnuts pop, because if you don't cut them, they will explode, and we would have particular enjoyment at watching the old ladies jumping when the chestnuts would pop out of the ashes, of course, these days we would get lawsuits, but it was still fun.

For our seventh year anniversary we would like to enjoy a piece of our tradition with you at Onotria. Through the month of December, we're going to create a menu that reflects those traditions with a twist and an innovative touch. We're going to do the octopus poached with black olives, fresh fennels and Pacchino tomatoes, garlic, EVOO, and oregano. Linguini with Calimari and fresh Rapini. And of course the omnipresent fresh Merluzzo or Cod in a cassoulet, over sweet potatoes in a Moscato wine sauce and green olives, or classic deep fried with beer batter in a lemon dry Vermut sauce. Roast chestnuts whipped with fresh Marscapone in a chocolate cup Ganache. Buon Natale a tutti and the best to your family. Salute!

Happy Birthday Onotria and Happy Thanksgiving!

Good morning Orange Country and happy birthday Onotria. Happy Birthday on your seventh year of amazing time and challenged time. More importantly happy birthday to an idea that has come. I had a hold in my mind for many years, a passion, a desire to deliver to the market a concept so simple, so basic, creating wonderful food from the earth to the table using natural herbs and spices, fruit, selecting the finest meat the greatest wild games,but more importantly, most importantly an environment where people can have a conversation. A dining experience like home. Something they're used to, where time is not important, nobody is pushing anyone out, no one is running around to try to turn you table and rush your experience. A place where food and wine and human relationships are at the center of it all. This is not just a money machine. There are no tricks, there is no mickey mouse, no distractive, undesired noise or music except for the good loud chatting of individuals having a great time and great converstations. Even more exciting than that, its all paired well with a great glass of wine, with a simple Dolcetto or a fantastic bottle of Sassicaia. The goal is always the same. If it belongs at your tables, enjoy it. Fulfill your enogastronomic desire.

At Onotria we keep alive the Roman concept of "Convivium" to enjoy an experience together. The Onotria menu was designed with that concept in mind, to be shared with the rest of the table, not because the portions are extra large, but rather exciting flavors and textures. The word we heard around the tables in our restaurant "You gotta taste this!" Even though we understand our modern life has different needs, we feel the need to stay connected at all times with our toys, please make the time to share those beautiful moments. When you exchange an eye glance, a word of encouragement, or a story a silly tale, a forkful of something that tastes so yummy that you want the other person to experience it. That is the food I love to make. It will be and still is the most beautiful and valuable time we have (human interaction.)

I don't see the world as a competition. I live in my own island, its called Onotria. The chef mind is an incredible place, where many ideas are sprung from just looking at something, when you're driving by Bristol and you realize that you have vineyards, a garden, and everything we grow, we use in our food. It seems a foreign concept to so many and at the end its just home to me and its become home to our customers. The biggest homage that I can attest to is the support we have. I know its easy if you are in New York, LA or Chicago where such a vast population goes out to dine and they love any kind of unique and new idea. but I love Orange County, I love my customers, because they get it. They understand what we do and they support us over these seven years, they really do understand. They understand our committment to quality and lifestyle, to truth and real product, real food: the farming, the vineyards the whole thing. We are going to serve you on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday all through the month of November, a fantastic old fashioned recipe. Pork shank slowly braised in a Persimmon Cherry Peppers Sherry Wine Sauce over Risotto of Spinach and Ricotta Salata. In this Thanksgiving season let me express my deep thanks from me, Veronica and the kids for giving us the opportunity to have such a great life. Also, thank you to all of my staff for supporting us in making this adventure so special. Please join me all through the month of November to share a Prosecco toast to testimony the fact that even through challenged time, we still have fun. Salute!

April Resurrection My Celebration of Easter

Its my wish to have a conversation, we're going to tell the truth, the real truth and nothing but the truth. I've lived in America for 30+ years and I love this country for all the right reasons some even for the wrong one, but most importantly I love it for the the freedom, the sense of space,the choices you can make or don't make, to win, to lose, to drown, to fail, but I always know that, the odds are not stacked against you, regardless of what they say. You can make change, and you can go places, there are fifty states, each one unique, and each one has a good, bad. You have choices. But one thing has always been very important here. The sense of dimension, the limits, the abuse, the absolutely stunning expanse of food, and drinks and commercial product which makes our country so wealthy. so rich,but also is our downfall. So you wonder how I lose weight, why, some people even went as far as to think something was wrong. Maybe I was having a medical problem, but if you're a doctor, if you're in a medical business, you maybe want to start looking at different people, because with me you never made any money. I'm very healthy, good farmer stock,I work hard, play, run. Unlike the American model "you work hard, you play hard" mine is very simple: work hard, play smart. Smart because life is not a sprint its simply a long drawn out marathon, and if you know historically in Italy we don't have good sprinters, but we have tremendous marathoners.

It all began because after many many years here going along, getting along, teaching people, cooking, I was having an emotional moment because I missed my mother, I missed her face, I missed her touch, I missed her embrace. So I felt it was time for me to spend some time with this wonderful woman who has given to the world 6 children, and with so little, made so much of it. So I figure maybe it is time for me to go back and spend some time with her, so Easter time which is the greatest time for me to go back to Italy, when you actually feel the spring coming. and everybody starts getting in a great mood. In April went and I was alone with her, which was special, I'd always been with my confidence, so she took full opportunities to let it all out, talk about the most intimate, the most important things. Some revelations, old news like all mothers do, but most importantly, she helped me in a very succint way to understand what is wrong, what is right, what is important, what is not,and so I started to slowly go back to my old life, the life of Massimo in the village with farmers,nice humble people from a humble beginning. Get up in the morning at five o' clock, just as the neighbors do my mom waited for me and she made the coffee. She would talk about this, and that, and the other things. Then I'd take a walk on my farm., Its a very large farm, it goes up and down the mountainside and I revisited all of my childhood spots and recollected about some memories and some desires that I had when I was a child. I thought about how much I did and I took an inventory of my life. not the foolish ones, wanting to be a pirate or a king. but the ones that are truly in your soul. Being a great human being, helping others, making good to my promise to be self-sustained, have an honest life,profit from your talents, and help others along the way. So all in all, yes, quite an amazing life, quite an amazing journey, met amazing people, went amazing places, but I looked down the valleys of my town, the smiling sun breaking on the bay of Naples I realized that the world is full of misery, and unbalance, but its such a wonderdul world, there's so many opportunities, so many great things. So I come back to my farm, walking home, and the classic image of my household from the south, there is not an abundance of a lot of things, we make most of our things, if you don't make it, you don't have it so I realaxed with a beautiful bowl of fruit a fresh vegetable from the farm, I ate my lunch, took a nice walk with my friends, every time you show up uninvited, unannounced, people welcome you with open arms and they always ask you if you would like coffee, a glass of water, so I take my glass of water because I already had a coffee and we sit down and talk about things nobody brings salsa and chips, nobody brings pretzels, nobody is trying to have a buffet of cheap crap, but just a good conversation, and what I loved about it was that I think intellectually I was incredibly challenged. and I loved it, it was all overthe place, it was about personal,it was about religion, it was about politics, it was about sex, everything was on the table and nobody ever felt offended, we were challenged, we knew what the conversation was about and I loved it. I visited with my other friends, we did the same, go to restaurants and everything was amazing because, sometimes when we bring friends from abroad. We try to entertain them, we give them a little bit of everything, so they get this wrong impression that we do this all the time. This lifestyle of abundant food and gluttony. For us it is about the company. We serve fresh fish, local meats that are grass fed, wild game, but always very parsimonious,without overdoing it. I soon realized, that by having these life rythms I lost quite a bit of weight, but I also feel very strong, very good, so in a moment of lucidity, I realized its not what people do or don't do, it is us, each individual has to make a descision. There is no excuse whether you're 30 or 40 or 50 or 20 to live a life of gluttony and a life of abuse, whether its alchol, food, or everything else, you can't get a different result than what you're going to see out there. Psychologically,some people lose their edge and they need medication. They stop feeling good about themselves, they always have issues with everything and everybody. I don't, I have some problems like everybody else, in my daily affairs, personal affairs, but those are not obstacles we cannot handle or live with. I make my decisions and other people make theirs, but in reality, we personally make our choices.

So what I did, after I came back to the States, after I took a large and comprehensive inventory of my existence I decided there's only one thing that I can do is to take care of myself. When I did that it was like a domino effect, then you're strong and healthy you can take care of your family, you can take care of your friends, you can take care of your business. That realization gave me an incredible level of energy and creativity and now I feel like there is no stop to what I can do. I don't see my age an the impediment. Rather, I see it is a wonderful asset to people, to my friends, to my customers; because I have the experience and maturity to know what makes sense, to tell how it makes sense, for who. And so this is becoming a very interesting life because now 47 pounds later;life adjustment, relationship adjustment, we get into a place where we can talk about it. If you're curious we can talk about it in detail, because this blog is about honesty, this blog is about food, its about wine, its about the politics of life, its about the politics of our religious upbringing and the way you eat. It affects the way we make our choices, when we work in our restaurants we know when it is a Jewish holiday, a Muslim holiday, a Christian holiday and it affects our pocketbook, it affects our business, but it affects us in a wonderful way too. In our Mediterranean tradition we are very inclusive and we are creatures of life and we love life in all its forms , there's no right, there's no wrong, some people think they have all of the answers. I'm a farmer. I know that there are good days, I know that there are bad days, but you always reap what you sow. You've got to laugh. You can't take yourself way too seriously. Stop walking around carrying the weights of the world. Lets start this conversation by saying let's all be a little Italian, when people say you're full of BS you say " but BS will give you a good smile and we need a little more BS." Salute

Restaurant Vision

In the age of the internet, instant gratification and unfounded, uneducated comments, one could spend all day, all month chasing his own tail to try and explain or justify their actions or state of mind. Creative minds do what they do instictively and passionately. It was never my vision to cook food for people because their stove doesn't work. It has never been my passion to let people relive some childhood emotion or memory. My vision has always been about fresh, exciting ingredients, put together in a knowledgeable, innovative way that excites the senses without being intimidating to the consumer. From my first consulting job in '78 to my latest project, my main goal is to create a place where diners feel at home, and the food is always interesting, delicious, and adds value to their experience. I was born and raised in a farm land with many thousands of years of human experiences the roads that I walked as a child have seen Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Germanic and many other civilizations. When we are trying to express a concept or our thoughts, we have a very deep resevoir of knowledge and frame of reference. I do not use cheap themes, or gimmicks to attract serious and committed diners to my restaurants. From the commissioning of our spiral staircase and other rod iron railings by local artist Giovanni Capone, the silhouette murals of vineyards on the wall from local artist Aaron Norton, to the two original paintings of red and white grapes from the artist Michelli from Lake Garda, Italy; our real vinyard and garden in the front: nothing about Onotria is fake or pretending.

There is no fake ivy. Our goal is to create an organic environment for diners to come and have a fun time, experience amazing food, choose a great wine from our extensive, award winning wine list. So when you hear some people say "They may be a noisy place." I want you to know we play the ode to Don Giovanni by Puccini, the famous song "Libiam!" in which all of the participants were having a great time drinking, eating, and dancing, and that's just the way I like it. So for those who are seeking a quieter place, I suggest cemetery, church, temples, or just at home. And for those who believe erroneously that the prices are too high and our wines are too expensive, let me make you another suggestion, there are plenty of so -called restaurants that serve cheap food, and plenty of wine shops that serve cheap wines. But if you go out, remember that there are people working hard, supporting their families, and they are proud of their profession. Let's make it worth it. Its not always about you, its about the community we live in.

Salute, Master Chef Massimo Navarretta

Autumn Flavors

Celebrating the season is the quintessential factor in culinary flavors and freshness- same as in life. If we learn how to enjoy the rhythms of the season we also learn a lot about ourselves. Growing up in a small village in Southern Italy surrounded by farms, hillsides, mountains, and waterways, you become incredibly aware of the sounds, the colors, the aroma of each changing season. Autumn has been one of my special seasons, for personal as well as culinary reasons. From the change of the colors of the vegetation, the rich textures of the fruit of the season, from nuts to figs, pomegranate, persimmons, wild mushrooms, tuberose, and roots, the smell of the earth the richness in flavors, is much deeper, much more decided,inspires the foods that we make during this season. As a young man having the freedom to run up in the mountains in the woods in search of the ovuli mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, pioppini mushrooms, smell the wild boar tracks, collecting the chestnuts and walnuts in their fields. I would see the excitement of my mother and the people in our neighborhood when I showed up with a basket of seasonal riches, as lifelong memories and as a chef I still feel the same joy when I cook for people using the colors, the flavors, the textures of the season. So now you know my excitement when, at Onotria we can finally start serving the wild boar prisciutto, wild boar papardelle, and the inherent excitement for the anticipation of the earth's most prized delicacy, the white truffle from Alba. Our specialty this season will be richer, like veal ossobucco, wild boar ossobucco and options for our friends who are gluten free and vegetarians, this season provides some of the most exciting flavors: casserole of polenta in seasonal vegetables spiked with persimmon and walnuts. Salute.