Tramonto's Table 
Recent Posts
- Foie Gras and Friends
- Where Do Kids Fit in Fine Dining?
- Think Local, Cook Local
- My Star Turn on "Top Chef"
- One in the Oven
- To Market, To Market
- Site Visits: A Tale of Two Cities
Recent Comments
- KHR on Where Do Kids Fit in Fine Dining?
- Kelly on Where Do Kids Fit in Fine Dining?
- Kricket on Where Do Kids Fit in Fine Dining?
- Mark on Where Do Kids Fit in Fine Dining?
- chefdad on Where Do Kids Fit in Fine Dining?
Most Commented On
- My Star Turn on "Top Chef" (14)
- Where Do Kids Fit in Fine Dining? (9)
- Think Local, Cook Local (1)
- To Market, To Market (1)
Archives
Blog
Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)
One in the Oven
As I’ve mentioned in my previous blogs, our Rosemont restaurant is moving along very quickly. The wood oven has arrived and has been put in place. It was behind schedule in shipping for a little while, apparently stuck on a train in the middle of the country somewhere, so I was really beginning to feel anxious about it. Now it makes me so happy to see it there when I visit the construction site. I can’t wait for my team to start working with it! I’m also really looking forward to getting the Schaumburg location to a point where the oven is ready to be set. It’s like moving into a new home and having your stuff arrive and be loaded in off of the moving truck—it feels like we are ready to officially make the space our own when the heart of the kitchen arrives.
I love cooking with wood ovens! It’s one of my favorite things. I picked the brand we use at all our restaurants because it is gas assisted. Ventilation and cleaning also are key factors in keeping your ovens safe and working, and we’ve learned a lot. I love walking into our restaurants and seeing the glow from the oven—it adds such a warmodt pizza tramonto's signature small.jpgth and coziness to the dining room, and the guests really feel it. In fact, the chef-bar seats in front of the wood oven at Osteria di Tramonto are the most in-demand seating options when the cooler months roll around.
Osteria di Tramonto, the main focus are the pizzas. Luckily, not only do wood ovens add to the atmosphere of the dining experience, but it turns out they cook food pretty amazingly also! We try to use them as much as we possibly can—it gives the food such a wonderful taste. At great Italian pizza-making tradition, our pies are all rolled into thin, 12-inch ovals and fired in the wood-burning oven. We serve several varieties, including Four Cheese, classic Margherita, Pepperoni, Calabrian (with spicy Italian sausage) and my personal favorite, the signature Tramonto’s, which has fresh mozzarella, tomato, arugula, garlic and Gaeta olives and is drizzled with truffle oil. Guests say they crave it!
We also use the oven for wood-fired mussels, which are plump, juicy and succulent. I actually had somebody tell me last week that although they had traveled all over Italy, they never knew mussels were supposed to taste that good. We use the wood oven equally as much for Tramonto’s Steak & Seafood, where we do a fantastic escargot finished with parsley, butter and breadcrumbs. Vegetables also get the wood-oven treatment, lending a lush flavor with a lightly browned exterior. It really has changed the way I cook. It’s rustic in many ways, but it can be as sophisticated as your ingredients can be elegant.
One in the Oven
May 29, 2008
As I’ve mentioned in my previous blogs, our Rosemont restaurant is moving along very quickly. The wood oven has arrived and has been put in place. It was behind schedule in shipping for a little while, apparently stuck on a train in the middle of the country somewhere, so I was really beginning to feel anxious about it. Now it makes me so happy to see it there when I visit the construction site. I can’t wait for my team to start working with it! I’m also really looking forward to getting the Schaumburg location to a point where the oven is ready to be set. It’s like moving into a new home and having your stuff arrive and be loaded in off of the moving truck—it feels like we are ready to officially make the space our own when the heart of the kitchen arrives.I love cooking with wood ovens! It’s one of my favorite things. I picked the brand we use at all our restaurants because it is gas assisted. Ventilation and cleaning also are key factors in keeping your ovens safe and working, and we’ve learned a lot. I love walking into our restaurants and seeing the glow from the oven—it adds such a warmodt pizza tramonto's signature small.jpgth and coziness to the dining room, and the guests really feel it. In fact, the chef-bar seats in front of the wood oven at Osteria di Tramonto are the most in-demand seating options when the cooler months roll around.
Osteria di Tramonto, the main focus are the pizzas. Luckily, not only do wood ovens add to the atmosphere of the dining experience, but it turns out they cook food pretty amazingly also! We try to use them as much as we possibly can—it gives the food such a wonderful taste. At great Italian pizza-making tradition, our pies are all rolled into thin, 12-inch ovals and fired in the wood-burning oven. We serve several varieties, including Four Cheese, classic Margherita, Pepperoni, Calabrian (with spicy Italian sausage) and my personal favorite, the signature Tramonto’s, which has fresh mozzarella, tomato, arugula, garlic and Gaeta olives and is drizzled with truffle oil. Guests say they crave it!
We also use the oven for wood-fired mussels, which are plump, juicy and succulent. I actually had somebody tell me last week that although they had traveled all over Italy, they never knew mussels were supposed to taste that good. We use the wood oven equally as much for Tramonto’s Steak & Seafood, where we do a fantastic escargot finished with parsley, butter and breadcrumbs. Vegetables also get the wood-oven treatment, lending a lush flavor with a lightly browned exterior. It really has changed the way I cook. It’s rustic in many ways, but it can be as sophisticated as your ingredients can be elegant.
Posted by Rick Tramonto on May 29, 2008 | Comments (0)
Advertisement
Advertisements
