I've posted about Oltrevino before and about the premium Italian goodies we've picked up there from time to time when we've found ourselves in the Yuigahama/Hase end of Kamakura. But until last weekend, we'd never actually sat down and eaten anything there.
The eat-in choices are exactly the same as the take-out menu, and you select from the showcase on the counter at the front, before taking your place at one of the wooden farmhouse tables toward the back of the room.
We started with a caprese made with a delectable burrata, much creamier than ordinary mozzarella, topped with diced fruit tomatoes (grown further down the Miura Peninsula, not actually in Kamakura, they told us), mixed with fine-chopped mint.
And a carpaccio of tobi-uo (flying fish, now at the peak of its season) with hassaku citrus, a great combination. Served on mustard and other greens with a garnish of dill and a sprinkling of cumin seeds...
But what we were really there for was the pasta. Every day there are five or six to choose from, all made fresh in-house. And there are twice that many pasta sauces. The permutations are, if not infinite, considerable.
Choosing the ravioli was a no-brainer. There were two kinds, some stuffed with spinach, the others with ricotta cheese. A simple butter-parmesan sauce went perfectly with it, with more fresh-grated parmesan sprinkled over the top.
And to pick our other pasta, we worked backwards, first choosing the sauce we wanted. Which would go best with the ragu of salsiccia and cavolo nero? It had to be pappardelle.
The cavolo nero was first lightly boiled before being sauteed and added to the ragu, with shavings of parmesan over the top. Absolutely right with a glass of chianti classico.
As I mentioned in my Japan Times column last week, you can sometimes find Oltrevino's fresh pasta — usually just linguine or other types that package well — in the big branches of Dean & Deluca (such as the one outside Shinagawa Station), and sometimes the pasta sauces as well.
But you would do much better to go to the source. Jump on a train and combine a trip to Kamakura with a leisurely lunch at the Oltrevino shop. Highly recommended!
The Oltrevino web site is here.
There's a tabelog map here...
