Cetrella Restaurant to Host Ridge Vineyards Wine Dinner on 8/14 Ozumo Oakland Introduces a “Robata Experience” Prix Fixe Dinner Menu

Cetrella Restaurant located at 845 Main Street in Half Moon Bay will host a Ridge Vineyards Wine Dinner on Friday, August 14 with a tasting reception starting at 6:30 PM and dinner beginning at 7:00 PM. The cost of the four-course dinner is $95.00 per person, excluding tax and gratuity. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (650) 726-4090.

Cetrella has introduced a new Executive Chef, Sylvain Montassier. Chef Montassier has enhanced the restaurant’s award winning Mediterranean fare by infusing a new suite of menus with progressive French technique and flair.

Cetrella serves dinner Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday until 10:00 p.m. and serves Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Located at 845 Main Street in Half Moon Bay, California, Cetrella has ample free off-street parking. Visit Cetrella on the Web at www.cetrella.com. Reservations can be made by calling (650) 726-4090 or at www.opentable.com.

FIRST COURSE
Blue Fin Tuna Toro “Sashimi”
organic Maui pineapple tartare, watermelon variations, crispy yuba
RIDGE 2007 CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS ESTATE CHARDONNAY
Wine Spectator 93 “Combines richness with an elegant, delicate mouth feel,
showing deep layers of ripe fig, honeydew melon, ripe green pear & smoky oak.”

SECOND COURSE
Wood Oven Roasted Squab Breast
braised leg & cabbage napoleon, red wine risotto, burdock & foie gras cylinder, parmesan-ginger froth
RIDGE 2006 CALIFORNIA LYTTON SPRINGS
International Wine Cellar 92 “Vivid red & dark berry aromas are complemented
by dusty floral & mineral notes, with a suave rose quality gaining power
with air. Deep cassis & bitter cherry flavors are energized by tangy minerality;
picking up exotic floral pastille and candied licorice nuances of the back end.”

THIRD COURSE
Wood Oven Roasted Elysian Fields Lamb Loin
sweet potato boulangere, pickled Morello cherries, sweet Maui onion marmalade, Lacopi Farm big “peas”
RIDGE 2006 CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS ESTATE CAB/MERLOT
“An exemplary wine…deep and rich yet elegantly restrained …a nose
of black and dark fruits, licorice, burning wood, vanilla and violets
..the mouth feel is silky and the structure is impeccable.”

FOURTH COURSE
Frog Hollow Farm Roasted Suncrest Peach Scented with Lemon Verbena
fennel pollen scented genoise, toasted Marcona almonds, Mexican vanilla ice cream
RIDGE 2007 ESSENCE

Ozumo Restaurant in Oakland has announced the introduction of a “Robata Experience” five-course prix fixe dinner menu that includes a glass of wine or sake and is priced at $49.00 per person.

The special menu is served only at the restaurant’s robata grill counter and is prepared by Executive Chef Yo Matsuzaki who custom designs the dining experience in consultation with each guest. Robata grills are a traditional way of preparing Japanese cuisine and Chef Matsuzaki is a master at this. Reservations are recommended but not required.

Chef Matsuzaki is a graduate of the Peter Kump Culinary School and began his culinary career at Montrachet and then moved to Nobu Restaurant, both in New York City. His first job in California was at Rubicon in San Francisco. He has subsequently also worked at Farallon, Cityscape, and Sutra. Most recently, Matsuzaki was the Executive Chef at Ozumo San Francisco.

Ozumo Oakland was opened last December by Jeremy Umland, Ozumo founder, managing partner and long time Japanese resident/professional baseball player turned entrepreneur. Umland is the culinary pioneer who opened Ozumo San Francisco in 2001 and, in doing so, introduced contemporary Japanese cuisine to the Unites States, bringing together under one roof a sushi bar, sake lounge and robata grill.

The engaging décor at Ozumo Oakland, with an underling theme of water, air and earth, is the work of AGE Design of Japan, headed up by Ichiro Sato, one of Japan’s top interior designers. At the entrance to the restaurant is an oversized solid George Nakashima-style wood door with wood sidelites and a “live” edge. Highlights of the main dining room (seats 78) include earth tone slate floor tiles which extend up the walls and columns, custom oak wood tables and chairs and banquettes covered with traditional Japanese fabrics. Subdued lighting illuminates a second washi art work running the entire length of the west wall. The charcoal fired robata grill (seats 12), with a sunken kitchen area, is notable for its sustainably harvested ramon hard wood counter top.

The adjacent Kotatsu Room (seats 24), available for nightly or private function dining, is walled off on two sides by clear glass panels with glass shelves lined with sake bottles. A 20’ tall Japanese paper lantern creates a dramatic interior backdrop and acts as a beacon to outside passersby. The centerpiece of this shoes-off, uniquely Japanese room is a 12' solid oak wood table surrounded by elevated bench seats.

The Ozumo Oakland sake list, with over 90 brands, is one of, if not the most extensive in this country. The full bar serves signature cocktails such as the Giddy Geisha and Sumo-kaze, plus top wines from around the world and Sapporo and Kirin beer on tap. The bar is decorated with blackened metal and rich wood accents and a large waterfall with stylized leaping fish. A hand-troweled concrete floor embedded with a leaf motif is complemented by an expansive Japanese washi work of art, titled “Surge,” along the back wall. The cozy lounge has tatami mat bench seating with overstuffed pillows.

The restaurant’s intimate sushi bar, topped with salt and pepper granite, also has a sunken kitchen area, allowing the standing chefs and seated diners to see eye to eye, separated by clear glass display cases filled with fresh sushi and sashimi selections, and illuminated by a ribbon of light coming from fixtures housed in a lower soffit.

The Oakland location also has a private dining room, complete with sliding shoji screen doors, which seats up to 50 people, making it one of the foremost such non-hotel venues in the East Bay. The room has oak wood floors and soffits and is decorated with a washi art piece, “Blue Moon,” framed in by traditional Japanese textured stucco. Full-restaurant private lunches and off-site catering are specialties of the house.

Ozumo Oakland is located at 2251 Broadway, at Grand Avenue. The restaurant is open for dinner Monday through Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The bar opens at 4:30 p.m. Street parking and nearby off-street lots and garages are readily available and valet service is offered. Visit Ozumo on the Web at www.Ozumo.com/oakland. Reservations are recommended and can be made through www.opentable.com or by calling (510) 286-9866.