I was intrigued to see one of my favorite restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area, César, is branching out in a new direction, beyond Spain and the Mediterranean. Executive Chef Maggie Pond has developed a new menu for the Oakland eatery showcasing the foods of South and Central America. César’s other location, in Berkeley, will continue to serve great authentic Spanish cuisine.

My wife and I have always enjoyed Chef Pond’s cooking. I’ve written about her roasted butternut squash salad and her phenomenal Marcona almonds, which are lightly fried in extra virgin olive oil.

Chef Pond is a big proponent of extra virgin olive oil. (Forget about requesting butter for your bread in her restaurant.) And I want to serve up another César recipe featuring EVOO: escarole salad.

Escarole is a hearty green with a slightly bitter taste. Its background is anything but straightforward. A member of the daisy family, escarole also is one of the chicories, along with Belgian endive, curly endive, and radicchio. And, to top it off, escarole is sometimes called Batavian endive … or Batavia.

In César’s salad, escarole is tossed with a dressing made from Arbequina EVOO, sherry vinegar and chopped garlic cloves.

It’s not your typical dressing. To flavor the EVOO, the garlic is cooked golden brown in half the oil. The rest of the EVOO is whisked in, along with the vinegar as well as salt, pepper, and sugar.

The escarole is tossed with the dressing and topped with black oil-cured olives and croutons. It’s clearly Mediterranean-inspired.

That said, I look forward to trying Chef Pond’s new Latino menu.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

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