You watch Chopped right? Of course, everyone watches Chopped! If you happen to come across season 35 you should have run into Chef John Brennan, owner of Olives and Oil in New Haven, CT. He’s a burly hairy man, and I say this in the most endearing way, so you definitely shouldn’t have missed him.
We actually ended up here on our first night in New Haven just wandering around by accident, not realizing where we were. We only had a cocktail each – pictured here is the Notorious P.I.G.
Then the following day we came back for a full tasting. We got to meet Chef Brennan himself who brought us to a cute little high top set aside of the bar. He mentioned the thought concept behind the restaurant and suggested things for us to eat.
As suggested by Chef Brennan, we tried our very first wine flight. They have a rotating tap selection of 16 different wines, and this was an awesome way to try some out.
During intermissions between food, I was able to get to know Chef Brennan a little more and ask some personal questions. I loved getting to know more about his time on Chopped. Can you believe they make contestants pay for their own way there?
Now on to the Meatball Tasting. Four perfectly formed meatballs served atop a creamy parmesan polenta. We had the “Old School” (beef, veal pork, parmesan), “Just Beef” (pomodoro, ricotta, parmesan, basil), “Turkey Pesto” (alfredo, balsamic), and “New School” (ground bacon, beef, veal, onion jam, aged gouda).
Octopus with toasted farrow, oregano, pancetta, lemon preserve, roasted pepper and fennel. A different taste on octopus from what I’m used to at Greek restaurants in Astoria, but lovely nonetheless.
Squid ink linguini with clam, garlic, lemon parsley and crushed red pepper. Loved how the homemade linguine was mixed between the black squid ink pieces and the regular ones. Made for a nice contrast.
Gotta lift the noodles or it didn’t happen. The clam sauce held nicely with the pasta, even after all the lifting.
They always have a Cannoli of the Day for dessert. Oreo was that day’s, and we were not disappointed.
Website: https://www.olivesandoil.com
Address: 124 Temple St, New Haven, CT 06510
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