Stellina

The cold wind and rain whipped down Highway 1 and swirled around the corner in front of Osteria Stellina in Point Reyes Station. Sequestered inside the restaurant, with a view of downtown through the storefront windows, we were fortunate to be spooning into beef stew.

Served over soft polenta, it was simply one of the best versions I've had. Because I was with another food person, we spent the entire meal debating what made it so good.

Was that cinnamon in the blend, and where was the nice punch of heat coming from? It was just a whisper, but it made the flavors shout.

I knew I had to get the recipe for this column. In truth, this is one of about a dozen recipes I'd like to have from Osterina Stellina's chef-owner, Christian Caiazzo, whom I'd describe as a soulful natural cook.

He calls his food Point Reyes Italian, and just about everything he cooks comes from Marin County, whether it's his vibrant Beans and Greens, his Tomales Cove mussels with Lunny's grass-fed hot links or his pork osso buco with braised greens.

From start to finish, Caiazzo's food has a strong sense of place, making Osteria Stellina a place you want to be, no matter the season.

Osterina Stellina, 11285 Hwy. 1 (at B Street), Point Reyes Station; (415) 663-9988 or osteriastellina.com. Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.

The secrets

Salting the meat: Be sure to generously salt and pepper the cubes of beef at least a half hour before cooking so the salt can be absorbed.

Spices: A cinnamon stick and cloves balanced by red pepper flakes add background flavors that brighten every aspect of the dish.

Wine: Be sure to use a good wine, or the results may be disappointing.

Stellina Beef Stew

Serves 6 generously

Osteria Stellina executive chef Christian Caiazzo recommends serving this with sides that will provide a foil for the stew's richness, like soft herb polenta or mashed potatoes, and some sauteed slightly bitter greens such as kale, chard or beet tops.

3 pounds boneless beef or veal shoulder, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes
-- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 to 6 cups low-sodium beef or veal stock or broth, or enough to almost cover the meat
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 small pinch red pepper flakes
2 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long
2 carrots (about 9 ounces), chopped into 3/4-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
4 celery stalks, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon stemmed, coarsely chopped winter or summer savory (optional)
1 fresh bay leaf (or 2 dried bay leaves)
1 cup red wine (see Note)

Instructions: Thirty minutes to 1 hour before cooking, season the cubed beef chunks very generously with salt and pepper. Let sit in a colander, then pat dry with a paper towel just before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Place a large, heavy-bottom metal roasting pan in the oven for 5 minutes to preheat. Remove the pan from the oven, pour in the olive oil, then return the pan to the oven to heat the oil. As soon as the oil begins to smoke, remove the pan from the oven and add the meat. Shake the pan or use a wooden spoon to spread the meat out evenly.

Return the pan to the oven to brown the meat, stirring every 5 minutes until the meat has a bit of color around the edges, about 20 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to over stir - stirring releases the meat's internal juices and if done too frequently will inhibit the browning.

Meanwhile, pour the stock into a large pot over low heat; adjust the heat as necessary to keep stock just below a boil.

After 20 to 30 minutes, remove the pan of meat from the oven, but leave the oven on. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the pan; set aside. Place the pan, with the drippings, on the stovetop over medium heat. Quickly add the garlic to the roasting pan and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir in the red pepper flakes, cloves and cinnamon stick. Stir and cook for a couple minutes, then add the carrots, onions and celery to the roasting pan. Cook and stir a few minutes to soften and slightly brown.

Add 1 tablespoon parsley and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the thyme and 1 1/2 teaspoons savory, if using; continue cooking and stirring. When the vegetables soften and the onion starts to become translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes, add the bay leaf and the remaining parsley and savory. Pour in the wine, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer, stirring to incorporate all the solids and any brown bits of meat that have clung to the bottom of the pan. Simmer gently until the wine has reduced by at least half.

Put the beef chunks back in the pan and carefully pour enough hot beef or veal stock to almost cover the meat. Stir and return the pan to the oven.

Once the stew begins to bubble, about 5 to 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 375°, which should keep the stew just below a simmer. Cook for approximately 1 1/2 hours, depending on the tenderness of the beef, stirring about half way through the cooking. Check to be sure that the liquid is slowly reducing and the meat is becoming tender. As the surface of the braising liquid forms a film, stir it back into the broth, which helps it thicken.

Once the beef is fork-tender and the liquid has reduced by about half and has thickened (canned stock will not thicken as much as homemade stock), remove the stew from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, and serve.

Note: Use a wine that would be good enough to drink on its own.

Per serving: 527 calories, 49 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate, 28 g fat (10 g saturated), 151 mg cholesterol, 186 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.

Permalink

Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:10:00 -0700

Osteria Stellina

It may be in the 415 area code, but Point Reyes Station seems as remote as the Irish coast. Chef-owner Christian Caiazzo brings an urban sophistication to this storefront on the main street that looks as if it could be a set for a spaghetti Western. He dubs his food "Point Reyes Italian" because everything comes from Marin County. The one-page menu reads homey with such items as "beans and greens," but they're prepared in such a way you'd swear it was the first time you'd tasted those ingredients. Pastry chef Laura Matis works magic with desserts, creating such things as brown sugar clove ice cream with poached pears. While the interior is modest, it has a warm, inviting feel.

Specialties: Oyster pizza; Tomales Cove mussels with Lunny's grass-fed hot links; beans and greens; braised goat with creamy herbed polenta; any dessert.

Full Article and list:
http://www.sfgate.com/food/top100/2010/

Permalink

TCHO drinking chocolate, homemade cardamom marshmallows - yum!!

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:59:21 -0800

Permalink

Amazing Cauliflower Mushroom (Sporasis) that was just brought to the restaurant by a West Marin forager

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:51:19 -0800

Permalink

Stellina Makes Michael Bauer's 2009 Top New Restaurants List

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:58:00 -0800

Osteria Stellina
Point Reyes Station feels remote, but the food produced by Christian Caiazzo is as vibrant and modern as you'll find at top San Francisco restaurants. His "Point Reyes Italian" menu is filled with hyper-local ingredients that find their way into salads of fava leaves; appetizers of Tomales Cove mussels punched up with local hot links; pizza with hand-pulled mozzarella and nettles; and rustic main courses such as beef cheeks from Marin Sun Farms.

Photographer Laura Flippen's Stellina food photos

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:56:06 -0700

Bay Area Photographer Laura Flippen came into the restaurant over the summer to take photos for a San Francisco Eats Magazine article. Check out her Stellina food photos and the rest of her great work.

http://lauraflippen.blogspot.com/2009/08/sf-mag-eats-review-osteria-stellina....

Permalink

In San Francisco as elsewhere in the country, hard times tend to bring out the best in cooks.

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:10:00 -0700

Tom Sietsema
Washington Post

The big difference between chefs on the East and West coasts? The former tend to be driven by technique, goes the thinking, while the latter are more focused on ingredients. Abundant, and often mouth-watering, evidence supporting half that axiom is found on the tables at Osteria Stellina, whose chef, 41-year-old Christian Caiazzo, has toiled in such diverse restaurants as the late Postrio in San Francisco and Union Square Cafe in New York. For him, what's best is just a farm or a garden or a bay away from becoming a memorable meal in his modest, 57-seat dining room, soothing in sage and dressed up with bowls of produce. Consider a designated driver: It's a scenic and sometimes hair-raising (the twists! those turns!) 90-minute drive from San Francisco.

Read More: http://snipurl.com/rwq6t

Permalink

Artisanal Cooking : Metropolitan Home Review Of Stellina

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:30:00 -0700

Written by Michael Bauer : Photographed by Caren Alpert
Review from Metropolitan Home

West Marin County, in northern California, just 43 miles from San Francisco, is known for breathtaking vistas, where cows graze peacefully on rolling hills surrounded by wisps of gray fog, accompanied by a churning sound track of the ocean rushing to shore. The region produces some of the country’s best artisan cheeses and pristine oysters, and the fertile farmland nurtures everything from purslane to plums. It feels as remote as the Irish coast; even in this technological age, cell phone connections are spotty.

The surrounding Point Reyes National Seashore attracts thousands of visitors a year, but few restaurants celebrated the area’s bounty until last November, when Christian Caiazzo opened Osteria Stellina, a modest-looking restaurant on scenic Highway 1 in Point Reyes Station, a town that could have been used as a set for Bonanza. He remodeled the 57-seat space—previously Rosie’s Cowboy Cookhouse—across the street from one of the largest businesses in town, Toby’s Feed Barn.

It takes courage for a chef to forge a different path here, forgoing the ubiquitous hamburgers and fried calamari for such satisfying rustic dishes as bucatini with Tomales Bay Manila clams, garlic and chilies. Caiazzo calls his food Point Reyes Italian, and just about every item on the daily-changing, one-page menu references products that come from the surrounding area.

In isolated West Marin, the 41-year-old chef lives a much different life than the one he anticipated leading when he was in his late 20s and worked at high-profile restaurants, including Postrio in San Francisco and Union Square Café in New York. It was in 2002, after a serious car accident and some painful rehabilitation, that Caiazzo decided it was time to move to the country.

The chef worked at Point Reyes Station’s Cowgirl Creamery, the famed cheese maker, before opening a coffee bar and becoming enmeshed in the tight-knit food community. “I got to know so many of the farmers and food producers up here,” he explained, “and it felt like they were underrepresented for where we are.”

That led to the opening of Osteria Stellina, which has become not only a showcase for local artisan products but a salon for growers and producers. Regulars include Bill Niman, who earlier this year left his lauded Niman Ranch, known for its all-natural meats, and is now raising goats and heritage turkeys, and the Lunny family, who farm oysters and raise grass-fed cattle.

On his menu, Caiazzo does his part to bring together land and sea with dishes like Tomales Cove mussels, paired with Lunny’s grass-fed beef hot links and served in a rich broth scented with onions and red bell peppers. He celebrates a similar marriage with pizza slathered with local cream-braised leeks, loads of herbs and briny oysters from Lunny’s Drakes Bay farm.

Caiazzo is a lusty cook who brings out the best in any ingredient he’s using. He pickles sweet watermelon rind, wraps it in salty prosciutto and garnishes it with baby arugula. He caramelizes green beans to achieve a chewy sweetness and then enhances them with grilled torpedo onions and minty summer savory. Lamb shanks are slowly braised in red wine and then placed on rosemary-scented polenta and garlicky Swiss chard. His dessert of choice, created by pastry chef Laura Matis, is a moist almond cake, with a dollop of rich vanilla custard baked in the center, served with a compote of Santa Rosa plums.

With food like this, Osteria Stellina provides a culinary beacon as bright as the historic 139-year-old Point Reyes lighthouse. “I always dreamed of cooking in Italy or some small town in Europe,” Caiazzo says, “but I discovered I can do the same thing here.”

View A Slideshow at Metropolitan Home
http://www.pointclickhome.com/image/tid/5040

Permalink

Deborah Madison visits Stellina...

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:06:00 -0700

Locally grown in Marin County

By Deborah Madison

July 3, 2009

During our tour for What We Eat When We Eat Alone, Patrick and I arrived hungry and tired for our last reading at the mighty Point Reyes Books in Marin County, California. Before our presentation, our gracious hosts sent us next door to Osteria Stellina for some dinner.

While ready to eat, we weren’t prepared for the menu, which featured two columns of dishes featuring food from western Marin County and a wine list that nicely followed. (Sean Thackery's“Pleides” from Bolinas, just down the road, is my new favorite red.) We regained our strength with a meal whose lively, lusty flavors reflected that coastal terrain with its wind and fog, ocean, and grass-covered hills. Stellina was stellar.

read more @ Stellina is stellar

Permalink

NY TIMES Restaurant Review: Osteria Stellina in Point Reyes Station, CA

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:16:00 -0700

Travelers approaching Point Reyes Station in western Marin County are advised to reduce their speed sharply. There are two reasons for this, the first being the fact that California State Route 1 makes a 90-degree turn in the center of town, and the second being Christian Caiazzo’s Osteria Stellina. ...read more

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink

A dozen dishes I crave : Between Meals by Michael Bauer

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:05:00 -0700

A few months ago, I wrote about some dishes I've remembered long after my reviews have been published. Of course, the list is always changing. In the last few months I've discovered more dishes to crave. Here are my top 12, in no particular order. ...Read more

Permalink