Meat cute
ITAMAR ABRAMOVITCH • (M)Eat Carnival
WORK • Friday Routine
ITAMAR ABRAMOVITCH • chef/owner • (M)Eat Carnival
Neighborhood you work and live in: Napa
What’s on the agenda for today?
Today’s all about logistics for our Halloween Carnival. I’m double-checking schedules, deliveries, and making sure no detail slips through the cracks.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
This weekend I’m heading to Heritage Eats in Napa to check out their new brunch menu. I’m really curious to try Via Aurelia — David’s doing something so cool — and I’m very excited about (the just-opened) Ama by Brad Kilgore.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Once our season wraps up with the Halloween Carnival, and the snow starts falling, I trade my knives for a snowboard. I love taking my son up to the mountains — nothing beats father-son time carving up the slopes.
Any weekend getaways?
The Mendocino Coast is my go-to. A good friend of mine is the chef at SCP Mendocino, a small hotel perched right on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. It’s everything you’d want in a getaway: peaceful, slow-paced, surrounded by nature, and with food that’s as memorable as the view. I also love Truckee; we love Northstar and Full Belly Deli — it’s one of my favorite sandwich shops in the States. And my kids and I love to go to Mountain Slice Pizzeria for dinner after a day of snowboarding and Fireside Cafe for all day breakfast.
For a weekend getaway in Napa, Contimo Provisions — their breakfast biscuits are incredible. Stella in Kenwood — their wood-fired cookery and pastas are just as good as it gets.
What was your last great vacation?
A few years back, we flew to Spain for what turned into one of the most unforgettable trips of my life. The highlight was lunch at Asador Etxebarri, hands down one of my most memorable meals, ever. We stayed in San Sebastián, road-tripped to St. Jean de Luz and Biarritz, and soaked up the Christmas markets along the way.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I just got an 8-foot Live Fire Table from Cen-Tex. We’ve got one built into Black Betty (our giant smoker), but having a free-standing one feels like leveling up.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Bernal Cutlery in San Francisco. It’s basically Harry Potter’s Ollivander’s Wand Shop, but for chefs. The right knife really does choose you.