To start at Dopo: Freshly baked (and slightly burnt) bread with pork fat-laced butter. Yes. Pork butter.
This winter in the Bay area is a wet and rainy one, one where you either long to cook up a big pot of warming food, or you long for someone else to do it for you. Not as a bitterly cold as Chicago, mind you, but enough to warrant complaints and the occasional dinner out.
Enter Dopo– a lovely little Italian restaurant in my neighborhood that is always packed, even on a weeknight, and of course, does not accept reservations. Lucky for my husband and I, we slipped in just between the early night rush and the late night rush on a busy and wet Wednesday night. We were a bit bummed the bread was so burnt, but once we tried the pork butter, it was easy to forgive.
They made butter with pork, people. Dopo can do no wrong in my book.
More food porn and commentary on Dopo after the jump.
Dopo specializes in charcuterie, and they cure they own meat right on the premises. Needless to say, we started with some of their delicious salumi. It was a thin, salty delight, and as all good food, there is never enough.
The daily salumi option at Dopo in Oakland, this one flecked with black pepper.
We also tried their burrata mozzarella appetizer, which was like a giant fried mozzarella stick with really good red sauce. I was a big fan of this dish.
The fried burrata mozzarella cheese at Dopo.
For mains, we went with one pasta and one pizza. I tried the sausage and greens pizza, which was good, but a little heavy on the bitter greens for me.
The sausage and greens pizza at Dopo in Oakland.
And the pasta? PURE PERFECTION.
Their agnolotti stuffed with house-smoked pork belly, and made with a pork sauce. HOT DAMN. Heaven on a plate, that is all I have to say.
You know how sometimes, restaurants will give you a tiny bit of pasta as a main, and you get pissed because you wish there was more? This pasta dish came in a small portion, but was so rich and delicious, it was just enough–just enough! to fill you. I have naughty dreams about these agnolotti, I tell you.
Conclusion: if you like pork, Dopo is an awesome place to go. Homemade pasta, pizza and charcuterie. And pork! Did I mention the pork?
~LTG!
*************************************
Dopo restaurant
4293 Piedmont Avenue
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 652-3676
Tags: Adesso, Dopo restaurant, Italian, Oakland, pizza
