Adesso

There are days where I crave a laid-back evening with good drinks and great salumi. Some of these days happen right after eating lots of Korean fried chicken and rice cakes...

Korean Fried Chicken

Spicy Rice Cake (with Ramen!)

What do you do when you crave spicy, flavorful Korean food AND classy drinks with a great atmosphere?

You get Korean food, and then go to Adesso in Oakland.

Provencale

Made with lavender gin.

I love the Piedmont area of Oakland. Three years ago, if you tried to convince me there there were parts of Oakland with fancy, hipster, new-age dining, I would have never believed you. But now, Matt and I spend many a night (and day) dining about in Jack London Square, Piedmont, and Montclair. Granted that it is still Oakland and only a stones-throw away from the "sketchy" neighborhoods, I'll take my chances for a bite at Dopo, Adesso, The Fat Lady, or Chop Bar.

This is the first time that we have ever been to Adesso. Matt and I tried Dopo when we first moved back to the Bay Area (we were hit by a sudden craving for fresh pasta). We instantly fell in love with both Dopo's food and it's atmosphere. When we got home that night, we Googled the place to find out more about the chef and found that they made their own salumi (which we sadly, but not regrettably, missed out on). Not only that, Dopo had a branch off down the street called Adesso, which served specialty cocktails, small plates, and of course their salumi. Ever since, we've been meaning to try it.

Calabrian plate of salumi

Of course, after Korean food, we were pretty much stuffed since we only intended on going to Adesso for drinks. But while sitting at the bar, and watching the guy slice all the lardo and salumi, we had to make room for some.

Next time, we're definitely trying the lardo

Aperol Sprizter...you know I had to do it.

We definitely feel like we cheated ourselves of the full Adesso experience since we were so stuffed already, which is why we're planning on going back real soon but this time, we'll do it right. Maybe this week? I'll keep you posted.