Thursday, May 10, 2012

Spring at Sadie: New Chef, New Menu, New Cocktails (Hollywood)

I had pretty recently blogged about Sadie, which opened in the former Les Deux space, but after that visit the then-executive-chef had left and Mark Gold from Eva Restaurant had taken over as a consulting chef. That means a repeat visit was in order and Chef Gold's new spring menu was the perfect reason for it.

While waiting for others to arrive for a media tasting, we explored the new cocktails from bartender Giovanni Martinez. Some of the cocktails remain the same but there were plenty of new ones.
If you like frothy cocktails with egg whites you will love the Pantera Rosa ($12) with Aperol, Beefeater 24 Gin, homemade vanilla syrup, lemon juice and egg whites.


IMG_8304 After we were seated, we started the dinner with another cocktail, the Temperado: cachaca, Avion Silver tequila, lime juice, cilantro, and jalapeno. If you are one of those who are averse to cilantro, you may think this drink "tastes like a spa", but the little hint of cilantro with the spicy jalapeno made this cocktail just a tad savory, enough to open the way to our dinner.

Our courses were paired with either cocktail or beer, and all of the pairings were done by Gio.
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To start our meal, a small portion of the Little Gem salad with a wonderfully creamy green garlic dressing topped with a piece of crispy ham
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Then, an Organic (duck) Egg, representing "spring"
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You may think it's strange that I'm raving about an egg but this was unbelievably good. It had such a strong flavor that the stalk of spring onion helped restrain. This egg is on the menu for $6 and I would be perfectly happy to sit at the bar and eat this with a cocktail any day. Maybe even today!

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The above two dishes were paired with the cocktail Piscoteque, made with Italia Pisco, homegrown mint, ginger honey syrup, lime juice, yuzu bitters. It went particularly well with the egg dish.
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Chef Mark Gold came out periodically to introduce the dishes 
We next shared some appetizers including a bowl of glazed Pei Mussels, potato mousseline, chorizo, smoked almond
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Unlike the usual mussel in white wine and garlic broth, the broth for these de-shelled mussels was creamy and boldly flavored. It's hard to stop sopping it up with the bread.

There were freshly shucked Kushii oysters from British Columbia. The appetizers were paired with a glass of LA's very own Golden Road Heffeweizen (5.2% ABV) which was great with the pork belly and meat balls:
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Pork Belly, yuzu kosho, spring onion
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Lamb meatballs, whipped sheep milk yogurt 
The citrus from the beer nicely cuts the fat of these two dishes.

For my entree I chose "Linguini and Clams", paired with a cocktail called the Hi-Ho (Old Tom gin, white port, and orange bitters)
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The linguini was thin with a nice texture and there was a note of citrus in the sauce that went well with the clams, although the dish was a little on the salty side.

Sadie does have donuts and lemon cheesecakes for dessert, but I would highly suggest you try one of their special floats. The Fernet and Chip Float is made of Fernet Branca and mint chocolate chip ice cream on Mexican coke. The Bitters Float is made using Peychauds Bitters ice cream on Sanbitter Italian soda.
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They used to have a more alcoholic version of these but they've switched to sodas now. Either way, both floats were still pretty darn amazing. Get the Peychauds Bitters float for something a little less sweet and more unique.

My first dinner at Sadie was solid but the cocktails and bitters float were the highlights of that visit. Now, with Chef Mark Gold overseeing the kitchen, the menu has evolved with more creative, spot-on dishes. The  duck egg and the little gem salad alone are reason enough to not miss the spring menu at Sadie.

Sadie
1638 N Las Palmas Ave
 Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 467-0200
 sadiela.com 


Disclosure: this meal was hosted.

2 comments:

thefussyone

This is great!

thefussyone

I really loved the floats at Sadie, really different and tasty. Feel free to check out my review of them www.thefussyone.com/sadie

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