Gourmet Pigs

Tsujita LA: Artisan Noodles and Izakaya

2012-01-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

This small, new restaurant on Sawtelle got a false start before finally making big waves in the LA food scene. While the sign clearly says "Tsujita LA: Artisan Noodles", they initially did not have noodles - they apparently were still working on perfecting that part. Now, they only serve their noodles (ramen and tsukemen) for lunch, and at dinner service it turns into an izakaya. Even so, almost immediately after, the twitterverse was filled with talks of the tsukemen.

At Tsujita, the tsukemen, which means "dipping noodles", is a bowl of slippery, chewy noodles and a bowl of thick, rich broth made by simmering bonito, sardines, pork bones, chicken bones, and vegetables for 12 hours. The fishy bonito flavors predominate and the richness can stick to your ribs - both of which make this tsukemen unforgettable.

Pictured is the Ajitama Tsukemen which is served with a boiled egg and costs $10.95, or $13.95 with chashu.

Originally the sign instructs you to eat 1/3 of the noodles with the broth, then mix in shichimi and eat another 1/3, and lastly to squeeze lime into it and mix it again (traditionally it is served with sudachi, but I guess you can't get that in LA). For some reason, they had taped off the 2nd instruction for the shichimi.

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No More Roxolana for Me (yet again!)

2012-01-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

***UPDATE: The owner of Roxolana emailed to apologize and said that my photo was set to be used on Yelp by mistake, and that he had uploaded it before the first incident. ***

Some of you may be familiar with the incident where Ukrainian restaurant, Roxolana, in Pasadena used my photo without permission or credit for their Groupon deal a while back. I asked Groupon to take the photo down, and emailed the owner which resulted in a ridiculous email exchange (documented below).

Well, I thought that was that. But NO! This morning a fellow blogger told me that she saw my photo used by Roxolana yet again, this time for their Yelp deal! Here's a screen capture of the deal page:

This was my photo on flickr, uploaded in July 2011

The photo on Yelp was apparently uploaded by an "Alex R." who has no review and 3 uploaded photos, all of which are of Roxolana. I mean, seriously, once was annoying enough, but to do it AGAIN??

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Pig: A Restaurant - A Foodie Parody

2012-01-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

You know you love to make fun of people - foodies, bloggers, ourselves! Now there's a whole comedy show making fun of the restaurant world, which is playing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in LA on Thursdays January 26 and February 2.

Pig: A Restaurant is written by Leila Cohan-Miccio. The premise is apparently the opening party for the "most pork-obsessed restaurant in Brooklyn" (I already know many people who can relate to that ...). I don't know my comedians/comedy writers, but I know Gothamist, Eater, Grubstreet, and Saveur have sang praises for it. And hey, it's only $5 to see the show! So why not, right?

Here are the deets:
http://losangeles.ucbtheatre.com/shows/view/2850
Tuesday Jan 26 and Feb 2, 8pm
$5
UCB Theatre
5919 Franklin Ave. Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 908-8702

Durian, from Indonesia to Singapore

2012-01-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

Among all the sticky fingers and durian burps came the anticipated question: Should we get another one?
Our tummies were full, we seemed to vacillate but we all knew the answer: Yes.

Fruits. They're what you grab at grocery stores and farmer's markets, to be eaten as snacks or accompaniments to your meal. Garnishes, palate cleansers. But not durian. In Singapore, durian sellers have set up tables and chairs. They will open the fruits up for you to enjoy right there and then.

This practice is spreading to part of Indonesia, too, like in Medan. I think this is partly for two reasons. One is that the stinky fruit is banned from public transportation like MTA and buses in Singapore, so it's harder to buy and take them home. Second, unlike berries that you'd eat as snacks, when you eat durian, you want to eat them.

You may think all durians are alike, but once you land in Singapore you'll realize you're wrong. There are as many varieties of durian as there are in the family of oranges/clementines/tangerines! One of the more popular is the butter durian (pictured above), smaller but sweeter than the durian monthong from Thailand. A box like the one above was S$10. The durian sellers can also tell you which ones are sweet vs "bitter" (they're not really bitter but has more of a subtle bitterness or more fermented taste underneath the sweetness). How? I have no idea until I eat them, but somehow they can. This isn't variety dependent but is a characteristic of each fruit.

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Cebicheria Erizo (Tijuana, Mexico)

2012-01-20T08:32:00.000-08:00

Chef Javier Plascencia from Tijuana can be likened to Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles, dominating the Tijuana dining scene with numerous restaurants. Capping off the weekend-long Baja Culinary trip this past year was a tasting at one of these restaurants, Cebicheria Erizo, specializing in fresh seafood (including, of course, ceviches). Seafood from fish to octopus to clams are displayed in refrigerated cases as you enter; daily specials written on the blackboard above it. For our visit, though, we left it up to Chef Plascencia to serve us whatever he wanted.

To whet our appetite was a shot of leche de tigre with cucumber, fish jerky, and sea urchin (erizo de mar, the restaurant's namesake) hidden at the bottom.

Following up was a bowl of lightly spicy callo de hacha, Baja scallops with chicharrones

Instead of scooping up ceviche with tortilla chips, why not take it to the next level with chicharrones? Better yet, can we replace salad croutons with chicharrones from now on?

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Common Grains Soba Pop-Up

2012-01-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had fresh, hand kneaded, hand cut soba? If not, get to the Common Grains soba pop-up shop at Breadbar while you can, because it is nothing like other soba you've ever had.

Sonoko Sakai is one of LA's soba masters, but you'd normally only be able to taste her soba if you take one of her soba making classes (which I have and highly recommend). Now, as part of a Japanese educational program, Common Grains, she and another soba chef, Mutsuko Soma are serving up soba at BreadBar in Century City until January 22.

The soba here is made with 80% buckwheat flour (organically grown and stone-milled) and 20% wheat flour, but you can also try the Juwari soba made with 100% buckwheat flour. Kneading pure buckwheat flour without no binder is that much harder, trust me.

I recommend trying either the zaru soba ($12) or juwari soba ($13.50, pictured above) so you can fully taste just how much better the soba is here, but understandably it is still cold out and you might want a bowl of something warm. Get one of the seiro soba, served with a bowl of warm soup that you can dip your soba into.

Mollusk Heaven at Papa Kerang (Medan, Indonesia)

2012-01-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

When one thinks of food in Medan, images of kwetiauw (flat rice noodles), spicy Padang rice, and noodles will invariably pop up. But what about a dinner filled with bivalves?
The first thing I noticed when I got to Papa Kerang in Medan was the row of trays, filled with various clams, snails, and scallops adorning the front of the "kitchen", none of them frozen.

Papa Kerang ("Papa Clams") is what we call a "kaki lima" in Indonesia, literally meaning "five feet" (not the distance measurement). It refers to cheap eateries without brick and mortar, looking more like tents on the roadside or parking lots of other businesses.

Here, the concept of your meal is simple. The clams you ordered are boiled and served on a plate, to be eaten with a special sauce.

As common in Indonesia, clams are eaten with a mixture of chili sauce, sweet soy sauce, lime, and crushed peanuts. Papa Kerang gives you a decent sized bowl of the sauce, with a generous helping of the crushed peanuts (and you can always get more).

Other than the normal clams above, they had kerang bulu ("furry clams"). I'm not really sure what the Latin or English name for these are, since top google results for the Indonesian name lead to an adult video site ...
Regardless, these were a favorite among many with their big and plump meat.

La Mar Cebicheria (New York)

2012-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

The first time I visited La Mar in Lima, Peru, I fell in love. With ceviche, with causa, with Peruvian rice. We loved it so much we went back for a last meal before we left Peru. I was very excited when La Mar in San Francisco opened. Alas, I was disappointed - I think the service (and lack thereof) contributed to my bad impression (I received the wrong ceviche and when I told his waiter, his response was "ok". No apology and no correction was made).

I gave La Mar in the US another try with the New York location, where the kitchen is managed by executive chef Victoriano Lopez who was Gaston Acurio's right hand man for almost twenty years. Unlike the casual, outdoor Lima location, the New York La Mar is lavish and posh.

We started with the Cebiche tasting, pre-set to consist of three types: elegance, popular, and nikei cebiche) - $28

The "elegance" was a cebiche with warm water fluke, red onions, Peruvian corn, and yam in a "leche de tigre of five elements" - whatever the five elements are. The "popular" had salmon, shrimp, and Spanish day-boat octopus in a green leche de tigre with crispy calamari. The "nikei" is reminiscent of an ahi poke, made with yellowfin tuna, red onion, cucumber, daikon, avocado, and nori in a tamarind leche de tigre.

All three of the ceviches were very good, with all of us having different favorites (mine was the "popular"). On the other hand, for the price the portions were really small. Since there were four of us, it was definitely not enough and we had to get a full order. I wanted to try something different so we ordered the Limeno cebiche (fluke, Spanish day boat octopus, calamari, scallops, blue shrimp, in aji limo leche de tigre) - $19

The seafood used was really fresh and unlike many ceviches I had in LA where the leche de tigre is so tart, we even drank the ones here by the spoonfuls even when the fish was finished.

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Singapore Slinging at The Long Bar, Raffles Hotel (Singapore)

2012-01-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Singapore Sling is now more than just the country's national drink. Most of the Singapore Slings served around town are made with mixers, and sometimes even from dispensers. Souvenir shops sell Singapore Sling mixers and even Singapore Sling flavored chocolates. The drink was first created by a Hainanese-Chinese bartender at the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel, Ngiam Tong Boon - supposedly in 1915. A famous cocktail by a Chinese bartender! I never had the chance to come here when I visited Singapore with my family, so since I'm spending half the day solo, I decided that I'm due for it.

The historic Raffles Hotel is a beautiful space, a respite from the busy, noisy streets of Singapore.

You can take the elevator, escalator, or stairs up to the second floor, where the Long Bar is now located. The bar was busy at 4 in the afternoon, but even though the tables were full, the fans slowly waving on the ceilings gave it a relaxing atmosphere.

Dog Haus Biergarten (Pasadena)

2012-01-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

When one thinks of typical American food, perhaps what comes to mind are burgers and hot dogs. With "gourmet burger" places opening all over the country, hot dogs are trying to follow. Dog Haus in Pasadena has been pretty popular and gotten good reviews with its 1/4 lb all-beef dog on grilled King's Hawaiian bread, and they recently realized how much better dogs would be when paired with beer. Then, Dog Haus Biergarten was born.

The biergarten took over the space that was (for a short while) Point 08 - a larger space than one would expect from a hot dog place, complete with outdoor seating and full bar. I was invited to visit the biergarten, but I actually had never visited the original Dog Haus before, so of course I had to try make sure to try the dogs.

We ended up trying three dogs between two people.
Our favorite was actually the first dog my friend ordered: The Grand Slam (smoked bacon, egg, tater tots) - $5.95

The Grand Slam was indeed a grand slam. I mean, everything is just better with fried egg, bacon, and fried potatoes. I tried a bite of my friend's and didn't really want to give it back! As for the dogs, I liked the browned edges of the grilled bread. Fellow blogger Destination Eats said before that good hot dogs are all about the "snap", and I think the ones here had a nice one. Not that I'm a dog expert.

Probably encouraged by the previous success, my friend ordered another dog with eggs. This time it's a new addition to the menu, the Lumberjack with scrambled cheddar eggs, 2 strips of smoked pepper bacon, and maple syrup ($5.95)

This one pretty much tasted like breakfast to us. Pretty good, but we preferred the Grand Slam.

I wanted to try their new Old Town Dog with caramelized onions, sauteed spicy peppers, Haus chipotle mayo, and Cotija cheese ($5.95)

I should've known better than to order one with spicy chili peppers, but I love cotija cheese. Turns out, this dog was too spicy for me!

If you still need some small bites after a dog, they have burger sliders for $1.50 each, though the meat was pretty small and it lacks toppings. Well, what can you expect for $1.50? But I'd rather spend more and get a real burger or dog.

I do recommend getting the Tater tots ($1.95) though. I thought it was a pretty good price for a good portion of crispy taters.

The Biergarten, unlike the old Doghaus, has a full bar. Since I was there during a workday lunch, I decided to go with a soda. They offer some interesting bottled soda ($3 each). I got a Kutztown Birch Beer and my friend got a Vanilla Cream soda.

Dog Haus Biergarten seems to be a pretty good place to get an inexpensive meal in Old Town. I didn't get a chance to check out their beer list or cocktails. They kept the same mixologists as Point 08 which also meant they kept most of the cocktails on the old list, but soon I'll be there to check out their list of 20 beers.

Dog Haus Biergarten
93 E Green St
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 683-0808
www.doghausdogs.com/

Disclosure: this visit was hosted.

The Stanton Social (New York)

2012-01-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

The lounge on the second floor of The Stanton Social turns into a hopping party at night. I don't usually go to these types of places for the food, but The Stanton Social was featured on Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate for their French Onion Soup Dumplings. French onion soup what? Yes, dumplings.

The kitchen at The Stanton Social is helmed by Executive Chef Neill Howell and Chef/Partner Chris Santos, and their menu definitely looks much more promising than other lounge-y types.

Of course, we had to try the French Onion Soup Dumplings ($12)

(sorry for the flash. It was impossible to take photos without it!)

The dumpling is covered with melted gruyere and topped with croutons. Bite the chewy dumplings and hot french onion soup will come spurting out. It's not "the best thing i ever ate" but it was pretty damn good and addictive. I'm also bookmarking Habeas Brulee's recipe for it. Who knows, perhaps one day I'll actually attempt to recreate it.

The cocktails ($13 each), while couldn't stand up to Milk and Honey's which were still fresh on my mind, were pretty good and interesting. The Blood Orange Jalapeño Margarita is made with jalapeño-infused Milagro Reposado, blood orange juice, fresh lime, and Cointreau. Even though vodka has a bad rap among cocktail enthusiasts these days, I still enjoyed the Basil-Lime Gimlet made with Belvedere Vodka, muddled basil, lemon syrup, and fresh lime (I'm curious if it'll be better with gin though).

The Stanton also features some locally distilled liquors. Try the Brooklyn Lemonade made with Brooklyn Gin, lemon syrup, lemon juice, muddled cucumber, and ginger beer.

OK, moving on to more of the food.
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Of Rice and Soba: "Common Grains", An Upcoming Delicious Education Program

2012-01-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

Know what makes good food even better? Insight into the culture and what goes into its making. The upcoming Common Grains events will provide just that for Japanese grains, including Japanese rice and soba.

The Common Grains program will kick off with an onigiri making contest at the Japanese American National Museum’s annual Oshogatsu festival. The contest is part of the museum’s New Year celebration of the Year of the Dragon.
Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Sunday, Jan 8, 2012. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Then, you can try delicious artisanal soba at the Common Grains Soba Pop-Up Restaurant and Sake Bar at BREADBAR Century City.
These aren't your run of the mill soba, but one made by artisan soba makers Sonoko Sakai and Mutsuko Soma. The soba is hand made using freshly stoned and milled buckwheat. I've participated in Sonoko's soba making class before, and trust me, her soba is nothing like you've ever had before (unless you've had them in Japan).
BREADBAR Century City, 10520 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90067.
310.277.7770
Tuesday, Jan 10 – Thursday, Jan 19, 2012. 5-10 p.m.

After having her soba, you're going to want to make them yourselves. Well, you can attend the Common Grains Artisan Soba Demonstration and Tasting at Mitsuwa Marketplace, where guests will also have the opportunity to purchase fresh soba and homemade dipping sauces that can be prepared at home.
Mitsuwa Marketplace, 21515 S. Western Ave., Torrance, CA 90501
Thursday, January 26, 2012 – Sunday, January 29, 2012, demonstrations at 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.
No cost to attend the soba demonstration, $18 for fresh soba for two with homemade dipping sauces

There's also the Soba and Rice Workshops at Tortoise General Store
The workshops will showcase different preparations of rice and soba for guests to learn how to cook healthy, simple Japanese meals at home.
Tortoise General Store, 1208 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
The workshops will take place on multiple dates:
Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 / Sunday, Jan 22, 2012 / Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 / Sunday, Feb 19, 2012.
10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
COST: $65 pp for the two-hour workshops
RSVP to Tortoise General Store at 310.314.8448

2011's Most Memorable Meals, Dishes, and Desserts

2012-01-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
This may be the 100th "best of 2011" lists you've seen by now. Well, here's my list of the most memorable experiences and tastes I had this past year! What's on your list? What do I need to try this year?

Most Memorable Meals:
1. FIG's Table-to-Farm dinner at McGrath Farms

2. The Aviary's Kitchen Table experience in Chicago

Most Memorable Dishes
1. Quesa Taco at Tacos Los Salceados (Tijuana, Mexico)

2. Bihun Bebek (Duck Noodle Soup) at Bihun Bebek Asie (Medan, Indonesia)

3. Peking Duck from WP24

4. Blue Corn Muffins from Playa - or are these considered desserts?

5. Squid ink pasta with uni and caviar from Petrossian (Beverly Hills)

Most Memorable Desserts
1. Buckwheat waffle at King's Row Gastropub (Pasadena)

2. Chocolate gelato at Grom (Malibu)

3. Banana cream pie at Random Order Coffeehouse (Portland, OR)

4. Coconut panna cotta with guava soup, caramelized pineapples at Scarpetta

5. Eating durian on the roadside with my family in Medan, Indonesia.

Smoked Crab at Rasane (Surabaya, Indonesia)

2011-12-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing I have to eat when I come back to Indonesia, it'll be CRAB. Crab in spicy sauce, crab with salted eggs, or smoked crab. Whichever it is, I want it.
This time around, I went to try a new(ish) seafood place called Rasane, which is famous for their smoked crab (kepiting asap). Rasane in Indonesian means "the flavor" or "the taste".

As with most seafood places in Indonesia, they serve live seafood kept in tanks. Customers would go up to the tanks and pick out which crab, fish, lobster, etc they want to eat that night. Or you can just tell them how much you want and have them pick it out for you.

Indonesia Street Eats: Soto Ayam Tidar (Surabaya)

2011-12-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

There are few better ways to spend your time in Surabaya than eating your heart out at a street side dive late at night. When my cousins were visiting from Singapore, we did just that. A bowl of Soto Ayam (chicken turmeric soup) on the side of the road, wooden benches, old style glass soda bottles. Tropical heat with a side of night breeze mixed in with street fumes. This is Soto Ayam & STMJ Tidar, a street stall on a street called Tidar.

(STMJ refers to "susu telur madu jahe", which translate to "milk egg honey ginger". It's a traditional health drink).

Soto ayam is a chicken soup made with turmeric, ginger, curcuma, galangal, and more. At Soto Ayam Tidar, the soup is filled with chicken (ayam kampung, aka "village chicken" which is much more flavorful than the farmed kind) and you can choose between meat, skin, or offals, rice noodles, and egg. The best one to get at this place is the soft boiled egg but they were out that night. It's also served with rice either in the soup or on the side.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

Since I'm on vacation in Indonesia this holiday season, I didn't have time to compile any Christmas/New Year's listings. Sorry about that, guys! But I'm sure other blogs had done a good job on that for you.

The Pig's on vacay!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Trotter's Protege Meets Chinese Bao at The Chairman Truck

2011-12-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

Fine dining chefs jumping ship to sell casual, comfort food is not just a trend that started in the past year. Chef Hiro Nagahara, formerly chef de cuisine at Bar Charlie (Charlie Trotter) in Las Vegas worked with Mobi Munch to start The Chairman Truck in 2009, selling chinese steamed buns with unique, high end fillings like spiced duck confit in San Francisco.

(The Chairman was originally named The Chairman Bao, but then they got sued by Baohaus in NY since "chairman bao" was apparently the first item on their menu. Gotta admit, it's such a catchy name.)

Mobi Munch is actually an LA-based company, and when they outfitted The Chairman's second truck, they decided to hold a tasting for friends and media before sending it off to SF. The tasting was held at Mobi Munch headquarters in downtown LA, where I tried five of their offerings. The buns are usually $3.25 each for steamed bao ($6.75 for baked - not sure how big these are), $3.75 for duck confit and pork belly.

1st bao: Tender Pork Belly with Pickled Daikon

First, let's talk about the bao itself. The bao is made using a 40 year old yeast brought from China 20 years ago by the SF truck operator, Curtis Lam's uncle who was the executive chef of Yank Sing. The warm bao was great, neither too thick nor too doughy.

The pork belly was tender, not overly fatty, and the crunchy, tart, pickled daikon was the perfect accompaniment to cut the richness. The daikon is, of course, pickled in-house ("in-truck"?)

The 2nd bao is a spinoff of korean spicy chicken: Spicy Red Sesame Chicken with pickled cucumber and carrots

Fukuburger (Hollywood)

2011-12-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Fukuburger originally started as a food truck in Las Vegas and was apparently popular enough that they decided to open a brick and mortar in Hollywood. Fukuburger Hollywood now serves their burgers until 4 am!

I recently went to a tasting lunch with other media types. Instead of ordering, they were bringing out food periodically. I arrived later than a couple of other girls so I had missed out the one I wanted to try the most, the Tamago/Egg Burger. Some people said this was their favorite, too. Oh, well, I still got to try a lot of the other burgers.

The burgers are all $7, a pretty good price considering burger prices at various restaurants these days (especially in Hollywood!). I focused on trying the more interesting options, like this Kinoko/ "Mushroom" Burger - Fuku patty with grilled shiitake mushrooms, pickled red ginger, teriyaki, wasabi mayo

Fuku patty is just what they call their burger patty, which they use in all their burgers. I like the umami from the shiitake in this one, and the pickled red ginger helps refresh the palate so you can eat more.

Bacon lovers, get the Buta Burger with Fuku patty, applewood smoked bacon, cheese, pickled red onion, red ginger, Japanese BBQ sauce, wasabi mayo

This was the first burger I tried here and I definitely liked it. A fried egg would make this perfect.

For the non-beef eaters, there is the Chicken Katsu Burger with Panko encrusted chicken, cabbage, "crack sauce" and katsu sauce.

The chicken katsu was nice and crispy while keeping the meat moist.

What I enjoyed the most was actually an off-menu item, a breakfast special that the chef brought out! Fries are topped with bacon, onion rings, onions, and a runny egg!

They have fries, of course, but most people get the Jazz fries which topped with gravy and "crack sauce" (no, they wouldn't tell me what's in it)

They only have a beer and wine license, so aside from the decent beer list, you can expect things like sake or soju sangria and beer floats.

The decor is vibrant and fun with red walls and red tables and benches. A screen displays tweets about Fukuburger. You might want to avoid going to the bathroom here while drunk, though. The bathroom is lit red which was a little disconcerting to me ..

Go for: late night burgers (open til 4 am) at friendly prices.

Fukuburger
1634 N Cahuenga Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 464-3858
fukuburger.com

Disclosure: this meal was hosted

Indonesian Street Eats: Martabak Mesir (Egyptian Omelet)

2011-12-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Even when I was younger and couldn't eat spicy food at all I looked forward to going to the Padang restaurant, Rumah Makan Sederhana. Why? Because in front of it, they sell Martabak Mesir, a.k.a. Egyptian Omelet!

This martabak mesir is a typical dish of the Minang people in West Sumatra. Martabak itself is an Arabic word meaning "folded" and is a typical dish of Saudi Arabia, Brunei, and of course Indonesia and Malaysia. How this particular version came to have the name Mesir or Egyptian, I have no idea either.

Despite being attached to the restaurant, you still have to order your omelet at the little stand at the front.
The guy would spin and spin the skin until it stretched thin and big enough for the "omelet"

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Surabaya, Indonesia

2011-12-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

My hometown and all the good food I miss!

Bebek Goreng Mon Mon (fried duck)
Hana Sushi
J. Co (Donuts and Coffee Shop)
Kogyo BBQ (Korean-Mexican fusion, SUTOS)
Kue Leker food cart (in front of Ayam Penyet Bu Kris in Tenggilis)
Layar Seafood
Martabak Mesir (Egyptian Omelet, Rumah Sederhana)
Rasane Seafood (smoked crab)
Sari Nusantara (Padang cuisine)

Soto Ambengan
Soto Ayam Tidar

Thai Village

Upcoming:
Ikan Bakar Cianjur

The Churchill (West Hollywood)

2011-12-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

The former space that was Minestraio has finally come alive again, giving the Orlando Hotel guests a place to dine in a completely revamped setting and the West Hollywood crowd another late night hangout. Some have been calling The Churchill, from the people that also brought us The Hudson, a "gastropub", but the kitchen headed by Executive Chef Spencer Johnston does not serve typical "gastropub" food and beverage director John Rankin has also created a cocktail-heavy program.

The Pike ($12) is made with sweet bell pepper muddled with basil, galangal syrup and lime juice, Cazadores Reposado tequila, mescal rinse.

The Revolver ($12) is an instant favorite, made with fire roasted pepper infused Herra Dura Blanco tequila, hibiscus reduction, agave nectar, lime, cassis, xocolatl mole shaken and served on the rocks with a jalapeno slice.

Not stopping there, we also tried the pumpkin infused rum which had quite a strong pumpkin aroma. The wine list also contains some interesting selections like Torrontes, a white wine from the high altitude regions of Argentina.

The charcuterie features La Quercia prosciutto and house-cured meats including a rabbit and pork pate, housemade blood sausage, and Housemade crostini.

Misty point kumamoto oysters

Chef Johnston regularly acquires produce from the Santa Monica Farmers Market and is a big fan of Windrose Farms. I, on the other hand, was a big fan of his Grilled Local Octopus salad, market beans, frisee, chorizo, sherry dressing ($15)

AYCE Pizza, Beer Flights, and More at Mohawk Bend

2011-12-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Mondays are happy days at Mohawk Bend with their all-you-can-eat pizza nights for only $15. But wait! For the rest of the year (2010), the AYCE pizza is only $12!! Even better!
The AYCE pizza nights take place in the Ramona Room which, when it isn't packed, makes for a good date night with its fireplace and arching tree (I'm not sure how crowded Mondays are now, though).

Instead of ordering, servers with trays of thin crust pizza fresh from the oven walks around and offers you a slice. Most of the pizzas on the menu will make its way out during the night, except for the Pig Newton (since Serrano ham is expensive, yo).

We tried quite a few that night, including a vegan pizza, a Thai chicken pizza, the Private Idaho (with potatoes, bacon, caramelized onions, creme fraiche), and the Abe Froman (house-made Italian sausage, peppers, fennel, mozzarella). The vegan pizza made with Daiya cheese was not too bad, but of course I will stick with the spicy Thai chicken pizza. You can also get a green salad for $4 extra.

Mohawk Bend is all about beer, of course, so you'll need some to wash down the pies. 5-7pm are flight hours at Mohawk, featuring two beer flights at $9 each, but you can get these beer flights in the Ramona Room all night. If you're not into the flights, you can also get specially-priced cocktails.

While waiting for the rest of our party, LA OC Foodie and I got one each of the available flights: the Bitter flight and the Dark. As LA OC Foodie said, we were dark and bitter people.

Point the Way, Picket Fence Wheat IPA, Stone Cali-Belgique, Mongo DIPA

Brekle's Brown, DDH 15th Anniv, Navigator Doppelbock, Stone IRS 2010

Sunday Brunch at Nola's (Downtown LA)

2011-12-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

LA needs more Cajun places and Nola's in Downtown LA moved in to fill part of the gap. I was pretty excited to try it when they invited me in, but my schedule only allowed to come for Sunday brunch.
I didn't realize that the Sunday brunch was a champagne buffet until I got there. I was planning to try their jambalaya, gumbo, and po'boy but they weren't offered at the buffet. Oh well ...
The buffet offerings included fried chicken, fried catfish, shrimp Étouffée, red bean and rice, beignets, and fruits. Oh, and of course, free flowing mimosas.

Both the fried chicken and fried catfish were great, I went back for seconds for both of these. Since the beignets were put out buffet style, they were unfortunately not that fresh and kind of hard. I liked the shrimp Étouffée too - the good thing about having the buffet style is that I could get as many shrimp as I wanted.

Foie Friday #5: Foie Gras Wars, Ethical Foie Gras in Spain

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

I started reading Foie Gras Wars, by Mark Caro. The first chapter talks about the beginning of the foie gras ban in Chicago. Supposedly, the controversy gained significant attention from the masses because of a comment Charlie Trotter made about another chef, Rick Tramonto. Trotter had silently removed foie gras from his menu for two years and slowly it became known that he had refused to serve foie gras because of what he had seen at foie gras farms lately disillusioned him. Fellow chefs' responses ranged from support to acceptance to disapproval. Rick Tramonto had the latter view and apparently Trotter said that they should just eat Tramonto's liver because "he [was] certainly fat enough." Since people love scandals and fights, this of course made the news and garnered the foie gras controversy a lot of traction. According to the author, even people who had not heard of foie gras before were then either going to restaurants to eat the stuff or camping out in protest.

I also wanted to share the following video from TEDTalks, which foodiebuddha had also shared with me. In it, Blue Hill's Chef, Dan Barber, talks about an ethical foie gras farm he visited in Spain. The farmer, Edouardo Sousa, allows the goose to roam around and eat whatever they want. No gavage here, and the resulting liver beat its force-fed counterparts in 2006, when it won a prize for best foie gras.

If foie gras farming can be this ethical, then we can have our cake (foie) and eat it too!

Mariscos El Mazateno (Tijuana, Mexico)

2011-12-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

My last trip to Tijuana with Street Gourmet LA took me back to Mariscos El Mazateno, a Sinaloan seafood taqueria. I came here on my first trip to TJ, but back then I was even weaker to spicy food as I am now so it was nice to revisit and enjoy it even better this time.

The must order here is the Taco Mazatena (shrimp/camarones enchilado), a taco packed full of fresh, crisp, lightly spicy shrimp. If you walk by the kitchen, you can see them cooking the spicy shrimp in a giant pot.

Dress this with the available condiments including cabbage, crema, pico de gallo, and a bottle of house made spicy green sauce made with avocado and serrano chili. The shrimp taco to end all shrimp tacos!

The meals start with a styrofoam cup of shrimp consomme.
While waiting for our tacos, they served us a plate of seafood cocktail including shrimp, octopus, scallops, and more.

If you have room for another after the heaping shrimp taco, try the smoked marlin taco, equally stuffed to the brim.

The pulpo/octopus was also popular among the other diners.

The tacos here cost up to 40 pesos (around $3) and considering how much seafood you get with them, it's not bad at all. Whatever the price may be, the taco mazatena is a must try!

Mariscos El Mazateno
Calzada Tecnologico,No. 473-E
Tomas Aquino
Tijuana,BCN

Aziza (San Francisco)

2011-12-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

With all the new restaurant opening and young celebrity chefs, it is easy to overlook older restaurants, but Aziza in San Francisco should not be. Aziza has been open for ten years (since 2001) but chef/owner Mourad Lahlou has continued to churn out great food. In 2010 it became the first Moroccan restaurant to receive a Michelin star and it has maintained that star since.

The restaurant is rather nondescript on the outside. A neon sign marks the location in amongst Chinese and Japanese restaurants in the Richmond district. Inside, a festively decorated restaurant typical of Moroccan restaurant. The food, on the other hand, is nothing like other Moroccan foods you've had.

We decided to skip the tasting menu and ordered what we wanted.
The cocktail menu at Aziza looked interesting and promising, but I was refraining from drinking alcohol so I went for the next closest thing: a Mate Mojito made by Taylor's Tonics ($6). Not really a mojito but it wasn't too sweet and was refreshing.

We started out meal with the lentil soup, medjool dates, celery, parsley ($8)

A great lentil soup that also became a mini treasure hunt as we look for that burst of sweet from the dates. This was only a small hint of what Aziza is about.
Read more »

Treatsa: Hand Delivered Treats

2011-12-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, when you're thinking of what gifts to give or send. As a food lover, I always want to send something food-related, but how do I send it to the people I won't see in person? Many bakeries/ chocolatieres offer some sort of expedited shipping, which tend to be pretty expensive and still take at least one or two days. And what if the products get ruined in transit? Treatsa tries to solve this problem by offering a service for hand delivering treats (currently only available in LA) from their partner bakery, one of the best and most well known in town.

Hand delivery costs $12 - comparable to usual shipping costs from bakeries, regardless of the order amount, so it's better if you go big. Treatsa picks up your order fresh from the bakery and delivers to your door the same day.
They offered to send me the "Premium Chef's Choice Package" ($50). They have smaller and bigger options as well. I scheduled my order for my last day in LA. The bell rang and there was the guy holding two boxes tied with red ribbons.

I think you can figure out which bakery they came from, yeah?

The Platinos

A huge box of cookies and more! And plenty of my fave, Brown Butter cookies with brown butter, chocolate chip, and sea salt.

Of course, the beauty of hand delivery is that you can get goodies that are typically not shippable, like these chocolate fleur de sel babycakes. I hope they will include the butterscotch pot de creme to at some point!

The total for this order is $62, which isn't a small amount to spend, and there were definitely A LOT of goodies. Send this to a big family, or an office. It's sure to please.

Gobi: Mongolian BBQ Done Better

2011-12-01T08:44:00.000-08:00

When I think of Mongolian BBQ, I think of my campus cafeteria and a couple of dives around UCLA and Caltech. I think of people overstuffing their bowls with meat and noodles. Well, the latter may still be true at Gobi, but here they use all natural, hormone free meats and vegetables from the farmer's market. Plus, great gelato + good beer list = beer floats!

For those unfamiliar with it, Mongolian BBQ is pretty much a DIY meal. Starting with an empty bowl, you grab your own meats, vegetables, noodles, and sauces - as much as you can fit in the bowl. At Gobi, the prices are $9.95 for lunch and $12.95 for dinner (extra $3 for shrimp).

Gobi uses hormone-free meats, and I stuffed my bowl full of the lamb! It's pretty unusual to find lamb at these places.

Michael Voltaggio's ink.

2011-11-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

Top Chef Michael Voltaggio's ink: perhaps the most anticipated restaurant opening of the year, stalled a bit by the surprise opening of ink.sack, its sandwich shop counterpart. Reservations are taken online and have typically been immediately snatched up as soon as they become available, but we checked on random occasions and there are often cancellations.

We had a reservation but they were running a bit behind and we were told to wait at the bar. The bar was equally packed and there was initially no seat available, but a bar manned by Devon Espinosa definitely calls for some cocktail orders. This bar seems like the bar to be, as we ran into quite a few people we knew here. The cocktail list, as well as the food menu, are listed as a list of ingredients, with the main one in bold. Mezcal, scotch, rum, and so on.

We started with some drinks at the bar while waiting. Our two drinks were well balanced, with the mezcal being the more interesting:
mezcal, lemon, apple cider, cinnamon ($13)
scotch, lemon, ginger, clover honey, angostura bitters ($13)

The server suggested ordering 3-4 dishes per person. We ended up with ten total including dessert for three people. The dishes never failed to be interesting and different, and all in all they were done well.

charred avocado, hen of the woods, whipped fish sauce, mushroom chicharron ($11)

A new combination of familiar ingredients - a crowd pleaser.

brussels sprouts, pig ears, house-cured lardo, apple ($10)

Photo by The Kick It Spot

I believe brussels sprout no longer qualify as a healthy vegetable dish in most restaurants. Certainly not here, covered in a sheet of lardo. The star of the show, though, was really the crispy pig ears.

spaghetti, giant squid, hazelnut-ink pesto, piment d'espelette ($14)

The hazelnut ink pesto sits below the chewy "spaghetti" made from squid, waiting for you to mix it and cover the spaghetti with the black ink.

Read more »

For the Holidays and the Everydays: Valerie Confections

2011-11-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

Valerie Confections was probably most well known for their toffees and their salt and pepper truffles, but their other items (including some new offerings) are also not to be missed.

They recently held a week-long Open House where each day they gave out free samples of a different product. I went to the cookies and hot chocolate one, but they also had samples of something else.
The new Super-Choc-O-Food is a collaboration with Commune Design. Much more than a chocolate bar, this dense, addictive goodness is filled with almonds, cashews, peanuts, macadamias, golden raisins, dried pears, apricots, sunflower seeds, soy salt, and caramel. So good, and uhh healthy(ish), right?

There are three different packaging for the Super Choc-o-Food. You'll find parts of a picture inside that you can collect, completing this Adam and Eve picture.

Among their cookies, my favorites were the Durango Cookies and the Gingersnap. The Durango was the best in flavor, made with chocolate chip and smoked salt, while the Gingersnap was the chewiest.

Valerie Confections also launched a new line of tea, blended for them by the American Tea Room in Beverly Hills. I got samples of three but so far have only tried one, the Black and Blue Tea, a blend of black tea and blueberry which smelled absolutely divine.

There are other products appropriate for that gift basket you're planning on giving your favorite food lover (*cough* me) like their hot chocolate mix, truffles, and preserves. Or, you can just treat yourself to some cookies.

Foie Friday #4: Foie Gras Farm vs Chicken Farm

2011-11-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

For this week's Foie Friday, I wanted to contrast two different videos. In the first, Anthony Bourdain visits Hudson Valley, one of the most well known foie gras producers in the US, and talks to an expert about the force feeding of ducks and why it isn't as cruel as some people make it out to be. On the other hand, the second video shows a typical chicken farm in the US, as featured in the documentary Food, Inc. (I heard this farmer has since then lost all her contracts and, as a consequence, her farm, because she decided to let her farm be filmed.)

Dionicess IX: A Craft Beer Cocktail Pairing for Charity

2011-11-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

Dionicess is an annual beer-centric charity event hosted by Gev Kazanchyan and benefits Real Medicine Foundation. The ninth iteration recently took place at Steingarten and upped the bar with craft beer cocktails and food pairing. The pairing is a collaboration by bartender Matt Biancaniellio from Library Bar and Dave Watrous from Beachwood BBQ who were preparing the beer cocktails, and Randy Clemens, author of the Sriracha Cookbook, who prepared all the food (along with the staff at Steingarten LA)

We were greeted by some mint water while Matt and Dave were hard at work shaking up the first cocktail:
“The Lambic Pentameter” - white balsamic, basil, strawberries, elderflower liqueur and Drie Fontinien Spirit of Armand.

The name Pentameter was chosen because the drink consisted of 5 ingredients. The Armand is a rare distilled Lambic from Belgium that is not typically not available in the US. Only one website in the world sells it!
Watrous told an interesting story behind the Armand. Purportedly they were trying to make lambic but the thermostat broke during lambic fermentation so he basically had cooked the lambic. They considered throwing it out, which was going to drive them out of business, but the distiller decided to try to distill and save it. The cocktail had a tartness that all came from the spirit, as there was no added citrus. (Traditional lambic is not the sweet type like peche lambic that we are mostly familiar with here, but it's tart and acidic).

This cocktail was paired with:
“Don’t Let This Get Your Goat, Just Figure It Out” – figs and herbed Chevre.

Second course: “The Cascading Hophead” made with gin infused with seasonal Cascade hops for 3-4 days, grapefruit, honey, lemon and Beachwood Brewing Thrill Seeker IPA. This was the first beer cocktail Matt had ever created.
This drink was very hoppy, just like a straight up beer, except that it was 40% alcohol.

Second bite: "The Hop and The Hound" - Cabot Clothbound cheddar with yuzu marmalade, pickled habanero, and micro greens.

The pickled habanero in the marmalade was very spicy. I had to take most of it off but it was a good pairing with the hops.
Read more »

Giveaway: Healthy Juices from Juiceology!

2011-11-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

I love fruit juices, yet it's hard to find a good one at grocery stores. Most are artificially flavored and full of high fructose corn syrup. Naked Juices are supposedly all natural and most have no added sugar, but they tend to be thick and smoothie-like. I wanted something more juice-like. Enter Juiceology.

All natural juice with no sugar added that actually has a juice texture. Drinking juices are also not as good as eating the real fruits because you don't get any of the fibers that are in the fruits. To bypass that, Juiceology adds 5g of vegetable fiber (from chicory) to each bottle. They also add 18g whole grain extracts from oats, barley and brown rice.

They sent me two flavors to try. I liked the Peach Mango which had a strong mango flavor. The Blueberry Acai tasted mainly of apple juice but both were still very good!
What I liked best was that they didn't have this aftertaste that sticks to my throat like other "juices" with high fructose corn syrup. They tasted, well, pretty natural.

Juicelogy is currently only available in Southern California at Bristol Farms, Ralph's, Famima, and Northgate. They retail at $2.99 each.

If you want to try these juices for yourself, I'm giving away FIVE coupons for a free bottle to THREE winners, so you can go choose the flavors you want yourselves!

To enter, just leave a comment below with your email address by Sunday, Nov 27.
You can also get an extra entry by liking my page on Facebook.
I will draw the winners sometime on Monday. Remember, you have to be living in Southern California!

Lexington Social House: Social Hour and Fried Chicken

2011-11-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

Good cocktails in the heart of Hollywood, for cheap? We're not talking dive bars, here. It's possible during Lexington Social House's Social Hour, where all specialty cocktails are priced at $7 on weekdays 6-8PM and all night Sunday.

With the launch of Social Hour they also launched a bar menu (items from this menu are also $7 during social hour!)
Do try the Chipotle Pork Belly biscuits with aged gouda, fried egg ($14)

I have a soft spot for McD's sausage egg mcmuffin, but this is (of course!) so much better! Everything you'd ever want from a breakfast sandwich, even if it isn't breakfast time. Great buttery biscuits, thick and tender pork belly, fried egg with runny yolk. I will definitely get this again.

The cocktail menu was created by barman Kyle Ackley, who used to work at XIV, and the cocktails are quite good and interesting (well, the bottom half. The top half consisted of mainly vodka drinks catered to the usual Hollywood crowd).

For my first drink I ordered the Palmera made with Zirbenz stone pine liqueur, pineapple juice, lemon juice, velvet falernum, angostura bitters

This refreshing drink is a great one to start the night off with. Frothy, velvety, nice light grassy note.

Next bar food: Short rib panini, port salut, pickles, IPA mustard ($12)

One word to describe this would be "rich". Very rich. The bottom slice soaks up the juices from the braised short rib and melted cheese.

My friend got the SPANISH HARLEM with tanteo cocoa infused tequila, maraschino liqueur, agave nectar, chocolate-chili bitters

As you lift the glass, you'll get a strong chili aroma, but the drink itself is actually not spicy. Strong and balanced.
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A WP24 Lunch with Iron Chef Morimoto, LA Food and Wine Festival

2011-11-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

The first LA Food and Wine Festival kind of snuck up on me. Suddenly there are a slew of celebrity chefs in town doing special lunches and dinners, and grand tastings, totaling to about 70 events!

Thanks to Lexus, I was lucky enough to attend a lunch at Wolfgang Puck's WP24 (normally not open for lunch) prepared by WP24's chef Sara Johannes and Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

Chef Morimoto

I've always admired the view from WP24, but this was the first time I've seen it during the day. Lucky for us, it was a beautiful day!

The party started in the front bar area with some Scharffenberger Cellars "Brut Excellence", Mendocino (Anderson Valley). This sparkling wine was made with a base from 2007, using 2/3 Chardonnay and 1/3 Pinot Noir. I missed out on most of the passed hors d'oeuvres - they went fast. If I had known the bao was filled with foie gras instead of pork belly, I would've tried harder to procure some.

Oh well, I had a great meal ahead of me anyway.

We alternated courses made by the Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto and WP24's chef Sara Johannes.
The first course was by Morimoto: Kin Medai Snapper with geoduck, papaya, peanuts and coconut foam.
This was paired with a glass of Grieve Sauvignon Blanc, Napa 2009

I loved the Southeast Asian flavors that come out in this dish, especially from the peanuts and chili. I don't think I've had sashimi with southeast asian flavors before, but it certainly worked wonderfully.

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Spanish Olive Oil Tasting, and a Feast at Playa

2011-11-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

What country do you think of when you think of olive oil? Italy? Greece? How many thought of Spain? Well, Spain is in fact the number one producer of olive oil in the world. It's not just the quantity, either. Apparently the winner of the latest international olive oil contest is an olive oil from Spain.

I had gone to a Spanish Olive Oil tasting last year, but it was so much fun that when they invited me again this year, I went. The tasting was led by Alfonso Fernandez, an olive oil expert from the LA trade commissioner of Spain

The formal tastings are done using this dark blue tasting glass, as they do not want to see the color while tasting. Perhaps they don't want to have any misconception based only on visual elements.

We tasted four of the main varietals from Spain: Arbequina, Hojiblanca, Cornicabra, and Picual. For each one, we determined whether the aroma is of ripe fruit or green fruit, and if there is any bitterness and astringency to the olive oil.

The arbequina smelled of ripe fruit (banana) and was sweet with no bitterness. There's a spiciness at the back palate as you swallow.
The Hojiblanca had a medium intensity in aroma and smelled of kiwi. There's bitterness and piquancy in this oil which is great for cooking.
The cornicabra smelled of ripe apple and bananas. It had some astringency but no bitterness and there's less spiciness which came deeper in the throat. This varietal is apparently only found in Spain.
The Picual was many people's favorite. The aroma is much more intense and smelled of green tomato. It was very bitter with some piquancy. It was much thicker. Everything about this olive oil was intense yet it was well balanced.

For more detailed tasting notes, you can see my post from last year!

The tasting was followed a lavish meal prepared by Chef John Sedlar (all incorporating olive oil, naturally). Even though we knew it would be a four course tasting menu, little did we know that each course would consist of four dishes!

Before the courses started we also had a rather big "amuse bouche" in the form of Rivera's famous flan de elote with quinoa. I've had this dish a few times at various festivals and I still fall in love with it all over again, every time.

The first dishes we had were served with a blend of gewurtztraminer and riesling.
Papas salsa verde, serranos, micro cilantro

Picual, fried chiles gueros, crab. The picual varietal is good for dishes with bold flavors such as this.

Larry's in Venice

2011-11-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

Larry's in Venice was one of the most anticipated openings recently, with Chef Brendan Collins from Waterloo and City overseeing the menu and kitchen. He still spends most of his time at Waterloo, but he left his right hand man in charge at Larry's. Chef Joe Cook at Larry's has worked w Brendan Collins since his time at Melisse (6-7 years ago).

I've been twice - one right after they opened with LA OC Foodie, and a second recent visit that shows even more promise. The seating is all outdoors and I've only been on warm nights. Hopefully they have ways to keep them warm during the fall and winter.

Since it was our first visit, we kind of went crazy with the foie gras.
Potted chicken liver and foie gras parfait ($12), sweet potato jam on top of parfait, housemade pickles, toasted brioche

A winner that I will probably order over and over. So rich and smooth, and I love the sweet potato jam on top, as well as the crispy, toasted brioche. We didn't really try it with the pickles, though, it seemed strange to us.

BBQ eel and foie gras terrine ($14) sounded quite interesting and we had to try it.

The eel and foie were good separately, but the combination didn't wow me as I had expected. Since one can only eat so much foie gras in one night, I'd stick to the parfait.

Larry's only has a beer and wine license, and they do serve a handful of wine/sake/shochu based cocktails. I tried their mango chai "cocktail" made with moscato. It leaned towards the sweet side and I didn't get a strong mango or chai flavor. With 26 beers on tap, beer is obviously the drink of choice here.

Plus, beer goes well with their fried appetizers, like the Zucchini blossom and shrimp maracas, piri piri sauce, seasoned black vinegar ($12)

My favorite from the first visit was the Shrimp and Maine Lobster ragout, capellini pasta, lobster tomato sauce, basil, truffle ($15)

I'm always in favor of thin noodles, and I certainly liked the texture of this one covered in thick tomato sauce and chunks of shrimp and lobster.
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Unlimited Caviar for Charity

2011-11-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

These days, seems like it's not enough to just ask for donations to raise money for charity. You have to do it in style.

It starts with a limousine pickup, driving you to a mansion in Bel Air. After a cocktail reception, you partake in unlimited caviar (from the "entry level" to the Russian Osetra sturgeon) and champagne, three courses from Top Chef Marcel Vigneron, smoked alligator, and more, listen to live string quartet and piano performances. You leave with a gift bag supposedly worth $1000 in restaurant gift certificates (and caviar facial serum?).

Extravagant? Yes, indeed. And it will costs a pretty penny, starting from $500, but if this sounds like a great night to you, be assured that your money is going to a good cause. The Beverly Hills Caviar Charity Event benefits the Harold Robinson Foundation, which provides free, nurturing camp to inner city and underprivileged children in Los Angeles. Each year, HRF sends thousands of children to an 81-acre facility in the Angeles National Forest.

The deets:
Tickets start from $500pp. Buy them here.
Date: Thursday, November 15th.
6pm cocktail reception, party starts at 7pm.
The parking location will be disclosed to RSVP'd guests. A limo will take you from the parking lot to the mansion (VIP ticket includes limousine pick up at your home).

Keeping Up the American Tradition: Moonshine!

2011-11-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

What is America's oldest drink? Why, it's moonshine. This clear corn whiskey all started in 1612 in Jamestown (apparently excess corn production is an old issue in this country) and really took off in the early 1900s during the prohibition. These days, it seems to have disappeared, but now it's starting to make its way back into mainstream America.

I met with Chuck Miller, co-owner and distiller of The Original Moonshine, and his wife Janette. We talked about the history and process of his corn whiskey - over some moonshine, naturally.

Chuck Miller's grandfather started making moonshine in Virginia in the 1930s. In the mid 80s, Chuck started thinking of starting the production back up again using the same recipe his grandfather had used. It took a couple of years to get the license but they finally got up and running in 1987. The whiskey and brand at its current state didn't come until later, though, when a restaurateur from New York, Adam Perry Lang, looked around to start making and marketing moonshine. He had Chuck experiment with the distilling and filtering for flavor (he found that the best was distilling it four times and filtering twice).

Can you picture it?
The Millers grow their own corn for the Moonshine in their farm/distillery in Culpeper, Virginia. They boil the corn mash (the leftover corn mash goes to their cows) and make their whiskey in the same copper tanks his grandfather used during the prohibition. It's boiled twice until it becomes 150 proof, then they filter it through charcoal.

The distillery is open to the public but the roads are closed during the winter. They do plough snow so they can make their shipments.
Sounds like what it might've been like back in the day.

The Original Moonshine at 80 proof is some strong stuff, but still smooth and drinkable. It's aromatic, yet tastes clean.
Some places around town have started using it in cocktails, as well. We tried two Moonshine cocktails from The Hudson: the "Hitman" is made with muddled blackberries and a peppery one called the "Spicy Shine" (which was everyone's favorite).

Komida: From Prom to Hollywood

2011-11-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

One of the first times Yamashiro's Chef Brock Kleweno played around with Japanese influences tacos was at last year's Blogger Prom. They had also been very popular at the Thursday farmer's markets at Yamashiro, so it's only natural that their next move is a brick and mortar restaurant. That brick and mortar place is apparently a large space in the back of Hollywood and Highland center (towards Orange Dr, but there's no car-accessible entrance on Orange), in what used to be a club/lounge called H Wood.

There are definitely the expected Japanese influences in their tacos, salsas, and even guacamole.

The prices seem pretty steep for tacos, but each order comes with a serving of chips topped with their addictive wasabi guacamole and pickled onions and peppers.

Read more »

Bombay Club Martini Bistro (New Orleans)

2011-11-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

If there's one place where I feel comfortable ordering a Brandy Alexander, it would be Bombay Club in New Orleans. Bombay Club is a martini bar. OK, hold on, don't cringe yet. It's not an appletini kind of bar. Classic martini, Martinez, Aviation in coupes. They actually do have Cosmopolitan and Appletini, though (under the "Millennium Martinis" section). They have it all, the whole history of the Martini and classic cocktails.

The menu is vast, and each item description comes with the history of that drink. The Brandy Alexander was "served (and said to be created) in 1922 at the wedding of Mary Princess Royal and Viscount Lascelles at Westminster Abbey in London."

Here's one for Negroni: "In 1919, Italian Count Negroni sailed to America to experience the American rodeo. Trying to sound tough, he asked the barkeep for an Americano (Campari, Italian sweet vermouth, and soda water), but to replace the soda with gin."

It's not just the history, of course. They know how to make them well, too.

The Bombay Club is only a couple blocks away from the zoo that is Bourbon St. With well made classic cocktails (and a history lesson), a chill crowd, and live jazz music, it is certainly an oasis.

The Bombay Club Restaurant and Martini Bistro
830 Conti Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
504.586.0972
http://www.thebombayclub.com/

Foie Friday #3: Seared Foie Gras, Eggplant at Orris

2011-11-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

This week's foie dish is an old time favorite of mine, and a relatively inexpensive one at that.

The Seared Foie Gras with Eggplant and Sweet Soy Wasabi Sauce at Chef Hideo Yamashiro's Orris is not always on the menu, though often appears on the specials and I always order it when I see it. I don't remember the price, but it is certainly much cheaper than its counterparts at fine dining establishments.

The lobe of foie is pan seared and the soft eggplant underneath added to the buttery, silky texture. Instead of the typical fruit for the sweet sauce, Chef Yamashiro adds his Japanese influence with a sweet soy reduction, and it's pretty amazing!

So, I'm running low on foie dishes. If you've encountered a great one recently, do let me know!

Wine rapping and Pinot Noir at The Taste LA

2011-11-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

There were tons of interviews and wine seminars throughout The Taste LA events, too many to attend all of them. One got my attention when I met Justin Warner, who was giving a pinot noir seminar with Ira Noroff (Director of Education at Southern Wine & Spirits). He said he was an oeno-rapper, i.e. he raps about wine? Rap about wine? Well, that was sure interesting.

The daytime seminar started with Justin rapping about the joys of California wines:

Then the seminar proceeded with Ira telling the attendees these facts about Pinot Noir:

Pinot is lighter in color because of its thin skin. That also means that it takes longer to extract the color, amplifying the difficulty and also the reason why Pinot is more expensive.
The Primary aroma in Pinot is cherry and strawberry.
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay likes cool climate, while Cabernet and Sauvignon like hot climate.

Ira also told us that when talking about wine, the "Primary characteristics" are always talking about fruit, while "Secondary characteristics" typically relate to the earth.

We tasted three widely different pinots, showcasing the diversity of this varietal. The first is Meiomi, by winemaker Joseph Wagner. This is a blend of region 1 central coast grapes. It's reminiscent of cola and dried leaves.

Next is a pinot from J Vineyard in the Russian River valley. This vineyard started as a sparkling wine company. This wine has more depth than the previous, reminiscent of rose petals. The wine was made in open top fermenters (which is what they do in Burgundy). They cold soak up to 10 days and then age it in 100% burgundy oak barrels (30% new oak barrels).

The last wine is 2007 Freestone pinot, by Joseph phelps. This is a new winery of his up in the Sonoma coast. The grapes used is 100% estate grown, and aged in 65% new oak barrels. Hints of orange peel. The wine is more tannic than the previous and tasted much more like a Cabernet. According to Ira, this wine will be fabulous in 5-10 years

Justin then finished off the tasting with an ode to Chateauneuf du Pape:

PS. Justin also owns Do or Dine restaurant in Brooklyn.

One last tip from Ira: Do not decant old wines! Decanting is for new wines that needs the air.

Pam Mac D's: New Gluten-Free Market Opens in Burbank

2011-10-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I knew nothing about celiacs and gluten intolerance. I've heard about gluten free diet as a fad back in college, and didn't get why people would want to cut out gluten.

Then upon meeting a friend's best friend, I was told that he had celiac disease and could not eat gluten. Now, my roommate is also gluten intolerant. As I started paying attention to it, I realized that it's a pretty hard lifestyle. I thought my roommate would be fine at an Asian restaurant since she can eat rice, but soy sauce is also a no-no!

Well, for these people, life just became easier with the opening of Pam Mac D's in Burbank, an entirely gluten-free market.

From gluten free beer made with Sorghum (which was actually pretty good, light beer) to almond flour, it carries pretty much everything. They also have packed vegan meals from Rahel Ethiopian Restaurant.

Even if you're not on a gluten free diet, doesn't mean you won't enjoy some of the things here.

I absolutely loved the ThinKrisps. I mean, they're cheese crisps!! Crunchy, crispy, cheddary goodness that are so addictive. I can eat a whole container in 5 minutes.

Last Day for Chimu. Go!!

2011-10-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the last opening day of Chef Mario Orellana's beloved Chimu, a takeout window next to the Grand Central Market offering "Peruvian soul food". His new restaurant, Red Hill, will be opening in December but he plans on serving "Neo-American" food, which means that today may very well be the last day you can have his Peruvian dishes. So, if you haven't gone yet, change your lunch plans and go!

After hearing the closing news, I myself jetted to try it for the first time yesterday. The Lomo Saltado ($12) may well be the best version I've ever had. The beef was so tender and the tomato slices surprisingly juicy.

The Seco de Cordero ($11) made with lamb belly, canario beans, and black beer sauce gives a very different flavor profile that is equally great. Again, the lamb belly was very tender with lightly crisped edges, the crunchy corn provided a nice texture contrast. The sauce was rich and slightly spicy. Soul food, indeed.

Try the traditional Peruvian drinks, too, like the Chicha Morada (purple corn), green barley tea (I believe this was called Emolliente?), and Maracuya (passionfruit).

I regretted not ordering the Chancho (pork belly) - I heard that's great too. Really, I should've ordered the whole menu. Maybe I'll see you there today.

Chimu
324 S Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 625-1097

Foie Friday #2: Potted Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Parfait, Larry's in Venice

2011-10-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Week two of Foie Fridays. Go foie!

Chef Brendan Collins of Waterloo and City quickly became quite famous for his charcuterie, and he expands his repertoire at the new Larry's in Venice. This week's Foie Friday is his Potted Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Parfait ($12), a must try at Larry's for foie fans.

The smooth decadence is topped with sweet potato jelly and housemade pickles, and served alongside wonderful toasted brioche. I don't really "get" the pickles, but that aside I could probably easily eat half a pot by myself.

Oh wait. I did.

Stone Beer Pairing Dinner at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and Grill

2011-10-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

It was only a few years ago that I started getting into beer, and I'm still not one for IPAs. Still, I know that Stone beers are supposed to be great. Not long ago, Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and Grill in El Segundo sent out a dinner invitation, paired with Stone beers. I figured I would probably enjoy IPAs much better when it's paired with proper food, especially when the promised food included lobster mac and cheese.

Sammy's Woodfired Pizza has many locations in California (and some in Nevada), but the newest El Segundo location is the first one that also has a grill. This makes it the best location, since it has awesome, inexpensive grilled lamb chops! More on that later.

Our dinner started with the Ahi Poki [sic] with Chukka, soy sauce, green onion, sesame oil ($11)

It's a pretty nice poke dominated by the flavors of the sesame oil (no complaint). I like the unusually puffy wonton crisp.

Lobster Mac and Cheese with Tillamook® cheddar cheese ($9), made with real lobster chunks, and lobster bisque as a base.

Real lobster chunks for a hot, cheesy, $9 bowl? Yep, and it's a good sized bowl, too! The added lobster bisque made for a nice flavor base, as well.

Joining us for dinner was Stone's sales rep for the LA region who explained to us the reasoning behind each pairing.

The above two dishes were paired with Stone Cali-Belgique IPA, 6.9% ABV. This was a beer made using Stone IPA as a starter and Belgian yeast. It was not too bitter and well balanced. It brings out the spiciness of the poke. For the mac and cheese, the hops and the cheese balance each other nicely and the dry finish cuts the richness. As far as IPAs go, I can easily drink this even without food.

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Barrel Aged Cocktail Flight, New Fall Menu at 1886 Bar

2011-10-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Vintage Caprice, 1886's barrel-aged gin cocktail has been on the menu since last season. At that time, it was a 4-month aged cocktail. What we didn't know then, is that they were still aging 2/3 of the barrel. Now, the 8-month aged version has hit this Pasadena gem, and guests can now enjoy a whole flight of the Vintage Caprice: a freshly made one, the 4-month, and the 8-month aged. It's the best way to see what barrel aging does.

The Caprice is a forgotten classic cocktail made with gin (1886 uses Beefeater), benedictine, dry vermouth, and orange bitters. 1886 barman Danny Cymbal thought it had potential for aging. The "Vintage" Caprice is this cocktail aged in a Hudson bourbon barrel that has been rinsed with sherry. To fill the barrel, they dumped 24 bottles of Beefeater.

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Fleming's: Annual Wine Tastings, New Small Plates

2011-10-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

Every September, Fleming's revamps their "Fleming's 100" wine list. Now, what that means for you is that every September, there are multiple wine tasting/pairing events at Fleming's! That included a series of "Opening Nights" on Fridays, where guests can taste 25 wines from their list of 100 for just $25! Not only that, this year we also got a sampling of their new small plates menu.

The first three weeks showcased the same wines across all Fleming's, while the last week featured wines chosen by the local Wine Manager. I made it to this last night to Fleming's at LA Live in downtown LA.

The wine selection included Kelly Fleming wines from Napa Valley which is owned by Fleming’s cofounder’s wife.

Here are some of the highlights for me:
1. Il Conte d’Alba, Moscato D’Asti, Italy, NV. This sparkling moscato is made from the Moscato di Canelli grape, the sweetness is just right for me.
2. La Croix Gratiot, Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux du Languedoc, France 2010. Very crisp and clean.

3. Meyer Syrah, Mendocino county, 2006
4. Rombauer Zinfandel, Napa Valley, 2009. Suprisingly pretty sweet. Smooth.
5. Justin Cabernet, Paso Robles, 2009. Always a crowd pleaser. Fruity, a bit of tannin for a bright finish.

The middle table was also consistently refilled with a tray of their new small plates items. They had started with some flatbreads then moved up to scallops (these ran out quickly), Filet Mignon Skewers with gorgonzola bacon fondue, ...

.. to New Zealand lamb chops with pistachio-mint pesto!

Even when preparing a whole tray of them, they still managed to get the lamb chops medium rare and so tender.

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Foie Friday #1: Foie Gras Sushi, Eva Restaurant

2011-10-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, they're apparently banning foie gras in Los Angeles come July 2012 ... Alas.
That means I'm going to eat it every chance I get before then. I'm also introducing a new series on my blog: Foie Fridays!

Every Friday I will (try to) post a foie gras dish that you can order in Los Angeles, or an article/video about why foie gras is not as cruel as they make it out to be (I mean, really, have you seen how they raise chickens? Watch Food, Inc!)

First up is a dish (sometimes) served at Eva Restaurant in West Hollywood:

Foie Gras Sushi, smoked tea plum, toasted sesame.

This dish by Chef Mark Gold won the LA Magazine's "Island Style Cook-off" aka the "pupu challenge". With a generous piece of roasted foie gras and only lightly sauced, it's one of the most decadent "sushi" you'd have. Their menu does change regularly, but you can always try to ask for this dish!

What are your favorite foie dishes?

Meat 101 Classes at Nick+Stef's

2011-10-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Can you taste the difference between bone-in and boneless steaks? How about wet aged vs dry aged? Or meats from America vs New Zealand? or Argentina?

Well, now you can learn by tasting them back to back during one of Nick+Stef's Meat 101 classes, starting on Thursday October 20 (that's tomorrow).

The classes happen every other Thursday at 7:30PM and will last about 30 minutes. The cost is $35 and attendees will get the meats for that class plus whatever wine/beer/whisky pairing they are doing. Here is the class schedule:
10/20: "Which Rib-Eye to Buy?" Bone-in, Boneless, or Dry-Aged.
11/3: "New York, New York, ... and New York!" Same idea as the rib-eye, but with New York steaks.
11/17: "A Well Aged Steak". Try wet aged vs dry aged rib-eyes, and wet aged vs dry-agged New York steaks.
12/1: "US vs The World". Learn the difference between steaks (and wines) from New Zealand, Argentina, and America.

They held a media preview last week for the third class ("A Well Aged Steak"). Clockwise from the top left is the dry aged rib eye, wet aged rib eye, wet aged New York, and dry aged New York.

FIG Restaurant Launches Catering Service with Whole Pork

2011-10-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

FIG Restaurant at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel recently launched a catering arm (available mostly for events held at the hotel and select off-site events). Just walking into their launch party I already know what I want to have at my wedding (if and when that happens): a whole roasted pig brined in pineapple in chile arbol!

Don't eat pork? For their launch party, FIG also prepared a gigantic whole grilled fish

The meat from the two was used to make tacos with island influence (the pork taco was topped with pineapple and the fish had mango salsa). Stay until the end of the night, though, when they start handing out pieces of the crispy pork skin. Cracklins!

Now, if you'd like a more traditional bites for your event, they can certainly deliver with spoons of quinoa salad, mini lobster rolls, grilled beef skewers with chimichurri sauce, and oh-so-tender braised short ribs.

New Chef at Roy's Downtown, and a $20 Giveaway!

2011-10-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Roy's Restaurant in downtown LA recently brought in a new chef. Blaine Villasin is a Hawaiian-born Filipino who started his career as a line cook at Roy's in La Jolla after training at the Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena.

We were invited to try out the new chef's own creations (instead of Chef Roy Yamaguchi's signature dishes) with a tasting menu, which started with a plate of Striped Bass Sashimi, tamari chimichurri, black lava salt

The fish was fresh and I certainly liked the intense flavors from the tamari and the black salt, but the chimichurri might be a little overwhelming for the delicate sashimi. The dish was paired with a glass of Le Colture Fagher Prosecco, Veneto, NV. A nice glass of bubbly to start off the night.

5 Spice Seared Scallop Salad with tangerine, baby mache, kumquat, orange vanilla vinaigrette

The scallops were tender though they could be fresher, and I liked the addition of kumquats here.
This was paired with a semi-sweet wine, a 2009 Pfeffingen Riesling, Pfalz.

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Meltdown: Artisanal Popsicles in New Orleans

2011-10-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

On a blistering hot day in New Orleans - which seems to be every day - there's hardly anything better than a quick stop at Meltdown, a gourmet popsicle store near the French Market.

Made with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, Meltdown offers some pretty interesting flavors that change regularly. My friend got her favorite Salted Caramel (do try this!) and I tried their lime ginger pop which was very cooling and refreshing! I can't remember what our third flavor was now ...

If you're not in the mood for popsicles, they also serve fresh squeezed lemonade. What happens during the winter? Stop by Meltdown anyway for some hot chocolate and soups!

Meltdown
508 Dumaine St
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 301-0905
http://meltdownpops.com/
@meltdownpops

NOLA/New Orleans, LA

2011-10-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Bombay Club Martini Bistro
Cafe du Monde
Cuvee
Frenchmen Grocery and Deli
Johnny's Po Boy
Meltdown

Classic Po'Boy at Frenchmen Grocery and Deli (New Orleans)

2011-10-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing one must eat in New Orleans, it's a po' boy. For my trip two years ago, I did some research and went to Johnny's Po' Boy. This time, I stayed with a friend's friend and decided to go with the local. She said the best traditional po' boy is at Frenchmen Deli, so to Frenchmen I go!

Frenchmen is a tiny grocery store with a deli just beyond the French Quarter. If you walk up Frenchmen St, you can't miss its colorfully decorated front.

Inside, it's a cramped grocery store with barely any aisle space (they sell Louisiana-made Zapp's potato chips, with many unexplained flavors like Voodoo or LSU Tiger Tators). Order your sandwiches at the register, or call ahead for pickup.

My favorite po' boys are probably shrimp or oyster, but since I can only fit one (alas), I went with the Fried shrimp Po'boy ($6.79). As far as po' boys go, you don't choose individual condiments but instead you either ask for it "dressed" (that means lettuce, tomato, and mayo) or not.

Crispy battered juicy shrimp, a light touch of mayo, fresh lettuce and tomato, on a fresh, moist baguette. It doesn't get better than this. Oh wait, it does get better with a bit of Louisiana's Crystal hot sauce!

*Sigh* I want a po' boy...

Frenchmen Grocery and Deli
602 Frenchmen St
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 944-6800

Tuesday Wing Nite at Delphine (Hollywood)

2011-10-10T08:30:00.001-07:00

Dining at the W Hotel in Hollywood doesn't have to be stuffy. Now you can eat with your fingers after that Pantages show with Delphine's Tuesday Wing Nite.

Fried chicken wings with spiced honey

All night on Tuesdays, you can get an order of chicken wings for just $4.50 (4-5 wings per order) and choose from a variety of flavors, not just your usual spicy buffalo wings or fried chicken wings, although naturally they have those also.

Among my favorites was the grilled chicken wings with Honey Sriracha sauce, sweet and spicy! Don't forget to lick your fingers after.

A Taste of Korea: Gala Dinner, Fashion, and Dance Show

2011-10-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

I recently had the privilege of attending "A Taste of Korea" gala dinner in celebration of the Korean Chuseok holiday (Korean thanksgiving, kind of) and the launch of Cathlyn's Korean Kitchen show on PBS (earlier this year I was one of the judges for their Top Chef Korean Food Challenge). The dinner was part of the Korean government effort to promote Korean food and culture in the US.

Held at a hotel in Koreatown, we had a lavish spread of traditional Korean food, some of which I wasn't very familiar with - like this vibrant "roll" of vegetables wrapped in squid!

A whole tray of marinated pork belly served with spicy noodles and lettuce wrap ...

Modern Kaiseki at n/naka

2011-10-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

My first kaiseki experience was at Wakuriya in San Mateo, and I was very excited when I found out that Chef Niki Nakayama from Inaka had opened up her own spot in Palms and was serving modern kaiseki.
While there is a seasonal menu posted online, Chef Nakayama may change a few dishes any day depending on what looks good in her garden that day. The restaurant was a little hard to find, sitting in a dark corner of Overland Ave. There's no sign, just the number. On my visit, we opted for the 9 course Chef's Tasting ($110) with wine pairing ($55).

Saki Zuke (a pairing of something common and something unique)

Chef's garden eggplant puree, Scottish smoked salmon, Osetra caviar, creme fraiche, chives
The dish was paired with a sparking wine: Jean Philippe Cuvee

This was one of those item the chef decided to put on after seeing what looks good in her garden that morning, and indeed the eggplant puree was excellent. The combination of eggplant and smoked salmon is not one I would've expected, but it worked wonderfully.

Zensai

Blue crab stuffed sword squid, mushroom sautee, bacon powder, balsamic reduction
Paired with 2010 Morgadio Albarino, Rias Biaxas, Spain

A Taste of Piemonte: Vietti Wine Dinner at Ombra (Studio City)

2011-10-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

What better wines to pair Italian food with than Italian wines? Recently, the newly opened Ombra in Studio City held a wine pairing dinner with an old winery from Piemonte, Vietti. Mario Vietti started making Vietti wines in 1919, although the history of the winery itself traces back to the 19th century.

Ombra is chef Michael Young's first venture as a chef/owner, but he has trained under some big Italian names in Los Angeles including Angelo Auriana at Valentino and Celestino Drago. Story has it that the lawyer working with French Laundry was impressed by his cooking at Domenico's in Silver Lake. He then suggested that Young open his own restaurant - and that was Ombra.

As with any meal at Ombra, our wine dinner started with arancini (fried risotto) and bread with eggplant caponata.

Vitello Tonnato (roast veal with tuna sauce)

Apparently this is a traditional dish from Piedmont. Why have I not had this before? All the garnishes that normally come on smoked fish is here, but with veal! I will have to keep an eye out for this dish in the future.

This was paired with a 2010 Vietti Arneis

A very clear white, with hints of stone fruit and light acidity - refreshing but does not overpower the dish. The wine takes away the sharpness of the onion and the fishiness a bit, while the creamy tuna sauce cuts the acidity.

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Get On the Lobsta Truck!

2011-10-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to chase down food trucks, but I've been curious about the Lobsta Truck for a while since all my friends and fellow food bloggers seem to love it (one Boston transplant says that it's legit). My chance to try it came when they parked outside of Scoops Westside one Tuesday evening.

They were already out of the crab roll by the time I got there, so my companion and I got one of each lobster roll: with mayo or with butter. Apparently, for Bostonians, the proper way to eat a lobster roll is with mayo (celery and pepper optional).

Food (and Booze) Events to Look Forward to in October!

2011-09-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 1
Taste of Italy
This annual Italian feast benefits the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles and rightly features all things Italian, including restaurant sponsors such as Il Pastaio, Locanda del Lago, Paciugo Gelato while the beverage sponsors include Fernet-Branca (!) and San Antonio Winery.
$45 pre-sale, $50 at the door (includes 6 food tickets and 6 drink tickets)
424 N Main St., Historic Little Italy, Los Angeles 90012

Saturday, October 8
Baja Culinary Fest

Cross the border for the first ever Baja Culinary Fest! The extravaganza actually starts on Wednesday, Oct 5 with cooking competitions, food-related movies, hunting for your own lunch (seriously), winery or cheese tours and various special dinners in Tijuana and Ensenada. Take a week off and go to all of them if you can, but if you can't, the main festival takes place on Saturday Oct 8. Restaurants, street food, and can you say tequila? Also, stay for the lobster festival in Rosarito Beach on Sunday if you have the time ($25pp).
General Admission: $15
Interactive Museum El Trompo and World Trade Center Tijuana

Sunday, October 9
Cooking for Love: Savor the Season 2011
Savor the Season returns to benefit Break the Cycle, an organization to end domestic violence. The restaurant lineup includes Jar, M Cafe de Chaya, Oyster Gourmet, Morton's Steakhouse, and Beachy Cream. Here's a recap of their past event.
$100 for general admission (or $150 for two), $250 for VIP ticket.
Global Cuisine by Gary Arabia at The Lot Studios. 1041 N. Formosa Ave - West Hollywood, CA

Saturday, October 15
LA Beer Float Showdown
The LA Beer Float Showdown returns for its third year. This time 5 chefs are pairing up with 5 breweries to compete for the title, including Chef Ilan Hall (The Gorbals) with Tustin Brewery, Chef Laurent Quenioux (Vertical Wine Bistro) with Beachwood BBQ, chef CJ Jacobson (The Yard) with Firestone Walker, Chef Andre Guerrero (The Oinkster) with Eagle Rock Brewery, and Chef Thi Tran (Starry Kitchen) with Ladyface Ale Company.
$35pp. 25% of the proceeds benefit Share Our Strength
1-4pm. Eagle Rock Brewery. 3056 Roswell St, Eagle Rock, CA.

Friday, October 21
Dionicess IX
Dionicess returns with craft beer cocktails to Steingarten LA. This time, they have recruited bartender Matt Biancaniello to craft some beer cocktails. Each of the 5 cocktails will come with 5 vegetarian dishes served by Randy Clemens (author of The Sriracha Cookbook).
$65pp
Steingarten LA, 10543 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064

Sunday, October 23
Los Angeles Mag's The Food Event

One of my favorite annual food events returns to Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu featuring Farmshop, Eva Restaurant, Stella Rossa, Lukshon, MB Post, The Royce, Rivera, Nancy Silverton and Amy Pressman's new burger joint, Short Order, and so, so much more.
To see posts from previous years, click here and here.
$95pp.
Saddlerock Ranch. 31727 Mulholland Highway Malibu, CA 90265

Sunday, October 23
The 3rd Annual LA Beer Week Festival
It's THE beer event of the year! The Festival will feature over 70 breweries pouring a wide selection of their beers including rare beers and some special beer week-only beers. There will also be a selection of food trucks and local artisans.
$45 pre-sale, includes unlimited 4 oz pours of beers.
Union Station, 800 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

It's All About the Grill at American Farmhouse Tavern (Manhattan Beach, CA)

2011-09-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

We get excited over restaurant openings touting famous chefs or restaurant groups these days, but some little-known, family-owned places are serving up some great food without all the hullabaloo. Such is the American Farmhouse Tavern in Manhattan beach, which recently moved from a 35-seat restaurant to one down the street that seats 135.

I was invited to a recent press dinner. We convened at the bar for some appetizers including toast with creamy guacamole and salad topped with tender, juicy slices of tri tip.

Some of their cocktails actually sounded interesting. I ordered the Buffalo Smoke (Buffalo Trace bourbon, peach nectar, St Germain, maple smoked bacon wrapped sugar cane stick, $10)

A good and potent drink that I should've ordered when I have some food in my tummy.

They also have a good selection of beers on tap, including Allagash White ($8). There are tons of happy hours and daily specials too, including $4 wine/beer/well drinks/appetizers on weekdays (11-2pm, 4-6:30pm) and Fridays and Saturdays from 9pm on, $3 draft beers on Mondays, etc.

American Farmhouse Tavern is run by owner/chef Orlando Novoa who hailed from Santa Maria. Appropriately, the restaurant serves Santa Maria style barbecue like grilled meat and fish alongside Central Coast wines. They proudly grill their meat over Central Coast red oak (the wood comes from fallen trees so it's sustainable).

Brunch at Farmshop (Brentwood/Santa Monica)

2011-09-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

The Farmshop is one place I've been hearing a lot about from the new-ish Brentwood Country Mart (other than the Sweet Rose Creamery, of course). From what I've heard, the Farmshop was expensive but have great food. The former made me a bit reluctant but one day I decided to give it a try.

As with most brunch places in this city, there was a wait for a table (about 15-20 minutes) and we walked around the Country Mart to kill time.

Corn and Avocado Salad with herbed quinoa ($14)

Yes, the prices here are pretty high but the ingredients they use are absolutely amazing. This may be the creamiest avocado I've had lately, perfectly ripe, making a healthy yet satisfying dish. The tomatoes were sweet and bursts in your mouth. We loved this dish and I'm saddened to think the peak avocado season is over.

Next was the Shirred Eggs with fra’mani chorizo, wild greens, chickpeas, yogurt and sourdough toast ($16)

This was another hit and one dish that I kept thinking about for a few days after. I loved eating the runny yolk with the earthy kale and chickpeas. There was just the right amount of yogurt to bring the flavors together. Scoop them all up on the sourdough toast.

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Kelly's Brewpub (Albuquerque, NM)

2011-09-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

On my last night in Albuquerque, I had dinner with a group of friends and decided to let the local decide where to go. There were quite a few constraints. She had her kid with her so it'll have to be a place where she can bring him. My other friend wanted to check out the Nob Hill area. There has to be alcohol, and it can't be very expensive. We ended up at Kelly's Brewpub, a popular local hangout - probably partly because it's a sports bar and partly because they have 20 of their own brews at a pretty cheap price (you can also apparently make your own beer here).

The food is your typical bar food, and from the little I tried they're pretty mediocre. We did like the green chile cheese fries, because it's hard to go wrong with that.

Stella Rossa Pizza (Santa Monica)

2011-09-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

The latest buzz on pizza in LA has been coming from Stella Rossa Pizza in Santa Monica. Stella Rossa is a sister restaurant of and shares an entrance with M Street Kitchen on Main St. The chef, Jeff Mahin, comes from a fine dining background, including The Fat Duck and L2O. He says he's now doing what he's always wanted to do, making pizza. (Is it just me or is there a movement of fine dining chefs turning into making sandwiches and burgers and pizzas).

Upon placing our order, the server suggested we order a different appetizer since we're getting a white pizza, but my friend has never had burrata before so I insisted that we order some.

Fresh local burrata ($10.95) with organic extra virgin olive oil, sea salt
The burrata is made locally (in Baldwin Park) by Di Stefano and was one of the creamiest you can find in this city. I would've been very happy with the burrata and olive oil alone, but the sweet grapes made for an amazing accompaniment. Every piece of grape I had that night was sweet and ripe. Remember the scene in Ratatouille where Remy makes Emile try eating a chunk of cheese and a piece of grape at the same time?

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Easy Peasy: Truffle Making at Luxe Hotel Rodeo

2011-09-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

So, I've posted a truffle recipe from Valerie's Confections before and it does look easy enough, but I still have never gone ahead and tried it. Maybe it was still harder than it sounds. But after watching a truffle making demo at Luxe Hotel, I have to say it's looking easier.

First, here is the recipe (from their hotel blog):
8 ounces of chocolate, milk or dark to taste
½ cup of heavy cream
1 tablespoon of coconut rum
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Using a double boiler, slowly melt the chocolate in the cream over boiling water - you don't want to heat it directly with the fire. Like this:

The boiling water is covered with a moist rag, and the bowl with the chocolate and cream is placed over that.
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Blue Boar Pub (Hollywood): Stay for the Cocktails

2011-09-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

The same man who brought you SmithHouse in Century City, Curtis Nysmith, has also brought you Blue Boar Pub (both spaces also designed by Spacecraft), a traditional British pub in the middle of Hollywood.

As this is a British pub after all, there are some (eight?) beers on tap including Dry Blackthorn cider, London Pride, etc, plus some "standards" (uh, Budlight). As the name suggests, the Dry Blackthorn cider is less sweet than the usual cider, and I recommend it. It turns out, though, that the cocktail list here was created by Damian Windsor and Jason Bran of Roger Room! AND, the cocktails are only $10!

I immediately fell in love with the William Wallace, made with Famous Grouse, ginger syrup, honey, candied ginger, angostura bitters. If you like ginger drinks, this one is a must!

AnQi's Red Hour, Garlic Noodles

2011-09-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

The An family has probably created the first high-end Vietnamese restaurant empire starting with Crustacean and now AnQi in Costa Mesa and Tiato Cafe in Santa Monica.

Where Crustacean focuses on more traditional Vietnamese, AnQi and its chef Ryan Carson leans more towards Asian fusion. AnQi is divided into three sections: there's the main dining room, there's the bar with a separate bar menu, and then there's the noodle bar (also serving dumplings). On Mondays, you can say there's four. There's the private dining room where you can partake in the molecular gastronomy menu (which I still need to review, soon).

During the Red Hour (M-F, 4-7 pm) all the cocktails are 50% off and some of the small bites from the bar menu are discounted. They recently invited some bloggers for a hosted Red Hour. We shared some fusion bar bites from an Australian crudo served with yuzu kosho granita, yuzu nuoc nam, and kaffir lime ponzu (three separate sauces) to Ahi Tuna Poke and spicy beef tongue crispy tacos.

In keeping with the molecular side of the restaurant, there's a cocktail with cotton candy similar to that of Bazaar's. The Lotus is made with pink grapefruit and orange with vodka and tequila over pink cotton candy.

I personally liked the Viet-No-Jito which is vodka with hand-muddled fresh lime and Kinh Gioi leaves, green tea infused with agave nectar and molecular lemon foam. The Kinh Gioi are often called Vietnamese Balm or Vietnamese Mint and added a really nice aroma to the drink (it would be better if it was rum-based, though - and same goes with most of their cocktails).

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Save the Date: Beer and Booze Pairings at Dionicess IX

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

On October 21, Dionicess returns with craft beer cocktails to Steingarten LA. Public health professor Gev Kazanchyan is teaming up with Dave Watrous from Beachwood BBQ Steingarten LA for a one night fundraising event. This time, they have recruited bartender Matt Biancaniello to craft some beer cocktails.

Each of the 5 cocktails will come with 5 vegetarian dishes served by Randy Clemens (author of The Sriracha Cookbook).

The event costs $65 per person (all inclusive) and all proceeds benefit Real Medicine Foundation. There are only 30 seats available so grab yours now here!

Dionicess IX
Friday October 21, 2011. 7:00 PM
Steingarten LA, 10543 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 USA

Shaved Snow at Salju Dessert

2011-09-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

There aren't too many Indonesian establishments around LA, so I can't help be excited when I hear about one. Wandering Chopsticks told me there was a new Indonesian dessert store in Alhambra. How did she know it was Indonesian? She saw the name was "Salju Desserts" and googled the word. Yep, salju means snow in Indonesian, so as you can probably guess, it's a shaved snow (and ice) store!

The difference between a shaved snow and ice is that shaved snow is made with a block of ice that contains condensed milk in it. At Salju, the snow is also flavored. One order is $5.50 for shaved snow (choose from taro, green tea, mango, and other flavors) and three toppings (choices include jackfruit, red beans, grass jelly, mochi bits, nuts, and other fruits). It's automatically topped with more condensed milk.

The "snow" itself already has green tea flavor

The shaved snow I think is still not as good as Class 302 as the one here is still shaved with a normal ice shaver (Class 302 uses a special one that shaves them into wide ribbons and gives it an even better texture). Still, Rowland Heights is quite far for many of us and Salju Dessert is a pretty good alternative that also offers more flavors and topping options than Class 302. Plus, I have to support my fellow Indonesians!

Salju Dessert
35 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-3578

Brunch at The Misfit (Santa Monica, CA)

2011-09-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, I won a brunch for two at The Misfit in Santa Monica via Caroline on Crack. The Misfit took over the old Anisette Brasserie space and is the newest addition to the LGO Hospitality Group (they're responsible for La Grande Orange and the Luggage Room Pizzeria).

I invited my friend along for his post-birthday celebration. We started with an order of asparagus salad, lemon, parmesan-reggiano, poached organic egg ($9)

We weren't expecting the asparagus to come in thin slices, but it works for the crisp texture they were going for. Unlike the usual tender, boiled asparagus, these are crunchy - almost like celery. It's a nice texture contrast with the egg yolk, and the flavors mostly came from the parmesan.

I wanted to try something from the brunch menu (there were only 5-6 items) and went with the San Daniele prosciutto + eggs, poached, scrambled or over easy with toast and burrata cheese ($10)

I wished the server would've told us this dish came with the asparagus salad too, because we would've ordered a different salad. This dish might've been better served with their english muffin instead of the toast.

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SoHo Taco Tasting

2011-09-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

When Bill the Street Gourmet LA invites you for some tacos, how can you not go? This time it's not a purist, authentic regional Mexican food, though, but Soho Taco, a Santa Ana-based catering company serving "modern" tacos but still has traditional meats, toppings, and fresh tortillas.

Since SoHo Taco currently only has catering (according to them, a food truck will be hitting the streets in October), they and Bill had to find another venue to have the lunch. Well, Bill lives nearby and a well known regular at La Descarga, so we lucky friends not only had some tacos, but also got to see La Descarga in daylight for the first time.

Fundamental LA Hits Westwood: 4-Visit Recap

2011-09-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

When I was a UCLA student, my food options seemed to have ranged from Sak's Teriyaki to Gushi to In-N-Out. Oh, how lucky the current students are. Fundamental LA opened just South of Wilshire not too long ago, serving quality sandwiches and good beer at inexpensive prices.

Let's start with my current favorite:
chicken torta, heirloom tomato, lettuce, cotija, crema, pickled jalapenos, guacamole, bolillo bread ($9)

While I don't normally order chicken, they convinced me when they said there's only chicken thigh meat in this sandwich (dark meat FTW). I liked everything about this sandwich, from the moist and flavorful chicken, the fact that it's not overly heavy and filled with guacamole or sour cream, to the crunchy bread, and the sweet tomatoes and pickled jalapeno that refresh your palate.

The menu changes constantly, even if the main meat stays the same. On my first visit we had and loved the short rib sandwich with curried eggplant on sourdough. On my last visit this was served with kimchi.

Regardless, the short rib is always excellent.

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Daily Grill Burger, Ground Twice Daily

2011-09-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Often, chain restaurants get automatically passed over - sometimes, they shouldn't be. With about twenty locations, Daily Grill is almost a big chain/corporation, but they're certainly not franchises. Not too long ago, they decided to up the ante by installing meat grinder in their restaurants and start grinding meat for their burger twice a day.

My fellow bloggers have tried this burger and said that they are actually pretty good, so I accepted their invitation to taste them myself. I joined Daniela, who recently started working for Daily Grill's PR company, for lunch at their downtown location.

We started with some Garlic Cheese Bread ($6.95) w/ grana padana on toasted levain bread (because who doesn't like garlic cheese bread?)

Nice crunch and weren't overly heavy. A good opener and side dish.

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The Foods of LA County Fair. Oh, Deep Fried Kool Aid!

2011-09-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's time for the LA County Fair! Starting this weekend: Rides, live animals, and of course ... food!

The fair runs from Sept 3-Oct 2 (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), but for the first time, this year they invited food-related media in before the Fair opens so we can sample some of the food they offer. The fair's "specialty" is all the weird fried food from Chicken Charlie's. We didn't get to sample everything but we did try their new fried bbq ribs and the fried Kool Aid!

Fried kool-aid

Think of flavored donut holes (cherry flavored donut holes, perhaps?) dusted with Kool Aid powder. They're actually pretty good, not as weird as I thought they might be! Surprisingly, they're also not as greasy as many donut holes. We heard that the LA County Fair special will be "caramel apple fries" - if you get to try these, let me know what they're like!

For fairs and festivals, a must-item for me is a smoked giant turkey leg! Here they're served by Big Bubba's BBQ.

(here's a pic for size comparison).
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Giveaway! Tickets to THE TASTE Desserts After Dark

2011-08-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

LA Times and Food and Wine's weekend-long extravaganza, The Taste, is happening this weekend!
Spanning 4 days over 3 locations and 9 events, there are plenty to choose from. Now, we know most of you can't afford to go to ALL of them, which why they've offered to give away A PAIR OF TICKETS (up to $300 value) to one of the events!

Now, since I love desserts, I'm going to give away tickets to the Desserts after Dark, taking place on Sunday evening. The event features Food Network star Duff Goldman, desserts from Craft Restaurant, Waylynn Lucas's fōnuts, Compartes chocolates, Sweet Rose Creamery, and much more. Wash them down with some Qream Liqueur, Dow’s Port and a little Villa Massa Limoncello.

You can enter in two ways (or get two entries if you do both):
1. Comment below with your email address and tell us what your favorite dessert is.
2. Comment on my Facebook Page with your favorite dessert.

Easy, right?
They need the name of the winner by the end of the day tomorrow, which means this contest will end at NOON tomorrow! Then if I don't hear back from the winner by 3pm with their full names, I will draw another name - so be checking that mailbox.

PS. If you want to attend the other events, you can get tickets at 40% off from Bloomspot or OpenTable.

Meet the True Ice Cream Sandwich

2011-08-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sandwich, according to Wikipedia, "is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them". But then there's the ice cream sandwich, usually consisting of ice cream in between two cookies. Where's the bread, I asked. And Night+Market answered.

The ice cream sandwich ($4.50) at Night+Market actually involves bread, and it is a must try.

The contents are everything you'd think of in a Thai dessert, minus mangoes.
Sweet sticky rice and toasted mung beans are doused with condensed milk, sandwiched by a (toasted) sweet roll, then topped with coconut ice cream.

Now that's what I'd call an ice cream sandwich.

For a review of their dinner menu, go here.

Night+Market
9041 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 275-9724
thenightmarket.blogspot.com

Margarita Dinner at Border Grill

2011-08-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger's Border Grill may very well be the restaurant that popularized Mexican food in LA back in the day. The Santa Monica restaurant is as popular as ever, but they're trying to keep things fresh by holding special events, such as the Margarita Dinner I recently attended.

The margarita dinner is a 5-course dinner prepared by Executive Chef Alex Moreno, each paired with a cocktail (well, the last pairing is nonalcoholic). The cocktails for this dinner were all made with Greenbar Collective spirits, a Los Angeles-based company that makes all organic spirits and bitters.

We started our meal with a Grilled Oja Santa Shrimp and farmers market tomato mint tea.
We were supposed to alternate between bites of the crispy-fried shrimp and sips. The tomato mint "tea" was a little salty, though.

The dish was served with a Cucumber Mint Gin and Tonic, made with Tru organic gin, cucumber, and mint.

The herbal notes of the Tru gin was pretty strong.

Second course: Abalone and California Avocado Ceviche, lime cured, heirloom cherry tomatoes, persian cucumbers

This was an unusual ceviche. Not only do I rarely encounter an abalone ceviche, this was mixed in with an avocado sauce which lends the dish a nice creaminess instead of the strongly acidic lemon juice normally associated with ceviche.
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Marble Brewery (Albuquerque, NM)

2011-08-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Because of a mishap with my car rental, I took the bus to Sophia's Place with the desert sun beating down on me. For the same reason, I had to skip my visit to Gruet Winery (wouldn't have made it in time), so I decided some cold beers are in order. Turns out, Albuquerque is home to a number of microbreweries and some were on my route back to the hotel. I picked Marble Brewery, since their reserve beer, "From the Wood" was listed of the Top 25 beers in 2010 by Draft Magazine.

The brewery and tap room was surprisingly big, with a big patio area as well.

Sophia's Place (Albuquerque, NM)

2011-08-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Whenever I go to New Mexico, the recommendations I've received for Albuquerque had mainly been Frontier and Sadie's. Frontier's has its own charms: it's extremely cheap and open very late, perhaps even 24 hours? Sadie's ... well, Sadie's feels a bit more like Bucca di Beppo to me. It's huge, you wait for a table with a pager, the portions huge. Then comes Sophia's Place.

Sophia's Place sits a few blocks from Sadie's, a small hole in the wall that's made more famous by being on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Sophia's Place is pretty much a breakfast and lunch place, they close at 3 pm every day. I arrived at 2:45 but they were already starting to close so I sat and ate on the patio.

The regular menu has the usual tacos and enchiladas, plus breakfast items and french toast which seems to be quite popular. I eyed the daily specials and after much indecision, ordered the Calabacitas Relleno.

The Calabacitas Relleno is a chile poblano stuffed with squash, corn, zucchini, and cheese, doused in spicy tomatillo sauce and topped with shredded cheese. Despite being a hole in the wall, this dish was more refined than many places in New Mexico, more care was taken in its preparation. Yes, it was spicy and heavy, but it wasn't overly sauced, or overly stuffed with cheese as they tend to be. I'm not sure what made me order a stuffed chile, being weak to spicy foods as I am, but I was sure glad I did.

The black beans here were quite something, too. Chipotle salsa was added to boiling beans and they are stewed and pureed into something close to a paste in texture, thick and spicy.

When you spend more than a week in New Mexico, most of the restaurants' menu started to sound the same. It becomes harder to choose a restaurant. Well, Sophia's Place should be one of your choices for lunch, just as it will be on my list for my subsequent visits to Albuquerque.

Sophia's Place
6313 4th St NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107
(505) 345-3935
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sophias-Place/111669672203435?sk=info

A Collaboration Dinner: Haru Kishi and Marcel Vigneron at Chaya Brasserie

2011-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Chaya Brasserie may be a landmark in the Beverly Hills dining scene for more than 25 years, but Paris-born new Executive Chef Harutaka Kishi is bringing new experiences to its diners, new and old. One of these experiences is a series of special dinners where he collaborates with different chefs. It's not a pop-up. It's not a guest chef dinner where each chef creates their own dishes. It's entirely a collaboration where both chefs work together to create each dish.

The first of these dinners was held with Top Chef contestant Marcel Vigneron, formerly of The Bazaar and Bar210(and now star of Syfy's Marcel's Quantum Kitchen).

Chefs Harutaka Kishi and Marcel Vigneron

Our meal started with a beautiful Thai Lobster Roll, Avocado, Roasted Banana, Thom Kha, Pickled Red Onion

How beautiful is that dish? It looks like a garden. Despite the delicate look, the the flavors was pretty bold with the thom kha sauce. The richness from the coconut milk added to the creaminess of the avocado.

The dishes were prepared with cocktails made by Devon Espinosa from Tasting Kitchen (and also Marcel's bartender on Quantum Kitchen). The thai lobster roll was paired with the Thai Reviver (Plymouth Gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blonde, Fresh Lemon Juice, Thai Basil Leaves) - a great pairing if I may add.
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Anniversary Afternoon Tea at The Langham Pasadena

2011-08-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

Every year, The Langham Hotels around the world celebrate their anniversary with a ridiculously priced afternoon tea. The price is what the original Langham in London used to charge back in 1865: 1 shilling and six pence. That, dear readers, amounted to $0.15 this year. Fifteen cents!

Before this, I have not had the chance to try the Langham afternoon tea, and what better time to do it than when it was only 15 cents as opposed to the usual $39?

The afternoon tea is held at The Lobby Lounge of the Langham. We got a nice table by the window overlooking the green expanse of the hotel.

For this event, the servers also dressed up as if it was 1865. Our server had on a mustard suit and a cute blue ribbon while the female server was wearing a blue dress of that era.

The Langham offers a pretty nice selection of classic and scented teas. I ordered the Orchid Oolong, described as being "highlighted by a touch of coconut to offer the tranquility of a fragrant bouquet of fruit and floral notes in a rich, soothing infusion." Rich, indeed.

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Heirloom Tomato Dinner, The Terrace at The Langham (Pasadena)

2011-08-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

'Tis the season for heirloom tomatoes! These red pearls were the theme of The Langham Pasadena's latest Farm to Table dinner at The Terrace.

Before the dinner, we had a wine reception in the lobby lounge with creative appetizers such as the "pizza chips" (airy pizza-flavored chips made from tapioca) and macaron with a guacamole center.

All the passed appetizers and the dinner courses were prepared by Erik Schuster, the Executive Chef of The Terrace, while the wine pairings were done by Eric Espuny, the GM of The Royce upstairs.

After appetizers and glasses of wine, we move downstairs for our dinner.
As soon as we sat down, we all fell in love with the tomato tapenade they served with the bread. We had to ask how they made it and while I don't remember many of the ingredients (beyond the obvious tomato and olive oil), it apparently involved anchovies.

Hot Brunch at Playa

2011-08-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

The promise of a free pitcher of Julian Cox's cocktail during brunch was all I needed to try out the brunch at Playa, John Sedlar's newest restaurant (thanks, BlackboardEats!). And I was glad I did.

Now, being a Latin restaurant (they call it "urban Latin"), you can expect a lot of kick in your egg dish. Spicy sauces abound, though not everyone.

I love tamales so obviously went with the Tamal (Cracked Corn Masa, Pulled Pork, Sunnyside-Up Egg, $12)

Yes, that is Clockwork Orange on the plate (part of his changing Reflexiones series). The sauce was pretty spicy for me but the egg yolks helped with that. A hearty and satisfying breakfast plate!

Oh, and make sure you get the Blue Corn Muffins made with Anson Farms Organic Cornmeal, served with a side Almond Butter ($6)

Not only were they cheap at $6 for 4 pieces, they are incredible. I have never had an unfilled muffin so moist with such a distinctive flavor. I'll be back for these. Over and over.

(Look, it's really blue inside! Or more like purple?)

The ABC's of Cecconi's: Aperitivo, Bone Marrow, and Ciccheti

2011-08-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

I hadn't been back to Cecconi's since my brunch two years ago, but after a recent visit to try out their new aperitivo and ciccheti menu (and a feast of everything else), I wondered why. Oh, right, it is on the pricey side, but the recently launched Ciccheti menu (small plates/appetizers) you can dine here for less. (On another note, on Sundays Cecconi's have quite a deal: family style dinner for $50, up to 4 people. That's less than $13 per person!)

Scallop, pancetta, rosemary ($15)

They recently invited a number of bloggers for some ciccheti, aperitivos, and dinner. We started the night at the bar, where Creative Bar Director Chris Ojeda made some aperitivos and cocktails for us.

Since we're talking Italian aperitivos, there were naturally a lot of Aperol, which is an Italian aperitif similar to Campari (in fact, it is now produced by the Campari company). Cecconi's was never on my radar for cocktails, but the drinks Chris had made were surprisingly good.
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August is Garlic Galore at Chaya Venice

2011-08-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

Garlic lovers, did you miss Gilroy Garlic Fest this year? If you did, you can still go a little garlic crazy at Chaya Venice this August, where they're offering special garlic dishes during their month-long Garlic Fair.

They have about ten garlic dishes, most of them not overly garlicky (except for the rib eye steak with 40-clove garlic sauce, or so our server told us. Mmm 40 garlic cloves ...)

After an amuse bouche of beets with orange and arugula, we started our garlic feast with Heirloom Tomato with Garlic Ice Cream and Fourme d’Ambert cheese ($13)

Overall good, but the heirloom tomatoes were overshadowed somewhat by the smaller, sweeter tomatoes. I liked the garlic ice cream with the tomatoes, but the possibly even stinkier blue cheese masks the garlic a bit.

Next: Grilled Shrimp, country bread ($12)

It's a simple dish, with crisp shrimp. After you finish the shrimp, soak the bread in the garlic butter.
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Savory (Malibu, CA)

2011-08-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

In Malibu, there are the ocean-view restaurants that tourists go to, and then there are the locals’ hangouts. Savory seems to be the latter, tucked in the corner of a strip mall. The kitchen is headed by Bastide-alum Paul Shoemaker. That was enough to put Savory on my radar, but it took receiving a gift certificate as a present to make the drive (it's pretty far down on PCH, past Malibu Seafood and Pepperdine).

We had a reservation, but even after waiting 15 minutes our table wasn't ready. On the other hand, a couple with an earlier reservation who was 30 minutes late got seated. Punctuality is not rewarded in this town. Well, anyway, we got seats a bar and decided to have our dinner there.

We started with some housemade pasta, beef tongue, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese ($12)

We loved the pasta, and the thick cuts of very tender beef tongue - as tender as I remember them being in the beef tongue stew (semur lidah) I ate as a kid in Indonesia. I would definitely order this again.

Next was the Dungeness Crab Cake, remoulade, fine herbs ($17)

Summertime Clambake at Rush Street (Culver City)

2011-08-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

This summer, Rush Street in Culver City brings in a bit of New England with a special clambake menu, including a chowder, prime rib, a special summer-y cocktail, and of course the clambake itself.

I joined a recent media tasting, and started off our feast with a Roasted Corn and Crab Chowder in bread bowl ($7)

Forget clam chowder, sweet corn and crab in this creamy soup is the way to go. I loved this chowder, wished I didn't have to share!
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Healthy Eating at Fresheast (West Hollywood)

2011-08-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Being a food blogger is tough. No, really. You eat big, delicious meals day after day, sometimes multiple times a day. It gets to you - or rather, it gets to your waistline. When you're feeling particularly weighed down, an invitation to a healthy meal is very welcomed.

I admit, the first time I heard about Fresheast and what they were doing, I wasn't too enticed. They serve healthy, organic, Asian dishes and use no salt, butter, or nuts in their dishes (they still use miso, soy, and other sauces, though, so I don't think it's entirely sodium-free).

With all that said, a lot of their dishes turned out to be quite boldly flavored. One of my favorites were the Goa Shrimp ($11.95)

I was expecting food that are rather bland here, but the goa shrimp jumps with spices and flavors. The lamb curry as well was in fact quite spicy, again, unexpected from a healthy casual restaurant in West Hollywood. With the bold and spicy flavor profiles of Southeast Asia, perhaps you don't need extra salt after all.

Another dish I liked was the Bulgogi (Harris Ranch Natural Beef bulgogi, fresh wok’d vegetables), $10.95

Well, they taste like a good, standard bulgogi but they're supposed to be healthier! The meat was pretty tender, too.
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A Perfect Day in Malibu: Waterfall Hike, Malibu Seafood, and Gelato

2011-08-07T09:00:00.001-07:00

The beach isn't the only reason to brave PCH traffic and head to Malibu. On a recent weekend, I hiked a 4.2 mile trail to Escondido Falls, feasted on fresh seafood overlooking the ocean, and finished off with some of the best gelato in town.

The hike to the lower falls is fairly easy and shady, good for a family hike. Once there, you can play in the water or take the trail to the right to the upper falls. It's a short hike from there, but much steeper. At some point you will have to climb an incline using some ropes, taking turns between the people going up and down. Take your time. Also, you will most likely get a bit muddy, but it's all worth it. You'll be rewarded with a beautiful three-tiered waterfall.

After the hike, we headed over to Malibu Seafood for a quick lunch. As always, there's a line to order food, but it moves fast. Take your food to one of their benches overlooking the Pacific ocean.

Malibu Seafood has combo meals, tuna burgers, etc, but that day we decided to order a bunch of things a la carte.

Steamed large shrimp, 1/2 lb ($10.95)

Dock for Lunch at Baleen, Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club (Redondo Beach, CA)

2011-08-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Not so long ago, Redondo Beach in my mind consisted of a crowded beach and the pier (which has Izakaya Bincho and Quality Seafood, both great). Enter Baleen Los Angeles at the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club, a much quieter, less touristy spot away from the pier.

The Chef's Burger

The restaurant's layout seems a strange one when you walk in. Instead of a big dining room, there's only one row of tables, all of them provide a view of the marina and yachts.

Baleen recently launched a new lunch menu. I wasn't able to come to their media lunch so they invited me over on another day - a beautiful Saturday afternoon, perfect for dining al fresco by the water. Judging from the customers coming in while I was there, seems like this is the spot for local residents to have their casual lunch and family reunions.
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Cocktailing at Next Door Lounge with Joseph Brooke (Hollywood)

2011-08-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hollywood's latest bar, Next Door Lounge, isn't exactly next door to me but with The Edison's alum Joseph Brooke behind the bar, it is certainly worth a visit. Joe Brooke joined the team right before the lounge opened, so while he's added his concoctions on and revamped some of the drinks they already had on the menu.

Next Door Lounge is owned by the same man as The Corner, but unlike the casual comfort food joint, Next Door Lounge is aiming for a sophisticated speakeasy feel. When I checked out the place with LA OC Foodie and e*starla, I got to really take in the space during the quieter early evening, and it's beautiful.

The cocktails are mostly $12, with a couple that run $14 (one of them also happened to be one of our favorites, the Volstead and Vice made with Ilegal Mezcal Joven, Pernod Absinthe, cucumber water, agave nectar, lime juice). Yep, we love smoky drinks.

Here are some more of the cocktails I liked:
The Dame Next Door (Canadian Club 12 yr, dry vermouth, clove-infused pineapple gomme syrup, pineapple juice, pasteurized egg white, angostura bitters)

See the key-shaped bitters sprayed on the drink? That's the Next Door Lounge logo.

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Mohawk Bend, Echo Park's Newly Opened, Extensive Watering Hole.

2011-08-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

If you were keeping tabs on who has the longest list of beers on tap in LA, you might want to add Mohawk Bend to the list. Opened yesterday, this bar in Echo Park carries over 70 beers on tap, all but five are dedicated to California craft beers. They have a full bar which is also all-California, and a full dining menu.

For owner Tony Yanow and GM Paige Reilly, this isn't their first venture in California beers. They opened Tony's Darts Away in Burbank which also has a California-only beer list, and a local brewery is in the works.

The space was a theater, more than 20 years unoccupied. As you enter, you will see the open kitchen on the left, and the bar on the right.

Worthy Burgers in OC: Joseph Mahon's Burger Parlor (Fullerton, CA)

2011-07-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

I never got to try Chef Joseph Mahon's burger while he was at Bastide, but everyone raved about it.
Naturally when he opened Burger Parlor in Fullerton, I decided I had to try it, OC or not (being in Pasadena, OC seems extra far).

Burger Parlor is sort of a permanent pop-up. The space is Rialto Cafe by day and Burger Parlor by night (Wed to Sat nights only at the moment).
In this casual and intimate space, regular customers can chat unintimidated with Mahon, and occasionally his wife and adorable baby boy.

There are nine burgers on the menu and thick cut steak fries, but a sign indicates that he can also construct something vegetarian-friendly. You need only ask.
Mahon has the burger basics down: good meat patty, ground daily from Nebraska Angus beef, and good buttery buns. Of course, he doesn't just stop there - more after the jump.
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A Pupu Party, LA Mag's Island Style Cook-off

2011-07-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't like pupu? No one, because who doesn't like Hawaii? In conjunction with the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, Los Angeles Magazine threw an island-style cook-off between four of LA's greatest chefs. A pupu cook-off. Readers tried the pupu and voted online over a period of few weeks, and it all culminated in a cook-off between two finalists at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows.

The winning pupu: Foie gras sushi
Chef Mark Gold, Eva Restaurant

The attendees don't want to just come and watch the cook-off, of course. We want to eat and drink and have fun. And those we did.
First, the drink. Pineapple Mosquito made with vodka, pineapple juice, liquor 43, mint, pineapple juice

We also ate the pupu prepared by the two finalists: Chef Mark Gold from Eva Restaurant prepared sushi with whole lobes of foie gras, tea smoked plum, and grated yuzu. Chef Neal Fraser from BLD prepared Hawaiian tuna poke with wasabi tobiko and sambal creme fraiche; he also prepared some spam banh mi.

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Product Review: Hell Fire Pepper Jelly, Aptly Named!

2011-07-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to try the ghost pepper, or enjoy the incredibly spicy dry curry at Jitlada. Basically, I can't really handle spicy food (although I'm getting much better). Still, when they offered a sample of the Hell Fire Pepper Jelly, I was curious. Yes, I'd love to try it! I've had jalapeno jam before and it wasn't all that spicy.

The small jar came with a cute little spoon. The golden color looks unassuming. It smells both spicy and sweet - hard to tell which way the taste will lean but it smells good.

I didn't have any bread at home, so I went over to Wandering Chopsticks' house and for the first taste spread it over white bread, took a bite ... sweet, a little touch of tartness, .. then it creeps up on me: oh my god, SPICY!

Hell Fire indeed! This was no jalapeno jam I randomly tried years ago, this thing is the real deal! Now, white bread is probably not the best way to eat this. WC suggested this would be a good dipping sauce for meat. Perhaps glaze for barbecued meat? Yes, I think that would work very well with this. It already has the flavor components of a sweet BBQ sauce, with a super kick.

Bottom line: if you like spicy and want to try something different, this one is for you.