Showing posts with label 5x5 collaborative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5x5 collaborative. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Notable Events: 5x5, Ludobites Foie Gras, Asian Night Market

This Saturday, April 14, is Pasadena's (and LA's) first ever Asian Night Market! The list of 80 vendors at 626 Night Market looks promising with offerings from Japanese dango to stinky tofu to Indonesian satay. The night market will be held from 5-11:30pm on N Oakland Ave between Colorado and Union.


On Tuesday, April 17, Ludobites is holding a one-night "Best of Ludobites" foie gras dinner which costs $105 for 5 courses at Gram and Papa's. Reservation opens on Urbanspoon on Friday, April 13 at 10am.


The 5x5 Collaborative dinners are returning for another season to benefit the Special Olympics, this time hosted by Chefs Josiah Citrin, Michael Cimarusti, Gino Angelini, Michael Voltaggio and Rory Hermann. Each chef (plus a special guest chef each night) will prepare a course. The dinner costs $150 (wine pairing, tax, and gratuity not included) and you'll need to contact each restaurant for that dinner. Here's the dates and chef line-up so far:

Sunday, April 29, 2012: MELISSE, with Guest Chef Ludo Lefebre
Monday, May 21, 2012: PROVIDENCE, with Guest Chef Jeremy Fox
Monday, July 16, 2012: ANGELENI OSTERIA, with Guest Chef Michael Tusk
Monday, August 20, 2012: BOUCHON, with Guest Chef to be announced
Sunday, September 16, 2012: ink., with Guest Chef Chris Cosentino

You can take a look at a previous 5x5 dinner here.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Providence 5x5 Menu Revealed!

The 5x5 Chef's Collaborative will kick off at Providence on April 28, featuring guest chef Alessandro Stratta from ALEX, a one Michelin starred restaurant in Las Vegas for 2 consecutive years.

Here's the menu for the first 5x5 dinner:

Kampachi Sashimi
Ton Buri, Asian Pear, Red Radish and Fennel
David LeFevre

Santa Barbara Abalone and Prawn “Printanier”
Shellfish-Lemongrass Emulsion
Josiah Citrin

Timballo di Orzo in Foglie di Spinaci
con Piselli, Carciofi, Fegato d'Oca, Salsa di Funghi
Gino Angelini

Sauteed Wild Striped Bass
White Carrot Purée, Nettles, Fava Beans, Fennel Pollen
Neal Fraser

Roasted Duck "Apicius"
Spiced Pineapple, Rhubarb and Celery Root
Alessandro Stratta

A Café in Bordeaux
Canelé Ice Cream, Coffee Parfait and Toasted Hazelnuts
Adrian Vasquez

$150 pp, $215 with wine pairing

For the date/restaurant/guest chef lineup, go here.



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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

2009 5x5 Dinners Announced!

Five of Los Angeles top chefs gather together each year and hold five dinners at five restaurants, each of them, along with a guest chef, would prepare their own dish. This 5x5 Chefs Collaborative not only give us foodies a wonderful dining opportunity, it also promotes camaraderie among chefs and also benefit the Southern California Chapter of Special Olympics.

Come on, what more do you want?

This year's participating chefs are: Michael Cimarusti (Providence), Josiah Citrin (Melisse), David Lefevre (Water Grill), Gino Angelini (Angelini Osteria), and Neal Fraser (Grace) -- Fraser a new addition this year, replacing Walter Manzke.

This year's 5x5 dates have also been announced! And it will start with a dinner at Providence featuring Alex Stratta (from Alex, at the Wynn in Las Vegas). Here's the full lineup:

Tuesday, April 28, 2009: PROVIDENCE with Alessandro Stratta of Alex
Sunday, May 17, 2009: MELISSE with Gabriel Kreuther of The Modern
Monday, June 15, 2009: GRACE with Sean McClain of Spring
Sunday, August 23, 2009: WATER GRILL with Curtis Duffy of The Avenues
Monday, September 21, 2009: ANGELINI OSTERIA Guest Chef to be Announced

Prices for the dinners remain the same from last year at $150/year or $215 with wine pairing.


Here are some reviews from last year's 5x5 from around the blogosphere:

my review on the 5x5 at the Water Grill.

From Only Eat What Feeds Your Soul: Providence, Water Grill
From KevinEats: Providence, Water Grill
From Food Destination: La Terza



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Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Amazing 5x5 at the Water Grill

After reading tangbro1's review of the 5x5 Collaborative dinner at Melisse, I decided I had to try at least one of the upcoming ones, so I made a reservation for the Water Grill dinner on August 31. The guest chef for this dinner was Giuseppe Tentori of Boka (Chicago). Portion of the proceeds goes to the SoCal chapter of the Special Olympics.

We started with some amuse bouche by David Lefevre (of Water Grill). No, these aren't all mine. There were three of us, so one of each :)From the right was daikon radish, then crab cakes, and ... foie gras!

My favorite part of this amuse bouche, was of course, the foie gras!
The foie gras was amazingly smooth and rich! It was soooo good! It was served with an apple gelee, and the sweetness complements the foie gras perfectly! It was a bite of heaven!
A nice dish. All the accompaniments cut the richness of the uni and complement itvery well. You really have to eat them all together to get that unique combination of flavors!

Big Eye Tuna with Petite Mache, jicama, watermelon, pineapple. Served with quail egg and black quinoa, shellfish emulsion
Giuseppe Tentori, Boka
This was a nice and refreshing dish, with the watermelon etc on top of the fish. The tuna slices were nice and thick and the fish was fresh.

It seemed to me that the big eye tuna dish would've worked better as an amuse bouche and then followed by the richer foie gras and uni dishes ... not that I would've traded the fact that Chef Lefevre wanted to give us foie gras and uni for anything in the world O:)

Pan Roasted Sea Scallops with American Caviar and Yukon Gold Potato
Michael Cimarusti, Providence
The sauce was myer lemon-based but it was not tart as I was expecting. The diced potatoes gave it a bit of crunchiness - it reminds me of eating kettle chips :)
Scallop was nice, big and juicy. I think the saltiness of the caviar really took the dish to the next level.

Santa Barbara Spot Prawn Risotto with Asparagus
Gino Angelini, Osteria Angelini
I love Angelini's style - just simple yet excellent. The prawn was amazingly fresh and tender. The risotto was al dente and flavorful without overpowering the prawn. When I get hungry one night, out of all of tonight's food, this would probably be the one that I crave for.

Roasted John Dory, Mushroom Tart, Chorizo-Torpedo Onion Marmalade, Red Wine Mushroom Jus
Josiah Citrin, Melisse
This dish was good and nicely presented. The John Dory was tender and flaky. Overall it would've been very good, but then ... it was a little on the cold side, like it's been sitting out for a while :( Such a bummer ... Also, the toast was no longer crispy/flaky - it had gotten soggy due to sitting under the mushrooms.

Hawaiian Mero with Kobe Oxtail and Red Wine Sauce
Walter Manzke
Mero is a type of bass. It was nice and tender but it was cooked in duck fat on top of being a bass, so it's a very rich piece of fish.

Also, from the left we have the kobe oxtail on top of potato, followed by bone marrow on top of a slice of carrot, then spinach on top of celery root (and then the mero itself).
As you can see, this was a very rich dish. I started eating it, and while it was very tasty I felt that it needed something to cut the richness, so I decided to order the wine that was supposed to be paired with this:
Demetria, Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley, California 2005
The wine had been previously decanted and the result is an outstanding, smooth red wine! In the end the glass came out to $15, but it truly did go very well with the dish and cut the richness for me.

Yogurt Parfait with White Nectarine Sorbet and Clementine Sauce
John Park, Water Grill
This was also served with pistachio cake and pitted bing cherries. The white nectarine sorbet was superb. The yogurt parfait was nice and tangy - it has the consistency of flan, except not as smooth (since it's yogurt). Goes well with the pistachio crumbs and the clementine sauce.

Next came a big platter of the petit fours, including churros, pistachio and chocolate macaroons, lychee and pear jelly, peanut butter and jelly in white chocolate, and chocolate ganache.
The churros were extra sweet since the ratio of sugar coating/dough is particularly large in this case.
My favorites were the chocolate macaroons and the chocolate ganache.

Although we were stuffed, there's still one more little thing to devour. A small malt ice cream dipped in chocolate with rice crackers.

Overall it was an amazing meal! Having these chefs cooking for you themselves instead of the chef de cuisines really made a big difference, I think!
All the dishes were very well prepared and well thought of. If you guys can make it to the next one at La Terza, I would recommend it :)

Also, I managed to take photos with the chefs after the meal, fun fun :P

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