Anniversaries, Giveaways, Fat, and Pungentness

My one year blogiversary is coming up! Is that a real word or did I just make it up?
Anyways, I decided to do not one, but TWO special things to celebrate!! (celebrating is just an excuse, I just want to do it)
I need your input and I'm turning this into my one-year-anniversary-blog-giveaway-contest.

So the background: I am planning: 1) a foie gras crawl, and 2) a durian crawl.
Am I kidding? Am I /ever/ kidding? I am totally serious. Not on the same day of course.
Well, maybe.

So here's what I've come up with for #1) foie gras w/ eggplant at Orris, and foie gras with mac&cheese and black truffles at Chaya Brasserie. What other particular foie gras dish should I include? The rule is that it has to be on their regular menu - otherwise the whole plan will go down the drain!

For #2) durian smoothie from Simpang Asia, sticky rice with durian --> where?
Fresh durian from the Ranch 99 in SGV area. Any other durian foodstuff and where can I get them?

So
THE RULES:
You guys post what dish I should get for either #1 or #2 and where.
Post your suggestions in the comments section and include your email address so I can contact the winner.
You have until the date of my first post - Oct 23rd.

THE PRIZE: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations DVD

Eme's Little Bunting

I have heard rave reviews about Ortolan, so I finally decided to give it a try. Ortolan's chef, Christopher Eme, probably has two claims to fame: 1)He was a chef at L'Orangerie and 2)he is married to actress Jeri Ryan.

We were there on a weekday for an 8 o'clock reservation and the restaurant is almost empty - only two other tables in the front dining room, which had these really nice white booths. After my dinner that night I was undecided about their service, and I'll tell you why...

We were seated immediately and were asked if we would like any wine or champagne. We don't really drink so we declined and just asked to tap water. It seems like after this we were ignored ... For about 15 minutes in such a practically empty place, we were not given any menu. After 15 minutes someone came by and asked if we were ready for order. "I'd like to see the menu" was, naturally, my only response. (I wanted to add "Uhm, helloooo???!" to that).

Anyway, after that, the menu came immediately. We ordered crispy langoustine and seared foie gras for appetizers. Maybe because these were big ticket items, maybe because the guy could see that I was *unhappy*, or maybe because I were taking photos of the food and they figured out I'm a blogger - whatever it was, the service from then on was impeccable.

The first amuse bouche were two types of soups (warm) served in test tubes with straws.

The orange one was a carrot soup - good (I don't like carrot soups ...).
The red one was a tomato soup, and I don't remember what the green foam was. This was delicious!

The second amuse bouche was different than most other places - a pretty big bowl of eggplant caviar, to share for the whole table.
I loved it. It was unique and delicious. The flavors worked very well together and it has a nice, rich, creamy texture. I also loved the presentation in the stacked bowls.

The crispy langoustine appetizer was supposed to be one of their signature dishes:
It was okay ... From a signature dish I was expecting flavors dancing around in my mouth, but that didn't really happen. It was good langoustine and all, but overall didn't really stand out in my mind. Three pieces of langoustine - $24 ... hmm, I didn't think it was worth it.

So moving on to my seared foie gras:
Now this is more like it!!! This wasn't on the menu but was suggested to me by the server when I told him I like foie gras but not terrine. The seared foie gras was served with cherries - a sweet combo! One of the better foie gras dishes I've had and my favorite dish of the night.

So the chef (Eme) comes out to each table to explain all the main entrees to everyone. I thought it was nice to maintain some personal interaction like that.

One of the entrees we got was the Cod with Paella:
I thought the paella was a bit bland for a paella and the sausages being on the side was rather hard to cut and thus to incorporate into each bite. The cod, on the other hand, was perfect. In other words, it was cooked perfectly and had just the right tenderness and flakiness. And by "right" I meant "ooh, I never knew this is how cod could really be!"
So, 100/100 points for the cod, but the dish in its entirety needs to be tied together better.

For my entree I got the Pork "Maine-et-Loire" three-way.
Interesting presentation. The best part of the dish is the pork confit hidden under the spaghetti carbonara. The bulk of the dish was the two pieces you see to the left. They are, unfortunately, a little dry :( I loved the spaghetti+pork confit and the stuffed bell pepper, but the rest was just okay ...

I got the "Lime Gelee, Coconut Emulsion" dessert because it sounded interesting.
I was kind of disappointed ... It wasn't really anything special and it was also pretty small.

We also got the chocolate tart (with raspberry and vanilla ice cream)
Much better! A rich and dark-chocolatey chocolate tart. The raspberries and the vanilla ice cream helped cut that richness perfectly. Yummy.

Oh, and I didn't take pictures, but one of the highlights of our meal was the chocolate truffles that they gave us at (near) the end (before the petit-fours)!! They brought a tray with jars of chocolate truffles with different flavors: coconut, lime, earl grey, praline .. mm what else...
Anyway, these chocolate truffles were very2 good. I didn't know how many we can have, so we just asked for two flavors each. They were so good that I asked them if I can buy some to take home!! After asking the pastry chef, they agreed. I chose the flavors I wanted and brought home a box of about 8-10 truffles. They charged me for an additional dessert, which was $12. It ended up being a great deal! Cheaper than, say, Chuao (or Leonida's, even?) and much better truffles!

Chef Eme held the door open for us as we left the restaurant! This made us leave the restaurant feeling happy and important and that the restaurant gives amazing service (but then I remembered their initial blunder - which left me undecided ... I guess overall they do give really good service).

Ortolan
8338 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048.
(323) 653-3300
www.ortolanrestaurant.com

DineLA 08: Chaya Brasserie

We went to Chaya Brasserie for the dineLA menu. There were three of us and it was the first time for all of us.
Before proceeding with the dineLA menu, one of my friends ordered the seared foie gras with black truffle mac and cheese:

After one bite of this, the rest of us decided to order another one to share. The mac and cheese was excellent and you can really smell the black truffles! The seared foie gras was great (although not the best ever). The thing is though is that eating both the foie gras and the mac and cheese together were strange and personally I don't think they complement each other. Individually, however, they were excellent.

Now, on to the dineLA menu: Everyone ordered the lobster ravioli.

The sauce was good, but all in all the dish was just okay. The lobster inside the ravioli was not particularly good. Rather flavorless, in fact.

Next up is the entree. We got one of the fish and two shortribs to share.
The fish was flavorful, but the rice even more so.

This was a pretty good dish. The fish was not as dry as it seems and was in fact quite moist.

The short ribs though, in our opinion, was by far better.

I am partial to short ribs to begin with, and this one is tender and moist. To top it off, the risotto with champignon and black truffle oil was excellent. I just love that truffle smell. Mmmm.

For both entree, although we really liked them, we noted that the rice/risotto is more flavorful than the main meat/fish. If you eat them together, they tend to overpower the meat/fish.

The dessert for the prix fixe was pretty simple, nothing particularly worth noting. Got the ice cream cookie sandwich and the gelato. They were good and end the meal nicely, but nothing special.

The service was good throughout the night. They changed the gelato flavor of the day in the middle, and when I got the green tea instead of the banana walnut, I made an unhappy face, so the waitress brought me the other one also. I ended with two scoops of gelato now.

If I have to sum it up, I enjoyed the meal. The food was very good although their combination of sides and main meat do not really go well together. But I wouldn't give up any of the sides ... I just want to eat them individually.

Food: 8/10
Service: 8.5/10

Chaya Brasserie Beverly Hills
8741 Alden Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Who doesn't love a SALE?

OK, you're reading a food blog, so obviously we're talking about food-related sales here.
Some of you may have made it there already, but 2 weekends ago (Dec 14-15th), a food import warehouse (Epicure Imports in Hollywood) held their seasonal public sales event. I couldn't made it on the first day, but I did go on the second day. Hopefully I didn't miss anything significant?

It was a huge warehouse and they carry everything from oil, imported water and sparkling lemonades, to baking goods, raw nuts by the pound, and truffles.

The best part, of course, was the cheese room! Basically a walk-in fridge, they had all kinds of cheeses from all over, and of course, foie gras.
Duck foie gras, goose foie gras, ... 2 oz can, 1 lb bag, you name it, they have it.

I bought a tiny can, and also 2 oz. of whole black truffles. Not sure how to best prepare them at the moment. Any suggestions??
They had Valrhona chocolates on sale for $1.99 per bar so I got a bunch of those. Also a carton of Orangina.

Some of the items were not that much cheaper than normal, and some items were already expired. I heard the wine was heavily discounted but I didn't buy any since I decided to drink only socially :P

All in all though it was definitely a fun event to go to, and some good buys can be had. And it's fun just to see everything they carry.

Epicure Imports
6900 Beck Ave
North Hollywood, CA 91604
818-985-9800

Sushi Katsu-Ya Encino- where sushi seems an afterthought

I met up with some friends at the Katsu-ya in Encino a few nights ago. While I've been at the Katsuya in Brentwood, I haven't been to the other ones so this Encino trip is a first. It is a decidedly different atmosphere than the Brentwood robata bar (although they are both loud).

We ordered some standard sushi dishes, along with their specials of the day. All in all, I thought the sushi was ... so so. Maybe because we were not sitting at the sushi bar? The yellowtail and salmon nigiri sushi were okay, but nothing special. The special dishes however (the cooked and marinated sashimi plates) were amazing and very unique/creative.

The first of those was the seared foie gras with scallops (the scallops are hidden underneath the foie gras). This was a very good dish. Not the best foie gras ever, but interesting and definitely flavorful.

Next was the scallops and kiwi with yuzu vinaigrette. Who would've thought of putting scallops and kiwi together? I guess they did :) and the size even fit perfectly too. The kiwi goes very well with the freshness of the scallop sashimi, and the yuzu adds an excellent touch.Then there was the garlic albacore with black truffles. They come and shave the black truffles tableside. Garlic albacore was standard, good marinated albacore. The black truffles were aromatic and a really great addition.

Also, not pictured (camera was giving me trouble at that point) was the baked eggplant. This eggplant dish was really really good! It had a unique flavour that we all went ga-ga for. The baked eggplant was stuffed with albacore and other various yumminess.

We also had the lobster dynamite, baked with mushroom. Very good lobster dish. I was not too crazy with the mushrooms, but all in all still quite tasty. We had the green tea tiramisu for dessert. Really liked the taste, and the cream was excellent. The only down side was that in certain parts there were no ladyfingers and just cream, so we couldn't really eat it.


Sushi Katsu-Ya in Encino
16542 Ventura Blvd.
Encino,CA 91436
818.788.2396

Orris: Going Big on "Little Dishes"

You know when you hear about something, made a mental note to try it out, then forgot about it for the longest time? Orris was one of those for me, but I finally suddenly remembered it yesterday!
I was considering trying out Simon LA although I've heard mediocre review, then I remembered Orris! And boy am I glad I did :)
It was one of the best meals I've had in LA!

Orris blends among the stretch of restaurants and shops on Sawtelle, so it doesn't particularly stand out when you drive by. Being on Sawtelle, the atmosphere is pretty low key and quiet (even though Jonathan Gold called the atmosphere "fancy" I don't really agree), so I was pleasantly surprised with all the delicious food that welcomed me inside.

Orris specializes in "little dishes" representing "world cuisine" created by Shiro of South Pasadena. Each dish has a recommended wine pairing, though we did not try any this time around.

First up was the Smoked Salmon Croquette. Very good, though I would have liked a bit more salmon.

Followed by the lobster spring roll. Also good (but I prefer my lobster grilled and drizzled with lemon and a bit of garlic butter.)









Next was sliced beet topped with Etorki cheese. This was excellent! The combination was perfect and it was my first time having this outstanding cheese. Loved it!










Also, tomato burrata. Yum. We had to order another one of these.

We also had dungeness crab and cucumber salad. The ingredients used were very good, although a different sauce may be better.

Next was the lamb loin carpaccio and the ahi sashimi with onion relish. Both were excellent dishes! The lamb carpaccio was topped with Spanish Manchego cheese which made a perfect combination.

After all this excellent dishes though, the final was indisputably the highlight of my meal ...

Seared Foie Gras with Eggplant, w/ Sweet Soy Wasabi Sauce.
Oh my god ... just thinking back about it now >_<
I can still remember the taste on my tongue, the texture ... OMG! The eggplant and the foie gras made an unexpectedly excellent combination, and the sauce! This was definitely one of the best foie gras dishes I've had!

I could not find this on the menu on their website, it might have been a special ... oh no ... the thought of not being able to eat it ever again!! I'm getting depressed ... I will look back on this photo and sigh when I'm old ...

Well, to not think about the depressing stuff right now, I will show you the dessert! We had the only dessert they had left: the flourless chocolate souffle. I must say this was a very very good dessert, but I don't quite see why they called it a "souffle." It sure was good though :)


Orris
2006 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90025
(310) 268-2212