Showing posts with label pork rillette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pork rillette. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Haven Gastropub (Pasadena, CA)

Haven Gastropub had become a favorite in Orange County, and it recently opened a second location in Old Town Pasadena, complete with a (future) brewery. I was recently invited to a media tasting and had a six course paired meal that went beyond the image I had in mind of a "gastropub." Sure, there were beer food, like the beef cheek poutine pictured below, but there were much more.

Poutine

Haven Brewery
The brewery part of Haven is encased in glass so you can see the stills. They weren't operating when I was there since they were still gearing up, but hopefully that will happen soon. In the meantime, they have plenty of great beers from other breweries on tap!

When I arrived, I didn't realize I was going to have my whole meal paired, so I ordered a beer to start off with: an Ommegang Aphrodite, which is a fruit beer made with raspberry and beer. It's not a sweet beer but it certainly is fruity.
Aphrodite
They also have cocktails that are riffs of old classics, like this Walnut Manhattan. I found the cocktails to be a bit unbalanced, though. I'd stick with the beers!
Walnut Manhattan
The first course was something I expected from a gastropub: Mac n' Cheese with black truffles, gruyere, fontina, parmesan. This was paired with Bacchus sour ale.
Mac n Cheese
This was a good version of mac n cheese, with a nice crispy crust and rich creamy cheese. I love the smell of fontina and black truffles.
The sour ale, Bacchus was great. It was not too sour and was pretty light.

There were also a trio of house marinated olives (the black olives were my favorites).

Next is the Pork Rillette - "confiture de cochon" served in a mason jar, house mustard, artisan bread.
These two were paired with Point the Way IPA from the newly opened Golden Road Brewery.
Pork Rillette
Pork rillete made in pork fat. Rich, with a nice (kind of fiber-y) texture.

Moving to the lighter side of the menu with Hiramasa Crudo - ruby red grapefruit, fresno chili, pickled shallot, micro peppercress, pink salt, arbequina oil
Paired with St. George Gin Fizz
Hiramasa Crudo
I loved the hiramasa crudo. The fish was fresh and meaty, the flavors lightly sweet and tart from the grapefruit. There was a crunchiness from chili (which was not too spicy) and also from the pink salt. I found the gin fizz, like the manhattan earlier, a bit unbalanced.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

A.O.C.'s Great Big Small Plates

AOC Wine Bar, another child of Suzanne Goin's, has become one of the most popular restaurants in LA, offering a selection of charcuterie and other dishes to share.

It's a wine bar so I had to get some wine - I ordered a Castilla y Leon which was very flavorful although not quite ready IMO.

Bread at AOC Wine Bar is served with these delicious spicy olives and tapenade. Most of us like it so much we just chow down on these olives by themselves.

The menu is quite varied, with a selection of charcuterie, fish, vegetables, meat and also items from the wooburning oven. We only had room for a small samplings of it this time around.

For veggies we ordered the Beets, Baby Carrots, preserved lemon and cilantro
Interestingly, the sweetest and most flavorful of the beets were the white ones! I thought the reds were just okay but the white ones were delicious. It was also a really nice change from all the beet-goat cheese preparations all over the city.

hamachi crudo, avocado, and pomegranates
Great crudo. I loved the combination with the avocado and pomegranate seeds here, all the contrasting textures playing around. The hamachi itself was also great and had just the right amount of fat. I'll definitely get this again next time.

Pork rillettes with pickled onions
Great pork rillette, albeit a bit fatty. The olive oil-drenched toasted bread was similarly delicious. The portion is actually quite big, but it made for an excellent lunch the next day!

Clams with garlic, cherry tomatoes, and vermouth
Great fresh clams with a delicious broth. I'm convinced garlic is the best thing to happen to clams. Or just the best thing period.

Marketfish (salmon) with braised cabbage, bacon, and apples
I wasn't crazy about the cabbage but the salmon was nicely done - tender, not overcooked- and goes very well with the apples.

Grilled skirt steak with black olive aioli
Delicious skirt steak with bold flavors. It's a skirt steak so tougher and a little chewier for some people but I actually love it, and the one at AOC is actually pretty tender. The black olive aioli is delicious! It did made the whole dish a bit rich, but hey, wine will cut that ...

Hosui pear and huckleberry crisp with vanilla ice cream
This may seem strange, but I actually like the crust part of crisps/cobblers/whatnot, so this one for me barley had enough of that. I also ended up eating the pear and huckleberry separately - not so sure about both combined.

Mexican chocolate pot de creme with caramel cream and spiced almonds
I think this was my favorite of the two desserts. I loved the flavor of spicy mexican chocolate. A bit on the small side compared to the crisp, but it's yummy.

AOC definitely deserves its popularity with its great selection of wine and delicious food.
I'm looking forward to coming back and trying more!

AOC
8022 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 653-6359
www.aocwinebar.com

A.O.C. on Urbanspoon

Gourmet Pigs   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP