Showing posts with label ray garcia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ray garcia. Show all posts

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Ray Garcia Opens BS Taqueria in Downtown LA

It was six years ago that I first had Chef Ray Garcia's braised tongue with tomatillo and breakfast radish, back when he was starting out at FIG. Now, you can have that same amazingly tender tongue on handmade corn tortillas (made with nixtamal) at his newly opened B.S. Taqueria in Downtown LA.

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Also not to be missed is the clams and lardo taco, topped with garlic chips.
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Surf and turf? The lardo adds a wonderful richness but it's the flavor of the clams that shine through. Add to that the crunchy garlic chips.
There are also three great salsas available on the tables, but these tacos were already so flavorful I found I didn't need to add anything extra.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Two Upcoming Food Events Not to Miss!

It's been a while since I've announced upcoming events. Apologies, I'm trying to keep up! 
But, there are two coming up in February and March that you should definitely keep in mind. 

The first is on Sunday, February 23 (4-8pm): Cochon 555
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This is the sixth year for Cochon 555 and this year there will be 7 chefs from Los Angeles and Las Vegas competing, each using a different breed of pig from a different ranch. The full lineup and info is available here, and it includes Ray Garcia from Fig, Lindy & Grundy, Jet Tila from The Charleson, Christian Page from Short Order and more.
Besides the pork, there will be a bourbon punch competition, a bourbon bar, dessert from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, a cheese bar from Rogue Creamery and La Brea Bakery, and more booze.

Tickets are $125 for general admission or $200 for VIP early admission (plus fees) and can be purchased here.

Where: Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows
101 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401
When: Sunday Feb 23rd, 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
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The second is LA Weekly's sixth annual food event, now dubbed The Essentials, on Sunday March 9th

The event coincides with the publication of their 99 Essential Restaurants special issue and you'll be able to find some of their restaurants during the event!

New participating restaurants this year include Sqirl, Chi Spacca, HomeState, Bucato, Horse Thief BBQ, Star King BBQ, Bestia, while there are old favorites like Starry Kitchen, Animal, and Jitlada. Get the full lineup here.

Coffee and booze sponsors include Handsome Coffee Roaster, Clover Juice, Pinnacle Vodka, and more.

Ticket for The Essentials is one of the cheaper ones for food festivals in Los Angeles, going at $45 for general admission (1pm admission) and $65 for VIP admission (12pm admission - sold out now, sorry!). Tickets can be purchased here.

Where: LA Mart in Downtown LA, 2nd Floor
1933 Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
When: Sunday March 9th, 2014

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A Must! Table-to-Farm with FIG's Chef Ray Garcia at McGrath Farm

The phrase "farm-to-table" is everywhere, but Chef Ray Garcia from FIG at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica brings the table to the farm, quite literally.

FIG has frequently had Farm Dinners before, where a local farmer will come to the restaurant and talk to the diners about their products. Well, now they think it would be better if the guests come to the farm and see directly where the produce grows! And whoever thought of it, they were right. Our farmer's dinner at the McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo was one of my favorite dining experience to date.
Beet and Triple Creme Goat Cheese

They will soon open this farmers' dinners to the public and I was fortunate enough to join a sneak media preview at McGrath Family Farm. We took a bus from the Fairmont Miramar up the coast.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Phil McGrath, who then personally gave us a tour of his farm. McGrath Family Farm (and the Camarillo/Oxnard area in general) is known for its strawberries, which they said was one of the most expensive crops to grow. At their market, they had both Gaviota (big and juicy) and Seascape strawberries (small and sweet).
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Monday, September 6, 2010

In The Kitchen with Chef Ray Garcia (Recap, Recipes)

Los Angeles Magazine has been holding cooking demonstrations titled In The Kitchen, featuring a different LA chef each time. The next event will be on Wednesday, September 15 with chef Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD.
The event runs from 7-9pm at the Snyder Diamond showroom in Santa Monica and costs $40 (see LA Mag's webpage for more info).

If you've never read the previous reports and are wondering what to expect from this event, here's a recap on the last In the Kitchen with FIG's chef Ray Garcia.

Some hors d'oeuvres from Snyder Diamond's chef.

FIG's bar concocted this amazing Blood Orange and Beet Bellini
Recipe:

1 oz Solerno (Blood Orange liqueur)
2 oz Sanguinello Puree
1 oz Beetroot juice
3 oz Prosecco

Combine ingredients in a tin or beaker and stir over ice. Strain into a champagne flute. Finish with a tiny flower garnish.

After munching on the appetizers and drinking wine and cocktails, we were seated at black-clothed tables and Chef Ray Garcia began his cooking demonstration.
While watching Chef Garcia cook and our dish to be ready, we snacked on some stuffed dates.


The two dishes were paired with Kunin Wines from Santa Barbara county. The winemaker from Kunin was present and explained his pairing logic.

For the main recipe, Chef Garcia seems to have focused on being healthy, using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock for his Red Beet Risotto (you can see the recipe here).

Dessert:
Chocolate Pot de Creme (this was paired with Kunin Zinfandel, trying to balance the sweet creaminess with some acidity)
Recipe:
7.5 oz semisweet chocolate (64%). Chef Garcia uses Cordierra colombian chocolates.
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 egg
9 egg yolks
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp granulated sugar
contents of 1 vanilla vean
pinch of kosher salt

1. Scald milk and cream with vanilla bean, salt, and half of the sugar. (Do not let the milk boil).
2. Add hot liquid to the chocolate and mix until all chocolate is melted and incorporated.
3. Whisk together the remaining sugar with the whole egg and egg yolks.
4. Slowly whisk warm chocolate liquid into eggs and pass through a fine strainer.
5. Pour mixture into ramekins or pots. Remove any air bubbles by gently "burning" containers with a blow torch.
6. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in water bath at 225' for 25-30 mins.
All attendees left with a goodie bag, which always contains the latest issue of Los Angeles Magazine, and usually some wine and cupcakes!


Full disclosure: I attended this event as a guest of Los Angeles Magazine's PR.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

April Bloomfield Dinner at Melisse

Although this year there has been no news on the 5x5 Dinner series, Angelenos can still indulge in guest chef dinners at Melisse. This summer, Chef Josiah Citrin welcomes Chef Christopher Kostow of Restaurant at Meadowood, Chef April Bloomfield of The Spotted Pig and The Breslin in NYC, and Chef David Kinch of Manresa.

I was able to go to the Bloomfield dinner and enjoyed a six (more like seven) course meal prepared by Chef Bloomfield, Chef Citrin and Takayama of Melisse, and Chef Ray Garcia of FIG. Chef April Bloomfield opened The Spotted Pig, New York's first gastropub, in 2004. It was a huge hit and the restaurant with its seasonal British-pub/Italian has maintained its one Michelin star since then.

This dinner is a collaboration hosted by Melisse, so naturally the amuse bouche and bread come from Melisse.

The meal started with Foie gras with yuzu and Melon, mint, pistachio.

Bread service: Basil brioche, bacon focaccia

Since it's Monday and I didn't want to spend even more money, I opted for a glass of wine instead of doing the wine pairing (an extra $75). I ordered the 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine de La Solitude which was meant to be paired with the Boudin Blanc course. Despite being a fairly young wine, I found it pretty smooth.

Wild Japanese Kanpachi
Sorrel, cucumber, passionfruit-espellete // Josiah Citrin and Ken Takayama
The richness from the sorrel nicely highlighted the kanpachi.

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
Crisp olives // April Bloomfield
This gazpacho turns out to be a good introduction to the food of Chef April Bloomfield: bold flavors and strong on the spice. The crisp olives were a nice textural touch and were something I could munch on all day.

Squid Basquaise
Nduja, forbidden rice, piment d'anglet, prosciutto // Ray Garcia
Part of the squid was stuffed with nduja, a spicy pork sausage which originated from Calabria, and forbidden rice (a type of black rice). The dish was finished with chorizo romesco sauce. This dish is a good followup to Bloomfield's gazpacho with its equally strong flavors. The squid had a great texture although there were a little too much nduja in the pieces that were stuffed.

Boudin Blanc
Sauteed market potatoes, basil & pickled mustard seed // April Bloomfield
This boudin blanc was made with pork and veal. The potatoes were flavorful and moist although I preferred eating them separately from the sausage.
Interestingly, I didn't think the Chateauneuf du Pape actually paired that well with this dish. The boudin blanc brought out the tartness and acidity in what was before a rich and smooth wine and unfortunately this tartness overwhelmed the food.

Arctic Char
Spiced lentils, anchovy-pine nut bread crumb //April Bloomfield
The fish was cooked perfectly and had a nice skin but the lentil and anchovy-pine nut crumb were a little too salty and strong in flavors. Fortunately the tomatoes really helped cut this saltiness. I enjoyed the flavors but the salt could be toned down - or add more tomatoes.

Snake River Farms Wagyu Beef
Chanterelle mushrooms, Brentwood corn, summer truffles, "jus de boeuf acidule"
// Josiah Citrin and Ken Takayama
In the back were braised short ribs and potato galette. Even without reading the menu, upon looking at and tasting this dish you should know that this was not April Bloomfield. The dish had more subtle and balanced flavors. Yes, this was very much a Melisse dish. My only complaint was that the wagyu was tougher than I would've liked.

Strawberry, Basil, and Pistachio //Josiah Citrin and Ken Takayama
Berry sabayon, brown butter ice cream over pistachio vacherin, finished with basil emulsion. A solid and refreshing dessert from Melisse (although my heart still lies with their Passionfruit Parfait with lemongrass soup).

Persian mulberries, apricot, creme fraiche, canele, and a housemade raspberry chocolate truffle
The Persian mulberries were the juiciest and sweetest mulberries we've ever had while the delightful truffles melted in our mouths.

The three dishes by Chef Bloomfield gave a pretty good idea of her style. Each dish was excellent with strong and bold flavors which no doubt would work wonderfully at a casual gastro-pub but in my opinion as part of a tasting menu where progression of the meal itself is important, their flavors are too strong. They lack the restraint that Chef Josiah Citrin showcases in his dishes.

Next up: Chef David Kinch of Manresa on Monday, August 23rd!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Recipe: Red Beet Risotto by Chef Ray Garcia, FIG Restaurant

Los Angeles Magazine held another In The Kitchen event on June 16th at the Snyder Diamond showroom in Santa Monica, this time featuring cooking demonstration by Chef Ray Garcia of FIG restaurant.

I'll have a full report out soon, but in the meantime, you can enjoy the recipe for this delicious Red Beet Risotto from Chef Garcia!
It's made with vegetable stock too so it's healthier, lighter, and vegetarian friendly.


Red Beet Risotto

by
Chef Ray Garcia
FIG Restaurant
Santa Monica, CA







Beetroot Purée
2 red beets
1/2 medium onion
16 oz vegetable stock

Risotto
5 cups Carnaroli Rice
1 onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
7 oz red wine
2 cups vegetable stock
4 oz beetroot puree
3 oz unsalted butter
3 oz parmesan cheese
2 oz crème fraiche
2 tbsp chopped dill
2 tbsp chives

Garnish
5 each: yellow & red baby carrots, white & green asparagus
10 pieces golden beetroot

1. Boil red beets and onion until soft. Transfer to blender or food processor and purée. Set aside for later.
2. In a new pot, heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté onion until fragrant.
3. Add rice and bay leaf, cook for 2 minutes.
4. Pour wine into pot and allow to reduce by 3/4.
5. Add stock, one ladle at a time (wait until previous stock boils off before adding more), and stir frequently until risotto achieves desired texture.
6. Add beet purée and stir to incorporate. Finish with butter, parmesan cheese, crème fraiche, herbs, salt and pepper.
7. Blanch vegetables for garnish in salted water. Sauté with butter and season with salt and pepper.
8. Serve risotto in a medium-sized bowl, topped with sautéed vegetables.

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