Weekly Wine & Corkage Deals - Los Angeles

This is a hopefully growing list. If you know of a deal, let me know!
Note: I haven't personally checked out these deals, so call first and confirm before you go.

Monday

• Free corkage. Cafe Pinot, Downtown.
• Free corkage (limit 1 bottle/2 diners). Il Forno, Santa Monica.
• Free corkage. Josie Restaurant, Santa Monica.
• Free corkage. Providence, Hollywood.
• Free corkage. Ray's and Stark Bar, Mid City.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Bar and Kitchen (at the O Hotel, downtown), Los Angeles.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. La Cachette Bistro, Santa Monica.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Lazy Ox Canteen, (downtown) Los Angeles.
  
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Momed, Beverly Hills.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. RivaBella, West Hollywood
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine under $90. Taste on Melrose, West Hollywood.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Wilshire Restaurant, Santa Monica.
• $25 for any bottle of wine. Whist at the Viceroy, Santa Monica.

Tuesday

• Free corkage. Cafe Pinot, Downtown.
• Free corkage. Daily Grill, multiple locations.
• Free corkage (limit 1 bottle/2 diners). Il Forno, Santa Monica.
• Free corkage. Josie Restaurant, Santa Monica.
• Free Corkage. Osteria Mamma, West Hollywood.
• Free corkage. Ray's and Stark Bar, Mid City.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Chaya Venice, Venice.
• 1/2 off select bottles of wine. The Churchill, West Hollywood.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. The Hungry Cat, Hollywood.
• 1/2 off most bottles of wine (some bottles excluded, ask server). Meet French Bistro, Culver City.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. The Raymond, Pasadena.
• 1/2 off bottles of wine. Rush Street, Culver City.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Bar and Kitchen (at the O Hotel, downtown), Los Angeles. 
  
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Coupa Cafe, Beverly Hills.
• 1/2 off select bottles of wine. Sadie Kitchen and Lounge, Hollywood

Wednesday

• Free corkage. Cafe Pinot, Downtown.
• Free corkage (limit 1 bottle/2 diners). Il Forno, Santa Monica.
• Free corkage. Ray's and Stark Bar, Mid City.
• Free Corkage. The Raymond, Pasadena.
• Free Corkage. The Royce at The Langham, Pasadena.
• Free Corkage. Colorado Wine Company, Eagle Rock.
  
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. AKASHA, Culver City.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine from the Garden Courtyard list. Buffalo Club, Santa Monica.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. The Edison, Downtown.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. La Grande Orange, Pasadena
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. The Hudson, West Hollywood
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Tam O'Shanter, Atwater Village
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Wolfgang's Steakhouse, Beverly Hills.

Thursday

• Free corkage. Cafe Pinot, Downtown.
• Free corkage (limit two). Meet French Bistro, Culver City.
• Free corkage. Ray's and Stark Bar, Mid City.
• 1/3 off all bottles of wine. POP Champagne & Dessert Bar, Pasadena.
  
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. The Edison, Downtown.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Saddle Peak Lodge, Calabasas.

Friday

• Free corkage. Cafe Pinot, Downtown.
• Free corkage. Ray's and Stark Bar, Mid City.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Saddle Peak Lodge, Calabasas.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. Il Buco Ristorante, Beverly Hills.

Saturday

• Free corkage. Cafe Pinot, Downtown.
• Free corkage from 12-5PM. K-ZO, Culver City.
• Free corkage. Ray's and Stark Bar, Mid City.

Sunday

• Free corkage. AKASHA, Culver City.
• Free corkage. Cafe Pinot, Downtown.
• Free corkage. Celestino, Pasadena.
• Free corkage and 1/2 off select bottles of wine. Chaya Brasserie, Beverly Hills.
• Free corkage. Ray's and Stark Bar, Mid City.
• Free corkage (if not on their wine list). Craft, Century City.
• Free corkage (limit 1 bottle per 2 diners). Culina, Beverly Hills
• $1 corkage. La Cachette Bistro, Santa Monica.
• 1/2 off all bottles of wine. BOA Steakhouse, West Hollywood.
  
• 1/2 off select bottles of wine. Chaya Downtown.

Sneak Preview: Mendocino Farms (Marina del Rey)!

With their DTLA locations getting rave reviews, I've been curious about the Mendocino Farms sandwiches. Their newest location in Marina del Rey is slated to open on Thursday. Luckily, I was invited to their pre-opening tasting preview last night.

When you enter Mendocino Farms, you'll be given a paper menu on which you'll place your order, line up to pay, get your food and find a seat. Casual is the name of the game.
A bonus for the MDR locals over the DTLA locations: beer/wine license is coming in a few months!

The future keg spot:

The future Enomatic wine system spot:

With beer/wine and these great sandwiches, this may soon be the MDR hangout! Plus, the braised lamb sandwich and the pork belly banh mi would go quite well with a glass of red.

Cos, like, we would know ...
I have to thank Sue, one of the winners of the Tasting Event giveaway, for bringing this bottle of Petite Syrah! Made my braised lamb sandwich even better! (And hey it was a private event so we can bring wine ... )

I highly recommend the Pork Belly Banh Mi! We didn't get a whole sandwich during the event, but they did pass out the little pork belly crostinis for us to taste.
The sweet and rich caramelized kurobuta belly is offset by the jalapeno and the julienned vegetables. Unlike your normal banh mi, here they will serve it on top of a panini grilled ciabatta.

The Braised Lamb sandwich ($9.75) was also very good. This was on their seasonal menu and they said it'll go off menu (to make room for perhaps a Lobster Club 'wich and other sandwiches featuring heirloom tomato) in a month, so hurry and get it now.
This sandwich is for the game meat lovers only, because they're probably the same group of people who would equally enjoy the Cypress Grove goat cheese that's spread inside this sandwich. I didn't think the lamb was particularly gamey but the combination of lamb and goat cheese - which I thought gave a deliciously strong flavor - might not be for everyone.

The Fort "We Should" Bragg Melt ($8.25) w/ tuna and smoked gouda had good flavors and a nicely grilled bread, though I thought the tuna smelled a bit too fishy.


I tried the vegan sandwich "My Vegan Trip Through India" ($9.25) with chickpea and spinach patty. It was alright and well ... vegan. I'll have more lamb and pork belly, s'il vous plait.

Right before you reach the cashier, you'll be tempted with a case of the side deli items.

I'd recommend the curried orzo as it was the most flavorful.

You will also place your drink orders here at the cashier. Before the liquor license goes in full effect, specialty drinks like blood orange lemonade and lemongrass green tea are worth getting.
The blood orange lemonade is sweet while the lemongrass green tea is unsweetened but accented by a lovely lemongrass aroma.

Mendocino Farms caters, and when you order catering you can get a slew of desserts from Dolce Forno. If you eat in, you can grab one of MF's special recipe cookies!

I tried the hazelnut tart (available for catering orders), a decadent mini tart that's almost like chocolate-topped pecan tart, i.e. that's chocolate+caramel+nuts.
I tried their chocolate chip cookie also, and its bulging shape easily made it a combination of the crunchy and chewy cookie, depending where you're biting. Get one and indulge, it's definitely worth trying.

Marina del Rey workers rejoice, here's your new lunch spot.


Mendocino Farms
4724 Admiralty Way
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 822-2300
http://mendocinofarms.com/

SF: A Mini Degustation at Masa's

It was an unplanned visit to a one-Michelin-star, James Beard award-winning restaurant.
Road tripping to SF to run experiments, I didn't plan on doing any fine dining and was only armed with jeans and tennis shoes. But scrambling to a "really good place to eat" that's kinda nearby and is vegetarian friendly somehow led us to Masa's Restaurant's website.

It looked good.
I mean, it looked really good.

And then my friend said she doesn't mind the $$$ splurge. Oh man. So in a sweater, jeans, and beat-up tennis shoes I went (she was more dressed up than me). The only thing I had going for me was my purse I think. Oh and we had no reservation.

We went by Muni to a JBF-winning restaurant and walked in at 7 PM on a Saturday night. The restaurant was about 70% full. Can you take 2 for dinner?

Yes.
No fuss about my tennis shoes in a white tablecloth place either.

Executive chef Greg Short trained for a long time under Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, and he even sent him to stage at Taillevant.

While the menu listed a 5 course menu and a 9-course tasting menu, it also stated that they can do just 3 courses upon request.
I already knew I'd be late for another friend's party so we asked for the 3 course menu.

To start off, warm gougeres with 6-month-aged cheese.

For the bread I asked for a cheese-coated focaccia.

Canape: Grilled aji, cucumber, paprika.

For my friend they prepared a vegetarian Canape: Potato blinis, banana


Asparagus- Green-Purple
easter egg radishes, pea sprouts, perigord truffles, asparagus jus
Texturally the crisp radishes stood out, but what I was inhaling was the delightfully strong aroma of the Perigord truffles. The earthiness was not something I would think about combining with the clean and crispness of this vegetable-based dish but it turned out to be quite lovely.

For my vegetarian friend:
Composition of Early Spring Vegetables
roasted purple and white cauliflower, fava beans, brussels sprouts, baby spring leeks, rapini, maitake mushroom "cream", pine nut "dust"


My main entree:
Pan Roasted Paine Farms Squab Breast
braised swiss chard, pickled field rhubarb, "confit" leg, grenadine gastrique
Discounting my Alinea meal (since Masa's actually happened before), this stood out to me as one of the best squab dishes I've had in a while. The breast is very tender and full of flavor. The meat is a little gamey and just overall amazing. The leg confit had a nice crispy skin but the breast is the star here.

The main entree for my vegetarian friend:
Baby Artichokes
russet potato gnocchi, fermented black garlic, roasted vegetable stock, reggiano parmesan

For desserts we just got the two that our server suggested:
Strawberry Hazelnut Shortcake
Chantilly, black pepper ice cream.
This was a nice and light dessert with a soft and crumbly shortcake. The black pepper ice cream worked quite nicely here, adding depth to the sweetness of the strawberries and the chantilly. A delicious pacer before I hit our second dessert:
Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart
Cafe au lait ice cream.

We're not done of course. Upon entering the restaurant I had already noticed the mignardise cart sitting on the side.
I didn't want to seem greedy so we only got lychee pate de fruit, fleur de sel caramel truffle, chocolate covered canele, etc.
It was a leisurely meal and of course I was late to my friend's party, but I had a great dinner with great food and gracious service, so no complaints or regrets on my part. The three courses were enough food, but I also can't wait to come back and do a more extensive tasting, hoping that most of his dishes would be as strong as what I had this night.
My friend also really enjoyed her vegetarian menu (fyi: non-meat-eaters).

Oh, we left by taxi instead of Muni. That's classier, right?

Masa's Restaurant
648 Bush St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 989-7154
www.masasrestaurant.com