Paella Thursdays at La Cachette Bistro

Sometimes what draws people to try a dish isn't just the list of ingredients, or the fact that it's a special menu item, but how excited the chef is about it.

I received an email from Chef Jean Francois Meteigner from La Cachette Bistro, saying that he had found spanish rice, piquillo peppers, saffron, etc and will start doing paella every Thursday at La Cachette Bistro. When I came in to try it, Fabrice Lorenzi (the GM) also mentioned how proud Chef Meteigner is of his paella. How could you not try it?

It's a classic paella with generous amounts of seafood. Last Thursday the Spanish rice, piquillo peppers, chorizo, were cooked in saffron with mussels, clams, prawns, scallops, and chicken.
The short grained Spanish rice is supposed to be very important to make a true paella as long-grained rice wouldn't absorb the liquid it's cooked in appropriately. Here, the rice is cooked perfectly al dente, surrounded by the fragrance and flavors of everything else. From the seafood to the chicken, everything was prepared wonderfully. Not just the bone-in chicken wing, I even enjoyed eating the white meat which here was tender and moist.

Other seasonal specials are of course available.
Morel mushrooms from Oregon are built into a beautiful feuillete.
The light and flaky pastry contrasts nicely with the chewiness and earthiness of the morels.

The cherry cobbler also came with a special touch: a homemade vanilla ice cream made with tempered chocolate and corn flakes.
You may not be able to tell they were corn flakes when you eat them but they added a really nice crunchiness. To top it all off: the chunks of tempered chocolate combined with the cherry filling was divine. I want chocolate to accompany all my cherry cobblers from now on.

The paella is served every Thursday and is priced ~$26.

La Cachette Bistro
1733 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 434-9509
www.lacachettebistro.com

How Merlot Takes Revenge

After going wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley, I finally sat down and watched Sideways, the movie that propelled central valley Pinot Noir to fame and unjustly gave a bad rap to Merlot. Do you like Bordeaux? Do you know that Merlot is one of the primary grapes that go into Bordeaux?

Finally, Merlot producers and other wine professionals decided things have to turn around. Well, there's only one way to do that, I suppose: let consumers try high quality Merlot.
Ian Blackburn of Learn About Wine organized a Merlot-centric wine event humorously called Revenge of the Merlot.

The event was held at the Elevate Lounge. While the main event was at night, I was invited to attend the "trade tasting" during the afternoon. Twenty nine wineries/importers were in attendance showcasing their wines, totaling more than fifty wines.

Despite its bad reputation in the movie, Merlot is the third most planted grape variety in the world with 640,000 acres to its name. The name Merlot came from the Occitan word meaning "young blackbird."

I was fortunate enough to attend the panel tasting, thanks to LAW & SauceLA's press invitation.
The seven wines we tasted were from:
1. 2006 Merlot, Gundlach Bundschu, Sonoma (~$30). Presented by Jeff Bundschu.
This wine had a sharp smell, but a fruity taste, medium body, and actually goes down pretty smoothly.
2. 2005 (Merlot w/ 15% Cab-Franc), Newton, Napa Valley. Presented by their winemaker, Chris Millard.
Mellower and earthier aroma than #1 but was actually more tannic. Richer and fruity, and the sharp tannins don't really linger.
3. 2006 Merlot from Carneros Valley, Silverado, Napa Valley (~$30). Presented by Russ Weiss.
Bold and darker flavors with a little herbal notes.
4. 2005 Oakville Merlot, Swanson, Napa Valley ($36). Presented by their winemaker, Chris Phelps.
5. 2007 Montes Alpha, Chile ($24). Presented by Alex Guarachi, President of TGIC Imports.
6. Cakebread Cellars, Napa Valley. Presented by Christopher Huber, VP of the Sales dept.
7. 2006 Jackson Park Merlot, Matanzas Creek, Sonoma ($49). Presented by their PR person, Joe Cicero.
Fruity, distinct spice, bright, with nice and light tannin. I enjoyed this.
Winemakers, owners, and other experts from each winery served as a panel and introduced their respective wines as discussion was led by Ian.

Oh, the panel also mentioned a new documentary about Merlot coming up, called Merlove.
(OK, cheeky title, but I'll watch it anyway).


One of the highlights for me was trying Twomey, a sister winery of Silver Oak. The main reason for my excitement was because I've tried to go to their tasting locations both in Calistoga and Healdsburg - both times on a Sunday, when they are both closed.
Twomey's Merlot is made using an old (19th century) and now rare technique called soutirage traditionnel, where the wine is never pumped.


I didn't taste all the wines available that day (I hadn't been spitting consistently) ...
Organic Cellar spotlighted a Prosecco Merlot, a refreshingly crisp sparkly. This was a nice change from all the red wines abound.

Another interesting booth is the TGIC Importers.
They had a variety of Merlots from Argentina, Chile, and more. He told me to first try the Pascual Toso 2007 Merlot from Argentina as it was to be the "most surprising," he said.
The Pascual Toso was surprisingly rich: fruity and had bright flavors. An easy wine to drink. Not a complex wine, to be sure, but if I'm looking for something in this price range (~$10) it's definitely a bottle I would consider getting. The Santa Ema Reserve Merlot from Maipo Valley, Chile was mellower, deep, and smooth.

There are certainly a lot of great Merlots around the world. Miles from Sideways may not drink any "f***ing Merlot" but he was so whiny throughout the movie anyway ... are you really going to listen to him?

UniqueLA: Shopping for Pig Stuff and Food

UniqueLA Marketplace brings more than 200 local independent vendors under one roof for two days at a time, all for your shopping convenience. I had never been to one before this last Spring show, so when SauceLA invited to attend as press, I happily accepted. I was so in the mood to go shopping.

This time UniqueLA was held at the penthouse of the California Market Center in downtown LA. Clothing designers, arts & crafts, greeting cards, LPs from Amoeba Records, and of course, food.

From the ridiculously cute pillows, stuffed animals, and more that I tried very hard to justify buying ...
to some high end, beautifully minimal home decor items I wish I could afford ...

I ended up spending my time around the $5 bins and "SALE" signs, of course.

When I saw this necklace at the Flea Market Girl's stand, I had to get it. I just had to.
Plus it was only $5!

But what would a GourmetPigs blogpost be without food. Moving on to the food ... there was the wildly popular peanut butter cups from Ococoa.
You wouldn't care for Reese's at all after you've had these. She also offers a variety of interesting flavors like Marzipan Truffle and Sunflower Honey, but they were not available for sampling. I guess I'll just have to buy and try them out later. Why must good chocolates be so expensive?

There was also PopShop with their organic gourmet popsicles.
Organic, no high fructose corn syrup, these are at least a little healthier than your grocery store popsicles, but with flavors like Mint Lime Mojito, Amaretto White Peach, Chili Chocolate, Lemon Basil, and more, who cares?

On the savory side, Flying Pig Truck had also set up a stand here. I've never tried them before and since their name held a strong appeal for me, I did so this time.
Braised Pork Belly Bun ($4):
It turned out to just be OK. I found the filling to be lacking in both portion and flavor to stand up to the thick bun. It could've been good, but it seems to me they're skimping a bit.

Besides letting you peruse cute things, get some great deals on clothes & more and support your local independent designers, and taste some "gourmet edibles" you probably had never tried before, UniqueLA also managed to raise $4000 for Greenwish. How's that for guilt-free shopping?