"A Dose of Vitamin P" for FoodGPS!

Since FoodGPS had a disappointing week in pork, the bloggers who went down to Tijuana for the Pork 5 ways meal decided to each do A Dose of Vitamin P, dedicated to FoodGPS! (For those of you who didn't know, P here stands for Pork. FoodGPS highlights the best pork dish in his weekly Dose of Vitamin P.)

My Vitamin P was this tosta de cachete con erizo from Chef Jair Téllez of Laja in Valle de Guadalupe. He had run out of food within an hour so I was the only one in the group who had it (sorry!). Here you have uni and avocado on top of a "toast" made with pork cheek. Sweet, creamy uni. Crispy, fatty pork. Mind, blown.

Toast? Crostini? BORING. Crisped pork needs to be the new toast. Bruschetta with crispy pork. I'm going to smear foie gras torchon on a piece of toasted pork cheek. Pork rillette on pork, anyone?

For more porkporkpork, check out my fellow adventurers Street Gourmet LA, e*starLA, and My Last Bite who are all supposed to be posting their Dose of Vitamin P today.

Lunch Prix Fixe at The Kitchin (Edinburgh, UK)

The menu read: "Ravioli of game from the border"

I (stupidly) asked: "which border?"
The waiter looked at me. "The England-Scotland border."
Oh, right, silly me. I was in Scotland.

Having survived on grilled sandwiches (sorry, "toasties") for lunch that whole week and dining at bars/pubs with friends (which were awesome) after my conference sessions, I treated myself to one nice lunch: The Kitchin. The Kitchin was opened by husband and wife Tom and Michaela Kitchin in 2006 and six months later, in 2007, won a Michelin star.

Gougere and an assortment of vegetable chips

Their tagline? From Nature to Plate. Meat sourced from a local game-keeper, hand-dived scallops, and mushrooms from around Edinburgh hunted by the Kitchins themselves.


Dining at The Kitchin is pretty expensive, but luckily they have a three-course lunch prix fixe for £24.50. The wine list was also notably expensive. The cheapest glass I could find was £9.50 (almost $15). Regardless, a glass must be had.


As an amuse bouche, I started with a bowl of Langoustine Bisque over tomato. It was cold in Edinburgh, and this bowl warmed my body right up as I hunted for the langoustine pieces.

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Dec 8: Pig Out in Tijuana, Head to Tail

Mexico? It ain't that far, and this Wednesday is the perfect time to cross the border. How does a pork feast, from head to tail, with paired wines for 350 pesos (about $35) sound? Talk about a deal! Yup, on Wednesday December 8, you can partake in 5 Chefs, 5 pork preparations, 5 Baja wines at Villa Saverios in Tijuana.

Here's the chefs' lineup:
Chef Max Bonacci from The Linkery and El Take it Easy (San Diego,CA)
Chef Benito Molina from Manzanilla and Muelle Tres ( Ensenada)
Chef Jair Tellez from Laja (Valle de Guadalupe) and Mero Toro (Mexico City)
Chef Paul Zamudio from Peacocks(San Jose del Cabo)
Chef Javier Plascencia from Villa Saverios, Casa Plascencia, and Mision 19 (Tijuana)

Paired with wines from Valle de Guadalupe:
Adobe Guadalupe
Aborigen
Sinergi VT
Tres Valles
Vinisterra


For reservations, call Villa Saverios, from the US dial 011-52-664-686-6443,ext. 104.

Wednesday, December 8,2010, 7PM.
Villa Saverios
Blvd Sanches Taboada
Esq. Escuadron 201
Zona Rio, Tijuana, Mexico

Tea Tree Tea (Edinburgh, UK): A Solace for Tea Lovers

I thought being in the UK, I would find quality teas around, but going around Edinburgh, I was disappointed to mostly serve Twinings tea bags. Granted I was in Scotland and not England … but really? Just Twinings everywhere?

I was therefore extremely excited when I found Tea Tree Tea, a shop specializing in loose leaf teas, just two blocks away from the conference center (and around the corner from Starbucks). I accidentally discovered it on my walk to the Edinburgh Castle and made a mental note to stop on the way back.


Tea Tree Tea is a charming little shop with friendly people. It's usually pretty quiet and they have free wi-fi to boot!
On my first visit I had a chai latte to warm me up after a long walk around the city and the castle.This lighter version is a nice change from all the sugary, powdery ones you find at chain coffeehouses.

I also like their attitude:

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This Saturday: The Taste of Mexico Bicentenntial and Eat My Blog Bakesale

Here's the plan. On Saturday morning, head to the Eat My Blog Bakesale. This bakesale benefiting the LA Regional Food Bank was first put on my bloggers and now include some bakeries and restaurants around the city as well (its last sale included Bakelab, Angeli Caffe, and more).

Chocolate cloud cookies from Bakelab and other goodies

The deets:
Saturday, Dec 4, 2010, 10am-4pm
Tender Greens (West Hollywood)
8759 Santa Monica Blvd


Since the holiday is near you can expect a lot of eggnog flavors and Yule logs. And since some of the food bloggers are mighty creative you can also apparently expect curry macarons (I'm curious ..) or bacon brownie with bourbon caramel sauce. Oh and I'm buying the Yoda green tea Oreos because it's Yoda!

This time I'm looking forward to Starry Kitchen's durian flan cheesecake! I'm not sure how many people will be buying a durian dessert in WeHo but I'm certainly planning to. Roomies, I apologize in advance about how the fridge will smell.


After you stuff your loot in the fridge, you'll head to The Taste of Mexico Association's Bicentennial Celebration: "200 Years of Mexico's Cuisine." At this event, you can taste regional Mexican specialties from Guelaguetza, La Casita Mexicana, Frida Mexican Cuisine, and La Monarca Bakery. Oh, and lots of tequilas, of course.

The deets:
Saturday, Dec 4, 2010 5-10PM
Cathedral of Saint Vibiana
214 S. Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

Ticket proceeds ($75 presale, $100 at the door) will go to benefit Heal the Bay.

1886 at The Raymond (Pasadena): Reliving the Heydays of Cocktail

The Raymond restaurant in Pasadena is a long-standing restaurant with about 35 years of history. Under its new ownership and management though, The Raymond is getting revitalized with a new chef, and now a new bar featuring hand crafted cocktails that pay homage to how cocktails are classically made.

Honey Nut Old Fashioned

The Raymond had solicited Marcos Tello and Aidan Demarest from Tello Demarest Liquid Assets as consultants of the new cocktail program, which holds true to "how cocktails used to be made": homemade syrups and hand crushed ice and all. The 1886 Bar is named after the year that The Raymond Hotel (which no longer exists) was opened. The building was actually the caretaker's cottage and the historical building is an appropriate stage for these cocktails.

The bar will officially open in early December but it is now in its soft opening stage and was already packed when I visited. The full specialty cocktail list of about 25 isn't fully available currently but you can still choose among about 10 great cocktails.

The cocktail list during the soft opening featured bold flavor and a lot of spices (think mescal with ginger or jalapeno). The honey nut old fashioned strikes strong at first taste but turns into an excellent, well balanced cocktail with a hint of nuttiness.

For the winter months, you can warm up with the Hot Cider Toddy (apple brandy, maple syrup, apple cider).

1886 also has an eclectic menu of bar appetizers. We started with the Hamachi sashimi with cucumber and melon, which I didn't see on the bar menu but was recommended by the manager.

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The Tap Room at The Langham Pasadena Launch Party

The restaurant and bar at The Langham in Pasadena have undergone a massive revamp of concept. The Dining Room, last manned by Chef Michael Voltaggio, have reopened as The Royce, headed by Chef David Féau, previously of Patina Group's Cafe Pinot. The bar is now reopened as The Tap Room and is one of the few places in Pasadena offering hand crafted cocktails (the list is expanding, thankfully, with 1886 at The Raymond).

 

I was able to attend their launch party about a month ago and checked out the swanky spot with its plush couches and a cozy patio overlooking the lush lawn.

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Tasting Spanish Olive Oil at The Bazaar: All the Things I Never Knew

Did you know that Spain is the largest olive oil producer in the world? Spain produces 52% of the worldwide olive oil while Italy produces 21%. There are 2.5 million hectares of olive trees in Spain. That's about as big as the state of Massachusetts!


I was recently invited to a tasting of olive oils from Spain led by Alfonso Fernandez Lopez from the LA trade commissioner of Spain. Different farmers from Spain have put together their resources for this event, where I learned so much about olive oils. We tasted four olive oils and proceeded to partake in a multi-course lunch prepared by the staff of Jose Andres' The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel, with each course centered around olive oil.

I have an open bottle of olive oil in my pantry that's probably been there for months. Little did I know that an open bottle of olive oil will only maintain its full aroma and flavor for 15 days!

Tasting olive oil turns out to be as rigorous as tasting wines and there are many varietals with distinct characteristics.

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First Time at My Family's Own Restaurant: Kogyo (Surabaya)

There's definitely a conflict of interest here since I'm actually talking about my family's restaurant. My mom opened Kogyo on the 2nd floor of Sutos (Surabaya Town Square) in January but I haven't gone home to Indonesia since then until very recently. Finally could see and taste it for myself!

I don't want to seem like I'm promoting our own restaurant, but you know, after hearing about it for 10 months, I got excited about finally going there myself.

The whole thing started when I brought blogger friends Mattatouille and Glutster to Indonesia last year, and talking about the Kogi hype to my mom, it seemed natural that with a real Korean and a real Mexican in town, we should try making it ourselves.

It's a small and casual place with mid range prices. My mom tends to say you can't find another place serving US rib eye at our prices in town (the local beef is so much tougher compared to the marbled US beef).

The menu is mostly Korean plus some non-Korean items my mom is proud of (like her niu ru mien aka beef noodle soup which seems to have a small following of its own). There are people who come a couple times a week just to have the beef noodle soup.

Photo by my brother.

Our most popular item is probably the Durian Mochi.

The chewy mochi skin is made fresh and the mochi is filled with cream and real durian monthong! I've never had anything like it before and loved it. Props to my mom for thinking up something like this.

I try helping out with the menu by suggesting some items. So far I've contributed Pat Bing Su (aka Korean shaved ice), and soon dubu is not far in the future ..

I never told my mom about the Kyochon/Bonchon hype here, but she must've known about Korean fried chicken from somewhere else, since I found these fried chicken wings with sweet and spicy plum sauce on the menu.

I didn't get to try everything, since we still ate at home or went out to other places to eat while I was there, but I really like their burrito too. Guess I'll have to wait until 2012 to try the rest.

Kogyo BBQ
Surabaya Town Square (SUTOS) unit 1-46 (2nd floor)
Surabaya, Indonesia
@KogyoBBQ

The Luggage Room Pizzeria Brings Much-Needed Good Pizza to Pasadena

I’m pretty excited about the new food places that had opened their doors in Pasadena lately, from Cham to Intelligentsia and now: The Luggage Room, the pizzeria attached to La Grande Orange, housed in the old luggage room of the Pasadena train station (hence the name).

I received an email invitation for dinner during the first week they opened. When I went the place was already teeming with customers.

The menu features a short but varied list of appetizers and pizzas, just enough to please everyone.
We started the bacon wrapped dates ($9) which dangerously came in half-dozens.

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Dining (and Drinking) at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Edinburgh, UK)

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a members-only club where you can enjoy specially bottled and rare whiskies from around the world. While a membership will cost £100, it turns out that the Edinburgh location (their first location) has an attached restaurant that is open to the public. Getting an affirmative answer to whether or not we can get their society whiskies at the restaurant, I booked a table of twelve to celebrate a colleague’s birthday.


Celebrating your birthday in Edinburgh drinking whiskies? Lucky dog.
Our party was big enough to warrant getting their private room (we feel special!)

The food at SMWS is indeed expensive, especially considering the currency conversion, but apparently if you come early enough they have a special 3-course menu that’s reasonably priced. Alas, we didn’t make the cut and had to order a la carte.

We each started with a wee dram our server had recommended: 21 year aged Glenkichie, cask strength.

Then, amuse bouche. Where else would your amuse bouche comes with a glass of whisky?

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Edinburgh, UK

Casual Dining
Oink
Tea Tree Tea
The Verandah

Bars/Pubs
Ghillie Dhu
Whiski Restaurant and Bar


Fine Dining
The Kitchin
Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Shops
Demijohn, The Liquid Deli

SUGARFISH: Quality Sushi, "Everyday Luxury"

Emmanuele (Lele) Massimini and his friends were avid fans of Sushi Nozawa and made the trek from Santa Monica to Studio City every week for Chef Kazunori Nozawa's sushi. When Chef Nozawa mentioned his concept of bringing his high quality sushi at a cheaper price to them, the SUGARFISH team was born.

Photo courtesy of SUGARFISH

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Corkbar: Test Kitchen Tuesdays, Gougeres, and Pork Sliders

This warm and spacious downtown wine bar is designed by Ana Henton (who also designed Intelligentsia Venice), with nice touches like the hanging shelves of empty wine bottles.

Corkbar's wine list is dedicated to California wines, and so is their beer list for the most part. The food menu changes seasonally with some mainstay items. I was invited by their PR to taste their new Fall menu, although since I have never been, I tried a lot of their somewhat permanent items.

Every Tuesday, Corkbar holds what's called TKT or Test Kitchen Tuesdays, where Chef Albert Aviles will try out and serve a new dish for just $2. Last week it was a bowl of Chile Verde, for which chef Aviles even called his mother for her recipe.

Chili meets chile verde for a hearty, spicy bowl. For $2, they gave very generous portions.

One don't-miss appetizer is the Cheddar Cheese Gougeres ($7)

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An Appeal: Donate to Indonesia Disaster Victims

You may know that Indonesia, my home country, has been hit with three natural disasters in the past month, from earthquake and tsunami to volcano eruption. I'd like to take a page in this blog to raise awareness and hope to get some people to make a donation for the victims of these disasters.


 Villages covered in ash after Merapi volcano eruption
Photo by satria_adi1

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake and 3m (that's 10 feet) tsunami in Mentawai, Sumatra now has a toll of 400 deaths and 300 missing, with hundreds still injured. Six villages were destroyed and about 12,800 people are currently living in camps. Building temporary shelters, feeding and healing the victims, as well as rebuilding what once was a surfer's paradise will require a lot of help and resources.

If you'd like to make a donation to the Mentawai victims, you can do so through SurfAid International
 or Food for the Hungry.

 -----------------------------------------------------

The Merapi volcano in Central Java (one of the most active volcanoes in the world) erupted yet again yesterday, spewing hot smoke all day long. This was the fourth eruption since it first erupted just a little over a week ago. On top of the death and injured tolls, about 20,000 people have been evacuated from their homes which may have been burnt or covered in ash. That's 20,000 people who will need shelter, food, and medicine. Worse yet, they fear Merapi will continue to erupt over the next month.

If you would like to help the injured and evacuated children victims of Merapi, you can donate through Save the Children.

Any of your help would be greatly appreciated by these victims.

Star(Chef)-Studded Iron Chef Dinner at Sashi

This past summer, Chef Makoto Okuwa of Sashi in Manhattan Beach challenged Chef Michael Symon on Food Network's show Iron Chef. This wasn't the first time Chef Okuwa is on the Iron Chef show, as he was actually Iron Chef Morimoto's sous chef before opening Sashi, but this was the first time he's there on his own.

To celebrate his appearance, Sashi set up a special dinner filled with superstar chefs including Iron Chef Morimoto himself, Top Chef Master Michael Voltaggio (who lives nearby and is a big fan of Sashi), Noriyuki Sugie (Ironnori/Breadbar), chef Sonny Sweetman (Exec chef of Wolfgang Puck), and chef Waylynn Lucas (Exec pastry chef of Patina).

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Demijohn, The Liquid Deli (Edinburgh, UK)

Demijohn was an incredible find on Victoria St. While looking for Oink, the Scottish hog roll store, I passed by this storefront with their sign touting “Gooseberry Gin.”

Naturally I walked a little closer, and saw bottles of various shapes on the window, with handwritten labels. Nelson’s Spiced Rum Liqueur? Seville Orange Gin? How could I not check it out?

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In The Kitchen with Neal Fraser: On Ad Hoc Cooking and Searing Scallops

Last month I attended Los Angeles Magazine's "In the Kitchen" event held at the Snyder Diamond showroom with Chef Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD.

As usual the night starts with some appetizers made by a chef from Sub Zero/Wolf, Brian Beaudry, including endive bites, mushroom with truffle oil on toast, and smoked salmon-wrapped asparagus.

After we sat down, chef Fraser walked us through his recipe of making Sautéed Day Boat Scallops with Risotto, midnight moon, English peas. It turns out that Chef Fraser is quite a funny guy, and apparently hates measuring ingredients (thus claims to be a bad pastry chef). He had actually forgotten to bring some basil for the recipe, but when you're an experienced chef you know what to substitute to get the right results.

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Ile de France Camembert: The Cheese for Cheese Lovers

Camembert, with its strong aroma, is not a cheese to be taken lightly. This cheese first originated in Normandy and is made from cow's milk and its surface ripened usually for at least three weeks.

Since Ile de France just came out with a new recipe for their camembert cheese, they offered me a sample for review. It came to my doorstep via overnight delivery.

Now, keep in mind that this, as any other cheese, should be eaten at room temperature, where the camembert will be wonderfully runny. Since I like taking cross section shots I did this one before it's at room temperature and ready to eat:

It should be even runnier than this:

The camembert may look like brie, and is as smooth and creamy, but a simple sniff will tell you the difference. A strong nutty and musky aroma; no, this is no simple brie. The flavor is more intense as well: earthier and nuttier

So, I decided to do a recipe with the camembert this time around *gasp*. Don't be too surprised though, as I'm no great cook I'm doing a grilled camembert sandwich!

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Recipe: Sautéed Day Boat Scallops, Pea, Risotto (Chef Neal Fraser)

At Los Angeles Magazine's "In the Kitchen" event held at the Snyder Diamond showroom, Chef Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD shared his recipe for sautéed day boat scallops, served with risotto and English pea sauce.
(Save the date for Nov 10, where Loteria Grill's Chef Jimmy Shaw will do a cooking demonstration. Details here.)

Sautéed Day Boat Scallops
Risotto, midnight moon, English peas
by Chef Neal Fraser (Grace, BLD) - serves 4 people

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Blogger Prom 2010: If High School Was ...

Blogger Prom is what your prom might've been like in high school ...
If you were of legal age of drinking during high school and the organizers of your prom secured alcohol sponsors and a signature cocktail.

If said organizers had access to Yamashiro, the restaurant with the best view in the city.

(and when there's a giant screen showing our tweets all night long because we're okay being geeky like that)

If everyone dressed their best and ended up on the LA Times blog!

Nastassia from Let Me Eat Cake and one half of the Manila Machine

If prom came with duck or black cod tacos for dinner!

If no one judged you for stuffing yourselves with truffles from Chocobox and two Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches.

... plus a selection of cheese and dried fruits from Barrie Lynn, The Cheese Impresario, including her infamous "cheese sex" (a 10 year old cheddar from Hook's Creamery).

If prom kept feeding you for the next two weeks with coupons from Manila Machine, Border Grill, Sprinkles, and 7-11 (and kept you smelling good too with all the shampoos and deodorants).

The best part? We all raised $2,400 for Operation Frontline!

Many thanks to the Blogger Prom committee members LA & OC Foodie, Caroline on Crack, e*starLA, Happy Go Marni, Liquid Muse, LAist, ShopEatSleep, and When Tara Met Blog for putting on a great party.

Celebrate Fall: Pumpkin Pinkberry (FREE mini today 4-7 PM)

Today Pinkberry launches their new Fall flavor: Pumpkin Pinkberry!

They delivered small sized cups of the new flavor to my office this morning so I can sample it with my coworker. The new yogurt, made with real pumpkin puree, was topped with their featured toppings: crunchy honey graham crackers, Pinkberry Swirly Whip and a dusting of cinnamon.

It reminded me of pumpkin pie for obvious reasons, but was much lighter and more refreshing since it still had the sour flavor characteristic of Pinkberry. Bottom line: we all really enjoyed it.

The Pumpkin Pinkberry, as well as graham crackers, cinnamon and pomegranate seeds will be available through the end of the year.
But just for today (Friday, Oct 22), if you go to a Pinkberry between 4-7 PM, you can get a FREE mini pumpkin pinkberry so you can sample the new flavor firsthand!

Table20 Celebrates LA's Best Bartenders

My personal opinions aside, Table20's contest on LA's Best Bartenders certainly brought some of the city's best together at downtown's Elevate Lounge with some mighty rum punches.

The night had started slow and since I overestimated traffic, I arrived 30 minutes early (in LA? Impossible!). I ended up waiting at Takami and had one of their $4 bar snacks, calamari with rice krispies crust. Not a bad portion for $4.

Since the bartenders were still preparing their punch, we first had to wait outside the lounge, but the management graciously provided a drink ticket for the bar at Takami.

Sure, some of my other favorites were missing from the contest, like Julian Cox and Pablo Moix, but 5-6 glasses of punch are enough for a night. I say 5-6 because there were supposed to be 6, but The Edison's Joe Brooke went MIA that night.

A special shoutout to the only female finalist, Dee Ann Quinones from STREET, The Parlour Room, and Philippe Chow.

My favorite drink of the night ended up being Cole's bartender Max Diaz's Red Sparrow Punch.

I might have been biased towards this cider-like hot drink as it was raining outside, but it was definitely a great drink regardless!
For this punch Max Diaz combined the Don Q Anejo rum (one of the sponsors) with apple cider, cabernet sauvignon, green chartreuse, and a "secret syrup" that, alas, shall remain a mystery.

At the end of the night, Matt Biancanello was crowned Best Bartender in LA. The skills of Matt Biancanello are already well known in the city from his creative concoctions at the Library Bar such as the Shiitake Manhattan and Arugula Gimlet. Congratulations to Matt, all the other finalists, and the other great bartenders of Los Angeles!

Kōloa: The Rum of Kaua'i

Kōloa Rum is the first rum to be distilled in the island of Kaua'i, combining the best resources in Hawaii (sugar and pure water) in copper pot stills. Founded in 2001, Kōloa started producing unaged rum last year and is currently aging some in bourbon barrels.

They produce four types of rum: white, gold, dark, and spiced. During a recent tasting event, I got to try the first three along with some great cocktails made from them.

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An L.A. Pilgrimage: Langer's Deli

I finally made it to Langer's and one visit was enough to see why everyone loves their pastrami.

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Oink (Edinburgh, UK): Scottish Hog Roll and Crackling!

What better way to get customers in the door than a whole roasted pig on the window?

That's exactly what Oink, a little shop on the similarly-little Victoria St, does to get you to try their Scottish hog roll.

Not that the gourmet pig could've passed by a pink pig-shaped sign that says Oink without going in. 

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The Pantry (Santa Fe, NM): Breakfast with the Locals

The Pantry was probably the most memorable breakfast I had in Santa Fe.
The PR for Taste of Santa Fe set us up for breakfast at The Pantry. When we arrived the place was bustling with locals. The Pantry is a Santa Fe institution that first opened its doors in 1948. Since then it has changed ownerships a few times but it seems to be doing quite well under the current owners, the Singley family. The son had just graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Scottsdale and is on track to take over the business.

As most meals in New Mexico, The Pantry provided one big, heavy, breakfast.
After waiting a day and a half, I finally got my sopapillas!

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