Addictive Scones at the Gordon Ramsay

I went to have afternoon at the Gordon Ramsay at the London Hotel in West Hollywood with a bunch of other foodies, including LA&OC Foodie - we've been looking forward to it all week!

In the daylight the interior of the Gordon is classy and gorgeous. White walls with some gilded decorations. Pastel colored chairs contrast with the dark tables. It also has a great view of LA.The afternoon tea menu is fixed (at $28 per person) and all you have to do is choose the tea. Compared to Jin Patisserie or the tea rooms, the choices are fairly limited with Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Green tea, Darjeeling, etc. There were a couple of interesting choices such as Tangerine and Cassis. I opted for some fresh mint tea.

The fresh mint tea is made with real fresh mint leaves - not the dried stuff! I absolutely love the aroma of fresh mint (hence my fave cocktail is mojito).

Everything were brought out at once but T forwarded us a little article about proper afternoon tea etiquette, and you were supposed to start with the scones, so ... first up! Plain and raisin scones (one of each per person), served with blueberry jam and chantilly cream:
These scones were amazingly delicious and addicting. Very buttery, and with the wonderful blueberry jam and cream they gave us, each bite was just absolutely divine. The scones were definitely the highlight of our whole experience. We had to keep asking for more blueberry jam since it was soo good - they really should've just given each one of us our own dish of jam :P

We also had some spinach mini quiches that were oustanding!
The center of the quiche is very moist and gooey - a cheesy wonderful texture.

There were 4 types of sandwiches for everyone: Smoked salmon, prawn cocktail, prosciutto and mozzarella with pesto butter, and goat's cheese with sundried tomato and watercress.
Our favorite of the sandwiches were the Prawn Cocktail - fresh raw prawns with nice texture.
But I will show you a close up of the prosciutto instead just because I thought it looked nice :P
The rest of the sandwiches were also good. Great quality, solid taste, although they do not stand out.

Each person gets half of each type of pastry (one for every 2 people). The different pastries, from the left, are: Coffee&Walnut Cake, Lemon Tart with pistachio, Chocolate&Lavender cake, Fruit tart with lychee cream, and Lemon Pound cake.
I thought they were good but not outstanding - the chocolate lavender cake was my favorite, but overall cannot compare to cakes at, say, Jin Patisserie, or the ones at Ritz Carlton's afternoon tea. Lemon pound cake was pretty good, though.

I would come back for afternoon tea here just for the scones alone, even if nothing else. Knowing they have fresh mint tea will also make me come back though. It was a nice pleasant afternoon with nice views, good food (great scones), good fresh mint tea, and excellent company!

Gordon Ramsay
1020 N San Vicente Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 358-7788
http://www.gordonramsay.com/gratthelondonwh/

WineMaking 101: The Harvest and Crush

Okay, kids, let's learn how to make one of the most important fluids in the world: wine!
We're talking red wine here specifically.

I started making wine 3 years ago, when my professor at UCLA asked his students if we were interested. We bought 100 pounds of Sangiovese grapes from the Home Wine, Beer, and Cheesemaking Shop which is also a great resource on equipments and brewing nutrients.

That was the last time we bought though. That year and the years following, my prof's grape vines have started to bear fruits and we've been getting grapes from those vines.
So. First step - you harvest. Before the harvest, test your grapes regularly for its brix/sugar content. High sugar content will make much better wine (higher alcohol content)- if it is too low you have to add sugar but the natural sugar is always better. The later the harvest, the sweeter the grapes will be, but you may lose quantity.

Get the grapes in bunches and throw them in a barrel. We use the big gallon trash cans - new/clean of course! Don't worry about the stems/leaves at this point - we will get rid of those later, just get as much as you can.No, you don't have to wear funny outfits like we did. The only reason for the masks was that we were having bee problems.

Next, you destem and CRUSH.
The Home Wine, Beer, and Cheese Shop has a destemmer that will do the work for you, but in our low volume backyard process, I just crush them with my feet :)
It's been a tradition!

So destem the grapes, get rid of the leaves, throw them into a big, shallow bucket. Then CLEAN FEET in, and crush crush crush.

Once everything is crushed, measure the specific density - this will tell you the sugar content. 22 brix will give you 11% alcohol - Aim for 24 brix or so. The Shop's website also has a great list for charts etc on how much sugar/water to add to correct your sugar level.

Next you add the sulfite, tartaric acid, malo-lactic, super super food (nutrients for the yeast), and also water and some yeast. Grapes will have a white coating on its skin (see photo above) which will be covered with yeast. It is better to use natural yeast, but if there is not enough yeast you will end up with vinegar, so to be safe add some yeast.
Again, there's a chart/recipe on how much to add. People will tend to modify this based on experience, but of course I cannot disclose our secret recipe :P

We put everything in our big clean trash can. After these nutrient addition, cover the top of your crushed grapes with plastic - very important to make sure everything is covered and airtight! Air will promote the growth of bacteria and give you vinegar!

Then put on the cover for your trash can and leave it to brew for a week or so. Check the specific density every day. It should go down as the yeast is brewing, and you'd want to wait until you get as close as possible to zero.

When you hit that point .... we'll talk about it next time: PRESSING!

In the meantime, you have to get on to the most important part of the harvest .... The Feast :D
Always have a feast, with wine of course, when you're done harvesting ;)

Anniversaries, Giveaways, Fat, and Pungentness

My one year blogiversary is coming up! Is that a real word or did I just make it up?
Anyways, I decided to do not one, but TWO special things to celebrate!! (celebrating is just an excuse, I just want to do it)
I need your input and I'm turning this into my one-year-anniversary-blog-giveaway-contest.

So the background: I am planning: 1) a foie gras crawl, and 2) a durian crawl.
Am I kidding? Am I /ever/ kidding? I am totally serious. Not on the same day of course.
Well, maybe.

So here's what I've come up with for #1) foie gras w/ eggplant at Orris, and foie gras with mac&cheese and black truffles at Chaya Brasserie. What other particular foie gras dish should I include? The rule is that it has to be on their regular menu - otherwise the whole plan will go down the drain!

For #2) durian smoothie from Simpang Asia, sticky rice with durian --> where?
Fresh durian from the Ranch 99 in SGV area. Any other durian foodstuff and where can I get them?

So
THE RULES:
You guys post what dish I should get for either #1 or #2 and where.
Post your suggestions in the comments section and include your email address so I can contact the winner.
You have until the date of my first post - Oct 23rd.

THE PRIZE: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations DVD

Tonight, Black Truffle Dinner

This is a last minute announcement, but if you haven't decided where to go for dinner, why not say Farewell to Black Truffles with La Terza?

A 7-course meal, all with black truffles for $75!

Menu
Scrambled eggs and black truffles
Tuna tartar, assorted citrus, black truffles and Sicialian pistachio
Pan roasted whole quail, soft polenta and black truffles
Open ravioli, porcini mushrooms, black truffles and cream of parmigiano
Veal shank agnolotti and black truffles
Beef filet, quail eggs, black truffles and port reduction
Vanilla and black truffles gelato

$ 75 excluding tax, gratuity and beverage.
***full menu also available***
Please call La Terza for reservations (323) 782-8384

Go To Noodle House for Bao

After reading exilekiss' rave review on the generically named "Noodle House" aka Mian Hsiang Yuan in Monterey Park (not to be confused with the Noodle House in Arcadia), I suggested it to a bunch of friends for dinner.

We wanted to try everything and ended up ordering a little too much, but it was cheap enough that it didn't really matter that much.
We started with some green onion pancakes (we wanted leeks but then were getting the leek dumplings so ....):As exilekiss noted, it is much less greasy than what you would normally get at other places. These are nicely crisp. Delicious. Great start to our meal.

As far as the noodles, we ordered the beef stew noodle.
The one at Arcadia's Noodle House is better for actual noodle dishes. This one is less flavorful, the noodles too soft, the meat less tender, and also has less character. It's not a bad dish - it just doesn't quite compare.

exilekiss raved about the jiao zi (dumplings) and the handmade dumpling skins, so of course we ordered some of those. We got the pork and leek one (we love leek, what can i say):
Nice juicy filling, and the freshly made dumpling skin is great. But personally I like my dumpling skin thinner, and thus I like Din Tai Fung's dumplings better. Don't get me wrong though, these are still very yummy. These are jiao zi, and very good ones at that, but I like my jiao zi pan fried and I like my steamed dumplings to be xiao long baos :P

We also got the shrimp and pumpkin dumplings, because it sounded so interesting.
Definitely unique, and the flavors work pretty well, but it's too sweet a dumpling for me, and I probably won't get them a second time. I would recommend that people try it though, just for a taste. It's pretty good just not to my taste.

The one that takes the cake for me though, is actually the Bao Zi (buns). The dough for the baos are also rolled fresh to order, and is filled with juicy juicy pork.
I expect juiciness from a dumpling/xiao long bao, but this is the first time I bit into a bao and delicious juices started spurting out! Possibly the best bao zi I've ever had - and definitely the best one I can remember having recently! The dough is thin - enough to hold it together. It was fresh and so moist and absolutely delicious!
Again, the filling is tasty and so juicy.

The main contributor to the deliciousness of this meal was the freshness of everything. The skins of dumplings and buns dries up and hardens quite quickly - by the end of the meal, and so it is imperative to eat everything IMMEDIATELY. Otherwise you won't know what you're missing.

Noodle House (Mian Hsiang Yuan)
958 E. Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91755
Tel: (626) 280-0831

Meet Me at The Edison

A few weeks ago we LA-based bloggers had a nice little get together organized by CarolineOnCrack. The setting was The Edison Bar in downtown, during one of their Tuesday Speakeasy nights. Everyone else was already there by the time I got there, and were sitting on a long table. The people I managed to talk to on my end of the table included LA&OC Foodie, Joz, travalex, javajunkee, and estarla.

I saw their menu online and decided to eat dinner there, but since they are not normally open on Tuesdays they had a limited menu. Fortunately though, they still had enough for a real dinner.

While waiting for the food I started with their Golden Lillet Martini, a strong, yellow, buttery concoction. Their cocktails are served in these gorgeous vintage glasses. They're so pretty that I want to put them in my purse, but luckily I was sober enough not to.

We started with some heirloom tomato salad.
A simple dish that focuses on the nice, fresh tomatoes. Nice flavor combination with the burrata, baby arugula, and olive oil.

We also had the 20th Century sliders: Kobe beef, arugula, onion marmalade, and blue cheese.
There are two sliders in each order. I really liked them - juicy, flavorful patties between delicious buns. They use good ingredients here and it really shows.

Also, we all had an order of sweet potato fries to share.

I can't remember what else they had food-wise, everyone seemed to order the same things.

So. Speakeasy Night. I had heard that there would be cabaret, and the entertainment we got was a pleasant surprise. First there was a lady strutting around in tight leather outfit singing and making jokes in a Russian accent.

She also went UP ON our table and danced there!

(I tried cropping the photo so as not to show us bloggers' faces)

Then they also had a Japanese belly dancer who did a couple of great acts. I thought she was pretty good, and it was quite unique from other belly dancings I've seen (in Moroccan restaurants).
There was also a magician who performed some fun tricks involving an audience.


Towards the end of the night, I scored a sip of the Pisco Punch from a FoodDigger.

This drink contains Pisco, pineapple juice, and a bit of the green fairy (absinthe).
Amazing drink. I wish I had ordered this earlier on. Not overly sweet but goes smoothly and was just delicioussss.

Drinks were $14 so not cheap, but I was really happy with my experience there. I am scared of the weekend crowd, but I will definitely be back for some food and drinks, and perhaps even some unique entertainment!

The Edison
108 W 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 613-0000

www.edisondowntown.com

ISO: Heart Attack Grill?

So I got one of those forwarded emails from a friend in Aussie, titled "Only in America" - it turned out to be hilarious.

Inside were these series of photos of a place called "Heart Attack Grill" !!

And the menus were burgers called "Single Bypass", "Double Bypass" or "Triple Bypass."
The servers were all dressed in nurse costumes.

Oh and they also sell cigarettes.


Is this real??

I have never ever seen this in real life before, but it sure is a hilarious gimmick!

The burgers in their photos are definitely no joke:

If you know of one of these places, gimme a holler :)

Mini Bar Hop in K Town

Somewhat recently I had the good fortune of meeting Mattatouille and friends, who then introduced me to Tai, the owner of Scoops.

I will leave our conversation with Tai for another post. What I wanted to blog about today is what happened after :) Mattatouille's friend (don't want to put her real name here, especially when I may misspell it :P ) suggested we go bar-food hopping in K-town. Being a non-Korean-speaker or reader, this was untested waters for me, and I like these new people I just met, so I took them up on it!

First Stop:
Dansungsa
3317 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90005 (213) 487-9110

This place a complete Korean dive. Well, not that I would know. But with the dark interior, smoky haze from the bbq in the middle, and old movie posters, it sure seemed like it to me.

The menu is completely in Korean, so I wasn't sure what we ordered. All I know is that we got these spicy kalbi which were delicious, and were #52 on the menu! Don't know what it's called, but it's #52 my friends!Not that spicy, and extremely addicting.

We also got some scallion pancakes (pa jeon? I tried googling it).
Somewhat thick, with tons of scallions, and a nice crispy exterior!

This segment, with some Hite beer, was ~$10/person total.
I wanted some more ribs, but we gotta move on to the next one!



On to stop #2: The Hite Bar
Hite Kwang-Jang
3839 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010 (213) 384-7999
In direct contrast to the previous place, this place looks like a little western cafe you might find in Asia, probably selling spaghetti. It might've even been called Bear House. But no, it's actually Hite cafe (supposedly used to be Hite factory) serving up (in addition to some western style dishes) blood sausages, and - what we came there for - chicken wings in sweet & spicy korean sauce.I think this was called "yang nyum chicken" ? Not completely sure ...
This was ... spicy! The sauce was deliciously sweet and sticky but also spicy, spicier than the kal bi from dansungsa. I was having trouble eating this and ended up gobbling tons of the marinated turnips.

Oh, and drinking a lot of Hite.

They had a dark, light, and "special" Hite which is just a mix of the two. Sounded interesting enough, so we went with a pitcher of that.

Not much difference than the regular Hite - still light.



We also got some scallion pancake here, which was served there for free. Thinner and crispier than the previous one, which in a way is better, but I did like the fact that the previous one was more loaded with scallions!
I had to stop here for the night, unfortunately. I had a great time and hopefully will get another chance to hang out with these people! I'll be training to eat spicy food beforehand ...

Great Chefs of LA Go Green

Here's another upcoming event to keep in mind! It's certainly one that I would looo~ve to go to! With chefs from Grace, Josie, and Animal, this is bound to be an event your tastebuds would remember.

Tickets ain't cheap at $150, but it does benefit the National Kidney Foundation of So Cal. AND it also promotes eco-friendly products and organic foodstuffs. Good causes indeed!

Here are some facts from the Press Release:

WHAT:
The 22nd Annual Great Chefs of Los Angeles brings together the city's most celebrated chefs, tastemakers and vintners for an afternoon of great food, wine, music and auctions to benefit the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California. This year’s "Go Green, Go Organic" theme promotes eco-friendly and recyclable products as well as conscious living and sustainability, and emphasizes organic foodstuffs throughout the event.

WHO:
Honorary Chairs and George and Ann Lopez host the afternoon’s festivities. Host Chef Govind Armstrong of 8 oz. and Table 8 and Chef of Honor Gino Angelini of Angelini Osteria and La Terza lead a stellar lineup of top toques from around town, with entertainment provided by DJ Mike Palmieri.

Featured chefs and tastemakers include:
• Tim Goodell, 25 Degrees
• Andrew Steiner, Andrew’s Cheese Shop
• Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo, Animal
• Simon Dolinky, Blvd 16 at Hotel Palomar
• Raymond Alvarez, Border Grill
• Calogero Drago, Celestino Ristorante & Panzanella
• Celestino Drago, Enoteca Drago, Il Pastaio & Drago Ristorante
• Jason Travi, Fraiche
• Neal Fraser, Grace
• Manuel D. Medina, West at Hotel Angeleno
• Josie Le Balch, Josie Restaurant
• Frank Leon, La Loggia Ristorante
• Tom Fraker, Melissa's Produce
• Henri Abergel, Mistral
• Joachim Weritz, Moonshadows
• Alberto Morello, Olio e Limone
• Giacomino Drago, Piccolo Paradiso & Il Pastaio
• Ann Hickey, Plush Puff Gourmet Marshmallows
• Joni Fay Hill & Denise Daclan, Saltistry
• Tanino Drago, Tanino Ristorante & Panzanella
• Brian Moyers, The Blvd at Beverly Wilshire
• Nicola Mastronardi, Vicenti Ristorante

Wines will be provided by:
• August Ridge
• Banfi Vintners
• Bernardus Winery
• Buttonwood Farm Winery
• Chalone Vineyard
• Cobblestone Vineyards
• Duckhorn Vineyards
• FIFTYROW
• Frank Family Vineyards
• Frog's Leap Winery Goldeneye
• Grgich Hills Estate
• Jaffe Estate Wine
• Laetitia Vineyard and Winery
• L'Aventure
• Vintage Point
• Paraduxx

WHEN:
Sunday, November 9, 2008
12 to 3:30 p.m.

WHERE:
CBS Studio Center
4024 Radford Dr.
Studio City, CA 91604

TICKETS:
$150 per person
To purchase, visit www.kidneysocal.org.

LA's Best Desserts

Desserts, if done very well, can be the climaxes of my meal. Below are my favorite desserts in Los Angeles, along with links to the original post. Enjoy!
(The orderings vary with mood ...)

1. Passion Fruit Parfait, from Melisse


2. Soy Custard with Tapioca and Mango, from Phoenix Inn Food Boutique


3. Spring Bouquet cake, from Jin Patisserie


4. Coconut Panna Cotta, guava soup, roasted pineapples from Scarpetta.

Brunch and Mochas at LA Mill

After hearing so much about LA Mill, I finally made an excuse to have brunch there. I was going to the German Beer Tasting at Loft218 that afternoon and LA Mill was only 6 miles away, so I convinced rumdood (pretty easily, I think) that this was the best bet for lunch.

I'm not a coffee connoisseur and do not even normally drink coffee, so my main attraction to LA Mill is the Cimarusti-designed menu. However, I thought I would order some sort of coffee based drink anyway and when I saw "Valrhona Mocha" on the menu, my choice was easily made. Put Valrhona in front of anything and I'll probably order it ...
Not a coffee connoisseur but I can say I did enjoy this cup of mocha. Not sweet, but smooth and very enjoyable. Not bitter and doesn't leave a bad lingering aftertaste either.

Eggs being my staple brunch food, I had to skip the paninis for today and went for the Soft Scramble with Dungeness Crab:
The eggs scramble preparation was absolutely perfect for me. Very soft and moist. The sprinklings of green onions gave great pizzazz to the flavor of the dish as a whole. The dungeness crab was nice and fresh although I would've liked a little more :)
The dish itself is relatively small. A nice, light breakfast. Which is probably good for me for a change, but at $14 was not entirely a bargain.

There was nothing particularly interesting on the dessert menu that day. Having had an enjoyable lunch, I definitely want to go back for dinner AND dessert on another day.


LA Mill Coffee Boutique
1636 Silver Lake Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Ph. 323.663.4441
www.lamillcoffee.com

Great Food in Nowhere-Land

Chef Nadav Bashan was an executive chef at Michael's for three years before moving over to work under Cimarusti at Providence. Not so long ago he finally opened his own restaurant, Bashan, in Glendale/Montrose area. Although Glendale might sound close to Pasadena, this restaurant is actually pretty out of the way ...

Bashan sits on a quiet street, with not much around it. In fact, at dinner time, as far as I could tell it was the only thing open.

From the outside it looks like a cozy, charming cottage, but as you step inside it is actually decorated in a pretty hip/modern and sophisticated style. Such a contrast (see picture).



They only had 1 waitress working and at 6.30 pm only had three tables filled with customers.

We placed our order and were served these watermelon amuse bouches.

I've heard great things about their Crispy Veal Sweetbreads so of course I had to get them for my appetizer!
Mmmazing. Crispy skin, smooth silky sweetbreads on the inside. The sundried tomato was a great complement to it all.

Also got some Scallops with beets:
The scallops were nice, big and juicy. I would've liked a little more beets though! After we had run out of beets, the scallops were getting boring to eat by themselves.

For my entree I got Maple Leaf Farm Duck Breast
Let's see. I love duck. I love figs. This dish was great. The duck was particularly tender and flavorful, you can say gamey, even. It was cooked perfectly and also paired very well with the broccolini and the figs.

My companion got the Scottish King Salmon, which was perhaps one of the best salmon dish we've had, as you can probably see why from the photo.
Nicely cooked and still raw in the middle. Tender tender, juicy piece of salmon!

They had a special dessert that night which was this peach napoleon:
It was a pretty light and small dessert, but refreshing even though subtle.

We also got theChocolate Bread Pudding, since I feel like I need to have chocolate.
Decadent would describe this well. Richer, denser, and more chocolatey than any other bread pudding I've had. Very rich and chocolatey, I don't know if I would even call this bread pudding ... more like a chocolate cake. But it was quite good and satisfied my chocolate craving for sure.

I really liked this restaurant. I wish it isn't so out of the way for me, as I would like to come back more frequently.

Bashan Restaurant
3459 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208
(818)541.1532
www.bashanrestaurant.com

Discount Alert! Wine,Cheese&Chocolate Tasting

After meeting Ian Blackburn from LearnAboutWine during the beer tasting on Sunday, he offered to give my blog readers a special discount for the upcoming Wine, Cheese & Chocolate (!!!) tasting event on October 12.

Let's see ... I <3 wine, I <3 <3 cheese, and I <3 <3 <3 chocolates!! Can't go wrong with this event :P

This deal will get you a 20% discount off the advance registration price of $50. It's a code that you have to apply in the "Discount Code" space when you register. Just to make it harder on you, I'm putting the code at the very bottom of the post ...

Date: Oct 12, 2008 (Sunday)
Time: 3-5:30 PM
Place:

Loft 218

530 Molino St #218

Los Angeles, California 90013

(310) 451-7600 Gourmet