Old Standby Brunch and Best Apple Tart Tatin in Town

Rose Cafe is a long-standing brunch destination in Venice. With its patio seating, brunch fares, bakery, and an awesome gift shop, it was (still is) the quintessential brunch in Venice, bustling with families and joggers alike.

I used to go all the time back when I was at UCLA. An off experience one day and moving to Pasadena kept me away from this place for a while. But then I came back.

Rose Cafe offers classical brunch fares - eggs and the like, entrees from the kitchen such as seared tuna salad, and a variety of deli items.

This time I got the Frittata (Italian Style Open-Faced Omelette). Roasted Eggplant, Roasted Peppers, Tomatoes and Basil, Topped w/ Goat Cheese
Generous portions and healthy, the food here is still very solid with good ingredients.

Friend got the Eggs Scandia (lox, poached egg, croissant, dill hollandaise)
Another classic brunch fare. The amount of lox in this dish is lacking - wonder if they've cut back due to the recession :/ It's otherwise very good with flakey buttery croissant. Just ... more lox, please.

Rose Cafe has a large selection of pastries and baked goods that you can either have there or take to go. It's hard not to when you're passing the gorgeous display case on your way out. I often get their apple tart tatin.
As I ate it at home that night, I was reminded again of how much I liked Rose Cafe. They still have the best apple tart tatin around! Sweet, plump, and juicy caramelized apples. Flakey pastry crust. Loved it. It might be the flakey crust that makes it better than the rest. Or maybe it's the apple to crust ratio.

I also remembered that I liked their cobblers. And bread pudding ... and ... what was I thinking only buying the apple tatin? *sigh*


Rose Cafe
220 Rose Ave
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 399-0711
www.rosecafe.com

Nishimura: The Beverly Hills Sushi Fortress

There was someone who kept claiming that Nishimura was better than all the sushi places I've brought him to. I took him to Sushi Zo, he says Nishimura is better. I took him to Sushi Mori, he says Nishimura is better value. So finally I just retorted back with "So why haven't you taken me there?" So off we went!!

Nishimura is located across the street from the Pacific Design Center. There's no sign, just a tall, solid, wooden gate, in front of which you may occasionally find a towncar or two. Street parking are aplenty next to it.

Unfortunately it was rather dark and I didn't want to use flash so only a few of the photos really turned out well. I'll just give you guys a sampling.

At first I was a bit disappointed because Nishimura himself was not the one serving me sushi. But my young sushi chef was very friendly and as it turned out, very good. We got to talking and apparently before going to Nishimura he used to work at Jinpachi.

Among our dishes were a sampling of oysters - 3 kinds per person.
All very fresh and delicious.

Then came a slew of sashimi. Unlike Zo which was mostly sushi or Mori which offers a significant number of cooked dishes for the omakase, our omakase here was significantly composed of sashimi dishes. I'm not complaining, mind you.

Among them were octopus with yuzu.
Fresh and chewy. "Crunchy" even. The quality of the ingredients at Nishimura is evident.

There were tons of hamachi and albacore with ponzu sashimi, etc, all of which were very good. It's a lot of fun watching this young chef coming up with dish after dish, all of which he tried to put special touches on.

The highlight of my meal was probably this one: seared toro with white truffle salt and yuzu.
Orgasm on a plate. I mean, it's practically everything that I love, with the absence of foie gras! The toro used here was fatty and delicious, but the one used for our simple toro sushi we had later that night was even better - it tasted fresher and fattier than the seared one.

I didn't spend the whole night eating fatty fish, though. The waitstaff also brought out piping hot ginko nuts with sea salt.

The highlight towards the end of the meal for me were these fresh king crab legs.
Fresh, juicy, meaty. I had to chow down with my fingers to make sure I got every little piece of meat out of those shells.

The meal for 2 post-tips was $160 - which was comparable to my meal at Sushi Mori, but with more of the things I like (sashimi!). I had to agree that Nishimura was very good indeed, and yes, probably is a better value than Mori. At least, I felt like I got more for my money here.

Nishimura
8684 Melrose Ave
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 659-4770

Ad Hoc: Thomas Keller's Comfort Food

My trip up to the Northern Cal so I can have my first meal at The French Laundry turned out to be the best food weekend ever (so far). The night before, we tried out Ad Hoc, Thomas Keller's 'comfort food' restaurant (most well known for their fried chicken!).

Ad Hoc was originally meant to be a temporary restaurant, to be opened while they're designing a different restaurant to be opened in that space (hence the name, and the motto "for temporary relief from hunger").
5 nights our of the week, Ad Hoc offers a different 4-course menu for $49, served family style and meant to be shared.

I was putting this post off in the hope that I one day will find the menu that I seem to have misplaced somewhere. But not long after I posted the review (a few hours only), a Chowhounder immediately noticed that I was there on 1/31 and posted the menu! The awesomeness of the internet.

Our meal started off with the TFL Garden Broccoli Salad, white cauliflower, toasted almonds, sweet vidalia onions, cara cara oranges, shaved brioche croutons.
There aren't mere broccoli (blogger is telling me that 'broccolis' isn't grammatically correct), people, these babies came straight from The French Laundry garden down the street. And my god, these are the best broccoli ever. It's very juicy, moist, and sweet, unlike other broccoli I've ever had which are typically boring and bland.
At Ad Hoc you can always ask for seconds, but my friends told me not to get seconds yet, since we have a lot more coming ...

Our main course was Roasted Beef Skirt Steak, braised hearts of romaine, tomato-pepper soffritto
Now, the thing I love about this particular cut is how flavorful it is. On the other hand, it tends to be tougher than most cuts which is why some people don't like them. But not these babies. Somehow they've managed to turn these skirt steaks into some amazingly tender pieces of meat, yet still retain the flavorfulness that is skirt steak. Amazing!

The main entree came with a side dish of spiced sweet carrots and shiitake mushrooms.
The carrots were again tender and sweet. Delicious. I justified myself getting seconds of this because it's healthy and carrots are good for my strained eyes :P

Next dish is the cheese course, Silver Mountain Clothbound Cheddar.
It was firm and smooth with a subtle taste and aroma. I enjoyed it with the slice of apple (one per person) but the red cabbage didn't do it for me.

For the grand finale, a gargantuan Baked Alaska! A dome of vanilla ice cream on top of sponge cake, baked in meringue.
I'm not sure this photo does it justice. This thing was HUGE. It was about half a basketball, with meringue on top! There were five of us - who all eat a lot- and we barely managed to finish half.

An extremely enjoyable and memorable meal. That oh-so-tender-and-flavorful skirt steak and those broccolis ... man! The casual atmosphere was perfect for catching up with friends and stuffing ourselves to death. Can't wait to return to Ad Hoc.


Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-2487
www.adhocrestaurant.com

Product Review: Ile de France Le Brie Cheese

Ile de France was looking for bloggers to review their cheese products via Tastespotting, and I got hooked up with some Brie cheese.

Ile de France's Le Brie came to my office mailbox and luckily the large DO NOT TOUCH! sign I put in the fridge was enough to keep people at bay long enough for me to get it home!
Taking it out of the box and unwrapping it reveals a uniform white rind. Looking good!
The first cut. I can already feel its firmness and smell the nice aroma. Can't wait to take the first bite!
The aroma is subtle but inhale enough and you get that delicious sharp aroma! The cheese is firm, yet silky and creamy. It's almost like eating butter with a slight nutty aftertaste. This was one good brie!

The product is listed on Amazon but is currently unavailable, so I don't know how much it retails for. But it is one of the best brie I've had, so if you get your hands on it and it's not outrageously priced, buy it.

Providence 5x5 Menu Revealed!

The 5x5 Chef's Collaborative will kick off at Providence on April 28, featuring guest chef Alessandro Stratta from ALEX, a one Michelin starred restaurant in Las Vegas for 2 consecutive years.

Here's the menu for the first 5x5 dinner:

Kampachi Sashimi
Ton Buri, Asian Pear, Red Radish and Fennel
David LeFevre

Santa Barbara Abalone and Prawn “Printanier”
Shellfish-Lemongrass Emulsion
Josiah Citrin

Timballo di Orzo in Foglie di Spinaci
con Piselli, Carciofi, Fegato d'Oca, Salsa di Funghi
Gino Angelini

Sauteed Wild Striped Bass
White Carrot Purée, Nettles, Fava Beans, Fennel Pollen
Neal Fraser

Roasted Duck "Apicius"
Spiced Pineapple, Rhubarb and Celery Root
Alessandro Stratta

A Café in Bordeaux
Canelé Ice Cream, Coffee Parfait and Toasted Hazelnuts
Adrian Vasquez

$150 pp, $215 with wine pairing

For the date/restaurant/guest chef lineup, go here.

Sunday Prix Fixe Meals around Town

A growing list of the Sunday Suppers and Sunday Prix-fixe deals in Los Angeles.
Know of one not on this list? Give me a talking-to at gourmetpigs@gmail.com !


1. Lucques Sunday Supper.
3 courses for $45.

You can't go wrong at Suzanne Goin's restaurant. In terms of higher end comfort food, this is one of LA's best.
8474 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069, (323) 655-6277
www.lucques.com


2. Sunday Prix Fixe at The Foundry on Melrose
3 courses for $39, or 4 courses for $49.
Plus, don't forget "Scotch & Song Sundays" - that's live music and complimentary scotch tasting people!

7465 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 651-0915
www.thefoundryonmelrose.com.


3. Sunday Prix Fixe at Eva Restaurant
5 courses for $35, INCLUDING WINE!

Last time I went I had 4 courses + 1 side which included heirloom tomatoes, shrimp scampi, some mighty delicious fried chicken and addicting creamed corn as a side. Two flavors of cupcakes were served for dessert, all with overflowing wine.
7458 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 634-0700
http://www.evarestaurant.com


4. Sunday Supper at Palate
3 courses for $35.

933 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818)662-9463
www.palatefoodwine.com.


5. Sunday Poor Man's Dinner at Larkin's
It's now quite a "prix-fixe". $12 gets you all the food you can eat!
5 PM til the food's gone.

1496 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock, CA 90041. (323)254-0934.
www.larkinsjoint.com

6. Pinot Bistro
Sunday "locals" night special prices, see the menu here.

12969 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604. (818)990-0500.
http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=60

Clementine's Grilled Cheese Menu

It's the 8th Grilled Cheese Month at Clementine! No, no fooling.

Every week Clementine will feature 5 different grilled cheeses, including one by another great LA chef each week. 5 different ones every week?? Well, when should I go then? Go every week! Or if you can't make that, here's the entire menu schedule. Pick and choose wisely.

Here's what Clementine is serving up April 1-4:

• Oliver's Grilled Cheese: pepperjack, soppresata, and Calabrian peppers, on white rye - courtesy of Nancy Silverton of Mozza and La Brea Bakery
  
• The Original Beef Dip Grilled Cheese, on a French roll served with hot mustard (add a pickled egg, $1)
  
• Monte Cristo: turkey, ham, gruyere, mayo and dijon on white bread, grilled French-toast-style, dusted with powdered sugar and served with strawberry jam
  
• Pecorino sardo, oven-roasted tomatoes, olives and thyme on panini bread
  
• Cheddar and Swiss on dark bread served with crunchy apple slaw
  

Week of April 6-11:

• Chicharron de queso (crispy fried cheese!) with black beans, avocado, pickled jalapenos, mayo and pico de gallo - courtesy of Jimmy Shaw, chef/owner Loteria Grill
  
• Grilled cheese al carbon: jack cheese, grilled marinated steak, bacon, avocado, chopped onions and cilantro, served with smoky salsa
  
• Fontina with truffled mushrooms and brisket jus on country bread
  
• Grilled Garlic Melt, served with fava bean puree, sauteed greens and shaved parmesan
  
• Little Armenia: soujouk, melty cheese, herbs and grilled tomato on Armenian bread

P.S. Sandwiches can be prepared meatless and on matzah for Passover - just ask!

Week of April 13-18:

• Provolone, hot Italian sausage and garlicky rapini on ciabatta - courtesy of Evan Kleinman, host of KCRW's Good Food and chef/owner Angeli Cafe
  
• BBQ chicken with mozzarella, red onion, cilantro, and smoky bbq sauce
  
• Croque Monsieur: ham and gruyere on country white bread, topped with mornay sauce and more cheese
  
• Brie, baby spinach, balsamic onions, currants and pine nuts on panini bread
  
• Quesadilla with havarti, roasted poblanos and ripe mango, served with salsa and black bean salad

P.S. Sandwiches can be prepared meatless and on matzah for passover - just ask!

Week of April 20-25:

• Camembert with mustard greens and delicious mushrooms on country bread - courtesy of Amelia Saltsman, author of The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook
  
• Tuna-Runa: Italian tuna, cheddar, and creamy mushrooms on buttery white bread
  
• Chili dog grilled cheese: meaty chili and hot dog melted together with cheddar cheese. Our salute to Pinks!
  
• Grilled Torta: ham, cheese, roasted tomato mayo, mustard-fried onions, grilled jalapenos, lettuce and avocado on homemade telera
  
• Pastrami Reuben: Niman Ranch pastrami, gruyere, sauerkraut and our 10,000 lakes dressing on rye bread
  

Week of April 27-30:

• Queso mahon with chorizo, quince paste and romesco - courtesy of Suzanne Goin, chef/owner Lucques, A.O.C. and Tavern
• Cobb Sandwich with havarti, blue cheese, chicken, bacon, avocado and roasted tomato mayo on semolina bread
  
• Ensley Cheese Steak - Annie's cheesy meatloaf grilled with peppers, onions, and pepperjack on a toasted french roll
  
• Asparagus, green garlic, fines herbs and three cheeses on wholegrain bread
  
• Mini Mouse Ears grilled cheese - for your kid or the kid in you

Clementine
1751 Ensley Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 552-1080
www.clementineonline.com

Red Meat Heaven at Palate

Yes, the bandwagon had come and gone and it's too late to even jump on it. Palate was one of the big food hypes in LA in the past year, yet this was my first visit. Why? Well, besides a couple of mixed reviews, it's really because it's in Glendale!
But since I recently won a couple of tix to Macbeth in Burbank, thanks to Goldstar, I figured it's close enough for me to check out Palate.

Thanks to early pre-theatre dinner and recent daylight savings time, the natural light was great for food-porning, at least up to dessert :P

The bread was served with butter sprinkled with seasalt and presented quite beautifully.
Palate's menu is not particularly big but I think there's still something for everyone. You know, if you all eat meat.

To start off, we got the young beet salad.
The young beets, although the color doesn't look it, were all very good and fresh. Some of the lettuce, on the other hand, were kind of bruised ...

Next up, some veal ravioli.
Tender veal in al dente pasta and delicious creamy broth. A pretty light and delicious starter here.

Next I got me some pork trotters!
Loved the crispy skin. The meat was very flavorful. The meat (really the muscles/tendons) on pork trotters tend to be stringy but this one has been tenderized quite well.

I also got the Prawn & Veal Tongue.
Giant, fresh, crisp prawn. Delicious! And the veal tongue was very tender, and oh-so-good!!! Tongue was one of my ultimate fave while growing up, but besides my recent venture at FIG, I have yet found one in the state worthy of my love. But this one, yes, this one is worthy indeed!

My companion got the smoked Jidori chicken breast.
This dish is the weakest of the night IMO as the chicken meat is a bit overcooked and thus too dry and tough. I did enjoy the addition of apricots in this dish and thought that the skin was nice and crispy.

As a side dish we got some beautiful colorful cauliflowers.
This was the perfect side dish and was actually one of the highlights of the meal. Fresh and flavorful, sweet and juicy cauliflowers. I could eat this all day.

The dessert selection here was a bit limited. We went with the panna cotta.
This was pretty good, nothing to write home about though.

The chocolate mousse was better and more memorable.
It was pretty rich and dark. Both of the desserts here are solid and satisfying albeit nothing mind-blowing.

Palate was definitely good overall, and I can see where the hype comes from, although the pork and veal seems to be focused on more and done better here. Not that I'm complaining. In my opinion this restaurant is comparable to other great restaurants in LA. From what I've seen so far, it doesn't necessarily stand out on its own, but hey, each side of town needs its own great spot! That veal tongue, though ... Mmmm. That I'll come back for.

Palate Food+Wine
933 S Brand Blvd
Glendale, CA 91204
(818) 662-9463
www.palatefoodwine.com

Sushi Komasa: Cheap and Good Spot in Lil Tokyo

Recently made my first visit to Komasa in Little Tokyo. I've been missing out! This place has good quality fish and is cheap! Now a quick sushi meal doesn't have to cost me at least $50! The only drawback: Parking ...

The place is small and has a traditional japanese look. When we were there the place was packed with Japanese blue collar workers- good sign. Since there were 6 of us we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table, but we walked around and they called us when they were ready.

The salmon sashimi plate was $13 for 8 generous slices.The quality was not at all bad, they're very much comparable to the typical good sushi joints, but it's much nicer to the wallet.

The yellowtail that we also got was even better though, also at $13
These slices of hamachi were quite fresh and quite fatty! They made me happy :)

Sushi prices ranged around $4.80 per order. I had ordered halibut and anago.
The halibut was okay - decent. The anago was quite good though!

The best deal of all at this place might be the chirashi though. For $13 you get this big box of fishy-goodness!
I see salmon, hamachi, tuna, squid, ebi, and uni! Here's that quick, inexpensive, sushi meal, all in a box!
Sushi Komasa, I'll be back!

Sushi Komasa
351 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-1792

New Functionality on Gourmet Pigs!

Psst. Guys, Gourmet Pigs now has a new functionality powered by OpenTable! w00t w00t!

This means, that for all applicable restaurants you will see this "Reserve Now!" button next to the restaurant's name on each review page:




Clicking on the button will lead you to that restaurant's OpenTable reservation page!
So when you read a review of a restaurant you want to go to, you can just click and reserve! No need to open a new tab/new window or pick up the phone.

Hopefully this will be useful for all of you! :)

~Ciao!

Craving Otak Otak in Westwood

I've had a lifelong affair with otak otak. Otak otak is spiced fish cake, steamed and grilled in banana leaves, and eaten (usually) with slightly spicy peanut sauce.

My favorite otak otaks are the ones from Jakarta, and when my relatives come visit, I always ask them to bring me some, and an otak otak fest would proceed for 2 days!
But now that I"m stuck in LA ... well, one of the best options seem to be Ramayani in Westwood.

The dishes at Ramayani can be hits and misses, but this seems to be the case at all Indonesian restaurants. The 'sop buntut' here is not bad. My gotta-have dish is naturally the otak otak:At $7.50 for 10 pieces, these aren't cheap compared to back home (but what is?). The otak otaks though has the right consistency and texture, and *almost* the right flavor. More spice, grill it some more, and we'll be set. The peanut sauce is the problem here. Not spicy enough, not even peanut-y enough, this one actually tastes like it was partly made with peanut butter - a common practice here in the U.S.

With all that said, these are pretty tasty things and I urge you all to try them here at Ramayani.
They can't compare to the ones back home, but what's an Indonesian girl stuck in LA to do?
They're still really good and definitely worth a try!

Ramayani
1777 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 477-3315

Pho Filet in El Monte

Pho with filet mignon. At first it sounds a bit strange. Pho = cheap. Filet mignon = pricey. But at these Vietnamese restaurants from San Gabriel to East LA, the result is still a cheap bowl of pho, kicked up a notch by the high quality of meat!

This was my first time meeting Wandering Chopsticks, who took Pleasure Palate and I to Pho Filet in El Monte.

Wanting to be adventurous and all, I ordered some pennywort shake (on the right). Wandering Chopsticks ordered the pennywort juice (on the left).
The pennywort shake also had mung beans in it, making it sweeter and less 'grassy'/'herby' than just the pennywort juice. WC said I should probably get that one, me being a pennywort-noob :P

This time we forgot to ask for the filet mignon on the side. Why would you want to do that? Because otherwise the filet mignon would get overcooked by the end of your meal, but if you order it on the side, then you can put it in one by one and you'll get a medium rare piece of filet mignon everytime!
The broth here tasted of more spice than most, which I really liked. And yes, you can definitely tell the upgrade on the meat!
Delicious, filling, and cheap. A bowl of pho here ranges from $5.50-$6 (depending on the type and number of different meats you get). For filet mignon? That's cheap! You can step up to a large bowl for $0.50 more.

For reviews of more dishes, and more food porn, filet mignon-style, check out Wandering Chopsticks' blogpost.

Pho Filet
9463 E Garvey Ave #A
South El Monte, CA 91733
(626) 453-8911