Spring Shrubs and Bacon at Villains Tavern

You would never stumble upon Villains Tavern just walking around downtown LA, as it's hidden in a pretty desolate part of downtown near the arts district. You'd likely come across signs of a shoot or taping as you get close, but when I found it I loved the ambiance. The indoor bar is fairly small with little seating, but this is LA and outdoor seating is where it's at, especially when there's live music (as there frequently is here).

The spring menu is divided into two section: The Garden and The Shrubbery. The Shrubbery contains all the drinks made with shrub (aged liqueur made with vinegar). I noted it was now a thing and popping up all over, but this was the first bar I encountered that had a whole section dedicated to shrubs.

The Venus Flytrap ($12) is made with Milagro Reposado, apricot orange muscat shrub, fresh lime juice, sea salt, and orange oils. The shrub was made using orange muscat vinegar and cane sugar.

The head bartender said that he would suggest this cocktail for those who like margaritas but wanted to venture out.
The Garden section also has the Autumn crocus ($12), what the bar calls "the ultimate spicy Margarita" with reposado tequila, agave, muddled mango, chili (Tapatio), lime, and salt. The Autumn Crocus had suck a kick to it, though, that I personally thought it was more adventurous than the Flytrap.

I also liked the White Snakeroot ($13) made with Black Bush, Cardamaro, Rosemary and strawberry aged balsamic shrub

Aged strawberry balsamic is apparently the easiest shrub to make, but making the cocktail is hard because of balance. Just an excess drop of the balsamic shrub would throw the whole thing off.

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Kiyokawa's New Sashimi-centric Omakase

Kiyokawa had been on my to-try list for some time since Jonathan Gold loved it so much, but I had sort of forgotten about this little place in Beverly Hills and stored it in the back of my mind. I recently dug it out and made it a point to finally go.

There are two omakase options at Kiyokawa, a full omakase (kaiseki) for $78 or a sushi-only omakase for $48. As I sat down and read the omakase menu there were things like miso black cod and other cooked items, but then they told me to ignore the menu. They had just started a new omakase menu and it was completely different than what was written. They recently changed the omakase menu to be more sashimi-focused rather than cooked dishes. Sounds even better to me.

Sushi Chef Satoshi Kiyokawa

Our first course came in an orange sitting on ice. Inside the orange was some halibut sashimi with cucumber sunomono and tomato


Albacore salad topped w crispy green onion

This was a rather big plate for a second course with plenty of albacore. As the ponzu sauce that normally comes with albacore tends to be too astringent for me at times, I preferred this.

Live sweet shrimp and Hama Hama oyster topped with uni

Did I mention the amaebi was a live? The legs attached to the head were still moving on the ice! (Sorry PETA)

Still, the oyster with the creamy uni stole the show for me.

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Revisiting Asia de Cuba (West Hollywood)

I remembered Asia de Cuba as an early date place, with its view of West Hollywood and its lobster mashed potatoes and plantain fried rice. Eons ago. I haven't been back, what's with all the new restaurants in town to try, and the restaurant is pretty expensive (especially with $12 valet). It's one of those "seen and be seen" places. I was recently invited for a tasting, as the menu had changed quite a bit with the arrival of the new chef, though signature dishes still remain.

There is now a whole ceviche section, served with plantain chips and toasted sesame tapioca chips:
Black grouper, sevilla orange, aji amarillo, yuzu and horseradish

Photo courtesy of Asia de Cuba

Wild salmon and salted avocado helado, spicy coconut milk, bird's eye pepper and black lava salt ($7)

The avocado helado (that's ice cream for you) was a cool addition to the dish in both sense of the word.

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