Sunday, September 29, 2013

An Intimate Sushi Omakase Experience at Nozawa Bar (Beverly Hills)

When they built Sugarfish in Beverly Hills, they had planned for Nozawa Bar all along and kept a room in the back for that sole purpose. Now, Nozawa Bar is open and taking reservations for ten people, two seatings per night for a sushi omakase experience. It's not Nozawa wielding the knife, but Osamu Fujita has long worked with Nozawa and has his stamp of approval. After my omakase meal there, I would say perhaps the setting and timing actually allows for a more refined experience than the busy Sushi Nozawa was in Studio City.

I knew my sushi, or thought I did, but for more than a couple of courses at Nozawa Bar I had a few moments where I went "no way, that wasn't ...". There were moments of learning that season really matters, and preparation matters. More on that later, on to the meal first. 

As I said, there are two seatings per night for everyone (at 6PM and 8:30PM), so don't be late! I was five minutes late and missed Fujita-san slicing up the jelly fish for the first course. I didn't miss eating the course, though, luckily (everyone is served the courses at the same time).
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The crisp jellyfish was a nice opener to whet your appetite.
Sashimi plate of tuna and octopus before moving on to nigiri sushi
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The nigiri courses start out with a bang with the chu toro. This a blue fin tuna chu toro, although the fattiness is close to oo toro.
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Just like Nozawa's style, the rice is served slightly warm so that the sushi feels like it's melting in your mouth.

Ika (squid)
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Fresh and firm squid on top of a shiso leaf.

Switching to the opposite spectrum of texture is a perfectly creamy Santa Barbara uni
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A generous serving of it, too!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

CAST: The Reinvented Restaurant at Viceroy Santa Monica

Whist at The Viceroy in Santa Monica has reinvented itself as CAST, but Chef Tony DiSalvo is still going strong in the kitchen. The new name, CAST, draws focus to its proximity to the ocean and the seafood dishes.

Pay attention to the crostini section, and don't miss the sea urchin crostini with sea salt, lemon, and larda ($6 each). Perfectly creamy, and the light dressing of salt and lemon brings out the rich flavors even more.

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Equally worthy but less of a splurge is the burrata crostini with pesto, tomato ($3 each). This was also one of the creamiest burrata I've had in LA.
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The crostinis are thin, meant to serve as a vessel to the uni and burrata without masking the flavors.
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Oh, if you are on Instagram, be sure to take a photo and tag @viceroySM. You will get a free glass of sparkling wine for doing so! For a glass of white wine that will go with seafood dishes, we enjoyed the 2010 Supernatural Sauvignon Blanc, Napa, California ($13).

It's not all seafood here, of course. Chef DiSalvo kept his famous Lamb Kefta meatballs because riots might break out if he ever takes it off the menu. At the moment they are served with orange, pistachio, and yogurt ($10)
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We started our feast with the Diver scallops, dungeness crab risotto, snap peas, shiso vinaigrette ($18 or $33 for full size - I believe the one pictured is the half size)
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Perfectly cooked scallops, creamy risotto with chunks of sweet crab, crisp snap peas. What a nice seafood dish, the flavors are light yet satisfying.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Save the Date: IAMLA's Annual Taste of Italy on October 12

We all know how great Italian food and wines are, and we have some great restaurants in Los Angeles, so a Taste of Italy festival in Los Angeles certainly sounds good! The 5th Annual Taste of Italy will be held on October 12, 2013, at beautiful, historic Pico House in downtown LA. The event benefits the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, which is planned to open in early 2014.

Participants include Di Stefano Cheese (who makes the best burrata in town), Bulgarini Gelato and GROM (my two favorite gelaterias), Trattoria Neapolis, Drago Centro, Il Grano, Fabio Viviani's Cafe Firenze, and more. The event also boasts 100+ Italian wines to be poured (see more participants listed here).

There will be live entertainment from Italian artists and "chanteuses".

The $55 general admission ticket gets you 6 food tickets and 4 beverage tickets (more tickets are available for purchase at the event). The $125 VIP ticket gets you VIP entrance (and red carpet photo), 6 food and 6 beverage tickets, a VIP gift bag, and 20% off your purchase at Gastromercato. Tickets can be purchased here.
PLUS, get $5 OFF your ticket purchase with code GOURMETPIGS.

Want to win VIP tickets for you and your friends? You can create a video of yourself singing Taste of Italy or the SoCal Italian American history for a shot to win (see more details here).

When: October 12, 2013. 5-10PM

Where: Pico House
424 N. Main St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

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