Showing posts with label Lacma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lacma. Show all posts

Monday, May 25, 2015

Picnic at LACMA's Jazz Night

by guest blogger @btsunoda

Growing up, my idea of a date night was usually dinner and a movie. As I got older, my interests have changed and I like to vary it up a bit. One of my current passions is attending a live music event. It doesn’t matter if I know the band or not, it’s the fact that my senses become heightened.

My wife and I recently attended Jazz Nights at LACMA, for which Ray's and Stark Bar recently started a picnic basket program. There are two options to choose from: The Duke ($40) which comes with a whole roasted or fried Jidori chicken with sides and dessert, and The Louis ($100) which comes with the above along with charcuterie, a bottle of wine, real china, a fold-out table, a picnic blanket, all nicely packed in a wicker picnic basket. . To experience Ray’s and Stark Bar’s new Jazz Nights picnic basket program, I preordered the “Louis” thinking that the culinary experience with the live music would be a nice date night for us.
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Our picnic basket arrived promptly at 6pm. We were directed to a grassy area where there was a table, blanket, and two red cushions. A bud vase with a flower and a candle nicely finished this thoughtful presentation. Looking at this, I thought that it was nice that they did the work for me and I didn’t have to carry everything from my car!

The picnic basket was assembled in an impressive way. The first thing my wife said “Can we take the basket home?” They included real silverware, cloth napkins and real wine glasses. The lack of paper plates and plastic forks made for a classy experience.

Two containers of roasted rosemary chicken were on the top.
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The chicken was tender and roasted to perfection. The rosemary sprigs gave off an extremely pleasurable fragrance.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Winter Wurst Night at Ray's and Stark Bar

by: guest blogger @btsunoda

In the past winter season, Ray’s and Stark Bar featured “The Wurst Night of the Week” where executive chef Viet Pham exercised his creativity with the German bratwurst. Unfortunately, the program ended on March 2, but I had the chance to experience their "wurst" offerings before it ended.
The brats ranged in styles from classic Bavarian and contemporary to Moroccan and down home Southern. Top dogs include Currywurst Vadouvan with house-made ketchup and aioli or Boudin Blanc wurst with Pommes puree and tea-soaked prunes.
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Spicy pork meatballs was the first sample that arrived. It was surrounded with a flavorful coconut curry sauce with ginger, garlic, fresno chiles and cilantro. The fresno chiles added a nice amount of spiciness to the sauce which made me wish that I had some bread to mop up my plate.
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The first beer was a Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, a German Märzen. The smoky bacon flavor was perfect to set the stage for bratwurst. It had lots of smoke and a slight tinge of peach in flavor. This is not a beer if you are looking for hops as it was incredibly smooth.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

New Chef Shines at Ray's and Stark Bar (Mid City, Los Angeles, CA)

By: guest blogger @btsunoda

It’s been my experience that many museums don’t plan for the food and drink interests of their patrons. While visitors may be wowed by the fine art and sculptures, the food offered doesn’t quite match the experience. I recently visited Ray’s and Stark bar and I’m happy to say that I had a very different experience. Ray’s and Stark Bar is located at the LA County Museum of Art or LACMA.

They opened in 2011 and feature a Mediterranean-inspired menu includes dishes locally obtained ingredients and offerings from their wood-burning oven. They feature seasonal cocktails, a California-centric wine list, and artisan beers and spirits. While the original chef, Kris Morningstar, former sous chef Viet Pham has taken over and keeping the restaurant going strong. DSCF3940
 The restaurant is actually situated outdoors from LACMA, next to the BP Grand Entrance to the museum. It is well protected by the elements, covered to shield diners from direct sunlight and a glass partition to isolate noise from busy Wilshire boulevard. Eames-style chairs gave the interior a retro-styled look.
DSCF3953 Executive chef Viet Pham is a graduate of the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. His mother helped him to become interested in cooking at an early age. Pham became passionate about the farm to table philosophy when he met Philip Tessier from Bouchon. He has worked at Ray’s and Stark Bar as their sous chef since they opened in 2011 and was promoted to executive chef in the spring of 2014.

Collaboration and teamwork are essential ingredients which make Ray’s and Stark and Bar successful. Viet Pham and “Dragon”, the forager, team up to decide what ultimately gets placed on the menu. Pham credited much of the success of the menu to Dragon because of the knack he has for finding the best fruits and vegetables.

The brainchild of Ray’s and Stark Bar’s water menu is Martin Riese, general manager and certified water sommelier. Flipping through the book, it read much like a wine list, only for water. The water menu included each water’s total dissolved solids, sodium, magnesium and calcium. Because water includes local minerals, it varies greatly, much like wine. Read more about the water menu.

First out of the kitchen was their housemade charcuterie which included duck rillette and truffle chicken liver.
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I liberally spread the duck rillette and the truffle chicken liver over the toasted baguette slices and enjoyed both immensely.
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Monday, August 19, 2013

Water Menu at Ray's and Stark Bar: Can You Taste The Difference?

Yes, Ray's and Stark Bar now has a water menu of twenty different still and sparkling waters, complete with their own water sommelier, Martin Riese. When I was invited to a water tasting there, I was both tickled and curious. A "water menu" seems excessive, but I was curious if I can really taste the differences between different brands. I mean, I knew there was a difference because I never really liked Voss but have always loved Fiji, but I wanted to see if it really makes a big enough difference.

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Martin explained that the different flavors of water comes from the different mineral contents according to the water source. The waters are labeled by their "TDS" number or "total dissolved solids".
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IMG_7415 The water menu itself is pretty impressive and beautiful, with the mineral contents and flavor profiles of each water listed next to a beautiful photograph. So, the short answer to my question was YES, I can certainly taste the differences. Voss has a low TDS (6 mg of sodium, 1 mg of magnesium, and 5 mg of calcium) and has a little bitterness/sharpness at the end. Martin suggests that Voss would go better with salads, while Fiji would be better for desserts.

After the tasting, I think Fiji is still my favorite still water! Fiji's aquifer is hundreds of feet below the edges of a rainforest and the water that goes in there had gone through layers of volcanic rock, creating a natural filtration process. Fiji has a slightly higher TDS (18 mg of sodium, 15 mg magnesium, and 18 mg calcium) and it has a softer, almost "buttery" (as far as water can be buttery) mouthfeel to it.

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