Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Discover Classes with CourseHorse: Wine Tasting Class at Dave's Fresh Pasta (Somerville, MA)

CourseHorse is a portal to discover local classes, varying from tech classes, languages, life skills, and of course cooking and wine tasting classes. Even fitness classes are listed. I was invited to experience one of CourseHorse's openings, so naturally I looked for the food-related ones. Browsing through the selection I found numerous cooking classes, a cocktail making class at No. 9 Park, and a number of wine tastings. You can look through the current culinary offerings in Boston here.

I decided to take one of the wine tastings offered at Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville. Dave's Fresh Pasta is a gourmet food and wine store, but they also hold events like this wine tasting on a few Thursdays 7:30-9PM each season. The wine tastings at Dave's Fresh Pasta is typically $55 per person. I was there for their Local Cheese and Spring Wines tasting with Vineyard Road, a wine distributor based in Framingham. We tasted five different wines paired with food.

We started with 2015 Murgo Lapilli from Sicily, Italy ($11.95). This wine is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Sauvignon Blanc, which are typical grapes of Italy.
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The wine's apple notes pair well with the Hudson Valley Camembert cheese, apple butter, and apple slices on cracker.
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2016 Domaine Lelievre from Cotes de Toul, Lorraine, France ($16.95). This rose wine is a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir.
Lorraine is in the northern center France. This region used to make a lot of wines in the 1500s but a lot of disease had diminished the planted area.
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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Zinque Cafe and Wine Bar in West Hollywood

The old Nishimura space across the street from Pacific Design Center was always closed off by a tall wooden gate. Now it has turned into Zinque Cafe and Wine Bar and the gate gave way to a charming outdoor dining area, complete with a fireplace.

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The food menu is small, but we tried some good things here, starting with the Cheese Plate ($16) which included comte, blue cheese, and epoisses
Cheese
Though you don't get to choose the cheeses, they're all good and come with fun accompaniments. Now, the server might tell you the one at the end is brie, but I was told Zinque is one of the few places in town that serves Epoisses. Instead of brie, we had a slice of the wonderfully stinky epoisses, even better with the honeycomb.
Epoisses

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Exploring the Borough Market in London

One of the Chowzter stops in London was The Borough Market, one of the largest and oldest food markets in London.

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I never realized until then just how much the Brits love their cheese. It seemed like more than half of the market was selling cheese! And they look and smell amazing. If only there was a way for me to bring them home ...
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One of the Chowzter picks is the sausage roll from The Ginger Pig. The Ginger Pig is a butcher shop so they make their own pork sausages with sage and breadcrumbs. The sausage is wrapped in a crispy puff pastry. Surprisingly large and sure to fill you up. During the holidays they add cranberry to the sausage as well.
Sausage roll

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A Breakfast Tour of Downtown LA's Grand Central Market

Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles is one of the most exciting food destinations lately, with tons of new vendors opening up shop. I was recently invited to a breakfast tour of some of these vendors, new and old. Since it's breakfast, we of course started with G&B Coffee.

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Not only do they have amazing coffee and cappuccino (with almond milk!), you can also get Donut Snob's amazing donuts here.
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Our next stop was Sticky Rice.
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What we had for breakfast was actually a snack that they will have in the afternoons, Kanom Krok. They have a special pan to make these delicious little coconut custard cakes.
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Sunday, December 22, 2013

Fondue by the Pool at Après at The W Hotel in Westwood

It's getting cold out. Cold enough for fondue, even. But you're still an Angeleno at heart so you're going to want your fondue by the pool. Well, you can at Après at The W Hotel in Westwood. Not après ski, but après skinny dip?
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Available at the poolside cabanas (but they'll serve it inside or at the bar if you ask nicely) are cheese and chocolate fondues, s'mores, and special cocktails.
There are three choices for the cheese fondue ($16 for 2), including the Miss Swiss which is the traditional gruyere cheese with sherry and garlic, Dive bar made with cheddar, IPA, and bacon, and Jako-Dip made with goat cheese, white wine, and pumpkin puree.
Cheese Fondue
My favorite is still the traditional Swiss style, but the pumpkin one is fun to try as well. They come with bread and vegetables as usual but also some cured meats.

The chocolate fondue also comes in three choices and served with strawberries, dried pineapples, marshmallows, Oreos, and graham crackers.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Wood and Vine (Hollywood, CA): Monday Market Dinners and ChickenandWaffles

Fact: Wood and Vine has one of the best al fresco dining area in Hollywood. Insist on a table here as long as the nights aren't too cold. It's a quiet escape from the craziness of Hollywood Blvd.

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When Wood and Vine first opened, the executive chef Gavin Mills had to figure out how to work with the tiny kitchen and now he's got it down. The kitchen is so small it has no walk-in fridge! But that just means Chef Gavin goes to the market every morning for fresh ingredients.
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At a recent dinner, I started my night with a Chai Gold Rush (chai and vanilla infused bourbon, lemon, honey, $12). This was a great cocktail, probably my favorite of the night! It's not overwhelmingly "chai"-like, just notes of spices. I hope they keep this one on the menu for a while!

Mondays are good to give Wood and Vine a try with their Monday Market Prix Fixe menu, $18 for 3 courses. There were three of us dining, so we tried one of the prix fixe menu while ordering other items to try.

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The first course was a Melon consomme with basil.
This was a rather interesting first course. It was cold (good for the summer) but since it's also sweet, it was more like drinking melon juice rather than a consomme.

The entree that night was Shrimp and Grips with Anson Mills grits and house andouille sausage
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The current menu has plenty of Southern items (as you'll see more below, chicken and waffles being one) and he's also doing a Southern Sunday suppers. I lived in South Carolina for high school and developed a liking to grits. I liked the shrimp and grits here, especially the texture of the grits and the addition of the housemade sausage.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

El Balcon: Alta Cocina in San Felipe (Baja, Mexico)

Unlike the more metropolitan Tijuana, there aren't too many high end dining options in San Felipe, a sleepy town during the off-season. Still, there is at least one, and a very good one at that.
El Balcon
El Balcon Cocina Artesanal opened in Jaunary this year by Chef Julio Cesar Gonzalez Zetina who had previous worked at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun and researched Mayan culinary traditions for the university there. Now he also teaches the subject at the local university after a recent move from Ensenada.

El Balcon wasn't a fancy restaurant, just a few cute tables outside on the second floor of La Plazita, and an outdoor kitchen. Thick tortilla chips are accompanied by a bold housemade salsa.

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Our lunch tasting began with an Aguachile de Cazon (dogfish marinated in burnt chili sauce and green sauce, smoked tuna, sea asparagus and "Huaxes" (toasted seeds), grasshopper, verdolaga
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We have had plenty of bounty from the Sea of Cortez, but this was the first time in San Felipe that we had it raw. The fresh dogfish carpaccio reminded me of kanpachi and both of the chile were so good that despite not being able to eat that spicy, I had to finish the entire plate (while downing plenty of water).

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Ile de France Camembert: The Cheese for Cheese Lovers

Camembert, with its strong aroma, is not a cheese to be taken lightly. This cheese first originated in Normandy and is made from cow's milk and its surface ripened usually for at least three weeks.

Since Ile de France just came out with a new recipe for their camembert cheese, they offered me a sample for review. It came to my doorstep via overnight delivery.

Now, keep in mind that this, as any other cheese, should be eaten at room temperature, where the camembert will be wonderfully runny. Since I like taking cross section shots I did this one before it's at room temperature and ready to eat:
Ile de France Camembert

It should be even runnier than this:
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The camembert may look like brie, and is as smooth and creamy, but a simple sniff will tell you the difference. A strong nutty and musky aroma; no, this is no simple brie. The flavor is more intense as well: earthier and nuttier

So, I decided to do a recipe with the camembert this time around *gasp*. Don't be too surprised though, as I'm no great cook I'm doing a grilled camembert sandwich!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Pasadena Wine Bar Renaissance? Part 2: Wine Detective

I passed by Wine Detective while they were still undergoing construction on one of my walks around Pasadena months ago. I didn't know when they would open but then I recently received an invitation from one of the co-owners, Lev, to check the place out.

Since this wine bar is just a few blocks away from Caltech (and my apartment) and thus an easy walk, I was more than happy to try it out for myself. A wine bar opening up within a stone's throw from Caltech can only be a good thing!

Wine Detective employs the Enomatic wine dispenser system, where the customer inserts a smartcard into the machine, chooses the wine they want, presses a button and receives a 1 oz pour.
The 1 oz pours (usually priced between $2-4) let you try a lot more wines than you would normally have, but it is cheaper if you opt for a glass. You can also get a bottle here and pay retail price + corkage fee.

The white wines are of course chilled and each pour is precisely controlled.
The wines here are all chosen by the four owners - and the four of them have to agree on the wines, which is probably quite an ordeal given people's differing palate. But, hey, I won't complain if I have to taste wine for work :P

Here you can also find some wines that you can't get at retail stores or are harder to find including Turley Howell Mountain Zinfandel and a selection of Charles Smith's wines.

While Wine Detective is not a restaurant, they do serve cheese plates, charcuterie, and some pintxos.

We got a cheese plate to share. A selection of three cheeses run $11.00.
Each cheese was served with the appropriate condiments. we got the verdecapra (a blue cheese from Italy), Roccolo (Cow’s Cheese from Italy), and a goat cheese that I can't remember. The blue cheese was pretty amazing, do try it sometime.

Duck Trio (duck pate, duck prosciutto, duck salami) - $17

Photo courtesy of Mattatouille

A plate worth getting, we loved all three but I loved the pate most of all, it was smooth and rich in flavor. I probably ate more than my share that night. I should also note that the bread that came with this and the cheese plate was quite good and went well with the cheese and charcuterie.

To soak up all that wine, LA&OC Foodie and I also decided to get some pintxos to share. A selection of 3 pintxos is also $11 and we chose: Pate (Duck Pate, Cucumber, Piquillo Pepper), Mozzarella
(Buffalo Mozzarella, Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Basil), and Serrano (Serrano Ham, Manchego Cheese, Oven Roasted Tomatoes).
These are pretty basic bites that work well with wines. I thought the Serrano could've used something extra since it was a bit dry for my taste, but again, I loved the pate.

Not only could I walk home after drinking wine, they also offer a 10% discount for those with Caltech or JPL id!
Also, for happy hour (M-F, 4-7pm) they are offering $5 glass of house wine and 25% off all food items.


Wine Detective
146 South Lake Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 792-9936
www.winedetective.com
Wine Detective on Urbanspoon


Other wine bars in Pasadena:
Noir Food and Wine
Vertical Wine Bistro

Monday, April 6, 2009

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.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

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

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Truffles, oh Truffles 1: tiding over with cheese

My last real real truffle meal was a few months ago at Angelini Osteria. Oh, god I can still smell it ... I was sniffing and cleaning the plates with bread... I haven't had the opportunity to get truffles anyplace recently, so I thought I would tide myself over with truffle-infused cheese.

Bought this Sottocenere al tartufo (aka. "with truffles") during my last trip to Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock, so dinner tonight: Cheese and Crackers.

The photo taken this time was not that good, sorry, as I was just eating at my apartment. Terrible lighting :P

Sottocenere is semi-firm, and aged in ash rind (supposed to keep the flavor longer). The cheese itself has a mild taste, but really, aren't you eating it for the truffles? :)

When I bought it, still wrapped in the plastic wrapper I thought, "hmm ... it will probably be just a hint of truffles, but whatever I'll try it" but when I unwrapped it!! The smell, that very distinctive truffle smell was so strong, I was overjoyed! The mild cheese taste goes very well with the pungent truffles. Enjoy it with Seed crackers or other slightly more flavorful crackers than "water crackers" but don't overpower the truffles.

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