Showing posts with label la cachette bistro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label la cachette bistro. Show all posts

Thursday, December 16, 2010

La Cachette Bistro Switches to Tapas Menu for the New Year

La Cachette Bistro is switching to a French-Mediterranean tapas menu come the end of this month. In the meantime, though, you can start ordering items from the new menu as well as the current menu.

A couple of weeks ago, Chef Jean Francois Meteigner offered a tasting of about 10 items for $50 per person. I think I got a few extra dishes when I went, but since blogging about all of them would result in a very, very long post, I'll just give you the highlights (which were still almost all of them ...) to let you know what you can expect. A few were paired with wines chosen by their sommelier, who had to be on her feet since this was the first night Chef Meteigner served the new menu items. I'd say she did a good job, though!

Many of the current menu items make an appearance, just in smaller portions.
We started with the Foie gras terrine and duck rillete with fig jam. Paired with Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Baron de Rothschild Collection, Bordeaux, 2008.

Foie Gras and Rillette
Foie gras and fig, a match made in heaven.

Bacon wrapped dates
Bacon wrapped dates
Sure, bacon-wrapped dates are everywhere now, but I like how the bacon here is particularly crispy. This was paired with a grenache that I had originally thought to be too young, but in fact paired very nicely with each decadent bite.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Paella Thursdays at La Cachette Bistro

Sometimes what draws people to try a dish isn't just the list of ingredients, or the fact that it's a special menu item, but how excited the chef is about it.

I received an email from Chef Jean Francois Meteigner from La Cachette Bistro, saying that he had found spanish rice, piquillo peppers, saffron, etc and will start doing paella every Thursday at La Cachette Bistro. When I came in to try it, Fabrice Lorenzi (the GM) also mentioned how proud Chef Meteigner is of his paella. How could you not try it?

It's a classic paella with generous amounts of seafood. Last Thursday the Spanish rice, piquillo peppers, chorizo, were cooked in saffron with mussels, clams, prawns, scallops, and chicken.
The short grained Spanish rice is supposed to be very important to make a true paella as long-grained rice wouldn't absorb the liquid it's cooked in appropriately. Here, the rice is cooked perfectly al dente, surrounded by the fragrance and flavors of everything else. From the seafood to the chicken, everything was prepared wonderfully. Not just the bone-in chicken wing, I even enjoyed eating the white meat which here was tender and moist.

Other seasonal specials are of course available.
Morel mushrooms from Oregon are built into a beautiful feuillete.
The light and flaky pastry contrasts nicely with the chewiness and earthiness of the morels.

The cherry cobbler also came with a special touch: a homemade vanilla ice cream made with tempered chocolate and corn flakes.
You may not be able to tell they were corn flakes when you eat them but they added a really nice crunchiness. To top it all off: the chunks of tempered chocolate combined with the cherry filling was divine. I want chocolate to accompany all my cherry cobblers from now on.

The paella is served every Thursday and is priced ~$26.

La Cachette Bistro
1733 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 434-9509
www.lacachettebistro.com

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

La Cachette Bistro: Salmon Sausages and Rum Brunch

La Cachette was a long-standing restaurant in Century City, where chef/owner Jean Francois Meteigner served California-influenced French dishes for fifteen years. Now the restaurant has found a new home as La Cachette Bistro on Ocean Avenue, where you can take in the ocean breeze on the patio.
They wanted to promote their lunch prix fixe deal, so they invited me over for lunch. It was impossible for me to make it there during the weekday, however, so I ended up coming in for a Saturday brunch instead.

The lunch prix fixe on Monday-Friday gets you Soup of the Day or House Salad, One of Three Entree Choices, and Dessert of The Day for just $15. Pretty good deal, no?

Soon after we were seated, Marc Danays, the bartender came over to greet us and offered some libations. I had brought 0ne of my roommates with me. She's originally from Cambridge and she and Marc noted their common accent and the two of them hit it off immediately (Marc worked at major clubs in London).

We decided to let him make whatever he wants and these are what we got:
"Bubbly Love" (gin, lime, pomegranate liqueur, topped with champagne) for me.
"Deep South" (rum, OJ) for my roommate (who told him she liked rum lots and lots).
Both drinks were sweet and refreshing, but I ended up liking my roommate's drink more. Mine was a little bitter, perhaps the combination of the herbal gin and the rosemary was a bit much for me. There's also that whole "drink OJ during brunch" habit hardwired into my brain.

Some eggy bread with a sweet crust to start.
We really wanted to sit outside and enjoy the sun and breeze, but since it ended up being a rather windy day, we both started with some soups.

My roommate got the Smoked Tomato and Shiitake Mushroom Soup ($6)
The chunks of shiitake were very good and brought the dish up a notch. The soup had a nice smokiness (in the words of my roommate, it reminds her of when she puts bacon in tomato sauce).

Lightly creamed Lobster Bisque, served with Rouille ($7)
No lobster chunks here, but you can definitely taste the lobster. A thin but flavorful bisque.

At first I went for a standard brunch fare:
Organic Egg Benedict on Brioche, with House Smoked Salmon (or Ham), served with Baby Mixed Greens ($18)
The smoked salmon used here was on the meatier side and had a good smoked flavor. The brioche was nicely flaky and the egg was poached well - runny without being too much so.

My roommate never had a croque before so that's what she ordered.
Croque Monsieur on House Baked Bun with Bechamel, Swiss Cheese, Organic Ham ($14 + $2 for egg). She got the egg- so technically she got a Croque Madame.
I tried a bite and it was a pretty good although a heavier version of the croque, given the thicker, richer buns used in it. Even so the bread was pretty air so the dish was not overly dense. The ham was also smoked in house and was great. My roommate loved it and it was her favorite entree from the table.

Chef Meteigner decided to send out another dish that he wanted us to try:
Scrambled Eggs Wrapped in House Smoked Salmon, with House Made Salmon Sausage, Capers, Onions, served with Mixed Greens ($17)
The wonderfully moist scrambled eggs are indeed wrapped inside the salmon:
I'm glad he sent out this dish as it turned out to be my favorite. The lemony frisee complemented the salmon very well. I loved the moist and runny scrambled eggs. Most notably though was the salmon sausages made from smoked salmon, fresh salmon, and a bit of white fish. The sausages were light yet flavorful.

Instead of a normal palate cleanser, Marc sent out one in alcoholic liquid shot form. A palate cleanser cocktail? I think Marc's on a mission ... to get us drunk :p
This was made with thyme, lemon, and a rather special vodka: Zubrowka, a bison grass flavored vodka from Poland. Sweet and smooth. Dangerous.

Then came desserts.

Floating Island w/ Caramel & Hazelnut Pistachio Almond Nougatine ($9)
This was a fluffy meringue sitting on top of a pool of Crème anglaise and topped with pralines. We both absolutely loved the praline.

Homemade Rum Baba with Pressed Pineapple and Creme Fraiche ($8)
After biting into just the rum baba, we thought it was definitely a good rum baba, but it wasn't until we found out what was in the little tin jug that this dessert become amazing. No, not maple syrup.
Rum.
Jamaican dark rum. Just a spoonful of dark rum ... and a little piece of baba. Oh yes.

Maybe it was the overflowing libations we had but we both really enjoyed our experience here. The patio had a classic French bistro look with the added bonus of So Cal sun and sea breeze. Chef Meteigner's food was good, especially the delectable house made salmon sausages, as well as their house smoked salmon and ham. Both of the classic desserts we had were more than solid. Give me some eggs, salmon sausages, and a rum-soaked baba, and I'm good. If only I can make it here during the week for their $15 three course lunches.

La Cachette Bistro
1733 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 434-9509
www.lacachettebistro.com
La Cachette Bistro on Urbanspoon
La Cachette Bistro in Los Angeles

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