Showing posts with label old town. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old town. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Old Town Pasadena Drinking at PUNCH

While 1886 Bar is one of my favorite bars in the LA area, there wasn't many other options for cocktails in Pasadena. That is, until recently. Now, you can get pretty good drinks at Trattoria Neapolis, though they've gone through some staff changes lately. One of the latest entrants is PUNCH Bar (it's been a while now since they've opened), headed by Robin Chopra and Darwin Manahan, who are also manning the bar at Corazon Y Miel.

Punch
The bar is a bit hard to find. It's on top of PICNIK, and I think you're supposed to go up the stairs from the parking lot around the back, but I got lost and they let me upstairs from inside PICNIK.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Osawa Upgrades Old Shaab Location in Pasadena

When Shaab shuttered it left Pasadena devoid of shabu shabu. Now Osawa has taken over the exact same spot, serving shabu Shabu, sushi, and otsumami (small plates). Osawa is owned by Sayuri Tachibe, the wife of Chaya's corporate chef, Shigefumi Tachibe.


I went with Wandering Chopsticks who I know doesn't drink much so I ordered something sweeter that she can enjoy, a yuzu sake called Aladdin. Definitely easy to drink.
There's also blood orange lemonade for those who don't drink at all.
We started with some otsumami. I had been eyeing the beef tongue with Furofuki daikon radish and shaved kelp ($11)
I wondered if this was a common combination. I've never had shaved kelp (as opposed to dried) and like bonito flakes, when they get wet they clump together making it hard to separate with your chopsticks, but overall I liked this interesting dish. The beef tongue was quite tender and I'm partial to daikon.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Chef Laurent Quenioux's Spring Menu at Vertical Wine Bistro (Pasadena)

Vertical Wine Bistro in Old Town Pasadena has seen many personnel changes in the past two years and now Chef Laurent Quenioux (formerly of Bistro LQ) seems to be settling in as the kitchen's helm.

He may be pushing the envelope at his LQ @ SK dinners (including a weed "herb" dinner) but he returns to simplicity here in old town Pasadena. A recent tasting of their new spring menu showcases Chef Quenioux's love of great produce.

We started with a salad of watercress, endive, valdeon cheese, hazelnuts, and pear.

Endive Salad
Normally endives are a little too bitter for my taste, but surprisingly these were sweeter. The crispness is balanced out by the valdeon cheese (which I also loved by itself).

Wine
This is Vertical Wine Bistro after all, so all our courses were paired with wines. The endive salad was paired with Domaine Fouassier Sancerre Les Chailloux, Loire, France - chosen for its acidity.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Haven Gastropub (Pasadena, CA)

Haven Gastropub had become a favorite in Orange County, and it recently opened a second location in Old Town Pasadena, complete with a (future) brewery. I was recently invited to a media tasting and had a six course paired meal that went beyond the image I had in mind of a "gastropub." Sure, there were beer food, like the beef cheek poutine pictured below, but there were much more.

Poutine

Haven Brewery
The brewery part of Haven is encased in glass so you can see the stills. They weren't operating when I was there since they were still gearing up, but hopefully that will happen soon. In the meantime, they have plenty of great beers from other breweries on tap!

When I arrived, I didn't realize I was going to have my whole meal paired, so I ordered a beer to start off with: an Ommegang Aphrodite, which is a fruit beer made with raspberry and beer. It's not a sweet beer but it certainly is fruity.
Aphrodite
They also have cocktails that are riffs of old classics, like this Walnut Manhattan. I found the cocktails to be a bit unbalanced, though. I'd stick with the beers!
Walnut Manhattan
The first course was something I expected from a gastropub: Mac n' Cheese with black truffles, gruyere, fontina, parmesan. This was paired with Bacchus sour ale.
Mac n Cheese
This was a good version of mac n cheese, with a nice crispy crust and rich creamy cheese. I love the smell of fontina and black truffles.
The sour ale, Bacchus was great. It was not too sour and was pretty light.

There were also a trio of house marinated olives (the black olives were my favorites).

Next is the Pork Rillette - "confiture de cochon" served in a mason jar, house mustard, artisan bread.
These two were paired with Point the Way IPA from the newly opened Golden Road Brewery.
Pork Rillette
Pork rillete made in pork fat. Rich, with a nice (kind of fiber-y) texture.

Moving to the lighter side of the menu with Hiramasa Crudo - ruby red grapefruit, fresno chili, pickled shallot, micro peppercress, pink salt, arbequina oil
Paired with St. George Gin Fizz
Hiramasa Crudo
I loved the hiramasa crudo. The fish was fresh and meaty, the flavors lightly sweet and tart from the grapefruit. There was a crunchiness from chili (which was not too spicy) and also from the pink salt. I found the gin fizz, like the manhattan earlier, a bit unbalanced.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

No More Roxolana for Me (yet again!)

***UPDATE: The owner of Roxolana emailed to apologize and said that my photo was set to be used on Yelp by mistake, and that he had uploaded it before the first incident. ***

Some of you may be familiar with the incident where Ukrainian restaurant, Roxolana, in Pasadena used my photo without permission or credit for their Groupon deal a while back. I asked Groupon to take the photo down, and emailed the owner which resulted in a ridiculous email exchange (documented below).

Well, I thought that was that. But NO! This morning a fellow blogger told me that she saw my photo used by Roxolana yet again, this time for their Yelp deal! Here's a screen capture of the deal page:


This was my photo on flickr, uploaded in July 2011
Chicken Kiev cross section

The photo on Yelp was apparently uploaded by an "Alex R." who has no review and 3 uploaded photos, all of which are of Roxolana. I mean, seriously, once was annoying enough, but to do it AGAIN??

Friday, May 13, 2011

Brunching in Old Town's New Gastropub, Kings Row (Pasadena)

IMG_0499
Bananas Foster Griddle Cakes
When a gastropub opened up in Old Town Pasadena, I admit I didn't pay much attention. That is, until I saw Deep End Dining and Trippy Food rave about the oxtail at Kings Row. They claimed it was fit for a king, and that intrigued me, so when they invited me to try out the new brunch menu, I accepted.

Kings Row opened in the old Neomeze space, which they have completely transformed from the pink and blue-lit lounge to the brick-walled bare space playing country music.
Kings Row, Pasadena
The brunch menu was pretty diverse with dishes ranging from chorizo fajitas to chicken fried steak to fish and chips. And buckwheat waffles a.k.a. the best waffles I've ever had. More on that later.

The fish and chips ($14) featured huge pieces of moist, nicely battered fish. We liked the fries as well, but could've skipped the mushy peas (is that a British thing?)
Fish and Chips
A hint for things to come: the portions are generous.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Old Town Pasadena Restaurant Week

Pasadena residents can look forward to the first week of June, when Old Pasadena Restaurant Week 2010 will be held.

From June 1st to June 8th, over 25 restaurants in Old Town Pasadena will be offering 3-course prix fixe lunches and dinners priced $15/25 and $25/35.

That's not all, you'll be doing good, too. 10% of the proceeds will go towards Union Station Homeless Services.

Check back on their website for updated menus and list of participating restaurants. Right now your options will include Crispy Soft Shell Crab at BarCelona, Acqua Pazza and Olive Oil Cake at La Grande Orange, and Farro Risotto at Vertical Wine Bistro, among others.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Haitian Libations on Feb 6th! Raise Money for Charity

In conjunction with Vertical Wine Bistro, bloggers Mattatouille, RumDood, and I will be hosting the Haitian Libations Charity Event to help the earthquake victims in Haiti.

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Here are the deets:

When: Saturday, Feb 6th. 10pm-2am

What: 50% of the profits from the bar/lounge area will be donated to Artists for Peace and Justice who will personally deliver our aid to Haiti the week after! This includes cocktails, wine, and food sold at the bar area.

Also, us three bloggers will be personally making drinks behind the bar. We will be serving these three drinks for the night: Aviation, Vieux Carre, and Port-Au-Prince (a RumDood-original cocktail using the Haitian rum, Rhum Barbancourt).

Where:
Vertical Wine Bistro
70 N Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA

Friday, January 8, 2010

Pasadena Wine Bar Renaissance? Part 1: Vertical Wine Bistro

I admit, I never paid much attention to wine bars in Pasadena before because, well, what's in Pasadena? At least that was my thought.

With the exception of Noir that I checked out a couple of months ago, I haven't gone to the others, but a recent visit with Mattatouille to Vertical Wine Bistro in Old Town changed my perception of the Pasadena scene. We were there for their $5 champagne special that they for the 12 days of Christmas (and also to celebrate our birthdays a few days apart).

Vertical Wine Bistro recently recruited "wine dude" David Haskell (BIN 8945, 2006 Sommelier of the Year award from Angeleno Magazine) to revamp their wine program, and his touch is showing. Lucky me, Mattatouille knows the dude and knows just to take his recommendations on wine instead of ordering on our own.

Vertical's impressive wine list of more than 400 wines spans 10-some pages and ranges from bottles in the $20's to the $100's, including some unique and rare varietals. How are you supposed to pick? Well, we just ask. Otherwise, you can always choose one of the 7 flights they have available on the menu.

It's a bistro after all, so a review of the food is warranted. We decided to get some small plates to share at the bar, and I just went along with Matt's recommendations here.

First up: Corn Fritter (cured salmon, creme fraiche) - $12
Unlike what I expected, the crispy corn fritters were topped with a thick slice of smoked salmon. Lovely texture contrast, lots of flavors. These are some great bites.

Shoestring fries (truffle oil/ketchup) - $8
These thin fries were not overdone and had great texture. Not to mention the generous dousing of truffle oil made me unable to stop popping them into my mouth.

Chorizo Pizza (tomato, mozzarella, basil) - $10
Quite a well prepared rendition of flatbread and always a crowd pleaser, this pizza gets a flavor kick from the spicy chorizo.

So here's where David Haskell comes out and greets Mattatouille. He decided that we didn't have enough to eat though, so soon after he brought out the tour de force:
Roasted Jidori Chicken for 2, roasted tableside - $48
David himself prepared our chicken tableside for us.
I don't normally order chicken at restaurants since it tends to be dry and overcookedy. Of course, I went straight for the chicken leg myself, but I did try the white meat pieces to see how they were and found them to be moist and juicy as well.

David paired our chicken with a 1990 Chapoutier Hermitage.
Smooth tannins and full bodied, pretty rich and complex. This was a beautiful wine and it paired wonderfully with the roasted chicken. We wouldn't have made this pairing on our own, but that's why David Haskell is there.

We also tried a couple of cocktails made by Nikki the bartender.
Her new concoction made with blueberries is light, sweet, and refreshing. We liked it better with bitters and I promised her I'd bring some rhubarb bitters next time I come ( I still haven't yet, but I will, I promise!).

She also claims to make one of the best Margaritas in town, so of course we had to try that.
It was indeed one of the best margaritas I've ever had, a simple but balanced drink.

I've heard of Vertical Wine Bistro before, of course, but now it baffled me why I haven't thought about checking it out. With more than solid food, great wine list, and good (albeit still small) cocktail list, this place should be a go-to place for Old Town Pasadena.


Vertical Wine Bistro
70 N Raymond Ave (upstairs)
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 795-3999
http://www.verticalwinebistro.com/

Vertical Wine Bistro on Urbanspoon
Vertical Wine Bistro in Los Angeles

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