June 29: Island Style Cook-Off

Four chefs in LA are competing to create the ultimate Hawaiian style pupu, and you can determine the winner and win a trip to Hawaii!

Between now and June 19, you can visit the following chefs/restaurants, taste their creation, and vote online:

1. Neal Fraser from BLD: Hawaiian Tuna Poke, Wasabi Tobiko, Sambal Crème Fraiche
2. Mark Gold from Eva Restaurant: Roasted Foie Gras with Sushi Rice, Tea Smoked Plum and Grated Yuzu
3. Eric Greenspan from The Foundry on Melrose: Chili Glazed Spam with Saffron Pineapple Risotto and Coconut Crusted Shrimp
4. Brendan Collins from Waterloo and City: Seared Foie Gras, Char Siu Tete de Spam, Caramelized Pineapple Sherbet, and 5 Spice Brioche

One grand prize winner will receive a Hawaii getaway for two including airfare, hotel accommodations, tickets to the inaugural Hawaii Food and Wine Festival from Mauka to Makai: Hawaii’s Sustainable Future" dinner on October 1, and a pair of tickets to the Island Style Cook-Off event finale on June 29.

Even if you don't win, you can still attend the cook-off event, where two finalists will compete for the throne. For just a $20 ticket, you, as an attendant, will get to enjoy umbrella drinks and gourmet pupu while watching the cook-off. Not a bad deal!

Event details: 
Wednesday, June 29. 7- 9 p.m.
Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows
101 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica

Di Fara Pizza (Brooklyn, NY)

Domenico DeMarco opened Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn in 1964 and has been manning the oven ever since, personally crafting your pies to order, sprinkling the basil and drizzling olive oil for that perfect thin crust pizza. He's 74 now and still the only one responsible for your pizzas.

Despite numerous visits to New York over the years, I have yet been to a first rate pizza place. Last year, I finally decided to go to Di Fara, perhaps one of the quintessential New York pizza joints, a 30 minute subway ride from Manhattan. I was joined by Tiny Nancer, who had recently relocated there.

The wait isn't that long to order, but it takes a while for your pizza to be ready, as there's only one man making all of them. It's well worth it, though.

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Your Weekend Guide

Saturday-Sunday, June 11-12
LA Wine Fest
LA Wine Fest returns for its 6th year. On top of tasting hundreds of wines (included with your ticket), restaurants and food trucks, there will be wine and scotch seminars/tastings. Most of them are $20 but Robert Mondavi Wines is hosting a series of FREE seminars and tastings, so be sure to check those out!
Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Ave, Hollywood, CA 90038.

Saturday, June 11
"Exceptional Zinfandel": Zinfandel Tasting Class
Ian Blackburn from Learn About Wine will guide you through California's zinfandels in this workshop, including a big selection of wines from Turley.
3-5pm
Cafe Metropol, 923 E. 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
$59 advance tickets (2 for $100) or $95 at the door.

Sunday, June 12
Taste of the Nation LA
This mega food/charity event is back, featuring tons of restaurants and more, including a peek at Waylynn Lucas' new Fonuts and Michael Voltaggio's new Ink restaurant, Ray's and Stark Bar, and much much more. There will also be live auction, where you can bid on Voltaggio cooking at your home.
100% of ticket sales supports Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger.
1-4pm
Media Park, 9070 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA
$150 VIP ticket, $125 general admission

City Tavern (Culver City, CA)

The newly opened City Tavern in Culver City may be known for having self-serve taps on the tables, but that is certainly not what they are all about. With more than 20 craft beers on tap, I'm glad they serve taster-size portions. Telegrahp, Lost Abbey, Eagle Rock Brewery, and many more. My friend and I shared tasters along the way, "pairing" them with our food with the help of our knowledgeable waitress.

The dinner started strong with some fresh Carlsbad Luna Oysters with vodka mignonette and fresh horseradish ($15)

Instead of champagne, we had the oysters along with some crisp Julian Hard Cider!

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Join Me for Happy Hour at The Capital Grille!

The Capital Grille in Beverly Hills has offered to host a happy hour for my readers, in promotion of their new happy hour bar menu. For those who join me during this event, The Capital Grille will provide free passed bar food including their lobster and crab burgers, mini tenderloin sandwiches, and lobster salad sandwiches (usually $6 during happy hour). The drinks (wine, beer, signature cocktails including Hemingway Daiquiri) will be $6.

The event will be on Tuesday June 14, from 5-7 pm. We will be partying it upstairs on their Terrace. Additionally, you can drop in your business card to win a $100 gift certificate!

The Capital Grille

8614 W. Beverly Blvd.

 Los Angeles, CA 90048

(310) 358-0650

www.thecapitalgrille.com

Bring your friends, but remember to RSVP to me at gourmetpigs @ gmail by Monday 6/13, so they can prepare for the right number of people. You can also RSVP on this Facebook event page, but please only do one or the other so I don't double count!
Looking forward to seeing you guys there and sharing some food and drinks!

PS. There is complimentary valet (separate from the Beverly Center), enter off of Beverly just past San Vicente.

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PDX Cocktail Stop #2: Teardrop Lounge (Portland, OR)

Besides pies, a maple bacon donut, and Bunk sandwiches, all I wanted in Portland were cocktails. Wandering Chopsticks and I met up with one of her readers for a night out starting from happy hour at Clyde Common. Our second stop was Teardrop Lounge in the Pearl District. Highly recommended by my cocktailian friends, Teardrop Lounge makes their own bitters, uses fresh and seasonal fruits that include local (Oregonian) specialties like marionberry liqueur.

They call their housemade bitters "tinctures" and there is an amazing selection of them. Do you see the Thai Chili and Jalapeno ones?

I had deemed myself pretty versed in booze these days, but the cocktails at Teardrop list ingredients I either wasn't familiar with or haven't imagined being in a cocktail. Lustau East India sherry? Montinore verjus? Pear butter?

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A Must! Table-to-Farm with FIG's Chef Ray Garcia at McGrath Farm

The phrase "farm-to-table" is everywhere, but Chef Ray Garcia from FIG at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica brings the table to the farm, quite literally.

FIG has frequently had Farm Dinners before, where a local farmer will come to the restaurant and talk to the diners about their products. Well, now they think it would be better if the guests come to the farm and see directly where the produce grows! And whoever thought of it, they were right. Our farmer's dinner at the McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo was one of my favorite dining experience to date.

They will soon open this farmers' dinners to the public and I was fortunate enough to join a sneak media preview at McGrath Family Farm. We took a bus from the Fairmont Miramar up the coast.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Phil McGrath, who then personally gave us a tour of his farm. McGrath Family Farm (and the Camarillo/Oxnard area in general) is known for its strawberries, which they said was one of the most expensive crops to grow. At their market, they had both Gaviota (big and juicy) and Seascape strawberries (small and sweet).

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PDX Cocktail Stop #1: Happy Hour at Clyde Common (Portland, OR)

So much to drink, so little time. Wandering Chopsticks and I decided to jam pack it all in one day. After a morning of wine tastings, we went to Clyde Common for some happy hour cocktails and food.

The bar at Clyde Common is headed by Jeff Morgenthaler, a famous and prolific bartender/cocktail writer, and comes recommended by many of my cocktail-loving friends. Alas, he was in California the day I was there. To absorb all the wines we had (before we start over with cocktails), we ordered some food from the happy hour menu (the happy hour is M-F 3-6pm, and they also have late night happy hours).

Being the cheap Asians that we are, we couldn't NOT order from the happy hour menu, both food and drinks. WC wanted the Fried chickpeas ($3)

I was initially skeptical, but these turned out to be addictive. The crispy batter was dusted with spices. Can't. Stop. Poppin'. At $3, these make a great bar snack.

I ordered the Flatbread, white bean puree, ricotta salata, raisins, pine nuts, greens ($6)

The flatbread itself was too soft and doughy for my taste, but I loved the toppings, especially the combination of the smooth bean puree with the crunch of the pine nuts and the sweet golden raisins.

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Munching Around Santa Monica with Six Taste Tours

What better way to explore one area's food than a walking tour with an expert, tasting 4-5 places all in one go? Six Taste Tours, started by two USC alums, aim to do just that with their tours in various regions in LA, including Thai Town, Little Tokyo, Arcadia, and more. Each area's tour is guided by an expert in that particular area/cuisine. I was invited to go on the Santa Monica tour recently with their guide, Therese.

Godmother sandwich, with on ocean view.

I don't want to spoil all the fun of the tour for you, so I will just go through some of the things we ate and leave you with some surprises if you ever take the tour!

They said they consider the Santa Monica tour to be their international tour, and you will see why. Our first stop was Rockenwagner Bakery.

Rockenwagner Bakery
12835 W Washington Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 578-8171
www.rockenwagner.com

Our guide, Therese

Other than the baked goods, Therese told us that Rockenwagner has a great Austrian coffee. We tasted some and it was indeed pretty smooth.

Apparently Hans Rockenwagner and his pastry chef invented the pretzel croissant by dipping a croissant in caustic acid, so of course we had to try some! Because of the pretzel-like crust, the croissant doesn't leave as much of a buttery mess on your fingers. 

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True Food Kitchen (Santa Monica, CA)

Local Vegetable Crudites

True Food Kitchen which recently opened at Santa Monica Place has a mission of serving sustainable, healthy food without sacrificing flavor. They center their menu around Dr. Andrew Weil’s "Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Food Pyramid" (not that I knew about it before coming here).

Before they officially opened to the public, they held tastings and trial runs for friends and some media. I came for a lunch during these test runs. While waiting for my friend I ran into Pleasure Palate and her friend. We ended up joining her table and got to sample many more things.

Do try the Banana, espresso, pistachio, and date muffin ($3)

While I'm usually not a big muffin fan, this one is a must try! The muffin is really moist and loaded with pistachio and other goodies.

They have a pretty big list of cocktails (with fruits with alleged antioxidant properties, of course), wines, and beers, many of them organic. I didn't want to start drinking so early, though so I went with one of their non-alcoholic "elixirs": the "Red Moon" ($4): pink grapefruit, yuzu, agave, and soda.

I also like the Medicine Man ($6) made with olivello juice (more on olivello later), pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, black tea, soda water, and blueberries.

Today's Raw Fish ($12): Yellowtail

A bit heavy on the sauce, but the fish was fresh.

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DVD Giveaway! Vanishing of the Bees

Colony Collapse Disorder. That's what they are calling the mysterious disappearance of honey bees all over. No one know why this is happening for sure, but the consequences are quite clear. It's not just about the honey. Honeybees are needed to pollinate vegetable and fruit plants around the world. No honeybees= no apples and peaches. The documentary Vanishing of the Bees, scheduled to release on June 7th, attempts to delve into this mystery and how we can all help protect the bees.

The documentary is directed by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein, and narrated by Ellen Page (the star of JUNO). They interview beekeepers, scientists, and food and environmental experts. It was much more informative than I had expected, explaining precisely what Colony Collapse Disorder is and what scientists and others think might be the cause.

In CCD, the bees do not die but disappear from the hives. No one knows where they went. In the US it started to gain attention in 2006, but apparently a similar phenomenon had happened in France in 1994. While we have yet to have direct evidence of the cause, the beekeepers seem to have a pretty good idea. France banned the use of systemic pesticides since then, but the EPA in the US need a more concrete evidence to follow suit. Holistic beekeepers and Michael Pollan suggest what we need to do to help.

They had sent me two copies to give away, so here's your chance! To win a copy, just comment below with your email address by Thursday, June 2nd.

You can also get extra entries by doing one or more of the following:
1. Tweet: "Learn more about why honeybees r disappearing n how u can help. Win a DVD of Vanishing of the Bees from @gourmetpigs! http://bit.ly/lOnDXk"
2. "Like" the link to this post on Gourmet Pigs' Facebook page.

Bunk Sandwiches (Portland, OR)

Bunk Sandwiches was on the top of my to-do list for Portland. Raves from my friends, Mario Batali's declaration that Tommy Habetz is one of the world's top contemporary chefs (Tommy worked under Batali and Bobby Flay before opening Bunk), appearing in New York Times, and many more. Anyway, I made Wandering Chopsticks drive me there with high expectations.

We waited about 20 minutes in line in the rain. It looks like at other times the lines can be much longer. The music store next door even had a sign up stating that you can't stand in front of the music store for Bunk.

We ordered the much lauded Pork Belly Cubano with ham, swiss, mustard, and pickles ($8)

I like the toasted crunchy bread, the silky ham, and of course the juicy, tender pork belly is what distinguishes this Cubano from the others.

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How to Blind Date at The Market

You meet for coffee at the newly opened The Market at the Santa Monica Place. It's bright and spacious. Maybe you meet at Groundworks or get some Austrian coffee from Rockenwagner and chat over pretzels and danishes.

Rockenwagner Bakery

You want to spend more time with her so you ask if she wants to have dinner at The Curious Palate. You find out she loves craft beers and has good taste in food and you think it's awesome. After dinner maybe you take her for some ice cream at N'Ice Cream or ice cream sandwiches from Beachy Cream. Maybe you share a chewy chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven from the Cookie Guru.

Sample-bearing girls from Beachy Cream

Fresh chocolate chip cookies from Cookie Guru

You want to impress her so you decide to take cooking classes at the Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories. You buy a bottle of wine at Venokado, some cheese and cured meat (maybe one of those truffled ham?) from Norcino Salumeria Cheese Bar and invite her over for a romantic dinner.

Classroom at Gourmandise

Your anniversary rolls around and you ask her to meet you at the place you first met. You get to The Market 15 minutes early and buy some beautiful flowers at Magical Blooms, some truffles and macarons at L'Artisan du Chocolat and you're all set. It's a one-stop-shop.

Macarons at L'Artisan du Chocolat

Orchids at Magical Blooms

Stones Restaurant at Marriott Marina del Rey

I have been finding myself in Marina del Rey more and more these days. My last visit was to Stones Restaurant at the Marriott Marina del Rey hotel, which recently obtained a new chef and revamped their menu. Instead of ordering a la carte, they sent out a tasting of the dishes they wanted to showcase.

We started with a sampling of two appetizers:
Arugula, grilled peach, pickled red onion, burrata, balsamic glaze

The burrata was creamy but the flavor was fairly mild and the dish benefits from the crunchy grilled peaches and the sweet and tart pickled onions.

Grilled shrimp, orange marmalade

This is the chef's riff on shrimp cocktails, where he grills then chills the shrimp. The sweet marmalade is a nice complement, though I'm not sure if I could eat more than two or three pieces of sweet shrimp.

Warm bread

Since all the entrees are accompanied by something creamy and starchy, we got full pretty fast, but we plowed through! This shouldn't be a problem for a regular diner not eating three entrees in a row :)

John Dory, popcorn crust, sweet corn ravioli, vegetable slaw

The popcorn crust was rather interesting (and according to the chef, pretty simple to replicate). The flesh of the john dory remains moist and flaky. I thought the sweet corn ravioli filling could be smoother and creamier, though.

Filet Mignon, yukon mash, cauliflower, demi

Stones cooks their proteins well, as exemplified by this tender, juicy steak. The mashed potatoes had the potato skins left in, giving it more body and flavor. The cauliflowers were not only colorful and fresh and crisp. This was a solid steak dish, you can't go wrong in ordering this.

The next dish doesn't lose out: New Zealand lamb, bacon, brussel sprouts, green apple risotto

Even with my full stomach, I thoroughly enjoyed this lamb, cooked a nice medium rare with that trickle of blood in the middle and nicely charred edges.The tart, crisp green apple slices in the risotto helped digest the other rich and heavy items.

We finished with a dessert sampler: Apple cobbler, Key lime tart, Chocolate ganache, Pineapple Upside Down cake.

My favorite was the dark, spongy chocolate ganache, followed by the apple cobbler.

The libations menu need some work for my personal taste as the cocktails were mostly fruity martinis and the wine by the glass selection is limited. The chef seems to have a liking for rich and creamy sides, but if you're staying nearby, you'd be satisfied with having a nice piece of filet mignon or lamb, or perhaps a moist John Dory here.

Stones Restaurant
Marriott Hotel Marina del Rey
4100 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, California 90292
(310) 301-3000
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/laxmb-marina-del-rey-marriott/


Disclosure: this meal was hosted.

Afternoon Tea at Chado Tea Room (Little Tokyo)

A pastime I enjoy but don't get to do quite enough is afternoon tea. I've slowly tried various afternoon tea places around town but have never tried Chado Tea Room before, despite the fact that they have three locations including Pasadena.

The afternoon tea is $18 per person (one of the cheaper options in LA), but I had bought a Groupon for the Little Tokyo location and invited Wandering Chopsticks to come along.

Chado has a pretty extensive list of loose leaf teas, priced by the ounce and some can be quite expensive. One good part about doing the afternoon tea is that for the same price you get to choose any of the teas on their list, some of which are a lot more expensive than others.

I ordered the Chado Afternoon Tea (usually $5.67/oz) which they said was "the most elegant blend of the best gardens from Darjeeling." It was a good cup of Darjeeling, though I ended up enjoying the tea Wandering Chopsticks ordered better, though, the Lavender Earl Grey, as it was more interesting.

Our afternoon tea set, served on the traditional three-tiered trays

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Giveaway: MAVEA Premium Water Filtration Pitcher

Everyone should have a water filter instead of buying bottled waters. And while you're at it, why not get one that looks good, too? MAVEA, the US branch of BRITA, launched a premium water filtration pitcher series called Elemaris.

MAVEA's Elemaris water pitchers are made with BPA-free plastic, dishwasher safe, and definitely looks more stylish than many others. The filters are silver treated and supposed to discourage bacteria growth (and it's recyclable). The lid has a pour-through hole that swings open with water pressure, making refilling easy and cleaner. Last but not least, if you ever wonder when you need to change your filter, with this you need to wonder no more. The Elemaris pitchers are built in with Smart Meter indicator which measures water hardness, volume, and time in use and lets you know when you need to change it. For more info on MAVEA products and water-related tips, you can visit their blog.

They're supposed to reduce the buildup of limescale in water heating equipments too. I have to start using filtered instead of tap water in my Zojirushi water kettle, which definitely already started scaling. I've been using this for a week and while this may be a placebo effect, I think the water tastes better than the one filtered using my roommate's old Brita!

If you need a water filter, or want to upgrade yours, this is your chance! MAVEA is giving away one Elemaris XL water pitcher (listed at $39.99 on Amazon.com, with a 4.5 star rating). The Elemaris XL pitcher holds 9 glasses worth of water.
To win one, just do comment below with your email address.

You can also get extra entries by doing one or more of the following:
1. Tweet: "I want to win a @MaveaWater filter pitcher from @gourmetpigs! http://bit.ly/mgH1CY"
2. "Like" the link to this post on Gourmet Pigs' Facebook page.

You have until midnight of Friday, May 27th to enter. I will then choose a random winner. Good luck!

Salads and Wines at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop

After multi-course tastings all week, a dinner composed of salads is most definitely a nice change. That's why I happily accepted an invitation for dinner at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop in Century City. This location usually closes at 4pm and only open on the weekdays, so on a normal day, I would not be able to try it.

Antioxidant Orchard Salad

The ones responsible for Greenleaf are owner Jonathan Rollo and Corporate Chef Kristi Ritchey, who met when they were both working for the Patina Group. Chef Kristi's reason for joining Greenleaf is an interesting history. After being hospitalized during her tenure at Patina group, Kristi made a drastic change in eating habits and participated in bootcamps. She lost over 100 lbs but she started having difficulty maintaining her new lifestyle while making risotto fries and cheesecakes at work.

Even though the Beverly Hills location has had alcohol license for a while, the Century City location finally obtained theirs only recently. To celebrate, and also to celebrate the National Salad Month, during the month of May customers can get a free taste of paired wine with their salad purchase (w/ min $10 salad purchase). Want to know what they're pairing with what? Keep reading.

Before starting with the salads, we had the Wild Mushroom and Truffle "Pizza" ($9.95)

The "pizza" is made using whole wheat tortilla made especially for Greenleaf. They worked with a tortilla maker to get a low calorie whole wheat tortilla that tastes good. The tortilla has 110 calories and the whole pizza is about 400 calories.

Afterwards, we had a sampling of their signature salads. At Greenleaf, you can build your own salads, which starts at $7.95, or you can order one of their signature salads. The signature salads are $10 each. It may at first seem expensive but the portions are big, and filled with meat and various ingredients. Compared to this, I paid $5 for a bit of grilled vegetables at my school's salad bar.

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Alan Wong's Restaurant (Honolulu, HI)

As summer nears, I thought I should finish up my Hawaii posts, including one of my visit to Alan Wong's Restaurant in Honolulu. This particular restaurant of his is on the third floor of a nondescript office building in Honolulu and was rather hard to find. Make sure you're looking out for the street number!

Despite being hard to find, Alan Wong is quite famous, so the restaurant was full as expected. Some of the items here may seem passé coming from California, like the tuna tartar with wontons, but some are still rather unique to Alan Wong and the available/local fish is also quite different.

My favorite item was the “Mini Loco Moco”
Mochi Crusted Unagi Meat Loaf, Sunny Side Quail Egg, Wasabi Kabayaki Sauce

It is certainly distinct from a standard loco moco, with the sweet flavors of the unagi and the kabayaki (sweet soy-based sauce). I loved the chewy and lightly crispy mochi crust and the quail egg which has deeper flavors than a chicken egg.

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