Spring Menu at Fleming's Steakhouse

The semi-new L.A. Live next to the Staples Center and Nokia Theatre has certainly livened up downtown LA with its multitude restaurant offerings. One of these restaurants is Fleming's Steakhouse, which recently launched its Spring menu. They held a tasting of their new menu items for a few media/bloggers, but since I couldn't make it, they generously invited me to come at another time. I brought a friend of mine from college in the hopes that feeding him steak might render him more inclined to help me move again if need be, even after the previous moving fiasco with the super-heavy-bed-that-won't-fit-in-the-elevator.

But I digress.

The dimly lit dining room is reminiscent of an old school steakhouse, complete with white vs black napkins (though I was surprised when the server asked which one I wanted, as opposed to looking at what I'm wearing and giving me the one I needed).

Housemade rosemary bread with black pepper butter and chardonnay-infused feta cheese.
Nice herb flavor on the bread, served warm. The black pepper butter was smooth and had a nice kick. I really liked the special feta cheese.

I've never been to a Fleming's before and so I never knew about "Fleming's 100", their list of 100 wines available by the glass, about 30 of which are under $10 per glass. I got a glass of the 2007 Louis Jadot Pinot Noir ($13)

The Chef Partner, Calvin Holladay, came out to greet us and I decided to let him send out whatever he wanted me to try from the new menu offerings.

We started with some Lump Crab Louis Wraps (butter lettuce, avocado, bacon, chives, egg, tomatoes)
This reminds me of a the Chinese lettuce wraps but with BLT + generous lumps of fresh crab. They used fresh quality ingredients including the sweet juicy tomatoes. Can't go wrong. This was probably my favorite of the night.

Roasted Mushroom Ravioli (portobello & shiitake mushrooms, porcini butter sauce)
I also quite liked the pasta. Al dente ravioli filled with earthy and flavorful mushrooms topped with a rich buttery sauce made for a bite to savor. While they don't make the pastas in house, Fleming's worked directly with the producer to develop the pasta they felt was just right for the dish.

Tillamook Bay Petrale Sole (crab beignets, lemon butter sauce)
Lightly breaded and fried, the sole was meaty and topped with Jalapenos and red peppers for extra kick and their crunch helped cut the richness of the dish. The crab and corn beignets were well spiced although after eating a whole one I felt they could be more moist.

Peppercorn Steak (prime NY steak, crushed white & black peppercorns, "F17" sauce)
The peppercorn crust made for a great flavor kick without being overwhelmingly peppery. Even though the steak is a bit overcooked (I ordered it medium rare) and thus tougher than what I normally like, I could easily finish my half because it was flavorful.

Our entrees came with two sides:
Roasted Baby Carrots (golden raisins, toasted almonds)
Let it be known that my friend hates cooked carrots, but for some reason he tried these (perhaps feeling that he should since I'm reviewing it) and loved it. Maybe loved is too strong a word, but he did indeed say it's the best cooked carrot he's ever had and that he can actually eat them and enjoy them.

On my part, the carrots were tender yet not overcooked and still crisp and the golden raisins added a nice extra sweetness.

Sauteed Haricot Vert (French green beans, shiitake mushrooms, porcini essence)
A simple dish of green beans elevated by the umami-ful garnish.

I knew that the friend that I took here was a huge cheesecake fan, so when the waiter said that their cheesecakes are the best, I decided to order it for us.
New York style cheesecake with blueberry sauce.
Light and fluffy, this cheesecake is not overwhelmingly sweet as some cheesecakes can be. The richness and slight tanginess of the cheesecake are complemented well by the blueberry sauce.

I forgot to write down the prices but appetizers were around $15-20 and the steak was around $30-35.

I have to say as far as chain steakhouses go, Fleming's pleasantly surprised me. Of course, because they had invited me they probably paid extra attention to the food they served that night, but it seemed that they did not slack off in choosing good ingredients, especially the produce the appetizers and side dishes. Being a steakhouse, their steak did not disappoint either with both the natural flavor from the meat and their spices and sauce. Next time I'll have to make sure to get it a bit more rare and it should be just right.


Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
800 W Olympic Blvd Ste 113
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 745-9911
www.flemingssteakhouse.com

Cookie Party at BakeLAB + Secret Tips for a Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

When a former Clementine and Providence/La Mill pastry chef opens a bakery ... Well, you can be sure she'll make some good stuff. But Kristin Feuer, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, goes beyond. With painstaking experimentation, Kristin at BakeLAB has perfected cookies.

Timed perfectly on National Chocolate Chip Cookie day, BakeLAB held a cookie party for some media and bloggers. All girls. It's a dessert party, mister.

Kristin Feuer (right) and her partner Jill (left)

I meant to just eat a little bit of cookies, I really did. But then ... they were unexpectedly good. I mean, ridiculously good.

From the iced oatmeal cookies that are like an upscale Mother's cookie...

... to the best ginger molasses cookies I've ever had.
It's the moistness of the inside of the cookie, juxtaposed with the nice sugar crackle on the outer layer. It's that chewiness, that nice gingery fragrance.

Of course, it won't be a proper Nat'l Chocolate Chip Cookie Day without chocolate chip cookies.
Kristin has perfected these chocolate chip cookies. Kristin demonstrated to us how to make them, giving us secret tips along the way and the science behind them. These are things you and I never think about while baking a cookie, but Kristin has spend all her time doing just that. This is a BakeLAB after all! (More on these tips later!)

Ultimately, it was the Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookie that everyone raved about. Peanut Butter Sandwich? Yes, she makes it with a dollop of cookie dough, topped with peanut butter, and topped that again with cookie dough. Sandwich, see?
Now it's chewy cookie dough, creamy peanut butter center, and that nice sugar crackle crust. Oh, my ...

Bakelab also sells cupcakes, cakes, etc, all decorated with Kristin's cool artistic sensibilities -- their awesome science-themed shirts and aprons can attest to this.
I didn't get to try any of their cupcake/cake, but considering their amazing cookies, these are probably pretty good as well. I am inclined to order their Shark Attack! cupcake that's decorated with a sharkfin-shaped fondant ...

After we stuffed ourselves with these little morsels, Kristin and Jill took us to their kitchen/"lab" and gave us a little demo to make the perfect cookies.
You don't need a special recipe of list of ingredients to make way better cookies than you've ever made before. She made chocolate chip cookies using the basic recipes you can find on the back of any mass-produced chocolate chip packages.
The key is the little things Kristin had discovered after countless experimentations. Luckily, you don't have to go through the same effort and trials as she shared these amazing tips with us:

1. Don't cream the butter & sugar any longer than 1 1/2 minutes. Too much air from overcreaming=a flat cookie.
2. Beat the dough for a quick "one, two" count just beyond the point when the flour is incorporated. You'll make a little more gluten for plumper cookies.
3. Chilling the dough overnight allows subtle nutty and toffee flavors to develop.
4. Bake cookies from frozen dough; cookies will be much rounder.
5. Pull cookies from the oven when there is still a pale circle in the middle of the cookie.

You can order BakeLAB's treats online at www.bakelab.com or www.foordoro.com or call (310) 330-9055. Cookies are $2 each with a minimum order of a dozen.

You can also find them at Yummy.com (in Playa Vista, Santa Monica, West Hollywood), Oaks Gourmet in Franklin Village, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

Oh, they're also holding a series of classes in the summer from cookie baking to decorating to S'mores! http://tinyurl.com/gotclass

Preview: Upcoming Nameless Restaurant in Downtown LA

There was a nameless underground supper club in downtown associated with Daily Dose Coffeehouse. It may still be nameless, but soon it will no longer just an underground supper club.
The supper club maintained by developer Sarkis Vartanian, Chef Christian Page, and Ran Zimon is about to go public. Soon, the loft upstairs at Industrial St will be open up to serve prix-fixe multi course dinners (priced around $35) and simple breakfast and lunches at the coffeehouse downstairs.
They recently held a friends and media preview dinner for this supper club.

Chef Christian Page had previously worked with Chef Brian Bistrong at The Harrison in New York (Chef Bistrong now owns Braeburn in New York), so when this project started, he decided he must get Bistrong on board.

Chef Bistrong flew in for a day just to help prepare this preview dinner.

Guests mingled over hors d'oeuvres , including Nick Griffith from Intelligentsia since the supper club plans on serving Intelligentsia coffee once they open.



Our meal started with some French Onion Soup with oxtail, broth poured tableside.
I enjoyed this variation of french onion soup with the tender oxtail meat, though I did miss the melted cheese.

Blue Prawn with vinaigrette and heirloom tomatoes
A crisp, well prepared shrimp and sweet juicy tomatoes. A nice dish although compared to the other dishes to come that night, this became unmemorable.

Pappardelle with Braised Osso Buco
Pappardelle with some type of meat ragu is a dish I would order anywhere. The version here does not disappoint. A hearty dish with al dente pasta, tender meat and flavorful sauce.

Roast chicken, spinach, paprika sauce
I'm always wary about eating white meat at restaurants, but this one is surprisingly moist. The paprika sauce had a nice restrained spice as well.

Skirt steak, served in cast iron skillet
Have I told you I love skirt steak? More so than any other cut, skirt steak always has more flavor. If done well so that it doesn't become tough, that is. The one Chef Page and Bistrong prepared was certainly both flavorful and tender.

This main entree also came with three different sides.

Sesame-crusted asparagus

Roasted cauliflower

Carrot Puree
This sweet and creamy carrot puree ended up being my favorite side. If they fed me this when I was a kid, my eye sight might not be as bad now ...
(instead they fed me carrot juice. )

Ran Zimon runs his own pastry company and will providing all the desserts for the supper club.
During this dinner we had Chocolate mousse cake

Chocolate walnut tart
Rich with dark chocolate and crunchy. It's a great decadent end to my meal.

After dessert, Ran Zimon decided to bring out a special treat. I don't know if you'll get this at the supper club or not but you should hope you will: a plate of middle eastern-style tartare.

We're still not sure when the supper club is opening its doors to the public or what its name will be, but stay tuned,

Daily Dose Coffeehouse's Nameless Supper Club
1820 Industrial St.
Los Angeles, CA 90021