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Archive for Beverly Hills

Wolfgang Puck’s Cut – A cut above?

May05

Location: 9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, California 90212. P: 310-276-8500

Date: April 12, 2012

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: Great, but I think Mastro’s is slightly better at the over the top steak house thing

The Foodie Club rolled out on the town for the first time in a while (I was slowed up by my broken wrist) and it was founding member Simon’s birthday and he wanted to go to Cut.

Cut is located inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (think Pretty Woman) and is Wolfgang Puck’s take on redefining the American Steak House. In this, it succeeds very well. While it adheres to the Steak House basics: slabs of beef served plain on the plate, Cut upgrades things in a number of ways. But we’ll get to this in good time.

The modern kitchen turns stuff out in full view.

Puck himself was in attendance as well, he came by the table to admire my wines.

And self-help guru and modern Rasputin Tony Robbins was just a couple of tables over. Cut is definitely a place to be seen, and you can totally tell from the crowd.

Erick brought this Burgundy to start. “Displaying a bright, medium-to-dark ruby color as well as a cherry and ground white pepper-laced nose, this is a refined, thickly-textured, concentrated, and broad wine. It has outstanding depth of sweet cherry fruit, admirable structure, and a long, precise, and satiny finish. This gem has the requisite fruit, backbone, and concentration for extended cellaring. Projected maturity: 2002-2010.”

Out come the breadsticks. Given that this is passover, I had to abstain.

Which got even harder when the cheesy balls emerged. Simon and Erick snarfed the whole basket to save me.

Cut isn’t in any hurry. After about twenty minutes the menu showed. You can see that the center is a wide variety of “slabs of undercooked beef.” Also present are appetizers, sides, sauces and the like.

This is a presentation of some of the special “Kobe style” beef. The black ones are Japanese cattle, bred in America. The white ones are American cattle in a Kobe style. At the top is the American Kobe style filet mignon which Simon will later eat.

More temptation arrives in the form of a very delectable looking bread plate. The guys said it was great.

Then keeping with kosher tradition we have: “Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Asian Spices, Watercress, Persimmon, Sesame–Orange Dressing, Bosc Pear Compote.” Pretty fantastic actually. Like bacon in maple syrup.

Then the first in a trio of raw. “Big Eye Tuna Tartare, Wasabi Aioli, Ginger, Togarashi Crisps, Tosa Soy.” A nice take on the familiar dish.

As I’ve mentioned recently, I’m loving the steak tartare. “Prime Sirloin “Steak Tartare”, Herb Aioli, Mustard.” This was good, with sour dour (I didn’t eat it) and horseradish and various aioli on the side.

Plus a quail egg we dumped on top. It had a nice delicate flavor, but wasn’t as good as say this one I had in Chianti. Probably because it wasn’t from Chiana cattle!

And more raw beef, because I love it so. “Kobe Steak Sashimi, Spicy Radishes.” This was a wonderful dish too, although I liked the similar take at A-Frame a little better.

Now we pull out the big guns wine-wise. From my cellar. Parker gives this a 96 and it earned every point. “This fabulous, blockbuster has been totally unevolved since bottling, but at the Jaboulet tasting, it was beginning to reveal some of its formidable potential. A saturated opaque purple color is followed by aromas of cassis, minerals, and hot bricks/wood fire. Super-ripe and full-bodied, with a massive mid-section, teeth-staining extract, and mouth-searing tannin, it is a monster-sized La Chapelle. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2050.”

Now, coming to the main course. I’m not really a straight up steak man. I don’t enjoy plain beef. It’s too simple and I’m a more is more kind of guy. So I went for “Kobe Beef Short Ribs “Indian Spiced”, Curried Pumpkin Puree, Garam Masala, Slowly Cooked For Eight Hours.” Above is the curry like sauce.

Then they settle the succulent short ribs on top. This is beef my style. Not only is the meat itself rich and flavorful, but the sauce provides an intense medley of Indian spices. Love this.

For those going plain, they provide a bunch of “free” sauces like salt and three kinds of mustard. We also ordered a $2 thing of “Shallot-Red Wine Bordelaise” (not pictured) which was a really incredibly wine reduction sauce.

Simon’s “American Wagyu / Angus “Kobe Style” Beef From Snake River Farms, Idaho, Filet Mignon 6 Oz.” Looks beefy. You can see it raw above in the raw steak photo.

Erick settled on a classic “U.S.D.A. PRIME, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days, Bone In Rib Eye Steak 20 Oz.” Now that’s a man’s piece of meat. I had some. It tasted great, smothered in Bordelaise!

“Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Smokey Bacon, Pearl Onions.” Pretty good, but Cut doesn’t have the full array of massively decadent sides like Mastro’s.

“Roasted Campania Artichokes, White Asparagus, Guanciale.” The white asparagus are a nod to Puck, Austrians love them. But it was the artichokes that dominated this pleasant dish.

“Cavatappi Pasta “Mac & Cheese,” Québec Cheddar.” This is a little richer, and it was good, but it didn’t totally match up to a Mastro’s “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” or “king crab truffle gnocchi.”

Out comes the dessert menu.

“Dark Chocolate ‘Marquise’, Black Cherries, Chocolate Brioche, Red Wine Ice Cream.” This was good, rich, but a little chocolatey for my taste. The wine ice cream was very subdued.

“Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé, Whipped Creme Fraiche, Gianduja Chocolate Ice Cream.” Excellent classic Soufflé, if not quite as perfect as the one at Maison Giraud (I have photos of it, but haven’t written them up yet).

However, it did come with this superlative collection of sauces. Left to right, chocolate hazelnut ice cream (yum!), creme fraiche, and deep Gianduja chocolate sauce. All excellent.

“‘Baked Alaska’ Meyer Lemon Gelato & Blackberry Sorbet, Toasted Pistachios.” This was mine and it was good. Really good. The whole meyer lemon blackberry thing completely and totally worked. It was almost as good — and very similar to — the semifredo at Capo which is one of my all time favorites.

Then to finish, some little lemon and chocolate tarts. Both were excellent.

Overall, Cut is very very good, if a little expensive. It does succeed in taking the Steak House format and shaking it up a bit. Partly by offering unusual cuts of beef, partly by having newer more modern appetizers and sides. Execution is very good. Service is very good. It isn’t as over the top as Mastro’s. Not being focused on the pure beef, I can’t speak to the steak itself (both seem good to me). Mastro’s does, however, have a serious decadence factor — not that Cut is light. After coming out of Mastro’s my heart is usually palpitating. Perhaps that isn’t a good thing.

More Foodie Club extravaganzas here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills California, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, California, Cut, Dessert, Foodie Club, Kobe, Rodeo Drive, Steak, Wolfgang Puck

Red Medicine – Elfin Feast

Feb11

Restaurant: Red Medicine [1, 2, 3]

Location: 8400 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, Ca. 90211. 323-651-6500.

Date: February 6, 2012

Cuisine: Elfin Fantasy Food

Summary: A feast for for Elrond’s table

For some reason it took me a year to get back to Red Medicine, even though I very much enjoyed my previous visits. Anyway, as it’s the new year and my partner in Foodie crime Erick is back in town, and having a birthday, we made it 2012′s first official Foodie Club meeting.

The frontage.

The easier to read version

And the new menu. Things look vaguely similar, but most of the dishes have changed up since last time.

Red Medicine technically has a $35 dollar corkage (except no corkage on Fri and Sat), but they nicely allowed us their original policy of waiving a corkage for every bottle of their wine we bought. This ended up being 2 and 2, theirs being this excellent JJ Prum Kabinett (a fav of mine). Parker 91: “Extremely bright in aroma as well as palate impression, the Prums’ 2008 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett is dominated by lemon and grapefruit, with village typical cherry and cassis manifesting themselves as an invigorating chew of fruit skin that is delightfully complimented by estate-typical impingement of CO2. Lush yet light, this finishes with not only blazing brightness but a cress-like pungency and strikingly intense salinity and suggestions of wet stone, making your palate stand to attention, wide awake! Plan on following it for a couple of decades, although, unlike many Joh. Jos. Prum wines, I find it (and many of the estate’s 2008s) downright irresistible already.”

“FOIE GRAS / mousse, tete de cochon, beet, kohlrabi, chicory, croissant.” First, let’s not some of the unique elements of this cuisine, what we came to call “dollop and dust” was just as present as last year. But this time the vegetal/natural/flower thing is out of control. Every seemed like that crazy forest elemental from Hellboy 2 had snuck into the kitchen. This one has difficult to get all the flavors in one bite. What I had was good, but I had the feeling that if I had gotten a more substantive chunk it would have been better (we were splitting 5 ways and it was difficult).

“AMBERJACK / red seaweed, buttermilk, lotus root, tapioca, succulents.” The flowers overwhelmed the fish a bit, but it was tasty. And the dish looks like a Christmas crown for a fairy!

“WINTER PEAS / yuzu, soymilk-yogurt, trout roe, purple cabbage, coconut.” More dust. As instructed, we mixed this up and it then looked kinda like a pea pasta. It was actually really good that way.

“RABBIT / five flavor berry, pandan custard, roots, tubers, black currant, sesame leaf.” There are 2-3 rabbit loins hidden under the foliage. Again very tasty, but hard to get all the elements in the mouth, particularly with they very long and fluffy leaves.

“DUNGENESS CRAB / passion fruit, brown butter, black garlic, vietnamese crepe, hearts of palm.” Besides being wrapped in another fairy wreath, this is one giant ravioli but it was darn good. Really good. I just wish I had more than one bite.

“HEIRLOOM BLACK CARROTS / guava, winter kale, dulse, young walnut, tamarind.” Legolas, sir, have you seen the Ent? He was last observed heading into the kitchen! Seriously, while this dish was actually very tasty it looks like the forest floor!

“WILD STRIPED BASS / charred mustard leaf, boiled peanuts, wild garlic, burnt onion syrup.” Is there a striped bass in there under all those flowers?

Indeed, there is!

“CHARRED LEEKS / taro “vichyssoise”, parsley root, chinese celery, vietnamese herb.” And here we have the wild garden of doctor Suess!

“HEIRLOOM RICE PORRIDGE / egg yolk, hazelnuts, ginseng, echire butter + SANTA BARBARA RED UNI.” This frightened me slightly, looking as it does a lot like congee (Chinese rice porridge). But we stirred it up and it turned out to taste incredible, like a fantastic creamy uni risotto!

After two bottles of the Kabinet, we decided to go red (the Auslese on the left we had later for dessert) with the meat. Parker gives this lesser known Bordeaux 91 points. “A fully mature, elegant 1990 with an exceptionally flowery, berry, white chocolate, and smoky oak-scented nose, this fleshy, mid-weight La Lagune exhibits a velvety texture and no hard edges. It is an endearing wine that needs to be drunk over the next 5-6 years.”

Then the riesling: Parker 93-94. “A Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese offers an impressive combination of white raisin-studded apple jelly, mango, caramel, honey, and vanilla in a creamy textural context, with a remarkable, parallel, and somehow perfectly-integrated sense of fresh apple and pear juiciness that guarantees a finish of genuine refreshment, enhanced by near-weightless buoyancy. This is quite thrilling to savor even now, but deserves at least a dozen years’ cellaring and is likely to perform well three decades or more hence.”

Then the meats. “LAMB / glazed in tamarind, hibiscus onion, swiss chard, salted plum.” Tasty!

“WAGYU BEEF / creme fraiche, garlic chive, cashew, lovage, charred cucumber.” Some tasty beef, although not as fatty as one might expect. The creme went very nicely, although again I felt like a rabbit with all those big leaves sticking out of my mouth.

“PORK / caramelized black vinegar, goji berry, spring onion, dried almond.” Underneath this little forrest of green was one of the tastiest dishes of the night, some delectable pork!

“BEEF TARTARE / water lettuce, water chestnut, nuoc leo, chlorophyll, peanu.” This is the first real “repeat” from the menu a year ago, although it’s gone to seed — but it still tastes fantastic.

Shrimp chips to go with the tartare. One puts some steak on a shrimp chip, adds some dust and eats. It’s a pretty wonderful flavor combo.

“MAITAKE MUSHROOMS / cauliflower, snake beans, bacon x.o., walnut.” Sauron’s curse! Someone stole Elrond’s crown! But seriously this was a difficult dish to cut as the wreath of beans snaked around. But it was worth it as it was surprisingly tasty. Perhaps because of the bacon.

The dessert menu.

“COCONUT BAVAROIS / coffee, condensed milk, thai basil, peanut croquant.” This was the most successful dessert — wonderful in fact. The peanut, chocolate, coconut cream thing was pretty amazing.

“BITTER CHOCOLATE / kecap manis, oats, parsnip, brown butter, soy milk sorbet.” Dust and dollops! But this was also very good.

“RHUBARB / mahlab cremeux, hibiscus, gentian, lemongrass meringue.” And so was the rhubarb, although the texture is very fluffy and airy.

“PEAR / wild anise, cream, raw chestnut, mead syrup infused with pear skins.” Where’s it hiding? Inside this natural fortress?

Quick, break down the walls to find… white stuff and pear.

One of the dominant flavors here was anise. It was all pretty good, although probably the weakest of the four.

Overall, I was pretty surprised to find out how far the chef’s cuisine had evolved (see the older meals), and in such an unexpected vegetal direction. Lords of the forest, this was some unique stuff. The flavors were a bit more understated and far less Vietnamese than a year ago. Ultimately odder, but certainly more unique. Still, although every dish was successful in some way, and many were fantastic. They just pursue a unique visual and textural vision. Despite basically ordering the entire menu it was pretty light too.

All in all, unique and playful, but we could have used a little more light in the forest, it was so dark we could hardly appreciate the masterpieces. On a technical note this was the first night that I used my Canon 5D Mark II with a little table top tripod. I found that I still needed to use the flash otherwise (the restaurant being VERY dark) I needed like a 3s shutter time. The tripod was a tad awkward and I’m glad it was only us foodies at the table, but the pictures did turn out very well. I ended up gong full manual and stopping down to about 7, setting a 1/15 (quarter second) exposure and just relying on the flash to fill.

For more LA food reviews, see here.

By: agavin
Comments (5)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills California, California, Dessert, Elrond, Foodie Club, Kabinett, Riesling

Quick Eats – Il Pastaio

Dec16

Restaurant: Il Pastaio

Location: 400 N.Canon Drive. Bevery Hills, CA 90210. Phone: 310.205.5444

Date: December 2, 2011

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

Il Pastaio is one of the Drago brothers many many excellent Los Angeles Italians. This is probably the flagship of brother Giacomino Drago’s collection of seven restaurants. The pastas in particular (the name does mean the Pasta Maker) are incredible. This meal, however, was just a quick lunch.

A lobster salad with marinated peppers and cucumbers. I’m a huge lobster salad fan and this was no disappointment. Look at all that juicy lobster meat!

Gnocci in pink sauce. A classic, but very good.

A spinach parpadelle with a meat ragu. I love this kind of hearty meat ragu. yum yum.

To avoid carb coma.

And parked outside was this totally whacky but cool chopper. If you zoom in you can see that every part of it from engine block to the seat is custom tooled!

Anyway, while this is just a mini glimpse at Il Pastaio’s cusine, it’s a fantastic place. I’ll have to come back and document a much more extensive meal.

Older brother Drago restaurant is reviewed here and Giacomino’s via alloro.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For a 50+ meals in Italy, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Drago, Giacomino Drago, Il Pastaio, italian, Italian cuisine, Italy, Lobster, Meat

Sfixio – Strong out of the gate

Nov20

Restaurant: Sfixio

Location: 9737 Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA.90210. 1 (310) 385-1800

Date: November 13, 2011

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent new Italian

Sfixio is a brand new Italian in downtown Beverly Hills with a modern Tuscan slant. It’s owned and by a husband and wife pair: Chef Massimo Denaro in the kitchen and his wife managing the front.

The location has received a chic modern update too (it used to be Da Vinci for the last 30 years).

The brushed aluminum bar.

I brought this wine from the vineyard in Tuscany. Parker 93. “The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is a beguiling wine laced with all sorts of black cherries, minerals, spices, licorice and menthol. All of the aromas and flavors are layered together through to the exquisite, refined finish. The 2006 shows a level of richness and density this bottling has lacked in some previous vintages. Today the tannins remain a touch austere, but another few years in bottle should do the trick. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2026.”

They had good bread, particularly the raison.

An extensive menu.

And a live jazz band (who were quite good)!

“Insalata di Spinaci (Fresh baby Spinach with Walnuts, soft Tuscan Pecorino cheese, pears olive oil and balsamic Vinaigrette Reduction).”

“Burrata con Pomodorini (Imported fresh Burrata caprese with organic heirlooms tomatoes).”

“Tartara di Branzino. Fresh wild Seabass from Greece Tartare dressed with a fresh grapefruit orange, lemon sauce, topped with tiny diced veggies.” Very nice, a bit like a cerviche.

“Pappardelle al Cinghiale (Homemade Pappardelle pasta with Braised wild boar in Chianti wine flavored with Juniper berries).” I had this dish all over Tuscany this year. This one was good, probably in the top 75% of those I had. Not as great as this one say, but very good.

“Crespelle alla Fiorentina (Homemade Crepes with Ricotta Cheese and Spinach topped with Tomato Sauce and Melted Reggiano Parmesan).”

“Branzino e Verdurine (Fresh Wild Seabass from Greece cooked on Flat Iron with sautee seasonal veggies).”

An osso buco special on mashed potatoes. Certainly an excellent meaty rendition of this dish. The meat was not only tender, but very flavorful.

The dessert menu.

“Tortino al cioccolato con Fragoline (Chocolate cake with strawberries).” Very very “dark” and chocolaty. A little too dark and dense for my taste, I prefer creamier and sweeter, but it was certainly well done.

Overall, Sfixio was very good. LA is full of Italian restaurants, and there wasn’t anything radical here, but this is certainly a chef operating at a high level, with a good palette, excellent ingredients, and really solid execution. So I recommend, and we’ll go again.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Comparison with real Tuscan joints here.

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills California, Brunello di Montalcino, Burrata, Dessert, italian, Italian cuisine, Italian Food, Italy, Los Angeles, osso buco, Restaraunt, Restaurant Review, Santa Monica Boulevard, Tuscany, vegetarian, Wine

Sotto – Sicily con Sardo

Apr18

Restaurant: Sotto [1, 2, 3]

Location: 9575 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 310.277.0210

Date: April 16, 2011

Cuisine: Sicilian and Sardinian Italian

Rating: Bold flavors, off to a great start!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

This new venture into the crowded LA Italian scene is a welcome change of pace. Sotto offers very reasonably priced regional Italian dishes (southern, with a Sicilian and Sardinian slant) with an unabashed traditionalism of a sort. There is no real effort on this menu to cater to the long standing American Italian palette, as influences as it is by late 19th century Southern Italian cooking. This is no red sauce (restaurant with red and white checkered table cloths and chianti bottles).

Located in the rising lower Beverly Hills district we had to fight through crowds leaving shul to descend into the packed, loud, and hard surfaced interior.

The short but very reasonable menu.

James Suckling gives this 2004 Poggio Il Castellare Brunello 94 points. “A decadent and ultra-rich red, with plum tart, prunes, cooked meat and berries. Full bodied, with soft and silky tannins and a long, flavorful finish. An aromatically beautiful wine. Best after 2012.”

“Pittule pugliese (vincotto, ricotta).” These little fritters tasted like supreme funnel cake, and were delicious with the fresh ricotta and vincotto (which is a sweet grape must). The amusing thing, for me, about this dish is that it’s pretty much straight out of Apicius, the 1800+ year-old cookbook. Delicious any way you cut it, but very filling.

“Blistered little gems (anchovy garlic pestata, breadcrumbs, pecorino moliterno.” An interesting salad with a smoky grilled flavor.

“Shaved beet and mixed chicory salad (wheatberries, lemon vinaigrette, fiore sardo).”

Olives. There was a little wait between the first and second courses and they brought us these complementary olives.

“Bruschetta lardo.” And this gratis charred bread spread with lard and fennel pollen. Very wood fired (not to mention rich taste). I was in danger of extreme over eating before the entrees even came.

“Maharrones de pungiu (sugo semplice, fiore sardo).” A wonderful homemade take on a simple tomato and cheese pasta. The choice of fiore sardo (a Sardinian cheese) gave it a slightly different tang.

“Casarecce (braised lamb ragu, egg, pecorino).” This was one damn fine pasta. The pasta itself had exactly the right texture and firmness of good homemade egg pasta. The ragu was nicely flavorful and meaty. Yum! I love great ragu. Some of my other favorites are here at Drago or at Capo.

“Pizza Marherita (tomato, mozzerella, basil, EVOO).” Your basic Marherita, but well done. These pizzas have a VERY wood fired taste going on, much like those from Gjelina, they are a little over-fired to my taste. The dough is good, but they taste very strongly of the grill (char, smoky flavors). When I do them on the stones in my hot gas grill (see my Ultimate Pizza) they showcase the dough and toppings a bit more.

“Pizza Salsiccia e friarieli (sausage, broccoli di ciccio, mozzarella, chillies).” A very nice meaty sausage paired with the bitter tones of the Italian brocoli. Interesting, and good.

“Bittersweet chocolate crostata, hazelnuts, salted rosemary caramel.” This looked amazing, and the texture was fantastic and very chocolaty. There was a slightly odd flavor tone in here, which might have been the rosemary. I’m not sure it added, although certainly I enjoyed it.

After 11 and the place is beginning to thin out a bit. I really enjoyed Sotto and it BOLD take on Italian. This is heady stuff, and the homemade pastas were totally amazing.

For a second review of Sotto, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Red Medicine the Relapse

Feb23

Restaurant: Red Medicine [1, 2, 3]

Location: 8400 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, Ca. 90211. 323-651-6500.

Date: February 19, 2011

Cuisine: Modernized Vietnamese

Summary: Really interesting food full of very bold flavors, and at very reasonable prices.

For my brother’s birthday we decided to head back to Red Medicine (first review HERE), the casual modernized Vietnamese place in mid-town. Tasty again! Even on a very rainy night it was hopping and we had to get a drink at the crowded bar to wait for our table.

The drink menu features a number of very interesting and extremely well executed specialty cocktails. Plus, these are very reasonably priced at $10. The PDF version is HERE.

“#18 Krome Vodka, Chili-Anise Shrub, Lime, Grapefruit, Peychaud’s Bitters, Basil(s), Ginger Beer. Shaken and rolled into a tall glass. Inspired by Scott Beattie’s ‘Irian Jaya’.” This was one yummy drink. The ingredients were all clearly very fresh, and you could taste each and every element. The sour of the grapefruit in the front, the basil in the middle, the bitters and ginger on the finish. I sucked it down in like 2 minutes.

The main menu. Slightly changed up from when we were here in December. The PDF version HERE. Everything is family style with approximately 3 savory dishes needed per adult.

And the wine-list, PDF HERE. They have a rather odd corkage policy. During the week it’s $25, but they will waive one corkage for each bottle you buy, which is very reasonable. Friday and Saturday, no corkage! I don’t like no corkage, but the list is very reasonable, with many fine sweetish whites (which I like and go with the food) in the $55 category.

Like this favorite of mine, Parker gives it 91. “Extremely bright in aroma as well as palate impression, the Prums’ 2008 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett is dominated by lemon and grapefruit, with village typical cherry and cassis manifesting themselves as an invigorating chew of fruit skin that is delightfully complimented by estate-typical impingement of CO2. Lush yet light, this finishes with not only blazing brightness but a cress-like pungency and strikingly intense salinity and suggestions of wet stone, making your palate stand to attention, wide awake! Plan on following it for a couple of decades, although, unlike many Joh. Jos. Prum wines, I find it (and many of the estate’s 2008s) downright irresistible already.”

“hokkaido scallop cured with lime sugar, green strawberries, coriander, wood sorrel.” This replaces the excellent ”Fluke cured with lime” dish from last time. It wasn’t quite as good, but was still wonderful. The scallop was subtle and soft, the white radish crunchy and bitter, and my favorite part the “lime sugar” floating on the vinegar sauce.

“SOFT RICE PAPER / rock shrimp, jackfruit, black garlic, bean sprouts.” A varient on the typical soft spring roll. Nice textures, and the shrimp were good, but could have used a bit more flavor, or just some sweet and sour sauce.

“DUCK / 5-spice, charred frisee, chicory, tamarind syrup, grains of paradise.” A repeat, but worth it. This duck has a wonderful charred and sweet BBQ flavor, and it just falls apart. Really succulent.

“BANH MI / foie gras, pate de campagne.” Another irresistible repeat. The rich foie, the crunch of the pickles and crust, and the considerable heat of the seranno peppers all blend to perfection. Similar yet different from the other Banh Mi I had recently at Saam (REVIEW HERE).

“LAMB BELLY / hoisin, hibiscus-onion, sunflower seeds, salsify, lady apple.” A brand new dish, and a stunner. The dark stuff is the lamb, and the sunflower crusted stuff the salsify. There is a unique blend of flavors and textures here, but the lamb was the stand out. Crispy fried in hoisin it most closely resembled an awesome interpretation of crispy Schezuan beef.

“BEEF TARTARE / water lettuce, water chestnut, spicy herbs, nuoc leo, chlorophyll.” Another goodie. The meat and greens are placed on a shrimp chip. Fabulous interplay of texture and flavor.

“PORK / caramelized black vinegar and honey, prunes, sorrel, dried almond.” Again one of my favorites. This pork is like the perfect sweet BBQ. It just falls apart.

The dessert menu, PDF HERE. We ordered the two we didn’t have last time.

“RHUBARB / mahlab cremeux, hibiscus, gentian, aromatic willow.” This, I guess, is supposed to be a reinterpretation of a strawberry shortcake. The net effect to me was perhaps a bit more like cheesecake. It was very creamy and pleasant, with the rhubarb itself understated and adding only a subtle sourness to the dish. It certainly looks pretty too!

“LIME SABAYON / cucumber ice cream, cashew macaroons, white chocolate, jasmine.” This dish had strong taste resemblances to Key Lime Pie. Particularly if you got all the elements except for the cucumber ice-cream. This last was good, but through off the key lime thing. The butter colored disk below is the lime I think, and the macaroons had an awesome perfect chewy texture. Overall a really good dish.

Overall Red Medicine continued to impress. It offers really interesting and cutting edge food with bold and unique flavors at a very reasonable price point. I love the small dish only format. I’ve become so spoiled by that or long prix fixe meals that I can hardly eat at normal appetizer/entree restaurants anymore If you haven’t been here, go!