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Archive for May 2013

Where in the world is Yanbian?

May30

Restaurant: Yanbian Restaurant

Location: 4251 W 3rd St. Los Angeles, CA 90004. (213) 383-5959

Date: May 21, 2013

Cuisine: Yanbian Chinese

Rating: Great food, incredible deal!

_

Until a few weeks ago I hadn’t heard of Yanbian, an autonomous prefecture in the borderlands between China and Korea. But like any place, it has its own regional cuisine, and LA, being rich in Asian culture has at least one restaurant specializing in the area. My Hedonist group has been here several times, but this is my first visit.


This Koreatown hole-in-the-wall might not look like much, but the food is excellent and they did a great job handling our oversized party.


Champagne to start.


Twice cooked pork. I’ve had the meat part of this dish numerous times at Chinese, but never coupled with these “spring roll” like sides. It was all very tasty.


2010 Karthauserhof Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling. Parker 88. Honeysuckle, lime, and honeydew melon scent and generously inform the palate of Tyrell’s 2010 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling Spatlese, which however suffers from some of the same sense of opacity and diffusion as the corresponding Kabinett. A surprisingly soothing, glycerin-rich, and honeyed palate impression leads to a finish that would benefit from a bit more sheer juiciness and less overt sweetness, though there is just enough citrus to serve for some refreshment. Perhaps time will bring further complexity and clarity. I am more inclined to credit this with some serious bottle potential – surely at least a dozen years – than I am most of the wines that preceded it in the present Karthauserhof line-up.

I also brought a bottle of:

2011 Joh Jos Prum Riesling Kabinett Wehlener Sonnenuhr. Parker 93. Prum’s 2011 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett is a tad higher in residual sugar and correspondingly lower in alcohol than its immediate stable mates, but as one would expect from this great site, if anything the taste impression is drier. A ravishing nose of heliotrope and honeysuckle, Normandy cider and wet stone establishes the common themes for a palate performance that unites delicacy, juiciness and creaminess to an uncanny degree that only a few of the best Mosel vineyards and their prime caretakers can capture. Mouthwateringly lingering and compelling of the next sip, this rarified illustration of Mosel Kabinett virtue will reward you over the next quarter century.


No restaurant with Korean influences would be without the Kimchee!


And this other spicy vegetable.


2011 Chateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Riesling Eroica. IWC 88. Pale yellow-straw. Sexy aromas of nectarine, ginger and nutmeg. Moderately sweet but not at all cloying, with nectarine, apple, pear and brown spice flavors complicated by a saline quality and perked up by white flowers and CO2. Not particularly gripping and very easy to drink. Finishes just off-dry, with a menthol nuance and a suggestion of crab apple that brought my score down.


And these greens.


And marinated bean sprouts.


2010 Patrick Piuze Chablis Fourchaume. Parker 90. Layers of dried pears, crushed flowers and licorice, all supported by fine, nuanced veins of minerality, emerge from the 2010 Chablis Fourchaume. This is a relatively approachable 2010 to drink over the next few years.


Fried duck. Really fried duck — but delicious, with a light “beer batter” style fry.


From my cellar: 1996 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Charmes Chambertin. Parker 92. This medium-to-dark ruby-colored wine has a fine nose of deeply ripe blackberry and cassis. On the palate, this well-concentrated, thick, complex, and harmonious wine is replete with loads of black cherries and spices. It has extremely ripe and supple tannins in its long finish.


Potstickers. These are typical Chinese dumplings, but with a particularly thick doughy shell. Maybe a little doughy for my taste.


The tasty spicy sauce for the dumplings.


And competing (not entirely successfully) with the grandeur of Burgundy is:

2009 Beaulieu Pinot Noir Reserve. Parker 89. The 2009 Pinot Noir Reserve Carneros is a bold, juicy wine bursting with candied red berries, flowers and mint. It comes across as fairly forward and quite fat. The 2009 is best suited to near-term drinking.


Walnut shrimp. With their light fluffy fry and a nice hint of mustard in the sauce these were some great walnut shrimp.


1988 D’Issan. Parker doesn’t like this wine, but it was a pleasant older Bordeaux.


Pork with quail egg. It doesn’t look like much but this was a great dish with soft pork and a nice flavor. The white balls are hard boiled quail eggs.


2007 Château Trocard. 88 points.


Spicy fried chicken. This is one of those dry Hunan/Szechuan style dishes.


2009 Jarvis Tomei Syrah Coloma “Meatgrinder”. 92 points. Cherry, cedar and floral notes on the nose. Very smooth and easy to drink, mouth-watering blackberry, violets, vanilla with a coffee finish.


Rice with eggplant and mushrooms. The consistency of the rice was very sticky, with a mellow comfort food vibe going on. Very pleasant.


2005 Mollydooker Enchanted Path. 93 points. Very surprised with how rich and pleasant this was, especially compared with my experience with Carnival of Love from the same vintage which runs toward heat and alcohol. In contrast, the enchanted path last night was showing a seamless combination of blue and red fruit and the creamy texturethat others have mentioned. Lovely stuff that could be appreciated by anyone who likes good wine.


Mountain potatoes and eggplant.


2000 Greenock Creek Shiraz Alices. Parker 90. Fashioned from low yields of 1.27 tons of fruit per acre, the 2000 Shiraz Alice’s is 100% Shiraz aged in American oak for 28 months prior to being bottled unfiltered. A strong effort for the vintage, it exhibits a deep ruby/purple color in addition to a sweet nose of blackberries, pepper, and licorice, medium body, and a fine finish.


Spicy pork. See those peppers? They are real Szechuan peppers and they left the mouth and face numb!


The pork was hiding underneath but was great — when the numbness allowed tasting it!


2003 Pax Cellars Syrah Lauterbach Hill. Parker 94. The 2003 Syrah Lauderbach Hill, from a vineyard farmed by Lee Martinelli, was cropped at two tons of fruit per acre, and spent time in 100% French oak, of which 40% was new. No shy Syrah at 15.9% alcohol, it exhibits great intensity as well as a tremendously sweet bouquet of crushed rocks, creme de cassis, blackberries, and flowers. A full-bodied, opulent, exotic effort, it should drink well for a decade or more.


Egg with tomatoes. Slightly sweet, a kind of Chinese omelet.

Overall, Yanbian was great fun, great food, and all of the above was $20 a person! Including tax and a 35% tip! Wow!

More crazy Hedonist adventures or
LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  5. Hunan Chili Madness
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: China, Chinese cui, hedonists, Korean cuisine, Mosel, Rice, Riesling, Wine, Yanbian, Yanbian Restaurant

Phong Dinh – Hedonists go Vietnamese

May28

Restaurant: Phong Dinh [1, 2]

Location: 2643 San Gabriel Blvd Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 307-8868

Date: May 19, 2013

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Rating: Excellent!

_

The parade of culinary adventures with my Hedonist club continues as we hit the San Gabriel Valley again, this time for some authentic Vietnamese.


The interior is nothing to write home about.


From my cellar: 2011 Domaine Collotte Bourgogne Rosé Marsannay. This is one of my go-to roses, as it’s all Pinot Noir from Burgundy. A wonderful sunny weather wine, it paired very nicely with the sweet and sour tones of the food. There were a few rose-haters as usual, but this really is a great wine, bright and full of strawberry flavors.


Shrimp and pork papaya salad.


1990 Poniatowski Vouvray Moelleux Aigle Blanc. Medium golden color. Rich with glyceral palate feel, pear-like fruit, not too sweet, adequate acidity, and just a touch of sherry on the finish. Holding up very well and a real bargain although it lacks the complexity and zingy acidity that the best wines of this vintage possess. Far from dull though.


Baked catfish.


There are various condiments. Mint and basil.


Veggies.


And these rice paper “pancakes” that are softened in hot water. Not pictured are two kinds of fish sauce and thin rice noodles (you can see them below).


You put this together as you like and do your best to roll into a pancake. It’s scrumptious, absolutely delicious, but messy.


Don’t eat me!


2009 Domaine de la Denante St. Véran.


Crispy squab. Very tasty, almost sweet.


From my cellar: 2005 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pèzerolles. Burghound 91-93. This is an extremely stylish wine that combines both elegance and purity with precise, supple and rich flavors underpinned by obvious minerality, all wrapped in penetrating and transparent finish. I very much like this and while it’s not overly dense, the purity and transparency are impressive.


Our leader, Yarom, shot up some pheasant the day before and brought it in for cooking.


Here they are plucked. Yuck!


But tasty enough cooked up in wine sauce almost like a coq au vin! So pheasant au vin!


Someone even found a bit of leftover buckshot!


2006 Flowers Pinot Noir Frances Thompson Vineyard. Burghound 86. An interesting nose of fresh red berry fruit with nuances of cinnamon and clove introduces rich, round, supple and attractively intense flavors that display an unusually sharp acid tang on the short finish. Perhaps this will round out but I have my doubts.


Chicken salad.


2008 Flowers Pinot Noir Andreen-Gale Cuvée Sonoma Coast. Better than the older bottle, with a bit of a bacony vibe.


Sweet and sour crab. Really first class crab. The sauce was fabulous and it was very tender.


Cabbage Chinese style. Pretty tasty too, even for a vegetable.


2003 Clouds Rest Pinot Noir. 92 points. Extremely smooth, with resolved tannins on the palate. Tart, but not too tart cherry flavors. Certainly characteristics of the Sonoma Coast, but not with a ton of minerality. That smoothness sets it apart from some of the stonier Sonoma Coast wines that I’m used to (and like). Very hearty. I also picked up brighter, lighter fruits as I drank more: strawberries and raspberries.


Snails in curry. This spicy coconut curry cream sauce was amazing. You had to suck the meat out of the snails, which was cool, and there was plenty of sauce to drip over rice.


2008 Monte Ducay Cariñena Reserva. 85 points. Ruby, medium body, balanced much better than typical Spanish red in that price range. Medium dry without a trace of the catchy sweetness which is so appealing to less sophisticated wine drinkers. Reminiscent of Cotes-du-Rhone. Goes well with any food except for very delicate fish and sea food. Will never overwhelm, but rather complement most meats.


Crispy deep fried quail. Really tasty.


Chinese broccoli.


2005 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 95+. The 2005 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape, this estate’s strongest vintage since 1998, has put on serious weight since last year. Dense ruby/purple-colored with an exquisite perfume of black raspberries, kirsch, ground pepper, and incense, this full-bodied, powerful, concentrated wine reveals fabulous purity as well as a finish that lasts over 45 seconds. Purchasers of this beauty will need patience.


French style beef. Tender and oh so good.


2006 Glaetzer Amon Ra. Parker 94. Deep garnet, the 2006 Amon-Ra opens with a really earthy, meaty and gamey nose scented of slightly burnt toast, tar, licorice and after a few minutes a little menthol. Full and rich, the palate has dried mulberries and spice flavors alongside very crisp acid, medium levels of chewy tannins before finishing long.


Pork curry. This had a cumin and turmeric thing going on and was delicious.


Coconut gelatin dessert. Cool and refreshing.

There was also a dessert Gewürztraminer that I forgot to photo. Bummer, it was very nice.

Overall, Phong Dinh was really great. Nearly every dish was excellent and some of them (like the fish, quail, and snails) were through the roof delicious.

Afterward, some of us sobered up nearby over a cheap (but good) foot massage and this amazing “Mango Snow Drift.” It’s mango, mango ice cream, and shaved ice drenched in sweetened condensed milk! Such is the Hedonist life!

More crazy Hedonist adventures or
LA dining reviews click here.

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  5. Hedonists at Dahab
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burgundy, Fish sauce, hedonists, Phong Dinh, Pinot noir, san Gabriel valley, Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisine, Wine

Oblivion Obfuscated

May24

OBN_Adv1ShtTitle: Oblivion

Cast: Tom Cruise (Actor), Morgan Freeman (Actor), Joseph Kosinski (Director)

Genre: Science Fiction

Watched:  May 16, 2013

Summary: Tried really hard and mostly worked

_

I try to see most, if not all, Science Fiction and fantasy films. The buzz around Oblivion slanted it as cerebral, more character and less action oriented. All good by me. I crave Science Fiction films that can live up to good science fiction prose. I demand Blade Runner and Aliens. Last year, I had to be satisfied with Prometheus, which tried, and failed.

Oblivion is pretty good. It tries and mostly succeeds  Although not without a serious set of logical flaws, but I enjoyed it far more than I expected. It’s not as good as Minority Report (to make a Cruisian point), but it isn’t far off.

I’m not going to summarize and I’m going to spoil. This is criticism and analysis, not a buying guide. Let’s breakdown a few things:

Visually, this is a lovely film. The combination of haunting Icelandic landscape and a judicious take on post-apocalyptic is haunting and atmospheric. We have vast empty spaces. Slurries of silt and muck have swamped cities. Nothing is left. Then the few bits of new tech like the drones and fusion reactors stand out with awesome clarity and scale.

It’s also worth noting that while this is an expensive CGI heavy film (Box Office Mojo says $120 million) the graphics are slickly and deftly integrated. It feels like a film shot on location and entirely in front of the green screen. The reality? Who knows, probably a lot of green screen, but it feels spacious and open.

The audio scape is first rate. This director likes sound, and it works. Tron Legacy (his previous and only other big screen directorial effort) was one of the best sounding films of the last decade with its brilliant Daft Punk soundtrack (an amazing album as well as score) and Oblivion has a fantastic electronica score as well. The bassy (Inception horn-esque) sound of the drone siren was also awesome.

Tom is fine. I’m not one of his haters. This is a solid role in the Cruise model and he carries it. There aren’t a lot of characters in this movie, but his partner Victoria is well cast. My favorite Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, plays a minor character. He’s good too, but underutilized. I didn’t love Morgan Freeman in his role, even though he’s a fantastic actor. It just felt overdone and a bit too Morgan Freeman. The second woman, the brunette, is forgettable.

The plot is ambitious. We have an entire new world and a fairly tricky psychological  setup. It worked. Pretty well too.

The directorial style is excellent. Moody, bold, and almost always clear.

Now we come to the science fiction. Spoilers abound as I try to make sense of the why of Oblivion!

How do we get from 2013 and a canceled shuttle program to 2017 and a slick Titan moon expedition with suspended animation cells capable of lasting for 60 years? Why didn’t the writers just set the “first encounter” in 2050 or something?

When the Odyssey is being sucked into the TET by tractor beam (can we say Falcon and Deathstar?) why is it that the crew module, when ejected back toward earth by Cruise, can escape said tractor beam?

Why is the TET so often “offline” and out of communication? I know it’s supposed to be blocked by the earth but any tech capable of AI drones, clones, and Cruise’s flying ship could throw up a couple of comm satellites to bounce the signal around.

Why does Cruise land his flying ship and go for a bike ride? Seems kinda dangerous and pointless, unless the point is showing him biking past the  rotting hulks of ruined warships (which was kinda cool).

Why, does a super advanced alien mega-mind with it’s own giant spaceship resort to entirely indirect methods in conquering the earth? Although, again I must admit that the shattered moon looked kinda cool. But would a half exploded moon just hang up there?

Why would it employ an army of human clones? And only two models? Why not drones to begin with?

If you did “grow” a whole army of clones, why would each have a part copy of the original memories? Clones are just genetic twins. Memory is not on the duplication slate. Why have some separate “brain sync” machine/process if you didn’t want the memories anyway?

If it could build those drones, why so few?

Why resort to the whole “drone maintenance guy” thing? It doesn’t really make much sense.

Even if — and this is a tremendously big if — the 2017 Odyssey crew cryo-sleep module was still in orbit, how did the Scavs know how to send it a little jury rigged signal to cause it to return to earth?

How did each Vicky never notice how much time each Jack (Cruise) spent off grid building his man cave?

Why didn’t the Scavs locate their drone in a separate spot away form all the women and children and bring Harper there?

Why do Scavs dress like Sand People in Star Wars? Oh yes, cloaking tech.

Does vinyl really last 70 years? And if so, how come Harper, presumably born in the 70s, is such a classic rock fan? And how did he power his man cave?

Did Harper 52 just dump Vicky 52 in his 3 year search for “the girl”?

If you are a super smart alien “mega-mind” why do you let a guy carrying a nuclear bomb into your brain chamber? And if your sensors can detect an extra body on the way in, why can’t they sniff out a little Plutonium? It is only a RADIOACTIVE HEAVY ELEMENT!

For more Film reviews, click here.

tom-cruise-oblivion-landscape

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By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Joseph Kosinski, Minority Report, Morgan Freeman, Oblivion, Science Fiction, Science fiction film, Tom Cruise, Tron

Epic Hedonism at Totoraku

May22

Restaurant: Totoraku [1, 2, 3]

Location: 10610 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.

Date: May 15, 2013

Cuisine: Japanese Yakiniku

Rating: Best beef in town!

_

About twice a year my Hedonist group takes over Totoraku. It serves a very refined version of Japanese Yakiniku, which is Beef BBQ originally from Korea but filtered through Japanese sensibility.

This time we “bought out” the whole restaurant, bringing 28 people and well over 30 wines of incredible quality. So popular is this event that at least 5 people had to be turned away for lack of space. Everyone brings a wine vetted by the group and the standard is very high at this event, basically close to 100 points, high pedigree, age, or some combination thereof. As you’ll see, we really tore it up and in terms of scale and wine this was the most epic Hedonist event yet.

The outside is basically a shell. The “Teriyaki House” has nothing to do with the food within, and the phone number is incorrect. The place is like a beef speakeasy!


At Hedonist events everyone brings a bottle of two of great wine. We open with this champagne.

2005 Agrapart & Fils Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Venus. Parker 96. The 2005 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Venus is breathtaking in this vintage. It shows stunning depth, power and richness, all while retaining tons of freshness and minerality. Layers of flavor saturate the palate in this moving, vivid Champagne. The 2005 Venus may be the very best Champagne I have ever tasted from Agrapart. Venus is made from a tiny 0.3 hectare parcel in La Fosse originally planted in 1959. This vineyard has never been worked mechanically. Today it is farmed by hand and with the help of Venus, the horst for which the wine is named. The 2005 was fermented in 600-liter barrels and bottled with no dosage. Disgorged July 2011.

NV Billecart-Salmon Rose. Parker 90. The NV Brut Rose is a pretty, gracious wine. Freshly cut roses, red berries and spices take shape nicely in the glass as the wine shows off its understated, timeless personality. Billecart-Salmon’s NV Brut Rose is a reliably tasty wine.


The only thing that really changes at Totoraku is this impressive looking appetizer spread. This is for four people. Everyone gets a bite sized bit of each.


Tender octopus with tomato. Like an eight-legged bruchetta.


Sockeye salmon wrapped in jicama, with avocado and a kind of soba.


Hard boiled qual egg stuffed with cod row and crab and maybe some sort of squash blossom. Tasted like a deviled egg!

Shrimp on radicchio with caviar.


w

Baby asparagus in hollandaise.


Cucumber and jellyfish.


Smoked? Abalone and Japanese marinated root.


Little mini risotto balls.


Homemade black sesame tofu.


Nothing like starting with a first growth.

1978 Chateau Margaux. Parker 92. Although the 1978 is a more powerful, fuller-bodied style of Margaux, it is less charming and fruity than the 1979. The 1978’s nose has moved from one of ripe fruit and spicy oak, to tarry, truffle, earthy aromas that come across as slightly too masculine and meaty. Nevertheless, this is a rich, full-bodied, concentrated Margaux that only suffers in comparison with the great vintages produced under the Mentzelopoulos regime. Some of its rusticity may be due to tannins that were not totally ripe during the harvest. In any event, it remains one of the few great wines from the 1978 vintage. While I initially thought it would be fully mature within two decades of the vintage, it could still benefit from another 3-4 years of cellaring.


1966 Beychevelle. Parker 87. I have always felt this wine to be one of the more successful Medocs from the 1966 vintage. At a tasting in November the wine exhibited attractive cedary, herb, and cassis scents, medium-bodied, ripe flavors, fine balance, and soft tannin in the sweet, elegant finish. It is fully mature and unlikely to get any better – so why wait?


Chef Kaz and his assistant plating the food in the kitchen.


Beef carpaccio with special salt, flowers, and some onion family derivative. Very yummy. This is eaten raw.


1986 Mouton-Rothschild. Parker 100! Deep garnet-black colour. An incredible array of aromas on the nose: blackberry, black cherry, tobacco, espresso, leather, black olive and loam. The palate is absolutely seamless from first impression to finish, effortlessly building layers of complexity in the mouth and leading to a very long, earth and spice finish. I can’t see how this could possibly be improvement so have no alternative but concede perfection.

One of the wines of the night — as it should be.


1990 Haut Brion. Slumming at a mere Parker 98. In terms of the brilliant complexity and nobility of the aromatics, scorched earth, black currants, plums, charcoal, cedar, and spices, the 1990 offers an aromatic explosion that is unparalleled. It is always fascinating to taste this wine next to the 1989, which is a monumental effort, but much more backward and denser, without the aromatic complexity of the 1990. The 1990 put on weight after bottling, and is currently rich, full-bodied, opulent, even flamboyant by Haut Brion’s standards. It is an incredible expression of a noble terroir in a top vintage. While it has been fully mature for a number of years, it does not reveal any bricking at the edge, and I suspect it will stay at this level for another 10-15 years … but why wait? It is irresistible now.

Two kinds of beef sashimi, eaten nearly raw. On the left beef tataki (rib eye) and on the right (in the cup) beef throat sashimi. Also on the plate is a bit of Korean style hot sauce (the red stuff), some intensely strong garlic (yum) and micro julienned ginger.

The throat was very chewy, more about texture. The rib eye soft and more flavorful. All went well with the garlic and ginger — I particularly liked the garlic.

1990 Angelus. Parker 98. Very deep garnet colored, this has quite an exotic nose of Chinese five spice and Chinese dried plums with underlying hints of black olives, licorice and sandalwood. The palate is full bodied and richly fruited with firm, fine tannins, crisp acid and a long finish.


2001 Angelus. Parker 93-94. A brilliant performance by Hubert de Bouard, the 2001 Angelus (6,250 cases) is a more restrained and delineated version of the 2000. It has shed much of its tannin, and seems far more evolved and open-knit than I thought prior to bottling. Its deep purple color is followed by a rich nose of creosote, charcoal, blackberries, plums, cassis, and espresso roast. Elegant, medium-bodied, and rich, with a measured ripeness and moderate structure in the pure, nicely proportioned finish, it is less massive than either the 2000 or 2003, yet is also beautifully put together.


A raw beef dish. Marinated raw beef is seen here with ginger, raw egg, cucumber, daikon, pine nuts, and something orange. Apparently, this is a Korean dish called Yukhoe. Actually, I’ve had it at Korean places, but in any case it’s delicious.


The elements are mixed together and then eaten. It’s hard to describe why it’s so good, but it is, with a very complex flavor and texture interplay.


1983 Grace Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. 95 points. Very youthful fresh exciting. Great nose lengthy finish and soft tannins. It has aged wonderfully. Cork was in incredible shape and came out in one pull. amazing. Very little sediment.


1995 Cos d’Estournel (in magnum). Parker 95. A wine of extraordinary intensity and accessibility, the 1995 Cos d’Estournel is a sexier, more hedonistic offering than the muscular, backward 1996. Opulent, with forward aromatics (gobs of black fruits intermixed with toasty pain grille scents and a boatload of spice), this terrific Cos possesses remarkable intensity, full body, and layers of jammy fruit nicely framed by the wine’s new oak. Because of low acidity and sweet tannin, the 1995 will be difficult to resist young, although it will age for 2-3 decades.


We owned the place, fairly literally this night, filling it up.


1994 La Mission Haut Brion. Parker 92. This vintage again demonstrates what an extraordinary terroir La Mission-Haut-Brion possesses. It was not an easy year, with rain, flowering issues and uncooperative weather in the critical months of August and September, but the vineyard’s superb drainage and La Mission’s ability to produce fascinating aromatics even in difficult vintages triumphs again. Classic Graves aromas of charcoal, scorched earth, red and black fruits, truffles, graphite and melted tar emerge from this dark garnet/plum-colored 1994. In the mouth, there is some angularity and rustic tannins remaining, but they are not out of balance. With medium to full body as well as more depth than many of its peers, the wine appears to be close to full maturity. However, with this level of acidity and tannin, it is not likely to fall apart any time soon.

We switch up to Syrah with one of my favorite producers, Chapoutier.

1999 Chapoutier Cote Rotie la Mordoree. Parker 95. Chapoutier’s La Mordoree cuvee is produced from 75-80-year old Syrah vines planted in both the Cote Blonde and Cote Brune, aged in 100% new oak casks, and bottled with neither fining nor filtration. The 1999 Cote Rotie La Mordoree is the finest he has produced since the 1991 (two bottles drunk over the last six months confirm this fabulous wine’s potential as it is just now beginning to emerge from a cloak of tannin). The 1999 has closed down since its pre-bottling tasting. The color is an inky purple, and the wine is dense and powerful, with notes of smoky blackberries, creosote, and espresso. Concentrated flavors reveal high levels of tannin (surprising in view of last year’s report), and a rich, long, 45-second finish.


Beef tongue with salt.


Don’t put your tongue on the grill!

BBQ to perfect, and add a bit of scallions, then dip in lemon juice and enjoy. This is about the most tender tongue I’ve had (and I’ve had plenty). It’s still a dense slightly rubbery texture, but delicious.


Even bigger and better is Chapoutier’s flagship, and one of my favorite wines.

1997 Chapoutier Ermitage le Pavillon. Parker 96-98. The 1997 Hermitage Le Pavillon displays a saturated purple color, and a fabulously intense nose of blackberry liqueur intermixed with floral scents, smoke, licorice, tar, and Chinese black tea aromas. There is wonderful concentration, massive body, and a monster finish in this decadently rich Hermitage. It possesses low acidity, but lots of concentration, extract, and length.


2004 Chapoutier Ermitage le Pavillon. Parker 91-94. All of the single vineyard Ermitages turned out as good as I had hoped, possibly even better. In short they are among the strongest wines one could hope for in this vintage. The 2004 Ermitage Le Pavillon is outstanding, but certainly not one of the most compelling wines Michel Chapoutier has made. It is dense, dark ruby/purple, and seems more austere and backward than the Le Meal, but I still think these are 15- to 20-year wines as opposed to the normal 50+ that the top vintages of these single vineyard Ermitages produce. Dense with black currant fruit intermixed with licorice, sweet blackberries, and white chocolate, this is an elegant, mid-weight Pavillon.


Filet Mignon with bell peppers, onions, and sisho pepper.


Filet on the grill.

Then we move on to a five-some of Guigal Cote Rotie’s including a full trio of the 1996s!

1987 Guigal Cote Rotie la Mouline. Parker 95. Guigal’s 1987 La Mouline is sensational. Considering the vintage, this must be the greatest wine produced in France in 1987. The color is a youthful purple, and the nose offers up sweet, pure aromas of jammy black raspberries, smoke, and honeysuckle, and vague whiffs of apricots. Thick, rich flavors coat the palate in a seamless, velvety-textured manner. This medium- to full-bodied, marvelously concentrated wine has no hard edges, and is the epitome of voluptuousness and sumptuousness. This has been a glorious La Mouline to drink since its birth, and it shows no signs of age.


2000 Guigal Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 93-95. The 2000 Cote Rotie La Landonne is the most powerful and primordial of the 2000 La La’s, not surprising given this cuvee’s telltale earthy, leathery characteristics that are intermixed with notes of truffles, licorice, blackberries, and pepper. Medium to full-bodied, with moderate tannin and good density.


Momotaro tomatoes with a vinaigrette. These are supposedly incredibly good tomatoes, as a hater, I didn’t try them. I think Oyama-san gets them from some special place in Orange Country.


1996 Guigal Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 95-96. The 1996 Cote Rotie La Landonne is a wine with tremendous intensity and tannin, as well as a pronounced roasted herb, smoked meat, and Asian spice-scented nose with tell-tale black fruits, melted tar, and truffle notions in the background. Rich, powerful, and massive.


From my cellar: 1996 Guigal Cote Rotie la Turque. Parker 95-100. The 1996 Cote Rotie La Turque possesses a dark, saturated ruby/purple color, aromas of caramel, vanillin, and smoked cherry jam, medium to full body, outstanding ripeness, a plush, surprisingly soft finish, and loads of glycerin.


1996 Guigal Cote Rotie la Mouline. Parker 93-96. The 1996 Cote Rotie La Mouline possesses the highest percentage of Viognier (17-18%) Guigal has ever included in this offering. The deep ruby/purple color is accompanied by a superb bouquet of spice box, cedar, leather, honeysuckle, and jammy black fruits. It is remarkably tender and soft for a vintage that produced high acid wines. Medium-bodied, elegant, and complex, it is one of the more forward and evolved La Moulines.

Overall, the Turque was probably the best with the Landonne being a little over structured and the Mouline the softest. Still, all three were delicious.


The “salad.” Cucumbers, carrots, daikon.


They are served with this spicy sweet miso dip. The vegetables do help to move along the fat and protein heavy meat.


2004 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape (in magnum). Parker 95. The 2004 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape has turned out to be one of the finest wines of the vintage, tipping the scales at just over 15% alcohol and actually coming a few tenths of a degree within the 2003 and 2005 in terms of power and alcoholic degrees. The wine displays gorgeously sweet black raspberries, kirsch liqueur, and resiny, loamy soil notes. Medium to full-bodied, this blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, and the rest some of the other red varietals that are permitted, is performing beautifully and is certainly one of the vintage’s superstars. The wine is full-bodied, powerful, rich, and as accessible as the 2003, but slightly fresher and not as muscular and thick. Nevertheless, this is a top effort from the father and son team of Paul and Vincent Avril.


2009 Delas Freres Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 98+. As I reported last year, the black/purple-tinged 2009 Cote Rotie La Landonne is an extraordinary effort. Made in a more open-knit, exuberant, flamboyant style, it possesses many of the same characteristics as the 2010, but with silkier tannins and lots of glycerin, smoked meat, violet, black currant, licorice, pepper and charcuterie characteristics. With super intensity, a full-bodied mouthfeel, lower acidity than the 2010 and sweeter tannin.


Outside rib eye with special salt and garlic.

The outside rib eye on the grill.


2006 Sine Qua Non Raven Series (Grenache). Parker 98. 2006 Ravens Series (# 6 and 7 Grenache): This blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, largely from the 11 Confessions Vineyard, with a small amount from Bien Nacido, spent 21 months in barrel. It is really strutting its stuff now, and showing even better than my original note predicted in August of 2009. The wine has loads of meat, licorice, smoke, charcoal and graphite, as well as huge peppery, blackberry and black cherry notes. Full-bodied, with great acidity, nicely integrated tannin, an admirable mouthfeel and tremendous length.


2007 Sine Qua Non Labels (Syrah). Parker 98+. The recently released 2007 Syrah Labels (89% Syrah, 7% Grenache, and 4% Viognier) comes from the 11 Confessions Estate Vineyard (57%), a small amount from the home estate vineyard in Oak View called Cumulus, and the rest from purchased fruit grown in the White Hawk Vineyard in Los Alamos and the Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria. A sensational effort, it is performing even better out of bottle than it did from barrel. An opaque purple color is accompanied by beautiful notes of charcoal, acacia flowers, blueberries, blackberries, graphite, and subtle smoke. With great fruit, tremendous texture, and full-bodied power, it is locked and loaded.


Just my little collection of 6 wines at a time. I’ve learned to pour shallow.


2002 Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select Stags Leap. Parker 100. One of the world’s greatest wines year in and year out is Shafer’s Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. The 2002 was a candidate for perfection the first time I tasted it. The estate keeps this cuvee 32 months in 100% new French oak, so I had a number of chances to see it from barrel. Moreover, I purchased the wine for my own cellar and have had it at least a half dozen times since bottling, and it just gets more profound with each sip. This wine is beyond belief for how it balances its extraordinary richness, purity of personality, and the elegance and finesse of the Stags Leap District with massive cassis fruit, spring flowers, toasty oak and earth. The wine is fabulously concentrated, multidimensional and built like a skyscraper, yet nothing is out of place. The wood, alcohol, acidity and tannin are all in perfect balance. This offering is a tribute to the greatness of Napa Valley, which was recognized by men and women hundreds of years ago, and to the modern day genius of the Shafer family. This 2002 has 50 years of life ahead of it – but why wait!


2003 Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. Parker 95. Celebrating 30 years of consistent quality and both critical and commercial success, this family run winery remains one of the most admirable operations in California. The Shafers have had tremendous success with their Relentless, which was first released in 1999. A blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Petite Sirah that spends 32 months in 100% new French oak, it is a remarkably consistent offering that rarely displays much oak. The Syrah is from Napa’s cool-climate Oak Knoll sector. One of the world’s most prodigious Cabernet Sauvignons is Shafer’s 2,000-case cuvee called Hillside Select. Always 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 100% new French oak for a whopping 32 months, it boasts a gorgeous track record dating back to the early nineties, and just about every recent vintage has flirted with perfection.


Inside rib eye.


The inside rib eye on the grill.


2010 Page Springs Cellars Syrah Clone 99 Colibri Vineyard. 89 points. Lots of earth, bramble and spice with white pepper as advertised. Definitely a bold wine that could benefit from some cellar time. Decanted and enjoyed over the course of about 6 hours. Every glass offered something different. Killer finish… I could go quite a while without taking another sip because I was still tasting it for so long after I swallowed. Overall this is a wine with incredible depth and great evolution. Wish I had another bottle. Sold out!

1996 Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace. Parker 92. Deep garnet-brick in color, the 1996 Hill of Grace reveals a nose redolent of cherry pie, incense, Chinese five spice, soy and cigars. Very spicy in the mouth, it has balanced acid and a medium level of chewy tannins before finishing long. It is mature now but no rush to drink.


You have to special order the lamb, which like all of Kaz’s meats, is pretty wonderful.


Grilling up the chops.


1996 Clarendon Hills Astralis (Shiraz). Parker 97. The blockbuster 1996 Astralis Syrah is the most Hermitage-like. Its dark plum/purple color is followed by a big, sweet kiss of roasted meats, creme de cassis, blackberries, pepper, and forest floor. Dense with superb purity, full-bodied power, and beautiful balance, it is the only Astralis we tasted that exhibited a strong tertiary/secondary aromatic development.


“Special” beef. I think it was a form of sirloin. It was certainly good, very salted.


Special beef on the grill.


2003 Brunello di Montacino.


Skirt steak.


This is a tasty but sometimes tough cut. Not here, soft as butter.


2003 Michele Castellani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Collezione Ca del Pipa Cinque Stelle. 92 points.


That’s all us.


And finally for desert, the 1951 Massandra white port. An unusual dessert wine from the town of Massandra in the Crimea which was an ancient Greek settlement. The Tzar had a palace here and for centuries they made special wine for the royal family. Raisin in a glass, this particular vintage must have been served up to Stalin!


It comes packed in genuine styrofoam!


Sans label. But it was delicious.


Toto serves homemade ice creams and sorbets as dessert.

So chaotic was this giant night that they brought out all five flavors on each  plate and just placed them about the tables. I like the ice creams better than the sorbets here. The white chocolate was fantastic. Still, it’s all great.

Chef/Owner Kaz Oyama on the left, Hedonist organizer Yarom on the right. Observe the white haze of smoke.

And this place IS all about the beef, which is arguably some of the best I’ve ever had. Certainly the best yakiniku/Korean BBQ I’ve ever had. There is a perfect tenderness to every cut that’s fairly transcendant. I’m not even that much of a steak fan — but I’d take this stuff any time over even a spectacular cut from Mastros or Cut. The food here does not vary much from visit to visit. There is no menu. The quality however is utterly consistant. So while it isn’t an everyday sort of dining experience, perhaps once every 6-9 months, I love to return for my fix.

This was a spectacular evening — really, truly, deeply epic. It was about 5 hours of mind boggling wines and crazy beef.

More crazy Hedonist adventures or

LA dining reviews click here.

This says it all

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  1. Totoraku – Hedonists Beef Up
  2. Totoraku – Secret Beef!
  3. Hedonism at Saddle Peak Lodge
  4. Hedonism in the Desert – Azeen’s Afghani
  5. Hedonism at Esso
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, Billecart-Salmon, Deviled egg, hedonists, Japanese cuisine, Japanese Yakiniku, Korea, Totoraku, Wine, Yakinaku

Game of Thrones – Episode 28

May20

game-thrones-dragon-posterTitle: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 28 – May 18, 2013

Title: Second Sons

Summary: Really great character work

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Marriage has been a consistent theme this season and as we close in on the end this episode centers around the first of the three pending weddings. The title, Second Sons, adds to this theme. We have at least four featuring in this episode: the Hound, the mercenary band itself, Tyrion, and Stannis.

In a structural sense, this is a very cohesive episode with only three extended “threads” of narrative (Dragonstone, Dany, and Kings Landing) book-ended by two short (but important) ones (Arya at the beginning and Sam at the end). Really each of these three main threads is about a second son. And metaphorically, in each of these threads is the theme of powerlessness, of being treated (in a medieval sense) like a second son.

Arya – has only a small role this week, but her assumptions about our first Second Son, the Hound — initially murderous — are called into question by his words. She learns that he’s taking her to the Frey’s to be “sold” to her brother.

don't mess with Arya!

don’t mess with Arya!

Melisandre,  Gendry, Stannis, and Davos – arrive back a Dragonstone and he is introduced to Stannis (our second Second Son). The would-be-king looks at him and says unceremoniously, “half Robert, half low born.” This is so Stannis. But he is uncomfortable with Mel’s plan to sacrifice the boy and heads down to the dungeon for a little chat with his conscience (in the form of Davos). In their usual sort of back and forth the come to terms and he lets the Onion Knight out. This is a peculiar relationship. Each man wants the same thing, for Stannis to be the man he wants to be, and are willing to overlook the flaws in both themselves and the other in pursuit of this.

1_image-large

Gendry is so in over his head!

In a new bit not in the books, Mel joins Gendry in is rooms and turns on her peculiar charm, which includes a mixture of guile, honesty, and nudity. Predictably Gendry is helpless before this assault. The show runners have taken her blood magic and turned it into sex/blood magic. It’s not exactly clear why she needs to pump him a little before tying him up and sucking out a little blood into three leeches. Perhaps it’s as she says earlier, that the lamb just never see the knife coming. Perhaps it’s a desire to keep up the sex quotient. Either way it works, and I enjoyed the burning of the bloody leeches and the calling for a curse upon three “usurpers”: Joff, Robb, and Balon Greyjoy. This is an ancient form of magic that goes back to far antiquity. I even use it in my short story, “Harvard Divinity.”

Dany – We continue to get some excellent shots of Yunkai in all its pseudo-Moroccan glory and Dany is cute in her Fremen-style robe. We are introduced to the obstacle-du-jour, a group of mercenaries that defend the city for the “Wise Masters.” This group is known as the “Second Sons” and is led by a trio of warriors including the Titan’s Bastard and Dario.

450x254xgame-of-thrones-promo-second-sons_450x254.jpg.pagespeed.ic.tCvruZY3tO

Dany Sheik

Whom we soon meet as they hold audience with Dany in her tent. They are quite the brash and amusing trio, particularly the Titan’s Bastard who is brazenly forward with Dany. Dario looks like Jared Leto in the disastrous Alexander (sigh, I so wanted to like it). There are some good moments here. When they leave as Dany turns to Barristan and says, “when the fighting comes, kill him first” and the knight replies, “gladly.”

And even more fun are the three mercenaries in there camp arguing about how to proceed. The Bastard, like his creator Martin, is evidently fond of slave girls, and we have one that looks a lot like the handmaiden Dany left in the vault with Xaro. In any case, their plan is to send Dario to assassinate her and avoid a fight at all.

episode-28-04-1920-1024x576 (1)

Naughty dogs!

But when he does barge in, she’s in the middle of her bath (after a fun moment with her translator) the two face off: the brazen mercenary and the naked girl. Her confident use of her physical presence here was very effective. Interestingly, for the first time since the end of season 1 she bares herself. I had begun to wonder of she had negotiated that out of her contract. It was even odd when the show apparently deliberately left a sex scene on the table in skipping her little shipboard tussle with her handmaidens.

Tyiron comes to visit Sansa – This continues to be a very awkward situation for our favorite second son, not in the least part because his lover is the girl’s handmaiden. So again when he comes to talk to her right before their wedding, he has to resort to virtually ordering Pod to haul Shae out of the room. And Peter Dinklage does a magnificent job (as always) with the subtly of emotions, combining attitude, self depreciating humor, awkwardness, and genuine like-ability to really sell Tyrion trying to do his best.

would you mind giving us a moment?

would you mind giving us a moment?

The wedding itself is pretty sumptuous, far grander than the quick affair in the books. The High Sept looks cavernous, like some grand reinterpretation of the Pantheon. Everyone in Kings Landing is there (except Littlefinger who is away). Sadly Varys doesn’t have any lines, but there is good stuff from Marg, Cersei, Joff, and Tywin. Cersei and her younger doppleganger (Marg) duel and the queen shows her claws.

But it’s Joff who steal the show by continuing to be the asshat that he is. When he removes the stool from the altar and forces Tyrion to ask Sansa to kneel it’s pure asshatery. Good stuff. The situation is tense, touching, and a bit comic. All great stuff. At the reception a bitter Cersei, frustrated by her lack of control (including over her son), snubs hapless Loras. Tyrion gets royally drunk and Tywin orders him to consummate his marriage no matter what. Joff tries to start some more trouble by bringing up the “bedding ceremony” which non-reader viewers will not understand. This is where all the women attending strip the groom and carry him naked to the bridal chamber while the men do the same for the bride.

Yes father, I am the god of drink and lust.

Yes father, I am the god of drink and lust.

In his cups, Tyrion lays (verbally) into Joffrey and they nearly come to blows before Tywin puts a stop to it. Remember this, dear viewer.

The “consummation” (or lack thereof) is well done always. Sansa it seems, now finally understands her duty, but Tyrion, despite his flaws, is a character we can love and he isn’t willing to force himself on her. In continued defiance of his father, for love of Shae, and because he isn’t “that sort” he shows her continued kindness. The sentiments are deft and right out of the book, but the show has softened the scene, as in the book both strip down before coming to this moment. There is something about the rawness of the original literary scene, with both  at their most vulnerable, that I really enjoyed. I had suspected, rightly, that they wouldn’t have the stomach for this.

Several other things are extremely well done: Tyrion’s impressive level of drunkenness, his comment about Sansa’s long neck (which we have all noticed), and in the morning, Shae’s little smile at the lack of blood on the sheets.

Sam – Sam and Gilly come across a ruined little hut in the forest next to an “Old God” (one of those red trees with the creepy faces). Ravens, ever purposed as harbingers in Northern myth, seem unusually drawn to the tree. As the duo sets up the fire and discusses the naming of Gilly’s baby their hesitant chemistry continues. It’s really well done with a shy tension and attraction on the part of both.

Eventually (and the episode ends on this), the calling of the Ravens draws Sam outside. They cover the tree, which although a slightly trite image still gave me goosebumps. A white walker approaches, the very same CGI model we met in the last episode of season 2. Sam, belying the coward he feels he is attacks, and is swiftly rebuffed. Walkers it seems have a taste for baby. But Sam draws his Dragonglass (aka obsidian) dagger and to use Buffy parlance, dusts the walker.

It should be noted that while this is the only segment not to include a second son (Sam is technically his father’s heir), his position in Randal Tarly’s eyes (explained in his own words some time ago, and alluded to here), is that of one.

Above the official “inside the episode.”

And above, a great discussion of the marriage thread this season.

Overall, Second Sons is a tremendous episode. It has a lot of “action,” perhaps not so much physical fighting (except at the end), but a lot going on, and with it’s concentration on fewer narratives a great deal of focus on the character’s we’ve come to love.

Absent this week were Bran, Robb, Jon, Jaime/Brienne, and Theon.

Another good analysis of this episode.

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or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 27
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 26
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 25
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 18
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 24
By: agavin
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Posted in: Television
Tagged as: a game of thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, Arya, Episode 28, Game of Thrones, George R. Martin, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Jon, Northern Ireland, Season 3, Season 3 Episode 28, World of A Song of Ice and Fire, Ygritte

Timeless Tiramisu

May16

Herein I set out to create the ultimate tiramisu – everything is basically from scratch. The cheese, the creme, the lady fingers. I tried to use the best ingredients and recreate that  richness and subtlety of secondary flavor that is the hallmark of great Italian desserts.

By far the most complex thing in real Tiramisu (which is a complex 2-3 day dessert) is the creme filling. It consists of four different components:

The Mascarpone


Mascarpone is one of the simplest cheeses going, although it’s certainly tasty enough. It has basically two ingredients: cream and lemon juice. In this case, you heat heavy cream (pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized, as the ultra is dead and can’t make cheese) slowly to 180 degrees, turn off the heat, and add lemon juice (about one lemon worth for this quart of creme).


It will rapidly curdle and turn into cheese. You stir slowly and then chill for a couple of hours.


And viola, Mascapone. Technically, one is supposed to squeeze out the whey. I’ve never been able too. It’s always so thick. It basically tastes like fresh creme with a lemony flavor.

The Zabaione

Zabaione (sabayon in French) is an eggy custard with a delectable subtle lemon and masala flavor.


It’s basically sugar, lemon rind.


Egg yolks.


Masala wine and vanilla extract. These are key (along with the lemon) to adding that Italian factor.


You mix them together and cook over a double boiler.


Until it thickens.


The stuff is fantastic by itself, like what a Cadbury egg center SHOULD taste like (but doesn’t).

The Pastry Cream

The third of four components to the tiramisu cream, a thick pastry cream.


Very similar ingredients to the Zabaione, but adds milk and flower.


It’s basically a sweet egg/milk custard.


You mix it together.


Slowly heat.


Until it thickens.


And becomes the stuff that those yummy French pastries are stuffed with.


Here you can see the dueling cremes.


The cookies inside the tiramisu are “lady fingers,” basically a light eggy sugar cookie (you may be noticing an ingredient theme here).


I baked up a bunch of them. Once all these ingredients are ready (and I did them the day before) it’s time for the assembly.


But, where’s the coffee? You need to dip the lady fingers in something…


and in this case a mixture of sugar, rum, and expresso (fresh brewed). For good measure that bottle of Gosling’s Dark Rum (which we bought in Bermuda) had a whole fresh Tahitian vanilla bean shoved inside… in 2001! By now, it’s had time to really absorb the flavor.


Oh, and because Mascarpone, Zabaione, and pastry creme isn’t quite creamy enough, we need to throw in some completely fresh whipped creme!


Start with the Mascarpone.


Blend in the Zabaione, and pastry creme.


and the whipped creme.


Mix very gently.


Now I took the lady fingers, hand dipped each one in the expresso mix and layered them in the casserole.


Then put on a layer of the creme/cheese mixture, another layer of cookies, more creme, more cookies, more creme.


Then dusted the top with high end cocoa powder. Place in the fridge for 12+ hours to chill and set.


Here is a finished piece.


And a closeup of the cross section in the pan. That white stuff might look like simple whipped creme, which is what lame tiramisus use, but you know better. It has this wonderful rich, creamy, cheesy, lemony, vanilla, marsala, eggy taste. Wow! Everyone who tried it was unanimous in declaring it “the best tiramisu ever” and several went so far as to call it “organismic” or “best desert ever!”

If you want to try it yourself, I basically used this really hardcore recipe online.

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By: agavin
Comments (9)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cheese, coffee, Cream, custard, Egg, Egg yolk, Espresso, Italian cuisine, Ladyfingers, Mascarpone, Tiramisu

Amarone at Oliverio

May14

Restaurant: Oliverio [1, 2, 3]

Location: 9400 W Olympic Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 407-7791

Date: May 8, 2013

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome Amarone

_

The summer Hedonist season is heating up and brings us to the Avalon Hotel’s poolside Italian, Oliverio for a special Amarone dinner.


The atmosphere is tres LA and top notch.


Sharon holds down are giant table before the festivities begin.


This is our custom menu, but as you’ll see below we nearly doubled the number of courses!


2010 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Vigne Sparse. The nose showed white flowers, almond skins and a spritz of lemon. On the palate, I found sweet apple, floral notes and hints of peach. The finish was clean, fresh and highly enjoyable.


Antipasto. Crudo di Pesce. Santa Barbara Uni, amachi, santa barbara prawns, yellowfin tuna. Nice fresh fish in the (new) Italian tradition.


2000 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 91. Explosive notes of green apple and obvious minerality plus a touch of wood toast lead to elegant, intense and long medium weight, beautifully textured flavors. This stains the palate and though this is not an especially powerful wine, it packs plenty of flavor authority.

Our bottle was fairly oxidized with strong creme brule flavors.


Roasted Bone Marrow. Fava beans, fresh radish, salsa verde. Really a knock out.


Cauliflower flan with black truffles.


1980 Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella. Brick red. Nose of dried flowers, tea leaves, camomile, licuorice. Full bodied, ripe. Finish of plum peel. Still a lot of spice.

1981 Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella. Deep ruby color with browning edges. Potent nose of tar, black licorice and sweet prunes. Deep and creamy with spicy black prune and raisiny fruit. Still loaded with acidity that is almost overwhelming. Finishes with an earthy complexity and a hint of alcohol. Much younger tasting than the 1980 (even though that wasn’t tired).

2004 Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella. Parker 94. The 2004 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is flat-out gorgeous. Why can’t all the Bertani wines be this good? The 2004 is a superb, elegant Amarone graced with expressive dark red fruit, flowers, tobacco and spices, all supported by finessed, silky tannins. Sweet roses, tar and licorice are woven into the layered, sublime finish. Deceptively medium in body, the 2004 has the stuffing to age well for decades. This is a terrific showing from Bertani.


Bread.


Primo. Risotto. Pioppini mushroom, braised Sonoma lamb neck. Tasted just like a great Osso Bucco. Awesome!


Tommaso Bussola Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Tb Vigneto Alto. Deep ruby. Opulent, sexy aromas off red cherry syrup, strawberry jelly, marzipan, cardamom and cinnamon. Dense, sweet and seamless, offering a lovely multilayered mouthful of red fruits, jam and spices. Finishes extremely long, with powerful grip and building tannins that stay silky-smooth. This clocks in at 47.8 g/l total dry extract, 11.1 g/l residual sugar and 6.45 g/l total acidity.


A vegetarian risotto with mushrooms and saffron.


2005 Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. Nose: Dark berries, sage, mint, maybe some tomato. A hint of vinegar. Taste: It has a tomato and liqueur-y kind of note. The slightest hint of sweetness with some brandy notes on the back. My friend who enjoys Amarone gives this an 89… I’m not enjoying the style but lets go with her thoughts.


Secondi. Porchetta. Roasted korobuta pork belly, frigitelli pepper, porcini mushroom.

Not actually that fatty (considering) but with a really nice rich flavor and a bit of heat from the pepper.


2006 Monti Coroni Amarone della Valpolicella Classico.


Seabass with tomatoes and olives.


2003 Bolla Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. Surprised by this wine. Still very young, and quite tannic, with nice deep red fruit characteristics, with no raisin component at all. Nice, interesting wine that was very enjoyable. Give it time.


Salmon with fennel and potatoes.


1996 Romano Dal Forno Valpolicella Superiore Vigneto Monte Lodoletta. Deep, rich red wine, erupting with pure, and intense aromas of cedar, black currants, dried cherries, basil, earth, spices, and hints of leather and tobacco on the back-end. The palate is pure, focused, concentrated, ad extremely elegant with mirroring brightness of fruit and a savoriness that leads into an unbelievably deep and rich 60 second finish with the kind of finesse that most winemakers only dream of. This is only the second time I have had the pleasure of trying this incredible wine, and I relished every moment of it. This is easily the best Valpolicela in the market. Anyone, If you come across this wine anywhere, buy it and drink it, because you need to try what a truly great valpolicela holds beneath its cork.

This isn’t technically an Amarone, but a wine made in the same region with the same grapes without the ripasso method (drying into raisons).


Quail in wine reduction sauce with polenta. Really nice.


1997 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Mazzano. This beautiful mouth filling wine had a port-like nose and guess what….the first sip exhibited a lovely, mature, extracted port-like taste. The wine had Valpo flavors at just the right intensity, not as large as Port, but the correct stature for the grapes that make up the blend. The bottle was consumed over three days and each day I thought that the intensity, ripeness and mouth feel would decrease but it maintained a wonderful flavor to the end of the bottle. A real treat.


Polenta with gorgonzola.


2001 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Campolongo di Torbe. Parker 91. The palate is very soft, graceful, matured, powerful and really broad. Overall the wine seems really dry, although there is a hint of sweetness at the tip of the tongue. Soft yet brawny tannic structure. Dried cherries, figs, earthiness, leather, dark-roasted coffee and raisins in an impeccable balance; none of these flavors dominate the complex palate, everything is in its right place. Lengthy finish with round, sweet taste of figs, moccha and wooden oak. A spectacular wine, this is. It is so powerful its high alc. (16,6%) doesn’t show at all, bar a slight touch of heat in the throat. One of the best wines I have ever tasted, probably even the best. Impressive now, but has a powerful body that’ll hold easily for another decade.


La Casola. Traditional duck and sausage stew with cabbage.

Almost like a French Cassolette. Rich meat, rich sausage, and rich sauce!


1999 Allegrini Amarone Classico (in 3L!). Parker 91-95. The impressive 1999 Amarone della Valpolicella is from a vintage which was anything but easy, but apparently created few problems here. Rich, jammy, and spicy aromas are followed by full and voluminous flavors, broad and warmly alcoholic with abundant super-ripe fruit and notes of chocolate, solid but voluptuous and extremely long on the finish.


Tomato, basil, and burrata pizza. Somehow the crust is made from potato? Anywhichway, it was a great pizza, very chewy.


1980 Castello di Cacchiano Vin Santo del Chianti Classico. A mid sweet Vin Santo, very pleasant.


Chocolate cake with creme fraiche and passionfruit sauce.

Overall, this was another knock out knight. The food was fantastic, even if we had no pasta! and was well paired with the rich heavy Amarones. That atmosphere outside by the pool really added as well and Oliverio, its staff, and chef, took fantastic care of us.

More crazy Hedonist adventures or

LA dining reviews click here.

Big Mark opens his big bottle!

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  5. Fraiche Santa Monica
By: agavin
Comments (14)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Amarone, Bertani, Bone Marrow, hedonists, Italian cuisine, Italian wine, Oliverio, Valpolicella, Veneto

Game of Thrones – Episode 27

May12

game-thrones-dragon-posterTitle: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 27 – May 12, 2013

Title: The Bear and the Maiden Fair

Summary: Not 1, not 2, but 3 dragons, a bear, and lots of queenly tush!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

This week we have the annual George R. Martin episode, written by Georgi son of Gimli himself.

Jon – Evidently getting down the wall is a lot easier than getting up, because Jon, Ygritte and crew start off this episode on the green side. Also, one has to wonder, where did all the extra wildlings come from? Seemed last week like just four got to the top, and the rest of the red shirts tumbled to their doom, but now we have a whole party. Anyway, as they march along toward Castle Black, Jon and Ygritte get some welcome time together. Their chemistry is great — or more properly Ygritte is great as Jon acts a tad lumpish while she steals the show. We get to see her even more of her character: fierce and worldly in her own sphere, and a bit clueless about anything else.

Stollen moments

Stollen moments

Tormund is good fun too. Orel makes my skin crawl, but he’s supposed to.

Bran – Bran’s scenes here, like their literary counterparts, aren’t the most exciting. Osha continues to be anxious and take the anti-magic stance, but her rational for not wanting to go back north of the wall is touching enough. The scenery (Northern Ireland) is similar enough to Jon’s, so we assume they must be near.

Oh and Osha does a nice refrain on the wildling sentiment “he was mine and I was his” that Ygritte expresses in the previous scene.

Robb – and his court stall before heading out to Edmure’s wedding. Not much here but Cat’s wary stance. However, In the next scene we’re treated to some good King and Queen of the North action. His bride isn’t shy, and it’s relatively rare in this show, and even rarer in the books, to see genuine affection. She admits to being pregnant, which as always in royal matters, is of great dynastic significance.

On a technical note, I like the little writing tray she uses in bed. This was actually a typical thing even in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Melisandre and Gendry – sail past King’s Landing and the wreckage of Blackwater Bay. They might not be my favorite characters but this is a gorgeous overhead shot like a medieval Life of Pi. Meanwhile she reveals to him that he’s King Robert’s bastard.

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Arya – We don’t get much Arya this week, but she’s still hanging out in that cave — for now. They show it in the above video clip, but I have to admit to getting goosebumps when she admits her god is “death.” For me (and Martin) this isn’t just a cynical and bleak admission, but the beginnings of a liberalized relationship with Jaqen H’ghar’s faceless god of death. When the men even fail in their mission to take her rapidly to Riverrun she takes off, only to meet someone in the woods she thought long gone.

Theon – We might almost feel sorry for Theon, as it just keeps getting worse for everyone’s favorite Greyjoy. A couple of hottie girls pull him off his cross and start to show him a good time, but before we can wonder why they don’t mind the stink, the crazy bastard (hehe) holding him busts right in and spoils the fun. Although the nasty action is off screen, we’ll have to assume Theon ends up losing his two closest friends. Poor guy — even if he did murder Rodrick.

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Dany – Pulls up to Junkai (the slaver city next to Astapor). We are treated to a great CGI shot of it in the distance, but her meeting with its emissaries takes place in the barrens outside. Notice how much they resemble A New Hope’s Tatooine! Anyway, the show has a consistent difficulty making these big army shots feel properly grand and gritty. The try, they really do, but it’s just hard to simulate tens of thousands of men on any reasonable budget. We do however, get some really good dragon action shots in the tent, particularly involving feisty Drogon. Dany is growing further and further into her own, taking on not just the cause of reclaiming Westeros but her almost religious mission to free any slave she encounters.

The real thing looked basically like this production mockup, but somehow "smaller"

The real thing looked basically like this production mockup, but somehow “smaller”

Sansa and Marg – Unlike last week, this isn’t a Kings Landing heavy episode, but we do revisit those lovely Gardens below. The dueling attitudes of both girls are a study in opposites. Sansa bemoans her situation and Marg sure knows how to look on the bright side. Despite all the plot’s the lovely Highgarden girl is involved in, you can’t help but like her. Her flexibility seems genuine. And she doesn’t seem bothered by the idea of dwarf love!

Look familiar?

Look familiar? They jazzed it up with some more plantings, and probably CGed out the cross, but these are the Gardens of Trestino.

Tyrion – chats with Bronn about his situation: i.e. what to do about Sansa and Shae. Too bad Bronn’s simple view on such matters isn’t helpful when he really gets down to talking with his working girl love. Show-Shae is far more complex and interesting than book-Shae. She has genuine feelings and motives here — and I can see where they are going. What happens with her at the end of A Storm of Swords always bothered me, but they seem to be laying better groundwork here.

Tywin and Joff – chat in the throne room. I’m not sure how I feel about this scene even though it feels true to both characters. They don’t exactly clash, but their perspectives are so far apart that there is almost no communication. I’m interested to see where this goes, because like Shae, Joff, and Tywin are both far more developed in the show than in the novels (not being POV characters).

Jaime and Brienne – Jaime comes to see Brienne off before heading out from Harrenhall. He’s feeling the shit, but she lets him off easy in her own way. She makes him swear again to uphold his part of her oath in rescuing Sansa and Arya (moot as it might be). This is a touching moment because being the Kingslayer, the oathbreaker, her very willingness to trust in his owner is complement enough, and Nikolaj Coster Waldau is deft in making you believe he means it.

got-game-of-thrones-33805474-500-281

Outside, Bolton bids him off, as does Locke, who’s clearly taken the consolidated place of the nasty Brave Companions and their creepy leader. Qyburn accompanies Jaime and works on his ugly-ass stump. Time is taken to build this sordid character, as he’s got his role to play, but it’s Jaime who does the serious soul searching here, deciding to force the group back to Harrenhall after Brienne.

The anticipated live action Bear and the Maiden Fair looked good, and sounded good (the refrain of the song is great), but felt somehow unrealistic. This was a phenomenal moment in the books and it just didn’t sit exactly right with me tonight. Maybe it wast he relative ease with which Locke gives up. This is a man that chopped off Jaime’s freaking hand to make a point! True, the other guys that have sworn to take Jaime to Kings Landing aren’t going to have any of it, but you don’t exactly feel the lines of power pulling taught.

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Bart the Bear!

I’ll have to see how I feel on my second watch, particularly since my note taking on the first viewing always reduces the immediacy.

In any case, despite this, still a great episode. In casting forward the arc for the season this isn’t exactly half of A Storm of Swords, but more like 80%. I’ll register my opinion that the season is likely to end with the two weddings — and unlikely to include the parts that follow until next season. George is a fine scriptwriter, but he needs to get back to his books or HBO will catch up to him!

Absent this week were Stannis, Davos, Cersei, and Olena.

Another good analysis of this episode.

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or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

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Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

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Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Drogon kicks ass!

Drogon kicks ass!

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (9)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: a game of thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, Episode 27, Game of Thrones, George R. Martin, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Jon, Season 3, Season 3 Episode 27, World of A Song of Ice and Fire, Ygritte

Ender’s Game

May09

Finally, 30 years later, they get around to making a movie out of my favorite book… at age 15.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SRizeR4MmU]

For decades I’ve sited this as an example of Hollywood’s odd failure to exploit the wealth of great SciFi/Fantasy novels, instead endlessly recycling lifeless high concepts. In that, Ender’s Game was a bestselling fast paced story of approximately movie complexity. Now they just have to adapt Hyperion and I’ll be fulfilled! I used to joke that it would cost a billion dollars. It still might!

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By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, Science Fiction

Paiche – Fusion Panache

May09

Restaurant: Paiche

Location: 13488 Maxella Ave, Marina del Rey, CA 90292. 310.893.6100

Date: April 19 & 26, 2013

Cuisine: Japanese Peruvian

Rating: Flavors that Pop!

_

Paiche is a new joint in the Marina del Rey mall complex (near the Theaters). It’s the third Peruvian brain child of Ricardo Zarate and Stephane Bombet who brought us Picca (review here and here) and Mo-Chica. For whatever reason, LA’s culinary zeitgeist is on fire with Peruvian fusion. And I admit it’s a nice cuisine with it’s bright sock you in the face flavors and savory Japanese ingredients.


The modern, vaguely nautical, and rather loud interior space. Paiche follows all the rules of the post 2008 trendy restaurant: loud, hard spaces, open kitchen, paper menu, busy bar, fancy cocktails, short wine list, no table cloths etc.


The de rigor open kitchen.


The obligatory paper menu. Which, given this is tapas style and you need to order lots of dishes, I like — because I write on it!

Spanish seemed like the thing to bring (given my Euro-centric collection and the food), so I brought a couple modern Iberian classics.

2009 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. IWC 91. Bright yellow-gold. Deeply pitched aromas of smoky lees, bergamot, apricot pit and salty minerals. Viscous, palate-coating orchard and pit fruit flavors are enlivened by juicy acidity and complemented by honeysuckle and a hint of spun sugar. Wild, complex and singular wine with strong finishing cut and sappy persistence. This is far removed from your classic albarino.


Tuna Tartar | Caviar // Soy Ceviche Dressing // Wonton Chips.

The classic Nobu dish (see here both at Matsuhisa and Takao). This version was punched up with the extremely zesty dressing.

Eggplant Tartar | Grilled eggplant Mousse // Japanese cucumber // wonton chips.

Similar was the eggplant, but it had a nice smokey flavor too it.


Yuquitas | Stuffed yuca beignets // manchego cheese // grated parmesan.

These were great, as who doesn’t love fried cheese?


Eggplant. AJI PANCA AKA MISO SAUCE // SHAVED PARMESAN.


Tamalito Verde. NORTHERN PERUVIAN TAMALES // SHIMENJI MUSHROOMS // SECO SAUCE.

Very tasty sauce.


Paiche Wrap Lettuce | Grilled Amazonian Fish // Anticucho Miso Marinated.

The restaurant is named after the world’s largest fresh water fish (Paiche – pictured below). It’s one hell of a swimmer, and tasty to boot. These tacos were delicious with a nice texture and a smoky bbq vibe.

This is one big fish!

This is one big fish!


Shrimp Dumplings | Soy Lime Dressing // Spicy Rocoto Infused Oil.

Really nice, bright with a bit of zest and spice.


Uni Shrimp Toast | Sea Urchin // Shrimp Paste Toast // Rocoto Honey Sauce.

A little too much tomato for me, and as a tomato hater, this distracted.

Wagyu Beef | Seared Wagyu // Parmesan Sauce // Aji Amarillo Vinaigrette.

A very interested combination. It’s a taradito, but not with fish, instead with seared wagyu. The parmesan sauce worked, but i’m not sure the vinaigrette was totally successful.


Seabass | Seared seabass // Amazonian Sacha inchi oil // soy dressing // garlic // oba.

A more classic taradito, very bright and pleasant.


Pisco Sour. PORTON PISCO, ORGANIC EGG WHITE, LIME JUICE, LEMON JUICE, EVAPORATE CANE SYRUP, CINNAMON TINCTURE ANGOSTURA BITTERS.


Our three “cerviches.”


Uni Cerviche.

Pretty much straight uni with shiso, but it’s a lovely and classic combination and the uni was VERY fresh Santa Barbara uni and quite lovely.


Albacore Cerviche.

Simple, but good.


Salmon Cerviche.

Nice salmon, but the super zesty sauce pretty much wiped out the fish flavor.


Scallop cerviche.


Yellowtail cerviche.


Chicharron de pescado. CRISPY FISH CHICHARRON // LIME YUZU SAUCE


Grilled Quail Anticucho | pisco basted // ume plum wine dressing.

Really tasty with a strong char and a bit of sweetness.


Rock Shrimp Tempura | Spicy Chancaca Soy Dressing // Rocoto Aioli.

Much like the Nobu classic.


Amaebi | Filo Dough Wrap // Sweet Shrimp // Jalapeño Ponzu Dressing.

This fried shrimp body was really succulent and delicious.


2007 Bodega Margon Pricum Prieto Picudo. Parker 92+. The 2007 Prieto Picudo made from vines ranging in age from 60-100 years. It was fermented in foudre with native yeasts and aged for 13 months in French oak. Dark ruby-colored, it sports a sexy bouquet of Asian spices, wild berries, truffle, and underbrush. Vibrant, complex, and structured on the palate, it is packed with savory red fruits, and displays impeccable balance. It will evolve for several years and drink well for a decade.


Short Ribs | prime short ribs // bbq sauce.

This is from the “short ribs as pastrami” school, but it was good.


Calamari Relleno | Stuffed Baby Squid // Chorizo // Aji Pepian.

Pretty tasty, like sausage (not spicy) covered in chewy squid.


Saltado de Quail | Sauteed Quail // Five Spice // Rosemary Rocoto Dressing.

Nice bbq quail.


Cauliflower.

The server recommended these, but they were a little hard for my taste.


Saltado de Camarones | Sauteed Shrimps // Tomato Onion Stew // Home Made Pasta.

Really very tasty pasta.


Ceviche de Pato | confit duck // ceviche stew // pallares tacu tacu.

Another good dish combining richness and zest.


Arroz con Conchas Negras y Erizo | Blood Clams // Sea Urchin // Risotto.

Pleasant briny flavor punched up by the dynamite sauce.

Chaufa de Langosta | Lobster // Mixed Seafood // Fried Rice.

Very pleasant seafood flavors and that zesty dynamite.


Seco de Paiche | Amazonian Fish Stew // Cilantro Aderezo Sauce // Pallares.

Almost curry like, really very very delicious and exotic tasting.


The refuse.


Churros. Chocolate sauce and Peruvian fruit sauce.

Small, but delicious. Just little donut balls.


Green Tea Coconut Cake.

Not very coconutty, but very delicious for sure.


Chicha Raspadilla.

A kind of extremely flavorful (and sweet) raspberry ice. Except it might not be raspberry, and might be some South American fruit. Either way, I really liked it.

Overall, Paiche is not only delicious but very fun. I really enjoy getting to taste so many things in one meal and it’s full of very bright punchy flavors. Everything is extremely on point and well executed. While some dishes were better than others, there wasn’t a one that fell short of what it  was trying to be. It’s new and crowded, and for good reason!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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By: agavin
Comments (7)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: fusion, Japanese cuisine, Marina del Rey, Marina del Rey California, Paiche, Peru, Peruvian cuisine, Ricardo Zarate, Stephane Bombet

Tasty Duck Lives up to its Name

May07

Restaurant: Tasty Duck [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1039 E Valley Blvd. Ste B102. San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 572-3885

Date: May 4, 2013

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Great Duck!

_

My Hedonist food and  wine club loves the SGV. This community 20 minutes East of Downtown LA boasts a staggering array of good Chinese restaurants.


NV Pierre Peters Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvee de Reserve. Parker 92. The NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Cuvee de Reserve is a gorgeous wine that captures the essence of Chardonnay in the Cote des Blancs. Pure, wiry and wonderfully expressive, the Cuvee de Reserve flows gracefully with layers of varietal fruit from start to finish. This shows superb clarity, depth and polish, particularly at the NV level. The current release is 65% 2007 and 35% reserve wines from a solera cuvee that contains 15 vintages. Roughly 2/3rds of the fruit comes from Mesnil, while the rest is from Cramant, Avize, Oger and Chouilly.


Cold appetizers: Jellyfish (top), wine chicken (right), and beef (left).


1971 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. Rated 93. On the nose, lots of petrol and cotton candy. On the palate, still some good acidity and sweetness, with lots of tangerine and apricot and a long finish. May be a bit past its prime (storage was not the best according to the person who brought it) but still a lovely wine.


The main event: Peking Duck. Not only was this delectable, with fantastic crispy skin and delicate meat, but it’s artfully arranged.


Here are the traditional accompaniments. Excellent pancakes, hoison sauce, and scallions and apple/pear.


1989 Joseph Drouhin Clos Vougeot.Rated 91. Nice. Spice box nose with decent fruit and silky tannins. Defenite develpemnt. Classy finesse with earthy tones and soft red berries. It took a good hour or two for the fruit to come out, but once it did it was very nice.


Eggplant.


2010 Van Volxem Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben. Parker 93. The stony mineral and piquantly nutty elements present in so many of this year’s Van Volxem offerings are only enhanced when it comes to the ancient-vines 2010 Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben, but so is citricity, to the point where this seems electrically-charged. Mint and green tea remind me a bit of the herbal side that comes out in so many Scharzhofberger of this vintage, while iris and hedge flowers add allure. A satin-textured and rich though vivacious palate impression leads to a clarion, vibratory finishing flavor interaction of floral, herbal, citrus, nut oil, and mineral notes. I would anticipate at least 12-15 years of excitement. Interestingly, at 11.8%, this is slightly lower in alcohol than the other non-sweet wines in the present collection, which are in the lower 12s.


Part of “duck three ways”: sprouts with bits of duck meat.


1996 Domaine Chauvenet-Chopin Nuits St Georges les Murgers. Parker 90-92. This medium-to-dark ruby-colored wine has an expressive nose of cassis, cherries, Asian spices, and minerals. This massive, chewy-textured, full-bodied, and plump wine is rich, concentrated, muscular, and crammed with super-ripe blackberries awash in toasty oak.


Some amazing Shanghai style soup dumplings. Tasty little morsels stuffed with pork and broth.


2005 Camille Giroud Latricieres Chambertin. Parker 93-94. The 2005 Latricieres-Chambertin (purchased partly as grapes and partly as wine) offers a clear, enticing nose of tiny purple plums, blueberries, lilies, beef marrow, and hints of caramel and vanilla. Polished and bright, it exudes the refinement that the Chapelle lacked, leading to a real rush of lingering sweet, caramel- and vanilla-tinged fruit in the finish. The tannins are abundant but ultra-refined. Sock this away for at least a decade and figure on at least an additional decade to hold.

Great wine, although a little young. After 30-60 minutes it opened up and drank very nicely.


Shanghai style BBQ pork ribs. Twice fried (deep and stir) in a sweet and sour sauce. Very good for this dish, with relatively little bone.


1997 Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie. Parker 86-88. The dark ruby-colored 1997 Cote Rotie Cuvee Classique is an evolved, forward, fat wine with cassis and raspberry fruit flavors, medium body, and an easy-going, succulent, luscious, straightforward appeal.

Nice pairing with the lamb below.


Cumin lamb. A typical specimen, but with tender flavorful lamb. Some places border on mouton.


The proverbial, “duck soup” that is the last part of “duck three ways.” Mild and pleasant with some tofu and cabbage.


Their interesting take on “walnut shrimp.” The fried shrimp, sweet mayo sauce, and walnuts is supplemented with pineapple!


Scallion pancakes.


2006 Bressan Schioppettino. Rated 92. Clear ruby in color, with medium plus intensity and moderate consistency. The nose is clean, with medium plus intensity. The nose is quite complex, with aromas of red fruit, orange rind, sage, thyme, menthol, rhubarb, angostura bitters, black pepper, anise, violet and pine forest floor. The nose is developing, of fine quality and constantly evolving in the glass. The palate is dry, with medium plus to pronounced acidity, and flavors generally consistent with the nose. Showing red fruit, peppery spice, herbs and bitter lemon. The alcohol is moderate (-) at 13%. Thee polyalcohols are smooth (-). The tannins are medium to medium plus. The minerality is moderate +. The body is medium +. The flavors are moderately intense +. The finish is moderately persistent +. The wine is moderately balanced; it is skewed slightly towards hardness. The acidity is quite high. It’s almost as a little bit of white wine had been blended in, but the tannins are defintely still there. The palate is fine overall. This wine is ready to drink and approaching maturity, but is likely to have a long drinking window thanks to its structure. It is moderately harmonious + and extremely food friendly.


Crispy whole red cod with sweet and sour sauce. A really nice fish, similar to a couple weeks ago at the Shanghai place.


Fried rice with pineapple, which felt more Thai.


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Beef rolls with BBQ beef and cilantro. Really nice, tasted like rolled up Pho.


NV Minardi Vini Passito di Pantelleria. Rated 88. Not the most balanced Pantelleria I’ve ever had, and medium sweet, like a vin santo, but very pleasant and an excellent pairing with the mild but sweet Chinese desserts.


Red bean or black sesame (I wasn’t sure) pancakes. Tasty (for a Chinese dessert).


A gooey mochi and nut thingy.

Overall, another fantastic meal. The total damage, including tax and a whopping 30% tip was $32 a person! The service was great (for Chinese). They were very friendly and willing to serve us the dishes one at a time over three hours. This is actually fairly unusual as a lot of Chinese restaurants like to slam you out in 45 minutes by dropping everything on the table at once. The duck was first rate, as good as Peking duck gets — more or less. The other dishes were good too, with almost all of them being very well executed and not greasy.

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Related posts:

  1. Mark’s Duck House
  2. Peking Duck at A-1 Chinese BBQ
  3. Tasty Dining – Wuhan Dry Hot Pot
  4. More Mark’s Duck House
  5. Hedonists Cook the Goose
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Champagne, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, Peking Duck, San Gabriel California, Tasty Duck

Game of Thrones – Episode 26

May05

game-thrones-dragon-posterTitle: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 26 – May 5, 2013

Title: The Climb

Summary: More transitional, but tense

ANY CHARACTER HERE

There is perhaps less action this week, but plenty of thumb screws being turned (haha). The show writers take the opportunity to mine the novel for thematic refrains within an episode in a way that probably isn’t deliberately reflected in the source text. This week we have several, notably: couples, marriage, and duality.

Sam – We open with Sam sharing a fire with Gilly. He pulls out his obsidian dagger, which even if I didn’t know, is TV code for “this will be relevant soon”. This first couple enjoys a pleasant and hesitant chemistry. Awkward, but in a warm way.

Bran – Bran’s two female protectors, Meera and Osha, squabble and fight. And I must say, the rabbit bit reminded me of that scene from Roger and Me. This is mostly a throwaway scene, designed to remind us that Bran’s still on his way. But it fits into the whole couples/duality thing in that Meera and Osha are birds of a feather. Anyway, Jojen dreams of…

Jon – Since this episode is titled The Climb, a rather big slice (in several parts). At the base of the wall, continuing the couple theme, he and Ygritte have a  moment. The way she sees right through him is telling and I love the “the two of them against the world” angle that she works. It’s quite touching actually, even if it doesn’t get as much screen time as it should — they having had only their token night together. Still I liked it, even if Kitt isn’t as sensitive an actor as the part requires. Tormund is funny too with his “if you fall, don’t scream. You wouldn’t want that to be the last thing she remembers.”

The climb looks tough. I certainly couldn’t do it. Hell, I can hardly climb the rubber rock wall. Jon’s at the butt end of things and collects some spare snowballs. Ygritte watches closely. And so do we because it looks GOOD (even if a bit CGI). Then in the next segment, things go bad on the wall and everyone but Tormund, Orel, Jon and Ygritte, with the latter too dangling from their ropes. The cracks and avalanche looks great. The layout of loyalties that was (fairly obviously) in previous episodes is made crystal clear. Tormund does his best for all, and Orel cuts Jon and Ygritte loose. Fortunately Jon’s a stud, even if he doesn’t act it.

The episode ends with this thread and the four of them atop the wall. And with some more seriously nice CGI views of both sides of the massive and chilly structure.

Tormund_The_Climb

Tormund Icecubebane

Arya – Things begin light enough with the spunkiest Stark. Echoing the first episode, she’s practicing her archery. In the background Thryos is drinking. She notices riders approaching and it’s Melisandre the red lady. This is a total deviation rom the books and a move to keep Mel in play, but it works. She recognizes the Lord of Light’s handiwork in Dondarian and this draws out a rather interesting exchange with Thryos which I totally enjoyed, faith and it’s relationship to magic being close to my heart (see my novel The Darkening Dream). I love how Thyros is the skeptic priest late come to his faith. This two breeds of priest, Mel and Thyros, clearly fit in the duality theme this week.

Scene two is a study in reversals. Gendry is helping the archer guy, but then at Mel’s orders he’s bundled off into her care for (presumably) nefarious purposes. Us readers have a clue as to what these might be even if this is a departure — given that he stays with the brotherhood and later runs into Brienne in the books. But the notable part is the continued stripping of Arya’s connections to other other people. Gendry and what roots she’s putting down with the brotherhood are both torn up. Mel, fey as ever, senses this “darkness” and makes some cryptic comments about pairs of eyes. Does she mean the direwolves? Or the faces of the faceless god?

Summer camp without borders!

Summer camp without borders!

Theon – And speaking of departures from the book, Theon is still suffering from his mysterious assailant (probably the Bastard of Bolton) in his mysterious location (probably the Dreadfort). This continuing new material is, I have to assume, stretching out his transformation into Reek. And it looks pretty painful, for both us and him. The bastard, though, does a pretty damn good job of playing a dude with his screws loose. He keeps us guessing for a while, but I suspect his final statements echo of truth. Also, flaying, ick! Maybe they threw the rabbits in earlier so we’d know what was going on!

Robb – has one scene this week, but it’s a good one. The row of Tully’s (plus Robb, who is of Tully blood) face off across the table from a Frey embassy. The truth is that the terms of this new alliance are pretty easy (too easy?): an apology, Harenhall (which is the Spinal Tap drummer of Westeros castles) and Edmure marrying a Frey. The custom/law that marriage may not be coerced enters the picture. How this exactly jives with Tywin and last week is left to the audience to consider. The way in which Edmund resists, and is then brought around by Robb is very well handled. I particularly liked Robb’s open acknowledgment of the debt this puts him in.

Pass the beef, dear

Pass the beef, dear

Jaime – As funny as the Kingslayer continues to be, Brienne in a dress is even funnier. Another couple of sorts, it’s kind of touching (and certainly amusing) how she helps him with his meat. Bolton is a cold one and boy is he leaving Jaime with a moral quandary. Will we finally see what kind of man he is? Or has become? The fact that Jaime offers to seal Bolton’s offer with a drink and the Flayed Lord refuses should be noted, if for symmetry with the next scene alone.

The pen IS mightier than the sword

The pen IS mightier than the sword

Tywin and Oleana – lay into each other back in Kings Landing. Now this is a couple we’d pay money to see, and they’re discussing marriage, just not theirs. This harken’s back to the theme of marriage and its supposed lack of coercion. Olena’s a piece of work and hilarious to boot, with several great comments, including my personal favorite: “sword swallower.” It should also be noted that he’s pounding back the wine (wonder where Tyrion gets it?) and she refuses, which certain echoes the Bolton bit. It’s quite a fun duel of words.

Sansa and Tyrion – chats with Loras in the garden and it’s certainly clear this is the most unnatural of all the couples. Can you say awkward? Loras’ attempts to act interested are hilarious too. Poor Sansa and…

Tyrion, who isn’t happy about the state of things. He and Cersei come here to share a sort of shared misery as only a couple of Tywin’s children could. This is more personal and clear than in the books. Ty confronts his evil sister once and for all as to her possible plot to kill him and the blame falls to Joff. This also is a clarity not present in the source material and sets us up for later this episode. I also love Ty’s “Loras might come down with a sudden case of sword through bowels” which I think was in the book too.

Next scene, as Shae and  Sansa talk about her supposed wedding to the “sword swallower”, is both funny and touching. Tyrion enters and tries to get Shae to leave, but realizes he’s going to have to tell both his reluctant bride to be and his lover about the situation at the same time. Interestingly, and perhaps effectively, it’s left off screen.

Poor girls

Poor girls

The pair of women retire to the balcony to deal with it in their own ways: Sansa crying and Shae stonefaced. I’d have perhaps set the thing up to surprise Sansa with the event itself (which I think happened in the book). It probably would have been more of a metaphorical rape. Although I do think this action, given what is to come for Shae, continues the work of further thickening her character versus the book and setting up her arc.

130428-ep26-preview-450

Grudge match!

Varys and Littlefinger – Just as we saw both kinds of priests in Mel and Thyros, the two plotters in Kings Landing have come to represent two sides of the same coin. The show is arguably less effective than the books with the POV characters, notably Jon and Cat, and strips some of the minor characters to the bone (like the Mountain). However, it consistently elevates the middling and borderline POV characters like Cersei, Varys, Littlefinger, Shae, Theon, Marg, and Renly, who are given considerable more depth.

Set as usual in the throne room, this scene is classic Varys vs. Littlefinger, but never before have their motives and methods been so exposed. Just as Ygritte argues to Jon that they should put couple before country, Varys speaks for realm first. And, well, everyone knows that Littlefinger is his own greatest love. They’ve really emphasized his villainy in the second and third seasons. He never seemed this clearly evil in the books.

Joff – Finally, as further proof that the secondary characters are better in the show, Joff is just far, far more repulsive. Here he reaches a level I never thought his cowardly nature would allow. Poor Ros. She wasn’t my favorite character, but she deserved better than this.

All in all a tremendous episode. There is less action than in either of the previous two, but we have character aplenty and some really fine thematic work, which resonates nicely.

Absent this week were Stannis, Davos, Dany, and Marg.

Another great analysis of this episode.

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My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

I'm pretty sure the show has used this scenic arch from Dubrovnik a couple of time

I’m pretty sure the show has used this scenic arch from Dubrovnik a couple of time

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 25
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 20
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 17
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 21
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 19
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: a game of thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, Episode 26, Game of Thrones, George R. Martin, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Jaime, Jon, Robb, Season 3, Season 3 Episode 26, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Jabbering about Untimed

May02

On Tuesday I went on Journal Jabber, a segment of BlogTalkRadio for an hour long interview about Untimed, writing, and all sorts of other stuff. It was a lot of fun and if you missed it live you can find it here at BlogTalkRadio or below directly.

[audio http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/show_4776303.mp3]

JournalJabberText

Related posts:

  1. BlogTalkRadio Interview
  2. Untimed for Cheap!
  3. Unbendable Untimed
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Untimed
Tagged as: interview, Journal Jabber, Untimed

More Crash for Charity

May01

Crash super fan Matt Wallace is auctioning off various Crash Bandicoot swag for charity on e-bay so collect and know your cash is going to a good cause:

A Crash Bandicoot signed by Josh Mancell (the composer)

A Crash 2 signed by Josh Mancell too

Crash 3 signed by same

And Crash Team Racing

$T2eC16NHJIQE9qUHsFFeBRgB)v!m+Q~~60_12

Related posts:

  1. Crash for Charity
  2. Announcing the Naughty Dark Contest
  3. Crash Bandicoot as a Startup (part 7)
  4. Crash Bandicoot – Interviews “R” us
  5. Old Crash 20 Questions
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Charity, Crash Bandicoot
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