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Archive for December 2014

Indian by the Beach

Dec31

Restaurant: Akbar [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 1101 Aviation Boulevard, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. (310) 937-3800

Date: December 29, 2014

Cuisine: Indian

Rating: Bold and balanced flavors

ANY CHARACTER HERE

For our last Hedonist group dinner of 2014, we celebrate at LA’s best Indian restaurant, Akbar (Hermosa Beach branch).


Fellow Hedonist Chef Avi commands the kitchen!

The Menu can be found here, although the chef designed our feast himself and it features many unusual and off menu items.


The chutney’s and pickles. The green one is mint, the yellow-ish coconut, the one with corn spicy-pickled vegetables (yum! and oh, so gut burning) and the back corner a tangy one.


2002 Pol Roger Champagne Extra Cuvee de Reserve. RJ Wine 94. Delicious. Elegant in the mouth. Long. Really liked this a lot. Great aperitif. Ready to drink but probably a long life ahead too.


Papadum. Crispy slightly spicy “bread.”


2008 Kongsgaard Viorous. IWC 94. Nose dominated by peach nectar, flowers and spices from the viognier, with a complicating element of wild herbs. Dense and tactile yet with terrific bright fruit character and lovely brisk acidity to lift and frame the wine’s intense peach and stone flavors. Finishes chewy and very long. The roussanne here is “as thick as potato soup,” notes Kongsgaard, adding that its job is to “take the viognier down off its floral pedestal.” Both of these are high-pH varieties, and yet the net impression is of an energetic wine.

agavin: really interesting Rhone-like white. Really held up the spice.


Chicken chili. Although an Indian dish, this has Chinese influences. Sort of like a spicy super tender general Tso’s chicken!


2002 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese. IWC 94. As with last year’s rendition, the first thing that hits me here is the distilled fruit character, discreet and high-toned in the nose, then intense and mesmerizing on the palate. Tropical, orchard and black fruit essences, sweet herbs, nut oils, brown spices, forest floor, sweet herbs and stones are all present, if scarcely possible to account for.


2005 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Pale yellow. Rich aromas of lichee, lemon oil and pine.Luscious yet piquant tropical fruit flavors accented by smoke. In spite of the wine’s substantial depth, subtle acidity brings spice and finesse to the finish.


Chicken 65. Spicy south indian specialty served with serano and onion. Hot wings crossed with chicken nuggets!


2012 Carl Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese. MFW 90. Great nose of pears, slate, and citrus. On the palate rich almost at an Auslese level of density with golden apple, pear, mineral, and citrus. Long finish with mouth watering acidity. Hold 5+ years.


Pan sautéed Fresh Scallops topped with mixed pepper chutney. Succulent and delicious with only a mild heat.


2004 Bink Wines Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard. 89 points. agavin: weirdly grapey and concentrated for a pinot, but not bad.


2013 Ritual Pinot Noir. 87 points. Dark ruby but not so dark as to be unrecognizable as a pinot. Very serious, heady nose of a pinot that definitely has aspirations: smoke, spice, blood, and meat are dominant. You can tell from the first sniff that you’re going to enjoy this if you like “big” pinot noirs. Generous mouthfeel that persists. Flavors of roasted (charred) chestnuts, cola syrup, and a bit of candy apple (but not sweet, if that makes sense). Just a bit of gentle tannin. The only fault I find is that there is a bit too much of a roasted, bass note, oakiness overpowering the rest.


Indian style gobi Manchurian. Cauliflower with “Manchurian” (aka Chinese) sauce. Very similar to the chili chicken, but cauliflower. And it was one of the best cauliflower dishes I’ve ever had!


1975 Trentadue Winery Petite Sirah. agavin 94. Probably about as obscure a wine as one is likely to find. It was late harvest and has an Amarone like style to it. Full of velvety grapes and tons of strong fruit — 39 years later!


From my cellar: 1978 Château Mont-Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape. JG 95. Gorgeous brick red with tawny rim.
Sweet rich fruit, plummy, earthy, rich blackberry compote, tar and licorice spice, but fruit dominant.
Fresh and smooth, superb balance and length, finishing with a deep long resonating kiss. Loving this. Hints of sherbet zest but mostly a rich earthy compote of plummy fruit with a lightly spicy edge. Amazingly fresh and crisp for its considerable age, better than many 15 years it’s junior. I have another and will happily lay to rest for another 5-10. Drinking beautifully.

agavin: I didn’t love this bottle (even though I brought it). The nose had a kind of wet towel vibe, although it wasn’t on the palette (fortunately). Good, but not all I was hoping for.


Apollo fish. Fresh Catfish marinated in spiced batter with hot chili chutney. Fabulous fried fish. Not too heavy, with a bright chili flavor.


2000 Lynch Bages. Parker 97. Beginning to open magnificently, the still dense purple-colored 2000 reveals a blossoming bouquet of blackberries, cassis, graphite and pen ink. Full-bodied with velvety tannins that have resolved themselves beautifully over the last eleven years, this wine is still an adolescent, but it exhibits admirable purity, texture, mouthfeel and power combined with elegance. One of the all-time great examples of Lynch Bages, the 2000 is just beginning to drink well yet promises to last for another 20-25+ years.


2012 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon 40th Anniversary. Parker 96. They appear to be immune to some of winedom’s less than intelligent trends and fads that we see from time to time, and the result is a spectacular 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon 40th Anniversary offering. Its dense purple/black color is followed by copious quantities of crème de cassis and blackberry fruit, silky tannins, a voluptuous texture and stunning purity as well as length. This full-bodied effort is a fabulous example of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a tribute to this amazing family. It is so good now, why wait? However, I’m sure that like most vintages of Caymus, it will last for 20-25 years. Amazing!

agavin: as one person put it, “more vanilla than haagen daas!”


Tandoori Battair. Quails marinated in a medley of spices and grilled in tandoor. Really tender and bursting with flavor.


2005 L’Aventure Winery Optimus. Parker 94. The least expensive red wine is the Optimus cuvee. The 2005 Optimus (51% Syrah, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Petit Verdot) barely qualifies as a Rhone Ranger, but it offers classic chocolate, cassis, espresso, and subtle wood notes along with a dense ruby/purple hue, gorgeous concentration, and plenty of spice, cedar, and a Pauillac-like complexity and richness. This serious effort is more French than Californian. It should drink well for 6-10 years.


2008 Linne Calodo Nemesis Syrah. Parker 92-94. The dense purple 2008 Nemesis (always the heaviest in Syrah, with 85% Syrah and the rest Grenache and Mourvedre) is still youthful and intense, with plenty of body and hints of asphalt, graphite, blackberry and blueberry fruit, with some licorice and white chocolate. It is deep, full-bodied, rich, and should prove to be one of the longest lived wines of the 2008s from Trevisan, lasting well past a decade.

agavin: First we have Optimus, then Nemesis. Where is Hubris?


Fresh baked garlic naan.


2009 Lilian Ladouys. Parker 90. Elegant, with loads of black currant fruit, cherries and dusty, loamy soil notes as well as hints of tobacco leaf, spice box and cedar, it is a medium to full-bodied, nicely textured, fleshy wine that should drink nicely for 10-15+ years.


Peas Pillau. The Indian cousin of Chinese vegetable fried rice.


2007 Saxum Syrah Broken Stones. Parker 97+. The 2007 Broken Stones (71% Syrah, 18% Grenache, and 11% Mourvedre) is a gorgeously seamless wine with an inky/blue/purple color, a tight but promising nose of blue and black fruits, incense, charcoal, and extraordinarily pure black raspberry and blackberry fruit, fabulous concentration in the mouth, velvety, well-integrated tannins, and a mind-bogglingly long finish. This wine will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring, and should keep for 15 or more.

agavin: I’m normally a New World hater, but I had to admit, I liked this wine. It’s grapey intensity shot through the spice wall too.


2009 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard. Parker 97. Moving on to the vineyard designated Syrahs and a fantastic vintage for this cuvee, which goes back to the 2005, 2006 and 2007 levels of richness, the 2009 Syrah Reva (100% Syrah aged 42-months in French oak) offers up more fruit and purity than normal, with only hints of its normal iodine/seaweed tinged profile. Loaded with sweet black raspberry, cassis, wild herbs, flowers and subtle blood and iodine qualities, it is a full-bodied, decadent Syrah that has incredible mid-palate depth, beautiful freshness and a blockbuster finish. It will continue to gain in depth and richness with short-term cellaring and have an easy 12-15 years or ultimate longevity. Drink 2015-2024.


2002 Peter Lehmann Shiraz Stonewell. Parker 92. The 2002 Stonewell Shiraz was barrel fermented and aged in new French and American oak hogsheads. The fruit was sourced from several of the Barossa’s top addresses. It offers up aromas of toasty oak, spice box (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg), asphalt, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. This is followed by a structured, tightly wound wine in which black fruits and chocolate make an appearance. It will benefit from another 8-10 years in the cellar and should drink well through 2027.


House favorite Chicken Tikka Masala. Another perfect batch of this amazing dish. The chicken itself is all super tender chunks of white meat. The sauce has this snappy tang and complex flavor.


2002 TOR Kenward Family Wines Syrah Old Clones Los Carneros. IWC 90. Good ruby-red. Very ripe if slightly medicinal aromas of blackberry and white pepper, with some minty lift. Nicely juicy and light on its feet, with varietally accurate flavors similar to the aromas. This has a high pH (3.9) but also sound structure and reasonable alcohol (14.2%). Quite stylish. (The young 2003 was distinctly more gamey, with almost Cornas-like flavors.)


Coco Lamb. Lamb prepared in coconut milk with crushed peppers and a saute of red chilies and mustard seeds. Was in Top 10 dishes in 1997 – LA Los Angeles Times.


2012 Aubert Pinot Noir Ritchie Vineyard. Parker 91-93. Made from the Calera clone, the 2012 Pinot Noir Ritchie Vineyard offers up plenty of cola and root beer notes intermixed with black cherry, dusty, loamy soil and foresty nuances. Deep and medium to full-bodied with fresh, lively fruit, it should drink well for 10 + years.


Keema Mattar. Usually is with ground Lamb, This is wild boar Keema sauteed cooked with serano, onion, tomato. Nice and spicy.


2001 Panza Petite Sirah Stag’s Leap Ranch. 91 points. Remains a restrained, subtle pet with great balance and relatively elegant for the varietal. Will live a lot more years, but not sure it will evolve much more.


Brussel sprout curry. South Indian style brussel sprout.


2012 Prisoner Wine Co Proprietary Red The Prisoner. Parker 90. There are 20,000 cases of the 2012 The Prisoner, which is an interesting blend of 46% Zinfandel, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon,18% Petite Sirah, 12% Syrah, and a small amount of Charbono. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by a big, peppery, meaty, Rhone-like bouquet with hints of bay leaf, unsmoked cigar tobacco, black currants and sweet jammy cherries. Medium to full-bodied and explosively fruity, this is a lovely, hedonistic, seriously endowed red to drink over the next 3-4 years.


Dal Makhani. Black lentils prepared with kidney beans with butter.


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1986 Raymond-Lafon. Parker 92. It is hard to believe this wine will eclipse the great 1983, but the differences in the two wines are negligible. I do not believe the 1986 makes quite the impact on the palate that the huge, massive 1983 does, but there is a great deal of botrytis, and a profound, penetrating fragrance of sauteed pineapple, vanillin, toast, and honeyed peaches. In the mouth, the wine is more streamlined than the 1983, but lusciously rich and full bodied, with very good acidity and a creamy, intense finish. It will be interesting to compare the 1983 and 1986 as they evolve. My guess is that the 1986 will age faster. Anticipated maturity: Now-2012. Last tasted, 3/90.


Mango Cheesecake. Homemade Mango cheesecake, Chef Avi’s sister in law, Marla Kapoor’s recipe. Still going strong.


Kheer. Rice Pudding saffron flavored.


Kulfi. homemade Indian saffron and pistachio flavored ice cream. Really nice and creamy.

Akbar has long been my favorite LA Indian, and this meal was probably my best yet — and very different than usual. Chef Avi really turned out a lot of unique things tonight, including a bunch of southern specialties. And the wines were really great too. All in all an excellent way to send out the Hedonist year.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Big and Bold on the Beach
  2. Wine on the Beach
  3. Amazing Akbar
  4. Food as Art: Sam’s by the Beach
  5. All Things Akbar
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Akbar, hedonists, Indian cuisine

Palace of Pepper

Dec29

Restaurant: Chuan Ren Bai Wei

Location: 6420 Rosemead Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91775. (626) 286-5508

Date: December 28, 2014 & June 16, 2015

Cuisine: Beijing / Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Great!

_

Just six months ago I ate in this same space, but it was a different Chinese restaurant at the time, Beijing Duck House. Now, due to the rising popularity of Szechuan cuisine it has been rebooted. It still looks the same. It still serves Peking Duck. But there’s a lot more pepper on the menu.


2012 Gérard Boulay Sancerre La Comtesse Monts Damnés. IWC 93. Bright yellow. Spicy aromas of tangerine, lemongrass and cardamom, with a subtle floral twist. Tightly wound, offering citrus and spice flavors, with excellent clarity and finesse. The tenacious finish is long, saline and pure. This is one of the finest Sancerres of the vintage.


Boiled peanuts. On the table at most real Chinese restaurants.


Cold appetizers. Shredded potato. Cured spicy meats and cabbage. Beef tendon.

Water. The mason jar is one little tidbit of trend that has crept into this otherwise fairly old school SGV place.

2005 Gérard Raphet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques. Burghound 91-93. A gorgeous and seductive mix of red pinot, raspberry, cool minerality and a touch of earth complements to perfection the full, rich, deep, serious and intense flavors that manage to pull off being powerful and concentrated yet supple and delicious without compromising in the slightest the balance, which is not easy to do. A really lovely 1er that offers grand cru quality.

They have a real duck carver.

Peking duck. This was one of the better peking duck’s we’ve had. Maybe not quite so good as Tasty Duck, but the meat was fabulous. The skin could have been a tad crispier, but the hoison sauce was top notch.

On our second visit the duck came in this cute duck plate.

Awesome hoisin sauce.


Pancakes and condiments.

Leftover skin is for some reason placed on a separate plate.

2011 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Narvaux. 90 points. Nice strong vanilla notes.

The second of the “3 ways” for Peking duck is the duck soup.

Duck soup. A mild but pleasant broth with bits of meat and tofu.


Duck lettuce cups. The third of the ways. Not really that exciting.


House pancake. A nice fluffy bit of fresh bread with a little sweetness.

2004 Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered. 90 points. Well integrated with pear and apple notes and overtones of oak and vanilla, but not cloyingly so… Great body, mouthfeel and smooth finish.


Bean noodles. This is mixed up and the mung bean noodles are coated in a peanuty/spicy/tangy sauce. The sauce was awesome, with a bit of a mustard component. The tofu had a spongy texture, but the dish was overall quite nice.

Pork fried rice.

It’s evil cousin, chicken fried rice.

Spicy and sour glass noodles. I love this dish, with it’s heat, both hot and numbing, and strange vinegar tang. Not for the mild mannered or uninitiated.


You can see the noodles here. And the pepper!


2013 Errazuriz Chardonnay Wild Ferment Aconcagua Costa. 90 points. On the nose, a bit of young Burgundy-like tar on the nose in addition to some lively tropical fruit. Rich fruit on the palate, along with the aforementioned tar in the background. Nice acidic foil that is approachable now but should contribute to aging this a bit. Very approachable and enjoyable now, but I suspect better and more integrated in 2+ years.


Sweet corn. Pretty much what it looks like.


Cumin lamb. A really nice version of this dish. A lot of good lamb flavor.

Sizzling beef. Isn’t the animal-shaped dish cute?

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Spätlese. 91 points. Ripe apples, nectarine and slight tinned peach aromas dominating. A slight struck flint quality and also some creamy notes. In the mouth the flavours of ripe, but slightly tart, red apple is to the fore – on this tasting the acidity is a little spiky for the residual sugar but it really is very good. Fresh and lovely, I think this wine has a long life ahead of it.


Whole fish in peppers. The last part of the name is true. There wasn’t so much fish, even if the pan was huge.


But there sure were a lot of peppers, peanuts, lotus root, garlic and the like. The sauce was actually pretty darn good (and hot).

Fish with two chilies. Under that mound of tangy chili sauce (in green and red) is another fish. It was pretty darn good.

1998 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Steinriesler. 93 points. Light on its feet, pure, focused with bright citrus and pear fruit, a stony mineral undercurrent, and gentle floral and high toned herbal accents. Seamless and very polished on the palate.


Kung Pao Chicken. This slightly unusual take on the classic was hot AND sweet. Very interesting, and delicious!


Spicy chicken. This classic triple fried dry woked chicken was amazing. It was hot in both ways, and full of intense fried flavor. Very salty.


Have a few peppers!

Sweet and sour spareribs. Bony, very fried, and quite tasty.

2005 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots. Burghound 88-91. Strong wood influence currently dominates the dark berry and black raspberry-infused nose that precedes the somewhat woody medium weight flavors that are round and sweet with fine depth and complexity but the wood is not subtle and it causes me to question whether it will cause the finish to eventually dry out?


Spicy noodles. Kind of a pepper noodle soup with bacon.

Dan dan mein. Tasty, but way way too soup to really be proper dan dan. The sauce on the mung bean noodles was closer.

2011 Faiveley Monthélie Les Champs-Fulliot. IWC 89-91. Good bright red. Vibrant aromas of cherry and pungent minerals convey a strong limestone character. Then sappy and serious on the palate, richer and deeper but less open than the Duresses. Finishes with big, rich tannins and noteworthy persistence. Very suave and structured Monthelie with good mid-term aging potential.


Shredded potato. The more or less typical Hunan / Szechuan version of this dish.


Vegetable dry hot pot. Mostly cauliflower. Nice spicy flavor. Similar to the dish (and only dish) served at Tasty Dining.


More peppers! Perhaps you sense a theme.


2007 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. Parker 97. Evolving beautifully, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de La Reine des Bois has shed some of its crazy tannin and is showing a more layered, voluptuous profile. Possessing beautiful kirsch, blackberry, candied licorice, flowers and lavender, it offers knockout richness and decadence to go with brilliant purity of fruit, superb concentration, and a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel. While I don’t think it matches the ’01 or ’10, it’s an incredible bottle of wine that can be consumed anytime over the coming 10-15 years.


Lamb skewers. Nice cumin flavor.


MaPo tofu. One of my favorites in general. This was a fine rendition. Not the best I’ve ever had, but certainly still had that nice soft texture and gradual heat.


2010 DeRose Zinfandel Dryfarmed Old Vines Cedolini Vineyard.


Dumplings. Very nice straight up steamed potstickers. No sauce was in evidence, so we made due with Hoisin.


Kung Pao shrimp. Same sauce as the chicken above. Fabulous dish actually, even if not totally typical (with that spicy sweet vibe).


Fish filet boiled with green peppers. I couldn’t resist photoing this at a neighboring table. This is a Szechuan classic, with more of an emphasis on the numbing peppercorns (see them floating in the broth?).


Mixed Szechwan skewers. Little random bits in hot sauce.


Morning glory / Ong choy. Or some similar colon sweeper.

Overall, another highly enjoyable Chinese meal. The duck was on par with Tasty Duck and the other dishes were arguably better. This place was good before, and it’s even better now. Really, this was some very enjoyable food. A number of dishes were off the charts like the “spicy chicken.”

It should be noted that service was very good. On our second visit, our server Lulu did a fabulous job handling our “chaos.” She helped out with the ordering, managed the pacing well (not always the case at Chinese) and along with the other staff really were on point replacing plates, providing napkins, and the like. At one point when I was hunting for toothpicks she even went and brought some on a plate!

After all that heat we felt the need to cool off with a pair of massive shave ices:

Mango shaved ice with almond jelly, mango jelly, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream.


Strawberry shaved ice with almond jelly, vanilla ice cream, and honey boba.


Rose tea.

Then finished off with a nice foot massage next door. Ah, the SGV.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  2. Spice Up Your Life Szechuan Style
  3. Century City Heat
  4. Revenge of the Han Dynasty
  5. Serious Szechuan
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Chuan Ren Bai Wei, hedonists, Hoisin sauce, mapo tofu, Peking Duck, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan Chinese, Wine

How many Saddles to Peak?

Dec26

Restaurant: Saddle Peak Lodge [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Location: 419 Cold Canyon Rd, Calabasas, CA 91302 (818) 222-3888

Date: December 18, 2014

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Great ambiance and terrific game oriented food.

_

Ever year, both in the summer and winter, we Hedonists return to Saddle Peak Lodge. It’s pretty much the perfect venue for both a winter or summer food and wine blast, with gorgeous lodge patio, game driven food, and awesome wine service. For those of you who don’t know, Hedonist events have amazing wines (each diner brings at least one bottle).


Saddle Peak Ranch used to be a game lodge back in the early part of the 20th century. The rich and famous used to come up and hunt Malibu’s finest, such as this poor fellow. Now the deer are just served up on the menu.


Our private room.

2004 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. AG 96. I am thrilled with the way the 2004 Comtes de Champagne continues to evolve in bottle. A few years ago, the 2004 was quite focused and linear, in the style of the vintage, but more recently, the wine has begun to fill out beautifully. The 2004 remains bright, with a full range of citrus, white flower and mineral nuances that dance on the palate. A brisk, saline-infused finish rounds things out beautifully in a Comtes that impresses for its crystalline purity. I expect the 2004 will always remain a bit cool next to the more opulent 2002, but it is still drop-dead gorgeous.


1979 Château Rieussec. Parker 84. A lightweight Rieussec that does not have the intensity and richness of vintages such as 1981 or 1983, it does offer an elegant, well-made, less powerful wine that is light enough to be served as an aperitif.


Special liver. Somehow, this free food arrived on ours plates. It was kinda disappointing though, small, and not the best bit of “whatever it is.” The prep was good though.


And the sauternes looks good in the glass.


From my cellar: 1993 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 92. A fully mature and expressive nose of elegant secondary fruit and floral aromas introduces intensely mineral-driven, pure and beautifully well-detailed middle weight flavors that possess excellent depth and fine length. This is drinking perfectly now and should continue to do so without effort for at least another decade. Tasted only once recently.


An amuse of tomato soup.


Pretzel bread.


Chef’s daily selection of market oysters.


We tried to organize the Burgundies into a flight.


From my cellar: 1978 Remoissenet Père et Fils Richebourg. 84 points. Shrill on the palate. Not a great wine. Fill looked excellent, and there was some fruit, but way too much tannin.


1988 Remoissenet Père et Fils Richebourg. 84 points. I liked this one even less, or maybe about the same.

1996 Louis Jadot Richebourg. Burghound 92. The nose offers a blast of powerful black fruit and flavors that are dense, intense and amazingly long. This is a big-bodied wine with dusty, muscular tannins and penetrating, potent flavors culminating in a slightly warm though nicely complex finish. Impressively constructed and while this does not offer the refinement and finesse of the best of this range, the unusually concentrated, robust Richebourg character is admirable.

agavin: best of the 3 by a longshot.


Venison Carpaccio, horseradish, avocado, parmesan, capers, ciabbata.


1986 Lafite-Rothschild. Parker 100. The 1986 possesses outstanding richness, a deep color, medium body, a graceful, harmonious texture, and superb length. The penetrating fragrance of cedar, chestnuts, minerals, and rich fruit is a hallmark of this wine. Powerful, dense, rich, and tannic, as well as medium to full-bodied, with awesome extraction of fruit, this Lafite has immense potential. Patience is required. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2030.


Spanish octopus, fingerling potato, tequila vinaigrette, chermoula.


1999 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia. Parker 88. Dense ruby-colored, with a tight personality, the 1999 Sassicaia offers up aromas of smoke, vanilla, and red as well as black currants. Medium-bodied, with high tannin and excellent purity, this elegant, restrained, moderately concentrated effort needs another 2-3 years of cellaring. It should keep for 12-15 years. The abundant tannin in addition to a certain austerity may prove troublesome in the future.


Caesar salad, garlic croutons, Parmigiano-Reggiano.


2005 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo Monprivato. Parker 94+. The 2005 Barolo Monprivato is a very pretty, harmonious wine endowed with tons of purity in its fruit. All of the telltale aromas and flavors of Monprivato are there – geraniums, roses, spices and flowers – but backed up by quite a bit of heft and body as well. Today, the 2005 Monprivato is quite tannic, but it should come around with a few more years in bottle. In some ways, the 2005 reminds me of the 1999, another vintage in which the Ca d’Morissio was not produced. Monprivato is typically one of the hardest wines to accurately assess when young, and only time will tell what heights it ultimately reaches. For now, the future certainly seems bright. This is a mysterious, seductive Monprivato that will be fascinating to follow. Mascarello was especially selective with his Monprivato and only bottled about 50% of his production. He also blended in the juice kept separately for the Ca d’Morissio, which in this vintage is about 20% of the final blend as opposed to the more typical 10% in vintages when the Ca d’Morissio is produced. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035.


Roasted Pink Lady apple salad, endives, St. Agur blue cheese, pecans.


Butternut squash agnolotti, cranberry port reduction, purple kale, pine nuts.


1995 Penfolds Grange. Parker 92. An impressive Grange that may ultimately prove to be underrated, like many wines from this vintage, the 1995, a blend of 94% Shiraz and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, exhibits a saturated plum/purple color and a sweet blackberry liqueur nose intermixed with cassis, licorice, and new oak. The wine is textured, jammy, full-bodied, with impressive levels of extract, glycerin, and black fruit flavors. It is long, ripe, with unobtrusive acidity and tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2018.


1996 Penfolds Grange. Parker 96. Deep garnet colored, 1996 Grange is scented with stewed plums, warm cherries and mince meat with hints of Ceylon tea, black olives and Chinese five spice. Medium-full bodied and with a generous amount of flesh on the palate, it gives very crisp acid and a medium-firm level of grainy tannins, finishing long. The layered complexity of this wine is just beginning to emerge, promising better things to come.


1990 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage la Chapelle. Parker 100. The 1990 La Chapelle is the sexy and opulent. I had the 1990 at the Jaboulet tasting, and again out of a double magnum three months ago. On both occasions it was spectacular, clearly meriting a three-digit score. The modern day equivalent of the 1961, it deserves all the attention it has garnered. The color remains an opaque purple, with only a slight pink at the edge. Spectacular aromatics offer up aromas of incense, smoke, blackberry fruit, cassis, barbecue spice, coffee, and a touch of chocolate. As it sits in the glass, additional nuances of pepper and grilled steak emerge. There is extraordinary freshness for such a mammoth wine in addition to abundant tannin, an amazing 60-second finish, and a level of glycerin and thick, fleshy texture that have to be tasted to be believed.


1995 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin. Parker 96. The 1995 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Jacques Perrin reveals a black/purple color, and a huge nose of Provencal herbs, smoked olives, grilled meats, and sweet, jammy black-cherry and black-raspberry fruit. Full-bodied, and oozing with extract and glycerin (nearly concealing the wine’s formidable tannin levels), this blockbuster Chateauneuf du Pape will need a minimum of 10-12 years of cellaring; it should keep through the first half of the next century.


Dover sole.


New Zealand Lamb Rack.


Saddle Peak Wild Game Trio, served with chef’s accompaniments.


Elk with bacon.


Buffalo short ribs.


Venison.


Durham Ranch Bison T-Bone 20 oz.


2005 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 97. Not unexpectedly, the 2005 Harlan Estate performed slightly better than it did last year. As these wines often do, it continues to put on weight as it is bottled very late by Napa standards, and there is no fining or filtration. The 2005 exhibits a gorgeous thick-looking, ruby/purple color in addition to a beautiful nose of burning embers interwoven with creme de cassis, roasted meats, sweet black truffles, and spring flowers. A hint of lead pencil shavings also emerges from this cuvee, which seems to want to be both a Pauillac and a ripe vintage of La Mission Haut Brion. Full-bodied, dense, pure, and revealing sweeter tannin than I remember, it can be drunk now, but it will no doubt display even greater complexity in 10, 20, and 30 years.


1974 Ridge Zinfandel Monte Bello. Surprisingly intact. It had some kind of nostalgic meaning to Yarom and Ron, and Yarom points out how rare it must be — if there are even any left. The Zin wasn’t a big production wine anyway, and so now 40 years later, not so many.


2005 Verite Le Desir. Parker 99. This blend of 87% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec (the highest percentage of Merlot ever used for Le Desir) reveals notes of truffles, mocha, wild mountain berry fruit, crushed rock and coffee. Fabulous fruit, tremendous viscosity and opulence and a full-bodied, voluptuous texture result in a wine that is hard to resist even though it remains an adolescent in terms of development. It should provide pleasure over the next 15+ years.

In magnum, a mega monster!


Sautéed Vegetable Selections.


Lobster Mac & Cheese. Good but needed more lobster.


Truffled French Fries, Parmesan, Parsley. Awesome. Black Garlic Ketchup on the side.


Onion Rings, Black Garlic Ketchup. Amazing.


Sautéed Wild Shimeji Mushrooms. Really yummy.


2003 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva. AG 93. Kirsch, cloves, leather and licorice are some of the many notes that emerge from Quintarelli’s 2003 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva. Dark, powerful and brooding, the Riserva is a bit less marked by the year than the straight bottling. Here it is the wine’s explosive, full-bodied finish that stands out most. This is a fascinating wine from Quintarelli. I am a bit surprised to see a Riserva in 2003, but it works, and beautifully. When they are on, these wines are utterly hypnotizing, as is the case here.

agavin: had a grapefruit note that was totally odd for an Amarone!


Cheese plate.


Bread for the cheese.


2001 Sine Qua Non Mr K The Noble Man (Chardonnay). Parker 97. While richer, sweeter, and more unctuous than the Iceman, 2001 Mr. K The Noble Man (Chardonnay), a Trockenbeerenauslese look-alike, possesses nervy, vibrant acidity that is hard to imagine in a wine of this mass and richness. The residual sugar is 255 grams per liter, with an amazing 11.1 grams per liter of acidity, and 11.7% finished alcohol.


Chocolate coffee pot de crème with espresso crème, chocolate-covered coffee beans, and almond coffee dust.


Chocolate raspberry brownie.


Banana huckleberry croissant bread pudding with white chocolate ice cream.

This was a total blow out event. The food was impeccable and the service warm. We had so much wine we left them a little overwhelmed, but that’s par for the course. Plus we had a really great mix of people and some of the most awesome wines. Tonight was particularly killer in the wine department as you have seen.

Click here for more LA restaurant reviews,

Or for Hedonist extravaganzas.

 

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By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dessert, hedonists, Malibu, Saddle Peak Lodge, Wine

The Power of Providence

Dec23

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2]

Location: 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 460-4170

Date: December 15, 2014

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Awesome food

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It’s been a month since the Foodie Club convened for the awesome white truffles at Saam dinner and so Erick was itching for some more epic wine dinner awesomeness. Enter the chef’s table at Providence. There is no doubt that Providence is one of LA’s top fine dining establishments.


Enter the private chefs table: pretty much inside the kitchen!


And tonight’s menu.


From my cellar: 2006 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 94-96. This is notably more elegant, refined and complex with only a trace of exoticism to the mostly white flower and peach aromas that are followed by textured, pure, detailed and delineated flavors that are quite reserved and cool at present while culminating in a focused, crystalline, dry and driving finish. This does a slow build from the mid-palate before exploding onto the knockout finish. A Zen wine. Note that while I am giving a suggested initial drinking window of 2013, this will be capable of aging for years.

agavin: personally I think there was a trace of premox in this bottle, perhaps, but that it was drinking fabulously for us. It just didn’t taste that young, more like a 2000 or something. So if you have these, perhaps drink up.


Sphereified Greyhound. Like a greyhound popper.


Scallop “taco.” This spicy leaf (nasturtium, a bit like shiso) contained a mixture of scallop and some grain. It was scrumptious. As Yarom puts it: “a 10!”


Razor clam. With a bunch of sauces and bits.


Bacon and squid. A popsicle of… you guessed it… bacon and squid.


Beef cigars. Basically super yummy beef taquitos.


Smoked Bacon soup. This little cappuccino was incredibly delicious. Super creamy it tasted strongly of bacon. Yummy little bits were in the bottom.


Creme fresh with salmon crisps. The crisps are actually salmon skin. The Ikurka (salmon eggs) were incredibly fresh too.


The bread. The greenish one was seaweed. The brioche was the best though.


Fancy Normandy butter and salt.


2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 92. This is presently quite reticent and it requires considerable aeration to coax aromas of airy white flowers, spice and limestone that precede textured, pure and defined energy-filled flavors that possess a linear mouth feel, all wrapped in a focused and mouth coating finish of impressive length. Perhaps this is just going through a phase but it seems a bit awkward at present, and while all the component pieces appear to be in place, I wasn’t knocked out despite the length of the finish. One thing that is clear though is that this definitely needs more bottle age before it’s ready for prime time. Tasted only once in bottle.

agavin: This was our weakest wine, but it was still very nice.


Sashimi. Calabrian chiles, lemon, mint.


Uni in yuzu. Caviar, soy milk.


Check it out inside. It’s literally in a yuzu too!


New Zealand abalone. buckwheat, dashi butter. A very savory little dish.


From my cellar: 1983 Domaine Clair-Daü Bonnes Mares. JK 94. The Clair-Dau, whose vineyards are now all owned by Louis Jadot, was another excellent 1983. I have had good luck with this once-heralded vintage, which I often find delicious to drink. Menthol was the most prevalent characteristic, to go with its open and autumnal fruit.

agavin: I adored this wine. There was some funk on the nose that blew off in 5 minutes. Then it opened and opened and opened. The acidity was perhaps stronger than the fruit, but I still loved it.


Squid carbonara. pancetta. Truffles. This was actually a bit spicy. The spice nuked out all the cheese and the truffle though. It would have been better as a pasta (and without the spice).


Live scallop. white truffle, salted butter. It came out in the shell.


Then they cracked it, so it was steamed in the shell.


And truffle was shaved on top. A really delicious dish.


1971 Pierre Ponnelle Bonnes Mares. 94 points. After a few minutes the nose came around and also became vibrant and full of dried red fruits. There was a ton of fruit left in here and a lovely long finish.

agavin: really really nice.


Monkfish. Matsutake.


John dory. lardo, cabbage, apple. A really delicious dish with a nice fruity tone to the sauce that paired well with the old red Burgundy.


We added this duck dish. It wasn’t on the regular chef’s menu.


1983 Château Margaux. Parker 96. The 1983 Margaux is a breathtaking wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes achieved perfect maturity in 1983, and the result is an astonishingly rich, concentrated, atypically powerful and tannic Margaux. The color is dark ruby, the aromas exude ripe cassis fruit, violets, and vanillin oakiness, and the flavors are extremely deep and long on the palate with a clean, incredibly long finish. This full-bodied, powerful wine remains stubbornly backward and at least 5-6 years away from maturity.

agavin: we decanted ours at the beginning of the meal and it was very lovely.


a5 wagyu. Pickled bitter greens, caramelized onion puree, carrot. Really fabulous bit of meat.


Cheese cart!


A real cheese cart is so much better than those “they just give you two cheeses” kind of cheese plates. Those are lame. We even got seconds (and a whole other plate of different cheeses I forgot to photo).


1990 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 99. An extraordinary effort, Yquem’s 1990 is a rich and fabulously superb, sweet wine. This wine also possesses lots of elegance and finesse. The wine’s medium gold color is accompanied by an exceptionally sweet nose of honeyed tropical fruits, peaches, coconut, and apricots. High quality, subtle toasty oak is well-integrated. The wine is massive on the palate, with layers of intensely ripe botrytis-tinged, exceptionally sweet fruit. Surprisingly well-integrated acidity, and a seamless, full-bodied power and richness have created a wine of remarkable harmony and purity. Certainly it is one of the richest Yquems I have ever tasted, with 50-100 years of potential longevity. An awesome Yquem!


Frozen yogurt. tangerine, carrot, ginger, hazelnut. A very autumn tone to this and the other desserts.


Hachiya persimmon. Whiskey, mint, cocoa.


Pear. Sunchoke cake, manjari. Really autumnal.


Petite fours. The usual, but all very lovely.


And a bag of slightly spicy chocolates to go.

The wines varied very good to spectacular. Four people, six bottles. We could have really used an extra white, as Providence is very seafood heavy, but it still worked out well.

The food was pretty awesome. Having just eaten at Maude a couple days before it’s pretty obvious that this slightly more 2000s style of French American (with Asian influences) is ultimately a little more successful on the plate than the more textural play at Maude. There were a lot of very good dishes here, although a couple of goofs like the carbonara.

Overall, a seriously epic night! We started at 7:30pm and walked out after 1am!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Foodie Club dinners here!


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By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burgundy, Dessert, Foodie Club, Providence, Wine

Ring the Ji Rong Gong

Dec21

Restaurant: Ji Rong

Location: 8450 East Valley Boulevard #115, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 280-8600

Date: December 14, 2014 and September 3, 2018 & January 13, 2019 & February 2, 2020 & February 27, 2022

Cuisine: Beijing Chinese

Rating: Solid

_

More Chinese food, it never gets old. We tried out Ji Rong, another Beijing style place is Rosemead back in 2014 and then after a long gap I returned in 2018, 2019, and 2020.


More or less the usual decor.
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Pretty big main room.
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There are some “private” rooms off to the side, which offer some privacy, but the dividers are open lattice and offer no sound dampening.
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The left side private room is a bit more “private”.

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Pretty menu.

From my cellar: 2011 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Narvaux. 92 points. Nice young white Burg with a ton of vanilla on both the nose and palette.


Cold sliced pig’s foot. Rubbery.
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Sea Cucumber and Vegetable Jelly (2/27/22). A bit bland.
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Spicy Jellyfish (2/27/22). Amazing.
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Cold spicy mung bean noodles (9/3/18 & 2/1/20). I love this tangy dish for its slippery texture and great balance.

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Crab flavored black fungus (2/1/20) – as you’d expect.
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Bean curd salad (2/1/20).
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Cold spicy chicken (2/1/20) – lots of flavor and a good dose of heat.
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Cold sliced spicy beef (9/3/18 & 2/27/22). A bit of heat, cornbeef/tendony meat, lots of cilantro.
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Marinated barley, mushrooms, and beancurd (1/13/19). Unusual sweet and soy flavor and chewy texture. Delicious.
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Hot and sour soup (2/1/20) – very nice version of the classic.

2014 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc.


Noodle salad. This mix of mustard, sesame, cilantro, cucumber, and a weird jellyfish noodle is all scrambled and actually quite delicious. It has a bit of a kick and fresh taste.


2001 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Spätlese. 91 points. Oily petrol, quince, marmalade notes in a light yellow hue. Electric acid framing lychee, flaked slate, pineapple, kumquat, apricot and lime. Excellent at this age. Slightest secondary notes of overripe fermenting fruit evident.


Pork pie (Sep 2018, 1/13/19, and 2/27/22). Yum. This was an okay but not stellar pie, but the dish is so delicious in general that it was great.
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See the inside.


2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Fresh bouquet of bosc pear and acacia blossom. The palate offers a delicate sweetness, with an attractive interplay of apricot and saline soil tones. This rich spatlese finishes with lipsmacking elegance.

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Peking duck (every-time). This was a solid duck. Probably around the same quality as Tasty Duck and with a very generous portion of meat. They do refuse to give you the bones and other parts except as soup.


The usual condiments. They were fresh and the plum sauce was good.
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There are pancakes and duck legs. Pancakes are always better than buns.
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A pancake prior to rolling.

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And the usual boring duck soup. The only place I know of with a genuinely good duck soup is Shanghailander.


2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Spätlese. 92 points. Bright light canary yellow color; bright, floral, apple nose; tasty, solid, ripe apple, ripe citrus palate; medium-plus finish


Beef roll. I’ve had better beef rolls and I’ve had worse. It was tasty though. Dough was good.
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Steamed chicken in Hunan Sauce (2/1/20) – lots of ginger, very ugly, and tons of boney little bits to chew on. I don’t think I would order this again.

From my cellar: 1999 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges. IWC 94. Full, bright, saturated medium ruby. Knockout nose of black fruits, minerals, espresso, roasted meat, licorice, violet pastille and menthol. Huge but utterly lively and suave. A sappy, perfumed wine of great intensity and inner-mouth lift. Very complex and perfectly balanced. Vibrant finish features smooth, toothcoating tannins and superb persistence. Les Saint-Georges of grand cru quality.

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Dungeness Crab with Garlic and Ginger sauce (1/13/19). I don’t always love Chinese crab because it can be hard to get into but this was an awesome one. The sauce was so lick smacking good it was worth chewing the shell.
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House still spicy lobster (1/13/19 and 2/1/20). Very good lobster prep, but not worth the extra cost. Other places have better lobster (and it’s common).
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Clams with ginger and garlic (1/13/19). Any tasty seafood dish.

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Scallops with garlic (2/27/22). Good.
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Braised Croaker (2/27/22). Nice, garlicky.
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Sweet and sour fish filets (1/13/19 and 2/27/22). When Seb wasn’t looking I ordered these tasty/sweet fried goodies. He likes a steamed whole fish — boring! (although I do like the whole fish in chilies)

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Fish filets (2/1/20). I didn’t try these as they were at the pescatarian table.
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Walnut shrimp (2/1/20) – lots of mayo and very fried.


Fried pumpkin (early and 2/27/22). Some loved this dish, I thought it was just ok.


Ma Po Tofu. In general one of my favorite dishes and this one was solidly good. Some Szechuan peppercorn heat. A little salty, but good.


2011 Hilliard Bruce Pinot Noir Sky. IWC 92. While there is a trace of reduction here as well it’s noticeably less pronounced and doesn’t really mask the mix of upper and lower level aromas that include menthol and crushed leaf as well as cassis, dark currant and soft spice elements. The supple and vibrant middle weight flavors possess good detail as well as reasonably good complexity on the intense, clean and again ever-so-mildly edge and austere but persistent finish. While a bit more technically correct this will also need a few years of cellaring to allow the tannins and acidity to harmonize.


Lamb and cabbage soup. Surprisingly  tasty.


2005 Château Rob Valentin. 93 points. Smooth and silky with soft fruits and hints of earth.


Pork. I like this dish in general. This implementation  was mediocre, but it did have these interesting tofu “band-aides” to wrap the meat in.

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Shredded pork (1/13/19). This is a different pork dish.


2005 Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee la Cote Ronde. Parker 94. The 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee La Cote Ronde is undeniably the best wine Autard has made since the 1998 rendition of this cuvee. This got a big “Wow!” when I smelled it. A stunning nose of black truffles, melted licorice, blackberries, and sweet cherries is followed by a multi-dimensional, multi-layered, full-bodied wine with tremendous power, richness, and a hint of barrique. One could say this is modern, but the Provencal personality jumps from the glass of this meaty, dense wine. Give it 2-3 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 15+ years.


Szechuan eggplant. Good, but Beijing Tasty had a better version.


Shrimp with glass noodles. Interesting, and quite good.


Pork belly. Bland and fatty.
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Second time with this dish, which is braised pork belly with preserved vegetables (9/3/18) and I loved it. I do (nowadays) love the contrast between the slightly sweet succulent pork and the salty vegetables.


Beef fried rice. Delicious and not greasy.


Spicy beef with celery. This dish was very hot. The beef had a nice flavor though and I enjoyed it a lot.


House special pancake. Croissant-like texture. Greasy and without flavor.
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Shrimp dry hot pot (2/27/22).
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Whole fried fish with chilies (9/3/18 and 2/1/20). Delicious fish. Sauce I’ve had better, but it was still very good. In 2/1/20 the sauce was better, more mala. The veggies, like lotus root, were great too.

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Crispy fried aromatic lamb ribs (9/3/18 & 1/13/19). Not a lot of meat, but awesome flavor to gnaw on.
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Dung Po Whole Pig Elbow (2/1/20 and 2/27/22) – this was an awesome dish, if a bit jiggly. Lots of fat and very tender meat, but it was really all about the salty sauce of ground pork, preserved vegetables, and tons of ginger and garlic.
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Tender (fatty) meat and incredible umami sauce. This dish was an 11 for us Chinese style fans.
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Kung Pao Beef (2/27/22).

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Pea tendrils with garlic (2/1/20) – very nice.
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Mixed vegetables (9/3/18). Light flavor and great texture.
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String beans (9/3/18). Always good and these had some nice crunch.
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Spicy Cabbage (1/13/19 and 2/1/20 and 2/27/22). I love this dish. There must be pork or something in the sauce as it’s so delicious.
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Plain noodles (9/3/18) for my son.
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Bean curd with Jalepenos and pork (2/27/22).

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Veggie fried rice (9/3/18). Not as good as the meat one, but still a tasty fried rice (how can you go wrong?).
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XLB soup dumplings (9/3/18 and 2/1/20). Quite solid soup dumplings. Skins a little thicker than at an absolutely first rate specialist place like this, but still we ordered a second round.
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Sauce for the dumplings.

Sicily via Sonoma – Goat Cheese Gelato with house-made Blackberry Honey Coulis and Marzipan Brownies (Sep 2018) — this was a new recipe I concocted for @sweetmilkgelato – Milk and Chevre are both from Sonoma, although I couldn’t get the chevre completly melted so there is still a chalky quality to the base. Blackberries are from Avignon. Raw Honey from California. Marzipan made with Sicilian Noto Romano Almonds and Amaretto. #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SummerTime #marzipan #almonds #amaretto #Chevre #GoatCheese #Blackberries #honey #cake #sonoma #brownies.

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My gelati from 1/13/19:

Torta di Frutta alla Mandorla Siciliana Gelato (Sicilian Fruit & Almond Tart) made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — toasted Sicilian almond base with Homemade Sicilian Marzipan Cake and Candied Sicilian Lemons & Oranges — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #almond #ToastedAlmond #Mandorla #lemon #orange #cake #AlmondCake #CandiedFruit

Blackberry Passionfruit Amaro Sorbetto! — like a frozen aperitivo — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #blackberry #passionfruit #amaro #cocktail #sorbet #sorbetto

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My gelati from 2/1/20:

Peppered Lemongrass Ginger Creme Brûlée Gelato — A blended milk and Thai coconut cream base steeped with lemongrass and ginger and then juiced up with yuzu and black pepper. For sugar, I used coconut palm sugar and even torched the top! — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #lemongrass #ginger #CremeBrûlée #BlackPepper #coconut #yuzu

Mud Pie Gelato — Hot brewed espresso gelato with house-made milk chocolate coffee ganache and crushed Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the gluttonous classic made even more gluttonus! — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #espresso #coffee #oreo #MudPie

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Cthulhu Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato (2/27/22) – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with house-made Hazelnut Fudge Sauce and Toffifay Eyes! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #hazelnut #fudge #toffifay
 

Overall, 2014 impression of Ji Rong was just fine. Few dishes were standouts and a bunch were mediocre, but few were terrible either. The menu is a little overly Beijing only for my taste and even includes various Chinese American favorites like orange chicken. Still, an enjoyable meal. Even fair Chinese is good. Peking duck was quite good.

Returning in 2018 I thought they had improved. Maybe I know how to order better, but almost all the dishes were quite good and the duck was as good as I’ve had in the SGV, particularly since Tasty Duck has slid a bit.

In 2019 and 2020 this impression continued. Duck was excellent, probably the best in the SGV right now — although I wish someone would open a real serious Peking Duck place with table-side carving and a wood-fire oven, like this. Most other dishes were very good and they have a big interesting menu. Particularly standouts on 2/1/20 were cold spicy mung bean noodles, peking duck, whole spicy fish, hot and sour soup, and pig elbow.

In 2022 after the pandemic this was still the case. Our 2/27/22 meal was fabulous in all ways, both the duck and most of the other dishes.


After dinner in 2014, and an excellent Foot Massage, we went next door for this mega mango shaved ice with almond jelly, ice cream, and strawberries.


I’m not sure you appreciate the size of the thing.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!
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Seb actually brought this (mediocre) wine two weeks in a row!
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Wines from 2/1/20:
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7U1A7056
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Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, hedonists, Ji Rong, Peking Duck

The Hobbit: The Battle of 5,000 Animators

Dec18

The_Hobbit_-_The_Battle_of_the_Five_ArmiesTitle: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

Director/Stars: Martin Freeman (Actor), Peter Jackson (Director)

Genre: Fantasy

Watched: December 18, 2014

Summary: More is more is more is more!

_

What happens when you expand 44 pages at the end of a novel into 144 minutes of film? Well, in the case of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, a whole lot of fighting. Enough to provides sustenance for an entire generation of computer artists. Smaug, arguably my favorite character in this second trilogy, regrettably bites the big one (and he is a big one) about ten minutes in. Aside from about 5-10 minutes at the end the rest is one big battle — in several waves, with several giant duels. With a lot of Moping and Brooding Thorin inserted for good measure.

The film looks utterly gorgeous. We expected that, but perhaps this one looks better than ever. It’s the only Peter Jackson Tolkien movie without a whole lot of travel. Basically, the sets focus on Laketown, The Lonely Mountain, Dale, and panning views all around the above.

The movie uses a WHOLE bunch of reoccurring Tolkien plot devices, including all of the following, but not in any way limited to: creepy cowardly advisors with bad teeth, kings under the sway of madness that delays the inevitable in the name of drama, Gandalf being rescued, greedy dwarves, wraiths, stuck up elves, inter-racial love, orcs, bigger orcs, tougher orcs, and the ever popular Eagle rescue.

There are too many Peter Jackson favorites to count as well, but leading offenders are: overhead shots, helicopter shots, the eye of Sauron, ugly orc leaders, amazing dwarf hairstyles, Legolas, and semi-comic orc death.

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Tell me this WOW mount from years ago didn’t inspire the hill climbing mounts in BOFA? And in WOW, they’re even a dwarf mount!

I loved the pig mount. The mountain goat mounts were also cool, and clearly seem an example of reverse artistic pollution as so many things in LOTR influenced the art (and sound) design of World of Warcraft, but the goat is surely borrowed right back. Touché!

The extended duels at the end were some of the best parts of the film. The complex Azog on Thorin and Legolas/Tauriel vs Barg? fights. But Thorin could have learned a lesson from Game of Thrones Season 4, never count out your hideous boss opponent until he’s really really dead. Or wear your mithril.

And Evangeline Lilly looks even better as an elf than as a human.

Some nitpicks. The Gandalf rescue was perhaps the scene that bothered me the most, partly because it just doesn’t fit with the mythology, and partly because it felt like an excuse to cameo Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel. Really, if the group of them fought off the ghostly ring wraiths and banished Sauron why did Gandalf need to run around like crazy at the begging of Fellowship to figure out what was going on? And why was it so hard to convince them of the menace? It’s one thing to foreshadow in order to blend the franchises, another to make it inconsistent.

Also, what’s with amping up new orc techs that are then NOT used by Sauron with his even bigger army in the “future” (aka in ROTK)? Examples, the Dune style earth worms, the big guys with catapults on their backs, and the wall breaking headache loving troll. We know this was just Peter Jackson wanting to amp it up.

Yeah, same rams

Yeah, same rams

And why do Thorin and crew charge out to the battle WITHOUT their nifty dwarf armor? Or even a few sets of mithril shirts? Would have come in handy when Thorin AND Kili got STABBED to death!

Overall, not as good as Smaug, but still good fun.

Lastly some technical bits: Again I saw The Hobbit in HFR 3D (at the Arclight). Two years ago, I found this new flickerless tech fascinating, hyper realistic, and more than a little disquieting. This year, either I’ve gotten used to it (thanks to my 120hz TV) or Peter Jackson and crew really worked the solve the problems. I’m pretty sure it’s the later. Sure, the film was crystal clear, and sure, you could still count every pore on the actor’s faces, but it no longer looked as crazy fake. I suspect they added a lot of motion blur. I bet it cost a lot of money.

Read my review of 2012’s Unexpected Journey and 2013’s Desolation of Smaug.

For more Film reviews, click here.

ps. I guess that wolves on ice chasing the chariot from the trailer will have to wait for the extended cut.

Or discover my own fantasy novels.

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Related posts:

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Bilbo Baggins, Lonely Mountain, Martin Freeman, Middle-earth, Peter Jackson, Smaug, The Battle of Five Armies, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, Thorin Oakenshield

Multitextured Maude

Dec17

Restaurant: Maude

Location:212 South Beverly Drive. Beverly Hills, CA. (310) 859-3418

Date: December 11, 2014

Cuisine: Modern

Rating: Good, but slightly deconstructed

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I’ve wanted to try Maude since it opened last February,  but the annoying reservation system turned me off. They open reservations by phone only on the first Saturday of the month before for the whole month. I spent 40 minutes autodialing with 3 people on 4 phones and we ended up with two completely random reservations. Ours was at 5:30 on  a Tuesday. Really, they should raise prices or use the website or both.

Anyway, the restaurant has a  very unusual format. All prix fix. Chef Curtis Stone sums it up as follows: “One Key Ingredient. Nine Courses. Twenty-Five Seats. My dream little restaurant.” Each month has a different ingredient and a single fixed menu. Ours was Winter Squash.


The interior is really cute. It reminded me more of New York or some other “classier” city than LA. It’s tiny, but filled with elegant (but casual) little details. It’s not modernist or particularly hipster (thank God).


The kitchen is open and busy. There’s even a small “bar” (think 4 seat sushi bar) looking into the kitchen.


Tonight’s menu.


Soapbox time! They do have one of those annoying corkage policies too. $50, which would be fine, except it’s one bottle per couple. Now this is far, far more sensible than the fixed number per table, as it works tolerably for 6-8 person tables (which they barely have), but still I don’t get it. I understand that restaurants need to make money off beverages. I understand that they have a cute little wine list. But $50 a bottle should cover it, and the limit isn’t going to make serious wine people buy off the list. They don’t and can’t possibly have a list that serves us. Not without investing a fortune. We brought 3 bottles per couple. My friend Michael brought the whites and I brought the reds. They don’t have and couldn’t reasonably have any Burgundy we’d be interested in on the list. Nor unless they priced them stunningly low would I buy them at wine list price. So why have the limit? It only discourages serious wine guys from dining. If anyone in the restaurant business has any idea why this increasingly common policy makes any sense, I’d love to hear it in the comments.

On the plus side, the Sommelier/wine director was extremely nice, friendly, and knowledgeable. Extremely nice. He did a great job.

Picking the white was tough. We also has a 2002 Jadot Montrachet and a 2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières! I went with the Coche because — well I love Coche, but Michael and I promised to save our respective other wines to drink with each other at a later date. Great deal!

2000 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Chevalières. Burghound 92. The tightest and most precise of the three 2000 Meursault villages wines of stunning intensity and simply unbelievable purity and this stains and coats the palate with wet stones and an interesting chalky texture. This will require time and should age well for at least a decade as the acidity is ripe and vibrant, giving the flavors real lift, especially on the wonderfully persistent backend.


Pumpkin Lardo. Pumpkin wrapped in pig fat. Yep, that white stuff is the white part off a prosciutto, or close. The dish was very soft and mild.


A vegetarian variant with just pumpkin.


Pillows. These had some kind of pumpkin/squash in them along with sesame or something? They tasted nutty. The out bit was crispy. Delicious.


Maude does have its rules. No flash too 🙁 I had to use an iphone to get a modicum of light. After this, I’ve now ordered a bigass LED light with 160 diodes! haha! It may not flash, but it will be bright! But until then, these photos have a pathetic depth of field.

Squash Salad. Duck breast, Farro, watercress, Pumpkin.


And a reverse shot of it that shows off the duck better. All the elements of this dish were very nice, and there were LOTS of textures going on. The foam. The sauce blobs. Shaved vegetable. Leaf. The dusty freeze-dried stuff. The meat. The problem was there was no was to get any great number of them in your mouth at once, so the whole thing felt a bit deconstructed and discombobulated.


Hiramasa Crudo. Bottarga, Pumpkin Cured Salmon Roe, Dashi Gel. This dish gelled better. haha. The hamachi, the tangy sauce, and the crunchy bits (probably the bottarga?) made a nice pairing.


A vegetarian substitute.


Striped Bass. Little gem. Anchovy. Chicken. I’m guessing the chicken was in the form of the cracklings (which were awesome), and the fish was nicely done. Although again it was a bit hard to get the other elements in one bite.


The consume for the next dish came out in this cool chemistry set.


Which continued to boil the broth up into the rosemary!


Consomme. Squid, Beech, Fennel. Here is the soup before the soup. You can see all the little bits


Then with the broth added. This was a nice dish and I’m a big fan of a good consomme.

I brought the reds. We also has a 93 Jadot Beze and a 98 Bachelet Charmes VV on hand.

From my cellar: 1997 Domaine Anne Gros Richebourg. JG 92+. Fresh, expressive and elegant aromas of cherries, black berries and pinot extract followed by medium weight, relatively fine, nicely detailed flavors that lack a bit of mid palate density. There is better acidity than most of the wines in this group and one is struck by the finesse, unusual for both the appellation at such a young age and certainly the vintage. In sum, this is beautifully detailed rather than dense with fine but prominent finishing tannins. While it could be drunk and enjoyed now, it should continue to improve.


Oxtail Raviolo. Spaghetti Squash, truffle, Rye Crumble. A tasty dish, it had a light foamy quality with an unusual mixture of textures that I’m now picking up as a Curtis Stone signature. The soft foam, the squirmy squash, the crunch crumble.


Pheasant. Kabocha squash, parsley root, pearl onion. Very tasty dish. The poultry was small but very tasty.


A vegetarian version.


Pork Foul. Beef Tendon, pomegranate, crosnes. The crunchy puffs were like chicharrones. Tasty dish, if somewhat obscured by the flashless photography.


Pumpkin caviar!


To go on this Vacherin blini. The texture was like that of a Chinese pan fried dumpling, but inside it was mildly cheesy.


A delicious pre dessert consisting of a soft meringue and that other thing. It was yummy.


Kuri Squash Beignet. Rice Sorbet, Carmel, Cinnamon. Nice fancy donut balls and accompaniments.


Petite Fours. Gels, little macarons, and some other pastry.


Pumpkin spice cake to go. A nice touch!

Overall, we had a great time. Our wine was fabulous. The atmosphere is wonderful, the staff warm, and the food extremely interesting. It’s a highly intellectual cuisine, playing off a lot of forms and textures. Nothing clashed or failed, but sometimes the dishes didn’t seem fully integrated. Mostly it was all those textures and separate elements. It was hard to see exactly how they combined. The flavors err on the subtle, which made them compliment extremely well with the Burgundy. I really want to go back — although I’m not thrilled at the idea of autodialing and having little choice about date!

And what’s with grandma’s old china? 🙂

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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By: agavin
Comments (12)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Curtis Stone, Maude

Ruen Pair Rules

Dec15

Restaurant: Ruen Pair

Location: 5257 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027. (323) 466-0153

Date: December 9, 2014

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Solid Thai, not super spicy

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It’s been awhile since I’ve had authentic Thai, so it was with some relish that I headed out with my Hedonist group to this Thai town eatery.


The minimall is packed with Thai restaurants, massage places, and the like.


Inside.


NV Tissot (Bénédicte et Stéphane / André et Mireille) Crémant du Jura Extra Brut. 92 points. Really liked this sparkler! Very well balanced with only a slight dosage. The blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is apparent in the “traditional” Champagne like blend that is not always the approach in the Jura. A good amount of complexity ending in a long finish of pineapple and yeast. Great QPR too.


Pork jerky. Fairly tender flavorful strips of pork.


Beef jerky. The beef version was WAY chewy. My jaw still hurts (JK). Go for the white meat.


2007 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes. IWC 93. Pale yellow. Ineffable aromas of lime, crushed stone, violet, iris and spicecake. Bright, penetrating and precise, with superb energy and purity to the high-pitched citrus, mineral and spice flavors. At once dense and racy, and in need of aging. Persistent and palate-staining on the finish. (The Chassagne-Montrachet Les Caillerets showed lovely sweetness and generosity of texture.


Sausage. Some yummy pig in a casing and fried with Thai side elements. I would have liked to see a little more flavor from the sausage itself.


2004 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese. IWC 92. Mesmerizing aromas of papaya, sweet herbs and spearmint. Intense but discreet cherry fruit rises from the mid-palate, accompanied by brilliant acidity. The riveting finish is animated and spicy. One of the finest spatleses of the vintage in Germany.


Stuffed shrimp. These crabcake-like babies contained a dense shrimp paste/filling. I liked them a lot. I’m a fan of these seafood McNugget type dishes.


2008 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Pale golden yellow. Floral aromas lift apricot and quince on the nose. The complex tropical fruit flavors are accented by a hint of licorice and a shot of slate. The subtle balance of sweetness and acidity belies this wine’s richness. Offers nice length and potential.


Thai Duck Curry. Always a winner, with a nice rich curry and a certain sweetness. There could have been more duck though.


From my cellar: 2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. 92 points. COLOR-nice golden; NOSE-burnt BMX tires meets peaches, apricots & pears; spritzy; TASTE-beautiful bluestone; gorgeous dried Apricots; viscous & oily; gorgeous peach juice; very polished; great, great wine; very delicate; nice floral aspects; subtle cactus juice & on the finish; a concoction of Cantaloupe & dandelion dancing on the back-end; very complex; great balance of acidity & fruit; great structure; absolute elegance at it’s finest.


Pad Thai. The usual, but good as usual.


2006 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. JG 95. Faint spritz on opening, clear rich botrytis, lovely texture, so full and rich, but balances with a spike of acid on the finish, good now but will blossom in time.

agavin: my favorite with the food. rich, amber, and sweet!


A different Pad Thai.

2012 Robert Mondavi Winery Pinot Noir. IWC 87. Bright palish red. Slightly diffuse aromas of strawberry, raspberry, underbrush and smoky oak, perked up by mint and floral nuances. A bit juicier and more delineated in the mouth than the nose suggests but shows only moderate intensity and depth. Finishes slightly tart, with dusty tannins.


Egg Salad. Not sure where the salad is, but this odd dish was delicious. Basically, it’s fried eggs with chilis on top. But the vinegary hot tang of the chilies is fabulous with the soft centered eggs.


From my cellar: 2003 Louis Latour Corton-Clos de la Vigne au Saint. Burghound 91. A huge step up in elegance, complexity and purity with extremely pretty spicy red pinot fruit aromas that introduce supple, sweet and opulent flavors that remain precise and beautifully well balanced. An altogether lovely wine that combines power and elegance with first class cellar potential.


Chicken soup (Tom yum gai). The typical thai soup. This one was fairly dense and heading toward a curry, but it still had that lovely sour / lemongrass / coconut thing going.


2012 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon 40th Anniversary. 89 points. Large-scaled and rich on the nose with toasty brioche, blackberry, currant and milk chocolate. On the palate, velvety textures ushered in dark fruits, spice, coco, licorice and cherry liquor. The finish was long with saturating black fruits and a linger hint of hard candy.


Pork larb. Nice  tang to it, not too hot.


Beef Panaang curry. Your typical bamboo shoot red curry with beef. Certainly a pleasant dish, particularly with rice. This is on the thin mild end of the Panaang spectrum. I really like mine more intense.


2005 Kay Brothers Shiraz Hillside Amery Vineyards. 89 points. Inky dark, with hints of smoke and cedar on the nose. Black currants and blackberries are prominent on the palate, but the secondary characteristics are still caught in a tannic grip.


Fried catfish. Catfish slices that have been deep fried crispy and are served in this vinegary sauce. The sauce did a great job complementing the fry. Besides the need to avoid bones, this was a delicious dish.


2008 Carlisle Syrah James Berry Vineyard. IWC 93. Opaque violet. Stunning bouquet displays dark berry liqueur, incense, dried violet and smoked meat. Tight on entry, then expansive and sweet in the middle, with noteworthy pliancy and sweetness to the dark fruit, violet pastille, apricot, mineral and spice flavors. Lots going on here-and highly expressive today, even if the firm, dusty tannins call for patience.


Spicy clams. They weren’t actually spicy, but the sauce was rich and delicious.


Morning Glory shoots. In a mild Thai brown sauce. Colon sweeper!


Thai BBQ chicken. Solid.


Shrimp salad. This also had a nice vinegar tang.


Pineapple rice. Good stuff, with that sweetness. A tad mushy.


1986 Château Raymond-Lafon. Parker 92. It is hard to believe this wine will eclipse the great 1983, but the differences in the two wines are negligible. I do not believe the 1986 makes quite the impact on the palate that the huge, massive 1983 does, but there is a great deal of botrytis, and a profound, penetrating fragrance of sauteed pineapple, vanillin, toast, and honeyed peaches. In the mouth, the wine is more streamlined than the 1983, but lusciously rich and full bodied, with very good acidity and a creamy, intense finish. It will be interesting to compare the 1983 and 1986 as they evolve. My guess is that the 1986 will age faster.

agavin: sadly our bottle wasn’t well stored and this had an off-putting bitter finish.


Papaya salad with shrimp. Nice and hot, with a good crunch.


Papaya salad with blue crab. This was a standout. The salad was the same, but the blue crab is raw, like the Korean crab at Soban. You suck out the toothpaste-like meat. Yum!


Dr. David obviously ate too much raw crab.


Across the parking lot was this Thai dessert place.  No way can I translate the name.

A grid of goodies.


Weird crepe taco things.


Taro, corn, rice balls!


Banana sticky rice.


Grilled coconut milk. Yeah, apparently you can BBQ a liquid.


Yarom got this milky sweet concoction filled with “Thai fruits” including jackfruit.


I went for mango and coconut ice cream.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

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By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: curry, Dessert, hedonists, Hollywood Boulevard, larb, Los Angeles, No, raw crab, Ruen Pair, Thai cuisine

Pheasant & Deer are Never Boaring

Dec12

Restaurant: Phong Dinh [1, 2, 3]

Location: 107 E Valley blvd, San Gabriel, Ca, 91776. (626) 307-8868

Date: December 9, 2014

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Rating: Excellent!

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My Hedonist club has hit up Phong Dinh several times before, once in their old location and once in this newer one — albeit in a nearby San Gabriel Valley spot. This authentic Vietnamese continues to serve up interesting stuff — plus they’re happy to take some of Yarom’s “do it yourself” meats, like both boar, deer, and pheasant he shot recently.


René-Henri Coutier Champagne Brut Millésimé Clos d’Ambonnay. Champagne to start.


Chicken salad. Kinda mild.


NV Riestra Sidra.


Shrimp and pork papaya salad.


From my cellar: 2007 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses. Burghound 90. As would reasonably be expected, there is just more here in every dimension with a more complex and more elegant nose that is layered and very fresh and this refinement continues onto the nicely concentrated middle weight flavors that display evident minerality on the sappy, intense and mouth coating finish that lingers and lingers. This is a terrific Savigny blanc and recommended.


2012 Gilbert Picq & ses Fils Chablis Dessus La Carriere. Burghound 89-92. This is slightly riper, in fact sufficiently so to display hints of the exotic though they are background nuances to the mineral reduction, floral and oyster shell aromas. There is excellent richness and volume though perhaps a bit less minerality than usual, all wrapped in a punchy and appealingly complex finish. This should be excellent as it offers plenty of Chablis character and lovely balance.

Snails in coconut 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 or noodles.

This time, the sauce was a little thiner than the first time (and although it tasted about the same, the thicker was a little better). The snails themselves were pretty awesome.


2004 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese. IWC 92. Mesmerizing aromas of papaya, sweet herbs and spearmint. Intense but discreet cherry fruit rises from the mid-palate, accompanied by brilliant acidity. The riveting finish is animated and spicy. One of the finest spatleses of the vintage in Germany.


1990 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Vendange Tardive. 95 points. Wow. Intense, intense, intense. Sugar, sweet, lychee, a little cayenne. Very hard to describe. The finish goes into the next day. Great pairing with Northern Thai food. A very special, unique wine.


Roast quail. Quite tasty.


1999 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand. IWC 93. Knockout nose of fresh and dried fruits, honey and white flowers. Delicious fruit salad and citrus skin flavors complicated by spices and honey. Lovely ripe acidity leavens the 22 g/l residual sugar. Very rich and dense, and much easier to taste today than the Rangen. I like the balance here.


Crab in tamarind sauce. Delicious. Sweet and sour.


2011 Weingut Jäger Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Klaus.


Roast boar. This scrumptious dish had a ton of flavor. The meat had this char broiled and spiced thing that was spectacular.


2012 Seven of Hearts Pinot Noir Curmudgeon Cuvée Armstrong Vineyard. IWC 92. Dark red. Delicate, focused aromas of red berries, potpourri and Asian spices, with a bright mineral nuance adding lift. Fresh and lively on the palate, offering tangy raspberry and strawberry flavors that show very good energy, lift and cut. A fresh, elegant, weightless pinot that finishes with very good energy and drive and silky tannins. This racy, balanced wine puts on weight with air but maintains a sense of elegance and restraint.


2012 MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir Estate Vineyards Russian River Valley. 89  points. Nice balance and structure, ready to drink as an infant. Some wood and spice on the nose, strawberry/raspberry palate.


Ground deer. Delicious too with a nice crunch to it.


From my cellar: 1995 Louis Jadot Echezeaux. 90 points. Impressive deep ruby-red. Perfumed, slightly candied aromas of red berries and smoky, charred oak. Supple and sweet, but a wine of only moderate intensity. Finishes with slightly dry tannins.

agavin: I bought a bunch of these because they were “cheap.” I.e. even though it’s a grand cru (although a spotty one) I bought it for my “premier crus that are drinking well now” slot. It turned out quiet decent, although there was a touch of barnyard on the nose. Several thought it was the wine of the night. I actually agree as reds go — but the competition was flaccid.


Dover Sole.


2000 Château Chauvin. Parker 92. A superb wine, this opaque purple-colored effort boasts a vividly pure nose of graphite, melted licorice, creme de cassis, espresso, and wet stones backed up by subtle, high quality, spicy, new oak. Multi-layered, full-bodied, dense, concentrated, and pure, with sweet tannin and superb length, this future classic will be at its best between 2008-2019.


Baked catfish.


A bit more filleted.


1997 Greenock Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. Parker 92. One of my weekly Cabernet Sauvignons for a number of years was Greenock Creek’s 1997. It was released at a very reasonable price, and, again, I did not know what to expect as this estate is not associated with Cabernet Sauvignon as much as Grenache and Shiraz. This 1997 is still a killer wine. Its dark plum/purple color is accompanied by aromas of spice box, cedarwood, sweet licorice, and black currants. Full-bodied, velvety-textured, and gorgeously proportioned, it is a sexy Cabernet Sauvignon that should continue to evolve for 5-10 years.


Veggies.


Fish sauce. Tasty and salty. Two kinds.


There are various condiments. Mint and basil.

Rice noodles.


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


2001 Oriel Priorat Alma de Llicorella. 88 points. Burnished dark garnet red. Red lifesavers candy, roses, and earth nose. Medium bodied, cranberries, sweet ‘n’ sour cherries, good acid, fully integrated tannins.


Spicy boar. Another boar dish made from Yarom’s animal. This one was flavorful with a real slow powerful heat.


2007 Nazar Spray. Not listed on CT.


Pheasant curry. Absolutely delicious, particularly with some of the noodles.


1987 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill. IWC 84. Full red. Weedy, green, vaguely chemical nose. Thick and dense but rustic. Has more density of material to stand up to its strong green component than this winery other two ’87s. The best of the trio in terms of texture and ripeness.


Snow peas.


2000 Giscours. Parker 92. Probably the finest Giscours made since the 1975, this black/purple-colored 2000 offers up terrific notes of camphor, creosote, blackberry, and cassis jam intermixed with notions of smoke and earth. Spicy, with low acidity, a big, rich, fleshy, full-bodied palate, outstanding texture, and a long, pure finish, it is, to reiterate, one of the best Giscours produced over the last 25 years. A sleeper of the vintage, it is still available for a realistic price.

agavin: my second favorite red.


Goat stew. You add in the noodles and greens below. The broth was actually very flavorful, if terribly ugly. The goat itself was kinda stewed.


2012 MontGras Carménère Reserva. 85 points. Deep purple, vegetal and slight cedar smell. Taste of leather and green pepper, dry but soft short finish.


Egg noodles for the goat.


Mysterious greens.


2000 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. 90 points. Medium red. Moderately ripe cherry and red berry aromas are complicated by tobacco, mint and musky underbrush. Medium-bodied and a bit loose-knit, with low-key, gentle red fruit and cured meat flavors that are nicely firmed by a dusty mineral tone. Gains sweetness on the finish, picking up vanilla and floral oil notes. Understated and rather elegant Rioja but lacking real oomph; was this really deserving of the fancy Gran Reserva Especial treatment?


Crispy noodles with miscellaneous stuff. A lot like the Cantonese dish.


2008 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee. Parker 89-91. The 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee was about to be bottled at the time of my visit, and it will certainly be one of the better wines of the vintage. By the standards of Pegau, it is not a massive wine nor will it be terribly long-lived. However, this estate has an incredible track record in off years, so I would not be surprised to see this wine exceeding readers’ expectations in 10-12 years. Tasting through the three remaining lots that will be blended together, I rated them between 89 and 92. That makes it one of the better wines of the vintage. Medium to full-bodied, chewy and very evolved, the wine exhibits lots of earth, lavender and foresty/mossy notes intermixed with kirsch, peppery black currants and Christmas fruitcake spices. It should drink nicely for 10-12+ years. Laurence calls it a very “traditional” style that she believes will be as good as their 2006.


2003 Williams Selyem Gewürztraminer Late Harvest Vista Verde Vineyard. IWC 91. Deep gold. Classic gewurz bouquet of rose, peach and smoke, with an exotic overlay of baking spices. Sweet and round, with concentrated pit fruit and melon flavors showing impressive energy and focus. Finishes on a spicy note, with excellent depth but no undue weight. I like the absence of cloying notes here and would love to serve this with funky or blue cheeses.


Happy birthday!


1970 Château Guiraud. 87 points. Gorgeous fresh nose, with apricot and peaches (A-). Somewhat light palate with limited sweetness (B++).

agavin: on the internet, this wine sometimes gets wonderful reviews (95+!). Our bottle was sadly not in such great shape.

Coconut gelatin dessert (green) and coffee flavored of same (brown). Cool and refreshing.

Overall, another epic Hedonist Asian adventure. Good food, great prices, fun wines, and a whole lot of us. What more could you ask for?

More crazy Hedonist adventures or
LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Never Boaring – Il Grano
  2. Phong Dinh – Hedonists go Vietnamese
  3. Coconut Curried Snails?
  4. Feasting Lunasia
  5. Cantonese Pig Out!
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: hedonists, Phong Dinh, san Gabriel valley, vietnamese, Wine

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Dec10

mockingjayTitle: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence (Actor), Josh Hutcherson (Actor), Francis Lawrence (Director)

Genre: Science Fiction / Distopian

Watched:  December 5, 2014

Summary: Slower

_

I enjoyed the first film and loved the first book, but I wasn’t even able to finish Catching Fire (the novel) when I tried reading it years ago. The political mumbo jumbo really bugged me. Sure, if you’re a fan of the council scenes in The Phantom Menace or of The Matrix sequel’s Zion, you might groove to this kind of nonsense, but as a student of history I just can’t see how the A to Z of our current America could lead to this peculiar and lopsided society. And particularly not to 75 years of it, mildly unchanging. Sure, oppression is a long standing historic pattern, one of the broadest we have, but this particular type doesn’t make total sense. Or maybe it’s a matter of the stark division. You could have a vast array of rural poor, but you’d need a complex layering of mid level “collaborators” living in the district in privileged situations who helped perpetuate the system. And I don’t see how the Hunger Games themselves really keeps anyone in line, more likely it would inflame the situation.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Tsj_wTJkQ]

In any case, let’s discuss Mockingjay Part 1. Fundamentally, it was watchable, but flat and incomplete. This film suffers badly from being the first half of a single novel. The first two books/films share a common structure: districts -> selection -> prep for the games -> second half in the arena. By filming just first half of the third novel, this film is stripped of critical resolution, and ends up pure setup (or more specifically, transition). Now a year and half from now, when someone sits down to watch all four films on bluray, this won’t matter much, but it has a bunch of dramatic negative affects on the experience of watching this particular episode.

mockingjay-part-1-reviews

Yeah, shoot two planes with a arrows!

Not a whole lot happens. They try to to make a big deal of the “rescue” at the end, but basically we have a lot of dull scenes in District 13’s drab looking bunkers and a bunch of grim visits to destroyed or partially destroyed districts. Oooh, ah.

SS_D105-310019.dng

Faceless, voiceless, “white shirts”

The character balance is all whacked. Peeta is barely in the film, only briefly on camera. Katniss’ “handlers” (Haymitch and Effie) are minor. The awesome Cinna is gone and Stanely Tucci’s amusing Caesar toned way down. Gale has a bigger part but acts the part of frozen slab of meat. We have a couple stiff new folks like President No Personality (Julianne Moore) and Philip Seymour Hoffman phoning in a final performance. I have no wish to dump on this fine fine actor, particularly after his passing, but this is hardly an inspiring performance from a man who was usually brilliant and intense. I actually like crippled Harlem kingpin hacker Beetee (Boardwalk Empire viewers will get the joke), but he’s a function rolled into a role. I.e. being the guy who “breaks into the capitals tech” by tapping on a keyboard. Newcommer Boggs is also likable, but hardly saves the film. The camera crew is dull as crap (except the mute guy). Even Margaery Tyrell, despite being a fine actress and darn cute, can’t help the situation; although her half-hair is positively distracting. However, Ancient Jack Bauer (President Snow) is still delightfully wicked.

mockingjay-part-1-trailer-still-5-cressida

Half hair!

Those jumpsuits and minimal makeup looks aren’t flattering either, although I thought the latter moderately effective. Also I completely fail to understand how District 13 has become so techie and industrialized when cut off when the other districts are stuck in the 1920s.

I was also bothered by the heavy emphasis on “filming” and “propaganda” over actually war. Moral is an important thing in a big conflict, however, this just felt too forced. Maybe it ties into my own above mentioned dislike for the whole bogus political setup. Maybe it panders to our media loving culture. I dunno.

Not a fan of those “suicidal charge of the extras” scenes either. Sometimes those things happen, like the peaceful assault on the Dharasana Salt Works, but these scenes were cheesy as hell. Let it be said that I’m generally not big on crowd scenes in movies not involving principle actors. This “showing” current conditions scenes usually come off forced.

Jennifer Lawrence singing was kinda nice though.

Fundamentally, this film is The Hunger Games without the thing that made The Hunger Games good: i.e. The Hunger Games! In both previous films (and books) it was the arena part that was by far the best. Leadup is just leadup.

Find my review of the first Hunger Games film & book here or

For more Film reviews, click here.

Related posts:

  1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
  2. The Hunger Games – Novel & Film
  3. The Hunger Games Trailer
  4. Games, Novels, and Story
  5. Video Games, Novels, and Ideas
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Francis Lawrence, Gale Hawthorne, Jennifer Lawrence, Katniss Everdeen, Liam Hemsworth, Mockingjay, Mockingjay Part 1, Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games

Sage at Oliverio

Dec08

Restaurant: Oliverio [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: December 4, 2014

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome Food & Wine

_

Sage Society is a fabulous wine sales business operated by my friend Liz, who has one of the best palettes for food and wine of anyone I know. We also have very similar taste in both and she is a huge lover of Burgundy and interesting and geeky Italians. She periodically organizes dinners for her clients which always combine fabulous wines, great food, and an extremely high level of polish and integration. She really produces (in the film sense of the term) a menu and experience.

Tonight is the annual Sage Society Holiday Dinner.

The atmosphere at Oliverio is tres LA. They have sexy poolside dining, but this being a “wintery” December evening, we at inside.


These first two champagnes are great drinking reasonable ones Liz brought to get started “before” the serious drinking.


agavin: apparently this one has old Meursault in it, which lent it some added complexity.


Our hostess Liz on the left and master chef Mirko Paderno. Paderno is a born and bred Italian chef. Raised in Milan, his love of cooking was originally inspired by his parents and grandmother, who taught him how to prepare traditional dishes from both the Northern and Southern parts of Italy.

After graduating from the Cesare Ritz School in Merano, Chef Paderno worked at the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan under Chef Sergio Mei. Utilizing fresh ingredients and simple accents in his dishes, he developed a style that focused on the flavor of the food above all else.  In 1999, Chef Paderno took his osteria-style cuisine to Los Angeles, working at top Italian restaurants such as Primi, Dolce and All’Angelo. After opening the acclaimed Cecconi’s in West Hollywood in 2009, Paderno was appointed Executive Chef at Oliverio inside the Avalon Hotel and tasked with relaunching the concept and menu as an upscale, alfresco Italian restaurant.

In the fall of 2013, Chef Paderno was named Area Executive Chef for Viceroy Hotel Group, adding LIVELLO at L’Ermitage Beverly Hills to his kitchen roster. At both Oliverio and LIVELLO, he showcases what he calls “modern Italian food with regional touches” and fuses Italian flavors with local ingredients.

Liz brought this Oenothèque (renamed P2) which comes in a crazy elaborate display box.

1998 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon P2. AG 95. The 1998 Dom Pérignon P-2 (formerly Oenothèque) is quite reticent today. What else is new? These second -plenitude wines are often very tight when they are first released, which is very much the case here. Still, it is quite evident the 1998 is a bit more tender and pliant than the 1996. Today, the 1998 still hasn’t turned the corner, but it is quite pretty and expressive. This is a terrific offering.


Grilled Mediterranean seppia, roasted squash pate.


Butternut squash soup with cheese an sage.


Bread.


1983 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JK 93. Nose was so honeyed and full of crème brulee that it gave a sinful impression. There was a touch of seltzer and minerals, but the 1983 was definitely living in plateau city. To me, this vintage signified crossing that bridge that Bernard alluded to earlier. Bernard was impressed with the freshness of the 1983. The palate had a woodsy edge but was still very smooth and caressing, with good seltzer vim to the finish. I concluded, .In a great spot right now.


Sunchokes soufflé, parmigiano sauce, fresh black truffle. A fabulous cheesy, truffle dish.


The next three courses involved an unusual blind “contest.” We each brought several wines designed to go with specific courses. They were served blind in flights and we attempted to choose not the best wine, but the best “pairing.”


The winner of the best pairing was to receive this awesome 1990 Tattinger Collection Champagne.

Flight 1


From my cellar: 2000 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc. IWC 91-95. Honey, hay and herbs on the nose. Dense but bright, and quite spicy in the mouth. Not especially sweet, but chewy and vibrant, finishing with good grip. From Rocoules: Spice, apricot and orange zest on the nose. Silky and spicy, with lovely fat texture, but still with racy grip. This could make a complete Hermitage blanc on its own. Rocoules again: Complex aromas of lemon, spice and blond tobacco. Less sweet than the first Rocoules sample, but also tighter and more obviously structured. Finishes with considerable power. The Chaves had already moved these first components from barrel to tank in order to avoid fatiguing the wine. Rocoules from a barrel (14.8% alcohol): Extraordinarily spicy nose, with malic notes of apple and spearmint. Still showing traces of the fermentation. Lush and deep on the palate, with almost exotic ripeness and a flavor of honeysuckle. As fat as this is, it still has sound acidity and terrific verve, with enlivening notes of orange zest and spice. Very long and fresh on the aftertaste. The ultimate blend should make a terrific bottle.


1996 Domaine Touchais Coteaux du Layon Réserve de nos Vignobles. I middling sweet Chenin.


2002 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux. Burghound 92. Extremely subtle oak frames expressive and layered aromas of oyster shell, iodine and a lovely mineral component that leads to even more complex flavors that display superb intensity and stunning length. The finish is racy yet completely buffered by the copious sap. A knockout that has reached its peak though it should be capable of holding at this level for up to another decade.

agavin: best wine of the flight (although it still didn’t pair).


Spaghetti bottarga with clams and a TON of caviar. A very salty briny dish. Really quite lovely, but a difficult pairing. The caviar and clams were a last minute addition and we had tried to pair with just the bottarga. Really, the 1983 Dom worked best (not an official pairing) and even it fought with the brine.


This wine was a bonus “palette cleanser.”

2000 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont. A nearly dry Vouvray.


White truffle and porcini gnocchi.


1990 Georges Noellat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. 93 points. Brick color, with a nose of game and leather. Decent fruit, with a tannic backbone still showing, similar to other ’90s. This is a very good wine, and will hold for a while.


2002 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. IWC 93. Dark red. Youthful raspberry and blackberry aromas accented by gingerbread, along with deeper mocha, smoked meat and candied rose accents. Lush, suave and deep, with a bright, zesty mineral quality adding impressive lift and precision to the deep, sweet red and dark berry flavors. Finishes with a liqueur-like raspberry quality and excellent depth and persistence. More alluring today than the 2001 and I suspect that this will drink well earlier, if for no other reason than for its sweetness and supple texture.

agavin: best wine of the flight, although slightly weak in the fruit department — nose was all RSV.


From my cellar: 1970 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Cerro Anon Gran Reserva. 92 points. Surprisingly young. Gorgeous and interesting nose with a slightly weak mid palette and a long pretty sour cherry finish. Most people thought it was some odd pinot noir and had no idea it was so old.


Liz through this beautiful white in because we all tried red pairings.

1990 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 93. This is one of those whites from the ’90 vintage that is trapped in a time capsule as it remains unusually youthful for a 20 year old wine even if no longer young as the nose displays the first hints of sous bois along with dried flower and citrus aromas. The delicious and highly mineral-infused middle weight flavors are racy, intense and beautifully delineated before culminating in a lingering and pure finish. This is in extraordinary condition if well-stored and should continue to drink well for years to come. In a word, impressive.

agavin: really nice Charlie, incredibly fresh, younger than some 2005s I’ve tasted!


Egg yolk ravioli, white truffle sauce, fresh white truffle. A magnificent dish with an intense yolky factor that emphasized the earthy quality of the truffles.

But it was also a difficult pairing. None of us (except maybe Liz) properly anticipated the yolk effect, and all the reds, good as they might have been with straight truffles, were just consumed by the yolk. Not unpleasantly mind you, but not exactly harmoniously either. The Corton was the best of the lot (pairing wise), but even it was fairly overwhelmed by the egg.


1994 Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Masseto Toscana IGT. AG 95. The 1994 Masseto is another super-impressive wine in this tasting. The warmth of the year comes through in the super-ripe, dense fruit. There is plenty of underlying structure to ensure another decade of very fine drinking here. This is a stunning Masseto from a long forgotten year.


From my cellar: 1985 Joseph Drouhin Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers. 88 points. This bottle had a serious barnyard funk on the nose (horse butt as we nicknamed it), but after about an hour it mostly faded. The palette and finish were quite nice though (if you ignored the nose). Quite a bit of fruit still going.


2002 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux. Burghound 90-93. Intense, extremely expressive spicy red fruit aromas lead to wonderfully sappy, mouth coatingly rich flavors blessed with outstanding density and unusually silky tannins plus a certain seductive quality to the subtly complex and persistent finish. This is more refined than it normally is at this early stage of its development and is extremely promising.

agavin: my favorite wine of the flight.


2002 Domaine du Château de Chorey (Germain) Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Tante Berthe. Burghound 93. This is a massive wine with an incredibly concentrated yet remarkably elegant nose of cassis and plum followed by powerful, robust and firmly structured flavors oozing with sap that completely buffers the big but very ripe tannins. Despite the size, this is astonishingly well balanced and the length just doesn’t quit; I could taste this wine hours later and if you can find any, don’t pass it up as Beaune 1ers of this caliber rarely come along and it will last at least 30 years, perhaps longer.

agavin: this wine caused much consternation blind as it was so purple and powerful that we wondered if it might be a New World Pinot Noir. It had a killer long finish.


Roasted quail, porcini mushroom, black garlic reduction. A gorgeous qual that required some bone chomping, which was totally worth it.

These were the most closely paired wines. The Massetto, although lovely, was a total pair fail, but all the Burgundies worked decently. Still, not of them worked so well that we were willing to declare them a “winning pairing.” So we didn’t actually award the Champagne.


Pumpkin ravioli with a cheese sauce.


1993 Camille Giroud Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge. Not something you see every day — but it was gorgeous. One of my favorite wines of the night.


Selection of Italian cheese: soft gorgonzola (cow), carboncino (3 milk), rocchetta (sheep).


Panna cotta with blueberries.


Overall, this was another knock out meal. The food was fantastic. Each dish was really fabulous and very generous with the truffles, caviar and the like. Mirko Paderno is a top top Italian chef, one of the best in town (and LA has very good Italian). The wines were also wonderful, some mixed, but the format was a lot of fun and resulted in an enormous amount of wine talk and debate — woe be those few who weren’t serious wine geeks.

Happy holidays from Sage Society!

LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Sauvages at Oliverio
  2. Amarone at Oliverio
  3. Burgundy at Providence
  4. Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Sun
  5. Factory Kitchen – Fabulous
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burgundy, Oliverio, Sage Society, Wine

Salty Saturday 2014

Dec06

Part of the tradition for the ThanksGavin weekend of gluttony is a Saturday deli brunch. As we celebrate in Philadelphia, we have access to all sorts of great deli and the like.


For the second year in a row, the location is the house of my cousin Matt and his wife Andrea. They’ve picked up a lot of the load, having also tackled the Friday Night Feast.

The main event for Salty Saturday is bagels and cream cheese the Philly way.


Capers and olives.


The third return of the olives and artichokes from Thursdays night.


Hard boiled eggs, elegantly sliced.


Parmesan and red onions.


Cream cheese with scallions.


Regular (boring) cream cheese.


Munster and Jarlsberg (swiss).


Tomatoes and cucumber.


Creamed herring.


Pickled herring. I like this sweet fishy stuff, although it isn’t to everyone’s taste.


Chunky whitefish salad. Love it!


Lox of course.


Bagels, including the amusing black and whites.


Toasted.


Here is my plate, with a bagel or two under construction.


I like cream cheese AND munster under my fish.


I’m also going to cheat and show these breakfast items that Matt whipped up on Thanksgiving day, including this frittata.


These amazing challah french toast.


And this sausage from the old school sausage make downtown, Fiorella’s. This place has been making sausage the same way since 1892!


Plus syrup that can go on BOTH French Toast and sausage. I love syrup on my sausage.


Oh, and fruit salad.


The Salty Saturday in progress.

For more ThanksGavin dining, click here.

Miriam says “wow!”

Related posts:

  1. Salty Saturday
  2. ThanksGavin 2011 – Salty Saturday
  3. Saturday is for Salt
  4. Friday Night Feast 2014
  5. ThanksGavin 2014
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bagels, fiorella's, fish, Lox, Salty Saturday, Sausage, ThanksGavin

Friday Night Feast 2014

Dec04

As part of the annual ThanksGavin celebration it’s traditional for us to do a home dinner on Friday night, historically cooked by my cousin Abbe. But this year she abdicated the job to her brother Matt and his wife Andrea.



NV Casa Vinicola Botter Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Santi Nello. Bubbly to start. Zingy acids, excellent minerality, very small fizzy bubbles. Ultra refreshing.


More fancy olives.


The return of the artichokes.


Bread.


2007 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses. Burghound 90. As would reasonably be expected, there is just more here in every dimension with a more complex and more elegant nose that is layered and very fresh and this refinement continues onto the nicely concentrated middle weight flavors that display evident minerality on the sappy, intense and mouth coating finish that lingers and lingers. This is a terrific Savigny blanc and recommended.


My dad is in charge of cheeses, which means some stinkers.


And the “separated” non-stinky plate.


1995 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sorì Paitin. IWC 91. Medium red, some amber at the rim. Plum, cherry and enticing smoky, toasty oak on the nose. Smoky, sweet and velvety, with insinuating flavor. Has firm backbone and finishes with some oak tannins but avoids dryness. Rather Pommard-like in its solidity.

agavin: this particular bottle had more funk on the nose than usual.


Homemade manicotti, stuffed with ricotta and smothered in mozzarella.


A version without the mozz for those who aren’t THAT into cheese. Not me.


1996 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley. IWC 94. Deep ruby color. Multidimensional aromas of violet, coffee, dried rose, clove, rare steak and seductive oak. Huge and tactile; really implodes in the mouth today. Extremely deep and lush, with the sheer sweetness to buffer its considerable acids and tannins. Oaky. Finishes extremely long, with very fine, tooth-coating tannins. With aeration, some of the baby fat melted away, and the wine’s powerful structure was manifest. Headspinning, old-style Burgundy, and very impressive. One to buy and cellar.


The main dish consisted of roasted pork sandwiches. Here they are coming out of the oven, notice the big hunks of bacon/pork fat added for flavor.


Matt sliced the meat.


And warmed it in its own jus.


Any pig haters had the option of turkey, a giant sliced breast borrowed from one of the previous night’s birds.


And provolone of two types, the regular and the aged sharp kind. Both from the Italian market.


Plus some very serious roasted peppers. These had a big hot long burn to them.


And sautéed broccoli rabe.


Fennel and celery salad.


Here is the plate with a bit of everything.


1994 Leoville-Las Cases. Parker 92-95. Michel Delon, a great man, is the consummate proprietor, meticulously administering this vast estate spread out along the St.-Julien/Pauillac border, separated from Latour’s finest vineyard by a mere ten feet. The 1993-95 vintages from Delon are brilliant wines. Leoville-Las-Cases remains one of the irrefutable reference points for high class Bordeaux. One of the more massive Medocs of the vintage, this opaque purple-colored wine exhibits fabulous richness and volume in the mouth. Layers of pure black-cherry and cassis fruit are intermixed with stony, mineral-like scents, as well as high quality toasty oak. Medium to full-bodied, with a sweet, rich entry, this wine possesses plenty of tannin, yet fabulous extract and length. Leoville-Las-Cases is one of the half-dozen great wines of the Medoc in 1994. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2025. This lion never falls asleep on the job!


Matt also “whipped up” some homemade pumpkin pie from scratch. There was a bit of ginger in there.


The actual pie itself.


And the brownie’s return.



These chessboard fudge squares were made by my cousin-in-law (cousin’s wife) Itsuki.


Overall, another fabulous evening of great food and company. Bravo Matt and Andrea.

Related posts:

  1. Friday Night Lights
  2. Friday Night Feasting
  3. Friday Night Heights – Shabbat Dinner
  4. ThanksGavin 2014
  5. Elite Wine Night
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Family, holiday, ThanksGavin, Wine

ThanksGavin 2014

Dec02

It’s that time of year again, time to loosen your belt buckle and sit down for the annual ThanksGavin!


The table is set.


NV Casa Vinicola Botter Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Santi Nello. Bubbly to start. Zingy acids, excellent minerality, very small fizzy bubbles. Ultra refreshing.


Crudites.


Some kind of dip of mysterious origins.


1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. 90 points. This is medium gold. Nose is very ripe fruit and honey, but not boytritis. Sweet and satiny and weighty, acid is failing. Finishes with baked apples and pastry.


Artichokes.


Hummus. Achem, from a tub.


1988 Camille Giroud Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 90. This too is very fresh, in fact fresher than the Clos de Vougeot with a beguiling mix of spice and secondary aromas that lead to big, intense, firmly structured flavors that have plenty of sweet pinot sap to buffer the solid tannins. This is quite long, in fact the longest of these bottled wines and delivers unmistakable Vosne character. It remains a creature of its vintage and the finish is austere and masculine in style but there is plenty of volume and flavor authority. This will live for years.


Now we’re talking: cheese.


And good olives.


1998 Dominique Laurent Mazis-Chambertin. 93 points. Showed good complexity and depth, excellent balance, and a medium finish. Flavors of black raspberry, cherry, spices, dried leaves, and forest floor all emerged after a time. The acidity held everything together nicely. Good freshness of flavor both on the nose and palate. I think this is nearly at peak or plateauing nicely.


This year there were two turkeys, and because our chefs patched up the neck with skin grafts from different birds, they nicknamed them Frankenturkey!


Turkey. But they came out perfectly.


Gravy. Of course.


Stuffing. Nothing better than gravy soaked stuffing.


Cranberry. A choice of three variants on the cranberry theme. My favorite is the spicy chutney (lower left) which is smooth and slightly spicy.


1973 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Añares Crianza. 92 points. wonderful wine; surprised how much vitality it retained. Like fig juice.


Brussels sprouts.


With a delicious lemon sauce.


Roast beets with balsamic & maple syrup.


Squash with black mustard seeds.


Spinach salad with goat cheese.


2009 Nugnes Falerno del Massico Rosso. 92 points. Red edges, dark core — Nose captivating, mindblowing, fresh, flowery, almond, sweetness, dried fig, pickled fruit — Palate mild, fresh, watery, like marsala wine, plums for days, oriental herbs, some cherry, some sour cherry — Finishes on red fruit, tartness and spice aspects again. This is special, an oriental dream, changing by the minute, now some pepper and some cinnamon, appears to be expressive and young, a long life ahead. Fairly high acidity level. Happy I bought 12 bottles to drink over the next 10 years.


The 2014 official plate!


1975 Dow Porto Vintage. 86 points. The wine showed all the characteristics of a tawny. Not exactly overwhelming but very nice to drink. Alcohol was a bit too evident. It’s so nice to open old bottles of Port like this! Unless the wine is really spoiled, it’s always a pleasure to drink it.


Coffee cake.


“Bubbie Caplan’s” rice pudding. Really quite lovely. Eggy sweet custard.


My mom’s absolutely perfect pecan pie.


Grandmom’s brownies and blondies.


Apple crisp.


Dessert plate.

This was another spectacular homemade ThanksGavin dinner as usual.

For more ThanksGavin meals, click here.

Our main chefs, my mom and her sister

Related posts:

  1. ThanksGavin 2011 – The Main Event
  2. ThanksGavin 2011 – The Third Wave
  3. ThanksGavin 2013
  4. ThanksGavin 2012
  5. ThanksGavin 2010 Reprise
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cooking, Gravy, Mashed potato, ThanksGavin, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, turkey, Wine
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