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Archive for September 2017

Quick Eats – Venice Ramen

Sep30

Location: 515 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292. (310) 448-8886

Date: August 14, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese Ramen

Rating: Decent, if slightly unusual ramen

I’ve been biking by this tiny little (relatively new) ramen place on Washington for a year and finally got a chance to try it.

It’s helmed by Hideki Mochizuki a veteran Tokyo ramen guy.

Tiny 15ish person place with a very specific ramen style.

Regular house tonkotsu ramen. The noodles are the very thin Tokyo style. The egg, while marinated, was totally overdone. Other garnish is just green onion. The chasu is ok, but a little tough and not super strong in flavor. The broth was kinda weird, although I liked it. Lots of vinegar. Not as rich as a Tsujita and not super strong on the pork flavor — don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a light soup, but it’s a bit different.

Tsukemen dipping noodle ramen. I prefer my noodles separate like this and usually you get a much more intense broth.

I’m not sure the Tsukemen broth was any different. It did come with nori though — haha. And there was some bamboo shoots in there.
The noodles were a soba noodle, which was a little different. Not bad, but definitely not super typical. It was okay. I only ate some of the noodles.

Overall, a nichey small Japanese style ramen joint. It just depends on what style of ramen you prefer. Maybe you love this one, maybe you love some other one.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Japanese cuisine, ramen, Venice, Venice Ramen

Rosé Rules

Sep28

Restaurant: Kali Dining [1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6, 7, 8]

Location: Beverly Hills

Date: August 11, 2017

Cuisine: New American

My Sauvages group returns to Jim’s gorgeous Beverly Hills backyard for its annual gather. Food is again by Chef Kevin Meehan of Kali Dining. The wine theme is all Rosé! Yeah, like 35+ bottles of Rosé from around the world.

The setting is lovely enough, and the company always great!

Kirk went all out arranging and drummed up a tremendous number of rosés of every conceivable type.

3 big buckets worth.

Good thing it was a hot summer afternoon.

Things start off with cheeses, olives, almonds etc. Food was all by Kali chef Kevin Meehan, who always does a fabulous job.

Hamachi crudo. Olive spread. Nice bright flavors.Black barely risotto. Black garlic, toasted cheese. A very nice whole grain with a creamy garlic herb vibe.Sea bass on fava beans and fresh tomatoes. Basically a Guazzetto.Hanger steak with potatoes and pesto.

Perfectly fresh watermelon.

The food was super tasty as always from Kevin, although perhaps I could have done with an extra course or two and a dessert, and maybe more cheese to sop up all that wine.

Trying to work through all that rosé we kept on hanging out and eventually our host opened this minor bottle:

1990 Château Margaux. VM 98. RP 100. Full ruby-red. Wonderfully perfumed nose combines redcurrant, plum, mocha, minerals and rose petal. Plush, fat and rich, with great sweetness and class. This has utterly compelling mouthfilling richness. Finishes smooth and endless, with great breadth. This wine showed fabulous potential from barrel, but this is the first truly outstanding bottle I’ve had. Drink 2005 through 2035.

I’m too lazy to write up ALL these rosés, but I did take pictures of each of them for the veritable record — in order too! And at the very bottle my sparse little notes on each.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Kali, Kali Dining, Kevin Meehan, lunch, Rose, Sauvages

Best Geoduck Ever

Sep27

Restaurant: World Seafood Restaurant [1, 2]

Location: 1412 S Garfield Ave. Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 282-3888

Date: August 13, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great Cantonese banquet

I last went to World Seafood almost 2 years ago (for dim sum) and being that Cantonese Restaurants are basically two in one (dim sum and dinner) I was psyched to try it with master orderer Tony Lao for dinner.

Typical big Cantonese house outside.
Inside a touch of new color encircles the giant Chinese-style banquet hall.

But tonight we had one of the private rooms — all the better.

There was a ton of wine, but I’m not cataloging it because I tragically had a weird camera malfunction and most of the photos are from Yarom’s phone — yes, these are not my photos, and so not as sharp — but they will do.

Boiled peanuts to start.

Fungus with chili oil. Super delicious and great texture.

The white boiled chicken feet. I never try these, too gelatinous.

Sautéed geoduck clam with snap peas and fungus.

And look, they individually plated it (like most of the dishes). Incredible. Tony gets that to happen fairly often but I’ve never had it with anyone else at the ordering helm. This was the best geoduck ever. Super tender, not over cooked, with a lovely chewy flavor.

Giant prawns. In a sort of sweet garlic sauce or something. Delicious too and you pretty much had to eat the shell.

Working the wine.

Fried geoduck. Like the best fried clams you’ve ever had. Seriously like New England clam strips. Fried with garlic.

Suckling pig. Excellent! Very tender and totally deboned.

Some of the extra (less attractive but just as tasty) meat came as a separate dish.

Some more something (more clam?) fried in the heavy egg yolk fry. I don’t love this salty rich type of batter.

Turtle soup. On request, even though it was summer, they served us up this delicious consommé of turtle.

I guess that is turtle meat.

Lettuce cups with chicken. Specially made with chicken on request. Might have had more flavor with pork, but the texture was excellent.

Individually plated again.

Special stuffed duck. Stuffed with rice and chestnuts and I don’t know what other goodies. Tasted very soft and delicious. A little like Budha’s chicken.

Special lamb chops. We almost didn’t get these but they were amazingly flavorful.

Close up, individually plated.

String beans and pork. Nice version of the dish.

Yin Yang fried rice. This is a great dish, although in this version the red porky side was a bit too sweet. The white side is shrimp.

In the bowl.

Walnut and black sesame mochi ball soup. Strange Chinese dessert.

John and I went out for some “coffee” — if you can call this boba cookies and cream ice blended coffee — more like a milk shake.

Overall, World Seafood served up some really excellent Chinese banquet fare, and service was fantastic. Individual plating! We had some different things and they were nearly all perfectly prepared. I love this kind of dinner.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, geoduck, SGV, World Seafood

Marugame Udon & Tempura

Sep25

Restaurant: Marugame

Location: 2029 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (424) 317-2222

Date: September 25 & 28 and October 26, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese Udon

Rating: Interesting format, good prices, not the highest quality

I do love udon, and while Sawtelle has about 6 bazillion ramen places there isn’t any great udon, so I was excited to see Marugame was part of a new rush of noodle places opening this fall.

It’s just a touch north of Tsujita and has a good sized patio and a big inside. I’m pretty sure it’s related to a Hawaiian chain which is called Marukame there — but in any case the main chain has 778 stores in Japan!!!

Less than a week in, there is still a 20 minute line at peak lunch time. The seats weren’t even close to full so mostly this is throughput and will settle out as the staff gets faster (hopefully).

Inside is attractive with a weird Japanese cafeteria style.

And mostly communal seating.

There are a lot of udon options, although they mostly amount to different broths. It looks like a lot of choices

First you chose your broth. They have a lot of staff, I counted at least 12. The noodles were more or less precooked, then heated for a few seconds in boiling water on order.

Next you add tempura (if you like). You can see it frying back there but it’s all sitting out cafeteria style under heat lamps.

Frying at work.

People slowly drift through the stations. Payment seemed to be a bottleneck.

They also have a few (very cheap) rice bowls at their own station after the tempura.

I was going to get one even though it would be too much food but the hotel pans of stuff didn’t look so hot, so I skipped it.

The minimalist drink area. They actually have a beer/wine license as they serve 1-2 Japanese beers and some odd canned sake!

After you pay using a Revel checkout, you can go to the condiment station and load up on sauces, plasticware and the like.

They have sloppy negi (green onion).

Sloppy ginger, wasabi, sauces.

Various tempura. Here are some of my tempura. The usual shrimp, sweet potato, a bit of overcooked chicken and some fish cake. The tempura was weak. It was luke warm at best, nothing like the awesome tempura at Hannosuke.

Curry udon. The udon was better. The noodles were good. The curry sauce was good but not great. A little bland and mostly just noodles and sauce. There was some sweet beef in it, but not a lot. The green onion and tempura bits added some decent texture. I’ll have to try the Nikutama next time (more or less the classic). The whole thing felt a little “sloppy” compared to the usual impeccable neatness of most Japanese food.

Nikutama udon. Kak sauce with sweet beef and soft boiled egg. This is an undecorated regular size. Not very much broth (which is a pretty good slightly sweet soy/dashi. The sweet beef is the totally typical Japanese style cheese-steak-like sliced fatty beef. The egg is an onsen-style egg. Broth is a little anemic (i.e. not enough of it).
With “decoration” (adds nice texture). This udon was better in relative terms than the curry. It’s pretty classic. Not amazing, but solid with it’s sweet/salty flavors and the nice bite to the noodles. If you skipped the tempura it wouldn’t even feel that heavy — but when you add a giant plate of fry like below :-)… The vegetable kakiage was pretty good, basically onions. Still no Hannosuke.

Tonkotsu. Pork broth with chashu pork, miso ground pork, garlic, seasoned egg and chili oil. Broth tasted like one of those typical packaged tonkotsu broths, not bad but a touch salty. Spicy level (from the oil) was considerable though and really brightened up the pure fat factor.

Mentai Cream. Cream sauce with mentai cod roe, crispy bacon, spinach and cheese.

I jazzed it up a bit. Very rich and heavy. Cheesy and tasty, but SO heavy and creamy. Kinda weird.

Overall, the price was very good IF you don’t get any tempura. I lot a large and a whole bunch of tempura and it was $16 all in with tip. The second time I went somehow even with a “regular” it was $17 — must have gotten more tempura. Most people would spend $8-10 but it would be too little food for a guy like me. The third time I got a regular, some tempura and a water and it was $20! The format is kinda interesting, but I don’t love the disposable plastic spoons and lousy napkins (splattered my shirt of course). Hard to eat a big soup with a tiny super-flimsy plastic regular soup spoon. And you have to clear your trays too. I go out because I’m lazy, I don’t need to clear. So it’s ALL the way fast casual like a fast food place with no service at all (they do wipe the tables, but that’s about it). It’s a cafeteria style zoo.

The tempura needed some real love though. It was still fried stuff, so okay, but this was very mediocre tempura. Half the pieces are cold and most are soggy. Like the kind of tempura you get at a buffet.

I had hoped for a really good artisanal udon bowl, instead there is just an okay cheap one with a long line — and I just don’t care about cheap. I know a lot of people do, but the difference between a $8 bowl of udon and a $20 bowl (most expensive udon I can imagine) is irrelevant to me. And furthermore, it’s easy to get Marugame up to $20 so it’s only cheap if you are minimalist.

Interestingly too, they generated a TON of Yelp reviews (mostly positive) in a very short time with some kind of Yelp Elite event. Hiss boo Yelp (my stint as a restauranteur did not leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling about the crowd sourced review mafia). WARNING: the below video is NSFW but is funny!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, Japanese cuisine, Marugame, tempura, udon

J&J – Crab XLB

Sep25

Restaurant: J&J Restaurant

Location: 301 W Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Date: August 9, 2017

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great crab XLB, but rest was just so-so

As part 3 of our mini lunch SGV parley we move onto mini-mall classic J&J.

It’s tucked at the back of the same minimal as Mian, Mei Long Village and Tasty Dining.

The typical pictorial menu.

SGV haunts fall into a couple categories. This is of the 10+ year old “ugly white drop ceiling older clientele variety.”

Crab XLB. This is why you come here. These were the best crab XLB I’ve had. Nice delicate wrappers and lots of solid crab flavor. This should not be confused with a categorical statement that they were better than the best PORK XLB I’ve had — just different beasts. I should have ordered the regular pork ones as the shells were great and so those might also be excellent — but we didn’t.

Crab Rice Cake. Crab in a sort of lightly curried sauce with the chewy Shanghai rice cakes. I liked the cakes and the sauce, but there was almost no accessible crab meat — unless you are a seal or some other animal natural equipped with shell crushing teeth.

Sweet and Sour Pork Chop. Not a bad version of this dish. Sticky soy-sugar sauce, little bits of bone, but very soft accessible meat.

Since this was just a couple dishes as part of a multi-restaurant crawl we only had a few things. The Crab XLB were great, the other two dishes just fine. They used MSG (I could feel it after). The atmosphere wasn’t exactly lively or updated. Service was pleasant.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, crab, dumplings, J&J, SGV, Shanghai, Shanghai Cuisine, XLB

Pasta makes me Felix

Sep22

Restaurant: Felix

Location: 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291. (424) 387-8622

Date: August 8 & September 10, 2017 and October 1 & 22, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Some of the best pasta I’ve had in LA

Felix is Latin for happy — and indeed, pasta makes me happy. Chef Evan Funke takes the whole pasta thing VERY seriously. Funke’s singular passion as a pasta maker and chef was solidified in Bologna, under the mentorship of Alessandra Spisni at La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese.

The space was formally occupied by LA classic, Joe’s.

There is still the cute bar area, which is mobbed. Felix is one of the hardest reservations to get in town right now.

The dining room doesn’t look too different. They built a giant temperature controlled pasta room though — maybe it was the wine cellar before, hard to remember.

I believe in doing it right, and this is “the plan” hatched by Emil and myself for our night’s eating. We broke things down into about 6 courses and are ordering 9 out of the 11 pastas!

The slightly different change on the second visit.

The 10/1/19 menu.

And the 10/22/19 menu. Surprisingly, they change up the specific pizza and pastas all the time.

Regular bread on request.

Emil brought: 2013 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne. BH 91-93. Reduction flattens the underlying fruit but there is fine freshness, intensity and detail to the muscular and concentrated big-bodied flavors that possess excellent depth on the stony, lingering and austere finish that is dry but not hard to aggressive. This will definitely require a few years of bottle age to become more civilized as it’s quite firm today.

SFINCIONE. Focaccia siciliana, sea salt & rosemary. A poofy bread. People rave about this, it was a nice bread, but I was more into the dishes that followed.

Burrata Pugliese. Adriatic figs, basil & balsamico, sette anni. A really nice little burrata, basil, and fig salad.

Burrata Pugliese (9/10/17). Heirloom tomatoes, basil & balsamico sette anni. The second time we came the burrata was tomato based.

Cicoria, honey dates, bagna cauda, capers, pine nuts & pecorino. Awesome salad. The dressing was very sharp and contrasted nicely with the salty cheese and the sweet dates.

TREVISO (10/22/19). salsa di acciughe, lemon, pangrattato & pecorino romano. Another nice salad. Less bitey than the one above.

Cavolfiori Fritti (9/10/17). Bagna cauda, capers, lemon, & bread crumbs. A very nice fried cauliflower, not unlike the classic Lebanese sort.

Fiori di Zucca. Squash blossoms & fior di latte. I would assume that in this case the fior di latte is ricotta or similar. Very nice fried squash blossoms.

Crudo di Gamberi. ridgeback prawns and umbrian black truffles. Nice. Salty. Truffle wasn’t that strong.

Polipo alle Brace. Grilled octopus, salmorligio & insalta di ceci. Very nicely cooked and tender octopus.

Cozze alla Marinara (9/10/17). Hope ranch mussels, garlic, peperocino, pomodoro & scarpetta. Great guazetto based sauce. Perfect with bread.

Polpette della maestra alessandra (9/10/17). Pork meatballs, salsa verde, & parmigiano reggiano. Slightly salty pork meatballs with a very nice pesto-like sauce.

Yarom and the manager.

Pougs brought: 1996 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares. VM 93+. Ruby-red. Intensely spicy aromas of blueberry, blackberry and licorice. Almost painfully sweet and powerful in the mouth, with a muscular backbone and compelling finishing flavors of sappy berries. A penetrating floral quality emerged with aeration. Really amazing fruit here, and quite explosive on the aftertaste. The ’97 Bonnes-Mares has even more structure and guts, claims Serge.

agavin: hard as nails even after being open awhile, needs 10 more years!

Viadante. Mortadella, ricotta & Sicilian pistachio. Really nice and quite different pizza — with Bologna

Pizza Funghi (9/10/17). Porcini, parmigiano, asiago, & mozzarella di bufala.

DIAVOLA Pomodoro, smoked for di latte & salame napoletano. Basically a spicy pepperoni pizza — delicious though! Crust is great here too.

Fichi e Prosciutto pizza (10/1/19). Late summer figs, prosciutto di parma, mozzarella di bufalo & robiola. A love prosciutto on pizza.

Quattro Pizza (10/22/19). Taleggio, mozzarella di bufalo, robiola & parmigiano reggiano. Nice and cheesy!

Erick brought: 1996 Domaine A.-F. Gros Richebourg. VM 96. Similar red-ruby color. Fabulous, noble aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, flowers, minerals and sappy oak. Juicy black fruit flavors of extraordinary intensity and sweetness. Uncanny inner-mouth perfume. The explosive finish builds and builds. One of the high points of the vintage.

agavin: drinking great

Gnocchetti Sardi. Guanciale, artichoke, & botarga. That salty/fish umami texture blended with the unctuous pork fat. Great chewy pasta.

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia. Sugo alla puttanesca. Squid ink pasta. Again texture was great. This was basically a guazzetto sauce (garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, seafood). It was good, but I liked some of the others better. It could maybe have used some more seafood, maybe even uni — but then it wouldn’t be traditional.

Spaghettone alla Norma. Eggplant, pomodorini, basil & ricotta salata. I would have thought this would be boring but it was actually very well balanced. Not fancy, really just a great spaghetti with pomodoro sauce (and eggplant).

Yarom brought: 1999 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. RP 99. The 250-case cuvee of 100% Merlot, the 1999 Redigaffi has an astonishing 36 grams per liter of dry extract, which exceeds most top Pomerols in a great vintage! Unfined and unfiltered, it is as close to perfection as a wine can get. The color is a deep saturated blue/purple. The powerful, pure nose offers smoke, licorice, black cherry, and blackberries. It boasts awesome concentration, a fabulously dense, viscous mid-section, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. This is riveting juice. Anticipated maturity: now-2015.

Trofie. Pesto Genovese & pecorino stagionato. This is an incredibly classic Ligurian dish. Check out the original, the only thing missing was the sliced potato and green beans. The Felix version was dead on and the trofie texture, perfect for the pesto, was fabulous.

Pisarei. Ragu di cutello & parmigiano reggiano. Amazing green larva-like chewy pasta, rice northern sausage, and a very complementary cheese. A super fabulous pasta.

Pappardelle. Ragu bolognese “vecchia scuola” & parmigiano reggiano 60 months. Classic, classic bolognese. Again perfect pasta and some really fabulous meaty ragu.

On our second visit (9/10/17) we got some additional pastas. One we missed the first time, the others were just changes on the menu.

Tonnarelli cacio e pepe (9/10/17 & 10/22/19). black pepper & pecorino fruili. cacio e pepe (cheese & pepper) is all the rage these days — funny how you never saw it until about 5-6 years ago. Very easy to make at home too if you get the right ingredients.

Chitarra (9/10/17). Ragu abruzzese & pecorino stagionato.

Busiate (9/10/17). Pesto trapanese & pecorino siciliano. Interesting corkscrews with a squash sauce.

Third visit (in October 2019) had these new pastas (and some repeats):

BUSIATI (10/1/19 & 10/22/19). pesto trapanese, pomodorini & pecorino siciliano. This had incredible bright tomato acidic flavors. Lots and lots of flavor and these thick rope-like pasta tendrils.

Tagliatelle (10/1/19). ragù bolognese“vecchia scuola” & parmigiano reggiano 24 mo. Different shaped pasta than it was a couple years ago. Good, but not my favorite.

MEZZE MANICHE ALLA GRICIA (10/1/19). guanciale, black pepper & pecorino romano DOP. A lot like a Carbonara, but maybe even porkier.

ORECCHIETTE (10/1/19 & 10/22/19). sausage sugo, spigarello, peperoncino & canestrato. Awesome bursts of flavor and really chewy have sphere pastas.

Fourth visit had yet more new pastas:

Special spinach and cheese stuffed pasta (10/22/19) with…

Expensive but delicious white truffles.

And cheese. Awesome, awesome dish.

STRANGOLAPRETI (10/22/19). heirloom spinach, ricotta & burro fuso e salvia. Really nice burnt butter balls.

Loads of flour.

Chef Evan Funke in his special pasta chamber.

Emil brought: 1989 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigna Giachini. VM 91. Corino’s 1989 Barolo Vigna Giachini offers up cedar, mushrooms and a host of mostly mature aromas and flavors on a delicate, elegant frame. The tannins remain a touch firm, but there doesn’t appear to be much upside in holding bottles too much longer.

agavin: young still, but reaching maturity. Great Barolo!

Mezze Maniche all Gricia. Guanciale, black pepper & pecorino romano DOP. Pork fat, pepper, pecorino, flavors much like a cacio e pepe (leaning heavier on the pork) or carbonara (minus the egg). Super chew pasty, bright fatty flavors. Very Roman.

Rigatoni All’Amatricina. Guanciale, pomodoro & peccorino romano DOP. Classic version of this dish with extremely al dente pasta tubs and an excellent salty pork cheek fat flavor to the sauce (as it should).

Orecchiette. Susage sugo, broccoli di cicco, peperoncini & provola. Great texture to the pasta, this one had a “sausage” and “bitter green” vibe. It was really bracing and surprisingly delicious.

From my cellar: 2000 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. VM 97. I have had mixed experiences with Bruno Giacosa’s 2000 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto, but this bottle, from a case I purchased on release, is absolutely stellar. Intensely sweet, floral aromas soar from the glass. Radiant, open-knit and super-expressive, the Riserva captures all the best qualities of the vintage. It has been a few years since I last tasted the 2000. In that time, the wine appears to have barely budged at all, which will come as welcome news to readers who own it. The 2000 Riserva doesn’t quite reach the heights of the truly epic Giacosa wines of the era, but it comes close, especially on this night. I can only hope that future bottles show this well.

agavin: I should have listened to my instincts. This was a fabulous wine, but I had brought 97 and 98 Gaja Barbaresco too and Yarom convinced me to open the red label. Even after 1.5 hours in the decanter this wasn’t even close to ready. Needs at least 10 more years.

Bistecca di Maiale. Peeds & Barnett Pork shoulder steak, nectarines and basil. Our lone “entree” was this salty bit of pork steak goodness. Paired nicely with the fruit and basil.

Bistecca di Maile (9/10/17). Peads & barnett pork shoulder steak, peaches & basil. Very slightly different.

Carre di agnello (9/10/17). rack of lamb, adriatic figs and mint. Great stuff.

Coppa di Maiale (10/1/19). Pork shoulder steak, porchini & sugo di arrogato. Interesting dish, and delicious.

Potatoes.

A berry tart. Good but the weakest of the 3 desserts.

Tiramisu. I’m usually disappointed by tiramisu given how good my own is, but this one was excellent, as good as I’ve had in recent memory.

Budino. Walnuts or pecans. This was good stuff. I love adult pudding.

Chocolate Tart, figs (10/1/19).

Chocolate Tart, cherries (10/22/19).

Amaretto Gelato (10/1/19 & 10/22/19). Delicate, and not as good as mine (Sweet Milk) but nice nonetheless.

Overall, this was a pair of fabulous meals. The manager and staff took great care of us, despite being amazingly crowded (even at 5:45 on a Thursday one time, similar time on a Sunday the other). And the food was just really really good. It’s very much a hybrid of the contemporary bright flavor rustic Italian that has been so successful at places like Sotto and Bestia and an ultra traditional top notch pasta execution. Each pasta dish had it’s own pasta, each was cooked perfectly al dente, and despite many of the sauces sharing a lot of ingredients (pork jowl, here’s looking at you), they each had strong individual flavors. Really, really great pasta and overall not a single dish that missed, varying from very good to amazing.

In October of 2019 I went twice again, with smaller family groups. A bit of a pain to get into, and extremely loud, but the service is great and while expensive the dishes are really punched up. Love the salads, pizzas, and pastas. The mains and desserts are good but just fine. But the pastas, while not totally Italian authentic, are incredibly GOOD. Very punchy high acidity flavors. Lots of chewy interesting pasta shapes.

Bravo!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Below are the 9/10/17 wines (the ones integrated above were from the 8/8/17 dinner).

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Evan Funke, felix, hedonists, Italian cuisine, pasta, Pizza, Wine

Noodling About – Mian

Sep20

Restaurant: Mian

Location: 301 W Valley Blvd #114, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Date: August 9, 2017 and January 27, 2019 and August 20, 2022

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Salty but good

Mian is the Szechuan noodle outpost from the people who run Chengdu Taste, which is one of the SGV’s original Szechuan places and pretty darn good.

It’s located in the minimall with Tasty Dining and Mei Long Village. And this fact led us to eat not one lunch but two, hitting up both Mian and J&J separated by a one hour bargain foot massage — all in the same minimall!

Mian has a superficial level of style — although if the entire build out cost more than $30,000 I’ll eat 5 bowls of noodles. Still, instead of the hideous white drop ceiling there is an ugly black drop ceiling.

Slightly fermented spicy cabbage adorn the table — like Szechuan kimchee.

And they serve sweet mung bean tea.

I’m not sure I’ve had this tea before, and boy is it ugly to look at, but it goes with the food.

The same Mao era canteen mug is home to this delicious egg custard with ground pork (8/17 and 1/27/19 and 8/20/22). One of those delicate fluffy egg custards covered in savory ground pork. Yum! I really enjoy the texture (and taste) of this kind of custard and with the pork was fabulous.

Zoom in on the custard.

Beef in chili sauce (1/27/19 and 8/20/22). Quite spicy, dry, and nice.

Sweet and sour pork wontons (earlier and 8/20/22). The sauce was that spicy/tangy Szechuan sauce I like, and the noodles and pork filling excellent, however the whole thing was a touch too salty.

All mixed up for better coverage.

Szechuan Cold Noodles (1/27/19 and 8/20/22).

You mix up the above cold noodles and eat. These were superlative. Nice noodle texture, good weight, and this scrumptious tangy chili sauce. Loved them. I adore when the acid balance is right and these really had it down. A bit of nuttiness, but not nearly as nutty or heavy as a dan dan — different, but great.

Extra side of minced pork to mix into the noodles.

Chengdu Zajiang noodles with fried egg and pork. This is the house specialty, with and without egg, with and without some kind of gut busting Chengdu bean.

Here it is mixed up. The noodles themselves were perfect and the meat was delicious. The overall effect was excellent. I think these are a top version of this particular noodle variety. I’m a little partial to great dan dan mien as that has a more complex nutty flavor, but I certainly wouldn’t kick these out of bed.

Overall, Mian has a very simple menu. There are 4 types of the same wontons, about 6 types fo the Zajiang noodles, and not too much else, so it’s pretty much a great spot for a tasty bowl of Chengdu noodles, not a whole Szechuan meal (you could go to Chengdu Taste or one of the many other great Szechuan places for that). The things they do make, however, are quite good.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Mian, noodles, SGV, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine

Persistent Providence

Sep18

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: August 7, 2017

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Awesome food

It’s been almost 3 years since I last went to one of LA’s few remaining “formal” restaurants and so the Foodie Club ended up back at Providence.

We chose the middle of their 3 fixed menus plus a couple of supplements. The supplements are pricey enough that it probably would have been cheaper to just go for the big tasting menu.

Providence mysteriously persists in a somewhat annoying corkage policy. They do have “no corkage monday”, which is nice, but it isn’t really no corkage, it’s “no corkage on 2 bottles but don’t bring any more.” We managed to bring a few more, but still they are sticklers with the limit. I don’t mind the corkage but hate the limits. Anyway, this wine was off their list:

NV Drappier Champagne Rosé Brut Nature Dosage Zero. BH 90. The color is paler than that of the regular brut rosé. A pretty and slightly more elegant nose features a similar aromatic profile but with more evident yeast character. There is fine intensity to the delicious and vibrant flavors that are supported by a firm and definitely finer mousse, all wrapped in a bone dry and youthfully austere finish where a hint of bitter cherry pit appears. This won’t be for everyone as the dryness is pronounced; I happen to like it but it would be fair to say that this is not a charmer. With that said, a few years of bottle age should serve to round off the austerity and add a bit of depth as well.

Amuse of spherized cocktail.

Crab bites in radish.

Gougeres stuffed with foie.

Skewers of tomatoes.

Will brought: 1990 Louis Latour Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Our bottle was very mature and subtle, but had a pleasant nutty character.

Chilled fruit “soup.”

Truffle foie bite. Best amuse, and an amazing (and rich) bite.

Fried “cigars.”

Tai snapper, daikon, ginger coriander. Very nice and bright.

Super normandy butter and salt.

I was trying to avoid the bread, but failed miserably.

Seb brought: 2005 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. VM 90. Good medium red. Dark raspberry, coffee and spicy oak on the nose; this wine’s flamboyant ripeness almost came as a shock following the more reticent 2006s. Big, round, plush and ripe, with spicy dark raspberry and chocolate flavors and considerable density for village wine. Quite smooth and harmonious at the moment: Roumier volunteered that this is not as closed yet as he expected it would be.

agavin: very nice, albeit young.

Supplement of uni egg. Good stuff, but tiny (for $22).

Abalone, grilled avocado, tortilla, dill. Tasted like guacamole with some extra chew. A waste of the abalone and very rich.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. BH 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

Santa barbara spot prawn, summer squash, tomato dashi, opal basil. Very light and tomatoey dish. There was a very thin tomato broth poured in here later.

Vermilion rockfish, cranberry beans, buttermilk, chanterelle. Light and buttery.

Dusty brought: 2010 Promontory Red Wine. VM 95+. The 2010 Promontory is rich, powerful and intense, with a core of inner sweetness that is compelling. Today the 2010 is quite exotic in its aromatics, but is less available and forthcoming on the palate. I would prefer to cellar it for a few more years.

agavin: not a bad giant cab, but not really the right kind of wine for Providence which is more white and soft reds.

Supplement of black truffle risotto.

Black truffles from Australia.

And properly topped. A nice risotto, but could have been more mind blowing for the price.

One of the 3 entree choices:

white sea bass. Brentwood corn, pancetta, garden greens.

Another light wine:

Larry brought: 2000 Harlan Estate. JK 96+. The 2000 Harlan Estate is in a beautiful place today. Soft, open-knit and nicely mellowed by age, the 2000 is absolutely gorgeous, with soft contours to match is engaging personality. Mocha, black cherries, leather and spice are all quite forward in this succulent Harlan Estate. The 2000 might not be a profound Harlan Estate, but it is a striking wine that is peaking today and that should continue to drink well for at least another few years.

Liberty farms duck, pluot, shiso, ume.

A5 Wagyu. Maris piper potato, black truffle bordelaise. Rich and tasty.

2015 Nabor. Dusty made this wine and it was bottled roughly a week earlier!

Intermezzo of watermelon, green tomato, tomatillo, basil. A tremendous palette cleanser. Granite textures, really excellent.

The black forests of Nice. Sour cherry, cherry ice cream. Okay, but a little discombobulated. I think a straight black forest cake would have been better.

Petite Fours of pate de fruits, chocolates, and macarons.

This was a great night and lots of fun. I was so full from the butter factor and the supplements that I couldn’t handle the cheese course. Sigh.

The food was very good, but the format is long and heavy, and they do use A LOT of butter. After growing used to the more rustic and less buttery more casual places that dominate LA these days Providence does feel a bit old school. I still like the tasting format, particularly in Europe at playful top places like Azurmendi.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Providence, Wine

Marino Ristorante

Sep15

Restaurant: Marino Ristorante [1, 2]

Location: 6001 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 466-8812

Date: August 2, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome. One of the best Italian meals I’ve had in LA

Restaurants in Los Angeles are constantly changing, opening, closing etc. One of the recent changes I miss the most was the shuttering of Il Grano — certainly West LA’s best Italian, particularly in the fancy/modern department. I really miss it – as it was one of my favorites and has 9 write ups on the blog (I think the most of any restaurant).
But the amazing chef/owner Sal Marino has relocated (back) to his original family haunt, venerable Marino Ristorante on Melrose and continues to cook up his unique blend of amazing modern Italian. And if anything, he’s gotten even better. Wednesday during summer is always tomato night, so tonight’s tasting menu is heavily tomato focused.

NV Jérôme Prévost Champagne La Closerie Extra Brut Les Beguines. VM 94. A more than worthy follow up to the spectacular 2009, the Jérôme Prévost’s NV (2010) Brut Nature Les Beguines, is stellar. Bright, clean and focused, the 2010 stands out for its delineation and energy. Some of the more slightly oxidative overtones that are often found in the Beguines are absent, at least today. Instead, the 2010 is all about mineral-infused cut. Both bottles I have tasted so far have been outstanding. Prévost describes 2010 as a very difficult year with significant disease pressure. I am not sure how he did it, but the 2010 Les Beguines is fabulous. Cellaring for another few years will only help, but the truth is that this is am impossible wine to resist today.

NV In Florescence Champagne Champagne Blanc de Noirs Brut. 90 points. Not a formula Champagne. Small medium quantity bubbles. High quality. Golden yellow color. Enjoyable with or without food. A bit pricey but special.

Tomato “sushi.” Slices of heirloom tomato on Italian rice.

1989 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. BH 88. The nose offers lovely complexity followed by precise, somewhat angular flavors that unfortunately lack mid-palate density. The finish is also distressingly short and while this could still use some time to resolve itself fully, the absence of sufficient sève does not bode well for significant future improvement. In sum, this is perfectly good but hardly special.

agavin: our bottle was great and very young

Tuna tartar with tomato powder.

From my cellar: 2012 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. VM 93+. Light orange-yellow. Forward but racy aromas of tangerine, ginger, white flowers, sweet spices and medicinal herbs on the complex nose. Rich and round, but with lovely acid lift and energy to the concentrated flavors of apricot, pear and botanical herbs. Finishes long and pure. Not the most concentrated young Trebbiano d’Abruzzo from Valentini, but has a rich, ripe seamless personality that is hard to resist. Good to go right now but ought to age for 15 years at least. Really lovely wine.

Yellow tomato gazpacho.

2006 Remoissenet Père et Fils Bâtard-Montrachet. BR 90. As a contrast to the Bienvenues, the Bâtard has deeper but much tighter aromas. In the mouth likewise, it’s hiding it’s complexity. If there is one area where this pulls rank, it is the intensity of the mid-plate, but overall this is showing in a very tight way so gives an ‘easy win’ to the Bienvenues for drinking today.

agavin: our bottle was premoxed

Red tomato gazpacho.

Tomato and scallop.

Tuna and tomato.

Yellowtail sashimi with, you guessed it, tomato!

1999 Maison Leroy Bourgogne. BH 85. An expressive and nicely complex nose that is now beginning to turn to secondary with earth and subtle spice nuances that complement rich, round and sweet flavors that offer good punch and while this will be capable of additional aging, it is essentially ready now despite the still moderately firm finishing tannins.

Apulian burrata and tomatoes.

1998 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Arvelets.

Pizza with fresh ricotta and tomatoes.

1996 Domaine Denis Bachelet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux Vieilles Vignes. BH 88. Old vines intensity shows beautifully elegant and pure Gevrey fruit mixed with intense earth notes which lead to very rich, delineated and exquisitely long flavors. This is not an especially big or concentrated wine but it is classic Bachelet in that it is perfectly balanced.

Fresh sardine, red peppers, and tomato.

Erick brought: 1983 Domaine Jean Gros Richebourg. 96 points. Very bright, no sign of rot, very powerful but not heavy, silky texture, great length. A wonderful complex Richebourg which could last for ages but drinks well now.

1993 Jean-Pierre Mugneret Echezeaux. 92 points. Medium red color – no bricking. PNP, drank 1 glass over an hour plus. This was the second time having the pleasure to drink this beauty in a short time. This bottle was just as good as the last IMO. Just great nose, so complex, earthy, funk, horse, so much forest floor here, rose, some metals, and deep red fruits. and spices The palate has great minerality, metals, savory, sauvage, spices, horse, deep red fruits, well integrated.

From my cellar: 2002 Gros Frère et Sœur Richebourg. VM 95. Medium red. Highly perfumed, ineffably complex aromas of strawberry, currant, bacon fat, cocoa powder, gunflint, coffee and smoked meat. Dense, sappy and wonderfully intense, with exhilarating flavors of smoked meat, spices, minerals and underbrush. Conveys a powerful impression of soil tones. Builds almost freakishly on the back end, finishing with a kick of spice and a flavor of pink peppercorn. A wonderfully suave, extremely long Richebourg that offers great early appeal but has the spine to develop in bottle for 10 or 15 years.

Tomato, pork, and rapini pasta on the left. Ravioli in a candy-shaped twist-shape on the right — fresh tomato sauce.

1994 Gaja Barbaresco. 91 points. brillant red color , red fruits and spices , after half hour also come the coffee and chocolate . On the palate is round with smooth but still perceptible tannins , it seem younger , great and vibrant acidity .

1998 Gaja Barbaresco. VM 91. Good deep medium red. Deeply pitched aromas of plum, mocha, licorice and dried flowers. Dense and chewy with extract; compelling, sweet flavors of currant and licorice. Tannins are sweeter than those of the ’99 Barbaresco. Finishes with a suggestion of nutty oak.

Swordfish with tomato puree.

From my cellar: 1982 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Riserva Granbussia. 95 points.

2000 Domenico Clerico Barolo Percristina. VM 90. The 2000 Barolo Percristina has held up well. It shows considerable freshness in its dark red fruit, leather, licorice and sweet spices. The French oak remains very much present. It’s hard to see the fruit lasting long enough for the oak to every truly integrate.

Octopus with squid ink and tomato.

1977 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. 94 points. The 1977 Montepulciano from Emidio Pepe is absolutely stunning and at its peak of brilliance at age thirty-seven, soaring from the glass in a magical aromatic blend of red and black cherries, wild fennel, botanicals, a touch of discreet tariness, roasted pigeon, a dollop of menthol and a topnote of woodsmoke. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and exquisitely balanced, with a rock solid core, still a bit of remaining, buried tannin, great interplay of bitter and sweet and stunning length and grip on the resolved and still very vibrant finish. A great wine that is absolutely à point today.

1983 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. 95 points. The 1983 and 1985 vintages from Emidio Pepe make great bookends, as both wines are fully mature and drinking at their peaks today. The ’85 is perhaps a touch more elegant, with the ’83 a shade deeper at the core and a bit more structured for the long haul. The stunning nose of the 1983 offers up scents of red berries, forest floor, botanicals, lovely spice tones, a fine base of soil, an autumnal touch of acorn, dried herbs and a topnote of spices meats. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and complex, with a fine core, tangy acids, beautiful balance and a very, very long, poised and classy finish that closes with excellent grip and bounce. Another absolutely classic vintage for the Pepe Montepulciano.

Wagyu beef with peppers and crushed tomato.

1961 Château Pape Clément. flawed.

1988 Château Rieussec. VM 90. Deep, oaky aromas of honey, coconut, vanilla and creme brulee Sweet and plump in the mouth; the flavors of coconut and tropical fruit are initially dominated by spicy oak notes. Finishes with slight heat (the alcohol is a relatively high 14.7%) but also excellent persistence of flavor. This showed more development of flavor as it opened in the glass.

Some gelati I made and brought from home: Cioccolato e Vaniglia Fiorentina “Old Fashioned” Gelati – a pair designed together with a shared double entendre. The vanilla is from a 500+ year old recipe, milk steeped with vanilla and orange peel. The chocolate is made with 100% Valrhona cacao and infused with Knob Creek bourbon and Angostura bitters.
The normal Marino menu looks great, but is certainly more classic than Sal’s special dinner fare like above. If you like adventurous modern Italian, I’d see if he can do a special tasting menu — likely he’ll be up for it. Or several people could put together something really interesting from the regular menu if they think outside the normal appetizer, entree, dessert box. But it’s with this kind of special dinner — and not to mention the great crew and our awesome wines — that Sal’s cooking really knocks your socks off. He is a nut for detail and ingredients. He grows tons of stuff at home — like over a 100 varieties of heirloom tomato — and really knows how to adapt and pair with wine.

Now I’m not normally a huge raw tomato fan, but I actually managed to eat and enjoy all these dishes which is a testament to how good Sal’s cooking is.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or experience my gluttonous month-long food trips through Italy.

Or more crazy Foodie Club meals.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Foodie Club, Gelato, Marino, Sal Marino, Wine

Dinner at the Palace

Sep13

Restaurant: The Palace [1, 2]

Location: 11701 Wilshire Blvd, Second Floor, Los Angeles, CA. 310-979-3377.

Date: July 18, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Best on the westside?

I’ve eaten dimsum lunch at the Palace dozens of times. It’s the only decent one west of Chinatown — and even Chinatown isn’t worth it, just go to the SGV for the best in the country. But somehow I’ve never had dinner here — until now!
This was a last minute casual dinner but we still had to bring some wine.

NV Jacquart Champagne Brut Mosaïque. 87 points. Fresh and crispy on the front of the palate but with good depth on the finish.

From my cellar: 2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Cote de Bouguerots. BH 94. A somewhat riper but more reticent nose features the barest hint of wood spice that marries well with the explosive green and yellow fruit aromas and fresh, full, powerful, beautifully delineated flavors underpinned by a driving minerality and stunning length. Given the superb balance and firm acid spine, this should age effortlessly for at least 15 years, perhaps longer. In sum, this is a strikingly elegant, classy and altogether refined effort with flat out marvelous complexity with buckets of classic Chablis character. A stunner of a wine.

From my cellar: 1999 Domaine Michel Noëllat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. BH 90-91. Extremely pure, fine, spicy and elegant black fruits with medium weight, silky flavors that display an exquisite velvety texture plus real breadth on the mid-palate. Like many 1999s, this is not particularly dense but there is enough material to permit another year or two or improvement. Serious, long and lovely with good persistence and truly excellent transparency of the underlying terroir. In fact, for those who are curious about exploring the characteristics of a classic Vosne, this would be a perfect choice. And for those who don’t want to wait, there is so much exuberant spice and fruit, pinot baby fat and sève that this can be enjoyed now. And perhaps most important, it’s rare to find any Burgundy that delivers this level of quality for $50 (I’ve seen this offered for $40) and thus it offers terrific value as well. Note that I have experienced some bottle variation with this wine with two recent examples seeming to be somewhat flat and disjointed yet another was exactly as described above.

Boiled peanuts.
The brought us out our lobster to show it off.

And they still had some dimsum available to order so we got a few like:

har gow. shrimp dumplings. Find, good not great har gow.

Another dumpling.
XLB. always yummy.

Shu Mai. shrimp and pork dumplings. A favorite of mine.

Shrimp and scallop dumpling. Good too.

Lobster causeway style. With the crunchy garlic bits. We had better CW style lobster a few days earlier at Top Island but this was certainly respectable.

Peking Duck. Also quite respectable. Buns instead of pancakes, and the meat had just a touch less flavor than at the best SGV places, but nice.

Extra duck meat.

Pork with garlic. The Szechuan dish. A little sweet but I enjoy this dish.

Sweet and pungent shrimp. One of my favorites of the night. Crispy with a sweet and sour sauce.

Garlic eggplant. Not as tasty as the true Szechuan version, but still good.

Fried rice with yummy goopy sauce. Having discovered this kind of dish last week I’m just so into it now!

Mango/passionfruit pudding. Best of the typical Chinese desserts.

Fortune cookies. Don’t usually get these in the SGV, but we are in Brentwood.
Even the overwrapped chairs are authentically Chinese. For Brentwood, The Palace is surprisingly legit. It’s not “great” by SGV standards but it absolutely blows the super Americanized broccoli and bell peppers in every dish places away!

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, The Palace

Gjusta – Economics of Labor

Sep11

Restaurant: Gjusta

Location: 320 Sunset Ave, Venice, CA 90291. (310) 314-0320

Date: July 17, 2017

Cuisine: American Deli

Rating: Good food, anoying format

A few minor reservations aside, I’ve loved Gjelina since it opened. It helped pioneer the wood communal table, paper menu, 21st century LA thing. And the food is very tasty. For some reason it took me a while to try Gjusta and I’m going to use this review as an opportunity to snark on even newer restaurant trends. IMHO most of these are driven by rising labor costs and Gjusta is working to optimize their business — but I believe it makes the overall experience far inferior.

Nothing wrong with the Gjusta shabby chic decor. It could use some parking (it’s got like zilch) but that is a Venice hazard.Inside is basically a deli.But not exactly with deli food. First time in the “system” was completely incomprehnsible. I had no idea what to do. Took 5 minutes to discover the old fashioned “take a number” machine.As a deli should, they have smoked fishes and the likes on their very baroque menu.Pizza like “flat breads” too — too bad I hate pizza that isn’t right out of the oven.There are a lot of stations. But none really serve to help you (the customer). It’s crowded and people are eating wherever they can. Counter, leaning against the wall, outside, patio. It was kinda odd.See. Doesn’t look like the most comfortable spot to eat does it? See any silverware? Napkins? god forbid a chair?The kitchen is large, however, and bustling.The patio playing at being attractive. It was very crowded and we had to camp tables, leaning over the previous guests to make them uncomfortable.This, of course, meant that we had to sit with their dirty dishes for 10 minutes until the table got bussed. Oh, and had to get our own silverware, and our own water, and all that. Who needs servers when you can do it all yourself?The menu.Ice Tea. Of course I had to go hover by the drink dispensary area inside (after setting my own table) to get this.Same with my cappuccino. But it was a good cappuccino at least!Some sour dough.An empanada. Fine, nice buttery crust, but it was still just an empanada. I did like the pickles though.Whole grain waffles. Would have been better less whole grain. Certainly onm the plain side.Falafel plate. The chef likes pickles. This is like all the ingredients — but where is the pita? How do you eat it?Smoked Brisket Banh Mi. Baguette, smoked brisket, pickled daikon-carrot-cucumber, cilantro, chili dressing, garlic aioli. Not bad. More pickles. I’ve had better Banh Mi, and it was $15.

Soapbox time:

The food at Gjusta is fine. I’ll have to go back and try some more items. It’s a weird menu, and not one I will necessarily drive 20 minutes for or struggle with parking for.

The problem is the experience. I wanted to sit with my people and talk and eat. Instead I had to find parking, wait in line to order, camp for a table, find the silverware, find the water, find and wait at the drink area. By then — 10 minutes later — the food had arrived and we ate it and left. Which is precisely the intended point, as I shall explain.

Gjusta undoubtedly pays some high rent (Abbot Kinney is a very pricey area these days). And they have a good number of employees – who are simultaneously underpaid for the work they do absolutely, probably relatively well compensated by Gjusta (who is reportedly a decent employer) compared to other restaurants, and way too expensive given the price of the food. But wait you say, don’t they charge $15 for a small sandwich? True. But it’s also a labor intensive operation (fairly artisanal) and the food isn’t absolutely pricey so the per person cover averages are probably in the teens ($15-20 maybe?). It’s not a booze driven format either to drive up revenues. It’s also designed to be crowded, after all being the 3rd joint by the Gjelina team. And the limited (and inconvenient) seating helps determine throughput.

If they had normal waiter service, not only would they need more employees, but the customers would seat, figure out what they want to order, wait for it to come, then eat, then wait for the check etc. Maybe 50% eating time. By selling at the counter people seat more or less when they have their food and because they have already paid are — laptop users aside — more likely to get up right away. Perhaps 80-90% eating time! More throughput. Plus, while Gjusta has bussers to bring the food out (but somehow not the drinks) and clear tables, they just don’t have waiters. Nor, at least when it’s busy, do bussers seem to set tables.

The customers do.

So the experience is very different. I can’t imagine coming here with more than 2 people. And even so, you have to spend a good chunk of your time “working” before you can relax and eat. And unlikely a more streamlined (and sometimes equally annoying straight up fast casual like the wretched Chipotle), it isn’t necessarily much faster than a casual sit down. Maybe a bit. Certainly if it wasn’t crowded. I could imagine coming here by myself or maybe with one co-worker or something like that. But sandwich prices are somewhere between $0 and $1 cheaper than Gjelina, so if I had the time, I’d just go there.

Hmmm. But it seems crowded. Maybe Millennials don’t mind. And/or maybe the restaurant has to do this to make real money. I tried fast table service with cheap food at Ramen Roll and the labor costs ate us alive and put us out of business. Go figure.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Deli, Gjusta, Venice

Sauvages 2 at Upstairs 2

Sep08

Restaurant: Upstairs 2 [1, 2, 3]

Location: 2311 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064 Tel. 310-231-0316

Date: July 14, 2017

Cuisine: Modern Tapas

Rating: Bright flavors and a lot of options.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Upstairs 2 is located just above the Wine House on Cotner. The main room serves an eclectic tapas menu, but as this was a special Sauvages du Vin lunch (always a lunch, always Friday) we gathered upstairs in the private room for a special menu and flights of themed wine. This time around Grand cru Red Burgundy from the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, vintages older than 2006.
The group gathers in the private room.

Starter white:

2012 Christophe et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu. 92 points. Just a beautiful mix of salt water and citrus elements in a light to medium weight wine. Not as heavy feeling and much more lively than some 2012s. Very, very nice. I continue to be impressed by the Christophe line up for its classicism and purity.

Flight 1:

1996 Jean Raphet et Fils Charmes-Chambertin. 95 points. Medium ruby red color with a subtle 5mm bricked margin. Slow-O for 2 hours before serving. Drank 1 glass over an hour. This really was everything I had hoped for. The combination of maturity, depth and elegance is hard to beat. Great nose with cherry, earth, dried forest floor, and spice notes. The palate is resonant, with sublime red fruits of berry and more subtle cherry here, well delineated, intense forest floor, lifted, great balancing acid, mushroom, mineral, and a burst of spice on the long finish. Everything is right where I want it to be. This is at peak now. I only wish I had more left….

1996 Frédéric Magnien Charmes-Chambertin.

1995 Claude Dugat Charmes-Chambertin. VM 94. Brilliant ruby color. Blueberry, violet, smoky oak and floral aromas convey an almost syrupy sweetness. Dense and extremely concentrated; this shows an almost painful intensity today yet has no rough edges. Pure Pinot sap. Totally convincing grand cru. Builds and builds on the palate and aftertaste.

1996 Domaine Henri Perrot Charmes-Chambertin.

Grilled beef tenderloin skewers. Blue lake beans. Heirloom cherry tomatoes. Castelvetrano olives. Capers. This wasn’t the best dish at all. The salad was a bit limp and the beef tasted like “home beef” rather than restaurant beef.

Flight 2:

1996 Dominique Laurent Charmes-Chambertin. VM 92-95. Very good deep red-ruby color. Highly perfumed game, coffee and rose petal aromas; this to me is far more typical of Charmes terroir than the serie rare example from Mazoyeres. Terrific intensity in the mouth; supple, stony, powerfully structured. Again, one senses the soil behind the grapes. Fabulous authoritative finish. This will be a real vin de garde for the vintage.

1999 Dominique Laurent Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. VM 94-97. Deep ruby-red. Noble, wonderfully complex, slightly liqueur-like aromas of framboise, cranberry, blueberry, rose petal and violet. Liqueur-like fruit and velvety texture on the palate; already shows compelling inner-mouth perfume. Like an essence of pinot noir, confectionery but not at all heavy. The longest of Laurent ’99s to this point. Finishes with great verve and grip. “Like the ’96, except that the ’96 was more closed at a similar stage,” notes Laurent.

From my cellar: 1998 Dominique Laurent Mazis-Chambertin. 95 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.

Pappardelle pasta, wild mushroom ragu, roasted garlic & thyme cream sauce. This was the best of the dishes. Didn’t look like much, but a nice rich pasta.

Flight 3:

2002 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques. BH 91-94. This resembles the 1er but this is a complete wine, combining power, concentration and stunningly elegant aromas and flavors into a harmonious whole. The acidity is higher as is the sense of minerality yet this retains a velvety, indeed silky quality to the round, fresh, focused flavors. This is indisputably of grand cru quality with complexity to burn. A great effort.

2001 Camille Giroud Chambertin. BH 92-95. As with the Malconsorts and Romanée St. Vivant, there is another dimension here and the complexity is nothing short of staggering and I use this word advisedly as it was frankly difficult to believe that so much nuance and depth could be crammed into the nose of an as yet unfinished wine. Very ripe, pure, blackberry fruit nose leads to massive, hugely forceful, vigorous, solidly structured flavors that epitomize what the finest Burgundies seem to do, e.g. manage to deliver power without weight and the finish here goes on and on for minutes. This should really be something to see when it attains its majority and I would not be at all surprised if my score is ultimately found to be conservative.

2002 Hubert Lignier Charmes-Chambertin. BH 91. A wonderfully exuberant, expressive and generous nose of ripe, earth and elegant red pinot fruit aromas blend into sizeable, rich, intense and palate staining flavors that are both energetic and opulent. This is quite powerful but retains an elegance and subtle reserve that is most appealing, especially on the long, exacting, classy finish. If there is a nit, it’s that this is more about pure pinot fruit than profound complexity but to be clear, this is nonetheless a beautiful and altogether elegant wine.

2002 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes. BH 95. A heavily toasted nose with spice, wood and tar nuances frames ripe but fresh black pinot fruit and cassis aromas that also display an extraordinary panoply of secondary nuances, including earth, underbrush, leather, soy and spice. The powerful, rich and utterly delicious big-bodied and very concentrated flavors coat and stain the palate and completely buffer the now softening tannic spine on the superbly long finish. In short, this is flat out incredible juice and while it’s clearly quite oaky, the wood somehow works quite well with the wine even though it’s far from invisible. As to drinkability, I would probably opt to hold the ’02 Charmes for a few more years but it could easily be drunk now with pleasure.

Spice Rubbed Pork Belly. Sauteed Baby Spinach. Creamy Polenta. Red Wine demi. Nice course. Like a rich slab of sorta bacon.

Flight 4:

2005 Dupont-Tisserandot Mazis-Chambertin. BH 95. A background touch of wood spice surrounds red, violet, animale and earth tones that are more complex still and this depth continues on the earth-inflected, sappy and moderately concentrated but gorgeously balanced flavors that possess real character and excellent power on the impressively long finish. This has both style and personality and it is very Mazis in both style and character plus it will age for decades. A classic Mazis in the making.

2005 Lucien Le Moine Mazis-Chambertin. BH 94-96. An explosive nose of red berry pinot fruit of fantastic breadth and depth features the ripe and classic sauvage and animale character that continues onto the wonderfully intense, driving and energetic big-bodied flavors that retain a beautiful sense of delineation on the layered, sweet and mouth coating finish. This is a big but balanced wine that carries the weight and power with effortless grace.

2003 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. BH 91-94. The incredibly rich, powerful and complex flavors are introduced by classy, pure, spicy and ripe aromas of dark pinot fruit notes and obvious earth nuances all framed by an interesting hint of sandalwood. There are buckets of pinot sap that coat and stain the palate and all but completely hide the very firm tannins that presently dominate the finish yet already seem perfectly integrated. The acidity is on the low side the explosiveness of the finish is more than just impressive, it has the ‘wow’ factor and this should age for two decades or more.

Grilled New Zealand Lamb Chops. Roasted Fennel & Potatoes. Natural au jus. Not bad chops.

The cryptic notes.

Our chef!

Because there was no dessert — or even cheese — I brought a pair of gelati. On the bottom is my pistachio with nuts from Bronte Sicily. On the top is coconut sorbetto (coconuts from Thai land) with home-made coconut caramel!

Overall Upstairs 2 did a solid job with this lunch. Wine service was good and the food was good, but not as good as last time we came (that salad was just so-so). Wines were awesome and a lot of great showings from Gevrey, particularly the 90s wines. Sauvages is always a great time.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Burgundy, BYOG, Gelato, Red Burgundy, Sauvages, Upstairs 2, Wine

Quick Eats – Summer Buffalo

Sep06

Restaurant: Summer Buffalo

Location: 7275 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046. (323) 938-8808

Date: July 11, 2017

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: My one dish was good

I found this at random searching Yelp for lunch spots between appointments.

Funny name for a Thai place.

Cute and tiny.

But they have more hood than Ramen Roll did. sigh.

Thai iced tea. Mason jar trend!

Khao Soi. Chicken Curry Noodle. Northern Thai Yellow Curry, egg noodle, chicken. I prefer the red curry version of this dish, but this was still delicious — I do love coconut milk based curries. I still want to make a curry gelato.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, Summer Buffalo, Thai cuisine

Hamasaku Lunch

Sep04

Restaurant: Hamasaku

Location: 11043 California Route 2, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 479-7636

Date: July 10, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: good but not great sushi

Larry and I met up for our regular lunch at one of my OLD (I mean 2006 haunts):

Hamasaku. Founded originally by Mike Ovitz, I used to eat here with my partners in the early Flektor days. It was fairly innovative at the time, if slightly over-emphasizing the “rolls” (never been a roll fan, preferring nigiri).

The current menu. We got the lunch Omakase which is much cheaper and shorter than it was back in 2006.

6pcs of sashimi. Well, if you consider a sliver of octopus a piece. It was good quality fish though, with some yellowtail and toro too.

Mizuma salad. This had bits of fish cake in there too. I wasn’t a huge fan of the green texture, tickled my throat.

Monkfish karage. I like a crunchier tempura fry than this more “deep fry.” The fish was good, but the overall effect was a touch heavy.

Miso soup.

8pcs nigiri. I don’t love when nigiri comes out on a plate all at once like this. There are a lot of the whitefish in here, hard to identify after the fact. It was solid but nothing amazing.

Faroe Island Salmon and Toro sushi. These were better, quite nice actually. But they were special orders not part of the omakase.

Fox hand roll. Snow crab legs, dynamite sauce, tempura crunch. Just the sort of warm “new style roll” I was talking about at the start — tasty enough though.

Mochi ice cream. Coffee and cookies?

Overall, I remember Hamasaku as better and more innovative than I found today, although this was certainly a decent lunch and pretty decent value as sushi goes. It’s not bad at all, but there are more to my taste (i.e. either more modernist or more traditionalist) places in town. This is sort of a lonely middle-ground sushi, somewhere in the center of the quadrant of innovative, traditional, trendy (like Nobu), and populist (rolls) — drawing from each corner, but not really belonging to any.

Amusingly, two of my former Ramen Roll employees are working here now — and it’s nice to see they have good gigs (it’s certainly upscale from RnR).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: hamusaku, Japanese cuisine, Sushi

Eating NY – Ikaedama

Sep02

Restaurant: Ikaedama

Location: Newark Airport

Date: July 7, 2017

Cuisine: Ramen

Rating: interesting format, ick ramen

On our way home from New York we stopped in the Newark terminal to grab some food before being locked into the United snack box scene.

The terminal food area was so glitzy and new looking with “bar” everywhere that I had to give it a try. They even had ramen!

And they seem to have spent a massive amount of money on an ipad based system at EVERY SEAT everywhere in the terminal. It’s very integrated with flight status, ticket scanning, games, point systems, ordering AND paying on the pad. Very very slick and the wave of the future.

My cappuccino came smoothly.

Check out the on-screen ordering. But the ramen took forever (20+ minutes) — even though I was the only one there.

Pork Tonkotsu Ramen. It doesn’t look too bad, although too translucent for tonkotsu. But it didn’t taste like much, just salt water — not like tonkotsu at all. And the meat was essentially pulled pork. Never had that in ramen but I’m sure it has some precedent. Noodles were thin but fine. Menma had icky canned flavor. I ended up eating most of the contents and leaving all of the broth (which was so not worth it). Totally mediocre in every way.

Had to redeem the place by walking across the food court and getting a hazelnut chocolate donut (which was excellent).

I guess the glitzy buildout and fancy ipad scheme can’t stop an airport restaurant from sucking. Why is it that paying a high rent to be in a captive space (be it airports, sports arenas etc) is a recipe for instant mediocrity?

For more New York dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating_new_york, Ikaedama, New York, Newark Airport, ramen

Eating NY – PizzArte

Sep01

Restaurant: PizzArte

Location: 69 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019. (212) 247-3936

Date: July 6, 2017 & November 30, 2019

Cuisine: Neo-Neapolitan pizza

Rating: Tasty!

Alex and I had an opportunity to go out to dinner by ourselves in New York — then 2.5 years later he and my wife and I returned…

…so of course we chose pizza.

The menu.

Olives to start.

Bread.

A glass of Aglianico.

Prosciutto e Burrata. 24 Month Aged Prosciutto Di Parma, Burrata Cheese, Castelvetrano Olives, Grilled Country Bread Bruschetta.

Spinaci. Spinach, beets, goat cheese, mango, pistachio nuts.

Polpettine Passi e Pinoli. Home-style Neapolitan meatballs, Italian pine nuts, raisins, broccoli rabe.

Simple pasta for the boy in 2019.

Margherita pizza. San Marzano Tomatoes, Mozzarella, Basil (Alex declined the basil as usual).

Ragu Napoletano. Smoked Buffalo Mozzarella, Traditional Neapolitan Veal And Pork Ragú. Not a traditional topping, but it did make for a delicious pizza.

Cavofiore e Tartufo. Roasted cauliflower, mozzarella, sausage, black truffle sauce. Interesting, but a bit weird.

The dessert menu.

Chocolate and Vanilla gelato.

Amalfi Coast-Delizia al Limone. Lemon and cream sponge cake.

I LOVE this traditional (circa 1900) Sorento dessert. Traditionally, it’s a dome-shaped lemon sponge cake with limoncello cream and has an amazing Sorento Lemon flavor. You can see one at the source here.

Clearly Alex hated the gelato.

He looks older but not too different 2.5 years later!

In 2019, as we were rushing off to see Hamilton I felt the extreme need for speed (aka caffeine) in the form of this macchiato.

PizzArte didn’t disappoint. For whatever reason it was much more satisfying than Marta a couple days before and Alex and I enjoyed our meal immensely. Our server was friendly and delightful and the food was straight up and delicious.

For more New York dining reviews click here.