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Archive for June 2018

GuYi — Szechuan in Brentwood?

Jun29

Location:11677 San Vicente Blvd suite 315, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (424) 293-0988

Date: May 24, 27 & June 18 & December 10, 2018 and May 2, 2019

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Amazing for the neighborhood

I was stunned when I learned from a friend (Sklar) that they had opened a Szechuan place in Brentwood!

Yeah, Brentwood.

And not just Brentwood on Wilshire or something, but in Brentwood Gardens, least ethnic mini-mall in Los Angeles! I mean this place is gentrified to the hilt. It still features CPK.

In fact, GuYi is right on top of CPK and looks like… well a newish SGV place with a view.

I ignored these boring white bread lunch specials. Forget about ’em!

The usual large menu, featuring Szechuan and Northern dishes — but oddly very few noodles.

They have some bottled smoked plum juice. It tastes like it always does. Maybe it’s always bottled. I don’t think they have a liquor license.

Boiled dumplings with pork and cabbage. They were light and delicate, tasted mostly like cabbage, but were actually rather excellent.

Clear noodle with sauce (spicy). I didn’t expect this dish, although I’ve had it before and this was a decent version. More vegetable (cucumber?) than noodle. And it’s the pappardelle-like rice noodles. Strong mustard flavor as it should have, but I was alone and it’s hard to eat a whole bowl of these oneself.

Bean Jelly in Szechuan Chili Sauce. Got these twice. I love them in general, and I loved them here. Nice jelly texture and great tangy/spicy sauce.

Cold Beef with chili oil. Really excellent (and spicy / tangy) version of this dish. Lots of cilantro to balance it out. There was quite a bit of tendon in here too — which I find rather excellent due to its nice mouth feel (but I’m “adopted” Chinese).

Griddle cooked chicken (w/ bone) and mixed vegetables. What I often call dry hot pot. Very nice flavor. The celery and potatoes soaked up the chili. Chicken tasted really good, but did have all those bones (authentic style).

Popcorn chicken (sometimes known as Szechuan fried chicken with chilies). A nice rendition of this dish, a touch sweet with a fairly thick fry, but no bones and very tasty.

Fried Sweet and Sour “Squirrel” Fish. The squirrel refers to how it looks, all fried and fluffed up like that. Nice fish.

GuYi Sautéed sliced pork. Almost bacon with green and red peppers. This was REALLY good. Very spicy too with a longer burning heat from the green peppers. Like super spicy tasty bacon!

Boiled fish slices in hot sauce. A solid rendition of the classic Szechuan dish. Not enough mala (numbing Szechuan peppercorn) for my taste though.

Boiled beef with tofu pudding. You can get the fish this way too. Similar sauce, with beef and lots of tofu. Sometimes at Szechuan places you get it with beef, tofu, AND fish. I liked this one slightly better than the fish, but both were very good. Nice strong flavor. Maybe a touch salty.

Kung Pao Shrimp (12/101/18). Very nice Kung Pao sauce with that tangy/sweet/spicy blend. Not enough shrimp, but the ones that were there were great.

MaPo tofu (pocked marked old lady face tofu). An ok version of this dish, but not great. Some heat, but no numbing, not too much pork. Needed more depth of flavor.

Overall, I’m blown away that this is in a mainstream Brentwood mall. Hard to imagine most white Brentwoodians eating here, and if they did they’d just have the boring lunch special or American stuff. But service was very nice (if sometimes a touch slow) and it is very tasty. It needs more mala (numbing) and a slightly more tuned up Szechuan flavor balance, but great to have so close!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brentwood, Chinese cuisine, Gu Yi, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan Chinese

n10 with the Gang

Jun27

Restaurant: n10 restaurant

Location:8436 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA, CA 90048. (310) 924-2011

Date: May 21, 2018

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great pastas and hospitality

I’ve been doing a lot of Foodie Club dinners the last couple of months because they have the best overall balance between food, wine, company etc and are smaller and more intimate.

Larry has been friends for a while with the owner of the brand new n10 and so he set this one up.

It’s a new Italian place on 3rd Street, right next to the now defunct/moved Gusto. They have a large (and nice) patio.

The interior is big too with a top notch build out. At first we had the private room but an uppity chick coming for her birthday dinner threw a tantrum on the owner and we moved out to the patio — which was in many ways nicer because it was quiet and we had it all to ourselves.

The menu.

And an insert.

Erick brought: 1996 Bruno Paillard Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 94. The 1996 Brut Blanc de Blancs is a rich, explosive wine that bursts onto the palate with a blast of ripe fruit. Generous notes of toasted oak, flowers and nuts follow, but everything is woven together in a fabric of unsual brilliance. The oak remains quite prominent and borderline intrusive but stylistically everything works. The wine comes together in the glass, where it also gains additional weight and fills out nicely. This is a powerful, heady and totally opulent Champagne that calls for food. In the right context it is sure to be extraordinary. At the risk of offending the Champenoise, the 1996 Brut Blanc de Blancs seems to scream for a poached egg generously topped with white Alba truffles!

CHARCUTERIE. Prosciutto di Parma aged 24 months / prosciutto Toscano aged 20 months / finocchiona salami / speck /
nduja / bresaola / mortadella / spicy coppa / chicken liver pate / served with gnocco fritto.

Puffy Emilia-Romagna style breads.

Another view with the wine bucket.

And a different bread type, plus Grissini.

Seb is obsessed with this wine: 2014 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. VM 94+. Bright, pale yellow. Lovely perfumed lift to the aromas and flavors of lemon zest, grapefruit and white flowers. Tactile and dense but very closed on the palate, combining a sexy sweetness for the year with powerful salinity and superb depth. Most impressive today on the energetic, slowly mounting, palate-staining finish, which leaves the retronasal passage quivering. Premier cru Chablis from the region’s left bank does not get much better than this.

TUNA TARTARE. capers, agrumato, espelette pepper, preserved lemon.

CARNE CRUDA. grass fed beef, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, cured egg yolk. Very nice tartar with the cured egg yolk.

And bread for both tartars.

BURRATA. pea sprouts, fennel, preserved lemon, olio verde. Imported from Italy.

From my cellar: 2007 Venica & Venica Malvasia Collio. Great northern Italian white.

PIZZA TARTUFATA. burrata, squash blossoms, black truffle. Nice pizza.

Now we get into my favorites, the pastas:

PACCHERI. Maine lobster, crustacean broth, stracciatella, pomodorini, basil pesto.

SPAGHETTI CHITARRA. Sea urchin, grey mullet, botarga, lemon zest. Another great one.

From my cellar: 1997 Gaja Barbaresco. 95 points. Good full ruby-red. Superripe aromas of black raspberry, coffee, mint and oak, plus an exotic smoky note of torrefaction. Less complex than the ’98 but very concentrated, with surprising acidity giving the wine lovely vinosity. Strong note of dark chocolate in the mouth. Finishes long and juicy, with building tannins.

BOMBOLOTTI SUGO TOSCANO. tomato, guanciale, soffritto onions, dry aged pecorino. First rate with a great bite and nice porky flavor.

RISOTTO. porcini, zucchini, red wine braised chicken oysters. Interesting.

GNOCCHI NORCINA. Sausage, porcini mushrooms, black truffle. I love Norcina and this was a fairly faithful version.

2000 Château Montrose. VM 94. Full red-ruby. Roasted, smoky aromas of blackberry, blueberry and licorice. Plush, dense and large-scaled; expands impressively in the mouth. Chocolatey-ripe but kept fresh by nicely integrated acidity. Offers lovely sweetness without going over the top. Finishes with big, dusty, horizontal tannins and lovely aromatic persistence. Offers extraordinary texture and depth of flavor for a wine with just 12.8% alcohol.

BONE-IN RIBEYE. cipolini onions, red wine sauce, rosemary roasted potatoes.

Larry brought a Mollydooker Shiraz Velvet Glove but I forgot to get a photo of the year!

COSTOLETTE D’AGNELLO. Australian lamb chops, shishito peppers, marinated cabbage, aged balsamic.

RAPINI. garlic, olive oil, chili. Like a Chinese green (almost).

CARCIOFI. roasted artichokes, guanciale, Calabrian chili. These were nice.

Our very generous host brought this Barolo out for us on the house! 1999 Gomba Boschetti Barolo Sori Boschetti

Here is the owner with Larry. Next we go into dessert overload!

SEMIFREDDO. dark, milk and white chocolate, amaretti cookies, blackberries. I love semifreddo.

With the chocolate sauce.

CREPE CAKE. poppy seeds, pastry cream, strawberries.

TIRAMISU. lady fingers, espresso, mascarpone mousse. This was a good “real” tiramisu — not as good as mine, of course, but good.

I can’t remember exactly what this was, but coconut I think.

Some nice gelatti, not made in house though, and not nearly as good as mine, but still solid.

Pistachio Gelato. A bit mild, but nice texture.

Caramel Gelato.

Chocolate Gelato.

Stracciatella Gelato.

Raspberry Sorbetto.

Oh, and some Sassicaia grappa to finish — took a couple layers off my gut! Not really a grappa fan.

But this was a great night and a lot of fun. Really good food, particularly the pastas, apps, pizzas and desserts (I rarely love the mains at Italian) and amazing service and hospitality!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, Italian cuisine, N10, pasta, West Hollywood, Wine

Fake Chard at Grand Harbor

Jun25

Restaurant: Grand Harbor [1, 2]

Location: 5733 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 280-2998

Date: May 20, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Solid B+ dim sum and Cantonese treats

It has become traditional for the Dirty Dozen (our blind tasting group within a group) to do white wine lunches over dim sum — which is by far my preference given some alternatives because despite the timing problems with wine tasting and Chinese Food, I just always love good Chinese food. And so one year exact to the day after our last visit to Grand Harbor we return.

The wine theme today was New World Whites — ick.

Grand Harbor is a relatively new Hong Kong place in Temple City from Jackie Zhou.

The dining room is huge and opulent in that chintzy Chinese way. I would have thought from all the overzealous cove lighting that the space was built out in the 80s, but apparently it’s only a year or two old!

Real marble blends non-so-seemlessly with faux-alabaster. They have wine too like many of the new high end places. Mostly big young red wine like Bordeaux which totally fails to pair with Cantonese Chinese, but it’s the thought that counts.

XO sauce on the table to start, which is a nice touch.

This time we had a private room — much better. Today was a small crew too, only 7 of us, probably because of the lame New World White theme.

From my cellar: NV Ruinart Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 92. Light yellow-gold. Smoky citrus and orchard fruits on the deeply perfumed, mineral-tinged nose. Offers broad, toasty orange and pear skin flavors with an undercurrent of dusty minerals. Picks up floral and ginger nuances with air, along with hints of iodine and tarragon. Rich yet lively blanc de blancs with powerful back-end lift and finishing grip.

agavin: my favorite wine of the day. lol. and it wasn’t even part of the official set.

Marinated cucumbers. Very good, nice crunch and a bit of heat. These were so good we ordered them again.

From my cellar: 2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault. JG 90. All of the vineyard plots for this new villages bottling hail from the former Domaine Emmanuel, with the lion’s share having been the old Clos de la Baronne bottling. This is a very deep and classy AC bottling and a welcome new addition to the Roulot lineup, wafting from the glass in a blend of apple, tangerine, nutskin, a very pretty base of soil and just a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite classic, with a very pretty blend of soil and pure fruit, nice framing acids and very fine length and grip on the open and classy finish. This is not a particularly minerally example of Meursault, but it has all the charm and early generosity one would like to see in a villages bottling, and this will delight right from the start, but I would be inclined to give it at least a year of bottle age to allow its secondary layers of complexity to emerge.

agavin: Jen allowed me to slip in a ringer because I hate new world whites (and barely have any) and because I had the theory that even a village Roulot would blow them away. Unfortunately, the bottle was mildly corked and therefore very short on fruit. Even so it came in #4 (middle of the pack) despite being corked. Sigh.

Brian brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard. VM 95+. The 2013 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard is one of the most tightly wound wines in this range. White pepper, crushed rocks, smoke, mint and lemon peel gradually open up, but only with great reluctance. Today, it is the wine’s energy and tension that stand out above all else. A vivid, mineral-drenched finish rounds things out in style.

agavin: the winning wine (Brian again taking the title). Today turned out to be an Aubert tasting.

Scallop & shrimp dumplings with dried roe. Nice dumpling with a bit of a different vibe.

Har gow. Crystal shrimp dumplings. Nice.

Chui Chow style dumplings.

Shu Mai. Shrimp and pork dumplings. Nice version of the classic.

Shanghai style XLB. solid little bags of goodness. These are the classic soup dumplings stuffed with pork and hot broth.

Yarom with the manager.

Larry brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay CIX Estate Vineyard. VM 96. The 2013 Chardonnay CIX Vineyard is another reticent wine, but there is plenty of depth, volume and raciness. With time in the glass, deeper, soil-inflected notes, graphite, chamomile and honey open up, adding considerable complexity and nuance. Bright, saline notes punctuate the finish. The CIX starts off slow, but then really accelerates with air.

agavin: ranked #2

Yarom brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons. VM 95. The 2013 Chardonnay Larry Hyde and Sons is gorgeous. Lemon curd, white flowers, white pepper and mint lift from the glass. Effortless, gracious and lifted in the glass, the 2013 impresses for its brightness and tension, but there is plenty of the trademark Aubert richness in the glass. The Hyde finishes with notable energy and subtlety.

agavin: ranked #5-6, oddly cloudy (storage in Yarom’s guest room?)

Jen slipped in: 2016 Kirkland Signature Chardonnay Signature Series Russian River Valley. Tasted like oak.

agavin: fortunately came in dead last, keeping the balance in the universe.

Crispy fried chicken cartilage. Always a favorite and really tasty.

Beef rolls. Good versions of this dish (which isn’t generally a favorite of mine). Not as heavy as some.

Pork inside a chewy fried skin. Excellent version with a good amount of meat and not too greasy.

Tofu in tangy sauce. Nice soft fried tofu with a delicious tangy, hot, sweet sauce.

Lightly fried dumping. Can’t remember the filling but they were good.

Golden batter pork buns. Spectacular with the sweet pork inside.

Shrimp rice noodle. Known in my household as “shrimp slime.”

Green onion rice noodle. I think, I can’t remember what was inside for sure.

2016 Ovid Experiment W3.6. 92 points. Light yellow. Fresh and vibrant nose. Multiple grapes, changes every year. Rhone varietals, and nicely put together. Interesting . As it warmed up the Roussanne seemed to be the emphasis.

agavin: I liked this slightly floral white.

Ron brought: 2002 Sine Qua Non Whisperin’ E. VM 94. a blend of 50% roussanne, 31% viognier and 19% chardonnay; 14. 9% alcohol. Pale-medium gold. Roasted, oaky aromas of peaty Islay scotch and smoke, with a strong mineral component. In the mouth, this offers a fascinating combination of a firm pear skin edge and lively acids on the one hand and superripe flavors of pineapple, peach nectar and honeysuckle on the other. The flavors suggest thickness but the wine’s phenolic edge keeps it brisk. Finishes very subtle, pliant and long, with excellent lift. A captivating, suave California white wine. I’d be more enthusiastic about Northern Rhone whites if they had the fruit of this one.

agavin: I don’t normally like white Rhones but I liked these two much better than the fake Chards

One of the managers really pushed these roast pigeons on us. I was skeptical, as I came for dim sum, but these were excellent birds. Juicy, with a lot of flavor and a nice crispy skin. We had two halves each and were VERY full.

Pork chops causeway style. Never had pork chops in this style, with the crispy garlic and some chilies, but it really worked.

Crispy pan fried noodles with egg and beef and cilantro. Really good, you could cut it almost like a pancake.

Pea tendrils with garlic. Excellent green.

House special fried rice. With the Chinese sausage. Yum.

“Pineapple” buns. Basically a custard inside.

I also brought a pair of Sweet Milk Gelati (that I made). Mexican Cinnamon Chocolate Gelato with optional house-made chili caramel (not shown).

and Pure Sicilian Sweet Almond Gelato with Scorza di Limone (candied lemon peel).

My bad notes.

The score card.

The lineup.

Overall, Grand Harbor had very solid dim sum, at the level just below Elite where a lot of good but not perfect places stand. I’d certainly happy to chow down on it again. They did seem to use a lot of MSG because I was HAMMERED by it about 45 minutes later. Non dim sum dishes were excellent and they have a VAST menu of them. Worth coming for an evening banquet.

This second meal we didn’t have nearly as many people and so didn’t get to try as many dishes unfortunately. What we had was very good but the previous time was epic.

Service here was fabulous. This time we had the private room and they really took care of us. They kept trying to bring us more stuff, all of which was delicious.

The smaller group was a lot of fun. More relaxed, less craziness, and it was a very enjoyable lunch. I wasn’t a big fan of the wines. Shame my Roulot was corked — as I preferred the Ruinart Champagne to all the official whites!

Overall, a super fun afternoon!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, BYOG, Chardonnay, Dim sum, dimsum, Dirty Dozen, Grand Harbor, hedonists, SGV, Wine. gelato

Had to Write it Up – Mr Chow

Jun22

Restaurant: Mr Chow

Location: 344 N Camden Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 278-9911

Date: May 19, 2018

Cuisine: American High End Chinese

Rating: Tasty, but bland and pricey

Mr Chow is an interesting place — and particularly for me, given my proclivities. It’s been open here in Beverly since 1978 (London in 1968!) and represents a mid-late 20th century attempt to bring international Chinese food to rich Westerners in an upscale format. I haven’t been in years, maybe 10+ years, and it will be interesting to see how it is after becoming much more knowledgeable about more authentic Chinese food.

Located on Camden in the heart of Beverly Hills, it’s still pretty darn crowded on a Saturday night.

The decor is dated but in perfect preservation.

Fairly elegant, if a little 70s-80s.

The menu.

Hot sauce.

Some noodles for my son. He didn’t really like them, just boiled noodles.

Gambei with goodies. Candied walnuts, crispy spinach?, fried lotus root. All carby, sweet, and tasty.

Vegetable lettuce cups. Basically chopped up vegetables with a light sauce.

The lettuce. These are all about the hoisin. Not sure they are particularly Chinese in any way (they seem far more Vietnamese), but they are associated with Asian restaurants. They may represent a staple of Mandarin places in Vietnam (with it’s heavy Southern Chinese influences).

Squid Ink Rice Noodles. Never seen these at a real Chinese place either, and the portion is small, and they weren’t the hottest, but they did taste pretty good in a lip staining kinda way.

Chicken Satay (Original Recipe). Definitely is. Not much like a Thai satay. Very sweet with this weird sweet mayo sauce. Not a huge fan myself.

Water dumplings. Basically very small standard “boiled” pork dumplings. Other than the price per gram, tasty enough.

Chicken Curry Puff. I like these flakey pastry puffs. The curry didn’t hurt either.

Drunken Fish. Filet poached in wine with mushrooms. Very nice Chinese white wine sauce. Incredibly soft and mild dish but very enjoyable as well.

Green Prawns. I think these are a slight Mr Chow variant on the Hángzhōu style prawns with green tea. These were sweeter, with less overt tea flavor, but tasty enough.

Ma Mignon. Tender and delicious (says the menu), since 1975. Also not very Chinese. Ok, but a little over cooked.

Mixed vegetables. Looks about like what it is.

Peking Duck. They carve it tableside.

The duck on the plate.

With the traditional scallions and cucumber.

And pancakes. I ate about 10 of these. Nothing at all wrong with them. Excellent duck.

They have a dessert cart with more or less Italian or French style tarts.
Mixed berry tarte. It was fine, a little dry.

The place was fairly packed, with the private room swinging with a very pretty, very blond Beverly Hills 16 year old celebrating her sweet 16. I don’t really get it, as it’s well over $100 a person and where “pretty good” about at the level of a very good Chinese American joint. The atmosphere is old school and interesting. Food doesn’t have the balance or zing of good real Chinese food. It’s extremely mild across the board. I don’t just mean in terms of spiciness, but flavors are soft and veering toward sweet. Some dishes are excellent in terms of taste, like the drunken fish, green shrimp, and duck — but all in the same soft modality.

Service was pretty good. It was LOUD though, like a more modern restaurant. Not really for me.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Mr Chows

Is Majordomo a Major Deal?

Jun20

Restaurant: Majordomo

Location: 1725 Naud St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (323) 545-4880

Date: May 16, 2018

Cuisine: Korean Fusion

Rating: Big dishes amazing

It’s with gigantic expectation that NY restaurateur David Chang opens his first LA outpost.

Looking on the map, I was pretty skeptical of the weird between Chinatown and Dodger’s Stadium location — a totally annoying spot for me to get to during traffic!

The area is extremely warehousey, much like the “Arts District” but even newer.

The have a sort of hipster city built down here out of old warehouses.

With lots of bespoke graffiti.

And Majordomo, of course.

Which has a pretty big enclosed and outside space.

As you can see.

Inside is one of those cavernous loud warehouse spaces.

High naked ceilings. Don’t come here when it’s raining! They also have the currently hip bathroom setup with the coed shared sinks exposed out in the main room. Not my thing. What if you want to clean up in private?

The menu.

As always, Fred wanted to go all out so this is our modest wine lineup for 4.

Fred brought: 2010 Coche-Dury Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères. VM 92+. Reticent, pure aromas of white peach, hazelnut and minerals. Densely packed and urgent but youthfully tight, showing outstanding intensity and energy for village wine. The resounding, palate-staining finish displays outstanding structure and life. From a tiny crop, this almost painfully young wine should benefit from seven or eight years in the cellar.

agavin: I never understand how the pro reviewers will give a wine like this, which just sings, a lower score than some random Chablis.

There is a Korean fusion amuse cart.

Serving pickles.

Kombu Cured Diver Scallop, Pink Lady apple dashi. Very sweet.
Bing is this Korean bread thing. Pretty much like a thick crepe or pita bread. They have various “toppings” you can get with the bing.

Benton’s reserve ham bing. Put the ham on the pita.

Eggs & Smoked Roe bing. This was pretty excellent. You mash it up a bit to get the roe, egg, chips etc on the bing. I put the ham on at the same time for max effect and it was very good.

Marinated Mushroom, pistachio, radish, pea tendrils. Awesome mushroom dish. Nice flavors and textures. Good fiber too.

Special Foodie Club guest Andrew enjoys his wine.

Erick brought: 1999 Château Latour Grand Vin. Parker 93-95. A terrific effort, this sexy, open-knit, opulent effort possesses plenty of tannin, but it is largely concealed by the wine’s wealth of fruit, high extraction level, and noticeable glycerin as well as unctuosity. Dense ruby/purple-colored, with a sweet, evolved nose of black fruits (cassis, leather, and blackberries), cedar, spice box, and liquid minerals, this powerful yet seamless Latour will be surprisingly accessible at an unusually young age. Long and full-bodied, with the acidity, tannin, alcohol, and wood all beautifully integrated, it will be at its finest between 2007-2030. A classic!

Andrew brought: 2003 Haut-Brion. Parker 95. Clearly the best wine made in the Haut-Brion stable in 2003 (the last vintage of the great Jean-Bernard Delmas as administrator), the 2003 Haut-Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc that hit 13% natural alcohol, which seemed high at the time, but given more recent vintages is modest. Dark ruby/plum in color, with no amber or orange at the edge, the wine exhibits an abundance of roasted herbs, hot rocks, black currants, plum, and balsamic notes. Quite rich, medium to full-bodied and more complete, with sweeter tannins than La Mission Haut-Brion, this full-bodied Haut-Brion has hit full maturity, where it should stay for at least a decade. Bravo!

If you go, you must order this even though it’s $190! Whole Plate Short Rib (4-6 people). Smoked bone-in APL-style ribs. Served with beef rice, shiso rice paper, ssämjang & condiments.

The huge chunk of Texas style cow comes out on the cart with the stuff.
They carve it up into various modalities.

The “thin sliced” mode, which was amazingly flavorful.

The fattier end cap slices which were to die for tender.

And the knaw on the bone for extra flavor bones.

And some of it goes back into the kitchen and emerges as beef fried rice — crazy good.

From my cellar: 1999 Gros Frère et Sœur Richebourg. 95 points. Bright, deep ruby-red. Complex nose melds violet, bitter chocolate, earth, meat and a hint of medicinal austerity. Dense, rich and thick; a wine of compelling richness and sweetness, but also solidly structured despite its accessibility today. Finishes with lush but firm tannins and exhilarating notes of cassis and violet. Lovely pinot noir.

We also pre ordered Boiled Whole Chicken (2-3 people) rice, morels, hand torn noodles. This amazing dish has apparently changed and no longer has the fabulous noodles.

This was some absolutely first rate chicken. Pretty much Hainan chicken with the spice already rubbed on, much more Chinese than anything else.

The hand torn noodle soup was like some of the best (Chinese) mushroom noodle soup you’ll ever (not) have (as they discontinued it :-().

The dessert menu. I didn’t have the guts to BYOG (Bring Your Own Gelato) on our first trip to Majordomo.
Strawberry Trifle. Buttermilk panna cotta, chiffon cake.
Horchata Kakigori. Coffee, riche, dulce de leche. This was basically a good shaved ice.

Overall, we had a great time at Majordomo. They have some annoyances, like the custom website reservations a month or so ahead of time that book up instantly. We ignored those and scored a late (9pm ish) reservation 2 days out. I don’t do that long advance planning thing.

The service and wine service were both spectacular. I was really surprised as these loud hipster places often don’t have good wine service but we were really taken care of and this added a lot to the evening.

The larger pre-order dishes like the rib and chicken were amazing and insane. The other dishes were good but not as memorable. But I’d totally go back for either ribs or chicken, and I hope they keep mixing up the menu too.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
Comments (5)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: 1st growth, bbq, Burgundy, Chicken, Chinatown, coche, David Chang, Dessert, DTLA, Foodie Club, haut brion, latour, Majordomo, ribs, Richebourg, warehouse, Wine

Quick Eats – Tumbi

Jun18

Restaurant: Tumbi

Location: 115 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 829-7200

Date: May 14 & 31, 2018

Cuisine: Indian

Rating: Casual modern Indian

The Santa Monica Promenade is a weird food place. I lived and worked there for decades and have always lived nearby, and some terrible places have lasted for 25 years and good ones fail all the time.

So “interesting” that a modernized craft Indian opened nearby, as that’s a tough sell — even though I love Indian food, it seems that only cheap “buffet driven” Indian places survive, and not in this kind of high rent area.

Attractive frontage.

Modern hipster interior.

The menu.

It has a nice look.

Avocado Bhel Puri. Farmer’s market citrus, rice puff, Indian vermicelli, mint tamarind chili, garlic chutney. This was very tasty, nice textures, although a little carby for me and missing a protein. The avocado helped.

Afghani Seekh Kabob Frankie. Ground lamb, fennel-star anise-ginger rub, tomatillo chutney. This is sort of a contained “plate” with the very mustardy/Indian salad, a touch of raita (yogurt) and what amounts to an Indian burrito or wrap. The lamb was good and the flavors inside, particularly with the raita. I don’t love the wrap format. I hate wraps and consider them a cheapo American sandwich with horrible tortilla instead of bread.

Butter Chicken Tiffin (“full” plate). Boneless leg meat, butter tomato curry, aged safrani basmati rice, dal bhukara, papadum, house salad, achaar. Butter chicken, a close cousin of Chicken Tikka Masala and rice were quite good. But I’ve always hated these Indian “meals” with the tiny little baby metallic containers because you get very little curry. I don’t eat Dal, as it destroys my GI, and the weird fibrous pickles are a favorite of no one who didn’t grow up in India.

A close up of the business end.

And the actual curry.

In the lower right are the pickles (the second time I ordered there was an anemic single chunk). These taste weird and medicinal, although that’s typical of this kind of pickles, but still not welcome. Not sure what you do with them as they are so fibrous you can barely eat them.

The salad has nice greens and a very black mustardy/cumin dusty dry kind of Indian flavored dressing. I liked it, but probably not to most people’s tastes.

Overall, I like the cooking at Tumbi and the flavors, but I don’t like the menu at all. A couple beefs (or lack thereof):

There is NO meat (or fish) on the appetizers, and they are kinda expensive to supplement the mains. The supposed minced lamb on the menu actually has no lamb in it — they have told me twice it’s a miss print!
The “mains” are in the form of 3 form factors: frankie, uttapam, and tiffin. All have a bunch of accompaniments I often don’t want. I don’t really like any of the form factors. I’d much prefer to order decent sized portions of actual dishes/curries. They could easily have both on the menu. I’ll ask them next time if I can, but I bet they refuse. All the form factors have the same basic ingredients and they work passably for lunch for one but would be terrible for multiple people eating as they don’t really share. The actual substance of the tiffin is miniscule.

It was an incredibly gorgeous day and I happened to have my big camera so it deserved some epic 500megapixel panos.

And this even better one.

Looking back at the promenade.
Recently these Bird scooters have taken over Santa Monica so I tried one out for a while after lunch.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Indian cuisine, Santa Monica, Santa Monica Promenade, Tumbi

Cui Hua Lou – Szechuan Shed

Jun16

Restaurant: Cui Hua Lou [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 920 E Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91755. 626-288-2218

Date: May 13, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Awesome!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Chinese food is incredible regional, and we are blessed in SoCal with a lot of very specific restaurants (mostly in the San Gabriel Valley). My Hedonist group has returned to this little known spicy Szechuan in the corner of an undiscovered Monterey Park strip mall. We love Szechuan for its spicy/smoky flavors. This is a cuisine that packs a real punch and is one of my favorites in China and CHL is seriously “local.”

The storefront, as usual, isn’t much to look at.

A menu with fairly literal translations.

And the usual minimalist decor.

But we weren’t even in the restaurant proper, but across the parking lot in “the shed.”

Inside they’ve actually cleaned it up (significantly) since last time we were here (2 years ago) — back then there was a bunch of junk in the room including a band saw!

Szechuan pickles. Lots of garlic and some chili oil. Great stuff.

Cold beef tendon with chili. Nice and chewy with that hot chili oil flavor.

Vegetables. For plain steamed veggies these were actually excellent. Mildly pickled.

Cumin mushroom and snausage skewers. The mushrooms are pleasantly chewy and the little dogs delicious and a touch sweet.

Spicy Turtle Hot Pot. This Szechuan stew of turtle, chicken, tofu, and veggies was quite good. Though I’ve had better broth here (with the lame stew) and the turtle meat itself wasn’t doing it for me. I mostly ate tofu, veggies, and the sauce.

Turtle foot!

Lamb and gizzard skewers. Both good.

Szechuan chicken wings!

Sweet and sour pork ribs. Super yummy intense sauced pork niblets (with the bones).

Another view of the lovely room. Again, it’s much nicer now!

MaPo Tofu. A very good rendition of this classic dish.

Shredded potatoes.

Lobster. Not usual at Szechuan places.

Beef with green onions. Very tasty.

Fish filet boiled in chili sauce. The sauce for this dish was much hotter, more numbing, and better than the turtle broth.

Kung pao chicken.

Mixed noodles. We sorta wanted dan dan mein and they brought these, saying they were better. I’m not saying they were better but they were actually really good for this sort of simple fried noodle dish. Really good.

But we got the dan dan mein anyway. Very vinegary version, different, not so nutty, but delicious.

Noodle pull!

Three flavors of gelato by Sweet Milk Gelato (me):

White Chocolate Lime-Berry – lime infused milk blended with Valrhona Ivoire white chocolate and laced with frutto di bosco coulis.

Gianduja – Valrhona chocolate with Hazelnut Regina (the queen) from Turin

Black Madeira – Blackberry Madeira sorbetto

I have to regale you with the lovely bathroom!
Check out the mirror!

In conclusion, Cui Hua Lou, while apparently totally undiscovered, offers up some fabulous traditional Szechuan fare. Yarom thinks this is the best Szechuan in the SGV. I’m not sure I’d go that far, as it’s a little too home-style, but it’s certainly one of my favorites. They don’t use MSG. The flavors are great. It has a slightly different mix of dishes than some. But I like a lot of the top Szechuan places, and they are each a bit different.

The service is really friendly, particularly as Chinese restaurants go. Our hostess really took care of us, spacing out the dishes, bringing us whatever we needed.

We went crazy overboard and ordered up about 50% more food than we needed, still this feast, including tax and tip, only set us back $25 a person! If you like spicy, you should try this place. It’s not big, but it was still busy at 10pm!

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Wines pictured below:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Cui Hua Lou, Gelato, hedonists, SGV, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine, turtle, Wine

CR8 – el Jardin de Frida Kahlo

Jun14

Restaurant: CR8 by Roberto Cortez [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: East Los Angeles

Date: May 9, 2018

Cuisine: Modern Art

Rating: Absolutely Amazing

Roberto Cortez’s CR8 is one of the most stunning dining experiences I’ve been too, and so when after years away from Los Angeles he returned to the city for a 3 night engagement I had to take out a whole night.

Roberto is certainly the most creative and artistic chef I’ve ever had cook for me, which alone would be stunning, but after attending four of his events his food continues to be stunning. Dishes impress for both artistry, complexity, and flavor.

For his latest CR8, Roberto Cortez (left) has teamed up with Matthew Biancaniello (right), a master mixologist, to add a set of elaborate cocktail pairings to Roberto’s stunning cooking.

Tonight’s dinner is themed after Frida Kahlo, the famous Mexican artist (married to fellow artist Diego Rivera). Roberto loves to theme his dinners broadening them from “mere” hedonistic fare into artistic and cultural experiences.

The location is at this old social hall in far east LA, known as the York Manor, a newly renovated historical landmark in Highland Park, California — it was brutally far in traffic (just for the record).

Kinda an interesting building.In maybe not the loveliest neighborhood.

On the left is maestro Roberto Cortez and on the right his cocktail partner in crime, Matthew Biancaniello.

Our evening begins in the garden behind the building.
With Matthew’s first creation: Stinging Nettle/Bergamot Pimms Cup with stained cucumber slices, beet and tumeric.
This was one of my favorite cocktails of the night as it was a bit sweeter than most (and I have a sweet tooth). Like many, and like many recent dishes and drinks, it features lots of flowers. The color contrasts were stunning and I enjoyed the crunchy cucumbers.

Roberto printed up this stunning — and I really mean stunning — art and information book for the evening.

A little bit about the theme.

Mixing wine and the dizzying array of cocktails isn’t the easiest. I’d pretty much call the evening a wine fail even though the actual wines were great. They blend fine with the food, but just not the bitter notes in the cocktails (which themselves pair with the food).

From my cellar: 1996 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97. Taittinger’s 1996 Comtes de Champagne is another highlight. The flavors are only now beginning to show elements of complexity, a great sign for aging. Gently spiced and buttery notes suggest the 1996 is about to enter the early part of its maturity, where it is likely to stay for another decade or so.

The table setup is lovely – an almost literal garden.

Look at the vaulted space.

Each dish has a lovely conceptual page in the book. Roberto probably shot the photos himself. He’s a fabulous photographer.

Flor de la Vida – White asparagus flower pozole, gelee de maon, pina, jalapeno, bergamot, huacatay.

The first pairing cocktail: Roasted lobster shell infused Aquavit with goat milk, morels, goose barnacles, onion and gruere served warm. Yeah, those are actual ingredients in the drink! It was strong, with a slight sour milkiness. Matthew’s flavors are very complex and it’s sometimes hard to pick out individual elements.

The “soup” for this dish was actually served in this separate “spoon/glass” then merged in:

Like many of Roberto’s dishes the whole was greater than the parts. It was a bit spicy, floral, with strong asparagus and ham notes and even a touch of sweetness. Really fabulous.

The blood symbolizes some of the physical (and spiritual) pain and trauma in Frida’s life, like I imagine her impaling in a 1925 bus accident — very much a bummer, but certainly fuel on her artistic fire!
Sangre – Red clay beets, beet panna cotta, blood dressing, pickled mustard, raspberry, apple, yogurt, bulls blood. This ain’t your typical beet (I almost typed blood) salad. It was very bright flavored and the mustard seeds were amazing.

Wild bay leaf, Mezcal, papaya, wild juniper infused white balsamic, blended with cacao nibs on top. Potently mezcal!

The cocktails are super interesting but I like the fruit and acid tones of wine — Champagne pairs with everything!

Left some art of my own on the plate.

From my cellar: 2010 Do Ferreiro Albariño Rías Baixas Cepas Vellas. 91 points. Figured I’d need a flexible pairing wine. Dense and buttery nose initially with a hint of boiled eggs (not in a bad way). Complex, salty nose with pronounced minerality, like air by the sea – damp iodine. Also fennel, florals rather than fruits. Concentrated palate with high accidity, also very chalky. There’s tannin of the skin contact and certain filling from it. With time in the glass it develops a very beautiful floral aromatics.

And the pages turn.Sol y Vida – Yeast fermented rice, ember charred liquid mushroom, cepa, coffee, red wine, leek ash. If you look back at previous CR8 dinners you will see variants of this dish, and as always it’s a favorite. The crunch and softness of the rice is wonderful with the coffee/sweet sauce tones.

Four part Caesar Salad with Dolin Blanc Vermouth, Romaine, Parmesan Rind, Anchovy juice and Crouton. Hmmm.

Seb brought (because he only has one white wine): 2013 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. VM 91-94. Bright, subdued aromas of pear drop and citrus fruit. Densely packed and saline in the mouth, offering terrific stony energy and depth along with a sexy impression of sucrosite . Still tight, austere and uncompromisingly dry for all its richness. More obviously soil-driven than the foregoing samples–really classic stony Chablis premier cru.

Roberto loves candles. The first dinner I did of his they were popping in the salt all night.

The artist at work.
Paleta de Colores – Salmon Belly Pop, calamansi miso, chive blossom, chicken skin, XO butter.

I’ve never had salmon in lollipop form before — it ruled. Very soft, but firm enough to pick up, with sweet and tangy and rich notes. The XO butter was amazing.

Sea bean bourbon old fashioned with almond liquer and candy cap angostura bitters and viola ice cube. I like old fashioned’s.

Chastity belt? (couldn’t help myself)
El Secreto – Crab Salpicon, kale, sourdough broth, pumpkin seed, woodruff, poblano. Delicious inside the slightly bitter leaf burrito.

Homemade Mole Liqueur. He infused the Liqueur with dozens of things. Very complex.

1997 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée. VM 90+. Full ruby-red. Black raspberry, black cherry, licorice, mocha and woodsmoke aromas; some high tones. Very rich but currently rather unforthcoming in the middle. Flavors of black cherry and shoe polish. In an awkward stage today, with a bit of edgy acidity.
Best dish coming?

Cocinera Artista – Rose petal mole, lobster, wild scallion root, soft pecan, bound coconut (with the drink in the background).

A close up on the food because this lobster mole was just awesome. Truly stunning flavors, with more than a bit of rose.

Ogo seaweed infused gin smoked garlic, Surinam cherries, parsley. Strong!

Next.
Suenos Liquidos – Barbacoa Liquido, barbacoa bouillon, pinon cream, black salt, tomatoes, brussel sprout leaves, mustard, dill, arugula. This was a reconfigured version of one of my favorite dishes in Liquid Forms, and it was even better here. Very meaty “soup” although fairly salty.

A pretty top view.

Shot of Pechuga Mezcal with Blood Orange reduction , chia, turmeric, wheat grass foam sangrita. So a shot and chaser. Quite strong flavors and high alcohol on the palate.

This Frida painting clearly represents her terrible spinal surgery. Ick.Espinas y Cenizas – Burnt sugarcane duck, sesame prailine, fennel, morel, ginger, coffee, hibiscus, ash, garlic. This dish had a very interesting format where you were supposed to try bites of the duck with each of the “condiments”, each symbolizing an element of Frida’s pain. Quite lovely actually.

Cold Hot Chocolate with tequila, wild black sage, chipotle and rose geranium roasted marshmallows with ash from the Thomas fire and pine pollen. Very strong alcohol flavors.

And finally we reach the dessert stage, which begins with:

Tangerine Lip Balm. Yes, you put on a lip flavor first.
Mi Bebe – Arroz con leche crema, lavender, almond, canela, aloe vera, tangerine lip balm and lace. An absolutely fabulous creme and fruit type dessert. Very Mexican too.

Aquavit, lavender, calamansi-served warm.

Getting there.
Raices – Porcelana Underground, Chocolate, spruce oil, mushroom flan, malt, pine syrup, nuts. Porcelana is one of the world’s best chocolates. I looked at using some for gelato. It’s 40X as expensive as Valrhona and would require about $440 of chocolate for one batch of gelato — won’t be going there.

Triple Pine Cone Eggnog with Greek Coffee. Wowzer!

Three flavors of gelato by Sweet Milk Gelato (me):

White Chocolate Lime-Berry – lime infused milk blended with Valrhona Ivoire white chocolate and laced with frutto di bosco coulis.

Gianduja – Valrhona chocolate with Hazelnut Regina (the queen) from Turin

Black Madeira – Blackberry Madeira sorbetto

Special coffee cocktail Matthew “whipped up.” Paired very nicely.

Roberto and Larry.

Again Roberto shows off his unique mastery of the culinary arts. His number one strength (and he has many) is his uncanny sense of food harmony. This isn’t laser focused ingredient expression style food like Saison, it’s symphony of flavors. I’d liken it to Mozart too, as it has that rococo lightness, where the complex elements blend together into a lovely whole. This is not easy. Other hyper-intellectual chefs often have discordant notes, like at Maude or Twist or Mugaritz. Nothing stands out of place with Roberto’s cooking. The flavors and textures blend seamlessly.

Matthew Biancaniello’s beverage pairings were really interesting. The man is like Roberto’s liquid twin stylistically. As my wife put it at a previous CR8, “I never imagined drinks could be so creative.”

The whole Frida thematic was as elaborate as Roberto has ever been.

I should also note that because of the cocktails my wine pairing efforts were (way) less successful than at Roberto’s previous meals (Dark Illuminated Forest, Purotekuta, and Savage Romanticism). The strong herbal, alcoholic, and citrus notes in Matt’s drinks, while lovely and evocative themselves, knocked out the fruit sensitivity on my palette. This had the effect of suppressing the sweetness or fruit from the wines and rendering them overly acidic. I don’t think you can easily mix these two beverage profiles at the same time. Personally, although the cocktails are interesting, I’d just go with the wine — I find it more “even” (and less bitter).

Overall, I really adore this sophisticated cooking as its a synergy of the creative, intellectual, and hedonistic!

It’s also worth noting that I had recruited a couple foodie friends who were new to CR8 and they pretty much all declared this one of the best meal experiences of their lives!

A couple of us felt like second dinner — not that we were hungry at all — in fact I was full enough to be nauseous (plus the combo of LOTS of different alcohols) but we wanted to hang out so we went to this Little Tokyo Mall.

Very typical old school LA Japanese Izakaya.

Beef Tataki.

A couple rolls. I really wanted some rolls (for the rice) to settle my stomach. Vegetable roll.

Salmon skin roll or something like that.

Agadashi tofu (fried tofu with ponzu). I always like this dish.

Mushroom tempura.

Some kind of dynamite. Can’t remember.

Check out more of my grand Foodie Club meals.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Cocktails, CR8, Gelato, Matthew Biancaniello, Modern Cuisine, Molecular Gastronomy, pop-up, Roberto Cortez, Wine

The Last of Us II – E3 Gameplay

Jun11

E3 — and my birthday — of courses brings us more The Last of Us part II footage:

The whole boxed by lesbian kiss at a dance aspect is quite interesting, and perhaps new territory for video games. I mean, my all time favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the first lesbian kiss on TV (back in S5’s 2001 episode, “The Body”), but I can’t think of a video game treading in this area. The subject convergence of media is here!

And while the small amount of gameplay we do see looks classically TLOU, the melee combat — which by all reports is influenced by some of my all time favorites (Dark Souls & Bloodbourne) — looks a LOT more intense and detailed. I’ll be interested to see how much of that is scripted and how much is under player control. I happen to be about halfway through replaying Dark Souls (I) in it’s remastered form so I’m deeply steeped in some of the best melee combat ever.

Also, as good at TLOU looks, even in remastered, it’ll be exciting to see the made for the PS4 from scratch, particularly given that it’ll take advantage of the extra PS4 Pro horsepower for sure.

Any which way – can’t wait!

TLOU being hands down the best story based video game of all time and a personal favorite of mine means this is right up there as my most eagerly awaited announced game (also pretty psyched for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but that will only have cryptic and nonsensical story. haha.)

By: agavin
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Posted in: Games

Tagged as: Lesbian, lesbian kiss, Naughty Dog, The Last of Us, The Last of Us part II

Bourbon Birthday

Jun11

Restaurant: Bourbon Steak

Location: 237 S Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91210. (818) 839-4130

Date: May 7, 2018

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Very good, but perhaps a touch pricey

Another year, another Chevy birthday dinner!

To celebrate, Seb finally got me to drive all the way across town to Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak — and because of excessive back to back dinners I even had to skip out on Chinese the night before!

Bourbon is right underneath Seb’s condo at the Brand. A great spot — but very far (in rush hour traffic).

The bar area.

And the main dining room.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 163eme. VM 95. The NV Grand Cuvée 163 Edition is wonderfully open-knit and giving, qualities that make it a terrific choice for drinking now and over the next 30 or so years. Pastry, apricot, lemon confit, chamomile and white flowers, along with soft contours, give the wine its inviting, alluring personality. There is more than enough energy and overall freshness to support several decades of fine drinking. Even so, the 163 is virtually impossible to resist at this early stage.

The amuse here is 3 kinds of fries: cheese, basil, and bbq with respective sauces.

Muffin-like buns.

From my cellar: 2011 Prager Grüner Veltliner Stockkultur Achleiten. AG 92. Luscious aromas of quince, cardamom and pepper are layered over a background of dried pineapple. Rather broad-shouldered in its attack, this veltliner is enormously rich but at the same time complex, juicy and tightly wound, in an unusually refreshing style. Subtle citrus flavors carry well on the finish.

Fresh oysters on the half shell. Champagne Mignonette.

Fresh Alaskan king crab legs. Good, but a small portion for the price.

Shrimp cocktail. Gin cocktail sauce, dijonnaise (aka mustard and mayo whipped together).

From my cellar: 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 92 points. Good again.

From my cellar (somehow I’m always bringing all the white!): 1985 Nicolas Potel Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. 95 points. Great bottle.

Every Michael Mina place has to have a Lobster Pot Pie!

They cut it open.

And plate the guts, the top, covered in sauce. Delicious, but very pricey at $85 a pie.

2010 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne. VM 94. Inky ruby. Aromas and flavors of dark fruit preserves, candied flowers and smoky herbs, with a bright mineral nuance adding lift. Deeply pitched black and blue fruit flavors show serious depth and structure, picking up spiciness and an exotic floral quality on the back half. Chewy tannins give shape and grip to a strikingly long, powerful and spice-driven finish. Rostaing thinks that it would be a “grave mistake” to broach this wine in its youth and believes that it’s “for the most patient people, not those in a hurry.”

Kagoshima A5 Rib Eye. Real superior wagyu from Japan (the Japanese stuff is by far the best). Nicely seared.

This was a delectable chunk of buttery meat.

2006 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon RBS Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard. 97 points. Simply singing with wonderful nose and complexity on the palate. Incredible with steak!

2010 Rudd Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Oakville. 97 points.

Austrailan Wagyu tomahawk rib eye.

Another great steak, really perfectly seared.

Grilled broccoli, chili & parmesan.

Crispy Brussels sprout, honey palm syrup.

Black truffle mac & cheese. M&C is always one of my favorite sides.

2013 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon RBS Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard. 96 points. Clear, deep ruby. Fat legs, suggesting high-alcohol, high-glycerol wine. Clean, pronounced nose of primary and secondary nature, highly complex. Primary notes include black and red super-ripe to jammy fruits: blackberry, prunes, black raspberry, boysonberry, raspberry, red currant, black currant. Eucalyptus, anise, licorice, wet slate. Secondary notes: baking spices, nutmeg, coconut, milk chocolate, high quality coconut powder. On the palate: dry, high acidity, high tannin, high alcohol, full body. The tannins are high, mouth-coating, fine-grained and ripe. The flavors are very pronounced and highly-complex. Primary flavors: jammy boysonberry, cassis, black cherries, ripe raspberry, black mulberry, figs, eucalyptus, mentol and licorice. Secondary flavors: nutmeg, some chocolate and cocoa. Long finish.

2009 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Few and Far Between. VM 94. The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Few and Far Between Vineyard has developed beautifully since I last tasted it from barrel. Mocha, espresso, exotic spices and orange peel all come together in this inviting, multi-dimensional Cabernet Sauvignon. Totally alive in the glass, the wine is constantly changing, and reveals different sides of its personality with each taste. Hints of sweet red berries and cloves add complexity on the long, polished finish.

More steak? Maybe a cowboy rib eye?

Brie & Honey. Honey, bee pollen, date, grape, hazelnut.

From my cellar: 1946 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Selección. 100 points. So remarkable I give it 101 points. I can’t begin to enumerate the flavors except to say it is a dark peacock’s tail that shimmers and unfurls for minutes. I pity those who give it less than 100 points. What will they ever taste in their lives that is better? Nothing. They are doomed, never to recognize perfection. If you haven’t tried a glass, you must. Nothing more satisfying, saturated, or complex has ever before been bottled.

Root-beer float and cookie.

The bourbon white chocolate sundae. White devil’s food cake, espresso ice cream, bourbon fudge.

Sweet Milk Gelato (made by me). On the left, Pistachio Gelato with pistachios from Bronte Sicily and on the right, Almond Ricotta Gelato, pure ricotta base with sliced almonds.

In the bowl……………..

Above is birthday boy Chevy and his lovely wife Mary.

Bourbon did a great job for the most part. Seb goes there all the time and they really take care of him. They were a bit strapped for stems — which is silly — but that was my only complaint. The food was excellent. Appetizers good but not super unique. Lobster Pot Pie awesome. Steaks absolutely first rate. It did feel a bit pricey on a per dish basis, although splitting steaks like this is always WAY better than the traditional “everyone orders their own steak.” Steak quality was up there with Alexanders.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: big red, birthday, Bourbon Steak, BYOG, Gelato, Glendale, Michael Mina, Wine

Valley High

Jun08

Restaurant: OOToro [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 1569 Fairway Dr, Walnut, CA 91789. (909) 598-8299

Date: May 5, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi (with slight nod to China)

Rating: Ends of the earth, but very good

Chef Kaz of Totoraku, an occasional hedonist, sent us far east to this Sushi restaurant last year and it was such a fun time that we had to return again for a fourth visit.
And by far east I mean REALLY REALLY far east — to Walnut California. 40+ miles from my house. 20 miles past Alhambra (which most people consider to far to drive for food). It took an hour and twenty minutes on a Saturday night!

The slick looking location is in the heart of the affluent Chinese American San Gabriel Valley. But yes, it’s Japan, if perhaps catering to Chinese taste. This photo was shot at about 10pm after everyone else had left.

The menu.

For the second time we have the private room which is really the only way to go at oo-toro!

Ron brought: 2006 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97.5. The 2006 Comtes de Champagne is striking, especially in the way it brings together elements of ripeness and freshness in a hypothetical blend of the 2002 and 2004. Smooth and creamy on the palate, the 2006 is all about texture. There is a real feeling of density and weight in the 2006, qualities I expect to see grow with time in the bottle. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. The 2006 has been nothing short of magnificent both times I have tasted it. Comtes de Champagne remains the single best value (in relative terms) in tête de cuvée Champagne. I suggest buying a case and following it over the next 20-30 years, which is exactly what I intend to do. There is little doubt the 2006 Comtes de Champagne is a magical Champagne in the making.

agavin: this wine is sick good, I just ordered another 12-pack.

From my cellar: 2004 Pol Roger Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 93. Light, bright orange. Intense, spice-accented aromas of candied orange, redcurrant and fresh flowers, with sneaky mineral and leesy notes. Supple and expansive, offering vibrant citrus fruit and red berry flavors with complicating notes of cinnamon and pear skin. Finishes silky and long, with resonating spiciness and excellent clarity.

Edamame.

Akayagara (red cornetfish), which is generally considered distinct from needlefish like sayori

Akayagara sashimi. Nice and light and delectable.

Various sashimi. The Santa Barbara spot prawn was so fresh the head was still squirming! There was oyster, clam, and scallop as well.

White fish flight. Right to left: Golden eye snapper, red snapper, sea bass, and halibut.

2010 Kapcsándy Family Winery Grand Vin Rosé State Lane Vineyard. VM 90. The 2010 Grand Vin Rose is all about texture. A refined, expressive wine, the 2010 stands out for its depth and pure volume. Tobacco, licorice, crushed flowers and spices are some of the many notes that flesh out on the inviting finish. The 2010 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot.

Right to left: Shima aji, yellowtail, and kanpachi (wild yellowtail).

Yarom and the waitress.

Showing off the the tuna collar!

1998 Jean Boillot & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 89-92. Pungent, bright aromas of lime, apple, nut skin and minerals. Spicy and penetrating; more withdrawn than, and not as rich as, the Clos de la Mouchere and Pucelles but still offers terrific sweetness and fat for the cru. Solidly structured and quite fine.

agavin: a little tired maybe

From my cellar: 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 93 points. excellent.

Toro flight! Right to left: blue fin sushi, chu toro, o-toro. All melt in your mouth.

And the crazy good kami-toro (collar). The best toro ever.

2014 Domaine Dublère Chablis Grand Cru Bougros. BH 90-93. This too possesses ample Chablis character with its array of green fruit, tidal pool, citrus and wet stone notes. There is more size, weight and power to the big-bodied flavors that deliver excellent depth and length on the saline-inflected finale. This delicious effort is muscular but stops short of actually being rustic.

Scallops.

2007 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. BH 93. A toasty, expressive and highly complex nose of pain grillé, green fruit and dried rose petal leads to rich, full, well-muscled and impressively intense full-bodied flavors that possess plenty of dry extract that really coats the mouth on the long and serious finish. This is very Corton-Charlemagne in character and one that should reward mid-term cellaring.

Fried monk fish.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl Vendange Tardive. 94 points. Excellent VT. Some bottle variation so far, depending on the bottle I would rate this anywhere from 89-94 out of the 4 tried so far, with 93 being a fair mean. Rich gold color, not too sweet, lots of lychee and nectarine on both nose and palate. Weaker bottles have a short finish, but better bottles have full finish. Popular even with those who aren’t familiar with Alsatian VT wines.

Yamakase-style mashup of toro, avocado, uni, and black truffle.

Foie gras and more on a spoon. Rich and delicious.

Fake pinot.

Doesn’t go with sushi.

A5 wagyu from Japan as sushi — amazing too.

The individual cow’s pedigree.

Spot prawn heads (from the sashimi) come back as both prawn miso soup.

And fried prawn head.

This was the last savory course in the medium sized omakase but some of us kept on ordering.

Seafood tempura. They really make a great mixed tempura here with lobster, eel, and more.

Seared toro. Yummy hot fat.

A second — pricey but amazing — wave of all four toro sushis.

2003 Sine Qua Non Chardonnay Mr. K The Noble Man. VM 95-96. Medium gold. Knockout nose offers pure botrytis aromas oforange oil, apricot, clove, marzipan, chocolate and mocha. Extraordinarily thick and honeyed but with bracing acids leavening the flavors of marzipan, coconut, brown sugar andorange rind. Higher-toned than the gewurztraminer, with a spirity suggestion of Gran Marnier. Krankl was about to bottle this. I have rarely tasted such thoroughly botrytized chardonnay. This was picked in three passes in late November. Check out these numbers: 321 grams per liter of sugar, 10.25 grams of acidity, and 10.1% alcohol.

Matcha green tea tiramisu. Nice texture.

Sweet Milk Gelato made by me.

The white one is Almond Ricotta Gelato – pure ricotta base with sliced almonds. Beneath that is Pistachio with pistachios from Bronte Sicily.

The chef came over at the end and tried some of our wines.

Ron also had an open bottle of 1931 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Selección — keeps forever and is always amazing.

Overall, OOToro — while always good — showed for the second time that the private room is really the way to go. This was a great meal and much more subtle and sophisticated than some of the previous fare. Really great stuff — although we should have gotten the larger omakase as we were “corralled” into a smaller one and then ended up adding more stuff. The larger one (which I think we had the previous time) would have been more interesting.

After dinner we retreated up the hill to the Courtyard Marriot to drink above the valley. It was a balmy night and this was great fun reminding me of high school.

On the way we grabbed some pastries and salted caramel coffee’s at 85 degrees!

It’s great fun up here, but that drive! It was so far that most of the party slept at the Marriot and turned it into a bunch of meals, massages, and other decadences. I drove home to my lovely wife.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Japanese cuisine, ootoro, SGV, Sushi, toro, walnut california, Wine

Sage Champagne Nomad

Jun06

Restaurant: NoMad Mezzanine

Location: 11712 San Vicente Blvd.Brentwood, CA 90049 310.826.9222

Date: May 5, 2018

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Solid, but Champagne pairings made it tricky

It was just then days ago that we had the last Sage Society Champagne dinner and here we are at the next one for a combined Vilmart / Pierre Péters dinner! With Rodolphe Péters from Pierre Péters.

The location is the Nomad Mezzanine at the brand (newly renovated) Nomad hotel in DTLA.

And we enter.

The lobby is gorgeous (and expensive). The building was built in the 1920s.

But has been entirely renovated.

There is a hot bar.

And the fancier sit down restaurant upstairs (the Mezzanine).

We had the private room up there.

And this is just a few of our stems.

Cocktail hour wines:

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. BH 91. A discreet nose is almost mute and it requires a certain amount of concentration to discern the cool, airy and ultra-elegant wisps of grapefruit, green apple, yeast and hints of brioche. The clean and sleek flavors are supported by an impressively refined effervescence that adds considerably to the sense of elegance on the agreeably dry but not austere finish. As much as I like the style this is not especially complex (though it’s by no means simple) though it would appear to have the ability to age and thus for those who have the patience, this may be more interesting after a few years of cellar time.

NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier Brut. BH 91. The current release of Grand Cellier from Vilmart et Cie is comprised of a blend of seventy percent chardonnay and thirty percent pinot noir and is from the base year of 2010, with wines from 2009 and 2008 blended in as reserves. The vins clairs here do not go through malo and the wine spends ten months aging in barrel prior to bottling for extended aging on its lees, which was two and a half years prior to this disgorgement. The wine offers up a superb and very refined nose of apple, white peach, a fine base of soil, gentle smokiness, pastry and a touch of fresh almond in the upper register. On the palate the wine is far less polite than the nose suggests today, with its full-bodied format still a bit youthfully brusque with bracing acids and a bit of non-integrated oak elements, but with a good core and impressive length and grip. The mousse here is very elegant and this wine could seemingly come together seamlessly on the palate with some bottle age, in which case the enormous promise of the nose will be realized on the palate. On the other hand, it has a way to go right now and it is no certainty that the palate will eventually catch up with the superb bouquet. Faith is required, as well as bottle age. This wine has a 93 point nose- let’s hope the palate can play catch up with bottle age!

The table is set.

Our special menu for the evening.

Liz Lee gives the introductions…

To the gang.

Executive Chef Chris Flint.

Rodolphe Péters.

The flights begin.

2013 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru l’Esprit.

2012 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru l’Esprit. VM 92. The 2012 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Lâ’Esprit is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. Creamy, ample and expressive on the palate, the 2012 possesses notable breath and immediacy. Hazelnut, dried fruit, spice and toasty notes add to the wineâ’s considerable appeal. The Esprit is a terrific example of the vintage. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. Disgorged December 2016.

2010 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru l’Esprit. VM 91. The 2010 Brut Millésime L’Esprit emerges from parcels Le Mesnil sur Oger, Avize and Cramant. A wine of real depth and density, the 2010 is endowed with explosive energy. The purity and tension of Cotes des Blancs Chardonnay comes through loud and clear. Dosage is 4.2 grams per liter.

Trout with celtuce and lemon vinaigrette. Is that Celtic lettuce? or a hybrid of celery and lettuce? Either way, the smoked trout was great.

2013 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d’Or. 93 points. White stone fruit, citrus fruit, green apple, almonds, brioche, crushed stones. Well structured and precise on the palate, mineral, vibrant, with good richness of fruit and excellent length.

2012 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d’Or. VM 91+. Vilmartâ’s 2012 Grand Cellier d’Or is bold, racy and seductive, with all of the radiance of the vintage very much in evidence. Lemon confit, jasmine, vanillin, herbs and dried flowers are all pushed forward. Expressive and inviting, the 2012 will drink well with minimal cellaring. Even so, my impression is that the 2012 will be a bit more giving with further time in bottle. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.

2011 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d’Or. BH 93. A strikingly elegant and pure if restrained nose combines high-toned wisps of yeast, plenty of citrus elements, green apple and a touch of brioche. The elegance of the nose continues on the beautifully refined flavors that possess a lilting mouth feel thanks to the super-fine mousse, all wrapped in an impressively complex, balanced and harmonious finale that is notably dry but not austere. If your taste runs to sophisticated Champagnes, this would make an excellent choice though I do underscore that this could use a few more years of bottle age.

Foie Gras Terrine. Torchon with strawberry & mustard. Very pretty. The strawberry sauce was maybe a bit tart (IMHO) as a pairing with the ultra-smooth foie.

Great brioche, we have some toast.

2011 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons.

2010 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons. VM 93. 2010 Brut Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons looks to be a relatively easygoing, approachable version of this reference-point Mesnil Champagne. There is good depth and purity to the flavors, but the 2010 is decidedly delicate and airy in the glass, with mid-weight structure and more openness than is typically the case. Scents of yellow orchard fruit, honey, chamomile and white flowers open up nicely. I donâ’t find the dimension or energy of the finest years. In exchange, though, the 2010 should drink well with minimal cellaring.

2008 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons. VM 95. The 2008 Les Chétillons seems to slowly be coming out of a period during which is has not been very expressive at all. In the last few months however, the 2008 is showing like it did about two years ago, when it positively sizzled with vintage 2008 cut and tension. Citrus, floral and mineral-drenched notes abound in this captivating Champagne endowed with real Mesnil character.

2006 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons. VM 95. The 2006 Brut Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons wraps around the palate and never lets up. Apricot, peaches, wild flowers, butter and spices all flesh out in a dramatic, structured Champagne endowed with tons of pure energy and volume. Stylistically the 2006 brings together the opulence of the 2002 with the minerality and cut of 2004, a great combination in my book. This bottle was disgorged in March 2013. Dosage was 4.7 grams/liter.

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru L’Etonnant Monsieur Victor.

Carrot roasted with wheat-berries. Excellent for carrot. Not the most exciting dish ever created.

2010 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée. 93 points. A little more generous and rounder in comparison, still great structure and freshness. Lots of minerality on nose and palate. The finish is outstanding, very intense and persistent.

2009 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée. VM 94. A racy, exuberant wine, the 2009 Coeur de Cuvée offers up a super-appealing mélange of apricot, butter, baked apple tart and vanillin. The combination of the ripe, warm vintage along with fermentation and aging in small French oak barrels yielded an especially opulent Coeur de Cuvée with plenty of exotic and tropical overtones. The 2009 will be ready to drink with minimal cellaring. Disgorged March 2016. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.

2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée. VM 95. A wine of crystalline energy and tension, the 2008 Brut Coeur de Cuvée is utterly captivating from the first taste. The flavors are bright, lifted and finely sculpted throughout. White peach, mint, flowers and white pepper add intriguing aromatic top notes, but it is the wine’s salivating focus and cut that elevate it. The Brut Coeur de Cuvée emerges from old vines in the Blanches Voies Hautes lieu-dit in Rilly-la-Montagne. The 2008 is going to need at least a few years to come into its own, but it is a real beauty, even at this early stage. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.

2007 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée. VM 95. Interestingly, the 2007 Coeur de Cuvée comes across as a bit more youthful than the 2008 tasted alongside it. Another year in bottle seems to have only brought out the wine’s freshness and energy. Freshly cut flowers, pears, mint and almonds are some of the signatures, but it is the wine’s vivacity that I find most striking today. The 2007 is a bit less creamy and multi-dimensional than the 2008, but it is impressive just the same.

Seared Striped bass with hen of the woods, amaranth & sorrel. Interesting sauce flavor but very nice piece of fish.

The glasses keep growing!

2002 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée. VM 94. The exuberance of the year comes through in the 2002 Brut Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvee. Explosive and gloriously ripe, the 2002 walks the razors edge of power and subtlety with a level of grace that is utterly remarkable. At the same time, the style is unmistakably Vilmart.

1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée. VM 93. Vivid gold. Exotic, intensely perfumed scents of peach, mirabelle, magnolia and cinnamon, with a smoky minerality that gains strength with aeration. The smokiness carries onto the palate, which features gently sweet pit fruit flavors and firm mineral backbone. Very rich but surprisingly weightless, finishing with good snap and spicy persistence.

1995 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Reserve Familiale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons — so rare you can’t even find anything about it online!

1985 Pierre Péters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Reserve Familiale — you don’t see this every day!

Seared Poularde with turnips & sesame. This was the best dish (or maybe the trout), a very nice chicken.

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Brut Rosé for Albane. VM 92. The 2014 Rosé Albane is a big step up from the 2013 in terms of richness and overall intensity. There is a real sense of breath to the 2014, and yet the wine has plenty of brightness and tension as well. This is the first vintage made with the addition of saignée of Meunier vinified by Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy.

2011 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier Rubis. 91 points.

Cheese. Moser screamer, cinderella, & pecorino (with more brioche). Very nice hunks of cheese.

And even more glasses!

Have a few champs. I think a bottle or 2 even got left out!

I wasn’t blown away by the Nomad Mezzanine food at this meal. It’s tricky, because they were struggling to find the intersection between their menu and the all Champagne pairing — leaving the “proteins” a bit bland. I’ll have to try the normal menu.

The wine was awesome, of course. I actually found that I liked the Vilmart slightly better (not that the Pierre Péters wasn’t fabulous also). But the Pierre Péters is all Chardonnay and very linear — which I normally like. But my taste buds were in a weird spot due to allergies and I liked the broader Chardonnay / Pinot blend of the Vilmarts.

The organization, service, company and all that for the evening was spectacular. Liz always throws an amazing event and this was no exception. There were all sorts of interesting technical tidbits from the winemaker and other professionals in the house. Great fun.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, DTLA, Nomad, Nomad Hotel, NoMad Mezzanine, Pierre Peters, Sage Society, Villmart

Hunan Mao

Jun04

Restaurant: Hunan Mao

Location: 8728 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 280-0588

Date: April 29, 2018

Cuisine: Hunan Chinese

Rating: Good, but not super super spicy

My wife and son were out of town this Sunday in a school trip so of course I had to organize a bunch of dads (and others) to head out to the SGV for some “real Chinese (food).”

Hunan Mao is probably the second best known SGV Hunan restaurant and somehow I’d never been, so we decided to rectify that.

Crunchy pickled radish with chili on the table.

The giant Menu

I needed a crib sheet to organize the ordering!

Giant Steamed Fish Head Casserole w/ Special Hot Pepper and Tofu.This is a Hunan classic, with the pickled chili peppers, and the tofu takes it to the next level (I like this kind of soft tofu).

Beef served cold with special spicy sauce. Everything seems to be “special” but this is the relatively usual beef/beef tendon with chili oil. Like spicy corned beef!

Cold noodles. With special chili sauce, of course. Very nice tangy/spicy noodles.

XLB. These aren’t Hunan, but I had to order them anyway. They were pretty decent XLB too.

Smoked Hunan ham with bamboo and hot pepper. Really good, really aromatic dish. The bacon-like ham, the crunchy bamboo, the pickled chilies. Yum! All bound together by a deep heat.

House Special Chicken with hot sauce. This is the Hunan Mao version of the “most typical” Hunan Chili dish. Not as crazy red/green chili as at Hunan Chili King.

Eggplant with preserved egg. This unusual dish (which I’ve had once before at China Tasty) has spectacular umami. Everyone loved it.

Mao’s Special Braised Pork Belly. So good we ordered another round of it!

Cumin Lamb. More peppers — plus cumin and lamb.

These black plates make for nice photography.

Hunan style bullfrog with chilies. Same chilies as the chicken — different “white meat.” The frog actually had a better flavor. More little bones.

MaPo Tofu (pocked marked old lady face tofu). One of my favorites, and technically Szechuan, but this was a very good version with lots of salty/numbing/spicy goodness.And a MaPo zoom.

A trio of gelato flavors made by me (in my alto ego as the Sweet Milk Gelato chef). Lavender Blueberry Gelato, Pineapple Rosemary Sorbetto, and Brillat-Savarin Gelato with Sicilian Candied Orange.

Overall, Hunan Mao is very good and they really treated us well. We had a nice big table, great service, and no corkage. The price was ludicrously low considering how much food we had. Food is very good. Certainly quite Hunan, and medium spicy (very spicy for the neophyte). They aren’t as “serious” about their chilies as Hunan Chili King, which is still the SGV Hunan gold standard. HCK is hotter, and the chilies have both brighter red/green/orange color and a more serious pickled quality. But Hunan Mao (the former chairman came from Hunan province) has a lot of good variety and some really tasty dishes.

It wasn’t a serious wine night, but I photoed most of them the same:

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Gelato, Hunan Cuisine, Hunan Mao, SGV, spicy, Wine

LQ Seafood Tower

Jun02

Restaurant: Laurent Quenioux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: Near Pasadena

Date: April 25, 2018

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Truffles!

Six and a half years ago Foodie Club co-organizer Erick and I put together one of our more legendary dinners, the Bistro LQ Trufflumpagus. Ever since then we periodically trek out to visit our friend Chef Laurent for some kind of extravaganza — and tonight it’s his legendary seafood tower — plus tons of other goodies.

Chef Laurent Quenioux grew up in Sologne, France, where he developed a passion for food. As a young boy, Quenioux and his father would hunt duck, partridge, and rabbit. Then, he and his mother would prepare her favorite recipes in the kitchen. Eventually, Quenioux left home to embark on an apprenticeship where he trained in some of Europe’s finest kitchens. Quenioux spent time at Maxim’s, Bistro De Paris and La Ciboulette in Paris, before moving on to Negresco in Nice and LaBonne Auberge in Antibe.

In the early 1980s, Quenioux made a move to the United States with a team from L‘Oasis at La Napoule to open The Regency Club in Los Angeles. In 1985, he introduced the celebrated and award-winning 7th Street Bistro in downtown Los Angeles. In the early 2000s, Quenioux debuted the cozy Bistro K in Pasadena and in 2009, Bistro LQ in Beverly Hills. At Bistro LQ, Quenioux set new standards for cuisine in Southern California with his Farmer’s Market-driven kitchen and an emphasis on value and fun.

These days Laurent mostly hosts popups in his own backyard! We took the whole evening for some epic craziness. Some of my friends visiting from the Netherlands are pictured above.

A serene environment.

From my cellar: 2015 Jacques Perritaz Cidrerie du Vulcain Apple Transparente.

Erick designed our special menu.

Erick brought: 1996 de Venoge Champagne Brut Louis XV. 91 points. A bit over the hill.

Bread with flavored Normandy butters.

From my cellar (to pair with Foie): 1990 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos Betsek. RJ 93. From 500 ml – light medium orange brown color with dark orange lights; very aromatic, mature, orange marmalade, baked apricot, light mushroom, light tobacco, smoky orange syrup nose; mature, tasty, orange marmalade, baked apricot, light mushroom, light tobacco, smoky orange syrup, blood orange, orange honey palate with medium-plus acidity; very long finish 93+ points

Sautéed Foie Gras. Mangoes, ginger, Green bar distillery Vodka jus. An incredible (and huge) chunk of the decadent liver.

From my cellar: 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.

From my cellar: 2012 Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten. AG 90. The restrained nose slowly reveals apple, orange zest, white pepper and wet slate. A taut spine gives lift to the rich texture, but the melon fruit and dried spice flavors are still tightly sealed. Well-balanced and showing noteworthy depth and structure, this veltliner is only just beginning to show its refreshing drinkability.

Toast with Dungeness Crab Rouille and avocado. Super crab salad avocado toast!

Haddock Branade. I love smoked haddock.

Main Lobster brioche. Like a lobster roll in a (big) bite.

From my cellar: 2012 Prager Riesling Federspiel Steinriegl. 95 points.

Scallops Ceviche Tostada.

Spot prawns. Would you believe that everything you just say was all part of the FIRST (of 9!) courses? These were sort of like the sweet shrimp sushi with fried head — but all on one plate. Delicious.

From my cellar: 2014 Királyudvar Furmint Tokaji Sec. 90 points. Dried apple, and then some fruit, and kinda delicious.

Someone else brought this funny cloudy California white.

Puff pastry with wild mushroom, dill, and seafood mixto. Awesome! Like a mini lobster pot pie.

Clam nage with sorrel. Amazing clammy broth.

Soft shell crab (fried of course).

Grilled Monterey Bay Squid with green garlic. This dish I didn’t love as it with very briny.

Manilla Clams with Chorizo and Epazote. Amazing clam and sausage. Laurent’s clams are great.

1990 Domaine Fabien Coche Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. 93 points. Coche from another mother.

From my cellar: 1985 Nicolas Potel Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. 88 points. Not the best of my bottles from this batch. This one not dead yet but it had lost most of that zippiness. All fatness, honeycomb and butterscotch. For those who like really mature white burg this may still be ok but if you are sensitive to oxidation then it really is time to drink up unless you lucked out with some very pristine bottles.

Now comes the main event, the incomparable seafood tower

But first the sauces: mustard, aioli, horseradish, spicy mayo, mignonette.

The top level with crabs, lobster, clams, prawns, crayfish and more.

And we continue down to the bottle level with abalone, clams, oysters, winkles, and more.

And we had one for two people!

There was fresh uni too. And at this point, my flash batteries went out (eek) and I stupidly had no backups in my bag, so the photos are much higher ISO.This is how I left MY tower.

This is how everyone else left theirs. Wimps!

From my cellar: 2009 Chapelle St. Theodoric Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Sablons. AG 91. Deep ruby. Redcurrant and cherry scents are complemented by dried rose and garrigue A juicy, red-fruited midweight, accented by a slightly tart edge to its tangy cherry and floral pastille flavors. The brisk finish offers good clarity and cut, with silky tannins arriving late.

Apricot Lane Farms Spring Lamb 3 Ways. Braised lamb neck spring roll, lamb “noisette”, roasted lamb shoulder, preserved lemon emulsion, ras el hanout scented cordycep, dates puree with cumin. The spring roll was the best part.

Someone brought this Spanish.

Braised Wagyu Miyazake Short Rib. Bourguignon Style. Pasta Handkerchief, confit cipollini onions & green garlic, black chanterelles.

I think Larry brought the Penfolds Pinot Noir Bin 23.

Mini Cassoulet. Tarbais Beans slow cooked for 7 hours, Toulouse Sausage, garlic sausage, duck leg confit, smoked pork belly bacon style, confit duck gizzard. This dish is also a stunner. One of Laurent’s specialties and well worth it for the sausage alone!

Les Fromages.

Trio of Sweet Milk Gelato (made by me) plated by Laurent. Flavors are: Pineapple Rosemary Sorbetto, Lavender Blueberry Gelato, and Brillat-Savarin Gelato with Sicilian Candied Orange

Chocolate Cremeux. White chocolate coconut cheese cake, coconut ice cream, matcha meringue, chocolat chips. Laurent is amazing with these kind of desserts — basically a chocolate coconut cheesecake, but deconstructed into many textures.
On the right is Chef Laurent and behind him his busy crew.

This was another seriously epic night. We didn’t go too crazy with the wines since there were a lot of non wine people — there were plenty bottles, but more “normal” wines for us — but the food was absolutely over the top both in quantity and quality. Bravo Laurent.

For more LA Foodie Club dining reviews click here.