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Archive for December 2018

London in the Palisades

Dec31

Restaurant: The Draycott

Location: 15255 Palisades Village Lane, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272.  (310) 573-8938

Date: November 28, 2018

Cuisine: British?

Rating: Nice decor, menu too small

_

The Draycott is the last of the four “sit down” Palisades Village restaurants I’ve tried.

The Draycott is a California-inspired family-friendly Brasserie, created by Matt and Marissa Hermer. Named as an homage to London’s Draycott Avenue, where the husband-and-wife restaurateur duo first met, The Draycott features wholesome and classic dishes using locally sourced ingredients.

The restaurant-café melds the ambiance of Europe with a convivial all-day environment, featuring seasonal lunch and dinner menus served with a British twist, along with extensive breakfast and brunch menus and a daily afternoon tea service.

After moving from London – where Matt and Marissa own and operate award- winning bars and restaurants – to Pacific Palisades, they wanted to create a place that married all the things they love about Southern California and all the things they miss about London.1A0A7806
The build out is lovely with a big patio and a gorgeous clubby interior (I’ll have to photo it next time I go, forgot last time).

The have a big cocktail program and attractive bar — too bad I don’t really drink cocktails.
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The menu is the biggest problem. It’s tiny. Very few items, and most are boring. There are no mains that I would generally be excited about. They are all just too boring. Moules Frites are okay, but I think of that more as an appetizer.
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Kabocha Squash. Market Squash, sauteed forbidden rice, hearty greens, harissa vinaigrette, pomegranate seeds, torn mint.
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Winter squash soup. Marcona almond, pomegranate seeds, baharat.
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This was a special. Burrata, prosciutto, and pear salad. Decent although needed more burrata.
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French fries.
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Pan roasted trout. Fishmonger’s trout, sprouted almond, charred lemon, crispy capers, rice pilaf.
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Another special — and actually gave me an entree to order. Lamb chops. Solid, but very expensive.
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The lamb chops came with two sides of your choice so fries and Brussels sprouts. The sprouts were good, salty and cooked with bacon.

Service here was confused. They brought both our courses simultaneously! The execution on the food was decent. Was better than Porta Via. Problem is the menu is so boring and so small. Particularly on the main side, they seemed to want to keep it small, yet to appeal broadly across all demographics: vegetarian, fish, different proteins, burger etc. The net net is that when you like one thing or another you only have one or two choices. And nothing has any style or innovation to it.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Hank’s Palisades
  2. Palisades Yogurt Shoppe
  3. Blue Ribbon Sushi
  4. Quick Eats – Porta Via
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: British Food, lamb, London, Pacific Palisades, Palisades Village, The Draycott

LQ Truffles 2018

Dec28

Restaurant: Laurent Quenioux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: Near Pasadena

Date: November 15, 2018

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Truffles!

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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 we repeat (with changes) for our now more or less anual Trufflefest 2018 edition — 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.
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Tonight, as it’s “winter” (what passes for winter here in LA), we are back in Laurent’s lovely front room.
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Big gang of 15 or so.
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Tonight’s special menu, produced by Foodie Club co-chair Erick.
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From my cellar: 2007 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 96. Taittinger’s 2007 Comtes de Champagne will be nearly impossible to resist upon release. Soaring aromatics, mid-weight structure and soft contours give the 2007 its alluring personality. Lemon oil, white flowers, mint, chamomile and green pear add brightness and freshness throughout, with a persistent, clean finish that makes it impossible to resist a second taste. Today, the 2007 comes across as a slightly more open version of the 2004, with freshness that makes that wine so appealing, and a touch of textural richness that recalls the 2002. Although the 2007 does not have the explosive energy or verticality of the profound 2006, it will drink better earlier. The 2007 has been positively brilliant on the three occasions I have tasted it so far.
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Bread with little butters, one “plain” salted and the other truffle.

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Paul likes to serve his wines blind.
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2010 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. VM 96+. Bright pale yellow. Extremely closed nose hints at gunflint and menthol. Dense and pure on entry, then as powerful as a solid in the middle, with explosive lift to the flavors of white pepper, mint and dusty stone. Expands with air to fill the mouth without giving any impression of weight. Finishes with a convincing saline tang and outstanding persistence. This has the structure of a top red Burgundy: I’d forget about it for at least eight years.
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Chigoku, caviar de sologne. Radish, Fresh Yuzu, fingerling in duck fat, quail egg. This was a fabulous dish with Champagne. The caviar/oyster thing went together in a way that it doesn’t always — driven by the yuzu.
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2002 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97. Taittinger’s 2002 Comtes de Champagne is a great way to kick things off. Rich, radiant and lush, with all of the exotic ripeness of the year in evidence, the 2002 Comtes delivers the goods. This bottle is perhaps a bit more forward than others have been, but it is nevertheless very fine.
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Spiny Lobster, Dungeness Crab. Green apple, black olive, pinenuts pistachio vinaigrette, apple vinegar, finger lime. Another really good dish, if not quite as good as the oyster one.
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2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 95. Despite several years of bottle age, this remains backward, tight and not revealing much aromatically beyond wonderfully pure white flower, pear and spice aromas. The rich, full and strikingly powerful flavors possess superb depth of dry extract and huge length on the detailed, focused, beautifully balanced and penetrating finish that seems to be extracted directly from liquid rock. This very classy effort is a potentially great Perrières as everything necessary is here and this should age extremely well. The word Zen comes to mind.
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2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir. VM 92. A statuesque Burgundy, the 2011 Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir is all class. Nothing in particular stands out, so impeccable is the wine’s balance. The depth and intensity of the fruit is apparent, but readers will have to give the 2011 at least another year or two before the elements start to truly come together. The 2011 is impressive for its depth and stuffing.
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Live Spot Prawn. Corn pancake, Vacherin cheese, walnuts, chanterelles, endives.
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From my cellar: 1985 Nicolas Potel Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. BH 91. A very fresh yet mature nose of citrus, white flower and lightly toasted nut aromas combines with round and vibrant middle weight flavors that possess a seductive and rich mouth feel, all wrapped in a sappy and mouth coating finish. This is really a lovely effort with complexity and ample finishing punch and is a wine that will continue to hold well if not improve.
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Ron brought: NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. BH 94. Medium rosé hue. A cool, restrained and highly complex nose that is not especially fruity displays a moderate yeast character along with slightly exotic aromas of mandarin orange and Asian tea, all wrapped in an enveloping array of beguiling rose petal scents. There is very good richness with a relatively firm supporting mousse that adds to the impression of richness to the superbly complex and highly textured flavors, indeed one could aptly describe this as more wine that Champagne. As such this is indeed a sumptuous Krug rosé that is difficult to resist already though it should reward extended keeping if desired. As I noted in the original 750 ml review, that while I am not always wowed by the Krug Rosé, this latest incarnation in magnum is strikingly good.
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Uni. Sea Urcin Creme Brulee. This was a controversial dish. The lower custard layer was actually a creme brulee custard made from uni. I loved it, and the texture was perfect, but some people thought it was a bit sweet — it was — but this doesn’t bother me and in fact I enjoyed the sweet and briney thing.
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Wild Turbot. Squid ink tuille, truffle sabayon, fennel. LQ always does a great job with turbot.
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2008 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet. BH 93-96. A perfumed and simply knock-out nose features highly perfumed notes of honeysuckle, acacia blossom, sandalwood and yellow orchard fruit aromas that give way to powerful, rich and dense full-bodied flavors that possess obvious muscle and simply huge length on the overtly austere, deep and palate staining finish. This is a dazzling effort that will only add to the already immense reputation this wine enjoys but note that patience will be required.
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2009 Remoissenet Père et Fils Montrachet Le Montrachet. VM 96. The 2009 Le Montrachet, from a parcel on the Chassagne side, is fabulous. Layers of exotic, tropical fruit flow effortlessly from this broad-shouldered, kaleidoscopic wine. There is plenty of freshness in the glass to support the fruit in this magical, captivating wine. I especially like the way this turns delicate, subtle and refined on the finish.
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Monk Fish Cheeks. Pied de veau, ginger, water cress, ALF Tokyo turnips.
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2013 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne. BH 92-94. A shy, indeed almost mute nose only grudgingly liberates its cool aromas of green apple, white fruit, spiced pear and wet stone. The intensely saline and stony big-bodied flavors are supported by a firm spine of citrus-inflected acidity that shapes the powerful finish that delivers outstanding complexity and persistence. I very much like the balance and this will need plenty of time to realize its full, and considerable, potential.
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2004 Morey-Blanc Corton-Charlemagne. BH 90-93. A reserved, indeed backward spicy green apple and white pear nose complements delineated but very rich flavors that display moderate wood on the big and weighty if not necessarily super dense finish that packs a serious punch and intensity. The length here is really impressive and the balance is such that this should age for 15 to possibly 20 years.
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Petit gris Snails. ALF “Petit Gris.” Delicata Squash, parsley, garlic, tapioca, pomme paille. This was “interesting.” Some of the other stuff swamped the snails out.
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1996 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. VM 92. Good red-ruby. Altogether more vibrant, sexy nose combines cherry, plum, smoke, coffee, game and Cuban tobacco. Fleshy, round and elegant; a distinct step up in extract and volume. Really compelling sweetness of fruit. Very suave and very long on the finish, which features extremely fine tannins. A superb showing today.
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Foie Gras lentil ragu. Sprouted lentils, pumpernickel croutons, quince. An amazing slab of foie.
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1998 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. BH 94. Deep ruby. This is extremely floral with dried rose petal and violet notes that highlight the Oriental spice character of the nose that serves as a dramatic introduction to the sappy, delicious, extraordinarily complex and deep middle weight flavors that culminate in huge length. This is stylish, sexy and classy with superb finishing power and impeccable balance. A terrific effort and a consistent one as I have had no disappointing bottles.
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2006 Domaine Anne Gros Richebourg. VM 94.  Deep red, a bit less saturated than the Clos Vougeot. Sappy dark fruits, flowers and spices on the nose, complemented by an exotic suggestion of white peach. Suave and supple, seemingly more open-knit and easier to taste today than the Clos Vougeot, with exotic floral lift adding to its early appeal. As sappy as this is, it’s also quite sweet and pliant today. Broader than its stablemate but is it as fine?
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Wood Pigeon. Date cumin puree, salsify, crosnes, parsnip, last of the season figs.
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2005 Domaine Pierre Gelin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. BH 93. Here the breed of a great grand cru shows as the nose is sheer class with an airy array of spice and layered aromas of red and blue fruit trimmed in a very gentle touch of oak. The supple, stylish and detailed flavors offer good depth and fine length, all supported by dense but fine tannins and really lovely depth. In a word, terrific.
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2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin. VM 91-94. (this is the only Bouchard Gevrey grand cru from estate fruit?; 100% vendange entier Full ruby-red. Wild, complex aromas of red cherry liqueur, smoked meat, licorice and shoe polish, with a cool veggie nuance. Sweet and stylish but still quite reserved, even cool, with intriguing suggestions of gibiers and toasty oak. Still quite clenched on the back, finishing with building tannins. Classic austere Chambertin.
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Lamb neck. Tarbais beans, Toulouse sausage, “Cassoulet Style”, duck confit. This was amazing!
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1971 Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Monfalletto.
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Larry and a rare Trish sighting.
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Scottish Pheasant. Confit leg stuffed cabbage, sautéed breast, Bourguignon, lardons.
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1999 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino. VM 93. Today, the 1999 Brunello di Montalcino is simply gorgeous. Frankly, I am amazed (and delighted) at how it has come together. Sweet, floral and perfumed, the 1999 remains a relatively mid-weight wine by Soldera standards, but that just adds to immediacy and appeal. Stylistically, the 1999 is a delicate wine, but it has turned out far better than I ever thought it would.
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1989 Château Montrose. JG 94. The 1989 Montrose may not be quite as deep as the 1990, but it is a purer wine of precise definition and classic proportions. The superb nose offers up a refined mélange of cassis, dark berries, cigar ash, gravelly soil tones, espresso, fresh herbs and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and shows off excellent mid-palate depth, with firm tannins, tangy acids and outstanding focus and grip on the very young, pristine and old school finish. Some may prefer the more overtly powerful style of the 1990 Montrose, but for me, though the two vintages are qualitatively equivalent, I prefer the superior transparency of the 1989.
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From my cellar: 1989 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra. VM 97. One of Domenico Clerico’s early masterpieces, 1989 Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra opens with a gorgeous, captivating bouquet of soy sauce, smoke, tobacco and cedar. The wine possesses sumptuous richness and beguiling inner perfume in an intensely powerful, mineral-driven style that coasts the palate in stunning style. I am not sure the tannins will fully soften here, but readers lucky enough to own this wine are in for a thrilling ride. This is stunning juice!
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1989 Dante Rivetti Barbaresco Emprimer N.11.12.1 Cru Katia.
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Flannery Beef Wagyu Rib Eye Cap. Confit onion jam, sweet potato mouseline, bourbon, porcini, colman mustard. Awesome meat!
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We used an entire box!
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2003 Château Rieussec. VM 92-95. Medium yellow-gold. Reticent but pure aromas of fruit salad, spices and vanilla, lifted by floral and mineral nuances. Wonderfully honeyed, fat fruit flavors are complemented by cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. The sexy oak treatment gives lift to the wine. A bit youthfully aggressive but very long on the back end, showing vanillin oak and a bit of warmth. But this one offers superb potential.
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Pinku no Yuzu Sorbetto – Yuzu & Meyer Lemon Sorbetto with a touch of blood orange! — the ultimate adult pink lemonade flavor — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SummerTime #yuzu #MeyerLemon #lemon #lemonade #BloodOrange
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Pina Colada Sorbetto — just like the cocktail with Thai coconut milk, pineapple, a touch of lime and dark rum — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #PinaColada #CocktailIceCream #pineapple #coconut #lime #rum
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The full wine lineup (+ truffles) in horrible iphone pano.
 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 the food was absolutely over the top both in quantity and quality. Bravo Laurent.

The atmosphere was great. A nice private room — truly private and actually quiet (except for us). LQ’s team provided great service (we mostly did the wine service but we are used to that). Walker was busy acting as sommelier — thanks Walker!. Wines were great, as were our hangovers. I prefer these full arrangement of wines where we have a broad range of types across the meal.

For more LA Foodie Club dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Bistro LQ – Truffles 2017
  2. Day of the Truffles
  3. LQ Seafood Tower
  4. Great Grenache 2018
  5. Truffles at Saam – I am
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: bistro lq, BYOG, cassoulet, Champagne, Foodie Club, Gelato, Laurent Quenioux, Pasadena, Seafood, Truffle, Wine

Veuve Clicquot at Spago

Dec26

Restaurant: Spago [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 176 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 385-0880

Date: November 12, 2018

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Still great

_

Spago is always fun but it’s especially good when it’s a Sage Society arranged Veuve Clicquot dinner. I love great Champagne and this sort of dinner is a fun way to learn more about different houses.

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Spago has been an LA institution for over 30 years!
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Tonight Veuve Clicquot has taken over the private dinner area.

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We have this lovely long table.
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And they take it seriously, as does this guy who has way more gear than even I do!

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Lots of “displays.”
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Tonight’s special menu.
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Tonight is partially about introducing a new NV blend cuvee:

NV Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Extra Brut Extra Old. 93 points. At least 6 years old, only reserve wines, dosage 3 gr. a champagne with a great character, very classic, also in its bitters, firm, but not severe and a long aftertaste.
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Caviar Blini with creme fraiche.
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Cheese (and maybe foie) Gougeres.
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Spicy Tuna Tartare, Sesame-Miso Tuille Cone. I’ve had it a million times but it’s still great. The counter play between the crunchy-sweet cone and the soft-spicy interior.
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Crab and uni and flowers in a crispy/chewy sesame ball.
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Jewish pizza. Smoked salmon with creme fraiche and ikura (salmon roe). I love this too. I even make it at home.
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Place settings.
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Various folk from Veuve get up to talk.
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This is Dominique Demarville, the wine maker! He told us all about each cuvee and a lot about the history of the house — really fascinating.

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Wild Hamachi. Beet Ponzu, ginger oil, sea grass. Great fish quality. Very bright strong vibrant flavors. Super delicious.

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2004 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. VM 93. Vivid gold. Heady aromas of orange, white peach and smoky minerals, with a note of buttered toast adding depth. Densely packed citrus and pit fruit flavors show chewy texture and a bright mineral quality that adds vivacity. Rich but lively and precise, finishing very long, with notes of candied fig and toasty lees.
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2006 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. JG 94+. The final blending of the 2006 La Grande Dame was completed prior to Dominique Demarville joining the team at Veuve Clicquot, so we will have to wait for the release of the 2008 version to see his impact on this bottling. The 2006 Grande Dame is a blend of fifty-three percent pinot noir and forty-seven percent chardonnay and was finished with a dosage of eight grams per liter. The wine is excellent, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of apple, pear, wheat toast, fine minerality, a touch of smokiness and a nice note of caraway seed in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, deep and complex, with elegant mousse, fine focus and grip and a very long, vibrant and zesty finish. This is drinking beautifully, but has the balance to age long and gracefully as well. High class juice.

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2008 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. 92 points. Tasting, brief note. A new age for Grande Dame – 92% Pinot Noir. Berries really come through with some toasted almond and toasted rye bread. Rounded textures, very good length.

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Spago always has great bread.
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Main Diver Scallops. Matsutake Mushrooms, Sea Grass, Yuzu Emulsion.
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The non shellfish version.
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2004 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. VM 94. Vivid orange-pink. Seductively perfumed aromas of ripe red berries, Asian spices, rose and smoky minerals. Densely packed and palate-staining, offering vibrant red and dark berry flavors, along with floral pastille and buttered toast qualities. The strikingly long finish repeats the red fruit and mineral notes and lingers with serious tenacity.

The Madame Clicquot invented the technique of mixing red pinot noir into Champagne to make rose and so these (like many rose Champagnes) use that technique as opposed to leaving the pinot on the skins.
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2006 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. JG 95.  For both the vintage-dated and the Grande Dame Rosé bottlings, Veuve Clicquot uses their parcel of Clos Colin in the village of Bouzy for the still red wine that is used to add color to the final blend. The ’06 Grande Dame Rosé is comprised entirely of chardonnay and pinot noir, with thirty-three percent of the blend the former and sixty-seven percent of the blend the latter (with fourteen percent still pinot noir). The dosage is eight grams per liter and the wine is outstanding, offering up a pure and complex bouquet of tangerine, desiccated cherries, chalky minerality, orange peel and plenty of smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and complex, with a superb core, lovely focus and grip, elegant mousse and a very long, zesty and wide open finish. This is drinking beautifully right now, but will age very gracefully as well.
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2008 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. CW 95-97. This is perhaps the best young Rose Champagne I can remember. Very fresh, frozen-berry nose, and on the palage this shows rich citrus and red fruits, and the characteristic ’08 electricity and density, dialed up to 11. Notwithstanding the massive concentration of raw material, this is pretty drinkable due to the excellent balance, saline freshness, and beautiful fruit. A real wow wine. Expensive but, dare I say, worth it.

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The giant double mag of 1990 rose!

1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. VM 92. Salmon-orange with a pale rim. Deep, smoky aromas of strawberry, pear cider, cinnamon, earth and maple syrup. Very rich in the mouth, but also shows excellent verve for a wine with such volume; superripe flavors of strawberry, rose petal, iron and earth. In texture and size, this comes across more like a red wine than a rose Champagne. Spicy finish is long and gripping.

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Marcho Farm’s Veal Loin. Chanterelle Mushrooms, Pancetta, Creme Sauce. Not usually a veal fan, but I know Wolfgang is, being Austrian — still this was fabulous.
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Pasta for my wife who doesn’t eat veal.
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1989 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Cave Privée. VM 92. Almonds, pastry and brioche are some of the notes that open up in 1989 Brut Cave Privée. The warm, resonant style is hugely appealing. Hints of toast and spice add complexity in a Champagne of pure texture and breadth. This is another terrific showing from Veuve Clicquot.
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1982 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Cave Privée. 95 points. Wonderful expressions of toast and bread. Slight oxidation, dark hay color, lasting taste on the palate, went down smoothly. Drink.
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House Made Seaweed Tamale. Main Lobster, Aonori Beurre Blanc. I wonder if this was developed at Rogue as it reminded me of the stuff from our visit to Wolfgang’s kitchen lab. Really great.
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My wife got another pasta (gnocchi) where they emulated meat with mushrooms. I ate a few and quite excellent.
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1979 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Rosé Cave Privée. 96 points. Delicately floral start with strawberry with ripe apple on nose and palate. Lots of power and textures start-to-finish with an incredibly persistent, long finish. Wow.
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Chef’s Selection of Artisanal Cheese. Bandaged Bismark from Raw Sheep Milk. 3 Year Aged Gouda Beemster from Pasteurized Cow Milk. Saint Gil d’Albio from Pasteurized Goat Milk.
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This was a great night and lots of fun. Set wine dinner meals are tough on restaurants, particularly with restrictive wine themes like “all champagne” but Spago did a fabulous job. I think they are actually one of the best at this kind of dinner. Liz Lee of Sage Society always arranges an impeccable affair. Plus our service was impeccable and our wines amazing — I left with a new appreciation for Veuve Clicquot!

The old Veuves like the giant 90, 82, 79 etc were just crazy good.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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Related posts:

  1. Krug at Spago
  2. Family Spago
  3. Foodie Club at Spago
  4. Krug Providence
  5. Drappier at Petrossian
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Champagne, Dominique Demarville, Liz Lee, Lobster, pasta, Sage Society, Spago, Veuve Clicquot, Wolfgang Puck

So Many Palaces, So Few Sundays

Dec24

Restaurant: Monterey Palace Restaurant

Location: 1001 E Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91755. Phone number (626) 571-0888

Date: November 11, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Tony always gets great stuff out of the kitchen

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Tony Lau’s Cantonese dinners are some of the best Chinese dinners of the year. He always manages to get the best out of these old school Cantonese kitchens.
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Monterey Palace is definitely one of these old school 80s Cantonese Palaces on Garvey.
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The interior is the usual somewhat overdone, slightly Chinese wide space.
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We had a nice private room.
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They specialize in roasting so there were pigs and ducks in the window.
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Peanuts on the table to begin with.
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Suckling Pig. Of course we had to. This was pretty typical of good SGV suckling pigs. Crisp skin, nice porky meat and the light hoisin sauce.
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Garlic shrimp. Crispy fried/baked. Not sure how they get them exactly like this.
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With roe too and WAY better than the similar steamed “bug” dish at Newport Seafood. This had a lot of flavor. You could munch on the shells if you like too.
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Scallops, pea pods, and sea cucumber. Very light sauce. A totally different sea cucumber prep than I had in China. But good. The scallops and pea pod part of the dish reminded me of velvety dishes I’d get at Chinese places in my youth (early 80s).
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Beef with mushrooms. Simple, but nice tasty beef actually.
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Sizzling pork. It came first in a bowl.
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Then they transferred to the hot skillet to finish it off. Much like the old “sizzling war bar.”
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Cantonese roast duck. This is close to Peking Duck, but not as crispy. Basically roast duck. Served with the heavier buns.
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And the usual condiments. Not nearly as good as a great Peking Duck, but still excellent.
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Lobster steamed with garlic. This simple prep is often one I get for crab. Just steamed, over glass noodles, and with lots and lots of garlic. Actually turned out to be excellent with lobster as it played up the moist and tender meat.

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Mushrooms, veggies, and pan fried meat (can’t remember which type). This was a slightly different dish and nice.

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Some ancient dessert wine for my gelato.
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My son’s favorite and his birthday pick: Triple Chocolate Cloud Gelato – the base made with Valrhona 63% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Creamcheese Ganache and house-made Valrhona brownie cubes — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #SummerTime #TripleChocolate #chocolate #valrhona #javara #brownies #icecream #dessert #FrozenDessert

There was also a tiny bit of Saffron Pistachio Gelato – Persian Saffron infused milk and Pistachios from Bronte Sicily — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #saffron #pistachio #nuts #sicily
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The restaurant brought fruit.
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Overall, this was a great meal. Monterey Palace is a pretty dated old school Cantonese place and I bet that if you just went and ate dinner it would be fairly middling (although enjoyable enough). However, Tony Lau always manages to get the very best out of them. This meal wasn’t my favorite Chinese style, I like a somewhat more varied, spicier, and more “Chinese” Chinese food style personally. In some ways it actually reminded me of what we had in Guilin China (which isn’t that far from Canton). You can see a lot of examples from China itself below in my Chinese dining guide.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews here and in China, click here.

Wines jumbled below:
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Related posts:

  1. Lincoln Seafood Restaurant
  2. NBC Seafood – Best Ever?
  3. SGV Nights – Seafood Palace
  4. Cui Hua Lou – Szechuan Shed
  5. Day of the Dumplings
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese Chinese, Chinese Food, Gelato, hedonists, Monterey Palace, Monterey Palace Restaurant, Monterey Park, SGV, Tony Lau

Florida Beach Mega Sushi Buffet

Dec21

Restaurant: Santo’s Modern American Buffet & Sushi

Location: 3400 N. Federal Hwy, Original location in Coral Springs, FL, Boca Raton, FL 33431. +1 561-923-9378

Date: November 2, 2018

Cuisine:Modern American Buffet & Sushi

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

_

Recently I went to Del Rey Beach Florida for the wedding of my oldest friend, Brent — which was awesome.
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As part of the Florida fun we went to this interesting AYCE (All You Can Eat) sushi buffet. Since it’s so “different” than the usual sushi I blog about, I thought to write it up just for S&G.

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Santo’s covers a lot of ground.

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It’s very clean and has a pretty up-to-date pseudo corporate decor.

Somehow they even had a 750ml Junmai sake for like $20 — it was a touch rougher than I’m used to.
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I pretty much ignored the American meat, fries, etc section of the buffet. This is presumably for the land lubbers.
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Various fried things which I also ignored.
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I sampled a couple of these hot items like the guilty pleasure ponzu popcorn shrimp.
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Fruit? Forget about it.
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Salads. Same.
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Now we’re talking. The sashimi. It wasn’t the most exciting fish in the world, and some were fairly heavily sauced, but I was surprised to find they weren’t fishy. It was certainly “fine.”
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Now we get into the “real” sushi. Somehow I missed photoing most of the nigiri.
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You can kind of see it here on the left — bear in mind these are lousy iPhone panos. There were 10-15 various nigiri and I even enjoyed the eel.
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Then TONS of rolls. Kind of a bit overdone but some were tasty and a sauce station at the end with spicy mayo, eel sauce etc.
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The desserts. Needed a separate stomach for these.
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One of my (many) plates. You can see some of the fairly sloppy nigiri.
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And another.

This was a fun night, and while it will win no awards for most authentic or sublime sushi, I was actually surprised how decent it was — perhaps a little less Japanese but slightly better fish quality than at the revolving sushi I occasionally go to. Interesting how the Japanese sushi bar has intersected with Florida “middle America” culture and morphed into this. And it’s like $27 even at full dinner freight! A search of Boca Raton restaurants turns up numerous competing sushi buffets — who knew it was such a popular style down there?

For more dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Wynn Breakfast Buffet
  2. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  3. Sushi Zo
  4. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  5. Blue Ribbon Sushi
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Buffet, Florida, Santo's, Sushi, wedding

Hank’s Palisades

Dec19

Restaurant: Hank’s Pacific Palisades

Location: 1033 N Swarthmore Ave, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. (310) 427-3077

Date: November 3 & December 26, 2018

Cuisine: Burger joint

Rating: Good burger, but narrow menu and expensive

_

I’m slowly working through all the places in the new Palisades Village.
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Hank’s is right on Swarthmore, just a bit down from where the old Mort’s Deli (much missed) was. They have a nice patio. Hank’s is VERY crowded. Lines at almost all times. Probably Hank’s is the most popular because it’s the most approachable.
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The build out is a bit pubby.
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The menu. Sadly it’s pretty much all burgers / sandwiches. I’m okay with burgers, but I can’t eat them all that often. There is a lingering Mort’s item in the form of a Reuben.
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Buffalo Cauliflower (deconstructed) (12/26/18). This is normally fried and coated with the hot sauce and blue cheese dressing but I was trying to go “low carb” and got it steamed with the sauces on the side. Pretty decent when you drenched it in sauce — although not that much cauliflower for $14.50.
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Cheese Burger with bacon, sautéed onions, and American cheese. It was a good burger. Not huge though (although certainly big enough). Heavy like burger’s always are. I wasn’t totally sure if they forgot the bacon which makes me think maybe they did because I should have noticed it. Empty cheese burgers start at $15.50 and don’t include fries!
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Burger Bowl with kale Caesar and added bacon and sautéed onions (12/26/18). You can get the burger on a salad instead of a bun — but as I discovered it’s only one patty instead of the two that come on the normal burger (I guess they expect women to order this) and so it ends up a bit “where’s the beef.” Pretty small patty, 1/4 pounder (uncooked). The salad was good but I did have to pile on the stuff so this was $14.50+$2+$2+$1.50 = $20 (before tax and tip). I had ordered cheese but they forgot it. They did bring it later but it was like half a slice of Craft American on plate. They could have put 2 slices on at least. Haha.
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Impossible Burger and fries. My wife loves this because as a vegetarian she doesn’t get burgers out often. Fries don’t come with — but are $6.
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Onion Rings ($8!!). Good rings. But $8?
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Mac & Cheese. Simple and pretty good. But also $8.
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The nearby Bay Theater and it’s very short very retro sign.

So far, having tried all the places in the village (even if I haven’t posted all of them as of this posting), Hank’s actually has the best execution. It’s a burger place and the burgers are really good. I’ll have to try a shake too at some point. Problem I have is that it’s pretty much all burgers and I can only eat them every so often. And it’s crowded so it takes a bit of time. I often like burgers fast casual. And prices are quite high. A burger with stuff — and that’s the only way I eat them — will easily bust $20 and that doesn’t include fries. A burger, fries, and a shake would be around $40! Yeah, that’s right!

Still, because the food is good (for what it is), I feel this is the most successful of the rather dull collection of offerings at the village. Blue Ribbon is okay too, but a touch boring. Porta Via is downright badly executed, although I have to try it again now that they’ve been running for awhile.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. The Counter
  2. Palisades Yogurt Shoppe
  3. Quick Eats – Porta Via
  4. Umami Burger at UMAMIcatessen
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: burger, Hamburgers, Hank's, mac & cheese, Pacific Palisades, Palisades Village

Sauvages 71Above

Dec17

Restaurant: 71Above [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Location: 633 W 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

Date: October 26, 2018

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Awesome in all ways

_

71Above is one of my favorite LA restaurants and I’ve been many times. Today the location plays host to a special aged Cabernet Sauvignon lunch with our Sauvages group with a special menu prepared by chef Vartan Abgaryan and a number of guest chefs.

Besides being located on the 71st floor (950 feet up!) of the US Bank building, being the highest restaurant west of the Mississippi, and showcasing the food of Chef Vartan Abgaryan, it’s owned and operated by my friend Emil Eyvazoff!

The main dining hall is gorgeous but we were in the private room for today’s lunch.
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Here the crew is gathering in the private room — same view, different quadrant.

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Our special menu, designed custom by Emil and Vartan.
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2016 Domaine Pernot-Bélicard Beaune 1er Cru Pertuisots Blanc. 90 points.
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1995 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée CH. JG 94.  The 1995 Kalin Cellars “Cuvée CH” Chardonnay is a beautiful bottle of wine that has reached its apogee of maturity, wafting from the glass in a pure and classy bouquet of pear, a touch of passion fruit, delicate notes of browned butter, hazelnuts, beautiful, salty soil tones, gentle smokiness and a very deft framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and perfectly balanced, with a fine core of fruit, bright framing acids, lovely complexity and a long, vibrant and very classy finish. A beautiful example sourced from the Charles Heinz vineyard, the 1995 Kalin Cuvée CH is at its apogee today, but will have no trouble cruising along for many years to come.
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Amazing bread and butter.
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2003 Peter Michael Chardonnay Ma Belle-Fille. VM 90+. Deeply pitched aromas of dried apricot, baked apple and vanillin oak, with a suggestion of tropical fruits. Broad and dry in the middle palate and not yet expressing itself. A bit edgy and phenolic on the finish, with slightly aggressive alcohol. Morlet says this is better than the 2002, but today it’s very closed.
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Roasted Okinawan Potato. Za’atar, pomegranate, lebneh, lime. Super bright and zesty with nice Mediterranean flavors.
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1968 Inglenook Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. I don’t know exactly which bottling.
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1973 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County. VM 94. Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County is a real oddity. Not to be confused with the more famous 1973 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, the Sonoma County is a different wine, but very much compelling in its own right. Still remarkably fresh and beautifully layered in the glass, the 1973 impresses for its brightness and purity. Sweet red berries, crushed flowers and savory herbs add naunce on the sculpted finish. What a revelation this is.
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1975 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection. 88 points.
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Steak Tartare. Red onion, ginger, lime, toasted rice, mint, potato chips.
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1981 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection. 92 points. Impeccable, almost unbelievable bottle condition. Cork looked brand new, with the penetration of a wine that was 2 years old, not 36 or 37… Caymus was misprinted on the cork and chants of “Rudy!” ensued….we started to wonder if this was fake. Lovely old California, with soft woody notes, and black tea.
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1984 Sullivan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Rutherford.
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1984 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23. 95 points. Aromas of candied cherry, funk, earth and dried blackberry. Still quite young on the palate with flavors of cherry, dried blackberry, earth and a touch of mint. Ends with a big fruit filled finish of 40 seconds. A great bottle of wine.
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Agnolotti. Cacio e pepe with puffs of delicate cheese inside. I could have eaten 6 plates of these!
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1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Buckeye Vineyard.
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1995 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley. VM 87. Full ruby-red. Crushed blackberry, bitter cherry, dark chocolate, licorice and oak spice on the nose. Bright, intensely flavored and juicy, with penetrating fruit and hints of leather and fresh herbs. But rather small in scale, finishing with decent length and a faint greenness.
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1996 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Gravelly Meadow. VM 89-92. Very good deep ruby color. Penetrating nose of cassis, minerals and violet; offers an almost sappy sweetness. Fat and sweet in the mouth, with nicely integrated acids and a lively hint of mint. Finishes with rather suave, tongue-coating tannins. Very nicely balanced and stuffed with fruit.
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1996 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace. VM 87-89. Deep ruby. Aromas of spicy, crystallized dark berries. Supple and lush, with good concentration and enticing sweetness. Minerally suggestion of graphite. Finishes with dusty, even tannins and a slightly edgy quality. An expressive wine that should give early pleasure.
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Young chicken. Smoked eggplant, za’atar, olive, pickled raisin, walnut basil.
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1997 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate. VM 93. Bright, dark red with ruby tones. Mellow aromas of currant, raspberry, smoke, spices and earth, complemented by sexy oak-spicy perfume and emerging notes of leather and pungent minerality. Utterly pliant and fine-grained, with inviting currant and cherry fruit accented by fresh herbs, menthol and licorice. Like a traditional Médoc wine in the way its subtle green components add complexity and lift. This energetic midweight spreads out to saturate the entire palate with a fine dusting of serious tannins. Very strong juice!
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1997 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon Terrace Select. 95 points.
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1998 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. VM 97. Ironically, the 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain from a much weaker vintage than 1997 on paper, is a much more interesting wine. Huge and explosive on the palate, the 1998 boasts serious depth and concentration. Iron, smoke, anise and dark red/blackish fruit all swirl around in the glass in a striking, nuanced Cabernet that is among the wines of the year in Napa Valley. If there is a dark horse in this tasting, the 1998 is it. Beautiful.
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1999 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 93. Bright, saturated medium ruby. Very ripe, sweet, aromatic nose combines bitter cherry, currant, chocolate, espresso, baking spices and licorice. Expansive, sweet and mouthfilling; almost shockingly large-scaled for this wine. Velvety and seamless, with ripe acids giving the wine shape. Subtle notes of currant leaf, maple syrup and game. Finishes rich and long, with sweet tannins. Seems riper and more textured than recent vintages of this wine. After 24 hours in the recorked bottle, this showed cassis and bitter chocolate flavors, an even firmer structure and compelling sweetness.
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Pork. Parsnip puree, charred shishitos, grapes, tarragon.

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Emil just “had” to have some steak too, so some hanger steak.
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2018 Valdespino Manzanilla Deliciosa en Rama. Very dry sherry — not my thing despite the fact that I LOVE PX.


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Cheese. Domestic selections with seasonal accompaniments.
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Bread for said cheese.
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Macchiato.
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Wine with a view.
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My bad notes.
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Half the gang.
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And the other half.
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Left to right: Emil, chef Vartan, and one of his assistant chefs.
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Sommelier Catherine Morel with Albert in foreground photobomb.
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The view of Glendale.

Heading down!

Overall, 71Above is just a seriously well conceived and executed one-of-a-kind restaurant. Really, it’s more like a NY, Singapore, or Tokyo kind of concept. First of all, the view is just awesome. I can’t wait to come back on a really clear day. Particularly once they begin brunch service, a nice winter day will offer an observation deck like panorama.

But then Emil and crew built out such a lovely space to capture the drama. It’s modern, but welcoming. Not too loud, you can here the conversation and the music both. And from when you enter off the double elevator ascent it folds from one experience to another: lounge, dining room, more intimate corridors, chef table, quiet and romantic view areas in the back, and a series of two adjustable private dining rooms. The attention to architectural detail is amazing.

Today’s lunch excelled on all counts. Service, food, company, and of course — despite the fact that I don’t really love California wine — the wines. It’s clear that past about 30 years these wines were really nice. The 80s in particular are in a really sweet spot. Too bad so many of them now are made in the giant extracted style.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. James Beard at 71Above
  2. 71Above Birthday
  3. Wine in the Sky – 71Above
  4. The High Life – 71Above
  5. 71Above – Knights Who Say Wine
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cabernet Sauvignon, DTLA, Emil Eyvazoff, lunch, Sauvages, Vartan Abgaryan, Wine

Hayato Highs

Dec14

Restaurant: Hayato [1, 2]

Location: 1320 E 7th St #126, Los Angeles, CA 90021. (213) 395-0607

Date: October 23, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Kaiseki

Rating: Amazing

_

For Fred’s final diner we again traveled east to DTLA Japanese newcomer, Hayato.
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It’s located in Downtown’s fancy new “ROW” complex — and quite hard to find (use the guide on the website).

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It’s tiny, only 8 seats, and helmed entirely by chef Brandon Go. As he says, Hayato is the culmination of a twenty year journey he has taken as an American-born chef learning about Japanese cuisine.
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Brandon says himself:

My Japanese father owns a sushi restaurant in the Los Angeles area, and I began working in his restaurant when I was fifteen years old. As with most Americans, sushi was the gateway through which I became seriously interested in Japanese food. During my teenage years, I made sushi. Throughout college, I made more sushi. After graduating from college, I went to live in Tokyo for a short time, I got a job in an izakaya, and I started to realize that sushi is a very tiny part of Japanese culinary tradition. I have spent rest of my life trying to learn the rest of it.

I dreamt of having my own restaurant since I began making sushi. But the type of restaurant I wanted to open has evolved since then. For my entire life, I have heard Japanese chefs talk of how good the cooking is in Japan, but how it would be impossible to garner support for truly authentic Japanese cooking in the U.S. because of how different American tastes are. I heard this constantly from chefs both in Japan and at home. I have even read it in cookbooks. Because of this, I always envisioned my restaurant being mostly authentic but having to play to the American tastes in order to ensure survival.

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Like at many good Japanese places, the service is very elegant.
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Look at these cute gold sake bowls with a complementary shot of sake.
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Here is the chef, Brandon Go.
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Fred brought: some older NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 94. The NV Brut Rosé is brilliant and finely-sculpted in the glass, with floral aromatics, pulsating minerality and chiseled fruit. Less austere than it can be, the Rosé impresses for its combination of tension and textured, phenolic weight. There is so much to like. This release (ID 213027) is based on the 2006 vintage. The blend is 59% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay and 8% Pinot Meunier.
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Abalone with okra, fava beans and broth made from simmered fish bone. This had that dashi taste and slightly goopy “slimy” Japanese texture. Delicious!
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More prep right in front of you.

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Paul served his wine blind.

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Paul brought: 2007 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 95. A huge, almost overpowering Burgundy, the 2007 Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet possesses towering structure and imposing depth, with seemingly endless layers of texture that fill out its broad, ample frame. The flavors are naturally unevolved at this stage; instead what stands out is the wine’s explosive personality and overall intensity. This is a very strong showing from a wine that sometimes gets lost in the Leflaive range.
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Tempura anago with Oregon chestnut. The anago is larger so the bones are bigger. He cut he anago honekiri style which is the same technique used for hamo (conger eel). It is the very fine slicing of the eel and bones to make the bones edible, leaving the skin portion intact. The chestnuts had a lovely chewy texture.
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Marinated Japanese mackerel with sushi rice, sesame, and seaweed. Mackerel is medium fatty. Very very old fashioned sushi! Delicious.
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Elegant lacquer bowls.
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Boston lobster dumpling with Oregon matsutake broth. The broth had this amazing dashi/mushroom flavor and the dumpling was a burst of lobster-ness. Stunning.
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From my cellar: 2002 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 94. Beautifully elegant and spicy aromas of obvious class introduce massive, sappy and notably concentrated flavors that are sweet and pure with buckets of dry extract that cause the palate impression to seem quite texturally dense, even chewy. This is an opulent wine of immense potential with plenty of muscle, weight and power. Extremely impressive.

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Tai sashimi with spot prawns. Delicious fresh sashimi.
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More gorgeous prep.
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Katsuo grilled over bincho charcoal and topped with grated ginger, daikon radish, and ginger flower. Some amazing fish.
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Fred brought: 2001 Coche-Dury Meursault. VM 91. Pure, discreet aromas of candied fruits and minerals. Juicy, taut and minerally, with terrific precision and grip. Long and stony on the back end. Serious juice, and precise for the vintage.
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Seared wild Hokkaido scallop (sweeter and more firm) and topped with fried seaweed.
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The crab prep.

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Grilled eggplant topped with Dungeness crab. This dashi was super thick and goopy with lots of starch. The crabbiness was absolutely amazing too.
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Grilled blackthroat sea bream (nodogoro) and grilled lotus root. Nodogoro is very expensive, more than toro. Usually $12-$20 a slice for sushi. He served us a huge piece so we could taste the oil and texture on the fish. Wouldn’t have thought I’d enjoy a piece of whitefish this much. The lotus was also fabulous.
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Erick brought: 1999 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 94. Three wines from Domaine Leflaive are all in terrific shape. The 1999 Chevalier-Montrachet has an almost phenolic intensity to it, with plenty of almond and honey notes woven throughout. This is an especially powerful Chevalier, but I also get an impression that the freshness is starting to fade, so the 1999 is probably best enjoyed sooner rather than later.
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More cooking in front of us.
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Grilled snapper in dashi broth with mushrooms and greens. (Only dish I’m not 100% sure on fish). More good whitefish.
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Grilled kinmedai rice. Kinmedai is also a highly prized sushi ingredient. Expensive and really delicious.
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Special roasted tea.
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Prepping pickles to go with the rice.
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The rice with tea, pickles, and some miso soup. Classic rice and pickles.
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A close up of this stunning rice. We got 2-3 helpings to to “fill us up.”
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Lovely pickles.
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Special miso soup — really nice.
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A second kind of tea.
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Nice little dessert fork.

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Jelly of plums and other fruit. Nice and light.
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Salted Caramel Hazelnut Gelato – the unholy love child of my Salted Caramel and Nocciola flavors, literally the recipe is an on paper merger of both base flavors. The salted caramel was made in house and the hazelnuts are from Torino (best in the world) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SaltedCaramel #Caramel #Hazelnut #Nocciola #nuts
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The room — lived in.
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And our wine line up.

Overall, stunning evening.

Hayato was some of the best food I had in 2018 and really reminded me why classic Japanese cooking can be so fabulous. It focuses on the ingredients and bringing forth this very natural expression of nature’s bounty. Every dish just tasted great.

Plus there was the intimacy of being right there with the chef — and our great crew — and our great wines.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

More Foodie Club meals. Or a second meal at Hayato.

Related posts:

  1. Burg at Kagura
  2. Yamakase Seven
  3. I-Driva to I-Naba
  4. Takao Top Omakase
  5. N/Naka Birthday
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, Hayato, Japanese cuisine, Kaiseki

Quick Eats – Tratto

Dec12

Restaurant: Tratto

Location: 15306 Sunset Blvd, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. (424) 581-4000

Date: October 21, 2018

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Good for the palisades

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The Village development isn’t the only thing opening recent in Pacific Palisades, we have a new Italian — in a town that is over-swamped (percentage wise) with (mediocre) Italian offerings.
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It’s located in the old Tivioli space right across from the village.
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Has a large outside patio.
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The menu has lots of tasty sounding options.
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Interior has been nicely redone.
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They have grisini — although not the best brand ever.
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Insalatina. Mixed greens, arugula, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, avocado, toasted almonds, balsamic.
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Penne pomodoro.
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Special pumpkin ravioli in a butter sage sauce. Classic.
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Boscaiola. Rigatoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, peas, tomatoes, cream. An unusual slightly red Boscaiola.

Overall, while the menu looked good, this was a slightly disappointing meal. Mostly because the service was abysmal. We had a reservation, but had to wait 30-40 minutes. Then were ignored and spent an easy extra 40 minutes more at the table than we really needed to. Even at the end I had to go inside and force the bill out of them — in response to which they were defensive.

Food itself was ok. Good for the Palisades — where food quality is horrible on average — but not that great by city-wide standards.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – Porta Via
  2. Quick Eats – Obica SM
  3. Quick Eats: Piccolo
  4. Quick Eats: Caffe Delfini
  5. Quick Eats – AR Cucina
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Italian cuisine, Pacific Palisades, pasta, Tratto

Chong Qing Special Noodles

Dec10

Restaurant: Chong Qing Special Noodles

Location: 708 E Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776.  (626) 374-1849

Date: October 20, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Good Chong Qing style casual place

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I’ll take any excuse to head out to the SGV — and next to no excuse to head out to the SGV for Szechuan.

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Most of the Szechuan places I go to have their culinary roots in Chengdu, but a few, like this one, in Szechuan’s larger, less iconic city: Chongqing.
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Clearly this used to be a KBBQ or something because it has hoods over all the tables.

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The classic Chinese joint Menu.
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Watermelon juice. Pretty much just blended watermelon.
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Smoked plum juice. Love this stuff!
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They have the cold bar. We ordered pretty much all of it.
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Salty/sweet garlic cucumbers.
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Shredded potato. These I like with some spicy sauce.
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Peanuts.
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Wood ear mushrooms with celery. Aka “black fungus”.  Love ’em.
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Pastrami like cured beef? Or maybe pork. Either way a bit spicy and really good.
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Pork intestine with bean curd. Not my fav.
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Pig ear with chili oil!
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Cold steamed chicken with spicy sauce. Chicken itself was good, but didn’t like this version of the sauce (more BBQ like).
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Spicy wonton with “soup.” Delicious little spicy pockets of yum.
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Spicy fried chicken with aromatic peppers. Love this salty dish.
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Ma Po Tofu. Just a so-so version of this dish. Not much mala and not that spicy.
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Chongqing noodle. Noodles with pork, fried egg, and spicy goodness.
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Dan dan mein. The nuttier other classic Szechuan noodle dish.
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Mixed up this was fairly accurate to what I was getting in Chengdu. Quite good.
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Noodle pull!
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Shredded pork with green chilis. Quite hot and very tasty soft pork.
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Cumin lamb. Good too.
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Repulsive liver soup. This stuff was gross. The broth was that tasteless pork bone broth and the liver… ick.
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Greens. Colon sweeper again. Maybe mustard greens.
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Matcha White Gelato – ceremonial matcha green tea gelato base with white chocolate stracciatella layered in — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #Matcha #GreenTea #WhiteChocolate #Stracciatella

Overall, we ordered a LOT for 4 people and enjoyed most of it. This is an older style SGV place, VERY casual, friendly but slightly indifferent service, excellent value, tasty food, average ingredient quality, authentic. They have a lot of dishes. And some are excellent and some are just okay. As someone who has eaten a lot of Szechuan food I tend to prefer places with a slightly tuned up kitchen, better ingredients, etc — but still, no serious complaints.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Related posts:

  1. White Guys Can Cook Noodles
  2. Eating Chengdu – Alley Noodles
  3. Eating Beijing – 3.3 Noodles
  4. Hip Hot
  5. Night of the Whirling Noodles
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chong Qing Special Noodles, noodles, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan Chinese, Szechuan cuisine

Dirty Dozen Grand

Dec07

Restaurant: Grand Harbor [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: October 14, 2018 and June 27, 2021

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Very good Cantonese

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It has become traditional for the Dirty Dozen (our blind tasting group within a group) to do white wine lunches over dim sum — but this time we mixed it up slightly and combined with Sunday night dinner into a Cantonese banquet Dirty Dozen White dinner. I think this was originally white Burgundy themed, then opened up lightly to some “other” (aka lessor) Chardonnay. Mostly it was White Burg.

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.

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We had a private room — pretty much a necessity given the crowded main room.
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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.
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Crispy taro chips. Like crunchy French Fries.
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Marinated cucumbers. Very good, nice crunch and a bit of heat. These were so good we ordered them again.
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Peanuts.
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2008 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 95+.  Pale yellow-green color. Manages to be both explosive and reduced on the nose, offering strong notes of lime peel, seashell, spices, mint oil, white flowers and smoky, flinty minerality. Extremely backward on the palate, showing hints of smoked ham and dusty stone. Less silky and tactile today than the C o te Bouguerots but this will ultimately be the more complex wine. The extraordinary palate-saturating finish is like chewing on rocks today.
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2004 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. BH 95. Stylistically, this closely resembles the Valmur with its ultra elegant and pure aromas featuring white flowers, oyster shell and subtle spice notes that perfectly complement the round, powerful, rich and full-bodied flavors that coating the mouth and culminate in a saliva-inducing, incredibly intense finish that reminded me more than a little of a great Corton-Charlemagne. This just oozes minerality and the texture is minerally to the point of this resembling a block of stone. A great Les Clos.
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Suckling pig. Really nice one with crunchy skin and great piggy flavor.
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Sandi, Stefano, and the manager.
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Cantonese style peking duck (with the buns). We’ve had a rash lately of these Cantonese ducks. Good, although not as crispy and delightful as the real Beijing style.
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Scallions and hoisin for the duck.
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2014 Marc Colin et Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru La Garenne. BH 92. Discreet touches of reduction and wood still allow the ultra-fresh pear, white peach and lilac-inflected aromas to shine. There is both good volume and richness to the solidly well-concentrated medium-bodied flavors that possess a textured mouth feel before terminating in an energetic, balanced and mouth coating finish that exhibits a bit of youthful austerity. This chiseled and citrusy effort is definitely in need of at least a few years of bottle age first as it’s presently quite tight.
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2002 Jean Boillot & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère. VM 94+.  Lemon, lime, spring flowers, nut oil and minerals on the vibrant nose. Dense and sweet, with penetrating flavors of peach, spice and minerals lifted by a captivating floral character. Broad, classy and extremely long on the back end. Already showing terrific personality, but this will be even better for five to seven years of cellaring.
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Roast pigeon.
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Duck, second way, chopped up with veggies.
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With the lettuce cups.
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And nestled inside one. Way better than PF Changs!
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2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 97. The 2011 Meursault Genevrieres is emotionally moving. Deep, layered and explosive, the Genevrieres bursts from the glass with an utterly beguiling combination of fruit, minerality and structure. Layers of rich, vivid fruit flow to an effortless, kaleidoscopic finish of exceptional grace. Pierre-Yves Colin makes a number of fabulous wines, but none goes straight to the heart like the Genevrieres does. The 2011 is another spectacular version. Readers who can find the 2011 should absolutely not hesitate.
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From my cellar: 2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir. VM 92. A statuesque Burgundy, the 2011 Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir is all class. Nothing in particular stands out, so impeccable is the wine’s balance. The depth and intensity of the fruit is apparent, but readers will have to give the 2011 at least another year or two before the elements start to truly come together. The 2011 is impressive for its depth and stuffing.

agavin: a bit corked. sigh. Second time I’ve tried to use Roulot to just power through to the win and had a corked bottle. sigh.
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Salt and pepper shrimp. Eat the shells!
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Garlic lobster.
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2014 Kongsgaard Chardonnay. VM 94. Kongsgaard’s 2014 Chardonnay is a crescendo of aromas, flavors and textures. Expansive, rich and super-expressive, the 2014 is surprisingly accessible at such a young age. I am not sure how well the 2014 will age, but it is exceptionally beautiful and inviting today. Slate, candied lemon, vanillin and a hint of reduction infuse the striking finish. This is a terrific vintage for the Napa Valley Chardonnay.

agavin: Grr. fake chard!
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2015 Raymond Vineyard & Cellar Chardonnay Generations.

agavin: two of them in fact!
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Chicken Knees — yeah little cartilage bombs. Really yummy.
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Ultimately fried fish. All crispy and delicious.
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Greens. Colon sweeper.
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2008 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers. VM 91. Good bright medium red. Enticing, very pure aromas of cherry, raspberry and flowers. Quite juicy and precise; not a fleshy wine but intensely fruity, taut and pure. Impressively long, rising finish. Gregory Gouges told me he finds most of the family’s 2008s to be agreeable now and probably best drunk early for their youthful fruit. He’s not convinced that the wines have enough dry extract for extended aging.
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2006 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. VM 93. Vivid ruby. Spicy, finely etched red berry and cherry aromas are complicated by fresh lavender, herbs and minerals. The palate offers tangy raspberry and cherry skin flavors, with gentle tannins adding shape. Impressively pure, even delicate, with outstanding finishing clarity and length. This beguiles rather than brutalizes; I underestimated it last year.
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Fried sweet and sour pork chops. All sticky and chewy and delicious.
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Shrimp fried rice. Bits of pork in there too.
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Compressed noodles with beef — looks like barf but tasted great! Really interesting chewy texture to the noodles too.
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Sweet mysterious Chinese dessert soup.
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Sweet buns. From the dim sum collection and pretty good.
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Pecan Pie Gelato – Tahitian Vanilla Bean Base with Mom’s recipe Pecan Pie Filling layered in — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato.
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In the bowl.
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My lousy notes.
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Overall, Grand Harbor had really nice Cantonese banquet — color me impressed. Lots of fabulous dishes.

Service here was amazing too. 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.

Very fun night as always.

 

June 27, 2021, right after the lockdowns

So we came back to Grand Harbor again in June of 2021 and they were still — as many places are — in a weird transitional state after the disruptions of 2020 and 2021.

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They have this much reduced menu which we had to order from, and even to get the live seafood we had to call way ahead.
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Pork belly and Jellyfish — Jellyfish was spicy, pork salty but good.
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Here’s our reserved live seafood, squirming in the bucket.
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Live Crab Typhoon Style.
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Lobster w/ Ginger and Scallion and noodles — noodles were fabulous.
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“Flounder” Sichuan Hot Pot style — not really spicy, maybe not our flounder. Really wouldn’t matter what kind of fish you spiced up this way.
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Roast Quails — good.
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Scallops with Snow Peas — great texture.
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Cantonese Roast Duck.
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Walnut Shrimp — Delicious.
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Stir Fried Beef with Egg and Tomato.
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Salt and Spicy Pork Chop.
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Yangchow Fried Rice.
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Bok Choy with Garlic.
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Buko Pandan Gelato — Infused the milk with fresh Pandan Leaves and then crafted it into a dairy coconut base as my take on the Filipino favorite. Unusual and soothing. — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #buko #pandan #coconut

Thai Red Curry Sorbetto — I made a version of this in 2017 and it was a dismal failure, but haunted me since and so this one is redemptive. Made a (no salt) red curry paste from scratch (chilies, lemongrass, galangal, cilantro roots, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, Asian shallots etc) and then cooked it into a pure Thai Coconut Milk base. Sweet and Spicy! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto#Thai #red #curry #spicy
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Honey and Almond Sponge Cake.

Today’s meal was not Grand Harbor at its best. Although execution on the dishes they did have was pretty good, and service was excellent, the limited menu and near empty dining room was a touch sad. Still and great kitchen and hopefully they bounce back quickly.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Grand times at Grand Harbor
  2. Dirty Dozen – Locanda Veneta
  3. Dirty Dozen at Doma
  4. Dirty Dozen Ride Again
  5. Dirty Dozen Cabernet
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese, Cantonese cuisine, Dirty Dozen, Gelato, Grand Harbor, GYOG, SGV, White Burgundy

Piedmont at Maude

Dec05

Restaurant: Maude [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: October 10, 2018

Cuisine: French Californian

Rating: Great Theme

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When it opened several years ago, Maude was a big deal on the LA restaurant scene. For quite some time they had a unique “one ingredient, one month” theme. I had gone 4 years ago in late 2014. But that was back several chefs ago, and now-a-days they have a “season” (of 3 months I think) with a wine theme and food to match. Reversing their early hesitation about corkage, if you bring on theme — you now get free corkage. yay! I went earlier this year for Burgundy and now I’m back with my wife on “date night” for Piedmont.

It’s still located on Beverly in Beverly Hills.

It’s still cute inside.

Quite small with an open kitchen.
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Elegant table settings.
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Tonight’s menu.
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From my cellar: 1999 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Vecchie Vigne Sorì Paitin. VM 92. The 1999 Barbaresco Sorì Paitin Vecchie Vigne is dark, powerful and opulent, with more than enough stuffing to age well for the better part of the next decade. Smoke, menthol, tar, black fruit and French oak blossom in the glass as this resonant, exuberant Barbaresco show off its unique, totally compelling personality. The French oak is present, but well balanced at the same time.
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Bagna Cauda. Fresh farmer’s market vegetables.
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And dip.
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Bacalao. Parsley, garlic. Cod — with butter!
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Agnolotti. Rocchetta Cheese. Could have eaten about 100 more of these.
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Vitello Tonnato. Raw tuna on cheese with capers and EVOO.
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Tajarin. Bresola, sage. Fetticini-like pasta with like bits of cured beef.
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Ravioli. Braised veal and truffles! Awesome.
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Vegetarian version without the veal.
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Stick a knife in it.
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Finanziera. Young beef, foie gras, sweetbread. Good stuff. Rich on rich.
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A vegetarian alternative. Looks pretty meaty too.
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Occelli al Barolo. Cheese soaked in barolo!
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Bread.
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In Maude 2.0 you go upstairs for dessert, which I really like. Last time, they had this incredible cheese and dessert buffet. They said that almost killed the pastry chef and now it’s been simplified. Too bad!
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Sharon takes it in. Still there was a lot of good stuff up here.
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Panna Cotta. Orange, persimmon, honeycomb. Delicious!
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“Hot chocolate” with marshmallow and other goodness.
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Petit fours.
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Some kind of tea. May have been mint tea.
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Oh, and they have little “presents” for the morning.

I found this new format for Maude much more pleasant. The food was good. Some dishes were excellent, really good, and some just solid. The service was fabulous. They were trying to go Italian with some success but it still felt a bit French — although certainly very good. The whole no corkage thing is a welcome relief. I loved the 2 locations thing and the loungey location upstairs. All in all a super fun evening!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Burgundy at Maude
  2. Multitextured Maude
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Date Night, Italian wine, Maude, Piedmont

Capital Dim Sum

Dec03

Restaurant: Capital Seafood Beverly Hills

Location: 50 N La Cienega Blvd #130, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (310) 855-1234

Date: October 10, 2018 and August 1, 2019

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum

Rating: Good for this far west

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Finding great Chinese west of the SGV has long been a problem, but the “great wall” between east and west has been cracking with lots and lots of new openings closer to (my) home.
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Capital is the latest SGV place to move west, occupying the Newport Seafood Beverly Hills location that failed to work out. Not that I love even the original Newport, but Capital is fairly straight up banquet / dimsum Cantonese.
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The space looks pretty Chinese, even in Beverly Hills.
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Coves. Gotta have the coves!
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The made to order dimsum Menu.
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Sauces were great. The chili sauce and XO both awesome.
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Cold Spicy jellyfish (8/1/19). Nice chew and great Szechuan-style spice flavor.

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Shrimp and pork shui mai. Classic, but well done versions.
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Spinach Mix Veggie Dumplings. We had a vegetarian in the house.
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Shrimp Har Gow. Very nice, not too sticky either and kept together.
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Tofu Skin Roll with shrimp. I like these bean curd wrapped thingies. The goji berries were a different touch.

 

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Beancurd stuffed with shrimp (8/1/19). Great spongy textural play.

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XLB (steamed pork dumpling). Solid versions of this amazing dish. A touch pasty, but oh so good.
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Shrimp, scallop, and peanut dumplings. Dumplings always rule.
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Baked BBQ Pork Pastry. Super rich lovely pastry and sweet BBQ pork.
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Baked Honey BBQ Pork Bun (8/1/19). This is my favorite of the pork bun styles with the sweet bread stuffed with delicious sweet BBQ pork.

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Stuffed Shrimp and Scallop Ball (8/1/19). The inside of this fried fellow is a shrimp and scallop cake/paste. Delicious with the provided mayo.
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Steamed Cilantro Rice Noodle (Chow fun). I’ve never had it with just cilantro. A little bland but the rice noodle texture was excellent.

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Minced Beef Rice Noodle (8/1/19). Tastier than the cilantro version.
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Taiwanese Shrimp Egg Roll. I really liked these super hot, ultra fried, mega crispy cigarette-like spring rolls.
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Deep fried mushroom egg roll.
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Rice Noodle with XO Sauce. I loved these chewy rice cakes smothered in spicy XO sauce. Very soothing texture and a lot of salty umami XO flavor.

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Lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice (8/1/19). Classic and filling.
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Dried Shrimp and Pork Dumpling. The chewy fried bomb shaped dumplings were excellent.
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Shrimp and chives dumpling (pan fried). Also greasy fried flavor.

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Steamed Chinese Broccoli (8/1/19). Pretty tasty.
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Roasted half duck (on the house). Really succulent and moist. Delicious.
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Salt and pepper eggplant. Fried and salty and very hot (temperature) but delicious.

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Seafood with Pan Fried Egg noodles (8/1/19). I’ve loved this dish for over 40 years!

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On my 8/1/19 visit I brought these home-made (by me) gelati:

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau

Cioccolato Fondente Torrone Gelato — I’ve been working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolates — a total of 22.5% cocoa by weight — extremely intense — offset slightly by Italian soft nougat (torrone) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #torrone

Overall, Capital Seafood is middling level dimsum for the SGV but excellent for Beverly Hills. Almost certainly the best west of the SGV. One of the only rivals is The Palace, which is good, but still the cart format. The manager/owner was awesome. Service was very attentive, but a little weird in that a few of the girls hovered uncomfortably close. They were trying though.

On our second visit service was clean and unobtrusive. Food was fresh and tasty. Really quite good. Not the BEST dimsum in the known world but still first rate.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Related posts:

  1. World Seafood is Elite
  2. Dim Sum is Shanghai #1
  3. Derek moved to China Red
  4. Lunasia Dim Sum
  5. Dim Sum – World Seafood
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Brunch, Cantonese cuisine, Capital Seafood, Dim sum, dimsum, dumplings, hedonists, lunch, XLB

Szechuan Impression West

Dec01

Restaurant: Sichuan Impression

Location: 11057 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 444-7171

Date: October 10 and November 6 & 30th and December 17 & 19, 2018 and Jan 9 & 30 and April 21, 2019 and July 16, 2019

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: SGV on the Westside

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I’ve been waiting all summer for Sichuan Impression — one of my favorite SGV haunts — westside branch to open up and so it was that Yarom, Keong, and I descended on them at 11am opening day! Plus returned twice a month later for more updates.
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They took up residence in the old Jin Jiang which I used to eat at all the time in the old Flektor days. Right above Hamasaku. Only problem with this location is the lousy parking (the lot’s always full).
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The interior is newly redone — except the icky bathrooms.
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Crowded on a Friday night.
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There is some patio space too. Never see that at Chinese!
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The menu is posh.
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Yarom with the chef from Chengdu and the owner Kelly (on the right).
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For my 11/6/18 lunch Liz brought this perfect light (low alcohol) Riesling. 2016 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Spätlese Faß 23. VM 93. This “two-star” auction lot is more northerly in fruit personality than the corresponding Fass 7, prominently featuring grapefruit and white peach laced with fresh lime and garlanded in apple blossom and honeysuckle. The lusciously fruited palate is buoyant, glossy and subtly creamy, but at the same time almost electrocharged in its expression of brightly juicy citrus. The vibrantly sustained finish gains mouthwatering appeal from a suffusion of mineral salts and invigorates with an impingement of grapefruit zest, peach fuzz and stone.
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Juicy Steamed Chicken in Chili Sauce (10/10/18). This classic cold appetizer was excellent here. Not absolutely perfect. The sauce was great, but the chicken maybe could have been slightly better. But still very strong.
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Impressive Bean Jelly (10/10/18). Green bean jelly, crushed peanuts, scallion. This actually was impressive. First of all, it’s cut in Chengdu street style instead of the longer noodles (which I also like). It’s cold, with the jello-like texture and the awesome tangy/spicy chili sauce. 10 out of 10 for this fabulous dish.

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On our second and third visit (11/6/18 & 11/30/18) the dish was cut more like noodles. I actually preferred the slab version slightly although it was still great.
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Bamboo shoots in chili sauce (1/30/19). This is a simple dish, possibly just steamed bamboo shoots with chili oil on top, but I liked it a lot. Nice crunch. Some real heat — and kinda healthy!
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On 2/10/19 a version of the bamboo shoots with sauce on the side.
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Cold Noodles (11/30/18). This is the worst dish I’ve had here. Cold, chewy, an not much flavor.
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Szechuan French Fries (11/30/18). A little soggy but great flavor.
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Eggs and tomatoes (2/10/19). A Chinese home classic.
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Wonton’s in chili oil (11/6/18). Could have used a bit more chili oil, but the wontons were delicious. I just dipped it in the noodle sauce.
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Impressive Sausages (4/21/19). Very good cold Chinese Sausages. Spicy and Sweet and Salty at the same time.

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Shredded Pork with Garlic (11/6/18). Cold bacon-like pork with garlic and cilantro. I was actually expecting the pork in fish sauce but this was a great dish too. Not as hot as at Gu Yi.
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Twice Cooked Pork (7/16/19). An excellent example of the classic Szechuan Dish. Tender meat, lots of salty/pork flavor, offset by the big strips of green onion.
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Steamed Pork with Rice Flour (10/10/18). Marbled pork, pumpkin, scallion. I’ve never had this dish before. The meat was very fatty and very soft and had a moist texture from the rice flour — not to mention an interesting almost almond-like taste. Quite comforting and nice, if a touch “weird” to American standards.
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MaPo Tofu (10/10/18). 10 out of 10 version of this classic dish. Salty, but not too salty, with lots of mala.

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Everything hot pot (11/30/18). This had tripe, spam, shrimp, veggies, and some kind of scary dark organ meat. It was delicious though, particularly the spam.
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Fish filet with green chilies (11/30/18). Really nice version of this dish. Thick soft fish and lots of green heat. Very delicate and flavorful.
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Fish filet in golden sour soup (11/30/18). Photo is after it was mostly eaten. Awesome fish dish. The soft fish complemented perfectly with the mild tangy soup/sauce.
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Tea Smoked Pork Rib (10/10/18 & 11/30/18). Pork rib, dry chili, scallion, minced peanuts. This was a moderately contentious dish in the group, but I loved it as always. The meat is super tender, melt from the bone, with a dry and nutty heat.
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Sweet and Sour Shrimp (10/10/18). Super garlicky, spicy, tangy. Really like this dish too.

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Sizzling chicken with chilies (11/6/18). Nice version of this dish. Not as heavy on the peppers and aromatics but I liked the celery (coated in chili bits).

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Pig trotters (11/30/18). Chewy, but lots and lots of flavor.
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Kung Pao Chicken (11/30/18). Fabulous. Very much Chengdu style with the heat, sweetness, and tangy quality.
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Kung Pao Shrimp (12/19/18). Not only did it have the same goodness (and lots of ginger) but there were tons of succulent shrimp!
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Griddle Style Shrimp (11/30/18). Really nice flavor.
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Frog hot pot (11/30/18). Not our favorite. The frog meat was good, if boney but it was a bit overcooked and the sauce more flat.
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Ginger Rabbit (4/21/19). Rabbit was meaty and had minimal bone for rabbit. The sauce had a nice ginger flavor and was HOT — very hot for mortals.
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Spicy Hot Free Range Chicken (1/9/19). This dish was one of the hottest dishes I’ve had here, with a searing green/red almost Hunan style heat. Nice flavor and a lot of good garlicky burn.
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Griddle Cooked Squid (4/21/19). Great griddle cooked flavor. Hot but not too hot. Nice chewy squid. Crunchy vegetables. Excellent dish.
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Cumin mutton (11/6/18). Super tender. Awesome version of this Szechuan classic.

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Mustard Greens (11/30/18). Really delicious. Crunchy with lots of garlic.
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Lettuce (11/30/18). Also very good.
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Crunchy veggies and egg with tomato (11/30/18). Boring stuff for vegetarians.
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Rice cake with syrup and peanut dust (11/30/18). Interesting gooey/chewy texture and pleasant flavor. Mild though like most Chinese desserts.
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Natural Bubblegum Gelato made by me for @sweetmilkgelato (11/30/18) — turns out you can simulate bubblegum with a bunch of fruits and vanilla! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #bubblegum #weirdflavors #natural
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Pina Colada Sorbetto — just like the cocktail with Thai coconut milk, pineapple, a touch of lime and dark rum — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato (11/30/18) — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #PinaColada #CocktailIceCream #pineapple #coconut #lime #rum

Service was nice but very slightly confused as this was the opening hour for the entire restaurant. The owner Kelly was super nice. They have one of their chefs in from Chengdu for the opening, and the food was extremely tight, extremely authentic, and as good as the SGV branch. He will head home at some point, and so it will be interesting to see where it goes. The menu is big and interesting with all sorts of non-American favorites like intestines and kidneys and rabbit. Yum!

Super excited to have this on the westside — and they have a liquor license too so we will be coming back for a wine dinner in November.

I have heard that the lines are quite bad at dinner time and the staff hasn’t totally figured out how to service the demand yet — but they seem committed to figuring it out. I’m happy it’s busy too because that means it will do better and last longer! Because this is real Szechuan food (or as close as we come in America).

My second lunch on 11/6/18 was medium crowded. They took a bit of time to take our order but it came fast and everything was still delicious. It maybe was 5% less on point than the first time, probably because the Chengdu chef returned home, but it was still really really solid and about the same as the SGV version.

Third dinner on 11/30/18 was very good. A few dishes were off like the cold noodles but most were great. They had a bit of a tough time (although they tried) with the complex two table ordering and were bringing things out a bit fast. But they also had the best bus boy ever!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

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Papa Limor 83rd bday!7U1A2414
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High acid, fruit hiding a bit, but very nice.
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Tasted like a pinot. VERY fruit forward.
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Great with the spice.
IMG_1443Nice and dry.

Related posts:

  1. Cui Hua Lou – Szechuan Shed
  2. GuYi — Szechuan in Brentwood?
  3. Eating Chengdu – Szechuan
  4. Hop Woo is Hop New
  5. Szechuan Everywhere
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, chili, Chinese Food, Gelato, hedonists, mala, mapo tofu, opening day, Sichuan, Sichuan Impression, Skylar, spicy, Szechuan Impression, West LA
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