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Archive for July 2019

Eating Jerusalem – Pergamon

Jul31

Restaurant: Pergamon

Location: 7 Heleni ha-Malka, Jerusalem 94221, Israel. +972 50-684-3988

Date: June 29, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Very good, particularly for vegetarian

When I made a reservation at Pergamon, which was very well reviewed, I didn’t even realize it was vegetarian. Not a big deal, but it’s not typical for me to hone into the meatless domain — but in Jerusalem with the prevalence of kosher rules this is one way for them to be dairy.

Gratuitous city shot.

Pergamon is located on a pedestrian alley off a busy street.

The menu.

We sat in a cute courtyard in the center of the restaurant.

Like many Israeli places, they have a bar.

We ordered some prosecco.

Dakos. Greek salad with toasted bread and feta cheese.

Beetroot, charred spring onion salsa, manchego cheese & pistachios.

Zucchini salad with arugula, basil, balsamic vinegar, hazelnuts & parmigiano Reggiano.

Polenta chips, tartar sauce. These were really tasty, even if “off diet” (carby).

Fried rice balls in tomato sauce with green beans, spinach & pomegranate molasses.

Grilled courgette with tomato and date salsa, feta cheese, walnuts & smoked tahini. Israeli’s LOVE tahini.

Parisian gnocchi with za’atar butter, charred eggplant, feta cheese & tomato seeds. These were also very good.

Roasted eggplant, tahini, pickles, tomatoes, parsley & a soft-boiled egg. This basic dish — i.e. roasted eggplant with tahini — is super popular in Israel.

Kanafeh, which is cheese and “noodles” with syrup or honey. Delicious stuff when done well, like this one.

Overall, Pergamon was quite lovely. The courtyard was cute and the food was very tasty — particularly considering that it was all vegetarian!

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Israeli Cuisine, Jerusalem, Pergamon, vegetarian, Wine

Không Tên – Brunch

Jul29

Restaurant: Không Tên LA [1, 2]

Location: 11520 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (424) 832-7000

Date: June 16, 2019

Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion

Rating: Really tasty, great place

For father’s day brunch I and the family venture back to my friend Kim Vu’s Vietnamese Fusion place, Không Tên.

Coincidently too, my old kitchen lead from RnR, who I’m also still friendly with, sometimes moonlights here.

The location is on a busy stretch of Pico just west of the 405, close to Sawtelle.

The brunch menu.

From my cellar: 2014 Christophe et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. 92 point. Stone fruit, pear, lemon, saline. Palate is mid-width, fresh and reasonably long.

Thao Farm Bok Choy Salad. Terry Farm Asian Pear, Weiser Farm Rainbow Carrot, Toasted Almonds, Watermelon Radish, Coriander Lemon Vinaigrette. Good salad with nice texture variations.

Tamai Farm Swiss Chard Hash. Shitake Mushroom, Weiser Farm Root Vegetables.

Crab Benedict. Sauteed Thao Farm Greens and scallions & dill. “Mother” Hollandaise. This was a wicked good “benedict”. The combo of creamy crab, veggies, a bit of bread, and a lovely blend of lemongrass and other Vietnamese flavors was awesome.

From my cellar: 2017 Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina Hijo de Rubentis. 90 points. pale color, a little spritz at the outset, fresh, dry, excellent with summer.

Steak and Eggs. Caramelized Sirloin Steak, watercress, roasted tutti frutti tomato, red onion, sesame, 2 sunny side up eggs.

Simple French Toast.

K10 Chicken & Waffles. Thao Farm Sweet Potato Spider Waffle, saigon cinnamon, organic chicken, 5 spice palm sugar syrup, house hot sauce. Also really great. The chicken itself was like chicken snitzel but the mixture of crunchy textures was great and taken up by the sweet and savory thing, the herbs, and the hot sauce.

Some Gelato I made (and brought):

Salted Caramel Chocolate — House-made salted caramel forms the core of this base which then is layered with house-made Valrhona dark chocolate ganache and Valrhona milk chocolate chips — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — my best salted caramel yet — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #caramel #chocolate #Valrhona #ganache

Overall, Không Tên is a hidden little gem. The food is very very good and quite interesting. It’s far more “American with Vietnamese flavors” then a more Vietnamese Fusion place like Little Sister. Quite creative. Also every dish is delicious. It might be a touch understated though, as it’s not super flashy in tonal style. And it’s a nice little space and reasonable too boot. If you’re on the Westside and like this sort of food at all, you should definitely give it a try! I believe at current it’s open only at dinner, which is even more delicious.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, BYOG, Gelato, Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese Fusion, Wine

Eating Israel – Aroma Cafe

Jul26

Restaurant: Aroma Cafe

Location: all over Israel

Date: June 29, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Not impressed

Aroma Cafe is a chain that’s all over Israel. As far as I can tell, it’s not in any way related to the LA Aroma Sunset Bar & Grills (which is vaguely Israeli).

The Israeli chain itself is kinda like Au Bon Pain Israeli style, salads and sandwiches. They are everywhere (in Israel).

The menu.

An iced coffee.

Chocolate croissant.

To get simple pasta we had to order a more complex pasta with everything on the side. They wouldn’t sell us just the pasta.

Here is the “on the side.” lol.

Halloumi salad. Sliced of roasted halloumi cheese with white cabbage and roasted mushrooms, roasted pepper, red onion, tomatoes, ccarrots, lettuce, parsley, arugula. Seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice dressing. With an over easy egg.

A close up. I did NOT like this salad. It was warm, very white, and basically had no seasoning at all. In general Israeli food can be a bit under-seasoned and this certainly was. I had to go up and ask for dressing and all they had was tahini. Did not combine well, made it very heavy — and it was 100 degrees out. Really, I wanted some kind of highly acidic vinegar dressing. I didn’t find these at all in Israel, salads were usually sweet.

Shakshuka. Two eggs sunny side up, tomato and peepper sauce, parsley. Bread and butter. This is a very common dish in Israel.

Roast Beef sandwich. Not much of a looker.

Tuna sandwich. Also not exactly gorgeous.

I can’t say I was impressed with Aroma. In fact, didn’t like it at all. Felt so corporate and nothing I tried tasted good.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Aroma Cafe, chain, Eating Israel, Eggs, Salad

Eating Jerusalem – Hamotzi

Jul24

Restaurant: Hamotzi

Location: Rehov Yaffo 113, Jerusalem 9434227, Israel. +972 2-631-0050

Date: June 27, 2019

Cuisine: North African Israeli

Rating: spicy!

Tonight’s spot is Israeli with North African influences and located right next to:

The Mahane Yehuda market.

The street itself is closed to vehicle traffic (at least at night).

The inside is fairly cute and two floors.

The menu. The food is kosher meat, and a touch spicy too from it’s “south of the med” influences.

A glass of kosher rose — a bit harsher than I’m used to.

Chopped vegetable salad with lemon and olive oil.

Super spicy beef handmade cigar. Basically taquitos. They were medium spicy to my taste, but still very tasty.

Adir’s meatballs in rich tomato sauce.

Spicy peas as a side — delicious. I ate at least a whole plate. Had cumin and some other spices mixed in.

Roast potatoes.

Kosher chicken tenders and fries.

Cubes of beef with almonds and potatoes.

Boulettes. Algerian meatballs in tomato sauce, cabbage, and onion.

Spicy beef cheeks and chickpeas. Like spicy North African beef stew.

Rice.

Overall, Hamotzi was a lively place and I found the food very tasty. I always enjoy different and “spiced” flavors, and this Algerian/North African flavor profile was a bit different for me — plus it has some (good) heat. That distracted from the lack of dairy.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

Afterward we went to see a light show in the ruins of David’s Citadel — pretty cool!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Algerian cuisine, Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Hamotzi, Jerusalem, Kosher, Middle Eastern Cuisine, North African Cuisine

Bistro Na Birthday

Jul22

Restaurant: Bistro Na’s [1, 2]

Location: 9055 E Las Tunas Dr #105, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 286-1999

Date: June 15, 2019

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Upscale Chinese, solid kitchen

Chinese Restaurants in the SGV are slowly going more upscale in a way that’s different than the Cantonese palaces of Monterey Park of yesterday. In any case, I wanted an interesting place for my now 3rd annual SGV birthday dinner and so I’d thought I’d return (for a third time) to Na’s.

And one of the latest is Bistro Na’s located on Las Tunas near this cool:

Teapot fountain!

The interior is very elegant Chinese, almost traditional but in a new way typical in China today. Ornate wood carvings, lanterns and antique music instruments abound. Technically it bills itself as “Imperial Cuisine”. Maybe there is some of that, but it’s also a bit of Chinese greatest hits. Still, it’s a different cuisine than nearly every other place in the SGV with more ornate plating.

The menu is a hardcover thick paged photo tome!

Tonight, finally, after have been “denied” twice I got one of the 5 private rooms. They seat about 12, but we squeezed in 13. There is one larger one that seats 14-16.

Tonight I tried out ordering this preset banquet menu. It’s a “package” and I ordered it for 10 as we had a couple kids. We added a couple dishes to it. I’m not sure the menu is actually not more expensive than getting all this from the menu manually. I’m way too lazy to add it up. But more than half the cost is in the king crab. This isn’t a discount king crab place.

From my cellar: NV Drappier Champagne Rosé Brut Nature Dosage Zero. VM 90. Pale orange. Mineral-accented red berries and citrus fruits on the nose, complemented by hints of candied rose and white pepper. Stony and precise, offering lively strawberry and orange zest flavors that expand slowly with air. Closes spicy, stony and tight, with very good clarity and floral persistence.

Okra in Seasoned Dressing. These are cold appetizers. I like okra, weird hairy texture and all. This had a nice vinegar tang.

Chef Su’s Pork Feet Jelly. Yes, a vinegary jelly of pig’s feet. Actually very tasty. Nice firm jelly texture and vinegar tang. Like a pig feet jello!

Na’s Drunken Chicken. Pretty much Hainan chicken as far as I could tell, but somehow different. Most people loved this dish. It was fine, but to my taste not a ton of flavor.

Plain noodles for the boy.

Sebastian brought: NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 167eme. 93 points. Bright clean and wound up. Nice minerality and cut with good volume. Serious breed in a lighter package for this edition.

Fingus mixed with Bitter gourd. Interesting textures and VERY bitter “gourd” (the green stuff). Back at MIT in the early 90s, taking new students out to Chinese and making them try “bitter melon” was a hazing ritual!

Truffle Mushrooms. Mushrooms with truffle oil and salt basically. I think I might have preferred them without the truffle oil.

We asked for mustard, instead of Chinese mustard, somehow they had deli mustard!

Smoked Pork Rib. Really yummy pork nibblets!

From my cellar: 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly Cuvée Nicholas et Mathis. 92 points. Pale gold with citrine highlights. Pungent nose of extremely overripe stonefruit with an underlying citrus/mineral aroma. Tart citrus zest, dark wildflower honey, wax & crushed shell. Well rounded and versatile.

Stands for the about to arrive Emperor and Empress jars!

Emperor’s Jar soup. We ordered this off the menu. Inside is Beef Tendon, Mushroom, Fish Maw, Quail Egg, Sea Cucumber. The broth is a very thick chicken stock. Very very smooth. Lots of collagen.

This is empress jar soup. It includes Beef Tendon, Mushroom, Fish Maw, Quail Egg, Sea Cucumber, Forest Frog. Better for Yin than Yang! Women are supposed to eat this one and men the one above. I actually really enjoyed the silky texture and subtle flavors.

They also gave you a bit of these (Pickled Chili Peppers, Cilantro, Fermented Tofu). The pickle is kinda like a pickled pepper one might find in a good hoagie!

Ginseng Chicken Stew. Ginseng, Beef Tendon, Chicken. Very pleasant. Simultaneously, mild and intense, if that’s possible.

Scallion pancakes ordered off the menu for the kids.

Yarom brought: 2009 Domaine Huet Vouvray Franc de Pied Le Haut-Lieu. JG 94. The 2009 Vouvray “Le Haut Lieu” Franc de Pied bottling from Domaine Huët is the current release from this small plot of ungrafted vines. The wine does not have a sweetness designation on the label, but it shows just a touch of sweetness and probably would be classified as a light Demi-Sec if there were one on the label. The nose is still fairly youthful, with a sense of reserve that nine year-old Vouvray will often show, offering up a refined bouquet of quince, lemon, chalky soil tones, beeswax, lanolin and lovely, delicate white floral tones in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and light on its feet, with lovely intensity of flavor, excellent focus and grip, bright, seamless acids and simply superb length and grip on the adolescently complex finish. There is certainly a difference between the French roots here and the Le Haut Lieu made with vines grafted onto American rootstocks, as this wine delivers a more elegant profile on both the nose and palate. This is a stunning young bottle of Le Haut Lieu, which is approachable at age nine, but still really in its infancy and will not reach its plateau for another seven to ten years and should drink magically for the next fifty years. A beautiful wine.

The giant king crab for our special menu.

Yarom and my brother posing with the crab.

King Crab Legs, steamed with Chinese (rice) wine. Very tender and sweet.

King Crab Fried with golden egg yolk and baked pumpkin. The salty rich coating. Not my favorite shellfish prep, but one the Chinese love for its richness.

King Crab steamed egg in crab shell. A very light fluffy savory custard I term “Crab Brulee.” Not much actual crab meat in this part.

Go crab!

Scallop with fried corn. Similar sticky salty egg yolk. Both were delicious. Cohesive grainy texture.

Dry Braised Black Cod with Chili Sauce. I loved the crunchy ginger bits in the sauce.

From my cellar: 2008 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Monthélie 1er Cru Les Duresses. VM 88. The 2008 Monthélie Les Duresses is a beguiling, inviting wine laced with dark red fruit. This beautifully balanced, vibrant red carries through nicely to the finish.

Diced Black Pepper Honey Angus Beef. Super tender and soft. Great Chinese beef.

Ordered off the menu: Spinach with Sesame. Coated in a miso like sauce, very interesting. Not typical at all to have greens “coated” like this. Lent a sweet taste and a distinct texture with the sesame seed coating.

Na’s Secret Tofu. Very interesting texture. I liked it. Sort of soft in the center with that semi-dry fry aspect as well, a stretchy give to the coating. Mild salty flavor.

Squid and Shrimp Fried Rice. Delicious Umami salty fried rice. Amazing with the sauce from the fish (above).

Ordered off the menu: Pea Tendrils with garlic. Nice colon sweeper.

Na’s Beef Prime Rib. Bone-in. Very tasty, soft, cooked all the way through and tons of beefy flavor. Extremely soft from the long cooking and fairly high fat content.

From my cellar: 2014 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots. 92 points. Delicious berry juice.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage. Ordered off the menu. Sebastian was jonesing for more veggies and ordered not one but two of these. They were good but his eyes were bigger than his stomach and we didn’t even finish one.

Stir Fried Bok Choy with Mushroom. Light but pleasant.

Crispy Shrimp. This was our favorite dish so far. The shrimp were bursting out of their shells a bit like molting cicadas! Shells are cooked at a high enough temperature that much of the chiton denatures into sugars and they can be eaten.

It should be noted that this was substituted in on the menu for the Na’s Braised Pork Belly because somehow, despite the fact that we had a set banquet menu, they ran out!

Na’s Assorted Eight. Assorted traditional Chinese desserts. Weird, gooey, slightly sweet, and mostly filled with bean paste. They looked fabulous, but aren’t actually that tasty. Textures are nice though.

I brought some gelato as usual.

Crema Fiorentina Zabaione — Marsala Orange Vanilla Zabaione base with Blackberry Mango Coulis — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Very close to the oldest gelato flavor!! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #orange #Zabaione #CremaFiorentina

Fruit Plate.

Sebastian brought: 2006 Château Léoville Poyferré. VM 91. Full ruby-red. Ripe aromas of currant, milk chocolate and smoky oak. Lush, sweet and full, with superripe yet backward flavors of dark berries, dark chocolate and minerals. Wonderfully layered, structured wine whose excellent vinosity and firm tannins call for several years of patience.

Overall, a nice place. The allowed corkage and service was very pleasant — we had a dedicated server in the private room but he must have been handling a couple of them because he was pretty harried. He tried really hard though. They have some weird policies. There was a $100 deposit for the room, which is fine, but they put it on a gift card and you are supposed to use it at the time. Our server forgot (and so did I) so he paypaled me back the $100. Weird but nice.

They brought us wine glasses (not great ones, but they have them). We handled the wine service. There was a good amount of plate changing. Took a while to get going even though we had the pre-ordered menu. They seat all the private rooms in two seatings at 5pm and 7:30pm so all 5 of them were sitting at once. That doesn’t make it easy on the server. All in all it’s excellent service for SGV Chinese, SO much better than we had the week before at Happy Table. But still a bit confused.

Food is interesting. Beautiful plating. Not the most flavor forward of the Chinese cuisines. Pretty good, but also expensive in a relative fashion. Ended up $145 a person all in with a good tip. Now we had Emperor’s jar and King Crab, but if you go to a Top Island or the like you can get that much cheaper too. Still a novel and fun experience. Gorgeous room.

While a bit pricey for the SGV, the atmosphere is lovely and the plating much more elegant. Some dishes were excellent and some just pretty good. I’m not really sure what regionality of Chinese it is. Sort of Beijing/Shanghai maybe? They say “Imperial.” It does feel very contemporary Chinese and is certainly not aimed at white folk.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: birthday, Bistro Na's, BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Emperor's Jar, Gelato, Imperial Cuisine, pork, SGV, Wine

Eating Jerusalem – Dolphin Yam

Jul19

Restaurant: Dolphin Yam

Location: 9 Shimon Ben Shetach str., Jerusalem 9362909, Israel. +972 2-623-2272

Date: June 26, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Israeli Banchan!

Our second night brings us to:

Dolphin Yam, or Sea Dolphin.

It’s street side on a popular pedestrian street, and not kosher per-se, although like most Israel restaurants no pork etc.

The menu.

We ordered this passable Sauv Blanc. While fine, I noticed during my trip that Israeli wines are usually 2-3X the price of European wines on Israeli wine lists — why? — I have no idea.

Infinite mezze come with dinner here (at a small extra cost) — which is hard to beat. Like Israeli banchan.

Great bread to accompany the mezze.

Special salmon mango ceviche.

Fried Fish Fingers. Not bad at all, but a bit too strong in taste for my 10 year-old.

Grouper Carpaccio with olive oil and pepper.

Roast potatoes.

Grilled Sea bass filet.

Seafood pasta with tomato sauce.

Trout fried with almonds and served with pineapple and orange sauce.

Lamb kebabs served over a piquant tomato sauce. Good, but a touch dry even with the sauce.

Dolphin Yam was solid. Food was pretty good. Not the best we had in Israel by any meals, but certainly good. Service was friendly but pretty slow. We made the “classic” mistake of not being ready to order the INSTANT we sat down and paid the lengthy penalty of not having the server return for about 20-30 minutes. Wine service was particularly slow as I think we were in between courses by the time it arrived.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dolphin Yam, Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Middle Eastern Cuisine

Eating Jerusalem – Inbal Breakfast

Jul17

Restaurant: The Inbal Jerusalem

Location: Jabotinsky Street 3 Jerusalem 92145. 02-675-6666

Date: June 26 – July 1, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli Breakfast

Rating: solid buffet, although one could ask, “where’s the bacon?”

During the Jerusalem section of our trip we stayed in the Inbal, which was a lovely and newish medium sized hotel just outside of the old city.

The Temple Mount, Western Wall, and the Dome of the Rock — where the binding of Isaac is said to have occurred! Well, and several thousand other years of sacred happenings.

The Inbal’s main breakfast dining area is this sunny courtyard.

Gluten free station. The buffet lights always make everything warm and partially overexposed. Even fussing with it (briefly) in Lightroom I can’t quite resolve the two tone color (probably from the whiter natural light and the warm display lamps).

Pastries.

More pastries — like babka.

Pancake and waffle station.

Egg station.

Omelet bar.

Cured fish.

Veggies and cheese.

More cheese.

Cereal.

Salads.

More salds.

And more salads.

Fruits and nuts.

Halvah station. Yes, there is actually a halvah station. For those that don’t know, this is a sweet mix of sugar and sesame paste.

Fruits.

And more fruits.

Drinks.

Breads.

Espresso and smoothy bar.

This was an extensive breakfast buffet with high quality ingredients. Like most hotels in Jerusalem, the Inbal is Kosher so the buffet was dairy and absent of all meat. As I was trying to avoid (the yummy looking) carbs this made things a touch tougher, leaning me hard into the cheeses, eggs, and (a bit too salty) cured fish. Still, there was so much selection I ate way too much. Everything was very fresh.

They do operate on Saturday under quite peculiar sabbath rules that I don’t fully understand. The “make your own omelet” station and other things involving live cooking vanished, but dishes were still hot and being constantly replaced. Certain devices like the toaster oven were shut and covered. Still the employees are still “working” so go figure.

Overall, very solid effort.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Breakfast, breakfast buffet, Buffet, Eating Israel, Eating Jerusalem, Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem

Happy Table 2X

Jul15

Restaurant: Happy Table [1, 2]

Location: 203 West Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA. (626) 872-6677

Date: June 8, 2019

Cuisine: Northern Chinese

Rating: Solid

Four years ago I last went to Happy Table, where it had replaced New Bay and before it Sham Tsem. Usually I would merge the meals but this was significantly different, and a peculiar service experience, so I’m writing it up as its own meal.

Front looks the same, minus the new sign.

We had half the big private room, which was fine given our 13 — which somehow managed to fit at the table!

From my cellar: NV Drappier Champagne Rosé Brut Nature Dosage Zero. VM 90. Pale orange. Mineral-accented red berries and citrus fruits on the nose, complemented by hints of candied rose and white pepper. Stony and precise, offering lively strawberry and orange zest flavors that expand slowly with air. Closes spicy, stony and tight, with very good clarity and floral persistence.

Jellyfish heads and cucumber (marinated). Delicious. Nice bit to the jellyfish, great crunch to the cucumber, good vinegar flavor.

Peppers stuffed with pork. Pretty nice too.

Bean curd salad with cucumber. Refreshing.

From my cellar: 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly Cuvée Nicholas et Mathis. 93 points. Pale gold with citrine highlights. Pungent nose of extremely overripe stonefruit with an underlying citrus/mineral aroma. Tart citrus zest, dark wildflower honey, wax & crushed shell. Well rounded and versatile.

Live crab.

Live crab (now dead) with garlic. A slightly dry prep.

Shrimp with garlic and glass noodles. Nice.

Tea smoked goose. A touch dry, but meaty. A cold cut.

Pork with sea cucumber. Great dish. Both pork and sea cucumber was very good, but not as good as the sea cucumber the other night at Shanghai #1 Seafood.

Crispy beef. I’ve always liked this dish. We ordered 2.

BBQ lamb chops. This was their signature dish and it was fabulous. Juicy, tons of cumin flavor. Sizzling. 4 sauces. We ordered a second. Really great.

Roast duck. Kinda like the goose, but duck and less dry.

Cumin lamb. Given how great the BBQ lamb was, this dish sucked. Off flavors and salty.

Fish boiled in chili sauce. Classic Szechuan dish. Not much mala. Fish itself was good. And it was decently hot. But it didn’t have that hot numbing flavor that it should.

Spicy Chicken (or was it rabbit?). Pretty good.

Pork belly with preserved vegetables. Hunan dish. Actually quite delicious, if a touch salty.

Mapo tofu. Not bad, but not really Szechuan at all. No mala.

Pork meat balls. Polarizing, but I loved them.

Chicken cartilage skewers. Pretty good, but some complained of no meat. lol noobs.

Lamb skewers. Great. Much like the BBQ lamb.

Beef skewers. Tougher. Fine, but not awesome like the lamb.

Maybe this was the rabbit. Can’t remember.

3 flavor dumplings. Very nice boiled dumplings.

Eggs with pork and preserved vegetables. There is a first time for everything. I took a bite and it was so distgusting, so salty, that I spit it out. Foul. Nasty. Never had a dish this bad in the SGV.

Blackberry Mango Amaro Sorbetto! — like a frozen aperitivo — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — although I do need to improve at decorating in the Pozzetti –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #mango #blackberry #amaro

Chess Chocolate Oreo Gelato — Valrhona medium chocolate base with layers of Valrhona Ivoire white chocolate ganache and crumbled Oreos — 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 #cheesecake #chocolate #valrhona #WhiteChocolate #oreo #chess

Peanut Chocolate Caramel Ganache Reese’s Gelato -Sweet Peanut Base with house-made Valrhona Chocolate Caramel Ganache and mini Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the ganache is delicious but the 80% Valrhona I used swamps out the caramel — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #reeses #peanutbuttercup #ganache #Valrhona

Overall Happy Table’s food was a touch weird. I’m not even sure what region it really is, but the Northern and Szechuan dishes were pretty good (although I’ve had better). The Seafood and more Cantonese dishes were so-so. I guess it’s a north west (Chinese) restaurant. Some dishes were great, like the lamb chops and some loathsome like the egg with salty vegetables. Many in the middle.

Service was just laughable. I’ve been to the SGV hundreds of times and China several times and am very used to Chinese service standards. This was among the worst I’ve ever had. There was only one guy who spoke English, and all the others left us to him. He was nice, but so over worked we had to keep hunting him down. He pretty much avoided taking our order for 30 minutes straight. They brought the food to the table fast enough (on ordering) but there was basically no bussing. We kept moving empty plates ourselves out onto another table. I was raiding the main floor of the resteraunt for napkins, chopsticks, glasses, whatever. It was hilarious.

But the whole meal, with a big tip was $36 a person. Get a load of that!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Happy Table, Private Room, SGV, Wine

Chateau Hanare — Death Free

Jul12

Restaurant: Chateau Hanare

Location: 8097 Selma Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046. (323) 963-5269

Date: June 4, 2019

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Interesting, tres LA

I hadn’t even heard of Chateau Hanare until the day I went with the Foodie Club (regular member Larry arranged).

It’s “in collaboration with The Chateau Marmont Hotel & Bungalows” and located adjacent to the famed Chateau Marmont (final dying place of John Belushi & Chris Farley). It’s “fancy” Hollywood Japanese.

They have a a gorgeous outside patio — really lovely.

We setup shop in a corner table.

The inside is huge too, several decked out rooms like this — expensive build out.

Menu.

2000 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Millésimé. VM 93. Bright gold. Smoke-accented orchard fruits, herbs and citrus pith on the the intensely perfumed nose. Deeply pitched but lively on the palate, with very good depth to its intense pear and lemon curd flavors. The smoky note builds on the back half and carries through a long, sappy, impressively focused finish. This year’s release seems tighter and more youthful than last year’s version.

Uni Toast sakura wood smoked santa barbara uni on housemade toast seasoned with soy.

You can see it hiding in the fog.

Then the theatrics begin.

Poof!

Blow this one off.

A nice piece of toast, but I found the smoke taste a bit distracting.

House Made Tofu, 8:30pm edition, freshly scooped tofu served warm with wari-joyu.

Spoons for the tofu.

Freshly scooped tofu served warm with wari-joyu. Super delicate and delicious. Like tofu creme fraiche or something.

2011 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux. VM 93. The 2011 Chablis Butteaux is subtle, gracious and utterly impeccable in its elegance. All the elements are simply in the right place. Articulate, energetic and nuanced, the 2011 captures all the qualities of this 1er Cru site, in miniature. This is another of the more approachable 2011s from Raveneau.

agavin: hehe, Beavis. I said butteaux!

White Asparagus. Chilled white asparagus in sakura dashi. In season, but I didn’t love this take. Medicinal tasting.

Uni Ice Cream. Savory housemade uni ice cream with fresh santa barbara uni. As a gelato maker I had to order this. It’s made in the paco jet, which is really the only way to make fully savory ice creams like this. Like cold ice cream textured uni. Interesting and pretty good.

From my cellar: 2006 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. VM 93-95. Rich aromas of wet stone, minerals, vanilla and hazelnut. Large-scaled but tight, with this wine’s typical firm acidity leavening its textural richness. This expands in the mouth like a top bottling of Perrieres. Perhaps less refined than the Genevrieres but bigger and more powerful wine. The mounting, expanding finish is almost painful.

agavin: this bottle was sadly a touch advanced.

Kobachi. shiro ninjin puree topped with ikura, kinoko yakibitashi, uni and white asparagus, bluefin tuna caviar toast

uni and white asparagus.

kinoko yakibitashi.

bluefin tuna caviar toast.

shiro ninjin puree topped with ikura.

Kim brought this sake.

Madai Yuan Yaki Wanmori. marinated grilled sea bream with seasonal vegetables in a yuzu ankake broth.

2016 Azienda Agricola Valentini Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo. 94 points. right pink-red. Aromas of sour red cherry, raspberry, sage, rosemary and minerals on the enticing nose. Then multilayered, deep and complex, with mouthcoating but vibrant flavors of small red berries, herbs and minerals. Finishes very long and suave with hints of orange zest and underbrush. Extremely serious, ageworthy Rosato, a real Cerausolo.

Lobster Shabu Shabu. Maine lobster hot pot with a side of ponzu.

The broth itself was insane, particularly with the ponzu and after cooking the lobster and veggies.

1988 Joseph Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru. 90 points. Surprisingly youthful and dense bouquet of dark red and blue berry fruit. Quite floral with Chambolle perfume and some musty character. Each was a 2014 Drouhin Library Release. The ’88 was the best wine of the flight with the most leathery and earthy nuance to the darker perfumed fruit. A nice soily texture on the palate too. Imagine this is about peak maturity.

Wagyu. Miyazaki A5 wagyu topped with summer truffles, plum asazuke, dashes of wagarashi ponzu and rokuzuke salt.

Special fried rice.

Bowled.

Temari Sushi. assortment of Kyoto style sushi seasoned with truffle soy. This was the only dish I didn’t enjoy. The round shape was interesting, but the rich had no vinegar taste and the truffle distracted. Very dull.

Dessert. Strawberry Gazpacho with Basil Sorbet Straberry gazpacho, katafi, creme fraiche, anko, anko tuile. Awesome, actually.

Mangoberry Cheesecake Gelato — raspberry/mango cream-cheese base with blackberry/mango ripple and house-made graham cracker crumble — 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 #cheesecake #mango #raspberry #blackberry #GrahamCracker #coulis #ripple #creamcheese

Blackberry Mango Amaro Sorbetto! — like a frozen aperitivo — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — although I do need to improve at decorating in the Pozzetti –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #mango #blackberry #amaro

Peanut Chocolate Caramel Ganache Reese’s Gelato -Sweet Peanut Base with house-made Valrhona Chocolate Caramel Ganache and mini Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the ganache is delicious but the 80% Valrhona I used swamps out the caramel — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #reeses #peanutbuttercup #ganache #Valrhona

Together in the bowl.

Larry and Kim, al fresco.

Overall, this was a lovely scene, awesome patio. Service was mostly excellent, with a few oddities (like how they didn’t tell us that the extra apps we ordered were duplicated near exactly on the tasting menu we had ordered — #3). Chef came out with some visiting sake specialists as was super friendly. Did I mention the patio was so LA and really, really nice?

Food was good, some dishes, like the lobster shabu shabu, even great. A few misses like the terrible sushi. Really, no flavor at all without the vinegar except a touch of truffle (ick).

Wines were mostly great too — awesome night.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Chateau Hanare, Foodie Club, Gelato, Japanese cuisine, Sushi, Uni, Wine

Eating Jerusalem – Touro

Jul10

Restaurant: Touro

Location: S.U Nachon St | Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem, Israel. +972 2-570-2189

Date: June 25, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Fabulous for kosher food

After 25+ hours on the plane and in airports our first tired evening in the Holy Land leads us to:

Up to that is:

Climbing the steps of Jerusalem stone, just outside the old city.

We find this lovely windowed room.

And the view across the valley to the old city.

The menu. Touro is a modern Kosher Meat restaurant.

Bread and spreads.

Leek and Potato Patties on mustard aioli, dill, parsley, celery and onion. Fritters or croquette basically. Israeli flavors.

Charred Eggplant with tahini, sumac, crushed tomato, hot pepper, radish, purple onion and oregano oil. This basic dish: eggplant with tahini, is a total staple in Israel, but this version was particularly excellent with great textures and tuned up flavors. The tahini was lively with a bit more acidity than some (probably lemon juice).

Chopped Liver with onion cream, date honey, cornichons, walnuts and bruschetta. Very nice version of chopped liver, paired nicely with the sweet flavors and crunchy textures. On the bread like this a cross between Jewish chopped liver and an Italian liver bruschetta.

Jerusalem Artichoke & Mushroom Burekas with tahini, cherry tomato, Kalamata olives, arugula, scallion, purple onion, hot pepper and cornichons. Burekas are like fried blinzes, and in this case like spring rolls.

Arayes. Lamb meat in pitta, tahini, harissa and piquant tomato salad. Really tasty meat “sandwiches”.

Sea Fish Fillet on tomato risotto, spinach, and piquant pepper sauce.

Simple pasta for the boy.

Mushroom and Chestnut Risotto with sweet potato, almonds, peas and truffle vinaigrette.

Tagliatelle Alfredo with champignon mushrooms, chestnuts, spinach, truffles and soy cream. Hardly even missed the cheese!

Goose Drumstick with seared onions, garlic, multicolored carrots, mushroom, chestnuts, green beans, and wine sauce. Like a goose confit. Nice and crispy and meaty. Quite delicious.

Overall, Touro was a nice start and certainly one of the best Kosher restaurants I’ve eaten at. Now this isn’t saying much as in LA Kosher places are just terrible. Beyond terrible. Expensive, dirty, sloppy, don’t care about the food at all kind of places. Touro, on the other hand, has modern cuisine, a good kitchen, and tasty Middle Eastern flavors. Yeah, it would be a bit better with dairy. The slight meat focus didn’t make me miss the shellfish. Besides, I just don’t associate shellfish with Middle Eastern cooking.

Nice view too.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Eating Israel, Israeli Cuisine, Jerusalem, Kosher, Middle Eastern Cuisine, Touro

SGV Style – Deferred Maintenance

Jul08

Restaurant: Shanghai #1 Seafood Village [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 250 W Valley Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 282-1777

Date: June 2, 2019

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Very authentic Shanghai style

The San Gabriel Valley is a veritable treasure trove of Asian dining, particularly regional Chinese. Shanghai #1 Seafood Village is the LA branch of a high end Shanghai chain specializing in banquet dining.

The decor is Stark meets Chinatown. Interestingly, as cheesy as it is, it’s fairly authentic. It is however, some 7 years after I first went here, looking a bit “shabby.” This is typical of Chinese establishments as they don’t seem to do a lot of maintenance.

We had the private dining room tonight. Mysteriously, even though it was a Sunday night and the place was EMPTY, at first they gave us a table in the main area. We had to ask for the private room. It’s much better though.

Tonight we had a slightly more wine focused group — non of the non-drinking riff-raff — and an attempt to get some interesting menu items to go with it.

The menu is like a giant full color fashion catalog for food, but I thought I’d show a couple pages by way of example.

From my cellar: 2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut. VM 96. The 2006 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé is at once rich and refined, a simply fabulous Champagne Rosè I won’t soon forget. Intensely perfumed, with the Pinot Noir-derived red berry and cranberry flavors that are not just concentrated, but also remarkably pure. It is one of the better Rosé bubbles I have had in the last year.

Marinated sweet turnip. Delicious and crunchy.

Shanghai style smoked fish. Dry and smokey with a sweet soy glaze.

2009 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 94+. The 2009 Dom Pérignon is open, seductive and radiant, as it has always been. Soft curves, mid-weight structure and tons of plain allure make the 2009 impossible to resist in its youth. This bottle, the best I have tasted so far, offers a distinc citrus and floral-driven profile that adds a good deal of brightness. Above all else, the 2009 is a gorgeous Champagne to drink now and over then next few decades. This is the first time in the house’s history that a vintage was not released sequentially.

Vegan tofu “duck”. Not exactly duck like, but a delicious beancurd with a nice firm texture.

Bamboo shoots. Delicious and crunchy. Delicate flavors.

Lotus root stuffed with sweet rice in a tea marinate. Very interesting texture and a lovely tea flavor. But a bit cloyingly sweet this time around.

2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 95+. The 2010 Chablis Les Clos is all about understatement and balance. White floral notes meld into white stone fruit in this utterly gracious Chablis. Clos can at times be fleeting and elusive, and there is certainly some of that in the 2010. Still, it is impossible to miss the wine’s textural finesse and sheer overall balance. I will not be surprised if the 2010 continues to get better in bottle.

agavin: singing!

Braised sea cucumber with brown sauce. Ever since I had good sea cucumber in Shanghai, I’ve been jonesing for it — and this was certainly delicious. Maybe not AS good as the one at Shanghai Tang, but still yummy.

Hot and sour seafood soup. I thought this would be more different. It was pretty much hot and sour soup (maybe with a bit of crab or something in it). Still tasty though and I do love hot and sour.

1996 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant. 92 points. A deep yellow/light gold center and clear rims. The medium+ intensity nose offered up ripe pear, tangerine, hazel nut, and some minerals. In the mouth, this wine had a lovely jelly-like texture. It was a bit heavy on the wood at first but this mostly blended in with time. It had good acidity and very good length after extended air. This developed extremely well. I know that this bottle got several hours of air before we started drinking it an it needed a couple more to show its best.

Lobster steamed with onion, garlic, and ginger. Very nice, light, delicious lobster prep that showed off the lobster without hiding it under a layer of fry.

Cabbage. I love Chinese cabbage.

House Special Stone Pot Fried Rice.

2013 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis. VM 90. Pale, bright red. Inviting perfume of raspberry, mocha, coffee, brown spices and wild herbs. Sweet and supple but vibrant too, with harmonious acidity framing the flavors of raspberry, pepper and fresh herbs. Finishes with nicely refined tannins.

Assorted Seafood in Abalone Sauce. There were whole abalone in here, jellyfish, more sea cucumber, a brown thing I have NO IDEA but with a beef-like texture (it was delicious), and quail or duck eggs. Interesting dish. Very Chinese (full of luxury ingredients). Not as good as the standalone sea cucumber, but still great.

2011 David Duband Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Thorey. VM 90-92. Dark red/black stone fruits, wild flowers, sage, tar, rosemary and leather are some of the many notes that flesh out in the 2011 Nuits St. Georges Aux Thorey. The 2011 is soft and sensual to the core, with a caressing, expressive personality that offers considerable appeal, even at this early stage. There is much to like here.

Shanghai style sweet and sour fried fish (squirrel fish). This was one of those goopy straight up orange sweet and sour sauces, but it was awesome. Particularly dripped over rice. And the method of flaying the meat out and frying it created a much crisper effect, even if the appearance is a bit horror movie.

2003 Marc Sorrel Hermitage. VM 90-93. Good full ruby. Aromas of blackberry, cassis, menthol and bitter chocolate. Extremely ripe and impressively dense (the alcohol is 15. 2%), with port-like flavors of black fruits and dark chocolate. Very rich but just this side of heavy. Finishes with powerful but fine tannins. Impressive for this classique bottling. This will be approachable early but has the stuffing to age.

Special Shanghai BBQ red pork. Oh so fatty and oh so tasty!

Shanghai Whole Duck. Not what I expected, and kinda crispy and deep fried, but with a delicious smokey taste and very tender.

2016 Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux.

XLB (soup dumplings). Nice versions, always delicious!

Pan fried Shanghai Style pork dumplings. Have to order these here, the juicy meat inside is amazing.

String beans with XO sauce. Nice version of the classic.

Peanut Chocolate Caramel Ganache Reese’s Gelato -Sweet Peanut Base with house-made Valrhona Chocolate Caramel Ganache and mini Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the ganache is delicious but the 80% Valrhona I used swamps out the caramel — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #reeses #peanutbuttercup #ganache #Valrhona

Mangoberry Cheesecake Gelato — raspberry/mango cream-cheese base with blackberry/mango ripple and house-made graham cracker crumble — 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 #cheesecake #mango #raspberry #blackberry #GrahamCracker #coulis #ripple #creamcheese

Overall, this was a really great meal. First rate Chinese and quite authentic and typical of high end banquet meals in China. I’ve been here many times and finally enjoyed getting some “tricked out” dishes like sea cucumber. They were great. Service was good. The place is QUIET these days. Maybe they subsist on dimsum, but it’s a shame as this Shanghai banquet food is delicious.

I flighted the food into waves and it was quiet successful in terms of pacing and size. We also had only 8-9 people which is perfect for both table spacing and dish sharing.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

They have a Karaoke setup in the private room!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, pork, SGV, Shanghai #1 Seafood Village, Wine, XLB

Quick Eats – Mogumogu

Jul05

Restaurant: Mogumogu

Location: 11555 W Olympic Blvd Suite B, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (424) 371-5085

Date: May 30, 2019

Cuisine: “Soupless” Ramen

Rating: Good

Mogumogu is a new “soupless” ramen joint near Sawtelle.

It’s located in the space of the former Ramen-ya, just to the west on Olympic.

The interior is… simple.

The menu.

“Umami” vinegar and sesame seeds.

Shishito. Flash fried Japanese peppers with salt and lemon. I’ve had better shishito — I’ve had worse.

Deluxe mazeman. Sliced pork chashu, spicy minced pork, poached egg, chives, minced garlic, fish powder, seaweed, soft boiled egg, seaweed flakes scallion.

To which I added some wild ear mushroom. The “sauce” is kinda at the bottom.

You mix it up and eat. It was pretty tasty. More like a ramen pasta. Left one feeling the carb coma, but not the epic salt and fat coma of a regular ramen. Kinda enjoyable. I will have to repeat to get a better feel for this new style of ramen. I love that the noodles are thick and al dente.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Japanese cuisine, Mogu Mogu, noodles, ramen, Sawtelle, Sawtelle Japantown

Awesome Auburn

Jul03

Restaurant: Auburn

Location: 6703 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 486-6703

Date: May 29, 2019

Cuisine: Modern California

Rating: Really good fine dining

Auburn is a much anticipated recent opening in LA’s often bankrupt fine dining space.

It occupies the space formerly belonging to the legendary Citrus, then Alex, then Hatfields (all of which I enjoyed).

They’ve partially roofed over, divided and modernized the space, removing the 80s-90s LA garden feel (which I kind of liked, but it’s certainly still very attractive).

The kitchen is large, open, and bustling!

Chef Eric Bost’s (République, Guy Savoy, Alain Ducasse) debut restaurant auburn juxtaposes the higher echelon of traditional fine dining with an emphasis on guest exploration and conviviality while paying homage to Los Angeles’ uninhibited culinary identity in a space designed with honest materials by local makers.

Chef Eric Bost grew up in North Carolina, running around his grandparents’ restaurants at an early age. Upon graduation from business school, he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America. After an externship at Le Cirque in NYC, Bost traveled across Europe, where he met his future wife, Elodie, and made Paris his home. During their time in France, Bost worked his way through some of the world’s best restaurants, including Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée and Les Ambassadeurs at the Hôtel de Crillon. His experience led him to be chosen by Guy Savoy for his opening team in Las Vegas in 2006. Two years later, the restaurant received 2 Michelin Stars with Bost as Chef de Cuisine. Within months, he was appointed Executive Chef and maintained their prestigious rating, garnering numerous accolades along the way. With the opening of Guy Savoy Singapore in 2010, Bost established a restaurant consistently voted amongst the best in the country. Most recently, Bost was the Executive Chef at Los Angeles’ beloved République. Now, after nearly a decade at the helm of revered restaurants, Bost ventures on his own with auburn.

Our table, right by the kitchen.

The big menu — but that wasn’t big enough for us.

So we asked for (and got) EVERYTHING!

Larry brought: 2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 96. A wonderfully layered and nuanced nose features an intense yeasty character to the maturing fruit that displays interesting phenolic characters, in particular petrol, along with aromas of apple, pear and soft citrus hints. In contrast to the nascent maturity expressed by the nose the flavor profile is still tight and backward with a genuinely gorgeous texture, all wrapped in a strikingly persistent and highly complex finish. For my taste the 2000 Brut is at an inflection point as the nose does offer enough maturity so that it’s really quite pretty whereas the palate impression is substantially younger. As such it really just depends on how you prefer your Champagne because I suspect that the nose will be very mature by the time the still very youthful flavors attain their majority. For my taste preferences it would be no vinous crime to begin enjoying this now but be aware that this will age for a very long time. The best approach is probably to buy 6, or even 12, bottles and enjoy them over a longer period of time.

Erick brought: 1996 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé. VM 95. A head-turning beauty, the 1996 Dom Ruinart Rosé boasts gorgeous, resonant fruit to match its considerable structure and intensity. Although quite pretty and expressive, the 1996 has enough balance to develop gracefully in bottle for years to come.

Amuse of fried pork skins.

Amuse of pea tartlets (on dry black rice).

Amuse of iberico pork.

Really nice bread with:

Something (maybe basil) butter.

HIRAMASA CRUDO. green strawberries, citrus fern, celery. Really bright and zesty.

Walker brought: 2016 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets. VM 93. Pale, bright straw-yellow. Musky, slightly reduced aromas of yellow peach, ripe pear, flinty minerality and smoky oak. Rather broad and glyceral on entry, then rich but lively in the middle palate, with pear, lime and wet stone flavors framed by harmonious acidity. The slowly building, tactile, classically dry finish dusts the palate and lingers impressively. Lovely concentration and savory minerality here.

2008 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. BH 96. This is a classic example of Corton-Charlemagne with its impressively layered floral, green fruit, lime and stone-infused nose that precedes citrusy, precise and powerful mineral-driven flavors that possess real muscle on the almost painfully intense and steely finish that delivers striking length. While it’s not quite as great as the Montrachet, it easily holds its own. A wine to own but note that only the patient will ever see it at its best as this is likely to evolve glacially.

Matthew brought: 2008 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Meix Chavaux. BH 89. The first bottle displayed a distinct lactic note but a second bottle was extremely fresh with a hint of the exotic on the nose of citrus, stone and floral elements that complement well the minerally, supple and nicely textured flavors that possess good mid-palate flesh, all wrapped in a racy and well-delineated finish.

SANTA BARBARA BOX CRAB. tomato seeds & gelee, mashua leaf, seaweed-lemon granite. Awesome dish. It’s ice cold with very interesting texture and a bright flavor. Lovely.

HALIBUT. ramps, sunflower, green blueberries, artichoke, pistachio.

With the sauce.

WHITE ASPARAGUS. porcini mushrooms, trotters, spruce. Lovely.

MOREL MUSHROOMS. Kusshi oysters. new crop potatoes.

CABBAGE. charred leeks, onion essence, alpine cheese. Really lovely for a vegetable!

From my cellar: 1996 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Clos Vougeot. JG 93+. I am a very big fan of the Clos Vougeot at Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, which I find consistently to be one of the best examples in the Côte d’Or. The 1996 is a lovely example of the vintage that hails from the plus and buffered camp, with a lovely core of pure fruit fully carrying the structure of the vintage. The bouquet is deep, complex and quite sappy in its blend of plums, black cherries, woodsmoke, a touch of venison, coffee, a great base of soil and a stylish framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and impressively pure on the attack, with a fine core, ripe tannins and a long, focused and tangy finish. This is certainly approachable today, but in terms of complexity, it is still a tad on the primary side and a few more years of bottle age should be rewarded with even greater aromatic and flavor complexity. A lovely 1996.

Walker brought: 1966 Château Belgrave. 86 points. Tannins were high, lots of life still in the taste. Decanted well – not much sediment. A little harsh at first, but after taking a bit of dark chocolate (Brix) WOW what a difference. Smoothed out nicely and had a very good flavor. Earthy in bouqet and slight taste. Very nice experience overall.

SONOMA DUCK. cherries, mustard greens, amaranth, black garlic. Nice. Duck was hiding.

30 DAY DRY-AGED RIB EYE. smoked beets, vidalia onions, orach, oxtail broth. Great beef.

Roasted tea.

EPOISSE. sunchoke, seeds & flowers. The cheese comes later!

Here it is, all molten.

Then on top. Delicious.

YOGURT. Mushroom caramel. Nice dessert.

STRAWBERRY & MILK. Fermented plum. Absolutely stunning strawberries and cream dessert.

ROSE. Buckwheat honey. Interesting.

Finish of dried leaf.

Finish of strawberries and other dried sweet stuff.

Folk looking a bit satiated. This was a long dinner. It started at 8:00 and took a while to get going. I wasn’t in bed until close to 2am. Sigh.

Overall, food was fabulous Audacious for LA fine dining, very California in style, but with nearly every dish working out. Lots of dishes. Even the vegetables — especially the vegetables — were great. Bravo on the food. Hope the dishes change frequently.

Our wines were pretty much great.

The chef, his wife, and the whole crew were super friendly. The wine director was off tonight though, and although super accommodating with the wine, the remaining crew was overwhelmed by our style of dinner. They took way too long to get bottles open. Way too long to get them poured etc. The dinner was so long it worked out, but there were long stretches where a bunch of us had all empty glasses. That shouldn’t be at serious fine dining. Really, it’s best for groups like us to leave the opening and pouring to us — just bring us the glasses — but we had the vague feeling that would be stepping on their territory and the bottles weren’t on the table. So we waited.

But awesome evening — if long (it started so late).

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

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.