Restaurant: Intercrew
Location: 3330 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010. (213) 878-1201
Date: August 19, 2021
Cuisine: Club Food
Rating: Style over substance
Erick used to go to the “original” Intercrew back in the 80s when he was in high school, so when it recently rebooted in a new night club format we went out to try it.
It’s located right on Wilshire in the heart of KTown. It used to be some kind of underage club. Or at least a club that didn’t card.
Now it’s a snazzy new ktown super club. There was live music, but it’s essentially a restaurant.
The menu.
From my cellar: 2006 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses. VM 96. The 2006 Clos des Goisses is stellar, but it is also going to need quite a bit of time to come into its own. Powerful and ample in the best of the Goisses style, the 2006 hits the palate with serious intensity. Orchard fruits, lemon oil, white flowers and almonds are some of the many notes that open up in the glass, but, as is often the case with young Goisses, it is the wine’s gravitas that is front and center. Even with all of its overtness, though, the 2006 retains striking, crystalline purity. I imagine the 2006 will reward Champagne lovers with many decades of truly exceptional drinking. The only thing the 2006 needs is time. The question is: How much? (Drink between 2020-2046)
2012 Domaine Ramonet Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères. BH 89. A perfumed and softly spicy nose of white peach, acacia blossom and pear aromas is trimmed in a deft touch of oak. There is a bit more concentration and certainly more depth compared to the villages Puligny and I very much like the mouth feel of the medium-bodied flavors that display good balance and fine persistence. A quality effort that is worth your attention; moreover it will be approachable young yet should age well too. (Drink starting 2018)
1999 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots. BH 95. This really hasn’t changed much since my last review in 2011, which was: A perfumed, complex and mostly still primary nose offers up earthy red berry fruit, underbrush and a touch of animale that can also be found on the generous and quite fleshy flavors that possess excellent volume as well as buckets of dry extract that almost render the firm and ripe tannins invisible on the massively long finish. Wow, this is a stunner of a wine with still plenty of upside potential remaining. (Drink starting 2019)
Burrata Toast. Honey truffle gastrique, burrata, brioche. A bit sweeter than I might have liked.
Hamachi Crudo. Brulee blood orange supreme, ponzu, caper, wasabi, serrano, puff amaranth.
Australian and Japanese Wagyu Sampler. Australian wagyu 6oz, Japanese Ozaki 2oz. Not a format that shows off wagyu.
Pan Roasted Dry-aged Duck Breast. Yukon gold mash, duck and garlic jus, mustard frill.
Wagyu Bolognese. Dry-aged wagyu, tomatoes, garlic, pappardelle. On their website they had this great looking tortelloni, alas, this was the only pasta on the menu tonight.
Roasted King and Maitake Mushroom. Potato fondant, seasonal herbs, calabrian chili vinaigrette, sea beans.
Caesar Salad. Gem lettuce, parm, fish sauce, bread crumbs. This was actually one of the best dishes.
Seafood Paella. Catch of the day, black tiger prawn, littleneck clams, pork, soondubu base.
Ice Cream Sandwich.
Basque Cheesecake. Salted honey chantilly, charcoal smoked strawberry, crumble.
Intercrew was a bit disappointing. The buildout was cool, and it was a touch loud, but mostly the menu was just “safe.” Execution was solid but not great on the dishes, but there was nothing interesting about any of them. Just a bit of this and that from popular mainstream items. No zing. Still, we had a fun time.
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