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Boar at the Borgese’s

Feb24

Restaurant: Dinner at the Borgese’s [1, 2, 3]

Location: Santa Monica

Date: January 6, 2020

Cuisine: Italian influenced gourmet home cooking

Rating: Awesome

Dinner at the Borgese’s is a special house dinner in Santa Monica cooked by the stunning pro-level home chef Borgese couple.

The dynamic Borgese duo.

Their house has not only a wine cellar, but a cheese and meat larder!

Plus all this incredible wood fired oven set up.

Pasta and steaks at the ready.

Since it was a “wintery” January evening, we ate inside in the dining room as opposed to out on the lovely patio.

From my cellar: 2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. 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. (Drink between 2018-2047)

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 168eme. 95 points. Exceptional, though this wine needs a decent amount of air to show at its best. Aroma of citrus, brioche, and gingerbread. Intense acidity on palate with flavors of green apples, baking spices, toast, and rum raisins. A bit like Apfelstrudel. Exquisitely balanced, with a huge, rich body and unami in abundance. I cannot remember tasting a wine that has shown so well at so early a stage of its evolution.

Our table setting.

The menu.

From my cellar: 2010 Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Blanc. JG 94+. The inherent elegance of the 2010 vintage is the perfect foil for the Clos des Mouches blanc and this is one of the most beautiful young vintages of this consistently excellent wine that I have had the pleasure to taste. The brilliant nose soars from the glass in a complex mélange of apple, lemon, a touch of butter, chalky soil tones, lemon oil, orange blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and quite reserved in profile, with a great core of fruit, impressive, nascent complexity, zesty acids and laser-like focus on the deep, transparent and utterly seamless finish. A great Clos des Mouches. (Drink between 2016-2040)

2013 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 93. A wonderfully complex and slightly riper nose offers up notes of honeysuckle, jasmine tea, peach and spiced pear. The superbly rich, classy and pure medium-bodied flavors possess impressive size, weight and mid-palate concentration while coating the mouth on the strikingly long, serious and energetic finish where a hint of bitter lemon appears. This is a relatively big and powerful BBM that will definitely need at least 5 to 6 years of bottle age before it begins to display glimpses of its full potential. (Drink starting 2023)

Tartare di Manzo con Tartufo. Beef Tartare Crostini with truffle. Great meaty toast.

From my cellar: 1996 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. VM 95. The 1996 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is a wine that I bought a few bottles of in the days when I could get change from fifty pounds! This replicates the strong showing from 2010: ebullient red fruit on the nose with crushed granite and light truffle scents that convey more brightness than many 1996 reds. The palate is beautifully balanced with svelte tannins and a well-structured, quite grippy but balanced finish. It simply oozes effortless class and should offer many more years of pleasure. Tasted at The Ledbury in London. (Drink between 2019-2035)

1996 Gros Frère et Sœur Grands-Echezeaux. 93 points. Sexy aroma, just the right amount of funk. Enticing. Palate more precise than the nose.

2004 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes. VM 93. Good deep red. Superripe, slightly decadent aromas of red cherry, leather and underbrush. Plush, fat and large-scaled; a full-blown expression of soil, with notes of smoke and game. This boasts extraordinary sweetness for the vintage, remaining just this side of over the top. Just a hint of nut skin on the finish. Very sexy wine.

Quaglia Ripiene con Polenta. Stuffed quail over polenta. Great quail. Great polenta.

1995 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque. VM 96. Deep ruby-red. Powerful, expressive aromas of roasted cherry and raspberry, marzipan, brown spices and grilled nuts. Ripe, creamy and lush, with seamless cherry and pepper fruit. Not quite as expressive today on the palate as the above. But here the tannins seem even finer, though this wine is not longer than the Mouline.

1995 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne. VM 97+. Deep ruby-red. More sauvage aromas of black raspberry, blueberry, tar, mocha, minerals, mace and roasted game. Superconcentrated and powerful, with a near-solid texture. One of those rare wines that seems almost too big for the mouth. Finishes with huge, toothfurring-but-ripe tannins and great persistence.

Tagliatelle con Ragu di Coniglio. Rabbit ragu with tagliatelle pasta.

1989 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline. VM 95. Saturated deep red. Roasted redcurrant, raspberry, tobacco and warm earth on the nose, along with an exhilarating component of exotic spices; this reminded me of the extraordinary ’89 Haut-Brion and La Mission. Thick, dense, huge and sweet but with excellent verve. A fleshy La Mouline that’s packed with flavor. Finishes extremely long and sweet, with substantial ripe, chewy tannins.

agavin: probably my RWOTN (red wine of the night)

1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque. VM 95+. Bright medium ruby. Griotte cherry, roasted herbs, pepper and brown spices on the nose. Tightly wound but also quite suave, with penetrating black fruit and licorice flavors. Very fresh and precise. Finishes firm and extremely long, with slow-building, pure, fruit-driven flavor.

Piccione al Rosemarino con Risotto. Rosemary pigeon over risotto.

Pigeon giblets. Strong!

1993 Penfolds Grange. 93 points. Made with 14% Cabernet. More fragrant than your typical Grange in a floral kind of way. There is still power on the nose that perhaps comes from the slightly higher dose of Cabernet in this vintage. There is also a creaminess on the palate but its not as good as they ’92 and certainly can’t hold a candle to the ’91.

1999 Penfolds Grange. VM 91+. Full ruby-red. Sexy aromas of raspberry, cola, root beer and coconut. Thick, dense and concentrated, with exotic, slightly candied dark fruit, caramel, toasted coconut and mineral flavors nicely shaped by firm acids. Shows strong fruit and a major dose of oak on the powerful, backward finish. This can’t quite match the 1998 for sheer depth of fruit, but it’s built to age.

Pappardelle con Ragu di Cighiale. Wild boar ragu with pappardelle pasta. Yarom shot it.

2004 Sine Qua Non Grenache Ode to E. VM 97. The 2004 Grenache Ode to E is absolutely stellar. There’s not too much more to say. Still young, fresh and vibrant, the 2004 is incredibly impressive. Exotic spice, rose petals, raspberry jam all open up in an effortless, nuanced wine bursting at the seams with personality. Exquisitely nuanced and balanced, the 2004 is a gem. Readers who own the 2004 should be thrilled; as it is a magnificent wine by any measure. My favorite age to drink Sine Qua Non wines is around ten years. The Ode to E Grenache delivers the goods, and then some. The blend is 88% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 2% Viognier, all from Eleven Confessions. (Drink between 2015-2024)

2011 Sine Qua Non Grenache Patine Eleven Confessions Vineyard. VM 97. The 2011 Grenache Patine has turned out beautifully. Dark red cherry, plum, mocha, spice and leather meld together in the glass as this savory, beautifully layered wine opens up. Herb, graphite, smoke, sage and tobacco add shades of nuance in a delineated Grenache that captures the best of this cool, late-ripening year. Patine is 77% Grenache, 22% Syra and 1% Viognier, all from Eleven Confessions, done with 25% whole clusters and aged for 33 months in French oak barrels, 11% new. (Drink between 2018-2031)

Bistecca Fiorentina alla Legna. Wood fired porterhouse steak. Definitely not overcooked!

Roast carrots.

Wood fired eggplant.

Salt.

Polenta with jus. Oh so good!

Fire water!

Grapefruit Aperol Tarragon Sorbetto — Cold pressed Fresh Grapefruit juice from my garden, Aperol and fresh Tarragon! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Unique and bracing — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #grapefruit #aperol #tarragon

Haven’t made this in almost 3 years — Rocky Road Gelato — Valrhona Chocolate base with marshmallows and pecans and house-made caramel and toasted kosher Marshmallow topping! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #RockyRoad #marshmallow #caramel #marshmallow #pecan

The wine lineup.

One tired chef — lots of work to put on this stunning dinner.

Overall, this was an amazing dinner.

First of all, the Borgese hospitality was awesome, the house lovely, and the food absolutely incredible. Best “home cooked” meal I’ve had. Maybe ever if you restrict it to chefs cooking in their own home kitchen. Just amazing. Every dish was great. Rustic but extremely delicious style. Superb homemade pastas. My gelato was darn good too :-).

Service was handled by the youngest Borgese (teen daughter) and her friend (both pictured below) and was better than most restaurant staff. Super friendly and you can tell they do this a lot.

Wines were out of this world too. I like this kind of array of different wines covering a range of foods. I did the pairings (flighting out what we had with the menu). Really an embarrassment of riches. Particularly the old Lalas.

We are heading back in February for “Uni night” — can’t wait!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Dinner at the Borgese's, Gelato, hedonists, Italian Cusine, pasta, Rocco Borgese, Santa Monica, Wine

Last Supper – Ho Kee

Feb21

Restaurant: Ho Kee Cafe

Location: 558 Las Tunas Dr, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 822-3399

Date: December 29, 2019

Cuisine: Hong Kong Chinese

Rating: Quite good

The last Sunday of 2019, the last trip to the SGV, the last (restaurant) Chinese meal of the year…

Skylar arranged this banquet at Ho Kee Cafe in Arcadia, ordering a bunch of off menu dishes.

The decor is fairly modern.

Our menu was all in Chinese.

And we had this cute private room all to ourselves.

Salty peanuts on the table.

Pork belly with tangy jellyfish — first rate jellyfish, snappy with a great marinated flavor.

Hoisin and sugar to use on the pork.

Causeway style crab — salty and garlicky. Had to crunch thru shells but they were soft enough.

The house collected the garlic afterward so we could snack on it.

House special lobster — excellent — on tasty garlic noodles.

Succulent shrimp with celery — very delicate and nice with good textural contrast.

Vegetables featuring lily roots, mushrooms, greens, and oyster mushrooms — very nice actually.

Lily Snails — but I think was actually conch — crunchy. Attractive plating.

Ginger steamed turbot — very delicate.

Sesame 100 flower chicken — layered with shrimp paste — nice.

Sliced Peking duck — served with buns.

Duck meat and sweet sauce — nice meat, not as boney as some and very moist.

French Style Beef — one of the most succulent and tender I’ve had.

A-choy with garlic — good.

Typhoon Fried rice — a touch dry. Used the same seasonings as the lobster (in theory).

I was winding down gelato production for the year and so the freezers were already off but I did have this large bowl of fresh Sweet Milk Gelato Chocolate Mousse that Jerome and I made a day or so before. This is serious chocolate mousse made with classic French technique and Valrhona chocolate.

The gang.

Overall, Ho Kee Cafe was very good. Pretty similar to Cantonese. Plating was very attractive, service great, and kitchen execution excellent. A fitting way to finish out a year filled with lots of great Chinese food!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Chocolate Mousse, duck, hedonists, Ho kee, Ho Kee Cafe, Hong Kong Cuisine, Lobster, SGV

Quick Eats – Park’s BBQ

Feb19

Restaurant: Park’s BBQ

Location: 955 S Vermont Ave G, Los Angeles, CA 90006. (213) 380-1717

Date: December 23, 2019

Cuisine: Korean BBQ

Rating: Great charcoal KBBQ

It’s been many years since I was at Park’s BBQ — before I started blogging in 2010 for sure — so when my friend Jerome mentioned that he wanted to try some KBBQ off we went.

Park’s is seriously OG. It’s been around for a long time, has real charcoal grills, and very high quality meat.

Even on a random Monday in December at 1:45pm there was a 30 minute line!

Each table has its own dedicated hood.

It’s hard to see down inside the grill but there are real charcoal chunks in there — none of that modern gas fired cooking!

The menu. We went for set P2. The server said it served 4. We were just 2. I figured it’d be about the right amount of food!

Salt and pepper vinegar.

Hot sauce and fermented spicy bean paste (love the stuff because I love fermented Asian everything).

Salad is of course one of the ban chan.

Daikon radish wraps.

Rice crepe wraps.

A kind of kimchee.

Spicy pickled cucumbers.

Some kind of green.

Marinated bean sprouts.

Chewy fish cakes — delicious — I ate 3 bowls of them.

Broccoli.

Spiced potatoes or radish.

Crunchy sweet pickled veggies. Really good.

Taste of Parks P2.

Mushrooms and Zucchini – in the back various beefs.

Rib Eye Steak, and back right Pork Belly.

Boneless Beef Short Rib (left), Beef Brisket (center), Ggot Sal (right).

Bulgogi (with the green onion on top).

Park’s Gal-bi – probably my favorite.

Meat on the grill.

Steak on the grill.

More meat on the grill.

Pork belly.

Overall, other than the bit of a wait, everything was great at Park’s. This isn’t a new style whacky or AYCE joint and they have a fairly traditional set of dishes and cuts but the meat is fabulous and the charcoal flavor great, so this is some really satisfying very Korean KBBQ — as it should be. Service was very great too.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: beef, KBBQ, Korea-town, Korean cuisine, Meat, Park's BBQ, Steak

Sebi Mastro’s 2019

Feb17

Restaurant: Mastro’s [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 246 North Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, Ca 90210. 310-888-8782

Date: December 20, 2019

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: A top LA Steak joint

For the fourth year (sort of) in a row, my friend Sebastian picked Mastros for his birthday dinner — no complaints here — so we all hauled out the wines and headed across town. Wine theme: First Growth Bordeaux.

We setup in the luxurious Penthouse!

The current menu upstairs (the Penthouse has a different menu).

From my cellar: 1990 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. BH 95. This is a wine that I know extremely well from 750 ml and it’s one that is beginning to tire though I hasten to point out that it’s still enjoyable and just beginning to show signs of fatigue. However there are no such concerns with the same wine from magnum that remains magnificently fresh and while it’s clear that the aromas are mature, that’s not at all the same thing as describing the yeasty and baked apple suffused nose as tiring. There is equally good depth and vibrancy to the beautifully delineated flavors that are supported by a fine and firm mousse that allows the texture of a well-aged Dom to be easily appreciated. For my taste this has arrived at its peak though note well that it should easily be capable of effortlessly holding for years to come. (Drink starting 2015)

2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 98. The 2008 Dom Pérignon is once again stunning. More than anything else, I am surprised by how well the 2008 drinks given all the tension and energy it holds. Then again, that is precisely what makes 2008 such a unique vintage – namely that the best wines are so chiseled and yet not at all austere. Lemon peel, almond, mint, smoke and crushed rocks are all finely sculpted, but it is the wine’s textural feel, drive and persistence that elevate it into the realm of the sublime. The 2008 will be even better with time in the cellar, but it is absolutely phenomenal even today, in the early going. Three recent bottles have all been nothing short of magnificent. (Drink between 2020-2048)

1995 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. BH 95. A knock out and still quite youthful nose that has everything that you could want in a luxury cuvée including notes of green apple, yeast, white pear and peach and very subtle spice hints merges into sophisticated and classy flavors presented on a base of firm but not aggressive effervescence and better acid support than many examples from ’95 have. A wonderful effort that is only just now beginning to unwind and for my preferences, it needs at least three more years in the cellar first before drinking well over the next two decades.

Mustard, cocktail sauce, atomic horseradish.

A seafood tower. The quality of the seafood here is impeccable! Amazing shrimp, claws, king crab (didn’t taste frozen), crab cocktail, and oysters. This year’s tower was well sized (last year was a bit skimpy).

Bluefin Tuna Carpaccio.

From my cellar: 2017 Maison Leroy Bourgogne Blanc. 91 points. A nose of stewed apple and poached pear. Sappy and full on the palate, with plenty of richness and a note of cotton candy on the finish in addition to the apple and pear.

From my cellar: 1993 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 92. A fully mature and expressive nose of elegant secondary fruit and floral aromas introduces intensely mineral-driven, pure and beautifully well-detailed middle weight flavors that possess excellent depth and fine length. This is drinking perfectly now and should continue to do so without effort for at least another decade. Tasted only once recently. (Drink starting 2012)

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Beaune du Château Blanc. BH 90. In contrast to the Pouilly-Fuissé, the reduction is sufficiently prominent that I would advise decanting this first. Otherwise there is excellent concentration to the sappy and palate coating flavors that possess a lovely texture that extends to the solidly complex and sneaky long finish. (Drink starting 2022)

Beef Carpaccio with capers, arugula, and parmesan. Awesome and a bit lighter.

Caesar salad. A bit too mild for my taste.

Spanish Octopus Carpaccio. WIth a lot of green sauce.

1983 Latour. Parker 88. Tasted from my cellar, this wine is fully mature, not terribly concentrated, and slightly herbaceous, exhibiting aromas of sweaty saddle leather, melted asphalt, tobacco, and red as well as black fruits. Notions of caramel and roasted nuts also emerge. A medium-bodied effort with soft tannin, but little persistence and length, it requires consumption over the next decade.

From my cellar: 1986 Château Margaux. Parker 98. A magnificent example of Chateau Margaux and one of the most tannic, backward Margauxs of the last 50 years, the 1986 continues to evolve at a glacial pace. The color is still a dense ruby/purple with just a hint of lightening at the rim. With several hours of aeration, the aromatics become striking, with notes of smoke, toast, creme de cassis, mineral, and white flowers. Very full-bodied, with high but sweet tannin, great purity, and a very masculine, full-bodied style, this wine should prove nearly immortal in terms of its aging potential. It is beginning to budge from its infantile stage and approach adolescence. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2050. Last tasted, 12/02.

Pretzel bread — gotta love it.

Escargot and pastry. One of my favorites of the aps.

Beef tartar.

Bone marrow and toast — have a bit of fat! Actually not my favorite as I don’t love the texture of bone marrow straight up.

1998 Mouton Rothschild. Parker 97. Composed of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 1998 Mouton Rothschild is deep garnet-brick in color with lovely crème de cassis, dried roses, hoisin and baking spice notes with underlying notions of dried cherries and mulberries plus touches of wood smoke, incense and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied and packed with rich fruit framed by firm, chewy tannins, it is stacked with complex, evolving flavors and finishes with incredibly long-lasting perfumed notes. According to winemaker Philippe Dhalluin, this needs about three hours of decanting at this stage. I simply love the place this wine is in right now, possessing plenty of mature, tertiary characters yet still sporting bags of fruit. It won’t be fading anytime soon either and should cellar nicely for 20-25+ more years.

1999 Lafite Rothschild. Parker 95. The 1999 Lafite Rothschild sports an engraved “1999” on the bottle along with an eclipse to mark that significant historical event of August, 1999. It is a quintessential offering from Lafite Rothschild. This prodigious wine is both elegant and intensely flavored, and almost diaphanous in its layers that unfold with no heaviness. An opaque ruby/purple color is accompanied by a complex bouquet of lead pencil, graphite, cedar, creme de cassis, toast, and vanilla. It is medium-bodied, with extravagant layers of richness yet little weight, and a finish that is all sweetness, ripeness, and harmony. This extraordinary Lafite increasingly appears to be a modern day clone of the majestic 1953. A mere one-third of the crop made it into the grand vin! Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030.

The empty plate.

Rack of lamb.

Roasted Vegetable Risotto, shaved black truffles.

Shoestring fries. I love these crispy fries.

Wild sautéed mushrooms.

2002 Latour. Parker 96-98. The wine of the vintage? There are only 10,000 cases of this extraordinarily rich, dense 2002 that is as powerful as the 2003 (even the alcohol levels are nearly the same, 12.85%) . It is dark ruby/purple to the rim, with notes of English walnuts, crushed rocks, black currants, and forest floor, dense, full-bodied, and opulent, yet classic with spectacular aromatics, marvelous purity, and a full-bodied finish that lasts just over 50+ seconds. Huge richness and the sweetness of the tannin are somewhat deceptive as this wine seems set for a long life. Administrator Frederic Engerer seems to be more pleased with what Latour achieved in 2002 than in any other recent vintage. Hats off to him for an extraordinary accomplishment in a vintage that wouldn’t have been expected to produce the raw materials to achieve something at this level of quality. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2045.

2003 Latour. Parker 100! 2003 was one of the hottest, earliest Bordeaux vintages ever. Some vines suffered from lack of moisture, but old vines and clay subsoil at Enclos saw this vineyard through. The Merlot harvest occurred between September 8 and 13, and the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked between September 22 and 30. The 2003 Latour is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot. Six percent of the press wine was added to the final blend. It has a medium to deep garnet-purple color, then wow—it explodes from the glass with bombastic black and blue fruits, followed up by meat, wood smoke, sandalwood and Indian spice accents with underlying floral wafts. The palate is full, rich, velvety, seductive and very long on the finish. There were only 10,800 cases made (rather than the normal 15,000-20,000).

Snake river farms American Wagyu 40oz.

Branzino.

Bone in filet — a bit overcooked.

Second one, more rare.

New York Strip.

Sautéed asparagus.

Alaskan King Crab Black Truffle Gnocchi. One of my favorites.

Creamed corn. My wife loves this (and so do I).

2002 Alois Kracher Sämling Trockenbeerenauslese Auslese.

The all important Butter Cake. This is “Mastro’s signature warm butter cake ala mode.” Basically a pound cake with an extra four sticks of butter or something. It’s really sweet and really good. Goes well with the magic whipped cream (see below).

Real whipped cream.

And fresh berries.

Moose Avenue Gelato — Ice cream fans should get the joke — pure Tahitian Vanilla gelato base layered with Valrhona Milk Chocolate Ganache and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups –created 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 #vanilla #valrhona #chocolate #ganache #Reeses #PeanutButterCups

Mango Coconut Cheesecake Gelato — this one is serious — Mango Cheesecake base layered with house-made Graham Crackers and house-made Coconut Cream- Ceese Icing and sprinkled with Candied Mango –created 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 #mango #cheesecake #creamcheese #coconut #icing #GrahamCracker #CandiedFruit

Seb’s girlfriend brought a special wine themed birthday cake.

The wine lineup.

The birthday boy and his girl.

Mary and Chevy.

Shirley and Will.

My wife and I.

Mastro’s, while a zoo, and expensive, is a spectacular steak house experience. You can really feel your heart palpitating as you roll out of here! Food is very good, but the steaks themselves are the weakest point — particularly as they seem to have a consistent problem cooking them right. This doesn’t bother me hugely, as I don’t actually really like steak, and steakhouses are always about the other for me, but Mastro’s best dishes are things like the seafood tower, buttercake, and starchy sides. Service is good, but we encountered some slightly funny interactions between the staff and our quirky party members — haha — it happens.

Overall, another great steakhouse birthday!

In terms of organizing for the “steakhouse wine problem” for this dinner I came into it with the same kind of plan I used the week before at BOA, with a seafood course, white apps, red wine apps, then three sets of steak/side courses. This worked out much better than the “all at once” style we used recently at The Royce but was a bit subverted mid dinner when the the birthday boy merged my 2nd and 3rd meat courses — this would have been better as separate courses. But he also (correctly) tamed down my admittedly overzealous carby side and dessert plan into a more manageable (but still totally gluttonous) volume. I had planned 4 butter cakes! We barely managed to kill 2 (because we also had gelato and the giant wine cake. haha).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beverly Hills, birthday, BYOG, Gelato, Mastros, steakhouse

888 Not So Late

Feb14

Restaurant: 海珍大酒樓 888 seafood restaurant [1, 2]

Location: 8450 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 573-1888

Date: December 19, 2019

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum

Rating: good cart dimsum

We had such a good banquet dinner at 888 Seafood a couple of weeks ago that we decided to return and try their dimsum during the day. It should be noted that 888 has been around for a long while — decades — and is still a cart place. I.e. everything rotates around on the steam carts.

Har Gow. Shrimp dumplings. nice.

Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings.

Vegetable Dumplings.

XLB (Xao Lao Bao). Pork soup dumplings. These were tasty, but a bit sticky and pasty.

Shrimp and Vegetable Dumplings.
Shu Mai. Not a bad version of the classic.

Pork ribs. Ugly but delicious.

Beef balls. Also ugly but tasty.

Shrimp Chow Fun. Good for this dish.

Eggplant and Shrimp Paste. Black bean sauce. A little more unusual.

Greens with Sauce. Comes on the dedicated greens cart.

Crunchy top pork buns. A bit sweet and really nice texture.

Baked pork buns.

Shrimp paste with Green Pepper with Black Bean Sauce. Pretty good, actually.

Chewy Pork Dumpling. I always like this texture.
Tofu. Very light and delicate. Nice soft texture.
Bean Curd wrapped veggies.

Cantonese Luke Warm Roast Duck. Pretty juicy, but very luke-warm, almost cool.

Pork Hock with Bok Choy. Delicious! Several people popped their pig’s feet cherry on these.

Fatty Beef Ribs. Rich sauce and thick slabs of beef that didn’t seem so Chinese.

Chicken Feet in XO sauce.

Seafood on crispy Chow Mein. Yum!

Pineapple Buns with custard and real pineapple chunks — great. Had several even though I was very full.

Macao Tart — ok, a bit mild.

Dimsum at 888 was solid, but not particularly interesting or super fresh. Definitely a notch or two down from the made to order places. Shells were a bit “sticky” which indicates they have been sitting in the steamers for a bit while they wheel around. Non dimsum dishes were more interesting. This is more like the way SGV dimsum was 10-15 years ago.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Brunch, Cantonese Chinese, Dim sum, dimsum, dumplings, hedonists, lunch, Lunch Quest, SGV

Not Boaring at Sáu Can Tho

Feb12

Restaurant: Sáu Can Tho Vietnamese Kitchen [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 8450 Garvey Ave #103, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 307-8868

Date: December 15, 2019

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Rating: Excellent!

Every December my Hedonist club goes to this awesome SGV Vietnamese place — which used to be named Phong Dinh and is now Sáu Can Tho. This authentic Vietnamese/Chinese continues to serve up interesting stuff — plus they’re happy to take some of Yarom’s “do it yourself” meats, like his recently shot wild boar.

The new logo.

Free range shredded chicken salad. Pretty darn good for a “chicken salad.” Actually very good. Bright flavors, slight sweetness.

Wild boar sausage. Tasty.

Beef carpaccio with julienne water spinach. One of the weaker dishes.

Spiral sea snails sautéed in coconut sauce. The conical snails are smothered in the sauce. Snails are great, and you have to suck out the tender meat — but the sauce is amazing — totally to die for. Light coconut curry flavor.

SCT Famous Baked Catfish. This is famous for a reason. Really a standout delicious baked fish with peanuts and a bit of turmeric flavor.

It comes with veggies, fish sauce.

Rice paper — the type you put in warm water.

Super delicious rice noodles.

Herb salad.

Here is an example of the “taco” by combining the elements.

Freshwater prawn with garlic butter sauce. Really delicious huge garlicky prawns.

Wild boar sautéed with chili and lemongrass rolls. These were incredible. They look fairly hideous, with the sinister dark wrapper and a slightly mushy texture. But the flavor was amazing.

Alligator curry. Interesting mushy/chewy meat texture.

Goat curry. Great rich yellow curry flavor.

Crispy shrimp chips.

“Shaken” wild boar tenderloin. Lots of flavor.

Vietnamese rotisserie squab. Crispy and juicy.

Crispy quails with fish sauce glaze. Interesting fishy note.

Rice cakes to go with the quails. bland but great texture.

Vietnamese Flan Creme Caramel Dessert. Very nice.

Moose Avenue Gelato — Ice cream fans should get the joke — pure Tahitian Vanilla gelato base layered with Valrhona Milk Chocolate Ganache and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups –created 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 #vanilla #valrhona #chocolate #ganache #Reeses #PeanutButterCups

Overall, Sáu Can Tho is a delicious place, and most of the dishes were great — particularly the catfish, ugly wrapped boar, snails etc. This is pretty spot on California style authentic Vietnamese, similar to many places in Garden Grove / Westminster. I suspect these are mostly Saigon style places reflecting the 1970s exodus of many Vietnamese to America and are part of our great Los Angeles cultural melting pot!

More crazy Hedonist adventures or
LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: boar, BYOG, catfish, Gelato, hedonists, snails, Vietnamese cuisine, Wild boar

Harlan at BOA

Feb10

Restaurant: BOA Steakhouse

Location: 9200 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (310) 278-2050

Date: December 13, 2019

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Pretty good food, mediocre service

Continuing my December run of Steakhouse dinners is a huge Harlan vertical.

This was originally intended to happen at Arthur J Steakhouse in Manhattan beach, but was redirected to BOA Sunset. Now BOA has decent food, but it’s run by Innovative Dining, which has a style-over-substance approach and medium service. On the plus side they do waive corkage, but this has some costs (more on that later) and they are huge, mobbed, and not super attentive.

We had a nice outside table, but it wasn’t a private room and was quite loud.

The menu.

In order to better organize the food/wine progression I formed a 6 course “plan” with Yarom and Larry. This consisted of seafood/salad, red apps, steak 1, steak 2, steak 3, desserts.

Course 0: Aperitifs

From my cellar: 2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut. VM 97. The 2007 Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a total knock-out. Racy and exuberant in the glass, the 2007 wraps around the palate with stunning textural depth and resonance. The 15% still Pinot adds structure and persistence to a creamy, inviting Rosé Champagne that will leave readers weak at the knees. Hints of rose petal, dried cherry, cinnamon and dried flowers meld into the sublime finish. This is about as good as it gets. Wow! (Drink between 2018-2038)

Salted butter.

Passable bread, but nowhere near as good as The Royce, Mastros, or many other steakhouses.

Course 1: Seafood / Champ

2002 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. 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. (Drink between 2017-2037)

COLOSSAL BLUE CRAB COCKTAIL. Nice chunks of crab meat.

Course 2: Salads / Whites

2012 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Séchet. VM 92+. Stony aromas of white pepper, biscuit and white truffle. Dense and energetic, with a distinctly savory saline quality leavening the intense lemon and mineral flavors. Finishes stony and very long, with terrific energy and grip. Very youthful in the early going.

From my cellar: 1996 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 94 points. Golden yellow, big, reductive so we decanted it for an hour, more accessible & opened up to reveal a rich, relatively full bodied wine, not at its peak.

BLT WEDGE. applewood smoked bacon, crisp iceberg, tomato, avocado, creamy bacon dressing.

TABLE-SIDE CLASSIC CAESAR. This is just the romaine waiting to be prepped.

The empty bowl.

Mustard.

Condiments.

Whipping up the dressing.

The Caesar itself. Very peppery and tangy. Nice. One of the best restaurant caesars. Not quite as good as my own homemade one, but very good.

Course 3: Red Apps

1993 Harlan Estate. VM 97. What a joy it is to taste the 1993 Harlan Estate. The aromatics alone are captivating. Wonderfully nuanced and expressive, the 1993 is peaking today. Time has softened the tannins, yet there is plenty of depth, especially for a wine of this age. Readers can look forward to another 5-10 years of exceptional drinking. Although the vines were naturally younger when the 1993 was made than they are today, and winemaking has evolved, the reality is that the 1993, like many of these wines, really needed quite a bit of time to be at its very best. (Drink between 2017-2023)

1993 Harlan Estate. VM 96. It is fascinating to taste the 1996 Harlan Estate after the 1999. Tightly wound and almost Old World in spirit, the 1996 is compelling from the first taste. Although the 1996 doesnâ’t have the natural Napa Valley opulence that runs through so many other wines in this tasting, itâ’s balance is simply impeccable. Scents of tobacco, leather, cedar and spice add aromatic intensity. For a 21 year-old wine, the 1996 is still quite powerful. As good as the 1996 is, there is a perceptible aggressiveness in the tannins that are hardly, if ever, seen in todayâ’s wines. (Drink between 2017-2027)

TABLE-SIDE PRIME STEAK TARTARE. quail egg, house-made pickles, grilled toast.

All mixed up. This was a decent tartare, but not as good as at the Royce. Maybe too much in the pickle department.

Toasts and extra pickles.

ROASTED BONE MARROW. red onion jam, kimchee, micro herbs, grilled bread. Not that huge a marrow fan.

GOAT CHEESE BAKLAVA. pistachios, black truffles, frisee. This was awesome. Sweet and cheesy with great texture. A savory dessert hybrid.

Course 4: Lamb and Fries

1998 Harlan Estate. VM 92. Good full red-ruby. Coolish but attractive nose combines blueberry, violet, licorice and lavender; still quite primary. Then juicy and intense if on the lean side, with a captivating floral freshness, brisk acidity and surprising succulent persistence. This will never be an expansive style of Harlan Estate but I like its intensity and verve and give it the edge today over the 2000. The high quality, and satisfying ripeness, of this wine is no doubt largely due to the fact that only a tiny quantity of juice was bottled under the flagship label.

1998 Harlan Estate. VM 95+. Good medium ruby-red. Slightly high-toned aromas of dark raspberry, spicecake, licorice and minerals. Densely packed, ripe and savory, with its very ripe, slightly inky flavors of dark berries and licorice extended on the back end by strong saline minerality. This highly concentrated, powerfully structured wine boasts excellent acidity and the ripe tannic spine for further positive development in bottle. Finishes with a repeating licorice quality and outstanding palate-staining length. (14.5% alcohol) (Drink between 2019-2039)

sonoma lamb t-bones. Okay, but not like the amazing ones at The Royce.

TRUFFLED CHEESE FRIES. Gluttonous, but yummy.

HAND CUT CRISPY FRIES. Why bother when there are cheesy ones?

CRAB & BLACK TRUFFLE GNOCCHI. Excellent.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon.

My “civilized” first meat course plate.

Course 5: Ribeye

2000 Harlan Estate. VM 93. The 2000 Harlan Estate is in a beautiful place today. Soft, open-knit and nicely mellowed by age, the 2000 is absolutely gorgeous, with soft contours to match is engaging personality. Mocha, black cherries, leather and spice are all quite forward in this succulent Harlan Estate. The 2000 might not be a profound Harlan Estate, but it is a striking wine that is peaking today and that should continue to drink well for at least another few years. (Drink between 2015-2020)

From my cellar: 2000 Harlan Estate. VM 95. Good deep ruby-red. Blackcurrant, minerals, graphite, mocha and leather on the nose. Sweet and tightly wound, with a violet topnote and terrific depth of flavor. This powerfully structured wine has plenty of meat on its bones. The tannins are huge but refined. This must be among the three or four longest wines of the vintage, with the violet quality persisting on the aftertaste. (I retasted the 2002 on this occasion, and this elixir of a wine continues to be one of the greatest California cabernets of my experience, with a knockout nose of black raspberry, minerals, tobacco and crushed stone; a superconcentrated essence of cabernet on the palate; and an almost confectionery finish of incredible persistence. My latest sample merited a solid 98.)

2000 Harlan Estate. VM 95. Open-knit, sensual and perfumed, the 2005 Harlan Estate is super-expressive today. Like so many 2005s, the Harlan is a bit lacking in intensity and overall structure relative to the very best years. The 2005 is a terrific choice for drinking now and over the next 15-20 years. At some point during that arc of time, the 2005 is likely to become a bit frail, but that does not appear to be imminent. Even after thinning to a cluster per shoot, the clusters and berries were large, which required some bleeding in the tanks, a technique that is not often used at Harlan Estate. (Drink between 2017-2027)

21 day dry aged bone-in ribeye.

With garlic.

MAC N CHEESE. Ok, but I’ve had better.

SEASONAL MUSHROOMS.

LOBSTER MASHED POTATOES.

Course 6: Tomahawk

2006 Harlan Estate. VM 95+. Deep ruby-red. Captivating aromas of redcurrant, sage, leather and game, lifted by a floral note. A sweet, juicy midweight, quite primary and closed today but with lovely inner-mouth floral lift apparent already. This is about sweetness more than sheer opulence. Most impressive today on the very long, building finish, which features suave but firm tannins and excellent lift to its lingering flavors of red fruits, forest floor and tobacco. A great performance for the year and sure to be long-lived.

2009 Harlan Estate. VM 97. Bright, saturated ruby. Alluring aromas of blueberry, cassis, licorice, minerals, mocha and nutty oak. At once thick and lively on entry, then densely packed and compellingly deep in in the middle palate, with its dark fruit, smoke and graphite flavors conveying a subtle savory quality that nicely buffers the wine’s sweetness and alcohol. At once harmonious and gripping for the year, this reverberating, palate-staining wine spreads out on the back end without losing its verticality–if that’s possible! Impeccable tannin management here. (Drink between 2020-2040)

2010 Harlan Estate. VM 100. The 2010 Harlan Estate is a total head-turner. Powerful, dense and exotically ripe â€“ as so many wines are in this vintage â€“ the 2010 dazzles with magnificent intensity. Baritone inflections run through the black cherry, graphite, smoke, tar and licorice flavors. Heat spikes at the end of what was generally a cold growing season yielded wines that bring together structure and fruit density. (Drink between 2018-2037)

Tomahawk.

Sautéed Broccoli Rabe.

Course 7: My Gelato

“Plated.”

The pre Harlans.

And the Harlan lineup.

Food was pretty solid. It’s not nearly as good as The Royce, but it’s better than more hack steakhouses like Del Friscos or terrible ones like Taylor’s. The place is gigantic and a bit of a factory. It was very crowded with holiday parties and the like. Service was okay but a bit distant.

They did waive corkage. But on the minus side, and perhaps because of this, they didn’t touch the bottles (maybe a good thing), so we did everything. AND they very strictly limited us to TWO glasses each. At first they blamed this on being crowded and said “we can get you more later” but the manager had informed the service not to. We asked repeatedly and were denied. When two of us went up to the bar and got a single extra glass each the manager tracked down a third person and TOOK THE GLASS. And he told the staff not to give us any more. This is pretty unforgivable and violates the rules of hospitality. It’s one thing to not bring a whole extra set, but it’s totally different to circumvent active efforts on the part of a guest to get a glass. Whoever had this idea should just be tossed out of the restaurant business. Two stems was just not sufficient to work through our wine. 3 barely was. Even with breaking up the food into so many flights, several of the courses needed three stems.

My plan to break up the courses — despite a tiny bit of grumbling — worked much much better than the single wave of steaks and sides. If we had tried that here we would have had to get through 8 Harlans in about 10 minutes! Gulp!

The wines were excellent. I liked the 90s ones best myself as I like a bit of age on my wine. The 2010 was so young and hot (alcoholic) and slutty, although it had a certain hedonistic pleasure to it.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BOA, BYOG, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gelato, harlan, hedonists, Hollywood, steakhouse

The Royce

Feb07

Restaurant: The Royce Wood Fired Steakhouse

Location: 1401 S Oak Knoll Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106. (626) 585-6410

Date: December 10, 2019

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: One of LA’s best

For years some of the guys have been talking about how good the Pasadena steakhouse, The Royce is…

So I figured I’d give it a try — particularly given that we were doing (mostly) Grange night.

It’s located inside the Langham hotel in Pasadena — which is right by the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens. I hadn’t even known this was here but it’s a lovely “old LA” hotel — really a rare vestige of the classic era of our city.

The Royce itself is a high-end classic (modern) steakhouse.

We had a great (if chilly) private room inside one of the wine cellars.

The menu.

1998 Dom Pérignon Champagne P2. VM 94. The 1998 Dom Pérignon P2 is clearly heading into its next plateau of maturity, as evidenced by a host of coffee, roasted almond, butter, brioche, caramel, lemon confit and pastry notes. Even so, there is a good bit of freshness to play off a generally mature set of aromas and flavors. Readers who enjoy mature Champagne will find quite a bit to like in the 1998. Today, it is especially open-knit and giving. Two recent bottles have been terrific. (Drink between 2019-2039)

Stellar bread.

1988 Penfolds Grange. 94 points. Magnificent despite probably being several years past it’s peak. Still overpriced but the reason the demand is so high is due to this being the worthy benchmark for all Aussie Shiraz to aspire to. Supremely complex.

PRIME STEAK TARTARE. tabasco vinaigrette, house-made potato chips. Amazing tartare.

House-made potato chips to go with the tartare.

ROASTED BONE MARROW ‘GRATINEE’. wood-grilled bread, friseé salad. Nice bread. Was so hungry was eating frisee.

JUMBO SHRIMP COCKTAIL. cocktail sauce, yuzu aioli. Very good for being a “dull” dish.

Cocktail and tartar sauce.

GRILLED PORTOBELLO CARPACCIO. miso, arugula, citrus. Amazing bright citrus flavors and nice texture.

1981 Penfolds Grange. 95 points. Dark as night. Dill, and some coconut on the nose along with a black wall of dark fruit, asphalt, olive, and meaty notes. It just seems a little muted. The palate was more impressive than the nose, but the reason became clear by the end of the night. Viscous texture, but not fat, just very extracted. Meaty, and dark fruited, with iodine, anise, more meat, and dark syrah fruit. Very large scaled, and dare I day drinking youthfully.

Oysters on the half-shell.

Sauces.

ROYCE WEDGE. baby iceberg, pancetta, blue cheese crumble. Very solid wedge. Not as much dressing as I like.

MAINE LOBSTER BISQUE. sherry vinegar. Super rich classic bisque.

1998 Penfolds Grange. VM 97. Very deep red-ruby. Smoky, deeply concentrated fruit bomb of a nose: blackberry, dark plum, cassis; creamy vanilla and lightly toasty coconutty oak; and ethereal background notes of white pepper, smoked meats, musky spices, tar and licorice. Profoundly concentrated but velvety-smooth and seamless; impressively muscular and thickly coated with oak, and bound by drying, astringent tannins. Without question the most concentrated Grange of all time, utterly steeped in blackberry flavors; a real show pony. It’s also the most alcoholic Grange ever made, and at a declared 14.5% does taste warm and spirity – the first Grange to do so. It also ventures to some degree into the realm of currant and prune. No doubt a brilliant wine, but only time will tell if, with its elevated alcohol and its superripe flavors, this 1998 version ranks with the very best Grange vintages.

HAND CUT FRENCH FRIES. garlic. Tasted good, a bit soft, but lots of flavor.

1999 Penfolds Grange. VM 91+. Full ruby-red. Sexy aromas of raspberry, cola, root beer and coconut. Thick, dense and concentrated, with exotic, slightly candied dark fruit, caramel, toasted coconut and mineral flavors nicely shaped by firm acids. Shows strong fruit and a major dose of oak on the powerful, backward finish. This can’t quite match the 1998 for sheer depth of fruit, but it’s built to age.

AUSTRALIAN WAGYU TOMAHAWK. Rich.

Chopped up.

From my cellar: 2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. VM 95+. Saturated ruby-red. Highly complex, very primary, inky nose hints at blackberry, black cherry, licorice, spicecake and tree bark; dominated by the mourvedre. Then dense, thick and sappy in the mouth, with brooding black fruit and mineral flavors and superb precision. Hints of meat and leather lurk, but, like the regular release, this is extremely backward and dominated by dark fruits. Offers superb thickness without any excess weight, and a wonderfully seamless, elegant texture. Finishes extremely long, with very fine tannins. A unique critter: a Chateauneuf du Pape with just 20% grenache. Likely to develop in bottle for two decades or more. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

3oz MIYAZAKI, JAPAN. WAGYU TENDERLOIN. Very salty. First came too cooked. Soft and WAY over salted, so not the best use of A5.

Petite Filet.

2005 Dalla Valle Maya. VM 93. The 2005 Maya is gorgeous, layered and beautifully expressive in the glass. Overall, the 2005 is a relatively mid-weight Maya that impresses for its balance and overall sense of harmony. Still quite vibrant, the 2005 will drink well for at least a handful of years to come. Hints of spice, tobacco and new leather flesh out on the finish, adding further dimensions of complexity. (Drink between 2014-2025)

COLORADO RACK OF LAMB. israeli couscous, boursin. Amazing. tender, fatty, flavorful, crunchy

GRILLED SHISHITO PEPPERS.

SAUTÉED BRUSSELS SPROUTS. bacon vinaigrette.

BUTTON MUSHROOMS.

MAC & CHEESE.

POTATO PUREÉ. horseradish. Very soft. nice.

MAPLE BRIOCHE BREAD PUDDING. candy cap mushroom ice cream. Amazing. Super decadent.

FRIED CINNAMON BEIGNETS. chocolate frangelico sauce. Huge and warm.

The stellar wine lineup.

Overall, this was a great meal. Many of the guys feel that this is the best steakhouse in town. I’m no total expert, but I’ve been to plenty and it’s certainly in the top few. I think at a similar level to Alexander’s and Cut, but probably a touch more classic — i.e. Cut and Alexander’s have edged a touch more off the traditional steakhouse playbook into newer territory. The Royce is pretty straight up. But then again they are contemporary and upscale unlike terrible fossils like Taylor’s — and at The Royce the execution and attention to detail is top notch. Definitely also much better than “middling” steak places like BOA or Del Friscos. Service was great too and the Langham is a really lovely space.

But the drive is long. Sigh.

Also, a slight note on steakhouses and the wines. As this is one of a series of 3-4 steakhouse dinners I did within a few weeks, and they all faced slight variants of the wine problem. Basically, the appetizers need champs and whites and then the “natural” thing for steakhouses to do is bring you all the steaks and all the sides in one giant wave of food. This works very poorly for wine dinners as about 2 minutes after this massive course hits I’m stuffed to the gills and there just isn’t enough time to enjoy more than one flight of reds. Tonight’s dinner suffered badly from this, as we did “individual ordering” of mains — which I don’t like at steakhouses. Along came the giant food wave and it was paired with 2 Grange, the Hommage, and the Maya. We needed to break the meats and sides into 2 waves, which as we will see from later dinners works much better.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: fries, hedonists, steakhouse, tartare, The Royce, Wine

Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui

Feb05

Restaurant: 香辣汇Xiang La Hui

Location: 621 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 703-4165

Date: December 21, 2019

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Some great dishes

Continuing the Lunch Quest series in which Yarom and I explore more casual Asian lunch spots.

Some friend reviews and an eater article brought us to this new Szechuan entry on Main St.

Food photos as decor — something I can get behind.

But the inside is of that newer style appealing to the under 30 set with a touch of decor and smaller rectangular tables (as opposed to the older “palace” style places).

The menu has most of the Szechuan classics.

Cucumber in garlic. Excellent. nice crunch. lots of garlic. only missing the spice.

Chicken w/ chili sauce and pepper. Whole cleaver-ed chicken. Lots of bone but tons of flavor. Green and numbing and gorgeous.

Toothpick lamb. One of the most flavorful and most tender versions of this dish I’ve had.

Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce. Classic, not bad. A bit sweet for Yarom.

Dan Dan Mein. Fairly typical Chengdu Style. Not that nutty or spicy though. Ok.

Stirred up.

Stir Fried Rabbit with Green Pepper. Super hot, lots of mala, and very very tasty. Little bones though.

Cumin Lamb. Super tender and full of flavor.

Cold Noodle (with chicken?) — delicious with a nice vinegary flavor and great texture. Much better than the dan dan.

Pork Belly with Rice Flour. Old school traditional.

Overall, I would have liked to try more dishes, but of the ones that I had, at least half of these were great and the other half were pretty good. It’s not as consistent as Sichuan Impression, but the chicken with chili sauce, toothpick lamb, rabbit, and cold noodles were fabulous.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Dan Dan Mein, Lunch Quest, SGV, spicy, Szechuan Chinese, Xiang La Hui

888 Seafood – Banquet

Feb03

Restaurant: 海珍大酒樓 888 seafood restaurant [1, 2]

Location: 8450 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 573-1888

Date: December 8, 2019

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Amazing whole pig

Sunday night is always the night for full on SGV adventures and December was a banner month. Tonight’s dinner starts off a run of four back to back Sunday Asian dinners.

First up is at 888 Seafood which is one of those “grand dames” of the SGV, being an old Cantonese Banquet hall serving dimsum during the day and Cantonese Banquet at night. It’s got some serious 1980s Hong Kong style decor. Ron was here recently and wanted us to return because he said the pig was amazing (which it is, as you shall see).

Check out our ginormous private room and its Trompe-l’œil marble style — plus really grungy Vegas carpet. But the room was great. Tons of space and a HUGE round table!

Yarom, Jerome, and I dropped by a few days in advance and planned the menu personally with the manager, Lucy.

Boiled peanuts.

XO sauce.

A bevy of other sauces.

Cold appetizer plate.

Zoom on the plate with cold cuts, jellyfish, pickled seaweed, vegetables, preserved egg etc. The meats were good and interesting. This wasn’t my favorite jellyfish — it was fine — but it wasn’t as tangy or “snappy” as I like it.

Spicy beef tendon. This wasn’t super spicy, and it had a chewy gelatinous texture, but it was really really good. Nice flavor and really fun to chew.

Spicy hot and sour soup. Full of tripe. Super spicy. Actually, too spicy even for me. I could eat it, but it had this INTENSE green pepper heat that made your throat burn, your eyes water, and you want to cough. Seriously spicy even for a spice addict.

Curry lobster. We meant to order Causeway Style Lobster but they goofed — glad they did because this “Singapore-style” curry lobster was very interesting.

Here comes piggy!

Suckling pig. Maybe full grown pig. haha. This giant pig was amazing. Super crunchy skin, super hot and succulent meat.

He’s propped up on some kind of canister.

And was served with buns.

Plus hoisin and scallions.

Afterward, the face came back to haunt us. Jeffery munched on it.

Salt and pepper shrimp. Eat whole. Quite nice.

Bacon wrapped scallop. Interesting.

100 flower chicken. Pressed boneless chicken with layers of shrimp paste. I love this dish, although this particular version was a bit mild — it was hard to even taste the shrimp.

Roast pigeon. Nice and livery.

Meat balls with leeks. Very dense texture to the meat, chewy, almost rubbery. I liked the leeks though. A lot. Most people did not love this dish. I think they had a hard time with the black hole dense balls.

Peking duck, buns, and condiments. A solid peking duck. One of these Cantonese style peking ducks — not incredibly crispy.

Peking duck meat as lettuce cups. Served stir fried with water chestnuts.

Lettuce cups.

Lotus root, walnuts, snow peas and various other veggies. Plain, but nice crunch.

Seafood over crispy noodle — great! I love this dish and this was a nice one.

Mango pudding — a bit bland. I do love mango pudding, but this one didn’t have an intense mango flavor like it should.

Toasted Almond Truffle Gelato (upper left) — My new egg yolk based nut formulation with Toasted Sicilian Noto Romano Almond makes a sublime base stacked with layers of house-made Valrhona Almond Amaretti Ganache — 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 #Valrhona #almond #amaretti #cookie #ganache #ChocolateTruffle

Root Beer Float Gelato (lower left) — Sarsaparilla flavored gelato base with house-made vanilla cream cheese layers — 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 #RootBeer #RootBeerFlaot #Sarsaparilla #vanilla #creamcheese

True Tiramisu Gelato (upper right) — after long hiatus, one of my best flavors remerges for a holiday party — This is a genuine tiramisu in gelato form, with a Marsala Egg Yolk Zabaione, fresh Mascarpone Cheese, and real Espresso. Then it’s layered with Valrhona Cocoa and Lady Finger’s soaked in house-made Espresso Rum Syrup — 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 #Tiramisu #Espresso #coffee #chocolate #marsala #Zabaione #Eggyolk #Rum #Mascarpone

Mint Meringue Strawberry Sorbetto (lower right) — An intense dairy-free base made from Avignon Strawberries and layered with house-made Spearmint Meringue — created 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 #strawberry #sorbetto #mint #Meringue

Overall, this was a great meal. Execution was a bit mixed, with dishes varying from good to great. Pig was amazing. One of the best pigs we’ve had. Service was good. Room is amazing, being huge, with a table fit for like 20. Portion sizes were great too, as was pacing.

We decided to return for dimsum too and try it out.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: 888 Seafood, BYOG, Cantonese Chinese, Chinese Food, Gelato, hedonists, Peking Duck, SGV, suckling pig, Wine

Close Eats – Cinque Terre

Jan31

Restaurant: Cinque Terre West Osteria

Location: 970 Monument St #110, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. (310) 454-0709

Date: December 7, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Solid neighborhood Italian

There are so few places to eat in Pacific Palisades and almost all of them are part of the Caruso mall with it’s terrible least common denominator food style.

This isn’t, and is off to the side in a mini-mall with my “favorite” local place, Sasebune express.

The interior is tiny but cute enough. A little casual for my taste.

The menu.

Bread.

Cinque Terre Salad. Baby mixed greens, taggiasche olives, tomatoes, grapes, figs, pecorino, fig vinaigrette.

Melanzane alla Disaia. Eggplant, marinara, Parmigiano, basil, mozzarella. Hard to not like baked eggplant with marinara and cheese. Hot and delicious.

Tartufo pizza. Mozzarellaa, goat cheese, black truffle. Not really much (if any) real truffle. Ok though. Not as good as the truffle pizza at Toscana.

Basic pasta for the boy.

Gluten free penne pomodoro. Because some people in my family (and not the boy) like really really boring food.

Pappardelle alla Bolognese. Very solid version of the classic. Nice thick fresh pasta.

Mezzelune alla Zucca. Butternut squash ravioli, brown butter, sage, Amaretto. Nice to see they included the Amaretto — makes it real Northern Italian style.

Grilled Branzino.

Macchiato.

Overall, not bad at all for the Palisades. Certainly the best Italian in the village. Of course that isn’t saying much as there are some real stinkers and the village has terrible food. Still, I’ll have to come back and see how it holds up and try more dishes.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Cinque Terre West, Italian cuisine, Italian Food, Pacific Palisades, pasta

Earl Grey – Nanjing Duck House

Jan29

Restaurant: Nanjing Duck House

Location: 9961 East Valley Blvd

Date: December 5, 2019

Cuisine: Nanjing Chinese

Rating: Looks funny — tastes great

Lately, Yarom and I have been doing more lunch excursions — particularly to Chinese places that aren’t really going to cut it for wine dinners. I’ve named this series Lunch Quest.

Anyway, today it carried us to Najing Duck House which specializes in Nanjing style cured duck.

And we met up with Tony Lau, Kirk, and some others.

This is one of those tiny SGV places with no decor — although they don’t have a drop ceiling — and exactly one employee. She was taking orders AND prepping the food. Tony had to help her out by busing!

Much of the food is cold and cured and on display in this takeout deli cabinet.

Oh yes, Nanjing style cured Turkey Gizzard!

The very short menu.
Boiled peanuts.

Shredded seaweed. Pretty much as described.

Pickled cabbage with soybeans and mustard greens. I loved these. I love cabbage. I love fermented. What’s not to love?

Nanjing style beancurd. What’s brown, rich, savory, slightly sweet and has a texture like a mop sponge? All true but it was actually great. Loved it.

Turkey gizzard, Nanjing style. Sounds extreme, but once you slice this dense cured muscle with the deli-slicer it’s quite delicious with a nice firm chew and a lovely cured flavor.

Turkey liver. Foie gras it ain’t. Decent enough though, if livery.

Sliced turkey leg, Nanjing style. More deli-slicer action. This was actually a very lovely cold sliced turkey leg. Salty, but tasty.

Boiled dumplings stuffed with pork and shepherd’s purse. Great. I love these home-style dumplings.

Boiled pork dumplings. More goodness.

Wonton soup with pork wontons and egg strips. Also lovely. Reminded me a bit of a better version of the classic wonton soup I’d get in my youth.

Nanjing style meatballs. Meaty good.

Half a Nanjing style duck. Much like the turkey, but duckier. A bit of a salted ham flavor.

Beef shank noodles with bok choy. The meat was great. The soup was simple.

Pork rib noodle soup. Again the meat was great. Rich. Soup was exactly the same.

Overall, I was surprised how interesting (and good) this place was. Service was a bit slow as there was only the one lady doing EVERYTHING. And most of the food was grey, cold, and kinda sketchy looking — but it tasted pretty good. Small menu though. We had almost everything except for the seasonal corn noodles (have to try these).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese Food, cured meats, duck, lunch, Lunch Quest, Nanjing Duck, Nanjing Duck House, SGV, Tony Lau, turkey, Yarom

Astrea Caviar + Heroic Wine Bar

Jan27

Restaurant: Heroic Deli and Wine Bar [1, 2, 3]

Location: 516 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 490-0202

Date: December 3, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Pretty awesome, actually

Our friends Eve and Riesa, who own Astrea Caviar wanted to do a dinner with Erick and I so we enlisted Jeffrey Merrihue and his chef Barbara Pollastrini to make a custom caviar menu at Heroic Wine Bar.

They took over the old Real Food Daily / Erven space on Santa Monica Blvd.

This is an unusual space, divided into two halves, each of which has a separate loft. The build out is attractive though.

Here’s the main side loft.

Here’s Jeffrey, who like me at Ramen Roll is very hands on operationally.

Hand painted Zodiac ceiling.

The back space is much more dinner-like. But we were upstairs above this in the very dimly lit (but large) private room.

Our special menu.

Erick brought this “rare” Piper and it comes in a special case. Champagne houses love their gimmicks.

1988 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare. JG 94. I love the 1988 vintage of Rare, which is a very, very fine example of this underrated, but excellent year in Champagne. The wine is now fully mature, but still bright and zesty, as it delivers a fine aromatic constellation of pear, peach, a nice dollop of honeycomb, toasted almonds, plenty of smokiness, brioche and plenty of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off lovely mid-palate depth, with frothy mousse, fine focus and soil signature, excellent focus and grip and a very long, utterly classic and beautifully balanced finish. A superb vintage of Rare with years and years still ahead of it. (Drink between 2014-2030)

From my cellar to match: 1988 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 97. I am blown away by the 1988 Comtes de Champagne. Still incredibly fresh, the 1988 Comtes flows with intense mineral notes that frame a vibrant core of Chardonnay fruit. The color, aromatics and flavors are all remarkably youthful, while the crystalline purity of the finish suggests the 1988 will drink well for another two decades, if not longer. Readers who enjoy mature Champagne will need to be patient. Still, I see no reason to deny gratification; this is a rock star wine! (Drink between 2013-2030)

Just some of the caviar that Astrea brought for the dinner.

This one, a new “breed” was just for munching on.

Here it is open.

Amuse of NONNA’S GNUDI. Ricotta & spinach, sage infused housemade brown butter, fluffy Parmigiano Reggiano. This is basically a ball of soft spinach and cheese, topped with cheese, and soaked in perfect butter sauce. It’s richly cheesy — and buttery — very rich actually. Quite yummy. But you gotta like butter and cheese at its best!

Strange Bedfellows. Live oyster with Live Santa Barbara Uni and caviar. A delicious paring of raw — caviar, oyster, and uni — with the champagne.

Mad Hatter. Crispy fried egg yolk topped with caviar and house made creme fraiche. The fried egg was delicious, but tasted strongly of both “fry” and egg yolk — big surprise — so it wasn’t quite as good a caviar showcase (although it was great).

Night and Day. Squid ink spaghetti with live Santa Barbara Stone Crab and caviar. This was a “too die for” pasta. Fabulous by itself and even better with all that caviar and even better with old champagne.

From my cellar: 2011 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Vireuils Domaine et Selection. 94 points. Wow, even the “negotiant” Coche doesn’t disappoint. The intensity of this wine was unreal. Blazing. Struck like lightening both deep into the palate and broadly across at the same time. Just unreal that this is a village wine.

Erick brought: 2005 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 93. This continues to show somewhat oddly because while it now appears to be much more backward than it did when I originally tasted it for review in 2007, there still isn’t the elegance or refinement that I’m used to seeing chez Ramonet with this wine. Ripe and airy white flower and citrus blossom aromas offer excellent complexity if less elegance than I’m used to seeing are followed by still tight full-bodied flavors that possess impressive volume and concentration, all wrapped in a nicely long finish that displays less depth than promised by the nose. One change that is evident though is that if this is going to come together, it will take longer than I initially imagined and thus I have extended my initial drinking window by several years. (Drink starting 2015)

Red Planet. Poached live Santa Barbara lobster with champagne and caviar and beurre blanc. Another great dish. Perfectly cooked Pacific lobster is always great with beurre blanc — then add the caviar!

Secret Garden. It’s a (healthy) secret. Zucchini with vegetables, cured egg, and crab. This was a fine dish, but not nearly as good as the other (maybe because it wasn’t nearly as rich).

Castaway. Marinated Japanese A5 Wagyu tartare with live uni, thin scallop and caviar. Again — didn’t suck. Haha. Great, although not quite as good a pairing as the all seafood dishes.

Reisa brought: 1999 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. JG 90+. The 1999 Chambolle villages is deep, lush and powerful, with a style not dissimilar from a hypothetical blend of the 1990 and the 1995. The bouquet is quite primary, delivering notes of black cherries, herb tones, a bit of smoke, minerals, chocolate and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is quite full-bodied (the biggest Chambolle since the 1990), with lovely freshness and shape, plenty of tannin buried in the wine’s formidable fruit, and fine length on the complex finish. Like so many Roumier village Chambolles, it deserves, nay demands, cellaring time. (Drink between 2009-2020)

Adding an item “from the regular menu”: PASTA CARBONARA. Mezzemaniche, house made guanciale, pecorino Romano. Chef Barbara shows off her Roman chops with this scrumptious carbonara. The Mezzemaniche also has a really nice bite, and the pork cheeks the perfect crunch and porcine flavor. Very roman and again maybe the best Carbonara I’ve had in a long time. It maybe could have been a touch creamier — as this is an pork and cheese forward prep, but the guanciale alone is worth the price of admission.

Bacon & Eggs. Pork belly confit and caviar and truffle. Inspired by the Republique dish this wasn’t quite as good — but was still really great — and opulent.

Again from the regular menu: TOURNEDOS ROSSINI. Central Valley Rib cap, chicken liver parfait, King Oyster mushroom, Italian summer truffles. This was rich, but boy was it good! How can you go wrong with those ingredients?

Next we sat around drinking — for a while!

Erick brought: 1973 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JG 93. The 1973 Dom Pérignon is at a beautiful point in its evolution and is a great pleasure to drink. The deep and mature nose offers up a complex mélange of rye seed, oranges, fresh figs, honeycomb, a gentle touch of walnut, a beautiful base of soil that is both chalky and shows some signs of clay and a very gentle hint of DP’s signature herbal streak. On the palate the wine is fullish, very deep and utterly seamless, with impeccable balance, lovely focus and complexity, very gentle bubbles that frame the wine these days, rather than offer up youthful effervescence and a very long, refined and vibrant finish. I would opt for drinking the ’73 Dom Pérignon up over the next decade in regular-sized formats, while it remains at its apogee of peak drinkability, as there is not anything left in reserve at age thirty-five. Of course magnums (which should be absolutely brilliant right now) will cruise along significantly longer. A lovely bottle. (Drink between 2008-2018)

From my cellar: 2006 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut Rosé. VM 98. One of the highlights in this tasting, the 2006 Cristal Rosé is simply stunning. A vertical, towering wine, the 2006 Cristal Rosé is a thrill a minute, with a compelling interplay of aromatics and exquisitely layered fruit, all supported by a real feeling of phenolic intensity. While the 2007 is seductive, the 2006 is virile and imposing, with the statuesque lift of a Giacometti sculpture. All the elements meld together in a complete, alluring Champagne that will continue to drink beautifully for many decades. In 2006, the Pinot Noir was already being farmed biodynamically, while the Chardonnay was still under conversion. (Drink between 2016-2041)

Tightrope (dessert). Puff pastry with chocolate mousse and caviar. I’m not sure the caviar added here (hence the tightrope) but it was a nice dessert.

I went nuts here and brought not one, not two, not three, but four gelato flavors:

Mint Meringue Strawberry Sorbetto — An intense dairy-free base made from Avignon Strawberries and layered with house-made Spearmint Meringue — created 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 #strawberry #sorbetto #mint #Meringue

True Tiramisu Gelato — after long hiatus, one of my best flavors remerges for a holiday party — This is a genuine tiramisu in gelato form, with a Marsala Egg Yolk Zabaione, fresh Mascarpone Cheese, and real Espresso. Then it’s layered with Valrhona Cocoa and Lady Finger’s soaked in house-made Espresso Rum Syrup — 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 #Tiramisu #Espresso #coffee #chocolate #marsala #Zabaione #Eggyolk #Rum #Mascarpone

Root Beer Float Gelato — Sarsaparilla flavored gelato base with house-made vanilla cream cheese layers — 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 #RootBeer #RootBeerFlaot #Sarsaparilla #vanilla #creamcheese

Toasted Almond Truffle Gelato — My new egg yolk based nut formulation with Toasted Sicilian Noto Romano Almond makes a sublime base stacked with layers of house-made Valrhona Almond Amaretti Ganache — 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 #Valrhona #almond #amaretti #cookie #ganache #ChocolateTruffle

The wine lineup.

Left to right, Reisa, Eve, and Erick.

This is actually some really serious Italian and in a style that is very unusual for LA. Ingredients are all either top flight Italian or really good fresh local California. It’s an interesting hybrid, but Chef Barbara’s flavors are great and really taste very Italian Italian (as opposed to Italian American) in flavor.

She’s quite a creative and flexible chef too and when tasked to make this special caviar menu came up with a bevy of really interesting and fabulous dishes.

Plus the wine, food, caviar, company, and gelato were all spectacular.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more Foodie Club dining, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Astrea Caviar, Barbara Pollastrini, BYOG, Caviar, Champagne, Foodie Club, Gelato, Heroic Deli, Heroic Wine Bar, Italian cuisine, Jeffrey Merrihue, pasta, White Burgundy, Wine, Wine bar

Salty Saturday 2019

Jan24

Salty Saturday is the traditional family bagel and lox brunch we do on the Saturday after ThanksGavin.

For the last couple of years it’s been hosted at my cousin Matt’s house. This year (2019), it’s a touch more subdued than usual due to cooking fatigue.

Prep work in the kitchen.

In his sunny dining room.

Across the way is the kids table.

And a look at the spread.

As usual matt whips up a couple frittatas.

Olives to start.

Gratuitous zoom.

Several kinds of cream-cheese.

Whitefish salad — my salt favorite.

Pickled herring.

Veggies and leftover muhammara.

Onions, I guess, are feeling left out.

And here is my plate — delicious but it did induce ridicule for including 4 full bagel halves!

My mom’s chocolate chip banana bread.

To combat the salt, I also tried a strategy of pounding a cold press coffee, which seemed to work (a bit). Then we got in the car and drove off to New York!

See here for more ThanksGavin posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Bagels, Deli, Lox, salt, Salty Saturday, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2019, Whitefish

Eastern Heat – DJ Kitchen

Jan22

Restaurant: DJ Kitchen

Location: 4040 City Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19131. (215) 586-8888

Date: November 29, 2019

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Surprisingly good

For “Fat Friday” — the official Friday dinner after Thanksgiving, we broke with the tradition of another house meal and headed partially into center Philadelphia to:

DJ Kitchen — a surprisingly authentic Szechuan place.

Typical modern interior of the newer more casual Chinese joints.

Part of our giant 20 person table.

The kid corner.

The auspiciously colored menu.

From my cellar: 2006 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon. AG 94+. The 2006 Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is powerful, intense and also classically austere in its make up. Crushed flowers, mint, red berries and cranberries are all finely sketched. The 2006 finishes with striking mineral-driven precision, and while it doesn’t have the opulence or exuberance of the 2002, it is still a very pretty and appealing Champagne. The Elisabeth Salmon is 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay, with about 8% still Pinot Noir. Dosage is 6 grams per liter. (Drink between 2018-2031)

Scallion pancakes for the kids. Certain adults, even certain adults who are supposed to be avoiding carbs, felt compelled to gobble these as well.

Spicy crispy cucumber. Solid (and garlicky) version of the classic cucumber opening.

Chicken in chili oil. Classic Szechuan appetizer of cold chicken in chili sauce. Not a bad version.

More bubbly.

Cumin fries (again mostly for the kids).

Pan fried pork dumplings. Pretty generic.

Dan Dan Noodle.

Mixed up. Not bad, but lacked the complex nutty flavor I like in great dan dan.

Dumplings in chili oil. These were delicious.

Vegetarian Spring Rolls with sweet sauce.

XLB (Xiao Long Bao). Always great little steamed pockets of delicate dough filled with pork.

From my cellar: 2017 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. 92 points. Orange, pineapple, graphite and earth. Step up in weight here on the palate but has superb acidity that cuts through and drives onward. Great length and detailed layers give this excellent palate presence.

Homemade egg with tomato for the vegetarians. We had too many people with dietary restrictions tonight — always a touch difficult at real Chinese food.

Chinese cabbage with dried pepper. I love this dish. Really nice texture. Somehow makes cabbage delicious.

Mapo Tofu. Pretty good rendition — and one of my favorites.

Kung Pao Shrimp. Okay, but not a fan of the bell peppers (too Chinese American).

Tea Smoked Duck with hoisin and buns. More like Cantonese roast duck.

Dry pepper Chicken. Always a super delicious pile of crunchy fried chicken. This particular one was very spicy. Often it isn’t.

Not bad for 20+ people!

Overall, while not as good as a place like Sichuan Impression, pretty real Szechuan Chinese. About as good as a second rate SGV place — and for a city like Philadelphia that’s excellent. I enjoyed my meal a lot. The kids and vegetarians maybe a bit less so!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese Food, Fat Friday, Philadelphia, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2019

ThanksGavin 2019

Jan20

This year, after a brief California hiatus in 2016, ThanksGavin returned to Philadelphia in 2017 — and continues through 2019 at my cousin Matt and his wife Andrea’s place.

Matt is in the back starting his kitchen prep. Then outside lighting up the big green egg! Buster supervises. But the OG crew, shown here, consisting of my mom and aunt are still on turkey duty! From my cellar: 2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. AG 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. (Drink between 2018-2047) More sparkling. From my cellar: 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 92 points. Opulent but balanced, dignified without slathered oak or exagerrated maloloactic fermentation. Good show. My mom brings out the snacks. Muhumarah. Homemade spicy middle eastern walnut and pepper dip. Crisps. Olives. From my cellar: 2002 Gros Frère et Sœur Grands-Echezeaux. RJ 95. Big, ripe, vanilla, chlorine nose; tasty, elegant fruit, lovely and sexy; long finish 95+ pts. From my cellar: 1999 Maison Roche de Bellene Latricières-Chambertin Collection Bellenum. 91 points. Sleek and full-bodied with dark fruits and good balancing acidity. Very minerally flavor profile with a smooth texture and a long, modestly complex finish. From my cellar: 2004 Château Palmer. AG 92. Deep red. Rich aromas of plum, redcurrant, chocolate and smoke. Sweet, lush and smooth, with a wonderfully fine-grained texture for the year. Highly expressive flavors of currant, cedar, chocolate and tobacco. The wine’s subtle sweetness, suave tannins and sneaky persistence convey an impression of very regular ripeness. More red. The savory spread. Turkey #1. BBQed in the Big Green Egg. And Turkey #2 was Done in the webber over charcoal. Turkey! Stuffing. Stuffing baked into a casserole. Gravy. Shallots. Simple Arugula salad. Brussels with walnuts. My mom’s cranberry chutney with a bit of citrus and cayenne — probably my favorite. Raw cranberry salsa — my least favorite but some love it. Cranberry jelly. Doubling down on the red are the roasted beets. Sweet potatoes. Bread. My official plate for 2019! From my cellar: 1965 Taylor (Fladgate) Very Old Single Harvest Port Limited Edition. 96 points. Brown and nutty in color, awesome! The dessert spread. Tower of sweets including the every popular Jagielky candy’s. Apple pie. Grandmom’s (recipe) brownies and blondies. Butternut squash pie (tastes just like pumpkin). My mom’s famous pecan pie, made totally from scratch. Cookies. Whipped cream I “whipped up.” And some super decadent butterscotch sauce I also whipped up — given that I’m not the master of anything that belongs with gelato. Here is my pancreas busting plate. Overall, the best ThanksGavin food yet, even beating out the awesome 2017 and 2018! It usually is, as the standards keep going up and up! To see a list of all ThanksGavin meals over the here, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: holiday, Philadelphia, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2019, turkey, Wine

ThanksGavin 2019 – Keep

Jan17

Restaurant: Keep

Location: 417 York Rd, Jenkintown, PA 19046. (215) 277-7947

Date: November 27, 2019

Cuisine: New American

Rating: solid New American

The first official event of ThanksGavin 2019 is Wed night, and this year my cousin (the reigning TG Poobah) chose:

Keep, a casual bistro-style New American in Jenkintown PA.

Cute little interior.

And our gang table of 20 or so.

Our special menu for the night.

From my cellar: NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. RJ 92. Light yellow color with abundant, steady, tiny bubbles; autolytic, almond cream nose; tasty, autolytic, almond cream, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 92+ points

Pickles. Really zesty and delicious.

Olives. Awesome olives actually, with great EVOO and a bit of zest. I ate about 2 containers of these.

From my cellar: 2014 Jean-Claude Ramonet Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly. BH 90. A soft trace of wood frames pretty and cool but ripe yeast, apple and pear scents that slide gracefully into the nicely detail, rich and relatively generously proportioned middle weight flavors that possess a lovely salinity that surfaces on the focused and persistent finale where a touch of bitter lemon appears. This is already sufficiently forward that it could be enjoyed now but I would be inclined to allow it at least 2 to 3 years of cellar time and 5 will probably prove to be ideal. (Drink starting 2019)

Brussels Sprouts with hummus and Parmesan.

Cassoulet. Gusty!

Lentil Fritters. Third appetizer filled with gas inducing carbohydrates!

From my cellar: 1999 Dominique Laurent Mazis-Chambertin. RJ 93+. Medium red violet color; smoky, earthy, mushroom, barbecue sauce nose; lovely, complex, sous bois, shitake mushroom, mineral, raspberry, baked cherry palate; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.

Pelmeni. Shrimp dumpling, dill beurre blanc, creme fraiche, vmochanka. Sweet, and very Russian tasting.

Chickpea Tofu. Roasted eggplant, broccoli rabe, caponata, crispy garlic.

Salmon. Jail island Salmon, potato tart, bacon-celery escabeche, horseradish cream.

Big red for those who can’t handle the good stuff.

The burger. Beef patty, caramelized onions, egg yolk jam, fried fingerlings.

Shortrib Steak. 6oz shortrib steak, potato soubise, pearl onion, charred red onion, beef salt, jus.

More big red for the white haters.

Pastel Melodia. Orange scented cake, poached pear, membrillo, chantilly.

Chocolate tart, dark chocolate, cherry, creme fraiche.

Lemon sorbet.

Overall, not a bad dinner at all — particularly given our party size. They are very nice and have a good — if not particularly groundbreaking — kitchen.

For more Philly dining reviews click here.

More ThanksGavin events here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Keep, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2019, Wine

White Elephant is Pretty White

Jan15

Restaurant: White Elephant

Location: 759 Huntingdon Pike, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006. (215) 663-1495

Date: November 26, 2019

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Fine, but “Americanized” Thai

This year for ThanksGavin 2019 we arrived a day early in Philadelphia and so went out locally with my parents and Aunt & Uncle to:

White Elephant, a nearby strip mall Thai.

They have nicely decorated the fairly boring space. No Thai (language) on the menu!

Some kind of lobster roll.

Crispy Roll. Filled with pork, bean thread, and julienne vegetables, then fried until crispy golden brown, and served with sweet and sour sauce.

Coconut Soup. Seafood combination in coconut milk , with galanga, lime juice, mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery and red bell peppers.

Mushroom Soup. Thai style fresh mushroom soup with herb and Marsala wine.

Chicken tenders and fries for the boy.

Thai Eggplant. Thai sweet eggplant sautéed until brown and stir fried with chicken, onion, carrot, broccoli, red bell pepper, basil and aromatic herbs.

Seafood Lover. Sautéed seafood medley of salmon, calamari, shrimp, scallop, and green shell mussels, with, Thai basil, onion, broccoli, carrot and red bell pepper in delicious and spicy sauce.

Sweet Surrender. Fillet of salmon crusted with pecan and baked to perfection, served with mellow apricot brandy sauce.

Chicken Panang Curry. Chicken cooked in a traditional delicious Panang curry sauce with coconut milk, broccoli, red bell pepper and green beans….Chicken/Beef.

Chu Chee Duck. Crispy roasted semi-boneless duck, served in a special red curry sauce flavored with pineapple.

Overall, this was tasty because Thai is always tasty — but it was pretty “whitebread” as you would expect from a Philly suburb strip mall. No Thai on the menu, spice and flavors toned down a bit.

For more Philly dining reviews click here.

More ThanksGavin events here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, Philadelphia, Thai cuisine, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018

Dirty Dozen at Capital Seafood

Jan13

Restaurant: Capital Seafood Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: November 25, 2019

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Good for this far west

For the second time in a single weekend, I return to the only really good Cantonese west of the SGV.

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.

This event is the Dirty Dozen white, our blind tasting sub group of the Hedonists. Theme is Champagne tonight. I worked with the manager King to do this custom menu that has only one repeat dish from the Sauvages lunch a few days before.

The space looks pretty Chinese, even in Beverly Hills.

Coves. Gotta have the coves!

We are back in the private room — same as 3 days before, and same as years ago when this place was Newport Seafood.

This time I photographed the giant nighttime menu.

Wines before the meal:

1982 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 97. Both 1982 Champagnes are utterly spellbinding. It is amazing to taste these wines at 30 years of age and see that their signatures are all very much intact. Of course, the magnum format is so ideal for Champagne. The 1982 Krug Vintage is warm, toasty and totally expressive, with gorgeous exotic orange peel and white truffle overtones. This is one of my very favorite Krug vintages. Although fully mature, the 1982 is going to continue to develop at a glacial pace. The 1982 Dom Pérignon is just a little more focused and vibrant in style. Here it is the wine’s salivating minerality that really sings. It, too, is quite youthful and vibrant for its age.

1997 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex. Peter 91. Caramel, roasted nuts, nectarine pit, sweet richness with elevated acidity, juicy and mouthwatering, complex and long. Really liked the age on this which turned slightly rich, ripe and tangy on the palate. Capital Seafood for DD.

2014 Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Derrière Chez Edouard Vieilles Vignes. BH 89-91. An expressive and slightly more elegant nose offering up notes of red currant, wild flowers and spiced tea, leads to detailed, stony and energetic middle weight flavors that possess a relatively refined mouth feel before terminating in a moderately austere but well-balanced finish. This beautifully delineated effort will need at least 3 to 5 years of bottle age first. (Drink starting 2021)

Edamame.

Peanuts.

2002 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. VM 94. The 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart comes across as rich, powerful and opulent. This latest release of the 2002 was disgorged in July 2015 and finished with a Chardonnay-based liqueur whereas the previous release, disgorged in May 2014, was finished with a Pinot Noir-based liqueur. This is a distinctly vinous, almost shockingly raw, visceral Champagne from Billecart-Salmon. There is no shortage of volume or intensity, that is for sure. Stylistically, this year’s release inhabits a whole other world relative to last year’s release. Dosage is 4 grams per liter. (Drink between 2018-2042)

2008 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année. VM 97. Bollinger’s 2008 Grande Année is rich, ample and full-bodied, with all of the pedigree of the vintage on display. Dried pear, dried flowers, chamomile, red plum and mint develop as the 2008 shows the breadth and creaminess that are such signatures of the Bollinger house style. A whole range of brighter, more floral and chalky notes appear later, adding translucence and energy. The 2008 is 71% Pinot Noir and 29% Chardonnay taken across 18 crus, and it is the Pinot that very much informs the wine in both flavor and texture. More importantly, the 2008 is one of the best Grande Années I can remember tasting. Bollinger fans won’t want to miss it. Disgorged November 2018. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. (Drink between 2020-2048)

2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. 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. (Drink between 2018-2047)

Deluxe Combination Cold Appetizer Platter: Roasted Pork Belly, Capital BBQ Pork, Jellyfish.

Jellyfish. Nice and tangy.

Roasted Pork Belly. Basically Macau style.

Capital BBQ Pork. Similar, but a bit less fatty.

Fish Maw Crabmeat Soup. Mild and delicious, but packed with MSG.

2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 97. Another stellar wine, the 2004 Dom Pérignon is just starting to show the first signs of aromatic development, as well as a bit of added weight it did not have as a young wine. The 2004 remains a bright, mid-weight DP built on persistence and length more than overt volume. I have always had a soft spot for the 2004. This tasting does nothing to dampen that enthusiasm. (Drink between 2019-2039)

2006 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 96. Powerful, dense and tightly wound, the 2006 Dom Pérignon is fabulous today. To be sure, the 2006 is a broad, virile Champagne, but I find it compelling because of its phenolic depth and overall intensity. Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy adds that August was quite cold and wet, and that ripening only happened at the very end of the growing season. Although numbers alone can never explain a wine, I find it interesting that the 2006 has more phenolics than the 2003. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2006 is easily the most reticent Dom Pérignon in the years spanning 2002 and 2009. I am confident the 2006 will have its day, but in its youth, it is not especially charming or easy to drink. (Drink between 2026-2056)

From my cellar: 2006 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. VM 96. The bouquet is drop-dead gorgeous, lively and broad, and beautifully defined as always, offering scents of citrus fruit, toasted walnuts and a hint of brioche. The exquisitely balanced palate displays spine-tingling mineralité and real tension and grace. The long, quite deep finish makes me wonder whether this 2006 will meliorate with further bottle age. Should I care, when it is so delicious now? Just superb. (Drink between 2019-2032)

Lobster in Causeway Bay Style. Aka with TONS of great crunchy garlic.

Stuffed Bean Curd with Shrimp Paste. Interesting.

2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. VM 98+. The 2008 Cristal is a wine that takes over all the senses and never lets up. The brilliance and cut of the Chardonnay finds an extra kick of resonance from the Pinot Noir to carry the mid palate and finish in this stunningly beautiful, chiseled Champagne. Lemon oil, almond, flowers, dried herbs and Mirabelle plum are some of the many aromas and flavors that develop as the 2008 shows off its pedigree. The 2008 is a regal, towering Champagne from Roederer. That’s all there is to it. (Drink between 2023-2058)

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 160eme. JG 94. The Krug Grand Cuvée “160ème Édition” is from the base year of 2004 and is now starting to really drink well today. It was disgorged in the spring of 2014 and the oldest reserve wines used in this iteration being chardonnays from the villages of Avize and Oger dating back to the 1990 vintage. The final cépages ending up forty-four percent pinot noir, thirty-three percent chardonnay and twenty-three percent pinot meunier. I had not tasted this bottling in a year and it was every bit as beautiful at the estate as I remember it when it was paired with the 2004 vintage during its inaugural showing in New York last autumn. The wine offers up a classic and blossoming bouquet of apple, pear, almond, fresh-baked bread, a superb base of soil tones, a touch of upper register smokiness and an exotic topnote of fleur de sel. On the palate the wine is pure, focused and refined, with a full-bodied format, lovely focus and grip, elegant mousse, a lovely core and a long, vibrant and seamless finish. I love this version of Grande Cuvée and would love to have a case waiting in the cellar to start drinking ten years from now, as that is when it is really going to start firing on all cylinders! (Drink between 2018-2050)

2004 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 97+. Krug’s 2004 Vintage is absolutely mesmerizing. Layers of bright, chiseled fruit open up effortlessly as the wine fleshes out with time in the glass. Persistent and beautifully focused, with a translucent sense of energy, the 2004 captures all the best qualities of the year. Moreover, the 2004 is clearly superior to the consistently underwhelming 2002 and the best Krug Vintage since 1996. Readers who can find it should not hesitate, as it is a magical bottle. (Drink between 2017-2044)

Peking Duck.

Served with buns in the Cantonese style. Meat was good. Not amazing, but good. I wish there were pancakes.

Here is a bun ready to eat.

The “meat” or “bones” from the duck. Hard to eat this particular version.

Sautéed Sea-cucumber with Greens.

A zoom in. Sea cucumber is mixed in with some mushrooms and bok choy. I liked this dish — I generally like sea-cucumber — but a couple white boys complained slightly.

2002 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 97. There is a distinctly phenolic character to the secondary-tinged yet super-fresh nose reflects notes of bread, yeast, pear, baked apple, spice and a hint of citrus. The bold and full-bodied flavors possess superb complexity while being underpinned by a notably fine but dense mousse, all wrapped in a gorgeously persistent finish. This is a seriously impressive effort and one of the best of the Krug Brut vintage series released in many years. Note that while this should continue to age effortlessly, it could certainly be enjoyed now. (Drink starting 2017)

some other fool didn’t declare and just brought the same wine I did: 2006 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. VM 96. The bouquet is drop-dead gorgeous, lively and broad, and beautifully defined as always, offering scents of citrus fruit, toasted walnuts and a hint of brioche. The exquisitely balanced palate displays spine-tingling mineralité and real tension and grace. The long, quite deep finish makes me wonder whether this 2006 will meliorate with further bottle age. Should I care, when it is so delicious now? Just superb. (Drink between 2019-2032)

1995 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 94. The 1995 Krug is gorgeous. I chose it because one of my guests loves Krug and I thought the 1995 would have the right amount of complexity to pair beautifully with the smokiness in Saison’s caviar. Although the 1995 Krug is not a truly epic wine, it is in a sweet spot right now. (Drink between 2018-2023)

The one repeat from the Sauvages lunch: Filet of cod, Virginia Ham with Chinese vegetables (Double Pleasure Rock Cod). This is an unusual dish, but in looks and ingredients. Having the cod, mushrooms, vegetables, and Smithfield ham is really… interesting. The ham dominates with its strong salty flavor.

Scallop with Snow Pea Leaf. Instead of just getting the plain snow pea leaf with garlic, this version was covered in scallops — two for one!

Random cab. Not part of the blind tasting. Some people wanted some reds.

1996 Domaine du Colombier Hermitage. 87 points. Fading, delicate, not much primary fruit, a little tannin left.

Crispy Sesame Chicken. Very nice mild chicken.

Lamb with scallions. I liked this. Some cumin flavor.

Prime Ribs in House Special Sauce. This is an odd “modern” Chinese dish. Not my favorite. Chinese don’t know how to cook “steak”.

Baked Seafood Fried Rice with Coconut Curry Sauce.

Never had this one before — King suggested it — a curry fried rice with seafood drowned in curry sauce and then baked crispy. Delicious — if a touch heavy after a long meal.

Fruit (aka Chinese dessert).

Strawberries and Cream Gelato — A dairy strawberry base with Avignon Strawberries plus Strawberry Jam Ripples and Strawberry Wafer Cookies — 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 #strawberry #cream #jam #wafer #cookies

The wine lineup.

Results.

And the gang.

Overall, Capital Seafood is quite solid SGV-style Cantonese banquet (as well as dimsum). I’d say that the food quality is about on par with middle of the road SGV Cantonese. Price is higher, but still not bad. I worked with the manager, King to create this very interesting menu and we had a variety of nice wines. Service is excellent, particularly with a special party like this. We did all the wine service, and there wasn’t really enough space for more than 3 glasses (too few) but they did this interesting hybrid food service where they brought out the large dishes, then individually plated about 2/3 of the dish and served it to each person, but leaving enough for repeats for us gluttons. This worked out quite well and was less chaotic and much neater than the lazy-susan craziness across so many wine glasses.

Great night. They did “bait and switch” up the price of the menu at the end of the evening, but it was still fairly cheap considering all the great stuff we had.

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

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beverly Hills, BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Capital Seafood, Champagne, Chinese Food, Dirty Dozen, Gelato, hedonists, Wine

Capital Sauvages

Jan10

Restaurant: Capital Seafood Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: November 22, 2019

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Good for this far west

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. Today I visit with the Sauvages Friday lunch group for another one of our epic lunches — guaranteed to finish off your week in style — and a nap. This lunch was coordinated by Tony Lau and John Gordon.

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.

The space looks pretty Chinese, even in Beverly Hills.

Coves. Gotta have the coves!

Our special menu for today.

We were in the private room.

Some intro champ.

Peanuts on the table.

And addictive candied walnuts.

Plus XO sauce — fermented spicy umami.

From my cellar: 2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. 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.

2007 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. VM 97+. The 2007 Dom Ruinart is the first vintage made entirely by Chef de Caves Frédéric Panaïotis, which shows just how long the production cycle is in Champagne. A striking, tightly-coiled wine, the 2007 Dom Ruinart will leave readers week at the knees. In this vintage, Panaïotis took Dom Ruinart, which has traditionally relied on a relatively high percentage of Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims and tilted the balance to 75% Côtes des Blancs and 25% Montagne de Reims fruit. As a result, the 2007 is much more chiseled and steely than is the norm. The citrus, slate, crushed rock, white pepper, mint and floral notes really sizzle in this powerful, dramatically rich Champagne, with bright saline notes that add freshness and vivacity to the striking finish. The 2007 is a stunning Champagne by any measure. Although it is very early, the 2007 has the potential to go down as one of the great Dom Ruinarts. It is every bit that special. Dosage is under 5 grams per liter, a pretty striking change from the 2006, which was closer to 10. Readers who can grab the 2007 won’t want to miss it.

Bonus goose web and bok choy. Whole steamed and sauced goose foot!

2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 98. The 2008 Dom Pérignon is once again stunning. More than anything else, I am surprised by how well the 2008 drinks given all the tension and energy it holds. Then again, that is precisely what makes 2008 such a unique vintage – namely that the best wines are so chiseled and yet not at all austere. Lemon peel, almond, mint, smoke and crushed rocks are all finely sculpted, but it is the wine’s textural feel, drive and persistence that elevate it into the realm of the sublime. The 2008 will be even better with time in the cellar, but it is absolutely phenomenal even today, in the early going. Three recent bottles have all been nothing short of magnificent.

2004 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses. VM 96. Broad, ample and pure, the 2004 Clos des Goisses seems to be going through a closed period. The wine’s texture an tension are evident, but all of the wine’s energy is focused inward. The 2004 is without question a brilliant, striking Champagne, but it needs time in bottle. Disgorged December 2013.

Bonus seafood stuffed spring rolls.

2011 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile. VM 92+. Pale straw-green. Minty green apple, jasmine and minerals on the enticing nose. Bright flavors of green apple and ripe citrus fruits are joined by stone fruits and minerals on the long finish. Has enough acidity to maintain clarity and cut. According to Pierre Trimbach, this is on a par with other great recent vintages for this bottling.

2015 Weingut Schnaitmann Uhlbacher Götzenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs. 92 points. Apple, peach, pear, lemon zest with a hint of petrol. Long dry finish. Well balanced. This is an excellent German Riesling.

2014 Schoffit Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St.-Théobald. VM 92. Bright golden yellow. Musky, chalky aromas of ripe peach, flint, orange oil and lychee. Then more crushed rocks and orange oil nuances than peachy fruit on the dense palate. Finishes lively with well-integrated acidity and noteworthy length. Leaves a lingering impression of steeliness, heightened by the only 7g/L residual sugar and razor-sharp 8.1 g/L total acidity; but strikes me as rounder and more tactile than the Sommerberg, most likely thanks to higher pH (3.4 compared to the Sommerberg’s 3.1). At only 12.1 percent alcohol, this is very easy to drink already.

Stir fried conch with XO sauce. Tony loves conch. It did have a nice crunchy/chewy quality.

Steamed lobster with Fresh Garlic. Classic simple steamed lobster with garlic.

Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Loibenberg (didn’t catch the vintage in my photo).

From my cellar: 2012 Weingut Knoll Grüner Veltliner Reserve Loibenberg. 93 points. Rich bouquet combines candied pineapple, dried apricot, flinty minerals and white pepper. The fleshy, unctuous palate is marked by acacia honey, herbs and smoke plus a touch of botrytis. Complex and certainly voluptuous at 14.5% alcohol, this Grüner Veltliner combines a supple sweetness –which is why it is labeled as a Reserve and not a Smaragd–and a salty tang on the finish. Excellent potential.

2013 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner 1ÖTW Reserve Ried Renner. VM 95. From Renner’s geologically complex Urgestein mix characteristically emerges a Grüner Veltliner of comparable complexity that’s indescribable without resorting to mineral vocabulary, and that is certainly true of this 2013. But there is so much more going on that it nearly makes me dizzy. A heady nose of lilac and iris, radish and raw ginger, along with hints of citrus and roasted root vegetables, sets the tone for what follows, an explosively concentrated interaction of grippingly piquant, pungent, incisive and brightly juicy elements. Apple and lime, caramelized parsnip and golden beet are mingled with smoky nut oils and laced with ginger, radish, iris root and white pepper. The reverberating finish adds to a kaleidoscopic whirl of the aforementioned elements an otherwise ineffable ore-like depth and saliva-inducing salinity. I was holding my breath that what I first tasted would be captured in bottle with complete success, and that’s happened.

Filet of cod, Virginia Ham with Chinese vegetables. This is an unusual dish, but in looks and ingredients. Having the cod, mushrooms, vegetables, and Smithfield ham is really… interesting. The ham dominates with its strong salty flavor.

Lettuce cup with shrimp, Chinese sausage, jicama and pine nuts. Very tasty for this common dish. Nice presentation.

2001 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir East Block. BH 89. Quite deep and ripe on the nose with a distinct vegetal component and in contrast to some wines in this flight, this is very clean and pure. The palate reveals round, supple and sweet flavors that are relatively forward and deftly oaked, indeed the wood is almost invisible. There is good density and a succulent sweetness to the finish where the structure is buffered by good sap. I quite liked this.

2007 Bergström Pinot Noir Durant Vineyard. VM 90. Deep red. An exotically perfumed bouquet offers scents of red berries, cinnamon, clove and smoky minerals. Lithe, finely etched red berry flavors gain depth and power with air, taking a turn to bitter cherry. The spicy element expands on the taut, nervy finish. Pretty sexy now, but has the vibrancy and balance to reward patience.

2005 Radio-Coteau Pinot Noir La Neblina. VM 90. Medium red. Bright, spicy aromas of cherry and minerals, with a deeper note of cherry pit. Picks up a cocoa powder note on the palate and repeats the fresh cherry note. The spice notes return on the sweet, persistent finish, which features a dusting of fine tannins. This gained in brightness with air, suggesting that it will hold well in a cool cellar.

Crispy whole suckling pig. Excellent pig, nice crispy skin.

Kistler Pinot Noir Cuvée Catherine (can’t read vintage again).

2009 Marcassin Pinot Noir Blue-Slide Ridge Vineyard. 94 points. Great nose. Lots of wild black cherry there. But there is a bit of alcohol. Palate similar. A “big” Pinot. Loads of fruit. But again, some heat on the finish diminishes this for me.

Stir fried filet mignon with macadamia nuts. I’m not really a huge fan of these “French style” beef dishes, but this was unique with the macadamia nuts — and quite delicious.

2007 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de la Reine des Bois. VM 93-96. Inky ruby. The nose offers a highly complex, wild array of dark berry and floral scents, along with anise, herbs and smoky minerals. Utterly stains the palate with deep black and blue fruit flavors complemented by strong notes of lavender pastille and tobacco. Tannins come up with air but the fruit seems to suck them up. Finishes with a strong wallop of luscious blueberry and mocha and outstanding persistence. This looks to be one of the best wines of this superb vintage.

2000 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. 96 points.

2000 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape. VM 91+. Very good deep red-ruby. Roasted plum and black fruit aromas, with notes of violet, dark chocolate, smoke and game. Fat, lush and superripe; shows more of a roasted character than the 2001, but also boasts solid acidity. A huge, full-blown wine with exotic notes of roasted herbs. Finishes with big, dusty tannins and excellent length.

Salt and pepper stuffed eggplant. Nice and garlicky!

Capital house stir fried special. This was a unique “crispy” stir fried veggie dish. Very interesting texture.

Braised abalone mushroom with snow pea sprouts. This classic vegetable dish is covered in the meaty abalone mushrooms.

Crispy pan fried egg noodles with chicken. I always love variants of this dish with its mix of saucy and crispy.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Vendange Tardive. 98 points. Absolutely glorious. A monumental bottle. Deep amber color. The nose is a kaleidoscope of goodness: honey, caramel, apricot. Viscous, layered, long. Perfect acidity on the back end. Truly exceptional.

Macau egg tarts.

Strawberries and Cream Gelato — A dairy strawberry base with Avignon Strawberries plus Strawberry Jam Ripples and Strawberry Wafer Cookies — 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 #strawberry #cream #jam #wafer #cookies

House favorite and my son’s birthday pick: Triple Chocolate Cloud – As usual the base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Ganache and the rotating ingredient is crushed 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 #Valrhona #chocolate #creamcheese #ganache #icing #Oreos

Strange bonus: 2014 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon. 91 points. Solid napa cab without being exciting in anyway. On the nose a nice bouquet of pencil shavings, a hint of earth of red fruits. Sinewy chewy mouthfeel, with Cassis, deeper red fruits in the entry, shortish finish dominated with oak tannins was a bit of a disappointment. Overall, it felt like there was decent material here but a general feel of safety first wine making is a bit of a let down.

Fruit.

Overall, Capital Seafood is quite solid SGV-style Cantonese banquet (as well as dimsum). I’d say that the food quality is about on par with middle of the road SGV Cantonese. Price is higher, but still not bad. Tony and John worked with the manager, King to create this very interesting menu and we had a variety of nice wines. Service is excellent, particularly with a special party like this. We did all the wine service, and there wasn’t really enough space for more than 3 glasses (too few) but they did this interesting hybrid food service where they brought out the large dishes, then individually plated about 2/3 of the dish and served it to each person, but leaving enough for repeats for us gluttons. This worked out quite well and was less chaotic and much neater than the lazy-susan craziness across so many wine glasses.

As always, Sauvages is great fun.

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