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Blow Torched Mackerel
Author Archive for agavin – Page 27
Restaurant: Brodard Chateau
Location: 9100 Trask Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92844. (714) 899-8273
Date: July 20, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Great
During my parent’s first post Covid (not that it’s over yet writing late in 2021) visit we returned again for the Nth time to Garden Grove for more awesome Vietnamese food.
First stop was Brodard Chateau, which is the “fancy” cousin of Brodard.
They still have the Vietnamese/French pastries.
And an 80s stair.
“Interesting” decor.
Beef salad.
Duck rolls.
Phuket Seafood Noodle Soup. Wait, Phuket is Thai. haha. But it was good.
The “Chateau” didn’t seem very different than regular Brodard, but given that the original is excellent, so was this.
Restaurant: Oc & Lau Restaurant [1, 2, 3]
Location: 9892 Westminster Blvd Unit R, Garden Grove, CA 92844. (714) 583-8100
Date: July 20, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Great
This crawl returned to Oc & Lau 2, which is tucked behind the Garlic & Chives. Oc & Lau has great food, despite their annoying refusal to take any kind of reservation.
Interior of location 2 — much bigger than 1.
And the denser “covid” menu..
Sauces on the table.
Second Raw Beef Salad of the day!
Scallops with Roe.
Roast Quail with Garlic Glaze. We always get this as it’s to die for.
Singapore Chili Crab. Not 100% Singapore in style, but this was still one of the best Chili crabs I’ve had in LA. This is an incredible but very hard to find dish. There was a ton of crabmeat in the sauce — none left in the crab.
French bread to dip in the crab sauce.
The strange free coconut milk, bean etc dessert that O&L always offers.
Food was great as always. Had to hit up the Taiwanese coffee shop next door for some Sea Salt Coffee.
Show: The Wheel of Time (season 1)
Genre: High Fantasy
Platform: Amazon Original
Watched: Season 1 – January 2022
Summary: Captures much of the flavor, but flawed
Everyone here know that I’m a huge fantasy fan. And of course I’ve read the entire Wheel of Time book series. It’s been awhile though, as I started reading somewhere in the mid 90s and then book by book as they came out. It’s an interesting series as I LOVED it for a while, then it hit a slow point, then rebounded, then got really glacial toward the end. Problematically after a while the number of (often unimportant) characters ballooned to almost ludicrous levels. I have some discussion on the blog here of one of the later novels but this review is about the 2021 television adaption.
Said live action adaption is a bit of a mixed bag.
The Good
The casting is generally excellent and the acting very good. Moiraine, Lan, Egwene, Loial, Liandrin, and Mat in particular stand out. The core group is pretty good, although aged up to young adult (in the novel they are perhaps 16). This is a decent choice but leaves one with a slightly different feel. However, the essential traits of most of the characters do shine through.
The Aes Sedai are well handled. The White Tower and its feuding inhabitants are one of my favorite parts of the novels and I feel that the show began to capture this fairly well. It’s not exactly the same, and they certainly aren’t revealed it in the same order — as the books don’t introduce a lot of this until later — but I have no problem with this being moved forward. We also get a solid sense of the Warder Bond and some sense as to the nature of the One Power. Still, we could have had more.
The essential feel of the world is decently, if not perfectly brought to life. This includes its magic, complexity, relatively high population (compared to say Middle Earth), etc.
The look of the world, particularly the landscapes, buildings, and cities is generally excellent and feels big, different, and generally beautiful. Costumes are more of a mixed bag, but generally pretty good.
The Bad
The worst thing about the entire show was the studio’s choice to skimp on the number of episodes. The show-runners said they wanted 10. They got 8. This is a long book, 782 pages to be exact, and they clearly needed the extra two. They barely got through the bare minimum amount of plot needed and badly slashed character development. The core five (Rand, Egwene, Mat, Perrin, and Nynaeve) got particularly shafted. The boys most of all. The actors all did a solid job with their characters but they just didn’t have enough scenes.
Some odd changes clash with the core lore of the world. A big one here is the idea espoused for most of the season that any of the core 5 could be the Dragon Reborn. It just couldn’t be a girl. Makes no sense with the central notion that a major aspect of the Dragon is his exposure to the male half of the source and its madness inducing corruption. This isn’t some minor nuance. And there was no good reason for this change. Egwene and Nynaeve are plenty powerful, interesting, and complex without this silly wrinkle.
The first episode, particularly the first half (pre trolloc) is weak. It just doesn’t do a good job introducing the characters. The insertion (and rapid removal) of Perrin’s “wife” is particularly odd.
Barney Harris’ Mat decided to leave the production for personal reasons 6 out of 8 episodes in. This leads to the abrupt departure of his character and to Perrin taking over his role in Episode 7/8 in a way that is inconsistent with the longterm story. It probably helped screw up the last episode. Clearly covid also played a role here as the last episodes showcase most of the characters weirdly placed into their own scenes and lamely grafted together by the editors.
The final episode, particularly its second half, is flawed and confusing. The major deviations from the books are weird and pointless: Nynaeve’s “resurrection”, Loial’s maybe death, Moiraine maybe stilling, Rand’s totally lame “big fight,” the Perrin/Mat swap out. Only a devoted reader would have even the slightest clue about the who/what/why of Ishamael toward the end. And it’s not even Ishamael in the books. At best, they might assume he is the Dark One himself.
The ability of the show to teach a naive (non book reading) viewer about the very complex world is quite poor. There is a lot going on here, and while the show does elude to many aspects, it is rarely explicit enough. I’m sure that naive viewers will be utterly baffled by many aspects. Part of this was time crunch, but they just needed more scenes with Moiraine (or others) showing the core crew how things worked.
The Weird
I do have to stop for a second and comment as usual on the “woke” multiracial aspect of the casting. It’s very explicit. Most of the actors are non-white. Unusually, even for woke productions, there are a good number of central Asians and Indians. Pretty much a total scramble of our world’s ethnicities. In of itself, I have no problem with this, the inclusion is great, and because WOT is a fantasy there is clearly nothing “inaccurate” about it per se. However, I did find it distracting for a reason that might be peculiar to me and my sense of world building. Families and villages seem to be heterogeneous. That just feels odd to me unless genetics are different in this world. Parents often seem to be different ethnicities than their children. I just couldn’t help but notice this. I think it would have been better to cluster the casting a bit more by town/city or whatever. For example, the Two Rivers is described (both in the show and the books) as having a narrow and ancient gene pool — and you certainly wouldn’t know it from the casting. The Aes Sedai on the other hand, being recruiting from women all over the continent, could be realistically mixed without issue. For what it’s worth, there was also a bit of an Indian slant to some of the production design (architecture in Tar Valon, tinker food, etc) which is unusual. This was interesting (in a good way).
Rand, despite being the protagonist and the sole POV character of the first novel, is given very little screen time, development, or focus until the last episode.
A lot of the “flashbacks” or asides like those of Siuan Sanche, Lews Therin, or Logain feel cheesy and are probably confusing to new viewers.
The visual fx for the One Power are weird. It’s all the same smokey strands. It’s different, but I’m not sure it works.
The incredibly important sense of dread and foreboding that should have been evoked by the Fades, Trollocs, and Forsaken is essentially squandered. Forsaken are barely even mentioned. This problem is mostly a matter of poor direction, vfx, and editing. Partially it’s crappy writing. This was handled MUCH better in the books and should have been even better in televisions vision medium. Lord of the Rings does a great job with the same. The Ring Wraiths are incredibly chilling, radiating evil. Sadly, the same can not be said in WOT. A few terrifying glimpses of the fades before the Trolloc attack (like in the books) would have gone a long way, as would have proper visual and auditory fx.
This 20 year old clip from The Fellowship of the Ring shows a masterful command of horror, and a lot of it is due to subtle details (like the bugs), the camera work, and the soundtrack. The directors and editors of WOT clearly have no knack for horror. Peter Jackson on the other-hand, for all his flaws, comes out of a horror background. WOT isn’t a horror story, but supernatural horror is an important element of “dark lord” fantasy and it’s completely botched in this adaption.
Loial’s Ogier look is just plain lame and weird — and nothing like the books. Hammed Animashaun’s portrayal of the character, however, is spot on.
General alterations and condensing of the timeline even for this fairly linear first novel didn’t bother me much. Yeah they knocked out several major locations like Caemlyn, Whitebridge etc but this was probably necessary given the 782 page -> 8 episode compression.
Overall, I enjoyed the show, particularly after the first episode, and I look forward to the second season, but it could just have been so much better.
Restaurant: Wolvesmouth [1, 2]
Location: Los Angeles
Date: July 18, 2021
Cuisine: Modernist
Rating: Very tasty and great night
It’s been 7 years since I went to a Wolvesmouth dinner. My previous visit was great fun, but it was for a long time a complicated “application based” dinner and I’m kinda lazy about such things. So when some of my friends decided to buy out the night and invited me I jumped at the chance and brought along my entire family, including my parents, wife, and brother.
In these uncertain times, albeit in the relatively optimistic early/mid summer window, this dinner was held in the Chef Craig Thornton’s home.
The dining table is right in front of the open kitchen.
Champagnes at the ready.
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)
Jeridan shows off the Krug.
Our handwritten menu for the night.
NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvee Edition 169eme. VM 94. Krug’s NV Grande Cuvée 169ème Édition is brisk and finely cut, with terrific energy driving the citrus, floral and light tropical notes. Even with all of its energy, the 169 balances the vibrancy of the late-ripening 2013 vintage it is built on, with the depth that the reserve wines added to the blend. The 169 drinks well now but clearly has the potential to age. The 169 is a blend of 146 separate wines back to 2000. Krug ID: 120003. (Drink between 2022-2042)
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)
2006 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 97. The 2006 Krug Vintage is fabulous. Here the richness, breadth and texture of Pinot come through loud and clear in a Champagne that is classic Krug. Red plum, coffee, spice, baked apple tart and lemon confit all flesh out effortlessly in the glass. The ripeness of the year is evident, and yet the vibrancy of the Chardonnay lends so much energy. The 2006 can be enjoyed today, but also has the balance and stuffing to develop well for many years to come. This is a superb showing from the 2006. This is Krug ID: 118014. (Drink between 2021-2041)
Most of the savory dishes tonight have two components, in this case the middle of the bowl and the sandwich on the right.
Tempura Fried Quail. White BBQ, piquante with green tomato and dill. The sauce was amazing, very zingy.
Cheddar biscuit with pimento cheese.
A pescatarian version of the dish had something else fried up besides the quail.
From my cellar: 2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Narvaux. 92 points. Punchy and broad. With most vivid palate among all village-level wine tonight. Hint of Santalum toward the end.
2014 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Puligny-Montrachet Le Trézin. BH 89-91. A discreet, even shy nose offers up attractively fresh and ultra-pure notes of citrus, pear and a hint of acacia blossom. There is excellent delineation to the intense and clean middle weight flavors that possess good verve and plenty of minerality on the solidly persistent if only moderately complex finish.
2010 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard. VM 94. The 2010 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard is a much deeper, vertical wine that fills out all layers of dimension and flavor. Crushed rocks, white flowers and lemon are some of the notes that flow from this powerful, intense Chardonnay. The Alpine is all about tension and energy. I loved it. (Drink between 2013-2017)
Halibut with corn, zucchini, sungold tomatoes, taragon pelmeni.
Ceviche verde. Super tangy!
2012 Sine Qua Non In the Abstract. VM 94. The 2012 White Wine In The Abstract represents a return to a much more opulent style after a few years in which the Sine Qua Non whites were a bit more energetic than is typically the case. Honey, apricot, mint, orange blossom and spices meld together in a huge, viscous wine that covers every inch of the palate. The purity of the fruit here is simply striking. (Drink between 2014-2022)
2015 Progeny Winery Trinity Blanc. 92 points. This Trinity Blanc was so good. These Rhône whites can be hit or miss for me, but this nailed it. Equal parts Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier. Improved so much as it warmed. Viscous. Honeycomb, tart pineapple and mint aromatics with bruised pear and sea salt on the palate. Delicious. Fruit like this from Veeder, especially for white wine, is such a knockout when it comes to texture.
2019 Ceritas Rosé of Pinot Noir. 91 points. Light salmon color. Nose offers fresh watermelon and watermelon rind with a hint of lemon and wild strawberries. Light fruit flavor, strawberries and watermelon. Shows a nice tartness to it that adds a refreshing element. Quite enjoyable.
Dish #2.
Pork Belly. Hazelnut, yellow wax beans, blue lake, shiitake pork jus.
Cornbread waffle with maple butter.
The pescatarian sub.
Albacore. Coconut arancini, charcoal chili broth, green papaya, cauliflowers, Thai basil. Great flavors. The broth underneath was intensely limey. The whole thing was a bit spicy and had very interesting soft textures. It did come off very Thai (in a modernist way).
From my cellar: 1976 Robert Ampeau & Fils Volnay 1er Cru Santenots. JG 90. The 1976 Santenots from Domaine Robert Ampeau is a very good example of the vintage that has resolved its tannins quite well and now shows no rough edges on the backend. The deep, complex and slightly roasted nose offers up scents of baked black cherries, dark berries, bonfires, damp earth, coffee bean, game and forest floor. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very nicely balanced for a ’76, with tertiary flavors, melted tannins and good length and grip on the complex finish. Good juice in the Ampeau house style. (Drink between 2010-2025)
2001 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays. VM 94. Moderately saturated red. Wonderfully suave, mellow, inviting scents of raspberry, mocha, smoke and underbrush; the most resolved and integrated nose to this point of the tasting. A classic, harmonious Clos des Lambrays with impeccable balance and a wonderfully refined, silky texture to its flavors of red cherry, red berries, mocha and underbrush energized by high notes of pepper and spices. Not a powerhouse but this beauty fills the mouth while conveying a magically weightless impression. Finishes with sweet, perfectly supported tannins, a sexy floral quality and subtle building length. Two thousand one was a great vintage for Morey-Saint-Denis grand crus, noted Thierry Brouin, who told me he also loved the Clos de Tart. About as elegant as this wine gets. This vintage was the lowest in total acidity of my tasting but the wine hardly lacks for verve. And it has blossomed beautifully in the bottle. In fact, this is the highest score I’ve yet given for this vintage of Clos des Lambrays. (13.8% alcohol; 3.62 pH; 3.3 g/l acidity) (Drink between 2019-2033)
2005 Mongeard-Mugneret Clos Vougeot. BH 91-93. Somewhat curiously, this is more aromatically elegant with subtle toast aromas serving to highlight the spicy red and black fruit mix nuanced by hints of earth and smoke that can also be found on the delicious yet entirely serious big bodied yet textured and relatively refined flavors, all wrapped in a finish that is both powerful and impressively long. (Drink starting 2015)
2010 Ladd Cellars Pinot Noir Russian River Valley. 91 points. Medium garnet color. Tastes like a bowl of cherries. A bit too sweet for my palate. Some acid but not enough to over come the cherries.
Rabbit Fritter, Mole poblano crema, blue prawn, celery jicama, churro, cabbage.
Pescatarian sub.
1996 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. VM 93. Healthy dark medium red. Warm-year scents of plum, raspberry liqueur, mocha, hot rocks and gravel struck me as Graves-like. Large-scaled and velvety, with a slight edge of herbs conveying a wider range of ripeness than usual for this bottling. Perhaps still a bit youthfully disjointed but savory, very rich and chewy. Finishes with surprising acidity and substantial if slightly unrefined tannins that dust the tongue and teeth. (13% alcohol) (Drink between 2022-2037)
2013 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde. VM 93. Bright violet. Powerful dark fruit, violet pastille, olive and candied licorice aromas are lifted and sharpened by peppery spice and smoky mineral notes. Coats the palate with nicely concentrated, smoke-tinged boysenberry, cherry liqueur and spicecake flavors that become livelier with air. Shows impressive clarity and seamless texture and finishes very long and sappy; chewy tannins build slowly and fold into the sweet dark fruit. (Drink between 2021-2029)
1995 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. ST 88 points. Good dark red. More subdued and diffuse on the nose than the 2004, showing less fruit character and floral lift. Then rather supple and a touch balsamic in the mouth, with plum and redcurrant flavors complicated by a spicy element and a musky, leathery quality. Finishes with building tannins that turn a bit dry with aeration. Doesn’t offer quite the purity of the 1994 but here the nose and palate are more in sync. (Drink between 2017-2022)
Slicing some beef.
Beef Rib. Lemon Gnocchi, onion cherry jus, grilled snap peas, salsa verde.
Pescatarian sub.
2015 Château Rieussec. AG 97. The 2015 Rieussec is gorgeous. Scents of apricot jam, honey, mint and wild flowers lift from the glass. Delicate and gracious, with terrific freshness, the wine is all polish. Reflecting both the style of the year and the desire to make a slightly lighter Sauternes, the 2015 is rendered in a style the emphasizes finesse over power. The blend is 86% Sémillon and 14% Sauvignon Blanc. (Drink between 2022-2045)
Choux au Craquelin Cream Puff with chocolate, toasted meringue, and hazelnut mousse.
Buttermulk panna cotta, strawberry, strawberry crumble, concentrated strawberry. Classic strawberries and cream but this combo never gets old. The panna cotta had a lovely creaminess and the strawberry was very intense, plus the textures were varied and fun.
The panna cotta had gelatin in it, so this is a version without.
This was a fabulous night. Great wines and atmosphere, but most importantly wonderful company and some really tasty food. I was very impressed. There was no obvious “theme” to the menu, but each dish was very strongly executed with bold and powerful — and tasty — flavors.
For more LA dining reviews click here.
Restaurant: Valle
Location: 1305 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291. (310) 299-9735
Date: July 17, 2021
Cuisine: Oaxacan-ish Hipster Mexican
Rating: Tasty, but the service was horrendous
For the last several years this space was home to MTN which was a Hipster Izakaya that I actually really enjoyed. Under the same owners it rebooted during the pandemic into a sort of “Oaxacan Inspired” Mexican place. It should be noted that Valle has subsequently closed for good and the owners (part of the Gjelina group) have walked away from the property.
Inspired.
This being post lockdown they turned the former parking lot roof garage into a fairly cute patio.
The menu.
From my cellar: 2012 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Reserve Tradition. AG 93. A haunting nose combines bittersweet perfumed iris, saffron and faint hints of smoky Latakia tobacco with intimations of grapefruit and apple that go on to supply satisfying primary juiciness of a satin-textured, strikingly buoyant palate. A mouthwatering upwelling suggestive of salted veal stock complements the inner-mouth perfume of a soothingly lingering tobacco- and pepper-tinged finish. (Drink between 2015-2030)
House-made Chips.
Guacamole.
Salsa.
Verdolaga. Purslane, plums, pepitas, mint-lemon dressing.
Tomato Salad. Heirloom tomatoes, seasalt, gomashio, epazote, crispy shallots.
Coliflor Rostizada con Mole Verde. Roasted cauliflower, green mole, pepitas seeds.
Baked Fish Collar. Marinated in mojo de ajo, arugula, red onion jalepeno.
Quesadilla de Flor de Calabaza. Squash Blossom, blue corn tortilla, quesillo, epazote.
Pork Belly taco.
Barbacoa de Borrego taco.
Pescado Taco.
Carne Asada. Grass fed hanger steak, grilled onion, guacamole, salsa molcajete, served with tortillas.
Pescado. Local rock cod vermillion, potatoes, tomatillo salsa.
Pork Chop en Mole Negro. Peades & Barnett pork chop, mole negro, pickled red onion, sesame seed, served with tortillas.
Barbacoa de Borrego. Cabbage, cilantro, lime, fermented chile salsa.
Churros con crema de chocolate.
The food was actually pretty tasty with strong zesty flavors but let me get into the “experience.”
While the staff was generally nice, the service was beyond bad. Textbook bad. It took about 30 minutes to get the waiter to come over. We asked for wine glasses. They never came. I had to go behind the bar and get them myself. It was probably 45-50 minutes in that we ordered. The poor single waiter had the entire patio to himself. He spent all of his time stuck at the POS (Point of Sale computer). They used the dubious system where the POS kicks orders in and runners bring it out — the waiter doesn’t bring (or check) anything. In this case nothing was coordinated. Bus boys would clear the plates and silverware. Food would come randomly with no plates or silverware. Waiter was never there. We would grab bus boys and ask for plates. I ended up going behind the bar again multiple times and bringing my own plates and silverware to the table. This happened for the entire meal. It took a good 1.5 hours longer than it should have. There was no coordination at all.
At the end I cornered the manager and gave her a friendly (but stern) earful as a fellow restaurant owner. She apologized vaguely and made excuses. She wasn’t listening. Textbook bad management.
It should be noted again that Valle has closed permanently. They blame the landlord on their web page. I have my doubts.
For more LA dining reviews click here.
Restaurant: Tar & Roses [1, 2, 3, 4]
Location: 602 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 587-0700
Date: July 16, 2021
Cuisine: American Tapas
Rating: Has not only held up but improved
Tar & Roses is a new American tapas-style place in Santa Monica, loosely in the vein of Rustic Canyon or Gjelina. Despite the relative crowding of this market, it’s an extremely popular addition.
The Chef & Owner is Andrew Kirschner, a Santa Monica-native who grew up in a family with a strong appreciation for travel, food and wine, Chef Andrew Kirschner initiated his cooking education at the age of fifteen with a summer job in the kitchen of a local restaurant. Like many great chefs, his culinary journey started as a job, but quickly turned into a passion. After Kirschner became the sous chef for Chadwick in Beverly Hills, and then a chef/partner at the popular neighborhood spot Table 8 in West Hollywood, where he met and bonded with his Tar & Roses sous chef, Jacob Wildman.
Years ago (2015) I had a few issues with service here, but after some good takeout experiences during lockdown decided to head back in summer of 2021 with my parents and family.
The space is airy and pleasant.
There is a nice patio too (not pictured) which is actually where we sat on this particular day.
The current menu.
YELLOWTAIL CRUDO. Citrus / Avocado / Jalapeño / White Soy. Very zesty.
OXTAIL DUMPLINGS. San Bai Su / Chili / Green Onion. Super tasty with a lot of umami.
MOORISH MARINATED LAMB KABOB. Banana Raita / Harissa. Nice grilled lamb flavor.
BABY ARTICHOKES. Garlic Confit / Parmesan / Lemon Yogurt / Mint.
BALSAMIC GLAZED RIBS. Aleppo Pepper / Fried Basil. Awesome.
Wood roasted baby carrots.
SQUID INK FETTUCINI. Octopus / Blistered Tomato / Basil.
From my cellar: 1996 Robert Ampeau & Fils Volnay 1er Cru Santenots. 91 points. Hazy, sour cherry, sous bois.
I brought another wine too a NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 168eme — but forgot to photo it.
SHELLFISH POT. Scallops / Clams / Mussels / Shrimp / Maitake / Curry. The broth was awesome with a very strong southeast Asian flavor.
ALASKAN KING SALMON. Tiny Beans / Escarole / Tomato / Salsa Verde.
WHOLE FRIED SNAPPER FOR TWO. Cold Soba Noodles / Dipping Sauce. Fabulous dish. The fish sauce (not pictured) really made the dish.
EGGPLANT. Crispy Garlic / Chili / Slivered Almonds. Hints of both Middle Eastern and Chinese.
KING TRUMPET MUSHROOMS. Soft Egg / Rosemary.
Overall, this was an excellent meal. The patio was great in the “mid-late covid era” and service was good. I think the food has tightened and brightened up a bit since their early days. I liked the variety of mildly exotic influences — and the flavors were strong.
Everyone really enjoyed it.
Restaurant: La Paella [1, 2, 3, 4]
Location: 476 South San Vicente Boulevard. Los Angeles, CA 90048. (323) 951-0745
Date: July 14, 2021
Cuisine: Spanish
Rating: Really tasty traditional Spanish
I haven’t been back here in a while, but a Spanish themed Dirty Dozen seemed like just the ticket — and there aren’t really very many Spanish restaurants in LA. Wines were all served blind.
Cute little former house or something near the Beverly Center.
The bar.
Our private room and giant table (and wine table on the left).
NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this <em>cuvée</em>, but with no lack of vivacity.
2017 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin Le Banc. VM 87-89. Pale bright yellow. Fresh nectarine and minerals on the nose. A juicy if tightly wound fruit bomb in the mouth, with its intense stone fruit and citrus flavors complicated by wild herbs. The wine’s calcaire element gives it focus and cut, but there’s nothing hard about the very pure finish, which features sneaky persistence. Made from three vineyards averaging 35 years of age, according to Colin.
Me flighting the food on the fly.
2016 Alonso & Pedrajo Viticultores Rioja Suañé Blanco Reserva. JG 92. The 2016 Rioja “Suañé” Reserva Blanco from Alonso & Pedrajo is fermented and aged three months in amphora and bottled without any added sulfites. The 2016 version is a lovely golden color and offers up a complex bouquet of tangerine, toasted nuts, salty soil tones, citrus peel, a bit of browned butter and a topnote of menthol. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still quite rock solid at the core, with lovely soil signature and grip, almost a bit of backend tannin and a long, complex and zesty finish. There is a touch of natural wine “wildness” on the nose here, but the palate is fresh, vibrant and complex and seems to still have years of life ahead of it. This is hardly a classical example of Rioja Blanco, but it is an excellent wine with its own, unique personality. (Drink between 2021-2026)
From my cellar: 2012 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. VM 92. Light, bright yellow. High-pitched citrus and orchard fruit aromas are complemented by jasmine, green tea and chalky minerals. The mineral quality carries onto the palate, underscoring vibrant lemon/lime and pear flavors that gain flesh with air. Finishes stony and precise, with excellent persistence and lingering florality.
2017 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay Sonoma Coast. VM93. The 2017 Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast) from Rivers-Marie is a fabulous wine in its peer group. Rich, intense and full of flavor, the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay packs a serious punch. Orchard fruit, crème brûlée, butter, tangerine and yellow flowers all develop in a deeply-layered, resonant, utterly gorgeous Chardonnay. Although labeled as an appellation Chardonnay, all the fruit for the Sonoma Coast bottling comes from Riddle. More importantly, the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a great example of just how compelling the 2017 vintage is at the top for Sonoma’s Burgundian varieties. And the $30/bottle price range? Insane. (Drink between 2020-2029)
Gambas Al Ajillo. Shrimp sauteed with garlic and chili pod.
Caracoles Al Ajillo. Snails sauteed with garlic and a touch of chilli.
Boquerones En Vinagre. Marinated small silvery fish fillets.
Calamares A La Plancha. Grilled squid with garlic and parsley.
Bread.
Garlic Aioli and Olive Tapanade.
1976 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia. VM 95. Thirty years after the vintage the two 1976 Gran Reservas still fully express the qualities of their unique terroirs. The seductive 1976 Viña Bosconia Gran Reserva is another ethereal beauty, revealing an expressive nose along with notes of earthiness, sweet perfumed fruit, cocoa, flowers and an occasional hint of white truffle that floats out of the glass. Fresher and more vibrant than the Tondonia Gran Reserva, it offers outstanding length and notable structure in an understated yet profound expression of Rioja. It is that rare wine that invites contemplation by engaging all of the taster’s senses. A great effort. (Drink starting 2013)
1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia. VM 95. Brilliant red. A highly complex, expansive bouquet evokes cherry liqueur, pipe tobacco, incense, vanilla and woodsmoke, accompanied by hints of five-spice powder and licorice in the background. Sweet, expansive and seamless in texture, offering intense cherry-vanilla, spicecake and rose pastille flavors that deepen slowly as the wine opens up. Fully mature but with plenty of life left in it, this wine finishes impressively long, supple and sweet, displaying discreet tannins, resonating spiciness and suave florality. I reviewed this wine five years ago and am very happy to say that it has improved with additional bottle age. (Drink between 2020-2035)
Aceitunas Variadas. Mixed green and black olives
Champiñones Con Chorizo. Mushrooms with Spanish red sausage.
Croquetas De Pollo. Fried chicken croquettes.
2001 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 890 ‘Selección Especial’. 94 points. This is great, and up there with the best La Rioja Alta wines I’ve had, but it still wasn’t quite as good as I’d expected. Personally I think this wine is far from its peak, as it was still evolving in the decanter over the course of the evening. At first it just seemed to have a bit too much oak on display and was slightly out of balance. By the end of the night it was definitely starting to sing, but still felt slightly muted. I am probably being hyper-critical as I was expecting so much, and also I know there can sometimes be wide bottle variation with LRA wines, so it’s possible that was factor here. At any rate there’s no rush to drink and I’m excited to see where it ends up (if I can be patient enough!).
2005 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. 94 points. Smooth, full and complex. Soft fruit, spice and umami. Tannins are there but well integrated. Love its versatility. Pairs beautifully with so many dishes. It has been a pleasure to share this wine’s journey.
2009 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. VM 94. Vivid ruby-red. A highly perfumed, expansive bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, cherry liqueur, coconut and cigar box, along with a sexy floral nuance that emerges slowly. Plush and seamless on the palate, offering sweet, deeply concentrated blackberry, cherry-vanilla and mocha flavors that are given spine and lift by a core of juicy acidity. Rich yet energetic in style, displaying superb finishing clarity, even tannins and a lingering spicecake note. The Tempranillo saw only American oak while the Mazuelo component saw only French. (Drink between 2020-2030)
The meat tray.
Queso Manchego, En Tacos. Small cubes of Spanish year old sheep cheese.
Chorizo – Importado De España. Slices of imported all natural “Chorizo”: pork, paprika,garlic.
Jamón Serrano – Importado De España. Slices of imported salt-cured ham from Spain.
Yarom, Erick and I split some Chinese caviar to make some Jose tacos.
2003 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 95. Inky ruby. Highly aromatic scents of ripe cherry and dark berries, singed plum, cured tobacco and succulent herbs, with a vanilla undertone. Sweet, expansive and powerful, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors with smoke and floral accents. Rich and full but surprisingly lively, with excellent finishing thrust and sweet, harmonious tannins adding grip. Shows the ripeness of the vintage to good effect; this is a somewhat approachable and exotic Unico, especially with some air, but it has the concentration to age slowly.
2004 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 96. Inky ruby: doesn’t look like a ten-year old wine. A heady, intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, vanilla, pipe tobacco, new leather and potpourri, with a subtle mineral flourish. Spicy, sweet and expansive, offering palate-staining cherry compote and cassis flavors with exotic violet and chewing tobacco qualities. Deepens and gains spiciness on the smooth, gently tannic finish, which lingers with superb focus and tenacity.
Arròs Négre. Cuttlefish, calamari, baby shrimp and mussels cooked with rice and squids’ ink.
Paella Valenciana Mixta. Rice, saffron, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetables with a touch of red peppers and rosemary.
Plate of carbs!
2004 Artadi Rioja Viña el Pisón. VM 95. Inky ruby. The nose is breathtaking in its floral, mineral and fruit intensity, offering a near-hallucinogenic bouquet of fresh and dried flowers, raspberry, wild strawberry, blackcurrant, cured meat, licorice, iron and graphite. This smells (and tastes) like a blend of great Hermitage and grand cru Vosne-Romanee. Deep, sexy and ridiculously sweet, the red and dark berry flavors coating every square inch of the palate, with gentle tannins providing enough supporting structure. This is almost absurdly packed with fruit and features a sappy, seemingly endless finish that’s nothing short of remarkable. Wow! (European Cellars, Charlotte, NC)
From my cellar: 2006 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 97. Saturated ruby. An amazingly complex array of red and blue fruit preserve, spice and floral scents is accompanied by suggestions of incense, pipe tobacco, coconut and candied licorice. Utterly stains the palate with impressively concentrated yet lively, smoke- and spice-laced cherry compote, blueberry, fruitcake and violet pastille flavors braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Sappy and broad on the endless finish, which shows outstanding thrust and dusty tannins that are absorbed by the wine’s densely packed fruit. (Drink between 2025-2040)
NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 2005, 2006, 2007 (2018 Release). VM 95. Inky ruby. A deeply perfumed bouquet evokes ripe and red and dark berries, pipe tobacco, cola, mocha and incense, and a smoky mineral nuance gains strength as the wine opens up. Stains the palate with sweet blueberry liqueur, cherry cola, candied violet and spicecake flavors that smoothly blend richness and energy. Shows no rough edges and finishes extremely long and sappy, with resonating florality and fine-grained tannins that lend gentle closing grip. This is the 2018 release of this non-vintage blend. (Drink between 2022-2035)
NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 2008, 2009, 2010 (2020 Release). VM 97. Deep, glistening ruby-red. Highly perfumed, expansive aromas of crème de cassis, cherry preserves, vanilla, exotic spices and cured tobacco are complemented by suggestions of licorice, cigar box and espresso. Broad, dense and energetic on the palate, offering intense red and dark fruit, floral pastille, succulent herb and floral pastille flavors that show alluring sweetness and sharp focus. Finishes extremely long and smooth, with sneaky, harmonious tannins and lingering suggestions of candied rose, exotic spices and licorice. This is the 2020 release of this multi-vintage bottling. (Drink between 2025-2039)
Leg of Lamb.
Cornish Hens.
2001 Rotllan Torra Priorat Tirant. VM 91+. Deep red. Exotic coconutty oak on the rather port-like nose. At once sweeter and more primary than the Amadis, with a penetrating minerality. Also quite oaky, but has more jammy plum and blackberry fruit to stand up to the wood. Still, it’s hard to predict whether this slightly pruney wine will reward more time in bottle. Finishes with sweet tannins and good length. (My bottle of the 2000 release last year showed fresher acidity, but this is richer. ) (De Maison Selections, Chapel Hill, NC)
Bodegas El Nido Jumilla El Nido.
Oxtail.
2016 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots. VM 93-95. Very pale green-tinged yellow. Classic Chablis scents and flavors of white peach, ginger, oyster shell, iodine and flint. Highly concentrated, tactile wine offering an impression of strong dry extract and a compelling combination of pliancy and energy. A very powerful, structured Chablis with a long, chewy, saline finish. Really saturates the palate without leaving any impression of weightiness. Offers splendid potential.
Flan De Naranja. Crème caramel with a light touch of fresh orange.
Blue Cherry Gelato – a blend of Morello Cherry, intense Amarena Cherry, and Blueberry fruit make this dairy gelato really pop — topped with Candied Amarena Cherries — 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 #amarena #morello #cherry #blueberry
Burnt Basque Cheesecake Gelato — Milk steeped with Tahitian Vanilla Beans and Valencia Orange Peels and then blended with Cream-cheese and Egg Yolks, layered with house made “burnt” Caramel and topped with house-made Caramel Brittle, finished with the torch! — 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 #basque #cheesecake #caramel #brittle #orange
The lineup
I love Spanish cooking, and La Paella has a really nice traditional kitchen. It reminds me of Botin in Madrid at the opposite end of the Spanish culinary spectrum from modernist Calima and the ElBuli school. Personally, I love both and I need to head back to La Paella to sample even more of their menu. Some of my favorites are Gambas Pil Pil, Anchovies en Boccerones, seafood paella, and, of course, the flan.
The wines tonight were really awesome. Great wine and we had a nice mix of reserva and vintage unicos plus a ton of old Rioja. Tonight I liked the vintage ones better in general, but sometimes it’s the other way around. Great juice.
More crazy Hedonist adventures or
LA dining reviews click here.
Restaurant: Menya Tigre
Location: 2012 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Date: July 13 (and others), 2021
Cuisine: Japanese Curry & Ramen
Rating: narrow but pretty good curry ramen
The not-terribly-great chicken only ramen place on Sawtelle closed a long time ago and was replaced at some point by this curry based ramen joint.
The small menu.
The interior — although I’ve never actually eaten inside as they have a nice patio.
Tasty Japanese salad with the zingy ginger dressing.
Takoyaki. Fried octopus balls with mayo and okonomiyaki sauce. These were actually the first kind of food I had on my first trip to Japan 30 years ago!
Curry Tsukemen. Chicken curry broth with noodles and chashu. This is the ramen variant where the noodles are served on the side (cold) and dipped into the broth.
Zoom of the parts.
Curry Ramen. Chicken and curry broth ramen with pork and egg. It’s pretty good, but not as thick and unctuous as I might like.
Keema Bowl. Side bowl of ground meat curry on top of rice.
Chashu Bowl. A similar bowl of marinated chashu pork on rice.
Karaage Curry. Karaage fried chicken with curry and rice.
Surf & Turf. Karaage chicken and fried shrimp with curry and rice. This was solid curry rice, but it isn’t nearly as good as the late (and missed by me) Kimukatsu.
Overall, Menya Tigre is ok. I like curry and I particularly like curry rice. I’m actually very sad that Kimukatsu closed as that was the best Sawtelle curry rice. This is a passable substitute, but just not as good. The ramen is ok too, but not as good as Killer Noodle — which is by far my favorite except for its not-so-subtle GI consequences.
Restaurant: Favori [1, 2]
Location: 3502 W 1st St, Santa Ana, CA 92703. (714) 531-6838
Date: June 1 & July 9, 2021
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Great old school place
We enjoyed Favori so much on a recent crawl that we decided to book a wine dinner here.
Favori has been a staple down here in Garden Grove/Santa Ana since the early 80s.
The menu.
Our big table.
Fish sauce.
And super fermented fish sauce.
Chilies.
Goi Cuon. Vietnamese fried spring rolls.
These are served with herbs
You wrap them up like this with the herbs and fish sauce — delicious.
Escargots. Snails in white wine and garlic butter sauce. These are the classic French style and were quite nice. They could have had even more garlic, but they certainly had plenty.
These are served with some garlic bread.
Goi Bo Tai Chanh. Rare Beef Salad. Fabulous version of this dish. Very herby with lots of beef flavor.
Beef rolls wrapped in Betel Leaves. These had a very interesting but strong flavor. I loved them, but they weren’t for everyone.
Ngheu Xao Hung Que. Stir-fried clams + basil leaves. Awesome Thai basil flavor.
Luon Xao Lan. Stir-fried Eel with Curry Sauce. Great curry with rice noodles that soaked up the sauce. Flavorful eel as well, but beware the little bones.
Ech Xao Xa Ot. Stir-fried frog legs + lemongrass & chilies. Incredible chili garlic flavor from this dish. Really spectacular.
Cua Lot Chien Bo. Deep fried soft shelled crab.
Roasted Quails. Interesting prep. Not as good as at Oc & Lau.
Fruits de mer au Gratin. Seafood Baked in Cream Sauce. Ugly but tasted great, although the goopy texture was reminiscent of cream of mushroom soup.
Canard a l’orange. Duck in Grand Mariner Orange Sauce. Like it was pulled through time from 1981! This was the worst dish by far.
Ca ri nam bo. Beef tendon curry. great curry with beef/tendon chunks and potatoes.
Crispy whole catfish! A touch dry, but delicious. Served with rice crepes, herbs, vermicelli, fish sauce etc.
Herbs for the catfish.
Vermicelli for the catfish.
Rice crepes for the catfish.
Bun Cha Ha Noi. Charbroiled Pork with Vermicelli. Delicious pork. Great with fish sauce.
Orange Old Fashioned Sorbetto — Cold Pressed Orange and Tangerine Juice, Knob Creek Bourbon and Angostura Bitters! Topped with cherries — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Really tastes like an Old Fashioned –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #orange #tangerine #bourbon #KnobCreek #bitters #Angostura
Almond Amaretto Truffle Gelato — Amaretto Zabaglione (egg yolk, amaretto, and sugar custard) Sicilian Almond gelato base with stacked 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 #amaretto #amaretti #cookie #ganache #ChocolateTruffle
Overall, Favori is a great place with a great kitchen and very solid service. They really treated us right. Sure the atmosphere is that dark 80s “old school” charm, but the food is very good. Every Vietnamese dish was fabulous. The weakest stuff is the French style dishes. The escargots were fine but the Duck L’Orange was “interesting” at best and the Fruits de Mer were goopy (even if I liked them). Oh but that lemongrass chili sauce — so good! I over-ordered of course — always do :-).
Restaurant: Dinner at the Borgese’s [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Location: Santa Monica
Date: June 30, 2021
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. Tonight’s dinner is another Uni themed dinner!
The dynamic Borgese team consists of Rocco, his lovely wife (and the main kitchen chef), and his daughter (helping out with service).
Their house has not only a wine cellar, but a cheese and meat larder!
Plus all this incredible wood fired oven set up.
We have this fabulous outside table, perfect for covid ventilation.
The menu for the evening.
NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 168eme. JG 96+. he new release of Krug Grande Cuvée “168ème Édition” is from the base year of 2012, with the reserve wines in the blend stretching all the way back to 1996. The final cépages has ended up as fifty-two percent pinot noir, thirty-five percent chardonnay and thirteen percent pinot meunier. Forty-two percent of the blend is made up of reserve wines in this beautiful iteration of Grande Cuvée. The bouquet is superb, wafting from the glass in a mosaic of apple, white peach, a touch of Clos du Mesnil-like fresh apricot, almond, a beautifully complex base of soil tones, fresh-baked bread, hints of the caraway seed to come and a whisper of buttery oak (which is particularly evident when the wine is first poured, but quickly is subsumed in the other elements on the nose). On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and very complex, with a lovely core of fruit, fine soil signature, utterly refined mousse and a long, perfectly balanced and very energetic finish. This is one of the most effortless and seamlessly balanced young releases of Grande Cuvée in several years and is utterly brilliant wine. (Drink between 2020-2080)
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)
Tartare coda Gialla al Tartufo. Yellowtail tartare with truffle.
Uni with truffle.
NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 168eme (second bottle). JG 96+. he new release of Krug Grande Cuvée “168ème Édition” is from the base year of 2012, with the reserve wines in the blend stretching all the way back to 1996. The final cépages has ended up as fifty-two percent pinot noir, thirty-five percent chardonnay and thirteen percent pinot meunier. Forty-two percent of the blend is made up of reserve wines in this beautiful iteration of Grande Cuvée. The bouquet is superb, wafting from the glass in a mosaic of apple, white peach, a touch of Clos du Mesnil-like fresh apricot, almond, a beautifully complex base of soil tones, fresh-baked bread, hints of the caraway seed to come and a whisper of buttery oak (which is particularly evident when the wine is first poured, but quickly is subsumed in the other elements on the nose). On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and very complex, with a lovely core of fruit, fine soil signature, utterly refined mousse and a long, perfectly balanced and very energetic finish. This is one of the most effortless and seamlessly balanced young releases of Grande Cuvée in several years and is utterly brilliant wine. (Drink between 2020-2080)
2006 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 97. The 2006 Krug Vintage is fabulous. Here the richness, breadth and texture of Pinot come through loud and clear in a Champagne that is classic Krug. Red plum, coffee, spice, baked apple tart and lemon confit all flesh out effortlessly in the glass. The ripeness of the year is evident, and yet the vibrancy of the Chardonnay lends so much energy. The 2006 can be enjoyed today, but also has the balance and stuffing to develop well for many years to come. This is a superb showing from the 2006. This is Krug ID: 118014. (Drink between 2021-2041)
2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. VM 99. The 2008 Cristal is one of the most complete, most dazzling Champagnes I have ever tasted. A stunning wine from any and all perspectives, the 2008 simply has it all. Spherical in construction, with superb persistence. The 2008 takes hold of all the senses and never gives up. One of the many things that makes the 2008 special is a combination of ripe fruit and bright, piercing acidity. Marzipan, lemon confit, dried flowers and orchard fruit all build into the explosive, resonant finish. “We learned from the mistakes of 1996, when we picked more on acid than ripeness, as was the norm in Champagne back then” Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon told me recently. “In 1996, the best fruit turned out to be the last picks, where the fruit was physiologically ripe. Today, we aim to pick all our fruit with that criteria.” (Drink between 2020-2050)
Just some of the sea urchins.
Bisque di Ricci con Arogosta. Uni bisque with lobster.
1996 Dominique Laurent Beaune 1er Cru Les Reversées Blanc.
1997 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Pur Sang. 92 points.
From my cellar: 2012 Paolo Bea Arboreus. 92 points. Medium orange color. Drank a glass over an hour. Interesting as an intellectual curiosity….Reminiscent of an older, tired and overly oxidative Lopez de Heredia, this has all of the bitter, lacquer qualities. The nose offers some nice lemon and tangerine oil, lacquer, and beeswax in addition to the baked apple and oxidativeness. The palate is rather oily, lemon oil, tangerine oil, very oxidative, waxy, acidic and grippy with a dry tannin like extract.
Pasta con Ricci. Uni pasta.
Lobsters on the grill.
Uni butter!
The team working on the lobsters.
2010 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux. VM 95. Raveneau’s 2010 Chablis Butteaux is beautifully expressive on the bouquet, where layers of petrol, smoke and melted rocks fuse together with notable elegance. The Butteaux is a wine of all dimensions; it is at once vertical and horizontal, with fabulous purity and exceptional overall balance. This is one of the larger-scaled 2010s here. In many ways it encapsulates the personality of the vintage. (Drink starting 2015)
2013 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. VM 91-94. Bright, subdued aromas of pear drop and citrus fruit. Densely packed and saline in the mouth, offering terrific stony energy and depth along with a sexy impression of sucrosite . Still tight, austere and uncompromisingly dry for all its richness. More obviously soil-driven than the foregoing samples–really classic stony Chablis premier cru.
Aragosta con Burro di Ricci. Lobster with uni butter.
2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes. VM 94. The 2011 Chassagne-Montrachet Chenevottes is one of the more succulent wines in this range. Dazzling in its volume and pure textural depth, the 2011 impresses for its balance and sense of harmony. Mineral notes appear over time, adding dimension and complexity. What a gorgeous wine this is. (Drink starting 2014)
2018 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet. BH 90-92. A ripe, cool and pure nose possesses a lovely array of pear, white peach and subtle acacia wisps that are trimmed in just enough wood to notice. There is both good volume and richness to the utterly delicious and seductively textured flavors that manage to possess a beguiling refinement on the clean and dry finish that offers very good persistence and especially so for a villages level wine. (Drink starting 2025)
2009 Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne. VM 93+. Full yellow. Captivating aromas of ginger, lime, fresh apricot and ginger. Tightly coiled and spicy, with strong acidity and a dry, savory character giving the mid-palate an urgent intensity. Bracing flavors of lime, crushed stone and almost metallic minerality showcase the vintage’s density of texture, but with a degree of energy rare for the year. Finishes with terrific persistence. I would not be surprised to see this wine merit an even higher score with several years of bottle aging.
Risotta all’ Ricci. Uni risotto.
2008 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.
2003 Château Léoville Barton. VM 93. Good medium ruby. Explosive nose of black raspberry, coffee and leather. Hugely rich, dense and sweet, with deep flavors of currant, plum and chocolate complicated by underlying minerality. Wonderfully dense and full on the back end, with broad tannins and palate-staining length. Today, the 2005 comes off as dry by comparison. A standout of the vintage, and likely to be long-lived in the context of the year.
1989 Château Léoville Las Cases. VM 88. The 1989 Léoville Las-Cases came from a bottle that was recorked in 2017 at the property. The bouquet is rather muffled, and quite rustic and earthy in style, missing the breeding that Jean-Hubert Delon instills nowadays. The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannin. Rustic red fruit mixes with iron ore, orange peel, game and bacon fat notes. Old-school in style but missing the backbone and tension, the precision synonymous with this estate. Overall, it is slightly underperforming in the context of the vintage. Tasted at the property and in London, both bottles ex-château. (Drink between 2019-2025)
2009 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. VM 95. Opaque purple. Red and dark berry preserves and candied flowers on the seductively perfumed nose. Juicy, deeply pitched black raspberry and blueberry flavors are complemented by notes of violet, rose and licorice. Offers an uncanny blend of richness and vivacity, with a seamless texture and no excess fat. Closes on a peppery note, with persistent florality. I find this highly seductive wine surprisingly open right now.
Meats for the grill.
Costelette di Agnello alla Legna. Lamb chops on wood fire.
Bistecca alla Legna di New York Wagyu. Wood fire Wagyu New York Steak.
Carote. Carrots cooked over a wood fire.
Broccoli. Cooked over a wood fire.
Triple Chocolate Cloud Gelato – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Ganache and Brookie-O Brownie 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
Caramel Fudge Marshmallow Gelato –Base is Salted Caramel made by replacing the sugar with house-made Water Caramel. Swirled with house-made Valrhona Fudge Ganache and Marshmallow Cream — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #caramel #caramelSauce #SaltedCaramel #valrhona #fudge #marshmallow
The wine lineup. Not too shabby.
Overall, this was an amazing dinner, and the Borgese’s just keep amping up the quality.
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 was better than most restaurant staff. Super friendly and you can tell they do this a lot.
Wines were, as you can, pretty darn impressive!
Khao Soi — delicious
Restaurant: Calabra
Location: 700 Wilshire Blvd (Entrance on, 7th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Date: June 28, 2021
Cuisine: Italian – ish
Rating: not bad for poolside at a hotel
Calabra is the rooftop restaurant on top of Santa Monica’s Proper Hotel. We met up with some friends for a first dinner since before the pandemic and were looking for an outside place.
The setting is quite nice, but alas I forgot to photo it but so had to use this hotel shot.
Meze plate. Lots of pickles!
Guac and roasted salsa.
Chips! Actually delicious, but ludicrously salty.
Three fish crudo. tuna, salmon, scallop, radish, capers, tarragon.
Seafood Arrabiata. squid ink garganelli pasta, tiger shrimp, manila clams, mussels, spicy tomato sauce, breadcrumbs. My friend who got this didn’t like it at all — but they took it off the bill.
Whole branzino. lentil ragu, fennel, coriander, mint zhoug, salsa verde.
Lamb chops. skordalia, tzatziki, calabrian tapenade, lamb jus.
Calabra was pretty good for what it was, but certainly nothing super memorable.
Lobster w/ Ginger and Scallion and noodles — noodles were fabulous
Restaurant: Dinner at the Borgese’s [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Location: Santa Monica
Date: June 26, 2021
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. Today we break (slightly) with tradition for a Lunch at the Borgese’s — specifically a Sauvages lunch with a California Cabernet theme.
The dynamic Borgese team consists of Rocco, his lovely wife (and the main kitchen chef), and his daughter (helping out with service).
Their house has not only a wine cellar, but a cheese and meat larder!
Plus all this incredible wood fired oven set up.
We have this fabulous outside table, perfect for covid ventilation.
Chef Jenny on the left and Rocco on the right at work in the kitchen.
2004 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année. VM 94. Light, bright gold. Powerful orchard and pit fruit aromas are complemented by smoky lees, iodine, chamomile and buttered toast. At once fleshy and energetic, offering deeply pitched poached pear, peach pit and brioche flavors and a suave floral element. Finishes smoky and very long, with mounting spiciness and lingering floral and vanilla notes.
2005 Henriot Champagne Cuvée Hemera. JG 96. The Cuvée Hemera is Henriot’s new name for their Tête de Cuvée bottling, which had previously been known as Cuvée Enchanteleurs. This is the first vintage of the house’s top of the line bottling that has been crafted from beginning to end by Cellar Master Laurent Fresnet. The wine is a fifty-fifty blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, as is the case with their Brut Millésime, but here, only grand cru vineyards are used for the cuvée. The 2005 Cuvée Hemera was aged twelve years sur latte prior to disgorgement and a finishing dosage of five grams per liter. The bouquet is deep, pure and stunning, offering up a very refined blend of pear, apple, a touch of hazelnut, gentle smokiness, a very complex base of soil tones, fresh-baked bread and just a whisper of caraway seed in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with impeccable focus and grip, very refined mousse and outstanding length and grip on the poised, balanced and exquisite finish. This is simply outstanding! (Drink between 2019-2060)
Are special lunch menu.
The wine list.
2018 Aubert Chardonnay UV-SL Vineyard. VM 94-97. The 2018 Chardonnay UV-SL Vineyard is ample, dramatic and textured in the glass, with tons of volume as well as resonance. Lemon peel, pineapple, white flowers, orchard fruit and mint all flesh out in this unabashedly opulent, richly textured Chardonnay. The UV-SL is bold and beautiful to the core.
agavin: in what twisted world do Cal Chards get 94-97 but a Coche will get 89-90?
2010 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard. VM 94. A wine of notable finesse and energy, Marcassin’s 2010 Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard is beautifully focused throughout. Lemon oil, white flowers, orange peel and chamomile are some of the many notes that flesh out in the glass. Overall, this is a fairly restrained style for Marcassin, with richness tempered by the marginal climate of the Sonoma Coast. In this vintage, the Marcassin Vineyard Chardonnay is clearly more interesting, complex and pedigreed than the Pinot. (Drink between 2015-2022)
2014 Aubert Chardonnay Russian River.
Branzino e Vongole. Branzino and clams.
1999 Behrens & Hitchcock Cabernet Sauvignon “Ink Grade”. VM 89-91. Deep ruby. Aromas of blackberry, minerals, licorice and herbs. Big and broad in the mouth, with inky blackberry and mineral flavors. A full (15.1%), dense cabernet, finishing with chewy tannins and a note of eucalyptus. “We had a heat spell and some dehydration before the harvest,” noted Behrens, “and the sugars shot up.”
1998 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace. VM 85+. Dark red. Expressive, somewhat leafy aromas of redcurrant, strawberry and mocha, with a distinct note of vegetility. Rather pliant and fairly intense in the mouth, but with its fruit flavors compromised by a noticeable eucalyptus element. Finishes with slightly dry, building tannins.
1997 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 90. Bright ruby-red to the rim. Black fruit aromas are at once a bit roasted and peppery. On the palate, the black fruit and pepper flavors show a slightly rustic leathery component. Finishes with slightly dry, clenched tannins and some exotic berry tones. Retains good energy but this wine is not getting any fresher. My bottle the previous day at the Seavey vertical tasting showed a bit more fruit sweetness and a more satisfying finish. (Drink between 2017-2025)
1997 Fisher Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Lamb Vineyard. VM 91+. Healthy dark red-ruby. The nose conveys slightly wild suggestions of leather and andouillette but not enough to detract from the fresh aromas of cassis, black cherry, licorice, tar, violet and mint. This still shows dark fruit flavors that I would describe as primary but there’s also a savory umami quality as well as an edge of acidity that gives the middle palate a faint bitterness. Impressively energetic for 20-year-old wine but it may yet deliver more sweetness with some additional bottle aging. Finishes with granular, tongue-coating tannins, repeating notes of leather and game and very good length. Lots of flavor here in a slightly medicinal, tannic way. If this were my bottle, I’d still give it a few more years in the cellar. (Drink between 2017-2030)
Quaglia Ripiena Arrosto. Roasted stuffed Quail. Amazing, particularly the polenta with sausage.
Polenta with sausage as “extra.”
1999 Joseph Phelps Insignia. VM 95. Deep bright ruby. Captivating nose combines blackcurrant, crushed-rock minerality, licorice and violet, complemented by notes of cocoa powder, leather and earth. Densely packed and seriously concentrated, showing an almost chocolatey ripeness that’s leavened by integrated acidity. Flavors of dark berries, minerals and flowers saturate the palate and spread out on the very suave, subtly long aftertaste. There’s no easy sweetness here but the wine’s noble tannins and considerable finesse give it great appeal today. This beautiful blend should go on for many more years on its extract and balance. (Drink between 2019-2035)
1996 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain. VM 92. Deep ruby-red. Aromas of smoky roasted plum and cherry cough drop. Full, sweet and thick, with unusual clarity of flavor for the vintage. This retains its compelling sweetness through its very long aftertaste. Lush, unaggressive tannins hit the palate quite late. A superb ’96.
1996 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford. VM 89. Deep ruby-red. Roasted plum, currant and tobacco on the nose, along with a supersweet suggestion of crystallized red berries. Supple, ripe and pliant, with approachable dark berry and mineral flavors. Tannins are in balance with the wine fruit. Finishes with very good but not outstanding length.
1996 Peter Michael Les Pavots. VM 91+. Perfumed aromas of blueberry, kirsch and framboise, with complicating notes of mint and pencil shavings. Sweet and supple, but firm and penetrating, with sharply defined, intense flavors that are complex but unevolved. Strong acids currently clash with huge tannins. Quite dominated by its structure in the early going, but this very dry wine has the concentration of fruit to benefit from extended bottle aging.
Pasta Fatta in casa con Ragu d’Anatra. Homemade pasta with Duck Ragu.
Yarom’s pasta-less pasta.
1999 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 93+. Full red-ruby. Highly nuanced nose combines sappy black raspberry, black cherry, spicy oak, loam and menthol, plus hints of meat and maple syrup. Offers a compelling combination of sweetness and grip. The lush palate is spicy but shapely and nicely delineated; not yet complex but already exudes lovely inner-mouth perfume. Very long, broad finish features substantial tannins that coat the entire mouth and dust the teeth. Shows the hint of austerity that promises a long and graceful evolution in bottle. Should rank among the best cabernets to date from this world-class producer.
1997 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 97. I have always adored Togni’s 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate because it captures both the natural intensity of the year and the vibrancy that makes these wines so compelling. Powerful and explosive, with huge density, the 1997 hits the palate with waves of dark fruit intermingled with savory herb, charcoal, tobacco and grilled herb overtones. Even with all of its intensity, the 1997 has enough textural richness to drink for another 10-15 years, maybe more, as there is still quite a bit of structure and tannin. Hints of cedar, tobacco, crushed leaves and game add the closing shades of nuance. (Drink between 2017-2027)
1999 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 93. Bright, saturated medium ruby. Very ripe, sweet, aromatic nose combines bitter cherry, currant, chocolate, espresso, baking spices and licorice. Expansive, sweet and mouthfilling; almost shockingly large-scaled for this wine. Velvety and seamless, with ripe acids giving the wine shape. Subtle notes of currant leaf, maple syrup and game. Finishes rich and long, with sweet tannins. Seems riper and more textured than recent vintages of this wine. After 24 hours in the recorked bottle, this showed cassis and bitter chocolate flavors, an even firmer structure and compelling sweetness.
1995 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 95. Healthy medium red. Inviting aromas of red berries, spices and balsamic cedar, plus a faintly liqueur-like quality. At once silky-smooth and firmly built, conveying an impression of energy to its flavors of redcurrant, wild herbs and tobacco. Finishes with dusty but harmonious tannins. This is still remarkably youthful and gives the impression that it will continue to unwind with more time in the cellar. (Drink between 2017-2027)
Braciola di Vitello Farcita. Stuffed veal chop.
Verdure cotte a legna. Wood fired vegetables, in this case eggplant.
And mushrooms.
2005 Alois Kracher Chardonnay/Welschriesling Grande Cuvée TBA #7 Nouvelle Vague. VM 94. Nothing really sticks out in the 2005 #7 Grand Cuvée Trockenbeerenauslese Nouvelle Vague, a wine that is first and foremost about total balance. The style is rich, layered and sumptuous. Apricot jam, cloves and orange peel are supported by lovely beams of acidity. I am not sure the 2005 will improve materially from here, but it might very well keep at this gorgeous plateau for a number of years. Today, it is striking. (Drink between 2013-2023)
Torta di Mandorle with gelato by me.
Matchacchio Latte Gelato and Blue Cherry Gelato at @dinnerattheborgeses by @rocco_the_chef and his wife — the gelato was made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #AndyGavinEats #AndyGavinDrinks #torta #almonds #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #amarena #morello #cherry #blueberry #pistachio #matcha
My vague notes.
The wine lineup. Not too shabby.
Overall, this was an amazing lunch, and the Borgese’s just keep amping up the quality.
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 was better than most restaurant staff. Super friendly and you can tell they do this a lot.
Wines were, as you can, pretty darn impressive!
Restaurant: Guan Dong Da Yuan
Location: 639 W Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 545-5555
Date: June 24 and August 1, 2021
Cuisine: North Eastern Chinese
Rating: Tasty!
On 6/24/21 Yarom and I ventured into the SGV to try out some experimental places on our vast list, the #3 spot was here. It was good enough that we came back in August with a big 2 table group to try out more dishes.
Guan Dong Da Yuan specializes in regional Chinese cuisine from the area across the bay from Korea.
The interior is fairly cute and they have a private room (not shown).
The extensive menu.
Kimchee. It is near Korea, after all.
Baloon Flower. A different kimchee-like marinated veggie. Excellent.
Hot Stone Eggs with Tofu. Very Korean and good stuff.
3 Types of Dumpling. Ron didn’t like. It thought they were workable Jaozi (boiled dumplings).
Guandong Smoked Chicken Bone.
Yanji Sweet and Sour Pork – mochi-like chewy batter that was actually pretty enjoyable.
Stir-Fried Silk Worm!
Hot Stone Beef with Vegetable.
Spicy Crunchy Chicken Cartilage. It was a boney meal!
Spicy Crispy Chicken Cartilage (different day) — pretty much Kung Pao Cartilage and tasty for it.
Eggplant with Green Pppers and Potato. Excellent as well as colorful.
Sautéed Cabbage. I love this dish.
Stone Fried Pork Slices – like a savory/salty version of Panda Express pork.
Mapo Tofu — pretty close to Sichuan style
Stone Beef with Enoki Mushroom — soft and succulent.
Korean Style Cold Noodle Dish.
Guandong Stewed Spare Ribs with Green Peppers and Rice Noodles. Interesting polenta-like cakes.
Guandong Stewed Pork Belly with Rice Noodles. Great textures.
Guandong Pork Bone. More bones (delicious).
Fried Rice.
Caramelized Sugar on Sweet Potato.
Mascarpone Coffee Crunch Gelato — A base infused with Mascarpone Cheese then blended with house-made Coffee Crunch — 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 #cheesecake #mascarpone #cheese #coffee #CoffeeCrunch #candy
Blood Orange Campari Sorbetto — Blood Oranges from Avignon with a bit of Campari — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #BloodOrange #Campari
I really liked this place as it was interesting and regional. A few of our crew who like their Chinese more boring (aka Southern Chinese only) didn’t like it at all, but they were offended by all the bones and silk worms and whatnot — for me that was part of the charm (and flavor).
For more LA dining reviews click here.
For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.
Right across the street is Sham Tsem and the famous “Hooker Motel Ballroom.”
Restaurant: ACC Chinese Fast Food
Location: 38 S Palm Ave, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 281-8577
Date: June 24, 2021
Cuisine: Cantonese BBQ
Rating: Tasty!
On this particular lovely June day Yarom and I ventured into the SGV to try out some experimental places on our vast list.
Stop #2 was this old school Chinese BBQ joint, which has been going strong since the 80s with the same owner/managers.
Small interior, but cute in its own way.
Menu of BBQ specials. They will even do goose with some notice.
The big takeout menu.
BBQ Pork w/ Honey Sauce — excellent.
Roast Duck with Plum Sauce — very succulent and tasty.
The aforementioned Plum Sauce.
Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli with Garlic — very solid classic veg. The extremely nice “boss lady” (aka the owner) insisted that we get some greens to help with our digestion — I think she was taking us under her wing.
ACC was surprisingly excellent. I suspect that their regular Cantonese dishes are decent but very Chinese American style, but their BBQ was first rate. We are thinking to go back with a big group, take over the whole place, and get a whole bunch of roast meats.
Restaurant: Nature Pagoda
Location: 312 W Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 570-8333
Date: June 24, 2021
Cuisine: Herbal Chinese
Rating: Hmmm
On this particular lovely June day Yarom and I ventured into the SGV to try out some experimental places on our vast list.
First up was Nature Pagoda which specializes in a sort of “herbal” Chinese medicine focused “healthy” food.
The interior is, shall we say, minimalst.
There are a few pictures behind the counter.
And the menu.
Flamed Quails — pretty good, if slightly dry.
Stick Combo — okay satay. Nothing great.
Claypot Ribs with Preserved Sausage — interesting. Kinda mild, but tasty.
The jus.
Brown sauce is dumped over it. Not as sweet as I would expect.
Not exactly expensive, but overall I thought that Nature Pagoda was bland. Maybe Chinese health food is just like American!
Restaurant: Montage Loft
Location: 30801 Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651. (949) 715-6080
Date: June 17, 2021
Cuisine: California Cuisine
Rating: Great food but incredible wine
This epic wine week in June 2021 culminates down in the OC — so Kent can join — in an incredible and special La Tâche dinner.
It’s always a little bit of a challenge to find a location for these dinners as we need a spot in the OC willing to accommodate our wines and “relaxed” pacing. This time around we settled on a custom dinner at the Montage Laguna Beach — a lovely hotel I’ve stayed at a couple of times. We basically had a whole room in the dining room to ourselves. Inside dining was minimal because of the pandemic.
Our custom menu.
Fred brought: 1976 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 94. Krug’s 1976 Vintage, tasted from magnum, is rich, deep and powerful, with Riesling-inflected veins of minerality that run through a core of orange peel, ash and dried flowers. A deeply Pinot leaning wine, the 1976 offers notable richness and breadth throughout. The 1976 vintage in Champagne is remembered for a hot, dry growing season with an early harvest that produced intense powerful wines. Krug’s 1976 Vintage is now fully mature. Well-stored examples should continue to drink well for a number of years, although there is no upside from cellaring bottles further. Interestingly, this 1976 magnum was aged on cork, rather than crown capsule, like the 1979 tasted alongside it. (Drink between 2015-2018)
Bread.
Butter.
MZ brought: 1993 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne. BH 95. A softly perfumed and now fully mature nose that still possesses plenty of youthful vibrancy leads to elegant, precise, chiseled and seductive flavors of superb elegance and plenty of power before culminating in a superbly long and mineral-infused finish. The ’93 remains extremely impressive and delivers everything that one expects from a great Corton-Charlemagne. Perhaps even more remarkable is just how youthful this still is because even though there is no further positive development in the offing, it should be capable of holding at this plateau for years to come. In a word, marvelous. Multiple, and consistent, notes.
agavin: one of the best white wines I’ve ever had — just stunning
Kushi Oyster. Pernod, Smoked Trout Roe, Fennel.
Hawaiian Kona Kampachi. Santa Barbara Sea Urchin, Kaluga Caviar, Sudachi Gelee, White Miso.
Hudon Valley Foie Gras. Toasted Almond Milk, Almond Torte, Summer Grape, Minus 8 Vinegar.
2005 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche. VM 100. The 2005 La Tâche is simply magnificent. There is not too much I can add. Deep, powerful and richly textured, the 2005 simply has it all. Time in the glass releases the aromatics, but it is the wine’s pure sensuality I find most enticing. A host of dark red and blue stone fruits, hard candy and wild flowers take center stage. Even with all of its intensity, the 2005 retains striking freshness and purity. Can it get better than this? (Drink between 2020-2055)
agavin: stunning, but very young still. Not sure I’ve had a Burgundy who’s paper scores are this high (99-100).
1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche. VM 100. The 1999 La Tâche Grand Cru can be a perfect wine. This was very similar to the bottle opened in 2015. The bouquet sends you straight to heaven with so much purity and detail that frankly it is difficult to put into words. Fleeting glimpses of redcurrant, then pomegranate, broom and wilted rose petals, later more earthy scents, autumnal. The palate is perfectly balanced with filigree tannin, a symmetry that is utterly entrancing and precision second to none. Hints of black plum and blood orange, that mineralité returning towards a finish so tensile you risk cutting yourself. I would have given this my second score had the 1999 Romanée-Conti been in the next glass. Tasted at the 1999 DRC dinner. (Drink between 2020-2065)
agavin: sadly this bottle was a little weird. Hard to tell if it was very slightly corked, just in an odd spot, or had some other flaw.
House-made Agnolotti. Awesome!
Maine Lobster. California Citrus Butter, Sicilian Pistachio, Farmer’s Market Beets, Potato-fennel Tuile.
A bit of fruit sorbetto.
1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche. BH 99. A stunning, massive, full-on and completely classic La Tâche nose that displays almost unbelievable complexity so with many different elements that it is impossible to even begin to describe them all; the primary components include ethereal and still fresh pinot fruit, clove, knock out spiciness, anise, hoisin, soy and a trace of earth but these elements only hint at the sheer depth. The flavors are big, rich, refined, classy, penetrating and superbly powerful yet everything is in perfect balance and there is more than sufficient sève to balance off the still considerable tannins. The finish is intense, pure and so long that it is haunting; I could literally still taste this wine days later after I had it because it had such a dramatic and emotional impact. In its youth, this was one of the finest young Burgundies that I have ever been privileged to try and it only seems to get better with each passing year. For my taste, this is getting close to arriving at its peak but it’s not quite there though again, I stress that this is to my taste and some may find it to already be in its sweet spot of maturation. In short, this is absolutely brilliant. Note that while I have had relatively consistent notes, I have had two bottles that were a bit astringent on the finish and not in the class of what I describe above. (Drink starting 2015)
agavin: incredible wine. Big, complex, oppulent.
1978 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche. VM 98. The 1978 La Tâche Grand Cru is a wine that it took me almost 20 years to taste and then two came along within the space of a few months. This example was almost identical to the bottle previously tasted in Hong Kong in 2016. Again, it delivers a bewitching bouquet with traits of undergrowth and fern that intertwine with the precisely defined red fruit. It takes a little time for the subtle ferrous note to emerge. The palate is medium-bodied, multi-dimensional and conveys presence rather than mass or density, which I suspect it did in its youth. Symmetrical with disarming focus, you are taken aback by the way it fans out and persists in the mouth. It is a ballet dancer performing a perfect Swan Lake. Stunning. Tasted at the La Paulée in Beaune. (Drink between 2018-2035)
agavin: red wine perfection. Just so perfect!
American Wagyu Beef Loin. Sunchoke Two Ways, Veal Sweet Bread, Mustard Seed, Mosel Mushroom, Sauce Perigourdine.
Kent brought a bonus: 1990 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. BH 91. Rich, ripe but not roasted with elegant, full-bodied flavors that display good density, power and outstanding length. Lovely, complex and still quite young.
agavin: very good, so good it was dancing not far off from the 90 LT!
Cheese plate.
Salted Caramel Coffee Sphere. Hot Cognac Chocolate & Madagascar Vanilla. Really excellent dessert.
Vietnamese Hazelnut Coffee Gelato — Cafe du Monde coffee milk with Piedmontese Hazelnut Paste swirled with Sweetened Condensed Milk — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #vietnameseCoffee #coffee #CafeduMonde #SweetenedCondensedMilk #hazelnut
Matchacchio Latte Gelato — Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea and Sicilian Pistacchio di Bronte DOP gelato base. I was skeptical the first time I made it, but it turned out to be a lovely flavor. And the green is all natural! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #pistacchio #bronte #matcha #GreenTea #Sicily
Burnt Basque Cheesecake Gelato — Milk steeped with Tahitian Vanilla Beans and Valencia Orange Peels and then blended with Cream-cheese and Egg Yolks, layered with house made “burnt” Caramel and topped with house-made Caramel Brittle, finished with the torch! — 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 #basque #cheesecake #caramel #brittle #orange
This was an incredible evening. I was very pleasantly surprised how good the food was. Not mind blowing, but Fred did an excellent job producing the menu and we had a lot of good sized and delicious dishes shooting way over the level of typical hotel fare. The “we have half the dining room to ourselves” vibe was amazing.
But what really stood out were the wines. It’s a bit of a shame that the 99 was weird, and the 05 was too young, but wow wow with regard to the 90 and 78 LT and the 93 Coche!
Previous diners in this week included Providence and N/Naka.
Film: Dune (2021)
Genre: Science Fiction (leaning slightly into Fantasy)
Watched: Oct 22, 2021 (on 80″ home screen, Dolby)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Summary: Excellent, but not without issues to discuss
I must state right off the bat that I’ve been a huge Dune fan for decades. I’ve read the first book 4-5 times and the entire series at least once (although it’s been decades) and am also one of those rare fans of the 1984 David Lynch version. I’ve always liked David Lynch films in general and even in 1984 when my brother and I saw the film in the theaters we both loved it — confusing as it was. Yes, that version is highly flawed, and in its theatrical version almost impossible for novices to follow, but the art design is phenomenal and some of the lines incredibly quotable like “the sleeper must awaken!”
If you are at all interested in viewing or revisiting this slightly dated, but still highly memorable classic, the ultimate version is this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJykw3H4PDw&t=7826s
There have been a lot of Dune 1984 versions, all with issues and this is by far the best. It’s hard to understate how much clearer it is with starts and conclusions to various threads that other versions leave dangling. This remarkable fan edit draws on a huge array of deleted scenes and reworks the entire flow into a comprehensible and detailed narrative. It’s the closest thing we will probably ever get to Lynch’s planned longer vision (the producers just cut his 4 hours of footage down to 2 hours themselves to satisfy the studio).
Anyway, we are here to discuss the 2021 Denis Villeneuve Dune, which was not only released 37 years later, but runs longer than the 1984 theatrical version and only covers the first half of the novel — so theoretically it uses about 250% more minutes per page. Reading many reviews beforehand, and much excited, I expected the new movie to cover enough of Frank Herbert’s immense world building, vast cast, and complicated political plot to allow “novices” — defined as those who have not read the novels — to follow along.
Alas, I’m not sure it did. Having introduced countless friends to the joys of the 1984 version — which I gleefully owned on Laserdisc as far back as 1990 — I learned that about 10 minutes of pre-screening briefing and a number of mid-pause asides during the film drastically increased people’s enjoyment. So having decided to watch the new film with my 12.9 year-old SciFi/Fantasy/VideoGame loving son, I gave him a bit of background. And boy am I glad I did. He needed a lot of mid film explanations and ended up enjoying it a lot, but he declared that without them it would have been a jumble of meaningless action.
That’s not to say that the 2021 Dune isn’t a great film. I enjoyed it immensely and its art direction, cinematography, casting, acting, and very importantly sound design are totally epic. And it’s very faithful to the (first half of the) novel — more than the 1984 version — but it also offers far more subtext and far less outright exposition with regard to both the plot and the world building. Bear in mind that this world is very complex with dozens of important factions and characters.
Paul and his mother Lady Jessica get more development than in 1984 as does Duncan Idaho and Liet Kynes but others, notably both mentats (Thufir and Piter) and Dr. Yueh are, if not less developed, at least “less explained.” There is relatively little effort made in the new Dune to actually explain most of the complex factions of Dune‘s universe. I’m not even sure that the word “mentat” is used in the film nor is “imperial conditioning.” There are nods to them. Yueh has the imperial symbol on his forehead. The mentats have a funny lip tattoo and roll their eyes back when “computing” but I think Villeneuve and his team decided that going into a lot of exposition about these evolved humans and societies would distract from the narrative — or at the very least make it impossible for them to tell the story of the first novel in their planned five hours — and they may be right. Really, I think Dune (the first novel) deserves about 10-12 hours and would be best suited to a Game of Thrones style TV series — ideally with the same production values as this film. Alas, wishful thinking. But reworking this plot and world building enough to allow showing rather than telling would be very challenging. George R. Martin wrote his novels, particularly the first three, in a more cinematic style that leant itself better to this as it has constant twists and turns while doing said world building. Dune relies more heavily on just exposition in a way that works well in a novel and less so in a 21st century film.
However, what we do have on screen is spectacular. The casting is uniformly awesome. The two mentats and Yueh have a bit less personality than in 1984, but other than that I’d say everyone is really really well cast — so much so that for someone like me, very familiar with the characters — they just inhabit the rolls naturally. Certainly Timothée Chalamet is more appropriate than Kyle MacLachlan as Paul, even if I love Kyle MacLachlan’s work (particularly in other David Lynch masterpieces like Twin Peaks). Timothée is both younger and far less wooden. He seems to be learning and changing as the film progresses. Stellan Skarsgård might not be as colorful or pervy as the 1984 Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, but he is far more menacing, creepy, and intelligent. The acting is of course far more modern and free of that 1980s over-the-top style and equally free of the oddball voiceover thoughts that the older film uses to give insights into the characters and plot. But while this makes it far less cheesy, those voiceovers did serve important functions in the older film and I couldn’t help but hear them in my head while watching the new scenes — which again begs the question as to how well the uninitiated will understand the what and why. That being said, there is more effort put into explaining those aspects of the plot which are most important, particularly many political elements, but it’s a bit streamlined. For example, a scene where the Bene Gesserit visit the baron and insist that he not kill Jessica and Paul explains why he chooses to send them into the dessert rather than just straightforwardly kill them.
Paul’s visions — essential in both the novel and previous versions — are retained and reworked here. For me, knowing what I know, they did an excellent job suggesting his unmooring from the present and “expansion” into the possibilities of the future. Herbert’s novel is a product of the 1960s and full of not-so-subtle drug and religious metaphors. There was enough vision material in the film that I could find the strands to imagine the beginnings of Paul’s ascension into the Kwisatz Haderach but it requires some foreknowledge and imagination.
And it must be restated how gorgeous (and great sounding) this film is. It offers big shots free of obvious CGI (even if they are) fabulous costumes and an extremely artful and very Villeneuve directorial style. Every shot is composed with regard to the spaces and geometry to present striking imagery. And Hans Zimmer’s very Hans Zimmer score is moody and powerful, if less Toto than the also excellent Lynch version score. The 2021 Dune is shot and edited in this artful cinematic style and what is decidedly measured and by modern standards. Villeneuve shows unusual willingness to eschew rapid cuts leading to an entirely cinematic work. It does not feel like television at all. It’s clearly a film in the grand tradition of such and therefore has that emotional visual impact that is one of the great hallmarks of the film medium.
So I eagerly begin what is hopefully only a 2-3 year wait for part 2!
Restaurant: J Zhou
Location: 2601 Park Ave, Tustin, CA 92782. (714) 258-8833
Date: June 17, 2021
Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese
Rating: Amazing (if pricey) crab
Today is the third day of our epic Foodie Club June mega week, and tonight is a special La Tâche dinner deep in the OC, so we wanted to “warm up” (sans wine) with a bit of Orange County Chinese food.
J Zhou is the fanciest of the OC’s big Cantonese palaces and I’ve heard good things about it for a long time.
There were 3 of us, but we had our own private room as Fred is friends with the manager.
The daytime dim sum menu.
Seafood dumpling in egg wrapper. These were delicate and delicious!
XLB. A decent, but not amazing version of this classic.
Roast Squabs or Quail. I thought these were some of the crispiest and meatiest little roast birds I’ve had in a long time. Delicious!
We pre-ordered a huge king crab and they prepared it 3 days. This first way was just simply steamed with a bit of vermicelli underneath soaked in crab juices and soy. Incredibly fresh and sweet — hey they did bring in the live crab a few minutes before!
King crab typhoon style. Crispy and amazing.
King Crab Brûlée. Egg custard in the crab shell was also silky smooth.
We didn’t sample that many dishes because we had an epic wine dinner just a few hours later, but what I had was all excellent. The crab in particular was amazing, but it was full premium price per pound — no super steal discount at all. I would like to come back and try a full dim sum spread.
