agavin

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Bovon Holbox v1

Sep22

Restaurant: Holbox [1, 2]

Location: 3655 S Grand Ave c9, Los Angeles, CA 90007. (213) 986-9972

Date: January 20, 2024

Cuisine: Mexican Seafood

Rating: Private room shenagigans

I’ve been meaning to try Holbox for a while — years even. Recently (summer 2024) they earning a Michelin Star!

One of just eight restaurants inside Historic South Central L.A.’s Mercado La Paloma, Holbox (from the Mayan-named island of Holbox – pronounced “hole-bosh” – off Mexico’s northern Yucatán Peninsula) is a Mexican seafood restaurant that focuses on fresh local ingredients, vibrant flavors, and unpretentious presentation. The menu features specialties from coastal regions of Mexico, seen through the lens of its southern California and Baja California ingredients. We offer a casual order-at-the-counter service in a food hall setting and also host weekly 8-course tasting menu dinners on Thursdays and Fridays.

Holbox emerged from the Mercado, where Chef Gilbert Cetina cooked alongside his father at the still vibrant neighboring stall, Chichen Itza. Holbox opened in 2017 and has continued to garner awards and recognition, including 1-Star Michelin 2024, Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2019, 2021, and 2022, LA Times Restaurant of the Year 2023, and ranked #5 on the 2023 LA Times 101 Best Restaurant list. Chef Cetina was a 2023 James Beard Finalist for Best Chef California.

Food court!

The actual space.

Typical line just about all the time.

Bovon setup this special dinner in their large but unglamorous “private room.”

Tonight’s menu.

All you can eat oysters.

And scallops.

These were served with a variety of toppings — hot sauce and vinegar.

Sea Urchin & Halibut. Live Santa Barbara Sea Urchin and local halibut ceviche.

Scallop Aguachile.

Bluefin Tuna Tostada. Baja bluefin tuna, avocado puree, arbol-peanut sauce.

Wagyu Taco. Miyazaki wagyu striploin, guacamole, handmade tortia, pico de gallo. Very tender.

Tomahawk. Grilled prime Tomahawk steak, roasted fingerling potatoes. This is not on their normal menu.

Rice and beans

Kanpachi al Carbon. Omega Azul Baja kanpachi cooked whole over mesquite, handmade tortillas, pico de gallo, avocado.

Tortillas.

Grilled lemons.

Cheesecake.

Almond Ricotta and Orange Old Fashioned Gelato.

The wines.

Very fun night. Food was good, although in some ways similar to Bea’s Tacos. The zesty seafood was better than the meats, as the steak was a bit overcooked. It’s not one of their normal things, only being available at this special private dinner.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, Holbox, Jeff Bovon, Mexican, Seafood, Steak, Wine

Steak 48 is Great

Sep19

Restaurant: Steak 48

Location: 9680 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 388-0048

Date: January 19, 2024

Cuisine: Steak house

Rating: Top notch steak house

Steak 48 is the new super chi-chi giant Beverly Hills epic steakhouse by the people who originally brought us Mastros (before it sold out).

The creators of Steak 48 wanted a space with a warm, contemporary atmosphere and luxurious personal service. To complete this total dining experience, Steak 48 offers only the best in steak and seafood. Dining options include USDA Prime steaks, highest-grade Japanese A5 Wagyu, flown-in fresh seafood, and shellfish. The perfect complement for dinner is any one of our delicious sides and inventive appetizers. For an impeccable dining experience, pair your meal with a handcrafted cocktail or choose your favorite wine from our world-class collection of over 6,000 bottles.

Attention to detail, pride, and innovation are at the heart of everything we do, crafting the ultimate guest experience in California fine dining. Let’s have a great evening together.

Join us for one of California’s finest total dining experiences.

Some gelato in a case. Doesn’t look as good as Sweet Milk, of course.

Great looking raw bar.

Wine from the list (because Seb is obsessed with the list :-)).

Pan baked bread.

Raw bar tower with iced alaskan king crab legs, colossal shrimp cocktail, and fresh oysters. The shrimp in particular were really excellent. Big, meaty, and fresh.

Served with house-made cocktail sauce, drawn butter, atomic horseradish, creamy mustard, and champagne mignonette.

Pacific yellowtail hamachi. heart of palm, tapenade, white soy. Just fine. Boring though.

Maine lobster escargot. Chick lobster, truffle mornay sauce, caviar. These were really tasty but so temperature hot that I could barely taste them.

Crispy shrimp deviled eggs. deviled eggs, parmesan, crispy shrimp. Interesting concept.

Crispy shrimp. Sweet thai chili, garlic aioli. Basically a clone of the guilty pleasure shrimp from Nobu (and many other copies). Sweet and fried. Haha.

Braised pork belly. Local honey, sweet thai chili, sauteed spinach. More of that sweet “Thai” chili sauce. It makes everything tasty — and glucose spiking.

Truffled & salted crispy fries. Maldon seasalt, white truffle oil, shaved parm, local goat cheese buttermilk. These were some of the best fries I’ve ever had. Super crispy, different sizes, salty, great sauces.

Trio of classic condiments.

Bone in ribeye.

Bone in Kansas city strip. Very tasty steak. The plates were blistering hot. You could hear the steak sizzling when you transfered it to your own plate.

Creamed Spinach. Chopped spinach, smoked garlic, artichoke hearts, sweet corn. Very creamy and rich.

Roasted brussels sprouts. Sea salt, hardwood smoked bacon, get thesel. Solid with lots of bacon.

Off menu Tomohawk.

Australian heritage whole rack of lamb. This first batch was overcooked but they sent out a second pinker one.

Sauteed wild mushrooms. seasonal variety, garlic, parsley, thyme. Classic.

Sauteed sweet corn, cilantro, chopped parsley. Super sweet and delicious. In fact, I think there was straight up brown sugar crystals in there!

Very chocolate cake. dark chocolate ganache, milk chocolate butter cream, bada bing cherries. Very soft and rich. Needed some whipped cream to “cut the chocolate.”

Beignet tree! Really hot and delicious actually.

Creme Anglaise, chocolate sauce.

Whipped Cream.

Ultimate warm vanilla caramel cake. vanilla gelato, whipped cream, homemade toasted brown sugar cinnamon pecans.

Overall, this was a spectactular meal and night. This place runs like a perfectly oiled machine and while the menu is pretty straight up modern steak house, the execution is really really good. Near perfect for what it is. Big lively place too with lots of party tables. We had an awesome time.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: beef, hedonsits, Steak, steak 48, steakhouse

Eating San Fran – State Bird

Sep17

Restaurant: State Bird Provisions

Location: 1529 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115. (415) 795-1272

Date: January 17, 2024

Cuisine: New American Tapas

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

…..state bird provisions started as a recipe for serving quail, it has slowly evolved into a restaurant without any programmed elements…..

The menu. Plus they brought around a lot of stuff on carts like at dim sum.

smoked trout-allium chip’n’dip. Really good with a ncie smoky flavor.

Oysters with something.

duck liver mousse & almond financiers.

garlic bread burrata & 7 pepper spice. Carb buster, but great. Nice texture.

cucumbers lemon tahini, sumac & feta.

pork belly ‘salad’ grapes & fish sauce vinaigrette. Very viet/thai.

Beef tongue pastrami, arugula, capers, and parmesan. Like a pastrami carpacccio.

1/2 dozen whole shrimp dumplings. aromatic lemongrass broth. Lots of dense shrimp.

red trout toasted hazelnut & mandarin-garum vinaigrette.

butternut squash mochi chanterelle mushrooms & goat cheese fondue. Sweet but great texture.

5 spice lamb noodles, squid, dates & thai basil. Yummy. Sweet and savory.

The squid on the side.

20th Century Cafe Butterscotch pudding, coffee cream, blood orange & pinenuts.

Some really good stuff here — whacky and different — but great flavors and quite unique.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Eating San Fran – Delfina

Sep15

Restaurant: Delfina SF

Location: 3621 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94110. (415) 437-6800

Date: January 16, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Modern Rustic Italian

Second work dinner of this January SF trip.

Delfina, San Francisco’s beloved James Beard Award-winning trattoria, has been pioneering Cal-Italian cuisine for over 20 years. Owners Craig and Annie Stoll opened the classic eatery in 1998 to immediate success, with Food & Wine naming Craig Stoll Best New Chef in 2001. Over the years, Delfina has earned a James Beard Award and expanded operations to include Pizzeria Delfina, serving up some of the best Neapolitan-inspired pizza and seasonal dishes with four locations across the Bay Area. With warm hospitality, excellent service, and memorable dishes that are rooted in Italian flavors and driven by the Bay Area’s seasonal bounty, Delfina has solidified its reputation as a true San Francisco classic. In October 2022, Delfina reopened with a gorgeous renovation by Fucinaro Architects and Roy Hospitality, reimagining the restaurant’s interior.

The menu.

Fryer Creek Deviled Eggs. smoked whitefish mantecato, horseradish.

Mortadella. Rovagnati.

Warm Castelvetrano Olives.

Insalata di Campo. chicories and greens, Delfina pancetta, walnuts, parmigiano, balsamico.

Parm on the side.

Fryer Creek Squash Sformato. parmigiano fonduta, chestnuts, aceto balsamico tradizionale.

Mezzalune Val d’Aosta. fontina, almonds, white truffle butter.

Kuri Squash Tortelloni. sage-brown butter, cavolo nero.

Spaghetti Pomodoro.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina. 2lb dry-aged prime.

Umpqua Valley Lamb Leg Marocchino. spiced yogurt, olivata, butter beans da Delfina.

Fryer Creek Tokyo Turnips. bagna cauda, breadcrumbs.

Butter Beans da Delfina. garlic, sage, xvoo.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta. passion fruit. A touch sour.

Cocoa Nib Pavlova. caramel gelato, warm chocolate sauce, hazelnuts.

Very solid semi rustic Italian.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Delfina, italian, pasta, Pizza, San Francisco, Wine

Eating San Fran – Lily

Sep13

Restaurant: Lily

Location: 225 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118. (415) 742-5285

Date: January 15, 2024

Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion

Rating: Tasty!

One of the quick meals I hit on my recent SF trips.

This was some very tasty 70/30 Vietnamese/modern fusion food.

The fusion menu.

Jackfruit “Pizza” BANH TRANG NUONG MIT– gf/v. Banana Rice Paper, Rodriquez Farms Onions and Peppers, Vietnamese Herbs Pesto, Sambal, Shallot Aioli. Very bright sweet and sour flavors — delicous!

Market Vegetable Stir Fry -gf/v. Garlic and Ginger, Maggi Sauce, Sesame. Tasty but basic.

Braised Oxtail in the Hue Style. Bo Kho Hue. Fermented Shrimp Paste and Tomato Bolognese, Cilantro Fat Noodles, Five Spice Buttered Carrots. Very tasty, although lots of bone as usual with Oxtail.

Classic Turmeric Fried Catfish CHA CA LA VONG – gf. Banh Hoi Rice Noodles, Heirloom Organics Dill and Onions, Fermented Shrimp and Pineapple Sauce, Shrimp Chips. Very soft fry.

The add ons and mix-ins.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Lily, San Francisco, vietnamese

A Different Duck House

Sep11

Restaurant: Duck House [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 501 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 284-3227

Date: January 7, 2024

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Good duck

Duck House is a staple SGV restaurant for my gang. The food is good, it’s on the closer side, and the owner is incredibly nice. I’ve even housed a birthday dinner here. But this is my personal first return after the pandemic.

This was a slightly different Duck House crew, a bit more open to exotic ordering.

Gift from the house – chili bamboo shoots. I’ve had this dish, but these were marinated/fermented with salt and something and had this delightful crunch and woody smell and taste. Quite strong on the woody so not eveyone liked it.

Cold jellyfish. Nicely crunchy thick jellyfish “noodles.” Some, but not overwelming vinegar.

Crack Chicken. As always this cold chicken with the mildly creamy, spicy, numbing sauce is amazing. It’s all about the sauce which I got to go.

Fried fishcake and roe balls. Interesting, a bit like some of the ones that are offered with hot pot. Pretty tasty though.

Corn and Shrimp Bird’s Nest. The nest is just a fried noodle of sorts. This was actually a very plesant dish with all that corn in white supreme sauce.

Chinese greens with Egg and Crab Meat sauce. One of those goopy yellow sauces but quite pleasant.

Sea Cucumber and Abalone. More a lot of mushroom. There wasn’t that much of the rare chewy sea creatures but the unctuous mushrooms sauce was kinda delicious.

Peking Duck.

Condiments.

Pancake.

Scallion Lamb. Very tender and not gamey at all.

String beans. Duck House makes a great (and slightly sweet) version of this dish.

Crispy Deep Fried Cumin Duck Tails. Super salty, fatty, and delicious.

Noodles with scallions and beef. Worth the carbs.

Shanghai Style Red Sauce Pork. Super fatty but tasty.

Sweet Bean pancake. Yup, odd Chinese desserts.

Egg and Sesame Ball Soup. This was one of the better versions of this oddball (bada bing) sweet soup.

This was probably my favorite Duck House meal — in no small part because of the better ordering. Service was absolutely first rate as always. So fun as always and I’d definitely say that Duck House is a great SGV gateway drug place for those who need to baby into the more extreme and different stuff.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese Food, Duck House, Foodie Club, Peking Duck, SGV, Wine

Short at Shirubē

Sep09

Restaurant: Shirubē

Location: 424 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 393-2533

Date: January 4, 2024

Cuisine: Japanese Izakaya

Rating: Close and solid

I’ve wanted to try this place for a while — and theoretically it’s close.

This photo was taken after we ate, fairly late. For most of our dinner the place was jammed. Weird hard to find location on Wilshire and 4th too, a block from the old PF Changs etc.

The menu.

Sashimi Mori. Chefs select assorted sashimi. Fresh and very good.

Aburi Shime Saba. Cured mackerel seared in front of you. Very clean with that strong fish oil. I like the strong mustard too. Paul wasn’t as big a fan.

Wagyu Steak. Yuzukoshi, furikake potatoes, wasabi. Also solid.

Jidori. Organic free range chicken thigh with house ponzu. Excellent for grilled chicken. Tender and juicy.

Chawanmushi. Steamed egg custard, ikura, snow crab. Nice crab and roe chawan.

Kamo. Duck breast, yuzu shio koji, ikura, daikon.

Izawaya food was solid here at Shirube. I need to come back and try again though as I didn’t get to order as I would have liked — particlarly due to just trying to avoid carbs. I was slightly miffed near the end when I asked for some of their “toro tacos” without rice and was blown off in this “the customer is not always right” kind of way. They just left revenue in my pocket and irritated me.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Izakaya, Paul Rosenberg, Shirubē

Rayas Roccos

Sep07

Restaurant: Dinner at the Borgese’s [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Location: Santa Monica

Date: December 20, 2023

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 was another Hedonist dinner but this time with a Chateau Rayas wine theme.

Lovely night out on the patio.

The menu.

Bistecca chilling out.

Rocco in the kitchen.

Marinating quail.

Lamb chops.

The wines.

Tonight’s menu.

Carpaccio di Tonno Pinna Blu. Blue fin tuna carpaccio. Salt forward and lovely.

Risotto all’aragosta della California. California Spiny Lobster Risotto.

Grilled Quail. This Rocco classic was a sort of supplement.

Pasta Fatta in Casa al Tartufo Bianco. Homeade Pasta with White Truffle.

Costolette di agnello doppie del Neiman Ranch. Neiman Ranch Double Lamb Chops. The double is always better!

Awesome polenta.

Porterhouse di Creekstone. Creekstone Porterhouse.

Verdure cotte a legna. Wood fired vegetables. Potatoes.

Carrots with a sweet glaze.

Abstract art edition of — Cherry Bakewell Tart Gelato — While watching every episode of the Great British Baking Show I was introduced to the Bakewell Tart, which I liked it enough to make a gelato — Sicilian Noto Romano Almond Ricotta Base is layered with house-made Honey Almond Graham Crackers and Cherry Preserves. For extra fun I made an Almond Icing and glazed the Grahams with it in the traditional pattern — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Sicily #Almond #Cherry #GrahamCracker #BakewellTart #tart #bakewell #jam #icing

Orange Old Fashioned Sorbetto — Cold Pressed Orange 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

Very fun night with an awesome (and typical) crew and great great wines. Food was really fabulous as always, and there was tons, although I’ve had Rocco’s meals where I liked the mains more. Tonight’s standout was the quail (always is).

First of all, the Borgese hospitality was awesome, the house lovely, and the food absolutely incredible. One of the best “home cooked” meals 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.

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.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chateauneuf du Pape, Gelato, hedonists, rayas, Rocco Borgese, Santa Monica

Specials at Sands

Sep05

Restaurant: Sands Chinese Restaurant 金沙中餐館

Location: 15706 Arrow Hwy, Irwindale, CA 91706. (626) 338-6686

Date: December 30, 2023

Cuisine: Southern Chinese

Rating: Very good and lots of interesting dishes

Sands is a a newish Hong Kong / Cantonese place that Keong and Sklar really enjoy. Keong setup a very extensive custom banquet here on the second to last day of the year. Only problem is that it’s so far east — but at least there wasn’t much traffic.

This is a smallish mom & pop place, but they do have “fancier” food available for advanced order. The owner was the chef at some famous restaurant in Macau.

Double Boiled Winter Melon Soup. Interesting textures. A touch sweet and bland for me, but with some white pepper was quite pleasant. Had a lot of the tasteless but vaguely sweet melon. Some fish maw, mushrooms, and shrimp.

Lobster Salad. I’ve had this at least 2 times before. It’s like ambroisa salad, the Chinese lobster edition. Not to my taste as it’s sweet and the mayo and sweet fruit overwealm what was a very nicely cooked lobster.

Lotus Leaf Rice. Over-steamed, bland and heavy. This was my least favorite dish of the night and the most carbacious.

Steamed Cod. Lovely delicate cod. Hard to pick up with chopsticks as it was so delicate, but great taste and texture.

Sichuan Cold Chicken. Yarom ordered this because he didn’t want the rice. Turned out to be quite good. The sauce was full of “flavor” and delicious. Chicken was juicy.

Mushrooms with Shrimp Paste and “Lobster Sauce.” A delicious silky bite. The broccoli, as we shall see, was a stable for the night.

Crispy Fried Chicken. Great crispy fried chicken as described. They also debuted what was to be one of many little figurines made out of pressed flour and/or sugar or something.

Pipa Tofu. More broccoli and these “oyster-like” tofu fried balls. Delicious actually. Better than the real oysters (a few dishes later).

Sweet and sour sauce for the fried stuff.

Steamed Tofu with Minced Shrimp. Silky and delicious.

Deep Fried Oysters. The real oysters which were a touch heavy and fried — but I never love fried oysters. Did have a cool dragon head.

A5 Beef. Very soft.

Braised Stuffed Duck. Interesting duck. Very rich and quite delicious. It was stuffed with a LOT of stuff, known as the 8 treasures. List comming up.

The 8 treasures!

Beef Cube with Sichuan Sause (spelling intentional). Felt a little pork-like and was in one of those Panda Express type sweet and sour sauses (hehe).

Braised Pork Belly. Very decadent.

Oatmeal Shrimp. Never had this before. Actually pretty good!

Lettuce with Fermented Bean Curd. I prefer with cabbage, but this was pleasant too.

Chicken Skin Spread with Shrimp Paste. Another crispy chicken, this time sort of a version of 100 flower chicken. Hot and delicious.

Deep Fried Taro Tossed with Sugar. These actually weren’t bad for a weird Chinese dessert.

And it included yet another cute figurine.

Yar! Ghostly skeletal praline pirates are marauding — Pecan Pirate Praline Gelato — An eggy ultra-smooth Texas Pecan base layered with my creepy skull-shaped New Orleans style Vanilla Bourbon Pecan Pralines — 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 #vanilla #bourbon #pecan #praline #candy #halloween #spooky

Overall, a great and very interesting meal. There were lots of new dishes here, which I love, and lots of great ones. Interesting Southern Chinese style, simutaneously fancy and home style. Lots of fry. Not every dish was sucessful. Despite my comments, they mostly worked. The Lotus Leaf Rice was the only true dud. I just have issues with the sweetness of some of the others. But I absolutely love trying new things and this was chock ful of them. The staff were incredibly nice and really cared. As of 12/30/23 they were still applying for their Liquor Liscense.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, hedonists, SGV

Szechuan Delicious Was

Sep03

Restaurant: Szechuan Delicious

Location: 8921 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 559-9017

Date: December 29, 2023

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Very tasty

It’s been like 6 months since I was able to get out to an AFF, but the holidays provided a decent openning.

Szechuan Delicious is a relatively new addition to the profusion of often excellent SGV Szechuan restaurants.

Straightforward interior.

Good sized menu.

Salty / sweet peanuts.

Hot & Sour Jelly. Excellent version of this dish — which is always a favorite of mine.

Sliced Beef & Ox Tongue in Chili Sauce. This dish is known as Couples Sliced Offal in Chinese and delivers a very solid chili/salt flavor profile. There were some nice onions and celery underneath.

Szechuan Style Marinated Duck. Very solid duck with nice ducky flavor. Lots of bone of course.

It also came with this random Duck Fried Rice.

Szechuan Pork Slices with Preserved Vegetable. Super soft and fatty with great mustard greens underneath. This avoided either the mushy quality or over salting that some versions suffer from and instead had a lovely fat and savory quality.

Rattan pepper Live Fish. Great chili mala broth with delicate soft fish and plenty of bones. Not as hot as SI.

Sour & Spicy Shredded Eel & Vermicelli. This was a newish dish for me. I’ve had what was essentially the same without the veggies or eel, but I loved this sour/spicy sauce and the eel was soft and delicious.

Griddle Chicken. Lots of bones, but awesome depth of flavor. Really delicious.

MaPo Tofu. Very solid version of the classic. Some mala.

Dan Dan Mein. This is the soupy version. Pleasant, but I like the nuttier more intense variant.

OMG was this a deal. $35/pp all in. Szechuan Delicious is one of the better Szechuan places I’ve been to recently. Big menu and every dish was quite good. A bit on the rustic side, but very nice kitchen.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: AFF, Chinese Food, SGV, Szechuan Chinese, Szechuan cuisine

Raving about Miyagi

Sep01

Restaurant: Sushi Miyagi [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]

Location: 150 S Barrington Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (323) 382-5635

Date: December 15, 2023

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Top Shelf Omakase Sushi

Great sushi is always a good excuse to pull out the beloved Champagnes and White Burgundies. Tonight’s Foodie Club theme was Raveneau.

The unassuming storefront on the largely ignored side street that is S Barrington Ave.

The space is small but attractive (these are pre covid pics).

This is chef focused serious sushi, and so we pre-ordered the largest omakase possible — Erick even egged them on to a larger than offered menu. This picture is also pre-covid, post there is a plexiglass barrier across the bar and no bar seating.

Chef Shinichi Miyagi says about himself on his website:

Born in Osaka, the art of sushi mesmerized the chef at an early age and decided to devote his life as a “Decchi” (apprentice) under Master Higuchi at the age of 16. He opened his first “Kappo” (traditional style of cooking in front of a crowd) restaurant at the age of 25, and moved to LA at 29, working in numerous well known Sushi restaurants in West LA, Beverly Hills, and San Diego.

Through managing a Sushi restaurant in Manhattan Beach (i-naba), now in present day, he found an opportunity to try his skills as an executive chef in Brentwood/Los Angeles. The chefs many years of experience in choosing the freshest fish, will surprise even the most sophisticated pallets of this beautiful city.

His methods and techniques in preparation follows the traditional Japanese style, bringing out the true flavors of the fish. The chef also prepares two styles of rice, AKAZU SHARI (Red vinegar sushi rice), and SHIROZU SHARI (White vinegar rice). The SHARI (Sushi rice) will alternate depending on the fish being prepared, and we hope you enjoy the eclectic flavors of the different vinegars being used.Sushi Miyagi is exactly the kind of sushi place I like best — all omakase and very traditional. This is some seriously good fish. Mostly just straight nigiri and a bit of spectacular sashimi and a handful of cooked dishes. This is really really good and instantly catapulted into the top westside sushi joints. Very friendly too. Intimate as well. Sushi at this level is all about the chef and Shinichi Miyagi is very talented.

Appetizer plate with oyster and caviar (left), sea squirt (top), monkfish liver (front), Japanese conche (right), and fried river crab (back right).

Sashimi plate with two whitefish and smoked bonito.

Shirako (cod fish sperm sacks), boiled, with ponzu. This is my favorite prep.

Fried oyster and clam with mustard sauce.

Sekogani (female snow crab). Super succulent with that deep crab flavor and lots of roe.

Snapper.

Hokkaido scallop.

Shimaji. Stripped jack.

White fish with liver. Quite interesting.

Lightly seared fish.

Salmon.

Can’t remember.

Awesome maguro.

Toro.

Sardine or mackerel, oily and marinated.

Clam.

Seared Baby barracuda.

Snapper with truffle.

Hokkaido uni.

Seared A5 beef sushi (awesome).

Dashi with noodles.

Crab hand roll.

Truffle ice cream.

Tea.

The gang.

Sushi Miyagi is exactly the kind of sushi place I like best — all omakase and very traditional. This is some seriously good fish. Mostly just straight nigiri and a bit of spectacular sashimi and a handful of cooked dishes. This is really really good and instantly catapulted into the top westside sushi joints. Very friendly too. Intimate as well. Sushi at this level is all about the chef and Shinichi Miyagi is very talented.

Not for the sushi neophytes and roll lovers, but fabulous for those of us who really enjoy great fish being showcased in a straightforward and delicious manner.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Brentwood, Chablis, Foodie Club, ravenau, Sushi

Emperor Yamamoto

Aug30

Restaurant: 鮨やまもと / Sushi Yamamoto

Location: N Rodeo Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Date: December 14, 2023

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: One of the best meals of the year

And so we come to the Foodie Club’s epic End of Year Blowout!

At one of LA’s most elite sushi spots, up stairs on Rodeo in the old Ginza Sushiko spot.

The sushi bar

Our special menu.

Ginger. I had about 10 of these.

Kichiji-rock fish in dashi. Mild and delicious. Super soft and tender.

Astrea caviar of course.

Kyoto fresh bean curd with caviar. Very grassy soy flavor. Texture like very fresh burrata.

Kinmedai-goldeneye snapper sashimi. The peppery yuzu-kosho was awesome.

Tri of tunas.

Taka’s chu-toro.

Taka’s o-otoro.

Taka’s maguro in a tiny handroll.

Benny’s shrimp.

Buri (wild yellow tail).

Saba (mackerel).

Hokkigai (surf clam)

Sekogani (female snow crab) with crab sauce. Super succulent with that deep crab flavor and lots of roe. The soft silky sauce really took it up a level too.

Hokkaido uni (sea urchin).

Astrea Caviar Toro roll.

House-made buckwheat soba noodles.

Shrimp soba (hot). Perfect soba with that awesome slightly soggy perfect tempura shrimp.

Cold soba with caviar. Also great, but I preferred the hot.

Unagi (fresh water eel). Super soft.

Tamago (sweet egg).

A tro of birthday cakes!

Satsuma Tangerine Ice Cream. Very mild.

A tro of Sweet Milk Gelato (Choco-mole, Orange Old Fashioned, and Bakewell Tart).

Basque Cheesecake with Caviar and Stawberry Cake.

Tea.

Uh. Wow! Pretty incredible evening, although I got home at 1am!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, BYOG, Caviar, crab, Eve, Foodie Club, Fu, Gelato, Japanese Sushi, Sushi, Wine, Yamamoto

Shin Sushi

Aug28

Restaurant: Shin Sushi

Location: 16573 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91436. (818) 616-4148

Date: December 6, 2023

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Very solid high end sushi

I’ve been wanting to try Shin for some time.

Here is our extremely enthusiastic host!

Appetizer plate of river crab, seasonal mushrooms, house-made tofu, monkfish liver, conche etc.

Little snapper and adult snapper of the same fish breed.

Black snapper.

Hokkaido scallop with yuzu.

Blue fin tuna from Spain with 100 year soy sauce.

Torched Japanese Ocean Trout — one of my favorites.

Menagi baby chive sushi. really great actually.

Fish bone miso. Very rich and lovely.

Japanese sardine with Salt and vinegar.

Japanese seasonal whitefish in the snapper family (he likes snapper!)

Santa Barbara sweet shrimp.

Buri (yellowtail).

Otoro slightly seared with binchochan charcoal.

Hokkaido uni.

Tamago.

Ice cream with sweet sauce.

Coffee jelly and cream.

Got crabs? This was a really fun dinner with lots of great champ and whites (particularly my Lafon). The chef is very nice and extremely enthusiastic. He’s definately a highly skilled sushi chef and the food reflected that. My only issue is that the rice was very lightly vinegared and I like an assertive vinegar on my sushi rice as I’m an acid fiend.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: hedonists, Japanese cuisine, SFV, shin sushi

Culina Krug

Aug26

Restaurant: Culina Modern Italian [1, 2, 3]

Location: 300 S Doheny Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310) 860-4000

Date: December 4, 2023

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Way downhill

Hotel restaurants are always rebooting themselves, and so it goes with the 4 Seasons Beverly Hills. I ate here twice in 2017 and had very good meals, so I was reasonably optimistic coming into this Krug dinner.

Sebastian and David Chhay put together this really fun night of awesome wines at Culina in the Beverly Hills 4 Seasons.

We had this private nook.

The special menu. It paired, but it wasn’t exactly large.

Caspian Queen Caviar. We all thought this was an amuse — but it turned out to be a course!

Yellow Tail Crudo. Tasty enough — if typical — but not exactly filling.

Charred Beausoleil Oyster. The theme continues. These had a nice bacony taste, but two small oysters is like 3g of food.

Chilean Seabass. And finally a larger course comes and it’s a dry and basically bland hunk of slightly over-cooked fish.

There was so little food that Seb ordered some focciacia!

Prime Brandt NY. Just fine. Nothing special.

This wasn’t another course, it was just the pescatarian option for someone who didn’t want beef.

Vanilla Gelato, Truffle Honey, Persimmon, Pizelle. Texture was a bit grainy.

The wines were incredible and the evening super fun — but the food was very light and not particularly exciting. Culina had much better food years ago under Mirko.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Champagne, Culina, Italian cuisine, Krug

An Array of Goodness

Aug24

Restaurant: Array36 – 36宴

Location: 5449 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91776. (626) 866-0623

Date: December 2, 2023 and May 5 & July 21, 2024

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great new “high end” Chinese

I was eager to find out about Array 36, another new “high end” Chinese resteraunt in the SGV — most similar to Orange County’s Chang’an.

We booked a private room for 14 and pre-ordered a number of dishes. I did the menu planning.

The service was very nice, although they did make us wait about 30 minutes while the previous occupants of our room finished up.

Pressed Japanese yuzu-infused jellyfish head. Very tasty with nice texture. Of course the jellyfish itself has next to no flavor, but the slightly sweet sauce was great.

roasted chili sauce century egg with avocado. Very nice, if unconventional, century egg dish. I do love century egg.

Century Egg with Sea Cucumber. Very interesting blend of the soft and bitey and the chewy textures. A bit of kick and tons of umami. Really quite good. They changed this up as it used to have avocado. This was arguably better.

sichuan style spicy and numbing chicken. A very solid version of this with one of those addictive spicy sauces. Chicken itself was nice and juicy.

36 feast smoked pine pork. These tiny morsels tasted like Shanghai smoked fish, just pork.

Pork Neck with Japanese Yam. Kind of like spam with pineapple!

Bovon brought another tin of caviar!

hand-made crab golden noodles. I love crab roe and I love noodles so I had to try these.

They were actually very pleasant but a little bland — nothing a huge dollop of caviar didn’t fix!

House special shrimp. They were out of scallops so we got these sweet crispy shrimp.

I “fish egged” mine up but it was very nice. Extremly crispy and mildly sweet.

Shanghai crab stewed with its roe and tofu in a clay pot. I love this dish and it didn’t dissapoint. Super soft. I ate a mess. With caviar too.

Typhoon style lobster. The lobster itself was very well cooked. The garlic had a bit too much bread crumbs in it, but was still delicious.

6lb lobster with ginger and scallions. Excellent version of the wet lobster prep.

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup. Several people insisted on this dish and it was incredible! This was the abalone version and was full of so many weird seafoods cooked down into a super intense seafood demiglace. It had incredible silky texture and density. Marvelous.

The version in 2024 was like a consommé. It had all the chewy seafood bits, but not the unctuous thick demiglace texture that it had in Dec 2023.

Braised cold abalone. Chewy!

Shanghai smoked fish. Very nice crispy version of the fish.

Grouper steamed with soy sauce and ginger. Very nice fish. Lots of bones. Great sauce flavor. Some people LOVE this dish. I like the flavor, but the bone factor always leaves me a bit disintered in engaging with it fully.

Pickled chilis and spicy bean sauce.

Shanghainese sautéed eel. I really loved these garlicky sweet rich eels.

northeastern-style marinated beef. Very tender and a bit sweet.

Grandmother’s pork belly. Extremely fatty and juicy. Great version of this Shanghai dish.

Super rich Shanghai Pork with Quail Eggs. Great version of this very fatty dish.

Finally, about an hour late, our Peking duck arrived. They do it like Chang’an.

Lighting it on fire with Baiju.

Then carved tableside.

Just the skin. It was good, but not quite as crispy as it should have been.

Meat itself was delicious and juicy.

Some of the meat was smoked.

This added more (smoky) flavor, of course.

Super thin pancakes, but they had a little clumping issue.

Oodles of caviar for the duck.

The condiments were solid. But overall the Peking Duck was a bit of a disappointment. It was good in the way that any real Peking duck is, but the skin could have been crispier. Part of the problem was also that both ducks came WAY at the end of the meal. We didn’t want them instantly at the start, but I had asked for them at 8pm and they came at more like 9:20 — and we were very full.

The May 2024 version of the duck was excellent, first rate really. Moist with crispy skin.

hand pulled cabbage. Delicious dish as always.

Seared string beans. Very nice sear and good flavor.

Garlic greens. Very well done, but a little on the “boring” side. Always good to have some greens but I like the cabbage.

Stone pot fried rice.

yangzhou egg fried rice. Very nice fried rice.

shanghai shepherd’s purse and pork dumplings. These XLB were super juicy, delicious, and had some kind of seafood, maybe even more crab roe.

Spicy XLB. Shells were ok and these were juicy, but they had quite a better — numbing and white — kick. I kind of liked them but many didn’t.

shanghai pan-fried buns. They looked a bit soggy but the pork was great.

The pan fried pork dumplings were better in May 2024, this time with a great pork filling.

Duck #2. We asked for it crispier. They flammed it longer, but it just ended up tasting a bit more “burnt.”

We also asked for the bones and got tons of meaty bones.

Baked papaya dessert. Sweet and kind of tasteless.

Variant on — Sultan’s Delight — Iranian Saffron and Sicilian Pistachio Base, with Rose-Water Turkish Delight — Saffron from the Istanbul Spice Bazaar — 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 #saffron #pistachio #TurkishDelight #Türkiye

Baileys Irish Gream Gelato — Stabilized 13% Bailys Irish Cream recipe, with a touch of seasonal coloring! — I have trouble resisting these once a year flavors — 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 #expresso #whiskey #baileys #StPatricksDay #cream #green

St Agur, Fig, Walnut Gelato.

Awesome Armenian pistachio cake.

Dec 2024: This was an awesome meal. Array 36 is one of the best Chinese “fancy” places I’ve been to in California. It’s not quite as polished as Chang’an, but it does have a varried menu. The general style leans toward the Shanghai region, although they have some other dishes. Chang’an is a little Xi’an inflenced and has a few more spicy dishes. Many dishes here were excellent, but fell slightly short of Shanghai Tang level execution. But there were lots of interesting and delicious dishes.
May 2024: Really great night. First rate in every way. The food at Array has stepped up, particularly the duck. The Buddha soup went from best to one of the worst dishes but everything else really improved. Service was great and the room cosy but prefect. They did rush the food a bit. Not that the overall length of the meal was too fast, but too many things came at once in a number of waves. But it’s really hard not to have that happen at Chinese unless you also want to gamble that you won’t have long waits. And we had A LOT of food. Jeff really helped set things up nicely. I would have ordered a couple more interesting things and left off the regular greens, shrimp, and the fish. But others LOVED the fish so they were crowd pleasers. Overall, a totally banger night.

July 2024: Another great night. Private room again and a slightly smaller (in terms of food) dinner with very successful but tighter ordering. Again the duck was fabulous. They also finally had the awesome river shrimp in stock. Even the pig’s ear was great.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Array 36, BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Foodie Club, Gelato, SGV

Harlan part 2

Aug22

Restaurant: Cut [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 9500 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 276-8500

Date: November 28, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Steakhouse

Rating: Amazing special meal

Michael Palmer arranged this incredible Harlan tasting dinner in two parts. Not only did he procure the wines, but he organized with Piero Selvaggio our total takeover of the Cut lounge and a custom menu.

Classic Spago Tuna cones with that crispy/sweet shell.

Wagyu beef rolls.

Uni yuzu toast. The ingredients were great but I didn’t think the yuzu worked well with the rich uni.

For the second night (odd vintages) of our 2 part Harlan tasting we returned to Cut. This time they put us in the private room instead of the bar. Nice and quiet, but very bright and didn’t have quite the ambiance.

Tonight’s menu was again a completely custom awesome menu by the very talented team at Cut.

Comte Cheese Custard. Dungeness crab, red wine shallot chutney, black truffle.

With the truffles. This was an awesome dish, rich, creamy, with a hint of red wine sweetness and surprisingly, for a crab dish, and excellent pairing with the big cabs.

The Spago bread selection

Red Wine Poached Maine Lobster. Japanese potato, bacon lardons, beurre rouge. Again you wouldn’t think that lobster went with big cab, but between the bacon flavor and the rich red wine butter sauce it totally did.

Wolfgang just straight up joined us for the dinner.

Cauliflower Mushroom Risotto. 36 month aged parmigiano reggiano, red wine essence. An absolutely first class risotto, very creamy and cheesy, with a perfect mancurata.

Roasted Loan of Venison. Sautéed Brussel sprouts, red wine poached pears, cipollini onion jus. First of two red meats!

Australian Wagyu New York. Cream of sunchoke, ricotta gnocchi, whole grain mustard jus. This one was even better.

He brought out this incredible Italian cheese.

Briacacio Cheese. Grilled fruit & nut bread, cream of shallot, market blackberry jam. Really just an awesome blu cheese. Like a super gorgonzola.

My son’s favorite — Quad Chocolate Cloud Gelato – The base is made this time with Valrhona 70% Guanaja Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Ganache, Nestle Buncha Crunch, and chopped 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 #oreos #ganache #icing #nestle #crunch

This was another incredible meal. Everything was perfect. Wines were interesting and the food was amazing. Company was the best of all. Thank you Michael and Pierro for organizing!

The chef and team.

The gang.

Puck is very full.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cut, Gelato, harlan, Piero Selvaggio, Wine, Wolfgang Puck

Eating D.C. – L’Avant-Garde

Aug19

Restaurant: L’Avant-Garde

Location: 2915 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007. (202) 652-1855

Date: November 24, 2023

Cuisine: French

Rating: Great food and great service

My friend Dave brought us to this excellent French restaurant.

L’menu.

An amuse of pepper mouse. Very creamy.

Bread and butter.

Bouillabaisse soup with macaroni & Marseille. rouille topped with puff pastry. I’ve never seen it in a puff pastry before!

The guts.

Scrambled egg topped with Pétrossian. Caviar “Tsar Impérial”.

Burrata di bufala, grapes, cherry tomatoes, with sherry and pomegranate molasses dressing.

Duck foie gras caramelized beignet with Port wine reduction. Foie donut anyone?

That’ll beat out the chocolate cream filled!

Duck foie gras over black truffle celery root rouille topped with puff pastry remoulade served with grilled brioche.

frisée salad to offset the foie.

French turbot fillet with citrus broth. baby vegetables.

Beef Matelote with wine, Taggiasche. black truffle coulis olives, Pecorino fregola pasta.

Pecorino fregola pasta.

Farmer Amish rabbit persillade, with all the baby vegetables vegetables wrapped in Dijon mustard, tender pork belly.

Pretty amazing meal with not only great food but super friendly, top service. Great fun.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: French Cuisine, L'Avant-Garde, ThanksGavin, Washington D.C

Eating Virginia – Ruthie’s All-Day

Aug17

Restaurant: Ruthie’s All-Day

Location: 3411 5th St S, Arlington, VA 22204. (703) 888-2841

Date: November 24, 2023

Cuisine: American

Rating: Rich but tasty

My parents love this place too — but it is really good.

Busy on the morning after Thanksgiving.

The menu.

Pretty darn excellent cap too.

Marsh Hen Grits + Pulled Pork Bowl. Smoked pork, grilled peppers, pickled fresnons, topped with a fried egg.

Salad.

Buttermilk pancakes.

Three-egg omelette. Smoked ham, tomato, spinach, cheddar.

Brisket Bennie. Black pepper hollandaise, pickled red onions, arugula, biscuits. OMG, this was actually pretty great — if heart stopping. Some seriously juicy brisket too.

Another view.

Ruthie’s wasn’t fancy, but dang that brisket bennie was good.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Breakfast, Brisket, Eggs Benedict, Ruthie's All-Day

ThanksGavin 2023

Aug15

The 2023 Thanksgiving spread. More limited and fewer people.

A bracing raddicio salad.

Wild rice.

The infamous spicy cranberry chutney.

My mom’s lighter take on green bean casserole.

Our BBQ turkey. Pretty much as excellent as always. Nice and smokey.

Sliced

Bits.

Stuffing.

I made the gravy. A bit livery and at first it was too thin.

And as there was no corn starch in the house I had to make a traditional roux.

That did the job right quick.

The 2023 ThanksGavin plate.

The 2023 ThanksGavin plate.

The oven broke so no pies 🙁 Just some Haggen Daas.

and fruit.