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I Luv2Eat

Aug11

Restaurant: Luv2Eat

Location: 6660 Sunset Boulevard P, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 498-5835

Date: June 26, 2018

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Awesome LA Thai

Luv2Eat has been on my “to eat” list for years — largely because people said they had to die for crab curry — but given that it’s at the other end of the city it took me a long time to fit it in.

But now I have. It’s located on Sunset in a mini-mall not far from Jitlada.

Clearly the Chef’s are Fern and Pla. Apparently, like me they Luv2Eat!

The inside is recently done, but fairly “minimal.” Definitely has a lunch feel.

The menu is big, but not nearly as big as the tome at Jitlada. I think this is more Northern focused too.

Tasty spring rolls.

Papaya salad with shrimp. Always a great sweet/tangy flavor.

The much lauded Phuket Crab Curry. You eat it in a bowl with the accouterments in the rear.

So as you can see in this curry close-up, it’s a rich yellow coconut milk based curry. The crab shell was impossible to break into, but that didn’t matter as the meat had pretty much all cooked out.

You put this stuff (noodles and some herbs and veggies) in your bowl and then add the curry on top. Makes a nice curry noodle soup. Delicious light coconut flavors. A good bit of heat (at medium) but not overwhelming.

Pineapple Duck Curry. Another favorite curry of mine, the red curry based slightly sweet duck curry. A solid version but maybe not as good as at Jitlada.

Jade noodle with pork belly, roast pork, and more. Quite pleasant in flavor. A bit reminiscent of the Vietnamese noodles commonly found in central Vietnam.

Crying Tiger Beef. The classic Thai marinated beef. Very tasty.

Unfortunately, they were out of khao soi which is one of my favorite Thai dishes and a northern speciality. But this was some very good Thai at great prices. Bright and on the lighter side as it goes. And they can get very spicy on request (as I like it). I probably prefer Jitlada’s more “intense”, richer style, but Luv2Eat is a really solid lunch option and I want to go back and try more.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, lunch, Luv2Eat, Thai, Thai cuisine, Thai Town

Orange Afternoon — Garlic & Chives

Aug08

Restaurant: Garlic & Chives

Location: 9892 Westminster Blvd #311, Garden Grove, CA 92844. (714) 591-5196

Date: June 23 & September 13, 2018 and October 3, 2021

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Rating: Old School Vietnamese

In June of 2018, Fred C and Andrew T convinced me to head down on a Saturday afternoon to Garden Grove for some serious Vietnamese. Now, despite the horrific traffic, they didn’t have to twist my arm too hard because I love Vietnamese food, as evidenced by my eating around that lovely country. Since then Garlic and Chives has become a favorite and this post includes multiple lunches and one wine dinner.

In June of 2018, after a “snack” (aka full lunch) at Tai Buu we secured our late afternoon reservation at the insanely popular Garlic & Chives — apparently by Kristin!

Inside is cute and more modern.

Interest ice tea with an exotic flavor.

Wines we just popped and jammed on.

1998 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. BH 94. An elegant but austere wine that is almost as reticent as the ’96 with pure citrus and floral aromas that continue onto the crisp and still very tight medium-bodied flavors that are beautifully precise and impressively delineated on the gorgeously long finish. This is a long way from being ready and I wouldn’t touch a bottle for another 5 to 7 years.

From my cellar: 2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut. VM 95. Taittinger’s 2006 Comtes de Champagne Rosé has come along nicely over the last six months. Intensely perfumed, Pinot-inflected aromatics carry through the mid-palate and finish as the 2006 shows off its depth and pure energy. Veins of chalky minerality give the red berry and cranberry flavors an extra kick of energy. The 2006 is both powerful and delicate at the same, with crystalline precision and fabulous depth. Hints of orange peel, mint, cinnamon and cranberry add further shades of nuance on the complete, beautifully articulated finish.

2014 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons. VM 93. Very pale yellow. Lemon oil, flowers and a lightly lactic yeasty nuance on the nose. Tight, upright and penetrating, with brisk lemony acidity intensifying the dense flavors of white peach and almond flower. Shows terrific grain and palate presence and finishes with explosive mounting length. A very serious Vaillons. Dauvissat noted that as these vines have aged, they are yielding consistently more mineral wines.

Omg, more babykill! 2013 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne. BH 92-94. A shy, indeed almost mute nose only grudgingly liberates its cool aromas of green apple, white fruit, spiced pear and wet stone. The intensely saline and stony big-bodied flavors are supported by a firm spine of citrus-inflected acidity that shapes the powerful finish that delivers outstanding complexity and persistence. I very much like the balance and this will need plenty of time to realize its full, and considerable, potential.

And if we thought 2013 white was young! 2015 Domaine Arlaud Charmes-Chambertin. BH 92-94. Reduction. The supple, round and strikingly refined, indeed even silky flavors possess focused power and punch while offering outstanding length on the dusty, palate coating and mildly austere finale. This is an exercise in harmony and refinement.

A REAL Vietnamese menu (gigantic).

Lime Beef Tenderloin Salad (9/13/18). Beef tenderloin marinated in lime juice, mint, onion, chili and peanuts.

Papaya salad with beef jerky (10/3/21). super savory and delicious.

Beef Salad (June 2018 and 10/3/21). Slices of beef, papaya, and all sorts of tangy, sweet, spicy Vietnamese salad goodness. Notable on 10/3/21 that it wasn’t quite as good as the beef jerky salad.

Raw Ahi Tuna Spring Rolls (9/13/18). Raw ahi tuna, fresh lettuce, avocado, pickled daikon and carrots, crispy wonton wrapper rolled up in rice paper. Served with house special soy sauce and wasabi. These were a bit different, sort of Vietnamese / Japanese. Good though.

Grilled pork sausage roll / goi con em nuong (10/3/21). Great.

Shrimp and pork mustard green roll (10/3/21). A bit boring.

Holy Crunchy Chicken Wings (9/13/18). Heavenly crispy fried chicken wings with sweet and spicy sauce topped with fried garlic chips.

holy crunchy chicken wings / canh ga chien (10/3/21). Sweet and spicy and amazing. They were much saucier (and better) this time.

Salt and pepper shrimp (10/3/21).

Stir Friend Ong Choy with Sea Snails. Yes, this is a garickly green with SNAILS. It was delicious too.

Coconut Sea Snails (many times including June 2018 and 10/3/21). Special Vietnamese Sea Snails cooked in coconut curry sauce. I LOVED this dish. I’ve had a pink version before at Phong Dinh and this green version was slightly different, spicier, and just as good. The snails are in little conical shells inside the curry. You suck out the creatures. So good. I could eat two bowls myself!

Rice for the snails.

Baked Clams with Garlic & Chives. Or maybe Chili Garlic. Nice actually. Lots of flavor.

Razor Clams (June 2018). Baked Razor Clams topped with peanuts, chili, garlic, and bell peppers. These were dry and overcooked and our least favorite dish.

Razor clams (10/3/21). Delicious this time.

House Special Lobster (every time I have been including 10/3/21). Sautéed in house special sauce with garlic, onion, jalapeños, on a bed of noodles. This was AWESOME. Tons and tons of flavor, particularly over the noodles. Way better than the Crustacean and probably 1/4 of the price.

Zoom on the lobster (from 9/13/18). So much garlic!

Spicy Crab in Tamarind Sauce (June 2018 and 10/3/21). Sort of close to Singapore Chili Crab, and certainly tangy and spicy, but a bit different. Great too. Really great with a ton of flavor. The sauce was absolutely amazing. Hard to get into the shells but a lot of the meat was out. I would still love to find some exact Singapore Chili Crab, but this variant was fabulous.

Singapore Chili Crab (10/3/21). Amazing. We added noodles into the sauce too. Better than the Tamarind crab we had the same day.

Vietnamese breads (June 2018 and 10/3/21), including the fried donut-like thing which was heavy and delicious. These come with the crabs.

Grilled Turmeric Fish with Dill served on the skillet w/ vermicelli.

Vermicelli noodles and herbs served with turmeric fish. You wrap these up with the fish. Delicious and very much like we had a couple of times in Vietnam.

Grilled Chili Lemongrass Pork Ribs (9/13/18). Crispy rice with pork ribs marinated in chili and lemongrass.

Spicy Garlic Toothpick Lamb (June 2018). Small pieces of lamb marinated in garlic and house seasonings deep fried. Basically the Szechuan dish, but with a few more aromatics.
Pork belly (10/3/21). Sweet.

Mustard greens (10/3/21).

More rice (10/3/21)

Lamb chops (10/3/21). Good.

sautéed beef vermicelli / bun bo xao (filet mignon, lemongrass etc) (10/3/21).

Grilled pork and egg roll noodle / bun thit nuong cha gio (10/3/21).

Goat curry (10/3/21).

Bread for the curry.

Oxtail hotpot (10/3/21). I was reaching painful levels of full here and not really able to try this.

The hotpot comes with lots of herbs.

Added in.

Made by me (June 2018), of course: Almond Boba Tea Gelato — Oolong tea steeped milk, Romano Almonds from Noto Sicily, and topped with Boba! Suffered slightly from the long transit and wait, but still good.

Almond Amaretto Truffle Gelato (10/3/21) — 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

Cherry Cough Syrup Sorbetto (10/3/21) – Amareno Cherry, Morello Cherry, and Creme de Cassis Sorbet! — so intense, and so awesome for a red fruit lover — 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 #amareno #morello #cherry #CremediCassis #cassis

Fred brought the whole family! (except his wife, who was out of town)

Andrew and Madison who hosted us down south that first time and treated us to this amazing fare.

This was an awesome afternoon and crazy crazy good food here at Garlic & Chives. I like this bright flavor forward style of Vietnamese (with a bit of Chinese, Singapore, and Thai influences). Just tons of… well garlic, chili, and chives. Closest in some ways to some of the really good places I went in Vietnam too. More fusion yes, but really good. Apparently they always have a huge line. Sigh. And a huge drive. But I’ll be back for sure for more good stuff and more Champagne. This is really Champagne food.

I’ve been back a whole mess of times for lunch and it’s always been good. Then we were back for a wine dinner on 10/3/21. They set up a large table outside on the sidewalk, which wasn’t bad at all as it was a nice night. They allowed the wine with no problem and had allowed us a reservation and preorders. This is unusual for Garden Grove Vietnamese restaurants which often don’t take reservation — a must for large party wine dinners involving people driving for over an hour! Food was awesome that night as well. A few people complained about my overzealous ordering (if I’m going to trek to Orange County for dinner I want to try EVERYTHING!) and the price creeping up because of the lobsters and crab. It wasn’t actually expensive, it just wasn’t “dirt cheap” the way people have come to expect from a small ethnic place like this. That’s unfair, as we had a TON of food and lots of signature ingredients.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Sea Salt Latte from next door.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Babykillers, BYOG, Champagne, Garden Grove, Garlic & Chives, Garlic and Chives, Gelato, Orange Afternoon, Orange County, Vietnamese cuisine

Orange Afternoon — Tai Buu

Aug04

Restaurant: Tai Buu Paris Restaurant

Location: 9684 Westminster Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92844

Date: June 23, 2018

Cuisine: French Vietnamese

Rating: Old School Vietnamese

Fred and Andrew T convinced me to head down on a Saturday afternoon to Garden Grove for some serious Vietnamese. Now, despite the horrific traffic, they didn’t have to twist my arm too hard because I love Vietnamese food, as evidenced by my eating around that lovely country.

While we waited for our table to come up at Garlic and Chives (more on that later) we went to one of Andrew’s favorites, old school Tai Buu.

Like a weird Parisian/Vietnamese cafe.
As usual for Babykillers events all the wine was just popped so I’ll list it here.

From my cellar: A great bottle of 1985 Nicolas Potel Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. BH 91. A very fresh yet mature nose of citrus, white flower and lightly toasted nut aromas combines with round and vibrant middle weight flavors that possess a seductive and rich mouth feel, all wrapped in a sappy and mouth coating finish. This is really a lovely effort with complexity and ample finishing punch and is a wine that will continue to hold well if not improve.

Young reds.

This is why we call them the Babykillers!

But on to the food. You always get this stuff here. Salad, spicy salt, and soup. French dressing. lol!

Here is the soup. Like simple duck consume or something.

Beef tongue in gravy. Looks ugly, but pretty tasty. Particularly with carbs (below).

Goat curry. Yum. I love curry and this was a nice classic brown curry with excellent goat.

There was French Bread.

Fried Eggs. Yep. Apparently you eat them with the tongue, or maybe it was the curry.

And tomato rice.

Fried coconut sticky rice. I really enjoyed the texture and the mild coconut flavor.

Garlic frog legs. Really tender and full of garlicky flavor. Not so different than frog legs Aleppo style!

Roast quail. Like at a Chinese place but with greens.

French style beef. This was an old school rendition. Filet Mignon and a thinner, more garlicky sauce than I usually see.

Flan. Absolutely first rate flan. Caramel, light hint of orange maybe.

Overall, a fun place and some tasty (and really cheap) food. Friendly service too. Some of our party are native Vietnamese speakers so that helped too. After this, on to the main event at Garlic and Chives…

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Babykillers, Burgundy, French Vietnamese, Orange Afternoon, Orange County, Tai Buu Paris, vietnamese

Burgundy at Maude

Aug02

Restaurant: Maude [1, 2]

Location: 212 South Beverly Drive. Beverly Hills, CA. (310) 859-3418

Date: June 20, 2018

Cuisine: French Californian

Rating: Great Theme

When it opened several years ago, Maude was a big deal on the LA restaurant scene. For quite some time they had a unique “one ingredient, one month” theme. I had gone 4 years ago in late 2014. But that was back several chefs ago, and now-a-days they have a “season” (of 3 months I think) with a wine theme and food to match. Reversing their early hesitation about corkage, if you bring on theme — you now get free corkage. yay! And when we went it was Burgundy!

It’s still located on Beverly in Beverly Hills.

It’s still cute inside.

Quite small with an open kitchen.

Here is the Burgundy menu.

Some Bruno Paillard Champagne Rosé Brut Première Cuvée off their list.
And a plate of canapes.

An asparagus tart, some kind of foie crisp. A delicious savory macaron, and gougers. All very lovely.

2004 Henri Boillot Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 96. This is gorgeously pure and incredibly focused aromatically with an incredible breadth of aromas, from white flower to ripe orchard fruits nuanced by a panoply of spice notes. The unbelievably intense flavors are deep and strikingly transparent yet the level of dry extract this enjoys is nothing short of remarkable. The crystalline finish doesn’t just end but rather its ends with one complex wave after another and the sense of energy and drive here is palpable. Flat out terrific.

Vegetables warmed with goat’s butter. Not the kind of dish I would ordinarily order, but these were lovely vegetables, blanched probably, crunchy, and made better by the light butter sauce.

From my cellar: 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 94 points. A good bottle, with lots of creme brûlée.

Escargot in herb butter. I love snails, and particularly the classic presentation with lots of garlic (and butter). These were excellent.

Brioche to complement.

Fred brought (blind): 1979 Domaine Roulot Bourgogne-Aligoté. 96 points. Fred served this blind and we thought it was old chard — amazingly it was Aligote! And Roulot. Totally gorgeous even at almost 40 years! None of us had ever had an aligote this old.

1987 Louis Jadot Montrachet. Past it’s prime (by a lot).

Prawn Bisque. Gorgeous bisque. Rich and delightful.

1955 Jacques Arnoul Freres Clos Vougeot. 93 points. Still in really good shape. Tertiary, but delicious.

Turbot, ham, parsley. Interesting prep with the ham broth and parsley pesto.

1990 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny. 93 points. Bright disc with medium red/orange robe and orange rim. Absolutely beautiful nose of ripe plum, cherry, Asian spices and light cedar. Soft tannins, good acidity, medium-bodied on palate. Similar flavors as nose, essentially exploding at the mid-palate. Long, slightly acidic finish. This wine has evolved beautifully.

Charcuterie of Rabbit. And they REALLy mean rabbit — all of the rabbit!

Fred brought: 1992 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. 90 points. In a really nice spot right now. Nice spice and earth and bright cherry aromas. A little savory. Nicely resolved and no danger of decline.

From my cellar: 1998 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. BH 93. This may be one of the finest Bonnes-Mares I have ever tasted from de Vogüé and it’s as dense as the 1991. Packed with kirsch-laced fruit and possessing an intense sappiness with an almost painfully intense flavor precision and a forceful, not to be denied, persistence on the finish. I literally asked to pause a few minutes before proceeding to the Musigny, as the finish would not stop. Positively serene in its power and quiet understatement. In short, for all its greatness, it doesn’t shout at you, it just quietly and confidently delivers a remarkable performance. While the fruit and tannins have evolved somewhat, this still remains a baby and it’s quite possible that another 5 or so years will not be enough to really see this close to its peak.

Roasted Foie Gras with Peas and Morels. Excellent dish.

1996 Domaine Dujac Charmes-Chambertin. BH 91. An almost fully mature nose of earth and now mostly secondary red berry fruit aromas is followed by refined, succulent and balanced medium-bodied flavors of superior length. This is a successful ’96 that has aged well and has entered its prime drinking period which should last for the next decade, perhaps a bit longer. Consistent notes. One nit: the last 3 bottles that I have had were slightly cloudy and while it did not affect the nose or the texture, it could be a source of concern going forward.

Roast Lamb. Buttered Potatoes, spinach.

The lineup for the first part of the evening…

Then we moved upstairs. This is a new thing for Maude post format change and is really great. For cheese and dessert you move upstairs to the lounge.

Cheese board.

2011 Domaine Dujac Bonnes Mares. BH 94. This is highly expressive, indeed unusually so for very young Bonnes Mares, and offers up nothing short of a kaleidoscopic array of scents that include a wide range of floral, earth, stone and mostly red berry fruit aromas. There is fine if not special density and focused power to the big-bodied flavors that are overtly powerful and quite muscular yet there is no trace of rusticity or absence of refinement to the hugely long finish. This is a succulent yet formidable Bonnes Mares that should amply reward those who have the (considerable) patience to wait for its full maturity.

agavin: babykill, but we opened it anyway

Here was my cheese plate (part 1), we all got seconds!

We bought this unusual german pinot off the list — well right out of the cellar: 2007 Weingut Keller Spätburgunder Trocken ‘S’. 90 points. Could be 93 in a few years. Light red colour, cherry and rose petal nose, surprisingly strong and bold on the palate, again cherry notes and a little bit blueberry. Long finish of almost 50 seconds. Next one next year.

And we bought this too! 2002 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis. BH 93. A very floral and high-toned nose combines with aromas of earth, underbrush and a certain animale quality followed by rich, full-bodied, refined and notably elegant flavors that possess a subtle and understated complexity plus considerable grace. I very much like the balance here and this too is remarkably seductive yet sufficiently well structured to suggest up to a decade of potential improvement.

Now on to dessert. They have this gorgeous pastry buffet that you can help yourself too, repeatedly. Not that you paw over it. You point at stuff and the nice lady makes you a plate (or 2 or 3)!

Chocolate and hazelnut cakes.

Apple thingies.

Chocolate Tart — awesome.

A Vienna style torte.

A berry pastry thing.

Chocolate dipped Madeline’s.

Lemon Meringue Pie!

Mini macarons.

This was my first plate. I’ll be ashamed to admit it wasn’t my last!

Oh, and they have little “presents” for the morning.

I found this new format for Maude much more pleasant. The food was good. Some dishes were excellent, really good, and some just solid. The service was fabulous. We had incredible wine, a few from the list, most we brought. The whole no corkage thing is a welcome relief. I loved the 2 locations thing and the loungey location upstairs. All in all a super fun evening!

This was the first time in a while we had a near full complement of the Foodie Club, including regular members myself, Erick, Larry, and Fred but also with longtime core members like Walker and Amanda who always take it up a notch.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Burgundy, Curtis Stone, Foodie Club, Maude

Eating Houston – Bombay Pizza

Jul30

Restaurant: Bombay Pizza Co.

Location:914 S Main St #105, Houston, TX 77002. (713) 654-4444

Date: June 15, 2018

Cuisine: Pizza and Indian!?!

Rating: Not bad

One of my son’s math contests brought us to Texas and so I returned to Houston for the first time in 25 years.

This was next to our hotel and I was intrigued by the name/concept and had to try it.

Looks like a pizza parlor.

The menu features normal pizzas, slightly Indian ones, and kati rolls.

Fries.

Cheese pizza. My wife liked it.

Tandoori Chicken Kati Roll. Basically a CTM burrito (with naan). Not as good as the smaller, plated, Akbar version, but still pretty tasty. A touch dry.

Tandoori Masala Shrimp Kati Roll. Not bad either, particularly with the mint chutney.

I wish I had had time to try one of the more interesting pizzas, like “Gateway of India” or something. I’ve long argued with some of my Indian restauranteur friends that they should make naan based pizzas with curry toppings. These aren’t naan on the pizzas though.

For more Texas dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bombay Pizza Co., Eating Houston, Eating Texas, Houston, Pizza, Texas

Eating Houston – Brennan’s

Jul26

Restaurant: Brennan’s of Houston

Location: 6692, 3300 Smith St, Houston, TX 77006. (713) 522-9711

Date: June 14, 2018

Cuisine: Creol

Rating: Fancy tasty!

One of my son’s math contests brought us to Texas and so I returned to Houston for the first time in 25 years.

The second place my dad recommended was even older school than the first, having been open since the 70s and located in a lovely (by Houston standards) brick and tree neighborhood.

The inside was attractive, formal, and up to date except for the cove lighting.

The menu.

Garlic bread, of course.

They had some real wine on the list: 2014 Francois Carillon Puligny-Montrachet. BH 91. The slightly curious nose mixes reduction and floral aromas. On the plus side there is an excellent sense of underlying tension and detail to the utterly delicious medium-bodied flavors that possess a caressing mouth feel, all wrapped in a sleek, focused, complex and well-balanced finale. Note that this classy villages is well worth your interest and it should also drink well early.

My son didn’t order a first course but they brought him this berries and cream on the house!

House salad.

Fried Green Tomato Ravigote. Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Ravigote, Over a Citrus Reduction, Topped with Fresh Shaved Serrano & Garlic Chips. I don’t even like tomatoes but the waiter recommended this and it turned out to be fabulous. The crispy fried tomatoes, soft perfect crab, and the intriguing crunch/punch of the pickles all meshed perfectly. Great sweet/sour/savory combo.

Gulf Fish Pontchartrain. Jumbo Lump Crab, J&J Shrimp, Crispy Louisiana Oysters, Parmesan Mushroom Rice, and Brennan’s Creole Butter. Here it is again, fish with the “works” on top. Hard to go wrong friend and piled with all that goodness.

Pecan Crusted Speckled Trout. Lemon Scented Crushed Corn, Pickled Onion, and Hericot Vert Salad, Spiced Pecans with a Creole Meuniere Saucer.

The dessert menu.

Vanilla ice cream.

Pecan Pie again. My wife liked Tony Mandola’s slightly better, but this was still good.

Lemon Meringue Pie with blueberry coulis. Classic again, and delicious. Perfectly textured and balanced.

They have grab all you can Pecan Pralines at the door. I took A LOT and developed a rather extreme sugar hangover back at the hotel — so good!

Brennan’s had awesome service. Our waiter was superb. It really had a classy old school charm. Genteel and refined. Food was great too, particularly that crab and fried tomato appetizer.

For more Texas dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brennan's, Brennan's of Houston, Creol, Eating Houston, Eating Texas, Houston, Texas

Eating Houston – Tony Mandola’s

Jul24

Restaurant: Tony Mandola’s

Location: 1212 Waugh Dr, Houston, TX 77019. (713) 528-3474

Date: June 13, 2018

Cuisine: Creol

Rating: Old School but tasty!

One of my son’s math contests brought us to Texas and so I returned to Houston for the first time in 25 years.

My dad, who used to travel frequently to Houston for work, sent us to a few of his (old) favorites.

Tony Mandola’s had been around since well back into the 80s. It’s rocking that Houston feel.

And a somewhat dated interior, the heavy solid white plates, heavy glass stemware, and all that.

The menu, however, is full of creol goodness, which we don’t get a lot of in Southern California.

Not my usual fare.

And a glass of rose “champagne.”
Garlic bread.

Here the butter and garlic are inside — what’s not to love?

Oysters Domenico. Grilled oysters with bacon and sun-dried tomato butter. Bright tasting, salty, and delicious. Like pizza oysters!

Mama’s Gumbo. Mama Mandola’s seafood gumbo recipe served with rice. Had to try some classics. Nice.

Buttered pasta for the boy.

In Texas, even side Caesar salads come with bacon by default!

Salmon Sophia. Grilled salmon steak topped with jumbo lump crab meat and avocado dill relish (minus the crab in this photo).

Texas Red Fish Pontchartrain. Fresh red fish filet topped with rich brown butter Madeira wine sauce with crab, shrimp, and mushrooms. Good stuff and classically creol!

The dessert menu.

Vanilla ice cream.

Pecan pie! My wife loved it.

Coconut Creme Pie. This was one of the best coconut cream pies I’ve had since the Babalu bakery went out of business. I love coconut cream pie. sigh.

Tony Mandola’s felt a little 80’s Texas, and the plating isn’t the most elegant ever, but the food has held up well. Some very tasty stuff — with butter and crab and bacon on top!

For more Texas dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Creol, Eating Houston, Eating Texas, Houston, Texas, Travel

Seconds at Somni

Jul21

Restaurant: Somni [1, 2]

Location: 465 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310.246.5555

Date: June 7, 2018

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome

I’m a bit of a Jose Andres groupie as not only have I been three times to Saam, at least 10 to The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE), but also to brunch at Trés, and even to é by José Andrés (twice) and Jaleo in Vegas and several places in Washington D.C.

For those who don’t know, José Andrés is perhaps America’s leading practitioner of my favorite culinary style: Spanish Molecular Gastronomy. This school of cooking, a radical interpretation of the preparation of food, was begun at El Bulli outside of Barcellona. Andrés cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Andrés’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and its own restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar.

I’ve eaten molecular a number of times in Spain, for example at Calima and La Terraza. The Bazaar and Saam brought molecular style to LA.

Somni is the “secret” prix fixe only room within the Bazaar, which replaces the previous secret room, Saam. The new one has a format more like é by José André as it’s 10 seats and fairly theatrical. There are two seatings, and a $235 dollar a person (includes tip) tasting menu. They do allow dietary restrictions with advance notice.

Tonight was my wife and her sister’s birthday dinner.

Somni has its own waiting tables out in the lobby before we move on to Somni proper. here they brought us an intro glass of Spanish wine (included).

The former Saam space has been opened up to the Bazaar kitchen, reformatted in lovely pale wood and with a semi-circular bar. It’s much more airy.

The whole kitchen is visible behind the bar. And there is a weird empty void space behind the guests.

The kitchen now merges into the Bazaar kitchen.

Homage to Spain?

Chef de Cuisine Zabala Aitor, hailing from Catalonia and Basque. He worked at El Bulli, Arzak, Aelarre, and ABaC!

The vessels are all exquisite.

The regular menu for tonight.

And the special vegetarian (+ fish) menu — they also did a gluten free version and even printed that one out (not pictured).

Hojita. A nitro frozen cocktail of rum. Delicious and strong.

The first of the middle level of wine pairings.

Almond shell. Looks like almonds, but you pop the whole thing in the mouth and eat it — soft, nutty, and amazing.

Apple floret, cheese & beet. One of these cheese, apple, beet salads served in sponge form.

Chicken skin and foie gras. Pretending to look like corn!

The vegetarian replacement for the foie: coco curry.

Idiazabal leaf.

Pan con tomate y jamon. Classic toast with tomato pulp and jamon. The toast itself may not have actually been toast.

Caviar & Truffle. Straight up briny goodness.

The vegetarian version was avocado hand.

The next pairing wine.

Spot prawn and that’s it. Pure succulent Santa Barbara spot prawn steamed or sous vide or something. Incredibly fresh and juicy. Sucked out the head!

The veggies got churro and mother mole.

Live scallop with burrata. A lovely and delicious dish. All soft textures.

The next wine.

Croissant (potato based) with a dipping soup.

Pigtail curry bun. You dip it in the curry sauce — incredible. This was an amazing dish.

Strawberry negroni — frozen and alcohol filled intermezzo “cocktail.”

Kohlrabi and snap peas.

The actual peas were inside. Quite lovely. I like the green on green.

The first red.

Fireflies with pil-pil. This is the pil-pil, i think, a web to catch:

These baby squid. Delicious when dipped in the sauce and very interesting.

White asparagus for the veggies.

Alubias y jamon. Sort of beans and ham — but spherized.

A fried something.

Turbot with mushroom tea. It had a BBQ flavor and a texture a bit like eel — very rich and soft.

Here is the “tea.”

More red.

Japanese A5 & bone marrow.

With the bone marrow sauce.

Eggplant substitutes for the veggies.

Nori empanada.

A nice Sauternes for dessert.

“Snowflake”. Under the sugary snowflake was ice cream, macha, and some kind of nut paste?

Black forest pizzelle.

Under the soft chocolate disc was the various black forest ingredients like cherry and Bavarian cream.

Matcha doughnut. Inside was gooey matcha custard that just exploded out! Amazing.

More desserts.

Mochi.

Merienda. A little white chocolate and nut paste sandwich.

This was my wife and her sister’s birthday and so out came the little birthday men.

Overall, the food was amazing at Somni. Much more advanced and “sophisticated” than the early Saam meals which were just Bazaar+. This is much more theatrical and formal, much more in the vein of E or minibar.

Service was excellent. First rate really and very attentive. Wine service was very slick too.

But things ran very smooth and FAST. A touch slower than the first time, maybe 2 hours, but too fast still! Yeah! It should have been 3. Maybe a few more courses. They do this, I assume, so they can comfortably get two seatings in and not be working super late. But it felt a bit rushed.

Because I knew it would be fast I just ordered the wine pairings. They were nice wines and quite interesting — probably didn’t add up that great a value by retail standards, but still a very tasty way to go. They were generous with repouring them during the course.

They said the first time that they change the food fairly rapidly, and roughly 40% did change, but it’s certainly not a total turn over in 3 months.

In our party of 3 we had 3 different meal variations (normal, pescatarian, and pescatarian gluten-free) and (with advance notice) they did a phenomenal job accommodating these with not only custom dish variations but 3 separate printed menus! We were also running late and out at the beach (in shorts) and so arrived in less than perfect dress — but they were totally cool with it (we had called in advance too, but I’m sure they would have been fine either way). Two people at our set came about an hour late. I highly recommend you DON’T do this as it messes up the experience but I could see the staff trying their absolute best to get them as many of the courses they had missed as possible.

The execution was very smooth. I’m surprised this isn’t more popular as they had an open spot or two and we were able to make the reservation a few days out.

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: birthday, Dessert, José Andrés, Somni, Spanish Cuisine, The Bazaar, Wine

KTown Spicy Challenge

Jul19

Restaurant: Yup Dduk LA

Location: 3603 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 263-2355

Date: June 6, 2018

Cuisine: Korean Ddukbokki

Rating: Spicy!

I had just spent 2 hours at the China Consulate waiting in line when I saw this sign:

How could I resist? What kind of lover of spice would I be?

This little KTown hole-in-the-wall had a line of about 30 “kids” (18-25 maybe) waiting for a seat.

The interior is new but minimal and judging from my 1 hour visit the cliental consists 95% of young Korean American women on their cel phones (later it was packed with more of same and hordes of them outside).

The menu is very simple. Basically one dish (see below) with a variety of add-ins and a couple of carby sides.

And here it is: Original Ddukbokki with Ramen Noodles and Yup Dduk Fries. This dish is basically a giant bowl of carbs (with a bit of sausage) drowned in gochujang sauce — that’s the red stuff in case you were wondering. And it’s topped with gooey mozzarella.

Eating down a bit you can see the main contents: the fried carbs, noodles, chewy bean curd, chewy fish cakes, and really chewy cylindrical rice cakes. It’s carbs and spice. I got “original” level in the middle of the spice scale and I’m glad I did because despite my “skillz” at Szechuan, super hot Indian, and mega-hot Thai this sauce was oppressively hot. Both spice level and temperature. Even pulling the contents out and attempting to cool them down, I was left with a badly seared mouth. The volume and the very insulated bowl kept it near boiling for 45 minutes!

I should also point out that these dishes are big enough for 2-4 people and there is no small size. I couldn’t even finish half of it. I didn’t order sides either because it was so large, but sharing and having a few (non-spicy) sides would definitely be better.

I drank at least two entire jugs of water!

This was a tasty dish — but I needed more people so I could share it, and I wish it wasn’t so temperate or cooled off faster because I really burned my mouth. Koreans and Japanese have asbestos tongues! It is a one dish restaurant, however, and VERY spicy — so don’t go if you don’t want a giant bowl of spicy carbs!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Ddukbokki, Korea-town, Korean cuisine, Korean food, Ktown, spicy, Yup Dduk LA

Quick Eats – Margo’s

Jul17

Restaurant: Margo’s

Location: 1534 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (310) 829-3990

Date: June 2 & July 6, 2018

Cuisine: American

Rating: Fine brunch

In the early 00s my wife and I ate most Saturday brunches on Montana in Santa Monica, and we tried everything there.

This space, relatively newly opened as Margo’s was Ox & Son before it (did that) and Cafe Montana before that (ate there dozens of times — they had really awesome pies and cakes in conjunction with Balabu). As Cafe Montana I used to see Arnold Schwarzenegger all the time here.

Anyway, now it’s Margo’s, so we tried it for brunch in a 3.0 incarnation. Space is darker.

The lunch/brunch menu.

Salmon Benedict with potatoes. Solid.

Breakfast Burrito with eggs, sausage, etc. A good one too, even if this is simple LA breakfast fare.

Biscuits. Can’t totally take the Southerner out of me.
Omelet with potatoes.
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Fried chicken sandwich with fries. It had cheese and aioli and pickles on it. Could have used more flavor.

Chocolate gluten free olive oil cake. Not too bad.

Certainly solid for local casual brunch. I’ll have to try again and sample more.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Brunch, Margo's, Montana, Santa Monica

Racy Rosaline

Jul15

Restaurant: Rosaline

Location: 8479 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (323) 297-9500

Date: June 6, 2018

Cuisine: Modern Peruvian

Rating: Good, but I liked his punchier places better

I’ve very much enjoyed chef Ricardo Zarate’s previous offerings, notably Picca and Paiche — unfortunately now closed. So I was excited to good with the Foodie Club guys to his latest, Rosaline on Melrose.

His own website says of Ricardo:

Born in Lima, Peru, ‘the godfather of Peruvian cuisine’ Ricardo Zarate is synonymous with indigenous South American foods. Immaculately executed and fused with his underlying passion, drive and kitchen ingenuity, Zarate’s cuisine has earned him widespread critical acclaim and praise from media and consumers alike.

The newest is in a hip section of the Melrose drag, in the space previously occupied by Comme Ca, Chef David Myer’s bistro concept.

The menu is MUCH shorter than at his old places.

The build out, however is the best yet. Really pretty space. Foodie member Larry is friends with the architect, you joined us for dinner — stunning makeover.

Lots of seating with a chic look.

And a cool “garden” space.

Paul brought: 2002 Dom Perignon Champagne. VM 98. The 2002 Dom Pérignon speaks to opulence and intensity. Rich, layered and voluptuous in the glass, the 2002 shows off its flamboyant personality with flair. Butter, cooked apple and tropically-leaning fruits mesh together effortlessly. Interestingly, with time in the glass the 2002 gains in freshness and energy without losing its essential opulence. The elevated ripeness of the year gives the 2002 Dom Pérignon distinctly Puligny-Montrachet leaning inflections. Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy adds that August that year was hot and very dry. Rain towards the end of the month and into early September freshened the vines and accelerated the final phase of ripening. This is yet another fabulous showing from the 2002, which continues to cement its reputation as a truly epic Dom Pérignon.

agavin: 2002 champs rule, this was a sexy beast.

ensalada de beterraga. beets 3-ways, ricotta spread, burrata, candied pecans, blood orange vinaigrette. Richardo’s take on the classic beet salad.

pimentones. padron peppers, ciruela amarillo miso, bonito flakes.

ceviche crocante. halibut, crispy baby calamari, yuzu kosho marinated, aji amarillo leche de tigre. Fried calamari and super zesty sauce.

tiradito de concha con erizo. live scallops, sea urchin, uni leche de tigre, crispy garlic. Love me some uni!

kampachi ceviche. baja california amberjack, aji pesto, charcoal oven roasted sweet potato, aji limo lime dressing.

From my cellar: 2010 Raul Pérez Bierzo Ultreia La Claudina. VM 93. Light, bright gold. Assertive aromas of fresh pear, iodine, marzipan and chamomile, with a suggestion of dried fig. Big, palate-staining and densely packed but energetic too, showing intense orchard and citrus fruit flavors and notes of smoky minerals and anise. Displays outstanding intensity on the smoky finish, which leaves zesty mineral and bitter quinine notes behind.

agavin: great food wine

chicharron de paiche. popped kiwicha, fried amazonian paiche, yuzu aioli sauce. Not as exciting as the BBQ versions of this fish we used to get at Paiche.

causa jar. eggplant terrine, potato mousse, avocado, botija olive aioli.

corazon anticucho. beef heart skewers, rustic rocoto pepper, feta cheese, walnut sauce. Loved these. Chewy, but great flavor. Feed your inner Khaleesi.

Fred brought: 2004 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese. VM 92. Aromas of baked apple, cinnamon and vanilla. The creamy, rich papaya fruit is still covered in baby fat, with the result that the wine’s underlying acidity is still almost completely masked. A full-blown auslese that is not yet showing the elegant spiciness that Muller’s wines generally develop.

arroz con mariscos. sea urchin, diver scallops, tiger prawns, manila clams, seafood rice. I’m such a rice fiend — and an uni fiend.

Fred brought: 1993 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Domaine Louis Jadot. BH 92. In stark contrast to the Chambertin, this is wonderfully expressive and complex with abundant earth and spice notes followed by big, structured, still sappy if slightly austere flavors that offer excellent density and plenty of character. Impressively scaled and finishes with striking length. A clear step up from the Chambertin.

Larry brought: 2003 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Domaine Louis Jadot. VM 94+. Bright, deep red. Superripe yet vibrant and perfumed aromas of black raspberry, rose petal and minerals. Very ripe and highly concentrated; creamy yet firm, thanks to powerful underlying structure. A wine of great energy, density and soil character, and an infant today. Finishes with outstanding palate-staining persistence and a slightly saline quality. This should evolve spectacularly for at least 15 to 20 years. A great wine in the making.

arroz con pollo. mary’s organic chicken breast, cilantro beer rice, huancaina feta sauce.

chaufa paella. peruvian fried rice paella-style, pancetta, la chang sausage, bagoong, prawns.

Mixed up. This was probably my favorite dish — a bit like Peruvian Chinese fried rice.

juane de chancho. pork ossobuco, adobo, garbanzo soft tamale, hardboiled egg, wrapped in banana leaf.

costillas. slow-cooked barbecue short ribs, grilled figs, apple coleslaw.

anticucho bife ancho. 28 day dry-aged wood-grilled ribeye, sesame huacatay saucee.

The dessert menu.

From the owner, on the house! 1912 D’Oliveiras Madeira Verdelho.

My BYOG adventures continue. Made by me, some fresh Sweet Milk Gelato.

On the left: Limoncello Zabaione Gelato, an eggy frozen zabaione made with Sorento Limoncello

On the right: Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Cloud, Valrhona chocolate base, Valrhona cream cheese fudge, and gluten free oreo substitutes

Plated (by me).

coffee flan // custard. pisco, banana creme fraiche cream, chocolate sauce, candied hazelnuts, banana chips. Other than the banana chips — amazing.

chancay con leche // peruvian cake. goat’s milk manjar blanco, coconut milk, maracuya guava frozen yogurt, torched meringue, harry’s berries strawberries.

bon bon bons! // ice cream. lucuma ice cream, lucuma, waffle crunch, popped quinoa // all dipped in peruvian illanka chocolate.

Overall, it was a great evening with great company, amazing service, and really good food — but somehow I found things a bit less adventurous than at either Picca or Paiche, like he had cherry picked the most approachable dishes for a tamer hipster American audience. Now, given that he’s had a string of GOOD restaurants go under, that might be a good business move, but to a more out-there eater like myself it felt a little dialed back. Execution itself was spot on though and the whole thing did feel “easier”, slightly less Peruvian. I had really enjoyed Paiche, partially because it was fairly convenient and one of the only new style restaurants (briefly) in the Marina. But as there isn’t much of this style of food in LA, and it’s very tasty, it’s good to have him back on the scene doing great stuff.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Foodie Club, Gelato, Peruvian cuisine, Ricardo Zarate, Rosaline, Wine

Hop Woo is Hop New

Jul11

Restaurant: Hop Woo

Location: 11110 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (310) 575-3668

Date: May 30, June 3 & July 25, 2018 and January 6, 2022

Cuisine: American and Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Surprisingly excellent Szechuan!

Incredible as it sounds, just a few days after hitting up new Brentwood Szechuan GuYi Erick and I explore another new westside Szechuan. Plus, this is a composite posts with returns on my own and a Hedonist visit.

This time disguised as venerable American Chinese Hop Woo, which has been serving a big menu of Cantonese inspired classics for years — but it turns out they have a new Szechuan chef and a secret Szechuan menu!

The space is vintage LA Chinese.

At night, it’s packed with us Hedonists taking up 3 tables!

Here is the special Szechuan menu. You have to ask for it. Some of the more challenging items they didn’t even bother to translate!

The big regular menu has a few gems too, but everything here from my first two visits is from the Szechuan menu.

Cold Szechuan Noodles (June 2018). Not even on the Szechuan menu, but they can make them. Basically nice wheat noodles with a tangy/spicy Szechuan chili oil sauce.

You mix them up and they are quite addictive. But the third time I had them (7/25/18) they were different, heavier, not as much chili, and not nearly as good.

Toothpick lamb (June & July 2018). The classic cumin rubbed lamb nibblettes. Quite nice.

Griddle cooked Bullfrog (June 2018). Very nice sauce and flavor. Mind the little kermit bones.

Griddle cooked lamb (June 2018). Somewhere between a griddle and a cumin lamb.

Garlic Shredded Pork (June 2018). Big dish, full of flavor, and nice texture.

MaPo Tofu (June & July 2018). Really a 9 or 10 out of 10 version of this favorite of mine. Tons of mala (numbing Szechuan peppercorn), you can see it dusted on top. Eaten over rice this is just so good. I have had this every-time I have been.

Hop Woo Signature Fresh Rock Fish with Hot and Spicy Flavor (June & July 2018). A very nice white fish smothered in delicious chilies (and chili oil). Some good vegetables like lotus leaf are hiding in there too. Could use more veggies though.

Slightly spicy fried calamari (7/25/18). Not bad. Very fried.

Cold chicken in chili oil (7/25/18). Delicious dish of boneless white meat (and skin) with a tangy spicy Szechuan chili oil.

We liked the sauce so much we ordered some Hainan chicken (boiled chicken, ordered 7/25/18) to dump into the extra sauce. Tasted the same but had bones.

It came with this bagna caulda (aka garlic oil).

Spicy lobster (7/25/18). Salty and full of flavor. Excellent lobster actually, if perhaps very slightly over done.

Garlic greens (7/25/18). Typical greens and garlic.

Shrimp with chilies (7/25/18). This is normally chicken with chilies, but we got it with shrimp. Basically salt and pepper shrimp (you eat them whole) with dry aromatic chiles. Pretty good.

Cauliflower with bacon (7/25/18). Awesome dish. Nice crunch to the vegetables and made 10x better with the soft pancetta like ham/bacon.

Panda Express Fried Sesame Pork Balls (7/25/18). Someone wanted a “white guy dish” and this fit the bill perfectly. Tasty enough, but REALLY fried.

Fish filets with green peppers (7/25/18). A savory mix of regular green chilies (Jalepenos or Serranos) and Szechuan peppercorns. Nice flavor and burn and numb.

Braised eggplant (7/25/18). This might be their take on “fish flavor eggplant.” Hard to tell, but it was tender and had lots of garlic. Not that spicy.

Below is a return post pandemic 1/6/22 meal:

BBQ Pork (1/6/22). A bit chewy and overly sweet.

Cold chicken with chili sauce (1/6/22). Great sauce. Chciken itself was a little big on the tendon factor.

Garlic cucumbers (1/6/22). Pretty good.

Jellyfish (1/6/22). A bit chewy.

Honey Walnut Shrimp (1/6/22). Very tasty. Not the best ever version of this dish, but quite good.

Sichuan Garlic Scallops (1/6/22). A bit sweet and cloying.

Clams with garlic and scallions (1/6/22). Not bad, but not amazing either. Not so much clam meat.

Whole fish with Rattan Pepper (1/6/22). Awesome broth. Fish was very tender. Lots of numbing. Bones, yes, but delicious. DOTN.

“Peking Duck” (1/6/22). Not bad, but huge chunks of Southern Chinese style roast duck.

Thin sweet hoisin.

Buns.
Salt and Pepper Pork Chops (1/6/22). Very salty, but quite tasty.

Mooshu Pork (1/6/22). Extremely mushy and not very good.

Mexican Tortillas instead of real spring pancakes. Not kidding, just el patio.

Orange Beef (1/6/22). Super sweet and fried. Kinda delicious in a dessert sort of wait.

Cumin lamb (1/6/22). Pretty decent.

Fried Rice Cake with Brown Sugar (June 2018). The owner gave these to us on the house. Very interesting Chinese dessert, all about the texture as usual. Chewy inside and dusty sweet on the outside.

Mandorla Tostata Stroopwafel Gelato (Toasted Almond) made by me for Sweet Milk Gelato (7/25/18) — toasted Sicilian almonds and Dutch Stroopwafel, because, why not?

Classic oranges and Fortune Cookies.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Szechuan items. It’s not a huge menu of them, and they aren’t quite Szechuan Impression or anything, but a few of these dishes, like the MaPo Tofu and the fish were absolutely first rate. Nice balance of tangy, hot, and numbing. It’s great to have a few real Szechuan choices on the westside!

Given my repeat and must larger visit with a lot of dishes I actually think the Szechuan here is on par with a second tier SGV Szechuan like Lucky Noodle King or maybe Spicy City. Some dishes better, some worse. It’s not the BEST Szechuan in the city by any means, but it’s the real deal and surprisingly very good for Westside. The even have really legit dishes like MaPo tofu with pig brains!

On our 1/6/22 visit a certain spice hater forced us to order about 3/4 from the regular menu. It was pretty consistent that almost everything from the regular (Chinese American) menu was very mediocre while stuff from the Szechuan menu was pretty good.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Random wines, only a few of the ones we brought:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Gelato, Hop Woo, mapo tofu, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan, Szechuan Chinese

Valentino Rayas

Jul09

Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Location: 3115 Pico Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 829-4313

Date: May 29, 2018

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun and educational!

Valentino is one of my most reviewed restaurants, particularly because Don Cornwell always uses it as a site for his Burgundy dinners. And when Ron suggested we do our Rayas dinner here I was skeptical, because it’s a bit staid, and when he suggested we order off the menu, I was even more skeptical — but this time Valentino proved me wrong.

The menu, which a certainly haven’t seen in a while.

Ron brought: 2006 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97.5. The 2006 Comtes de Champagne is striking, especially in the way it brings together elements of ripeness and freshness in a hypothetical blend of the 2002 and 2004. Smooth and creamy on the palate, the 2006 is all about texture. There is a real feeling of density and weight in the 2006, qualities I expect to see grow with time in the bottle. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. The 2006 has been nothing short of magnificent both times I have tasted it. Comtes de Champagne remains the single best value (in relative terms) in tête de cuvée Champagne. I suggest buying a case and following it over the next 20-30 years, which is exactly what I intend to do. There is little doubt the 2006 Comtes de Champagne is a magical Champagne in the making.

Tomato Bruschetta. Classic.

Various bread sticks.

The have very good single source olive oil.

Pougs brought: 2015 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly. VM 91. Pale, bright yellow. Precise but subdued scents of lemon and wet stone. Very pure but closed, conveying lovely energy and juicy, citrussy cut to its concentrated lemon zest, mandarin orange and stone flavors. Colin’s Chatenière may be richer than this wine but it doesn’t not have the same degree of energy. Finishes very smooth, seamless and long. Last year, Colin told me that this wine has only 12.3% alcohol.

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

Scallops with asparagus puree, asparagus, and mashed potatoes.

Tartara di Tonno e Burrata. Tuna tartare with orange flavor burrata sauce. Possibly a slightly waste of burrata (which I discovered here at Valentino 23 years ago), but really nice combo.

Polpo alla Brace e Fregula. Grilled octopus with squid ink infused Sardinian cous cous. A touch ugly but delicious.

Smoked Quail, rolle on potato and asparagus salad with blueberry sauce. Not what I expected, but delicious.

Larry brought: 1986 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. RP 86. This wine has been fully mature since its release and continues to drink well, although owners are advised to consume it before the turn of the century. Not one of the most successful 1986s (a difficult as well as irregular vintage in Chateauneuf du Pape), it displays a medium ruby color with no signs of amber or orange. A peppery, herbaceous, celery-scented note competes with ripe cherry/kirsch aromas. Although medium- to full-bodied, with good glycerin and a velvety texture, the wine lacks the sweet mid-palate and inner core of extraction and depth found in the greatest Rayas vintages.

Ron brought: 1989 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. RP 98. The 1989 Rayas is finally beginning to live up to its immense potential. The color is a dense ruby/purple. The aromatics, which have consistently been tight and reserved, are beginning to reveal some of the framboise and black cherry liqueur-like scents for which this hallowed estate is known. Extremely full-bodied, powerful, and rich, with lots of tannin, muscle, and extract, the colossal-sized, tightly-knit 1989 is bursting at its seams. It requires another 3-5 years of cellaring. This is a prodigious Rayas that is just beginning to strut its stuff. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025.

agavin: great!!

Jeff brought: 1997 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. RP 90. It appears I may have seriously underestimated the quality of the 1997 Rayas when tasted from barrel. Tasted twice from bottle, it unquestionably merits a 90-point score. It is rich, deep, and intense. It is an elegant, ripe, evolved, forward, medium-weight Rayas with copious raspberry and cherry fruit. It should drink well young and last for 10-15 years.

agavin: a touch corked? or too much bret?

From my cellar: 2000 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. RP 93. The 2000 Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape, which Emmanuel Reynaud believes is better than 1998, came in at a whopping 15.2% alcohol. It is reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of the 1998 and 1999, with a medium to light ruby color, and a sumptuous bouquet of kirsch liqueur, spice box, and licorice. Full-bodied and fleshy, with low acidity, it is a sweet (from high glycerin and alcohol), seductive, intoxicating offering with no hard edges and a rich, fleshy mouthfeel. While it will be hard to resist, I feel the 1998 still has more structure. Anticipated maturity for the 2000: 2005-2016.

agavin: drinking amazingly, young even

Erick brought: 2001 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. RP 92. The 2001 Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape is more structured and slightly deeper ruby-colored than the light-colored 2000. It also possesses more acidity as well as depth. This terroir-driven effort reveals aromas of raspberries and sweet kirsch as well as a medium-bodied, vigorously fresh, lively style. There is also good flavor authority. Give it 3-4 years of cellaring and consume it over the following 15. Like most Chateauneuf du Pape domaines, I did not see anything while tasting through the 2002 reds that would suggest they could be recommended in this publication.
Pougs brought: 2003 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. RP 95. The 2003 Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape has gone from strength to strength and now looks to be the finest vintage since the monumental 1995. Deep ruby to the rim with that classic Rayas nose of flowers, kirsch liqueur, black raspberries, crushed rocks, and minerals, the wine is dense and concentrated, with a broad, savory mouthfeel, sweet yet silky tannin, fabulous persistence, and a blockbuster finish that just goes on and on. This is a reassuringly profound Rayas that seems to suggest that Emmanuel Reynaud has finally figured out this cold-climate terroir in a warm climate appellation. This wine should be given 3-4 years of bottle age, and drunk over the following 20+ years.

A special pasta with ham.

Gnocchi Patate e Rapini. Potoato and rapini dumpling sateed with cherry tomatoes and jalapeno and creamy ricotta.
Risotto with fresh porcini.

Lasagnetta con ragu d’anatra e porcini. Lasagna with bechamel, duck ragu, and porcini.

All four pastas were great. They might not look the most modern, but they tasted amazing.

Sea bass in Sicilian sauce.

Costolette d’agnello. Grilled lamb chops over fava beans with roasted tomato and olive tapenade.

l‘Ossobuco with risotto al parmigiano. Old school but awesome.

Larry brought this sticky.

A mixed plate of desserts. Their gelato isn’t the greatest, but the cannoli was very good.

The wines were amazing (as they should be). The whites were great and the Rayas was stellar, particularly the 1989 and 2000. All were great though (the 01 and 03 just being young) except for maybe the 97 with its light corking.

Service was great as always, as Valentino really takes care of us — we are, after all friends of the owner, some for many many years. They moved us from a smallish table into our our dining room. Not a private room per se but they built a large table for us in the middle of one of the other rooms and put no one else in there — perfecto!

I was pleasantly surprised how good the food was off the menu, particularly as compared to my many boring sets of food at Don’s dinners. I guess they do it much better off the menu. And it’s always easier to handle a 6 person dinner, which really is a great number.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chateauneuf du Pape, Dessert, Foodie Club, Italian Cusine, Piero Selvaggio, rayas, Valentino, Valentino Santa Monica, Wine

Back to the Bazaar 2018

Jul06

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1 , 2 , 3 , 4, 5]

Location: 465 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310.246.5555

Date: May 26, 2018

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

I’m like a José Andrés groupie. I’ve been to every possible variant of his restaurants in LA, Vegas, and many in Washington. I’ve been here countless times, but today return with the Sauvages for a special Rioja lunch.No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. If you haven’t been, or haven’t been recently, you should.

I’ve been plenty of times where I don’t write it up, but this time we got the current tasting menu — which is by far the best deal and the way to go here — and I figured I’d do an up to date report.

From my cellar: 2008 Clos Erasmus Priorat Laurel. VM 92. Deep ruby. Seductively perfumed, with soil-inflected aromas of cherry, dark berries, smoke, spices and dried violet, along with a strong graphite quality. Velvety and tangy on entry, then ripe and sweet in the mid-palate, lending impressive energy to the almost medicinal cherry and singed plum flavors. Lively on the bright, very long back end, which features lingering floral and mineral attributes. Very pretty now but built for short- to mid-term aging, say another four to six years.

Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise. The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

Bagel and Lox Cone. The remainder of them are salmon roe with creme fraiche or cream cheese in the cone. Always a delightful little bite.

Spanish olives, traditional and modern. Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy (back). This is followed (on the right) by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

A newish take on the beet salad. Local Baby Beets. Smoked yogurt, pickled carrots, walnuts, avocado. This actually had a bit of heat (spice).

Pa’amb Tomaquet. Catalan style toasted bread, tomato. Jamon Iberico. Traditional Spanish ham.

Tuna Ceviche & Avocado Roll. Jicama, micro cilantro, coconut. Really nice bright flavors and interesting texture (soft and crunchy).

Tempura Squash Blossoms. Black olive, ricotta, fresh tomatillo sauce.

King Crab. Raspberries, raspberry vinaigrette. The crab and raspberry combo is something I haven’t come to complete terms with. Great crab though.

Not your everyday caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella. This is a near perfect deconstruction of the caprese. The mozzarella balls explode in your mouth, and pair great with the pesto and the little crunchy crackers.

Sautéed Shrimp. Garlic, tomato sofrito, guindilla pepper. There has been a sautéed shrimp on the menu since the start, but this newer version has more tomato. It’s great, but I probably prefer the more classic garlic/oil variant.

Grilled Spanish Octopus. Caramelized onions, chicken escabeche, cherry tomatoes.

Papas Canarias. Salty Wrinkled Potatoes, Mojo Verde and Mojo Rojo. The potatoes are very salty and you dip them in that slurry of parsley, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice. Really tasty. This has been on the menu since opening, but they recently changed the form favor (to have the potatoes on top of the sauce) and added the red sauce.

Croquetas De Pollo. Chicken-béchamel fritters. Classic! Super hot and gooey inside. Nice.

Seared Mary’s Farm Chicken. Honey dates, mustard caviar, mustard greens. In a way, this is like chicken with honey mustard sauce — but way better.

Catalan Spinach. Apple, pine nuts, raisins. Old dish, slightly new form factor.

I ordered this off the menu: 2011 La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri Rioja Reserva. VM 92. Bright violet color. Ripe cherry and blackberry on the highly perfumed nose, with a sexy floral nuance adding complexity. Fleshy and seamless on the palate, offering sweet red and dark berry flavors with hints of vanilla and smoky minerals. Closes smooth, sweet and very long, with excellent clarity and spicy persistence. Very suave wine with the balance to age but also with the upfront fruit to make it quite attractive now.

Coffee Rubbed American Wagyu Flat Iron. Passion fruit, pearl onions.

Wild Mushroom Rice. Idiazabal Cheese. A very nice cheesy risotto.

The deconstructed Philly cheese steak is one of my favorites. The “air bread” is super crispy with liquid cheddar. the beef is wagyu. On the right is The vegetarians got this “Hilly cheese steak” with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese. Last year, at a catered event at the SLS I ate over 20 of the cheesesteaks!!

Pan con Chocolate. Chocolate Flan with caramelized bread, olive oil, brioche ice cream. Great, just small.

Hot Chocolate Mousse. pear sorbet and salty hazelnut praline. Very soft texture but with crunch. Nice salty chocolate hazelnut flavor.

Traditional Spanish Flan. Vanilla and Citrus. I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint. Great citrus notes.

A few cookies.

I was at the Bazaar a few weeks earlier, and we ordered ala carte. Now the food was great both times, and very different things, but the tasting menu is such a better deal. Probably half the cost and we had way more — and more varied food. The problem is that if you order some of the super yummy “per piece” items by the person, it adds up really fast and you need a lot of the little bites — whereas the tasting menu includes basically all of the above for a single fixed (roughly $100) price.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bazaar, José Andrés, Molecular Gastronomy, Spanish Cuisine, The Bazaar, Wine

Great Grenache 2018

Jul02

Restaurant: John Gerber [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: Flintridge

Date: May 25, 2018

Cuisine: New American

Today’s Sauvages lunch is a lunch in honor of late Co-Poobah Steve Levin. It’s graciously hosted by Paul at at his beautiful home in Flintridge. This event is held outdoors in memory of the Zinfandel barbecues that Steve would hold for our group every summer at his home (it being Paul’s idea to maintain this fine tradition). To that end, we always enjoy a few Zinfandels at this lunch in addition to the theme wines for the lunch. The annual lunches at Paul’s home always rate very high on the scales for ambiance, camaraderie and food quality.

The main wine theme: This year, as it has been the past few years for our lunch at Paul’s, our primary wine theme will be “Grenaches of the World”, in this case from the 2007 and older vintages (the older the better). Just to be clear, “Grenaches of the World” means any Grenache or Grenache-based blend (at least 60-70% Grenache), as long as it is rated 93+ by a reputable critic, and is from the 2008 or older vintage. Grenache-based wines from Australia, California, Washington, Priorat, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Sardinia (called Cannonau) or any other parts of the world are fair game as long as the wine has a qualifying score.

This California style building isn’t the house itself, but the amazing top of the integrated cellar.

Trying to give you a sense of the mid century space.

We gather at one multi-wing table.

Today’s menu.

Snacks

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. Paul had a number of these in 375ml of some unspecified edition <=162?

From my cellar: 2015 Stift Göttweig Pinot Noir Messwein. 90 points. Like grapefruit soda!

2007 Lail Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Georgia. A strangely expensive Sauv Blanc ($100!), although tasty.

2013 Bader-Mimeur Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly.

2014 Peter Michael Chardonnay Mon Plaisir. VM 92. Peter Michael’s 2014 Chardonnay Mon Plaisir wraps around the palate with gorgeous depth and textural richness, two of its principal signatures. Candied lemon, succulent apricot and spice notes meld into the creamy, voluptuous finish. This south/south-east facing site at 1,600 feet planted with old Wente clone Chardonnay yields distinctly ample wines.

agavin: Fake chard!

Tuna Poke chips. Light and delicious.

Lobster medallions. On cucumber.

Some rack of wild boar grilling up for later.

Flight 1

1996 Alvaro Palacios Priorat L’Ermita. VM 92+. Saturated ruby-red, darker than the Dofí. Blackcurrant, black cherry, clove and Mediterranean spices on the nose. Dense, sappy and sweet in the mouth; lively, harmonious acids frame the wine very youthful black fruit and spice flavors. Finishes with substantial but smooth palate-saturating tannins and superb persistence. This is harder to taste today than the ’97, but should ultimately be the stronger vintage.

Albert brought: 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. JG 95+. I have always been a fan of the 1989 Château Beaucastel, which I rank just behind the superb 1981 at this fine estate. The most recent bottle I tasted of this wine was still just a touch youthful, but offered up fine complexity on both the nose and palate and shows excellent promise. The bouquet is a blend of roasted fruitcake, cherries, new leather, venison, incipient notes of sous bois, woodsmoke and hot stones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and rock solid at the core, with a bit of tannin still to resolve, fine focus and grip and a very long, classy and slightly chewy finish. I would be tempted to give this wine a few more years to really resolve, as it will be a superb wine and it would be most enjoyable to drink it at the same plateau that the 1981 has been enjoying for a good decade already.

agavin: this bottle was too bretty for me, although I love this wine

1989 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes. 95 points. Awesome.

2000 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Le Secret des Sabon. 94 points. Medium ruby. Exotic roasted aromas of surmaturite: black raspberry liqueur, dark chocolate, leather and earth. Shows a thickness and sweetness verging on porty, but the appeal of this bottle was reduced by some exotic, rather odd oak notes. Can this be right? (My sample of the 2001 was too low in SO2 and showing distinct oxidation notes.

Fruitti de Mare. Octopus carpaccio, razor clams, scallops and spot prawns. We’ve had this dish here before, but it’s always a great showcase of seafood. The only problem is the dubious “pairing” with so much (admittedly great) Grenache.

Flight 2

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.

2001 Clarendon Hills Grenache Old Vines Romas. VM 94. Bright, deep ruby-red. Captivating aromas of black cherry, violet, licorice and espresso; a rather Rayas-like style of grenache. Chewy, rich and sweet but also quite suave. A succulent, superripe basket of fruits complicated by torrefaction notes of coffee and chocolatey oak. Long, chewy, powerful finish builds impressively. The ’99 version of this wine was aged in 100% new oak; here, 30% seems perfectly appropriate.

2001 Clarendon Hills Grenache Old Vines Blewitt Springs. VM 91. Bright medium red. Very ripe, roasted flavors of raspberry and strawberry. Fat, rich, sweet and mouthfilling; offers a bit less verve than the Kangarilla but this is still shapely grenache. Finishes with big, mouthcoating tannins and impressive sweetness and volume. This is the Dolly Parton of the Clarendon grenache bottlings, notes importer John Larchet.

2004 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul. VM 93. Explosively floral aromas of raspberry and wild strawberry complicated by mineral and lavender notes. Concentrated and deep, with sweet but nicely focused red fruit and bitter cherry flavors accompanied by exotic smoked meat and black walnut tones. An impressively rich, powerful wine, offering serious palate coverage and a long, very sweet finish.

Oxtail Consommé. Stuffed morel mushrooms and spring vegetables. This was my dish of the day, and it was just a lovely meaty/mushroomy broth. I particularly enjoy morels too.

Flight 3

2003 Clos Mogador Priorat. VM 91. Dark ruby. Superripe, potent scents of cherry liqueur, candied dates, dark chocolate and fruit cake. Fat to the point of unctuous, with a distinct sweetness to the rich dark fruit-dominated flavors; cedary oaky notes build through the finish, along with vanilla, baking spices and a suggestion of black olive. A bite of licorice root gives focus to the long aftertaste. For all the volume here, this has the balance for cellaring.

2004 Spectacle Vins Montsant Espectacle. 93 points. Purple color with fast forming legs and aromas of eucalyptus, blackberry and violet. It’s balanced and has flavours of blackberry with a full body. Bright texture with a long finish.

2003 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de la Reine des Bois. VM 93. Inky violet color. Rich, smoky and deep on the nose, with powerful scents of chocolate, creme de mure and kirsch, tinged by candied violet and cracked pepper. Concentrated and lush, with a round, velvety texture and abundant sweet plum, blackberry and mocha flavors. Finishes with ripe, round tannins, a very sweet note of cassis, and great length.

2003 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo. VM 95-97. Deep, dark red. Multidimensional bouquet of kirsch, cassis, red plum, pipe tobacco, grilled meat, licorice pastille and roasted coffee; this has nearly all of the Chateauneuf food groups. Utterly mouthfilling in its richness, with tremendous concentration of red and dark berries, garrigue, bittersweet chocolate and aged beef. Finishes with a velvety lushness, round tannins and palate-staining persistence. A simply remarkable wine: it finished at 16.2% but the alcohol only shows in the wine’s unctuous, almost oily palate feel.

Wood Roasted Rack of Wild Boar. Sierra porcini and sea peas. A great rack. A little lighter and with a sweeter flavor for being boar (inside of lamb or something).

On the far back left is our chef, John Gerber, formerly of the French Laundry!

The panorama of most of the crew.

Flight 4: Cheese

From my cellar: 2007 Clos Mogador Priorat. VM 93. Glass-staining purple. Explosively perfumed aromas of blackberry, cherry-cola, candied licorice and black cardamom, with a smoky mineral undertone and a hint of fruitcake. Lush, decadent dark fruit flavors show a liqueur-like density but don’t come off as heavy thanks to slow-mounting minerality and a touch of spicy black pepper. There’s nothing shy about this, and while there’s the ripeness and weight that I expect from this wine, there’s also a brightness that bodes well for aging.

agavin: very slight corked 🙁

2005 Clos Mogador Priorat. VM 93. Opaque violet. A head-spinning bouquet of ripe blackcurrant, cherry liqueur, cola, candied plum, mineral and floral scents, along with a suave undercurrent of spicy oak. Deeply concentrated dark berry and cherry preserve flavors are impressively powerful and ripe, but improbably fresh too. Chewy tannins build on the finish but are overwhelmed by the intense, powerful fruit. This is a beast right now and in need of at least seven to ten more years in a cool cellar, maybe more. Then serve it with the richest red meat dish you can come up with.

agavin: after my bottle was corked Paul generously brought out this one. I have to remember to bring backups every time. I usually do, and it’s only when I don’t that it’s corked.

2006 Sine Qua Non Grenache Raven Series. VM 95. Opaque violet. Complex bouquet of cassis, blueberry and pipe tobacco, complicated by smoky Indian spices and dried rose. Expansive and open-knit, offering sweet dark berry preserve flavors and complementary notes of candied flowers and fruitcake. The smoky element gains strength on the finish, which is long, energetic and refreshingly mineral-driven. This is remarkably lithe for such power; I underestimated its potential last year. Includes 94% estate fruit, vinified with 25% whole clusters.

2007 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus-Ex Machina. VM 96. Glass-staining ruby. The nose offers a drop-dead sexy array of berry, floral and mineral scents, along with nuances of spicecake and black olive. Impressively deep and sweet but also energetic, displaying dense red and dark fruit liqueur flavors and sexy floral pastille and baking spice qualities. The mineral quality comes on strong with air and lends lift and urgency to the very long, spicy finish. This is slightly more elegant than the Comte des Fous but just as potent.

2006 Clos Erasmus Priorat. VM 95. Deep ruby. Heady, expansive aromas of raspberry, cassis, cola, star anise, smoky minerals and potpourri. Completely stains the palate with sweet red and dark berry compote flavors; a sexy floral pastille quality gains volume with air. Deep and powerful but graceful, offering a hypnotic melange of fruit, floral and mineral qualities and completely buffered tannins. This superb and very long wine will reward patient cellaring.

Cheese Plate. Camembert di Bufala, Italy (water buffalo milk). Comte Fromagerie Charles Arnaud, Jura France (cow milk). Nerina Ash Aged, Italy (sheep and goat milk).

My cryptic notes.

Flight 5: Zin

I’m just a little too lazy to lookup all the Zin’s, so they are just pictured and listed on the list below.

And this finishes the vast amount of wine.

Today I got really serious with the gelato transportation, hauling the Ifi Coolbox with 3 flavors I had made just that morning — notice my sexy custom logo!

Saffron Almond Gelato. I steeped the milk with Persian Saffron and blended in Sicilian Romano Almonds from Sicily!

Symphony in Pink – on the bottom Amarena Cherry Gelato and on the top, White Peach Rose Sorbetto.

The wine list.

Inside the upper level of the cellar where staging occurred.

And the full lineup!

Overall, a delicious afternoon — food and wine both! As a Burgundy nut, a often forget how delightful Grenache can be, but it’s really great stuff — and so consistent. Certainly a nice grape, if a powerhouse. Even the Zins were (relatively) enjoyable.

We did have WAY too much wine for the number of courses. We could have used an easy 2 or 3 more courses to stage it out. A couple years ago we had one more course and we could really use that as there is that extra Zin flight. I tried to “add” one with the gelato :-).

The setting really is magnificent. The weather was perfect, if a little cloudy. Just an ideal afternoon in the yard!

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, Grenache, John Gerber, lunch, Paul Wools, Sauvages, Wine, Zinfandel

GuYi — Szechuan in Brentwood?

Jun29

Restaurant: GuYi Restaurant

Location:11677 San Vicente Blvd suite 315, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (424) 293-0988

Date: May 24, 27 & June 18 & December 10, 2018 and May 2, 2019

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Amazing for the neighborhood

I was stunned when I learned from a friend (Sklar) that they had opened a Szechuan place in Brentwood!

Yeah, Brentwood.

And not just Brentwood on Wilshire or something, but in Brentwood Gardens, least ethnic mini-mall in Los Angeles! I mean this place is gentrified to the hilt. It still features CPK.

In fact, GuYi is right on top of CPK and looks like… well a newish SGV place with a view.

I ignored these boring white bread lunch specials. Forget about ’em!

The usual large menu, featuring Szechuan and Northern dishes — but oddly very few noodles.

They have some bottled smoked plum juice. It tastes like it always does. Maybe it’s always bottled. I don’t think they have a liquor license.

Boiled dumplings with pork and cabbage. They were light and delicate, tasted mostly like cabbage, but were actually rather excellent.

Clear noodle with sauce (spicy). I didn’t expect this dish, although I’ve had it before and this was a decent version. More vegetable (cucumber?) than noodle. And it’s the pappardelle-like rice noodles. Strong mustard flavor as it should have, but I was alone and it’s hard to eat a whole bowl of these oneself.

Bean Jelly in Szechuan Chili Sauce. Got these twice. I love them in general, and I loved them here. Nice jelly texture and great tangy/spicy sauce.

Cold Beef with chili oil. Really excellent (and spicy / tangy) version of this dish. Lots of cilantro to balance it out. There was quite a bit of tendon in here too — which I find rather excellent due to its nice mouth feel (but I’m “adopted” Chinese).

Griddle cooked chicken (w/ bone) and mixed vegetables. What I often call dry hot pot. Very nice flavor. The celery and potatoes soaked up the chili. Chicken tasted really good, but did have all those bones (authentic style).

Popcorn chicken (sometimes known as Szechuan fried chicken with chilies). A nice rendition of this dish, a touch sweet with a fairly thick fry, but no bones and very tasty.

Fried Sweet and Sour “Squirrel” Fish. The squirrel refers to how it looks, all fried and fluffed up like that. Nice fish.

GuYi Sautéed sliced pork. Almost bacon with green and red peppers. This was REALLY good. Very spicy too with a longer burning heat from the green peppers. Like super spicy tasty bacon!

Boiled fish slices in hot sauce. A solid rendition of the classic Szechuan dish. Not enough mala (numbing Szechuan peppercorn) for my taste though.

Boiled beef with tofu pudding. You can get the fish this way too. Similar sauce, with beef and lots of tofu. Sometimes at Szechuan places you get it with beef, tofu, AND fish. I liked this one slightly better than the fish, but both were very good. Nice strong flavor. Maybe a touch salty.

Kung Pao Shrimp (12/101/18). Very nice Kung Pao sauce with that tangy/sweet/spicy blend. Not enough shrimp, but the ones that were there were great.

MaPo tofu (pocked marked old lady face tofu). An ok version of this dish, but not great. Some heat, but no numbing, not too much pork. Needed more depth of flavor.

Overall, I’m blown away that this is in a mainstream Brentwood mall. Hard to imagine most white Brentwoodians eating here, and if they did they’d just have the boring lunch special or American stuff. But service was very nice (if sometimes a touch slow) and it is very tasty. It needs more mala (numbing) and a slightly more tuned up Szechuan flavor balance, but great to have so close!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brentwood, Chinese cuisine, Gu Yi, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan Chinese

n10 with the Gang

Jun27

Restaurant: n10 restaurant

Location:8436 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA, CA 90048. (310) 924-2011

Date: May 21, 2018

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great pastas and hospitality

I’ve been doing a lot of Foodie Club dinners the last couple of months because they have the best overall balance between food, wine, company etc and are smaller and more intimate.

Larry has been friends for a while with the owner of the brand new n10 and so he set this one up.

It’s a new Italian place on 3rd Street, right next to the now defunct/moved Gusto. They have a large (and nice) patio.

The interior is big too with a top notch build out. At first we had the private room but an uppity chick coming for her birthday dinner threw a tantrum on the owner and we moved out to the patio — which was in many ways nicer because it was quiet and we had it all to ourselves.

The menu.

And an insert.

Erick brought: 1996 Bruno Paillard Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 94. The 1996 Brut Blanc de Blancs is a rich, explosive wine that bursts onto the palate with a blast of ripe fruit. Generous notes of toasted oak, flowers and nuts follow, but everything is woven together in a fabric of unsual brilliance. The oak remains quite prominent and borderline intrusive but stylistically everything works. The wine comes together in the glass, where it also gains additional weight and fills out nicely. This is a powerful, heady and totally opulent Champagne that calls for food. In the right context it is sure to be extraordinary. At the risk of offending the Champenoise, the 1996 Brut Blanc de Blancs seems to scream for a poached egg generously topped with white Alba truffles!

CHARCUTERIE. Prosciutto di Parma aged 24 months / prosciutto Toscano aged 20 months / finocchiona salami / speck /
nduja / bresaola / mortadella / spicy coppa / chicken liver pate / served with gnocco fritto.

Puffy Emilia-Romagna style breads.

Another view with the wine bucket.

And a different bread type, plus Grissini.

Seb is obsessed with this wine: 2014 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. VM 94+. Bright, pale yellow. Lovely perfumed lift to the aromas and flavors of lemon zest, grapefruit and white flowers. Tactile and dense but very closed on the palate, combining a sexy sweetness for the year with powerful salinity and superb depth. Most impressive today on the energetic, slowly mounting, palate-staining finish, which leaves the retronasal passage quivering. Premier cru Chablis from the region’s left bank does not get much better than this.

TUNA TARTARE. capers, agrumato, espelette pepper, preserved lemon.

CARNE CRUDA. grass fed beef, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, cured egg yolk. Very nice tartar with the cured egg yolk.

And bread for both tartars.

BURRATA. pea sprouts, fennel, preserved lemon, olio verde. Imported from Italy.

From my cellar: 2007 Venica & Venica Malvasia Collio. Great northern Italian white.

PIZZA TARTUFATA. burrata, squash blossoms, black truffle. Nice pizza.

Now we get into my favorites, the pastas:

PACCHERI. Maine lobster, crustacean broth, stracciatella, pomodorini, basil pesto.

SPAGHETTI CHITARRA. Sea urchin, grey mullet, botarga, lemon zest. Another great one.

From my cellar: 1997 Gaja Barbaresco. 95 points. Good full ruby-red. Superripe aromas of black raspberry, coffee, mint and oak, plus an exotic smoky note of torrefaction. Less complex than the ’98 but very concentrated, with surprising acidity giving the wine lovely vinosity. Strong note of dark chocolate in the mouth. Finishes long and juicy, with building tannins.

BOMBOLOTTI SUGO TOSCANO. tomato, guanciale, soffritto onions, dry aged pecorino. First rate with a great bite and nice porky flavor.

RISOTTO. porcini, zucchini, red wine braised chicken oysters. Interesting.

GNOCCHI NORCINA. Sausage, porcini mushrooms, black truffle. I love Norcina and this was a fairly faithful version.

2000 Château Montrose. VM 94. Full red-ruby. Roasted, smoky aromas of blackberry, blueberry and licorice. Plush, dense and large-scaled; expands impressively in the mouth. Chocolatey-ripe but kept fresh by nicely integrated acidity. Offers lovely sweetness without going over the top. Finishes with big, dusty, horizontal tannins and lovely aromatic persistence. Offers extraordinary texture and depth of flavor for a wine with just 12.8% alcohol.

BONE-IN RIBEYE. cipolini onions, red wine sauce, rosemary roasted potatoes.

Larry brought a Mollydooker Shiraz Velvet Glove but I forgot to get a photo of the year!

COSTOLETTE D’AGNELLO. Australian lamb chops, shishito peppers, marinated cabbage, aged balsamic.

RAPINI. garlic, olive oil, chili. Like a Chinese green (almost).

CARCIOFI. roasted artichokes, guanciale, Calabrian chili. These were nice.

Our very generous host brought this Barolo out for us on the house! 1999 Gomba Boschetti Barolo Sori Boschetti

Here is the owner with Larry. Next we go into dessert overload!

SEMIFREDDO. dark, milk and white chocolate, amaretti cookies, blackberries. I love semifreddo.

With the chocolate sauce.

CREPE CAKE. poppy seeds, pastry cream, strawberries.

TIRAMISU. lady fingers, espresso, mascarpone mousse. This was a good “real” tiramisu — not as good as mine, of course, but good.

I can’t remember exactly what this was, but coconut I think.

Some nice gelatti, not made in house though, and not nearly as good as mine, but still solid.

Pistachio Gelato. A bit mild, but nice texture.

Caramel Gelato.

Chocolate Gelato.

Stracciatella Gelato.

Raspberry Sorbetto.

Oh, and some Sassicaia grappa to finish — took a couple layers off my gut! Not really a grappa fan.

But this was a great night and a lot of fun. Really good food, particularly the pastas, apps, pizzas and desserts (I rarely love the mains at Italian) and amazing service and hospitality!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, Italian cuisine, N10, pasta, West Hollywood, Wine

Fake Chard at Grand Harbor

Jun25

Restaurant: Grand Harbor [1, 2]

Location: 5733 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 280-2998

Date: May 20, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Solid B+ dim sum and Cantonese treats

It has become traditional for the Dirty Dozen (our blind tasting group within a group) to do white wine lunches over dim sum — which is by far my preference given some alternatives because despite the timing problems with wine tasting and Chinese Food, I just always love good Chinese food. And so one year exact to the day after our last visit to Grand Harbor we return.

The wine theme today was New World Whites — ick.

Grand Harbor is a relatively new Hong Kong place in Temple City from Jackie Zhou.

The dining room is huge and opulent in that chintzy Chinese way. I would have thought from all the overzealous cove lighting that the space was built out in the 80s, but apparently it’s only a year or two old!

Real marble blends non-so-seemlessly with faux-alabaster. They have wine too like many of the new high end places. Mostly big young red wine like Bordeaux which totally fails to pair with Cantonese Chinese, but it’s the thought that counts.

XO sauce on the table to start, which is a nice touch.

This time we had a private room — much better. Today was a small crew too, only 7 of us, probably because of the lame New World White theme.

From my cellar: NV Ruinart Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 92. Light yellow-gold. Smoky citrus and orchard fruits on the deeply perfumed, mineral-tinged nose. Offers broad, toasty orange and pear skin flavors with an undercurrent of dusty minerals. Picks up floral and ginger nuances with air, along with hints of iodine and tarragon. Rich yet lively blanc de blancs with powerful back-end lift and finishing grip.

agavin: my favorite wine of the day. lol. and it wasn’t even part of the official set.

Marinated cucumbers. Very good, nice crunch and a bit of heat. These were so good we ordered them again.

From my cellar: 2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault. JG 90. All of the vineyard plots for this new villages bottling hail from the former Domaine Emmanuel, with the lion’s share having been the old Clos de la Baronne bottling. This is a very deep and classy AC bottling and a welcome new addition to the Roulot lineup, wafting from the glass in a blend of apple, tangerine, nutskin, a very pretty base of soil and just a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite classic, with a very pretty blend of soil and pure fruit, nice framing acids and very fine length and grip on the open and classy finish. This is not a particularly minerally example of Meursault, but it has all the charm and early generosity one would like to see in a villages bottling, and this will delight right from the start, but I would be inclined to give it at least a year of bottle age to allow its secondary layers of complexity to emerge.

agavin: Jen allowed me to slip in a ringer because I hate new world whites (and barely have any) and because I had the theory that even a village Roulot would blow them away. Unfortunately, the bottle was mildly corked and therefore very short on fruit. Even so it came in #4 (middle of the pack) despite being corked. Sigh.

Brian brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard. VM 95+. The 2013 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard is one of the most tightly wound wines in this range. White pepper, crushed rocks, smoke, mint and lemon peel gradually open up, but only with great reluctance. Today, it is the wine’s energy and tension that stand out above all else. A vivid, mineral-drenched finish rounds things out in style.

agavin: the winning wine (Brian again taking the title). Today turned out to be an Aubert tasting.

Scallop & shrimp dumplings with dried roe. Nice dumpling with a bit of a different vibe.

Har gow. Crystal shrimp dumplings. Nice.

Chui Chow style dumplings.

Shu Mai. Shrimp and pork dumplings. Nice version of the classic.

Shanghai style XLB. solid little bags of goodness. These are the classic soup dumplings stuffed with pork and hot broth.

Yarom with the manager.

Larry brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay CIX Estate Vineyard. VM 96. The 2013 Chardonnay CIX Vineyard is another reticent wine, but there is plenty of depth, volume and raciness. With time in the glass, deeper, soil-inflected notes, graphite, chamomile and honey open up, adding considerable complexity and nuance. Bright, saline notes punctuate the finish. The CIX starts off slow, but then really accelerates with air.

agavin: ranked #2

Yarom brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons. VM 95. The 2013 Chardonnay Larry Hyde and Sons is gorgeous. Lemon curd, white flowers, white pepper and mint lift from the glass. Effortless, gracious and lifted in the glass, the 2013 impresses for its brightness and tension, but there is plenty of the trademark Aubert richness in the glass. The Hyde finishes with notable energy and subtlety.

agavin: ranked #5-6, oddly cloudy (storage in Yarom’s guest room?)

Jen slipped in: 2016 Kirkland Signature Chardonnay Signature Series Russian River Valley. Tasted like oak.

agavin: fortunately came in dead last, keeping the balance in the universe.

Crispy fried chicken cartilage. Always a favorite and really tasty.

Beef rolls. Good versions of this dish (which isn’t generally a favorite of mine). Not as heavy as some.

Pork inside a chewy fried skin. Excellent version with a good amount of meat and not too greasy.

Tofu in tangy sauce. Nice soft fried tofu with a delicious tangy, hot, sweet sauce.

Lightly fried dumping. Can’t remember the filling but they were good.

Golden batter pork buns. Spectacular with the sweet pork inside.

Shrimp rice noodle. Known in my household as “shrimp slime.”

Green onion rice noodle. I think, I can’t remember what was inside for sure.

2016 Ovid Experiment W3.6. 92 points. Light yellow. Fresh and vibrant nose. Multiple grapes, changes every year. Rhone varietals, and nicely put together. Interesting . As it warmed up the Roussanne seemed to be the emphasis.

agavin: I liked this slightly floral white.

Ron brought: 2002 Sine Qua Non Whisperin’ E. VM 94. a blend of 50% roussanne, 31% viognier and 19% chardonnay; 14. 9% alcohol. Pale-medium gold. Roasted, oaky aromas of peaty Islay scotch and smoke, with a strong mineral component. In the mouth, this offers a fascinating combination of a firm pear skin edge and lively acids on the one hand and superripe flavors of pineapple, peach nectar and honeysuckle on the other. The flavors suggest thickness but the wine’s phenolic edge keeps it brisk. Finishes very subtle, pliant and long, with excellent lift. A captivating, suave California white wine. I’d be more enthusiastic about Northern Rhone whites if they had the fruit of this one.

agavin: I don’t normally like white Rhones but I liked these two much better than the fake Chards

One of the managers really pushed these roast pigeons on us. I was skeptical, as I came for dim sum, but these were excellent birds. Juicy, with a lot of flavor and a nice crispy skin. We had two halves each and were VERY full.

Pork chops causeway style. Never had pork chops in this style, with the crispy garlic and some chilies, but it really worked.

Crispy pan fried noodles with egg and beef and cilantro. Really good, you could cut it almost like a pancake.

Pea tendrils with garlic. Excellent green.

House special fried rice. With the Chinese sausage. Yum.

“Pineapple” buns. Basically a custard inside.

I also brought a pair of Sweet Milk Gelati (that I made). Mexican Cinnamon Chocolate Gelato with optional house-made chili caramel (not shown).

and Pure Sicilian Sweet Almond Gelato with Scorza di Limone (candied lemon peel).

My bad notes.

The score card.

The lineup.

Overall, Grand Harbor had very solid dim sum, at the level just below Elite where a lot of good but not perfect places stand. I’d certainly happy to chow down on it again. They did seem to use a lot of MSG because I was HAMMERED by it about 45 minutes later. Non dim sum dishes were excellent and they have a VAST menu of them. Worth coming for an evening banquet.

This second meal we didn’t have nearly as many people and so didn’t get to try as many dishes unfortunately. What we had was very good but the previous time was epic.

Service here was fabulous. This time we had the private room and they really took care of us. They kept trying to bring us more stuff, all of which was delicious.

The smaller group was a lot of fun. More relaxed, less craziness, and it was a very enjoyable lunch. I wasn’t a big fan of the wines. Shame my Roulot was corked — as I preferred the Ruinart Champagne to all the official whites!

Overall, a super fun afternoon!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, BYOG, Chardonnay, Dim sum, dimsum, Dirty Dozen, Grand Harbor, hedonists, SGV, Wine. gelato

Had to Write it Up – Mr Chow

Jun22

Restaurant: Mr Chow

Location: 344 N Camden Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 278-9911

Date: May 19, 2018

Cuisine: American High End Chinese

Rating: Tasty, but bland and pricey

Mr Chow is an interesting place — and particularly for me, given my proclivities. It’s been open here in Beverly since 1978 (London in 1968!) and represents a mid-late 20th century attempt to bring international Chinese food to rich Westerners in an upscale format. I haven’t been in years, maybe 10+ years, and it will be interesting to see how it is after becoming much more knowledgeable about more authentic Chinese food.

Located on Camden in the heart of Beverly Hills, it’s still pretty darn crowded on a Saturday night.

The decor is dated but in perfect preservation.

Fairly elegant, if a little 70s-80s.

The menu.

Hot sauce.

Some noodles for my son. He didn’t really like them, just boiled noodles.

Gambei with goodies. Candied walnuts, crispy spinach?, fried lotus root. All carby, sweet, and tasty.

Vegetable lettuce cups. Basically chopped up vegetables with a light sauce.

The lettuce. These are all about the hoisin. Not sure they are particularly Chinese in any way (they seem far more Vietnamese), but they are associated with Asian restaurants. They may represent a staple of Mandarin places in Vietnam (with it’s heavy Southern Chinese influences).

Squid Ink Rice Noodles. Never seen these at a real Chinese place either, and the portion is small, and they weren’t the hottest, but they did taste pretty good in a lip staining kinda way.

Chicken Satay (Original Recipe). Definitely is. Not much like a Thai satay. Very sweet with this weird sweet mayo sauce. Not a huge fan myself.

Water dumplings. Basically very small standard “boiled” pork dumplings. Other than the price per gram, tasty enough.

Chicken Curry Puff. I like these flakey pastry puffs. The curry didn’t hurt either.

Drunken Fish. Filet poached in wine with mushrooms. Very nice Chinese white wine sauce. Incredibly soft and mild dish but very enjoyable as well.

Green Prawns. I think these are a slight Mr Chow variant on the Hángzhōu style prawns with green tea. These were sweeter, with less overt tea flavor, but tasty enough.

Ma Mignon. Tender and delicious (says the menu), since 1975. Also not very Chinese. Ok, but a little over cooked.

Mixed vegetables. Looks about like what it is.

Peking Duck. They carve it tableside.

The duck on the plate.

With the traditional scallions and cucumber.

And pancakes. I ate about 10 of these. Nothing at all wrong with them. Excellent duck.

They have a dessert cart with more or less Italian or French style tarts.
Mixed berry tarte. It was fine, a little dry.

The place was fairly packed, with the private room swinging with a very pretty, very blond Beverly Hills 16 year old celebrating her sweet 16. I don’t really get it, as it’s well over $100 a person and where “pretty good” about at the level of a very good Chinese American joint. The atmosphere is old school and interesting. Food doesn’t have the balance or zing of good real Chinese food. It’s extremely mild across the board. I don’t just mean in terms of spiciness, but flavors are soft and veering toward sweet. Some dishes are excellent in terms of taste, like the drunken fish, green shrimp, and duck — but all in the same soft modality.

Service was pretty good. It was LOUD though, like a more modern restaurant. Not really for me.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Mr Chows

Is Majordomo a Major Deal?

Jun20

Restaurant: Majordomo

Location: 1725 Naud St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (323) 545-4880

Date: May 16, 2018

Cuisine: Korean Fusion

Rating: Big dishes amazing

It’s with gigantic expectation that NY restaurateur David Chang opens his first LA outpost.

Looking on the map, I was pretty skeptical of the weird between Chinatown and Dodger’s Stadium location — a totally annoying spot for me to get to during traffic!

The area is extremely warehousey, much like the “Arts District” but even newer.

The have a sort of hipster city built down here out of old warehouses.

With lots of bespoke graffiti.

And Majordomo, of course.

Which has a pretty big enclosed and outside space.

As you can see.

Inside is one of those cavernous loud warehouse spaces.

High naked ceilings. Don’t come here when it’s raining! They also have the currently hip bathroom setup with the coed shared sinks exposed out in the main room. Not my thing. What if you want to clean up in private?

The menu.

As always, Fred wanted to go all out so this is our modest wine lineup for 4.

Fred brought: 2010 Coche-Dury Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères. VM 92+. Reticent, pure aromas of white peach, hazelnut and minerals. Densely packed and urgent but youthfully tight, showing outstanding intensity and energy for village wine. The resounding, palate-staining finish displays outstanding structure and life. From a tiny crop, this almost painfully young wine should benefit from seven or eight years in the cellar.

agavin: I never understand how the pro reviewers will give a wine like this, which just sings, a lower score than some random Chablis.

There is a Korean fusion amuse cart.

Serving pickles.

Kombu Cured Diver Scallop, Pink Lady apple dashi. Very sweet.
Bing is this Korean bread thing. Pretty much like a thick crepe or pita bread. They have various “toppings” you can get with the bing.

Benton’s reserve ham bing. Put the ham on the pita.

Eggs & Smoked Roe bing. This was pretty excellent. You mash it up a bit to get the roe, egg, chips etc on the bing. I put the ham on at the same time for max effect and it was very good.

Marinated Mushroom, pistachio, radish, pea tendrils. Awesome mushroom dish. Nice flavors and textures. Good fiber too.

Special Foodie Club guest Andrew enjoys his wine.

Erick brought: 1999 Château Latour Grand Vin. Parker 93-95. A terrific effort, this sexy, open-knit, opulent effort possesses plenty of tannin, but it is largely concealed by the wine’s wealth of fruit, high extraction level, and noticeable glycerin as well as unctuosity. Dense ruby/purple-colored, with a sweet, evolved nose of black fruits (cassis, leather, and blackberries), cedar, spice box, and liquid minerals, this powerful yet seamless Latour will be surprisingly accessible at an unusually young age. Long and full-bodied, with the acidity, tannin, alcohol, and wood all beautifully integrated, it will be at its finest between 2007-2030. A classic!

Andrew brought: 2003 Haut-Brion. Parker 95. Clearly the best wine made in the Haut-Brion stable in 2003 (the last vintage of the great Jean-Bernard Delmas as administrator), the 2003 Haut-Brion is a blend of 58% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc that hit 13% natural alcohol, which seemed high at the time, but given more recent vintages is modest. Dark ruby/plum in color, with no amber or orange at the edge, the wine exhibits an abundance of roasted herbs, hot rocks, black currants, plum, and balsamic notes. Quite rich, medium to full-bodied and more complete, with sweeter tannins than La Mission Haut-Brion, this full-bodied Haut-Brion has hit full maturity, where it should stay for at least a decade. Bravo!

If you go, you must order this even though it’s $190! Whole Plate Short Rib (4-6 people). Smoked bone-in APL-style ribs. Served with beef rice, shiso rice paper, ssämjang & condiments.

The huge chunk of Texas style cow comes out on the cart with the stuff.
They carve it up into various modalities.

The “thin sliced” mode, which was amazingly flavorful.

The fattier end cap slices which were to die for tender.

And the knaw on the bone for extra flavor bones.

And some of it goes back into the kitchen and emerges as beef fried rice — crazy good.

From my cellar: 1999 Gros Frère et Sœur Richebourg. 95 points. Bright, deep ruby-red. Complex nose melds violet, bitter chocolate, earth, meat and a hint of medicinal austerity. Dense, rich and thick; a wine of compelling richness and sweetness, but also solidly structured despite its accessibility today. Finishes with lush but firm tannins and exhilarating notes of cassis and violet. Lovely pinot noir.

We also pre ordered Boiled Whole Chicken (2-3 people) rice, morels, hand torn noodles. This amazing dish has apparently changed and no longer has the fabulous noodles.

This was some absolutely first rate chicken. Pretty much Hainan chicken with the spice already rubbed on, much more Chinese than anything else.

The hand torn noodle soup was like some of the best (Chinese) mushroom noodle soup you’ll ever (not) have (as they discontinued it :-().

The dessert menu. I didn’t have the guts to BYOG (Bring Your Own Gelato) on our first trip to Majordomo.
Strawberry Trifle. Buttermilk panna cotta, chiffon cake.
Horchata Kakigori. Coffee, riche, dulce de leche. This was basically a good shaved ice.

Overall, we had a great time at Majordomo. They have some annoyances, like the custom website reservations a month or so ahead of time that book up instantly. We ignored those and scored a late (9pm ish) reservation 2 days out. I don’t do that long advance planning thing.

The service and wine service were both spectacular. I was really surprised as these loud hipster places often don’t have good wine service but we were really taken care of and this added a lot to the evening.

The larger pre-order dishes like the rib and chicken were amazing and insane. The other dishes were good but not as memorable. But I’d totally go back for either ribs or chicken, and I hope they keep mixing up the menu too.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.