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Noodling About – Mian

Sep20

Restaurant: Mian

Location: 301 W Valley Blvd #114, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Date: August 9, 2017 and January 27, 2019 and August 20, 2022

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Salty but good

Mian is the Szechuan noodle outpost from the people who run Chengdu Taste, which is one of the SGV’s original Szechuan places and pretty darn good.

It’s located in the minimall with Tasty Dining and Mei Long Village. And this fact led us to eat not one lunch but two, hitting up both Mian and J&J separated by a one hour bargain foot massage — all in the same minimall!

Mian has a superficial level of style — although if the entire build out cost more than $30,000 I’ll eat 5 bowls of noodles. Still, instead of the hideous white drop ceiling there is an ugly black drop ceiling.

Slightly fermented spicy cabbage adorn the table — like Szechuan kimchee.

And they serve sweet mung bean tea.

I’m not sure I’ve had this tea before, and boy is it ugly to look at, but it goes with the food.

The same Mao era canteen mug is home to this delicious egg custard with ground pork (8/17 and 1/27/19 and 8/20/22). One of those delicate fluffy egg custards covered in savory ground pork. Yum! I really enjoy the texture (and taste) of this kind of custard and with the pork was fabulous.

Zoom in on the custard.

Beef in chili sauce (1/27/19 and 8/20/22). Quite spicy, dry, and nice.

Sweet and sour pork wontons (earlier and 8/20/22). The sauce was that spicy/tangy Szechuan sauce I like, and the noodles and pork filling excellent, however the whole thing was a touch too salty.

All mixed up for better coverage.

Szechuan Cold Noodles (1/27/19 and 8/20/22).

You mix up the above cold noodles and eat. These were superlative. Nice noodle texture, good weight, and this scrumptious tangy chili sauce. Loved them. I adore when the acid balance is right and these really had it down. A bit of nuttiness, but not nearly as nutty or heavy as a dan dan — different, but great.

Extra side of minced pork to mix into the noodles.

Chengdu Zajiang noodles with fried egg and pork. This is the house specialty, with and without egg, with and without some kind of gut busting Chengdu bean.

Here it is mixed up. The noodles themselves were perfect and the meat was delicious. The overall effect was excellent. I think these are a top version of this particular noodle variety. I’m a little partial to great dan dan mien as that has a more complex nutty flavor, but I certainly wouldn’t kick these out of bed.

Overall, Mian has a very simple menu. There are 4 types of the same wontons, about 6 types fo the Zajiang noodles, and not too much else, so it’s pretty much a great spot for a tasty bowl of Chengdu noodles, not a whole Szechuan meal (you could go to Chengdu Taste or one of the many other great Szechuan places for that). The things they do make, however, are quite good.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Mian, noodles, SGV, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine

Persistent Providence

Sep18

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2, 3]

Location: 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 460-4170

Date: August 7, 2017

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Awesome food

It’s been almost 3 years since I last went to one of LA’s few remaining “formal” restaurants and so the Foodie Club ended up back at Providence.

We chose the middle of their 3 fixed menus plus a couple of supplements. The supplements are pricey enough that it probably would have been cheaper to just go for the big tasting menu.

Providence mysteriously persists in a somewhat annoying corkage policy. They do have “no corkage monday”, which is nice, but it isn’t really no corkage, it’s “no corkage on 2 bottles but don’t bring any more.” We managed to bring a few more, but still they are sticklers with the limit. I don’t mind the corkage but hate the limits. Anyway, this wine was off their list:

NV Drappier Champagne Rosé Brut Nature Dosage Zero. BH 90. The color is paler than that of the regular brut rosé. A pretty and slightly more elegant nose features a similar aromatic profile but with more evident yeast character. There is fine intensity to the delicious and vibrant flavors that are supported by a firm and definitely finer mousse, all wrapped in a bone dry and youthfully austere finish where a hint of bitter cherry pit appears. This won’t be for everyone as the dryness is pronounced; I happen to like it but it would be fair to say that this is not a charmer. With that said, a few years of bottle age should serve to round off the austerity and add a bit of depth as well.

Amuse of spherized cocktail.

Crab bites in radish.

Gougeres stuffed with foie.

Skewers of tomatoes.

Will brought: 1990 Louis Latour Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Our bottle was very mature and subtle, but had a pleasant nutty character.

Chilled fruit “soup.”

Truffle foie bite. Best amuse, and an amazing (and rich) bite.

Fried “cigars.”

Tai snapper, daikon, ginger coriander. Very nice and bright.

Super normandy butter and salt.

I was trying to avoid the bread, but failed miserably.

Seb brought: 2005 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. VM 90. Good medium red. Dark raspberry, coffee and spicy oak on the nose; this wine’s flamboyant ripeness almost came as a shock following the more reticent 2006s. Big, round, plush and ripe, with spicy dark raspberry and chocolate flavors and considerable density for village wine. Quite smooth and harmonious at the moment: Roumier volunteered that this is not as closed yet as he expected it would be.

agavin: very nice, albeit young.

Supplement of uni egg. Good stuff, but tiny (for $22).

Abalone, grilled avocado, tortilla, dill. Tasted like guacamole with some extra chew. A waste of the abalone and very rich.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. BH 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

Santa barbara spot prawn, summer squash, tomato dashi, opal basil. Very light and tomatoey dish. There was a very thin tomato broth poured in here later.

Vermilion rockfish, cranberry beans, buttermilk, chanterelle. Light and buttery.

Dusty brought: 2010 Promontory Red Wine. VM 95+. The 2010 Promontory is rich, powerful and intense, with a core of inner sweetness that is compelling. Today the 2010 is quite exotic in its aromatics, but is less available and forthcoming on the palate. I would prefer to cellar it for a few more years.

agavin: not a bad giant cab, but not really the right kind of wine for Providence which is more white and soft reds.

Supplement of black truffle risotto.

Black truffles from Australia.

And properly topped. A nice risotto, but could have been more mind blowing for the price.

One of the 3 entree choices:

white sea bass. Brentwood corn, pancetta, garden greens.

Another light wine:

Larry brought: 2000 Harlan Estate. JK 96+. The 2000 Harlan Estate is in a beautiful place today. Soft, open-knit and nicely mellowed by age, the 2000 is absolutely gorgeous, with soft contours to match is engaging personality. Mocha, black cherries, leather and spice are all quite forward in this succulent Harlan Estate. The 2000 might not be a profound Harlan Estate, but it is a striking wine that is peaking today and that should continue to drink well for at least another few years.

Liberty farms duck, pluot, shiso, ume.

A5 Wagyu. Maris piper potato, black truffle bordelaise. Rich and tasty.

2015 Nabor. Dusty made this wine and it was bottled roughly a week earlier!

Intermezzo of watermelon, green tomato, tomatillo, basil. A tremendous palette cleanser. Granite textures, really excellent.

The black forests of Nice. Sour cherry, cherry ice cream. Okay, but a little discombobulated. I think a straight black forest cake would have been better.

Petite Fours of pate de fruits, chocolates, and macarons.

This was a great night and lots of fun. I was so full from the butter factor and the supplements that I couldn’t handle the cheese course. Sigh.

The food was very good, but the format is long and heavy, and they do use A LOT of butter. After growing used to the more rustic and less buttery more casual places that dominate LA these days Providence does feel a bit old school. I still like the tasting format, particularly in Europe at playful top places like Azurmendi.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Providence, Wine

Marino Ristorante

Sep15

Restaurant: Marino Ristorante [1, 2]

Location: 6001 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 466-8812

Date: August 2, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome. One of the best Italian meals I’ve had in LA

Restaurants in Los Angeles are constantly changing, opening, closing etc. One of the recent changes I miss the most was the shuttering of Il Grano — certainly West LA’s best Italian, particularly in the fancy/modern department. I really miss it – as it was one of my favorites and has 9 write ups on the blog (I think the most of any restaurant).
But the amazing chef/owner Sal Marino has relocated (back) to his original family haunt, venerable Marino Ristorante on Melrose and continues to cook up his unique blend of amazing modern Italian. And if anything, he’s gotten even better. Wednesday during summer is always tomato night, so tonight’s tasting menu is heavily tomato focused.

NV Jérôme Prévost Champagne La Closerie Extra Brut Les Beguines. VM 94. A more than worthy follow up to the spectacular 2009, the Jérôme Prévost’s NV (2010) Brut Nature Les Beguines, is stellar. Bright, clean and focused, the 2010 stands out for its delineation and energy. Some of the more slightly oxidative overtones that are often found in the Beguines are absent, at least today. Instead, the 2010 is all about mineral-infused cut. Both bottles I have tasted so far have been outstanding. Prévost describes 2010 as a very difficult year with significant disease pressure. I am not sure how he did it, but the 2010 Les Beguines is fabulous. Cellaring for another few years will only help, but the truth is that this is am impossible wine to resist today.

NV In Florescence Champagne Champagne Blanc de Noirs Brut. 90 points. Not a formula Champagne. Small medium quantity bubbles. High quality. Golden yellow color. Enjoyable with or without food. A bit pricey but special.

Tomato “sushi.” Slices of heirloom tomato on Italian rice.

1989 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. BH 88. The nose offers lovely complexity followed by precise, somewhat angular flavors that unfortunately lack mid-palate density. The finish is also distressingly short and while this could still use some time to resolve itself fully, the absence of sufficient sève does not bode well for significant future improvement. In sum, this is perfectly good but hardly special.

agavin: our bottle was great and very young

Tuna tartar with tomato powder.

From my cellar: 2012 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. VM 93+. Light orange-yellow. Forward but racy aromas of tangerine, ginger, white flowers, sweet spices and medicinal herbs on the complex nose. Rich and round, but with lovely acid lift and energy to the concentrated flavors of apricot, pear and botanical herbs. Finishes long and pure. Not the most concentrated young Trebbiano d’Abruzzo from Valentini, but has a rich, ripe seamless personality that is hard to resist. Good to go right now but ought to age for 15 years at least. Really lovely wine.

Yellow tomato gazpacho.

2006 Remoissenet Père et Fils Bâtard-Montrachet. BR 90. As a contrast to the Bienvenues, the Bâtard has deeper but much tighter aromas. In the mouth likewise, it’s hiding it’s complexity. If there is one area where this pulls rank, it is the intensity of the mid-plate, but overall this is showing in a very tight way so gives an ‘easy win’ to the Bienvenues for drinking today.

agavin: our bottle was premoxed

Red tomato gazpacho.

Tomato and scallop.

Tuna and tomato.

Yellowtail sashimi with, you guessed it, tomato!

1999 Maison Leroy Bourgogne. BH 85. An expressive and nicely complex nose that is now beginning to turn to secondary with earth and subtle spice nuances that complement rich, round and sweet flavors that offer good punch and while this will be capable of additional aging, it is essentially ready now despite the still moderately firm finishing tannins.

Apulian burrata and tomatoes.

1998 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Arvelets.

Pizza with fresh ricotta and tomatoes.

1996 Domaine Denis Bachelet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux Vieilles Vignes. BH 88. Old vines intensity shows beautifully elegant and pure Gevrey fruit mixed with intense earth notes which lead to very rich, delineated and exquisitely long flavors. This is not an especially big or concentrated wine but it is classic Bachelet in that it is perfectly balanced.

Fresh sardine, red peppers, and tomato.

Erick brought: 1983 Domaine Jean Gros Richebourg. 96 points. Very bright, no sign of rot, very powerful but not heavy, silky texture, great length. A wonderful complex Richebourg which could last for ages but drinks well now.

1993 Jean-Pierre Mugneret Echezeaux. 92 points. Medium red color – no bricking. PNP, drank 1 glass over an hour plus. This was the second time having the pleasure to drink this beauty in a short time. This bottle was just as good as the last IMO. Just great nose, so complex, earthy, funk, horse, so much forest floor here, rose, some metals, and deep red fruits. and spices The palate has great minerality, metals, savory, sauvage, spices, horse, deep red fruits, well integrated.

From my cellar: 2002 Gros Frère et Sœur Richebourg. VM 95. Medium red. Highly perfumed, ineffably complex aromas of strawberry, currant, bacon fat, cocoa powder, gunflint, coffee and smoked meat. Dense, sappy and wonderfully intense, with exhilarating flavors of smoked meat, spices, minerals and underbrush. Conveys a powerful impression of soil tones. Builds almost freakishly on the back end, finishing with a kick of spice and a flavor of pink peppercorn. A wonderfully suave, extremely long Richebourg that offers great early appeal but has the spine to develop in bottle for 10 or 15 years.

Tomato, pork, and rapini pasta on the left. Ravioli in a candy-shaped twist-shape on the right — fresh tomato sauce.

1994 Gaja Barbaresco. 91 points. brillant red color , red fruits and spices , after half hour also come the coffee and chocolate . On the palate is round with smooth but still perceptible tannins , it seem younger , great and vibrant acidity .

1998 Gaja Barbaresco. VM 91. Good deep medium red. Deeply pitched aromas of plum, mocha, licorice and dried flowers. Dense and chewy with extract; compelling, sweet flavors of currant and licorice. Tannins are sweeter than those of the ’99 Barbaresco. Finishes with a suggestion of nutty oak.

Swordfish with tomato puree.

From my cellar: 1982 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Riserva Granbussia. 95 points.

2000 Domenico Clerico Barolo Percristina. VM 90. The 2000 Barolo Percristina has held up well. It shows considerable freshness in its dark red fruit, leather, licorice and sweet spices. The French oak remains very much present. It’s hard to see the fruit lasting long enough for the oak to every truly integrate.

Octopus with squid ink and tomato.

1977 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. 94 points. The 1977 Montepulciano from Emidio Pepe is absolutely stunning and at its peak of brilliance at age thirty-seven, soaring from the glass in a magical aromatic blend of red and black cherries, wild fennel, botanicals, a touch of discreet tariness, roasted pigeon, a dollop of menthol and a topnote of woodsmoke. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and exquisitely balanced, with a rock solid core, still a bit of remaining, buried tannin, great interplay of bitter and sweet and stunning length and grip on the resolved and still very vibrant finish. A great wine that is absolutely à point today.

1983 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. 95 points. The 1983 and 1985 vintages from Emidio Pepe make great bookends, as both wines are fully mature and drinking at their peaks today. The ’85 is perhaps a touch more elegant, with the ’83 a shade deeper at the core and a bit more structured for the long haul. The stunning nose of the 1983 offers up scents of red berries, forest floor, botanicals, lovely spice tones, a fine base of soil, an autumnal touch of acorn, dried herbs and a topnote of spices meats. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and complex, with a fine core, tangy acids, beautiful balance and a very, very long, poised and classy finish that closes with excellent grip and bounce. Another absolutely classic vintage for the Pepe Montepulciano.

Wagyu beef with peppers and crushed tomato.

1961 Château Pape Clément. flawed.

1988 Château Rieussec. VM 90. Deep, oaky aromas of honey, coconut, vanilla and creme brulee Sweet and plump in the mouth; the flavors of coconut and tropical fruit are initially dominated by spicy oak notes. Finishes with slight heat (the alcohol is a relatively high 14.7%) but also excellent persistence of flavor. This showed more development of flavor as it opened in the glass.

Some gelati I made and brought from home: Cioccolato e Vaniglia Fiorentina “Old Fashioned” Gelati – a pair designed together with a shared double entendre. The vanilla is from a 500+ year old recipe, milk steeped with vanilla and orange peel. The chocolate is made with 100% Valrhona cacao and infused with Knob Creek bourbon and Angostura bitters.
The normal Marino menu looks great, but is certainly more classic than Sal’s special dinner fare like above. If you like adventurous modern Italian, I’d see if he can do a special tasting menu — likely he’ll be up for it. Or several people could put together something really interesting from the regular menu if they think outside the normal appetizer, entree, dessert box. But it’s with this kind of special dinner — and not to mention the great crew and our awesome wines — that Sal’s cooking really knocks your socks off. He is a nut for detail and ingredients. He grows tons of stuff at home — like over a 100 varieties of heirloom tomato — and really knows how to adapt and pair with wine.

Now I’m not normally a huge raw tomato fan, but I actually managed to eat and enjoy all these dishes which is a testament to how good Sal’s cooking is.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or experience my gluttonous month-long food trips through Italy.

Or more crazy Foodie Club meals.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Foodie Club, Gelato, Marino, Sal Marino, Wine

Dinner at the Palace

Sep13

Restaurant: The Palace [1, 2]

Location: 11701 Wilshire Blvd, Second Floor, Los Angeles, CA. 310-979-3377.

Date: July 18, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Best on the westside?

I’ve eaten dimsum lunch at the Palace dozens of times. It’s the only decent one west of Chinatown — and even Chinatown isn’t worth it, just go to the SGV for the best in the country. But somehow I’ve never had dinner here — until now!
This was a last minute casual dinner but we still had to bring some wine.

NV Jacquart Champagne Brut Mosaïque. 87 points. Fresh and crispy on the front of the palate but with good depth on the finish.

From my cellar: 2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Cote de Bouguerots. BH 94. A somewhat riper but more reticent nose features the barest hint of wood spice that marries well with the explosive green and yellow fruit aromas and fresh, full, powerful, beautifully delineated flavors underpinned by a driving minerality and stunning length. Given the superb balance and firm acid spine, this should age effortlessly for at least 15 years, perhaps longer. In sum, this is a strikingly elegant, classy and altogether refined effort with flat out marvelous complexity with buckets of classic Chablis character. A stunner of a wine.

From my cellar: 1999 Domaine Michel Noëllat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. BH 90-91. Extremely pure, fine, spicy and elegant black fruits with medium weight, silky flavors that display an exquisite velvety texture plus real breadth on the mid-palate. Like many 1999s, this is not particularly dense but there is enough material to permit another year or two or improvement. Serious, long and lovely with good persistence and truly excellent transparency of the underlying terroir. In fact, for those who are curious about exploring the characteristics of a classic Vosne, this would be a perfect choice. And for those who don’t want to wait, there is so much exuberant spice and fruit, pinot baby fat and sève that this can be enjoyed now. And perhaps most important, it’s rare to find any Burgundy that delivers this level of quality for $50 (I’ve seen this offered for $40) and thus it offers terrific value as well. Note that I have experienced some bottle variation with this wine with two recent examples seeming to be somewhat flat and disjointed yet another was exactly as described above.

Boiled peanuts.
The brought us out our lobster to show it off.

And they still had some dimsum available to order so we got a few like:

har gow. shrimp dumplings. Find, good not great har gow.

Another dumpling.
XLB. always yummy.

Shu Mai. shrimp and pork dumplings. A favorite of mine.

Shrimp and scallop dumpling. Good too.

Lobster causeway style. With the crunchy garlic bits. We had better CW style lobster a few days earlier at Top Island but this was certainly respectable.

Peking Duck. Also quite respectable. Buns instead of pancakes, and the meat had just a touch less flavor than at the best SGV places, but nice.

Extra duck meat.

Pork with garlic. The Szechuan dish. A little sweet but I enjoy this dish.

Sweet and pungent shrimp. One of my favorites of the night. Crispy with a sweet and sour sauce.

Garlic eggplant. Not as tasty as the true Szechuan version, but still good.

Fried rice with yummy goopy sauce. Having discovered this kind of dish last week I’m just so into it now!

Mango/passionfruit pudding. Best of the typical Chinese desserts.

Fortune cookies. Don’t usually get these in the SGV, but we are in Brentwood.
Even the overwrapped chairs are authentically Chinese. For Brentwood, The Palace is surprisingly legit. It’s not “great” by SGV standards but it absolutely blows the super Americanized broccoli and bell peppers in every dish places away!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, The Palace

Gjusta – Economics of Labor

Sep11

Restaurant: Gjusta

Location: 320 Sunset Ave, Venice, CA 90291. (310) 314-0320

Date: July 17, 2017

Cuisine: American Deli

Rating: Good food, anoying format

A few minor reservations aside, I’ve loved Gjelina since it opened. It helped pioneer the wood communal table, paper menu, 21st century LA thing. And the food is very tasty. For some reason it took me a while to try Gjusta and I’m going to use this review as an opportunity to snark on even newer restaurant trends. IMHO most of these are driven by rising labor costs and Gjusta is working to optimize their business — but I believe it makes the overall experience far inferior.

Nothing wrong with the Gjusta shabby chic decor. It could use some parking (it’s got like zilch) but that is a Venice hazard.Inside is basically a deli.But not exactly with deli food. First time in the “system” was completely incomprehnsible. I had no idea what to do. Took 5 minutes to discover the old fashioned “take a number” machine.As a deli should, they have smoked fishes and the likes on their very baroque menu.Pizza like “flat breads” too — too bad I hate pizza that isn’t right out of the oven.There are a lot of stations. But none really serve to help you (the customer). It’s crowded and people are eating wherever they can. Counter, leaning against the wall, outside, patio. It was kinda odd.See. Doesn’t look like the most comfortable spot to eat does it? See any silverware? Napkins? god forbid a chair?The kitchen is large, however, and bustling.The patio playing at being attractive. It was very crowded and we had to camp tables, leaning over the previous guests to make them uncomfortable.This, of course, meant that we had to sit with their dirty dishes for 10 minutes until the table got bussed. Oh, and had to get our own silverware, and our own water, and all that. Who needs servers when you can do it all yourself?The menu.Ice Tea. Of course I had to go hover by the drink dispensary area inside (after setting my own table) to get this.Same with my cappuccino. But it was a good cappuccino at least!Some sour dough.An empanada. Fine, nice buttery crust, but it was still just an empanada. I did like the pickles though.Whole grain waffles. Would have been better less whole grain. Certainly onm the plain side.Falafel plate. The chef likes pickles. This is like all the ingredients — but where is the pita? How do you eat it?Smoked Brisket Banh Mi. Baguette, smoked brisket, pickled daikon-carrot-cucumber, cilantro, chili dressing, garlic aioli. Not bad. More pickles. I’ve had better Banh Mi, and it was $15.

Soapbox time:

The food at Gjusta is fine. I’ll have to go back and try some more items. It’s a weird menu, and not one I will necessarily drive 20 minutes for or struggle with parking for.

The problem is the experience. I wanted to sit with my people and talk and eat. Instead I had to find parking, wait in line to order, camp for a table, find the silverware, find the water, find and wait at the drink area. By then — 10 minutes later — the food had arrived and we ate it and left. Which is precisely the intended point, as I shall explain.

Gjusta undoubtedly pays some high rent (Abbot Kinney is a very pricey area these days). And they have a good number of employees – who are simultaneously underpaid for the work they do absolutely, probably relatively well compensated by Gjusta (who is reportedly a decent employer) compared to other restaurants, and way too expensive given the price of the food. But wait you say, don’t they charge $15 for a small sandwich? True. But it’s also a labor intensive operation (fairly artisanal) and the food isn’t absolutely pricey so the per person cover averages are probably in the teens ($15-20 maybe?). It’s not a booze driven format either to drive up revenues. It’s also designed to be crowded, after all being the 3rd joint by the Gjelina team. And the limited (and inconvenient) seating helps determine throughput.

If they had normal waiter service, not only would they need more employees, but the customers would seat, figure out what they want to order, wait for it to come, then eat, then wait for the check etc. Maybe 50% eating time. By selling at the counter people seat more or less when they have their food and because they have already paid are — laptop users aside — more likely to get up right away. Perhaps 80-90% eating time! More throughput. Plus, while Gjusta has bussers to bring the food out (but somehow not the drinks) and clear tables, they just don’t have waiters. Nor, at least when it’s busy, do bussers seem to set tables.

The customers do.

So the experience is very different. I can’t imagine coming here with more than 2 people. And even so, you have to spend a good chunk of your time “working” before you can relax and eat. And unlikely a more streamlined (and sometimes equally annoying straight up fast casual like the wretched Chipotle), it isn’t necessarily much faster than a casual sit down. Maybe a bit. Certainly if it wasn’t crowded. I could imagine coming here by myself or maybe with one co-worker or something like that. But sandwich prices are somewhere between $0 and $1 cheaper than Gjelina, so if I had the time, I’d just go there.

Hmmm. But it seems crowded. Maybe Millennials don’t mind. And/or maybe the restaurant has to do this to make real money. I tried fast table service with cheap food at Ramen Roll and the labor costs ate us alive and put us out of business. Go figure.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Deli, Gjusta, Venice

Sauvages 2 at Upstairs 2

Sep08

Restaurant: Upstairs 2 [1, 2, 3]

Location: 2311 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064 Tel. 310-231-0316

Date: July 14, 2017

Cuisine: Modern Tapas

Rating: Bright flavors and a lot of options.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Upstairs 2 is located just above the Wine House on Cotner. The main room serves an eclectic tapas menu, but as this was a special Sauvages du Vin lunch (always a lunch, always Friday) we gathered upstairs in the private room for a special menu and flights of themed wine. This time around Grand cru Red Burgundy from the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, vintages older than 2006.
The group gathers in the private room.

Starter white:

2012 Christophe et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu. 92 points. Just a beautiful mix of salt water and citrus elements in a light to medium weight wine. Not as heavy feeling and much more lively than some 2012s. Very, very nice. I continue to be impressed by the Christophe line up for its classicism and purity.

Flight 1:

1996 Jean Raphet et Fils Charmes-Chambertin. 95 points. Medium ruby red color with a subtle 5mm bricked margin. Slow-O for 2 hours before serving. Drank 1 glass over an hour. This really was everything I had hoped for. The combination of maturity, depth and elegance is hard to beat. Great nose with cherry, earth, dried forest floor, and spice notes. The palate is resonant, with sublime red fruits of berry and more subtle cherry here, well delineated, intense forest floor, lifted, great balancing acid, mushroom, mineral, and a burst of spice on the long finish. Everything is right where I want it to be. This is at peak now. I only wish I had more left….

1996 Frédéric Magnien Charmes-Chambertin.

1995 Claude Dugat Charmes-Chambertin. VM 94. Brilliant ruby color. Blueberry, violet, smoky oak and floral aromas convey an almost syrupy sweetness. Dense and extremely concentrated; this shows an almost painful intensity today yet has no rough edges. Pure Pinot sap. Totally convincing grand cru. Builds and builds on the palate and aftertaste.

1996 Domaine Henri Perrot Charmes-Chambertin.

Grilled beef tenderloin skewers. Blue lake beans. Heirloom cherry tomatoes. Castelvetrano olives. Capers. This wasn’t the best dish at all. The salad was a bit limp and the beef tasted like “home beef” rather than restaurant beef.

Flight 2:

1996 Dominique Laurent Charmes-Chambertin. VM 92-95. Very good deep red-ruby color. Highly perfumed game, coffee and rose petal aromas; this to me is far more typical of Charmes terroir than the serie rare example from Mazoyeres. Terrific intensity in the mouth; supple, stony, powerfully structured. Again, one senses the soil behind the grapes. Fabulous authoritative finish. This will be a real vin de garde for the vintage.

1999 Dominique Laurent Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. VM 94-97. Deep ruby-red. Noble, wonderfully complex, slightly liqueur-like aromas of framboise, cranberry, blueberry, rose petal and violet. Liqueur-like fruit and velvety texture on the palate; already shows compelling inner-mouth perfume. Like an essence of pinot noir, confectionery but not at all heavy. The longest of Laurent ’99s to this point. Finishes with great verve and grip. “Like the ’96, except that the ’96 was more closed at a similar stage,” notes Laurent.

From my cellar: 1998 Dominique Laurent Mazis-Chambertin. 95 points. Showed good complexity and depth, excellent balance, and a medium finish. Flavors of black raspberry, cherry, spices, dried leaves, and forest floor all emerged after a time. The acidity held everything together nicely. Good freshness of flavor both on the nose and palate. I think this is nearly at peak or plateauing nicely.

Pappardelle pasta, wild mushroom ragu, roasted garlic & thyme cream sauce. This was the best of the dishes. Didn’t look like much, but a nice rich pasta.

Flight 3:

2002 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques. BH 91-94. This resembles the 1er but this is a complete wine, combining power, concentration and stunningly elegant aromas and flavors into a harmonious whole. The acidity is higher as is the sense of minerality yet this retains a velvety, indeed silky quality to the round, fresh, focused flavors. This is indisputably of grand cru quality with complexity to burn. A great effort.

2001 Camille Giroud Chambertin. BH 92-95. As with the Malconsorts and Romanée St. Vivant, there is another dimension here and the complexity is nothing short of staggering and I use this word advisedly as it was frankly difficult to believe that so much nuance and depth could be crammed into the nose of an as yet unfinished wine. Very ripe, pure, blackberry fruit nose leads to massive, hugely forceful, vigorous, solidly structured flavors that epitomize what the finest Burgundies seem to do, e.g. manage to deliver power without weight and the finish here goes on and on for minutes. This should really be something to see when it attains its majority and I would not be at all surprised if my score is ultimately found to be conservative.

2002 Hubert Lignier Charmes-Chambertin. BH 91. A wonderfully exuberant, expressive and generous nose of ripe, earth and elegant red pinot fruit aromas blend into sizeable, rich, intense and palate staining flavors that are both energetic and opulent. This is quite powerful but retains an elegance and subtle reserve that is most appealing, especially on the long, exacting, classy finish. If there is a nit, it’s that this is more about pure pinot fruit than profound complexity but to be clear, this is nonetheless a beautiful and altogether elegant wine.

2002 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes. BH 95. A heavily toasted nose with spice, wood and tar nuances frames ripe but fresh black pinot fruit and cassis aromas that also display an extraordinary panoply of secondary nuances, including earth, underbrush, leather, soy and spice. The powerful, rich and utterly delicious big-bodied and very concentrated flavors coat and stain the palate and completely buffer the now softening tannic spine on the superbly long finish. In short, this is flat out incredible juice and while it’s clearly quite oaky, the wood somehow works quite well with the wine even though it’s far from invisible. As to drinkability, I would probably opt to hold the ’02 Charmes for a few more years but it could easily be drunk now with pleasure.

Spice Rubbed Pork Belly. Sauteed Baby Spinach. Creamy Polenta. Red Wine demi. Nice course. Like a rich slab of sorta bacon.

Flight 4:

2005 Dupont-Tisserandot Mazis-Chambertin. BH 95. A background touch of wood spice surrounds red, violet, animale and earth tones that are more complex still and this depth continues on the earth-inflected, sappy and moderately concentrated but gorgeously balanced flavors that possess real character and excellent power on the impressively long finish. This has both style and personality and it is very Mazis in both style and character plus it will age for decades. A classic Mazis in the making.

2005 Lucien Le Moine Mazis-Chambertin. BH 94-96. An explosive nose of red berry pinot fruit of fantastic breadth and depth features the ripe and classic sauvage and animale character that continues onto the wonderfully intense, driving and energetic big-bodied flavors that retain a beautiful sense of delineation on the layered, sweet and mouth coating finish. This is a big but balanced wine that carries the weight and power with effortless grace.

2003 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. BH 91-94. The incredibly rich, powerful and complex flavors are introduced by classy, pure, spicy and ripe aromas of dark pinot fruit notes and obvious earth nuances all framed by an interesting hint of sandalwood. There are buckets of pinot sap that coat and stain the palate and all but completely hide the very firm tannins that presently dominate the finish yet already seem perfectly integrated. The acidity is on the low side the explosiveness of the finish is more than just impressive, it has the ‘wow’ factor and this should age for two decades or more.

Grilled New Zealand Lamb Chops. Roasted Fennel & Potatoes. Natural au jus. Not bad chops.

The cryptic notes.

Our chef!

Because there was no dessert — or even cheese — I brought a pair of gelati. On the bottom is my pistachio with nuts from Bronte Sicily. On the top is coconut sorbetto (coconuts from Thai land) with home-made coconut caramel!

Overall Upstairs 2 did a solid job with this lunch. Wine service was good and the food was good, but not as good as last time we came (that salad was just so-so). Wines were awesome and a lot of great showings from Gevrey, particularly the 90s wines. Sauvages is always a great time.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Burgundy, BYOG, Gelato, Red Burgundy, Sauvages, Upstairs 2, Wine

Quick Eats – Summer Buffalo

Sep06

Restaurant: Summer Buffalo

Location: 7275 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046. (323) 938-8808

Date: July 11, 2017

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: My one dish was good

I found this at random searching Yelp for lunch spots between appointments.

Funny name for a Thai place.

Cute and tiny.

But they have more hood than Ramen Roll did. sigh.

Thai iced tea. Mason jar trend!

Khao Soi. Chicken Curry Noodle. Northern Thai Yellow Curry, egg noodle, chicken. I prefer the red curry version of this dish, but this was still delicious — I do love coconut milk based curries. I still want to make a curry gelato.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: curry, Summer Buffalo, Thai cuisine

Hamasaku Lunch

Sep04

Restaurant: Hamasaku

Location: 11043 California Route 2, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 479-7636

Date: July 10, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: good but not great sushi

Larry and I met up for our regular lunch at one of my OLD (I mean 2006 haunts):

Hamasaku. Founded originally by Mike Ovitz, I used to eat here with my partners in the early Flektor days. It was fairly innovative at the time, if slightly over-emphasizing the “rolls” (never been a roll fan, preferring nigiri).

The current menu. We got the lunch Omakase which is much cheaper and shorter than it was back in 2006.

6pcs of sashimi. Well, if you consider a sliver of octopus a piece. It was good quality fish though, with some yellowtail and toro too.

Mizuma salad. This had bits of fish cake in there too. I wasn’t a huge fan of the green texture, tickled my throat.

Monkfish karage. I like a crunchier tempura fry than this more “deep fry.” The fish was good, but the overall effect was a touch heavy.

Miso soup.

8pcs nigiri. I don’t love when nigiri comes out on a plate all at once like this. There are a lot of the whitefish in here, hard to identify after the fact. It was solid but nothing amazing.

Faroe Island Salmon and Toro sushi. These were better, quite nice actually. But they were special orders not part of the omakase.

Fox hand roll. Snow crab legs, dynamite sauce, tempura crunch. Just the sort of warm “new style roll” I was talking about at the start — tasty enough though.

Mochi ice cream. Coffee and cookies?

Overall, I remember Hamasaku as better and more innovative than I found today, although this was certainly a decent lunch and pretty decent value as sushi goes. It’s not bad at all, but there are more to my taste (i.e. either more modernist or more traditionalist) places in town. This is sort of a lonely middle-ground sushi, somewhere in the center of the quadrant of innovative, traditional, trendy (like Nobu), and populist (rolls) — drawing from each corner, but not really belonging to any.

Amusingly, two of my former Ramen Roll employees are working here now — and it’s nice to see they have good gigs (it’s certainly upscale from RnR).

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: hamusaku, Japanese cuisine, Sushi

Eating NY – Ikaedama

Sep02

Restaurant: Ikaedama

Location: Newark Airport

Date: July 7, 2017

Cuisine: Ramen

Rating: interesting format, ick ramen

On our way home from New York we stopped in the Newark terminal to grab some food before being locked into the United snack box scene.

The terminal food area was so glitzy and new looking with “bar” everywhere that I had to give it a try. They even had ramen!

And they seem to have spent a massive amount of money on an ipad based system at EVERY SEAT everywhere in the terminal. It’s very integrated with flight status, ticket scanning, games, point systems, ordering AND paying on the pad. Very very slick and the wave of the future.

My cappuccino came smoothly.

Check out the on-screen ordering. But the ramen took forever (20+ minutes) — even though I was the only one there.

Pork Tonkotsu Ramen. It doesn’t look too bad, although too translucent for tonkotsu. But it didn’t taste like much, just salt water — not like tonkotsu at all. And the meat was essentially pulled pork. Never had that in ramen but I’m sure it has some precedent. Noodles were thin but fine. Menma had icky canned flavor. I ended up eating most of the contents and leaving all of the broth (which was so not worth it). Totally mediocre in every way.

Had to redeem the place by walking across the food court and getting a hazelnut chocolate donut (which was excellent).

I guess the glitzy buildout and fancy ipad scheme can’t stop an airport restaurant from sucking. Why is it that paying a high rent to be in a captive space (be it airports, sports arenas etc) is a recipe for instant mediocrity?

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating_new_york, Ikaedama, New York, Newark Airport, ramen

Eating NY – PizzArte

Sep01

Restaurant: PizzArte

Location: 69 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019. (212) 247-3936

Date: July 6, 2017 & November 30, 2019

Cuisine: Neo-Neapolitan pizza

Rating: Tasty!

Alex and I had an opportunity to go out to dinner by ourselves in New York — then 2.5 years later he and my wife and I returned…

…so of course we chose pizza.

The menu.

Olives to start.

Bread.

A glass of Aglianico.

Prosciutto e Burrata. 24 Month Aged Prosciutto Di Parma, Burrata Cheese, Castelvetrano Olives, Grilled Country Bread Bruschetta.

Spinaci. Spinach, beets, goat cheese, mango, pistachio nuts.

Polpettine Passi e Pinoli. Home-style Neapolitan meatballs, Italian pine nuts, raisins, broccoli rabe.

Simple pasta for the boy in 2019.

Margherita pizza. San Marzano Tomatoes, Mozzarella, Basil (Alex declined the basil as usual).

Ragu Napoletano. Smoked Buffalo Mozzarella, Traditional Neapolitan Veal And Pork Ragú. Not a traditional topping, but it did make for a delicious pizza.

Cavofiore e Tartufo. Roasted cauliflower, mozzarella, sausage, black truffle sauce. Interesting, but a bit weird.

The dessert menu.

Chocolate and Vanilla gelato.

Amalfi Coast-Delizia al Limone. Lemon and cream sponge cake.

I LOVE this traditional (circa 1900) Sorento dessert. Traditionally, it’s a dome-shaped lemon sponge cake with limoncello cream and has an amazing Sorento Lemon flavor. You can see one at the source here.

Clearly Alex hated the gelato.

He looks older but not too different 2.5 years later!

In 2019, as we were rushing off to see Hamilton I felt the extreme need for speed (aka caffeine) in the form of this macchiato.

PizzArte didn’t disappoint. For whatever reason it was much more satisfying than Marta a couple days before and Alex and I enjoyed our meal immensely. Our server was friendly and delightful and the food was straight up and delicious.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating_new_york, New York, Pizza, PizzArte

Eating NY – Waffle & Dinges

Aug31

Restaurant: Waffle & Dinges

Location: 1080-, 1090 6th Ave, New York, NY 10036

Date: July 6, 2017

Cuisine: Belgian Waffle

Rating: how could a waffle & ice cream be bad?

The culmination of a frantic internet search for a quick breakfast led me to:

Not even realizing (beforehand) that it was just a kiosk. Well I had been drawn in by the web photos of waffles covered in sugary looking dairy products anyway.

Basically you just pick what goes on your waffle. It’s a pretty simple process. There was a lot of sugar options.

Waffle with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, nutella, bacon, and spekuloos spread (sort of a gingerbread caramel). It was sweet and pretty good. The annoying cardboard box/plate and the incredibly soft and flimsy plastic knife and fork did it no justice though. I broke 2 of them trying to saw through the waffle. Plus this was $11!

I think it would have been excellent in a better setting with a proper plate and utensils. I’m never a fan of eating standing up with plastic.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating_new_york, New York, Waffle, Waffle & Dinges

Eating NY – Grom

Aug30

Restaurant: Grom

Location: 233 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014. (212) 206-1738

Date: July 5, 2017

Cuisine: Gelato

Rating: Good gelato

After brunch at Baker & Co we just walked by Grom and of course I had to try it.

I like the open to the sidewalk format, fairly close to one in Italy.

They don’t have that many flavors and use the closed tin system popular at the very high end places in Italy. It keeps the gelato better but I have a sweet spot for the big pans of decorated gelato.

Here are the current flavors. Mostly classics.

And the high New York prices.

Chocolate and Stracciatella.

Pistachio and Cassata. The pistachio was good, not quite as good as mine, but good. Texture on both were great. The cassata was pleasant, but didn’t have the more intense almond flavor I like.

Tasting just a few flavors this tasted like real Italian gelato. The sugar balance and temperature were Italian style and made for that nice mouth feel. It was clearly not “mix gelato”. So as American gelato goes, very good. Fairly conservative (i.e. Italian) in flavor selection.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating_new_york, Gelato, Grom, New York

Eating NY – Baker & Co

Aug28

Restaurant: Baker & Co

Location: 259 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014. (212) 255-1234

Date: July 5, 2017

Cuisine: Vaguely Italian

Rating: good eggs

Off to Greenich Village for brunch — in the middle of the week.

Some google searching brought us here to this menu.

Eggs, scrambled with thick cut bacon and fries. The bacon was so thick it was like a smoked pork chop.

Benedict. With burrata, truffle, poached egg, hollandaise, and prosciutto. GREAT Benedict. I’m going to have to remember this and use the burrata/truffle thing again.

Overall, we were the only people in here and the food seemed solid, but too small a sample to really give any verdict.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Baker & Co, Baker's Lunch, Brunch, eating_new_york, Eggs, New York

Uovo – Italian Sugarfish

Aug26

Restaurant: Uovo

Location: 1320 2nd St, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 425-0064

Date: August 26, 2017

Cuisine: Italian Pasta

Rating: Very good classic Italian pastas

Uovo is an interesting new concept from at least one of the Sugarfish owners — but instead of over-ponzued sushi, it’s classic Italian pasta. Uovo means egg in Italian (used in the pasta).

Just across 2nd street from the Sugarfish in Santa Monica — 2nd street is being taken over by fast concepts.

The decor is a lot like Sugarfish, small, modern, mixing bar and tables.

Lots of pasta bar.

Look at the hyper focused menu. Just pasta. A couple veggies. No salads. Nothing else at all. No desserts even!

There is a bunch of song and dance about the pasta being made in Bologna. Truth is, they are right about the eggs for the most part. Italian eggs are fabulous and along with the flour and olive oil are key to great pasta. You can get some similar eggs here, but they are very pricy organic fertile eggs.

There are a few very simple wines and beers. All by the glass. Sugarfish has always been minimalist on the beverages.

Tortellini Crema di Parmigiano. Handmade tortellini in cream of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Butter/cream/parm sauce. Very simple but nice tortellini. There was pepper in the stuffing too as their should be. Extremely simple flavor, and rich, but very well done.

Tonnarelli al Pomodoro. Imported tomatoes & 24-month-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano. My 8 year-old loved it.

Ravioli di Ricotta. Ricotta ravioli in pomodoro sauce. Simple also, very soft ravioli — they could have been more al dente.

Tonnarelli all’Amatriciana. Imported tomatoes, pecorino, onion, guanciale & red chili pepper. I prefer the more traditional tubular pasta shape with all’Amatriciana but the sauce was excellent and the guanciale crispy.

Lasagna Verde. Meat lasagna made with green pasta. Rich creamy/nutty sauce. A nice baked lasagne.

Service was slightly confused for being a few days open, but very attentive and nice. Dishes came out one by one. 16% tip (taxed too) is included. This is hyper focused both in menu and service. It didn’t take long and it was certainly fine.

Pasta was very solid. It’s not as good as Felix, and certainly way less adult. Very “classic” Italian, like you’d get at an old fashioned Italian restaurant in Italy. Fairly limited set of noodles and flavor profiles. Not much in the the way of actual vegetables in the dishes and pretty focused on cheese and simple meats. Lots of red sauce. No sausage. No Pesto. No guazetto. No walnut sauce. All very traditional pasta types not included. They can of course add them later but these are fairly tailored to appeal to really straight up American tastes while being drawn from a classic Italian playbook.

For me, a good spot for a quick pasta lunch or a very casual family dinner with the kids. Don’t bring more than 4 people. Uovo doesn’t take reservations and you pay at the counter (after your meal, it is full service more or less).

There was already a line by 5:30pm.

There was no dessert so we walked down to the Promenade.

Ok but not great gelato at the Promenade kiosk.
Light milk chocolate and hazelnut.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Italian cuisine, pasta, Santa Monica, Uovo

Eating NY – 2nd Ave Deli

Aug25

Restaurant: 2nd Ave Deli

Location: 162 E 33rd St, New York, NY 10016. (212) 689-9000

Date: July 4, 2017

Cuisine: (Kosher) New York Deli

Rating: 3 meat sandwich!

Most people gravitate toward the “tourist” delis like Katz, but if you want real New York Jewish food you have to go full kosher!

They used to be a couple blocks over last time I was here — actually on 2nd ave — now they are just down the street on 33rd.

The menu.

Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry — got to have it!

Slaw.

Pickles — two types.

Sweet peppers.

Chicken liver. The liver was good, but not sure what you do with the motley collection of veggies underneath.

Triple Bypass Sandwich. A 3 decker sandwich consisting of 3 large potato pancakes and everything but the kitchen sink: salami, pastrami, and corn beef. The pastrami is the best of course.

Fries.

Apple strudel. No butter obviously.

And a complementary shot of chocolate seltzer. I always find the acidity of this drink surprising.

Overall, some solid meat. I added the Russian dressing of course, but probably would have been even better with some cheese — haha. I normally bash Kosher restaurants as (at least in LA) they don’t seem to care a whit about quality. 2nd Ave is solid though for NY Deli — it is what it is.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: 2nd Ave Deli, Deli, eating_new_york, Kosher, New York

Eating NY – Marta

Aug23

Restaurant: Marta

Location: The Redbury Hotel, 29 E 29th St, New York, NY 10016. (212) 651-3800

Date: July 3, 2017

Cuisine: Wood-fire pizza

Rating: Good, but not as good as I hoped

New York is famous for its pizza, and so I figured to kill two birds with one stone by also trying a Danny Meyer place (recently, not counting a 13 year ago trip to Gramercy Tavern).

So Marta. Joe Tarasco is the executive chef and it describes itself as a “rustic Roman pizzerie.” Minus the 1100 year old stone walls and plus modern design and neo-Neapolitan pizza.

See what I mean about the modern decor.

But it is an attractive space.

The menu. Most of this you would never actually find in Rome.

2016 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Rosato Vino da Tavola. 88 points. Nice medium heavy rose. Somm recommended, made from Nebbiolo.

Suppli al Telefono. Tomato Risotto Croquettes, mozzarella. Sort of like Roman arancini except filled with extra cheese (a decidedly American modification).

Marta Mista. Baby head lettuce, artichokes, marinated sweet peppers, grana padano, red wine vinaigrette.

Insalata di Tonno. Tuna Conserva, buffalo Mozzarella, Baby gem lettuce, capers.

Bietole al Ferri. Ember-roasted beets, salmoriglio, ricotta salata. Beets actually seem to be more common in American salads. I haven’t seen a lot of them in Italy.

Polpettine di Pollo. Chicken Meatballs, black olives, Ricotta, sourdough.

Prosciutto. Prosciutto di Parma, Giardiniera, Grilled Sourdough.

Margherita pizza. Mozzarella, basil.

Kid’s pizza.

Patate alla Carbonara. Potatoes, guanciale, black pepper, pecorino, egg. I had high hopes for this, and the dough was excellent, but the overall taste was dominated by potato. If it had them at all it should have had about 1/4 and more pork, and maybe creme fraiche and egg or something to get more of a proper carbonara balance.

Coppa Cotta — minus the cheese. This is a dairy free version. Shoulder ham, pineapple, mozzarella (missing), and Calabrian Chili.

Pollo Ubriaco. Beer-brined half chicken, charred Caraflex cabbage, Fresno Chili, mint. Not super Italian too.

Spigola. Wild striped bass, roasted squash, cucumber, gazpacho.
The dessert menu — but we had a Broadway show to catch and didn’t stay.

Overall, Marta was pretty good, and a bit similar in some ways to Santa Monica’s Milo & Olive. It’s slightly Roman. The Arancini and Carbonara are least hint at the Eternal City. I was a little disappointed somehow, maybe it was my too-much-potato Carbonara pizza. It was solid, but I had hoped to have some amazing pizza.

Service was very nice though and the space lovely.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Danny Meyer, eating_new_york, Joe Tarasco, Marta, New York

Eating NY – Laboratorio del Gelato

Aug21

Restaurant: il laboratorio del gelato

Location: 188 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002. (212) 343-9922

Date: July 3, 2017

Cuisine: Gelato

Rating: Good, but not amazing, and tiny expensive portions

Since this top rated Gelato place was just a few blocks from the Tenement Museum (go if you haven’t been), I just had to try it.

Lower Manhattan for sure, just across from Katz’s Deli.

Check out the prices.

We were here at 11am and the tubs were like this, so they don’t make it every day. Little tubs too without the “styling” often found in Italy. That might not be that cool to New Yorkers though.

Passion fruit and chocolate. Notice the ridiculously tiny scoops. This was $4.50!

Orange chocolate (or something like that, I can’t remember) and hazelnut.

I’m not too bothered by the price, hey although the portions are deceptively tiny. This was good gelato, but it was a little cold/hard and the flavors slightly muted to my taste. For example, the hazelnut had very nice Italian hazelnut flavor, but it wasn’t as intense as I make it — or like it. Plus they had a 2 taste limit with “limited” my sampling so I really didn’t get the best sense of it.

I wasn’t massively impressed. You can find better gelato in Italy if you try 2-3 shops at random. I liked Grom better (review coming in a few days).

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating_new_york, Gelato, il laboratorio del gelato, New York

Eating NY – Joy Luck Palace

Aug18

Restaurant: Joy Luck Palace

Location: 98 Mott St, New York, NY 10013. (212) 219-2828

Date: July 3, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: Not nearly as good as the best in the SGV

Of course I had to try some Chinese in New York, and since I didn’t have time to go out to Flushing I figured I’d play it safe by looking up a top dimsum place. Eater raved about this one in Chinatown.

It’s in the center of the crowded old school Chinatown streets.

Inside it’s pretty typical of these big one room Cantonese joints. Crazy cove lights. On the “low decor side.” Not nearly as glitzy as something like Grand Harbor. There were no white people — I took this as an encouraging sign.

They still use the cart system. That went out 5+ years ago in the better LA (i.e. SGV) places. I hate the cart system. It’s fast, but the food has been sitting, and it’s hard to get them to come by at the pace you want.

Har gow. These crystal shrimp dumplings were fine. Nothing special. As usual it took some work to get water and sauces.

Sui Mai. Pretty typical as well.

Peanut and more dumpling. Stickier skin, pretty good.

Bean curd with pork and shrimp. Just fine.

Fish balls. Slightly different, but also nothing special.

Pigs inside pigs. Chinese sausage wrapped in bao dough. Cute at least.

Shrimp rice crepe. Not the greatest version of this dish.

Vegetarian fried rice crepe. Slightly different and actually pretty good.

Sticky rice steamed in lotus leaf. Fine but not amazing.

Pig shaped custard buns. Cute again.

Besides the cute pig shaped dimsum this place was fine but utterly mediocre. It was about on par with the Palace in Brentwood, which I consider just passable. The cart system made it hard to get anything interesting and we even ended up repeating. The service was worse than Chinese typical. The atmosphere pretty much unappetizing. If this is Manhattan’s best (and I have no other datapoints to judge by) than it has a LONG LONG way to go to even get in the same league as the 5+ best SGV dimsum houses.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dimsum, eating_new_york, Joy Luck Palace, New York

Eating NY – Marea

Aug16

Restaurant: Marea

Location: 240 Central Park S, New York, NY 10019. (212) 582-5100

Date: July 2, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great “fancy” Italian

My family loves Italian food and New York is famous for its Italian, so I figured we try a bunch at a bunch of different levels.

Marea is the modern style of fancy Italian, which some Italian-American lovers dismiss, but is actually fairly representative of high end (Michelin) restaurants in Italy. I know, I’ve eaten at plenty of them. And in fact, Marea has 2 stars itself.

The menu. We all went for the 4 course “deal.”

An amuse of sardine/anchovy and cheese on polenta.

They had a lot of very nice breads like this olive focaccia.

And since two groups ordered the whole fresh Branzino, the fish came out first to show off — just as they do in the Mediterranean.

2013 Azienda Agricola Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva Villa Bucci. 91 points. I visited this winery 2 years ago. The nose was alive with saline-minerality and zesty citrus tones. On the palate, I found soft, lifted textures with tart citrus, spice and mineral tones. It finished fresh and lively.

Insalta. Sesonal greens, sherry dressing, almond, nectarine, parmigiano.

They have a lot of crudo al taglio on the menu, like this: Tonno. yellowfin tuna, oyster crema, crispy artichoke.

Scampi. Pacific Langoustine, murray river pink salt.

And my Assaggio di tre. From left to right: Scampi Pacific Langoustine, murray river pink salt. Passera. Long island fluke, stone fruit, almond, chive blossom. Dentice. Pacific snapper, lime coriander, crispy skin.

These were nice. I’ve decided that these “western sauces” are MUCH better on crudo (aka sashimi) than on sushi (like Sushi Gari). It doesn’t play well with the rice.

Polipo. grilled octopus, smoked potatoes, radish pickled red onions, chilies, tomato.

1999 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva. VM 90-93. Good ruby-red. Red plum, sweet spices, roast coffee, flowers and a loamy nuance on the open-knit nose. Then juicy and stylish in the mouth, combining peppery and soft red fruit qualities with a subtle touch of oaky sweetness. Not a hugely concentrated wine and surprisingly forward, finishing with suave, spreading tannins and an almost sweet quality. There’s nothing wrong with this balanced wine, although I would have expected a little more complexity and depth; I wonder if the production of the 130-year anniversary bottling in the same vintage caused this Riserva to be less concentrated and deep than it might otherwise have been. Readers should take note that 1999 in Taurasi was characterized by a cool growing season, and thus was nothing like the outstanding ’99 vintage in Montalcino or Barolo. Still, I always felt that 1999 in Campania was unjustly overlooked by wine critics at the time, and I think that the wines are starting to show well now.

Twisted trofi pasta with pomodoro sauce. Great texture.

My son’s lizard toys get their own plate of parmesan.

Gnocchetti. Gulf shrimp, chillies, rosemary. First there was Gnocci, then there was gnocchetti.

Spaghetti neri. Seppia, ink, mussels, fresh chili, saffron.

Pansotti. Lamb, bagna cauda, english peas. How can you go wrong with fresh made pasta stuffed with meat and covered in butter?

Rosotto funghi. Wild mushrooms, parmigiano. Perfect creamy texture.

Branzino. Here comes the fish, perfectly filleted.

With sauces.

Brodetto di pesce. Adriatic seafood soup, clams, langoustine, scallop, prawns, bass.

With the broth. The flavor was great and the seafood fresh. It wasn’t the strongest or richest broth, channeling a lighter more delicate vibe rather than the more southern heavy garlic/tomato thing.

Tagliata. Grilled creekstone 50-day dry aged sirloin. braised romaine.

Fingerling potatoes, rosemary.

Wild arugula and lemon.

Market beans, romesco, almonds.

Wild mushrooms, savory.

Dolce.

Trio of sorbetti. Cherry amaretto, strawberry balsamic, blackberry lemon.

Chocolate gelato.

Affogato. vanilla gelato, espresso, amaro, almond sbrisolona. I haven’t seen affogato (mostly) straight up on a 2 star menu before.

Semifreddo tropicale. coconut semifreddo, passion fruit, kiwi, mango, basil.

With a gooey center! This dessert was an 11 by my standards. A perfect expression of coconut and bright tropical fruits. I will make a coconut gelato with almonds and passionfruit coulis to riff off of it.

Cioccolato. domori chocolate, white chocolate ganache, almond stracciatella gelato.

Petite fours. Raspberry pate de fruit.

Mini tiramisu.

My son likes dressing up now.

Overall, Marea was very good. Execution was top notch across the board. Pastas were amazing. Interesting that it’s Adriatic in style, most closely resembling these places I’ve eaten at on Italy’s Adriatic coast: Madonnia del Pescatore and La Frasca. The format is a bit different more American at Marea, with fewer larger courses. I, of course (pun intended), prefer the more smaller dish format. Marea plays it fairly safe too, avoiding some of the weirder (to American taste) choices you might get in Italy. But it is quite Italian.

Service was top notch. Our server was simultaneously very New York, punky, not explicitly Italian, and excellent. Very nice, knowledgable, responsive, accommodating, etc.

The wine list was good and only slightly high. Clientele was more staid and there were quite a number of wealthy Chinese.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating_new_york, Italian cuisine, marea, New York, Wine

Eating NY – Sarabeth’s

Aug14

Restaurant: Sarabeth’s Central Park South

Location: 40 Central Park S, New York, NY 10021. (212) 826-5959

Date: July 2, 2017

Cuisine: Breakfast

Rating: New/old school?

Sarabeth’s is a New York breakfast mainstay, located right along the south side of Central Park.

We had to wait over an hour, even at 9am!

The place is huge, and mobbed.

Cappuccino of course.

The menu.

Spinach omelet.

French toast with strawberries.

Pancakes.

Oatmeal with strawberries and banana.
Omelet and muffin.

I had a crab Benedict, but I guess I forgot to take a picture of it. Sad, as it was the best thing (for my taste).

Overall, Sarabeth’s was very classic. The menu wasn’t super interesting, but execution was solid. Still it’s pricey. And the format is oddly old-school with the white tablecloths and liveried waiters. Certainly fun to try but I’m not sure I would crave it.

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