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Renu Nakorn

Oct14

Location: 13019 Rosecrans Ave #105, Norwalk, CA 90650. (562) 921-2124

Date: October 11, 2015 & September 16, 2018 & January 3, 2025

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Far, but really great Thai

I’m always up for some Thai adventures and Renu Nakorn, although very far and deep down in the inland empire off the 5 is the seed restaurant that gave birth to Lotus of Siam.

The strip mall they used to be in rebooted up into this bigger 2006 mall. The Chutima’s ran it back in the 90s and in 1999 solid it to their friends Pharchumporn Shonkeaw and Umpa Sripetwannadee. Named after the Renu Nakhon district of northeastern Thailand, it serves up Northern Thai cuisine.

2011 Domaine des Baumard Savennières. 89 points. Quite creamy on the nose with subtle, slightly funky aromas of animal hide, papaya and fennel. Medium-bodied and slightly soft with savory, flinty flavors of grass, hard lemon candy and tangerine.

Fried sweet corn special. They made this up for us special. Absolutely delicious. Crunchy and sweet.

Rose

Renu Nakorn Sausage. Grilled sour rice sausage, served with fresh chili, ginger & peanut. Sausage was super tasty, although very salty.

Northern Thai Sausage (9/16/18), a slightly different more aromatic variant.

Chicken Sate.

2005 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese. VM 91. Pale golden yellow.Subtle bouquet of pineapple, nut oil and lemon zest.The luscious yet crisp papaya fruit is brightened by a refreshing mineral character.Deceptively light and wonderfully drinkable.A charming riesling with a sweet/salty finish.

Nam-Prik-Noom (Green chili dip). Roasted green chili, garlic, onion and tomato pounded in mortar. One of the most popular dip of Northern Thailand, eaten with sticky rice, fried pork skin and fresh vegetable. Lots of flavor, not super hot by my standards.

The red chili dip (9/16/18) version of the same dish.

Pork Jerky.

Beef Jerky.

Some kind of special beef salad (9/16/18).

Larb koong (9/16/18). A northern style larb.

Spring Rolls.

A different kind of spring roll.

Stuffed chicken wings (9/16/18). Super awesome, we ordered 2 or three times!

Classic papaya salad (9/16/18).

Raw Shrimp. Big, juicy, and very spicy.

Coconut chicken soup (9/16/18).

In the bowl.

2001 Weingut Johannishof (H.H. Eser) Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling Spätlese. 89 points. Peach, grapefruit and brown spice in the nose. Enormously rich and peachy in the mouth, expansive and bright across the palate. Effusively fruity, honeyed and spicy in the finish.

Special apple salad with salmon. The salmon was perfectly cooked, very mild yet flavorful.

2000 Erben von Beulwitz Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Auslese**. 93 points. Sweet but not cloying.

Nam Kao Tod. Minced Issan sausage mixed with green onion, fresh chili, ginger, peanuts, crispy rice and lime juice. Super delicious, but incredibly salty.

2003 Le Haut-Lieu Vouvray Moelleux. 93 points. Sweet, with perhaps a touch of funk.

Nua Yum Katiem. Charbroiled spicy beef topped with fresh garlic and spicy sauce. Super delicious, and our spicy one actually had some heat (from those peppers). Lots of good garlic and acidic flavor too. The texture of the meat reminded me of tongue (in a good way).

2002 Inniskillin Vidal Sparkling Icewine. 93 points. Very nice. Few bubbles left, but what was left added just the right spark. Deep color. Flavors very concentrated. Probably near it peak, but showed zero hint of oxidation, so it may last quite a bit longer.

Northern Larb. A completely difference from the Is-san larb in taste, this Northern style larb (ground pork) is cooked with Northern Thai spices and no lime juice. Garnish with fresh herb and vegetable. Lots of flavor, a bit of heat, and extremely salty again.

2010 Rhys Pinot Noir San Mateo County. VM 94. The 2010 Pinot Noir (San Mateo County) is simply fabulous. Rich dark cherries, crushed flowers, mint and spices burst from the glass. This is a hugely delicious wine from Rhys. The 80% whole clusters are nicely balanced by the sheer depth of the fruit. This is a flat out stunning wine from Rhys. In 2010 the San Mateo is the entry-level Pinot. The 2010 is bottled under San Mateo appellation, as it includes fruit from Bearwallow (in Anderson Valley) rather than the more typical collection of sites from the Santa Cruz Mountains. Once again, one of the appellation-level Rhys Pinots shines.

They prep the next dish.

Khao soi. Northern red curry with chicken and flat noodles.

In the individual bowl. I loved this, but I LOVE red curries, and I love noodles, so go figure.

Condiments for the curry.

2012 Horsepower Vineyards Syrah The Tribe Vineyard. 96 points. Total rocks rockstar. If you want to show someone Rock terrior, this is about as good as it gets. Super clean, but showcasing that ethereal burn olive and blood flavor. Good acid on the palate for being obviously higher PH. Long finish.

Drunken noodles, combination. Good stuff, we went through the noodles fast.

2007 Carlisle Syrah Bennett Valley. 91 points. Drinking quite well. Most of the group enjoyed it even more than I. Plums, black raspberries and some black pepper on the nose. Tannic. Good fruit but certainly not uber ripe. Starting to show some complexity, but certainly no hurry at all. It really is a beautiful wine.

Crispy Chicken.

Pork stew Northern Style (9/16/18).

Special off menu pork.

Spicy Young Jackfruit Curry (9/16/18). Interesting flavors.

Seafood Chili Mint Leaves (9/16/18).

More fried rice (9/16/18).

Red chicken curry (9/16/18). Classic and delicious.

Red Curry with Duck.

Special green curry (2015 & 9/16/18) with pork, extra spicy. Loved this stuff, with a nice coconut flavor.

Yellow Curry with Chicken.

BBQ beef in spicy sauce (9/16/18).

Braised stew.

Pad See Ew (9/16/18).

Catfish (9/16/18).

Fish.

Crying Tiger Beef (9/16/18).

Bannana fritters with coconut ice cream. I only ate the ice cream, which tasted like ice milk or frozen coconut milk. It was okay.

Bland cake.

Made by me for 9/16/18.

Cherry Cough Syrup Sorbetto – Amareno Cherry and Creme de Cassis Sorbet! — so intense — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SummerTime #cherry #amareno #Sorbet #cassis

Passionape Sorbetto – Passion Fruit and Aperol Sorbet — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SummerTime #Sorbet #PassionFruit #Aperol

Food was excellent, if a touch salty. Service was excellent. Only minus was the drive.

I still like Jitlada a bit better. Renu Nakorn has a different, more northern style, however. It also isn’t nearly as spicy. We asked them to give us nuclear hot dishes and they were only “hot”. My scalp never got sweating like it does at Jitlada.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!
Extra wines from 9/16/18:

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, hedonists, Renu Nakorn, Thai cuisine, Wine

LaLa – Valentino

Oct12

Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

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

Date: October 8, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Good, if a touch slow!

For some time my Hedonist gang has been arranging this special dinner of all Guigal single vineyard Côte-Rôtie, known affectionately as the LaLas (as they are named La Landonne, La Mouline, and La Turque).

The wine service for this was extensive and expertly handled. We had glasses for every wine and they were opened, tested, decanted, poured all in advance and delivered in neat flights.

Our special custom menu.

Ron brought as a bonus: 2004 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 96. I am thrilled with the way the 2004 Comtes de Champagne continues to evolve in bottle. A few years ago, the 2004 was quite focused and linear, in the style of the vintage, but more recently, the wine has begun to fill out beautifully. The 2004 remains bright, with a full range of citrus, white flower and mineral nuances that dance on the palate. A brisk, saline-infused finish rounds things out beautifully in a Comtes that impresses for its crystalline purity. I expect the 2004 will always remain a bit cool next to the more opulent 2002, but it is still drop-dead gorgeous.

Parmesan crisps.

Another Ron bonus: NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

agavin: our bottle was mildly corked or funky. Still drinkable, but not up to its usual standards.

Caprese skewers.

Bonus from my cellar: 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru en Remilly Cuvée Nicholas et Mathis. 94 points. Precise, delineated, a bit reductive, with tons of fabulous acid.

Fried potato puffs with tomato sauce. Very nice.

Ron also brought: 2013 Samuel Billaud Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. VM 93. Pale, bright yellow. Rather exotic aromas of orange peel, musky ginger and curry powder. Large-scaled, broad and deep, with a distinctly old-viney creaminess and superb mineral depth to the explosive flavors of soft citrus fruits and ginger. The mounting, palate-staining finish shows a youthfully aggressive quality but does not go heavy. The crop level here was just 30 hectoliters per hectare, according to Billaud.

agavin: a nice screaming young Chablis

Crudo al cucchiao. Tuna with pineapple. The sweet / salty pairing here is very nice.

Grilled pizza margarita.

Involtini. Eggplant wrapped around soft ricotta cheese.

Breadsticks.

Now we get to the LaLas.

1990 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque. Parker 98. The 1990 La Turque offers an opaque purple color, and an overwhelming perfume of jammy black cherries, cassis, toast, and minerals. With its sweet, generous, incredibly harmonious personality, it is an unforgettable wine.With sweet tannin, low acidity, and one of the most velvety-textured, decadently rich palates I have encountered, this fabulous wine has a finish that lasts more than a minute.

agavin: good, but not nearly as good as the 91

1991 Guigal Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 99. The 1991 La Landonne will provide multimillionaires with plenty of pleasure over the next 20 years. They can also debate whether it or the perfect 1990 is the better wine. The 1991’s bouquet offers huge, smoky, new saddle leather, licorice, Asian spice, meaty, and cassis scents. Black in color, with layers of richness, huge body, massive extraction, and a phenomenal finish, it is another legend from Marcel Guigal. It will be the least precocious of the 1991s, needing until the turn of the century to open and develop; it should keep for 25-30 + years.

agavin: WOTN, really gorgeous

Warm beef carpaccio. With parmesan, cappers, etc.

1995 Guigal Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 95-97. The brawny, black/purple-colored 1995 Cote Rotie La Landonne reveals the animal, sauvage side of the Syrah grape. Licorice, prune, iron, and vitamin-like aromas compete with copious quantities of black fruits and smoke in this complex, structured, muscular, massive Cote Rotie. It will require 5-6 years of cellaring, and should keep for 30+ years.

1995 Guigal Cote Rotie la Mouline. Parker 96-100. The 1995 Cote Rotie La Mouline (11% Viognier included in the blend) was scheduled to be bottled (unfined and unfiltered of course) in February, after 42 months in 100% new oak. This is one of the most extraordinary wines made in the world. As I have said many times, if I were ever stranded on the proverbial desert island with only one wine to drink, it would have to be La Mouline. A compelling perfume of violets, black raspberries, coffee, pepper, and pain grille soars from the glass. Medium to full-bodied and lush, with a terrific multi-layered texture and outstanding purity, this is a phenomenal example of La Mouline. It possesses enough structure and substance to last for two decades, although it will be delicious upon release.

agavin: my favorite of this awesome flight.

1995 Guigal Cote Rotie la Turque. Parker 98-100. The 1995 Cote Rotie La Turque (about 7% Viognier in the blend) possesses a dense ruby/purple color, and roasted herb, olive, and Asian spice characteristics. It exhibits exceptional concentration and is velvety and concentrated. The fabulous 1995 La Turque is a virtually perfect wine with flamboyance, harmony, and remarkable opulence and length. It should drink well when released, and last for two decades.

Sea scallops in porchetta, wrapped in pancetta with a red wine sauce. It’s unusual to have such a “red” scallop prep, but it totally worked and made for a solid Syrah pairing.

From my cellar: 1998 Guigal Cote Rotie la Mouline. Parker 97-100. The awesome 1998 Cote Rotie La Mouline is a seamless, full-bodied classic with many characteristics of the 1997 La Landonne , but more structure, tannin, and muscle. It will need two years of cellaring, and will last for twenty years. Stylistically, it is reminiscent of the 1988.

agavin: another amazing flight

1998 Guigal Cote Rotie la Turque. Parker 98-99. The 1998 Cote Rotie La Turque may end up being a perfect wine. Its smoky black fruits intermixed with licorice, roasted meats, cassis, and flowers create an explosive, exotic perfume. The wine reveals considerable tannin, immense structure, and potentially legendary depth as well as intensity. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2022.

1998 Guigal Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 100! The 1998 Cote Rotie La Landonne is a perfect wine … at least for my palate. Its saturated black/purple color is accompanied by an extraordinary nose of smoke, incense, tapenade, creosote, blackberry, and currant aromas. It is densely packed with blackberry, truffle, chocolate, and leather-like flavors. The wine possesses high tannin, but perfect harmony, impeccable balance, and gorgeous integration of acidity, alcohol, and tannin. It is a tour de force in winemaking. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2025.

Calamarta with porcini duck ragu. A lovely pasta, although a few complained that theirs arrived cold (mine was fine).

Jeff brought this bonus: 2003 Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 97. Revealing more structure and definition than the regular bottling, the 2003 Cote Rotie La Landonne offers more scorched earth, camphor, blackberry, and roasted meat characteristics. Last year this cuvee displayed no acidity, but that is not the case from bottle (perhaps the use of 50% stems helped). Rostaing admits that analytically, there is practically no acid in this wine, so it will age on its extraordinary extract and richness. This blockbuster should drink well young, yet age for 12-15 years.

agavin: warming us up to 2003

2003 Guigal Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 100! The 2003 Cote Rotie la Landonne continues to blow me away every time I taste it and it’s a desert island wine for me. One of the stars of this extreme vintage, it offers sensational levels of fruit and decadence, perfumed, intense aromatics, beautiful freshness and a to-die-for texture and finish. Still youthful, with masses of sweet tannin, it’s nevertheless a a heavenly drink today.

agavin: brooding monster, needs at least 10 years

2003 Guigal Cote Rotie la Mouline. Parker 100! A desert island wine (as is just about any top vintage of the cuvee) and a gorgeous showing, the 2003 Cote Rotie la Mouline is drinking beautifully, yet is still young, loaded with fruit, and possesses over-the-top richness. Giving up notions of plum, liquid flowers, potpourri and smoked meats, this puppy is full-bodied, massive and layered on the palate, with a stacked mid-palate, thrilling amounts of texture, and a blockbuster-styled finish. There’s nothing classic about it, but it’s still as good as it gets.

agavin: another monster

Risotto with wolfe ranch quail. There was pretty solid agreement that this was a great dish. The quail was nice and flavorful and that jus was fabulous. The risotto was mild but great with the Jus.

1999 Guigal Cote Rotie la Mouline. Parker 100! The 1999 Cote Rotie la Mouline is straight-up awesome on all accounts. Drinking beautifully, with explosive aromas and flavors of blackberry, smoked meats, pepper and exotic flowers, this puppy hits the palate with full-bodied richness, beautiful concentration and a seamless, sexy and oh, so fine texture that is the hallmark of this cuvee. This is another wine that will continue to evolve gracefully, yet I’ve been lucky enough to have it multiple times recently, and when a bottle is drinking this good, don’t miss it by always waiting for another day.

agavin: up there with the 91 for WOTN, and up against stiff competition

La Bistecca: Prime New York Steak “Tagliata” with sea salt and Mosto Cotto Reduction. This wasn’t everyone’s favorite, and it was fairly fatty. It did have a nice, if salty, flavor.

2005 De Suduiraut. Parker 93. Tasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château Suduiraut seemed a little out of sorts at first, although it comes together with honey, barley sugar, orange blossom and mineral scents that become more delineated as its aerates. The palate is very intense on the entry. There is a beautiful line of acidity that cuts through the viscous fruit, though the finish does not quite exude the precision of a top vintage, but still delivers that sense of class one expects from this address.

agavin: very nice, clean and sweet.

Feast of Artisanal cheese with traditional complements. Good but small — I’d hardly call this specific dish a “feast.”

1978 Rieussec. 91 points. Honeyed color. Very pretty nose of apricot and dried peach. In the mouth, viscous and pretty, with wonderful balance and a lush presence, unfolding apricot, butterscotch, and dried fruit notes. A moderate spike in acidity remains. Smooth finish. Not quite the concentration or persistence of a great Sauternes, but this is really excellent. A testament to their ability to age and the enjoyment they afford when mature.

agavin: I thought there was a lot of acidity and apricot — really enjoyed this older wine.

Assortment of Desserts: Panna cotta, chocolate tart, pear gelato. All very tasty.

Let’s breakdown the parts overall:

Wine Service: A total 10. One guy (pictured at the top of this post) was there the whole time. He ordered (with Jeff Leve and Larry), opened, decanted, poured everything. We had glasses for every wine and it was served efficiently in neat flights. He was really on top of it. Bravo.

General Service: Certainly they were very nice as always. A couple guys gave me the eye at being stopped to photo the passing appetizers — but well, you can’t really blame them 🙂 In general service was quite excellent as it usually is at Valentino, but there was one glaring problem tonight: The food took forever to get going. We waited about an hour for a few passing apps, then those (and they were great) dragged out for about an hour themselves. The first official course came in the middle of them — but itself very late. There was a little trouble getting the dozen or so down real fast too. The second course took a real long time too, but after that it sped up. Some people reported their pasta course was cold. Handling of details like the credit card were excellent. I think the trouble was that they had at least one, and maybe 2 other wine dinners going. My friend (and often Hedonist) Kirk was at a Vega Sicilia dinner. He came and joined us after his was finished and around the time the pace really picked up.

Food: Somewhat contentious, but most of us thought the food was good, although not blow you away. I’d say that the food was an 8, with several great dishes and a few that were just fine (like the beef). There was plenty of it too.

Wines: Through the roof. We had no bad Lalas (just the slightly off rose champ). All were in great shape. The 91, all 95s, all 98s, and the 99 were all amazing. 99-100 points for sure. The 2003s you could tell were amazing, but they are so big they need at least another decade.

Value: Excellent!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cote Rotie, Guigal, hedonists, Lala, pasta, Valentino, Valentino Santa Monica, Wine

Krug at Il Grano

Oct09

Restaurant: Il Grano [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Location: 11359 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. 310.477.7886

Date: October 7, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome night! Krug & Sal both rule.

Sage Society’s Liz Lee has been planning this epic dinner for a long time. She’s a huge champagne fan, and Krug is one of her favorites. We are joined by Mike Hoagland from Moet Hennesy, representing Krug. Plus lots of Krug itself!

Il Grano’s private room. We drank from the special Riedel Joseph Krug glasses the house had specially made.

2006 Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. 94 points. A yeasty nose that is at once fresh yet carries hints of secondary development is attractively complex and layered with mostly floral and citrus notes that are trimmed in a brioche character. The secondary aspect carries over to the equally yeasty flavors that are supported by a moderately fine mousse that adds a sense of lift to the dry, clean and utterly delicious finish without being aggressively effervescent. This is almost invariably a very good cuvée and the most recent release is consistent with this admirable track record. Note that while this could easily be enjoyed now I would be inclined to hold it for at least another 3 to 5 years first though this of course depends greatly on how you prefer your Champagne.

Tuna tartar.

Corn pudding and oyster leaf. Kind of slightly weird, and hard to get the leaf off the spoon.

Truffle potato croquetas. Like a truffled tater tot.

Cutterfish fritto. Salty, tender, delicious.

Our special menu.

Our chef Sal Marino, always an amazing host.

Liz Lee of Sage Society, who organized this whole thing.

Mike Hoagland is a Champagne Specialist at Moet Hennesy, which means he evangelizes Krug (along with Dom P and others).

He explained the different wines in a fascinating way. I had long wondered about how champagne houses make such quantities yet keep quality and consistency. Apparently, Krug buys and grows about 400 separate parcels of land, mostly 1re and grand cru Champagne (well all Champagne). 150-200 or so of these are blended together every year to make the Grand Cuvee, and this gives them a tremendous toolbox to mix up a really stunning blend. Plus, they don’t just use one year, but as many as 11 different vintages — although there is a “main” base vintage (usually about 10 years prior to release). Below is the “re-created 2006”, just released.

2006 Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. 94 points. A yeasty nose that is at once fresh yet carries hints of secondary development is attractively complex and layered with mostly floral and citrus notes that are trimmed in a brioche character. The secondary aspect carries over to the equally yeasty flavors that are supported by a moderately fine mousse that adds a sense of lift to the dry, clean and utterly delicious finish without being aggressively effervescent. This is almost invariably a very good cuvée and the most recent release is consistent with this admirable track record. Note that while this could easily be enjoyed now I would be inclined to hold it for at least another 3 to 5 years first though this of course depends greatly on how you prefer your Champagne.

1990s Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. 96 points. This mid 90s grand cuvee was much more amber, deeper, richer, nuttier. Really quiet lovely and in great shape. Apparently it contains a blend of different vintages some as old as from the 70s.

Wild Japanese Snapper Crudo. Tomatoes from Sal’s garden.

Moving into a little more wine discussion, vintage Krug is a blend of vineyards all from a single year.

2003 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 95. Light yellow. Powerful, complex bouquet evokes fresh peach, pear, floral honey, green almond and smoky minerals. Deep, palate-staining citrus and orchard fruit flavors show outstanding vivacity for a hot vintage, picking up ginger and talc notes with air. The strikingly long, sappy finish features zesty orange pith, smoky minerals and an echo of honeysuckle. I’d be in no rush to drink this one. Speaking of waiting, I had the chance to revisit the 2000 Vintage Krug and it has begun to pick up the smoky, weighty and nutty character that long-time fans of this producer crave. It’s still plenty young but already unmistakably Krug, with a chewy texture and a sexy floral nuance dominating right now.

agavin: very approachable right now

2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 95. Brioche, dried pear, smoke, almonds, chamomile and wild herbs are all laced together in Krug’s 2000 Vintage. A wine of striking depth and resonance, the 2000 is absolutely gorgeous today. The first signs of very early tertiary complexity have begun to appear while the acidity is softening, both of which make the 2000 delicious today. At the same time, there is no hurry. I imagine the 2000 will still be gorgeous 20 years from now. Slight elements of reduction linger on the close. The blend is 43% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier, a rare vintage in which Chardonnay is quite high.

agavin: taught and more acidic, but very deep.

Sea bass, cauliflower mushroom, oven dried tomatoes. Blistered almonds and basil salad was tossed in pistachio oil and was raw. Delicious!

1998 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 94. Bright gold. Ripe orchard fruits, peach pit, toffee, marzipan and dried flowers on the pungent, smoky nose. Broad and fleshy on entry, then tighter in the mid-palate, offering palate-staining pit fruit nectar, apple pie and brioche flavors, enhanced by a toffeed quality. Closes spicy and very long, with resonating smoke and toasted hazlenut qualities.

1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 98. The 1996 Vintage is magnificent. A towering, explosive Champagne, the 1996 delivers the house’s signature breadth in a full-bodied, structured Champagne with enough pure density and acidity to age well for decades. Warm nutty and spiced overtones add nuance on the finish. The 1996 is just beginning to enter the early part of its mature stage, where it is sure to remain for several decades. Krug’s Vintage is one of the truly epic wines of the year.

agavin: a massive powerful acid bomb of a wine!

Poached Main Lobster. Roasted Squash, Lobster Sauce. A really lovely bit of lobster with that bisque-like sauce.

Guinea Hen Consommé, autumn vegetables. Savory and lovely.

Below we are lucky to try side by side two variants of 89 Krug, the “original” which was released perhaps around 2000, and the “collection” which is the same blend, but sits on the lees two years longer and then is held at the house for many many more years. It therefore represents a perfectly stored example.

1989 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 96. While the ’89 is not a current release, I happened to have the opportunity to taste it again in August so I included the note here: a positively spectacular nose that is now fully mature and quite yeasty with real breadth and depth leads to rich, fresh, sweet and intense flavors that also seems to have loads of barely concealed reserves of power and depth, finally explode on the hugely persistent finish. I’ve had better Champagnes but not many and this is a seriously impressive effort that can be drunk now or held for years to come.

agavin: I loved the nutty mature quality of this. Liz’s bottle was in amazing shape.

1989 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut Collection. AG 96. The 1989 Brut Collection is all of the things a gorgeous, mature Champagne should be. Autumn leaves, tobacco, mint, licorice, dried pears and sweet, exotic spices all waft from the glass in this totally complete, layered wine. The 1989 is a big, huge wine, rather it is a Champagne that impresses with exceptional overall balance and total finesse. I have had the 1989 Collection several times, but this is by far the finest bottle I have run across. When Krug is firing on all cylinders, there really is no substitute.

agavin: slightly more refined and younger than the non collection version, but very similar.

Tagliolini.

With fresh white truffles. Simple, but a lovely champagne pairing.

1979 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. JK 95. Start with a hint of oxidation but with air got fresher and richer. Brioche, baked apples, orange peel and anise. It displays rich palate and thoroughly enjoyable.

agavin: Wow. Maybe the best champagne I’ve ever had. A monster, and so fresh, although certainly “mature” tasting.

1966 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 100. One of the most gorgeous, viscerally thrilling wines I have ever had the privilege to taste and drink. Where to start? Impossibly finessed, crystalline and weightless, the 1966 captivates all the senses with its breathtaking beauty. Hints of apricot, wild flowers and chamomile grace the palate in an utterly exquisite, textured Champagne that still retains surprising freshness and clarity for its age. The 1966 is simply timeless. There are only a handful of Champagnes that play in this rarified stratosphere. Many of them come from the Krug cellar in Reims.

agavin: mature and in great shape, not as wow as the 1979, but still a stunner.

Pheasant, sunchoke puree, speck polenta. Mild and perfectly cooked juicy poultry.

Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 94. The NV Brut Rosé is brilliant and finely-sculpted in the glass, with floral aromatics, pulsating minerality and chiseled fruit. Less austere than it can be, the Rosé impresses for its combination of tension and textured, phenolic weight. There is so much to like. This release (ID 213027) is based on the 2006 vintage. The blend is 59% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay and 8% Pinot Meunier. Disgorged Spring 2013.

older Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. AG 95. An older bottle, I’m not sure how much older, obviously made in a different year from a different blend. More mature and salmon colored, but not even slightly faded.

Look at the pale rose colors. This photo is fairly faithful.

Lamb neck Osso Buco. Bone sucking good. I was literally sucking at it for a while. Super tender and flavorful. Paired well with the roses too.

Selection of cheeses. Small, but very nice, particularly the blue.

Another stunner of a dinner.

Food was right on point. Perfectly paired (thanks Liz and Sal). Really great stuff. Sadly, Il Grano is closing at the end of 2015, after 18 years. Chef/Owner Sal wants to try a new concept as people don’t seem as enamored of fine dining and white tablecloths as they used to be. Sigh.

The Krug was amazing. I have a newfound respect for Krug. I will be buying more, as it’s a seriously likeable champagne and really made with the kind of exquisite care that typifies the best wines in the world.

Also, Mike Hoagland from Krug was fabulous company. Very educated, smart, and interesting. He regaled us with all sorts of stories and details about the winery. I really learned a lot more about how champagne is made, particularly blended champy.

Thanks Liz!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or experience my gluttonous month-long journey through Northern Italy.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Il Grano, Krug, Liz Lee, Sage Society, Sal Marino

Viet Noodle Bar

Oct07

Restaurant: Viet Noodle Bar

Location: 3221 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA90405. (424) 299 6360

Date: August 18, 2015

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Rating: Good, but not typical

Santa Monica has had a lot of openings recently, and in multiple classes of restaurants. Viet Noodle Bar is a lunch focused (at least to my mind) casual Vietnamese “Pho” place. Except not exactly.

The frontage on pico (right near Valentinos) is almost invisible.

The interior is minimal and as you can see in the middle of the lunch rush, not exactly crowded.

The menu.

While very Vietnamese, they seem to eschew the “classics” like regular beef Pho. They even note that they DO NOT offer the regular garnish of basil, hoisin, etc. Bizarre.

Rice Noodle Omelet. Sort of a Viet okonomiyaki. I had similar things in Vietnam. It was tasty with that slightly pickled flavor coming from the vegetables on top. Even better with hot sauce.

Spicy Sardine Banh Mi. Green onion. Cilantro. The menu doesn’t even call it Banh Mi, but it is of course. This was very tasty with a bit of mild heat and umami brine quality from the sardine.

Turmeric Fish Salad. Lettuce leaf, fish tomato, red onion, bean sprouts, daikon, carrot. Very nice turmeric flavor and soft savory fish. Nice rice noodles and interesting interplay of crunch.

Ginger fish Pho Noodle Soup. White fish, bean sprouts (I left them out), crispy shallot, green onion, cilantro. A very pleasant mild ginger broth with tender white fish. Lots of rice noodles. I asked for hoisin to jazz it up — found they didn’t have it — and got their peanut sauce instead. This version of peanut sauce turned out to be sort of hoisin-like so it worked out.

Overall, the flavors here are very Vietnamese, but the items avoid the “classics” people might expect and lean toward “California healthy” with a lot of light, vegetarian, etc. Less beef, pork, pate, and other heavy meats. Still a nice place to have around and I’ll be back — although they barely had any customers and so I hope they survive. They need much better signage and some serious word of mouth / advertising.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or my survey of real Vietnamese (in Vietnam).

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Santa Monica, Viet Noodle Bar, Vietnamese cuisine

Beijing Pie House

Oct05

Restaurant: Beijing Pie House

Location: 846 E Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91755. (626) 288-3818

Date: May 5, 2015

Cuisine: Beijing Chinese

Rating: Pies were great

I’ve been wanted to try the infamous “pie house” for quite some time. Clearly a lunch place — or even better, a hangover joint.

The usual facade.

The menu.

The tiny Garvey Blvd interior.

Corn soup. Pies apparently come with this bland yellow soup. Straight up it tastes like liquid polenta (i.e. almost like nothing). Add some sugar and it tastes like… sweet nothing.

Pork Soup Dumplings. XLB are great as always. These weren’t the BEST XLB I’ve ever had, but they were certainly yummy.

The sauce was awesome.

Condiments to knock up your sauce if you like.

House Special Pie. These hockey puck-like disks of greasy goodness sure were delectable.

Crispy skin covered pork, egg, and green onions. I’d like to try the straight pork and leek and the lamb and leek.

Lamb and leek pancake. Similar ingredients, and you could taste the nice lambiness, but the ratio of dough to meat favored too much dough. I bet the lamb and leek pie is way better.

Overall, We just began to sample this “cuisine.” Clearly the pies are the way to go. The skin was great and lots of room for meat. Next time I’m ordering all the meat pies.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beijing Pie House, Chinese cuisine, Meat Pie, Monterey Park, pork

Meat under the Moon

Oct02

Chef: Andrew Greene

Date: September 27, 2015

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Awesome meats

Jake and Elizabeth’s yard has been the site of several awesome Hedonist gatherings, and tonight is no exception.

It’s a gorgeous warm night and twenty-some of us are ready to chow down.

The chef tonight is Hedonist veteran Ron’s son, Andrew Greene (with the beard), shown here with a bunch of other chefs in attendance, including Kaz from Totoraku! Andrew is the chef at Troya in San Francisco and he’s prepared some epic meaty feasting for us tonight.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

Salami. Out in the beginning are a few nibbles.

Cheeses.

2004 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 97.5. Racy, silky and vibrant in the glass, the 2004 Dom Pérignon is all about energy. Here the flavors are bright and delineated throughout, with veins of acidity and minerality that give the wine its sense of drive. Mint, rosemary and yellow-fleshed fruits linger on the finish with the classic DP reductive overtones that are such a signature. Once again, the 2004 Dom Pérignon truly shines. The 2004 Dom Pérignon is a wine to treasure over the next thirty or so years.

More cheeses.

Crackers.

From my cellar: 2004 Henri Boillot Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 95. Knockout nose combines pineapple, orange and spices, with a subtle leesy suggestion of nuts. Wonderfully sweet, supple, fine-grained and full, with a captivating sugar/acid balance and an intriguing suggestion of exotic fruits. Extremely broad, silky, palate-saturating wine of great purity and persistence. I underrated this when I tasted it from barrel a year ago. From Domaine Caillot vines located high on the hillside. A great Batard.

hamachi with fennel, pickled with ponzu, Persian cucumbers.

This was a nice sashimi starter.

2010 Marcel Deiss Schoenenbourg. VM 94+. Bright straw-green. Spicy aromas of lime, honeyed peach, anise and quinine. Dense on entry, then spicy and vibrant in the middle, displaying juicy, fresh flavors of peach, flowers and earth. This structured, very long wine magically combines an impression of strong extract and a weightless quality. Very impressive.

Uni. Isn’t much of a looker on the plate.

But sure tasted great on crackers.

w

Mushroom dashi. A lovely light soup of bonito dashi and various mushrooms.

2008 Kistler Pinot Noir Cuvée Catherine. VM 94. Glass-staining ruby. Highly perfumed, precise aromas of cherry, blackberry, licorice, herbs and violet; much darker in character than the preceding wines. Sweet and firm on entry, then fresh and aromatic in the mouth, with strong cherry and dark berry fruit supported by a firm spine of minerality. Finishes sweet and long. This is built to age.

agavin: ain’t no Burgundy!

2006 Kistler Pinot Noir Cuvée Elizabeth Bodega Headlands. VM 94. Deep red. Energetic red and dark berries on the nose, with sexy notes of potpourri and blood orange adding complexity. Lively raspberry and blackberry flavors stain the palate, taking on a richer mocha quality on the back. The red fruit repeats strongly on the strikingly pure and precise finish. An impressively tangy, pure expression of pinot, with the balance and intensity to reward cellaring.

Tomato corn salad.

From my cellar: 1995 Louis Jadot Echezeaux. 92 points. Deep colour, wonderful fruit (black fruits) and sweetness. Very long. A really pleasant surprise, and a perfect companion for salmon teriyaki. A true grand cru, excellent value for money. No hurry to drink the rest.

1990 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 96. Two great back to back vintages are the 1990 and 1989. The more developed 1990 boasts an incredible perfume of hickory wood, coffee, smoked meat, Asian spices, black cherries, and blackberries. Lush, opulent, and full-bodied, it is a fully mature, profound Beaucastel that will last another 15-20 years.

Lamb bacon. Chunks of tender lamb meat reduced and smoked. Very chewy, and amazingly delicious.

2001 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 95. The classically styled 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape has plenty of the telltale kirsch and sweet spice notes that always seem to be present in Avril’s wines. Showing more mature notes of truffle, olive, licorice and garrigue as it sat in the glass, it’s medium to full-bodied, elegant and balanced, with a great texture and finish. It has solid mid-palate depth, as well as sweet tannin, so, while there’s no harm enjoying bottles today, it has another decade of longevity.

braised oxtail. Tender meaty oxtail.

Warm humus.

1991 Beringer Chardonnay Private Reserve. Parker 96. The second largest production of Beringer’s Private Reserve, the 1991 came in just behind the 24,000 cases of the 1997. Interestingly, these are among the greatest Private Reserves made, and as Ed Sbragia told me, it was just one of those perfect vintages. One of the longest and coolest growing seasons in the history of California, it was marked by cool temperatures throughout the summer and a perfect Indian Summer. The hang time of the grapes, ranging from the date of flowering to the date of harvest, was historically long (I do not believe it has been equaled since). The Cabernet Sauvignon came from the same three sources as the 1990, Bancroft Ranch, the Home Vineyard in St. Helena, and Chabot Vineyard, and the tiny dollop of Cabernet Franc was from the Bancroft Ranch site. I’ve enjoyed many bottles of this spectacular effort, which still possesses a dense ruby/purple color as well as a sumptuous nose of spring flowers, graphite, loamy soil, creme de cassis, black cherries and blackberries. With sweet tannin, a full-bodied mouthfeel and incredible purity as well as youthfulness, this wine has another 15-20 years of life left in it. If this were a Bordeaux, one would think it was 8-10 years old, not two decades. There are no hard edges, and the seamless integration of all the component parts make it one of the prodigious Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserves to drink now as well as over the next 20 years.

fig marmalade. These four, the bacon, oxtail, humus and marmalade were served together.

Things are cooking!

2003 Guigal Cote Rotie Chateau d’Ampuis. Parker 96. A wine I’ve been lucky enough to have numerous times recently, the 2003 Cote Rotie Chateau d’Ampuis is an off-the-hook effort that gives up plenty of plum sauce, smoked duck, licorice, tar, vanilla bean and violet aromas and flavors. Never acidified, it has awesome freshness and focus to go with full-bodied richness, a hedonistic texture and a blockbuster-styled finish. While it’s not for those craving delicate-styled aromas and textures, I think it’s a gorgeous effort that will continue to drink nicely over the coming decade or more.

Salmon with tomatoes and onions.

2007 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino. Parker 95. The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino is gorgeous. Dark red cherries, plums, spices, leather and tobacco wrap around the palate as this dense, powerful wine starts to open up. Expressive aromatics are woven throughout, giving the 2007 a measure of polish and sophistication that is not always present in this wine when it is young. Finessed, suave tannins reinforce an impression of elegance. The 2007 can be enjoyed with minimum cellaring, but it will also age gracefully for many years. Readers who want to try the 2007 today should give the wine plenty of air, as the more refined qualities only emerge over time. When tasted next to the 2006, the 2007 shows redder tonalities of fruit and less sheer muscle. Hints of tobacco, crushed flowers and spices wrap around the sensual finish.

2010 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown. 92 points.

Venison loins.

Seared venison. Incredibly tender slices of venison.

Some Turley Petite Syrah. I don’t usually bother with these monsters.

Served with blueberry demiglase.

2000 Pavie. Parker 100. Just beginning to come around and strut its enormous potential, this wine at age 15 has been evolving like a glacier. The wine has an inky, opaque, plum/purple color and a stunningly rich nose of mulberries, bramble berries, blackberries, licorice and incense as well as touches of toast and graphite. Fabulously concentrated and full-bodied, with a multidimensional mouthfeel, this profound Pavie is in mid-adolescence. It should evolve and continue to drink well for at least another 30-40 years. This is clearly the first compelling effort made by the Perse family.

agavin: bottle was empty before I got to it 🙁

Maitaki mushrooms.

1996 Mouton-Rothschild. Parker 94-96. This estate’s staff believes that the 1996 Mouton-Rothschild is very complex. I agree that among the first-growths, this wine is showing surprising forwardness and complexity in its aromatics. It possesses an exuberant, flamboyant bouquet of roasted coffee, cassis, smoky oak, and soy sauce. The impressive 1996 Mouton-Rothschild offers impressive aromas of black currants, framboise, coffee, and new saddle leather. This full-bodied, ripe, rich, concentrated, superbly balanced wine is paradoxical in the sense that the aromatics suggest a far more evolved wine than the flavors reveal. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2030. By the way, the 1996 blend consists of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 8% Cabernet Franc.

Smoked fingerling purée. These mashed potatoes were insane, particularly with the blueberry sauce. Tasted like BBQ or something.

2005 Rol Valentin. Parker 92-94. A sexy, full-bodied, very drinkable style of 2005, Eric Prissette’s 2005 Rol Valentin displays loads of black cherry fruit, licorice, Christmas fruitcake and spice. Full-bodied and opulent, it can be drunk over the next 10-15 years.

Duck confit. One of the best duck legs I’ve had — not quite Peking duck, but what is?

2001 Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. Parker 100! The 2001 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is the first of these back-to-back perfect wines from Shafer that, at age 13, is still a baby, but, wow, what an amazing wine. A fabulous growing season produced a wine with inky/purple black color, stunning crème de cassis notes, with additional hints of lead pencil shavings, spring flowers, cedar wood and forest floor. It is full-bodied, sensationally concentrated, with a seamless integration of acidity, tannin, wood and alcohol. This is a great, monumental Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that is still an infant, at age 13, going on 14. This has got at least three decades of life left in it, and probably won’t hit its peak for another 5-7 years.

agavin: slut!

Veggies cooked in duck fat.

2006 Justin Vineyards & Winery Isosceles Reserve. 93 points. Massive, complex fruit, with a nice layer of tannin. This is a whopper, with plenty of time left. Highly enjoyable now with a some air. Very masculine.

From my cellar: 1973 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia. 93 points. This is quite dusty but really complex. Coconut, sweat, mushroom, strawberry, cranberry and dark cherry flavours. The palate shows a strange lactic note that borders on yogurt and egg yolk which is a bit distracting but in the end, flavours of earth, mushroom, cherry, sweat, herbs, leather and cedar round this wine out and make it quite enjoyable. The finish is medium+ with moderate complexity but is really earthy which is just so captivating.

Charred fennel purée. Good stuff.

1932 Massandra Red Port. 94 points. Tawny in color, with a complex nose of smoke, caramel, butterscotch, toffee, coffee ban, banana and wild strawberries. The wine had great freshness and ample sweetness, but the nose was better than the palate, due to the shortness of the finish. But then the wine was close to 85 years of age. Massandra is not a wine I see often, making this a rare and interesting treat.

agavin: Joseph Stalin probably tasted this wine many times.

1999 Fred Prinz Hallgartener Jungfer Riesling Auslese. Really nice.

Kumefe (Turkish filo dough with cheese), with Meyer lemon syrup, hazelnut crumble. I’ve had this in Turkey a number of times. Great stuff with an interesting crispy/gooey texture.

Some extra hazelnut crumble.
It should be noted that we were able to see the “super blood moon” (super moon in eclipse) right as we ate.

Overall an incredible evening of amazing food — and way way too much of it too — and tons of great wines. We rolled out of there. The meats were super flavorful and extremely well cooked. They probably “suffered” slightly too from the family style plating, as I can imagine individually plated with all the elements integrated they would be even more impressive — and they were fabulous as is. Mmmm, lamb bacon.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Andrew Greene, duck, hedonists, Meat, super blood moon, venison, Wine

Salt’s Cure

Sep30

Restaurant: Salt’s Cure

Location: 1155 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 850-7258

Date: September 26, 2015

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Really tasty

Liz Lee of Sage Society really knows how to organize a dinner. Not only does she find some of the best chefs in town, but the wine is always crazy good.

Liz has long been a fan of Salt’s Cure, and now that they are moving to a new larger space wanted to do an epic dinner in the new location. Well, this is a very “soft” opening with regard to the construction, but the food and service are fully worked out.

This particular dinner was BYOB, and ended up with more than 25 wines for 15 people. All great too!

Our special menu for the night.

NV Champagne Savart Champagne L’accomplie. 91 points. Apricot, peach, wild flowers, honey, spices and mint all meld together in the NV Brut L’Accomplie. Here the style is round, succulent and approachable, with lovely up-front intensity and volume. The current release is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, based on the 2010 vintage with the addition of 45% Réserve wines. This is a very pretty wine, although the limits of the 2010 vintage are impossible to fully overcome.

Mussels with lemongrass.

NV Godmé Père et Fils Champagne Brut Reserve 1er Cru. Burghound 92. A markedly yeasty and impressively complex nose of various dried white fruits, particularly apple and pear, leads to equally complex, bold and robust flavors that are supported by a firm but not aggressive effervescence on the clean, dry and slightly austere finish. This is not an especially elegant Champagne but I very much like the frank character and the Réserve designation in this case is well warranted because it’s clear that there is a substantial percentage of older wine in the blend. Lovely and this could easily be drunk now but there is so much underlying material that this would make a great choice to age for another 5 to even 10 years if you enjoy the flavors of older Champagne. Recommended.

Crabcakes and tartar sauce. Lots of good solid crabby taste.

2002 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé. VM 95. Light, bright orange-pink. Heady mineral- and yeast-accented aromas of dried red berries, blood orange, buttered toast and tea rose. Densely packed and expansive on the palate, offering intense raspberry, cherry compote and floral pastille flavors and a smoky overtone that gains strength with aeration. The mineral quality comes back strong on the silky, focused finish, which goes on and on. An outstanding blend of power and finesse.

Steak tartar on potato crisp. I really liked these.

Chef Chris Phelps on the left, organize Liz Lee on the right (standing).

2009 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons. VM 94. The 2009 Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons is remarkably polished and balanced throughout, with plenty of vintage 2009 radiance. Apricot pit, smoke, peach and spice overtones take shape in a striking Champagne. Although quite open and expressive today, the 2009 is also holding back a considerable amount of pure, unbridled power as well as potential. Ripe and racy to the core, yet with no excess weight, the 2009 stands out for its exceptional balance. Dosage was 4.7 grams per liter, a bit higher than normal. Péters told me he thought the drier vintage needed a little bit more sugar.

NV Taittinger Champagne Nocturne Sec. VM 90. Bright yellow. Deeply perfumed aromas of poached pear, melon, nectarine and lemon curd are complemented by suggestions of buttered toast, anise and chamomile. Plush and broad on the palate, offering ripe citrus and pit fruit flavors with a touch of chalky minerality adding cut and lift. A floral quality builds slowly with air and carries through the spicy, sappy, gently sweet finish. I like this Champagne’s balance of fruitiness and vivacity and there’s no way that I’d have guessed that its dosage was so high.

2012 Prager Grüner Veltliner Stockkultur Smaragd Achleiten. Grapefruity, short finish, lots of acid.

Chicken liver pudding with soft pretzels and pickles. A great mix of bread, fatty liver, and bright acidic pickles and onions.

2008 Hanzell Chardonnay. 91 points. Carmel, citrus…nutty finish. Quite elegant. Drink over the next 2 yrs. Didn’t taste like Chardonnay!

Plum, cherry tomato and ricotta with basil vinaigrette. A nice bright salad.

1993 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée LD. VM 92. Pale green-gold color. Knockout nose of orange blossom, minerals, apple and hazelnut. Thick, rich and uncompromisingly dry; already showing superb inner-mouth perfume of orange oil, apple, flowers and spices. Brisk but harmonious acids frame the deep flavors perfectly and contribute to the impression of strong structure. Finishes quite powerful and long. “This wine was still totally dumb six months ago,” notes winemaker Terry Leighton, who won’t release a wine until it ready for its close-up. Leighton’s LD bottling is from a north-facing slope, while the LV vines face south.

Chilled tomato soup with grilled cheese. The sandwich was fairly straightforward, but the soup was awesome, lots of vinegar, almost like a gazpacho.

2012 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane. VM 93. Bright yellow. Assertive aromas of nectarine, violet and smoky minerals, with a gingery nuance adding lift. Broad and silky on the palate, offering densely packed orchard and pit fruit flavors that become spicier with air. The mineral note comes back strong on the finish, which lingers with excellent tenacity and building smokiness.

Mackerel Toast with Sauce Gribiche. Tasty, but a real tough wine pairing with all that salt, vinegar, and strong briny tones.

2012 Domaine de Montille Meursault Perrières 1er Cru. Burghound 92. Here too strong sulfur and reduction render the nose impossible to assess. As one would reasonably expect this is intensely mineral-driven with an excellent sense of energy and tension to the saline-inflected flavors that display only moderate depth on the otherwise wonderfully long and well-balanced finish. My range offers the benefit of the doubt that more depth will develop with age.

agavin: Friend and dinner companion MZ owns a chunk of this estate and this was the first vintage from his collection! Very bright and delicious.

2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 93. More noticeable wood spice than in the prior wine combines with wonderfully pure green fruit and white pear aromas underscored by intensely stony notes, leading to ripe, chiseled, vibrant, wonderfully precise flavors that offer excellent definition. This really coats the palate and the finish lingers for several minutes. I like the punch here yet the intensity is delivered in an ultra refined, classy and pure style.

Yellowtail with succotash. I’m not used to having yellowtail fully cooked, but it was a nice flaky fish in this format.

2001 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Fourneaux. Burghound 89. Much finer and purer than the Suchot with detailed, precise, very earthy fruit and a subtle touch of finishing minerality. There is virtually no rusticity and while this is firmly structured, the tannins are almost completely buffered by an impressive sappiness that coats the palate.

1999 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Charmes-Chambertin. VM 89. Full medium red. Floral, sappy aromas of red fruits, nuts and game. Tangy red fruit flavors are kept bright by healthy ripe acidity. Finishes with very good length and grip. An unusually strong showing for this cuvee.

2002 Louis Jadot Echezeaux. Burghound 93. Strong oak spice presently dominates the nose with round, sweet, rich and impressively complex flavors that deliver stunning length. This is quite a powerful wine yet there is almost no rusticity and I very much like the obviously high quality material. As with several wines in the range, my score awards the benefit of the doubt regarding the oak.

Roasted Chicken with Herbed Gravy. Chicken and mashers!

1998 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle. Very bright, like cherry juice.

1999 Domaine de L’Arlot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forêts St. Georges. Burghound 92. More serious than the ’99 Clos de l’Arlot though not quite as ripe with color that is almost black as is the fruit with crushed herbs and intense minerality, succulent flavors and excellent pinot character. There are sizeable tannins that are completely wrapped in velvety fruit and this displays a slightly sweet finish. This is really very fine and fresh and while this is not a truly dense wine, it has filled out better on the mid-palate than I originally predicted. It will also need a bit more time as well to really arrive at its prime drinking window. Consistent notes.

1991 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie. VM 93. Dark red color. Classic aromas of black raspberry, smoked meat and bacon fat. Dense, spicy and sweet on the palate, with sappy inner mouth perfume. Kept firm and fresh by pepper and mineral components. Finishes long and subtle, with dusty, even tannins. A beauty.

Chorizo with sweet onion puree and peppers. Tasty sausage, although with some heat.

2002 Domaine Joseph Roty Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 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.

2001 Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux. Burghound 91. This closely resembles the style of the Beaux Monts with its lighter ruby color and ultra elegant pinot spice aromas followed by medium weight, pure, complex, quite refined flavors and a creamy, slightly toasty finish. Relatively light by the standards of many vintages of this wine but it is so elegant that is it hard to fault.

2002 Mommessin Richebourg.

Duroc Pork Chop. Sides Farro Bowl, Mashed Potatoes, & Wood Roasted Seasonal Vegetable.

Louis Jadot Latricières-Chambertin. I can’t remember the vintage.

From my cellar: 1991 Camille Giroud Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. 93 points. Very rich with strong vosne spice.

1996 Domaine Leroy Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots. VM 94. Excellent deep ruby-red color. Subdued but vibrant aromas of cassis, blackberry and violet. Superb sweetness and flavor intensity; penetrating flavor of spicy blackberry. Lovely acidity gives the wine juiciness and great cut. Very persistent and fine on the finish. Has fruit of steel. Great Nuits-Saint-Georges premier cru.

Duck, Oatmeal Griddle Cakes & Fruit Compote. This was a pretty awesome duck. Basically duck and pancakes, like a non-fried version of chicken and waffles?

Mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Grapefruit pie, date brownie. The brownie was much like a sticky toffee pudding.

Overall this was a really great night. A warm one too in this rough and half finished space. But for all the walls being unpainted, the staff both in the room and in the kitchen did a great job. The food was really solid. Excellent execution and slight variants on fairly classic ingredients and dishes — this isn’t radical food — but just very well done with a lot of flavor. We had A LOT of it too. Boy were we full.

The wines, and we had more than a few of them, were pretty spectacular. Perhaps a few too many great red Burgs pilled up on the last 2-3 courses, but one yummy bottle after another. We even managed our best at pairing with some difficult pairings (picked mackerel!), mostly because Liz is a master of pairing and brought some good ringers.

All around great times.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Burgundy, Chris Phelps, Liz Lee, Sage Society, Salt's Cure, Wine

Sauvages at Drago

Sep28

Restaurant: Drago Centro [1, 2]

Location: 525 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071. (213) 228-8998

Date: September 25, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great high end Italian

For the second time this month its off to Drago Centro, this time for an epic Sauvages lunch of 2001 and older Barolo!

Located on busy Flower in DTLA.

We were situated in the “Vault” room, an awesome, huge private room over to the side of the restaurant (past the patio). It featured its own bar and kitchen and a huge table.

It’s worth noting that we had 23 people and 23 wines, so it was impossible to pour around. Therefore, we split the table into 2 sub tables, and each constructed four 3 wine flights based on the wines of those sitting on that side of the table. I matched the table 1 flights with the food, and grouped the table 2 flights all together at the end. I just didn’t know what else to do. It was just an excess of great Baroli.

Our special menu.

To begin with, a couple of us brought some nice Italian whites.

From my cellar: 2013 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Vigne Sparse. 89 points. The 2013 Roero Arneis Vigne Sparse comes across as green and grassy in this vintage, with distinct Sauvignon-like inflections. Lemon peel, grapefruit, lemongrass and flowers are all expressive in the glass, but the overall impression is of an overly vegetal, aggressive wine that is best enjoyed sooner rather than later. The Vigne Sparse is always on the leaner side of Arneis. In 2013, that aspect of its personality is especially prominent.

2013 Luigi Boveri Timorasso Colli Tortonesi Derthona. Nice and acidic.

2012 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis. VM 89. Bright, pale yellow. Aromas of apple and flowers complicated by a musky leesy note (this wine spent just one month on its lees). Sappy, concentrated apple and honeysuckle flavors show noteworthy extract. Finishes with a refreshing bitter edge and lovely length and grip. A very good vintage for this wine. In comparison, noted Bruna Giacosa, the 2011 was less aromatic.

House selection of charcuterie. Various pig. Tasty, of course, although not one of the crazy good charcuterie plates like we had the previous week at Bestia.

1989 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra. VM 97. One of Domenico Clerico’s early masterpieces, 1989 Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra opens with a gorgeous, captivating bouquet of soy sauce, smoke, tobacco and cedar. The wine possesses sumptuous richness and beguiling inner perfume in an intensely powerful, mineral-driven style that coasts the palate in stunning style. I am not sure the tannins will fully soften here, but readers lucky enough to own this wine are in for a thrilling ride. This is stunning juice!

agavin: amazing nose! Very nice mature Barolo.

1990 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc. VM 97. The 1990 vintage may have given Scavino a little more to work with as his 1990 Barolo Bric del Fiasc (3-liter) is utterly profound. Rich, dark and sensual, the wine flows onto the palate with marvelous concentration and depth. Layers of menthol, spices, sweet roses and dark fruit swirl around in the glass as this magnificent, regal Barolo struts its stuff. A veritable fountain of youth, this towering Barolo promises to drink spectacularly well for anoter two decades. From a standard bottle the 1990 is approachable, but readers lucky enough to own large formats will want to find a way to wait a few more years.

From my cellar: 1990 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Vigna Cicala. 94 points. Great typicity. Tar and pot purri, some dried roses but also a hint of rotten vegetable in a positive, interesting sense. Good sweetness in the middle and also solid acidity structure. Food wine with a lot of life ahead.

Veal agnolotti dal pin, brown butter, sage. One of those classic Italian pasta sauces with a rich veal feeling.

1997 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigna Giachini. VM 92. Good full red. Fresh, spicy aromas of cherry, camphor, licorice and dried flowers. Fat, sweet and pliant; a step up in complexity and concentration from the Arborina. Finishes very long, with lush, fine tannins. A very successful, thoroughly ripe ’97 Barolo.

1997 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc. VM 92. The 1997 is a flashy, opulent Bric del Fiasc, with layers of super-ripe dark fruit, chocolate, tar and alcohol that burst onto the palate in a display of awesome concentration and length. It is a big, weighty Barolo that promises to drink well for at least another decade.

1999 Paolo Scavino Barolo Riserva Rocche dell’Annunziata. VM 96. In 1999 the Barolo Riserva Rocche dell’Annunziata is surprisingly virile and potent, with fabulous richness and enough pure intensity to continue to drink well for a number of years. The red-toned, floral flavors are remarkably fresh and vibrant. I find a little more finesse in the Carobric and Bric del Fiasc, but the Rocche dell’Annunziata is undoubtedly terrific. Some of the silkiness and pure sensuality typical of this La Morra site is missing, so readers should expect a powerhouse Barolo here.

Garganelli, pork sausage, fennel pollen, parmesan. Nice and al dente, with that rich sausage, the kind that they use on New York sausage pizza.

Making the risotto for the next course.

And some rack of lamb!

2000 Massolino Barolo Riserva dieci X anni Vigna Rionda. VM 95. The 2000 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda Dieci Anni represents the essence of refinement and elegance. Dried roses, tar, licorice, cherries and leather are some of the notes that spin out effortlessly from this sublime, pedigreed Barolo. Today the 2000 Dieci Anni is in an in between state where the earliest signs of tertiary aromatics suggest the wine might be close to being ready to drink, while the foreboding tannins tell another story entirely. This powerful, sensual Rionda needs at least another few years in bottle, but it is already shaping to be a beauty. This is one of the best Riondas Massolino has ever made. The Dieci Anni is a re-release of the 2000 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda from the estate’s library.

2000 Tenuta Pianpolvere Barolo Riserva Pianpolvere Soprano Bussia. VM 93. Pianpolvere Soprano’s 2000 Barolo Bussia Riserva is a terrific wine. It possesses gorgeous inner perfume to its ripe fruit, spices and sweet toasted oak. It is still primary and could use another few years to develop more nuance. While it doesn’t have the structure of the 1999, it is a beautiful, approachable Barolo to enjoy now and over the next decade or so.

2000 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo Vigna Cappella di Santo Stefano. VM 90+. The estate’s 2000 Barolo Vigna Cappella di Santo Stefano displays a penetrating nose of spices, macerated cherries, and mint. The most complete of the three Barolos, it is at once brooding and closed, but at the same time intense, displaying generous amounts of sweet dark fruit with excellent persistence.

Roasted lamb rack, wild mushroom risotto, shaved truffles. Uh, this didn’t suck! Yummy mild risotto and perfectly cooked rare lamb — plus truffle.

2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. VM 94. The 2001 Barolo Falletto impresses for its layered, silky personality. Sweet roses, tar, licorice and menthol are all woven together in this deceptively medium-bodied Barolo. There is plenty of muscle to back things up. Today the Falletto is quite a bit more delicate than it has been in the past.

2001 Massolino Barolo. VM 89+. The 2001 Barolo opens with aromas of roses, licorice and underbrush. Medium in body, it shows very pretty flavors of bright red cherry fruit and minerals with good persistence and a balsamic note on the finish. It is terrific normale that conveys the terroir of Serralunga.

Chef’s assorted cheeses. Always good with so much wine! Truffle cheese, and a few other medium hard ones.

mini chocolate bon bons. With a cherry center.

After all that Barolo, totally needed the expresso.

The whole gang (minus me taking the picture).

Overall another fabulous lunch. Drago really did a bang up job here. Not only was the food great, but they handled all the wine service in this crazy 2 table 23 person lunch. 4 flights, 3 glasses a flight, with two completely parallel sets of flights! That’s a lot to process.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

The “table 2” wines are below, as you can see they are just as good.

1989 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Vigna Cicala. VM 95+. After tasting the 1989 Bussia earlier this year, I was curious to check in on the Cicala. The Cicala is Aldo Conterno’s most masculine Barolo, as the soils here are extremely poor, and thus yield wines of great structure. The wine is dark ruby in color, with no signs whatsoever of age. The wine is rich and decadent, with generous flavors of dark cherries, spices, tar, and plenty of tannins. The Cicala appears to still very young and in need of further cellaring.

1990 Gaja Barolo Sperss. VM 96. Gaja’s 1990 Barolo Sperss is a sweet, seamless beauty endowed with gorgeous fruit. The wine possesses superb inner perfume and purity even if it doesn’t quite reach the level of Gaja’s most successful wines in this vintage. Still, this is pure 1990 and pure Serralunga.

agavin: fabulous

1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. VM 94+. Medium red. Musky, complex aromas of black raspberry, licorice and lead pencil. Large-scaled but penetrating; tangy raspberry flavors are given great precision by the wine firm spine of acidity. Almost painfully young today. Finishes with explosive, very persistent flavors and firm but thoroughly buffered tannins. A bit dominated by its powerful structure today, but this wine really blossomed with aeration.

1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. VM 95+. Very good medium-deep red. Knockout Barolo nose in all its rustic splendor, showing everything from exotic fruits to smoke, game, tobacco, camphor and white truffle. Urgent, penetrating and supersweet, with nearly candied red fruit flavors saturating the palate. A youthfully aggressive wine that really needs a few years to calm down. Finishes with strong but fine tannins and great ripeness.

1997 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra. VM 93+. Full, saturated red-ruby. Sappy, high-pitched aromas of cherry, nuts and oak spices. Superconcentrated, spicy and sweet, but nearly as backward as a top ’96, with superb extract and powerful underlying structure. Finishes with substantial mouthdusting tannins and a late note of dark chocolate.

1997 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc. VM 92. The 1997 is a flashy, opulent Bric del Fiasc, with layers of super-ripe dark fruit, chocolate, tar and alcohol that burst onto the palate in a display of awesome concentration and length. It is a big, weighty Barolo that promises to drink well for at least another decade.

2000 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino. VM 98. I also very much like the 2000 in this flight. A model of total finesse and delicacy, the 2000 doesn’t have the volume or power of the 1997, but it is perhaps just a bit more finessed. Today, the 2000 is a bit shy. What might it blossom into in a few years’ time? I can’t wait to find out. From magnum, the 2000 Monfortino is pure seduction. Tasted from magnum.

2000 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala. VM 92. The 2000 Barolo Cicala opens with gorgeous notes of crushed berries. It is a relatively small-scaled, lithe Cicala that shows excellent freshness all the way through to the long finish. The wine gains freshness and focus in the glass, with suggestions of menthol and pine that add lift.

2000 Azelia Barolo Bricco Fiasco. VM 91. Full red. Nose dominated by flowers and brown spices. Rich, dense, fat and sweet, with a lovely pliant texture. Complicating note of tobacco. Finishes long and lush, with building, sweet tannins. Very true to the vintage.

2000 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate Le Coste. VM 96. The 2000 Barolo Brunate/Le Coste, tasted from magnum, is one of the wines of the vintage. Still imposing and massively structured, it is also one of the most imposing 2000s. It possesses marvelous richness and depth, with just enough radiance to make it approachable today. Almost. Readers who can still find magnums of the 2000 should not hesitate. This is a magnificent wine.

agavin: the table #2 people thought this was the WOTD.

2001 Domenico Clerico Barolo Pajana. VM 90. The 2001 Barolo Pajana offers up freshly cut flowers, espresso, mint, leather, exotic spices and plums. The fruit still shows plenty of intensity and the tannins have softened, yet the Pajana remains a bit of a brute. There is enough fruit for the 2001 to drink well for another decade or so, but I don’t see this ever being a truly elegant Barolo.

2004 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra. VM 96. Conterno-Fantino’s 2004 Barolo Sorì Ginestra captures the essence of this great vintage. Exotic orange peel, spices, cedar, dark plum and menthol meld together in a big, structured Barolo endowed with considerable depth, power and enough structure to drink well for another decade or perhaps more.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Barolo, Celestino Drago, Drago Centro, Sauvages, Wine

Forma – Cheese Bowl!

Sep25

Restaurant: Forma

Location:1610 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Date: August 16 & November 7, 2015 and August 12, 2016

Cuisine: Neo Italian

Rating: Interesting modern concept / great taste

Early in our marriage, my wife and I went to a little place on Montana in Santa Monica called 17th St Cafe as a go to “Saturday brunch” place.

Well sadly, it closed a few years back and was replaced by a place that was similar but not as good. Well disappeared too and it has now rebooted as a considerably more upscale Italian concept.

They opened up the middle of the old casual space with a nice and very clever (given the space) buildout very much in the 2015 vibe.

Now I said Forma is Italian, but what’s different is: 1) small plates 2) they are also a cheese bar! 3) they have this pastas churned in the cheese concept. More on that later.

The menu.

FRESH BABY KALE. red and white quinoa, fennel, heirloom cherry tomatoes, manchego.

BRUSCHELLA. grilled levain bread, heirloom tomatoes, mango, goat cheese.

FRESH MOZZARELLA KNOTS. zucchini “scapece”, heirloom cherry tomatoes, micro basil.

Burrata, cutella, white peaches and melon. Pretty awesome actually.

FILET MIGNON TARTARE. avocado, fresno chile pepper, capers, shallot, parmigiano, grilled bread.

A very nice tartare. Good flavor on the meat, and the cheese really added.

Penne pomodoro.

RAVIOLO BROCCOLINI. single raviolo, cherry tomatoes sauce, shaved raspadura cheese.

Gluten free pasta with lentils and tomatoes.

I ordered one of the “dalla forma”, which are basically pasta dishes “finished” in the giant hollowed out drum of cheese. Here the pasta is dumped in the cheese and stirred around a bit.

GRANA PADANO. garganelli pasta, speck, radicchio, peas.

This was a great pasta. Nicely al dente. It had the cheesy / meaty / creamy thing. Nice peas. My only problem was an occasional hard bit of radicchio.

PECORINO ROMANO. spaghetti cacio e pepe.

I adore this classic pasta. In fact I make it at home in an artisanal way. I didn’t try this version done in the cheese, but given that one normally mixes in a bunch of cheese in the pan, this has to be similar. My only issue might be that at $22 it’s kinda pricey for spaghetti, cheese, and black pepper!

Risotto with butternut squash. Drizzle of pomegranate glaze, sage, tossed in parmesan Reggiano. Very cheesy with a nice bit of sweetness. This is also “tossed” in the cheese.

Rigatoni white amatriciana gricia. Cured pork cheek, pepper, tossed in pecorino. Nice al dente bite to the pasta and a good crunch to the pork. Made it vaguely like a carbonara, just not quite as rich.

TROFIE AL PESTO. fresh pasta, basil pesto, vegetables, pine nuts, parmigiano cheese. Pretty authentic.

FETTUCCINE “BOLOGNESE”. beef ragu’ – tossed with butter in parmigiano reggiano cheese. Not a bad Bolognese, but the whole cheese bowl thing is totally a gimmick.

The dessert menu. But we were trying to be good. They looked yummy.

Overall, Forma has a good kitchen. Every dish was bright and tasty, and I like the small plates “updated” Italian. Not that it serves as a substitute for a more rigorously Italian place, but it’s a great option. The cheese bowl thing is more or less a gimmick, but I’m a cheese lover so I have no problem with more cheese and the one I tried was a very nice pasta, if a little pricey for simple pasta.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Forma, Italian cuisine, Santa Monica

Return to Dahab

Sep23

The Hedonists return to Dahab on a warm September night for more Egyptian food, wine, and even hookahs…

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dahab, Egyptian cuisine

Bestia – Bring out the Beast

Sep21

Restaurant: Bestia

Location: 2121 E 7th Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90021. (213) 514-5724

Date: September 17, 2015

Cuisine: New Italian American

Rating: Super tasty, super hip, and a good bit of attitude

Bestia has been on my “to eat at” list since it opened. Opinions generally include the sentiment that the food is great. Some adore it. Some think the place has too much attitude and is too hard to get into. I wanted to see for myself.

It’s located in the Arts District, near Factory Kitchen. Funny to see much energy in an area of town that was nigh on terrifying 10 years ago. But urban renewal is a good thing.

The interior is typical in recent years, brick factory building, I-beams, hard tables.

Open kitchen too.

We sat outside on the porch. It was a lovely evening and this was great because it was a perfect temperature and not nearly as loud as inside.

The menu, with our marked up orders.

We ordered so much that we swore a pact to reaffirm our commitment to hedonism.

2013 Alberto Nanclares Albariño Soverribas. 93 points. Medium gold colour. Mature nose with medium intensity aromas of quince, ripe peaches, very ripe yellow apples, savoury yeast, lemon peel and hints of neutral white flowers.

A very nice Albarino we ordered off the list. A very nice food white. I have some issues with the wine service, but more on that at the bottom.

Smoked Whitefish Crostino. Dill, potatoes, scallions, fresno chillies, celery leaf. An early start on Yom Kippur break fast! Very nice.

Veal Tartare Crostino. shallots, parsley, lemon, tonnato sauce. This was even better, super meaty, totally delicious. The grilled bread was amazing.

Pan-Fried Ciccioli. pickled fenne, candied kumquats, crème fraîche, pea tendrils. Our first server, who was awesome, recommended this. Wow! Like a pulled pork confit crab cake (no crab). Oodles of fatty goodness. In case that wasn’t obvious, the brown stuff is a “cake” made of heavy rich pork meat cooked in some kind of fat and then pan fried.

From my cellar: 1998 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo. 93 points. Initially quite tight with reductive nose, some tar and rose petal. Middle weight palate, that at first seemed to lack a bit in fruit, but then flowered brilliantly. Nice perfume of dark fruits, some tar, rose petals. Good structure. Drinking well now with very nice balance. Not overly tannic. Aldo was a genius.

Salumi. chef’s selection of house-cured meats, mostarda, grilled bread. All sorts of pig. All amazing. Left to right: prosciutto crudo, salami, lardo & fig jam, prosciutto, some kind of head meat. The far right was my least favorite. The pinker prosciutto was amazing, and the smoked lard toast was out of this world!

Burrata pizza. san marzano tomatoes, castelvetrano olives, oregano, fermented chilies. A wonderful pizza in the current style. I normally like some meat on my pizza, and not olives, but this was bright, acidic, and delicious. Another recommend from the excellent server.

Mussels and Clams. housemade spicy ‘nduja sausage, fennel seed, preserved orange, grilled bread. A 10. The sauce had all that salty, sausage, spice, tomato acidity awesomeness. We kept a bunch of grilled bread to dip in it.

Quadretti alla Carota. mushroom ragu, summer squash, squash blossoms, carrot puree, carrot tops. My least favorite pasta, but still nice, and quite rich for a non meat pasta.

From my cellar (picked by Seb): 2006 Fattoria Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino. AG/Parker 97. The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is an explosive, structured wine bursting with dark fruit. It is one of the most inward, brooding wines of the vintage. Black cherries, menthol, spices and new leather are some of the nuances that flow as this expansive Brunello literally covers every inch of the palate. This is a totally mesmerizing, sublime wine of the highest level.

agavin: A great wine, although it took a few minutes to get going (no surprise).

Roasted Marrow Bone. spinach gnocchetti, crispy breadcrumbs, aged balsamic.

I didn’t even realize this was sort of a pasta, but you dump the bone marrow on the gnocchetti and stir up. Nice, rich, mild.

Cavatelli alla Norcina. ricotta dumplings, housemade pork sausage, black truffles, grana padano. This was one of my favorite pastas during my recent month in Italy. This rendition had the right ingredients, and was very good, but it wasn’t as rich as a really good one in Umbria and was lacking the creamy cheesy strong truffle intensity. Instead it came off a bit more buttery, less cheese. Also in Umbria they pile on the truffles.

Spaghetti Rustichella. lobster, sea urchin, garlic, calabrian chilies, squid ink bottarga, breadcrumbs. But this was to die for. Almost a rich uni Gauzetto sauce. Just awesome umami brine yum. Perfectly al dente too.

From my cellar: 2007 Paolo Bea Sagrantino di Montefalco Secco Pagliaro. 94 points. A rich, sumptuous wine that totally covers the palate with dense, dark fruit. The Pagliaro is impressive in the way it achieves superb density while retaining the elements of delicate, nuanced subtlety that inform Bea’s finest wines. This is a fabulous effort from Bea. 46 days on the skins, followed by a year in stainless steel and two years in cask.

I actually brought this because they had pasta norcina on the menu!

Pici al Sugo di Agnello. lamb ragu, saffron, capra sarda, fig leaf, breadcrumbs. Another stunner. So rich, meaty, lamby. Really fabulous stuff. Great thick al dente bite to the pici too. One of my favorite pasta shapes.

Grilled Pork Tomahawk Chop. served family style. $80 for 37 ounces of meat, but we had to get it. Perfectly cooked. Fatty, but not obviously so. Rich. Delicious. Just a wonderful slab of meat. Not as strongly flavored as the similar Chi Spacca version, but great too.

Grilled long beans. Came with the pork.

The wine lineup, all awesome.

Maple Ricotta Fritters. maple butter ganache, sour cream and huckleberry jam ice cream. Some awesome fried goodness, totally notched up by the ganache and ice cream.

Valrhona Fair Trade Bittersweet Chocolate Budino Tart. salted caramel, cacao crust, olive oil, sea salt. Wow this was great. Soft rich chocolate boosted by the salt and olive oil. A bit like some of Jose Andre’s olive oil chocolate desserts.

Butterscotch Coconut Tart. fresh coconut sorbetto. Not bad, but I was dissapointed as I expected something more “coconut creme.”

Overall, an awesome night. But I’ll break it down.

Ambiance: Exactly what you’d expect from a super trendy DTLA spot in 2015. It’s all there, the rough surfaces, open kitchen, naked wood tables, paper menus, loudness, etc. I suspect if we were inside I would have found it too loud.

Food: Great food. Really quite excellent. Not mind blowing or totally innovative, but a sort of 2014-5 blend of “faux rustic” Italian with gastro pub and other current LA/NY sensibilities. The flavors have been brightened and punched up. There is more of a “grill” thing going on. It isn’t very authentically Italian, but takes itself in a different direction.

Service: General wait service was very good, although not formal. Oddly we had two waiters. Our first one was awesome and not only recommended some good changes but coursed it out really nicely. After ordering he was mysteriously replaced by another guy who was totally fine, but didn’t stand out as much.

Attitude: There is a bit of attitude. It’s hard to make a reservation and hard to move. They didn’t want to seat us partially even though the place was half empty still. The whole wine policy shows attitude. But overall it didn’t bother me too much and they did lean toward customer service.

Wine Service & List: Here were the biggest problems, although admittedly I come at it with a particular viewpoint. Let’s start with pure service. They decanted, if unconventionally into magnum bottles. Stems were mediocre, just regular small crystal tasting stems. They didn’t appear to have good ones, but they gave us 3 each of the little ones without complaint. They didn’t really pour for us, but I don’t like that anyway when we have a small group. Now onto the list. Not a big fan. It’s very small, hard to read, and has extremely few wines for a very good restaurant. The wines it does have re mixed. Far, far too many new world wines. They don’t belong here. Way too few Italians. I couldn’t even find an Italian white at a price I was willing to pay and there were only 5 total. We ended up with the Spanish Albarino (which was very good), but there is no reason for that given the outrageous number of inexpensive but nice Italian whites. Prices were about 3X retail which is a little higher than I’d like (2X would be nice) but not outrageous. There were very few “very good” wines. Most of the bigger reds were way too young. I know new restaurants don’t want to invest in a big inventory, but these are all part of the reason I almost never buy off wine lists. If you are a serious wine guy, and you know prices you just can’t bring yourself to do it.

Corkage: From up on my soapbox, this is a sore spot. All my wine friends talk about how Bestia isn’t really wine guy friendly. It’s sort of middle road. I had to call for the policy and it was first two bottles at $30 and after that $50. While relieved there was no limit (don’t get me started on limits, those are asinine), the hike to $50 is annoying. Really. Particularly given that I opened and poured the bottles myself. I realize they need to make money on the wine, but $30 seems a reasonable max. This isn’t Providence/Melisse type wine service. There also seemed to be an undocumented “can’t bring a wine on the list” rule. Given the list changes everyday and isn’t online, this seems unreasonable. But that being said, the Somm told us he doesn’t enforce it. So why have it? Also to their credit, Bestia made an accommodation for us. There was a little eye rolling with it, and some general somm-attitude, but their actions and words (if not tone) indicated they put customer service first. And after all, tone is just tone so I found this amusing. In the end, they did right by us. But still, one doesn’t get the feeling that Bestia would be a great place to host a Foodie Club type event. At those we have too many bottles to handle more than maybe $10-15 of corkage. Maybe they’d cut a deal, but I think they think they’re too popular to need to. A shame, because the food is amazing and it’d be a fun place to do that sort of thing.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (8)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bestia, Corkage, Dessert, Genevieve Gergis, Italian cuisine, Ori Menashe, pasta, Wine

Far Eastern Ramen

Sep18

Restaurant: Silver Lake Ramen

Location: 2927 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026. (323) 660-8100

Date: July 31, 2015 & September 13, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese Ramen

Rating: As good a Tonkotsu ramen as I’ve had

My friend Sebastian really wanted me to try Silver Lake Ramen, which is a well liked member of the new cadre of Tonkotsu (Hakata) places in LA.

The storefront is REALLY not much.

On busy Sunset Blvd, not far from Thai Town.

The menu consists of a few ramen, the toppings, and some nice greasy appetizers.

What would ramen be without Japanese beer? It is, after all, a drinking food.

Yuzuaide. A delicious slushy of yuzu juice (lots of) sugar and mint.

Sunomono. Cucumber crab salad. This one was fine, but not nearly marinated enough for my taste. I like the sweet tangy typical Sunomono marinade.

Fried chicken. Hot and delicious.

And they really mean fried.

Spicy tuna toast. I never saw THIS in Japan. Tasty enough, but so California.

Gyoza. Some of the best fried gyoza I’ve had in LA.

Vegetarian ramen. Extra veggies. I would never order this, it’s against my creed, and it looks more like a salad than a ramen. But it floats some people’s boat. The broth was good for vegetarian, very miso.

Tonkotsu ramen. Now this is the real deal. A big slab of pork belly, soft, although not quite as good as Tsujita’s. I added bamboo shoots and left out the bean sprouts. The noodles were nice and the broth was fabulously smooth. I cut the grease with a hefty dose of vinegary gyoza-sauce (I like it that way) and stirred in the chili paste. Really a delectable broth.

Shoyu ramen. Chicken broth with special soy sauce and green onion, bamboo shoots, spinach, dried seaweed.

Tsukemen dipping noodle. Thick pork and fish broth with green onion, spinach, bean sprouts, seaweed, egg and pork belly. Now Tsujita is the benchmark Tsukemen. This was good, but a bit different. It was rich, but not quite as rich, with a stronger seafood flavor that was quite nice. The noodles weren’t quite as eggy/good. The pork more pork belly/bacon. Still a very good ramen.
Silver Lake Ramen was as good a Tonkotsu as I’ve had in LA, and all the apps were really tasty. But it’s far far east for me and there are lots of great Westside ramens like Tsujita, Tatsu, Jinya. So if you live or travel out east, by all means get your noodles on.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: fried chicken, Japanese cuisine, noodles, ramen, Silver Lake Ramen, Tonkotsu

20 Years of Playstation

Sep16

In honor of the original PlayStation’s 20th Anniversary USA Today has posted a piece which features interviews with major participants, including yours truly. I talk about our early experiences with the machine and the thoughts that led to the first Crash Bandicoot. For example:

In August or September 1994, we got really early developer kits for both the (Sega) Saturn and the Playstation. Most people were thinking the Saturn would be big because the Genesis had been. The Sony was so much better… It was just a nice clean design and Sony was way more organized. After about a month with both machines we just took the gamble… and didn’t make Crash Bandicoot for (the Saturn). The PlayStation was a straight-up game machine. The fact it was as 3-D for real and that it was on a CD was huge. The CD made all the difference for developers and for players.

Check out the full article here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Games

Tagged as: Playstation, PSX, Sony, USA Today

Hip Hot

Sep14

Restaurant: Hip Hot

Location: 500 N Atlantic Blvd #149, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 782-7711

Date: July 23, 2015 & January 28, 2016

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Updated awesomeness

I love my Szechuan. This pepper-fueled branch of Chinese is all about flavor — and it’s certainly hot right now (and all the time). Hence the name of the restaurant.

The Atlantic Blvd interior is updated and reasonably modern.

The tables have glass tops and cool dioramas inside! Each one is different.

The menus.

Watermelon juice. Comes in it’s own “evil genius” watermelon!

Another cold Szechuan drink, the super yummy smoked plum juice.

Mung bean noodle with chilies. Love this dish as it has a tangy/hot quality to it.

Cold chicken noodles. These lovely noodles have chili oil and bits of chicken. Cold, a bit spicy, and very pleasant.

Dan Dan Mein. One of my favorite dishes. You mix it up.

This version was very tasty, with lots of pork, but it didn’t have the characteristic nutty/peanut paste richness that I really love, or much Szechuan peppercorn numbing.

Ma Po Tofu. One of my other favorite dishes. This version was excellent, with a nice numb factor, good texture, and lots of chili oil.

Sliced fish boiled with chilies. Another Szechuan classic. The fish was a little thick, but there was plenty of spice to the broth.

Chongking boiled fish. Might even be the same dish on a different day. Seemed to have different vegetables in it though and less crushed pepper.

Cauliflower with pork belly hot pot. Rather yummy. Nice crunch to the vegetables and fatty pork goodness.

Spicy chicken. Fried chicken bits tossed with aromatic peppers. Nice salty spicy version of this dish.

Lamb chops. This was a stunner. Really, really good dish with tender lamb chops and delicious spice mixture on top.

Mutton stew with buns and potatoes. You were supposed to eat the mutton in the buns. The meat was super “gamey.” The lamb cops were better. The combo was interesting, but the little rib bones in the meat made eating it like a sandwich a bit of a challenge.

Crab with chilies. The crab itself was tasty but a bit hard to get into. I loved the mixture below of potatoes, peanuts, rice cakes and the like. When the potatoes had soaked up the chili oil and peppers. Yum!

Taro toast (on left) and rice cakes (right). The taro was mild but had a nice texture like a taro stuffed spring roll. The right was a bit chewy and inaccessible.

Hip Hot is good. The style and plating are updated a lot from the likes of Lucky Noodle King and a little bit above Spicy City. The ingredients were good. The menu isn’t as big as Spicy City, but what they did serve us was very good. I wish the Dan Dan was just a bit nuttier. It’s fairly similar to Chuan’s in being a bit more modern, but I think Chuan’s is a bit better.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Dan Dan Mein, Foodie Club, hip hot, mapo tofu, Sichuan, Szechuan Chinese

Drago Centro

Sep11

Restaurant: Drago Centro

Location: 525 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071. (213) 228-8998

Date: September 3, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great high end Italian

I’ve been a Drago fan for years. Celistino Drago has even cooked at our house half a dozen times. Hedonist regular Larry has been wanting to setup a formal dinner her at the Downtown location for some some.

We were situated in the “Vault” room, an awesome, huge private room over to the side of the restaurant (past the patio). It featured its own bar and kitchen and a huge table.

Drago went full out with the wine glasses and the like, which is always nice even if I am used to bringing my own.

Our special menu.

The first amuse. Goat cheese and tomato tarts. Even I liked them — and I’m not a tomato fan.

Tuna tartar “sandwiches”. The roe gave this a nice briny flavor.

Pizza Margarita. Gooey cheese!

Special Sicilian olive oil.

On the left the Chef de Cuisine and on the right the Wine Director.

I brought a collection of “interesting” Italian white food wines because this is contrary to the usual surplus of “hearty reds.” And besides, they go with the food.

From my cellar: 2008 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. 91 points. Oxidative nose with some lemon zest and dairy notes as werll as yeast, macadamia, white meat and plaster. With time tropical fruit starts to emerge. Dry and a tad oily palate with deep acidic core and classy round tropical fruit of good concentration. Meadow flowers and wet earth. Some spritz upon opening and this wine needed quite a bit of time to find balance otherwise as well. Very good stuff, but will only get better with further cellaring.

From my cellar: 2010 Paolo Bea Arboreus. 90 points. Normally an intense amber hue, in the 2010 vintage the Arboreus in fact has quite a light color and initial presentation of aromas. The aromas build quickly once the wine is given a few swirls in the glass, revealing a truly magnificent bouquet of honey, white flowers, spices, reduced stone fruits, sweet petrol (a contradiction?), and, yes, cat urine. Mild tannins give the wine excellent body and structure. Great persistence of flavor.

From my cellar: 2011 Paolo Bea Santa Chiara. 95 points. Apple juice to dark amber colour. It showed pre-oxidized white wine characters. Interesting taste of apple, apricot, citrus, white flowers with aroma of smoke, tar, salted fish in between. Full body. Good acidity and rich mineral support. It’s so stylish and unique. Complicated aromatic profile. It kept changing at different temperature. An interesting and enjoyable orange wine.

King crab legs, lemon, basil aioli. Very fresh and simple. Went perfectly with the oxidative Italian whites.

Baby kale and barlett pear salad, pinenuts, shaved ricotta salata, champagne vinaigrette.

1996 Domaine Jean Grivot Richebourg. Burghound 92. A bottle opened in Burggundy showed quite differently than that opened at the big Richebourg tasting held in late 2001 with still reserved but elegant and spicy aromas that offer exceptional purity of expression followed by young, tight and powerful flavors that are racy, fresh and very long. This seems more refined than the bottle at the Richebourg tasting that was very much in a rough and tumble style with big, robust, almost aggressively tannic flavors supported by powerful black fruit and good if not exceptional extract.

agavin: unfortunately our bottle was a bit corked.

2005 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Riserva Granbussia. 95 points. What a glorious wine. One of the best wines of the 2005 vintage I have tasted. The wine displayed great balance, complexity, finesse and focus and finished with considerable length and elegance. The wine is drinking beautifully now and will provide great drinking for the next decade.

From my cellar: 1996 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Sperss. 94 points. evolved very nicely. Dark deep fruits with lovely aromatics; funk and brett not a problem with decanting. Amazing complexity, a lot happening in the mid palate and in the finish. Tannins and acidity will carry this forward but certainly enjoyable now.

2001 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Riserva Vecchie Viti dei Capalot e delle Brunate. 94 points. A delicious monster.

Pappardelle, roasted pheasant, morel mushrooms.

With cheese. This has always been one of my favorite pastas at Drago. The al dente bite on the pappardelle and the rich mushroom / pheasant sauce are fabulous. Off season, as this is ideally a winter pasta, but good anytime.

Roasted corn and ricotta agnolotti, parmesan, chile foam.

Truffle!

Prepping the next pasta.

And another.

1996 Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Sassicaia Sassicaia. 93 points. Fresh, moderately deep ruby-red. Spicy, lively aromas of cinnamon and vanilla. Round in flavor and rather elegantly styled, but doesn’t offer the weight or impact of a major wine.

2003 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Parker 95. Made from a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, this spectacular 2003 hits all the sweet spots on the palate. A glorious bouquet of cedarwood, jammy black currants, cherries, licorice and truffle is followed by a dense, opulently textured, full-bodied wine with terrific purity and freshness as well as deep, velvety textured tannins. Enjoy this beauty over the next 10-12 years.

2003 Tua Rita Redigaffi Vino da Tavola. Parker 90. Tua Rita’s 2003 Redigaffi, 100% Merlot, opens with notes of over-ripeness on the nose. An initial suggestion of reduction blows of with air. It presents plenty of fruit, chocolate and toasted oak along with a richly concentrated, opulent personality, yet a note of gaminess and hard, unripe tannins ultimately convey the impression of a less polished version of this wine than is normally the case. My preference is to drink Redigaffi on the young side.

2005 De Suduiraut. Parker 93. Tasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château Suduiraut seemed a little out of sorts at first, although it comes together with honey, barley sugar, orange blossom and mineral scents that become more delineated as its aerates. The palate is very intense on the entry. There is a beautiful line of acidity that cuts through the viscous fruit, though the finish does not quite exude the precision of a top vintage, but still delivers that sense of class one expects from this address.

Seared foie gras, porcini mushroom cavatelli. I’m not sure I’ve ever had full on seared foie AND pasta in the same dish. It certainly didn’t suck. I loved the chewy bite from the cavatelli too.

Summer truffle fettuccini.

2006 Ridge Monte Bello. Parker 94+. While it is eclipsed by the brilliance of the 2005, the 2006 Monte Bello (68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc) is a very strong effort. Its dense purple color is followed by copious aromas of creme de cassis, licorice, spice box, and a touch of oak. Well-balanced, dense, pure, layered, and rich, its big, rich style is similar to the 2003. This cuvee should keep for 25-30 years in a cool cellar.

2002 Joseph Phelps Insignia Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 100! The 2002 boasts an inky/purple color along with notes of graphite, violets, blackberries, creme de cassis and hints of charcoal and barbecue in addition to a full-bodied, multilayered mouthfeel that builds incrementally with great purity, staggering fruit concentration, and a long, velvety, 50+-second finish. This prodigious effort should continue to drink well for 20+ years.

2001 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder. Parker 100! An utterly perfect wine that exemplifies this extraordinary vintage for North Coast Bordeaux varietals is the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder, which comes from the Jackson family’s Veeder Peak Vineyard. Unfortunately, slightly less than 300 cases were produced, so availability is limited. A dense opaque blue/purple color is followed by notes of lead pencil shavings, ink, blueberry liqueur, raspberries and black currants. The wine is super intense as well as extremely full-bodied and opulent with great structure, purity and density. (I know this sounds weird, but when I smelled and tasted it, it reminded me of the 2010 La Mission Haut Brion that I had tasted a month earlier, no doubt because of its volcanic/hot rock-like character.) This phenomenal wine is a modern day legend from Napa. Still a youngster in terms of its development, it should hit its peak in another 5-6 years and keep for 30+.

Squab, eggplant, and roasted garlic “risotto alla norma.” Nice gamey chunks of foul. Yarom was hoping for more “meat on the bone action.” Although truth is, I like it like this. These are basically tiny squab versions of duck breast.

Branzino, potato gnocchi, zucchini.

2005 Chateau de Fargues. Parker 95. Tasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château de Fargues has a rich and intense bouquet with layers of honey, dried peach, beeswax and acacia that soar from the glass. The palate is powerful and authoritative: intense botrytis-rich honeyed fruit with compelling mineralité underneath. It fans out in glorious fashion – a stunning de Fargues that is now beginning to show its talents. As I remarked a couple of years ago, just afford it a couple more years so that it can fully absorb the vestiges of oak.

Mascarpone cheesecake.

Chocolate brownie, black mission figs, hazelnuts.

Market mixed fresh berries.

Overall a great evening, although not without its differing opinions in our highly opinionated group.

Service, particularly wine service, was first rate. We had our own dedicated servers and they were on it. For a change, I barely had to pour any wine. They had tons of glasses and worked the wine around in a perfectly timely fashion (extremely rare at big dinners). We did have a bit of a snafu in that we had 2 no-shows and we were very late giving the restaurant notice. Sort of a gray area and we should have sorted it out earlier and let them know.

The room and setting were amazing.

Food was for the most part great. The pastas were all fabulous. I was disappointed though in the desserts. Instead of those minis I would have preferred normal sized desserts that were striped around. I never find that minis like that are the best. The cheesecake was pretty good, but it was just one little morsel. Fruit never does it for me :-).

Wines were pretty good. I loved the whites, although they are perhaps too sophisticated for everyone’s palette. Was bummed the Richebourg was corked. We could have used some Brunello. I loved all the Nebbiolos. The super Tuscans were good too, but not as good as the Piedmontese wines. I didn’t think the big Americans really belonged, even though they were very good wines. They just don’t pair well with Italian. Too extracted. But of course the “hearty red” crew adored them — which is their prerogative.

This dinner was similar in many ways to the recent Michael’s dinner. Michaels was a slightly better deal, as we had more courses for less money. Maybe the DTLA markup, haha. Both have great food and which was better varied on a course by course basis. Michael’s had a more Italian wine lineup (which is our doing, not the restaurant’s), but we had a few off wines that night. Tonight only the Riche (cry) was corked.

Great evening!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Drago Centro, DTLA, Foie gras, hedonists, Italian cuisine, Wine

Night of the Whirling Noodles

Sep09

Restaurant: Hai Di Lao Hot Pot

Location: 400 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 445-7232

Date: September 7 & 20, 2015

Cuisine: Chinese Hot Pot

Rating: Very solid hot pot with good ingredients

I’ve been eating Shabu Shabu for decades, but it was only about 7 years ago on a trip to China that I realized it was actually a food derived from China. True, the Japanese put their own wonderful spin on nearly any food type they incorporate, but they picked it up while “visiting” in Northern China during the war and toned down the spice.

Hai Di Lao is a hugely popular Chinese hot pot chain that has moved to America.

And it’s located in the middle of the food area of Arcadia’s Westfield mall!

The menu is extensive. Not as huge as Hot Pot Hot Pot, but certainly big enough. They are also so modern that you order from ipads at the table!

The interior is updated and contemporary Chinese.

It was busy too, even at 5pm!

A great feature here, and an area in which the bargain Hot Pot Hot Pot totally fails at is the sauce bar. They have this HUGE bar where you can build your own sauce concoctions. Plus there are various cold appetizer ingredients there too.

Row after row of different sauce components.

More.

More.

And even more, including the giant vat of garlic!

And there were four of these helpful cards providing suggestions for those who aren’t sauce experts.

Amuse. These skewers of indeterminate yellow stuff came with the meal. They had a bit of crunch too them. I think it was some turnips and the like.

2011 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #10. JG 92. The contributing parcels are Ferbert and Gertzgrub, mid and low slope, and of course Schaefers knew and could show me on the satellite map. We’re sleeker now, but again this tumbling swelling into an absurdity of mineral nuance and lip-licking saltiness; a doctoral thesis in slate.

agavin: great with the heat.

Pickled vegetables.

Above were some of our sauce concoctions.

I also made this spicy mung bean jelly. Yum!

Mushroom broth. With enoki, shiitake, and cloud ear mushrooms. Another huge win at HDL is that everyone has an individual Hot Pot. One of my problems at some other places is sharing a big hot pot with 10 people. This was a nice light mild broth.

Spicy Szechuan Broth. I got this one. Szechuan spicy oil and ginger with garlic. Spicy and also a little numbing. Awesome stuff, basically the same chili oil / numbing heat as a “fish filets boiled in chili oil” Szechuan dish. Really had a lot of flavor even on its own without the sauces.

Shrimp. These large shrimp had to be pulled out of the pot quickly, but they were good.

Nice fresh scallops on ice.

The lobster seafood combo. Salmon, scallops, shrimp, lobster, and orange clam.

A selection of meat balls. Some meat, some fish. I liked them all.

2004 Saxum Syrah Broken Stones. Parker 92-95. Exquisite from the barrel, the opaque ruby/purple-colored 2004 Broken Stones (75% Syrah and 25% Grenache) exhibits crisp underlying acidity, a sweet perfume of raspberries, blackberries, garrigue, pepper, and spice box, full body, and tremendous length, richness, and balance. It should easily age for 12+ years. I highly recommend that wine enthusiasts who love Rhone Ranger wines pay a visit to the James Berry Vineyard, one of the true grand cru sites in the region.

agavin: a monster, and quiet nice once the heat of the food had settled down.

Marinated beef tenderloin. Lean beef marinated with Korean chili. Good stuff, although not like you could taste the chili after it was boiled in my chili oil and drowned in my super strong hot sauce mix 🙂

Angus Rib Eye. I think. Had to remember which meat we ordered. This was one of our favorites.

Beef Short rib. More yummy meat.

Lamb shoulder. Awesome and tender. These aren’t super frozen like the ones at Hot Pot Hot Pot, which is a good thing.

Spam. Delicious. You mock it, but it’s great in the pot.

Crispy pork sausage. These delicious little Frankenfurters open up like squid flowers in the heat.

Mixed vegetable combo. Obvious enough.

Mixed Mushroom combo. Good stuff.

Soft tofu. I love the texture here. With the spicy sauce it was like Ma Po.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuSLhEsZTmQ]

Dancing Noodle.

Made with wheat, egg, and flour. The noodle dancer comes to your table and stretches the noodle in a pretty amazing display of noodle power.

The hand pulled noodle goes right into the pot. In this sauce, it was fine on it’s own after 2 minutes.

Mango pudding. “Free” dessert. Cool and hit the spot.

And some more, fresh fruit.

We liked HDL. In fact, I thought it was much better than Hot Pot Hot Pot, which while good, was kind of a zoo of cheap prices. The advantages here are solid ingredient quality, great broth choices, the amazing sauce bar (HPHP sauces were lame, and the sauce is very important), and individual pots. The individual pot is key. Sharing all the ingredients is fun, but when you have 8-10 people in one pot you don’t really control what you cook, how long, or that you even get it. Plus it’s a little gross.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Hai Di Lao, hot pot, noodles, Szechuan

Hurry Curry

Sep07

Restaurant: Hurry Curry

Location:2131 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 473-1640

Date: June 30, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese Curry

Rating: Solid curry

I’ve been to Hurry Curry many times but a friend of mine really strongly recommended trying the fried chicken curry.

Hurry Curry is located in Sawtelle Little Tokyo like so many other Japanese lunch spots.

The menu.

Typical Japanese salad.

Gyoza. Japanese-style fried pork & chicken dumplings. Ultra crispy.

Croquette. Ground beef. Two hand crafted mashed potato patties fried to a golden brown and served with tonkatsu sauce. These puppies were HOT HOT.

And a little too much mushy mashed potato for my taste.

Fried Chicken Curry. Sake marinated chicken battered and fried, served with curry. Not as fried as I would have expected.

The curry. There were two of us. We ordered 4. You can never have enough curry.

Red pickles. For me, these are key.

Fried tofu. We also ordered some fried tofu up to throw into the mix.

The chicken smothered. It was pretty good.

Truth is though, I love rice pickles and curry together. That’s probably my favorite.

Overall, Hurry Curry is a fine curry place, although one of three on the street. I still think neighbor Kimukatsu has a slightly better kitchen.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Hurry Curry, Japanese cuisine, Sawtelle Little Tokyo

Mei Long Village – Pig Stuffed Duck

Sep04

Restaurant: Mei Long Village

Location: 301 W Valley Blvd #112, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 284-4769

Date: August 30, 2015

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Solid!

Mei Long Village has been around forever as far as Alhambra is concerned, maybe even 20 years!

They serve up traditional Shanghai style fare.

The mini-mall frontage on Valley Blvd is pretty typical. Across the street from Shanghai #1 and Beijing Restaurant and in the same mall as Tasty Dining.

2001 Château Lynch-Bages Blanc de Lynch-Bages. 88 points. A touch of oxidation but drinking ok. Light golden yellow with tastes of quince and wet stones.

Smoked cold fish. Nice flavor, with that slightly slimy texture and little bones.

From my cellar: 2004 Morey-Blanc Meursault 1er Cru Bouchères. Burghound 89-92. This is a good deal riper with exotic aromas of mango, melon and dried apricots that lead to textured, dense and mouth coating full-bodied flavors that are beautifully complex and despite the weight, the marked acidity keeps everything focused and well-balanced. An impressive showing for a wine that I often find to be a bit top-heavy.

Jellyfish head. The marinated bits of the “head” (the round part) of the jellyfish.

2007 Pierre Morey Meursault Les Terres Blanches. Burghound 87-89. A very Meursault nose of hazelnut, soft white flower and yellow fruit aromas leads to pretty and elegant medium-bodied flavors that are round yet detailed with a discreet mineral undercurrent, all wrapped in a tension-filled and persistent finish. Lovely and very much fashioned in Morey’s understated style.

Marinated cucumbers. Nice and crunchy.

2012 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett. VM 87. Nectarine, pine nuts and lemon oil on the nose. Delicate tropical fruit flavors are brightened by a salty twang. Refreshing acidity gives a feminine character to the finish. Nicely balanced.

Hot sweet shrimp. Really nice eat the shell shrimp.

Pork leg. Special order 2 day steamed prep. Yeah, it’s pretty frightening to look at.

And perhaps even scarier once it got cut up. There is a whole trotter there too. I went just for the straight pink meat, avoiding the jiggling skin and cartilage. The meat was pretty awesome though.

From my cellar: 1998 Domaine des Chezeaux Griotte-Chambertin Ponsot. 92 points. Med dark red. Delicate creamy red cherry, a little spice. Light body, light concentration, cherry and old wood. Tannin and acid indicate youthfulness.

Stuffed duck. Another special order. We had this all sewn up.

Inside is a mixture of grains, chestnuts, etc. The sauce was amazing and it was all a bit sweet.

2000 August Kesseler Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spätlese. White peach and lemon aromas with hints of mint and lily flower lead to a quite delicate, refined peach, citrus and slate character on the palate. This is airy and generous in the manner of the few best 2000s, suffused with fine slate character. Says Kesseler: “Everything that came after this?and there were vintage 2000 rieslings of Auslese and Beerenauslese character?was heavy and inferior to this in comparison.” Those higher must weight wines were not retained for separate bottlings. 2 stars.

Pan fried Shanghai dumplings. The classic pan fried soup dumplings. Yummy, although there is a good bit of dough.

XLB. The steamed variant are amazing and a lot lighter.
2005 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard. VM 96. Mark and Theresa Aubert’s 2005 Chardonnay Lauren, tasted from magnum, is every bit as special as I remembered it. Time has softened the textures and added gorgeous nuance, yet the 2005 remains fresh, perfumed and extraordinarily beautiful. Hints of orange peel, mint and sweet spices lift from the glass, but it is the wine’s balance that proves to be utterly captivating. Quite simply, this is one of the very finest California Chardonnays I have ever tasted. In magnum, the 2005 will drink well for at least another five years, while in standard bottle, the Lauren is naturally a touch more forward, although it should keep for another few years, perhaps longer. My own preference is to drink wines while the fruit retains at least some elements of freshness.

agavin: not bad for a new world, it did have acid, but way way too hot (alcoholic).

Shanghai rice cakes. A great rendition of the classic rice cakes in soy sauce. Nice chewy texture.

2009 Aubert Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. VM 91. Dried mushroom, earth and tart cherry nose. Palate somewhat thin and acidic, dry finish. Has not really developed since last tasting.

Crystal shrimp. Light but tasty.

2008 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard. VM 92. Bright red. High-pitched aromas of raspberry, strawberry liqueur, dried flowers and Asian spices. Silky, bright and precise, but with good depth and power to its red berry and cherry flavors. Really expand with air, finishing with sweet tannins, tangy minerality and impressive length. If your impression of the K-B wines ossified around the 2004 vintage, you should check this one out.

Fried fish. Fried.

2000 Château Gazin Pomerol. GV 92. COLOR-dark; NOSE-gorgeous cranberry; chocolate; mature; a V8 juice component; PALATE-a really nice, dry and austere background; great little finish; really singing; heavy fruit coming through; really well made; big upfront fruit; really elegant tannins; I love the gravel minerality of this red fruit; a chalkiness; there’s a clear beef jerky component on the back-end; very meat; almost like an Italian meal with a tomato sauce component on this Merlot; very bright on the back-end; good long finish; this has plenty of age to it; the tannins scream baby to me; I really like it; very well made and brings a lot of character to the table; very smooth; the fruit is very bitter — more of a Sweet Tart play; I think it’s fantastic; RP-90; GV-92+.

Spareribs. Pretty much the origin dish for Panda Express red sauce fried pork, but much better. Tender and delicious and the sauce wasn’t so heavy and cloying as at some places.

1998 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard. VM 90+. Full ruby. Highly aromatic, pure, Cornas-like aromas of cherry skin, pepper, iron and minerals. Quite tightly wound and penetrating, with slightly green-edged flavors of red fruits, black olive and pepper. Not especially fleshy or sweet but offers impressive precision and intensity of flavor, and the structure to reward some bottle aging.

Eggplant. Awesome and garlicky. Not spicy really like it might be at a Szechuan place.

Shrimp fried rice.

Shanghai noodles. Classic soy sauce noodles.

2000 J.L. Chave Sélection St. Joseph Offerus. 87 points. Deep red. Dull nose some black fruits and pepper. Acidic and disjointed in mouth some earthy notes. Short clipped finish.

Tomato and winter melon soup. Mostly tasted like tomato. Mild, but not my thing at all.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Vendange Tardive. 95 points. Beautiful wine. Nose was filled with honey, orange marmalade, flowers, and orchard fruit. Palate had notes of apricot puree and marmalade, botrytis notes, and the typical Alsatian bitter at the end; in this case it added to the wine instead of taking away. This was a deep wine with a moderately thick texture. Sweet, but the acid kept it from being a dessert wine. From comments, went well with seafood appetizer and bread pudding dessert. Long finish that coated the mouth. Haunting, it just got better as the evening went on. Wonderful.

We drove a mile west to Solju dessert for some awesome snow. Above is my mango with passionfruit sauce and blackberries.

And this crazy green tea with taro, mochi, and watermelon poppers!

Overall, Mei Long Village was some yummy fare and a total deal at $27 a head (all in, including tax and tip). An “old school” SGV place with really solid food.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, duck, dumplings, hedonists, pork, san Gabriel valley, Wine, XLB

Jitlada Overkill

Sep02

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

Location: 5233 W Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027. (323) 663-3104

Date: August 26, 2015

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Gut burning great

Tonight’s outing is a Hedonist return to Jitlada, an outrageously authentic Southern Thai place deep in Thai-town. The joint gets 27 in Zagat! It’s run by Jazz Singsanong with Chef Tui in the kitchen. The menu can be found here.

You know it’s real because they don’t skimp on either the chilies OR the fish sauce.

One of Yarom’s ancient wines. Undrinkable.

Crispy papaya Salad. Delicious — fry is always tasty. The “dressing” was sweet and tangy.

Another even more ancient, and even more undrinkable wine. Could barely stomach a second tiny sip.

Papaya salad. Solid, but not as yummy as the fried one.

2008 Weingut Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese. VM 90. Delicate aromas of green apple, lemon oils and clover. The kiwi flavor is light and lively but at the same time velvety on the palate. Rose petal and saline minerality mingle on a crisp, well-balanced finish. Very appealing.

Crispy Morning Glory Salad. This salad of shrimp and fried morning glory is just plain glorious. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Basically tempura flowers and it’s really the tangy, slightly sweet sauce/dressing that really makes it. Very similar to many of the salads I had in Vietnam.

2005 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese. VM 91. Pale golden yellow.Subtle bouquet of pineapple, nut oil and lemon zest.The luscious yet crisp papaya fruit is brightened by a refreshing mineral character.Deceptively light and wonderfully drinkable.A charming riesling with a sweet/salty finish.

Crying Tiger Pork. A Chinese influenced dish of spicy pork with a blend of coriander, pepper, salt, and garlic. Really flavorful, tender and just plain fabulous.

2007 Dönnhoff Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Spätlese. JG 92. pears and peach.. not very sweet nice acidity. will wait to drink again.

Chicken satay. A bit boring, but certainly a nice satay.

2003 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese. 91 points. I really love these wines and they have a certain, unpretentious, gulpability that few other wines have. The sugar also allows then to got with a huge variety of food. This bottle has a fair amount of sweetness with honeyed peach and lychee aromas leading into a medium bodied, low acid wine. Beautifully balanced, soft and down right gulpable, this is killer stuff.

Coco lotus soup. This was a mild red coconut curry soup with chicken. It was amazing! Really fabulous curry flavor.

2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese.

Pig ear. Strips of leather. I’ll leave these for the Labradors.

1993 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Riesling. 93 points. Petrol, citrus and apple fruit, minerals and a striking acidity. Complex and engaging, very nice, has a future still.

Lamb fried rice. Much better than the pineapple fried rice.

From my cellar: 2000 Trimbach Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Nobles. VM 93. Bright medium gold. Superripe aromas of apricot jam, exotic spices, honey and tobacco; just misses the clarity of the best SGN bottlings from this producer. Very dense but not hugely unctuous thanks to firm, perfectly integrated acidity. Sappy, vibrant and very long on the aftertaste.

Tamarind shrimp. The same shrimp as we had last time with the red curry, but with a slightly tangy, definitely sweet sauce. Not nearly as good. I didn’t love the sauce.

2010 Château Franc le Maine St. Émilion Grand Cru Cabernet Franc/Merlot. 91 points. Very rich, and not sweet or jammy at all. Still young but very drinkable if allowed to breathe for 2+ hours. Needs food. Quite delicious.

Thai hot wings. Tender and quiet spicy.

2007 Cantina Numa Rosso Piceno Tolenus.

Lamb Curry. Tender lamb in a hot curry with green beans. Really yummy. Really yummy. Should have ordered the “curry” version where it’s in a bowl with more sauce. There is also a sweeter version that is really good.

1978 Joseph Phelps Syrah. Drinking very well considering.

Glass noodles with crispy pork belly. Nice enough. I liked the texture of the noodles with the peanuts.

2006 Linne Calodo Outsider. VM 93. Bright ruby. Deep aromas of black raspberry, cherry liqueur, dried flowers and minerals. Powerful dark berry flavors are surprisingly light on their feet, with a jolt of smoky minerals adding urgency. Finishes vibrant and sweet, with excellent clarity and cut. An intriguing spice note gained power with air, adding to this wine’s vivacity.

Dungeness Crab in Curry Sauce. Crab meat, shrimp & peas sauteed in a red curry paste. This wasn’t AS hot. It was a little hard to get at the succulent grab meat, but the curry was explosively good too. Compare to the Singaporean classic. The problem is that the crab isn’t cracked and was hard to get into.

2004 Turley Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard. VM 94+. Bright ruby to the rim. Aromas of black plum, minerals, iron and fresh blood; this wine calls for a rare steak. At once thick and sappy, boasting extraordinary density to its sweet dark fruit and iron flavors. The very long, slowly building finishes features outstanding sweetness and salinity and extremely suave tannins. This very powerful wine is developing at a snail’s pace.

Duck curry. Very similar curry to the soup, but with a few bits of duck and pineapple. Also a very nice curry, but fairly mild.

2008 Saxum Heart Stone Vineyard. RR 97. Color of dark red. Scents of black and blue berries, bold. Tastes were consistent with scents, with big, bold taste, but not jammy. This blend has a very interesting taste. Enjoyed this.

Jazz burger. A big beef patty covered in onions, peppers, and dressing. I was so full I was about to burst, but the flavors were fabulous.

Some super organic chocolate, all raw, no real sugar. The chocolate flavor was nice and fruity, but these were WAY too unsweetened for my palette. Tasted like health food. I’m a hedonist.

I love Jitlada, and it’s hands down the best Thai I’ve had in LA. The menu is enormous and full of goodies. All the flavors are great, the meats succulent, and boy is it hot. That being said, this was one of my weakest meals here — although it wasn’t the kitchen’s fault — we just didn’t order well at all. There were some great dishes, like the coco lotus soup, but we had too many people and ordered at first too few, then too many of each dish. There were far too many reorders. We must’ve ordered 3 rounds of the soup (with 2 bowls in one round). And then a couple of late comers arrived (DON’T COME LATE TO HEDONIST DINNERS!) and there was a flurry of reorders of the same dishes.

The net net was that we were full too early in the progression, and we never got to the spicy curries, dynamites, challenges, whole fish, and other “main dishes.” We were so full from our reorders of the same dishes that we couldn’t even handle the mango sticky rice. One of my lessons here to to really watch the rice consumption.

Still, the kitchen is great, we just had too many people, too much chaos, and didn’t didn’t balance our sequence right. I think 12 is the max here (we had 15-16).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for more crazy Hedonist meals.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: curry, hedonists, Jitlada, Thai cuisine

Aestus – And the Modern Plate

Aug31

Restaurant: Aestus

Location: 507 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (424) 268-4433

Date: July 3, 2015

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Good Kitchen

Finally, after a long dry spell, Santa Monica is getting some new restaurants.

Aestus is a new modern American helmed by Kevin O’Connor and Alexandre Ageneau from Spago and the Royce respectively.

Interesting smart casual interior.

The current menu, which looks like it changes often enough.

Unusually, I went for a cocktail, in this case a Mezcal based lemony drink. I’m not sure the Mezcal blended perfectly with the rest — but it was strong.

Golden quinoa bowl. beets, persimmons, almonds. The “healthy dish.”

Stracciatella di burrata. shishito, thyme. No, this isn’t Burrata and chocolate strips. Evidently its the inside of the burrata, here served with toast and shishitos. Pleasant enough.

Beef tartare. smoked beets, horseradish. I love beef tartare and usually try to have it.

This was a good one, particularly with the gooey egg and the bit of kick from the horseradish (standing in for black pepper).
Ricotta agnolotti. peas, chanterelles, parmesan. This example is sans mushrooms. Pleasant and buttery. The peas had a nice crunch to them.

Red king salmon. tomatoes, fennel, basil.

Grilled lamb chops. Carrots, apricots, goat cheese. This tasted like a deconstructed Morracan lamb tangine. The lamb itself had a lot of flavor and wasn’t too fatty. The “cheese” had the texture of spray can whipped cream. Odd, but it tasted good. The vegetables had a mixed veggie/sweetness too them and Moroccan spices.

Fried fingerling potatoes. Yogurt sauce. Lots of salt. These came out about the temperature of Satan’s armpits, but they proved to be very tasty potatoes indeed, in no small part due to the salt.

Overall, while I didn’t get to try too many dishes (by my standards), what I did try was very on point. I think this is a sharp kitchen. There is a certain lightness and flavor forward manner that I really liked. It has all the hallmarks of a modern LA restaurant: the wood tables, paper menus, bar, loud surfaces, sharing friendly, and modern plating. The up to date use of textures (moused, crunchy, etc) and the artful plating is very contemporary.

I do have to say the menu isn’t too kid friendly. Our six year old had a few bites of the agnolotti, complained that he doesn’t like cheese INSIDE his pasta (only on). Then ate a lot of potatoes. There was no ketchup 🙂

For more LA dining reviews click here.