Author Archive for agavin – Page 66

Japanese in China – Izakaya Akatora

Jan28

Restaurant: Izakaya Akatora

Location:115 W Main St. Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 943-7872

Date: January 22, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese fusion

Rating: Tasty culinary mashup

_

Us Hedonists are pals with Michael Cardenas and so when he opened this new Izakaya (Japanese for “there is beer here”) in our home turf (the San Gabriel Valley) we zipped right on out for a big dinner.


The pubby interior.


NV Jérôme Prévost La Closerie “Fac Simile” Les Beguines. AG 94+. Layers of delicately scented, perfumed fruit caress the palate as the NV (2009) Extra Brut Rose Les Beguines Fac-Simile shows off its incredible textural finesse and pure pedigree. Mint, sweet spices and red berries are some of the many notes that are woven together in a fabric of nearly indescribable elegance. Prevost’s Rose is at times a powerful wine, but the 2009 is all about delicacy and understatement. If you haven’t guessed, I loved it. Prévost makes his Rose by adding one barrel of Pinot Meunier vinified on the skins to his blanc cuvée. Disgorged October 2011.


NV G. H. Mumm & Cie Champagne Mumm de Cramant. IWC 90. Limpid yellow. Vibrant minerally, floral lemon and orange scents, with deeper pear and melon nuances coming up with air. Tangy and precise on entry, then fleshier in the mid-palate, offering sappy orchard and candied citrus fruit flavors with notes of chamomile and anise adding complexity. Closes smooth and long, with lingering toastiness and a hint of sweet butter.


The specials are on the board.


2008 Veyder-Malberg Grüner Veltliner Loibner Loibenberg. agavin 95. Amazing Gruner. Really nice with a ton of minerality.


Oyster with uni and caviar with ponzu.


From my cellar: 2002 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 93. This too is very opulent with a richness and breadth of aromas that is dazzling in their sheer range. Big, powerful, very masculine and exceptionally intense flavors blessed with huge extract but despite the size and weight, this also has the best acid/fruit balance of any of these 1ers plus this absolutely coats and stains the palate. In fact, there is an interesting textural quality by virtue of all the sap yet the finish is quite dry. A great effort that explodes on the backend and lingers for minutes.


Poke! Everyone’s favorite chopped and spiced tuna.


2003 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. IWC 94. Chartreuse-like herbal essences and citrus aromas. Lemon-lime sorbet on the pure, polished, elegant palate, which today is slightly dominated by sheer youthful sweetness. Inner-mouth aromas of honey and flowers. Offers superb length, with the refinement of fruit and subtle wet stone character typical of the best slate-grown riesling.


Kelp shot. Slimy and quite delicious (lots of vinegar).


2005 Domaine Jomain Puligny-Montrachet. 88 points. Reduced. But could still get the sweet fine spice and citrus fruits.


2013 Guy Saget Vouvray Marie de Beauregard. 89 points. Understated notes reminiscent of off-dry Rieslings. On the palate I get flavors of citrus, sponge cake, and lime with a hint of rind; long, sweet finish, somewhat akin to sweet lemonade perhaps. Medium acidity. Better served somewhat chilled than at room temperature; seems to get a bit flabby as it warms up.


Pork belly with seaweed. Fine, but not the best dish of the night by any means.


2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard. Burghound 93. Like all of the Rhys ’08s, the aromatic complexity of the Alpine is more than just admirable, it’s distinctive as it offers a lacy and pure mélange of cherry and blue berry fruit aromas cut with floral and mild wood notes that precede the backward and moderately austere flavors that are underpinned by firm but not aggressive tannins and excellent length on the balanced finish. While the Alpine is also built to age, it appears that it may come around a bit sooner.


Rice crisps with uni. Yum.


2012 Domaine Eden Pinot Noir. AG 88. The 2012 Pinot Noir is a pretty, silky wine with plenty of near term appeal. Sweet red berries, flowers and spices meld together nicely in the glass. Overall, the Domaine Eden Pinot is forward, bright and nicely done.


Sashimi. Lobster, salmon, toro, scallops, hamachi, and some white fishes. Really very nice fish.


2006 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Ancient Way. Fruit bomb!


Wagyu and foie gras potstickers. Both absolutely fabulous.


From my cellar: 1991 Camille Giroud Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. 93 points. Nice classic Vosne nose and spicy palette. Just reaching real maturity.


Pop corn shrimp with spicy ponzu. The usual guilty pleasure.


Sebastian wanted some sake!


Sushi. Besides some of the usual, there was some great uni, then foie gras! then toro. The foie was crazy. In fact, the city is foie crazy because of the ban lifting.


The lobster head returns as lobster miso.


Roll with uni and caviar. Notice a theme?


2002 Gary Farrell Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County Selection. 88 points. Still lots of acidity, which was a surprise. I would hold for a few years if it’s been temp controlled. Post- a decant, it’s apparent this is quality juice, but there wasn’t anything memorable. Lacks identity.


Blue crab handroll. Lump crab meat, little or no mayo.


2003 Château Rieussec. IWC 92-95. Medium yellow-gold. Reticent but pure aromas of fruit salad, spices and vanilla, lifted by floral and mineral nuances. Wonderfully honeyed, fat fruit flavors are complemented by cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. The sexy oak treatment gives lift to the wine. A bit youthfully aggressive but very long on the back end, showing vanillin oak and a bit of warmth. But this one offers superb potential.


Sweet potato cake with ice cream. Really sweet!

Overall, Akatora was a really fun night. Service was amazing (friends of the chef and manager and all — haha) and the food was quite good. It leans a little on uni, but I’m not complaining. Everyone loved it so much we already have a second dinner scheduled.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Sun
  2. Pate de Bourgogne
  3. Nothing like N/Naka
  4. Lucky Ducky
  5. Newport goes Westside
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , , ,

Food as Art – Saison

Jan26

Restaurant: Saison

Location: 178 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. (415) 828-7990

Date: January 17, 2015

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Awesome!

_

Saison is helmed by Joshua Skenes and began just a few short years ago (2009) as a popup. Wow, from popup to three michelin stars in just 5 years! And I wanted to go even when it had only two, so heading up to San Francisco this month, visiting became an imperative.


Thankfully I have friends in the right places, because Saison is one hell of a reservation to get.


The sleek space has a kind of rustic elegance that pairs with the food like champagne pairs with caviar.


Tonight’s menu. Saison has only a single tasting menu that varies slightly from table to table and from night to night. The emphasis is, you guessed it, on seasonal ingredients.


A cocktail.


The Saison master sommelier, my friend, and our host tonight, Max Coane — in his lair.


Champagne, courtesy of Max.


Tea. Infusion of some herbs from our garden.


Peppers preserved in the wood burning oven, buttermilk. This had an intense smoked pepper quality, really quite good.

All wines from my cellar:

2003 Weingut Graben-Gritsch Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Schön. 89 points. Nose of lychee pineapple lemon, creamy lemon and peach on the palate. Bright acidity medium finish. Happy to have two more.

agavin: this is really a very good food wine, particularly with this kind of subtle cuisine.


Caviar with lardo. Absolutely delicious. Quite the pork fat zing too.


Black cod, pine bouillon, young pine cones. A very nice succulent fish and mushrooms, with a soft aromatic broth.


1991 Etienne Sauzet Bâtard-Montrachet. 91 points. Dry and subdued, but very clean and nice. A bit rounded, but delicious.


Battle creek trout, its skin & roe. Crispy and unctuous. The broth was a bit sweet and absolutely stunning, particularly with the Gruner.


Abalone with bacon. Some of the most tender abalone I’ve had. The sauce was made from monkfish liver!


A vegetarian version, radishes, butter from our cows.


2000 Domaine Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 93. Surprisingly open and expressive with wonderfully complex and nuanced aromas that reveal a dazzling array of floral and fruit elements followed by rich, ripe and somewhat more full-bodied flavors than usual but the additional weight is more than buffered by the racy finishing acidity and almost painfully intense back end. This is presently a good deal more forward than the ’00 Bâtard though there is clearly enough material to suggest that this will benefit from another 3 to perhaps 5 years in the cellar.


Uni on sour bread. Wow. Soft infused bread and a pure uni umph.


Avocado on sour bread.


Salad. This was a bunch of greens.


Brussels & cabbages blistered in the fire. Some very nice brussels sprouts with a charred flavor.


Fire in the sky beet. Like a beet foie gras or something.


Beer to go with the foie.


Toffee, milk, foie, and beer. And speaking of foie gras, this dessert-like confection was totally to die for.


1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. 94 points. Great wine in great shape.


Duck and cheese stuffed cabbage.


With the jus. Some delicious duck, very tender, with a fabulous jus. The cheesy cabbage was believe it or not, actually even better.


Naple long pumpkin, hung over the fire for 3 days, a bouillon of aged kelp.


Greens. Whatever.


Poultry broth. Quite nice.


1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. Burghound 91. Dense and intense black fruit with plenty of character is followed by rich, big, tannic flavors that are robust, indeed almost rustic. This displays lots of backbone if not much finesse with a nice note of finishing complexity. In short, the ’96 Bonnes Mares delivers solid if not truly exceptional quality in a package that will age for many years to come.

agavin: our bottle was elegant and amazing.


Beignets.


Red hawk mousseline, yali pears. Scrumptious smeared over the fried pastry.


Ice cream…


and caramel cooked in the fire. Great stuff, but tiny.


Buckwheat Tea. What’s with the whole tea thing? I’m more of a coffee person (and not with dinner).


A final surprise.


Over-ripe persimmon. I’m not a persimmon fan, but this one was great.


The damage.

And some tea to take home. They sure like tea.


The larder. This place smelled incredible. A mixture of aging meat and fabulous fruits and vegetables. The Saison team believes in curing and aging things to their proper ripeness, and in ensuring the absolute best ingredients. These ducks, for example, are from their own special farm.

The open kitchen is where the magic happens.

Overall, Saison was stellar, with really focused dishes that hit with a precise little wallop. Service was an 11 too, thanks Max and Mathew team up! My only beef would be that somehow we felt we needed about two more dishes, maybe a meat savory and definitely another dessert. Oh and mignardises. We really wanted a nice plate of those!

As a note, there was a fire and smoke vibe going on. Skenes calls the flame the “heart” of the restaurant, and its predominant use, in contrast to modern cooking’s sous vide, nitro, and other flameless techniques that yield’s Saison’s peculiar “modern rustic” style. But Skenes also has a very crafty and subtle knack for flavors. They are potent and focused, but not over the top or whacky. This isn’t cerebral food either like Atelier Crenn. Nor is it the unexpected symphony of CR8. This is a sort of primal thing. The sauces are also stunning. Mostly broths, very Japanese inspired, they are generally less fat and diary driven then the classic French canon. They tended to mix sweet and tangy in a way influenced by Asia. Subtle and elegant.

It should also be noted that while Saison’s atmosphere is amazing, its food stellar, and its service flawless, there are some caveats: it’s expensive (no duh, this is a 3 star michelin). They don’t accommodate dietary restrictions as flexibly as many top restaurants (no vegetarian). Although they did handle us, and we had four distinct rule sets with six diners. Mark Bright’s wine list, while filled with great juice, will set back your plans to upgrade the private jet, but I brought my own. Max’s wine service, too, is perfect. There is only a giant ever-changing tasting menu (the way I like it — no small menu means no one can wus out), so picky eaters are out of luck.

Was it worth all this? As a priest of Dionysus and a devotee of the art of food… hell yes!

For more San Fran dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Melisse
  2. Mosaic of Food – Byzantine Cuisine
  3. Food as Art: Ludobites 7.0
  4. Food as Art – Atelier Crenn
  5. Food as Art: Ludobites 6.0
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , ,

Eating San Francisco – Zuni Cafe

Jan23

Restaurant: Zuni Cafe

Location: 1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. (415) 552-2522

Date: January 16, 2015

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Rating: Tasty!

_

Zuni is a bit of a San Francisco institution (in a recent sort of way).


The busy downstairs.


The current menu.


From my cellar: 2007 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses. Burghound 90. As would reasonably be expected, there is just more here in every dimension with a more complex and more elegant nose that is layered and very fresh and this refinement continues onto the nicely concentrated middle weight flavors that display evident minerality on the sappy, intense and mouth coating finish that lingers and lingers. This is a terrific Savigny blanc and recommended.


Deep-fried Monterey rock cod with cabbage slaw, pickled onions, red jalapeno, and lime vinaigrette. Tiny, tasty, but more mild then I would have thought.


Vegetable tagine, saffron couscous, flowering purple broccoli, cardoons, carrots, yougurt, and charmoula.


Moro and Sanguinelli blood oranges with marinated beets, wild arugula, and farmers cheese.


House-cured anchovies with celery, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Coquillo olives.


From my cellar: 2007 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Finca Dofí. IWC 92+. Opaque ruby. Expansive aromas of dark cherry, blackberry, iron, tobacco and cedar. Very rich but lively, offering sweet red and dark berry flavors and a hint of licorice. Packs serious punch and shows a chewy, youthfully tannic quality on the long, penetrating finish. Unevolved right now and in need of at least another few years in bottle, but this is very promising.


Cavatelli with hedgehog mushrooms and arugula pesto.


Grilled Paine Farm squab with sweet potato puree, braised red cabbage, roasted brussels sprouts, and Charteuse-mustard sauce.


Whole Passmore Ranch trout roasted in the brick oven with curly endive, fennel, Satsuma mandarins, toasted hazelnuts, and brown butter.


Llano Seco Ranch pork simmered with Marsala and sage; soft polenta, spinach, black trumpet mushrooms, and caramelized onions.

Zuni food was bright and tasty, good stuff, although the appetizer portions were a tad on the small size.

For more San Fran dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Hoi An – Brothers Cafe
  2. San Fran – Starbelly
  3. Friday Night Feast 2014
  4. Eating Tuscany – Villa Dinner
  5. Eating Milano Marittima – Notte E Di’
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , ,

Food as Art – Atelier Crenn

Jan21

Restaurant: Atelier Crenn

Location: 3127 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. (415) 440-0460

Date: January 15, 2015

Cuisine: Modernist

Rating: Awesome presentation and quite tasty

_

I’ve wanted to go to Atelier Crenn for years now, as it’s not only an award winning Michelin 2 star San Francisco fine dining restaurant, but quite avant garde and modernist, which I very much enjoy.


Really the atelier part of the name is quite accurate, as this is very much an artisan place, and with a talented female french chef, Dominique Crenn.


The room is modern and lovely, with a sort of handmade aesthetic.


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


The menu is a poem! There is a single large tasting menu, and no options (fine by me).


“Winter has come with its cool breeze.” Kir Breton. A sort of candy version of the classic cocktail. Cool apple cider encased in white chocolate with a blob of creme de cassis. Delicious!


“I touch the earth and play, in its cool milk light.” Salsify, cauliflower, white chocolate. You use that stick (the salsify) to pick up the dusty stuff and eat it, then eat the stick. Pretty darn good if a hair fibrous.

“Noir sur noir.” Squid Ink Rice Cracker. Nothing wrong with it, but not the most exciting.

“Where the broad ocean leans against the Spanish land.” Squid, iberico ham, lardo.


Then some broth with a smoky hammy flavor. This was delicious.

“I remember an oceanic feeling.” Shima Aji, beet, turnip.


It is then decorated with nitro beet.


Which smokes!


The net effect was fish, radish, nice tempura, and a cool dusty beet flavor over the top.

“Strolling on the beach, in its whimsically ebullient innocence.” Exotic tarragon sorbet.

“Here, the earth proffers its juicy and tangy, chlorophyll gifts.” King crab, fennel. Quite nice.

“The sea is in me, as strange and mysterious.” Scallop, pear, sea cucumber dashi.


Very soft and delicious.

“The setting of the orange sun.” Cashew, butternut squash, persimmon. This dairy-free cashew ice cream was amazing and had the texture of mochi (sort of).

“I revisted my childhood memories, a rebirth of the forest.” Duck egg, pate, porcini broth.


With the broth. Interesting and good.

“Nibbling on Brittany seeds with a twinkle in my eye.” Brioche.


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

“Tastying the white luxurious pillow.” Bone marrow, osetra caviar, nasturtium.


Here with the caviar added.


And buckwheat cracker and smoked creme fraiche.


You dip the cracker in creme, then add some bone marrow. Pretty amazing.

“I take a sip of winter.” Some kind of interesting juice?

“Watching the beast rests, beneath the leaves.” Squab raspberry, mustard seeds. Quite delicious main.

“Dotting the fragrant flora.” Carrot jerky. Looks like a vanilla bean. Interesting.

Salad. Not sure what in.


“A precious token.” Pineapple, basil seed, blue green algae. Like a goo, but surprisingly delicious and refreshing.


Nori and Matcha wafer. crunchy and vaguely seaweed-like.

“Winter has come and is full of sweet surprises.” The sea. This whacky and impressive dessert was incredible with hints of citrus. Lots of foam and stuff, but really fun.


It was served in a fossil-like shell.

“Sweetness, bounty, thanks.” Then came an impressive array of mignardises. Nougat. pate de fruits, marshmallows.

Different focus.


Macarons and chocolates.


Crispy wafers.


And cocoa wafers.

Atelier Crenn is an amazing culinary experience. It’s playful, poetic, and while a tad cerebral, quite delicious. A few courses were a bit flat, like the squid ink crisp or the “sip of winter” but many were flat out excellent, and all through the presentation was fantastic. In its artsy presentational way it reminded me of Roberto Cortez and his CR8 series — which is high praise.

Service was attentive without being annoying and spot on. My only complaint is that the lighting is dim and flash isn’t allowed!

For more San Francisco dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Ludobites 7.0
  2. Food as Art: Sam’s by the Beach
  3. Food as Art: Melisse
  4. Food as Art: Chanukah in Style
  5. Food as Art: Dark Illuminated Forest
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , ,

Pistola with a Bang

Jan19

Restaurant: Pistola [1, 2]

Location: 8022 W 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 323.951.9800

Date: January 14, 2015

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Tasty good

_

Tonight’s dinner is themed around 1990s grand cru Burgundy, both colors. Why exactly we took this to an Italian Steakhouse is anyone’s guess, but that didn’t matter — we had a blast.



1998 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire. AG 95. Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne made from a small, one hectare plot located on the property in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. The wine is fermented in oak and bottled with no dosage. In only its third release, Le Clos Saint-Hilaire has already established itself as one of the region’s most fascinating wines. Anticipated maturity The 1998 Brut Le Clos Saint-Hilaire emerges from the glass with an exotic array of intensely perfumed, candied fruit. The wine possesses gorgeous textural richness in a deep, layered expression of Pinot Noir. The mousse remains refined and very elegant all the way through to the deeply satisfying, resonating finish.


The menu. We actually had the chef bring up appetizers, pasta, and dessert, with everyone ordering their entrees.


From my cellar: 1992 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 90. As would be expected from a relatively soft vintage at 18 years of age, this is fully mature with sous bois and truffle notes to the dried apple and rose petal nose. There is good richness but also lovely detail and minerality to the moderately concentrated finish that offer excellent depth and length. I would be drinking this sooner than later because even though it is in no danger of falling apart, it’s clearly time to be drinking up over the next decade.

agavin: doing great for 22+ year old chardonnay


1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 92. As de la Morinière suggests, this is a good deal more powerful than the 2000 version but it is not quite as bright or quite as focused. That said, this is a very impressive effort with big, almost massive aromas of earth, ripe green fruits such as apples and pears leading to equally big, powerful flavors that offer great mouthfeel, all of which is underpinned by plenty of minerality and more than adequate buffering acidity. This is extremely long already but this should continue to improve for 7 to 10 years and hold for much longer than that.

agavin: rounder and actually “older” tasting than the 92, but drinking great.


1997 Domaine Marius Delarche Corton-Charlemagne Reserve. 90 points. Really singing and massive.


1969 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 92 points. Mature Burgundy nose, forrest floor, mushrooms, damp earth. Fresh palate of dark fruits, great minerality, iron with nice acidity. Became sweeter after an hour and kept going. Great bottle.


Meatballs. On a bed of ricotta. Awesome. These were similar to the similarly awesome ones at Gusto.


Insalata Mista.


Steak tartar. Good meat, but didn’t have enough bite for me. Needed more pepper? It had some truffle oil in it.


Crab Crocchetti. Dungeness Crab Cake, scallion pesto.


1996 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot. IWC 92+. Deep, bright red-ruby. Complex, wild aromas of raw crushed blueberry, violet, raw meat and iron. Intense, primal flavors of crunchy berries and powdered stone. Integrated acidity gives the fruit an urgent quality. Quite powerfully structured for aging. Very long and bright on the back end, with tannins nicely supported by extract.

As a note, we did two flights of 3 reds each more or less blind.


1998 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Nuits St. Georges Les Hauts Poirets. IWC 89. Bright ruby-red. Fresh aromas of violet and nuts. Rich, sweet and silky, but also vibrant and shapely. Finishes with sweet tannins and very good length.


1990 Burguet Gilles Gevrey-Chambertin.

agavin: great for old village wine.


Squid Ink Agnolotti. Awesome stuff with a nice sweetness.


Buccatini alla Carbonara. Guanciale, onion, black pepper, egg yolk & pecorino.


Mixed up it’s great stuff.


Buccatini All’Amatriciana. Like a red suace pasta with more flavor.


1995 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares. IWC 93. Black raspberry, violet and herbs on the nose. Thick, brooding and very intensely flavored; has a mellow flavor of woodsmoke. Large-scaled and multilayered. Finishes with ripe, chewy tannins. A terrific example of the ’95 vintage at its best.


1993 Daniel Bocquenet Echezeaux. Burghound 88. Very elegant, spicy rich fruit framed robust, intense but edgy flavors that are a bit lean on the moderately long finish. It’s not clear whether this will regain its balance or not with a few years of bottle age but there is no doubting the lovely complexity and solid flavor authority.

agavin: whatever meadows says, our bottle was filled with great wine. Lots of power and elegance.


1995 Louis Latour Corton-Clos de la Vigne au Saint.

agavin: a nice wine but not in the league of its immediate predecessors.


Dry-aged Delmonico steak.


Herb butter.


Rib-eye.

Colorado lamb chops.


Veal Chop Alla Parmigiana. Wow, I’m not a big straight steak fan so this really saved the course for me.


Crispy Tuscan Fries. Not sure what is Tuscan here.


Funghi Misti.


Caramelized Romanesco. With a bit of heat and a little vinegary tang, very nice.


Creamy Polenta. Mild.


Various ice creams.


And sorbets.


Vanilla ice cream, because you can never have too much of that.


Cannoli. My fave.


Tortino (aka Chocolate cake).


The chef brought us out something he was working on.


Grilled bread, prosciutto, foie gras, and uni. Wow, you wouldn’t think all that would work together, but it so does.


Overall, Pistola was really solid. We all thought some of the apps and the pastas were a bit better than the meats and sides (although I enjoyed my chop), but it was a very tasty meal. They treated us like kings too. Our waitress really put up with a lot of wine guy “hassle” and did a good job managing the flights.

Room is very pretty but a little loud with a bar feel (some love that, some don’t). If I were them, my biggest suggestion foodwise would just be to add some more decadent sides like a “gorgonzola gnocchi” and the like. Not really Italian, but then again, I’ve never actually seen a steakhouse in Italy. Not that Italians, particularly Tuscans don’t love steak, but the steakhouse format is an American thing — which is fine.

But this was overall a fabulous evening for a number of reasons. We had eight people all at a round table, which while cramped is great for conversation, and a great mix of guys. Plus we had a nice Burgundy focused theme.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

 

Related posts:

  1. Is that a Pistola in your pocket?
  2. Hedonists at STK again!
  3. Valentino – 2004 Red Burgundy
  4. Burgundy at Providence
  5. Simon Says Melisse
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , , , , , ,

Madang 621- Beef++

Jan16

Restaurant: Madang 621

Location: 621 Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90005. (213) 384-2244

Date: January 9, 2015

Cuisine: Korean BBQ

Rating: Beefy fun

_

I haven’t actually been out to dedicated Korean BBQ in Korea town for quite a long time, at least not in the five years I’ve been photoing my food. So when it popped up as a dinner suggestion I consulted the recommendations of my ultra foodie (and Korean) friend Liz Lee.


Which brought us to Madang 621, located in the heart of K-Town. This elaborate mall (and the restaurant) has an elegant and extensive buildout.


Check out the spacious interior. This is no hole in the wall.


But stylish with a modern Asian aesthetic.




The menu is equally elegant and elaborate.


From my cellar: 2003 Weingut Graben-Gritsch Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Schön. 89 points. Nose of lychee pineapple lemon, creamy lemon and peach on the palate. Bright acidity medium finish with a bit of an herby quality.

agavin: Korean food can be a hard wine match and I wanted some white to start. This mildly aged Gruner hit the spot. It’s complex and almost herby/spicy fruit allows it to handle the pervasive Korean red chili.

PA JUN

파전[PA JUN] Pancake w/scallion choice of vegetarian, Seafood or kimchi. This one is vegetable. Like a thick “meatier” version of a traditional Chinese scallion pancake. Served with a soy based dipping sauce.


No Korean place could look at itself in the mirror without banchan, the little (often) pickled sides placed on the table and infinity refilled.

Kimchi. The classic.


Dried spicy crispy shrimp. One of my two favorites. This was quite chewy and crispy, with a little heat and a dried shrimp vibe that isn’t for lightweights.


Seasoned Korean Spinach.


Potato salad. Sweet with raisons and some other bits. Actually pretty good.


Spicy vegetable. A kind of kimchi I guess, probably daikon? I liked this better than the regular one because of its chewy/crunchy texture.


Broccoli.


Mung Bean Sprouts.


Spicy squid. This was one of my favorites. It was like chewy spicy squid spaghetti.


2007 Xavier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Anonyme. Parker 96. Except for Henri Bonneau’s 2007 Reserve des Celestins (which is still in barrel), the last 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape to be released will be Xavier Vignon’s Anonyme. This sensational wine spent three years in a combination of demi-muids and small oak. It boasts an inky/purple color along with a sweet nose of underbrush, garrigue, licorice, blackberries and black currants. Full, thick, unctuously textured and even flamboyant, this stunning 2007 should drink well for another 15-20 years.

agavin: very young and still in that grapey stage, there are no flaws I could detect in this wine. Very smooth with a lovely finish. A little too much oak still, but really a fabulous CNDP.

 


We ordered this big array of meats and seafood for three people. Actually we had four, but it worked out fine. All of this stuff is cooked up on the BBQ at your table.


There are two types of sauce. The same two are pictured here, but they are of a similar color and both fairly mild and oily. I would have preferred a bit of the sweet soy stuff they have at Yakaniku places.

KOBE KOT DESUNG SIM

고베 꽃등심[KOBE KOT DESUNG SIM] Sliced fresh kobe beef rib eye.

A very rich (aka fatty) cut of wagyu rib eye. Cooked down to fun little morsels of beef and fat.

MADANG GAL BI

마당갈비 [MADANG GAL BI] Marinated prime beef short rib with bone.

I probably like the Gal Bi slightly better, and that is often one of my favorit KBBQ cuts. It’s meatier I guess. Certainly well marbled.

The scallops were also awesome, particularly when lightly seared.


Korean salad. I always find the Korean dressing a little oily.

GYE RAN JJIM

계란찜[GYE RAN JJIM] Steamed soft egg tofu

With fish roe and scallions. I usually love steamed egg dishes and this was no exception with a nice light fluffy texture.

DUK MANDU GOOK

떡만두국[DUK MANDU GOOK] Beef dumplings and sliced rice cake in a hearty beef broth with egg & scallion.


One of those nice mild soups. The broth was very tasty and the stuff too, particularly the dumplings.


Overall, Madang served up a really nice meal and it was a fun experience. It’s a lovely setting. The food was of very high quality with first class meats and ingredients. The service was very friendly but a bit “sluggish,” particularly in the end where it must have been 45-60 minutes to get the check. I liked all the sides and extras also. My one comment is that I like the Yakaniku dipping sauce (ala Manpuku or Totoraku) better. It’s just less oily with more flavor.


Next door at Boba-time we grabbed some “dessert” with the Asian teenagers.

Cookies and Cream with boba. Tasted like melted cookies and cream ice cream!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Totoraku – Secret Beef!
  2. Manpuku – Not so Secret Beef
  3. Totoraku – Hedonists Beef Up
  4. No Beef with Mastro’s
  5. Quick Eats: Tofu Ya
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , ,

Return of the Han Dynasty

Jan14

This was a fantastic Chinese feast. Sure, it burned through my whole GI for 36 hours, but it was worth it. A worthy addition to the catalog of great Wed night ThanksGavin openings. Commenting two years later, and many many great Chinese meals under my belt, I’d have to say this is solid Schezuan style food, a tad modernized, and good stuff. One complaint on my second go (2014) was that they brought all the food in two giant waves, an “appetizer” and “entree” wave. The first time each item came out more or less on its own. This is way too many dishes for a big barrage.

See the rest of the ThanksGavin here.

For more Philly dining reviews click here.

132c6149

Related posts:

  1. Revenge of the Han Dynasty
  2. Jak & Daxter Return
  3. Din Tai Fung – The Return!
  4. Return to Milo & Olive
  5. ThanksGavin in Review
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as:

Factoring Factory Kitchen

Jan12

Restaurant: Factory Kitchen [1, 2]

Location: 1300 Factory Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90013. (213) 996-6000

Date: December 6, 2014

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Wow! Best Italian in LA?

_

The Factory Kitchen serves traditional Italian fare in the heart of the thriving Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. This trattoria-style restaurant is the product of a long-standing friendship between Restaurateur Matteo Ferdinandi and Chef Angelo Auriana.


The neighborhood is a bit scary, but inside is modern and busy.


The current menu.


2010 Borgo del Tiglio (Nicola Manferrari) Collio Studio di Bianco. AG 95. Weightless, crystalline and pure, the 2010 Studio di Bianco appears to float on the palate. White pear, crushed rocks, oyster shells and lime jump from the glass. A beautifully delineated, vibrant wine, the 2010 captures the best qualities of the year. Stylistically, the 2010 is brighter and more focused than the 2011, with a bit less body but more sheer drive and personality. What a gorgeous wine this is.


ortolana – field greens, spring onion, radicchio, dates, goat cheese, champagne vinaigrette.


pancotto. duck egg, red potato vellutata, sautéed greens, semolina bread crostone, speck.


But the speck was on the side for the convenience of the non meat eaters.

When you get all the elements together really a fabulous breakfasty bite.


focaccina funghi – crescenza, foraged mushrooms, ligurian olive oil, parsley.

Very tasty.


barberosse gratinate – oven baked sliced beets casserole, melted asiago.

Beets baked with cheese? Aka beet lasagna? Kind of an odd concept and not altogether successful.

mandilli di seta. handkerchief pasta, ligurian almond basil pesto.

I can not say enough good things about this pasta. The texture was amazing. It’s soft and all folded over. The pesto is hyperblended to a very fine texture as well, and it tastes so Ligurian. Here you can see some “genuine” examples, and this one tonight was as good as any I’ve ever had in Liguria (I’ve spent about a week there). The chef can’t get the right pine-nuts so he uses blanched almonds instead. It works.

casonzei – veal, pork, sausage filled pasta, cured pork, butter, pancetta.

agavin: This also is a stunningly authentic pasta. It normally comes with a butter and sage sauce, but Liz (correctly) thought the sage wouldn’t work with the Burgundy and switched it out for sweat pancetta. There is a wonderful rice quality to the handmade pasta and the butter / parm sauce. You get pasta like this in the North, near Mantua and Verona. Sweet and buttery at the same time. Wonderful.


1990 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sorì Paitin. 92 points. Dark roasted nose (not pruney or overripe), chocolate powder, roasted coffee, dark fruit, fennel, celery salt – savory aspects. Deep and dark. Cloves. Thick and dark on the palate with coffee, blackberry. Thick dusty tannins, dry, soy, sweet fruit at the end palate and finish. Not profound but quite tasty and refined.


spigola – pan sautéed imported wild bass filet, baby artichokes, basil.

Yummy.


triglie – seared mediterranean red mullet, san marzano dop, foraged mushrooms.

Had that fishy red mullet thing going on.


porchetta – rolled pork belly, aromatic herbs, red onion, carrots, fennel, celery.

At first I was like, hmmm, just pork? No sauce? Seemed a little dull in concept. But as I ate through this fellow, it was one hell of a delicious meat. Subtle rich flavors and just plain delicious.


patate novelle – oven roasted new potatoes, fine herbs.


cime di broccoli – broccoli di cicco, shallots, crushed chili flakes.


ortaggi all’agro – steamed kale, green chard, spinach, shallots, ligurian olive oil.


Dessert menu.


crostata – chocolate filling, feuillitine crunch, red wine poached pears.

cannoli – ricotta filling, pistachios, orange marmalade.

My friend Liz claims this is the best cannoli she’s had. I’ll go so far to say it’s one of the best I’ve had in LA. And it was REALLY good with perfect crunch, soft ricotta, citrus. But it didn’t have that cinnamon / nutmeg bit I love, or the candied citrus quality you’ll often find in Sicily. Still, very very good. These ones from the Philadelphia Italian market are also fabulous if you can’t make it to Sicily.


bigné – banana pudding filled cream puffs, butterscotch sauce, prailine grains.

I don’t even like banana and this was delicious.

All in all, on my second visit, still a great meal. Most dishes were delicious, and particularly the pastas, which feel authentically Italian — and I’m a pasta fiend with a lot of Italian trips under my belt.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Factory Kitchen – Fabulous
  2. Chili Crab Craze – Starry Kitchen
  3. Piccolo – A little Italian
  4. Villetta – More Italian in Brentwood?
  5. Fraiche Santa Monica
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , ,

Ultimate Pizza New Year 2014

Jan09

Every few months, and particularly at New Years, we do another round of our Ultimate Homemade Pizzas. If you’re curious about how these components are made look here, otherwise just enjoy the food porn.

Before diving in, I’ll note that this time I am making further progress in that most difficult of pizza problems: the transfer. The most challenging part of making pizza at home is getting it into and out of the oven without messing it up. Into the oven is toughest because the dough is soft and sticky and the pizza is laden.

My new technique is:

  • Roll on the marble countertop with flour
  • Coat a peel with tons of white flour
  • Transfer the pie to the peel
  • Add toppings. Make sure they don’t get too close to the edge.
  • Scoot it off the peel using the flour as lube onto the pizza stone. Do not use cornmeal, which is inferior to flour as a lube and leaves an annoying texture on the dough
  • Scoot back off the stone onto the peel with my huge pizza spatula
  • Use separate cutting blocks for cutting (not the peel)


NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé (magnum). IWC 92. Light orange. Vibrant strawberry and orange zest aromas are complicated by notes of tea rose, smoky lees and chalky minerals. Bright, incisive red fruit flavors pick up a toasty nuance with air. Fresh, incisive and refreshingly tangy, with impressive finishing clarity and stony persistence.


Straight up pizza + corn.


My classic “Jewish Pizza”. First I bake the dough with rosemary and truffle oil, then top with my mix of creme fraiche, dill and chives. Then add red onion and capers and…


finally nova lox. Really a fabulous bit of pizza.

This pizza focuses on a few new toppings, namely spicy lebneh cheese as a “sauce”, sautéed broccoli rab, mushrooms, green pepper goat cheese.

A great mix with an intriguing blend of heat and the slightly bitter vegetable.


From my cellar: 1991 Etienne Sauzet Bâtard-Montrachet. 91 points. Dry and subdued, but very clean and nice. Drinking young for its age.


This pizza focuses on my new Ultra Ligurian pesto (pine nuts from Liguria, lots of garlic, very good parmesan freshly grated). It includes ricotta and parmesan, mushroom, tomatoes, almonds, and a bit of fig.


Here finished.


Today’s incarnation of my tikka masala pizza. Tikka masala sauce, smoked mozzarella, morels, almonds, basil, ricotta, mozz balls, red onion.


Topped with burrata and a bit of balsamic. Yum!


A new simple cheese pizza with mixed mushrooms.


Another spicy labneh, similar to the last but with slightly different cheeses, a bit of sun-dried tomatoe pesto, and even a little smoked mozz. This was actually drizzled with honey too before baking!


Baked.


From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. 94 points. Great wine in great shape.


More pesto, with a bit of pumpkin, almonds, figs, blobs of garlic mint yogurt, and red onions.


Baked and topped with burrata.


A fresher pizza with a light pesto, tomatoes, onions, broccoli rab.


And topped with arugula and meyer lemon juice.


Tomatoes, pesto, garlic olives, basil.


And my final iteration on the pesto / afghan theme. Ligurian pesto, garlic mint yogurt, pumpkin, a bit of sundied tomatoe pesto, gorgonzola, figs, and sweet chili.


Baked.


And with burrata!


From my cellar: 1988 Domaine de Courcel Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Épenots. 92 points. Full color. What a completely different animal from that wine-brambly black fruit and licorice, medium to full bodied for a Pinot and very meaty feel. I must say that you rarely find this much flesh in an ’88 Burgundy. Relatively speaking, a brute, and much less resolved than the Clos St. Jacques. Wilder and riper. I always find Pommard a bit rough and jarring, but this one was beginning to soften with its 22 years of age. Maybe my problem is that I don’t hold these wines for as long as they need to soften. Very attractive in this chunkier style.


A bit of the dessert spread.


The fudge cake.


Chocolate cupcakes.


Vanilla.


Iced cookies. I love these actually.


Boring sprinkle cookies (always left over).


A kind of strawberry cream fruit tart monster.

The gory details on how to we made the dough, sauce and other components are available here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – The Comeback
  2. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  3. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
  4. Ultimate Pizza 2012
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Dough
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , ,

SOS – Wine Rescue

Jan07

Restaurant: Smoke Oil Salt [1, 2, 3]

Location: 7274 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90046. (323) 930-7900

Date: January 4, 2015

Cuisine: Spanish

Rating: Good “New American” Spanish

_

Hedonist leader Yarom is an investor in the new Smoke Oil Salt, a tapas bar from Adam Fleischman (Unami Burger) and Perfecto Rocher (Lazy Ox), so it’s a natural gathering for our gang. We went last spring, and now we return with even more wine for Paella night!


Chef Perfecto Rocher is behind the bar here.


Sommelier Naureen Zaim cuts a far svelter figure than us Hedonist lunks when it comes to pouring out the good stuff. It must be said that the service tonight, wine, food, bussing, everything, was an 11!


Owner Stephen Gelber was on hand making sure!

And it should be noted that our crazy wine excess involved at least 29 bottles and I have tried to organize them with the meal as best I could. The actually reality was a tad more chaotic!


NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. IWC 92. Light orange. Vibrant strawberry and orange zest aromas are complicated by notes of tea rose, smoky lees and chalky minerals. Bright, incisive red fruit flavors pick up a toasty nuance with air. Fresh, incisive and refreshingly tangy, with impressive finishing clarity and stony persistence.


2002 Ayala Champagne Perle d’Ayala. IWC 93. Pale gold. A heady, complex bouquet displays an array of citrus and pit fruit scents, along with hints of pungent flowers and smoky minerals. Dry, focused and impressively concentrated, offering intense Meyer lemon, nectarine and floral flavors that put on weight with air. Closes on an emphatic mineral note, with excellent clarity and length.


The menu, although we had a custom meal.


2011 Casca Wines Colares Monte Cascas. 93 points. Malvasia.Clear yellow and lite in the glass. Nose of steel minerals, citrus, dried apples, macadamia nuts, melon, pith, sage, white pepper, tea and lychee. Medium body and exquisitely composed. Dozens of thin layers (citrus, melon, pit fruit, herbs, spice, secondary lime minerals) wrapped around an effortless steel core. Exceptionally fine and clean textures. Complexity that was a joy to work thru. Superb quality. Long finish. So privileged to taste.


From my cellar: 2011 Alberto Nanclares Albariño Crisopa Branco Tradicional. 91 agavin. Total acid bomb. Searing crispness. A real food wine and ready to handle that Spanish vinegar.


Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Loibner Steinertal (missed vintage). 92 points. Intense ripe aromas of pineapple, cantaloupe and white pepper. Quite concentrated, warmly rich and powerful, yet cool, austere and focused. Mineral spices and a nearly salty impression linger on the long finish.


Sardines, olives, marcona almonds. One is supposed to get all the elements together into a bite.


Max from Saison brought some real goodies like this ultimate “bourgogne”:

2007 Coche-Dury Bourgogne Blanc. 92 agavin. Crisp, mineral, with a ton of matchstick reduction.


And:

2011 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. IWC 96. Pale yellow. Bracing aromas of lemon, ginger, chalk and spices. At once dense and penetrating, with outstanding citric cut to the complex, slightly high-toned flavors of lemon zest, white pepper, minerals and subtle resiny spices. Here, too, the wine’s intense chalky character gives it an impression of stronger acidity than the numbers would suggest. Boasts terrific fruit intensity, and the wonderfully precise finish goes on and on. A great showing today, and one of the superstars of the vintage.


And:

2010 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne Blanc. 91 points. Tight and crisp.


Gaspatxo de remolatxa. beet gazpacho, chestnut honey yougurt, mint oil. Zesty with a lot of flavor. Sweet and tangy.


2013 Château d’Esclans Côtes de Provence Rosé Whispering Angel. 87 points. Pink color with fast forming legs. It’s somewhat balanced and has flavours of prune with a medium/full body. Flabby texture with a medium finish – Excellent choice.


2004 Domaine Bertheau (Pierre et François) Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes. Burghound 88. Elegant and bright red pinot fruit nuanced by background elements of earth, spice and a touch of anise with supple, forward, soft and sweet flavors that offer a bit more concentration and complexity but at the expense of the same fine precision and detail. I like the balance and finishing intensity and there is a touch of forest floor as well.

agavin: all that above if you can ignore the 2004 vintage character: sucking on a raw green pepper stem!


2005 Domaine des Perdrix Echezeaux. IWC 92-95. Good bright ruby. Musky aromas of blackberry, minerals, violet and dark chocolate. Densely packed, superripe and sweet, with brisk acidity giving energy to the black raspberry flavor. Fresh and impeccably balanced. This very suave, broad wine really coats the palate with violet and bitter chocolate flavor. Finishes with sweet tannins and real grand cru persistence. The crop level here was roughly 30 hl/ha, vs. about 40 for the village wines. “We had a good crop level in 2005,” said enologist Robert Vernizeau. A highly promising vintage for this estate, whose youngest vines, according to Vernizeau, were planted in 1972.

agavin: great young Burg.


Olives am Bitets. Olives,, peppers, cauliflower, toasted almonds, manchego.  Pickled veggies and cheese.


1964 Martinez Lacuesta Rioja Reserva Especial. 94 points. Glorious red fruits, some leather, herbs and spice, silky but with a nice underlying acidity. Long finish. Extra point for ageworthiness.


1964 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Viña Albina. 93 points. Very pale almost translucent. Ethereal, perfumed, still delicious but fading fruit; light bodied. Wonderful but on a genteel downwards slope into old age.


1968 Federico Paternina Rioja Conde de los Andes Gran Reserva (I think). 92 points. Fully mature but vital; lots of wood and vanilla but also lovely red fruit, a discreet richness; on the palate very harmonious, tannic but not dried out or too woody, considerable charm, flavours of red fruit and spices, good length. A distinguished wine, a nobleman.


Bunyols de Bacalla. Cod croquetas, citrus aioli.


From my cellar: 1973 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Añares Crianza. 92 agavin. Still vital, with fig jam notes.


1985 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia. 90 points. Here, the oak is apparent, still, but doesn’t stand out as excessive because there is so much else to draw one’s attention: the silkiness of the mouthfeel, the length of the palate, the creaminess of the texture against the earthiness and other secondaries and tertiaries on the palate. Wow.


1989 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. 91 points. This Rioja is now 25 years old – color is dark red with long legs; nose with leather and graphite; taste very complex and spicy with dried fruits and ripe berries; Rioja at its best – all the tannins are round now – the wine is smooth with a medium finish – will last 3-5 more years in this shape


Flori-col amb allets. Caramelized cauliflower and broccoli, spicy chili oil, garlic, and hazelnuts.


2004 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904. IWC 94. Bright red. Heady aromas of dried red berries, cherry, smoked meat, vanilla and potpourri, with a spicy element gaining strength with air. Fleshy and seamless in texture, offering sappy red fruit and floral pastille flavors and an undertone of sweet vanilla. The spiciness comes back on the finish, which features suave floral and cherry-vanilla qualities and sneaky tannins. This classic, old-school Rioja is delicious now but is destined for a long, graceful evolution.

agavin: glad I have a bunch of these in my cellar!


1989 Talbot. Parker 87-90. Dark ruby with moderately endowed notes of sweet black currants intermixed with licorice, compost, and some weedy tobacco, this medium-bodied wine has low acidity, attractively ripe fruit, but a somewhat short finish.


Amanida remolatxa. Watercress, beets, goat cheese, beet emulsion.


2004 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Parker 92. The 2004 Pichon Lalande is a strong effort for the vintage (much better than their underwhelming and much more expensive 2005). A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it exhibits a deep ruby/purple color as well as scents of cocoa, espresso roast, black cherries, and cassis. Medium to full-bodied, opulent, and fleshy, this classic wine cuts a stylistic persona somewhere between the 1995 and 1996. It can be drunk now or cellared for two decades.

agavin: Interesting, has a similar annoying pepper finish as do all the 2004 red Burgs.


Braves Trencades. Fried Potatoes with Chorizo and ham, and a fried egg. Like ultimate breakfast.


2001 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard. Parker 98. Having performed spectacularly well last year in the retrospective of ten-year old Napa Cabernets, this 2001 remains incredibly young, with all of its potential waiting to burst forth. Its dense purple color is followed by notes of mulberries, creme de cassis, blackberries, licorice, graphite and subtle smoke. The wine reveals fabulous fruit along with full-bodied power and a seamless integration of acidity, tannin, alcohol and wood. Forget it for another 4-5 years and drink it over the following 25-30 years.


2001 Jacob’s Creek/Orlando Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. 90 points. Dark ruby colour, good clarity. Dark berries, strawberry, some spice & herbal nose. Softens with time out of the bottle. Smooth and medium length palate; dark berries with adequate tannins. A little tart, improving with time in the glass. Good drinking now but with some cellar time still left.


Paella de arros negre. Squid ink paella, carabineros (giant mediteranean prawns). You eat the prawns separately (delicious!). Then you mix the black rice with the aioli and squirt lemon on. Delicious, briny, savory, and quite salty. Perhaps a little too salty, but awesome nonetheless.


2011 Hope & Grace Pinot Noir Doctor’s Vineyard. 92 points.


2004 Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. Parker 99. This vintage shocked me when I did my retrospective earlier this year, and the 2004 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select acquitted itself brilliantly in the vertical of Hillside Selects. It was a hot year, a relatively early harvest and there were worries that the heat had stressed the grapes, and there would be a lack of physiological ripeness and nuance. Those worries have not manifested themselves in this great Cabernet Sauvignon. Inky/purple-colored with notes of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, spring flowers, and a touch of toast, the wine is opulent, voluptuous and full-bodied with sweet tannin, just enough acidity to provide freshness, vibrancy and delineation, and a spectacular finish that goes on 40+ seconds. This is a killer, a showy and flamboyant style of Hillside Select that’s already drinking beautifully and should continue to do so for another 15-20 years.


Paeella Verda. Rabbit, pork, bomba rice, artichokes, garrofo beans. Good, but not as good as the squid ink.


2004 Torbreck Descendant. Parker 98. The 2004 Descendant, an old oak-aged blend of 92% Shiraz and 8% Viognier from a 12-year old vineyard, offers up notes of blackberries, ink, sweet truffles, and acacia flowers. There are 1,000 cases of this full-bodied, intense, rich blockbuster. It will drink well for 10-15 years.


2005 Colgin IX Syrah Estate. Parker 95. Colgin is one of the reference points for just what heights mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux varietals, and more recently, Syrah, can achieve in Napa Valley. This beautiful estate and winery overlooking Lake Hennessey is owned by Joe Wender and his wife, Ann Colgin (equally renowned for her auctioneering skills), who are assisted by David Abreu, the well-known Bordeaux wine consultant, Dr. Alain Raynaud, and Allison Tauziet, who has skillfully replaced the brilliant Mark Aubert. As the scores and tasting notes suggest, this was an exceptional tasting. Colgin’s 2006s are among the finest wines produced in the vintage.


Wagyu and two kinds of sausage, blood sausage and chorizo. The sausage was very salty, but tasty and the wagyu was amazing.


1995 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 95. Served from an ex-chateau bottle. The 1995 Chateau d’Yquem is moving into its secondary aroma phase. A deep golden color, it has a dense and almost Barsac-like bouquet with tangerine, apricot, acacia and melted candle wax. It displays good intensity, unfolding beautifully in the glass. The palate has a strident opening, with a slight bitter edge that lends this Yquem great tension. One can discern layers of marmalade infused with honey fruit, with a powerful, spicy finish that lingers long in the mouth. This is drinking perfectly now, but will surely age with style over many years.


Crema Catalana amb Compota Citrica. Catalan custard, mandarin compote, smokey ice cream. Delicious and creamy.


NV Valdespino Jerez-Xérès-Sherry El Cardenal Palo Cortado Vors. This is excellent…nutty, acidic, dried fruit..this has it all, and was wonderful with some quince, bread and cheese..very interesting and intriguing.


Arros amb llet. Rice pudding, caramel, vanilla ice cream. Good with a nice creaminess and the cinnamon.


NV Alvear Montilla-Moriles PX 1927. 92 points. Ink, dark spices, toffee, burnt caramel, juicy tar, dark soy, oyster sauce, fino flores, smoked prunes, hint menthol. Taste is similarly liquid toffee, chocolate, thick and unctious, savoury yet sweet and lightfooted. Residual grandma herbal joint oil, creamy rich butterscotch, burnt biscuit, honey treacle. Beautiful and powerful balance to the incredibly dark and bitter chocolate cake, with all the right elements just to lift and soften – a strong and fantastic finish to an incredible gastronomic journey.


Xocolata. Xocolate pate, blanqueta olive oil, smoked salt, passion fruit ice cream.


One of the many wineos joining us for this excess, Saison sommelier Max Coane. I’m very fortunate to be booked into 3 Star Michelin Saison next week for what should be another epic All Things Andy Gavin dining experience. Stay tuned!


All in all another great evening of pure hedonism. SOS is rocking on. It is right in there in the current “wood table, paper menu, small plates, loud room” thing that dominates new restaurants in LA right now. The food is quite Catalan/Valencian and very good. It’s quite salty, sometimes a little too much. Not crazy salty (like I’d sometimes get in Japan), but noticeable. Flavors are very strong (a good thing IMHO). The service was 11 out 10. Everyone pulled out all the stops.

Oh, and our nearly 30 bottles of great wine didn’t hurt either!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Oceans of Wine
  2. Wine on the Beach
  3. Elite Wine Night
  4. Fraiche – Ultimo Wine Dinner
  5. SOS – Smoke Oil Salt
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , , , , ,

Hedonism at Sea Harbor

Jan05

Mega Hedonist brunch at classic SGV Dim Sum Palace, Sea Harbor. Full details here.

132c7447

Related posts:

  1. Sea Harbor Dim Sum
  2. Hedonism in the Desert – Azeen’s Afghani
  3. Summer of Hedonism
  4. Epic Hedonism at Totoraku
  5. Hedonism at Saddle Peak Lodge
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as:

Truly Deeply Sick and Twisted 2

Jan02

51Hu9D5oAJLTitle: Wetlands

Author: Charlotte Roche

Genre: WTF NSFW

Length: 241 pages

Read: December 30, 2014

Summary: Fascinating… oddly

_

I stumbled across this short oddball novel last night, grew curious, given that it sold a million copies in Germany, and was made into a film — so read it today in an hour and a half. It’s not very long. I’m not even sure it’s very good, but it was very quick. The film version recently toured Sundance, so you can get a glimmer via the preview.

Wetlands is a sort of literary equivalent of Human Centipede. In some ways, it’s so perverse you just can’t help reading/watching. There are two things going on in this tight little first person tale. First is Helen’s “unusual” (many would say grotesque) point of view and its inherent fascination — and I have to admit, it’s perversely fascinating. Second there’s an attempt to make the delivery of said POV actually have a meaning.

The first works. The second doesn’t (for me).

Helen is a girl who likes sex, avocados, and bodily fluids. She has a particular fondness for anything “dirty.” She spends the entire novel in the hospital reminiscing. She’s there for a shaving cut gone particularly bad, in a place where the sun don’t shine. And she falls in love with her male nurse for no particular reason. During her mental wanderings she explores all aspects of her particular “tastes” for what one might consider the gross. No body fetish is left untouched. No fluid unspilled. No orifice is safe. She likes it all. Wallows in it really. Roche has a knack for this — and we have to wonder about the warm wet corners of her own mind — but it’s quite effective. Probably shocking for many. Really. I’m not easily shocked, but I was impressed by the lengths to which she went (as an author). I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything short of a twisted internet story quite so NSFW.

I’m fairly convinced the above ick factor was the major driving force behind the book. And the resultant buzz behinds sales. That and it being Germany. Not that any of this offended me — I can not be offended by such things — but the author tried to give meaning to this poor disturbed teen’s emotional state by interjecting a “plot” involving her divorced parents, her one sided attraction to her nurse, and her need for attention. In general, the dialog is impoverished and no one other than the narrator/protagonist has any development. So when what seems to be a totally one sided affair reverses on the penultimate page, it felt entirely forced and hollow.

So in terms of the book’s conventional character arc the novel fails miserably. But it does succeed at painting this oddball, fascinating, rather perverse character portrait. And I “enjoyed” my 90 minutes.

Find more book reviews here.

wetlands-1

Related posts:

  1. Truly Deeply Sick and Twisted
  2. About Book Reviews
  3. Adventures in the Screen Trade
  4. Outlander – Real Men Wear Kilts
  5. Book and Movie Review: The English Patient
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Books
Tagged as: , , , , , ,

Indian by the Beach

Dec31

Restaurant: Akbar [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 1101 Aviation Boulevard, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. (310) 937-3800

Date: December 29, 2014

Cuisine: Indian

Rating: Bold and balanced flavors

ANY CHARACTER HERE

For our last Hedonist group dinner of 2014, we celebrate at LA’s best Indian restaurant, Akbar (Hermosa Beach branch).


Fellow Hedonist Chef Avi commands the kitchen!

The Menu can be found here, although the chef designed our feast himself and it features many unusual and off menu items.


The chutney’s and pickles. The green one is mint, the yellow-ish coconut, the one with corn spicy-pickled vegetables (yum! and oh, so gut burning) and the back corner a tangy one.


2002 Pol Roger Champagne Extra Cuvee de Reserve. RJ Wine 94. Delicious. Elegant in the mouth. Long. Really liked this a lot. Great aperitif. Ready to drink but probably a long life ahead too.


Papadum. Crispy slightly spicy “bread.”


2008 Kongsgaard Viorous. IWC 94. Nose dominated by peach nectar, flowers and spices from the viognier, with a complicating element of wild herbs. Dense and tactile yet with terrific bright fruit character and lovely brisk acidity to lift and frame the wine’s intense peach and stone flavors. Finishes chewy and very long. The roussanne here is “as thick as potato soup,” notes Kongsgaard, adding that its job is to “take the viognier down off its floral pedestal.” Both of these are high-pH varieties, and yet the net impression is of an energetic wine.

agavin: really interesting Rhone-like white. Really held up the spice.


Chicken chili. Although an Indian dish, this has Chinese influences. Sort of like a spicy super tender general Tso’s chicken!


2002 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese. IWC 94. As with last year’s rendition, the first thing that hits me here is the distilled fruit character, discreet and high-toned in the nose, then intense and mesmerizing on the palate. Tropical, orchard and black fruit essences, sweet herbs, nut oils, brown spices, forest floor, sweet herbs and stones are all present, if scarcely possible to account for.


2005 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Pale yellow. Rich aromas of lichee, lemon oil and pine.Luscious yet piquant tropical fruit flavors accented by smoke. In spite of the wine’s substantial depth, subtle acidity brings spice and finesse to the finish.


Chicken 65. Spicy south indian specialty served with serano and onion. Hot wings crossed with chicken nuggets!


2012 Carl Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese. MFW 90. Great nose of pears, slate, and citrus. On the palate rich almost at an Auslese level of density with golden apple, pear, mineral, and citrus. Long finish with mouth watering acidity. Hold 5+ years.


Pan sautéed Fresh Scallops topped with mixed pepper chutney. Succulent and delicious with only a mild heat.


2004 Bink Wines Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard. 89 points. agavin: weirdly grapey and concentrated for a pinot, but not bad.


2013 Ritual Pinot Noir. 87 points. Dark ruby but not so dark as to be unrecognizable as a pinot. Very serious, heady nose of a pinot that definitely has aspirations: smoke, spice, blood, and meat are dominant. You can tell from the first sniff that you’re going to enjoy this if you like “big” pinot noirs. Generous mouthfeel that persists. Flavors of roasted (charred) chestnuts, cola syrup, and a bit of candy apple (but not sweet, if that makes sense). Just a bit of gentle tannin. The only fault I find is that there is a bit too much of a roasted, bass note, oakiness overpowering the rest.


Indian style gobi Manchurian. Cauliflower with “Manchurian” (aka Chinese) sauce. Very similar to the chili chicken, but cauliflower. And it was one of the best cauliflower dishes I’ve ever had!


1975 Trentadue Winery Petite Sirah. agavin 94. Probably about as obscure a wine as one is likely to find. It was late harvest and has an Amarone like style to it. Full of velvety grapes and tons of strong fruit — 39 years later!


From my cellar: 1978 Château Mont-Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape. JG 95. Gorgeous brick red with tawny rim.
Sweet rich fruit, plummy, earthy, rich blackberry compote, tar and licorice spice, but fruit dominant.
Fresh and smooth, superb balance and length, finishing with a deep long resonating kiss. Loving this. Hints of sherbet zest but mostly a rich earthy compote of plummy fruit with a lightly spicy edge. Amazingly fresh and crisp for its considerable age, better than many 15 years it’s junior. I have another and will happily lay to rest for another 5-10. Drinking beautifully.

agavin: I didn’t love this bottle (even though I brought it). The nose had a kind of wet towel vibe, although it wasn’t on the palette (fortunately). Good, but not all I was hoping for.


Apollo fish. Fresh Catfish marinated in spiced batter with hot chili chutney. Fabulous fried fish. Not too heavy, with a bright chili flavor.


2000 Lynch Bages. Parker 97. Beginning to open magnificently, the still dense purple-colored 2000 reveals a blossoming bouquet of blackberries, cassis, graphite and pen ink. Full-bodied with velvety tannins that have resolved themselves beautifully over the last eleven years, this wine is still an adolescent, but it exhibits admirable purity, texture, mouthfeel and power combined with elegance. One of the all-time great examples of Lynch Bages, the 2000 is just beginning to drink well yet promises to last for another 20-25+ years.


2012 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon 40th Anniversary. Parker 96. They appear to be immune to some of winedom’s less than intelligent trends and fads that we see from time to time, and the result is a spectacular 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon 40th Anniversary offering. Its dense purple/black color is followed by copious quantities of crème de cassis and blackberry fruit, silky tannins, a voluptuous texture and stunning purity as well as length. This full-bodied effort is a fabulous example of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a tribute to this amazing family. It is so good now, why wait? However, I’m sure that like most vintages of Caymus, it will last for 20-25 years. Amazing!

agavin: as one person put it, “more vanilla than haagen daas!”


Tandoori Battair. Quails marinated in a medley of spices and grilled in tandoor. Really tender and bursting with flavor.


2005 L’Aventure Winery Optimus. Parker 94. The least expensive red wine is the Optimus cuvee. The 2005 Optimus (51% Syrah, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Petit Verdot) barely qualifies as a Rhone Ranger, but it offers classic chocolate, cassis, espresso, and subtle wood notes along with a dense ruby/purple hue, gorgeous concentration, and plenty of spice, cedar, and a Pauillac-like complexity and richness. This serious effort is more French than Californian. It should drink well for 6-10 years.


2008 Linne Calodo Nemesis Syrah. Parker 92-94. The dense purple 2008 Nemesis (always the heaviest in Syrah, with 85% Syrah and the rest Grenache and Mourvedre) is still youthful and intense, with plenty of body and hints of asphalt, graphite, blackberry and blueberry fruit, with some licorice and white chocolate. It is deep, full-bodied, rich, and should prove to be one of the longest lived wines of the 2008s from Trevisan, lasting well past a decade.

agavin: First we have Optimus, then Nemesis. Where is Hubris?


Fresh baked garlic naan.


2009 Lilian Ladouys. Parker 90. Elegant, with loads of black currant fruit, cherries and dusty, loamy soil notes as well as hints of tobacco leaf, spice box and cedar, it is a medium to full-bodied, nicely textured, fleshy wine that should drink nicely for 10-15+ years.


Peas Pillau. The Indian cousin of Chinese vegetable fried rice.


2007 Saxum Syrah Broken Stones. Parker 97+. The 2007 Broken Stones (71% Syrah, 18% Grenache, and 11% Mourvedre) is a gorgeously seamless wine with an inky/blue/purple color, a tight but promising nose of blue and black fruits, incense, charcoal, and extraordinarily pure black raspberry and blackberry fruit, fabulous concentration in the mouth, velvety, well-integrated tannins, and a mind-bogglingly long finish. This wine will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring, and should keep for 15 or more.

agavin: I’m normally a New World hater, but I had to admit, I liked this wine. It’s grapey intensity shot through the spice wall too.


2009 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard. Parker 97. Moving on to the vineyard designated Syrahs and a fantastic vintage for this cuvee, which goes back to the 2005, 2006 and 2007 levels of richness, the 2009 Syrah Reva (100% Syrah aged 42-months in French oak) offers up more fruit and purity than normal, with only hints of its normal iodine/seaweed tinged profile. Loaded with sweet black raspberry, cassis, wild herbs, flowers and subtle blood and iodine qualities, it is a full-bodied, decadent Syrah that has incredible mid-palate depth, beautiful freshness and a blockbuster finish. It will continue to gain in depth and richness with short-term cellaring and have an easy 12-15 years or ultimate longevity. Drink 2015-2024.


2002 Peter Lehmann Shiraz Stonewell. Parker 92. The 2002 Stonewell Shiraz was barrel fermented and aged in new French and American oak hogsheads. The fruit was sourced from several of the Barossa’s top addresses. It offers up aromas of toasty oak, spice box (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg), asphalt, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. This is followed by a structured, tightly wound wine in which black fruits and chocolate make an appearance. It will benefit from another 8-10 years in the cellar and should drink well through 2027.


House favorite Chicken Tikka Masala. Another perfect batch of this amazing dish. The chicken itself is all super tender chunks of white meat. The sauce has this snappy tang and complex flavor.


2002 TOR Kenward Family Wines Syrah Old Clones Los Carneros. IWC 90. Good ruby-red. Very ripe if slightly medicinal aromas of blackberry and white pepper, with some minty lift. Nicely juicy and light on its feet, with varietally accurate flavors similar to the aromas. This has a high pH (3.9) but also sound structure and reasonable alcohol (14.2%). Quite stylish. (The young 2003 was distinctly more gamey, with almost Cornas-like flavors.)


Coco Lamb. Lamb prepared in coconut milk with crushed peppers and a saute of red chilies and mustard seeds. Was in Top 10 dishes in 1997 – LA Los Angeles Times.


2012 Aubert Pinot Noir Ritchie Vineyard. Parker 91-93. Made from the Calera clone, the 2012 Pinot Noir Ritchie Vineyard offers up plenty of cola and root beer notes intermixed with black cherry, dusty, loamy soil and foresty nuances. Deep and medium to full-bodied with fresh, lively fruit, it should drink well for 10 + years.


Keema Mattar. Usually is with ground Lamb, This is wild boar Keema sauteed cooked with serano, onion, tomato. Nice and spicy.


2001 Panza Petite Sirah Stag’s Leap Ranch. 91 points. Remains a restrained, subtle pet with great balance and relatively elegant for the varietal. Will live a lot more years, but not sure it will evolve much more.


Brussel sprout curry. South Indian style brussel sprout.


2012 Prisoner Wine Co Proprietary Red The Prisoner. Parker 90. There are 20,000 cases of the 2012 The Prisoner, which is an interesting blend of 46% Zinfandel, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon,18% Petite Sirah, 12% Syrah, and a small amount of Charbono. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by a big, peppery, meaty, Rhone-like bouquet with hints of bay leaf, unsmoked cigar tobacco, black currants and sweet jammy cherries. Medium to full-bodied and explosively fruity, this is a lovely, hedonistic, seriously endowed red to drink over the next 3-4 years.


Dal Makhani. Black lentils prepared with kidney beans with butter.


t

1986 Raymond-Lafon. Parker 92. It is hard to believe this wine will eclipse the great 1983, but the differences in the two wines are negligible. I do not believe the 1986 makes quite the impact on the palate that the huge, massive 1983 does, but there is a great deal of botrytis, and a profound, penetrating fragrance of sauteed pineapple, vanillin, toast, and honeyed peaches. In the mouth, the wine is more streamlined than the 1983, but lusciously rich and full bodied, with very good acidity and a creamy, intense finish. It will be interesting to compare the 1983 and 1986 as they evolve. My guess is that the 1986 will age faster. Anticipated maturity: Now-2012. Last tasted, 3/90.


Mango Cheesecake. Homemade Mango cheesecake, Chef Avi’s sister in law, Marla Kapoor’s recipe. Still going strong.


Kheer. Rice Pudding saffron flavored.


Kulfi. homemade Indian saffron and pistachio flavored ice cream. Really nice and creamy.

Akbar has long been my favorite LA Indian, and this meal was probably my best yet — and very different than usual. Chef Avi really turned out a lot of unique things tonight, including a bunch of southern specialties. And the wines were really great too. All in all an excellent way to send out the Hedonist year.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Big and Bold on the Beach
  2. Wine on the Beach
  3. Amazing Akbar
  4. Food as Art: Sam’s by the Beach
  5. All Things Akbar
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , ,

Palace of Pepper

Dec29

Restaurant: Chuan Ren Bai Wei

Location: 6420 Rosemead Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91775. (626) 286-5508

Date: December 28, 2014 & June 16, 2015

Cuisine: Beijing / Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Great!

_

Just six months ago I ate in this same space, but it was a different Chinese restaurant at the time, Beijing Duck House. Now, due to the rising popularity of Szechuan cuisine it has been rebooted. It still looks the same. It still serves Peking Duck. But there’s a lot more pepper on the menu.


2012 Gérard Boulay Sancerre La Comtesse Monts Damnés. IWC 93. Bright yellow. Spicy aromas of tangerine, lemongrass and cardamom, with a subtle floral twist. Tightly wound, offering citrus and spice flavors, with excellent clarity and finesse. The tenacious finish is long, saline and pure. This is one of the finest Sancerres of the vintage.


Boiled peanuts. On the table at most real Chinese restaurants.


Cold appetizers. Shredded potato. Cured spicy meats and cabbage. Beef tendon.

Water. The mason jar is one little tidbit of trend that has crept into this otherwise fairly old school SGV place.

2005 Gérard Raphet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques. Burghound 91-93. A gorgeous and seductive mix of red pinot, raspberry, cool minerality and a touch of earth complements to perfection the full, rich, deep, serious and intense flavors that manage to pull off being powerful and concentrated yet supple and delicious without compromising in the slightest the balance, which is not easy to do. A really lovely 1er that offers grand cru quality.

They have a real duck carver.

Peking duck. This was one of the better peking duck’s we’ve had. Maybe not quite so good as Tasty Duck, but the meat was fabulous. The skin could have been a tad crispier, but the hoison sauce was top notch.

On our second visit the duck came in this cute duck plate.

Awesome hoisin sauce.


Pancakes and condiments.

Leftover skin is for some reason placed on a separate plate.

2011 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Narvaux. 90 points. Nice strong vanilla notes.

The second of the “3 ways” for Peking duck is the duck soup.

Duck soup. A mild but pleasant broth with bits of meat and tofu.


Duck lettuce cups. The third of the ways. Not really that exciting.


House pancake. A nice fluffy bit of fresh bread with a little sweetness.

2004 Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered. 90 points. Well integrated with pear and apple notes and overtones of oak and vanilla, but not cloyingly so… Great body, mouthfeel and smooth finish.


Bean noodles. This is mixed up and the mung bean noodles are coated in a peanuty/spicy/tangy sauce. The sauce was awesome, with a bit of a mustard component. The tofu had a spongy texture, but the dish was overall quite nice.

Pork fried rice.

It’s evil cousin, chicken fried rice.

Spicy and sour glass noodles. I love this dish, with it’s heat, both hot and numbing, and strange vinegar tang. Not for the mild mannered or uninitiated.


You can see the noodles here. And the pepper!


2013 Errazuriz Chardonnay Wild Ferment Aconcagua Costa. 90 points. On the nose, a bit of young Burgundy-like tar on the nose in addition to some lively tropical fruit. Rich fruit on the palate, along with the aforementioned tar in the background. Nice acidic foil that is approachable now but should contribute to aging this a bit. Very approachable and enjoyable now, but I suspect better and more integrated in 2+ years.


Sweet corn. Pretty much what it looks like.


Cumin lamb. A really nice version of this dish. A lot of good lamb flavor.

Sizzling beef. Isn’t the animal-shaped dish cute?

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Spätlese. 91 points. Ripe apples, nectarine and slight tinned peach aromas dominating. A slight struck flint quality and also some creamy notes. In the mouth the flavours of ripe, but slightly tart, red apple is to the fore – on this tasting the acidity is a little spiky for the residual sugar but it really is very good. Fresh and lovely, I think this wine has a long life ahead of it.


Whole fish in peppers. The last part of the name is true. There wasn’t so much fish, even if the pan was huge.


But there sure were a lot of peppers, peanuts, lotus root, garlic and the like. The sauce was actually pretty darn good (and hot).

Fish with two chilies. Under that mound of tangy chili sauce (in green and red) is another fish. It was pretty darn good.

1998 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Steinriesler. 93 points. Light on its feet, pure, focused with bright citrus and pear fruit, a stony mineral undercurrent, and gentle floral and high toned herbal accents. Seamless and very polished on the palate.


Kung Pao Chicken. This slightly unusual take on the classic was hot AND sweet. Very interesting, and delicious!


Spicy chicken. This classic triple fried dry woked chicken was amazing. It was hot in both ways, and full of intense fried flavor. Very salty.


Have a few peppers!

Sweet and sour spareribs. Bony, very fried, and quite tasty.

2005 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots. Burghound 88-91. Strong wood influence currently dominates the dark berry and black raspberry-infused nose that precedes the somewhat woody medium weight flavors that are round and sweet with fine depth and complexity but the wood is not subtle and it causes me to question whether it will cause the finish to eventually dry out?


Spicy noodles. Kind of a pepper noodle soup with bacon.

Dan dan mein. Tasty, but way way too soup to really be proper dan dan. The sauce on the mung bean noodles was closer.

2011 Faiveley Monthélie Les Champs-Fulliot. IWC 89-91. Good bright red. Vibrant aromas of cherry and pungent minerals convey a strong limestone character. Then sappy and serious on the palate, richer and deeper but less open than the Duresses. Finishes with big, rich tannins and noteworthy persistence. Very suave and structured Monthelie with good mid-term aging potential.


Shredded potato. The more or less typical Hunan / Szechuan version of this dish.


Vegetable dry hot pot. Mostly cauliflower. Nice spicy flavor. Similar to the dish (and only dish) served at Tasty Dining.


More peppers! Perhaps you sense a theme.


2007 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. Parker 97. Evolving beautifully, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de La Reine des Bois has shed some of its crazy tannin and is showing a more layered, voluptuous profile. Possessing beautiful kirsch, blackberry, candied licorice, flowers and lavender, it offers knockout richness and decadence to go with brilliant purity of fruit, superb concentration, and a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel. While I don’t think it matches the ’01 or ’10, it’s an incredible bottle of wine that can be consumed anytime over the coming 10-15 years.


Lamb skewers. Nice cumin flavor.


MaPo tofu. One of my favorites in general. This was a fine rendition. Not the best I’ve ever had, but certainly still had that nice soft texture and gradual heat.


2010 DeRose Zinfandel Dryfarmed Old Vines Cedolini Vineyard.


Dumplings. Very nice straight up steamed potstickers. No sauce was in evidence, so we made due with Hoisin.


Kung Pao shrimp. Same sauce as the chicken above. Fabulous dish actually, even if not totally typical (with that spicy sweet vibe).


Fish filet boiled with green peppers. I couldn’t resist photoing this at a neighboring table. This is a Szechuan classic, with more of an emphasis on the numbing peppercorns (see them floating in the broth?).


Mixed Szechwan skewers. Little random bits in hot sauce.


Morning glory / Ong choy. Or some similar colon sweeper.

Overall, another highly enjoyable Chinese meal. The duck was on par with Tasty Duck and the other dishes were arguably better. This place was good before, and it’s even better now. Really, this was some very enjoyable food. A number of dishes were off the charts like the “spicy chicken.”

It should be noted that service was very good. On our second visit, our server Lulu did a fabulous job handling our “chaos.” She helped out with the ordering, managed the pacing well (not always the case at Chinese) and along with the other staff really were on point replacing plates, providing napkins, and the like. At one point when I was hunting for toothpicks she even went and brought some on a plate!

After all that heat we felt the need to cool off with a pair of massive shave ices:

Mango shaved ice with almond jelly, mango jelly, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream.


Strawberry shaved ice with almond jelly, vanilla ice cream, and honey boba.


Rose tea.

Then finished off with a nice foot massage next door. Ah, the SGV.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  2. Spice Up Your Life Szechuan Style
  3. Century City Heat
  4. Revenge of the Han Dynasty
  5. Serious Szechuan
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , , , , , , ,

How many Saddles to Peak?

Dec26

Restaurant: Saddle Peak Lodge [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Location: 419 Cold Canyon Rd, Calabasas, CA 91302 (818) 222-3888

Date: December 18, 2014

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Great ambiance and terrific game oriented food.

_

Ever year, both in the summer and winter, we Hedonists return to Saddle Peak Lodge. It’s pretty much the perfect venue for both a winter or summer food and wine blast, with gorgeous lodge patio, game driven food, and awesome wine service. For those of you who don’t know, Hedonist events have amazing wines (each diner brings at least one bottle).


Saddle Peak Ranch used to be a game lodge back in the early part of the 20th century. The rich and famous used to come up and hunt Malibu’s finest, such as this poor fellow. Now the deer are just served up on the menu.


Our private room.

2004 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. AG 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.


1979 Château Rieussec. Parker 84. A lightweight Rieussec that does not have the intensity and richness of vintages such as 1981 or 1983, it does offer an elegant, well-made, less powerful wine that is light enough to be served as an aperitif.


Special liver. Somehow, this free food arrived on ours plates. It was kinda disappointing though, small, and not the best bit of “whatever it is.” The prep was good though.


And the sauternes looks good in the glass.


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


An amuse of tomato soup.


Pretzel bread.


Chef’s daily selection of market oysters.


We tried to organize the Burgundies into a flight.


From my cellar: 1978 Remoissenet Père et Fils Richebourg. 84 points. Shrill on the palate. Not a great wine. Fill looked excellent, and there was some fruit, but way too much tannin.


1988 Remoissenet Père et Fils Richebourg. 84 points. I liked this one even less, or maybe about the same.

1996 Louis Jadot Richebourg. Burghound 92. The nose offers a blast of powerful black fruit and flavors that are dense, intense and amazingly long. This is a big-bodied wine with dusty, muscular tannins and penetrating, potent flavors culminating in a slightly warm though nicely complex finish. Impressively constructed and while this does not offer the refinement and finesse of the best of this range, the unusually concentrated, robust Richebourg character is admirable.

agavin: best of the 3 by a longshot.


Venison Carpaccio, horseradish, avocado, parmesan, capers, ciabbata.


1986 Lafite-Rothschild. Parker 100. The 1986 possesses outstanding richness, a deep color, medium body, a graceful, harmonious texture, and superb length. The penetrating fragrance of cedar, chestnuts, minerals, and rich fruit is a hallmark of this wine. Powerful, dense, rich, and tannic, as well as medium to full-bodied, with awesome extraction of fruit, this Lafite has immense potential. Patience is required. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2030.


Spanish octopus, fingerling potato, tequila vinaigrette, chermoula.


1999 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia. Parker 88. Dense ruby-colored, with a tight personality, the 1999 Sassicaia offers up aromas of smoke, vanilla, and red as well as black currants. Medium-bodied, with high tannin and excellent purity, this elegant, restrained, moderately concentrated effort needs another 2-3 years of cellaring. It should keep for 12-15 years. The abundant tannin in addition to a certain austerity may prove troublesome in the future.


Caesar salad, garlic croutons, Parmigiano-Reggiano.


2005 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo Monprivato. Parker 94+. The 2005 Barolo Monprivato is a very pretty, harmonious wine endowed with tons of purity in its fruit. All of the telltale aromas and flavors of Monprivato are there – geraniums, roses, spices and flowers – but backed up by quite a bit of heft and body as well. Today, the 2005 Monprivato is quite tannic, but it should come around with a few more years in bottle. In some ways, the 2005 reminds me of the 1999, another vintage in which the Ca d’Morissio was not produced. Monprivato is typically one of the hardest wines to accurately assess when young, and only time will tell what heights it ultimately reaches. For now, the future certainly seems bright. This is a mysterious, seductive Monprivato that will be fascinating to follow. Mascarello was especially selective with his Monprivato and only bottled about 50% of his production. He also blended in the juice kept separately for the Ca d’Morissio, which in this vintage is about 20% of the final blend as opposed to the more typical 10% in vintages when the Ca d’Morissio is produced. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035.


Roasted Pink Lady apple salad, endives, St. Agur blue cheese, pecans.


Butternut squash agnolotti, cranberry port reduction, purple kale, pine nuts.


1995 Penfolds Grange. Parker 92. An impressive Grange that may ultimately prove to be underrated, like many wines from this vintage, the 1995, a blend of 94% Shiraz and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, exhibits a saturated plum/purple color and a sweet blackberry liqueur nose intermixed with cassis, licorice, and new oak. The wine is textured, jammy, full-bodied, with impressive levels of extract, glycerin, and black fruit flavors. It is long, ripe, with unobtrusive acidity and tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2004-2018.


1996 Penfolds Grange. Parker 96. Deep garnet colored, 1996 Grange is scented with stewed plums, warm cherries and mince meat with hints of Ceylon tea, black olives and Chinese five spice. Medium-full bodied and with a generous amount of flesh on the palate, it gives very crisp acid and a medium-firm level of grainy tannins, finishing long. The layered complexity of this wine is just beginning to emerge, promising better things to come.


1990 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage la Chapelle. Parker 100. The 1990 La Chapelle is the sexy and opulent. I had the 1990 at the Jaboulet tasting, and again out of a double magnum three months ago. On both occasions it was spectacular, clearly meriting a three-digit score. The modern day equivalent of the 1961, it deserves all the attention it has garnered. The color remains an opaque purple, with only a slight pink at the edge. Spectacular aromatics offer up aromas of incense, smoke, blackberry fruit, cassis, barbecue spice, coffee, and a touch of chocolate. As it sits in the glass, additional nuances of pepper and grilled steak emerge. There is extraordinary freshness for such a mammoth wine in addition to abundant tannin, an amazing 60-second finish, and a level of glycerin and thick, fleshy texture that have to be tasted to be believed.


1995 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin. Parker 96. The 1995 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Jacques Perrin reveals a black/purple color, and a huge nose of Provencal herbs, smoked olives, grilled meats, and sweet, jammy black-cherry and black-raspberry fruit. Full-bodied, and oozing with extract and glycerin (nearly concealing the wine’s formidable tannin levels), this blockbuster Chateauneuf du Pape will need a minimum of 10-12 years of cellaring; it should keep through the first half of the next century.


Dover sole.


New Zealand Lamb Rack.


Saddle Peak Wild Game Trio, served with chef’s accompaniments.


Elk with bacon.


Buffalo short ribs.


Venison.


Durham Ranch Bison T-Bone 20 oz.


2005 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 97. Not unexpectedly, the 2005 Harlan Estate performed slightly better than it did last year. As these wines often do, it continues to put on weight as it is bottled very late by Napa standards, and there is no fining or filtration. The 2005 exhibits a gorgeous thick-looking, ruby/purple color in addition to a beautiful nose of burning embers interwoven with creme de cassis, roasted meats, sweet black truffles, and spring flowers. A hint of lead pencil shavings also emerges from this cuvee, which seems to want to be both a Pauillac and a ripe vintage of La Mission Haut Brion. Full-bodied, dense, pure, and revealing sweeter tannin than I remember, it can be drunk now, but it will no doubt display even greater complexity in 10, 20, and 30 years.


1974 Ridge Zinfandel Monte Bello. Surprisingly intact. It had some kind of nostalgic meaning to Yarom and Ron, and Yarom points out how rare it must be — if there are even any left. The Zin wasn’t a big production wine anyway, and so now 40 years later, not so many.


2005 Verite Le Desir. Parker 99. This blend of 87% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec (the highest percentage of Merlot ever used for Le Desir) reveals notes of truffles, mocha, wild mountain berry fruit, crushed rock and coffee. Fabulous fruit, tremendous viscosity and opulence and a full-bodied, voluptuous texture result in a wine that is hard to resist even though it remains an adolescent in terms of development. It should provide pleasure over the next 15+ years.

In magnum, a mega monster!


Sautéed Vegetable Selections.


Lobster Mac & Cheese. Good but needed more lobster.


Truffled French Fries, Parmesan, Parsley. Awesome. Black Garlic Ketchup on the side.


Onion Rings, Black Garlic Ketchup. Amazing.


Sautéed Wild Shimeji Mushrooms. Really yummy.


2003 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva. AG 93. Kirsch, cloves, leather and licorice are some of the many notes that emerge from Quintarelli’s 2003 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva. Dark, powerful and brooding, the Riserva is a bit less marked by the year than the straight bottling. Here it is the wine’s explosive, full-bodied finish that stands out most. This is a fascinating wine from Quintarelli. I am a bit surprised to see a Riserva in 2003, but it works, and beautifully. When they are on, these wines are utterly hypnotizing, as is the case here.

agavin: had a grapefruit note that was totally odd for an Amarone!


Cheese plate.


Bread for the cheese.


2001 Sine Qua Non Mr K The Noble Man (Chardonnay). Parker 97. While richer, sweeter, and more unctuous than the Iceman, 2001 Mr. K The Noble Man (Chardonnay), a Trockenbeerenauslese look-alike, possesses nervy, vibrant acidity that is hard to imagine in a wine of this mass and richness. The residual sugar is 255 grams per liter, with an amazing 11.1 grams per liter of acidity, and 11.7% finished alcohol.


Chocolate coffee pot de crème with espresso crème, chocolate-covered coffee beans, and almond coffee dust.


Chocolate raspberry brownie.


Banana huckleberry croissant bread pudding with white chocolate ice cream.

This was a total blow out event. The food was impeccable and the service warm. We had so much wine we left them a little overwhelmed, but that’s par for the course. Plus we had a really great mix of people and some of the most awesome wines. Tonight was particularly killer in the wine department as you have seen.

Click here for more LA restaurant reviews,

Or for Hedonist extravaganzas.

 

Related posts:

  1. Summertime Peak
  2. Hedonists climb the Peak
  3. Saddle Peak Peaks
  4. Saddle Peak Again?!?
  5. Hedonism at Saddle Peak Lodge
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , ,

The Power of Providence

Dec23

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2]

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

Date: December 15, 2014

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Awesome food

_

It’s been a month since the Foodie Club convened for the awesome white truffles at Saam dinner and so Erick was itching for some more epic wine dinner awesomeness. Enter the chef’s table at Providence. There is no doubt that Providence is one of LA’s top fine dining establishments.


Enter the private chefs table: pretty much inside the kitchen!


And tonight’s menu.


From my cellar: 2006 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 94-96. This is notably more elegant, refined and complex with only a trace of exoticism to the mostly white flower and peach aromas that are followed by textured, pure, detailed and delineated flavors that are quite reserved and cool at present while culminating in a focused, crystalline, dry and driving finish. This does a slow build from the mid-palate before exploding onto the knockout finish. A Zen wine. Note that while I am giving a suggested initial drinking window of 2013, this will be capable of aging for years.

agavin: personally I think there was a trace of premox in this bottle, perhaps, but that it was drinking fabulously for us. It just didn’t taste that young, more like a 2000 or something. So if you have these, perhaps drink up.


Sphereified Greyhound. Like a greyhound popper.


Scallop “taco.” This spicy leaf (nasturtium, a bit like shiso) contained a mixture of scallop and some grain. It was scrumptious. As Yarom puts it: “a 10!”


Razor clam. With a bunch of sauces and bits.


Bacon and squid. A popsicle of… you guessed it… bacon and squid.


Beef cigars. Basically super yummy beef taquitos.


Smoked Bacon soup. This little cappuccino was incredibly delicious. Super creamy it tasted strongly of bacon. Yummy little bits were in the bottom.


Creme fresh with salmon crisps. The crisps are actually salmon skin. The Ikurka (salmon eggs) were incredibly fresh too.


The bread. The greenish one was seaweed. The brioche was the best though.


Fancy Normandy butter and salt.


2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 92. This is presently quite reticent and it requires considerable aeration to coax aromas of airy white flowers, spice and limestone that precede textured, pure and defined energy-filled flavors that possess a linear mouth feel, all wrapped in a focused and mouth coating finish of impressive length. Perhaps this is just going through a phase but it seems a bit awkward at present, and while all the component pieces appear to be in place, I wasn’t knocked out despite the length of the finish. One thing that is clear though is that this definitely needs more bottle age before it’s ready for prime time. Tasted only once in bottle.

agavin: This was our weakest wine, but it was still very nice.


Sashimi. Calabrian chiles, lemon, mint.


Uni in yuzu. Caviar, soy milk.


Check it out inside. It’s literally in a yuzu too!


New Zealand abalone. buckwheat, dashi butter. A very savory little dish.


From my cellar: 1983 Domaine Clair-Daü Bonnes Mares. JK 94. The Clair-Dau, whose vineyards are now all owned by Louis Jadot, was another excellent 1983. I have had good luck with this once-heralded vintage, which I often find delicious to drink. Menthol was the most prevalent characteristic, to go with its open and autumnal fruit.

agavin: I adored this wine. There was some funk on the nose that blew off in 5 minutes. Then it opened and opened and opened. The acidity was perhaps stronger than the fruit, but I still loved it.


Squid carbonara. pancetta. Truffles. This was actually a bit spicy. The spice nuked out all the cheese and the truffle though. It would have been better as a pasta (and without the spice).


Live scallop. white truffle, salted butter. It came out in the shell.


Then they cracked it, so it was steamed in the shell.


And truffle was shaved on top. A really delicious dish.


1971 Pierre Ponnelle Bonnes Mares. 94 points. After a few minutes the nose came around and also became vibrant and full of dried red fruits. There was a ton of fruit left in here and a lovely long finish.

agavin: really really nice.


Monkfish. Matsutake.


John dory. lardo, cabbage, apple. A really delicious dish with a nice fruity tone to the sauce that paired well with the old red Burgundy.


We added this duck dish. It wasn’t on the regular chef’s menu.


1983 Château Margaux. Parker 96. The 1983 Margaux is a breathtaking wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes achieved perfect maturity in 1983, and the result is an astonishingly rich, concentrated, atypically powerful and tannic Margaux. The color is dark ruby, the aromas exude ripe cassis fruit, violets, and vanillin oakiness, and the flavors are extremely deep and long on the palate with a clean, incredibly long finish. This full-bodied, powerful wine remains stubbornly backward and at least 5-6 years away from maturity.

agavin: we decanted ours at the beginning of the meal and it was very lovely.


a5 wagyu. Pickled bitter greens, caramelized onion puree, carrot. Really fabulous bit of meat.


Cheese cart!


A real cheese cart is so much better than those “they just give you two cheeses” kind of cheese plates. Those are lame. We even got seconds (and a whole other plate of different cheeses I forgot to photo).


1990 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 99. An extraordinary effort, Yquem’s 1990 is a rich and fabulously superb, sweet wine. This wine also possesses lots of elegance and finesse. The wine’s medium gold color is accompanied by an exceptionally sweet nose of honeyed tropical fruits, peaches, coconut, and apricots. High quality, subtle toasty oak is well-integrated. The wine is massive on the palate, with layers of intensely ripe botrytis-tinged, exceptionally sweet fruit. Surprisingly well-integrated acidity, and a seamless, full-bodied power and richness have created a wine of remarkable harmony and purity. Certainly it is one of the richest Yquems I have ever tasted, with 50-100 years of potential longevity. An awesome Yquem!


Frozen yogurt. tangerine, carrot, ginger, hazelnut. A very autumn tone to this and the other desserts.


Hachiya persimmon. Whiskey, mint, cocoa.


Pear. Sunchoke cake, manjari. Really autumnal.


Petite fours. The usual, but all very lovely.


And a bag of slightly spicy chocolates to go.

The wines varied very good to spectacular. Four people, six bottles. We could have really used an extra white, as Providence is very seafood heavy, but it still worked out well.

The food was pretty awesome. Having just eaten at Maude a couple days before it’s pretty obvious that this slightly more 2000s style of French American (with Asian influences) is ultimately a little more successful on the plate than the more textural play at Maude. There were a lot of very good dishes here, although a couple of goofs like the carbonara.

Overall, a seriously epic night! We started at 7:30pm and walked out after 1am!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Foodie Club dinners here!


Related posts:

  1. Burgundy at Providence
  2. Chengdu Taste – Power of the Peppercorn
  3. Valentino – 2004 Red Burgundy
  4. Sage at Oliverio
  5. Melisse – How much would a Woodcock…
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , ,

Ring the Ji Rong Gong

Dec21

Restaurant: Ji Rong

Location: 8450 East Valley Boulevard #115, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 280-8600

Date: December 14, 2014 and September 3, 2018 & January 13, 2019 & February 2, 2020 & February 27, 2022

Cuisine: Beijing Chinese

Rating: Solid

_

More Chinese food, it never gets old. We tried out Ji Rong, another Beijing style place is Rosemead back in 2014 and then after a long gap I returned in 2018, 2019, and 2020.


More or less the usual decor.
1A0A6787-Pano
Pretty big main room.
1A0A6778-Pano
There are some “private” rooms off to the side, which offer some privacy, but the dividers are open lattice and offer no sound dampening.
7U1A3940-Pano
The left side private room is a bit more “private”.

IMG_0931 IMG_0930 IMG_0912
IMG_0913 IMG_0914 IMG_0915
IMG_0916 IMG_0917 IMG_0918
IMG_0919 IMG_0920 IMG_0921
IMG_0922 IMG_0923 IMG_0924
IMG_0925 IMG_0926 IMG_0927
IMG_0928 IMG_0929

Pretty menu.

From my cellar: 2011 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Narvaux. 92 points. Nice young white Burg with a ton of vanilla on both the nose and palette.


Cold sliced pig’s foot. Rubbery.
1A4A3456
Sea Cucumber and Vegetable Jelly (2/27/22). A bit bland.
1A4A3451
Spicy Jellyfish (2/27/22). Amazing.
1A0A6724
Cold spicy mung bean noodles (9/3/18 & 2/1/20). I love this tangy dish for its slippery texture and great balance.

7U1A7071
Crab flavored black fungus (2/1/20) – as you’d expect.
7U1A7081
Bean curd salad (2/1/20).
7U1A7074
Cold spicy chicken (2/1/20) – lots of flavor and a good dose of heat.
1A0A6739
Cold sliced spicy beef (9/3/18 & 2/27/22). A bit of heat, cornbeef/tendony meat, lots of cilantro.
7U1A3881
Marinated barley, mushrooms, and beancurd (1/13/19). Unusual sweet and soy flavor and chewy texture. Delicious.
7U1A7101
Hot and sour soup (2/1/20) – very nice version of the classic.

2014 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc.


Noodle salad. This mix of mustard, sesame, cilantro, cucumber, and a weird jellyfish noodle is all scrambled and actually quite delicious. It has a bit of a kick and fresh taste.


2001 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Spätlese. 91 points. Oily petrol, quince, marmalade notes in a light yellow hue. Electric acid framing lychee, flaked slate, pineapple, kumquat, apricot and lime. Excellent at this age. Slightest secondary notes of overripe fermenting fruit evident.


Pork pie (Sep 2018, 1/13/19, and 2/27/22). Yum. This was an okay but not stellar pie, but the dish is so delicious in general that it was great.
1A4A3476
See the inside.


2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Fresh bouquet of bosc pear and acacia blossom. The palate offers a delicate sweetness, with an attractive interplay of apricot and saline soil tones. This rich spatlese finishes with lipsmacking elegance.

7U1A7105
Peking duck (every-time). This was a solid duck. Probably around the same quality as Tasty Duck and with a very generous portion of meat. They do refuse to give you the bones and other parts except as soup.


The usual condiments. They were fresh and the plum sauce was good.
1A0A6737
There are pancakes and duck legs. Pancakes are always better than buns.
1A4A3517
A pancake prior to rolling.

1A0A6745
And the usual boring duck soup. The only place I know of with a genuinely good duck soup is Shanghailander.


2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Spätlese. 92 points. Bright light canary yellow color; bright, floral, apple nose; tasty, solid, ripe apple, ripe citrus palate; medium-plus finish


Beef roll. I’ve had better beef rolls and I’ve had worse. It was tasty though. Dough was good.
7U1A7113
Steamed chicken in Hunan Sauce (2/1/20) – lots of ginger, very ugly, and tons of boney little bits to chew on. I don’t think I would order this again.

From my cellar: 1999 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges. IWC 94. Full, bright, saturated medium ruby. Knockout nose of black fruits, minerals, espresso, roasted meat, licorice, violet pastille and menthol. Huge but utterly lively and suave. A sappy, perfumed wine of great intensity and inner-mouth lift. Very complex and perfectly balanced. Vibrant finish features smooth, toothcoating tannins and superb persistence. Les Saint-Georges of grand cru quality.

7U1A3899
Dungeness Crab with Garlic and Ginger sauce (1/13/19). I don’t always love Chinese crab because it can be hard to get into but this was an awesome one. The sauce was so lick smacking good it was worth chewing the shell.
7U1A3910
House still spicy lobster (1/13/19 and 2/1/20). Very good lobster prep, but not worth the extra cost. Other places have better lobster (and it’s common).
7U1A3934
Clams with ginger and garlic (1/13/19). Any tasty seafood dish.

1A4A3485
Scallops with garlic (2/27/22). Good.
1A4A3487
Braised Croaker (2/27/22). Nice, garlicky.
7U1A3917
Sweet and sour fish filets (1/13/19 and 2/27/22). When Seb wasn’t looking I ordered these tasty/sweet fried goodies. He likes a steamed whole fish — boring! (although I do like the whole fish in chilies)

7U1A7078
Fish filets (2/1/20). I didn’t try these as they were at the pescatarian table.
7U1A7084
Walnut shrimp (2/1/20) – lots of mayo and very fried.


Fried pumpkin (early and 2/27/22). Some loved this dish, I thought it was just ok.


Ma Po Tofu. In general one of my favorite dishes and this one was solidly good. Some Szechuan peppercorn heat. A little salty, but good.


2011 Hilliard Bruce Pinot Noir Sky. IWC 92. While there is a trace of reduction here as well it’s noticeably less pronounced and doesn’t really mask the mix of upper and lower level aromas that include menthol and crushed leaf as well as cassis, dark currant and soft spice elements. The supple and vibrant middle weight flavors possess good detail as well as reasonably good complexity on the intense, clean and again ever-so-mildly edge and austere but persistent finish. While a bit more technically correct this will also need a few years of cellaring to allow the tannins and acidity to harmonize.


Lamb and cabbage soup. Surprisingly  tasty.


2005 Château Rob Valentin. 93 points. Smooth and silky with soft fruits and hints of earth.


Pork. I like this dish in general. This implementation  was mediocre, but it did have these interesting tofu “band-aides” to wrap the meat in.

7U1A3922
Shredded pork (1/13/19). This is a different pork dish.


2005 Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee la Cote Ronde. Parker 94. The 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee La Cote Ronde is undeniably the best wine Autard has made since the 1998 rendition of this cuvee. This got a big “Wow!” when I smelled it. A stunning nose of black truffles, melted licorice, blackberries, and sweet cherries is followed by a multi-dimensional, multi-layered, full-bodied wine with tremendous power, richness, and a hint of barrique. One could say this is modern, but the Provencal personality jumps from the glass of this meaty, dense wine. Give it 2-3 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 15+ years.


Szechuan eggplant. Good, but Beijing Tasty had a better version.


Shrimp with glass noodles. Interesting, and quite good.


Pork belly. Bland and fatty.
1A0A6756
Second time with this dish, which is braised pork belly with preserved vegetables (9/3/18) and I loved it. I do (nowadays) love the contrast between the slightly sweet succulent pork and the salty vegetables.


Beef fried rice. Delicious and not greasy.


Spicy beef with celery. This dish was very hot. The beef had a nice flavor though and I enjoyed it a lot.


House special pancake. Croissant-like texture. Greasy and without flavor.
1A4A3535
Shrimp dry hot pot (2/27/22).
7U1A7094

Whole fried fish with chilies (9/3/18 and 2/1/20). Delicious fish. Sauce I’ve had better, but it was still very good. In 2/1/20 the sauce was better, more mala. The veggies, like lotus root, were great too.

7U1A7116

Crispy fried aromatic lamb ribs (9/3/18 & 1/13/19). Not a lot of meat, but awesome flavor to gnaw on.
7U1A7123
Dung Po Whole Pig Elbow (2/1/20 and 2/27/22) – this was an awesome dish, if a bit jiggly. Lots of fat and very tender meat, but it was really all about the salty sauce of ground pork, preserved vegetables, and tons of ginger and garlic.
7U1A7131
Tender (fatty) meat and incredible umami sauce. This dish was an 11 for us Chinese style fans.
1A4A3548
Kung Pao Beef (2/27/22).

7U1A7133
Pea tendrils with garlic (2/1/20) – very nice.
1A0A6718
Mixed vegetables (9/3/18). Light flavor and great texture.
1A0A6750
String beans (9/3/18). Always good and these had some nice crunch.
7U1A3915
Spicy Cabbage (1/13/19 and 2/1/20 and 2/27/22). I love this dish. There must be pork or something in the sauce as it’s so delicious.
1A0A6752
Plain noodles (9/3/18) for my son.
1A4A3523
Bean curd with Jalepenos and pork (2/27/22).

1A0A6765
Veggie fried rice (9/3/18). Not as good as the meat one, but still a tasty fried rice (how can you go wrong?).
1A0A6762
XLB soup dumplings (9/3/18 and 2/1/20). Quite solid soup dumplings. Skins a little thicker than at an absolutely first rate specialist place like this, but still we ordered a second round.
1A0A6761
Sauce for the dumplings.

Sicily via Sonoma – Goat Cheese Gelato with house-made Blackberry Honey Coulis and Marzipan Brownies (Sep 2018) — this was a new recipe I concocted for @sweetmilkgelato – Milk and Chevre are both from Sonoma, although I couldn’t get the chevre completly melted so there is still a chalky quality to the base. Blackberries are from Avignon. Raw Honey from California. Marzipan made with Sicilian Noto Romano Almonds and Amaretto. #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #SummerTime #marzipan #almonds #amaretto #Chevre #GoatCheese #Blackberries #honey #cake #sonoma #brownies.

7U1A3937

My gelati from 1/13/19:

Torta di Frutta alla Mandorla Siciliana Gelato (Sicilian Fruit & Almond Tart) made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — toasted Sicilian almond base with Homemade Sicilian Marzipan Cake and Candied Sicilian Lemons & Oranges — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #almond #ToastedAlmond #Mandorla #lemon #orange #cake #AlmondCake #CandiedFruit

Blackberry Passionfruit Amaro Sorbetto! — like a frozen aperitivo — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #blackberry #passionfruit #amaro #cocktail #sorbet #sorbetto

7U1A7142
My gelati from 2/1/20:

Peppered Lemongrass Ginger Creme Brûlée Gelato — A blended milk and Thai coconut cream base steeped with lemongrass and ginger and then juiced up with yuzu and black pepper. For sugar, I used coconut palm sugar and even torched the top! — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #lemongrass #ginger #CremeBrûlée #BlackPepper #coconut #yuzu

Mud Pie Gelato — Hot brewed espresso gelato with house-made milk chocolate coffee ganache and crushed Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the gluttonous classic made even more gluttonus! — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #espresso #coffee #oreo #MudPie

1A4A3553
Cthulhu Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato (2/27/22) – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with house-made Hazelnut Fudge Sauce and Toffifay Eyes! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #hazelnut #fudge #toffifay
 

Overall, 2014 impression of Ji Rong was just fine. Few dishes were standouts and a bunch were mediocre, but few were terrible either. The menu is a little overly Beijing only for my taste and even includes various Chinese American favorites like orange chicken. Still, an enjoyable meal. Even fair Chinese is good. Peking duck was quite good.

Returning in 2018 I thought they had improved. Maybe I know how to order better, but almost all the dishes were quite good and the duck was as good as I’ve had in the SGV, particularly since Tasty Duck has slid a bit.

In 2019 and 2020 this impression continued. Duck was excellent, probably the best in the SGV right now — although I wish someone would open a real serious Peking Duck place with table-side carving and a wood-fire oven, like this. Most other dishes were very good and they have a big interesting menu. Particularly standouts on 2/1/20 were cold spicy mung bean noodles, peking duck, whole spicy fish, hot and sour soup, and pig elbow.

In 2022 after the pandemic this was still the case. Our 2/27/22 meal was fabulous in all ways, both the duck and most of the other dishes.


After dinner in 2014, and an excellent Foot Massage, we went next door for this mega mango shaved ice with almond jelly, ice cream, and strawberries.


I’m not sure you appreciate the size of the thing.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!
1A0A6711
1A0A6712
1A0A6777

Seb actually brought this (mediocre) wine two weeks in a row!
7U1A3939
7U1A3874
7U1A3875
7U1A3876
7U1A3919

Wines from 2/1/20:
7U1A7054
7U1A7055
7U1A7083
7U1A7058
7U1A7056
7U1A7110

Related posts:

  1. Hedonists go to Beijing
  2. The Bling Ring is Pretty Wild
  3. Hedonists at Shanghailander
  4. Century City Heat
  5. Hunan Chili Madness
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , ,

The Hobbit: The Battle of 5,000 Animators

Dec18

The_Hobbit_-_The_Battle_of_the_Five_ArmiesTitle: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

Director/Stars: Martin Freeman (Actor), Peter Jackson (Director)

Genre: Fantasy

Watched: December 18, 2014

Summary: More is more is more is more!

_

What happens when you expand 44 pages at the end of a novel into 144 minutes of film? Well, in the case of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, a whole lot of fighting. Enough to provides sustenance for an entire generation of computer artists. Smaug, arguably my favorite character in this second trilogy, regrettably bites the big one (and he is a big one) about ten minutes in. Aside from about 5-10 minutes at the end the rest is one big battle — in several waves, with several giant duels. With a lot of Moping and Brooding Thorin inserted for good measure.

The film looks utterly gorgeous. We expected that, but perhaps this one looks better than ever. It’s the only Peter Jackson Tolkien movie without a whole lot of travel. Basically, the sets focus on Laketown, The Lonely Mountain, Dale, and panning views all around the above.

The movie uses a WHOLE bunch of reoccurring Tolkien plot devices, including all of the following, but not in any way limited to: creepy cowardly advisors with bad teeth, kings under the sway of madness that delays the inevitable in the name of drama, Gandalf being rescued, greedy dwarves, wraiths, stuck up elves, inter-racial love, orcs, bigger orcs, tougher orcs, and the ever popular Eagle rescue.

There are too many Peter Jackson favorites to count as well, but leading offenders are: overhead shots, helicopter shots, the eye of Sauron, ugly orc leaders, amazing dwarf hairstyles, Legolas, and semi-comic orc death.

viciouswarram

Tell me this WOW mount from years ago didn’t inspire the hill climbing mounts in BOFA? And in WOW, they’re even a dwarf mount!

I loved the pig mount. The mountain goat mounts were also cool, and clearly seem an example of reverse artistic pollution as so many things in LOTR influenced the art (and sound) design of World of Warcraft, but the goat is surely borrowed right back. Touché!

The extended duels at the end were some of the best parts of the film. The complex Azog on Thorin and Legolas/Tauriel vs Barg? fights. But Thorin could have learned a lesson from Game of Thrones Season 4, never count out your hideous boss opponent until he’s really really dead. Or wear your mithril.

And Evangeline Lilly looks even better as an elf than as a human.

Some nitpicks. The Gandalf rescue was perhaps the scene that bothered me the most, partly because it just doesn’t fit with the mythology, and partly because it felt like an excuse to cameo Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel. Really, if the group of them fought off the ghostly ring wraiths and banished Sauron why did Gandalf need to run around like crazy at the begging of Fellowship to figure out what was going on? And why was it so hard to convince them of the menace? It’s one thing to foreshadow in order to blend the franchises, another to make it inconsistent.

Also, what’s with amping up new orc techs that are then NOT used by Sauron with his even bigger army in the “future” (aka in ROTK)? Examples, the Dune style earth worms, the big guys with catapults on their backs, and the wall breaking headache loving troll. We know this was just Peter Jackson wanting to amp it up.

Yeah, same rams

Yeah, same rams

And why do Thorin and crew charge out to the battle WITHOUT their nifty dwarf armor? Or even a few sets of mithril shirts? Would have come in handy when Thorin AND Kili got STABBED to death!

Overall, not as good as Smaug, but still good fun.

Lastly some technical bits: Again I saw The Hobbit in HFR 3D (at the Arclight). Two years ago, I found this new flickerless tech fascinating, hyper realistic, and more than a little disquieting. This year, either I’ve gotten used to it (thanks to my 120hz TV) or Peter Jackson and crew really worked the solve the problems. I’m pretty sure it’s the later. Sure, the film was crystal clear, and sure, you could still count every pore on the actor’s faces, but it no longer looked as crazy fake. I suspect they added a lot of motion blur. I bet it cost a lot of money.

Read my review of 2012’s Unexpected Journey and 2013’s Desolation of Smaug.

For more Film reviews, click here.

ps. I guess that wolves on ice chasing the chariot from the trailer will have to wait for the extended cut.

Or discover my own fantasy novels.

If you liked this post, follow me at:

My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed
or the video game post depot
or win Crash & Jak giveaways!

Latest hot post: War Stories: Crash Bandicoot

TBOT5A_01

Related posts:

  1. Dragon in the Hole
  2. The Hobbit – An Expected Review
  3. The Hobbit Trailer
  4. A Second Trailer for The Hobbit
  5. Air Middle Earth
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: , , , , , , , , ,

Multitextured Maude

Dec17

Restaurant: Maude

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

Date: December 11, 2014

Cuisine: Modern

Rating: Good, but slightly deconstructed

_

I’ve wanted to try Maude since it opened last February,  but the annoying reservation system turned me off. They open reservations by phone only on the first Saturday of the month before for the whole month. I spent 40 minutes autodialing with 3 people on 4 phones and we ended up with two completely random reservations. Ours was at 5:30 on  a Tuesday. Really, they should raise prices or use the website or both.

Anyway, the restaurant has a  very unusual format. All prix fix. Chef Curtis Stone sums it up as follows: “One Key Ingredient. Nine Courses. Twenty-Five Seats. My dream little restaurant.” Each month has a different ingredient and a single fixed menu. Ours was Winter Squash.


The interior is really cute. It reminded me more of New York or some other “classier” city than LA. It’s tiny, but filled with elegant (but casual) little details. It’s not modernist or particularly hipster (thank God).


The kitchen is open and busy. There’s even a small “bar” (think 4 seat sushi bar) looking into the kitchen.


Tonight’s menu.


Soapbox time! They do have one of those annoying corkage policies too. $50, which would be fine, except it’s one bottle per couple. Now this is far, far more sensible than the fixed number per table, as it works tolerably for 6-8 person tables (which they barely have), but still I don’t get it. I understand that restaurants need to make money off beverages. I understand that they have a cute little wine list. But $50 a bottle should cover it, and the limit isn’t going to make serious wine people buy off the list. They don’t and can’t possibly have a list that serves us. Not without investing a fortune. We brought 3 bottles per couple. My friend Michael brought the whites and I brought the reds. They don’t have and couldn’t reasonably have any Burgundy we’d be interested in on the list. Nor unless they priced them stunningly low would I buy them at wine list price. So why have the limit? It only discourages serious wine guys from dining. If anyone in the restaurant business has any idea why this increasingly common policy makes any sense, I’d love to hear it in the comments.

On the plus side, the Sommelier/wine director was extremely nice, friendly, and knowledgeable. Extremely nice. He did a great job.

Picking the white was tough. We also has a 2002 Jadot Montrachet and a 2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières! I went with the Coche because — well I love Coche, but Michael and I promised to save our respective other wines to drink with each other at a later date. Great deal!

2000 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Chevalières. Burghound 92. The tightest and most precise of the three 2000 Meursault villages wines of stunning intensity and simply unbelievable purity and this stains and coats the palate with wet stones and an interesting chalky texture. This will require time and should age well for at least a decade as the acidity is ripe and vibrant, giving the flavors real lift, especially on the wonderfully persistent backend.


Pumpkin Lardo. Pumpkin wrapped in pig fat. Yep, that white stuff is the white part off a prosciutto, or close. The dish was very soft and mild.


A vegetarian variant with just pumpkin.


Pillows. These had some kind of pumpkin/squash in them along with sesame or something? They tasted nutty. The out bit was crispy. Delicious.


Maude does have its rules. No flash too 🙁 I had to use an iphone to get a modicum of light. After this, I’ve now ordered a bigass LED light with 160 diodes! haha! It may not flash, but it will be bright! But until then, these photos have a pathetic depth of field.

Squash Salad. Duck breast, Farro, watercress, Pumpkin.


And a reverse shot of it that shows off the duck better. All the elements of this dish were very nice, and there were LOTS of textures going on. The foam. The sauce blobs. Shaved vegetable. Leaf. The dusty freeze-dried stuff. The meat. The problem was there was no was to get any great number of them in your mouth at once, so the whole thing felt a bit deconstructed and discombobulated.


Hiramasa Crudo. Bottarga, Pumpkin Cured Salmon Roe, Dashi Gel. This dish gelled better. haha. The hamachi, the tangy sauce, and the crunchy bits (probably the bottarga?) made a nice pairing.


A vegetarian substitute.


Striped Bass. Little gem. Anchovy. Chicken. I’m guessing the chicken was in the form of the cracklings (which were awesome), and the fish was nicely done. Although again it was a bit hard to get the other elements in one bite.


The consume for the next dish came out in this cool chemistry set.


Which continued to boil the broth up into the rosemary!


Consomme. Squid, Beech, Fennel. Here is the soup before the soup. You can see all the little bits


Then with the broth added. This was a nice dish and I’m a big fan of a good consomme.

I brought the reds. We also has a 93 Jadot Beze and a 98 Bachelet Charmes VV on hand.

From my cellar: 1997 Domaine Anne Gros Richebourg. JG 92+. Fresh, expressive and elegant aromas of cherries, black berries and pinot extract followed by medium weight, relatively fine, nicely detailed flavors that lack a bit of mid palate density. There is better acidity than most of the wines in this group and one is struck by the finesse, unusual for both the appellation at such a young age and certainly the vintage. In sum, this is beautifully detailed rather than dense with fine but prominent finishing tannins. While it could be drunk and enjoyed now, it should continue to improve.


Oxtail Raviolo. Spaghetti Squash, truffle, Rye Crumble. A tasty dish, it had a light foamy quality with an unusual mixture of textures that I’m now picking up as a Curtis Stone signature. The soft foam, the squirmy squash, the crunch crumble.


Pheasant. Kabocha squash, parsley root, pearl onion. Very tasty dish. The poultry was small but very tasty.


A vegetarian version.


Pork Foul. Beef Tendon, pomegranate, crosnes. The crunchy puffs were like chicharrones. Tasty dish, if somewhat obscured by the flashless photography.


Pumpkin caviar!


To go on this Vacherin blini. The texture was like that of a Chinese pan fried dumpling, but inside it was mildly cheesy.


A delicious pre dessert consisting of a soft meringue and that other thing. It was yummy.


Kuri Squash Beignet. Rice Sorbet, Carmel, Cinnamon. Nice fancy donut balls and accompaniments.


Petite Fours. Gels, little macarons, and some other pastry.


Pumpkin spice cake to go. A nice touch!

Overall, we had a great time. Our wine was fabulous. The atmosphere is wonderful, the staff warm, and the food extremely interesting. It’s a highly intellectual cuisine, playing off a lot of forms and textures. Nothing clashed or failed, but sometimes the dishes didn’t seem fully integrated. Mostly it was all those textures and separate elements. It was hard to see exactly how they combined. The flavors err on the subtle, which made them compliment extremely well with the Burgundy. I really want to go back — although I’m not thrilled at the idea of autodialing and having little choice about date!

And what’s with grandma’s old china? 🙂

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Red Medicine the Relapse
  2. Figs are in Season
By: agavin
Comments (13)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , ,

Ruen Pair Rules

Dec15

Restaurant: Ruen Pair

Location: 5257 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027. (323) 466-0153

Date: December 9, 2014 and February 16, 2023

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Solid Thai, not super spicy

_

It’s been awhile since I’ve had authentic Thai, so it was with some relish that I headed out with my Hedonist group to this Thai town eatery.


The minimall is packed with Thai restaurants, massage places, and the like.


Inside.

1A4A4572
1A4A4573
1A4A4574
1A4A4575
1A4A4576
1A4A4577
1A4A4578
1A4A4579
The tiny little menu.


NV Tissot (Bénédicte et Stéphane / André et Mireille) Crémant du Jura Extra Brut. 92 points. Really liked this sparkler! Very well balanced with only a slight dosage. The blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is apparent in the “traditional” Champagne like blend that is not always the approach in the Jura. A good amount of complexity ending in a long finish of pineapple and yeast. Great QPR too.


Pork jerky. Deep fried marinated pork served with special sauce. Chewy but full of flavor. The sauce was insanely spicy (we asked for it full Thai spicy). Good 10 minutes of slow burn.


Beef jerky. Deep fried marinated beef served with special sauce. Not nearly as good as the pork — fairly bland and chewy in fact. The beef version was WAY chewy. My jaw still hurts (JK). Go for the white meat.


2007 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes. IWC 93. Pale yellow. Ineffable aromas of lime, crushed stone, violet, iris and spicecake. Bright, penetrating and precise, with superb energy and purity to the high-pitched citrus, mineral and spice flavors. At once dense and racy, and in need of aging. Persistent and palate-staining on the finish. (The Chassagne-Montrachet Les Caillerets showed lovely sweetness and generosity of texture.


Thai Issan Sausage. Some yummy pig in a casing and fried with Thai side elements. I would have liked to see a little more flavor from the sausage itself.

1A4A4648
BBQ Pork. Grilled pork served with special sauce. A bit sweeter and not nearly as good as the pork jerky.


2004 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese. IWC 92. Mesmerizing aromas of papaya, sweet herbs and spearmint. Intense but discreet cherry fruit rises from the mid-palate, accompanied by brilliant acidity. The riveting finish is animated and spicy. One of the finest spatleses of the vintage in Germany.


Stuffed shrimp. These crabcake-like babies contained a dense shrimp paste/filling. I liked them a lot. I’m a fan of these seafood McNugget type dishes.

1A4A4596
Chicke Sate. Grilled chicken on stick served with peanut sauce and cucumber sauce. Soft but kinda bland.

1A4A4581
Spicy Raw Shrimp Salad. Raw shrimps in spicy and sour dressing. Very nice soft raw shrimp with a nice bitey texture. The sauce was full of green chili potency — lots of it!


2008 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Pale golden yellow. Floral aromas lift apricot and quince on the nose. The complex tropical fruit flavors are accented by a hint of licorice and a shot of slate. The subtle balance of sweetness and acidity belies this wine’s richness. Offers nice length and potential.

1A4A4585
Spicy Beef Salad. Beef mixed with tomatoes, red onion, chili cucumber and lime juice. Okay beef salad. The beef itself was medium tasty. The dressing was very spicy too.

1A4A4638
Pork Larb. Ground pork with red onion, green onion, chili, cilantro, rice powder and lime juice. A fine larb with a good amount of flavor.

1A4A4614
Fried Egg with Ground Pork. Pleasant omelet.

1A4A4618
Coconut Chicken Soup. Chicken, mushroom, lemon grass, lime leaves, galangal and lime juice in coconut soup. A tasty soup with lots of chicken. Not nearly as good as the Jitlada “Coco Lotus Soup” but still enjoyable. This one was fairly dense and heading toward a curry, but it still had that lovely sour / lemongrass / coconut thing going.


From my cellar: 2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. 92 points. COLOR-nice golden; NOSE-burnt BMX tires meets peaches, apricots & pears; spritzy; TASTE-beautiful bluestone; gorgeous dried Apricots; viscous & oily; gorgeous peach juice; very polished; great, great wine; very delicate; nice floral aspects; subtle cactus juice & on the finish; a concoction of Cantaloupe & dandelion dancing on the back-end; very complex; great balance of acidity & fruit; great structure; absolute elegance at it’s finest.


Fried catfish. Catfish slices that have been deep fried crispy and are served in this vinegary sauce. The sauce did a great job complementing the fry. Besides the need to avoid bones, this was a delicious dish.

1A4A4602
Spicy Catfish. Deep fried catfish with curry sauce. Tasty curry. The fish was a touch dry on some pieces and there were bones.

1A4A4623
Chinese Brococoli with Crispy Pork. Stir fried Chinese Brococoli and Crispy Pork. The pork wasn’t that crispy with all that “jus” but it was tasty.

1A4A4628
Spicy Combinations Salad. Chinese sausages, dried shrimp, salted cabbage, salted egg and black egg mixed with onion, chili and lime juice. Love both the Chinese Sausage and the “black” (1000 year old) egg.


Pad Thai. The usual, but good as usual.


2006 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. JG 95. Faint spritz on opening, clear rich botrytis, lovely texture, so full and rich, but balances with a spike of acid on the finish, good now but will blossom in time.

agavin: my favorite with the food. rich, amber, and sweet!


A different Pad Thai.

2012 Robert Mondavi Winery Pinot Noir. IWC 87. Bright palish red. Slightly diffuse aromas of strawberry, raspberry, underbrush and smoky oak, perked up by mint and floral nuances. A bit juicier and more delineated in the mouth than the nose suggests but shows only moderate intensity and depth. Finishes slightly tart, with dusty tannins.


Egg Salad. Not sure where the salad is, but this odd dish was delicious. Basically, it’s fried eggs with chilis on top. But the vinegary hot tang of the chilies is fabulous with the soft centered eggs.


From my cellar: 2003 Louis Latour Corton-Clos de la Vigne au Saint. Burghound 91. A huge step up in elegance, complexity and purity with extremely pretty spicy red pinot fruit aromas that introduce supple, sweet and opulent flavors that remain precise and beautifully well balanced. An altogether lovely wine that combines power and elegance with first class cellar potential.


2012 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon 40th Anniversary. 89 points. Large-scaled and rich on the nose with toasty brioche, blackberry, currant and milk chocolate. On the palate, velvety textures ushered in dark fruits, spice, coco, licorice and cherry liquor. The finish was long with saturating black fruits and a linger hint of hard candy.


Pork larb. Nice  tang to it, not too hot.


Beef Panaang curry. Your typical bamboo shoot red curry with beef. Certainly a pleasant dish, particularly with rice. This is on the thin mild end of the Panaang spectrum. I really like mine more intense.


2005 Kay Brothers Shiraz Hillside Amery Vineyards. 89 points. Inky dark, with hints of smoke and cedar on the nose. Black currants and blackberries are prominent on the palate, but the secondary characteristics are still caught in a tannic grip.

 


2008 Carlisle Syrah James Berry Vineyard. IWC 93. Opaque violet. Stunning bouquet displays dark berry liqueur, incense, dried violet and smoked meat. Tight on entry, then expansive and sweet in the middle, with noteworthy pliancy and sweetness to the dark fruit, violet pastille, apricot, mineral and spice flavors. Lots going on here-and highly expressive today, even if the firm, dusty tannins call for patience.


Spicy clams. They weren’t actually spicy, but the sauce was rich and delicious.


Morning Glory shoots. In a mild Thai brown sauce. Colon sweeper!


Thai BBQ chicken. Solid.


Shrimp salad. This also had a nice vinegar tang.


Pineapple rice. Good stuff, with that sweetness. A tad mushy.

1A4A4606
Stewed Pork Pad Ka Prow. Stewed Pork Leg sauteed with chili and basil leaves. Very stewed — pulled pork Thai style.

1A4A4632
Stewed Duck Ka Prow. Stewed Duck sauteed with chili and basil leaves. Extremely stewed — not as enjoyable with duck skin as with pork.


1A4A4613
Roasted Duck Curry. Roasted duck with pineapple, tomatoes, red curry paste and chili in coconut milk. Good flavor but not much duck and a lot of pineapple. Always a winner, with a nice rich curry and a certain sweetness. There could have been more duck though.

1A4A4636
Yellow Curry with Chicken. Chicken with yellow curry and potato in coconut milk. Very pleasant if basic yellow curry.
1A4A4644
Chicken Panang. Chicken with peanut curry paste and chili in coconut milk. Felt more like a straight up red curry than a panang (which has peanut paste in it) and wasn’t spicy or “exotic” at all — but it did have a great curry flavor.

1A4A4625
Pad Kee Mao. Flat rice noodle star fried with chili, basil, egg, and shrimp. Very nice texture.
1A4A4641
Vermicelli with Pork and Vegetables. I didn’t like this. The pork was over cooked and not that tasty.


1986 Château Raymond-Lafon. Parker 92. It is hard to believe this wine will eclipse the great 1983, but the differences in the two wines are negligible. I do not believe the 1986 makes quite the impact on the palate that the huge, massive 1983 does, but there is a great deal of botrytis, and a profound, penetrating fragrance of sauteed pineapple, vanillin, toast, and honeyed peaches. In the mouth, the wine is more streamlined than the 1983, but lusciously rich and full bodied, with very good acidity and a creamy, intense finish. It will be interesting to compare the 1983 and 1986 as they evolve. My guess is that the 1986 will age faster.

agavin: sadly our bottle wasn’t well stored and this had an off-putting bitter finish.


Papaya salad with shrimp. Nice and hot, with a good crunch.


Papaya salad with blue crab. This was a standout. The salad was the same, but the blue crab is raw, like the Korean crab at Soban. You suck out the toothpaste-like meat. Yum!


Dr. David obviously ate too much raw crab.

1A4A4651
Overall, Ruen Pair is good, but it’s very “rustic”, not particularly refined, and they don’t the full variety of possible Thai dishes. What they make is very solid, sort of like a better (if still sloppy) neighborhood Thai — and it’s not highly “dumbed down” or anything. But it’s just not super tuned up either. They don’t take reservations and are mobbed.


Across the parking lot was this Thai dessert place.  No way can I translate the name.

A grid of goodies.


Weird crepe taco things.


Taro, corn, rice balls!


Banana sticky rice.


Grilled coconut milk. Yeah, apparently you can BBQ a liquid.


Yarom got this milky sweet concoction filled with “Thai fruits” including jackfruit.


I went for mango and coconut ice cream.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Chan Dara
  2. Hedonists Noodle over Hoy-Ka
  3. The Rules of Magic
  4. Hedonists at Jitlada
  5. Hedonists in Vegas – Lotus of Siam
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: , , , , , , , , ,
« Newer Posts
Older Posts »
Watch the Trailer or

Buy it Online!

Buy it Online!
96 of 100 tickets!

Find Andy at:

Follow Me on Pinterest

Subscribe by email:

More posts on:



Complete Archives

Categories

Favorite Posts

Archives

All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2025 All Rights Reserved
Programmed by Andy Gavin