Image
  • Writing
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • About my Novels & Writing
    • All Writing Posts
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Scrivener – Writer’s Word Processor
    • iPad for Writers
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Books
    • Book Review Index
    • Favorite Fantasy Novels
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Short Story: Harvard Divinity
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • About the Book
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Games
    • My Video Game Career
    • Post Archive by Series
    • All Games Posts Inline
    • Making Crash Bandicoot
    • Crash 15th Anniversary Memories
    • World of Warcraft Endgames
    • Getting a Job Designing Video Games
    • Getting a Job Programming Video Games
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Movies
    • Movie Review Index
  • Television
    • TV Review Index
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • A Game of Thrones
  • Food
    • Food Review Index
    • Foodie Club
    • Hedonists
    • LA Sushi Index
    • Chinese Food Index
    • LA Peking Duck Guide
    • Eating Italy
    • Eating France
    • Eating Spain
    • Eating Croatia
    • Eating Vietnam
    • Eating Australia
    • Eating Israel
    • Ultimate Pizza
    • ThanksGavin
    • Margarita Mix
    • Foodie Photography
    • Burgundy Vintage Chart
  • Other
    • All Posts, Magazine Style
    • Archive of all Posts
    • Fiction
    • Technology
    • History
    • Anything Else
  • Gallery
  • Bio
  • About
    • About me
    • About my Writing
    • About my Video Games
    • Ask Me Anything
  • Contact

Archive for Cheese

Second Kass

Sep13

Restaurant: Kass Restaurant – Wine & Bar [1, 2]

Location: 320 South La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 413-2299

Date: July 30, 2019

Cuisine: California French

Rating: Fabulous

_

Years ago I enjoyed Chef Christophe Emé’s Ortolan and have had attended private dinners he’s prepared.
7U1A3264-Pano
So it was exciting that he opened a new place on La Brea — supposedly a bit more casual this time (as is in vogue). The Foodie Club went in June and the meal was so fabulous we are back (with a slightly different mix of people) just a few weeks later.
7U1A3267
7U1A3268
I think the sign was completed in 2018, I believe the restaurant itself opened in 2019 :-).
7U1A3393-Pano
This is the inside after dinner when we outlasted everyone. Clean and cosy.
7U1A3274
The kitchen was small and neat and you can see Chef Christophe Emé in the center, carefully managing every detail.

7U1A4610
Liz brought the newly released 2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne P2. VM 97+. The 2002 Dom Pérignon P2 is surprisingly, almost shockingly, austere and tightly wound. That almost surely bodes well for the future. Today, though, the 2002 is very hard to taste. Stylistically, it is also much less available than the original release. Readers lucky enough to own the 2002 should plan on being patient.
7U1A4615
Cheese and sorbet with kaluga caviar. A light and elegant pairing that showcased the caviar — and of course we were drinking champagne!
7U1A4597
2002 Joseph Drouhin Griotte-Chambertin. VM 92. Enticing redcurrant and strawberry scents are precise and impressively perfumed, with pungent floral lift and exotic Asian spice accents. Clean and brisk but tightly wound, with red fruit and bitter cherry flavors firmed by dusty tannins and zesty minerality. At once highly concentrated and elegant, showing a youthfully tangy tone to the impressively long finish. Hold this for another five years, at least.
7U1A4624
Tartar with mushrooms and potato chips. Really fabulous. I do love tartar and this was a superlative one. We opened the Griotte-Chambertin (above) to have some red with this.
7U1A4602
From my cellar: 1985 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JG 96. The 1985 Dom Pérignon is still several years away from its peak of drinkability, and while it is certainly quite approachable at this stage in its evolution, this wine will continue to improve with further bottle age. The bouquet is deep, complex and still a tad adolescent, as it offers up scents of tart apples, pink grapefruit, gentle herbal tones, a touch of limepeel, stony minerality and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and still quite young, with a rock solid core of fruit, bright acids, fine focus and balance, tiny bubbles and superb length and grip on the racy finish. While some tasters around the table thought this wine was drinking beautifully, for my palate it remains still a bit bound up in its minerally adolescence and will offer up significantly more opulence and toasty charm with another five to ten years of bottle age. It should prove to be an absolutely classic vintage of Dom Pérignon.

agavin: this bottle was a bit oxidized and not nearly as good as the one we opened at Angelini — that being said it was still good.
7U1A4640
Scrambled Eggs. White truffle. Simple but incredible dish. Perfect texture and soft delicate flavor. Also perfect with the “mature” notes of the 1985 Dom.
7U1A4599
2002 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet. VM 94. The 2002 Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche was almost as impressive, although stylistically it was quite a bit more honeyed, voluptuous and creamy.
7U1A4647
Cold Cucumber soup. Super cool and refreshing. Lovely.
7U1A4605
Liz brought: 1986 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune. JG 91. I drank up a couple of cases of the 1986 Clos Ste. Hune from the mid-1990s through around 2005 or so, but I should have held onto some of cellar cache of this vintage, as the wine has continued to age very gracefully and is probably drinking better today than any point in its past. The beautiful nose is a blend of apple, grapefruit, chalky, stony soil tones, tart orange, petrol, a whisper of leesiness and a touch of corn kernel. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long and crisp, with superb focus and complexity, a good core and lovely length and grip on the well-balanced finish that closes with a distinct note of sea salt. A lovely, middleweight vintage of Clos Ste. Hune that continues to cruise along beautifully.
7U1A4650
Tile fish with chanterelles and a butter sauce. Fabulous buttery mushroom thing. High mercury levels yeah, but delicious!
7U1A4604
From my cellar: 1981 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia. VM 92. Yellow-gold. Yellow plum, peach and orange rind on the nose, with complicating notes of cinnamon, mace and allspice. The equally complex palate offers sweet pit fruit and citrus flavors and touches of smoky oak and marzipan. Gains weight and nuttiness with air without loss of energy and finishes with clinging honey and orange marmalade qualities. This would be great with a rich poultry or shellfish dish.
7U1A4666
Scallop with parmesan and tomato.
7U1A4612
Kirk brought: 1998 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage. VM 94+. Full ruby. Subtle, extremely complex nose melds cassis, bitter cherry, licorice, menthol and gunflint. Great purity and class in the middle palate, though extremely young and not currently showing the texture of the unfinished ’99. But this is utterly compelling syrah, finishing with superb length and extremely fine tannins for the vintage. The ’99 may be more pliant in the early going thanks to its sweeter tannins, but I’m not yet convinced it will surpass this brilliant ’98.
7U1A4670
Lamb with tortellini and peas. Another great dish, livened up by the fresh peas.
7U1A4679
Cheese selection.
7U1A4682
Tarte aux Pommes. Vanilla ice cream.
7U1A4688

And of course gelato by me:

Cioccolato Fondente Torrone Gelato — I’ve been working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolates — a total of 22.5% cocoa by weight — extremely intense — offset slightly by Italian soft nougat (torrone) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #torrone

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau
7U1A3408

Overall, this was an amazing meal. Our wines were nice, and service was really spot on, but it’s the cooking that really showed everything else up. We had no repeat dishes from our epic meal previously and all the new ones were great too. The kitchen was a touch more distracted which perhaps slowed the pacing down a bit. The dishes we had were just as good, but for whatever reason we had one less savory and only one dessert instead of 4. Not that I left hungry. So if the first meal was a 10/10 this was maybe a 9/10, but still awesome.

And it should be noted, that as of late August chef Christophe Emé has moved on to new projects, and as such this place represents another ephemeral snapshot into past dining experiences no longer available.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

Related posts:

  1. Kass has Class
  2. Angelini Osteria
  3. Petrossian Party
  4. Marino Ristorante Back Room
  5. Double Eagle is Pretty Standard
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cheese, Christophe Emé, Dessert, Foodie Club, Gelato, Hollywood, Kass, Liz Lee, Sage Society, Wine

Marcel Vigneron – Taking Epic Further

Jan30

January 24, 2015, my wife and I hosted a very special fund-raising dinner at our house. And given our penchant for details, things were bound to be off the charts epic.

I met Marcel Vigneron a year back at a 2009 Bordeaux dinner, and ever since have been looking for an excuse to have him cook at our house. For those of you who don’t know, Marcel was the original Executive Sous Chef at The Bazaar, and also cooked at Joel Robuchon. He’s been on numerous Top Chef and Top Chef All-Stars shows and was the star of his own series, Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen.

I might like modernism in my food, but when it comes to the decorative arts my wife and I agree things have been on a downhill slope since the mob stormed Versailles. We’re both history buffs and have gone to some length to recreate the fantasy of a 1730s Italian villa. So, in that vein, guests are welcomed into the Chinoiserie Drawing Room for champagne and snacks.

And a classical setting deserves a classical ambiance: a harpist playing baroque pieces!

All wines are from my cellar and served by 2/3 Master Sommelier Chris Lavin. By 2/3, I mean he’s passed 2 out of the 3 of those torturous tests detailed in the Somm documentary. Which really means he’s an amazing Sommelier.

It should be noted that going back and forth Chris and I chose about 40 wines from my cellar and arranged them into a rough progression by “type.” i.e. bubblies, brighter whites, white burg, red burg, etc. Then he dynamically chose to organize these into flights by making up interesting duos or sets to play off both each other and the food.

I’m not a big believer in rigidly pairing at a dinner like this. With 18 people, there is no way to predict in advance the consumption rate, so the pre-planning needs to allow for a flexible rate of consumption if one doesn’t want to leave a lot of wine sitting on the table unfinished. We used a system with 3 specific stems (Riedel Sommelier Chardonnay/Chablis, Burgundy, and Bordeaux) and 2 general stems (Riedel Degustazione Red, which I think is a great general glass). Flights were all 2 or 3 wines and people could either finish old wines, move them “down glass” or pass on a flight. With this many wines many people (particularly the ladies) needed to take a breather.

NV Bochet-Lemoine Champagne Les Grimpres 1955. An amazing, rare, acid bomb of a champy.

Marcel’s culinary assault begins with a number of snacks.

Endive Boat. smoked trout, cucumber, dill. Bright and fresh.

NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne L’Originale. 89 points. clear and bright with a pale lemon colour and presence of many small bubbles. The nose is clean and fully developed, showing medium(+) intensity aromas of green fruits (green apple, pear), MLF (cream, butter) and yeast (bread dough, brioche). The wine is off-dry in the mouth with a high refreshing acidity. It has a medium alcohol and a medium body with a creamy mousse. It has medium(+) intensity flavours of green fruits (green apple, pear), MLF (cream, butter) and yeast (bread dough, brioche). The finish is medium(+).

Topped egg. salmon roe, chive. Salty and rich.

2005 Gramona Cava III Lustros Gran Reserva. 88 points. Clear and bright, pale lemon colour and presence of small bubbles. The nose is clean and developing, with medium- intensity aromas of neutral yeast and simple green fruit such as green apple and pear. It’s dry in the mouth, with medium+ acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, creamy mousse and medium intensity flavours of neutral yeast and simple green fruit like green apples and pear. Medium finish. It’s a good quality wine, fresh and easy to drink with good overall balance, bit it lacks complexity and the finish could be longer. Other vintages have been better. Drink now, but it has enough acidity and concentration to develop more complexity in 1-2 years.

Mushroom “tart”. goat cheese, thyme. Lots of lemon zing.

2011 i Clivi Collio Ribolla Gialla Spumante Brut. Another unusual bubbly.

Marcel and team slave away in the kitchen while we enjoy ourselves.

The table is set, and with Riedel Sommelier stems too, as it should be. The walls of the dining room were painted by my mother from photos we took in Italy.

2013 Veyder-Malberg Riesling Bruck. 95 points. These puppies are so rare the professionals have barely reviewed them, but this dry riesling is a total knockout. The purity of expression is off the charts, and that’s without even getting into the searing acid finish,

2007 Lur-Saluces “Y”. Parker 94. The rare dry wine from the world’s greatest sweet producer is an unusual find. These are made to age, and this one was no exception, still showing all it’s baby fat. The 2007 Ygrec has a light, fragrant nose with apple-blossom, pink grapefruit, citrus lemon and just a touch of cold granite. Good definition. The palate is bright and lively, a lot of energy packed into this Ygrec, with citrus lemon, green apple, a touch of lemongrass, very harmonious and smooth towards the finish that display superb persistency, a hint of fiery lemongrass lingering in the mouth.

2009 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc. Parker 98. Smith-Haut-Lafitte hit a home run with their red Pessac-Leognan and came very close to perfection with their dry white Graves. Possibly the best dry white the estate has produced since the proprietors, the Cathiards, acquired the property in 1990, this wine exhibits a sensational fragrance of buttered citrus, honeyed melons and a touch of grapefruit, lemon zest and orange rind. It also displays grapefruit on the attack and mid-palate as well as real opulence, terrific acidity and length. Drink it over the next 15-20 years. Astonishing!

Hamachi carpaccio. avocado, olive, citrus, watercress, wild rice, ponzu. A nice mix of flavors and textures. Marcel’s food is light and playful, with bright flavors. He doesn’t use a lot of butter or heavy ingredients.

A duo of Raveneau MDT!

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.

2009 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 93. Subtle wood sets off aromas of flowers, oyster shell and tidal pool that complement perfectly the racy, pure and strikingly well-detailed medium plus weight flavors that brim with minerality on the delicious, mouth coating and impressively long finish. This beautifully vibrant and concentrated effort should drink well young and age well too plus it’s more classic in style than many wines from this vintage.

Salmon crudo. brussels sprout leaves, apple, pomegranate, lime. A really fabulous dish. The sprouts had no bitterness, and there was a pronounced citrus and the strong pomegranate flavors to complement the rich fish.

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.

2004 Henri Boillot Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 95. Perhaps the most backward and reserved wine to this point as the nose reveals only hints of white flower and green fruit aromas that are framed in a subtle touch of pain grillé but the flavors explode on the palate as there is a chewy texture to them yet there is ample minerality present, particularly for Bâtard. This too is blessed with abundant dry extract and a finish that won’t quit but for all of the size and weight, this is impeccably balanced. This has that “wow” factor and in terms of style, it’s almost like a muscular Chevalier.

Pumpkin soup. nutmeg creme fraiche. An amazing soup. Like a sort of savory pumpkin pie!

And in the spirit of pairing, double 97 RSV.

1997 Remoissenet Père et Fils Romanée St. Vivant. 86 points. Our bottle was slightly corked. Not horribly, but enough to mar my enjoyment.

1997 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant. 93 points. The nose just jumps from the glass. Plenty of spice, red fruit and a lot of earth. The wine is cloudy with amber edges. More spice, ferrous notes and tart tart cherries on the finish. Kind of reminds me of a young Leroy. Not sure how much it will improve, but a very interesting drink right now.

Just one of four types of bread from the bakery at Maison Giraud. We had Baguette, Pain aux Olives, Pain de Campagne, and Brioche Fine.

Butter from Normandy. If Republique can do it, so can we! It’s funny how many people are blown away by how much better good French butter is than our usual American fare.

And a pair of Clos Vougeot Musigni.

1990 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 92 points. Rich, smoky nose with a supple, well balance flavor of slightly tart cherries mixed with currant and medium length finish. This is an extremely elegant wine and I would definitely buy more. This wine is at its peak, but shows no sign of age at all. Delicious.

1984 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 87 points. This good wine from a terrible vintage won’t win any awards, but it drinks so much like strawberry jam that I happen to love it.

Nesting egg. rocket, radish, cashew dressing. Check out this presentation. The coddled egg is set in the crispy nest and is complimented by the zesty salad below.

1989 Château Lynch-Bages. Parker 99+. The 1989 has taken forever to shed its formidable tannins, but what a great vintage of Lynch Bages! I would rank it at the top of the pyramid although the 1990, 2000, and down the road, some of the more recent vintages such as 2005, 2009 and 2010 should come close to matching the 1989’s extraordinary concentration and undeniable aging potential. Its dense purple color reveals a slight lightening at the edge and the stunning bouquet offers classic notes of creme de cassis, subtle smoke, oak and graphite. Powerful and rich with some tannins still to shed at age 22, it is still a young adolescent in terms of its evolution and will benefit from another 4-5 years of cellaring. It should prove to be a 50 year wine.

1970 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Cerro Anon Gran Reserva. 92 points. Surprisingly young. Gorgeous and interesting nose with a slightly weak mid palette and a long pretty sour cherry finish. Most people thought it was some odd pinot noir and had no idea it was so old.

Miso black cod. celeriac risotto, brown butter, charred broccoli. This is an unusual dish. The cod was buried in there between the risotto and the broccoli, which was baked with olive oil and spices. The whole bit was topped with grated nori which enhanced the “sea” factor.

1993 Roagna Barbaresco Riserva. 90 points. It has a soft and inviting nose. The palate is supple and round but with sneaky structure. Roses, some balsam, tar, and savory notes. This is on the muscular side of Barbaresco but with a suppleness and sweetness that draw you in. Fresh and balanced, with good depth, there is no part of this that stands out, but it all comes to a greater whole, and while its no barn burner, it is in a really nice place right now. My only nit to pick is that the tannins may outlive the fruit here. Mid peak and while I am sure this will hold for quite a while, it is in such a nice place right now that I see no reason to hold it for holding’s sake. Lovely.

1990 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia. 92 points. Nose to die for. A wonderfully mature, sleek Barolo with no hard edges and classic flavors of tar, black fruits tree bark. Medium-bodied and pure elegance rather than concentration and power. Lit up like a candle when the pasta wiyh white truffles was served.

Linguini “carbonara.” parmesan, black pepper, egg, smoked mushroom. The quail egg is filled with cheese. Dump and stir and this resolves into a scrumptious combo of smokiness and richness.

Left to right, Sam, Marcel, and Shanti help use liquid nitrogen to whip up an intense, smooth, frozen form of sorbet.

Nitro sorbet. Pomegranate. Tastes just like pomegranate juice — not surprising as that’s its only ingredient!

1998 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume. 92 points. The nose is gorgeous, lots minerality, slightly oxidative notes of bruised apple, also lemon pith and orange blossom. On the palate it’s sweet and silky but with a tart, zingy acid component. Lovely balance of flavors, part citrus but also with more of the apple, a touch of limestone, and honeyed pear. Lengthy, tapering finish that lasts for a long time. An outstanding wine.

Cheese plate. Not only were all four cheeses great (We made a family outing of tasting — I mean selecting — them at Andrew’s Cheese Shop), but the chefs arranged and decorated to great effect. The plate is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen!

1960 Barbeito Madeira Bual Reserva Velha. Doing it’s intense madeira thing, this wine was an amazing pairing with:

Flourless chocolate cake. coconut lemongrass orb, hazelnut butter, gold. Wow! What a “cake.” The rich chocolate (more like a ganache) paired amazingly with the refreshing and almost Thai-flavored orb, plus the hazelnut just kicked it up.

Mignardises. pate de fruits, macarons, nougat, brigadeiros. I love these little desserts, so we sourced all this stuff ourselves.

Roy Rene Nougat de Provence, flavored with honey and lavender.

Hawaii Pates de Fruits, guava, ginger, and coconut.

Brigadeiros, Brazilian chocolate/dulce de leche deserts in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, vanilla coconut, pistachio, and lime. Sourced from Simply Brigadeiro.

Macarons from ‘Lette Macarons. Chocolate, vanilla, coconut, raspberry, and almond.

Bundt cakes to go from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Can’t have a truly epic dinner without “parting gifts.”

And we even printed up the menus.

The wine damage was significant. 21 bottles for 18 people.

But what was really epic was the length. Nearly 7 hours for dinner! I don’t think all the guests knew what they were in for, but everyone had a fabulous time. Marcel’s cooking was on point and inventive, and no one went home hungry. In fact, the “wafer thin mint” joke was bandied about more than once.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

Me and my lovely wife, Sharon

Related posts:

  1. Epic Hedonism at Totoraku
  2. Totorakuly Epic!
  3. Burgundy at Bouchon – Jadot
  4. Burgundy at Providence
  5. Taking back Little Saigon
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burgundy, Cheese, Christopher Lavin, Marcel Vigneron, Molecular Gastronomy, Wine

Eating England – Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons

Jul22

Restaurant: Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons

Location: Church Road, Great Milton, Oxford, OX44 7PD, England. +44 (0)1844 278 881

Date: July 10, 2013

Cuisine: French

Rating: Wonderful

_

No Gavin vacation would be complete without a couple top gastronomic restaurants. As it turned out, this year our summer travels brought us to England, and specifically to a little town just fifteen minutes away from Raymond Blanc’s gastronomic temple, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. This lovely (and pricey) country hotel is a Relais and Chateaux (absolutely stellar hotel group) and the restaurant has two Michelin stars. Several English friends recommended it as being perhaps the best restaurant in England!


Certainly a lovely spot! They sat us in the bar before dinner for aperitifs.


These included some fabulous olives in these cute boats (notice the spout like hole for tucking away the pits).


Marcona almonds.


There are two different tasting menus. I’m sure they vary seasonally.


Kir Royale. French.


Pimms Cup. English.

Gin and Tonic. English.


The first of two different arrangements of amuses. I don’t remember the exact ingredients. We have salmon on radish. Fritters. I think an eggplant mouse on crisps. A think much like a caprese.


This second plate has a few more meaty versions.


Then we moved into the restaurant itself, and I couldn’t help but photo these cool custom plates.

1988 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. While this wine wasn’t perfect, and was quite restrained, it was in great shape, not oxidized in the least. It had that wonderful quality that mature white Burgundies get, even if it was a little alcoholic on the finish at first (this blew off).


Fantastic bread.


Terrine of baby beetroot, horseradish sorbet. A wonderful light take on the “beet and goat cheese salad.” The slab was cubed and the horseradish provided a very bright flavor contrast.


Confit of Salmon, elderflower, garden radish, yuzu cream. This salmon was perfectly cooked, tender, and full of soft flavor. There was an interesting and exotic tone set by the other ingredients, particularly the elderflower. Really excellent.


Ricotta agnolotti,  artichoke and tomato vierge. Tasty summery pasta.


2005 Domaine de L’Arlot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de l’Arlot. Burghound 92. Mild reduction detracts from the otherwise ripe aromas of plum and red pinot fruit where there is also a trace of vegetal that gives way to rich, full and sweet flavors that remain pure and refined on the sappy, dusty and obviously mineral-infused, firm and beautifully balanced finish. This is quite linear at present and will need time to flesh out and I would strongly suggest decanting this first if you’re going to try one young to dissipate the reduction.


Chick peas done “all ways.” I’m not sure it’s exactly every way possible, but it is more than a few!


Devonshire crab, garden courgette flower, lemongrass. Another exotic take. At some level at stuffed zucchini flower, this had a Thai crab bisque vibe.


Mango sorbet. Intense!


Risotto of summer vegetables, chervil cream.


Roasted loin of rose veal, watercress puree, madeira jus.


Assiette of Cornish lamb, jersey royals, artichoke and gooseberry puree.


With the jus. This was some really fine lamb.


Mothais sur feuille goat’s cheese and goat’s curd, honey, sorrel and hazelnuts, kalamata olive. This unusual cheese course was very intense and flavorful. Lots of goat (in a good way).


2010 Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé. 93 points. Like liquid apricot. Unctuous and sweet panoply of marmalade, citrus, mixed exotic fruit; a whiff of smoke; reasonable acidity manages to keep up with the sweetness.


You can see how dark and thick this is — and it’s brand new!


Raspberry soup with fresh mint and basil.


Apricot Almondine, caramel croustillant. Really nice and intense. It also paired fantastically with the dessert wine.


Chocolate dumbo! This was some intense chocolate and a bit of candied hazelnut – plus the various textures and the ice cream. Really lovely.


Textures of coconut and Chana chocolate Grand cru. A wonderful coconut/chocolate combo. Like the flavors from a Nutella and coconut crepe — but so much better!

Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons didn’t disappoint. This isn’t radically modernist as top gastronomic places go, but the execution and presentation was superb — plus what was really interesting was the subtle complexity of each dish. There were a lot of floral and herbal notes going on, and they blended seamlessly, adding to the dishes rather than distracting. Clearly a very fine chef hitting on all cylinders.

For more English dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
  2. Eating Modena – Osteria Francescana
  3. Eating Milano Marittima – Ristorante La Frasca
  4. Eating Monteriggioni – Il Pozzo
  5. Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Arnolfo
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burgundy, Cheese, Dessert, England, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Michelin, Oxfordshire, Raymond Blanc

Timeless Tiramisu

May16

Herein I set out to create the ultimate tiramisu – everything is basically from scratch. The cheese, the creme, the lady fingers. I tried to use the best ingredients and recreate that  richness and subtlety of secondary flavor that is the hallmark of great Italian desserts.

By far the most complex thing in real Tiramisu (which is a complex 2-3 day dessert) is the creme filling. It consists of four different components:

The Mascarpone


Mascarpone is one of the simplest cheeses going, although it’s certainly tasty enough. It has basically two ingredients: cream and lemon juice. In this case, you heat heavy cream (pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized, as the ultra is dead and can’t make cheese) slowly to 180 degrees, turn off the heat, and add lemon juice (about one lemon worth for this quart of creme).


It will rapidly curdle and turn into cheese. You stir slowly and then chill for a couple of hours.


And viola, Mascapone. Technically, one is supposed to squeeze out the whey. I’ve never been able too. It’s always so thick. It basically tastes like fresh creme with a lemony flavor.

The Zabaione

Zabaione (sabayon in French) is an eggy custard with a delectable subtle lemon and masala flavor.


It’s basically sugar, lemon rind.


Egg yolks.


Masala wine and vanilla extract. These are key (along with the lemon) to adding that Italian factor.


You mix them together and cook over a double boiler.


Until it thickens.


The stuff is fantastic by itself, like what a Cadbury egg center SHOULD taste like (but doesn’t).

The Pastry Cream

The third of four components to the tiramisu cream, a thick pastry cream.


Very similar ingredients to the Zabaione, but adds milk and flower.


It’s basically a sweet egg/milk custard.


You mix it together.


Slowly heat.


Until it thickens.


And becomes the stuff that those yummy French pastries are stuffed with.


Here you can see the dueling cremes.


The cookies inside the tiramisu are “lady fingers,” basically a light eggy sugar cookie (you may be noticing an ingredient theme here).


I baked up a bunch of them. Once all these ingredients are ready (and I did them the day before) it’s time for the assembly.


But, where’s the coffee? You need to dip the lady fingers in something…


and in this case a mixture of sugar, rum, and expresso (fresh brewed). For good measure that bottle of Gosling’s Dark Rum (which we bought in Bermuda) had a whole fresh Tahitian vanilla bean shoved inside… in 2001! By now, it’s had time to really absorb the flavor.


Oh, and because Mascarpone, Zabaione, and pastry creme isn’t quite creamy enough, we need to throw in some completely fresh whipped creme!


Start with the Mascarpone.


Blend in the Zabaione, and pastry creme.


and the whipped creme.


Mix very gently.


Now I took the lady fingers, hand dipped each one in the expresso mix and layered them in the casserole.


Then put on a layer of the creme/cheese mixture, another layer of cookies, more creme, more cookies, more creme.


Then dusted the top with high end cocoa powder. Place in the fridge for 12+ hours to chill and set.


Here is a finished piece.


And a closeup of the cross section in the pan. That white stuff might look like simple whipped creme, which is what lame tiramisus use, but you know better. It has this wonderful rich, creamy, cheesy, lemony, vanilla, marsala, eggy taste. Wow! Everyone who tried it was unanimous in declaring it “the best tiramisu ever” and several went so far as to call it “organismic” or “best desert ever!”

If you want to try it yourself, I basically used this really hardcore recipe online.

Related posts:

  1. Piccolo – A little Italian
  2. Chili Addiction – The Heartstopper
  3. In between Pizza, there is Burrata
  4. Melisse – How much would a Woodcock…
  5. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cheese, coffee, Cream, custard, Egg, Egg yolk, Espresso, Italian cuisine, Ladyfingers, Mascarpone, Tiramisu

A Night of Cheese

Mar22

The other week we hosted a little wine and cheese night.


The is a nice little cheese spread put together from Andrew’s Cheese Shop. I’ll discuss the cheese itself in a bit, but on the right are various artisanal crackers and on the left: honey, dried figs, olives, cornichons, and quince paste.


Here is the cheese. I tried to build a progression from “mild” to “potent.” Now, this should all be taken in the context that I never go boring, being a more is more kind of guy.


I selected a small series of very interesting ascending wines and forced all 20 or so people to move through sequential small pours, even the occasional “I don’t like white” naysayer. But they were glad they tried them as these were all drinking in peak form.

2002 Gravner Breg Anfora Venezia Giulia IGT

Deep golden orange (or orange gold) in color. Big full nose dried orange, dry flowers, and honey. Palate is complex with orange rind, dry flowers, a bit of Pinot must, and what would be honey if the wine were sweet (which it is not). Full body and firm tannins with a finish of tea and brandy. An excellent example of Gravner’s OLD Old World philosophy!

1988 Joseph Drouhin Corton

The nose was medicinal, ethereal, and fragrant with hints of coffee, dill and rich dark fruit, more of the same on the palate, lovely mouth filling burgundy, medium finish

1998 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Colonnello

Tanzer 93-95 points, “Medium red. Subdued but noble aromas of plum, smoke, marzipan, minerals and dried flowers. Sweet, silky and concentrated, with lovely vinosity giving the wine a highly aromatic quality in the mouth. Sappy and elegant; a distinctly feminine style of Barolo, with lovely brightness and sweet, broad tannins. Long on the palate.”

2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Parker 96, “Beaucastel has been on a terrific qualitative roll over the last four vintages, and the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape (which Francois Perrin feels is similar to the 1990, although I don’t see that as of yet) is a 15,000-case blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the balance split among the other permitted varietals of the appellation. This inky/ruby/purple-colored cuvee offers a classic Beaucastel bouquet of new saddle leather, cigar smoke, roasted herbs, black truffles, underbrush, and blackberry as well as cherry fruit. It is a superb, earthy expression of this Mourvedre-dominated cuvee. Full-bodied and powerful.”


I always try to represent all three “animals” (cow, sheep, and goat). This is my goat.

Monte Enebro is handmade in Avila, Spain, by legendary cheesemaker Rafael Baez and his daughter Paloma. The Baezs make their complex goat’s milk cheese from pasteurized milk and then inoculate the logs with the mold that is used to make Roquefort, adding to Monte Enebro’s complexity and distinctive appearance. It is creamy, lemony and slightly acidic; as it ages, the texture becomes denser and the flavor becomes more intense with a pungent finish. This award-winning cheese has proven to be a versatile pairing partner for many wines; it pairs exceptionally well with Chenin Blancs, Sauternes and sweeter sherries.

The Gubbeen Dairy makes effectively one cheese – Gubbeen. Like the Chateaux that produce just one wine from their land, their milk produces Gubbeen Cheese – the trick is what they do in the curing processes. Cheese vintages come from ageing plus the milk quality and the seasons.

The Gubbeen herd is out earlier than most Irish farms as they are influenced by the Gulf Stream bringing in warm winds and early grass. In the Summer their herd will be grazing the pasture and is out all night, coming home at 6.00 in the morning to be milked. During the winter weather the herd is in their main shed where they feed on silage produced here at Gubbeen with supplements of nuts that Tom chooses each year.

The tags for the next two cheeses are actually flipped. This is the Cave Aged Marisa.

A cave – aged beauty! This natural-rind variety gets its complex, sweet and slightly rambunctious flavors from open-air cave aging. Cave Aged Marisa has been a judges favorite and was awarded the prestigious “Best of Show” 1st Runner Up at the 2011 American Cheese Society and 1st Place at the 2012 World Championship Cheese Contest.


Maxx 365 is the elder brother of Scharfe Maxx 365 an Alpine cheese from Toggenburg, Switzerland. The first thing that sets it apart from other Swiss cheese is that it’s not made from part-skim, or even full fat raw milk; it’s actually classified as a double crème. This essentially means they add cream to the milk to increase the richness of the cheese. This is what gives Scharfe Maxx and Maxx365 their unrivaled richness and depth.


Epoisses de Bourgogne is one of my all time favorite cheeses.

Époisses de Bourgogne is a cheese made in the village Époisses, which is in the département of Côte-d’Or in France. It is located around halfway between Dijon and Auxerre.
Commonly referred to as Époisses, it is a pungent unpasteurized cows-milk cheese. Smear-ripened (washed in marc de Bourgogne, the local pomace brandy), it is circular at around either 10cm or 18cm in diameter, with a distinctive soft red-orange colour. It is sold in a circular wooden box, and is best served with a good dark Trappist beer, or even Sauternes.
Napoleon was a particular fan of the cheese,[1] and the famous epicure Brillat-Savarin himself classed it as the “king of all cheeses”.


Bleu du Bocage is an amazing treat for the taste buds. Packed with a variety of flavors, it is salty, milky, fruity and minerally and not overly “goaty” in any way. Assertive in taste, this blue is perfect for dessert with a fruity white wine.

Related posts:

  1. Dinner Party – It all starts with Cheese
  2. Friday Night Lights
  3. An Evening at Malibu Wines
  4. Tomato Night at Il Grano
  5. Friday Night Heights – Shabbat Dinner
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Andrew's Cheese Shop, Cheese, Wine

Burgundy at Bouchon – Jadot

Mar13

Restaurant: Bouchon Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

Location: 235 NORTH CANON DRIVE | BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210 | 310.271.9910

Date: March 4, 2013

Cuisine: French Bistro

Rating: Good, but expensive

_

Through my recent Burgundy aficionado dinners I was hooked up with a series of winemaker dinners that Wally’s Wine and Spirits throws. These seem to be at Bouchon and feature great wines from a particular winemaker as well as an intimate opportunity to meet the winemaker himself.

This particular dinner features Jadot, which is a solid traditionalist B+ Burgundy house that I buy very frequently as they offer a wide range of wines from all over Burgundy (150 in total) and very good value. In general, their reds are better than their whites.

With regard to Bouchon. In the last three-four years there’s been a bit of a French Food revival in Southern California, but the emphasis has been on Bistro fare. Of course this is consistent with the post-recession trend toward less formal restaurants anyway. Bouchon is the small-chain spawn for Thomas Keller, the highly acclaimed chef of The French Laundry.


The Beverly Hills space is very pretty. Check out the bar (both raw and booze). Lobsters oversee the diners.


The elegant dining room has a very spacious, even Parisian feel.


For the special wine dinner tonight we have the private room.


And a special (i.e. limited) menu.

Amuses


The non-vintage Brut Reserve offers orange, sweet spice, and yeast aromas. Light to medium-bodied and delicate, this refined wine has floral flavors intermingled with touches of citrus.


Little puff pastries filled with Gruyère cheese.


Country pate with corchicons.


Salmon pate.


Goat cheese and beet tartlet.

 

Flight 1: Whites


The only non-Jadot wine of the evening. The 2007 Mugnier Nuits St. Georges “Clos de la Maréchale” 1er. Burghound 89, “An expressive nose of green apple, white flower and lemon zest aromas trimmed in a deft touch of wood merges into rich, clean and beautifully detailed middle weight flavors that possess a fine sense of underlying tension and punch on the layered and very dry finish that lingers nicely. Lovely and balanced.”


1999 Jadot Meursault Les Genevrieres. Burghound 91, “This just oozes minerality and spice from an expressive, forward nose offering fresh herbs and citrus that continues on to the rich, nicely powerful and generous medium weight flavors and long, intense and detailed finish. While this remains entirely primary, it is sufficiently forward to suggest that it will not need much more time to approach peak drinkability.”


The 1990 Jadot Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres.


2007 Jadot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 94, “A strikingly complex nose that possess excellent breadth to the ripe, pure and airy aromas of white flower, spice, green apple and subtle pear aromas that complement to perfection the big-bodied, rich and mouth coating flavors built on a base of fine minerality, all wrapped in a sappy and mouth coating finish that oozes dry extract. This is really a lovely effort with a chiseled and driving finale of superb persistence though note that while patience will be required, there is sufficient mid-palate sap that the finishing austerity is not forbidding. A “wow” wine.”


And the same wine, but 1997 Jadot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 90, “Very expressive, broad and rich aromas of minerals and green apples followed by rich, full, medium weight flavors and excellent acidity in the context of the vintage. This is brighter and more vibrant than most ’97s and though the flavors are quite forward, this should age gracefully for some years to come.”

Truth is, this was younger, fresher, and better than the 2007. Probably the magnum helped.


2002 Jadot Batard-Montrachet. Burghound 93, “This is a huge wine with full-on, expressive aromas of white flowers and fresh citrus extract followed by huge, oily, almost viscous broad and deep flavors that display extremely impressive and fine acid/fruit balance and length that is hard to believe. This is a powerful, precise, almost painfully intense Bâtard that is altogether imposing in its sheer size and power yet it never lapses into heaviness. A genuinely great effort.”

The have good bread here.

Frisée aux Lardons et Oeuf Poché. Frisée lettuce, lardons, poached Jidori egg with bacon vinaigrette & toasted brioche.

Confit de Canard. Duck leg confit, French green lentils, a matignon of root vegetables & red wine vinegar duck jus.

Very tasty. All that duck fat had saturated into the lentils and made them delicious.

 

Flight 2: Reds


1990 Jadot Corton-Pougets. Burghound 92, “A ripe and now mostly secondary nose of earth, spice, leather and hints of animale lead to rich yet elegant flavors underpinned by still noticeable but not hard tannins and a mineral-infused finish that offers admirable length and depth. This is aging beautifully and while ripe, the balance is such that the wine should continue to hold at this level for years though I don’t forsee much if any additional improvement from here. In short, a very successful ’90.”


2000 Jadot Corton-Pougets. Burgound 88-91, “Stylistically closer to the Grèves with even better richness and power though it is not quite as complex and does not deliver the same level of finesse. Somewhat animale in character though not at all rustic. Very fine and quite long and not quite as structured as the other two Corton grands crus.”


2005 Jadot Clos Vougeot. Burghound 92-94, “A reserved and notably ripe earth-infused nose of red and dark berry fruit that possess a subtlesauvage character leads to Cistercian caliber youthfully austere flavors that are big, structured, well muscled and powerful and while not raw, it’s clear that this will need time to settle down and find their center. This is not an elegant wine but the potential is considerable and I especially like the bold character. A wine that will last 3 to 4 decades.”

This was from my cellar, but unfortunately it was way too young. It should be great wine in 10+ years :-).


ad hoc Fried Chicken. Wedge salad with roasted cauliflower & biscuits with gravy.

The best fried chicken I’ve had in years. Really really good! Not exactly light though.


The “light” salad that comes with the chicken.

Steak Frites. Herb roasted, caramelized shallots, maître d’hôtel butter or sauce Béarnaise served with French fries.

 

Flight 3: Reds


1989 Jadot Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots. Very nice, but I couldn’t find any reviews.


And the wine of the evening: the 1990 Jadot Chambertin Clos de Beze.

Parker 96, “It will be interesting to follow the evolution of the 1990 Bonnes Mares, Chambertin-Clos de Beze, and Chambertin. All are magnificent examples of not only the heights red burgundy can achieve, but also of the thrilling quality of the 1990 vintage. The Chambertin-Clos de Beze gets my nod as the wine in the Jadot portfolio that should hit the highest peak in quality and pleasure. It needs at least 5-7 years in the cellar, and has the potential to last for 25 or more years. The color is a saturated dark ruby/purple, and the closed nose offers sweet, jammy aromas framed by noticeable smoky new oak. The magnificent richness, highly structured and delineated style, as well as the explosively rich finish, all make for a show-stopping impression.”

Burghound 91, “From a bottle in the big Chambertin and Clos de Bèze tasting: Somewhat stewed, roasted fruit nose cut with very ripe earth and pungent, very ripe plum/prune notes. The flavors are big, very structured and intense but without sufficient mid-palate sap to completely buffer than and thus this finishes with an edgy, dry, slightly astringent quality. Perfectly good but not better and I found this wine a bit perplexing because the 1990 Clos St. Jacques is a really beautiful effort. 88/2005-12 Note: from a bottle tasted in October of ’04 – While the aromatics are certainly quite ripe, indeed even slightly roasted, this bottle delivered much more youthful, balanced, intense and savory flavors that displayed only a touch of the finishing astringency of the above example. While not destined to be a genuinely great wine, it’s certainly a fine effort.”

Really drinking great tonight (me says).


Selection de Fromages Artisanaux. Selection of artisanal cheeses with honeycomb, candied nuts, cranberry currant campagne & walnut bread.

The bread part.

A very fun evening. I was surprised how good the food was. Not modern or innovative per se (haha) but really very tasty. And there were some great wines plus the interesting opportunity to meet the winemaker and hear his perspective. He was very nice and extremely gracious.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

The tallest and Gaulist gentleman is the new Jadot winemaker!

Related posts:

  1. Bouchon Beverly Hills
  2. Spago – 2005 White Burg part 1!
  3. Never Boaring – Il Grano
By: agavin
Comments (7)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bistro, Bouchon, Burgundy, Chardonnay, Cheese, French Laundry, Jadot, Pinot noir, Southern California, Thomas Keller, Wally's Wine & Spirits, winemaker dinner

Ultimate Pizza New Years 2012

Jan07

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.


This is about half of the arrayed toppings required to make the full range of Ultimate Pizza. It’s not an efficient process.


We open with a little champagne, as it is New Years. The Brut is round and generous in its candied apricots, honey and roasted nuts. The wine offers good length but not as much complexity or personality as I had hoped. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.


The first pizza off the line. Traditional fresh tomato sauce, a variety of cheeses including the homemade Crescenza that I made a few days earlier. There are also figs, cilantro, and mushrooms.

The pizza gained a few ingredients between the first photo and baking, including some Marcona almonds and broccoli (pre-sautéed).

One of the most difficult things in custom pizza making is “the transfer.” You have to get the pizza from the kitchen to the oven and back again. If you get it into the oven (here a pizza stone on the gas Viking) without making a mess, it will come off easily. Some keys are using a LOT of flour and cornmeal to “lube” up the surfaces and dry the dough, and also not letting the toppings get too close to the edges.


The finished pizza.


My go-to sweet white. Incorporating fruit principally from Wehlener Nonnenberg, Graacher Himmelreich, and Bernkasteler Johannisbrunnchen, the generic Prum 2011 Riesling Kabinett displays an archetypal Mosel Riesling nose of fresh apple, lemon, and clover allied to faintly cheesy, leesy youthful “stink”; and comes to the palate bright and zippy, with hints of wet stone, and prominent cyanic piquancy of apple pit invigoratingly extending its mouthwateringly juicy, if tart and relatively simple finish.


This is the base for my creme fraiche salmon pizza, which you can find detailed here.


We start in on the red. Parker 94, “The spectacular Bonnes Mares jumps from the glass with aromas of blackberries, cherries, flowers and minerals. It is a massively concentrated, powerful, full-bodied wine packed with stones, wild cherries, red currants, and touches of iron, tar and chocolate for additional complexity. Highly structured and with an exceptionally long finish, it should be cellared for 7-9 years and will hold through 2012. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy in Washington, D.C. in April. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided.”

After this there were 5-6 reds that the hectic evening didn’t allow me to photo, most of the Italian.


Here is one of my favorites, my tikka masala pizza. The sauce is tikka masala sauce, then with corn, red onions, feta, mozz balls, almonds, figs.


Here at the station.


My mom’s more classic margarita.


And my newest creation, extremely successful, the “Afghan Special.” The first layer (after a little olive oil) is mint yogurt, then the green is a cilantro pesto-like Afghan sauce, then the red is sweet pepper jelly. The white blobs are ricotta and feta. This was a superb pizza.


A almond pesto based vegie pizza.


And on the right my wife’s favorite, margarita with mushrooms, corn, almonds, and figs.


An awesome artisinal tomato-basil-pesto based pizza. Exotic fresh mushrooms, aged parm, gorgonzola dulce, some other fresh cheeses.


There was a little too much olive oil and it drooled a little, but no biggy. Still delicious.


p

A mushroom pizza.


And another tikka masala pizza, this time with extra mushrooms and cilantro pesto.


After baking.


And with burrata on top, because burrata makes everything better. It really does.


A big veggie and other pizza. It’s important to sauté your veggies before they go on the pizza as the time in the oven is too fast to really cook them.


After baking it looks like Pacman.


And a white pizza, with various cheeses. Those white blocks are my homemade one.


Baked.


And with more burrata and balsamic glaze. Yum!


A mushroom and tomato pizza. I got really interesting mushrooms from the mushroom vendor at the Pacific Palisades Farmer’s market this time, so we have a lot of shroom pizzas.


Baked.


And the final pizza, a pesto, goat cheese, veggie, which we forgot on the grill for an extra 2 minutes, resulting in this extra crispy style. Actually, still quite good.


For dessert, being as it was New Years, I pulled out the seriously big gun. 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!”


Homemade piebald brownies.


Some Costco cake that despite having about fifty billion ingredients actually tasted decent. It will survive nuclear war.


Viktor Bennes pastries.


And mini Bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Chocolate and marble.


Red velvet and lemon.


Then to ring in 2013, Le Grande Dame 1990. Parker 95, “I highly recommend the Veuve Clicquot 1990 La Grande Dame. It is exquisitely rich and accessible, yet bursting with potential.”

Happy New Year!

And for more Ultimate Pizza, check out here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – New Years
  2. Ultimate Pizza 2012
  3. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  4. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Comeback
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bonnes Mares, Cheese, Cooking, Dessert, Food, New Year, Pinot noir, Pizza, ultimate_pizza, Viking, Wine

Ultimate Pizza 2012

Feb02

With the new year comes more Ultimate Pizza (see here for the whole series). In case you missed it, this is the totally hand crafted gourmet pizzas we cook at home.


Yum, Burgundy from the cellar. Parker gives 93 points. “One of the three batches that will be blended to make up d ‘Angerville’s 2005 Volnay Champans was still in malo, so I base my assessment on the other two. Scented with cherry and cassis, flowers and fungus, smoke and chalk dust, this displays richness and depth, fine tannins and emerging silkiness, and a youthfully firm but long finish loaded with savory subtleties. Just give it 6-8 years before revisiting. (The outstanding d’Angerville 2004s were also very late to finish malo, and the Champans is especially memorable for its vivid sauteed champignons, alluring ginger spice, marrowy richness, and flattering mouth feel, indeed comparable in quality though lacking the developmental potential of this 2005. As a striking example of mercantile bipolar disorder, I purchased this outstanding 2004 for $49.99 from a merchant whose price on the 2005 thus represented a 350% premium!)

The late Jacques d’Angerville’s son Guillaume and long-time wine making collaborator and brother-in-law Renaud de Villette can boast a superb collection of 2005s, but an equally apt tribute to the legacy of the late Marquis are the odds-beating results they bottled from 2004, when to the universal difficulties of that vintage were added the ravages of hail it visited on Volnay. The 2005s fermented with pump-overs but no punch-downs and exhibit formidable underlying structure yet pure fruit and early, flattering textural development.”


This is my son’s pizza. Straight up tomato, mozz, raw tomato pizza sauce, corn, figs.


This one has an ultimate pesto base.


Then my patented (albeit stolen from Wolfgang Puck) bagels and cream cheese pizza. First I brush the dough with white truffle oil and fresh rosemary from the garden, then bake.


Then I add creme fraiche mixed with dill and chives, red onion, and capers. Then lox. Yum yum.


Pizza mistress Mirella cooks up this one. Blue cheese and various other cheeses.


Then morel mushrooms, figs, almonds, and as a sauce: camelized onion compote.


here it is baked.


And dressed with balsamic glaze.


This one starts off old school with tomato sauce and mozz.


Then add mozzarella balls, basil, sun dried tomatoes and crushed red pepper.


Coming off the oven.


Now up is my personal favorite, the chickenless tikka masala pizza. With fresh masala sauce as the sauce. Then bucheron goat cheese, parmesan, almonds, corn, fresh ricotta, mozz balls, and red onion. Then as a new touch this time, I added spicy mango chutney.


Baked. The chutney really took this pizza to the next level. It basically tastes like naan with masala and yogurt + chutney.


But we’re not done yet. Add burrata, a little extra virgin olive oil, and some cilantro — this last amused me as it’s traditional to top a curry with fresh cilantro.


This cheesy monster tasted better than it looked!


Parker 94. The ultra rare riserva. “The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, from vines in Castelnuovo dell’Abate, is gorgeous, layered and elegant in its violets, tar, licorice and cherries. The finish is long and impeccable, but this is a somewhat ethereal style, with aromas and flavors that are already a touch forward relative to most 2004 Riservas. Ideally the wine is best enjoyed within the next decade. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020.”


As a final pizza I made a new variant. This puppy has truffle oil, pesto, dabs of curry, corn, about five types of cheese (mozz, parm, blue, mozz balls, pecorino), figs, chanterelle mushrooms, onions, and even mango chutney.


Then baked.


And dressed with burrata and balsamic glaze. Really good stuff.


Just a bit of the mid pizza carnage.


For dessert out comes the 1988 Rayne-Vigneau. Parker 91. “The 1988 is the best example I have tasted from this property. An intense, honeyed, pear, flower, and apricot fragrance is reminiscent of Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. In the mouth, there is exceptional richness, super focus because of fine acidity, a wonderful touch of toasty new oak, and an elegant, very positive, crisp finish. This is a beautifully made, authoritative tasting, and impeccably well-balanced Sauternes. Anticipated maturity: Now-2006. Last tasted, 3/90.”


Then some mini cupcakes from dots in Pasadena.


And a selection of mini desserts from closer at hand.


The eclair din’t even fit in the box, so he’s lurking on his own.

If there had been a wafer thin mint I would have been coating the walls!

Well, we’ve pretty much got our whole pizza thing down to a science, but still, each time you learn something. I’m still working on the mechanics of transfer into the hot over. If a pizza makes it into the oven without spilling anything then it always cooks perfectly. Get it out — provided you lube up the pizza stones with corn meal — is easy. But I made progress. By making sure to put the pizza’s on the end of the peel, to lube well, and using a new pizza sized teflon spatula I was able to keep things pretty much under control.

Make sure to check out how I make all the components and other pizzas here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – New Years
  2. Ultimate Pizza in Review
  3. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  4. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burrata, Cheese, Cooking, cupcakes, Dessert, Pesto, Pizza, Rayne-Vigneau, Sauternes, Tomato sauce, Volnay Champans, Wolfgang Puck

ThanksGavin 2011 – The Third Wave

Nov27

Given that we went out to the Zoo all day while my cousin Abbe cooked up this followup to the official Thanksgiving dinner, she insists that it should really be called the ThanksFlitter (her last name). Regardless, the gluttony continued.

The 2006 il Cocco. This guy makes only 3000 bottles a year, and he does ALL the labor (field and cellar) himself.


Parker 93. “The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is a beguiling wine laced with all sorts of black cherries, minerals, spices, licorice and menthol. All of the aromas and flavors are layered together through to the exquisite, refined finish. The 2006 shows a level of richness and density this bottling has lacked in some previous vintages. Today the tannins remain a touch austere, but another few years in bottle should do the trick. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2026.”


The cheese spread I bought at Di Bruno’s.


A medium aged goat cheese. Chalky goodness.


An American farmhouse buttery cheddar.


Mimmolette.

A stinky washed rind.


And a medium body blue cheese.


And quince paste which always makes cheese better.


Various appetizers, some recycled from the night before.


Muhammara.


A little champagne.

Parker 94. “The 2007 Laurel, a blend of 65% Garnacha and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, is deep purple-colored with a bouquet of wet stone, Asian spices, black cherry compote, and incense. Dense and sweet on the palate with tons of spice, it is super-concentrated, rich, and smooth-textured. Give this lengthy effort 2-3 years of additional cellaring and drink it from 2013 to 2027.”

This is an amazing wine, deep grape.


Parker 91. “The 2005 Finca Libertad is a blend of 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, and 30% Merlot aged for 18 months in new French oak. The Cabernet Franc portion of the blend was sourced from 100+-year-old pre-phyloxera vines. Dark ruby in color, it exhibits a complex aromatic array of toasty oak, cinnamon, earth notes, pencil lead, cassis, and black currant. This is followed by a medium-bodied, elegant wine with savory flavors, considerable complexity, and enough structure to evolve for another 2-3 years. This lengthy effort should be at its best from 2011 to 2020.”


Classic Mexican “gulf coast style” rice pilaf. Chicken stock, garlic and onions in there. These recipes are mostly from Mexican Everyday.


The main dish: Chipotle Shrimp. Tomatos, chipotles, garlic, broth, cilantro. This had a good bit of heat.


Flounder in the same sauce.


Avocado.


Various condiments: lime and fresh tortilla from a Spanish place by the Italian Market.


Chopped onion, queso fresco.


“Classic Mexican pot beans” with Abbe’s special twist of roasted poblanos and Thanksgiving smoked turkey. Very tasty, although they had the usual effect.


Swiss chard sautéed in olive oil and garlic.


And the sherry comes back out for dessert.


The spread.


Vegan brownies. Hmmm.


A chocolate chip cake with chocolate sauce. It isn’t that pretty but it tasted great.


My grandmother’s special brownies.


These were supposed to be Grandmom’s blondie’s, but they were made vegan and so ended up a little weird.


Another plum tart.

Overall, another great feast from Abbe. You can check out her pork spectacular last year too.

For more ThanksGavin dining, click here.

Related posts:

  1. ThanksGavin 2011 – The Main Event
  2. Bibou – ThanksGavin 2011 Prequel
  3. ThanksGavin 2011 – The Italian Market
  4. Thanksgiving – Pork Insanity
  5. Thanksgiving Proper
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: brownies, Brunello di Montalcino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cheese, Cooking, Dessert, il Cocco, Mexican, Muhammara, Quince, ThanksGavin, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, Wine

ThanksGavin 2011 – The Italian Market

Nov26

It’s Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving and we head down to the Philadelphia Italian market to channel our inner Tony Soprano.


Sarcone’s is home to stunningly good old school Italian-American deli sandwiches. All bread is baked fresh at the adjacent bakery.


Even Danny DiVito gives it the vote of confidence.


The low key (but crowded) interior.


Random stuff inside the display case.


Spicy pickles!


And what we really came for, the “old fashioned Italian” with the works. Notice, NO MAYO. Olive oil and vinegar, roasted hot long peppers, onions, sharp aged provolone, etc. This is a GREAT hoagie.


The “modern Italian American” has slightly more whitebread meats.


Even the tuna is good.


And the sweet and spicy pepper relish is fantastic.


Here’s the birthplace of the bread.


This is the corner two blocks away at the heart of the Italian market.


In case you need some deer brain, fresh rabbit, or wild boar.


Then on to get some cheese at Di Bruno’s.


Cheesy!


And some completely old school sausage at Fiorella’s. They only make 3-4 kinds. Each has only 3-4 ingredients: pork, salt, pepper, and maybe some garlic or red pepper.


And one of my favorites! From Isgro Pasticceria.


Stuffed to order cannoli! Fresh fresh ricotta cheese with chocolate chips in a pastry shell. Almost as good as in Sicily except no candied fruit.


Even my three year-old loves them. I pitched it as a “cheese cookie.” I had him at “cheese.”

For more ThanksGavin dining, click here.

Or check out eating across Italy itself, 50+ Italian meals.

Related posts:

  1. Bibou – ThanksGavin 2011 Prequel
  2. ThanksGavin 2011 – The Main Event
  3. Quick Eats: Italian-Iberian Snack
  4. Piccolo – A little Italian
  5. ThanksGavin in Review
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: cannoli, Cheese, Dessert, hoagie, italian, Italian American, italian deli, Italian Market Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Sarcone's, ThanksGavin, thanksgiving, Tony Soprano

Joan’s on Third for Breakfast

Sep04

Restaurant: Joan’s on Third

Location: 8350 West Third Street. 323.655.2285

Date: August 20, 2011

Cuisine: American

Rating: Fantastic gourmet shop & cafe

_

Another father/son morning rolled around and after a most enjoyable trip to the Peterson Automotive Museum (excellent boy fun) we headed over to Joan’s on Third.

The busy Third Street shop front is pretty much an institution. This is a combined cafe, gourmet shop, and bakery.

 You can pretty much bet on seeing celbrities, or at the very least lots of the beautiful people.

There is a good amount of outside seating.

Cappuccino of course.

My son went for the pancakes.


I had this grown up egg mcmuffin type sandwich. Buttered bread, egg, cheese, and of course, bacon!


Joan’s has some of the best cupcakes around and these are two of my favorites. Coconut and snickers!


It’s worth showing the interior spaces. We have all sorts of really good (but overpriced) gourmet products.


Fresh baked goods.


Cheeses!


Meats!


And even more baked goods. I only photoed a small sampling. Joan has really good taste. There may be a mark up, but there is some serious yummy going on here. That’s what impresses me the most, the general extremely high level of culinary quality of most stuff. The prices can be a shock though.

We’ve used them for catering too. They have all sorts of delicious salads, quiches, and whatnots.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Tuscany – Villa Breakfast
  2. Eating Milano Marittima – Palace Hotel Breakfast
  3. Eating Modena – Real Fini Breakfast
  4. Eating Santa Margherita – Miramare Breakfast
  5. Breakfasts of Champions
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: baking, Breakfast, Brunch, Cheese, coffee, cupcakes, Dessert, Food, Joan's on Third, Los Angeles, McMuffin, Pancakes

Eating Poggibonsi – Osteria da Camillo

Jul14

Restaurant: Osteria da Camillo

Location: Poggibonsi, Italy

Date: June 18, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Very mediocre

ANY CHARACTER HERE

We were in Poggibonsi to drop my brother off at the bus/train station and we spent a few minutes wandering around and then picked a likely random lunch restaurant. This turned out to be our worst pick of the trip compared to expectations. It looked like all the other likely places — and it was even very touristy — but the food just wasn’t very good.


The menu.


This inexpensive Chianti Classico (probably 10-15 euros) was perfectly nice though.


Classic bruschetta with liver. These weren’t bad, one of the places better items. They weren’t however even close to the best bruschetta we’ve seen.


Mixed bruchetta, also fine. Starting from upper left and going clockwise. Fava beans, lard, mushrooms, and tomato.


Spicy pici with walnuts. This pasta tasted like glue. Paste. It was pretty gross. I think they added flour to the sauce, making it like elmers.


Tagliatelle al pesto. Edible, but very mediocre pesto.


Green tortelli with fossa cheese and yellow pumpkin cream. I didn’t try these.


Linguine with cheese and pepper. This was really bad too. Not even close to the amazing pepper and cheese pasta at Trattoria Pepei. I could barely eat a few bites. The pasta was pasty. Those thin slices of pecorino has an unpleasant melted cheese taste, and the sauce — there barely was one — tasted of paste.


Penne pomodoro.


Tagliatelle with tomatoes, olives, capers and hot peppers. Didn’t try this either.


Chicken, green beans, tomatoes, mushrooms. This was fine, not horrible. Not really a dish that does it for me though.

This place was completely unique for this trip in that it actually had bad dishes, several of them. That pretty much makes it the worst meal, even though it wasn’t horrible or anything. But it goes to show, eat out 50 times in Italy and you can find a dud!

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
  2. Eating Florence – La Cantinetta Antinori
  3. Eating Siena – Trattoria Pepei
  4. Eating Modena – Osteria Francescana
  5. Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Dietro Le Quinte
By: agavin
Comments (7)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bruschetta, Cheese, Chianti, Chianti Classico, Cooking, eating-italy, Food, Italian cuisine, Italy, Osteria da Camillo, pasta, Pesto, Poggibonsi, Toscana, Tuscany, Wine tasting descriptors

Eating Castellina – Albergaccio di Castellina

Jun29

Restaurant: Ristorante Albergaccio di Castellina

Location: Castellina in Chianti, Italy

Date: June 13 & 20, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Great food, great service

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Albergaccio di Castellina is the first “fancy” place we went to in Tuscany, and it was so good we went back twice, but like any of the repeat restaurants in the Eating Italy set I have compiled both into a single post. The place earns a single Michelin star and is located in the beautiful hills of Chianti Classico, in a town called Castellina in Chianti. The first time we arrived we had a typical “finding mishap” due to a clash between the GPS and a recent road closure. This led us to circle the area for about 45 minutes until we discovered the mysterious new (and roundabout) way to approach the restaurant.


The have lovely plates! And, as our gluten free companion observed, she’s “alergic to the plate!” (but obviously this doesn’t matter through the plastic).


They had both a lovely patio.

And a classic looking Tuscan interior.


I’m going to take to calling this course the “pre-bread” as many places in Italy have two, or even three, different rounds of bread! Those long things were like salty donuts! Yum!


The extensive menu. AC (as I’ll call it) has two very reasonable tasting menus and an unusual but easy method of pricing merely by the number of courses.


We started with a little prosecco.

Then this lighter Chianti Classico, very local.

This amuse was a tiny version of the best minestrone I ever had. It tasted like bacon! (and it had bacon).


On another night we got the Tuscan bread and tomato soup.


The second bread course.


And they even had gluten free bread — without pre-warning — earning them big points.


Mixed local cured meats, always great in Italy.


This was the best Beef Tartar I’ve had, except possibly for at Totoraku. It was Chianino, the tough but delicious Tuscan cow. It also had ginger and parmesan. Wow!


Flowers of tuscany. Some tartar, an onion stuffed with pecorino, a meat pate, and a fried squash blossom.


Moving slightly up the Chianti beefiness ladder.


Hand made ravioli filled with blue cheese of Chianti, with thyme leaf and celery soup.


Gnocchi with saffron and beef muzzle sauce, parmesan.


And even gluten free pasta!


A fantastic baked lasagne.

Swiss shard “meat” balls, with tomato, basil, and cheese. Really interesting (and good).


More homemade pasta, with a tripe and parmesan sauce, with porcini mushrooms. This was delicious, and I don’t even like tripe!


This local super Tuscan gets a 96 from Parker!  “The 2007 Cepparello (Sangiovese) makes a case for itself as one of the finest wines ever made at Isole e Olena.  It is an open, sublime Cepparello endowed with tons of clarity and definition. The ripe red fruit floats on a core of refined, silky tannins that caress the palate with exceptional elegance and finesse. As the wine sits in the glass its inner perfume gradually emerges, leading to an eternal, beautifully crafted finish. The ripeness of the vintage is beautifully balanced by the acidity that is the trademark of Sangiovese grown in these hillside plots. Simply put, this is an utterly thrilling wine that will be a joy to follow over the coming years. In many ways, the restraint, elegance and polish all suggest Cepparello is the Haut-Brion of Tuscany’s high-end, pure Sangioveses. The 2007 Cepparello was fermented in wood uprights and saw three weeks of contact on the skins. Malolactic fermentation took place in equal parts steel and French oak. The final blend was assembled and the wine was subsequently aged in French oak barrels (1/3 new) for 18 months. Proprietor Paolo De Marchi describes the 2007 season as one where periods of heat alternated with well-timed spells of rain. Overall temperatures remained warm (but never extreme) throughout the year, which allowed the fruit to ripen evenly. Still, it was a challenging vintage, and De Marchi was forced to carry out a stringent selection in his vineyards. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2027.”


Grilled Tuscan vegetables and burrata.

Lamb medallions in an anchovy sauce with herbs. Stewed giblets. Tomato and vegetable millefeuile. The meat was a little tougher than we are usually used to in the states, but full of flavor.


Giblets!

This dish was the single failure. Chick pea crepes with salt cod. This is a traditional salt-packed Italian fish that needs a lot of soaking — and it had 48 hours — but it still wasn’t really to our taste. They very generously pulled it from the bill.


Bisteca Toscana! The giant slab of nearly raw grilled Chianino beef.


Local cheeses!


The dessert menu.

A pre-dessert of cherry gelato and cherries. Yum!


Another pre-dessert, ricotta and fig.

Local cheesecake with fresh berries.

Two slightly different takes on ricotta cheese semifreddo in a sponge cake, flavored with vin santo.


Summer “caprese” of cream and strawberries.


Housemade gelato.

This place is really awesome. They take local ingredients, and local dishes, and do a wonderful job modernizing them.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Staggia – Pozzo dei Desideri
  2. Eating Siena – Trattoria Pepei
  3. Eating Tuscany – Boar at Home
  4. Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Dietro Le Quinte
  5. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Albergaccio di Castellina, Castellina in Chianti, Cheese, Chianti, Chianti Classico, Dessert, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Italy, pasta, Toscana, Tuscany, Wine

Eating Tuscany – Boar at Home

Jun27

Location: Tuscany, Italy

Date: June 12, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

ANY CHARACTER HERE

During our day in Siena we picked up a few supplies.

Most notably, at the sign of the Cinghiale, the Tuscan wild boar.


This funny little gourmet shop sells all sorts of big products — plus some cheese and wine.


The don’t allow photos, but I stole this one of the inside. Zoome in and check out the salesman and his mustache!


Back at our temporary “home” we opened this old Barbaresco. One of my brother’s friends in Milano had given it to him thinking it wouldn’t be good anymore — being almost 40 years old — but lo and beyond it was delicious.


We did have to decant it to seperate out the sediment, but I managed to extract the cork (in 2 pieces) without loosing any.


At the boar shop we picked up two kinds of pecorino, this fresher one.


And this aged “good with old wine” one.

We also got some of this boar salami, pure wild pig mixed with Brunello!


And this “Panna Rustico” which is hearty bread with pecorino and pancetta baked into it. What more could you want with a nice old Italian wine but variants of pig and cheese?

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Staggia – Pozzo dei Desideri
  2. Eating Siena – Trattoria Pepei
  3. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
  4. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
  5. Eating Bologna – Trattoria Leonida
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Barbaresco, Cheese, Cinghiale, eating-italy, Florence, Italian cuisine, Italy, Pecorino, Salami, Siena, Tuscany, Wild boar, Wine

Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo

Jun11

Restaurant: Osteria del Pozzo

Location: Modena, Italy

Date: June 5, 2011

Cuisine: Emilia Romagna

Rating: Very good casual

ANY CHARACTER HERE

This post kicks off the food portion of my 2011 Europe trip, Eating Italy. We begin our month of gastronomic excess in the heart of Emilia Romagna, Modena — home of both Ferrari and Balsamico di Modena. It’s oddly rainy for June, and exhausted from over 27 hours of air and ground travel we stumbled across the street to this local place.


The have a number of rooms in these cute little tents.


The menu.

A prosecco, slightly sweet.

Caprese of course. Each portion is a whole ball of real buffalo mozzerella! Huge.


Homemade pasta, ham, arugala, cream, parmesan. This was a VERY good pasta by my taste, the in heavy ham & cream style I love (see here or here).


Spagetti and pomodoro.

Bresola, thin sheets of cured beef and parmesan and arugala. Good stuff.


Insalata mixta.

This 15E sangiovese was very drinkable.


Homemade (all the pasta except the spagetti was) with zucchini and shrimp. A nice light pasta.


Potato gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce. These were the kind of amazing gnocchi that are nearly impossible to find in the states, where they are so fluffy they melt in the mouth.


Tortellini in broth. A very traditional dish, little meat pockets in a savory chicken broth.


Classic taggliatelli ragu.Probably mixed pork and beef.


The case of traditional northern Italian desserts. Various cakes and tortes.


The chocolate with hazelnut nougat cake. Very rich.


Cherry torte. It tasted like strawberry rhubarb pie.


A sampler of fresh fruits. The cantaloupe was particularly flavorful and sweet. The cherries were great too.

This place was a perfect choice for the right off the plane choice. It was casual, reasonable, but had very good food. Perfecto.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2
  2. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini
  3. Sicilian Style – Drago
  4. Seconds at Sotto
  5. Sotto – Sicily con Sardo
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Balsamic vinegar, Cheese, Cooking, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Food, Italian cuisine, Italy, Meat, Modena, pasta, side dishes, vegetarian

An Evening at Malibu Wines

Jun05

It was my brother-in-law’s birthday, and a warm California Friday in late may, so his wife organized a little get together in the Santa Monica mountains at Malibu Wines. Now, I’m not super partial to California wines in general (too mechanical and over-oaked) or SoCal ones in particular (just not as good as their NorCal counterparts). But this little place in the mountains has a pretty good gig going with regard to spending an evening with friends.


We’ve had a lot of rain this year and the mountains were beautiful, the air hovering just under 80. The vineyard basically has a big green with tables that you can bring whatever food or non alcoholic drinks you want. They play live music on weekends (with dancing) and sell you their wines at the tasting room bar. There is no cover.


The stage. It gets pretty crowded and there was actually a good amount of dancing later in the evening.


We mostly stuck to this central coast 2002 Cabernet. It wasn’t bad, maybe 90 points. The couple years has taken the edge off the oak and it was certainly well made, if a little by the numbers.


But what is a wine picnic without cheese?  I stopped before hand at the local cheese shop, Andrew’s Cheese Shop. On the left is Abbaye de Bel’loc and the right a soft goat cheese from France.


In the front we have Epoisses (gooey washed rind fun), on the right Stichelton, a beautiful rich English blue cheese, and on the left a Spanish sheep milk cheese.


And sense this wasn’t in the house, some pate. Goose and duck liver with truffles on the left and French Country Pate on the right. Both intensely meaty. Andrew’s not only sells cheeses and condiments, but a few meats as well.


Someone else brought some grape leaves stuffed with rice (Greek style). There was a lot of other food I didn’t photo too.


Some more condiments from Andrew’s. Various crackers. They have really good crackers — albiet expensive.


Quince paste (the orange jelly stuff), conveniently chopped into cubes. You add it to your cracker and cheese for some extra punch.


My sister-in-law makes a yummy spinach dip.


And this being a birthday we had a rather jumbo cake to finish out the evening.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Sam’s by the Beach
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Andrew's Cheese Shop, Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Cheese, Food, Malibu Wines, Santa Monica Mountains, Stichelton, Wine

Chili Addiction – The Heartstopper

May12

Restaurant: Chili Addiction

Location: 408 N La Cienega Blvd. (323) 203-1793

Date: May 7, 2011

Cuisine: Comfort Food

Rating: Tasty!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Last Saturday a good friend of mine had a bunch of people over for a BBQ. He got all his food from Chili Addiction, a comfort food joint over in West Hollywood. This is not a complete review, although the place is good. I just wanted to show my evil creation.


Two HUGE sausages (the dark one is Italian, the light Jalapeno & Cheddar), over a bun, smothered in some kind of spicy meat chili (I don’t know which exact flavor).


Then I added some of their “mellow yellow” homemade mustard, some “lethal injection” Habenero sauce, ad a ton of cheddar cheese. Oh the arteries!


Rolling back a second, the dogs on the grill.


Chili addiction also makes homemade ice cream. It’s not bad, but nowhere near as good as their chili and dogs, or Sweet Rose Creamery (review) for that matter. The mint had the fake green, and wasn’t real mint leaves. It wasn’t bad or anything, but not super either. The vanilla was better, a very tasty french vanilla, probably a 7/10.


This homemade tiramisu baked by another guest on the other hand was a 10/10.


Creamy goodness.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
  2. Lasagne Bolognese Minus the Meat
  3. Saturday is for Salt
  4. Finally, Modern Dim sum in Santa Monica
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cheese, chili, Chili Adiction, Comfort food, Cooking, Food, Home, Hot Dogs, Hot Sauce, Ice cream, Mint, mustard, Seasonings

Seconds at Sam’s by the Beach

Mar18

Restaurant: Sam’s by the Beach [1, 2, 3]

Location: 108 W. Channel Rd.(PCH), Santa Monica, CA 90402. 310-230-9100

Date: March 12, 2011

Cuisine: Cal French International

Rating: Stellar food and unparalleled service.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I already covered the background to Sam’s in my FIRST REVIEW. Let’s just say this is a local place with an unusual and inventive menu that’s worth a drive.

I’d never heard of this “lesser” Bordeaux, but Sam opened this half-bottle and it was very nice. Characteristic Saint-Emilion smooth. The 8 or so years gave it just enough age to settle the tanins.

Today’s menu.

The usual amuse. Little fried pockets of spinach and cheese.

Homemade bread and the olive oil sesame dip.

“Roasted Beet Salad, mixed with onions and tomato in Aged balsamic dressing, served with Feta Cheese croquet.”

This was a special. Seared Kanpachi (young yellowtail) with arugula, avocado, tomatoes, in a citrus ginger vinaigrette. The dressing was to die for, and mated perfectly with the sushi grade fish.

“Vegetarian Crepes. Homemade Crepes filled with Swiss chard, wild mushrooms and zucchini served in tomato coulis.” This is a half order, as the normal one has two of the burrito-like crepes. This is a very nice vegetarian option, and surprisingly hearty. The sauce is bread dippingly yummy.

“Lamb Chorizo Risotto, Carnaroli rice prepared with lamb sausage, fresh spinach, feta cheese, in meyer lemon broth.” This isn’t your typical Italian Risotto either, but it’s spectacular, and much lighter. There is a lovely tang from the lemon, and the sharp goat cheese, and the sausage is to die for.

The dessert menu.

His creme brulee is straight up traditional, and it’s the second best I’ve ever had in the world (there was this one in Avignon…). The meat of it is thick, creamy, and all vanilla.

A new dessert (at least for us). This take on the flowerless chocolate cake is moist, dense, and chocolately — as it should be.

Sam is also starting a new thing for Sunday nights, pizza night!  He has a pizza oven. We’ll have to come back and try these, see how they compare to my Ultimate Pizza. I’m particularly eager to try the Shawarma.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Sam’s by the Beach
  2. Brunch at Tavern 3D
  3. Brunch at Tavern – again
  4. Rustic Canyon 3D
  5. Dinner and Drinks at Tavern
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Business and Economy, California, Carnaroli, Cheese, Cooking, Crêpe, Dessert, Feta, Food, Los Angeles, Restaurant, Sam's by the Beach, Santa Monica California, side dishes, Spinach, United States, vegetarian

Dinner Party – It all starts with Cheese

Mar16

Last Friday we hosted a little dinner party. I can’t say it was purely an excuse for more cooking and food photos, but well, here they are. Everything in this meal is made from scratch.

The first course in summary.

Cheese is always a good start. This time I tried a new cheese shop, Andrew’s Cheese Shop. This is closer than my usual haunt, the The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Andrew’s isn’t as big, but they had plenty of choices, and they were extremely friendly.

I put together a little foursome. Epoisses on the left (gooey washed rind fun), a fantastic goat, Monte Enebro, a nice rich nutty dutch cheese on the left (tasted halfway between a Gouda and Parmesan) and on the bottom, Stichelton, a beautiful rich English blue cheese.

Condiments. Marcona almonds, quince paste (the orange jelly stuff), Spanish olives, and accacia honey from Abruzzo.

The carbohydrates. Traditional french baguette, cranberry nut crisps, and olive oil cracker sticks. All from Andrew’s, and all excellent.

We also made these puff pastries from scratch. Stuffed with egg, cheese, and spinach. Basically little puff-Spanakopita.

What would all that cheese and bread be without some wine?

On the left a fantastic Burgundy, Parker gives it 92, but I’d give it more like a 94. “The 2003 Clos Vougeot explodes from the glass with licorice, dark cherries, and a myriad of spices. A wine of considerable depth, it is packed with suave black fruits immersed in chocolate. Well-structured, ripe, and exceptionally long, it will merit a higher score if its alcoholic warmth is absorbed into the wine with time (something that sometimes occurs with Pinot Noirs). Projected maturity: 2008-2017.”

On the right, earning 90 points (and again I’d give it more), “The 2006 Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone exhibits meaty, herbal, tapenade, pepper, animal fur, and damp earth-like notes. It is soft, round, lush, and best consumed over the next 10+ years.”

For the main course, we went with Salmon en Papillote, adapted from a recipe by non other than Julia Child. All done from scratch.

Sealed in with the juices are julianned vegetables, parsley, basil, garlic. We’ve done this before but tis batch turned out absolutely perfect.

And as the starch, couscous adapted from Houstons (see it HERE). I found a recipe on the web approximating what they do at the restaurant (HERE).

And then salad.

And this delicious but rather un-homogenized walnut vinaigrette (from scratch of course).

Then for dessert, our friend Geo’s Chocolate Ganache tart. He very graciously gave us this recipe after some prying, and it’s a terribly excellent and decadent dessert. Mostly it’s butter, sugar, and 70% cacao chocolate. Oh yes!

Then homemade whipped cream. None of those emulsifying agents. And homemade raspberry sauce (rasberries and sugar thrown in the blender).

And fruit to finish.

Related posts:

  1. Dinner and Drinks at Tavern
  2. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  3. Saturday is for Salt
  4. Lasagne Bolognese Minus the Meat
  5. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Abruzzo, Almond, Cheese, Cooking, couscous, Dessert, Dinner Party, Food, Goat Cheese, Gouda, home cooking, Julia Child, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pinot noir, side dishes, Spanakopita, Stichelton, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, vegetarian

Breakfasts of Champions

Feb01

During my mom’s birthday weekend we seized on the opportunity of a fridge filled with pizza ingredients to whip up a number of Gavin-style breakfasts. First I made my Spanish eggs (SEE HERE). The next day my brother cooked up one of his signature frittatas.

This is a big fluffy omelet stuffed with cheese and veggies.

Plus some fruit, cheese, and fresh squeezed blood orange juice (the trees had a bumper crop this year).

Then on monday a slightly different, less fried take on the Spanish eggs. A little salad, some lox, and La Brea bakery toast with pesto and romesco, arugala, and peppers.

Here is the romesco on the left, and the pesto on the right (SEE HERE for more on the pesto).

A peek under the salad at the sauces.

Some eggs poached normally. Not as crispy as the olive oil “poaching” of the classic Spanish eggs.

An egg in place.

My brother chose to supplement with ricotta.

I went with burrta. I always go with burrata (MORE on the ultimate fresh cheese HERE).

A final shop, with nice contrasty lighting and some cracked pepper. Cutting into the egg of course provides lots of yolky goodness.

Related posts:

  1. In between Pizza, there is Burrata
  2. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  3. Quick Eats: Andy’s Spanish Eggs
  4. Saturday is for Salt
  5. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Breakfast, Brunch, Burrata, Cheese, Cook, Cooking, Eggs, Eruca sativa, Food, frittata, Home, Olive oil, Omelette, Pesto, poached eggs, ricotta, Romesco, Salad, side dishes, vegetarian
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

  • Contests (7)
  • Fiction (404)
    • Books (113)
    • Movies (77)
    • Television (123)
    • Writing (115)
      • Darkening Dream (62)
      • Untimed (37)
  • Food (1,484)
  • Games (100)
  • History (13)
  • Technology (21)
  • Uncategorized (16)

Recent Posts

  • Mes Ami – C’est Mort
  • Robo Eats – Szechuan Place
  • Providence Chef’s Table 2022
  • OOToro Double
  • Robo Eats – Anarbagh
  • Fred loves N/Naka
  • Major Major Major
  • Far East – Beijing Tasty House
  • Home Sweet Spicy Home
  • Quick Eats – Bafang

Favorite Posts

  • I, Author
  • My Novels
  • The Darkening Dream
  • Sample Chapters
  • Untimed
  • Making Crash Bandicoot
  • My Gaming Career
  • Getting a job designing video games
  • Getting a job programming video games
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • A Game of Thrones
  • 27 Courses of Truffles
  • Ultimate Pizza
  • Eating Italy
  • LA Sushi
  • Foodie Club

Archives

  • March 2023 (12)
  • February 2023 (11)
  • January 2023 (14)
  • December 2022 (11)
  • November 2022 (13)
  • October 2022 (14)
  • September 2022 (14)
  • August 2022 (12)
  • July 2022 (9)
  • June 2022 (6)
  • May 2022 (8)
  • April 2022 (5)
  • March 2022 (4)
  • February 2022 (2)
  • January 2022 (8)
  • December 2021 (6)
  • November 2021 (6)
  • October 2021 (8)
  • September 2021 (4)
  • August 2021 (5)
  • July 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (11)
  • March 2020 (15)
  • February 2020 (13)
  • January 2020 (14)
  • December 2019 (13)
  • November 2019 (12)
  • October 2019 (14)
  • September 2019 (14)
  • August 2019 (13)
  • July 2019 (13)
  • June 2019 (14)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (10)
  • March 2019 (10)
  • February 2019 (11)
  • January 2019 (13)
  • December 2018 (14)
  • November 2018 (11)
  • October 2018 (15)
  • September 2018 (15)
  • August 2018 (15)
  • July 2018 (11)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (13)
  • April 2018 (13)
  • March 2018 (17)
  • February 2018 (12)
  • January 2018 (15)
  • December 2017 (15)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (16)
  • September 2017 (16)
  • August 2017 (16)
  • July 2017 (11)
  • June 2017 (13)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • December 2016 (14)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (11)
  • September 2016 (12)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (13)
  • April 2016 (12)
  • March 2016 (13)
  • February 2016 (12)
  • January 2016 (13)
  • December 2015 (14)
  • November 2015 (14)
  • October 2015 (13)
  • September 2015 (13)
  • August 2015 (18)
  • July 2015 (16)
  • June 2015 (13)
  • May 2015 (13)
  • April 2015 (14)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (13)
  • January 2015 (13)
  • December 2014 (14)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (13)
  • September 2014 (12)
  • August 2014 (15)
  • July 2014 (13)
  • June 2014 (13)
  • May 2014 (14)
  • April 2014 (14)
  • March 2014 (10)
  • February 2014 (11)
  • January 2014 (13)
  • December 2013 (14)
  • November 2013 (13)
  • October 2013 (14)
  • September 2013 (12)
  • August 2013 (14)
  • July 2013 (10)
  • June 2013 (14)
  • May 2013 (14)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (15)
  • February 2013 (14)
  • January 2013 (13)
  • December 2012 (14)
  • November 2012 (16)
  • October 2012 (13)
  • September 2012 (14)
  • August 2012 (16)
  • July 2012 (12)
  • June 2012 (16)
  • May 2012 (21)
  • April 2012 (18)
  • March 2012 (20)
  • February 2012 (23)
  • January 2012 (31)
  • December 2011 (35)
  • November 2011 (33)
  • October 2011 (32)
  • September 2011 (29)
  • August 2011 (35)
  • July 2011 (33)
  • June 2011 (25)
  • May 2011 (31)
  • April 2011 (30)
  • March 2011 (34)
  • February 2011 (31)
  • January 2011 (33)
  • December 2010 (33)
  • November 2010 (39)
  • October 2010 (26)
All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
Programmed by Andy Gavin