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Archive for coche

Power Providence

Oct15

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

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

Date: June 15, 2021

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Best meal I’ve had at Providence

_

I usually make it to Providence about once a year, and so we return with the Foodie Club for a small, epic main dining room. After a long time off (for the pandemic) the core gang of myself, Erick, and Fred met up, joined by Michael Z wanted to really up the game and we focused on the awesome white Burgundy wines from d’Auvenay and Coche-Dury.

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The space used to be Patina in the 90s.

While the colors are different, Providence still looks a lot like Patina to me — as the layout is basically the same.

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This is the view from the chef’s special tasting room — adjacent to the kitchen in it’s own little nook.

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Our special menu tonight.
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One of the few places in town that still has elegant table wares.

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2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. BH 95. Very Puligny in style with discreet white flower, pear and apple aromas with flavors that are so powerful that the palate experiences them in waves as they roll from the mid-palate to a thundering, top grand cru finish. Yet this is by no means monolithic as there is detail and subtle gradations of wet rocks, minerals, earth and an indefinable crystalline essence. I literally had to pause for a minute due to palate fatigue as this both stains and saturates the palate yet it remains perfectly balanced. For a premier cru, this is a veritable tour de force! A brilliant wine. (Drink between 2008-2020)
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2000 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. BH 93. This has now peaked and is drinking beautifully with a fully mature nose of honeysuckle, peach, apricot and very subtle spice notes that can also be found on the enveloping flavors that possess a wonderfully seductive mouth feel and ample dry extract that both completely buffers the still firm acid spine and coats the palate on the long, lingering and strikingly perfumed if ever-so-slightly warm finish. One character that Coche seems to consistently be able to achieve is how his wines are at once generous yet retain a fine sense of focus and precision and this wine certainly displays this. Lovely stuff that is perfect now. Tasted thrice with consistent notes. (Drink starting 2016)
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1999 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault Les Narvaux. VM 92. At nearly twenty years of age the 1999 Meursault Les Narvaux is just starting to enter its early plateau of maturity now! Exuberant and powerful, the 1999 possesses off the charts intensity and a level of pure class that is far beyond the realm of most village crus. Time in bottle has started to bring out slightly tropical overtones that add complexity to the yellow orchard fruit character. Readers lucky enough to own it can look forward to another 20 years of exceptional drinking. (Drink between 2018-2038)
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2005 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. VM 96. The 2005 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er Cru has a multidimensional bouquet that delivers intense honeycomb and brioche intertwined through the mineral-rich citrus fruit. The palate displays a perfect line of acidity, a brilliantly poised and tensile Folatières from Lalou Bize-Leroy that unlike the 1999 just builds and builds towards a focused and electrifying finish that shimmers with energy. Frankly, I cannot think of many Puligny Premier Crus that have surpassed this astonishing wine. 897 bottles produced. Tasted at Carré des Feuillants restaurant in Paris. (Drink between 2018-2038)
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From my cellar: 2009 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault Les Narvaux. 95 points. Rich quince, citrus, popcorn, crème brûlée, and minerals galore backed by abundant acidity. Fantastic wine, and will last a long time.
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An amuse of crisp with seafood.
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And amuse of toro tartare.
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A third amuse of shellfish “tart”.
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The final amuse of scallop with contrasting fruit.

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With a bit of sauce. Super zingy and delicious.
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Bald Point Oyster. Gently warmed, with golden kaluga caviar.
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Tai Sashimi. Seville sour orange, rosemary, ogo.
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Uni Egg. Sea urchin, champagne beurre blanc, brioche croutons.1A4A7851
Maine Lobster. Favas, daikon, ramps.
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Special bread.
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And French butter with salt.

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Farfalle. Box and dungeness crab, uni, geoduck, basil. Amazing flavors with a strong Thai basil character.
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Black Cod. Black truffle, dutch white and green asparagus.
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Australian Black Winter Truffle. Porcini Cannelloni.
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Australian Black Winter Truffle.
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All put together it was spectacular.
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A5 Wagyu. Potato, morel, watercress, bordelaise.
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Fried Wagyu lump, amazing.
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Rhubarb, citrus, almond.1A4A7931
With sauce and very refreshing.
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House-made Hawaiian Chocolate. Chocolate gelato, whiskey.

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Sauce for the chocolate.
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Tea.

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Petite Fours. I love some good fancy candies.

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This was by far the best main dining room and probably the best Providence meal I’ve ever had. They had just recently reopened post-lockdown and had clearly spent the time well retooling the menu. Service was exceptional as well which was very nice, particularly in contrast with so many “middle end” places that are short staffed right now.

There was a little take home goodie too, but I forgot to photo it.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

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Related posts:

  1. Big Guns at Providence
  2. The Power of Providence
  3. Providence Chef’s Table
  4. Persistent Providence
  5. Burgundy at Providence
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burgundy, coche, Coche Dury, d'Auvenay, Foodie Club, Providence, Seafood, White Burgundy, Wine

Is Majordomo a Major Deal?

Jun20

Restaurant: Majordomo

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

Date: May 16, 2018

Cuisine: Korean Fusion

Rating: Big dishes amazing

_

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

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

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

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

With lots of bespoke graffiti.

And Majordomo, of course.

Which has a pretty big enclosed and outside space.

As you can see.

Inside is one of those cavernous loud warehouse spaces.

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

The menu.

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

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

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

There is a Korean fusion amuse cart.

Serving pickles.

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

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

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

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

Special Foodie Club guest Andrew enjoys his wine.

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

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


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

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

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

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

And the knaw on the bone for extra flavor bones.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

Related posts:

  1. Totoraku – Hedonists Beef Up
  2. Melisse – How much would a Woodcock…
  3. Simon Says Melisse
  4. Hedonists climb the Peak
  5. Pig Ear is Here – Taberna Arros y Vi
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: 1st growth, bbq, Burgundy, Chicken, Chinatown, coche, David Chang, Dessert, DTLA, Foodie Club, haut brion, latour, Majordomo, ribs, Richebourg, warehouse, Wine
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