Restaurant: BOS
Location:424 E. 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012. 213.700.7834
Date: May 28, 2014
Cuisine: Exotic Cow Parts
Rating: Whacky concept / Excellent chef
BOS, a new opening in LA’s extended downtown, is quite the unique concept. It focuses on the cow — and all the cow. This is a very modern restaurant, serving up very contemporary (but not molecular) American food, using unusual proteins and all sorts of fusion influences.
The mini-mall frontage.
BOS is located in Little Tokyo’s Honda Plaza.
The menu.
Chef David Bartnes.
Owner Jun Isogai.
1999 Salon Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs. IWC 94. Bright yellow-gold. Deeply pitched, pungent aromas of candied lemon, pear skin, anise, buttered toast and smoky lees, with notes of ginger and white flowers adding lift. Densely packed yet vibrant, showing impressive power and clarity to its mineral-accented citrus and orchard fruit flavors. Expands on the finish but maintains its focus, picking up iodine and bitter lime notes that linger impressively. A more vibrant rendition of Salon than the 1997 version, but with a bit less concentration than the 1996. This should be a slow ager.
Matthew: to me, this was somewhat shut down. The nose had some fresh bready notes, but was kinda quiet. The palate had a dense lime and lemon note, with nice acidity and cream. I think this needs a helluva lot more time to flesh out the complexity that’s (most likely0 buried underneath.
2004 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. Burghound 90. The reduction this displayed after bottling now dominates the nose and has become, in my view, permanent. Thus, how much you will like this wine necessarily depends on whether moderately strong reduction bothers you or not. By contrast, the highly energetic and vibrant rich, round and detailed medium-bodied flavors possess good extract for the vintage and plenty of punch and persistence on the finish. Partially because of the reduction and partially because of the firm acid spine, this is still quite young though if I am correct about the reduction being permanent, finding the proper drinking window is much more about taste preferences than actual maturity as the nose isn’t going to display much ever. For my taste, I would continue to cellar this for another 2 to 4 years. Note further that my rating is a compromise between a technical fault and an otherwise delicious, intense and balanced wine.
agavin: All reduction. I kind of like sulfur, but this isn’t a super approachable chard.
Matthew: 91 points. All about the sulphur at this point. Thought the egg shells would blow off with some time, but they never really left. I gave this about 4 hours of air before dinner, but it could have used far more. Will 2004 Leflaive’s ever resolve themselves?
Carpaccio of Tongue. Pea Sprouts | Avocado | Pickled Shallots | Issan Dressing. This dish had a very soft texture and a good amount of zing. Still, it wasn’t my favorite tongue.
2001 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 92. This is still admirably fresh with its pretty and impressively complex nose that blends mostly mature secondary fruit and floral aromas with attractive citrus elements that extend to the solidly rich but well-detailed, powerful and tautly muscled medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent verve and length. This is ever-so-slightly better than I originally envisioned when I reviewed it just after the bottling. While for my taste this is in fact ready, there is certainly no rush to drink up. In a word, lovely.
agavin: Very rich and more hedonistic.
Matthew: 93 points. had a really nice density to it. Batard is a powerful grand cru, and this really fit the bill with lots of seashell, sweet lemon, flint, and smoke. While this was drinking well tonight, I think there’s a HUGE upside to this bottle. Pernot produces some of the most underrated/undervalued white burgundies.
Grilled Miso Heart. King Oyster Mushrooms | Yuzu Miso Vinaigrette. Dense meat, and very nice flavors.
1998 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Hochrain. 92 points.
agavin: nice, but a bit sour for my taste in Rieslings.
Matthew: 91 points. served blind. Nose had Austrian notes of lychee, vanilla, and citrus. The palate was fleshy and powerful, but I thought it was much younger than a 1998. I guessed it was a Singerriedel, so I wasn’t too far off. Drinking very nicely with a lot of life left on it.
Fried Tripe “Calamari”. Cilantro Garlic Yogurt Dip.
2011 Maison Ilan Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots.
agavin: ok. young, blind I thought it was a gevery.
Matthew: 87 points. Seemed a bit simplistic and overly acidic to me (and I LOVE acidic pinot). This did have really nice floral notes, but never seemed to reach the levels of the other Maison Ilan’s.
Sweetbread Tacos. Salsa Verde | Pico de Gallo | Sriracha Sour Cream | Pickled Radish. These tasted amazing, but the idea of eating some Thalamus or Pancreas of the cow cave me a bit of a turn.
2011 Francois Confuron-Gindre Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts.
agavin: Probably the best of this blind flight. Very young, but lots of fruit and a weird (but good) underlying flower.
Matthew: 92 points. Served blind. Definitely a powerful wine. Dark nose with some rose and lilac tones. Had a nice meaty edge to it, too. Palate was already drinking really well…will get better, but jeez, it’s already a winner.
Flat Iron “Thai-taki”. Thai Cucumber Salad | Crispy Shallots.
This was a super tasty dish with bright Thai flavors.
2011 Maison Ilan Volnay 1er Cru Les Robardelles. 88 points.
agavin: I liked this one more than most of this 2011 flight. I thought it was a Vosne Romanee, because it had that spice, but Volnay isn’t too far off.
Matthew: 88 points. I liked this a hair more than the Chaffots as it seemed to have more of a fleshed out floral note. I’ve always loved the floral complexity of Volnays, so maybe that’s where it’s coming from. The palate was delicious, but a bit simplistic. Interested to see where this goes with time.
Our fish waiting to cook.
Grilled snapper. Chilies and lime. An excellent grilled white fish.
2011 Maison Ilan Mazoyères-Chambertin. 93 points.
Mathew: 93 points. Served blind. Very impressive wine. Aromas of dark fruits, lots of steaminess, and flora notes. This was a powerful wine but seemed to have a lightness on the palate to it. This is really good.
Pig’s Feet and chicharron. Not my favorite dish in any light. The feet were too gelatinous for my taste (but I was told that’s how they are supposed to be). The fried skin was tasty, but it always makes me think of various dog treats I used to give Osiris.
From my cellar: 1986 Domaine Dujac Charmes-Chambertin. 94 points.
agavin: I loved this. It wasn’t perfect, perhaps a hair over the hill and would have been better if allowed a few days to settle from the car ride, but still, it had fruit, complexity, acid, and all that mature Burg goodness.
Matthew: 94 points. poured a tomato juice color, but the nose was really earthy, and I loved its complexity. The plate oscillated from tones of mushroom to more floral notes. This wasn’t a powerhouse…but had all the things I wanted in burgundy.
Whole roasted ox-tail. Roasted vegetables.
2001 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux. Burghound 92. A seductive black cherry fruit nose with abundant Vosne spice notes is just beginning to display hints of secondary development before introducing big, rich, full and mouth coating flavors that evidence a fine sense of underlying minerality and excellent finishing intensity. While this could be drunk now with pleasure, for my taste I would advise cellaring it for another 2 to 5 years first, depending on your taste of course. Whatever window that you choose, it should be well worth the wait as this is really lovely juice. Tasted twice recently with consistent notes.
agavin: Super young, but a very nice wine.
Matthew: 94 points. this needed time. Thank god for matt’s amazing decanter (you NEED to see it). After about 90 minutes in the decanter, the dark berries and spice notes really built up and fleshed out. The palate had this awesome grip to it, too…a real presence. Loved how the spice notes built up with time…I can only imagine how wonderful this will become with patience.
Prime NY Strip. Chimichurri | Heirloom Cherry Tomato Jam | Peewee Potatoes
1995 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 90. Classic Bachelet fruit with a touch of earth and beautifully complex, round, sweet flavors that display exceptionally fine length. This is by no means a big wine, offering only a bit of finishing tannins yet plenty of buffering richness. It could be enjoyed now though its peak drinking period will likely require another 2 to 3 year wait.
agavin: One of my favorites of the night, but took an hour or two to get there.
Matthew: 94 points. took some time, but this turned into a really beautiful bottle of wine. Super sexy nose of roses, earth, and a touch of balsamic. The power on the palate built with time, too. This matured from a featherweight to more of a welterweight with time.
Dry-aged Ribeye Steak Frites. Parsley Garlic Butter.
1961 Château Léoville Las Cases. Parker 85. I tasted this wine with Michel Delon after I told him I had never had a great bottle of the 1961. After tasting it again, my original assessment remains unchanged. The wine reveals an austerity and under-ripeness that is reminiscent of the 1970. This fully mature Las Cases displays a garnet color with considerable amber at the edge, and a spicy, earthy, tobacco, and herb-scented nose. Some sweetness in the attack fades quickly to reveal a medium-bodied, tannic, compact wine that is good, but uninspiring. It will keep for another 10 years, but don’t expect any miracles to develop.
agavin: kind of nice mature Bordeaux, although the pencil note was a bit too pronounced for my taste.
Matthew: 93 points. beautiful nose of rose petals, sous bois, tobacco, and cranberries. The palate was lean and bright with a hefty dose of acidity and cranberries. It seemed to build out its floral notes with time and a bit of cedar/tobacco/earthiness developed with air. LLC has been such a disappointment for me over the years…so it was fun to finally open a bottle that was terrific.
A5 Japanese Wagyu NY Strip (Sendai, Japan). Trio of Sea Salts. Very tasty.
1947 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo. 93 points. Double decanted all day.
agavin: Tasted like tea. Very pale Burgundy color. But highly enjoyable.
Matthew: 93 points. beautiful nose of dirt, violets, minerals, and rust. Glad matt opened this so early today, because the glass I poured for myself was just beautiful. The tannis were there, but sweet and faint. This was all about the earthy/rose/plum/mineral tones that were intertwined on the palate. Drinking in a great place.
Uni and Lobster Pasta. Santa Barbara Sea Urchin | Maine Lobster | Caviar | Homemade Fettuccine
1966 Blandy Madeira Sercial. 92 points.
agavin: Not my favorite Madeira. A bit thin and sour. Not bad, but I’d take a great PX over it.
Matthew: 93 points. slow ox’d (is that possible with madeira???) for about 27 hours prior to dinner, and wish I had opened it earlier. Had some nickel tones on the nose with lots of dried florals and plums. Definitely a heat note on the nose too, but luckily that didn’t translate to the palate at all. Loved the raisin, sweet plum, and acidity on the palate. You would think that you were in store for a vicious desert wine, but this just flowed together nicely. Tons of life left (obviously), but I thought this showed well tonight.
Chocolate mousse.
This exotic fresh beer tasted of grapefruit rind and mango!
Vanilla Panna Cotta| Strawberries. Very soft and yummy.
Cheese cake. Cherries. Passionfruit. Bright and delicious.
Above is the world’s most disgusting spit bucket — consisting not only of the above wines but floating chunks of pig feet and the like!
Overall, this was a great evening. The wines and company were awesome. The food was delicious too. The chef clearly has an imagination and skill. The concept might however be a bit too much for some people. Even as aggressive an eater as I am, a few of the dishes were a little extreme.
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