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Eating Tuscany – Villa Breakfast

Jul13

Location: Staggia, Italy

Date: June 11-25, 2011

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This is our third year renting a villa in Europe for a big chunk of June. I’ve experimented with different ways to handle the breakfast situation for a large number of people (9-15 is what we’ve had). It’s not practical to go out everyday, it would just take too long to wrangle everyone, and a free for all at the house (which we tried last year) has all sorts of issues. Namely the challenge of restocking the groceries and cleaning up. So, our houses at this year’s villa arranged to set and clear a continental breakfast table, to which we added some local products. Overall it worked out very well.

The first thing I need is my coffee. Cappuccino this time of morning. Our hosts made them, which was convenient as last year my dad was making them straight for 90 minutes every morning. Given that many people have two, and the slow speed of the little home machines, it’s hard to churn a lot of them out.

The full spread.

Various dry goods, yogurts, jams, cereal, orange juice.

Fruit, cookies, toast, blood orange juice (yum).

We also put out some of the local cheeses, mostly Pecorino.

And more.

And the stubs of all sorts of them.

A few cow cheeses from the local market.

No Italian breakfast is complete without Prosciutto.

Or Salami.

Our hosts also baked a variety of pastries and breads over the two weeks. Homemade croissants in this case.

A really yummy chocolate torte. Buttery crust, with congealed nuttella type filling.

We had some extra ricotta and our baker turned it into this wonderful cheesecake.

Chocolate inside, with a tasty crust and coco top. It was like breakfast tiramisu!

Pound cake.

Cherry tart.

Delicious chocolate cake, tasted like a giant brownie. Nothing like chocolate to pick you up in the morning.

Tuscan apple pie. Really good stuff, perhaps drier and more bready than the American version, halfway between that and an apple strudel. Delicious.

Blackberry tart. These kind of fruit tarts are typically Tuscan.

Mixed local fruit.

And cherries, which are local and in season.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Breakfast, Brunch, cappuccino, Chianti, Dessert, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Italy, Orange juice, pastry, Pecorino, Prosciutto, Salami, Tart, Torte, Toscana, Tuscany

Eating Florence – La Cantinetta Antinori

Jul10

Restaurant: La Cantinetta Antinori

Location: Florence, Italy

Date: June 17, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Tuscan

Rating: Slick and tasty

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On our first trip to Florence (we went thrice) we met up with an Italian friend and her family and they brought us to the Antinori wine empire’s casual enoteca, where they combine slick modernized Tuscan food with a large selection of excellent wines.

The lovely room in Palazzo Antinori.

A nice light quafable mineral laced white. We went through about half a bottle a person at lunch!

The menu. Sorry the meat courses are out of focus.

Assorted bruschetta, Tuscan standard.

Insalta Caprese. Tomato and buffalo mozzarella. Basil and olive oil.

Panzanella. Traditional Tuscan salad of soaked stale bread, tomato, basil, onions, olive oil.

The ubiquitous Insalta Misto.

Taglierini agli scampi freschi. Thin noodles with tomato, basil, garlic and you guessed it, a giant crayfish creature.

Fagioli. Tuscan fava beans and olive oil.

Sea bass, capers, sun dried tomatos, potatoes.

Pounded veal in mushroom sauce.

Filetto di manzo. Beef filet and potatoes.

Almond semifreddo with caramel. This is SO up my dessert alley. Creamy and sweet. Oh yes. Oh yes.

Expresso, to counter the copious amount of wine I consumed.

This was a nice place. Not radical, not staid. Fitting of a hot spot in Florence, it’s basically traditional Tuscan fare with 10% modernization. Given the quality of the ingredients and the base cuisine, this is more than enough for a great meal.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Antinori, Bruschetta, Chianti, Dessert, eating-italy, Florence, Food, Insalata Caprese, Italian cuisine, Italy, La Cantinetta Antinori, Olive oil, Panzanella, pasta, Pasta e fagioli, Tomato, Travel and Tourism, Tuscany, Wine

Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Arnolfo

Jul09

Restaurant: Arnolfo Ristorante

Location: Colle di Val d’Elsa , Italy

Date: June 16 & 23, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Awesome, but hard to find

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Just fifteen minutes from our villa and Siena lies the city of Colle di Val d’Elsa and its two star rated Michelin restaurant, Arnolfo. So we went twice! This is an amazing restaurant in a gorgeous location atop the old city. The rub, however, is getting there. The first time the GPS insisted we drive into a masonry wall (closed road). We gave up with that, parked, and ended up walking over a mile, including taking the elevator up to the old city. The walk back wasn’t no fun either and the staff told us that to actually drive here you have to go 6km out of your way to the next town and then come back by one particular approach — but then there is no parking in the old city.

So the next time, feeling all smart, I tried to park in the “close” (only 500m) lot below the old city. But the first entrance I tried was so narrow that I almost got stuck and had to back up my 9 seater van down 200m of alley and around a 90 degree turn — only took 30 minutes and soaked through my suit in the 88 degree humid weather. Then we had to hike up the half mile.

But it was worth it.

They have a gorgeous patio which far from “being in the middle of a city” looks out on the Tuscan hillside.

Even the non-view direction is lovely.

Grissini, first of several bread courses.

The menu on June 16 (the last of the “spring menu”).

And the new “summer” menu on June 23, as we luckily straddled the change.

Compari and soda.

Stating with a little prosecco to cool off.

In the glass.

Then comes a tray of amuses. From left to right. Green pea mouse, tomato stuffed with mozzarella, apple disc with prawn, veal croquet, and gorgonzola and fig jam sandwich. These were all good, but the last was incredible.

Like most great restaurants Arnolfo caters to every restriction. This is a variant amuse plate for vegetarians.

For example this beet and goat cheese mini.

Bread course number two, tomato bread and with lardo (sliver of pig fat).

And for those not so into the pig, the one on the right is onion.

Nor are the gluten free left out. Various potato and rice triscuits!

I’ve come to like Vernaccia, which is a D.O.C. white from San Gimignano. Very light, but with more flavor than a Pinot Grigio.

“Scampi, Goose Liver Escalope, Strawberries.”

“Sea Bass, Strawberries.” A variant for the shellfish impaired.

My notes failed me a little here, but I think it’s some kind of fish (possibly a pork belly though) in a pea soup.

Heads up, bread course three!

“Red mullets, Peas, Silver skin Onions.”

“Asparagus, Ricotta Cheese, Eggs.” Now this was an interesting dish. The white asparagus were grilled and wrapped in pancetta (bacon). The white and yellow stuff is deconstructed egg (yolk and white as powder). The ricotta is in the upper right and was delicious. The powder wasn’t as successful as the bonus egg, shown below.

This is more or less a coddled egg. I dipped the asparagus for extra umph.

This was a small production local Chianti Classico that the sommeler recommended. Good too, and like 30E. Try to find a decent wine at that price at a French 2 star!

“Guinea-Fowl, Chick-peas, I.G.P. Tuscan Ham.” Good stuff.

“Spinach soup with sea bass, tomato.”

“Perlina Aubergines, Tomato, Watermelon, Buffalo Mozzarella I.G.P.”

“Prawns, Peaches, Yellow Pepper.” Yummy. The pairing of the delicate shellfish was delicious with both the fruit and the peppers.

Arnolfo has very nice presentation, which I couldn’t photo every aspect of.

“Goose Liver, Red Onions, Spices, Cherries.” Oh wow yum. And that is some kind of cheese foam/ice cream on top. This was really good stuff.

And two extra goose liver preps for good measure. A sort of Napoleon and a little pistachio coated truffle, solid fois inside.

“Rabbit, Bloack Olives, Ratatouille.” Not your everyday Ratatouille. Notice the white asparagus too.

“Turbot with mozzerella.”

“Tortelli with chicken from Val d’Orcia, with asparagus and red pepper soup.” These are serious homemade pastas.

“Tortelli, Red Onions from Certaldo, White Beans from Sorana.”

“Mezzelune pasta, Courgettes flowers, Wedge shells.”

“Tagliolini, Rabbit, Black Olives.” In the front, out of focus, are discs of rabbit meat to go with the chunks of bunny in the pasta.

“Ravioli, Aubergines, Ewe’s Ricotta, Red Pepper.”

Gluten free pasta too!

“The 2006 Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva is a pretty, juicy red laced with cherries, dried flowers, tobacco and underbrush. The tannins dry out a touch on the finish, which is the only thing that keeps the score from going higher. Still, this forward, fruit-driven Chianti should drink nicely over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2016. “

“Cod, with onions.” And some other stuff.

“Fish soup, Crustaceans, Mollucs, Vegetables.”

“John Dory, Asparagus, Datterini Tomatoes, Capers from Pantelleria.”

“Dentex, Gazpacho, Aubergines.”

“Swordfish, Roasted Peppers, Candied Tomatoes.” You can see that each dish is quite complex.

A brunello recommended by the sommelier.

“I.G.P. Chianina Veal Steak and cheek.”

“I.G.P. Chianina Veal Tartar and vegetables.”

I didn’t used to be into tartar, but it’s really been growing on me over the last several years. Quail egg on top.

“I.G.P. Chiania Veal Steak, Potatoes.”

“Cinta Senese Suckling Pig, Porchetta, Leg, Loin, Leaf Cabbage, Beetroots.”

This town evidently produces 14% of the world’s crystal. Italian shopping hours being what they are, despite three visits, we never saw one open.

Ah the suffering involved in dining in one of the world’s great wine regions. 93 points from Parker. “Consulting oenologist Carlo Ferrini has turned out a beautiful wine at this historic estate, a property which he speaks of in effusive terms. Talenti’s sublime 2001 Brunello Pian di Conte exhibits a deep, translucent ruby color. It opens with captivating, vibrant aromatics, with notes of freshly cut roses, raspberries and licorice. Gorgeously expressive yet delicate on the palate, it offers layers of dark fruit, earthiness and sweet oak supported by a refined, classic structure, with exceptional length and fine, silky tannins on the fresh finish. It is a superb effort. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2021.”

We are assaulted by a battery of pre-desserts. Vanilla ice cream with cherry rhubarb “soup.”

“Almond Mascarpone, pistachio ice cream.”

“Ricotta Cheese, Orange, Honey.” Tart and sweet.

“Selection of Tuscan Sheep’s-milk and Goat’s-milk Cheeses.”

And some nice condiments.

I can’t even remember what this one was.

“Zuccotto, Star Anis, Coffee, Fennel Ice Cream.”

“Grand Dessert Assortment.” Because one isn’t enough. Chocolate cake, Passionfruit sauce. Coffee something. Strawberry flan. A bit of the above Zuccotto, and something else.

“Zuccotto, Pinenuts, Alkermes, Chocolate Sorbet, Fleur del Sel.” The central thing was basically a meringue.

“Fruit and custard mille fueile.”

“Apricots, Almonds, Lavender Ice Cream.”

Worth a bit of zoom.

And this too.

We also had a birthday (mine more or less), so there was this bonus cake!

And just a few petite fours. Lemon jelly in the center. A little fruit tart on the right.

More, on the second night. Berry tart. Ricotta vanilla dome. Pistachio burger. Blackberry mouse. Almond marzipan.

Our second meal here was slightly better than the first for some reason, but both were top notch. Service was spectacular all around. Highly recommended as a very updated medium modernist take on Tuscan cuisine. The quality of local ingredients was impeccable, and they know how to modernize playfully without letting the techniques get out of control.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Arnolfo, beef, Bread, Breadstick, Chianti, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Colle di Val d’Elsa, Cooking, Dessert, eating-italy, fish, Gluten-free diet, GPS, Italian cuisine, Italy, Michelin, Michelin Guide, pasta, pigeon, pork, Shellfish, Tomato, Tuscany, veal

Eating Monteriggioni – Il Pozzo

Jul03

Restaurant: Il Pozzo

Location: Monteriggioni, Italy

Date: June 13 & 22, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Classic Tuscan

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This local resteraunt in the cute little walled town of Monteriggioni pretty much typifies Tuscan cooking at its traditional best. We initially went here on the basis of our villa owner’s recommendation. He has good taste, and we came back a second time. This is probably the best of all my reports to get a sense of the classic Tuscan courses.

The restaurant is located in the main square of this qaint medeval village.

The name seems to mean well, shaft, or pit. There is an old well in the square right outside the restaurant, so that’s probably it.

The menu.

The interior is cute and traditional.

And they also have this lovely side patio.

The usual bread.

We started with a white from San Gimignano, Vernaccia, an old school but very pleasant DOC white.

Beetle juice anyone? Compari and soda.

Incredibly common, Tuscan ham with local melon.

Classic, caprese.

Smoked salmon served with a bit of salad and butter.

Local “pici” pasta with basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil.

Spaghetti pomodoro.

Pappardelle al Cinghiale, boar ragu. This was a scrumptious rendition of this wonderful dish, with perhaps a little cinnamon or nutmeg in the ragu.

Pasta with butter and cheese for the under 10 set.

Polenta with porcini mushrooms and cheese fondue — a rare out of focus photo.

A fantastic meat risotto. Basically a Bolognese sauce with rice. Really good.

The basic salad, but very well done.

Zucchini and walnut salad.

Fried fresh zucchini blossoms. Unlike in the states, these had no ricotta inside (which does frankly improve them), but they were still really good.

A good local Chianti Classico Riserva. It’s hard to really go wrong with some of these riservas at the local prices.

Grilled fillet of Tuscan cow. Rare (always)!

Guinea fowl braised and served in a sauce with slices of fresh truffle. No hating this.

Pork Senese, in a sweetish Vin Santo and fennel sauce. I liked this sauce which complemented the pork perfectly.

A total Tuscan classic, Salsicce con Fagioli — franks and beans. Tuscan sausage with stewed fava beans (a favorite of Hannibal Lector, but he uses the other other white meat).

Grilled lamb chops. Tuscans do love their Griglia (grilled meats).

Plenty of aperitifs available to wash down those slices of animal flesh.

The dessert menu.

Vanilla Gelato with hardened chocolate shell.

Creme Caramel. One of my personal favorites.

Tiramisu.

Cheese cake, Tuscan style.

You can really see the rhythm of a Tuscan meal here. The only things missing are the bruschetta and the minestrone, but those are shown in lots of other reports like Trattoria Pepei. First with have the antipasta, in this case cured meats, fish, etc. Then the pastas, then salads and vegetables accompanying grilled meats, followed by the cake-like desserts.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beef, Chianti, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Defensive wall, Dessert, eating-italy, ham, Il Pozzo, Italian cuisine, Italy, lamb, Meat, Monteriggioni, pasta, Pine nut, pork, Restaurant, San Gimignano, Toscana, Tuscany, Vernaccia

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

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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.

By: agavin
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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 Staggia – Pozzo dei Desideri

Jun25

Restaurant: Pozzo dei Desideri

Location: Bologna, Italy

Date: June 11, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Good food, good value

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Today we drove through the mountains between Forli in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, then down past Florence to Staggia a small town near Siena. As this was a transitional day and we were settling into our new (temporary) home we just popped down into town for a quick local dinner.

This joint is in the center of this one horse town.

It has a big menu of typical Tuscan fare and very reasonable prices.

This being the heart of Chianti we chose a local Chianti Classico. This was probably about an 89 point wine, but it had some decent age on it making it fairly nice.

It was old enough that they decanted it.

In this modern age, the old adage, “don’t order seafood in the country,” no longer applies. This was billed as Zuppe di Mare. There wasn’t a lot of “soup” but it was tasty with a hearty garlic tomato sauce and various and mysterious shellfish.

Torte of Zucchini in a Pecorino sauce.

One of the MOST typical of pasta dishes, Pappardelle Cinghiale (wild boar ragu) with olives. The Cinghiale is the local hairy wild boar of tuscany. Click here for some pictures of this delightful creature.

This is a big wide fresh pasta with pomodoro and pecorino.

Gnocci with pecorino, tomato, and arugula.

The omnipresent insalata misto.

And another Tuscan classic, the block of beef. This is a fillet in balsamic sauce.

Notice how it’s served rare. Really rare. Tuscans don’t believe in cooking their beef. It was tasty though. Leaner and a bit tougher than an American filet, but full of flavor.

Overall the place was very good for just being a casual inexpensive local spot. We did however run an odd service quirk when they brought out a second steak a full hour after everyone else got their food (they had forgotten the order). Unlike in America they didn’t want to pull it from the bill (although it was only about 10 euro) and instead insisted on boxing it up for us.

Then we walked across the street for gelato. The place was humming at 11pm, packed with kids.

The didn’t have a lot of flavors, but they are all artisanal and very good.

Some various gelato cakes too.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: beef, Bologna, Chianti, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Gelato, Ice cream, Italy, pasta, Pecorino, Pozzo dei desideri, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Siena, Steak, Toscana (wine), Tuscany, vegetarian, Wild boar

Eating Milano Marittima – Al Caminetto

Jun24

Restaurant: Al Caminetto

Location: Cervia / Milano Marittima, Italy

Date: June 10, 2011

Cuisine: Adriatic Seafood

Rating: Great service, great food

ANY CHARACTER HERE

For our anniversary my wife, me, and our family went out to what the locals described as “the best restaurant in town.”

This is a large, lovely, and lively joint — packed to the brim with large parties. We must have observed at least half a dozen birthdays or other assorted celebrations.

The poured us all glasses of prosecco right out of the gate.

And brought some pre-bread, basically pizza dough.

Then tehy came around with these steamed clams and chickpeas.

Seen here closer up. We thought these were all freebees, but they did turn up on the bill!

Just a bit of menu!

We started with this Gavi white. Not bad, but not really my favorite Italian white of the trip.

Various butters.

Pickled onions.

Raw food, eaten on toast with the onions. Yum.

Salted peel and eat shrimp, like at a chinese restaurant.

Fritto Misto!

One portion.

Insalta Misto. You will continue to see a lot of these.

This wine i really liked. Soave is a very nice white.

Some mongo crabs in the tank, about twenty inches across each.

Penne gorgonzola.

Linguine with salmon and cream.

Mixed grill! I don’t know what the flat purple backed creatures are, and while they tasted fine, they sure had a lot of legs.

Grilled veggies.

Spaghetti del mare.

A single portion.

Close up.

The wave of desserts begins with limon sorbet mixed with prosecco.

Mixed cookies.

Some moscato. Two dessert drinks!

An anniversary tiramisu with sparkler.

A slice of that. Tasty, full of cream.

Then they bring by the dessert cart.

And I can’t resist a slice of cassata. I never get cassata, and while this is only the mainland Italian type, and not my all time favorite cassata di Sicilianna, it was still good.

A profiterole, drowned.

Then some “bonus” (again on the bill) fruit. Pretty spectacular.

I wander to find they have a pizza oven. What doesn’t this place have?

Ladies even get a parting gift of merengues. This place was pretty darn fun. Everything tasted wonderful too. The only downside was the bill, but hey you only have your 10th anniversary once (well at least you SHOULD only have it once).

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Cervia, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia–Romagna, Food, Italian cuisine, Italy, pasta, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Seafood

Eating Milano Marittima – Ristorante La Frasca

Jun22

Restaurant: Ristorante La Frasca

Location: Cervia / Milano Marittima, Italy

Date: June 9, 2011

Cuisine: Adriatic Italian

Rating: Top top traditional

ANY CHARACTER HERE

A mere two nights have gone by without a truly elaborate starred restaurant dinner, so we headed to Ristorante La Frasca. Literally one block from our hotel this is a Michelin Two Star place specializing in local seafood.

The entrance, located on one of Milano Marittima’s pretty circles.

We began with a little bubbly, and then set down to ponder the…

The menu. They were a bit more flexible than our previous two star, Osteria Francescana. Not that their food wasn’t awesome, but they required strict matching of tasting menus at the table. La Frasca was anything goes so this report includes both the medium and jumbo menus.

The first round of bread includes rolls stuffed with mortadella. We are, after all, still in Emilia-Romagna.

This lovely Soave is 92 points from Parker. “The 2008 Soave Classico Calvarino is a touch more buttoned-up and vibrant than the La Rocca. Here the fruit shows gorgeous focus and drive in a taut, energetic style. This, too, possesses great overall balance, and may ultimately be the better wine to pair with food. Light floral, honeyed tones ring out on the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018.”

Amuse. Tuna, caramelized onion, candied orange, orange sauce.

Amberjack sashimi, green apple.

Raw scallop, passionfruit, cucumber.

A fish called Baccala (Italian Salt Cod). Balsamic. Green apple sorbet. Slightly bitter.

Sole. Spinach. Truffle. Mild fish and pleasant white fish dish.

Scallop roe, Sardine, Black truffles, and spinach mush. Looks funny, but tasted great.

Pistelli pasta (local) with fish and clams. An excellent implementation of this traditional local dish.

Tagliatelle with scampi and lemon. This was a delicious pasta, absolutely delicious. It basically tasted like candied lemon, which worked perfectly with the al dente pasta and the succulent shrimp.

This was a lovely medium bodied red selected for us by the Sommelier.

Typical of Milano Marittima the restaurant has a tree growing right through it!

Pacalri pasta tubes, with lobster and tomato sauce.

The same dish, prepared with turbot instead of lobster.

There is also a missing photo of sea urchin gnocchi with pecconino beans. Boo hoo, as this was a spectacular dish.

Then turbot and veggies in butter sauce.

It is also worth illustrating the example of finished plate art in concert with one of last years at La Terrazza.

I’m always a big fan of Aldo Conterno, ever since meeting him at his winery in June of 2000. Parker gives this 92, “The dense ruby/plum-colored 1996 Barolo Bussia Soprana exhibits a promising, classic Nebbiolo/Barolo bouquet of tobacco, cigar box, rose petals, melted tar, and copious quantities of sweet black cherry fruit. Although impressively full-bodied, powerful, tannic, and dense, it is oh, so young and backward. Patience … please! Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.”

Black cod. Pumpkin sauce. Corget flower.

Quail breasts stuffed with fois gras, with the legs tempura fried. This was rich but delicious. Like a poultry Beef Wellington.

A pre dessert of zabaione and cherries. Wonderful.

Stracciatella merange. Chocolate and Vannilla creme.

Chocolate candied fruits grame cracker and passion fruit ice cream. Delicious!

La Frasca’s wine room.

Various petite fors. Creme puffs, little fruit and creme tarts, chocolate truffles, etc.

This was a wonderful meal, more traditional than Osteria Francescana, but perfectly on point.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Balsamic vinegar, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Italian cuisine, Italy, La Frasca, Osteria Francescana, pasta, Sardine

Eating Milano Marittima – Lo Sporting

Jun20

Restaurant: Lo Sporting

Location: Milano Marittima, Italy

Date: June 9, 2011

Cuisine: Trendy Italian

Rating: Decent food, but overpriced

ANY CHARACTER HERE

One of the cool things about the beach town of Cervia / Milano Marittima is that there are a lot of shops and restaurants on a lovely tree lined promenade stretching through town.

Notice how the old Italian Stone Pines grow right through the shops!

We stopped for lunch at a likely looking place called Lo Sporting.

The menu was huge, but I only photoed the part that was relevant. Really we had wanted pizza, and the place had the world “pizzeria” on the sign, but when we sat down they told us that the pizza oven was only available in the evening!

So it had to be pasta. My young son got this garginelli pomodoro.

Grilled tuna in balsamic sauce. They were surprisingly cold, and very rare. The sauce was tasty but I think it might have been better with warm fish and cold sauce.

Spaghetti pomodoro.

Mixed fish. On the left tuna in balsamic, in the back sepia (cuttlefish) in a vinegary sauce, and in the front right some white fish — possibly sardine fillets — marinated. This was all very tasty.

Lightly breaded shrimp and octopus skewers. I didn’t try it, but it was reportedly excellent.

Mozzarella salad.

Afterward we went across the street for some gelato. I often find in Italy that the gelato is much better than the restaurant desserts.

This is hazelnut and bacio (hazelnut chocolate with liqueur).

Coconut and pineapple.

Some chocolate being spooned in. Some of these places have 3-5 different chocolates to chose from!

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cervia, Dessert, eating-italy, fish, Gelato, Ice cream, Italian cuisine, Italy, Milano Marittima, pasta, Pizza, Restaurant, Sauce

Eating Cervia – Locanda dei Salinari

Jun18

Restaurant: Locanda dei Salinari

Location: Cervia, Italy

Date: June 8, 2011

Cuisine: Adriatic Seafood

Rating: Great seafood

ANY CHARACTER HERE

After three days in the Modena/Parma/Bologna area we relocated west to the Adriactic coastal town of cervia/Milano Maritima. While technically still in Emilia-Romagna this is a beach-side community with a much greater emphasis on seafood.

Our first night we check out this Michelin bib-gourmet restaurant.

The menu.

Starting with a nice white.

Note the cool antique interior.

A sub selection of the wine list.

Great breads are an Italian staple.

Carpegna ham and fresh ricotta.

Scallops with grilled tomatos and spring mushrooms.

Local fish crudo. This was super tasty, basically sashimi with a slightly Italian twist.

Some kind of snapper, local giant shrimp.

Some other crustacean (scampi?), and I think a halibut.

Special toast to go with the crudo.

Insalta misto.

Swordfish skewers, with parmesan.

We moved on to a Masi Amarone. I love Amarone, and Masi is one of my favorite vineyards. This was surprisingly cheap too. “The entry-level 2005 Amarone Classico della Valpolicella Costasera is made in a fairly straightforward, fresh style, with perfumed bright red fruit supported by silky tannins. This harmonious red offers excellent depth and lovely balance. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2015.”

A kind of local pasta with fish.

Passatelli with scampi and asparagus. This is a local style of thick worm-like pasta.

Rissotto with peas and raw red shrimps. There was an interesting red sauce in the center that might have been made from their shells or roe.

Rissotto with pheasant.

A zoom-in so that you can all can revel in the rissotto-ness of it all.

Turbot with ricotta and aubergines on potato cake with truffle sauce.

Frito mixto: fried mixed vegetables and fish. These were really lightly friend and delicious, although there was a lot of bone action.

The dessert menu.

Semifreddo of fig ice cream with orange sauce. This was super yummy too, as I particularly love the cool soft texture of semifreddo.

They have a few grappas and the like.

Overall this was a wonderful transition to the more seafood oriented cuisine of the coast. This was a great place.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cervia, Cooking, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, fish, Italian cuisine, Italy, Locanda dei Salinari, Michelin, pasta, Sashimi, side dishes, vegetarian

Eating Modena – Osteria Francescana

Jun14

Restaurant: Osteria Francescana

Location: Modena, Italy

Date: June 6, 2011

Cuisine: Emilia Romagna

Rating: Amazing Italian Molecular!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Our first fancy meal of the trip was at Osteria Francescana, a modern Italian in Modena with 2 Michelin stars. Francescana has an unusual and creative take on Italian. Most of the dishes have as their basis traditional ones, and the finest local ingredients (in a land rich with fine ingredients), but then they mess playfully with the forms, flavors, and textures. You’ll see.

The restaurant is located in scenic old Modena.

Here is the formal dusgustation menu. There is also an extensive ala carte. We put together a custom (and lengthy) molecular omakase.

First bread course.

We asked the sommelier for recommendations in interesting Italian wines. He started us with this Nero D’Avola, which surprisingly, tasted like a good Burgundy! Arianna Occhipinti bottles Frappato and Nero d’Avola. The two grapes are traditionally blended to make Cerasuolo di Vittoria, which in 2005 became the first style of red wine in Sicily to achieve DOCG status. Only 2 percent of Sicilian wine even merits DOC status (a tier down from DOCG) and only 15 percent is even bottled on the island. Native grape Nero d’Avola gives darkness, and Frappato provides uncommon fragrance. By utilizing native yeasts to begin fermentation, ageing in older and larger oak barrels and farming in adherence to the tenets of biodynamics, Occhipinti finds grace in the fields surrounding Ragusa and Vittoria.

This first dish is meant to represent “rock of the sea” and it’s colored and sweetened with squid ink. Mom says: the black sponge needed more flavor! To be fair, there were supposed to be clams inside, but they were removed to accomodate dietary restrictions.

This is “foam of mortadella di bologna.” Mortadella (seen below) is a classic traditional meat. Here it is basically whipped into a mousse-like consistency and served with a wonderful bit of toasted bread. The meat is spread on the bread and eaten, and it retains the exact flavor profile of the original. This is essentially a baloney sandwich.

Traditional Mortadella.

Various homemade breads and grisini.

Mackerel and salmon eggs.

With a pea soup.

Very tasty!

One of my favorites. The Fois Gras lollipop.

Inside is fois gras, coated with toasted almonds, and injected with a dab of aged balsamic (from Modena of course). This was rich, but pretty much incredible!

This wine was so rare the label is scotch taped on. It tasted like a cross between a Tavel (Rose) and a Pinot Noir, with strong tones of rosewater.

A “tart” of shallots and leeks, with Italian white truffles. This was absolutely delicious, and tasted a bit like Eggplant Bharta, the traditional cooked down eggplant and onion dish from India.

We also mixed in this Moscato, which while still sweet had more subtlety than most of the breed.

This is cod, with sicilian pesto and pistachios. The pesto was tomato and eggplant based. Also yummy.

Parmesan, five ways! This wonderful statement of the varieties of local Parmesan involves taking five different ages of the cheese, and processing them into five different forms and textures. Mouses, foams, sauce, crisp, etc. A very cheesy dish!

This dish was meant to represent a “cow in the pasture.”

It had various spring vegetables, and some fresh cream! Not the most exciting, just lots of types of peas!

This is a “compression of pasta and beans.” There is some fois gras in here too. Which perfectly fine, this was my least favorite dish of the evening.

This 1999 Barbera was rich and smokey, aged such that it had considerable sediment. It tasted like an old barbaresco!

This pasta is a fairly close reinterpretation of Pasta con Sarde. There were anchovies, breadcrumbs, and pesto. The pasta was al dente and the very flavor very refined.

Two raviolis contain cotechino (a very interesting cooked salami-like product) and lentils. The pasta itself was nigh on perfect, and the inside a traditional combination generally eaten at new years in Italy for at least 2500 years – festive pork and beans!

Black cod with potato confit.

A molecular reinterpretation of “bollito misto” (mixed boiled meats). Starting with the clear one at the bottom, and moving clockwise, we have: head, tongue, cheek, belly, tail, and cotechino! This last and the tongue were my favorites, the head and tail my least.

The pre dessert. Yogurt almond galette ice cream, goat cheese, drops of strawberry, mint. Very tasty. Sharp.

The first “real” dessert. Vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake, and a sort of gelatin cover. The taste was a bit like cassata.

Vanilla ice cream.

With fresh local cherries! My wife loved it.

An indication of the damage.

The petite fours, cheesecake, profiteroles, chocolate truffles, passionfruit gele, chocolate with cherry and tea, something with lemon and maybe shiso!

Our meal was so long that we emptied out the room!

This was a fantastic dinner. I happen to love the playful nature of modern molecular cuisine, which you can also see at my reviews of Calima, Saam, and La Terraza. You can also check the other two Michelin 2-star takes I sampled in Italy: La Frasca and Arnolfo. Like Osteria Francescana they both reinterpret their local cuisines (Adriatic seafood and Tuscan respectively) through a modern culinary lens.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Foie gras, Italian cuisine, Italian wine, Meat, Michelin Guide, Modena, Nero D'Avola, Osteria Francescana, Sicily, vegetarian

Eating Parma – Cocchi Ristorante

Jun13

Restaurant: Cocchi Ristorante

Location: Parma, Italy

Date: June 6, 2011

Cuisine: Emilia Romagna

Rating: Amazing traditional!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Today we ventured out to Parma, home of Parmesan and Prosciutto. We met up with a friend of a friend who took us for lunch to this local place for a spectacular traditional lunch.

Not too much to look at from the outside.

Inside we have a number of rooms, decorated in drawings and paintings from 20th century masters.

The opening bread are various baked cracker like things and thick breadsticks. These are light and crunchy.

Lambrusco is the local drink of choice for these occasions. This was described by our host as the “only Lambrusco Frizzante with subtly.” It tastes like sangra with more carbonation and less fruit.

The first course are just some plates of top notch young parmesan and…

Relatively fresh salame. These were both wonderful. The salame was soft, but very very meaty.

Next course is the traditional Parma way of eating crudo. On these sopapilla-like fried dough puffs.

Here is the ham. They had some name for it, perhaps cutello. It’s a kind of prosciutto, available only in Parma — very fresh. Served with a little butter. Eaten by itself the stuff was wonderfully light and tasty.

Shown here on the puff.

A variety of grilled vegetables.

This was a spectacular implementation of a classic local pasta. Homemade, stuffed with riccotta and spinach, and in a simple butter sauce.

It’s then doused with parmesan.

The tender inside.

Tuna with zucchini and balsamic drizzle.

Another traditional regional dish. Veal stuffed with prosciutto, and an egg and parmesan quiche-like filling. The potatoes were very salty but excellent for their type. This is a sort of the high end version of the dish I was often served as an American in Europe: fries and mystery meat.

An apple strudel-like dessert.

And the obligatory expresso.

The have quite the supply of grappa and the like.

This was one of the hands down best traditional local Italian meals I’ve had. Everything felt not only very typical, but the ingredients were top notch, and the food completely on-point.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Cocchi, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Italian cuisine, Italy, Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Prosciutto, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salami, side dishes, vegetarian

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.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Balsamic vinegar, Cheese, Cooking, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Food, Italian cuisine, Italy, Meat, Modena, pasta, side dishes, vegetarian

Peace in the Middle East? – Mezze

Jun10

Restaurant: Mezze

Location: 401 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310.657.4103

Date: May 31, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Middle Eastern

Rating: Really tasty!

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For a long time in the 2000s Sona was my favorite restaurant in LA, and I was sad when they closed last year. Mezze is a totally new restaurant that opened in the same space. It’s much more casual, a modern middle eastern with a mostly tapas style menu and an emphasis on farmer’s market ingredients. I love middle eastern flavors, so I was excited to see what they’ve done with the concept.

The chef, Micah Wexler, has a star studded pedigree too, having worked variously in LA at Vincenti, Melisse, Patina and Craft.

All the wines are from my cellar as usual. I had gotten a case of this Cal Pinot in 1997 at the vineyard and I noticed it in the corner of the cellar while picking wines. This was the last bottle — most of the rest probably having been drunk over a decade ago — and it turned out that the extra years really served it well. Having been well cellared its entire life the wine came out of the bottle like a middle aged burgundy, slightly brick in color and deliciously pinot fruity.

The menu. Even the “large” plates aren’t that large. We ordered around three things per person and it was about right.

The old Sona space has been opened up and repainted, lending a lighter more casual style.

“Spring Tabouli, Green Garlic, Fava bean, Pancetta, Almond.” A very nice tabouli, made richer by the addition of big ham chunks. This is from the grain school of taboili, some are a bit stronger on the parsley/mint thing.

“Beet Salad, Chickpea, Sheep’s Milk Yogurt, Haloumi.” Beet salads are a menu staple in recent years, but this one was as good as any with the yogurt serving well as the “fat.”

“Wild Salmon, Purple Onion, Rye Bread.” This dish was made entirely by the fish, which was sashimi grade and top notch.

“Fluke Crudo, Cherry, Green Almond, Tahini.” This dish was just a little bland. The cherries were yummy, but the fish, while impeccably fresh, didn’t have a lot of flavor.

Parker gives this Chateauneuf du Pape a 95. “Bottled at what I suspect is the whim of Paul Feraud, the 1989 and 1990 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Laurence were tasted side by side with the Cuvee Reservee. Although the Cuvee Laurence is no better than the Cuvee Reservee, they are more evolved, with more complexity from the extended cask aging. Ultimately, I think the Cuvee Reservee will surpass them, since the development of that wine will take place in the bottle, not in wood, but it is more backward and less evolved. The 1989 Cuvee Laurence is slightly sweeter, richer, and more opulent than its younger sibling. However, both wines are enormously constituted, thick, rich, classic, old style Chateauneuf du Papes the likes of which are rarely seen today. Both wines carry 15+% alcohol. They will be worth a special effort to find and purchase.”

We also ordered a series of flatbreads (aka pizza). This one is “Green Cauliflower, Moroccan Olive, Feta, Golden Raison.” The feta/raison thing worked: sweet and salty.

“Flowering squash, syrian cheese, zatar.” This was good too, but more mild.

“Merguez Sausage, Fontina, Tomato Jam, Aleppo Pepper.” I had high hopes for this one, but it just didn’t have enough punch. There was nothing wrong with the flavor, but the sausage was too mild, and the tomato muted.

“Grandma’s Chopped Chicken Livers, Sour Plum Mostarda, Challah.” This tasted exactly as advertised, like homemade chicken livers!

The challah is a perfect bread for it too.

“Soft Shell Crab, Heirloom Cucumber, Gem Avocado, Smoked Egg.” Nice and interesting combo, although it was a small dish and split by 6 people resulted in merely a bite.

“Shawarma, Amba, House Pickles.” Nice little meat, pickle and flatbread sandwich. Although I would have liked the meat to punch out a bit more in the flavor department.

“Poached Egg Shakshouka, Yogurt Emulsion, Sweetbread, Pita.” I liked this dish a lot. It tasted mostly of tomato and yogurt, a bit like “ricotta and gravy.”

“Lamb Shoulder, Green Wheat, Dukkah Spice.” A very nice lamb dish. The meat had that full on lamb flavor. This was not a sweet lamb prep like some middle eastern ones, but more on the salty/meaty side.

“Sea Urchin, Israeli Cous Cous, Lemon, Mint.” Very soft tapioca type texture, with a some sea urchin flavor — very pleasant.

“Veal Manti, Almond Milk, Black Lime.” Manti are a type of dumpling, like Afghan Mantoo (see here). While we each only got a bite this was a very good dish.

“Hashweh Risotto, Lamb, Burnt Onion, Fried Lemon.” Nice. Rich too and gooey.

The desserts.

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.

“Semolina Pound Cake, black lime, Indian lime, mulberries, hibiscus.” This was my least favorite of the desserts, although there was certainly nothing wrong with it — just a mild sweet cake with fruit.

“Roasted Aprium, honey, basil, pistachio.” Aprium made me think of a Latin noun, but they’re just apricots crossed with plums. In this particular incarnation however, they were wonderful — and the ice cream went perfectly!

“Lebne Cheesecake, rainer and brook cherries, rose.” A wonderful light cheesy fluffy, which went classically with the cherries.

“Strawberry Parfait, sasame, sumac, halvah cream.” This was probably my favorite. The strawberries were really intense and the cream — well exceedingly creamy.

“Rose Malabi, rhubarb, market berries.” Also fantastic, this was basically rosewater (which I love) flavored pannacotta with berries.

We recieved a little parting gift of spicy saseme bright. I totally dug this stuff, and it had a bit of a burn.

Part of the surgery done on the old Sona space is opening up the kitchen.

Overall, I was very impressed by Mezze. Not every dish was spot on, but they varied from good to great and they get serious points for having a big menu full of interesting flavors and a tapas style format that really favors sampling a lot of stuff. The prices are pretty reasonable too considering the quality of the food and how much we pigged out.

For other LA restaurants, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chateauneuf du Pape, Dessert, Food, Los Angeles, Melisse, Mezze, Middle Eastern, Modern Middle Eastern, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Rye Bread, side dishes, Sona, vegetarian, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors

Memorial Day Pig

Jun08

One of my friends always throws a “hog wild” Memorial Day BBQ.

The beginnings of the spread.

Pulled pork! This stuff was mouth watering good.

Baked beans cooked in molasses.

BBQ. This was a little sweet for my taste, even the hot.

BBQ turkey.

All this needed some wine from my cellar.

The shafer had enough age to be really nice, although I had cork problems. Parker gave it 90, “The Cabernet Sauvignon Stag’s Leap District has jumped in quality as John Shafer‘s son, Doug Shafer, abandoned sterile filters in favor of no fining and only a polishing, coarse filtration at bottling. That, plus less acidification, giving the wines a higher PH, has resulted in a more revealing and beautiful expression of the gorgeous fruit obtained from the Stag’s Leap District vineyards. The 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon Stag’s Leap includes 7% Cabernet Franc and 4% Merlot. It offers a wonderfully pure cassis nose, a velvety texture, plenty of ripeness, and some structure and tannin in the medium to full-bodied finish. It should drink well for 10-15 years. This winery continues to build on their fine reputation, pushing the quality to higher and higher levels. Shafer’s 50-acre estate vineyard, located in the heart of the Stag’s Leap District, is supplemented by an additional 70 acres in Carneros. The winery continues to be innovative, offering a very good Sangiovese called Firebreak that has a small percentage (usually less than 20%) of Cabernet Sauvignon included in the blend for color and bulk.”

The 2001 Beaucastel is wonderful as always, 96 points. “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, it will undoubtedly close down over the next several years, not to re-emerge for 7-8 years. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025.”

And the Brunello also 96, although it needed a few more years. “The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Paganelli emerges from the glass with masses of scorched earth, leather, tar, licorice, menthol and dark fruit. The Riserva shows a touch more inner sweetness, richness and depth in its fruit than the regular bottling, plus a bit more French oak as well. For now, the Riserva is quite reticent and requires air, but with time its awesome richness and power come through in spades. This dark, brooding and authoritative Riserva from Il Poggione is simply gorgeous. Readers who don’t want to pay the premium for the Riserva in 2004 need not worry; I tasted the 2004 regular bottling (twice!) while preparing this article and it is every bit as promising as my review last year suggested. In 2004 the Paganelli vineyard was harvested on the 13th of October, quite late for this estate. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039.”

Salmon for those who aren’t into pig!

And spicey hot links!

Then the desserts start to come.

Fruit tart, pie, cupcakes for the kiddies.

This yummy red velvet cake with a cream cheese frosting.

And ice cream from Sweet Rose Creamery. Mint, salted carmel, vanilla, caffe luxxe coffee, strawberry etc.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Barbecue, bbq, Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Counoise, Dessert, Memorial Day, pork, side dishes, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, vegetarian, Wine

Crafty Little Lunch

Jun03

Restaurant: Craft

Location: 10100 Constellation Blvd. Century City, Ca. 90067. 310-279-4180

Date: May 26, 2011

Cuisine: Farmer’s Market California

Rating: Nice little power lunch

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I was meeting a friend in Century City at the Annenberg Space for Photography (which I hadn’t even known existed), and we decided to catch lunch at nearby Craft. I’ve eaten dinner a couple times here before and thought it a very good “New California” style restaurant using a sort of large American tapas style. I think they may have ditched this format (at least the lunch menu shows no evidence of it). This seems to happen a lot and really bums me out as I completely and utterly prefer the small-plates style to the appetizer/entree dinosaur.

The menu. We both went for the little $30 “power lunch.” Craft is right in the heart of Century City with all the lawyers and CAA, so it’s obviously a spot for those putting lunch on the expense account.

Bread.

“Wild Mache, pistachio & raisin.” Really great little salad. The greens had a nice peppery quality, complemented nicely by the light dressing and the sweetness of the raisins.

“Rabbit tortellini, pecorino & baby onion.” Very nice little pasta too, in that buttery tortellini school. Inside was some good solid chunks of rabbit meat. The sauce was basically butter, cream, pecorino and onion.

“Sea Bream, leeks, fennel & watermelon radish.” The sauce was on the side as my friend preferred.

The leeks, fennel & watermelon radish.

The dessert menu.

Expresso.

“Ricotta cheesecake, poached cherries.” A slightly new format of an old classic.

“Profiteroles, mint chip ice cream & chocolate.” This should have been delicious, but for some reason it was muted. The pastries were really good, like a Beard Papa cookie shell, but the ice cream, while creamy, didn’t taste enough like mint. Not like the powerful mint leaf flavor of say Sweet Rose Creamery. The chocolate too was a bit muted.

Overall, this was a nice little lunch. I’ll have to go back for dinner again, although if they totally abandoned the small plates I’m bummed.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beard Papa, California, Century City, Century City Los Angeles, Cooking, Craft, Craft Los Angeles, Dessert, Ice cream, lunch, pasta, Power Lunch, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad

Waterloo & City

Jun01

Restaurant: Waterloo & City [1, 2, 3]

Location: 12517 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90066 310.391.4222

Date: May 21, 2011

Cuisine: Gastropub

Rating: Really tasty!

There has been real growth in the gastropub catagory here in LA during the last few years. Part of this is probably the recession which has encouraged somewhat lower key dining, but there’s probably more to it. When I first moved to LA (early 90s) things were dominated by flashy higher end “event” restaurants each with its own blend of novel fusion cuisine. Good examples of this would by Chaya, Matsuhisa, Chinois, Spago, Abiquiu. The next wave after that were the farmer’s market driven joints like Josie or Gjelina. In any case, on to Waterloo & City.

A view of the bar. This is a pretty big place.

The menu.

The drink menu. I didn’t feel like wine, so we tried out some of these.

“Oh Rickey! Russian Standard Vodka, Fresh Raspberries, Lime, Soda.” This tasted like fresh raspberries. It was sweet, but not too sweet. Good.

“Tamarindo Fever. Tequila Blaco, Tamarind, Grand Marnier, Habanero, Lemon, Lime Salt.” I’ve been trying a lot of these “hot drinks” lately. I like them. This was good, sour and hot at the same time. But it was really hot. Not enough to bother me, but enough that I worried about heartburn if I drink say, 2 or 3 of them.

This special cocktail had vanilla Stoli, fresh lemon juice and some other stuff. It tasted like a lemon candy.

Bread.

Waterloo has a lot of charcuterie. This was a small plate on the left, on the right are “Shrimp & Zucchini Blossom Fritters, piri piri hot sauce.” A tempura fried variant on the Italian favorite (in that case usually stuffed with ricotta).

“Yellowtail crudo, shallot & ginger dressing, spring salad.” This was very tasty. Besides the fish there was a bit of burrata and tomato in here too. But the fish was very succulent, and the ginger based dressing delicious. With all this stuff, including the radish, there was a very complex but harmonious flavor/texture thing going on, not unlike a dish at Red Medicine.

“Steamed mussels, red thai curry, lime ginger, ciabatta.” A very nice adaption of the french classic.

“Hand-cut pasta, English Peas, Italian Sausage, Parmesan.” Even though it was two nights in a row I couldn’t resist this dish, as it is close to one of my favorite pasta types. Yesterday’s version was a little better, but this was very nice. The sausage was flavorful and after chopping it up a bit so some could get in each bit made an excellent foil to the buttery sauce.

“Wild mushroom pizza, smoked mozzerella, truffle oil.” If I didn’t know better I’d have said that this was a bacon and mushroom pizza! It was really good. First of all, the crust was thin and chewy, but not over burned. The cheese was gooey, and the smoked mushrooms really really meaty. Good stuff, I should have tried their Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza, as they stole my idea!

“Beef Wellington.” Sweet and sour onions on top of a puff pastry, sitting on bacon wrapped asparagus.

Inside is the medium steak (could have been a bit rarer), fois gras, and maybe some more bacon/pancetta. Certainly rich…

“Crispy confit pork shank, spring potato, bacon salad, peas & favas.”

Look at this sucker! Confit (twice cooked in it’s own fat)! Then deep fried! It was just a ball of piggy goodness.

The dessert menu.

Special. Glazed beneits with creme anglais and raspberry jam. These were REALLY sweet, coated in a bit of carmel I think too (you can see it pooling beneath). Very much to my taste, but not for those that don’t have a MASSIVE sweet-tooth.

“Sticky Toffe Pudding, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Ice Cream.” Also excellent, with a not so dissimilar flavor profile. Both were intensely sweet. The ice cream helped cut it.

Overall I was very impressed with Waterloo & City. Things were extremely tasty, and there was a lot of stuff on the menu that I wanted to try but couldn’t. I’ll have to head back. It’s, however, not a light cuisine. Which is perhaps why it suited my taste.

For a second review of W & C, click here.

For another recent gastropub visit, check out Ford’s Filling Station.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Sam’s by the Beach 3D

May25

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

Location: 108 W. Channel Rd.(PCH), Santa Monica, CA90402. 310-230-9100

Date: May 14, Sept 4, & Oct 30, 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.

An amuse of tuna tartar on endive.

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

The glass.

Today’s menu.

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

This salad was a special, heirloom tomatoes and sashimi grade salmon with a bit of greens, orange, and a mustard vinaigrette.

Another special salad, this time with Santa Barbara shrimp (with roe), corn, and a lovely vinaigrette.

Sam’s grandmom’s butternut squash soup. Vegan with some olives. A lovely bit of fall flavor.

A special today, boar lasagne. The sauce is a tangy tomato cream sauce. This was a really good lasagne. The boar meat was tastier than ground beef.

“Vegetarian Crepes. Homemade Crepes filled with Swiss chard, wild mushrooms and zucchini served in tomato coulis.” This is a very nice vegetarian option, and surprisingly hearty. The sauce is bread dippingly yummy.

Sam’s has a pizza oven and a variety of pizzas served mostly on Sundays. This is the margarita.

And the Shawarma pizza, which given my penchant for homemade interesting pizzas, I found very interesting. The sauce is a bit more like a harissa, and the pizza is covered with shawarma and pine-nuts.

And served with a tangy yoghurt dip. Good stuff.

Medditeranian seafood soup. But it comes with the traditional toastes and garlic aioli.

Prepping the breads.

The soup itself. Lots of different seafood and a fantastic tomato garlic broth.

With the toasts. They sog up nicely and make for gooey garlicky goodness.

“Grilled Wild Salmon. Served with braised Swiss chard, Pine Nuts, and roasted Sunchoke, with fresh oregano sauce.”

Special rack of Lamb in a dijon mustard vinaigrette. The lamb was tender. The sauce has a fantastic vinegary tone, bright with the mustard, but not overpowering. I had to sop it up with bread afterward. Served with various vegetables and ratatouille.

Green apple sorbet, with a true apple mouthfeel (even a bit mealy, like real apples).

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…).

My personal favorite, the bread pudding. Topped with a creme anglais, it is warm, rich, and soft, with a chocolate botom.

A few freebee biscotti for dessert.

The room (or technically, half the room).

For other reviews of Sam’s, see here or here.

By: agavin
Comments (5)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bordeaux, Chard, Crêpe, Dessert, Feta, Pizza, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, Sam's by the Beach, Santa Monica California, Sauce, side dishes, Tomato, vegetarian, W Channel (Australia)

Sushi Glutton – Takao Three

May19

Restaurant: Takao [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 11656 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 207-8636

Date: May 15, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: 9/10 creative “new style” sushi

I’ve already covered Takao in some detail HERE and then separately here, but we went back (we go often) and I built another “custom omakase” trying some different things. The full menu and some information on the history of the place can be found through the first link.

House cold sake. Masumi “Okuden-Kanzukuri” Nagano prefecture.

Heirloom totmato salad with sesame dressing.

Tai (red snapper), with garlic, salt, red peppercorn, onions, olive oil. A very bright flavor, and the peppercorns, not spicy at all, add a nice textural component.

Seared bonito sashimi with scallions and ginger in ponzu.

Miso soup. I think if you ask they have a couple different types. This is the basic scallion and tofu.

Uni (sea urchin) tempura with shiso leaf and seaweed. Sea salt.

There is also the classic tempura dipping sauce.

Here is a closeup of one of the Uni fries. This stuff is yummy! With the crunch of the fry, the minty flavor of the shiso and the briney soft taste/texture of the sea urchin pairing wonderfully.

“Scottish Salmon ‘to-ban’ Taki.” Salmon and vegetables cooked on Japanese earthenware ‘to-ban’ with special Miso sauce.

Rock Shrimp Tempura Dynamite. The underlying component is in itself tasty. Sweet rock shrimp perfectly fried. Then you ad some dynamite with it’s zesty zing and it gets even better. For those not in the know Dynamite is a warm sauce consisting of mayo, sriarcha hot sauce, and masago semlt roe.

The big sushi plate. This was all mine! And so were most of the preceding dishes.

Kani (Alaskan king crab) sushi.

Japanese scallop sushi (raw).

On the bottom, Ika (squid), perfect chewy pasty texture. Underneath was shiso leaf.

Scottish Salmon.

Kanpachi (young yellowtail).

Uni (sea urchin — from Santa Barbara).

kura (salmon eggs).

O-toro (ultra fatty tuna belly). Like butter!

Unagi (fresh water eel) BBQ, with sweet BBQ sauce.

Tamago (sweet egg omelet) sushi.

And this wraps up the custom omakase.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Below is the Salmon Terriyaki “set dinner,” it comes with everything shown.

Salad.

Mixed tempura.

Miso soup.

Salmon Terriyaki.

Rice.

Choice of dessert, in this case vanilla mochi balls (ice cream coated in sweetened pounded rice).

The chefs at work, Takao himself on the right.

For more LA area sushi, see here.

By: agavin
Comments (9)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Black pepper, Dessert, Fish and Chips, Hamachi, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, Miso, Nagano Prefecture, sake, Sashimi, Sea urchin, Shellfish, Sushi, Takao, vegetarian, Wine tasting descriptors

Palisades Yogurt Shoppe

May14

Restaurant: Yogurt Shoppe

Location: 873 Swarthmore Ave, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. 310-459-0088

Date: Friday May 13, 2011!

Cuisine: Frozen Yogurt

Rating: Yummy & Popular.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Recently a new frozen yogurt place opened in the heart of the Pacific Palisades Village. This is a popular and welcome addition to our little community, which has suffered a bit of a drought of unoccupied storefronts since the recent recession began (much of this is due to the apparently asinine landlord on Swathmore who refuses to rent out half the storefronts).

The frontage. You should have seen this 10 minutes before as school let out and the place was swamped with kids.

The have a great little format. You choose a cup, and then fill it up yourself from any combination of the ten soft-serve machines.

Then self load up from the extensive topping bar. Here are various fruit, cool “mango poppers” mochi balls, chocolate chips, snowcaps, bits of various candy bars etc.

Even more toppings. Lots of common candy types (including my favorite, skittles), nuts, sprinkles, and more.

Then an extensive wet topping selection, including hot fudge, caramel, and marshmallow sauce.

My son went simple. With tasty fat-free vanilla (which didn’t taste fat-free), strawberries, bannas, snowcaps, and sprinkles (aka jimmies to use East Coasters).

I jazzed mine up a bit more, with cookies and cream and dulce de leche yogurt, various candles, mochi, and caramel sauce. The mango poppers were cool, little Ikura (salmon roe sushi) look-alike orange balls that exploded mango in the mouth. I also discovered that Skittles when frozen and VERY hard on the teeth. But they’re still my favorite standard packaged candy.