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Nanbankan – Stick with It

Aug28

Location: 11330 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 478-1591

Date: August 25, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese Yakitori

Rating: Flaming good!

It’s been awhile since the last official Foodie Club dinner. We like to go to wine friendly places — particularly Burgundy friendly places, and Nanbankan certainly fit the bill.

Japanese. Grilled seafood. Grilled meats. Not a lot of “complicated flavors” just high quality ingredients.

Crudités. Everyone gets their own, with miso sauce.

2012 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir. VM 89-92. Burghound 89-92. This is almost always the best villages wine in Roulot’s range and so it is again in 2012. While strong reduction and sulfur mark the nose, the vibrant, intense and concentrated medium weight flavors are quite fresh where a lovely touch of minerality adds lift to the beautifully balanced, complex and lingering finish. This really coats the mouth with dry extract which buffers the moderately firm and well-integrated acid spine. Good stuff and this should be approachable young yet age beautifully well too.

agavin: Young but very nice acidity and vanilla.

Beef tongue. Nice and chewy, great with lemon.

Shrimp and vegetable tempura. Always a winner.

2005 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 94. This is a mild step up in overall class and elegance with a gorgeously perfumed white flower fruit nose introducing linear, precise, intense and powerful medium full flavors that remain splendidly focused on the stunningly long finish that drenches the palate in dry extract. This is a striking 1er and one to buy as it easily delivers grand cru quality.

agavin: The Rav is always a winner. Really nice and full bodied. Hardly like a Chablis.

Clam.

Tiger prawns. Shrimy goodness.

From my cellar: 2004 Morey-Blanc Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 90-93. A reserved, indeed backward spicy green apple and white pear nose complements delineated but very rich flavors that display moderate wood on the big and weighty if not necessarily super dense finish that packs a serious punch and intensity. The length here is really impressive and the balance is such that this should age for 15 to possibly 20 years.

agavin: reductive, powerful, and oh so yummy!

Ginko nuts. Like wax jellybeans.

Scallops. yum.

2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri. VM 93. Deep yellow-gold. Ripe pit and exotic fruits on the nose, with complicating notes of honey, sweet butter and green almond. Becomes more floral with air, picking up suggestions of jasmine and chamomile. Lush but focused, with a spine of acidity adding structure and carrying through a very long, sappy and gently sweet finish. Krankl said that he’d serve this with a rich shellfish dish.

agavin: a giant brooding Rhone-like monster, but great with the crab.

Fried softshell crab. Awesome. A really nice tempura crab and a great pairing with the SQN.

Abalone. Nice and tender (for abalone).

Squid. Tasted very Japanese. I love the rubbery texture and flavor.

2003 Domaine Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Vieille Vigne. VM93+. Red-ruby. Deeply fruity aromas of blackberry, raspberry, violet and bitter chocolate. Wonderfully precise and penetrating, with uncanny definition and detail for a 2003. The black fruit and violet flavors are lifted by a minty, medicinal element on the back end. Impressively concentrated, vibrant wine, finishing with noble tannins and outstanding persistence.

agavin: great medium young Burg.

Sirloin tataki. Will thought too much onion, but I liked it. Very bright flavors.

Pork belly. Yes sir, we ordered another round. Lemon cut the fat. Yeah, it really did.

From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Jean Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas. 94 points. Wonderfully open red currants scent. Sings with candied gooseberries on the palate. Multidimensional and unmistakeably Vosne. Graceful!

agavin: Awesome. A little funky at first, blew off quickly and had that “old but not too old” thing. Real yummy.

Chicken thigh with scallions. Good stuff.

Chicken neck. Sounds gross but was awesome. A bit of crunchy chew.

Chicken wings. Voted best dish of the night.

1989 La Fleur de Gay. Parker 95. Possibly the finest Fleur de Gay made, this rich, very large-scaled, tannic wine has a compelling nose of cassis, licorice, white flowers, minerals, and other sorts of black fruits along with some subtle new oak. Full-bodied, with great delineation, purity, and dazzling concentration and intensity, this is a fabulous example of a Fleur de Gay and a wine that seems capable of lasting at least another two decades.

agavin: A very nice fully mature (but not even slightly old) Bord.

Wagyu steak. Great with Bordeaux.

Shimeji oyster mushrooms. Helps push things on through.

1959 Château Margaux. 97 points. Sweet red cherry, violets, spicecake, cedar, and rose petals on the nose. Raspberry and tart red cherries are notable on the palate. An overall smooth palate help back somewhat by a medium length finish that falls off sooner than desired.

agavin: pretty stunning for 56 years old!

Black cod. Very tender.

Chicken meat balls. This is a Japanese classic and I happen to love them.

Raw quail egg. Plus the meat balls are even better when dipped hot in raw quail egg to coat them with eggy goodness.

Shitake Mushrooms. More fibre.

1994 Guigal Cote Rotie la Turque. Parker 96-98. The great glories of this house are its Cote Roties, of which there are now five separate offerings. The single-vineyard 1994s were singing loudly when I saw them in July. All of them scored significantly higher than they did during the two previous years, which is not unusual as Guigal’s upbringing (elevage) of the wines results in better examples in the bottle than in cask. All three wines flirt with a perfect score. At this tasting, they reminded me of Guigal’s 1982s – opulent, sumptuously-textured, forward, rich, precocious, flattering wines that will drink well throughout their lives. The exotic 1994 Cote Rotie La Turque exhibits a dense purple color, and a fabulously-scented nose of licorice, Asian spices, truffles, minerals, and gobs of black fruits. Full-bodied, with great richness, a multi-layered personality, and an exotic, overripe character, this is a sensational, chocolatey, rich wine with more tannin than La Mouline. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2020. Guigal is one of the cellars where the wines always taste better after they are bottled than they do from cask, although as the scores in this segment indicate, some profound wines can be found in the 1994, 1995, and 1996 vintages Chez Guigal.

agavin: Awesome! Syrah at its finest.

Lamb chops with garlic. We ordered 2 full sets of these. Amazing with the Lala.

Duck breast. Nice and a little smokey. Mustard and yuzu chili were awesome as a condiment.

Pork sausage. Like the BEST hot dog and mustard you ever had. One of my favorites.

NV J.W. Morris Founders Port. 93 points. Probably from the 70s, but mature and super tasty. Fruity and well balanced.

Strawberry and green tea mochi. The strawberry was awesome.

Overall, this was a fabulous dinner. Everything was great, but really the company was the #1 selling point. Very good group. After that, the food was very nice. A change from some of our usual fare and very wine flexible. The wines were fabulous. Not a single “off” wine.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or hear for more Foodie Club craziness.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Nanbankan, Yakitori

Katana – Stripping it all Down

Aug07

Restaurant: Katana

Location: 8439 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (323) 650-8585

Date: July 30, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese American Sushi / Robata

Rating: Best I’ve had here

I’ve long had mixed feelings about both Katana and IDG (Innovative Dining Group). They bug me a bit for being style over substance, and there is absolutely nothing innovative about them in the food department. But that being said they often run a fairly tight ship. BOA is a pretty solid modern steakhouse.

Back to Katana, which lurks right over the heart of the Sunset Strip. The crowd is different than it was when I was last here in 98 or 99 — then it was super hip and trendy. Now it’s still very busy, but feels more like a strong concierge referral business.

The patio gets hopping later.

Inside is the sushi / robata bar. Katana is a “Japanese” restaurant like I’ve never seen in Japan and it fuses a couple different culinary traditions. The sushi side inherits from Nobu / Matsuhisa (more Nobu) and then there is robata thrown in too boot. Oh, plus a ton of those creepy American mega rolls (like Spider Roll) that I don’t like: too much sauce and fry.

Tonight, however, we were there with a super regular who is friendly with the chef and so he made a lot of off menu stuff — and no silly rolls.

Our first wave of sashimi-like apps. This general category of heavily produced sashami is non-traditional, and deemphasizes the fish, but it is really tasty.

2006 Moët & Chandon Champagne Grand Vintage Brut Rosé. VM 91+. Dried rose petals, anise, sweet red cherries and mint waft from the glass in the 2006 Brut Rosé Grand Vintage. The 2006 is a big, large-scaled Rosé built on depth and structure. The flavors show early signs of development, but the 2006 should continue to drink well for many years based on its stuffing. Today the Rosé is a bit tight. I won’t be surprised to see it improve over the next few years. In 2006, the Grand Vintage Rosé is 47% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier, with a high percentage of still Pinot Noir (23%) that gives the wine much of its pure vinosity. Dosage is 5 grams per liter.

agavin: these two roses were a gift from a Moet rep and were much appreciated.

Albacore or similar tuna with ponzu, parmesan, avocado, and arugula. An odd blend of Italian salad and sashimi, this did taste great.

NV Ruinart Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Light orange. Red berries, potpourri, toasty lees and orange peel on the highly fragrant nose. Lively and precise, with very good focus to its wild red berry and floral pastille flavors. The orange note comes back strong on the long, penetrating finish, which features a sweet raspberry quality.

Lobster, reduction, yuzu sauce, truffles. Again pretty over the top, but yummy.

2002 Paul Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean. 90 points.

Salmon, truffle, and tomato in a ponzu. Drawing these together are the vinegary sauces. These were “invented” (more adapted from Purvuian sauces) by Nobu Matsuhisa to make sashimi “easier” on the western palette.

2001 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. Burghound 92. Ripe and extremely opulent intense citrus fruit and white flowers coupled with medium weight flavors dripping with minerality and enough fat to buffer the bracing acidity. There is a subtle underlying complexity and this is remarkably intense, assertive and precise yet there is excellent power and depth as well.

Scallop with yuzu and dressing. Delicious. Hard to go too wrong with scallop and vinegar.

2004 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 93. Noticeable reduction and very subtle wood influence highlights the strikingly elegant and airy white flower, grapefruit and anise-infused nose that precedes the intense, powerful and superbly well-detailed medium full flavors that explode like a bomb on the mouth coating finish. There is a bit more wood on the finish but there is so much material here that it will almost certainly absorb it over time. This is a steamroller of a wine yet one that maintains perfect balance and grace though I would strongly suggest decanting it for 20 minutes first because of the reduction.

agavin: a little bit of that 04 green on the finish.

Tai snapper with baby peach and flowers and dressing. This one was most novel, featuring the baby peach. It was really quiet lovely.

From my cellar: 1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 93. A truly wonderful nose of simply knockout complexity features notes of yeast and baked bread along with now fully mature aromas of a variety of floral notes and spice hints that gives way to mineral-suffused, round, intense and detailed medium full flavors that also offer outstanding depth on the sappy and mouth coating finish. This is drinking perfectly now and I wouldn’t hesitate to open one anytime as there is no further upside to be had. A beautiful effort of real style and grace.

Yellowtail with garlic and something else. Very tasty too, if rich.

2001 Domaine Fourrier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Gruenchers Vieille Vigne. Burghound 88-91. A major step up as this retains the elegance and precision of the Chambolle villages and adds more depth, weight and complexity plus more length. This is first rate and offers excellent potential for 5 to 8 years of improvement.

Now we segue drastically heavier in an out of order filet mignon with mashed potatoes, foie gras, and truffles. Not that it wasn’t very tasty, but it was hefty!

From my cellar: 1970 Gros Frère et Sœur Vosne-Romanée. 93 points. Very much alive and drinking quite beautifully. A veritable chameleon in the glass, the aromas kept changing every time I brought the glass to my nose. First sour cherries, then papaya, then raspberries, then red clay, then lemon rind, then caramel — it was intoxicating. The palate, on the other hand, was a bit simple and one-dimensional, but I thought the nose more than made up for it. A lovely wine!

Beef rolled around foie. I guess it can get even heavier. Tasty too, but super rich.

1998 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays. Burghound 91. This has always had a wonderful nose and it has now reached the front edge of full maturity that complements well a flavor profile is a classy middleweight fighter’s grace and athleticism rather than a heavyweight’s power. The once relatively firm tannins have largely, if not completely, resolved to create a velvety and mouth coating texture that further delivers excellent length. There is a hint of acidity poking through on the finish but overall, this is indisputably an unqualified success for the vintage. Tasted multiple times with consistent notes.

Chicken liver skewers. Good for those with iron deficiency.

Sushi. Tuna, Yellowtail, red snapper, and salmon. These are the usual suspects of the nigiri world. They were nice pieces, but on the “been there done that” side.

Uni, battleship style. I never complain about good uni.

Toro. O-toro from the look of it. This wasn’t like Yamakase toro or anything, but I certainly wasn’t going to send it back.

Chicken cartilage skewers. Good flavor. Terrible cartilage texture.

Lamb chops. Oddball at a Japanese restaurant, but very nice.

Lobster tempura in ponzu sauce. Total guilty pleasure. This sauce was more like a sweet and spicy eggroll sauce. The lobster was so fried you would have never known there was anything in there. Despite that, it was amazing in a totally decadent fried way.

Snapper, and truffle, wrapped around foie gras with shiso. Such an odd combo, but delicious (if, like much of the meal, was very rich).

Turley Zinfandel. Don’t know which one. Well, it was a zin.

A dessert plate with flourless chocolate tart, a kind of cheesecake, and (way too little) ice cream.

2009 Heinrich Mayr (Nusserhof) Lagrein Alto Adige – Südtirol Riserva. VM 94. The 2009 Lagrein Riserva wraps around the palate with layers of super-expressive, radiant fruit. Sweet red berries, tobacco, crushed flowers, mint and anise are some of the many notes that are woven together in the glass. Extended time in barrel has added considerable textural richness. The 2009 needs quite a bit of time to open up, but it is fabulous. The silky tannins and overall depth of the fruit cover some of the wilder notes typical of Lagrein, but there is plenty of varietal expression. This is another striking, reference-point wine from Heinrich Mayr.

agavin: never heard of this — at all — but it was a great food wine.

A coffee chocolate mousse. My favorite.

Overall, a really fun evening. Service was fabulous and I enjoyed the food. It is, as mentioned above, an odd hybrid of different Japanese types and other more American influences. It emphasizes super rich ingredients and sauces in a way that really isn’t fundamentally Japanese. All the while failing to strike out on it’s own with any kind of real vision. This comes off more like an amped up “crowd pleaser” style, thus striking an odd note with my purist side. Still, it is a crowd pleaser — and plenty tasty.

For more LA Japanese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Katana, Robatayaki, Sushi, Wine

A’postrophe – Filipino Fusion

Jul15

Restaurant: A’postrophe

Location: Downtown LA

Date: July 11, 2015

Cuisine: Modern Filipino

Rating: Really fabulous flavors

Liz Lee of Sage Society put together this special popup dinner at the apartment of chef Charles Olalia.

The chef (above) is a young Filipino with an instinctive knack for cooking. Over the last 12 years he has cooked at such establishments as the French Laundry, Patina, Coi, Mar’sel, and more.

The crew helping us out (+ Edith). Chef on right next to his lovely wife.

His downtown apartment plays host to the dinner for 13.

The menu is essentially Filipino comfort food reinvented through Charles’ fine dining experiences.

It should be noted that this was a BYOB event with most people bring roughly 2 bottles. They were loosely organized by course. Liz brought a whole bunch of great champagnes like…

NV Robert Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 91. Pale gold. Pungent, mineral-laced aromas of pear, honey, lemon pith and white flowers. Densely packed orchard and citrus fruit flavors are enlivened by chalky minerality and a hint of ginger. Refreshingly bitter and precise on the finish, with the mineral note strongly repeating.

Amuse of toast with onion jelly and green onion. A nice crunch and sweet onion flavors.
2009 Bochet-Lemoine Champagne. A bit richer than the first one.

2005 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 95. The 2005 Dom Pérignon opens with the classic Dom Pérignon bouquet. Warm toasty notes meld into expressive fruit in a supple, silky Champagne endowed with stunning depth, nuance and complexity. Sweet floral notes add lift as the wine opens up in the glass. Overall, the 2005 is a relatively delicate, gracious DP, but what it lacks in depth it more than makes up with persistence and its open, totally inviting personality. Today it’s hard to see the 2005 making old bones, but it is a gorgeous wine to drink while the 2004 ages. In 2005, the release is scheduled to last about six months, which means production is down around 50% over normal levels. All I can say is the 2005 is fabulous, especially in a vintage that required considerable sorting to eliminate rampant rot in the Pinots.

Brand new!

Duck egg with uni. Yum! Plays up both these ingredients.

The pandesal or salt bread. The outside is a bit salty but the inside nice and sweet.

And it is served with this sweet distillate of coconut milk, basically a coconut caramel.

Coco jam. Really fabulous with the bread.

1999 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Cuvée Creation. VM 93. A big, explosive wine, the 1999 Brut Cuvée Création is gorgeous today. Perhaps it is the extra time in bottle or the magnum format, but the 1999 has really come along nicely over the last few years. Yellow stone fruits, licorice, flowers and spices are all framed by French oak in a voluptuous, full-bodied Champagne that should drink well for the better part of the next decade. Disgorged: December 2012.

2005 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean. Burghound 93. Chez Niellon, among his 1ers I almost always find the best in class to be either the Clos Truffiàre or the Champs Gain but much to my surprise, in 2005 that distinction goes to this wine. The nose is wonderfully complex and broad with ripe but reserved floral, citrus and menthol hints introducing rich, full and intensely mineral-driven flavors that coat the mouth on the explosive finish. This is an exceptionally impressive effort that will age beautifully on its impeccable balance.

agavin: I wouldn’t have thought this was a white Burg. It had a golden premoxy color, but didn’t taste premoxed — more like a mature Cal Chard.

2003 E. Guigal Ermitage Blanc Ex-Voto. VM 96. Medium gold. Incredibly complex bouquet of yellow plum, dried apricot, peach, floral honey, yellow Chartreuse, blonde tobacco and anise (among other things). Deeply concentrated and almost surreal in its expression of honeyed, ripe and dried fruits; its sappy, clinging texture; and its powerful impression of extract. The endless finish is surprisingly bright, with no tiring or cloying qualities. This should be served in homeopathic doses, such is its intensity and depth of flavor.

agavin: very gold and complex. I continue to have mixed opinions about these white hermitages. I have a moderate collection of them, but they might be too intense and hot for my taste.

Summer tomato salad. Salted egg, scallions, rice crisp. According to fellow Foodie Club founder and Filipino Erick, this is traditionally a condiment eaten with rice and salted with the salted egg. Here it is served as a salad. The vinegar and salted egg helped really compensate for the sweetness of the tomatoes to give it a very nice balance.

1989 Château-Grillet (Neyret-Gachet) Château-Grillet. 93 points. A bit closed in the beginning, the wine opened up with time in decanter. Intense mineral nose of flint, stone, white pepper, some beeswax, stone fruit. Very clear and impressive depth. In the mouth the wine is medium + body with some fatness in the beginning. The acidity is high giving perfect contrast to the fatness. Lively, vibrant with intense aromas in the mouth. Length is long with mineral, salivating finish. My first old Château Grillet and this wine really need patience in contrast with many other Viognier from Condrieu.

agavin: our bottle had a touch of cork.

2013 Caro’s Ridge Chardonnay Cavalleri. Hot hot cal chard. Not my thing at all.

Avocado Ravioli. Fried anchovies, black rice, lemon aioli. I really liked the salty/fishy crunch of the anchovies. I could munch on them as a snack food.

From my cellar: 1999 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 91. Big, powerful and rich aromatics of honey, oak spice and limestone merging into intense, medium weight flavors and a penetrating, relatively fine finish. While not especially big or complex by the standards of classic Bâtard, it is quite intense with beautifully textured, luxuriant, almost opulent flavors.

agavin: 93-94 points. Rounded, as seems typical for 99. Honied almost. Drinking very nicely.

2003 Henri Boillot Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 93. The nose is ultra elegant and pure with virtually no trace of oak yet curiously, the crystalline and mineral-driven flavors presently display more than a trace of wood toast. That niggle aside, this is an explosive effort with near perfect balance and huge length. This is my favorite of all the Boillot ’03s, not because it is necessarily qualitatively superior but in terms of sheer class it has no equal.

agavin: More minerality than the Batard. Very very nice.

Longsilog. Creamed rice, soft cooked egg, caramelized longganisa. This redefined Filipino breakfast food was pretty awesome (and I’m sure the original greasier version is too). The sausage was both spicy and sweet and paired awesomely with the rice and eggs. A 9 or 10 by my book.

2011 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs. VM 95. Savory aromas of cling peach, wild herbs and lemon peel. Luscious passion fruit and saline minerality form infinite layers on the palate. Densely packed, elegant and spicy on the dazzling finish, this is without doubt one of the three best dry rieslings of the vintage. Hats off!

agavin: Awesome. 95 points. Laced with grapefruit peel.

1997 Marcassin Chardonnay E Block Hudson Vineyard. 94 points. Golden color;fresh baked bread, light vanilla,nutmeg bouquet;subtle tangerine,lime flavors,complex, creme brulee flavors become stronger with time; unlike younger Marcassin’s this has very lively crisp acid in the finish- very Burgundian in it’s light touch instead of usual Calif heaviness; no hotness on the finish, just slowly fades to brioche.

Another Liz champy: NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. Burghound 94. Medium rosé hue. A restrained and highly complex nose, that is not especially fruity, displays a moderate yeast character along with slightly exotic aromas of mandarin orange and Asian tea, all wrapped in an enveloping array of beguiling rose petal scents. There is very good richness with a relatively soft supporting mousse that adds to the impression of richness to the superbly complex and highly textured flavors, indeed one could aptly describe this as more wine that Champagne. As such this is indeed a sumptuous Krug rosé and as such, while this could be drunk now with much pleasure or held for further development; it is going to be extremely difficult to stay away from! In short this is stunningly good and should only serve to add to the mystique of this cuvée. I should note that while I am not always wowed by the Krug Rosé this latest incarnation is strikingly good.

agavin: really nice, and a great pair.

Santa Barbara Prawns. Glass noodles, shrimp roe. Another perfect dish. The prawns were moist and succulent with yummy roe and prawn guts. All this soaked down into the glass noodles. They were baked perfectly such that a crispy layer formed at the bottom of the pan and could be scrapped off to enjoy.

F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Reserve Dürnsteiner Kellerberg. Missed the vintage, but it was very good.

2001 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Windsbuhl. VM 90. Highly aromatic nose combines candied apple, mint, lime and a suggestion of banana chips. Dense, rich and chewy, with spiced apple and light resiny flavors over a firm mineral spine. Gives a softer, less adamantly dry impression than the Clos Hauserer but finishes with palate-cleansing freshness.

Steamed Black Cod. Lumpia Vegetables, soy garlic sauce. Super tender fish served over a mixture of the vegetables usually used in lumpia, Filipino spring rolls. Very nice.

From my cellar: 1996 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Fontenys. agavin 91. Nice lively ruby in the glass, the nose had notes of black pepper, roasted meats and lots of cherry – the palate was dense with a real iron/meat character to it, alongside some evident tannins- a fairly big wine.

2002 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle. Burghound 89. Gorgeous crushed red fruit aromas lead to slightly dilute if seductive flavors underpinned by relatively fine tannins and a dusty finish. There is very good intensity here and if the flavors add weight, my score may be conservative.

What Filipino dinner would be complete without some suckling pig? In this case just the belly!

Lechon Cebu. Lemongrass, On Choi, Liver jus. Look at those fatty slabs. Served over rice and smothered in the rich liver sauce this was pretty incredible, although about 80% of the way through my slab I hit a wall of intense fullness. The skin was BBQed to that perfect crisp too.

1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

2010 Caro’s Ridge Malbec. Rounded, big, hot, young Malbec. Not really a pairing for anything we were eating, but would have been a nice grilled meat wine.

Bulalo. Braised mushrooms, bok choi, bone marrow broth. For a bone marrow soup dish this was surprisingly “light” and incredibly tasty simple broth.

2011 Saracco Moscato d’Asti. VM 90. Saracco’s 2011 Moscato d’Asti wraps around the palate with serious depth and richness. Green apples, pears and white flowers flow through to the expressive, nuanced finish. Like most wines of the vintage, the 2011 is richer than normal, but there is no shortage of personality or pure class here.

agavin: I loved this frothy blend of fruit and aromatics. Really quiet nice.

1998 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Riesling Eiswein. variously 94-98. Lemon candy and pear drops in the nose. Juicy and elegant in the mouth, featuring pear nectar and peach preserve, with just a faint sharpness to the acids. Finishes with peach, vanilla and mineral salts.

agavin: a much more classic intense sweet wine, very different from the Moscato.

Iced Buko. Macapuno, sweet red bean, micro greens. Basically a coconut sorbet popsicle served over sweet candied red beans. Pretty awesome actually.

The chef and his lovely wife.

Family members helped out.

Overall, this was a really fabulous meal (as always when Liz Lee is involved). Certainly the best Filipino food I’ve had. Charles really took it to the next level with better ingredients and presentation than the usual buffet action I’m used to. That being said, I’ve never been to the Filipines itself where I’m sure there is much excellent eating to be had. But even independent of these relative judgments this was just a very good, very lively meal.

We had a fun time with the wine too. At Liz’s request Charles toned down certain of the wine phobic ingredients (garlic and vinegar) to pair better with our exotic mix.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Liz introduces the chef

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: A'postrophe, Charles Olalia, Filipino Cuisine, Foodie Club, Sage Society

Cassia – Vietnamese Reinterpreted

Jul10

Restaurant: Cassia

Location: 1314 7th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 393-6699

Date: July 7 & November 10, 2015, July 7, August 26, and October 3, 2016 and January 28, 2020

Cuisine: French Vietnamese Brasserie

Rating: really tasty

My friend Liz Lee of Sage Society organized this July excursion to the brand new French Vietnamese Bistro from Chef Bryant Ng and the group that brought us the excellent Sweet Rose, Rustic Canyon, and Milo & Olive.

Also, merged in, are photos from dishes we ordered at an impromptu Hedonist dinner in November.

Ng made himself famous the other year with Spice Table Downtown, now I’m happy to have him Westside.

The space is oddly located on 7th street (never been to a restaurant there before despite 21 years in Santa Monica) but its large, light and airy.

Check out those high ceilings.

A specialty cocktail. Mango Mezcal Fizz. Mango infused mezcal, Brovo dry vermouth, passionfruit, lime, egg white.

The creative menu. This is not your usual brasserie. I mean, it feels like one, but the dishes are so Vietnamese inspired. I ate my way through Vietnam last year, and the ingredients feel very authentic. The presentation is all new.

The menu January 2020 — a few dishes have changed.

Liz as usual orchestrated our wine brings, in this case Champy, Riesling and the like.

From my cellar: 1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. VM 96. Rich, multidimensional, highly aromatic nose of pear, red berries, apple, honey, toast and spice. Extremely rich and concentrated, with its medium to full body leavened by bright citrus notes and compelling minerality. Great inner-mouth aromas. Conveys an impression of powerful yet remarkably fine raw materials. The spicy finish offers exceptional persistence and richness.

agavin: our bottle was a bit oxidized and tired. sigh.

Kaya Toast. Coconut jam, butter, slow cooked egg. This is listed under appetizers, but really tasted like a dessert. It was pretty awesome though, with the flavors of sweet coconut French toast.

Jellyfish Salad. Shredded organic chicken, crispy rice, green leaf, sesame-bacon dressing. Delicious, with the jellyfish adding a nice crunch/chew.

2004 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé. VM 94+. Relative to many other recent vintages, the 2004 Dom Pérignon Rosé comes across as quite delicate, feminine and graceful. Floral notes are woven throughout, adding to a very appealing and attractive sense of lift. It will be interesting to see if the 2004 puts on weight in bottle. At the moment, the 2004 is a bit understated, but I will not be surprised if at some point it takes off given the extremely positive way in which the 2004 blanc has developed over the last few years.

agavin: This was not tired at all!

Cucumber Salad Watercress, grilled avocado, charred tomatoes, clay oven bread croutons. A fine salad, although not mind boggling.

Green Papaya Salad. Watercress, purslane, spiced walnuts. Not bad, but not as “Vietnamese” as we expected.

Masumoto Farms Nectarine Salad. Bibb lettuce, herbs.

Vietnamese Caesar Salad. Anchovy croutons, dried figs, herbs, red onion, white anchovies.

Raw spicy scallops. A very small dish, with a bit of corn, dried shrimp, ham, onion and mint for flavor and crunch. Tasty, and despite the white look, not too mayo-ish, but hard to get onto the spoon.

Grilled Chicken Wings. Cucumbers, sweet chile sauce. Not bad at all. Nice tangy salty spicy sauce. I actually liked the cucumbers soaked in it.

Vietnamese “Sunbathing” Prawns. Fresno chiles, garlic, Vietnamese hot sauce — very hot actually.

2013 Zardetto Prosecco Zeta. Pairs great with food. A very simple wine, but its simple fruit allows it to go with anything.

CHARCUTERIE PLATTER. Salted Pork with Grilled Bread, Sichuan Lamb Ham, Singaporean Grilled Candied Pork, Vietnamese Meatloaf, Smoked Red Sausage, Cabbage Relish.

The Singaporean Grilled Candied Pork had a substantial heat and was sweet and delicious. The Sichuan Lamb Ham was a bit like Spanish ham. The smoked sausage was great, and I particularly loved the rich meatiness of the “meatloaf” — not unlike dumpling filling. The cabbage relish added to the softer ones as well, plus the herbs. Mixing the herbs and pickles with the meat in the same bite was quiet lovely.

Smoked Salmon Dip. Pickled shallots, horseradish, grilled country bread. Nice kick from the horseradish and an interesting mix of textural elements between the soft spread and crunchy bread. I really liked this dish.

Chopped Escargot. Lemongrass butter, herbs.

Spread on the pizza-like bread this was staggeringly good. It might have been the dish of the night.

Vietnamese Pâté. Pickled chiles. A similar presentation. Looks a little like barf.

But it tasted great. Super rich and meaty. I’m a big pate fan and this didn’t disappoint. I liked the added crunch of the pickles.

Fried Cauliflower w/ fish sauce. So fried they were like fried shrimp.

Cold Sesame Noodles. Young soybeans, cucumbers, crushed walnuts. Spicy with blue crab. I had to try this because I make my own Dan Dan Mein. This had some spice, but none of the savory complexity of my version.

1997 Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Weissenkirchen Ried Klaus. agavin 93. Herbal and complex, delicious.

Spicy Wontons. Cod, shrimp, country ham, napa cabbage, roasted chile oil. These had some heat, not unlike Numb Taste Wontons, but with a bit of a fishy tone.

2001 Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Trocken Zwerithaler. agavin 90. More oxidized than the 1997, this had an unusual cilantro/basil finish!

Chino Valley Egg Custard. Sea urchin roe, braised mushrooms. Very soft egg custard was extremely pleasant, although the sea urchin just didn’t stand out like one might hope.

2001 Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach Steinberger Riesling Kabinett Goldkapsel. agavin 91. Medium sweet. Quiet nice.

Cereal Scallops. Hazelnuts, chiles. These were super tender and reminded me of Eastern Shore fried scallops from my childhood.

1996 Domaine Touchais Coteaux du Layon Réserve de nos Vignobles. agavin 94. Super sweet and delicious.

Coconut lemongrass curry. I don’t remember what was in here, but it was an awesome creamy coconut and lemongrass curry with a bit of spicy heat. Pretty similar to the amazing snail curry I’ve had at Phong Dinh.

Pig tail. Special order. Looks at that disgusting thing and all the fat.

I tried carving off some of the meat and not much fat and wrapping it with the herbs. The first bite was piggy, but the finish was actually quiet nice. Erick gnawed on the bone!

1998 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Barbe Rac. Parker 94-96. Chapoutier’s 1998 Barbe Rac is close to full maturity. It exhibits an abundance of Provencal herbs intermixed with new saddle leather, kirsch, framboise, and spice box. The intoxicatingly heady, complex aromatics are followed by a full-bodied, lush, succulent style of wine with a relatively high alcohol/glycerin content and loads of fruit. This wine is drinking terrifically well after going through an awkward stage about two to three years ago. Drink it between now and 2020.

agavin: Nice and grapey. Young, but drinking great right now.

Vietnamese Pot Au Feu. Creekstone farms short rib stew, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, bone marrow, grilled bread, two sauces.

We had five people and it was a few too many to really split this. The broth was very nice, and quiet interesting when doped with the sauces — but I didn’t get much and it was hard to experiment.

Grilled Lobster. Shallots, Asian basil, pistachio butter (Half or Whole).

The meat itself had a wonderful grilled basil flavor. Hard to split five ways though.

Whole Singaporean. White Pepper Crab. Same splitting problem with the crab, and there wasn’t much meat on this Dungeness. But the sauce was great with a real potent white pepper kick. I love pepper crab. None beat the ones I had in Singapore.

Black Cod. Anchovy broth, Chinese romaine, lychee relish, herb salad.

Beef Rendang. Beef cheek curry, jasmine rice, sambal, kaffir lime, peanuts. This had some heat to it, but was a spectacularly delicious curry dish. That rich red/meat/nutty curry over rice and the interplay of soft and crunchy textures. Yum!

Grilled Spicy Lamb Breast. Sichuan peppercorn, cumin, sambal, jasmine rice, sesame sauce. This was a nice dish, fairly Indian in vibe. There was that loose lovely Indian rice, which although labeled as jasmine in the description sure seemed like Basmati. Then the juicy bits of pork and a bit of heat. Nice stuff.

Grilled Chinese Broccoli. Caramelized fish sauce. Pretty good for straight up veggies.

Grilled Dwelley Farms Corn. Scallion-coriander butter. Sort of like Mexican street corn!

Charcuterie Fried Rice. Chinese bacon, lap cheong, salt pork, salted fish, lettuce. Really tasty fried rice. Loved the sweet Chinese sausage.

Grilled Pork Belly Vermicelli. Thin rice noodles, oysters, pickled kohlrabi & carrots, herbs, green leaf, peanuts.

Again a hard dish to split five ways as that little bowl of meat/broth didn’t stretch far enough. It was delicious and Pho-like with the noodles and herbs.

Here is the combined soup, which was quite excellent.

Smoked Beef Short Ribs. Spicy Chinese BBQ sauce, pickled Chinese cabbage, Bibb lettuce, herbs.

Laksa. Rice noodles, spicy coconut-seafood soup. Basically udon noodles in a red curry broth. I liked the dish, as I love red curry. Others complained that the curry flavor was a touch mild and “short” and it was (although there is some considerable heat). This doesn’t have the depth of a great red curry like at Jitlada. Still, I enjoyed it. It’s just been “toned down” for the Santa Monica crowd.

Wok-tossed Yard beans & avocado. Preserved turnips, ginger, chili oil. Interesting contrast between the crunchy yard beans and the soft avocado. Not bad at all for a string bean dish.

The dessert menu.

Chocolate Banana Tart. Banana chips, candied walnuts, vanilla whipped cream. The weakest of the five desserts. A little sweet and not enough chocolate flavor.

Blackberry, Cherry Napoleon. Green tea Bavarian cream. This was great and refreshing with bright berry flavors.

Deep fried Paris-Brest. Housemade lemongrass ice cream, candied lemon. That lemongrass ice cream was awesome. The whole vibe was key lime pie like. Really refreshing.

Summer Fruit Floating Islands. Passion fruit creme anglaise, poached peaches, Santa Rosa plums, Pudwill raspberries & fresh mint. And this was amazing with a rich creamy passionfruit flavor.

Vietnamese Coffee Pudding. Coconut shortbread. Plus I loved this “pudding,” which is more like a pot-a-creme. The coffee cream thing worked just as well as a dessert.

Coconut ice cream balls.

Overall, commenting after my first visit, I’m really psyched to see this new addition to the long subdued Santa Monica restaurant scene. I love Vietnamese food and while this isn’t strictly Vietnamese, but more like Vietnamese, Chinese, Singaporean fusion with a very modern brasserie sensibility. Fairly unique and really quiet fun and excellent. I hope they evolve and refine and aren’t forced to backpedal to pander to the local tastes. There is some tendency in Santa Monica toward just that. For example, all of the more interesting (and not really that bold) new mall places of a couple years ago have shuttered and been replaced by a Cheesecake Factory. Cry.

And readdressing my opinion a few months later in November, Cassia has continued to come on strong. It was mobbed on a cold Tuesday November night, the food was perhaps a touch more consistent, and service was good. It was extremely friendly, although pacing was a little uneven (but not enough to be a problem). Since it’s busy, the menu hasn’t backpedalled — because people seem to be responding well. Sure it’s a little “white-a-fied”, but it’s it’s still great to have it here on the Westside.

And reassessing again July of 2016, the food has tightened up even further. The menu may have changed a dish or two, but it’s still aggressive (a good thing), but the execution has tuned up even further. These dishes were on fire, offering some really serious and interesting flavor that hits its own unique spot between traditional and California Vietnamese.

Returning in January 2020, the food continued to be excellent. My favorite dishes were still great. I’m reminded that Cassia is still quite spicy — which I like — but surprisingly so for a mainstream restaurant. Service itself was pretty good but their wine service is a little wonky, or at least my unusual perception of wine service. They seem to have the dreaded (and totally inane) “two bottle limit” now. Sucks. Stupid. Counterproductive to making money and good customer service. I’ve ranted about it many times before like here. And they didn’t want me to open the wines myself, saying their ABC license didn’t allow it. That’s a new one, and I’m pretty sure totally false. Even if vaguely true, probably has never been enforced. I’ve certainly opened 1000s of bottles in restaurants.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or compare to some Vietnamese Vietnamese (in Vietnam).

Some wines from the 1/28/20 dinner:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bryant Ng, Cassia, Dessert, Foodie Club, gruner, hedonists, Riesling, Sage Society, Vietnamese cuisine, Wine

More Meat – Chi Spacca

Jun30

Restaurant: Chi Spacca

Location: 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 297-1133

Date: June 01, 2015

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Rich but delicious, a carnivore’s paradise

The little Mozza empire on Melrose now includes the Pizzeria, the Osteria, Chi Spacca, and Mozza 2 go. They do a great job with all their restaurants (annoying corkage policy notwithstanding), and I’ve been itching to sink my canines into Chi Spacca for some time. When a plan earlier this year for the larger Foodie Club gang to go to Chi Spacca failed, we ended up at Spear instead, and despite that being a great meal I still wanted to get here. But because of the annoying corkage policy (a complaint I will continue to reiterate from my soap box), we had to wait until a small dinner (3 of us), this time nominally for my birthday.

Chop chop.

The menu.

The small room.

The smoky in the room grill.

From my cellar: 1989 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc. VM 95. The 1989 Barolo Bric del Fiasc (3-liter) is still striking for its freshness. Some of that is a factor of the large format, but standard bottles have also develop very positively. Here we find a classic flavor profile of tobacco, herbs, spices, plums and licorice with the depth, muscle and concentration of the modern school. The 1989 is a touch more layered and aromatically intesne than the 1990, with a little more length and overall complexity. Tar, smoke and licorice linger on an eternal finish.

Pickles. spring onions, carrots, fennel. Nice crunchy pickled vegetables. The acidity is a nice contrast to all the fat to come.

Affettati Misti-Daily Selection of Cured Meats. Calabrese salame, oregano salame. pork butter. That white stuff that looks like butter, pure lard (smoked and aged).

Pate & Terrine. butcher’s pate, trotter fritti. The fried things are stuffed with pig feet meat. Now, I’m not normally a fan of pig’s feet at all, but these were delicious (maybe because you can’t SEE the trotter). The terrine was also very good, classic country pate.

Bread for the meats.

Erick brought: 1979 Chateau Margaux. Parker 93. This wine is just now reaching full maturity, much later than I initially expected. It is a classy, elegant example of Margauxpossessing a dark ruby/purple color, and a moderately intense nose of sweet black currant fruit intermixed with minerals, vanillin, and floral scents. The wine is medium-bodied, with beautifully sweet fruit. This linear, more compressed style of Margaux possesses a good inner-core of sweet fruit, and a charming, harmonious personality. Although not a blockbuster, it is aging effortlessly, and appears to take on more character with each passing year. Anticipated maturity: Now-2010.

Burrata Primavera. Snap peas, carrots, mint. Very nice salad with good contrast of sweet and acidic.

Pane bianco. Fett’unta. Super light, crispy cheese “pizza.”

Whole Branzino. herb salad, olive oil. Extremely herby and fabulous, with an almost Thai like lemongrass flavor.

Grilled Octopus. pureed & fried ceci, parsley leaf. Very soft tender octopus.

2003 Di Prisco Taurasi.

Braised Lamb Ribs. Castelvetrano olive, preserved lemon. Nice rich lamb meat.

Grilled Lamb Sausage. Calabrian peppers, roasted onion. Basically Merguez with a bit of heat. The herby salad is a nice counterpart.

2005 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. JG 94+. Beautiful dark rose color. Really unusual nose with an off note I can only describe as like something you might smell in a petroleum refinery or maybe cordite. Mild notes of Indian spices and perhaps a bit of prune. This wine is very hard for me to describe. It is spicy with deep red fruits.

Tomahawk Pork Chop. fennel pollen. The top (far) part is the pork chop itself, wonderfully tender and with a lovely flavor. The bottom long parts are the pork belly, similar flavor but WAY richer.

Dessert menu.

Cocoa Nib Caramel Tart. whipped creme fraiche. Rich.

Butterscotch Budino. sea salt & rosemary pine nut cookies. OMG, I love these creamy puddings.

Seasonal Gelati & Sorbetti. Mint, coconut Stracciatella, and a berry flavor. Nice complex Italian flavors.

Overall, I thought the food at Chi Spacca was quite awesome, if not exactly authentically Italian. Certainly more to my taste than any normal steakhouse. They should import some pastas over from Mozza though :-). From the menu I thought prices looked crazy, but the total turned out to be reasonable ($130 a person before tip) even though we went to town. Really to town as the above was for 3 people!

Service was great too, and the atmosphere fun. My only complaint is with the bottle limit. The $30 corkage is fine, and you can even wave the corkage ordering off the list — again great. But the 2 bottle hard limit, apparently very strictly enforced (we brought the Barolo and the Margaux), is quiet annoying. It barely worked for 3 people and totally breaks down for wine dinners. Their list has interesting Italians, but the wines are two young. Plus I just resent having to buy off wine lists altogether (beyond the occasional white or rose). If they priced a fixed $30-50 markup, and had my kind of wines, it would be fine, but they always use a multiplicative markup. I’m not paying $400-600 for a $200 bottle!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

More Foodie Club craziness.

A post dinner yummy cucumber gin drink

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burrata, Chi Spacca, Dessert, Foodie Club, Meat, Mozza, pork chop, Steak, Wine

Saint Martha Modern

Jun07

Restaurant: Saint Martha

Location: 740 Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90005. (213) 387-2300

Date: May 29, 2015

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Really savory

I’ve been wanting to try Saint Martha since it opened, having heard really good things about it.

The tiny frontage in a random Koreatown minimall.

There is a little chef’s counter and behind the camera the small table space.

The menu.

2002 Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Cuvée Palmes d’Or. VM 92. Vivid yellow-gold. Ripe orchard and pit fruits complicated by flowers, smoke and spices on the nose and palate. Broad and fleshy but lively as well, with gentle acidity adding back-end lift and cut. Spreads out very nicely on the leesy finish, which hangs on with strong toasty persistence. This hefty Champagne could handle the richest foods.

Fried mussel with saffron. A deconstructed fried moulles.

Hamachi nuoc cham, tiny green things and crispy rice cracker. Small but delicious with bright flavors.

Juniper cured salmon with smoked goat cheese, pickle and everything bagel churro. Really yummy take on salmon.

Uni “tataki” with avocado mousse, serrano, hearts of palm and seaweed doritos. Delicious briny bite.

From my cellar: 2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. VM 90. Complex, precise aromas of apricot, mirabelle , honey and smoke. Silky, fat and full if quite dry; considerably richer than the young 2003, with sound framing acidity. Finishes very long, with a subtle whiplash of flavor. This has filled in quite nicely since I tasted it from barrel last spring.

agavin: needed a little time to open, and a touch of reductive funk. Delicious, but not as good as the previous bottle I opened.

Chicken liver mousse with mushroom, hazelnut praline, pickled blueberries and toast. Tasted like holiday dinner chicken liver mixed with Nutella! Rich and delicious.

The toast for the liver.

Octopus with koshihikari rice, sauce nero, lardo and espelette. Really nice light octopus bite.

Crab and sake cream “okonomiyaki”. I used to get these all the time in Japan. This was definitely taken up a notch.

2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots. Burghound 92. There is a hint of exotic fruit to the expressive nose of dried apricot, white peach and pineapple hints. There is outstanding size, weight and muscle to the overtly powerful middle weight plus flavors that possess a lemon character on the lightly mineral-infused finish that delivers terrific complexity. As is typical for this wine, it’s no model of finesse but it certainly delivers excellent depth and plenty of development potential.

agavin: Fresh and highly reductive, this was drinking great. It might close down soon, but was certainly highly enjoyable young great white Burg.

Beets with avocado, curry-almond streusel and coriander. Sweet, almost like a beet dessert. Really good though with a great interplay of textures. The beet was sorbet like constancy and texture.

Mixed baby carrots with coconut, tamarind sriracha and puffed amaranth. A bit of a kick. Delicious combo and cold smoothness of the coconut (ice cream?).

From my cellar: 2005 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. Burghound 91. A discreet touch of pain grillé and reduction frames fresh and exotic aromas of peach, melon and mango that continue onto the round, rich and concentrated flavors that possess real texture due to the solid dry extract on the mouth coating and solidly long finish. This is notably better than it usually is.

agavin: A little advanced, as there were oxidative notes, but drinking great right now.

Chicken skin granola with spiced date jam, sunchoke, parsnip milk and frozen foie gras.

He adds the parsnip milk.

Then shaves foie on! The whole thing tasted like granola cereal. It was weird how much it did.

Japanese sweet potato tempura with lime cream, chili and crushed peanuts. Great little bit of sweet fry.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 92. Earthy, deep and wonderfully fresh fruit leads to dense, solidly tannnic, beautifully delineated and focused, rich flavors of exceptional purity and length. While the finish is firm, it is by no means hard and there is excellent buffering sève all underpinned by vibrant acidity. There is plenty of wine here but this is a wine for the patient and it should live for years to come.

agavin: like delicious cherry soda.

Yellowtail collar. Super super and flavorful.

Brassicas with brewer’s yeast broth, mushroom and egg.

Bread to dip in it. This wasn’t the easiest dish to split!

Scallop steamed in smoked kombu with braised kohlrabi, enoki and brown butter dashi. Yum!

Whole Thai snapper that was cooked with all these aromatic leaves.

The chef brought of the fish to show us.

Thai snapper with black puddling broth. This was a delicious fish. Smoky and full of flavor and the broth was amazing. I even loved the blood sausage.

1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. agavin 91. A little leaner than the 93 above, but still lots of bright cherry action going on.

Pecan wood smoked brisket with lettuce, carrot, daikon and chili-hoisin. Soft, fatty and A LOT of flavor.

Fried chicken thigh with snails, acorn spaetzle and parsley garlic sauce. Super tender chicken.

Braised pork belly with eggplant parmesan, grits, rapini and manchamantel. Decadent!

From my cellar: 1990 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos Betsek. 93 points. Like mostly sweet raison juice. A very enjoyable oxidative quality too, like a sweeter mid sweet sherry.

Passion fruit. This was an amazing dessert. Interesting texture and temperature plays too.

Strawberry. More great texture plays. This tasted great too, like some soft strawberry cobbler.

PB&J. A sort of take on the classic with peanut butter and strawberry inc cream, brioche, and chocolate crackles.

Shortbread cookies. Really nice ones out of some odd grain.

Overall I was super impressed with Saint Martha. This is some really inventive cooking. Every dish worked to some degree and 80% of them were fabulous. Great textural playfulness, and bright bright flavors with a good amount of subtle Vietnamese influence too. But very modern American. Nick Erven is an extremely talented chef. Service was first rate too and it had a fun and lively vibe.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Foodie Club, Nick Erven, Saint Martha, Wine

Yamakase Return

May22

Restaurant: Yamakase [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: You wish you knew!

Date: May 15, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Even better than last time!

I’ve been meaning to get back to Yamakase for forever (2 years) and finally got around to booking the whole place again (which is really the only way to go!). The Foodie Club easily jammed in here. Not that 11 seats are that much to fill for such a great place.

This is the kitchen. Well it’s also half the room.

Yamakase is the brainchild of chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto and video game executive Stan Liu. Here Yama-san scoops out some Japanese Uni. The restaurant is Omakase only, serving up a single seating of epic creative Japanese Kaiseki/sushi.

Those little white squiggles are some kind of seasonal baby fish. Accompanied by Hokkaido uni, some kind of homemade tofu, green onions, and I don’t know what else. This is typical of the Yama style, a mixture of richness and various sea-born textures. Very very umami.

This is the pescatarian (no shell fish version) with a special kelp.

Baby eels. Seasonal baby eels with caviar and a kind of slightly spicy mayo sauce. One baby sea creature not being enough, we have the eels, which are almost like mung bean noodles in consistency. This was bowl licking good.

Sea bass. Instead of the eels.

Uni and baby fish. The fish are wrapped in shiso and drizzled with a puree of avocado or asparagus or something like that. Delicious.

Abalone. The softest abalone I think I’ve ever had.

Perhaps Amberjack. Another replacement for the abalone.

Sashimi. This delicate fish was with a slightly tangy sauce. Amazing again.

Japanese scallop. With a light lemony sauce. Absolutely amazing.

A whitefish with a similar sauce.

Bluefin tuna, caviar, pine nuts. Some of the best chunks of tuna I’ve had.

Bonito. Again in a lovely vinegar based sauce. The fish was melt in your mouth.

Various marinated seafood. Scallop, two kinds of shrimp, and a pickled baby peach.

A version with no shellfish.

Oyster spoon. Kushi Oyster, quail egg, uni, caviar. This single taste shot is an amazing combination of umami flavors.

The chef chunks up some foie gras.

Eggplant and Foie. Foie gras, caviar, Japanese eggplant.

Toro rules. Chopped toro on eggplant.

Floored. Chopped toro, crab guts and meat, quail egg, and truffle cheese. Yeah, truffle cheese. This dish was absolutely out of this world. Just crazy rich and delicious.

Various spoons of toro, cheese, and quail egg.

This hairy crab from Hokkaido was still alive when we arrived.

Yama sets to work on them after steaming.

Served up steamed, simple, but delicious.

Red mullet or snapper cooked up in foil with mushrooms. The fungus turned into a lovely broth.

Ultimate bowl. This foie gras based seafood broth was topped with truffles and filled with yummy seafood bits. Absolutely stunning. So rich. So good.

A more classic fish-based dashi soup.

Toro “Sandwich”. A slab of frozen toro on top of uni on top of some toast. Wow.

Yama flames up some beef.

Yama slices the beef. True Kobe wagyu.

Wagyu with truffles. Simply cooked, with a bit of a soy based sauce. Wow.

Toro with truffles and sea salt. Wow. This was just amazing. Very salty though.

Blue fin tuna sushi. Mouth watering.

Amberjack. Amazing.

Sea bass. To die for.

Chu toro. Lethal.

O toro. Even better.

O toro with salt. Wow, wow wow. These might have been rich, but they were some of the best nigiri I’ve had in a long long time. Chef Yama spent a lot of time cutting and probably threw away 2/3 of the fish.

A dessert sorbet. Baby Japanese peach (in season) with yuzu and mint. Very light and refreshing.

This was one of my best meals in a long time — really quite excellent — and regular readers know I have more than my share of great meals. A really great format. The restaurant is only 11 seats. This made for a really fun time. We were there from 7 to midnight too. A total blow out.

Oh, and that toro cheese dish and foie gras “stew” were some of the best dishes I’ve had in forever.

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Or for Foodie Club extravaganzas.

The one and only (and very attentive) server

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beef, Foie gras, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, Sushi, toro, Truffle, Yamakase

CR8 – Liquid Forms

Mar02

Restaurant: CR8 by Roberto Cortez [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: Seattle

Date: February 25, 2015

Cuisine: Modern Art

Rating: Absolutely Amazing

Roberto Cortez’s CR8 is one of the most stunning dining experiences I’ve been too, and so when he invited me to a new one this year some friends and I flew up to Seattle just for this dinner!

“When it comes to taste, liquid acts differently on the palate than solid food. Chewing food becomes a process by which flavors are expelled and discovered in stages as they ar2e released by the teeth. Liquids immediately cover the entire tongue, which in turn activates all taste buds and it’s crevices giving instantaneous flavor delivery. This seems to be a more powerful way to taste as it requires less use of facial muscles, And with this, additional brain activity which stays in a state of “waiting” to see what the food tastes like. This also brings in a subconscious element of expectation and wonder, which deters from the purity of taste and experiencing flavor”.

Roberto Cortez

Roberto is certainly the most creative and artistic chef I’ve ever had cook for me, which alone would be stunning, but after attending four of his events his food continues to be stunning. Dishes impress for both artistry, complexity, and flavor.

For his latest CR8, Roberto Cortez (left) has teamed up with Matthew Biancaniello (right), a master mixologist, to add a set of elaborate cocktail pairings to Roberto’s stunning cooking.

Opening cocktail. Stinging nettle and Cuban oregano infused gin with satsuma and dill.

agavin: this starter had 2 ounces of gin, but you couldn’t taste it at all! The dominant flavor was satsuma (a form of citrus).

For his events, Roberto always creates a unique dining space. This one was located in a 100+ year old Seattle warehouse.

The table itself was “dangerously” elevated. It was on a platform!

And there was even this cool homemade cloud created by artist Yuri Kinoshita. You can see some of her other woven works of luminosity on her website.

At Roberto’s previous dinners I always brought the wine and that was more or less the only drinks, so I didn’t fully understand in advance that Matthew Biancaniello was going to be creating this incredible cocktail pairing. So I brought the wine anyway. Therefore, we only went through three bottles at the table. The wines paired well with the food, but the incredible herbal complexities of the cocktails knocked out the fruit part of my palette, rendering them more acidic.

From my cellar: 2000 Prager Riesling Smaragd Dürnsteiner Hollerin. 91 points. Massive reductive funk on first opening. Blew off in a matter of a few minutes. Mature riesling nose of apricot, salt, slight petrol. Rich, heavy mid palate. Loads of heavy extract on the finish.

Roberto has thematic ideas for each dish which flow from the liquid forms concept, so I’m going to include them here to introduce the dish, then follow with my comments.

Mellifluous. Having a smooth rich flow, filled with something that sweetens This word is incredible because it particularly describes the viscosity of a liquid that has been thickened with a sweeteners. I want to pay homage to the Tree and its natural sweeteners from sap and rare honey.

Sapling. Steelhead Caviar, PX sherry hen egg sabayon, black oak maple, pecan oil, tangerine lace crumbled hen yolk.

agavin: This dish had a goopy texture interwoven with the popper-like caviar. The flavor was predominantly sweet with bursts of savory/salty. None of that explains how incredibly successful it was. Like most Roberto dishes it just really worked.

Gin, cucumber, beet and horseradish.

agavin: It was also noticeable how this “oddball” cocktail with its Passover horseradish vibe cut the sweetness of the dish and really took both to the next level. Incredibly refreshing.

Pellucid. Translucently Clear. Elaborating on and expressing the concept of Clear and Transparent in liquid form. I want to use the elements of the corn for this dish in unorthodox ways. I chewed on popcorn recently for a while and discovered the flavors of charcoal, truffle, and lavender. I want to stress the clarity and transparency of the definition.

Maize. Black truffle tamal, charcoal, Incan corn mole, canela Red strawberry popcorn Red amaranth.

agavin: At its core a fabulous tamale. The other elements didn’t compete at all with the warm comforting quality of the tamale itself.

Wild juniper infused Mezcal, Krogstad Aquavit, fresh kiwi and wild mustard flowers.

This was a virgin version whipped up specially.

Vaporious. A substance in the gaseous state as distinguished from the liquid or solid state.

Vaporious. Ember beets, wild juniper, foie gras, sunchoke cream, akamiso, blood orange, scallions, pomegranate, Micro chive.

agavin: I love a good foie “mouse” and that was taken up a notch by the beets and the like.

Bergamot and Yuzu infused tequila, guava infused tequila , bergamot juice and dehydrated bergamot peel with home made caramel on top.

agavin: the caramel coated bergamot slice on top was incredible! Also impressive was listening to Matt and how he started infusing all these things months ago just for this dinner.

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

Liquescent. Origins in 18th century Latin. Becoming liquid Monsoon. This dish is the ultimate expression of becoming liquid. I am starting to collect rain water in a special glass vessel so that the water never touches the ground. I will then filter it to become a pristine base of this dish. I was inspired by two things; the Monsoon’s of Asia to bring focus to the rain water and by one of my favorite artists, Shinichi Maruyama, a Liquid artist.

The broth was poured in.

Monsoon. Crab Tonkotsu (poured tableside). Poached crab roots, soft tofu, liquid nahm prik pao curry cucumber noodles hibiscus daikon, black sesame Hearts on Fire Radish flowers Cucumber flowers.

agavin: Hard to explain all the good stuff going on here. There was a bit of heat in the broth, slightly akin to one of those Thai coconut soups. But there was also this serious Tonkotsu pork broth vibe. Plus all the textures and the wonderfully soft crab. Even the smear of black sesame complimented fully.

This is the vegetarian version.

Sage and Surinam cherry infused gin, wild horehound infused maraschino liqueur, lemon and green chartreuse with dehydrated banana flowers on top.

Melting. To become liquefied by warmth or heat.

Terre Fondu. Yeast fermented rice Coffee pork jowl butter date consomee in poultry broth Kishibori shoyu, Nordi beer pickled shallot.

With this dish we got little pistol lighters and had the opportunity to melt the butter on that fig bit into the dish. Interactive cuisine! Essentially though this was like a risotto soup combo and was really quite spectacular and rich.

Gin, 25 year old balsamic, strawberries with a bergamot and Tahitian vanilla infused saint Germain foam.

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

Succulent. Full of juice, juicy, rich in desirable qualities. The word succulent is incredibly descriptive of what is to come.

Texas Brisket Float. Brisket syrup Smoked cream, chile salt preserved smoked tomato bbq vinegar caramelized brussel sprouts broth, grain mustard coriander seeds,dill seed oil arugula blossoms.

agavin: Brisket float? Who would have thought that would work. Well it does. The man that brought us soup masquerading as beer can also imbue a beverage with the qualities of a heavy BBQ dish. Yeah, it totally worked.

The vegetarian version. No brisket. Sorry.

Wild toyon berry infused Pisco, kaffir lime, egg whites with rosemary flowers on top.

Brisket part deux:

Forest Brisket. Elderberry glazed brisket, parsnip, douglas fir, yogurt, pumpkin greens.

agavin: There was some real chew to the meat, and it was fabulous. As usual, all the elements totally sung together in harmony too.

The vegetarian version was a kind of BBQ parsnip!

Wild white fir infused tequila, pine sap infused saint Germain, cinnamon infused wild flower honey, fresh turmeric and persimmon juice.

agavin: This was consumed in one quick jolt.

Crystalline. Having the structure and form of a crystal. I was inspired by two things for this concept. I recently cut some limes and smelled so many layers of other scents that I want to express it. Using kaffir is an amazing extension of that.

Frost Bite. Brazil nut panna cotta disk coconut mousse kaffir leaves frozen sour apple frozen cinnamon toast crepe frozen.

agavin: hard to describe how good this dessert was. I love coconut. And I love coconut and citrus even more. But the creamy panna cotta was totally to die for.

Benedictine, roasted almond oil, lemon and cacao nibs.

agavin: the pairing was amazing

Imbue. To saturate or impregnate with moisture, color, feelings, etc. To permeate, infuse, or soak.

Cacao Imbue. Amedei Blanco de Criollo 70% Chocolate, red plums & beets licorice and dandelion root, wild cherry bark Duchilly hazelnut oil raspberry powder, micro mint licorice.

agavin: One of the world’s most exclusive chocolates blended together with hazelnut and other goodness? What’s not to love? This was incredibly creamy.

Cynar, cassis, espresso with a blood orange air.

agavin: This cocktail rolled up together a complement, a third dessert, and the post dinner expresso. It really worked.

Again Roberto shows off his unique mastery of the culinary arts. His number one strength (and he has many) is his uncanny sense of food harmony. This isn’t laser focused ingredient expression style food like Saison, it’s symphony of flavors. I’d liken it to Mozart too, as it has that rococo lightness, where the complex elements blend together into a lovely whole. This is not easy. Other hyper-intellectual chefs often have discordant notes, like at Maude or Twist. Nothing stands out of place with Roberto’s cooking. The flavors and textures blend seamlessly.

Matthew Biancaniello’s beverage pairings really notched it up too. The man is like Roberto’s liquid twin stylistically. As my wife put it, “I never imagined drinks could be so creative.” They also showed uncanny synergy with the food, particularly impressive for having mostly been worked out over the phone and email! (Matt lives in LA, and Roberto is currently in Seattle).

Plus, for a four person event (Roberto, Matt, and two servers) they really manage to put on a great show with ambiance, music, food, drink, etc.

I should also note that because of the cocktails my wine pairing efforts were less successful than at Roberto’s previous meals (Dark Illuminated Forest, Purotekuta, and Savage Romanticism). The strong herbal, alcoholic, and citrus notes in Matt’s drinks, while lovely and evocative themselves, knocked out the fruit sensitivity on my palette. This had the effect of suppressing the sweetness or fruit from the wines and rendering them overly acidic. I don’t think you can easily mix these two beverage profiles at the same time.

Overall, I really adore this sophisticated cooking as its a synergy of the creative, intellectual, and hedonistic!

Check out more of my grand Foodie Club meals.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cocktails, CR8, Foodie Club, Matthew Biancaniello, Molecular Gastronomy, Roberto Cortez, Wine

Shunji Super Omakase

Feb25

Restaurant: Shunji [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 12244 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (310) 826-4737

Date: February 20, 2015

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: First rate traditional sushi

I’ve been meaning for some time to come back to Shunji for a mega dinner omakase and tonight finally provided the excuse. My wine friend Sam was in town with his friend Matt and so Erick and I dragged set up some serious Shunji.

Shunji, which took over for the “Mr. Cecil’s BBQ” in this oddball looking building on Pico has developed quite a reputation.

At night, Shunji offers an amazing and advanced mix of traditional and modern raw and cooked dishes.

Chef Shunji Nakao was an opening chef at Matsuhisa in the day, then opened Asanebo, then The Hump (one of my old favorites). It has quickly risen to the top of the LA Japanese scene.

From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. agavin 90. The wine started out old and oxidized, with a very sherry-like nose. But slowly over the next 4-5 hours it developed into this intriguing nutty ultra smooth beast that was really quite lovely. Given that this is a 30 year-old premier cru Chardonnay, pretty impressive.

Vegetable porridge. A mysterious vegetarian mix. There are clearly mushrooms here. It was mild and very Japanese.

Appetizer plate. A spread of various intriguing elements.

Colbrabi and pine-nuts.

Conch.

Fish jelly and stuffed shrimp. The jelly was really good. On the right, the purple ball was some kind of Japanese yam.

Seasonal baby squid with miso sauce and monkfish liver truffle with caviar. The truffle was amazing.

Erick brought: 1997 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. IWC 93. Green-tinged pale color. Classy aromas of tangy grapefruit, pear eau de vie and minerals. Dense, pure, ripe and delineated; vibrant, pristine citrus, spice and stony flavors. Firm and brisk but creamy at the core, in the style of the vintage. Palate-staining finish features almost painful grip.

agavin: mature and drinking great.

Baby sea eels with a sesame paste. Amazing flavor and texture.

Notice the eyeballs at the bottom of the eels! But they seem like pasta.

Cod sperm. Yep, the white part was a kind of mousse made from cod sperm. It was pretty amazing and creamy too. This led to an entire evening of immature jokes.

Sashimi plate.

Sea Robin (houbou). A rarity and in season. I’m not sure I’ve ever had it and so fresh he was still wiggling. The meat was firm and tasty.

Big eye tuna to the right.

Then wild yellowtail and to the far right, needlefish and fried needle fish spine.

Perfect o-toro.

Here is the needlefish head and spine again.

Sam brought: 2007 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Montrachet Le Montrachet. agavin 95. Like a coiled cobra. Reduction on the nose at first, then various elements of ripe fruit. Melon. Maybe even durian or jack fruit. Uncoiled slowly through the evening, but always maintained this tropical power.

Hairy crab from Hokkaido. Served with both crab guts and a sweet vinegar sauce. Yum! Oh, and the little momotaro tomato.

Two kinds of baby eel.

Baby eel tempura with shiso!

And baby eel sashimi with a bit of ginger and cucumber. Eyeballs!

A trio of salads.

Arugula salad with a bit of citrus and gorgonzola.

Lobster salad with flowers and citrus. An incredible Montrachet pairing.

Ball of fried something. Mushroom?

Miso black cod with pickled ginger.

Fried oyster wrapped in prosciutto!

Truffle duck “risotto.” Some whole grain risotto with black truffles and fatty yummy bits of duck. This had an incredible umami “stink.”

Sam brought: 2009 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Sketch. Parker 96. 2009 Sketch, an Albarino sourced from a parcel harvested 1-2 weeks later than all the other vineyards. It was fermented and aged (without malolactic) in two 700-liter barrels for 12 months followed by 60 days of aging in the bottle at 30 meters under the sea. It offers up an enthralling bouquet of mineral, saline, floral, tropical, and marzipan elements. Intense, complex, impeccably balanced, and remarkably lengthy, this is as good as Albarino gets.

agavin 96: This wine was too sexy for me! 🙂 It had this incredible bouquet like a top flight dry Riesling filled with both mineral and citrus/tropical elements. And it just sang on the tongue. Really pretty crazy.

Red snapper (tai).

Goldeneye snapper.

Shima-aji.

Wild yellowtail. (Kanpachi).

Wild yellowtail. (Kanpachi).

Mysterious whitefish sushi of the yummy sort.

Japanese Baracuda. A bit of char flavor.

Another slightly charred fish, the exact name of which eludes me.

The poor prawns are about to be our dinner.

Sweet shrimp (Ama-ebi). This was the body of the above dancing prawns. Soft and sweet.

The heads return both fried.

And as miso soup.

Live octopus (taco). He squeezed it and it wiggled.

Santa Barbara Sea Urchin (uni).

Look at that toro!

Toro tartar, with a soft amazing flavor.

O-toro. Perfect!

Scottish salmon. A really rich and savory piece.

Beef sukiyaki. A bit of the classic. Lots of rich brothiness.

Soup. One of those delicate Japanese soups.

Foie gras with a nice sweet glaze. Nothing to complain about here. A very nice straight up prep of the fatty liver.

A dessert spread of pineapple sorbet, chocolate mousse, and mango ice cream.

This one is the same except on the right is lime ice cream. All three were superb.

Traditional tea.

All and all Shunji is rather fantastic, joining the large repertoire of top LA sushi restaurants. This was a really great take on sushi kaiseki style dishes, combining both innovations with a solid grounding in traditional Japanese flavors and seasonal ingredients. There was some really unusual stuff too (sperm!) and it all tasted fabulous. The nigiri was also top flight, with a lot of exotic fish and at the peak of freshness. Great great stuff. When you sit at the sushi bar like this talking to the chef, you always get the best stuff too — although the restaurant was mobbed and all the great plates making their way out into the room looked amazing.

Plus our dynamite lineup of whites didn’t hurt.

For more LA sushi reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Shunji, Sushi, Wine

Spear your Meat

Feb13

Restaurant: Spear Steak & Seafood House

Location:800 W 6th St, Ste 100. Los Angeles, CA 90017. (213) 688-3000

Date: February 12, 2015

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Surprisingly good

After the success of last month’s “Foodie Club instigated by Will” dinner, we wanted to do another one in February. We even selected and booked Chi Spacca, the Mozza Italian steakhouse, but at the very last minute (hours before) we tripped up on their “no more than 1 bottle per 2 people” policy. So I’m going to “dis” them here because these policies are obnoxious. They can charge corkage if they like (absolutely no more than $50 a bottle and flat per bottle), but bottle limits are offensive. We open and serve own bottles plus order and tip big too.

So screw them, their loss.

So at the last minute we relocated to Speak Steak and Seafood House downtown. Will knows the owner and THEY welcomed us in, had no bottle limit, and didn’t even charge corkage!

This is one of those sleek modern semi-corporate restaurants.

The menu is large and modern which I was happy about. I’m not a steakhouse fan and really not a fan of old school steakhouse.

Or semiprivate room. We buttoned up the wall to cut down on the noise from the big room. The service was awesome. They weren’t really set up for our type of wine dinner but they really tried. They dug up 4-5 glasses each and dragged in a little wine table for us.

I went through the menu and ordered up a storm family style in 4-5 waves. We even ordered the main meats family style getting a variety (David handled that course). Walker and I (more Walker) divided the wines (we had at least 6-10 unopened ones too as backups/options) into loose flights too.

The staff did a great job bringing out the food in waves too.

Flight 1: Whites

From my cellar: 2007 Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore Pietramarina. IWC 90. Straw-gold. Spicy minerals and apricot on the nose, with herbal and almond nuances. Rich and ripe on entry, then fresher and lighter in the middle thanks to high but harmonious acids, with intense minty white fruit flavors. Finishes long, with a strong saline note and a fusel whiff.

Erick brought: 2007 Domaine Marc Morey & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts. 92 points. This lovely négoce wine from Marc Morey never fails. Very fine fruit with lime, peaces and a hand full of minerals.

Larry brought: 1999 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. AG 94. Raveneau’s 1999 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre is in a marvelous spot right now. Petrol, smoke, slate, apricot pit and wild flowers are some of the many notes that grace the palate in an utterly vivid, vibrant Chablis endowed with magnificent purity and pedigree. At fifteen years of age, the 1999 Montée de Tonnerre still has a lot to say. What a beautiful wine!

agavin: sadly our bottle was a bit premoxed.

From my cellar: 2000 Etienne Sauzet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 93. Intense honeysuckle, fresh sliced peach and pear notes with flavors that are not quite as robust and powerful as the Combettes yet finer and more complex. This delivers exciting intensity and a degree of persistence that borders on the astonishing. The Combettes is perhaps grander but this is finer – it’s simply a question of preference, not quality.

Kusshi and Kumamoto oysters.

Uni Toast. roasted seaweed, triple créme, truffle salt. This was pretty awesome with both the rich Santa Barbara uni flavor and a kind of creamy underpinning from the triple créme.

Hokkaido Scallops. yuzu pepper, smoked salt, ponzu sauce, olive oil. A nice bright dish that is cousin to the proper version that sushi chefs serve.

Yellowtail Ceviche. fresno chile, cucumber, coconut-lime sauce.

I’m not actually sure this was the above dish and not one of their other sashimi-style dishes. It was just okay, the weakest of the set.

Butter Lettuce Wedge. Creamy bleu, minced herbs, bacon brittle, tomato, pickled shallot. A pretty awesome wedge, mostly because of the great dressing.

Quinoa Kale Salad. red quinoa, grilled apricot, pistachio, aged goat cheese, honey-olive oil vinaigrette. Slightly sweet and mild.

Flight 2: Italian

Walker brought: 1944 Borgogne Barolo Reserva. 95 points. Amazing. 71 years old. Mussolini was still alive when this wine was made! We decanted for an hour. The nose was incredible, and it had a soft burgundian vibe with lots of fruit.

Emil/Will brought: 1978 Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva Il Poggio. 92 points. Powerful and old-fashioned, rustic and polished at once. Complex nose of ancient fruit, tar and leather; real weight on the palate, very long and resonant finish. The nose got better and better. Tons of fruit.

Roasted Bone Marrow. smoked salt, veal jus. Bone marrow isn’t my thing, but this was a good version.

Snow Crab Beignets. bacon powder, old bay remoulade. The description is accurate, like a crab donut, awesome.

BBQ Pork Belly & Shrimp. crispy prosciutto, white bean puree, cilantro. The shrimp were tasty but the pork belly was amazing. Really tender and flavorful, not too fatty.

Flight 3: Old Bordeaux

Erick brought: 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild. IWC 94. Bright red with an amber rim. Captivating nose of dark plum, blackcurrant, oak, coffee, cocoa and flowers. Juicy, sweet and suave on entry, then brightly focused in its red fruit and black flavors complicated by cedar and citrus. Finishes with flinty, saline nuances and very suave tannins. This outstanding wine is perfectly balanced and light on its feet, still very young and capable of a very long life. It might disappoint those looking for a blockbuster, but I love its overall sense of refinement. An essence of claret.

agavin: our bottle was fabulous

Walker brought: 1982 Château Gruaud Larose. IWC 96. Bright red with a pale rim. The still-closed nose reluctantly releases aromas of red cherry, sweet spices, aromatic herbs and coffee. Dense, rich and fleshy, with ripe red cherry, tobacco and forest floor flavors given shape by harmonious acidity and smooth tannins. The very long, slightly chewy finish shows a peppery chocolatey persistence. This is developing at a snail’s space and might last another three or four decades in a cold cellar, but while its tannic structure is noble and impressive, I’d probably want to check in on it again in five years’ time to see how the fruit is holding up.

agavin: our bottle of this was fabulous too. Mature, but has decades left in it.

Char Siu Barbecue Duck Flatbread. smoked mozzarella, passion fruit emulsion, scallion sesame. Fabulous pizza with a richness and a sweet and savory vibe.

Roasted Pork Banh Mi Flatbread. pickled vegetables, jalapeño.

Whole Broiled Prawns. lobster butter, garlic. Pretty good big shrimp.

Seafood pasta. Shrimp, mussels, manilla clams, diver scallops, uni cream sauce. This was a bit controversial. The noodles were actually a ramen egg noodle. They were made very soggy by the rich dish. That being said, it tasted great and the seafood was very fresh. It also was deathly bad with the red wine, but that’s uni. Overall we enjoyed it.

Flight 4: 2000 Bordeaux

David brought: 2000 Pavie. Parker 97-100. I tasted this wine twice during the 2000 horizontals, then I actually popped the cork and drank a half-bottle of it. This wine remains, for me, one of the compelling success stories for proprietor Gerard Perse. An extraordinary effort made from a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from the limestone soils that dominate this very distinctive terroir, the 2000 Pavie has moved out of the closed, dormant, broodingly backward stage into an adolescent period where one can see its extraordinary vibrancy, and great complexity as well as potential. It boasts an unctuous display of rich, cedar box-infused cassis fruit and liquid minerality. The tannins have sweetened, yet the wine has thirty years of longevity and potential evolution. A beautiful wine of great mass as well as elegance, it is good to see the extraordinary efforts that Gerard Perse and his team have made confirmed in this prodigious wine. A legend now … a legend for the future.

Will brought: 2000 La Mondotte. Parker 98+. In two tastings this garagiste wine performed as if it were one of the wines of the vintage. Proprietor Stefan von Neipperg continues to lavish abundant attention on La Mondotte (as he does with all his estates), and the 2000 (80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc) boasts an inky/blue/purple color in addition to gorgeous aromas of graphite, caramel, toast, blackberries, and creme de cassis. A floral component also emerges as the wine sits in the glass. Extremely dense, full-bodied, and built for another twenty years of cellaring, I thought it would be close to full maturity, but it appears to need another 4-5 years of bottle age. It should age effortlessly for 2-3 decades.

Tomahawk Pork Chop 22oz. double cut, vietnamese bbq. Really nice pork chop.

Short Rib Osso Bucco. 72 hour, roasted garlic potatoes, horseradish gremolata. Great rich meat.

Colorado Lamb Shank. 48 hour, chermoulah, heirloom carrots. A fabulous bit of lamb.

Black Garlic Spare Ribs. tobacco onions, vinegar slaw. My favorite, it was very nicely spiced and I don’t like plain meat.

Tomahawk Rib Chop. prime, dry aged 30 days. 42 ounces.

For me this is just steak, others loved it.

Flight 5: Sledgehammers

Emil brought: 2008 Oasi Degli Angeli Kurni. Parker 85. The 2008 Marche Rosso Kurni is quite unusual in this vintage. The wine comes across as rather compact in its fruit, which accentuates the sweetness of the fruit and the French oak. In a blind tasting the 2008 could easily be mistaken for a sweet red dessert wine. Let’s hope 2008 turns out be an anomaly for one of the Marche’s most famous reds.

Pork Belly Farro.

Uni Risotto. A little mild, but with so many other flavors and dishes it was under heavy competition.

Duck Confit Mac & Cheese. Nice, but could have been even cheesier!

Double Cooked Fries. Good fries and I liked the green chimichuri like sauce.

Grilled Broccolini.

Herb Roasted Cauliflower.

David brought: 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter. Parker 98+. The 2010 Syrah Five Shooter is straight up gorgeous. A massive wine that somehow holds everything together, it offers a wild array of cassis, blackberry, white chocolate, underbrush and pepper that flows to a full-bodied, layered Syrah that has masses of fine tannin and enough substance to evolve for decades. A blend of 85% Syrah, 5% Grenache, 3% Petite Sirah, 5% Roussanne and 2% Viognier that was fermented with 20% whole cluster and aged 22 months in 59% new French oak, it opens up beautifully in the glass and should be decanted if drinking anytime soon.

Key lime pie. Great key lime pie.

Chocolate hazelnut mouse. Rich and tasty.

Bread pudding. Our least favorite. Nothing wrong with it, but we were very full.

Above is the damage. Seven guys too, and think about the amount of food we had — particularly given we had two of many of the dishes! Spear was incredibly reasonable too. This feast came out to only $110 a person after tax and before tip! The service was awesome too. They weren’t really trained for our kind of dinner, but they really tried and handled it with great attitude and aplomb.

Food was surprisingly excellent. Only a couple of dishes weren’t great, like the fish sashimi. I loved the breath and variety of the menu. Execution was first rate. Personally I like this place way better than almost all of the steakhouses I’ve been too because it isn’t all about just a slab of beef on your plate.

Company and wines were fabulous, this is turning into a really first rate dinner series.

For more big Foodie Club dinners, click here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Corkage, Dessert, Foodie Club, Meat, Steak, Steak House, steakhouse, Will C, Wine

Food as Art – Saison

Jan26

Restaurant: Saison

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

Date: January 17, 2015

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Awesome!

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

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

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

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

A cocktail.

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

Champagne, courtesy of Max.

Tea. Infusion of some herbs from our garden.

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

All wines from my cellar:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A vegetarian version, radishes, butter from our cows.

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

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

Avocado on sour bread.

Salad. This was a bunch of greens.

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

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

Beer to go with the foie.

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

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

Duck and cheese stuffed cabbage.

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

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

Greens. Whatever.

Poultry broth. Quite nice.

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

agavin: our bottle was elegant and amazing.

Beignets.

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

Ice cream…

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

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

A final surprise.

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

The damage.

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

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

The open kitchen is where the magic happens.

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

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

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

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

For more San Fran dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, Joshua Skenes, Saison, San Francisco

Food as Art – Atelier Crenn

Jan21

Restaurant: Atelier Crenn

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

Date: January 15, 2015

Cuisine: Modernist

Rating: Awesome presentation and quite tasty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is then decorated with nitro beet.

Which smokes!

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

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

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

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

Very soft and delicious.

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

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

With the broth. Interesting and good.

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

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

Here with the caviar added.

And buckwheat cracker and smoked creme fraiche.

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

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

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

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

Salad. Not sure what in.

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

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

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

It was served in a fossil-like shell.

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

Different focus.

Macarons and chocolates.

Crispy wafers.

And cocoa wafers.

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

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

For more San Francisco dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Atelier Crenn, Foodie Club, modern, Wine

Pistola with a Bang

Jan19

Restaurant: Pistola [1, 2]

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

Date: January 14, 2015

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Tasty good

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

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

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

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

agavin: doing great for 22+ year old chardonnay

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

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

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

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

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

Insalata Mista.

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

Crab Crocchetti. Dungeness Crab Cake, scallion pesto.

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

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

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

1990 Burguet Gilles Gevrey-Chambertin.

agavin: great for old village wine.

Squid Ink Agnolotti. Awesome stuff with a nice sweetness.

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

Mixed up it’s great stuff.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dry-aged Delmonico steak.

Herb butter.

Rib-eye.

Colorado lamb chops.

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

Crispy Tuscan Fries. Not sure what is Tuscan here.

Funghi Misti.

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

Creamy Polenta. Mild.

Various ice creams.

And sorbets.

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

Cannoli. My fave.

Tortino (aka Chocolate cake).

The chef brought us out something he was working on.

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

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

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

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

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Champagne, Chardonnay, Foodie Club, Pinot noir, Pistola, Steak, Will C, Wine

The Power of Providence

Dec23

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2]

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

Date: December 15, 2014

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Awesome food

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

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

And tonight’s menu.

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

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

Sphereified Greyhound. Like a greyhound popper.

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

Razor clam. With a bunch of sauces and bits.

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

Beef cigars. Basically super yummy beef taquitos.

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

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

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

Fancy Normandy butter and salt.

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

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

Sashimi. Calabrian chiles, lemon, mint.

Uni in yuzu. Caviar, soy milk.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

agavin: really really nice.

Monkfish. Matsutake.

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

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

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

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

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

Cheese cart!

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

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

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

Hachiya persimmon. Whiskey, mint, cocoa.

Pear. Sunchoke cake, manjari. Really autumnal.

Petite fours. The usual, but all very lovely.

And a bag of slightly spicy chocolates to go.

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

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

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

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Foodie Club dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Dessert, Foodie Club, Providence, Wine

Truffles at Saam – I am

Nov24

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 465 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310.246.5555

Date: November 20, 2014

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Truffley goodness

I’m a bit of a Jose Andres groupie as not only have I been three times to Saam, at least 10 to The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE), but also to brunch at Trés, and even to é by José Andrés (twice) and Jaleo in Vegas and several places in Washington D.C.

For those who don’t know, José Andrés is perhaps America’s leading practitioner of my favorite culinary style: Spanish Molecular Gastronomy. This school of cooking, a radical interpretation of the preparation of food, was begun at El Bulli outside of Barcellona. Andrés cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Andrés’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and its own restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar.

I’ve eaten molecular a number of times in Spain, for example at Calima and La Terraza. The Bazaar and Saam brought molecular style to LA.

Saam is the “secret” prix fixe only room within the Bazaar, open Thurs-Sat.

For years I’ve wanted to catch the limited run truffle dinner, and I finally got a chance.

Always a little theatrical, the menu comes in it’s own special envelope.

Voila, a little minimalist, which is going to make writing up the dishes a challenge!

Our table of four had its own pair of white truffles for shaving!

Burg fiends that Erick and I are, we brought out a pair of oldies. First, celebrating its 50th birthday:

1964 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. Burghound 92. A very fresh and bright nose of spice, earth and an interesting herbal component leads to round, full and intense flavors that still possess a touch of classic Clos de Vougeot austerity on the long finish. This is an excellent wine that still displays a youthful dimension. While there is no reason to hold this further, it can be held without concern.

agavin: plenty of fruit still. Meadows was right about the herbal component. Almost musty. Certainly not corked, but a forest floor kind of thing. A very pretty wine.

Coco Loco. This signature “cocktail” is coconut cream, truffles, and rum and vodka. Definitely dessert like and pretty much like coconut gelato. Quite yummy, although don’t try to mix with red wine.

Truffle butter.

And truffle cone. You smear some butter in the cone and enjoy.

In case you got butter on your fingers there are these lavender scented wipes.

Truffle Tree. Actually a bread stick with truffle and some kind of flavored paste? Delicious.

Gougere. Puff pastries filled with liquid cheese (yum!) and topped with truffle.

Nasturtium Canape. A flower stuffed with something.

Corte Parmesan. Crisps with soft parmesan and apricot jelly or something.

Nori. Truffle blobs on crispy nori.

Rosemary springs, which feature in the next dish.

Young Potatoes. You skewer a potato with the rosemary and eat. They are covered with butter cream and you guessed it… truffles.

Light and shadow. Truffle razorback clams on the right with truffle air on the left.

Vegetarian version in mushrooms.

Hokkaido. An interesting savory of Hokkaido uni, caviar, dashi jelly and the like. Very briny and delicious.

With truffles of course.

And the no uni version.

Porcini Carpaccio. Hazelnuts and other good bits and a vinegary sauce.

Truffled up.

5 Star Breakfast. One of my favorite dishes. The egg was runny but had been sphereized. There were mushrooms and some kind of cheesy cream.

1966 Maison Roche de Bellene Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Collection Bellenum. 92 points. Young looking colour. Slightly green nose. Darker, supple fruit profile. Something oddly young and refreshing about it! Seems like it’s had a lot of plastic surgery!

Cavatelli. Funny chocolate pasta with iberico ham broth, some actual ham, and some creamy stuff, and truffles. Yummy and very firm.

Look who showed up, Jose Andres!

Non alcoholic Passionfruit martini.

Black Bass. Freeze dried squid ink.

Chuleton. Special Spanish T-bone steak with jus, truffles, little sphereized gnocchi and the like.

A vegetarian risotto.

Fideos. Cheese, cheese cotton candy, and truffle nitro frozen “noodles”!

Florentine. Praline, pistachio, and some kind of sorbet.

Blonde on Blonde. Various butterscotchy stuff. Quite yummy.

Chestnut Honey Truffle. Haha. Get it?

Exotic Caramel of passion fruit. Peanut Macaron. Bergamot & Domori.

A little chocolate bar as a “parting gift.”

Overall, Saam serves up a tremendous meal, full of creative whimsy, and even if the individual dishes are sometimes a bit “fluffly” it really works. There was a nice solid truffle factor to all the dishes, but it wasn’t quite as overwhelming as at my monster Bistro LQ truffle experience.

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, José Andrés, Saam, The Bazaar, Truffle, White Truffles

Shunji Sushi – Nonstop Nigiri

Sep08

Restaurant: Shunji [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 12244 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (310) 826-4737

Date: September 4, 2014

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: First rate traditional sushi

Somehow, straight nigiri sushi is mostly a lunch thing for me. And oh do I love it, perhaps no other savory food offers such a consistent yummy bite factor.

Shunji, which took over for the “Mr. Cecil’s BBQ” in this oddball looking building on Pico has developed quite a reputation. Chef Shunji Nakao was an opening chef at Matsuhisa in the day, then opened Asanebo, then The Hump (one of my old favorites). It has quickly risen to the top of the LA Japanese scene.

At night, Shunji offers an amazing and advanced mix of traditional and modern raw and cooked dishes, but at lunch it’s straight sushi.

It might be noon, but great food enjoys some great wine.

1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 93. A truly wonderful nose of simply knockout complexity features notes of yeast and baked bread along with now fully mature aromas of a variety of floral notes and spice hints that gives way to mineral-suffused round intense and detailed medium full flavors that also offer outstanding depth on the sappy and mouth coating finish. This is drinking perfectly now. A beautiful effort of real style and grace.

Tai (red snapper) with salt.

Seabream. Note that like most recent great LA sushi places, Shunji sauces all the fish.

Shima-aji.

This chef cut for me many many times at Takao.

Here is Shunji himself.

Magaro (Big eye tuna).

Japanese Baracuda. Not my absolute favorite.

Belt fish.

Sea Trout. Sadly, I missed a couple before this. It’s hard at sushi places to remember to snap every fish.

Chu-toro (medium tuna belly).

O-toro (fatty tuna belly). This is actually super uber o-toro and was some of the best I’ve ever had.

Ikura (salmon roe). Nice and sweet.

Uni (sea urchin). Left is from Japan and right from Santa Barbara. The local one is sweeter and less briny.

Ama-ebi (sweet shrimp). It was alive about 15 seconds before we ate it. The head was still wiggling on the counter in front of the chef.

The heads come back as miso soup.

And fried.

Geoduck clam.

Himejako (giant clam).

Unagi (freshwater eel).

Hotategai (scallop from Japan).

Crab hand roll. This was good, but I probably prefer the kind that the Nozawa disciples make (like at Sasabune and the like).

Albacore hand roll. Nice.

Mixed berry sorbert. Lots of flavor.

Grapefruit sorbet. Intense bitter grapefruit flavor. Very refreshing.

Chocolate mousse. Very dark and strong.

Traditional tea.

All and all Shunji is rather fantastic, joining the large repertoire of top LA sushi restaurants. I really have to come back here at night and get a big mega omakase to sample his more “modern” fare. Not that I mind the nigiri, because as I said at the beginning, it really is a classic for a reason.

For more LA sushi reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: fish, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Nigiri, Shunji, Shunji Nakao, Sushi, Wine

Mosaic of Food – Byzantine Cuisine

Jul23

Once a year, the Getty Villa, Los Angeles’ leading (and only?) antiquities museum puts on an event celebrating historical food culture. For me, these are at a nexus of my interests, being (surprise!) such a foodie as well as a history buff.

This year’s event showcases the food of Byzantium. Sadly, most Americans are barley aware of this empire that (off and on) ruled half the western world for 1100 years, and is in itself the 3rd of 4 phases of the 2,500 year old Roman Empire (combining Republican, Roman Imperial, Byzantine, and Ottoman phases). But that’s history. What about the food?

Food scholar Andrew Dalby has a new book on the topic, Tastes of Byzantium, and before the meal he spoke for an hour on the topic. Essentially, Byzantine food is a mid point between the complex sweet / salty / herbed Roman cuisine and modern Greek and Turkish (i.e. Mediterranean) food. A few years ago I went to a similar event on Roman food too where he talked.

The dinner is located in the central courtyard of the lovely Getty Villa main building, a reconstruction based on the famous Villa di Papyri near Naples.

And the meal was accompanied by lovely Byzantine secular music, of which you can hear a sample.

The special menu.

This pomegranate juice was delicious. I had about 5 glasses (sugar rush!). I suspect, however, that the original historical variant was probably less sweet, or even if sweetened, wouldn’t have been with one of our modern easy dissolving versions (they probably used simple syrup). It might have been honey in the old days, which is very different.

Paropsides

Appetizers include figs, walnuts, and these incredibly delicious marinated green olives stuffed with honey, vinegar, and thyme.

Kalamata olives. Having just recently returned from Greece (and Kalamata), I can say that Kalamata olives are the best black olives I’ve ever had.

Multigrain bread with olive oil from Costa Navarino.

Grilled Eggplant with shaved bottarga and lemon vincotto. Coriander, parsley, oregano, and olive oil. The sweet, salty, herby notes here are distinctly Roman — but they are also representative of elements of both modern Greek food and of certain Italian dishes, particularly in rural areas.

Our wine selections are modern Greek. This white was typically quafiable and a good pairing.

Prodeipnio

Scallop and Caviar. Seafood foam of cream and egg whites, fish sauce, dill, fennel, minted pea puree, and crispy shallot.

This was a nice dish. Somehow it felt modern. I have to assume that even if the basic dish is ancient, the plating is highly modern. Individual plating entered Western Europe from Russia in the early 19th century, so I’m betting that Byzantine food was served (even at the Imperial level) from an elaborate central arrangement on the table. Still the tastes may be fairly authentic. Byzantine food apparently continued in the Greek and Roman tradition of liberal use of Garum, only loosing this important condiment with the Ottoman Conquest (1453). Garum is a salty/fishy sauce made from fermented fish innards that was used to add salt and umami to dishes for at least 2,000 years.

This Greek red reminded me of an Aglianico.

Deipnon

Cumin and Fennel rubbed lamb chop and loin. Oinogaros (fish sauce, dill, coriander, thyme, red wine, honey, costus). Garnished with pickled cabbage and leeks.

Pallekaria. Chickpeas, black-eyed beans, and fava beans with fresh parsley, dill, onion, and lemon.

This was a fabulous dish, and very interesting. The lamb was very tasty with a nice herby note (I have to assume they toned down the fish component of the Oinogaros for the modern palette). The salad was very unusual and lovely. It had a vinegary, herby quality and seemed to settle the stomach.

Epidorpio

Rice pudding with whipped cream and honey. Sugared almonds, cherries, and candied citron.

I don’t know how authentic this one was, but it was a fabulous rice pudding (of which I’m a fan). The nuts and candied fruit added both texture and sweetness, plus a sort of Sicilian vibe that was vaguely reminiscent of a good cannoli. This is probably not unrealistic as Sicilian cuisine is one of the more traditional Italian zones and had many of the same influences as medieval Greece (Greek, Roman, Crusader, Arab).

All in all, this was a very interesting evening. Not necessarily as hedonistic as many of my dinners, but both tasty and highly intellectually interesting. The authentic past is lost, an elusive reality that shimmers all about us, but remains only in glimpses. I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to bring even a part of it into blurry focus.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food, History

Tagged as: Byzantine Food, Byzantium, Foodie Club, Getty, Getty Villa, Kalamata, Roman Empire

Third Republique

Jul01

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: May 13, 2014

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

Republique is certainly one of LA’s most anticipated recent openings. Taking over the gorgeous old Campanile space, this replacement is helmed by Walter Manzke and Margarita Manzke (of Church & State and Milo & Olive). As you’ll see, while the core cuisine marries Brasserie with neo-tapas, this is a place that draws intensely on the current (2013-14) trends. LA Zeitgeist for sure.

On this particular night, I was invited again by Liz Lee of The Sage Society. She’s a friend of mine, wine dealer, and overall awesome foodie. She sure organizes an amazing evening. This one was mostly top flight Burgundy, and 13-14 bottles for 7 people! (Good thing I never drive to wine dinners)

The building is an interesting fusion of pre-war factory…

The main interior is nearly church-like. It’s been all opened up and looks great, but it’s big, tall, and covered in hard surfaces. That means loud!

The bar is packed and setup with all those fancy little fixings that are the hallmark of the fancy mixologist style of expensive yummy weak drink making. Being a wine guy, I don’t much care.

Along with the hard (read loud) surfaces, open kitchen, mixologist and the like, our obligatory aged wood communal tables are graced with this paper menu.

As we sit we are offered some yummy bread sticks (a.k.a. grissini). The bakery here is clearly first rate, although there was nowhere to really put them and half of mine ended up tumbling to the floor.

Our Sommelier for evening, Taylor Parsons. Unlike my mostly more chaotic Hedonist Dinners, he opened and poured the wine properly in flights, and even ordered up food to match.

NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne L’Originale. 90 points. Pinot Blanc, single vineyard planted 1904. Lovely purity, floral note of camomile, some mineral notes, freshly cut fennel and dill Strong mineral notes and back bone, floral, fennel, clay, pear, yellow plums with long finish.

Mixed oysters on the half-shell.

Asparagus and pepper tempura.

Warm Baguette with Normandy Butter. A completely first rate piece of bread. Utterly classic and unadorned. The taste reminds one of France.

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Chips & Dip. Scottish king salmon tartare, cucumber, mint, yogurt, crispy pork rinds.

For vegetarians there were potato crisps.

And the tastier chicarones.

2009 Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve. 88 points. No formal note. This had a reasonably complex, smoky peach nose, with a hint of orange rind, was full bodied and plump on the palate, reasonably attractive stone fruit with creamy notes and low acidity. Paired fabulously with the pasta below.

English pea Agnolotti. Fresh blanched peas. Really a great pasta.

1996 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. Burghound 91. Moderate but still very fresh secondary notes that reflect nuances of bee’s wax and the first hints of sous bois lead to intense, vibrant and mineral-driven flavors infused with ample citrus, all wrapped by a firm, edgy and pure finish. While this has plenty of legs left, it has arrived at its peak though as noted, it should be capable of holding for another two decades. From another bottle affected by a touch of premature oxidation – The color is a more advanced gold than I expected and certainly more so than the bottle of ’96 Blanchots tasted a few days earlier. The nose reveals a trace of oxidation and while it’s by no means enough to kill the enjoyment of the wine, it does detract as well as give one pause as to how this will evolve over the next few years. The flavors are classic Valmur with its incredibly precise and mineral-laden, moderately austere flavors and laser-like focus. As is the case with so many ’96s, the nose is out in front of the structure and while I certainly liked this wine, it’s not clear that this is going to reward further cellaring.

Live Santa Barbara Spot Prawns. Romanesco cauliflower, brown butter, lemon capers, almonds.

1990 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 93. This is one of those whites from the ’90 vintage that is trapped in a time capsule as it remains unusually youthful for a 20 year old wine even if no longer young as the nose displays the first hints of sous bois along with dried flower and citrus aromas. The delicious and highly mineral-infused middle weight flavors are racy, intense and beautifully delineated before culminating in a lingering and pure finish. This is in extraordinary condition if well-stored and should continue to drink well for years to come. In a word, impressive.

Hamachi Crudo. Pineapple, fresno chili, cilantro.

From my cellar: 1996 Maison Leroy Meursault 1er Cru. Burghound 92. This is still very fresh with only the initial hints of development to the airy white flower and hazelnut aromas that give way to rich, pure and gorgeously precise flavors that culminate in a mineral-infused and impressively linear finish that lasts in the mouth for several minutes. A stunner of wine that is still improving.

agavin: I was disappointed, nothing too obvious wrong with it, just too closed and reserved.

From my cellar: 1996 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet. Burghound 96. Classic white burg aromas of immense breadwith and depth with white flower notes, minerals and knockout complexity. This is a big, rich yet delineated wine that has near perfect balance. In short, this is flat out superb with an intensity, complexity, depth and stony minerality that is something special to behold. The length lasts for minutes and for my taste, this has finally arrived at its full maturity though there is certainly no rush to drink up as it should maintain this level for years. Consistent notes.

agavin: sadly, and I cry as I write this, the wine was heavily premoxed (oxidized) and not really drinkable. The finish had promise. 🙁

Fresh white Asparagus and black truffle butter sauce. Just in season and fabulous.

From my cellar: 1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 93. A truly wonderful nose of simply knockout complexity features notes of yeast and baked bread along with now fully mature aromas of a variety of floral notes and spice hints that gives way to mineral-suffused round intense and detailed medium full flavors that also offer outstanding depth on the sappy and mouth coating finish. This is drinking perfectly now. A beautiful effort of real style and grace.

agavin: a third fail for me tonight. This bottle was pretty oxidized. I’ve opened around 20 of this wine (all from the same source) and about 2/3 of them are fabulous, but a few are kinda oxidized.

Black Stripped bass with a butter sauce and vegetable puree. Perfectly crispy.

1993 Domaine Leroy Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Narbantons. 93 points. Mme Bize-Leroy makes the best wines in the world. At least this was my hypotheses when we drank this wine. Domaine Leroy is superior to DRC and her wines are as a consequent also more expensive. When she dies, the prises will soar and eventually exede Henri Jayer’s. This Sauvigny is perfectly mature now, with smooth concentrated red fruits. My guess was an Echezeaux from the 90ies. More or less everything she does is of Grand Cru quality.

1996 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes. Burghound 90. The nose on the ’96 Clos des Ruchottes is stunningly elegant with really dazzling purity of fruit and leads to relatively supple though barely medium weight flavors underpinned by moderate structure and healthy acidity. As it usually is, this is quite earthy and I suspect it will come around over the mid-term as the tannins are completely ripe and integrated. I would give this 3 or 4 more years of cellar time and then probably drink up whether or not the tannins are fully resolved as the lack of full phenolic maturity suggests that the acidity may come to dominate the finish.

agavin: great, but retained a surprising amount of oak/spice.

Mary’s Organic Rotisserie Chicken. Red russian kale, roasted fingerling potatoes. The rotating spit was right in front of me and all night I watched a procession of these tasting fowl orbiting. Just classic roast chicken en jus but absolutely perfectly cooked. All good.

1988 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. Burghound 92. Still quite reserved on the nose but the flavor profile is dense, rich and wonderfully complex with terrific length. As with the Boudots, the buffering extract is more than sufficient to envelope the substantial tannins though there is a touch of finishing astringency.

agavin: a lovely mature burg.

Liberty Duck Breast. Cherries and Brussels sprouts.

1970 Louis Latour Romanée St. Vivant Les Quatre Journaux. agavin 94. Stellar wine. All that I love in old Burgs. Lots of fruit, acidity and long berry finish.

A selection of cheeses. Always good with so much wine.

Pistachio and Strawberry ice cream. Refreshing.

Overall, Republique is a first rate place. It updates the classic French fare in a way that is contemporary without being ultra modern. And the whole everything here is so painfully (and I don’t mean in a bad way) contemporary. It just couldn’t be more “in” with the current dining trends. Not that I actually have a problem with that — in fact, my only problems with the restaurant was the volume (almost too loud for conversation) and a seeming total lack of large square or circular tables (I eat out in large groups and hate long skinny tables for more than 6). Most importantly, not only are these fresh takes on the classics, but the cooking is really on point. Even only being three months old this kitchen is executing very well.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brasserie, Foodie Club, Los Angeles, République, Sage Society, Walter Manzke

More Awesome Dimsum – King Hua

Jun21

Restaurant: King Hua

Location: 2000 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 282-8833

Date: April 14, May 15, and August 2, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum

Rating: Maybe the best yet in town

My brother and I continue our epic quest to find the best dimsum in Southern California. King Hua was one of our top picks so I also brought my Hedonist friends by. This post combines several meals for an epic review of the cuisine. Wines are from the August 2 Hedonist lunch.

The menu (with photos!)

2002 Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blancs Millésimé. Burghound 91. A relatively high-toned nose of green apple, baker’s yeast, floral and citrus peel hints precedes the distinctly effervescent, even slightly foamy flavors that possess good depth on the bone dry finish. This is clearly still on its way up as the focused finish is still compact and while this is certainly refreshing and there is enough depth present to make for an interesting drink, it will be better in due course. In sum, there is good development potential and will especially please those who prefer very dry vintage Champagne.

BBQ pork. I like this kind with the sweet soy sauce.

Roast chicken. Moist and succulent.

Jelly fish. Crunchy texture and a bit of a kick. What isn’t to love. Check out the jiggle below.

[youtube http://youtu.be/esxmqs0adz0]

Chicken salad bun. One might wonder what’s in here exactly:

Chopped up chicken and stuff. Tasted good though. The outside was sweet.

From my cellar: 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru en Remilly Cuvée Nicholas et Mathis. 93 points. I’ve been drinking a lot of this wine. Really fabulous young 1re cru. Lots of acid and strong vanilla notes.

Baked BBQ pork pastry. Pretty much flaky bun stuffed with sweet BBQ pork!

Steamed shrimp and scallop dumpling.

Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf.

Poached mustard green. Good thing Foodie Club co-founder Erick’s wife was there to order a vegetable.

2012 Gilbert Picq Chablis 1er Cru Vosgros. Burghound 90-92. A beautifully well-layered nose features notes of mineral reduction, green fruit and ocean breeze nuances. There is impressive scale to the concentrated and powerful medium weight flavors that are both intense saline and mineral-inflected on the mouth coating and lingering finish. As is usually the case this is less refined than the Vaucoupin but there’s better underlying material.

Shrimp and Pork Dumpling (Shu Mai). Erick’s 4th grade daughter dubbed these “meat popsicle” (she eats them impaled on a chopstick).

Chicken feet in black bean sauce.

Pork dumpling supreme. With a title like that, who could refuse. Both the dumplings and the broth were delicious.

Here is a bowl of it.

Pan Grilled Pork Bun w/ dried scallop.

Mixed filling in here.

2004 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese. IWC 89. Apricot, lemon oil and a hint of flint on the nose. The succulent tropical fruit flavors are nicely balanced and framed by mineral salts. More appealing than complex on the finish, but makes for excellent drinking.

Shrimp dumpling (har gow). Excellent classic.

Steamed dumplings with pork, peanuts, and veggies. Yummy.

Another dumpling, not sure what was inside, but it was good.

Steamed dumplings with chestnut and shrimp. Really awesome, with a nice crunch.

Steamed shrimp and pea tips dumplings.

Lobster and shrimp dumpling. Really tasty.

Pork & Shrimp dumpling in broth. Very tasty, but hard to split.

Interesting seafood and mushroom inside.

2003 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. 90 points. Apricot preserves, gardenia, quince and honey in the nose. On the palate, quince and honey are accented by brown spices. Fat and creamy but buoyant and elegant. Long and refined on the finish, with its high residual sugar admirably buffered.

Steamed pork dumpling (XLB). Add vinegar and happily burn one’s mouth. These are the bomb, although perhaps the ones at elite are a hair better.

Deep fried durian puff. Hmmm.

Steamed Chinese sausage bun. Like Chinese pig in a blanket.

Baked BBQ Pork Bun. Awesome classic.

Shrimp rice noodles. Good version.

Rice Crepes with Steamed Spareribs. This was different than I expected. The meat is pretty hideous, and quite fatty, but boy, did it taste good. Really succulent. The rice crepes rolled this way feel a bit thick, and not as soft and pleasant as the enchilada style.

Deep fried shrimp roll w/ seaweed. Pretty awesome, like a fried shrimp California roll.

1976 Hugel et Fils Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive. 94 points. A testament to what a great vintage 1976 was for the top alsacians. This wine has kept all the fruit flavours but is now no longer sweet, more off dry. Super complex and just perfectly balanced. Really hard to put the glass down as the fantastic nose lures you back. Notes of honey, nuts and exotic fruit.

Deep fried pork dumpling. Delicious almost sweet interior with a chewy outside.

Here you can see the porky inside.

Sticky rice on lotus leaf with shrimp and XO sauce. Pretty awesome actually.

Bean curd with vegetables. Delicious.

Fried tofu. Hot, soft, and tasty.

Deep fried tofu in abalone sauce. I like the sauce. This was a bit heavier, but tasty.

Deep fried dumplings with shrimp. Sort of an amazing shrimp empanada!

1996 Champalou Vouvray Trie de Vendange. 93 points. Rich gold and really nice.

Fish balls in curry sauce. The squid-like things are noodles. The sauce was very strong.

Fried Noodle & Vermicelli with XO sauce. An excellent version of this Singaporean classic.

Fried Spareribs. Really, really amazing. Gross looking, yeah, but tasted oh so good. The fried balls on the left were some kind of fried custard. Bizarre but yummy.

Roast pork belly with jellyfish. Odd combo, but the jellyfish are good and the pork nice and moist.

Mango pudding. Weird thick texture, but very mild and refreshing.

Coconut and almond jelly. I like this stuff, kind of like cookies and cream jello.

Custard egg tart. Yum again.

King hua coconut roll. Like a sweet roll stuffed with coconut custard. Awesome.

I have to say, King Hua was awesome, even by the competitive standards of the SGV. I’ve tried lots of good places, but on average, this might be one of the best so far. There is real variety here, and everything is very fresh. If you like dimsum, don’t fear the drive. What we have in LA proper just can’t compare.

For more LA Chinese food reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, dimsum, Foodie Club, hedon, King Hua

Melisse Madness

Jun17

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

Location: 1104 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-0881

Date: June 12, 2014

Cuisine: California French

Rating: Awesome in all ways

It’s always a challenge to come up with a new spot for my birthday dinner. I tried a couple new places and after struggling with annoying policies and restrictions came back to proven slam dunk Melisse. They have the private room. They have the food. They can handle all the wines effortlessly.

I brought a lot of good stuff and so did my friends.

Liz set the tone with this mag of 1995 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Brut. IWC 93. Medium straw, with a powerful mousse. Dense and earthy on the nose, with strong toasty and buttery tones layered on ripe apple and pear fruit. This is both very ’95 in a positive sense and very Pol Roger. Fat and round in the mouth, with extravagant flavors of buttered toast, ripe orange and poached pear, complemented by subtle notes of cinnamon and mace. A lush, velvety Champagne that completely fills the mouth with flavor and creamy texture. This would go wonderfully with absolutely anything-or on its own.

Oh, and then this 1988 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Brut. IWC 94. Classic, subtly complex Champagne aromas of toast, toffee, citrus peel, and yeasty fresh apple. Rich, full and ripe, with great depth of flavor and truly insinuating intensity. Complex notes of butterscotch and toasted nuts. Ripe, harmonious acids give this remarkably smooth wine excellent backbone for further aging. Extremely long. I rated this wine 93(+?) a year ago, and it has certainly delivered on its early promise. A pinnacle of the ’88 vintage.

Tomato two ways. Usually the initial amuse at Melisse is grapes, but this time, it’s tomatoes, both goat cheese and pistachio crusted and sphereized.

The white Burgundy flight!

1979 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Chassagne-Montrachet. 85 points. The wine has seen better days, and had strong notes of sherry. But it wasn’t totally without virtue. As it sat in the glass for an hour or two it rounded out a bit.

1989 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet. 93 points. Soft and with classic Montrachet terrior this was a really delicious example of fully mature great white burg.

From my cellar: 1993 Maison Roche de Bellene Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières Collection Bellenum. 90 points. Other than the 79 this was the least complex of our whites, but it was still very MP and quite delicious.

Naked Cowboy Oyster. Apricot Lane Avocado, lemon cucumber, meyer lemon granite. A truly delicious and bright flavored oyster prep. The granite in particular was lovely, standing in for a squirt of lemon.

And a version with no oyster.

Have a few white burgs!

Egg Caviar. Soft Poached Egg, Lemon creme fraiche, american Osetra. Delicious as always. As Larry commented, “I could have eaten 3-4.”

The amazing Melisse bread, including bacon bread!

And really really rich butter.

Wild Japanese Snapper. Wild radish pods, cilantro and apple milk. Soft and bright flavored again.

Sweet Pea Veloute. Whipped Black Truffle. This is the inside of the soup.

And with the soup itself.

From my cellar: 1998 Jacques Prieur Montrachet. Burghound 92. Quite closed and borderline austere on the nose with reticent aromas of fresh cut citrus followed by powerful, almost painfully intense flavors. This is completely unevolved and quite angular just now though it stops short of actually being hard. However, there is terrific sève and such solid underlying material that this should mature into a marvelous Montrachet but it will require a few years before the steel backbone softens.

agavin: 96 points. Outstanding, and oh so Monty.

From my cellar: 2000 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chevalier-Montrachet. IWC 92. Complex, subtly perfumed aromas of apple, pear, minerals and nutmeg. Dry, steely and penetrating, with brisk acidity giving the wine an almost painful firmness today. Extremely closed, even dry-edged, but very long on the back end.

agavin: 93-94 really grew and grew in the glass with serious grand cru complexity.

2001 Coche-Dury Meursault. Burghound 90. Relatively deep golden. A pretty and fully mature nose of really lovely complexity, especially for a villages level wine, dissolves into intense, round and utterly delicious medium-bodied flavors that offer exceptionally good Meursault character and an abundance of minerality on the long finish. This still vibrant effort continues to pack plenty of flavor authority and one that has arrived at its peak of maturity. I would suggest drinking this up over the next 5 to 7 years or so as there is no additional upside development potential. In sum, this is a simply terrific wine for its level. Tasted twice with consistent notes.

agavin: 96 points. Meadows never gives these village Coche’s their due. Pretty much the whole table found this to be the best white Burg of the night. A lot of reduction and a long finish really sold it.

Forbidden Fruit. Apricot and Date. This is not the fatty liver of a water fowl. Definitely not.

Wagyu Beef Tartare. Black Olives, capers, cornichon and smoked tomato. Here one smeared some meat on a crisp, and then added some of the aioli-like orange stuff. Delicious!

We began to run low on white so Liz opened this! 2011 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 93. This is also highly perfumed with a pronounced floral component dominating the other aromas that are composed of citrus, seaweed, iodine and mineral reduction while leaving no doubt that this could be nothing other than Chablis. There is excellent size, weight and muscle to the overtly powerful and well-concentrated flavors that exude a fine minerality on the extract rich finish. This explosive effort is almost aggressively saline and should improve for up to a decade in bottle.

Santa Barbara Spot Prawn. Fava beans, morel mushrooms, young garlic.

And with a bit of “jus.” Delicious!

The red Burgundy line up.

From my cellar: 1969 Maison Roche de Bellene Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Collection Bellenum. 86 points. Interesting but the fruit was pretty faded and it had this vegetal menthol red pepper taste that wasn’t very pleasant. Bummer. The 66 I had of same was awesome.

From my cellar: 1983 Domaine Clair-Daü Bonnes Mares. John Kapon 94. The 1983 Clair Dau Bonnes Mares was excellent, and another solid 1983, which I have been enjoying here and there over the past couple years. Black licorice dominated initially, opening up into nutty, Burgundian fruit. The flavors were also licorice, and the wine was fleshy and tasty with a nice finish, in a good spot and a good showing for this oft forgotten vintage in Burgundy.

agavin: This was my third bottle of this wine, and while it was still good, it didn’t have nearly as much fruit as the others.

Lobster Bolognese. Perfect, just so small!

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From my cellar: 1985 Joseph Drouhin Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. Burghound 91. Pale ruby but not yet bricking. A lovely and expressive mix of now mostly secondary aromas yet with traces of primary and still fresh fruit, spice and subtle earth aromas that are very Vosne in basic character. The sweet, rich and still quite precise middle weight flavors offer a mouth coating and culminate in a still somewhat firm finish that suggests ample minerality just below the surface. This is an impeccably balanced and understated wine that is classic Drouhin and classic ’85 that is drinking perfectly now and should continue to do so for another decade, perhaps a bit longer.

agavin: 90 points. This wine had a touch of funk or unbalance to it, but was still very vosne and quite enjoyable.

From my cellar: 1990 Georges Lignier et Fils Clos de la Roche. Burghound 88. A pretty cherry-fruit infused nose that is still relatively fresh leads to rich and vibrant medium full flavors that are bit edge and tannic on the now slightly astringent finish. While the mildly rustic tannins are not resolved, I would be drinking this anyway as it risks drying out with extended bottle age. No other recent notes.

agavin: 93 points. Lots of fruit, fully mature, delicious.

Oregon Porcini. Asparagus, young garlic and parsley

And with a bit of green foam.

Sockeye salmon. with mushrooms and beure blanc.

Stonington Maine Halibut. Courgettes and Lemon basil.

1994 Domaine Jean Gros Richebourg. 92 points. Nice.

1996 Bouchard Père et Fils La Romanée. Burghound 93. Medium ruby color. Fresh and still entirely primary, elegantly perfumed violet and black fruit aromas introduce round, sweet, brilliantly delineated middle weight flavors of considerable breed and class deliver a racy, long and stunningly pure finish. The basic character here is interesting as the strikingly seductive nose is wonderfully expressive yet the flavors, and especially the finish, are somewhat somber and reserved though notably less so than they used to be when I last tasted this four years ago. While with 60 minutes or so of aeration this can be enjoyed now, it’s clear that several more years of cellar time is in order first. Tasted thrice with consistent notes.

agavin: 94 points. Deeper colored than the other red burgs and really fab.

Aged liberty duck. The meat had that gamey aged quality and was delicious.

With the serious meats, a few “beefier” reds.

1990 Lafite-Rothschild. Parker 96-97. Medium garnet-brick colour. Earthy, Provence herb seasoned aromas of warm cassis and stewed plum with nuances of smoked duck, cracked black pepper and dark soy. The palate leads with structure – medium to high, finely grained tannins and medium to high acid. Plenty of complex fruit to flesh out the mid-palate with a long, layered finish.

1982 Leoville-Las Cases. Parker 100! Still stubbornly backward, yet beginning to budge from its pre-adolescent stage, this dense, murky ruby/purple-colored wine offers up notes of graphite, sweet caramel, black cherry jam, cassis, and minerals. The nose takes some coaxing, and the decanting of 2-4 hours prior to service is highly recommended. For such a low acid wine, it is huge, well-delineated, extremely concentrated, and surprisingly fresh. Perhaps because I lean more toward the hedonistic view of wine than the late Michel Delon, I have always preferred this to the 1986, but the truth is that any lover of classic Medoc should have both vintages in their cellar. This wine has monstrous levels of glycerin, extract, and density, but still seems very youthful, and tastes more like a 7 to 8-year-old Bordeaux than one that is past its twentieth birthday. A monumental effort.

1982 Penfolds Grange. Parker 97. The 1982 is another superb example of that. One of the jammiest, most precocious Granges when it was released, it has never gone through a closed stage and continues to drink beautifully. A full-bodied, opulent Grange, it reveals an inky/purple color to the rim as well as a beautiful nose of crushed blueberries, blackberries, smoke, toast, roasted herbs, and road tar. This dense, plush, expansive, seamless, seductive 1982 has not changed much since I had it nearly a decade ago.

agavin: awesome!

Prime beef rib eye cap. Young leeks and Chanterelle mushrooms.

With the jus.

Egg, grains, and beans.

Ron felt we needed some more white Burg, so he pulled out this 2000 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Burghound 90. Interesting notes of fennel, green Chablis fruit and straw introduce medium weight, slightly austere, understated, precise flavors that deliver plenty of complexity and length but lack the same density as the 2001 Montée. To be sure, this is an excellent wine and Raveneau may have been a bit too modest in his comments about the vintage as this is really lovely if not genuinely incredible.

Tartiflette. Reblochon, smoked bacon, and potato. A delicious bacon version of potatoes Lyonnaise. Sort of.

And Stewart really wanted to open his Champagne! 1985 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. JK 96. A quick glass of 1985 Krug got me ready for the trip back home. Full of vitamins, spice and intense game, this fresh and perfect bottle of 1985 was great with a spicy and long finish, still young!

Strawberry. Balsamic, Sheep’s yogurt, graham cracker, and black pepper. Sharp and delicious!

Ron brought this crazy 115 year old port that came in a cool box.

Here’s the bottle.

And the port. Check out the viscosity. Like motor oil! But delicious.

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate. Soufflé, mouse, and tarte.

A different chocolate dessert.

White Nectarine. Boysenberry, ginger, and vanilla. Like a miniature fruit ala mode.

Petite Fours. Gels, peaches, chocolates.

Cookies, macarons, cannelles.

Most (but not all) of the wines!

All in all, a rather amazing birthday. An embarrassment of great wines, company, and food!

Melisse has two Michelin stars, and it deserves every ounce of them. The service is amazing too. The setting is not as fully formal as some French three-stars, or the service quite so orchestrated (that level is more amusement than actually pleasant), and there are no zany carts for teas and sugars, but the food and creativity demonstrate Melisse’s deserved position as one of America’s top kitchens. I ‘ve gone several times a year for a decade and it keeps getting better and better!

For another Melisse meal, click here.

Or for other Foodie Club meals, click here.