José Andrés :: All Things Andy Gavin

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Seconds at Somni

Jul21

Restaurant: Somni [1, 2]

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

Date: June 7, 2018

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome

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.

Somni is the “secret” prix fixe only room within the Bazaar, which replaces the previous secret room, Saam. The new one has a format more like é by José André as it’s 10 seats and fairly theatrical. There are two seatings, and a $235 dollar a person (includes tip) tasting menu. They do allow dietary restrictions with advance notice.

Tonight was my wife and her sister’s birthday dinner.

Somni has its own waiting tables out in the lobby before we move on to Somni proper. here they brought us an intro glass of Spanish wine (included).

The former Saam space has been opened up to the Bazaar kitchen, reformatted in lovely pale wood and with a semi-circular bar. It’s much more airy.

The whole kitchen is visible behind the bar. And there is a weird empty void space behind the guests.

The kitchen now merges into the Bazaar kitchen.

Homage to Spain?

Chef de Cuisine Zabala Aitor, hailing from Catalonia and Basque. He worked at El Bulli, Arzak, Aelarre, and ABaC!

The vessels are all exquisite.

The regular menu for tonight.

And the special vegetarian (+ fish) menu — they also did a gluten free version and even printed that one out (not pictured).

Hojita. A nitro frozen cocktail of rum. Delicious and strong.

The first of the middle level of wine pairings.

Almond shell. Looks like almonds, but you pop the whole thing in the mouth and eat it — soft, nutty, and amazing.

Apple floret, cheese & beet. One of these cheese, apple, beet salads served in sponge form.

Chicken skin and foie gras. Pretending to look like corn!

The vegetarian replacement for the foie: coco curry.

Idiazabal leaf.

Pan con tomate y jamon. Classic toast with tomato pulp and jamon. The toast itself may not have actually been toast.

Caviar & Truffle. Straight up briny goodness.

The vegetarian version was avocado hand.

The next pairing wine.

Spot prawn and that’s it. Pure succulent Santa Barbara spot prawn steamed or sous vide or something. Incredibly fresh and juicy. Sucked out the head!

The veggies got churro and mother mole.

Live scallop with burrata. A lovely and delicious dish. All soft textures.

The next wine.

Croissant (potato based) with a dipping soup.

Pigtail curry bun. You dip it in the curry sauce — incredible. This was an amazing dish.

Strawberry negroni — frozen and alcohol filled intermezzo “cocktail.”

Kohlrabi and snap peas.

The actual peas were inside. Quite lovely. I like the green on green.

The first red.

Fireflies with pil-pil. This is the pil-pil, i think, a web to catch:

These baby squid. Delicious when dipped in the sauce and very interesting.

White asparagus for the veggies.

Alubias y jamon. Sort of beans and ham — but spherized.

A fried something.

Turbot with mushroom tea. It had a BBQ flavor and a texture a bit like eel — very rich and soft.

Here is the “tea.”

More red.

Japanese A5 & bone marrow.

With the bone marrow sauce.

Eggplant substitutes for the veggies.

Nori empanada.

A nice Sauternes for dessert.

“Snowflake”. Under the sugary snowflake was ice cream, macha, and some kind of nut paste?

Black forest pizzelle.

Under the soft chocolate disc was the various black forest ingredients like cherry and Bavarian cream.

Matcha doughnut. Inside was gooey matcha custard that just exploded out! Amazing.

More desserts.

Mochi.

Merienda. A little white chocolate and nut paste sandwich.

This was my wife and her sister’s birthday and so out came the little birthday men.

Overall, the food was amazing at Somni. Much more advanced and “sophisticated” than the early Saam meals which were just Bazaar+. This is much more theatrical and formal, much more in the vein of E or minibar.

Service was excellent. First rate really and very attentive. Wine service was very slick too.

But things ran very smooth and FAST. A touch slower than the first time, maybe 2 hours, but too fast still! Yeah! It should have been 3. Maybe a few more courses. They do this, I assume, so they can comfortably get two seatings in and not be working super late. But it felt a bit rushed.

Because I knew it would be fast I just ordered the wine pairings. They were nice wines and quite interesting — probably didn’t add up that great a value by retail standards, but still a very tasty way to go. They were generous with repouring them during the course.

They said the first time that they change the food fairly rapidly, and roughly 40% did change, but it’s certainly not a total turn over in 3 months.

In our party of 3 we had 3 different meal variations (normal, pescatarian, and pescatarian gluten-free) and (with advance notice) they did a phenomenal job accommodating these with not only custom dish variations but 3 separate printed menus! We were also running late and out at the beach (in shorts) and so arrived in less than perfect dress — but they were totally cool with it (we had called in advance too, but I’m sure they would have been fine either way). Two people at our set came about an hour late. I highly recommend you DON’T do this as it messes up the experience but I could see the staff trying their absolute best to get them as many of the courses they had missed as possible.

The execution was very smooth. I’m surprised this isn’t more popular as they had an open spot or two and we were able to make the reservation a few days out.

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: birthday, Dessert, José Andrés, Somni, Spanish Cuisine, The Bazaar, Wine

Back to the Bazaar 2018

Jul06

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1 , 2 , 3 , 4, 5]

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

Date: May 26, 2018

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

I’m like a José Andrés groupie. I’ve been to every possible variant of his restaurants in LA, Vegas, and many in Washington. I’ve been here countless times, but today return with the Sauvages for a special Rioja lunch.No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. If you haven’t been, or haven’t been recently, you should.

I’ve been plenty of times where I don’t write it up, but this time we got the current tasting menu — which is by far the best deal and the way to go here — and I figured I’d do an up to date report.

From my cellar: 2008 Clos Erasmus Priorat Laurel. VM 92. Deep ruby. Seductively perfumed, with soil-inflected aromas of cherry, dark berries, smoke, spices and dried violet, along with a strong graphite quality. Velvety and tangy on entry, then ripe and sweet in the mid-palate, lending impressive energy to the almost medicinal cherry and singed plum flavors. Lively on the bright, very long back end, which features lingering floral and mineral attributes. Very pretty now but built for short- to mid-term aging, say another four to six years.

Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise. The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

Bagel and Lox Cone. The remainder of them are salmon roe with creme fraiche or cream cheese in the cone. Always a delightful little bite.

Spanish olives, traditional and modern. Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy (back). This is followed (on the right) by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

A newish take on the beet salad. Local Baby Beets. Smoked yogurt, pickled carrots, walnuts, avocado. This actually had a bit of heat (spice).

Pa’amb Tomaquet. Catalan style toasted bread, tomato. Jamon Iberico. Traditional Spanish ham.

Tuna Ceviche & Avocado Roll. Jicama, micro cilantro, coconut. Really nice bright flavors and interesting texture (soft and crunchy).

Tempura Squash Blossoms. Black olive, ricotta, fresh tomatillo sauce.

King Crab. Raspberries, raspberry vinaigrette. The crab and raspberry combo is something I haven’t come to complete terms with. Great crab though.

Not your everyday caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella. This is a near perfect deconstruction of the caprese. The mozzarella balls explode in your mouth, and pair great with the pesto and the little crunchy crackers.

Sautéed Shrimp. Garlic, tomato sofrito, guindilla pepper. There has been a sautéed shrimp on the menu since the start, but this newer version has more tomato. It’s great, but I probably prefer the more classic garlic/oil variant.

Grilled Spanish Octopus. Caramelized onions, chicken escabeche, cherry tomatoes.

Papas Canarias. Salty Wrinkled Potatoes, Mojo Verde and Mojo Rojo. The potatoes are very salty and you dip them in that slurry of parsley, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice. Really tasty. This has been on the menu since opening, but they recently changed the form favor (to have the potatoes on top of the sauce) and added the red sauce.

Croquetas De Pollo. Chicken-béchamel fritters. Classic! Super hot and gooey inside. Nice.

Seared Mary’s Farm Chicken. Honey dates, mustard caviar, mustard greens. In a way, this is like chicken with honey mustard sauce — but way better.

Catalan Spinach. Apple, pine nuts, raisins. Old dish, slightly new form factor.

I ordered this off the menu: 2011 La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri Rioja Reserva. VM 92. Bright violet color. Ripe cherry and blackberry on the highly perfumed nose, with a sexy floral nuance adding complexity. Fleshy and seamless on the palate, offering sweet red and dark berry flavors with hints of vanilla and smoky minerals. Closes smooth, sweet and very long, with excellent clarity and spicy persistence. Very suave wine with the balance to age but also with the upfront fruit to make it quite attractive now.

Coffee Rubbed American Wagyu Flat Iron. Passion fruit, pearl onions.

Wild Mushroom Rice. Idiazabal Cheese. A very nice cheesy risotto.

The deconstructed Philly cheese steak is one of my favorites. The “air bread” is super crispy with liquid cheddar. the beef is wagyu. On the right is The vegetarians got this “Hilly cheese steak” with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese. Last year, at a catered event at the SLS I ate over 20 of the cheesesteaks!!

Pan con Chocolate. Chocolate Flan with caramelized bread, olive oil, brioche ice cream. Great, just small.

Hot Chocolate Mousse. pear sorbet and salty hazelnut praline. Very soft texture but with crunch. Nice salty chocolate hazelnut flavor.

Traditional Spanish Flan. Vanilla and Citrus. I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint. Great citrus notes.

A few cookies.

I was at the Bazaar a few weeks earlier, and we ordered ala carte. Now the food was great both times, and very different things, but the tasting menu is such a better deal. Probably half the cost and we had way more — and more varied food. The problem is that if you order some of the super yummy “per piece” items by the person, it adds up really fast and you need a lot of the little bites — whereas the tasting menu includes basically all of the above for a single fixed (roughly $100) price.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bazaar, José Andrés, Molecular Gastronomy, Spanish Cuisine, The Bazaar, Wine

Seminal Somni

Mar25

Restaurant: Somni

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

Date: March 14, 2018

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome

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.

Somni has its own waiting tables out in the lobby. But knowing that we are serious gluttons and that the many courses would be small we decided to partake of a “pre-dinner” by ordering off the Bazaar menu.

Fred brought this older Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. These mature grand cuvees are fabulous.Foie Gras Floating Island Soup. Corn espuma, corn nuts, chives. I haven’t had this exact soup before, but it is roughly based on an older Jose foie soup I had 20+ years ago at Cafe Atlantico. Very rich — lots of cream.

Oxtail Steamed Buns. watermelon radish, cilantro, serrano chili. I love the texture and breadiness of these Chinese buns combined with other more savory ingredients.

‘Rossejat’ Negra. paella-style pasta, squid ink, sepia sofrito, shrimp. Very nice version of this dark noodle based squid ink paella.

Tortilla de Patatas “New Way”. potato foam, egg 63, caramelized onions. The ingredients of the traditional tortilla (potato & egg) deconstructed and served in a very soft fashion.

“Philly Cheesesteak”. air bread, cheddar, wagyu beef. I never get enough of this dish! The crispy bread, the soft wagyu, and the succulent salty meted cheese inside!

Then we move on to Somni proper.

The former Saam space has been opened up to the Bazaar kitchen, reformatted in lovely pale wood and with a semi-circular bar. It’s much more airy.

The whole kitchen is visible behind the bar. And there is a weird empty void space behind the guests.

The kitchen now merges into the Bazaar kitchen.

Homage to Spain?

Chef de Cuisine Zabala Aitor, hailing from Catalonia and Basque. He worked at El Bulli, Arzak, Aelarre, and ABaC!

The vessels are all exquisite.

Hojita. A nitro frozen cocktail of rum. Delicious and strong.

Strong citrus notes.

Fred brought: 1990 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 97. 1990 is one of my favorite vintages ever for this storied cuvée because while the vintage was on the riper side the high yields allowed the fruit to retain a very good level of acidity which made for balanced and ageworthy wines. While I have had the pleasure of tasting the ’90 on a number of occasions since its release, the last time was alongside the 1985 and the 1988, and as admirable as those two vintages are, the 1990 is head and shoulders above them to my taste. The fantastically complex nose is comprised of an abundance of yeast and toast characters that don’t completely dominate the essence of apple, pear, citrus, spice, acacia blossom and discreet orange peel scents. There is equally good depth to the delicious, full-bodied and powerful flavors that possess a lovely sense of vibrancy thanks to the still firm but fine mousse that shapes the delineated, delicious and impeccably well-balanced finale. In my view 1990 is one of the greatest vintages for this wine of the last 25 years and one that is still drinking well. While there is no additional upside development to be hand, neither is there any rush to drink up as this should continue to hold effortlessly for years to come.

We get to see all the intricate plating.

Pan con tomate y jamon. Classic toast with tomato pulp and jamon. The toast itself may not have actually been toast.

Almond shell. Looks like almonds, but you pop the whole thing in the mouth and eat it — soft, nutty, and amazing.

Apple floret, cheese & beet. One of these cheese, apple, beet salads served in sponge form.

“Piggy” de manteca colorada. A pig shaped little crisp.

Reading the fist bumps.

Jose has long had a thing with “hands.” Not sure what it is.

Caviar & Truffle. Straight up briny goodness.

Nori empanada. I can’t remember what was inside but it was delicate and crispy.

Spot prawn and that’s it. Pure succulent Santa Barbara spot prawn steamed or sous vide or something. Incredibly fresh and juicy. Sucked out the head!

Erick brought in it’s special box.

And wrapper.

1986 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Blanco. VM 96. The first bottling for this wine since the 1970; aged for 21 years in oak casks, followed by another six years in concrete vats. Pale gold. Pear nectar, orange zest, beeswax, fennel, vanilla and honey on the explosively perfumed, highly complex nose. Densely packed citrus and pit fruit, candied fig and chamomile flavors are sharpened by juicy acidity and a jolt of minerality. Juicy, penetrating and sappy on the extremely long, spice-laced finish, which eventually leaves behind mineral and orange pith notes.

agavin: best white Rioja I’ve ever had. So clean and complex.

Pigtail curry bun. You dip it in the curry sauce — incredible. This was an amazing dish.

Hibiscus Margarita. Another nitro frozen treat, served in the flower. Hard to eat and very alcoholic — but tasty.

Live scallop. Inside this lettuce dumpling.

Lamb, pine nut & herbs.

With some kind of sauce.

And in it’s final form. Very “leafy.”

Egg, sea urchin & truffle. An amazing combination. The egg was dried and salty and overall this was an umami bomb.

“Croissant.” With lobster and shellfish reduction. The sauce was one of those French-style “bisque”-like sauces. Great dish with the elements of a lobster pot pie basically.

Larry brought: 1970 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Ygay Reserva. 94 points. Still vibrant and dark red, surprisingly strong fruit and good acidity with a little dill on the finish. Plenty of life left in this one.

Alubias con jamon. Sort of beans and ham — but spherized.

Pekin chili crab. Vague flavors of peking duck.

From my cellar: 1980 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. 96 points. Opened and decanted and then poured and drank over the course of maybe 2.5 hours. This is a wine that was only getting better. Prob the early part of the drinking window, but really with time in the decanter it was gaining body and interest and so it’s not going anywhere fast. It’s got that wonderful spice that I love in Unicos and hints of red fruits underneath and just a perfect wine.

Wagyu on view.

Japanese A5 & bone marrow. It comes hidden under leaves.

We pulled them off so you can see the meat — pretty neat.

Larry brought: 1959 Moulin Touchais Anjou. 95 points. Golden sweet and amazing.

“Snowflake”.

Under the sugary snowflake was ice cream, macha, and some kind of nut paste?

Vienetta. Like chocolate and vanilla custard.

Tea.

Snacks.

Merienda. A little white chocolate and nut paste sandwich.Mochi.
Matcha doughnut. Inside was gooey matcha custard that just exploded out! Amazing.
Cool decanter.

The menu.

The staff.

Service was excellent. First rate really and very attentive. Wine service was very slick too.

But things ran very smooth and FAST. Too fast as the entire meal in Somni from walking in the door to rolling out was only 1 hour and 45 minutes! Yeah! It should have been 3. Maybe a few more courses. They do this, I assume, so they can comfortably get two seatings in and not be working super late. But it felt a bit rushed.

And most crucially, particularly as we opened 6 bottles of wine (5 at dinner proper) we didn’t have enough time to finish our wine. The somm did a great job opening the wines and all that, but he was a bit slow starting them up because of the cocktail and then didn’t pour super aggressively. The net was that we didn’t finish half of it — and considering the quality level and cost of the wines we brought — really at the very top of Spanish wines — it was kinda a shame. I’m sure the staff enjoyed them later 🙂 which is certainly better than wasting them. But really he should have poured faster and warned us that there was no way we would get through so many. We probably only at 1:30 to drink 5 bottles with 4 people.

Apparently they change the food fairly rapidly, so we plan to be back soon, just with less wine or more people.

They also nominally have the annoying 2 bottle per party limit — which I hate and have ranted about before — but they let us open all our bottles with no complaints so kudos to them.

Also, this was only the 2nd or 3rd night they were open — and everything was very polished — pretty impressive.

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, José Andrés, Molecular Gastronomy, rioja, SLS Hotel, Somni, Spanish Cuisine, Spanish Food, Unico, Wine, ygay, Zabala Aitor

Eating Washington – Oyamel

Dec25

Restaurant: Oyamel

Location: 11712 San Vicente Blvd.Brentwood, CA 90049 310.826.9222

Date: November 21, 2017 & November 20, 2018

Cuisine: New Mexican

Rating: José Andrés is a stud

I try to hit a new José Andrés place every-time I’m back in Washington and this time it’s:

His New Mexican joint.

Funky bright decor.

Guacamole station. lol.

The menu.

Classic mojito. Somehow they were out of sugar cane!

New style mojito with foam. Tasty, but went quick.

Chips and salsa. Classic, but I like the roasted salsa and the chips were light and freshly fried.

After seeing the guacamole station how could we refuse?

Freshly made to order, with green tomatillo, serrano chile, crumbled queso fresco and a basket of fresh tortilla chips

Queso fundido con tequila. Melted Chihuahua cheese flambéed with tequila and served with fresh hand-made tortillas. Yummy and gooey.

Cheese quesadilla for my son (11/20/18).

Ceviche verde. Striped bass marinated in lime juice with avocado and tomatillo. VERY zesty.

Ceviche de atún Pacífico. Ahi tuna with Maggi-lime marinade, scallions, avocado, toasted pecans, fresno chiles and crispy amaranth.

Ensalada de palmitos. Fresh Hamakua Farms hearts of palm, orange, radish, chayote, peanuts with a tamarind dressing. Nice flavors.

Ensalada de Alex-César Cardini. The classic Caesar salad of Romaine lettuce, anchovies, Parmesan cheese, a soft boiled egg and house-made croutons.

Pescado Baja California Taco. Crispy masa tempura-battered mahi-mahi with shredded cabbage, house made chile de arbol mayonnaise, Mexican crema and a salsa Mexicana of tomato, onion and cilantro. A little bit of heat.

Yucatan style bit barbecued pork taco with pickled red onion and Mexican sour orange (11/20/18).

Camarones a la parilla. Grilled wild caught Gulf Coast white shrimp with sautéed squash, red chile, epazote and avocado. Like Mexican gambas pil pil.

Albóndigas enchipotladas con queso doble crema. Meatballs in chipotle sauce with crumbled ‘double cream’ cheese and cilantro.

Black beans stuffed with cheese.

Tamal de mole Poblano. Shredded chicken tamal with a mole Poblano sauce of almonds, chiles and a touch of chocolate, topped with Mexican crema, sesame seeds and onion.

Costillas de res con salsa huitlacoche (11/20/18). Local dry-aged beef ribs in ancho and arbol chile rub, mesquite smoked with salsa huitlacoche.

Like all of Jose’s places this was fun and full of zesty flavors. So beats out our local modern Mexican Tallulahs. Wish we had one nearby.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: José Andrés, Mexican cuisine, Oyamel, Washington D.C

Sauvages Rioja at the Bazaar

Sep26

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1, 2, 3, 4]

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

Date: September 23, 2016

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

We have the entire inner dining room to ourselves with a giant table.

And LOTS of stems.

Flight 0:

1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia. 92 points. A lovely old Rioja Blanco. Lots of oxidative notes, but still plenty of life in this puppy.

From my cellar: 2011 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. 90 points. Fresh citrus…lemon, lime, grapefruit tinged w/floral notes. Razor sharp base minerality puncuated with clean even finish. Paired with steamed shrimp, oysters on the half. Bottle didn’t last long. Great wine for the summer!

Today’s special menu.

Flight 1:

1995 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia. 91 points. Great nose! Mature, complex, sweet. Lots of tannins and high acidity. Could use a few more years to improve. Very nice!

1999 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva. VM 92. Deep red. Blackberry, cherry and licorice on the nose, plus a strong note of smoky oak. Densely packed and very sweet on entry, then juicy and focused in the midpalate, with lush dark fruit liqueur and oak spice flavors firmed by a mineral spine. This still-youthful wine gains flesh and volume with air and finishes with silky tannins and resonating oakiness. Built for the long haul but should also show well now with enough aeration.

2001 Bodegas Valsacro Rioja Dioro. 90 points. vanilla, lots of oak at the start (this is a baby). plums and dark fruit dominate. minerality is well present in the mid. good finish. modern powerful wine – even with 2 hours in the glass it didnt move much. hard to judge it fully now – but the structure is there and so is the acidity and the fruit. With time this may develop into a beauty.

Organized Caesar. Egg Yolk Sauce, Parmesan. Little caesars rolled up in jicama. Taste pretty much like caesar salad. Not, perhaps, the ultimate Rioja pairing, but a nice dish.

Flight 2:

2004 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia. 91 points. Light ruby, tawny rim. Gorgeous scents of citrus peel and clove. Light to medium weight, just lovely sense of a complete, elegant package. Already complex with background vanilla, leather, tobacco, and a citric twist, gentle tannin. Beautifully balanced.

Tondonia is usually my favorite Rioja and we had 4 today (of different ages and levels and colors).

2004 Bodegas Muga Rioja. 91 points. Deep smoky cherry nose. Graphite, medium, dry, little spicy. Smooth. Paired great with spanish meal (paella). Enjoyable. Little prune on finish.

2005 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. 94 points. The 2005 Castillo de Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, a classic among classics, is back in top form with the excellent 2005 vintage. It’s produced from a blend of 89% Tempranillo and 11% Mazuelo (aka Carinena), a difficult grape that is in high esteem at the winery (they exceptionally produced a varietal Mazuelo in 2000 to celebrate their 150th anniversary) as they consider it adds acidity and aging potential to the blend and has been selected specifically to make part of the flagship wine’s blend. In 2005, the Tempranillo was harvested on September 30, the Mazuelo on October 3, and fermented separately in stainless steel vats. The Tempranillo ages in American oak barrels and the Mazuelo in French ones, both for a period of 30 months. The wine matures for a further two years in bottle before being released. It’s extremely backward and tight, showing very young, with a balanced nose between spice, tertiary and cherry fruit aromas. It’s a powerful, still young vintage, with plenty of glycerin, body, round tannins. An austere wine (is it the Mazuelo?), it is complex and ever-changing in the palate. It has a sense of harmony that only the best wines have. Very long and elegant. I loved its serious and austere overall feeling. 100,000 bottles produced. This is a true vin de garde which develops complex notes of violet and meat with time in the glass. This is a Gran Reserva greatly marked by the Mazuelo, which should give it great ability to age. At this quality level it represents very good value. Drink 2014-2030

Sauteed Shrimp. Garlic, tomato sofrito, guindilla pepper. A spicy gambas pil pil? A shrimp diablo? Either way, good and a bit spicy.

Flight 3:

2001 Artadi Rioja Grandes Añadas. VM 94+. Medium ruby. Penetrating aromas of blueberry, cassis and bitter chocolate. At once fat and firm, with strong acids giving shape and verve to the flavors of roasted blackberry, violet, espresso, nuts and baking spices. This has real power and thrust, not to mention inner-mouth perfume. Finishes with big but sweet tannins and terrific length. Like the Pagos Viejos, this is 100% tempranillo. This special bottling was previously offered only in 1994, 1998 and 1999.

2000 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 95. Deep red. High-pitched aromas of redcurrant, dried cherry, potpourri and spicecake. Silky in texture and alluringly spherical, offering seamless red fruit and floral pastille flavors and late notes of blood orange and Asian spices. Nothing heavy or fat here and yet this delivers the impact of a large-scaled wine. The finish is expansive and extremely persistent, leaving notes of rose and sweet red fruits behind. I find this to be drinking extremely well now but have no doubt that it will live a long life on its balance. (I also had the chance to re-taste the 1991 Unico and it is showing superb clarity and finesse, a seamless texture and suave red fruit and floral character. It is delicious now but holds excellent for further development in bottle.

2003 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 95. Inky ruby. Highly aromatic scents of ripe cherry and dark berries, singed plum, cured tobacco and succulent herbs, with a vanilla undertone. Sweet, expansive and powerful, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors with smoke and floral accents. Rich and full but surprisingly lively, with excellent finishing thrust and sweet, harmonious tannins adding grip. Shows the ripeness of the vintage to good effect; this is a somewhat approachable and exotic Unico, especially with some air, but it has the concentration to age slowly.

Jamon Iberico & Farm egg. Roasted Cipollinis, Tomato, Truffle butter, pan de cristal. Pretty much the consensus for the dish of the day. How can you go wrong with yummy egg and ham?

This is presumably the Pan de Cristal.

Flight 4:

More Tondonia! 1981 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia. 93 points. A lovely wine, drinking quite at peak. This had a classic Rioja nose, with cigarette smoke and tobacco aromas (somewhat reminiscent of Marlboro menthol lights) around a core of sweet cherry notes, then little drifts of dried herb and dried flowers and fragrant spice all playing against a backdrop of loamy earth – an absolutely beautiful bouquet. The palate had a stunningly youthful brilliance to it, with wonderfully bright, juicy acidity and the silkiest tannins hugging lovely flavours of bright cherries and wild berries. The wine may lack some of the depth that you will find in the Reserva or Gran Reserva, but there was such beautiful purity here. Bright, fresh, lively and absolutely joyous, I really enjoyed drinking this. A streak of metallic mineral and a little waft of cigarette ash and dried herb then stretched into a wonderfully fresh, lengthy finish. A beautifully elegant and graceful Rioja, this was drinking wonderfully on the night

1978 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. VM 93. Medium red with an amber rim. Highly complex bouquet of fresh and dried red fruits, cherry skin, pipe tobacco, smoky minerals, cigar box and potpourri. Sweet strawberry and cherry flavors stain the palate but are strikingly lithe. Cured tobacco and candied rose flavors emerge with aeration, and the fruit takes a darker turn toward cherry. The tannins have been completely absorbed, allowing the wine’s almost decadent sweetness to come through. Expensive, yes, but this would offer newly minted wine lovers an insight into the personality of aged wine from a great region and a very good vintage for the same price as many newly released Napa or Bordeaux wines.

1973 La Rioja Alta Rioja Reserva 904. 93 points.

From my cellar: 1970 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Cerro Anon Gran Reserva. Lots of fruit, but a touch corked.

Seared Wagyu Beef Cheeks. Black garlic, black olive. Rich meat, fabulous reduction.

From my cellar: 1973 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Gran Reserva. 91 points. Clearly shows evolution both color wise and on the nose/palate. A touch of oxidation, cedar, sweet strawberry and some oak. Elegant even if this is not totally focused. Clearly shows younger than its age. The oak is very well integrated. Very nice.

Sandeman Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Special Oloroso Sherry. Nice stuff, almost like a PX.

Quesos. Manchego “Pasamontes”, Murcia al Vino, and Valdeon.

The chef and co-poobah Kirk C.

This particular meal was great, mostly importantly for the company, the wines, and the service. The Bazaar staff did a bang up job with our private party and all the dishes we had were very good. But I do prefer the Bazaar in a format where one can taste 15-20+ things, not just 4-5. Plus, being a true glutton I could have eaten easily twice as much!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: José Andrés, rioja, Sauvages, The Bazaar, Wine

Bazaar Treats

Jun09

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: May 23, 2015

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

I’m like a José Andrés groupie. I’ve been to every possible variant of his restaurants in LA, Vegas, and many in Washington. I covered some introduction to The Bazaar in a previous review, but it’d been three years so I figured it was time for a third review.

The current dinner menu can be found here.

But we decided to do the $100 tasting menu (+ a few supplements for our less meat inclined diner). Back when the Bazaar opened the tasting menu was cheaper and smaller, but this one is pretty huge and a great deal as you get to taste nearly every classic on the menu.

There were 4 of us and the Bazaar’s food is so all over the places as far as pairings go, that I decided to open two Spanish wines simultaneously, a white and a red, and leave them both in front of everyone (two glasses).

From my cellar: 2011 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. 90 points. Fresh citrus…lemon, lime, grapefruit tinged w/floral notes. Razor sharp base minerality punctuated with clean even finish.

From my cellar: 1973 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Gran Reserva. 92 points. A touch of oxidation, cedar, sweet strawberry and some oak. Elegant even if this is not totally focused. Clearly shows younger than its age.
The oak is very well integrated. Very nice.

Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise. The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

Spanish olives, traditional and modern. Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy (back). This is followed (on the right) by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

A close up of the traditional, as you can’t see them that well in the first photo.

Bagel and Lox Cone. There is actually one in front that is tomato instead. The remainder of them are salmon roe with creme fraiche or cream cheese in the cone. Always a delightful little bite.

Baby beets, citrus, pistachio, goat cheese, pop rocks. A nice variant on what has become an LA classic. It actually crackles in your mouth.

Mushroom carpaccio, hazelnuts. A Saam dish that has moved over, a vinegary mushroom take on the thin sliced meat.

Pa’amb Tomaquet. Catalan style toasted bread, tomato.

Jamon Iberico. Traditional Spanish ham.

These two are combined into a yummy open faced sandwich.

Little Neck Clams. Market Pearl Onions, Cava Dressing. Very heavily marinated and quite lovely.

King Crab Can. Raspberries, Raspberry Vinegar. An unusual sweet and salty combination.

Not your everyday caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella. This is a near perfect deconstruction of the caprese. The mozzarella balls explode in your mouth, and pair great with the pesto and the little crunchy crackers.

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers. Capriola Farm goat cheese.

Market Fish Ceviche and Avocado Roll. Jicama, Micro Cilantro, Coconut Dressing. Sort of a catapiller version of the usual tuna/avocado tower.

Sauteed Shrimp. Garlic, Guindilla pepper. In Spain usually called Gambas pilpil. Basically shrimp boiled (fried?) in olive oil and garlic. These were very typical of what I must have had 30 times in southern Spain. The quality of the shrimp here was higher than is often the case at cheap places in Spain.

Sautéed cauliflower “couscous”. Cauliflower purée, harissa, lemon, crispy quinoa. A little bland.

Papas Canarias. Salty Wrinkled Potatoes, Mojo Verde. The potatoes are very salty and you dip them in that slurry of parsley, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice. Really tasty.

Ensaladilla Rusa. Potatoes, Carrots, Mayo, Tuna Belly. Like a high end tuna salad. Lots of mayo!

Grilled Spanish Octopus. Caramelized Onions, Chicken Escabeche, Tomatoes. Super tender, one of the best grilled octopus dishes I’ve had.

Croquetas de Pollo. Chicken and Béchamel Fritters. Super hot and gooey inside. Nice.

Catalan Spinach. Apple, pine nuts, raisons. Sweet.

Seared Wagyu Flank Steak. Piquillo Pepper Spheres. Meaty.
Loup de Mer. celery root puree, grapefruit, seabeans. Nice and crispy.

Braised Wagyu Beef Checks. Mojo Rojo, Roasted Potatoes. The meat here is so rich and soft you could cut it with your tongue.

Wild Mushroom Rice. Idiazabal Cheese. A very nice cheesy risotto.

The deconstructed Philly cheese steak is one of my favorites. The “air bread” is super crispy with liquid cheddar. the beef is wagyu. On the right is The vegetarians got this “Hilly cheese steak” with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese. Last year, at a catered event at the SLS I ate over 20 of the cheesesteaks!!

Traditional Spanish Flan. Vanilla and Citrus. I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint. Great citrus notes.

Pan con Chocolate. Chocolate Flan with caramelized bread, olive oil, brioche ice cream. Great, just small.

A sort of vanilla cream version, with some crunchy meringue.

A chocolate pistachio “cake.” These tartufo (not frozen) like balls were really quite something to look at, and tasted great too.

Passionfruit mango chocolate “cake.” Delicious.

No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. If you haven’t been, or haven’t been recently, I think the big ($100) set menu is a great way to go. There are a lot of dishes and it’s probably less than ordering them all ala carte.

I’ve also been to Saam, the fixed menu back room three times. Overall, I like the front room a tad better. Saam is great, particularly the first time you go, but they don’t change it up that often. Here in front you can really control what you get, and the prices are more reasonable and the atmosphere more playful.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: José Andrés, Spanish Food, The Bazaar

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’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
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

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

Saam I am again

Jul23

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: June 7, 2012

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, but needs to mix it up.

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.

Tonight’s menu, which follows very closely on the typical Saam/é formula.

Tonight begins with a “Kaviar Kir Royale” which is a deconstructed cocktail consisting of cava. You can see the miniature ”kaviar” (spheres of kir) more clearly here, looking every bit like fish eggs. Basically it’s mostly cava, but at your whim you can bit into the little balls of flavor for bits of kir flavor blast.

From my cellar: “The 2007 El Pecado is 100% Mencia from the DO of Ribera Sacra. Its ethereal aromas are reminiscent of a great vintage of La Tache (readers will surely think I’m exaggerating) leading to a layered, sleek, elegant wine with tons of spice, that seems to melt in the mouth.”
The extraordinary wines of Raul Perez must be tasted to be believed. Words simply cannot do them justice. The problem is that they are produced in minuscule quantities. I was only “allowed” 1-2 bottles of this particular wine and I’m lucky to get even that.

“Beet & Yogurt.” This couldn’t have weighed more than an ounce and has a texture not unlike styrofoam (in a good way). It actually tastes great, tart and sweet at the same time.

“Oyster and Jamon.” A little spoonful of oyster with some ham powder and a crispy crouton. It tasted exactly like it sounds. Like intense oyster and a good dollop of HAM!

“Jicama wrapped Guacamole.” Micro cilantro, corn chips. The vegetarian substitution for the ham.

“Parmesan Macaron.” Tastes like… parmesan.

“Seabeans in Tempura.” Fried and salty, they could have been anything.

“Jose’s Combination.” Jamón Ibérico de Bellota with a blob of real caviar. This ham is regarded as the best in Spain, and among the best in the world. They are fed on acorns. Salt on salt here. A very savory combination.

“Ottoman Carrot fritter.” Apricots, pistachio sauce. Vegetarian substitute for ham. A deep fried ball of flavor, with a very exotic taste.

Deconstructed “patatas bravas.” In spain this is a common dish basically being roasted chopped potatoes with a cayenne mayo. This preserves the flavor, but changes up the texture into a little fried cigar. The inside was fluffy and soft. Quite tasty.

“Chicken Skin & Cigala.” This is a bit of crispy chicken skin with a fresh shrimp or crayfish body on top. It was salty and soft/crunchy, and quite good.

The vegetarian sub for the chicken/shrimp. There are artichokes here.

“Not Your Everyday Caprese.” The mozzarella has been through the same sphere process as the olives above, then we have a peeled cherry tomato, tomato seeds, a bit of basil, sea salt, little crackers, and a very fine house made pesto genovese (with extra virgin olive oil). I’m not even a raw tomato fan and this is delectable. The pesto cheese combo really makes it. This pesto is as good as mine (recipe here).

“Crispy Nigiri.” A bit of red snapper on a blob of crispy Spanish rice.

A fantastic special risotto also using bomba rice, with a chunk of fresh santa barbara uni, some black garlic paste, and a bit of bbq eel. It was tremendously good.

“Mushroom risotto.” Instead of the normal Italian risotto rice it used a premium Spanish one, calasparra bomba, and extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. Very tasty.

“Chipirones en su Tinta.” More or less a classic Spanish dish, octopus in it’s own ink. Plus some squid ink chips. Very soft and tender meat, complemented by the sweetness of the ink.

“Baby beets, citrus, pistachio, goat cheese.” A nice variant on what has become an LA classic substituted for the Octopus.

“Banh Mi.” A brioche bun with wagyu beef, tofu, cilantro, pickles, pickled carrots, and a kind of mayo. Tasty tasty sandwich. A mix of soft and crunchy too, but the pickles give it a very distinct tang.

“Banh Mi, vegetarian.”

“Carrot or Scallop.” Crunchy marinated carrots over seared scallops.

“Brussel sprouts, lemon puree, apricots, grapes, lemon air.” This was a big hit, the sprouts aren’t bitter at all, and have a light cabbage-like texture. The lemon air is the best part, adding a nice zing.

“Mirugai.” A bit of geoduck giant clam, radish, and a watercress puree. This wasn’t my favorite dish, being a bit “clammy.”

“Waygu & Mushroom Escabeche.”

Replacing the beef for the vegetarian was a pomegranate cous cous.

With a poured in broth.

“Wild mushrooms in papillote with duck liver.” Sautéed, then heated with a rich cream and mushroom sauce in the bag.

Pop. These are “lobster mushrooms” with a really thick meaty texture and almost lobster/abalone like flavor. There is some foie gras in there too, which just “juiced” it up.

“Japanese Baby Peaches.” Burrata, hazelnuts, arugula.Really interesting. The peaches were so tart off the trees that they were soaked in simple syrup. Paired with the blobs of burrata (a favorite of mine), the nuts, and arugala it was pretty divine.

“Dragon’s breath popcorn.” The pre dessert. A gimmick, but neat.

Breath on a spoon.

It tastes like… carmel corn, but you can exhale it through your nose for a dragon-like effect.

“Frozen Apricot Timbale with Amaretto.” This is essentially a semi-fredo, and as it was intensely apricot, and I love apricot, was downright amazing.

“Dessert desert.” This is chocolate ice cream and something nutty “powdered,” hence the “desert” part of the whole thing. The flavors were nice but it was a tad dusty.

“Birthday spun sugar.” Tastes… sweet.

The usual Bazaar “sexy little sweets,” a number of flavored chocolates (flat and in domes) and very good pate de fruits. One of the great things about the brunch at Trés is that they have an all you can eat tower of containing all of these!

A little chocolate hazelnut cube and the menu as a “parting gift.”

Overall, Saam is a tremendous meal, even if not every dish is successful (geoduck!). My biggest observation this time around is that both Saam and é need to mix things up more. I ate twice at é nine months apart and that menu barely changed a dish. Saam fared a bit better, since they mixed up perhaps 25-30% of things. The best new dish was the apricot dessert. The first time you eat one of these meals it’s very impressive, and their exclusive nature doesn’t lend itself to repeats (particularly in Vegas). Still, when cuisine is this innovative, they need to keep innovating like Ferran did at elBuli. With the avant garde, stagnation is death!

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bazaar, Ferran Adrià, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Molecular Gastronomy, Saam, The Bazaar

Back to the Bazaar

Jun22

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1, 2]

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

Date: May 7, 2012

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

I’m like a José Andrés groupie. I’ve been to every possible variant of his restaurants in LA, Vegas, and many in Washington. I covered some introduction to The Bazaar in a previous review, but it’d been almost two years so I figured it was time for another review.

The current dinner menu can be found here.

Grilled “tomato bread” with spanish Manchego cheese. A snack to start, and popular with my three year-old. Yes, he comes to meals like this. In fact, he’s been to at least four José Andrés restaurants, not to mention a couple Michelin two stars.

They have all sorts of interesting cocktails, but the signature one is the nitro caprina. Dry ice is used to freeze the rum and lime concoction down without added ice or water.

“LN2 Caipirinha. Brazilian cachaça, fresh lime and sugar frozen by using Liquid Nitrogen. Tableside service.” The result is above. It tastes like a sherbet, with a highly unusual smooth texture, but it’s intensely potent (in terms of proof). Goes down all too easy.

Then I pulled out this wine from my cellar (I’ve brought it here before). The 2007 Laurel. Yum. As I mentioned in my review of Calima this is a fantastic Spanish wine buy. Parker gives it 94 and says, “The 2007 Laurel, a blend of 65% Garnacha and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, is deep purple-colored with a bouquet of wet stone, Asian spices, black cherry compote, and incense. Dense and sweet on the palate with tons of spice, it is super-concentrated, rich, and smooth-textured. Give this lengthy effort 2-3 years of additional cellaring and drink it from 2013 to 2027. Laurel is produced from the young vines of Clos Erasmus as well as from the results of a triage in the vineyard and cellar of the flagship wine.”

Then we have “Spanish olives, traditional” (right). Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy. This is followed (on the left) by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

This first dish is “Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise.” The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

“Smoked yellowtail and crispy rice. Yoghurt, grapes, capers, radish.”

I’m nuts over Jose’s Gazpacho. I’ve even made it from his recipe a number of times at home. The intense sherry vinegar vibe is awesome.

“Not your everyday caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella.” This is a near perfect deconstruction of the caprese. The mozzarella balls explode in your mouth, and pair great with the pesto and the little crunchy crackers.

“Sea urchin and mango spheres.” Interesting texture. Interesting flavor.

“Japanese taco. Grilled eel, shiso, cucumber, wasabi, chicharron.” These are really good. Some other people at the table wused out so I had to eat three of them. Poor me.

“Organized Caesar. Quail egg, Parmesan.” The classic salad… constructed.

“Sautéed cauliflower “couscous”. Cauliflower purée, harissa, lemon, crispy quinoa.”

“Baby beets, citrus, pistachio, goat cheese.” A nice variant on what has become an LA classic.

“Sautéed shrimp garlic, guindilla pepper.” In Spain usually called Gambas pilpil. Basically shrimp boiled (fried?) in olive oil and garlic. These were very typical of what I must have had 30 times in southern Spain. The quality of the shrimp here was higher than is often the case at cheap places in Spain.

“Bunuelos, codfish fritters, honey aioli,” these are specular (but hot, right out of the fryer). The sauce gives them an almost Chinese flavor. Fried fish always works.

“Croquetas de pollo chicken béchamel fritter.” Awesome, I barely caught them before they disappeared. The inside is filled with fluffy béchamel. I love béchamel.

“Grilled Wagyu flank steak piquillo pepper confit.” This tastes like the melts in your mouth steak and peppers.

“Wild mushroom rice Idiazábal cheese.” Nice tangy mushroom risotto.

“Boneless Mary’s Farm chicken wings Spanish green olive purée.” These bits of hearty fried chicken are topped with a blue cheese sauce. They taste like wings, but go down so much easier.

My personal favorite along with the cheese steak, “Cotton candy fois lollypop.” The little cube of fois pairs with the sugar like a Sauternes. Oh so yummy.

The deconstructed “Philly cheese steak” (right) is one of my favorites. The bread is super crispy with liquid cheddar. the beef is wagyu. The vegetarians got “Hilly cheese steak” (left) with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese.

You can see the cheese oozing out.

“Nitro coconut, floating island, passion-fruit, banana.” I don’t like bananas (had too many with half a bottle of whiskey in ’91), but the nitro island was delicious. Cold, refreshing coconut.

I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint.

“Creamy Chocolate Heart. Coffee and cardamom.”

“Grapefruit and Olive Oil. Olive oil ice cream, mint and textures of grapefruit.” Really bright and fresh.

“Chocolate rice crispy.” There is a hint of peanut butter.

The passion-fruit “Pate des fruits” packed a wonderful wallop of fruit flavor. The others are clementine and berry.

No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. One note, I ‘ve done The Bazaar’s “set menu” twice, and ordered myself four times. If you know what you are doing doing it yourself is the better way to go, particularly because they don’t mix up their set menu enough. However, if it’s your first visit, letting them handle serves as a fine introduction.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: California, Clos Erasmus, Grenache, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Olive, SLS, SLS Hotel, The Bazaar

Jaleo Bethesda

Dec07

Restaurant: Jaleo [1, 2]

Location: 7271 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. 301.913-0003

Date: November 29, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: Fun Tapas Bar

I’ve reviewed a lot of José Andrés restaurants on the blog, seven I think. This is een the second Jaleo. The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) and his high end Saam, but also brunch at Trés, lunch at Trés, and to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas and Zaytinya also in Washington. Back to Jaleo, the restaurant at hand. It’s basically a straight up Spanish Tapas place but with a slightly modernized and enlarged menu.

The menu.

One annoyance of this particular branch — and not the restaurant’s fault — is the Maryland law against corkage. They have a fine list, but I had brought an amazing Spanish wine 3,000 miles! Parker gives it 91 points. “The 2008 Termes offers up a sexy perfume of cedar, spice box, violets, incense, espresso, and blackberry. Savory, concentrated, and well-balanced, this flavorful effort will benefit from several years of additional cellaring but can be approached now.”

“Gazpacho de remolacha con queso de cabra y naranjas. Chilled red beet soup with goat cheese and oranges.” I’m a total José Andrés gazpacho whore. I even make it at home home.

This is a different variant, kind of gazpacho meets borsch. It was fantastic. Beety, with that vinegary tang. Delicious.

“Dátiles con tocino ‘como hace todo el mundo. Fried dates wrapped in bacon.” Really how can you beat fried dates wrapped in bacon? Yum yum.

“Ensalada rusa. The ultimate Spanish tapa, a salad of potatoes, imported conserved tuna and mayonnaise.” The Spanish love potato salad.

“Aceitunas rellenas de anchoas y pimientos del piquillo. House-made stuffed olives with anchovies and roasted piquillo peppers.” This is another classic, and these are a really good implementation.

“Jamón Ibérico de bellota Fermin. Cured ham from the legendary, acorn-fed, black-footed Ibérico pigs of Spain and miscellaneous other Spanish meats like chorizo.”

“Pan con tomate. Toasted slices of rustic bread brushed with fresh tomato with Pasamontes farmhouse Manchego.” Basically Spanish bruschetta.

“Salpicón de cangrejo. Jumbo lump crabmeat with cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower and Sherry dressing.” While Spanish in flavors I suspect this a bit of a nod to the Eastern shore. Big lumps of crabmeat too.

“Pan de recapte con anchoa. Traditional Catalan bread with peppers, tomatoes and salt-cured Spanish anchovies.” I really wanted Fresh Spanish anchovies, marinated (Anchovies en Boccerones) but they didn’t have them. These weren’t a bad substitute.

“Espinacas a la catalana. Sautéed spinach, pine nuts, raisins and apples.”

“Vieiras con romesco y mojo verde. Seared scallops with romesco sauce and mojo verde.”

“Lomo de buey. Grilled hanger steak with piquillo peppers.”

“Arroz con costillas de cerdo Ibérico de bellota. Made with the famous Ibérico de bellota pork ribs.”

“Arroz Mediterraneo. Made with porcini mushrooms, mixed vegetables, green and black olives and thyme.”

The dessert menu.

“A classic Spanish custard with creme and oranges.”

“Dark chocolate mousse with sponge cake and hazzelnut ice cream.”

“Various fruit sorbets.”

“Vanilla ice cream and grapefruit sorbet.”

“Chocolate ice cream.”

Jaleo is like a good Tapas place in Spain but a little slicker, with perhaps more consistant quality. And they don’t have fresh anchovies! It is also a little (actually more than a little) more expensive than a typical Spanish tapas place in Spain. But considering the scarcity of good tapas places in America… worth it.

For more ThanksGavin meals, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bazaar, Bethesda, Dessert, Gazpacho, Jaleo, José Andrés, Maryland, Paella, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Spanish Food, Tapas, ThanksGavin, Washington DC, Wine, Zaytinya

Zaytinya – East made Easy

Dec01

Restaurant: Zaytinya

Location: 701 9th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001. 202.638.0800

Date: November 27, 2011

Cuisine: Greek/Turkish/Lebanese

Rating: Great flavors!

Zaytinya, which means “olive oil” in Turkish is part of José Andrés’ little culinary empire — which started first here in Washington D.C. and then spread to various other outpsts in the country including LA and vegas.

I’m a bit of a Jose Andres groupie as not only have I reviewed The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) and his high end Saam, but also brunch at Trés, lunch at Trés, and to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas.

Zaytinya, however, is neither Spanish or particularly molecular. It focuses on the Eastern Mediterranean cuisine of Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. These are all former Ottoman zones and despite their political animosity toward each other share much in common — foodwise.

The modern frontage on 9th street in Washington.

The space inside is clean and white.

The geometric white shapes are reminiscent of Greek architecture.

The menu.

We ordered this “ASHTA. traditional Lebanese-style French toast, bananas, orange blossom honey” for our son. It was more like Pane Dulce I’ve had at other Andres restaurants crossed with Tres Leches cake. He devoured it.

They have this light poofy bread.

The classic roasted eggplant dish: “BABA GHANNOUGE. fire-roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon, garlic.” This was a very bright tasty variant with pomegranate seeds.

And one of my all time favorites: “TZATZIKI. Greek yogurt with diced cucumbers, dill.” This wasn’t nearly as garlicky as in Greece and Turkey, but was more akin to the Lebanese variant. It did have a nice thick Greek yoghurt consistency and a pleasant crunch from the cucumber.

“BEET SALATA. crimson and yellow beets, shaved fennel, upland cress, spiced walnuts.” I doubt this was exactly a traditional dish (even if the ingredients are) but it’s pretty much obligatory on modern menus.

“BANTIJAN BIL LABAN. crispy eggplant, roasted garlic-yogurt sauce.” This was a nice treatment of eggplant — in no small part because it was seriously fried! This was a very crispy coating with hot eggplant inside.

“SPANAKOPITA. house-made phyllo, spinach, feta cheese.” Not your typical version of this dish which is usually triangular in shape. The insides were similar enough though, so more a cheese and spinach taquito than a puff pastry!

“ROASTED CAULIFLOWER. sultans, caper berries, pine nuts.” This is a brighter less fried version of this traditional Lebanese dish (you can see the original here). Good stuff though.

My son got his second order of “French toast.”

Which he polished off in about two minutes.

“GARIDES ME ANITHO. sautéed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard, lemon juice.” This was a pretty awesome variant on Andres’ normal “Gambas Pil Pil” (photos here in this Jaleo review).

FRIED SQUID. crispy squid, garlic-yogurt sauce.” Nicely done classic calimari.

And a zesty garlic sauce for dipping.

“STRIPED BASS PLAKI. tomato, fresh chickpeas, onion, mint.” This is a local fish, but the prep is very Eastern med. Strong flavors of tomato.

“AGLAIA KREMEZI STYLE CRAB CAKES. mini jumbo lump crab cakes, roasted garlic yogurt.” They can pretend this is Eastern Med — but no, it’s all Eastern Shore. Still, no one was complaining. These little patties were essentially crab imperial balls lightly fried on the griddle. There was a light taragon flavor too.

“KEFTEDES KAPAMA. beef and lamb meatballs, feta cheese, rustic tomato sauce, cinnamon, allspice.” Tasty meatballs in classic Eastern style. Similar to typical “spicy kefta” preparations.

“ADANA KEBAB. skewered ground lamb, house-made harissa, grilled tomatoes, sumac, onions.” Typical ground lamb kabob. This wasn’t my absolute favorite dish here. It was a bit salty and the grill flavor too strong. Not that it was bad by any means.

“URFA BIFTEK. grilled sirloin, Urfa pepper, cumin, heirloom lettuces, caramelized sesame.” And this was even saltier, although the meat did have a lot of flavor.

“LOUKANIKO ME AGINARES. grilled Greek pork sausage, marinated artichokes.” The sausage was good and I liked the onion and pepper (pimento in Spanish) salad on top.

The dessert menu.

A nice chewy cup of Turkish coffee, semi-sweet.

“Turkish delight. Walnut Ice Cream, yogurt mousse, orange caramel sauce.” This was very yummy, but from the name I hoped for something closer to real Turkish delight — which is a favorite of mine, particularly the rosewater flavor.

A trio of very good homemade ice creams (my three year-old loved them). Walnut, apple, and pear. The fruit flavors were very bright and pure.

“Greek yogurt and apricots.” Very yummy. The thick yogurt paired very nicely with the sweet fruit. In Greece they eat the purest variant of this: very very sour and thick goat yogurt with drizzled honey.

Another fruit and yogurt/ice cream blend. Can’t go wrong with berries and cream.

More of the large and modern space.

Overall, Zaytinya was pretty fantastic. It’s neither totally traditional or ultra modern, but instead what one might call a modernized or modestly updated classic. Most of the dishes have their roots in traditional Eastern Med dishes, and they retain — even emphasize — those bright flavors. The form of them is a lighter and slightly more playful, adapted to American tastes. In any case, highly successful.

For more ThanksGavin meals, click here.

I’ve also reviewed: The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) and the high end Saam, brunch at Trés, lunch at Trés, and to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dessert, El Bulli, Ferran Adrià, French Toast, Greece, José Andrés, Restaraunt, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, ThanksGavin, turkey, Tzatziki, Washington DC, Zaytinya

Trés – Lunch Fantastique

Nov05

Restaurant: Trés [1, 2]

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

Date: October 31, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Spanish

Rating: Fantastique

My brother and I were in midtown and decided to check out Trésfor lunch. I’d already hit it for weekend brunch a couple months ago, and figuring as I’ve recently hit everything else Jose Andres (é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas and a recent Saam meal), stopped in.

The room was dead at 11:45am, but the food wasn’t.

The lunch menu.

“Octopus tacos. Hydroponic bib lettuce, maggie’s farm baby greens, smoked heirloom cherry tomatoes.” Very nice octopus treatment. Succulent grilled meat and a zesty limey vinaigrette on the whole thing.

“Hawaiian bigeye tuna ceviche. Coconut ginger soy, plantain chips.” Not your typical cerviche as the lime flavors weren’t that blast you Peruvian type. But that meant you could taste the fish, and it was good. The plantain chips were tasty too.

I’m nuts over Jose’s Gazpacho. I’ve even made it from his recipe a number of times at home.

And with the soup itself. Yum yum!

“Herb roasted ham and cheese. Tomme de savoie cheese, carmelized onions, herbs.” This was like a Spanish Croque Monsieur. I love this kind of grilled ham and cheese.

Some good fries too with a spicy ketchup.

“The SLS Burger. House made brioche bun, lettuce, tomatoes, onions with cheddar.”

“Lemon tart. Raspberry sorbet.” Not your typical version, but really good. Bright bright flavors and some pate de fruits thrown in there too.

“Hazelnut pear clafoutis. Coffee ice cream.” Like a bread pudding. The ice cream was really good too.

And this crazy zesty lemonade, which served nicely as an aperitif.

Overall, this was a very tasty lunch. It was a little expensive — as you’d expect from a hotel restaurant — but it was very good, which I’ve come to expect from the SLS offerings.

A review of Trés for brunch can be found here.

Click here to see more LA dining, or reviews of The Bazaar and Saam (also at the SLS).

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cooking, Dessert, Gazpacho, Ham and cheese sandwich, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, octopus, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, vegetarian

Saam – José Andrés Squared

Oct08

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: October 1, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, even better than The Bazaar.

I’m a bit of a Jose Andres groupie as not only have I been many times to the The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE), but also to brunch at Trés, and just last week to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas.

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.

This is the normal menu for the night. If you let them know they do however adapt very adeptly to dietary restrictions.

Tonight begins with a “Kaviar Kir Royale” which is a deconstructed cocktail consisting of cava.

And miniature “kaviar” (spheres of kir).

You can see them more clearly here, looking every bit like fish eggs. Basically it’s mostly cava, but at your whim you can bit into the little balls of flavor for bits of kir flavor blast.

Then “Lotus Root Chips” with anise powder, making them taste like licorice Pringles.

Then “Tuna Handroll 2009” which are crispy cones stuffed with very fresh tuna, a bit of wasabi, and a caviar ring in the middle. Nice mix of textures and flavors.

It came time to decide on the beverages. Above is the pairing menu ($100 a person). We didn’t opt for this but I’m sure it’s good. Being as we are talking beverages I’ll mention briefly the water trap. We were five people, and this is a long meal. We ordered bottled water. As usual with nice restaurants they just served it. And served it. Fine, but it added up to $180 of water! This was the only thing on the bill that offended me — but it was mighty offensive. $30-40 would have been sufficient tariff, but $36 a person for water?

We did order cocktails individually, which were both yummy and reasonable enough for such things. “Passion Fruit Up! Orange rum, passion fruit and ginger-laurel syrup, topped with passion fruit foam.” Yum!

“Oyster and Jamon.” A little spoonful of oyster with some ham powder and a crispy crouton. It tasted exactly like it sounds. Like intense oyster and a good dollop of HAM!

“Black Olives Ferran Adria.” Instructions on how to make these can be found here. The pureed juice of the olives is coated in a thin gel. They are colored black with squid ink. There is one green olive that is vegetarian. In general, the olives bursts easily in the mouth, exploding intense oliveness.

A signature “Nitro Caprina” which is the classic brazilian drink, frozen with liquid nitrogen. It tastes like a sherbet, with a highly unusual smooth texture, but it’s intensely potent (in terms of proof). Goes down all too easy.

“Jicama wrapped Guacamole.” Micro cilantro, corn chips. The vegetarian substitution for the ham.

Watermelon and tomato with a bit of a kick (some chili or another).

A traditional mojito. Even way back in the Cafe Atlantico days Andrés always served a great mojito.

“Ottoman Carrot fritter.” Apricots, pistachio sauce. Vegetarian substitute for the chicken below. A deep fried ball of flavor, with a very exotic taste.

“Buffalo Wing.” Looks like fried chicken (and it is), but Wow. Boneless, with a dab of spicy sauce and a blue cheese aioli. An explosion of flavor.

I’m a big fan of priorat and so we chose this wine off the list. Besides the great food and crazy water prices Saam has an annoying high corkage ($50 and one bottle more or less!).

“White truffle risotto.” Instead of the normal Italian risotto rice it used a premium Spanish one, calasparra bomba, and extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. Very tasty.

A fantastic special risotto also using bomba rice, with a chunk of fresh santa barbara uni, some black garlic paste, and a bit of bbq eel. It was tremendously good.

“Crispy Nigiri.” A bit of red snapper on a blob of crispy Spanish rice.

“Chipirones en su Tinta.” More or less a classic Spanish dish, octopus in it’s own ink. Plus some squid ink chips. Very soft and tender meat, complemented by the sweetness of the ink.

A non-shellfish variant containing a bit of bbq fish.

“Banh Mi, vegetarian.”

“Carrot gnocchi.” The broth had a vaguely thai curry flavor. The gnocchi are actually cylinders of sphereized carrots, so they burst in the mouth.

“Mirugai.” A bit of geoduck giant clam, radish, and a watercress puree. This wasn’t my favorite dish, being a bit “clammy.”

“Kurobuta Pork Belly.” Massively flavorful bacon chunk, with a spanish cheese infused turnip mouse and little carrots. Yum yum, heart stop heart stop.

Replacing the pork for the vegetarian was a pomegranate cous cous.

With a poured in broth.

“Philly Cheese Steak.” Air bread, cheddar, Wagyu beef. This is on the Bazaar menu, but it’s so damn good. The crispy bread is filled with liquid cheddar goodness.

“Hilly Cheese Steak.” Air bread, cheddar, mushrooms. The vegetarian version of above. Monkey man will get you!

For the dessert courses we ordered some classes of this fine cream sherry.

A very nice sherry, not quite as thick and syrupy as the PX by the same maker (which I love), but still very fine.

“Dragon’s breath popcorn.” The pre dessert. A gimmick, but neat.

Carmel corn “boiled” in liquid nitrogen.

Breath on a spoon.

It tastes like… carmel corn, but you can exhale it through your nose for a dragon-like effect.

Smaug, eat your scaly heart out.

They call this “saam buca.” It was apple balls with a nice soft creamy custard — good stuff.

“Chocolate rock.” A nitro frozen chocolate foam/mousse with some citrus foam. This was very reminiscent of the chocolate/cream pairings at é by José Andrés and Jaleo.

Chamomile tea.

A little chocolate hazelnut cube and the menu as a “parting gift.”

Overall, Saam is a tremendous meal, even if not every dish is successful (geoduck!). Since I was at cousin restaurant é by José Andrés a week before I can do a head to head comparison. Saam was slightly disadvantaged by the fact that perhaps 40-50% of the dishes hadn’t changed from my previous visit (making them less novel). I’d say that the food at é is perhaps 5% better, really quite close. The format in Vegas is, however, more fun and intimate. Getting to witness the plating and creation of each and every dish is really interesting.

And the $180 for water was really offensive. I really should have taken the manager to task on it. The stuff costs less than a dollar a bottle in bulk. Pure profit center. Otherwise the meal is fairly reasonable given the extremely high level of production. And it is very very good.

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: Bazaar, California, Dessert, El Bulli, Ferran Adrià, Jaleo, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Saam, Spain, vegetarian

Jaleo by José Andrés

Sep29

Restaurant: Jaleo [1, 2]

Location: 3708 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109. 702.698.7000 (Cosmopolitan)

Date: September 24, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: Fun Tapas Bar

So what does a true Foodie Club member do after eating a 22 course tasting dinner at é by José Andrés? Why have a second dinner of course!

This is the final part of my mini-Vegas series. Be sure to check out the opulent Twist and é reviews.

é is the “secret” 8 seat restaurant located within the more mainstream Jaleo, a small chain venture of José Andrés’ bringing moderately authentic Spanish tapas and paella with a modern bent to America.

Certainly the build out in the swank new Cosmopolitan hotel in Vegas is well… swank.

Tapas bar — literally.

Seems pretty Spanish.

They have an elaborate paella station. Racks are situated here where the traditional big pans can brew up this good stuff over wood fires.

Oooh, and the wine list is an iPad app. Which is a cool idea but at current is slightly slower and more awkward than a traditional paper list.

One of the staff from é (who secured us our no wait table) recommended this excellent and approachable Spanish red. “The 2000 Dehesa la Granja Seleccion received malolactic in French oak barrels followed by an additional 2 years in the oak. It offers more complex aromatics (mineral, cedar, spice box, smoke, leather, and black fruits) but is compact, a bit too structured in the mouth, and the finish is somewhat abrupt. If time pulls this wine together, my score will look conservative.”

The menu. Many of the dishes are variants of Spanish classics.

“Endives, goat cheese, oranges, and almond.” Bear in mind that we did JUST EAT a huge four hour tasting menu — and there are only two of us eating this “post dinner snack.” So we started light. These were very tasty, with bright bright flavors.

“Gambas al ajillo.” In Spain usually called Gambas pilpil. Basically shrimp boiled (fried?) in olive oil and garlic. These were very typical of what I must have had 30 times in southern Spain. The quality of the shrimp here was higher than is often the case at cheap places in Spain.

Here is photo of a typical example of this I got one afternoon in Cordoba. At Jaleo, they plated them out of the crock, but in spain it’s always served sizzling right off the stove.

Now on to the paella. Which, like rissoto, is all about the rice. In this case Bomba. This rice absorbs a lot more liquid than lamer rices.

The only problem with the Jaleo implementation is that in the interest of expediency they don’t cook the paella as long as they should (at least 45 minutes). Instead they force it at a little higher temperature. This doesn’t allow for the maximum paella effect.

“Arroz a banda con bogavante.” Rice apart from the lobster. The lobster was excellent. The paella itself a tiny bit bitter from the saffron. Still, a very enjoyable dish.

“Arroz con cosillas de cerdo iberico de bollota.” Made with the famous black-footed iberico de bellota pig. Ribs in particular. This was an amazing paella, and the sweetness of the pork leant the rice a sweet meaty goodness. Yum!

The dessert menu. Even “after dinner snacks” need three courses.

“Helado de aceite de oliva con cítricos texturados. Olive oil ice cream with grapefruit.” Two flavors of ice cream, a bit of grapefruit.

And a drizzle of olive oil.

Interesting contrast again of the sweet and slightly oily salty. A satisfying conclusion.

Overall, Jaleo seemed good. I can’t quite judge it fully as we didn’t have a real meal, just a “snack,” but I enjoyed what we had and having spent a month recently in Spain I have a pretty good palette for the stuff. It tasted pretty Spanish — filtered through a bit of internationalization.

Click here for the 22 course meal that proceeded this — the same night!

For more Food Club extravaganzas.

For more Vegas dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cosmopolitan, Dessert, Jaleo, José Andrés, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Nevada, Nevada, Paella, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Spain

é by José Andrés

Sep28

Restaurant: é by José Andrés

Location: 3708 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109. 702.698.7000 (Cosmopolitan)

Date: September 24, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Spanish

Rating: Mind blowing dinner theatre

Our continuing epic Foodie Club Vegas venture brings us to é, José Andrés’ latest restaurant within a restaurant in Vegas. Earlier in the year we hit up Saam, a similar concept in LA. For those of you who don’t know, José Andrés is one of America’s leading chefs, a disciple of the world shatteringly original Ferran Adria. He apprenticed at elBuli in Spain before moving to Washington DC. My parents found him there at Cafe Atlantico fifteen or so years ago and we’ve been fans ever since. He is certainly America’s leading practitioner of modern Spanish cooking. But you can find some other examples here and in Spain. Calima, La Terraza, his own The Bazaar, Trés, and Saam.

é is a secret 8 person (2 seating) restaurant located in the back of Jaleo, also by José Andrés, which is a more conventional tapas and paella restaurant.

Half of the tiny room.

Behind the counter. One of the cool things about é is that the food is plated and prepped right in front of you.

One of the young chefs at work stirring a witches brew of nitrogen and alcohol.

Then finishing off the starter cocktails.

A kind of deconstructed nitro gin and tonic. We have nitro frozen gin, lime, and “tonic foam.”

This is a version before the foam was added so you can see the gin itself. Nitrogen is cold enough that alcohol can be frozen without ice (water). This leads to an ultra-smooth texture and a much higher alcohol concentration.

At work on the next course.

Presented in a cast of José Andrés’ hand is “Spanish Clavel” (some dehydrated fruit thing shaped like a flower) and to the left, caramelized pork rinds. The rinds were sweet and crunchy, very light and airy (for lard). The “clavel” was more about a bit of flavor burst and texture than any massive substance.

Our vegetarian was treated to a pringles-style version of potatoes-bravos (potatoes in spicy mayo) instead of the rinds.

Next course. Is that food?

Due to the difficulty in matching this cuisine with wine, we ordered the beverage pairings. These mix all sorts of cocktails, beers, wines, and who knows what with additional fun theatrics. There was even a non-alcoholic variant available.

This particular “flight” was Spanish cava in a machismo decanter where you are supposed to raise it as high as you can and pour it into your mouth. Due to my full-on lack of machismo and concern for my shirt, I didn’t lift it very high.

“Apple Brazo de gitano” is like edible styrofoam filled with a white apple filling.

It melted in the mouth and was actually quite delicious. Pairing nicely with the apple was a stripe of caramel.

A non-alcoholic tomato and watermelon drink.

More action.

“Nitro almond cup.” The black stuff was caviar, the cup itself (but not the rocks) edible and cold. Inside was a kind of almond foam. I’m not sure what the cup was made of. It had about the consistency of nitro-frozen foie gras, which possibly it was.

“Crispy chicken skin in escabeche.” This was a lump of chicken on some chicken skin with a complementary foam. It tasted very chickeny — in a good way.

“Membrillo and la serena cone.” A little edible cone filled La Serena cheese and membrillo (quince) paste. So it’s like slathering this paste on cheese and toast, which is amazing by itself. This is typical of this cuisine, taking these traditional combinations and blending them in new shapes and textures.

“Black Olives Ferran Adria.” Instructions on how to make these can be found here. The pureed juice of the olives is coated in a thin gel. The olive bursts easily in the mouth, exploding intense oliveness into the mouth.

“Bocata de calamares.” This is a mini brioche sandwich containing Uni, mayo, cucumber, and scallion. It’s a riff on a traditional beach food. It was certainly delicious, as almost any hot seafood in such a roll would be.

An inside peek.

A really whacky tasting blend of sherry and beer!

“José Taco.” Jamón Ibérico de Bellota with a blob of real caviar. This ham is regarded as the best in Spain, and among the best in the world. They are fed on acorns. Salt on salt here. A very savory combination.

Sphere making at work.

“Cava sangria.” This is a sphererized white sangria (made with cava). Inside is a bit of watermelon and mint. Basically like a burst of the drink in your mouth.

A ginger beer.

“Artichoke puree with vanilla.” These are little hearts of artichoke with vanilla foam.

“Lobster with citrus & jasmine.” Delectable. I can’t remember if the foam was the citrus or the jasmine. The mousse was the other. The lobster itself was tender and succulent.

The vegetarian version, eggplant instead of lobster.

A surprise visit from the executive chef, José Andrés himself!

“Cel phones and cameras are the bane of the modern chef,” he commented. 🙂 But he was game to pose with everybody in series.

A non-alcoholic carbonated sangria.

Plating.

“Chickpea stew with iberico ham.” The garbonzo beans were sphereized which makes them pop in your mouth. A sort of ham and bean soup — and a very good one.

The vegetarian received José’s amazing gazpacho.

This stuff is so good I’ve taken to making it at home.

Cucumber, sugar, and fruit “margarita.”

The show goes on.

There is an egg under that crispy thing.

Then a kind of bouillabaisse broth is added.

“Catch of the day.” A turbot steamed, with black garlic and little citrus spheres. Very nice and light.

One of several nice Spanish wines.

Pouches at the ready.

“Rosemary wild mushrooms in papillote.” Sautéed, then heated with a rich cream and mushroom sauce in the bag.

Pop. These are “lobster mushrooms” with a really thick meaty texture and almost lobster/abalone like flavor.

The rosemary foam complemented perfectly.

Finally a red!

To go with the “secreto of iberico pork.” This is Spain’s most famous pig, here roasted with rosemary and garlic. The cut is fatty, from behind the shoulder.

And served with chanterelle mushroom, black truffle, and balsamic.

The vegetarian got Vegetarian Paella.

And close up.

A medium sweet sherry.

“Orange pith puree with la serena cheese and crisp.” The cheese (which you can’t see) is like a Spanish goat Vacheron (one of my favorite cheeses). So this stood in as the “cheese course.”

Pineapple juice!

More nitro.

And tweezer work.

“Flan.” Flan with a granite of fruit. In any case it tasted like amazing Hawaiian shave ice (the kind with the ice cream).

A kind of chocolate coffee.

Back to work.

“Pan con chocolate aceite y sal.” Basically a big blob of whipped cream, crispy nitro frozen chocolate and high quality Spanish olive oil and salt. You’d think this wouldn’t work, but boy does it.

The sweet and salty and olive oily combo is very interesting and very Spanish.

“Arroz con leche.” A little cone of creme and fruit (lime?) fillings. Yum.

“25 second bizcocho.” This is a 25 second microwave version of some kind of traditional pastry. It was light, fluffy, with a soft citrus cream (the yellow blobs).

“Gin and Tonic.” This is a lovely and more traditional variant on the drink. The bitter tone of the tonic was actually kind of settling.

“Air chocolates.” Puffed white and milk chocolate rice crispy treats (without the rice crispies). Somehow the texture is manipulated into this form.

“Fizzy paper.” This is a crispy sugar confection that tastes like citrus pop-rocks. Very pleasant actually.

Overall this was a staggeringly fun meal. The combination of the playful yet delicious food, the theatrics, and the intimate little cluster of eight people (all of whom were diehard foodies — this being a very hard reservation to get) made for a really fun evening. I’m heading back to Saam in a few days so I can get a head to head comparison, but as it stands é seems to have a leg up on it, particularly in such as the smaller format with the plating in front of you is more intimate and fun.

Another amazing fact about this seemingly immense meal is that it was not in the least overwhelming. In fact, afterward us hardcore foodies went and had an entire second (albeit smallish) three-course meal outside at Jaleo. Those less dedicated to gluttony went to gamble. It’s also worth noting that the service was fantastic and very attentive in é, they may have had four or five staff members to our eight guests!

It’s also worth noting that é only allows non-flash photography. And it’s fairly dark. For me, with my 5D mark II, a fast 2.5 F-stop macro, and 6400 ISO this was no problem. But if you’re trying on a snapshot or with a cellphone, forget it.

Overall an 11/10. Different, but a little more playful and approachable than the previous night’s Twist.

For more Food Club extravaganzas.

For more Vegas dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (7)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cosmopolitan, Dessert, é, é by José Andrés, Ferran Adrià, Gazpacho, Jaleo, José Andrés, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Nevada, Nevada, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Spain, Vegas

Weekend Draft

Sep23

I just finished the rough cut of the third major draft of my new novel, Untimed. Just in time too to get out of town.

This weekend will be quiet and post free. I’m off to Vegas with the Foodie Club for some more high end gluttony. Namely Twist by Pierre Gagnaire and É by José Andrés (my review of the comparable Saam here). You can expect detailed coverage when I get back.

For more on the revision process, see this recent post.

Or for more posts on writing, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food, Untimed

Tagged as: Fiction, Food, José Andrés, Las Vegas, Novel, Pierre Gagnaire, Untimed, Vegas

Trés – Brunché Fantastique

Aug07

Restaurant: Trés [1, 2]

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

Date: July 31, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Brunch

Rating: Fantastique

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I follow José Andrés on twitter, and I was reading (and crying) about the final meal at elBulli, so when the restaurant selection for brunch with friends came up, the SLS came to mind.

Enter the whacky world of Trés at the SLS.

Inside is the same kind of bizarre Philippe Starck space as at Bazaar. High tables on one side.

Comfortable lounging on the other.

The brunch menu is here. There are buffet, ala carte, and “experience” options. We went for the experience which is the buffet + an entree + a mimosa for only $10 more (the mimosa alone is $16).

The buffet is endless, but i’ll begin with breads and pastries.

And more.

And condiments for such.

And the table des fruits.

Melons.

Various fruit juice “waters.” These are lighter than regular juice. There were about six exotic types.

If you are so inclined, you can add them to these glasses of fruit for a blend of fruit and juice.

And these spectacular yogurts with fruit.

Cereal if you are boring.

The the vege station. Prep glasses for gazpacho.

A zoom of one. You add the gazpacho yourself, and there are other condiments.

The gazpacho.

Salad plates and condiments.

Pull back for the big picture.

Then the meat and cheese station.

Pig, pig, and more pig. Hams and salamis.

Jamon del Iberico!

Some more fruits.

Spanish cheeses.

And more.

And rolls and condiments. To the rights are jams and butters.

Inside are mini steam buns (more on that later).

Amazing smoked salmon and caviars and accompaniments.

Creme fraiche, chives, onions, quail eggs, two types of caviar (including the real stuff).

The salmon was amazing.

And roast beef.

Then some desserts.

And more.

And an extensive assortment of petite fours from the pasticerie. Passion fruit pate des fruits on top, bon bons, cookies.

Our meals came with mimosas. This is the classic. The alcohol is cava (Spanish champagne).

Or the even yummier grapefruit mimosa.

A close up of a bit of caesar salad. Very tasty.

The gazpacho was amazing. Just totally amazing. I had three helpings as did several others.

A plate of goodies. You can see the caviars (and meats).

I made a couple of these custom steam buns. Wow!

Fried potatoes.

An omelet with mushrooms and zucchini blossoms.

360 degree eggs, toasted brioche, hollandaise air, and Jamon Serrano. This was one of the better eggs benedict I’ve had — and I’ve had a lot.

The salmon version.

Grilled cheese.

Fries — always yummy.

This Greek yogurt with fruit (this one had apricots) were so incredibly delicious! Sweet though.

Then some desserts, which are more or less highlights of the Bazaar’s desserts. These are mango and cream.

“Hot chocolate mouse, three layers,” mini version.

Classic Spanish flan.

Some of the whacky decorations.

more

and more.

Even the bar nuts are cool.

And this crazy zesty lemonade, which served nicely as an aperitif.

Overall this was a fantastic brunch. Different than your typical one, but fantastique for sure. It holds up in every way to the quality level of the various José Andrés offerings at the SLS!

Click here to see more LA dining, or reviews of The Bazaar and Saam (also at the SLS).

The entrance again, behind us is the parking zoo. And it’s a serious zoo.

Also check out a lunch meal here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bazaar, Breakfast, Brunch, California, Dessert, El Bulli, Ferran Adrià, Fruit, José Andrés, Juice, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Philippe Starck, Restaurant, Spain, Trés, vegetarian

Son of Saam – Actually more Bazaar

Feb12

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: February 10, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, even better than The Bazaar.

I’ve been to The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) about 8-10 times. For the last four or so of these I’ve been trying to get into Saam, which is their “secret” prix fixe only room. Mostly because it’s only open Thurs-Sat it took me a while to manage it. So made it the destination of our fifth official Foodie Club outing.

For those who don’t know, Saam and the Bazaar are the children of Jose Andres, 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. Jose Andres cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Jose’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and it’s 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, and now Jose also has a new and very tempting pair of restaurants in Vegas. My colleague at Kevin Eats was lucky enough to make that pilgrimage.

Saam is a separate room, offering only a single continuously evolving prix fixe. They do however adapt very adeptly to dietary restrictions, as we shall see in a moment. But like most molecular prix fixes it begins with a specialty cocktail. In this case a champagne sherry concoction.

The sherry.

Some of our fellows kicking off the evening.

“The Golden Boy.” If you zoom in you can see the little golden speckles. It tasted like sherry and champagne.

Tonight’s menu. Click to embiggen.

“Lotus Root Chip.” Star Anise dusting. Like a very salty potato chip with a slight licorice flavor.

The first of my wines. The only beef I had with this otherwise perfect restaurant is extremely steep $50 corkage! Very displeasing. And they have a 3-4 bottle max, plus the Bazaar recently raised it’s corkage from $20 to $35. Contrast that with the Bistro LQ FREE corkage where we opened 8 bottles! I really despise these steep corkages.

Parker 97, “The 2004 Reserva, according to Remirez is “a great vintage, a lot of nerve, like 1994, that needed a long aging period”. Opaque purple in color, it offers up a splendid bouquet of sandalwood, incense, Asian spices, balsamic, and black cherry. Layered, opulent, and impeccably balanced, it is a monumental effort.”

“Tuna Handroll 2009.” Like the typical tuna tartar on a potato crisp — but a cooler shape.

“Bagel & Lox Steam Bun.” The dim sum style steam bun topped with salmon roe. Inside must have been some cream cheese or similar. Very interesting interplays of texture and taste.

“Olive Oil Bonbon.” Spanish extra virgin olive oil, coated in sugar and dusted with sumac and Maldon sea salt. Pretty amazing, a bit of candied crunch and pure olive oil is released. Very candy like.

“Black Olives Ferran Adria.” Instructions on how to make these can be found here. The pureed juice of the olives is coated in a thin gel. They are colored black with squid ink.

The olive bursts easily in the mouth, exploding intense oliveness into the mouth.

Spherified green olives. The “olives” are after spherizing marinated with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and orange. This is the first of many Vegetarian Substitutions (VS), as the squid ink in the black olives isn’t exactly veggie.

“Jicama wrapped Guacamole.” Micro cilantro, corn chips. The VS for above.

“Pastrami Saul.” Crunchy potato taquito filled with veal “pastrami.” Crunchy, salty, meaty.

“Tortilla de Patatas ‘New Way’.” Potato foam, egg 63, caramelized onions. The VS for above. This is a fairly radical reinterpretation of the classic Spanish Torilla de Patatas (what we might think of as a potato omelet). Egg is mixed with a potato foam and micro chives and caramelized onions.

“Buffalo Wing.” Looks like fried chicken (and it is), but Wow. Boneless, with a dab of spicy sauce and a blue cheese aioli. An explosion of flavor.

Just like it’s more plebeian cousin, it leaves a good grease stain.

“Ottoman Carrot fritter.” Apricots, pistachio sauce. VS for the chicken. A deep fried ball of flavor, with a very exotic taste.

“Crispy Nigiri.” A bit of red snapper on a blob of crispy Spanish rice.

“Chipirones en su Tinta.” More or less a classic Spanish dish, octopus in it’s own ink. Plus some squid ink chips. Very soft and tender meat, complemented by the sweetness of the ink.

Ink art. A tradition with me.

“Zucchini with Zucchini air.” VS for the octopus.

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

This is an amazing wine, deep grape.

“Hot and Cold Foie Soup with Corn.” The top is a delicious foam that tastes like sweet corn soup, underneath is the salty rich foie soup. I first had a variant of this dish at Cafe Atlantico. I’m very fond of these rich little soups.

“Traditional Gazpacho.” Not only is it pretty, but it’s a nice example of the classic.

“Banh Mi, vegetarian.” VS, same as above, no meat.

“Linguini and Clams.” Another reinterpreted dish. A very sweet and sour, dishy and salty thing going on. Soft textures.

“Cauliflower ‘cous cous’.” VS for clams.

“Kurobuta Pork Belly.” Massively flavorful bacon chunk, with a spanish cheese infused turnip mouse and little carrots. Yum yum, heart stop heart stop.

“Brussel Sprout Leaves.” Lemon purée, apricots, grapes, lemon air. No hint of bitterness, and the fruit tangs nicely zest up the sprouts.

“Black truffle risotto.” This was an optional supplemental dish. Instead of the normal Italian risotto rice it used a premium Spanish one, calasparra bomba, and extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. Very tasty, but as the first truffle dish I’d had since our crazy 27 course Truffle Night, it gave me funny flashbacks.

“Philly Cheese Steak.” Air bread, cheddar, Wagyu beef. This is on the Bazaar menu, but it’s so damn good. The crispy bread is filled with liquid cheddar goodness.

“Hilly Cheese Steak.” Air bread, cheddar, mushrooms. The VS version of above. Monkey man will get you!

We move on to a sweet wine as we approach the end of the savory courses.

Parker 94. “The auction lot of Prum 2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese A.P. #22 differs from the “regular” Auslese in a manner analogous to the relationship between the two corresponding Spatlesen, the most striking aspect of the present cuvee being its uncanny sense of near-weightless delicacy. “This came from a good but not absolutely top-class parcel,” notes Manfred Prum, “but one that got quite a bit of botrytis which we permitted to develop and then selected-out very late.” Given that description, one has to say this was the noblest of rot, so subtle and positive was the flavor concentration and creamy textural allure it engendered, while in no way freighting the wine or lending a taste of botrytis per se. Indeed, this strikes me as the finer of the two non-gold capsule Sonnenuhr Auslesen I tasted, incorporating underlying nut paste richness and a cloud-like sense of wafting sweet floral perfume. Furthermore, this introduces a salinity that renders the finish saliva-inducing and compulsively swallow-able. It should dazzle for 30-40 years.”

“Dragon’s breath popcorn.” The pre dessert. A gimmick, but neat.

Carmel corn “boiled” in liquid nitrogen.

It tastes like… carmel corn, but you can exhale it through your nose for a dragon-like effect.

Mutant lamp in the room.

“Rose Clementine.” Clementine ice cream, shards of extruded sugar, and rose water ice cream and foam. I really like the exotic taste of rosewater, reminding me as it does of Istanbul and Persian weddings.

“Chocolate Eucalyptus.” Extruded chocolate ganache with a peppermint meringue and eucalyptus ice cream. Very nice and creamy chocolate band, with a soft mouse-like texture. The ice cream is the eucalyptus, which went well but makes me think of spa steam rooms.

Video of one of us breathing the dragon.

“Birthday spun sugar.” Tastes… sweet.

“Sexy Little Sweets.” Passion fruit and raspberry pate-fruits. Mint white chocolate, regular chocolate, and various bonbons. The passion fruit pate was my favorite.

“Crown of Sugar.”

The room itself.

The Bazaar is great, and Saam is even greater. The presentation is nicer, and it has more experimental dishes. I’d wish they’d go even wilder. This is exciting food with strong combinations of flavors and unexpected textures.

As I said earlier my only beef is with their agressive corkage policy. I know restaurants make a good share of profit on their wines, but I like to pick my own.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

Or for other Foodie Club meals, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (6)

Posted in: Food

Food as Art: The Bazaar

Oct31

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1, 2]

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

Date: Oct 30, 2010

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

My first exposure to the genius of José Andrés was at Cafe Atlantico in Washington D.C. On an occasional Sunday I’d go with my parents for their Nuevo Latino Dim Sum, which was a ludicrously large prix fix brunch (30 some courses and several hours). I was thrilled when he opened a restaurant in LA. The spectacular result is The Bazaar in the SLS hotel. I’ve been five or six times and the scene alone is great. They have a number of different rooms and restaurants grouped together. There is the bar, with cool snacks and molecular cocktails, the scrumptious pataserie, two rooms of the main restaurant, and the secret prix fix only Saam. This meal was in the main Bazaar. Everything is tapas style, small dishes (about 4 per person) shared by all.

They have all sorts of interesting cocktails, but the signature one is the nitro caprina. Dry ice is used to freeze the rum and lime concoction down without added ice or water.

The result is above. It tastes like a sherbet, with a highly unusual smooth texture, but it’s intensely potent (in terms of proof). Goes down all too easy.

Then I pulled out the first of my wines. The 2007 Laurel. Yum. As I mentioned in my review of Calima this is a fantastic Spanish wine buy. Parker gives it 94 and says, “The 2007 Laurel, a blend of 65% Garnacha and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, is deep purple-colored with a bouquet of wet stone, Asian spices, black cherry compote, and incense. Dense and sweet on the palate with tons of spice, it is super-concentrated, rich, and smooth-textured. Give this lengthy effort 2-3 years of additional cellaring and drink it from 2013 to 2027. Laurel is produced from the young vines of Clos Erasmus as well as from the results of a triage in the vineyard and cellar of the flagship wine.”

Ordering here can involve a bit of planning — not to mention paper and pen.

This first dish is “Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise.” The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

Then we have “Spanish olives, traditional.” Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy.

This is followed by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

“Embutidos platter, chorizo, lomo, salchichos.” A selection of pig, pig, and pig. The chorizo in particular is intense, although not nearly as much as some of the examples I had in Spain where each bite transported you magically to the barnyard sty.

Served with some grilled “tomato bread.”

“Bagel and lox cone,” is deconstructed and re-interpreted. Cream cheese is paired with Ikura (salmon eggs). Tasty.

“Bunuelos, codfish fritters, honey aioli,” these are specular (but hot, right out of the fryer). The sauce gives them an almost Chinese flavor. Fried fish always works.

“Baby beets, citrus, pistachio, goat cheese.” A nice variant on what has become an LA classic.

“Sea scallops, romesco sauce.”

“Jicama wrapped guacamole, micro cilantro, corn chips.” This was really good, vaguely like a caterpillar roll.

“Barramundi, black beans, garlic,” was an incredibly tasty fish. The skin was perfectly crisped, the meat moist.

“Seared artichokes with pastrami Saul, La serena cheese with PX reduction.” This wasn’t my favorite. The artichokes seemed a little dry.

The deconstructed “Philly cheese steak” is one of my favorites. The bread is super crispy with liquid parmigiana. the beef is wagyu.

You can see the cheese oozing out.

The vegetarians got this “Hilly cheese steak” with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese.

“Braised Waygu beef cheeks, California citrus.” This tastes like the best pastrami you’ve ever had, melts in your mouth.

“Catalan spinach, apple, pine-nuts, raisins.”

“Butifarra senator moynihan, Catalan pork sausage, white beans, mushrooms.” The beans were a little dry, but the sausage rocked. This dish reminded me of the equivalent Tuscan sausage and fava beans. I suspect in both cases it hearkens back to the traditional Roman combination of pork sausage served with lentils (over at new years, the lentils symbolizing coins and the wish for wealth in the new year).

At some point we switched up to the 2008 Flor de Pingus, which is even better than the Laurel, deep inky, but silky smooth. Parker gives it 96 saying, “The 2008 Flor de Pingus had been in bottle for 2 weeks when I tasted it. It offers up an enticing nose of smoke, Asian spices, incense, espresso, black cherry, and blackberry. On the palate it displays outstanding volume, intensity, and balance. Rich, dense, and succulent, it has enough structure to evolve for 4-5 years and will offer prime drinking from 2015 to 2028.”

“Lamb loin, Jacques Maximus pistou, trumpet mushrooms.”

My personal favorite along with the cheese steak, “Cotton candy fois lollypop.” The little cube of fois pairs with the sugar like a Sauternes. Oh so yummy.

If that little bit of fois didn’t stop the heart, take a “Fois gras, quince, toasted brioche.” A perfectly put together burger version of the classic pairing.

On Halloween eve, weird costumes abound.

Savory dishes complete, we transferred over to the patisserie for desert. I ordered a glass of this lovely 1927 Pedro Ximenez sherry. I love PX. This one was like sweet motor oil.

I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint.

“Chocolate cupcake.”

“hot chocolate mouse, three layers.” This was good. You gets to inject it with the little syringe of chocolate and the little balls add great texture.

The passion-fruit “Pate des fruits” packed a wonderful wallop of fruit flavor.

Assorted bonbons.

No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. One of these days I need to try Saam and let the chef throw his best at us. I never plan far enough ahead. One note, I ‘ve done The Bazaar’s “set menu” twice, and ordered myself four times. If you know what you are doing doing it yourself is the better way to go, particularly because they don’t mix up their set menu enough. However, if it’s your first visit, letting them handle serves as a fine introduction.