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Archive for Parmigiano-Reggiano

Eating San Francisco – Zuni Cafe

Jan23

Restaurant: Zuni Cafe

Location: 1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. (415) 552-2522

Date: January 16, 2015

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Rating: Tasty!

_

Zuni is a bit of a San Francisco institution (in a recent sort of way).


The busy downstairs.


The current menu.


From my cellar: 2007 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses. Burghound 90. As would reasonably be expected, there is just more here in every dimension with a more complex and more elegant nose that is layered and very fresh and this refinement continues onto the nicely concentrated middle weight flavors that display evident minerality on the sappy, intense and mouth coating finish that lingers and lingers. This is a terrific Savigny blanc and recommended.


Deep-fried Monterey rock cod with cabbage slaw, pickled onions, red jalapeno, and lime vinaigrette. Tiny, tasty, but more mild then I would have thought.


Vegetable tagine, saffron couscous, flowering purple broccoli, cardoons, carrots, yougurt, and charmoula.


Moro and Sanguinelli blood oranges with marinated beets, wild arugula, and farmers cheese.


House-cured anchovies with celery, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Coquillo olives.


From my cellar: 2007 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Finca Dofí. IWC 92+. Opaque ruby. Expansive aromas of dark cherry, blackberry, iron, tobacco and cedar. Very rich but lively, offering sweet red and dark berry flavors and a hint of licorice. Packs serious punch and shows a chewy, youthfully tannic quality on the long, penetrating finish. Unevolved right now and in need of at least another few years in bottle, but this is very promising.


Cavatelli with hedgehog mushrooms and arugula pesto.


Grilled Paine Farm squab with sweet potato puree, braised red cabbage, roasted brussels sprouts, and Charteuse-mustard sauce.


Whole Passmore Ranch trout roasted in the brick oven with curly endive, fennel, Satsuma mandarins, toasted hazelnuts, and brown butter.


Llano Seco Ranch pork simmered with Marsala and sage; soft polenta, spinach, black trumpet mushrooms, and caramelized onions.

Zuni food was bright and tasty, good stuff, although the appetizer portions were a tad on the small size.

For more San Fran dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Hoi An – Brothers Cafe
  2. San Fran – Starbelly
  3. Friday Night Feast 2014
  4. Eating Tuscany – Villa Dinner
  5. Eating Milano Marittima – Notte E Di’
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Parmigiano-Reggiano, San Francisco, Wine

Milo and Olive Pizzeria

Jul13

Restaurant: Milo and Olive

Location: 2723 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90403. p 310.453.6776

Date: June 30, 2012 and June 15, August 9, & Sept 13, 2013

Cuisine: Pizzeria

Rating: Very good neo-Neapolitan

_

There is a definite pizza revival trend going on. LA used to have no good pizza at all (and this was painful having spent so much time in Italian American dominated East Coast cities) but this has all changed. Like it’s cousin, Pizzeria Mozza, Milo and Olive is of the new generation of third (?) wave Neapolitan pizza.


The place is new, crowded, and tiny. They don’t take reservations so come very early or be prepared to wait.


The menu.


Spiced carrot soup. Delicious, with a bit of coconut milk to richen it up and complement the spices.


CROSTINI house ricotta, blistered cherry tomatoes, basil. Tastes like pizza. haha.


“Marinated artichokes, spinach, toasted pine nuts, capers, golden raisins, goat cheese.”


BURRATA PANZANELLA heirloom tomatoes, house croutons, shallots, tomato vinaigrette.


WOOD FIRED PEAR. Baby kale, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, pistachio, lemon vinaigrette.


Special: champagne grapes (warm) with crostini and fresh ricotta. A surprising and delicious combination.


Special: fig and ricotta crostini.

Branzino ceviche. Peaches, cucumber, avocado, sumac. While more of a “tartar” than a ceviche, this was delicious.


Salmon tartare. sieved egg, capers, chives, radish, dill creme fraiche. Tasty, but not as light and refreshing as the Branzino above.


WOOD OVEN ROASTED PRAWNS warm farro salad, salsa verde. A nice (and fairly light) dish.


Special: corn and peppers and cheese. Really yummy with a solid kick.


BAY SCALLOPS butternut squash, brussels sprouts, lemon butter, breadcrumbs.


Shrimp with polenta. Very tasty.


“Bucatini Carbonara, Nueske’s bacon, pea tendrils, pecorino romano, farm egg yolk.” This was much lighter than a traditional Carbonara, although it had many of the same flavors. The Bucatini had a really nice chew to it. The whole thing was buttery, and strongly flavored of from the smokey pancetta, but it was not nearly as eggy and cheesy as the “real deal.” Rich enough though.


ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH TORTELLINI. Parmesan brodo, mascarpone, thyme. Very rich and tasty, but there were only five tiny tortellini! The broth was super buttery.


Classic Margarita.


“Mixed mushroom pizza. Fontina, Parmigiano Reggiano, thyme.” The Milo and Olive dough is pretty much perfect in my book: chewy, tasty, and not overly carbonized.


“Burrata pizza. La Quercia prosciutto, tomato, arugula, olive oil, sea salt.” This is basically a burrata, prosciutto, arugula salad on a pizza. The tomato sauce also served to balance out the creamy cheese and add a bit of acidity. I make a similar pizza myself, minus the ham (sigh).


Here is a clear view. Pizzas here are very generous in size, and even though this is a fairly light one, I was very full afterward.


A summer special: Brentwood corn & summer squash pizza. Cream corn, goat cheese, basil, garlic, and oil.


A fall special: butternut squash, cioppino onions, tallegio cheese and aged balsamic.


Special pizza with fresh figs, Niman Ranch bacon, and gorgonzola cream. This is a riff on a particular style of pizza I really like: the salty/sweet/cheesy type. I make versions myself on Ultimate Pizza Night. This one had a soft sweetness to it, dominated by the fresh figs (I usually use dried ones myself). But it was quite nice. The bacon had a serious smoky richness. It was more pancetta or lardons, certainly not crispy bacon.


BIANCA Taleggio DOP, 25 yr aged balsamic, farm egg. Prosciutto added.

One of my favorite Milo & Olive pizzas. The balsamic added a nice bit of sweetness to the cheese. The egg richness, and the ham salty goodness.


This 2014 addition to the menu, the gorgonzola dulce, speck, kale pizza, was amazing too.


PORK BELLY SAUSAGE. Escarole, tomato sauce, mozzerella. Egg added. Sort of like a high end version of your classic sausage pizza.


A special pizza with cauliflower.


I was eagerly watching the dough guys to see how they shape their pies. My wife and I make our own Ultimate Pizza at home and the dough handling is one of the areas that we need to improve on.


Flourless chocolate cake.


Coffee pot aux creme. Basically a coffee flavored custard, with a bit of carmel and a healthy dollop of creme fraiche. Delicious, but I’m always a sucker for these custard-type desserts.


They have some decadent looking baked goods too, but we were too full.

Overall these were really good new wave pizzas. The dough was perfect and I want to experiment with some of the other toppings to see if one of them is truly awesome. They don’t have a real meatser meatser on the menu which is a shame. The Mozza version of that is spectacular.

See detailed info on our homemade Ultimate Pizza.

More new wave pizza: Mozza, 2Amys, Sotto, Starbelly, Pretorio.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  2. 2Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria
  3. Quick Eats: Divino
  4. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  5. Eating Santa Margherita – Pizzeria Santa Lucia
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Burrata, Carbonara, Dessert, Fontina, Milo and Olive, Neapolitan Pizzeria, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pizza, Prosciutto, Santa Monica California

N/Naka Reprise

Jun27

Restaurant: N/Naka [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 3455 S. Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034. 310.836.6252

Date: May 31, 2012

Cuisine: Modern Kaiseki

Rating: Awesome

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I first went to the amazing Omakase only N/Naka last summer. After a bit of a hiatus the Foodie Club returns. Now bear in mind that this lovely restaurant has only a set menu (they offer it in two sizes, plus vegetarian) but the talented young chef Ms. Niki Nakayama has whipped up an entirely different meal (with similar structure) every time we’ve gone!


The setting is elegant, minimalist, and very Japanese.


This unusual Spanish white earn 92 from Parker, “The 2007 Gorvia Blanco was sourced from a single 3 acre vineyard planted exclusively to the indigenous variety Dona Blanca (used in the past mostly for grappa production or as a table grape). Medium straw-colored, it reveals aromas of apple, pear, slate/mineral, citrus, and acacia. Crisp, concentrated, and intense (in the style of top-level unoaked Chablis), in the mouth it is vibrant, complex, and impeccably balanced. It should provide both intellectual and sensual pleasure for another 5-6 years.”


“Saki Zuke (A pairing of something common and something unique) – Goma Dofu – Fresh Tofu of Sesame and Green Tea topped with a Knuckle of Maine Lobster, Uni from Santa Barbara, a Flower of Pansy from Niki’s Garden, Gold Leaf and a Smokey Dashi.”


After the dashi (fish broth) is added. I love these opening dishes of Niki’s as they are intensely subtle and Japanese. There was a very fresh summer feel to it.


“Sakizuke (A pairing of something common and something unique) – Goma Dofu – Sesame and Green Tea Tofu topped with a Tie of Green Asparagus, Leaf of Red-veined Sorrel, Gold Flake and a Flower of Pansy from Niki’s Garden and Dashi.” This is the vegetarian version of the above lobster dish. In general, two or three variants of each dish will be represented. First the “normal” version, then vegetarian, and then sometimes followed by a special diet version.


With the broth.

“White Asparagus Tofu topped with Ikura, Baby White Asparagus, Red-veined Sorrel, a Flower of Pansy from Niki’s Garden, Butter.”


“Zensai (Main seasonal ingrediant presented as an appetizer) – Pan-seared Tasmanian Sea Trout, Roasted Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, Meyer Lemon with a Green Asparagus Butter, Ponzu Reduction and a Chip of Bull Blood Beet.”


“Zensai (Main seasonal ingrediant presented as an appetizer) – A Roll of Shiitake Mushrooms, Haricot Verts wrapped in Leaves of Kale and served with a Sauce of Sesame Seeds.” Vegetarian substitute for the salmon.


“Modern Zakuri (A modern interpretation of sashimi) – Diver Scallop from Hokkaido, Japan topped with shaved Italian Summer Truffles, Drops of Ponzu Reduction, Fresh Lemon, Dusting of Parmigiano Reggiano and Zest of Yuzu and garnished with Daikon Radish Sprouts and a Flower of Borage from Niki’s Garden.” Hokkaido scallops are divine.


“Modern Zakuri (A modern interpretation of sashimi) – Roasted Bull’s Blood Beets with Roasted Nasu (Baby Japanese Eggplant), Leaves of Cress, Shaved Parmesean Reggiano and a Vinaigrette of Balsamic and Hazelnut.”

The vegetarians get this instead of the scallops, with a drizzled sauce.


“Tartare of O-toro of Baby Spanish Blue Fin Tuna, White Scallions, Caviar of American White Sturgeon, Chives, Soy Reduction and Dashi.”


2007 Montenidoli “Carato” Vernaccia di San Gimignano. The current release is, yes, five years old from the first Vernaccia to be aged in Barrique from a fine selection of free run grape musts, one can taste and feel the Leroy influence here. Deep minerality floated in creamy clouds. Grandiose, wild, and important. Here’s a pic of where this wine comes from. I discovered it last summer while Eating Italy.


“Otsukuri (Sashimi) –  Maguro (Tuna) of Spanish Baby Blue Fin Tuna, Hirame (Live Halibut from Jeju, Korea), Kumamoto Oyster and Ponzu, Kanpachi (Amber Jack) with Freshly Grated Wasabi and Niki’s Special Soy Sauce.”


“Otsukuri (Sashimi) –  Roasted Kabocha Squash, Black Konnyaku, Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, White Asparagus Tofu, Nanohana.” Vegetarian sub.


Uni instead of oyster for a special diet person.


“Agemono (Deep fried dish) – Fried Pompano along with the Crispy Bones with Multi-colored Peppers, Scallions and a Sauce of Sweet and Sour Dashi, Butter Lettuce Leaves.” The fish is cooked in the thick sweet sauce until the bones grow soft, then wrapped in the lettuce and eaten like a taco.

“Mushimono (Steamed dish) / Agemono (Fried dish) – Chawanmushi – A traditional Egg Custard with Shiitake Mushrooms and Shaved Italian Summer Truffles; Tempura of Yamaimo, Carrot and Shiitake Mushroom with accoupaments of Fresh Lemon and Okanawan Finishing Salt.”


The vegetarians had this custard (pictured here in more clarity) and the carrot/mushroom fritter.


Parker 98! “Unquestionably one of the vintage’s finest wines, Jadot’s 2003 Bonnes Mares bursts with roses, violets, cassis liqueur, and black cherries. Armed with magnificent depth, concentration, and extraction, this full-bodied beauty expands on the palate to reveal oodles of black cherries slathered in chocolate. Its finish, which lasts for a minute, reveals additional layers of jammy fruit as well as loads of sweet, round tannin. Though immensely ripe and low in acidity, this gem has the profundity of fruit and structure for considerable cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2022+.”


“Shiizakana (Not bound by tradition, the Chef’s choice dish) – Spaghettini Vongole ala Niki – Fresh Manila Clams sauteed in a Sauce of Roasted Garlic and Campari Tomato Cream.” A different, but exceptional, take on spaghetti with clam sauce.


“Shiizakana (Not bound by tradition, the Chef’s choice dish) – Spaghettini with Shaved Italian Summer Truffles in a Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce, Daikon Radish Sprouts.” Vegetarian sub.


“Spaghettini with Meintako (Pickled Cod Roe) and Italian Summer Truffles.”


“Niku (Meat Course) – American Natural Angus Beef Rib Eye served along side a canele of Russet Potato and Leek Mashed, Roasted Carrots and a Ponzu Demi-jus.”


“Roasted Vegetable Course– Roasted Loaf of Tofu and Mochi with a Spicy Ponzu Sauce.” Vegetarian sub.


Sake- shichida, sago  japan. This is an ultra-ultra rare sake. It comes in various types. I’ve had the sweeter type before, but this is the dry one. The previous one was one of the best sakes I’ve ever had. This was merely good.


Fresh ginger.


“Shokuji One & Two (Rice dish –Sushi) – Tai (left), O-toro (Fatty Tuna) of Spanish Baby Blue Fin (right).”


” Shokuji One & Two (Rice dish –Sushi) – Baby Cucumber with a Plum Sauce (left); Avocado; Okra, Roasted Nasu (right).”


“Amaebi (Sweet Raw Shrimp, right), Aji (Spanish Mackrel, left).”


“Roasted Shiitake Mushroom (right); Roasted Kabocha Squash (left).”


“Uni (Sea Urchin) from Santa Barbara, Seared Toro (Fatty Tuna).”


A fried something handroll.


“Miso Soup with Head of Amaebi.” It’s traditional to recycle the shrimp head in miso soup. This makes for a more briny oceanic miso.


” Soba – Traditional Buckwheat Noodles in a Vegetarian Broth with Shaved Scallions.”


“Dessert – On a sweep of a Sauce of Dark Caramel sits a Cheesecake of Kabocha Squash rolled in Graham Cracker Crumbles, Whipped Cream, Fresh Organic Fruits of Blueberry, Strawberry and Kiwi; Crème Brulee of Sesame Seeds.” Both were great, particularly the Crème Brulee.


Artisan tea.

N/Naka really is a very special place. All the meals I had here were spectacular (here for the first, here for the second). This third was, if possible, slightly more refined, which was always wonderful because often one finds a slight bloom to come off a place on repeat meals. I’ve recently eaten at two Jose Andres set menu restaurants where the menu barely changed in eight months, but at N/Naka everything is seasonal and constantly rotating.

Try it!

Click here to other LA Japanese restaurants.

Or other Foodie Club extravaganzas.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art – N/Naka
  2. Knocked out by N/Naka
  3. Mori Sushi – A Top Contender
  4. Takao Top Omakase
  5. Uh no, Takao again!
By: agavin
Comments (14)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asparagus, Butter, Foodie Club, Hokkaido, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, N/Naka, Niki Nakayama, Omakase, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Restaurant, sake, Shiitake, Wine

Eating Parma – Cocchi Ristorante

Jun13

Restaurant: Cocchi Ristorante

Location: Parma, Italy

Date: June 6, 2011

Cuisine: Emilia Romagna

Rating: Amazing traditional!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

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


Not too much to look at from the outside.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Shown here on the puff.

A variety of grilled vegetables.


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


It’s then doused with parmesan.

The tender inside.


Tuna with zucchini and balsamic drizzle.

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


An apple strudel-like dessert.


And the obligatory expresso.

The have quite the supply of grappa and the like.

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

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
  2. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2
  3. Sicilian Style – Drago
  4. Piccolo – A little Italian
  5. Eating Modena – Real Fini Breakfast
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cocchi, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Italian cuisine, Italy, Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Prosciutto, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salami, side dishes, vegetarian

Palmeri again

May05

Restaurant: Palmeri [1, 2]

Location: 11650 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 442-8446 ‎

Date: April 3, 2011

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great, and good value.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Palmei is one of our Sunday regular places. I’ve already covered the basics in my previous review. But it’s an always reliable and reasonable Italian with a very good kitchen.

The menu.

A nice little half bottle of Brunello. Parker gives it 92. “The 2005 Brunello di Montalcino is impressive for its open-knit, expressive bouquet of violets, dark cherries, minerals, menthol and grilled herbs. Medium in body, the wine delivers gorgeous length and a polished, refined finish. It is a strong effort in this vintage. The estate’s Brunello is made from vineyards in Castelnuovo dell’Abate (70%) and Canalicchio (30%). In 2005 La Gerla did not produce their Vigna gli Angeli bottling and opted instead to add that fruit to the regular bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020.”

Palmeri has very nice bread, including the ever popular homemade grisini.

And best of all, they have this “amuse” (with the bread) ofmarinara sauce and ricotta baked. With bread, pretty much like pizza.

“Special Caprese of burrata and heirloom tomatos, olive oil and basil.” For my detailed write-up on burrata, see here.

Barbiatelli, beets, goat cheese, a bit of nuts and fruit.

Penne pomodoro, for our toddler.

He likes his parmesan.

“Ravioli, Crab meat filled black pasta in a saffron sauce topped with rock shrimp.” I love good pasta in these butter sauces. These are soft and the sweetness of the crab and shrimp go perfectly with the butter.

“Special pasta stuffed with ricotta and spinach.”

Pizza Fornarina. Mozzarella, St. Daniele prosciutto, argugla, parmigiano reggiano and truffle oil. I’m particularly partial to this pizza. The dough is very tasty and thin but chewy. The salad like combo of toppings top notch, and the bit of truffle oil lends a little extra zing.

For our previous Palmeri review, click here.

Or for a different Brentwood Italian.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – Palmeri
  2. Quick Eats: Divino
  3. Sotto – Sicily con Sardo
  4. Seconds at Sotto
  5. Piccolo – A little Italian
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Brunello di Montalcino, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, Marinara sauce, Mozzarella, Olive oil, Palmeri, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pasta, Pizza, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, San Vicente Boulevard, side dishes, vegetarian, Wine tasting descriptors

Upstairs 2 – Modern Tapas, Lots of Wine

Apr17

Restaurant: Upstairs 2

Location:  2311 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064 Tel. 310-231-0316

Date: October 10, 2010 & April 15, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Tapas

Rating: Bright flavors and a lot of options.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Upstairs 2 is located just above the Wine House on Cotner. This is one of the two great wine stores on this road, the other being Twenty Twenty Wine Merchants which is even more erudite (and closer allied to my taste in wine). Upstairs offers not only a big wine list and extensive by-the-glass offers (in multiple sizes) but a rich and varied menu of modern American tapas. As you know, I love tapas style dining because of the ability to try more than 2-3 flavors and the much more flexible composition of dinner menus.

This review is a composite of two different dinners. I show both a small set menu and a variety of “regular” tapas off the menu.

The menu.

The bread and olive oil.

Tonight there’s a little tasting menu with wine pairings. It appealed to me so I gave it a try.

This riesling was to my taste.

The cold cucumber soup, creme fraiche, and dill, not as much. I was hoping for something a little closer to middle eastern yogurt salad. This was very cucumber and dill. I enjoy those flavors but the thin texture of the soup (almost watery: the texture not the flavor) put me off somehow.

I funky powerful white.

“Half lobster tail, spinach polenta, black truffle butter.” This was the best dish of the three. The green stuff was rich and creamy and went very nicely with the firm lobster meat.

A pleasant barolo.

The osso bucco itself was tasty. The meat was firmer than a traditional osso bucco, and tasted almost like lamb. The succotash was okay.

I should have ordered ala carte. The dishes were okay, but I could have done better picking myself.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

And so, here is a collection of modern tapas designed to be shared by the whole table.

“Blood Orange Caesar Salad, Pumpernickel Croutons, Shaved Parmesan.” Very close to a traditional caesar, just with a little extra sweetness thrown in.

“Grilled Mahi Mahi, Crispy Corn Pancake, Black Bean Hummus, Avocado Mousse.” Sort of a modern fish taco!

“Medjool dates wrapped in serrano ham, stuffed with asiago cheese.” These are always yum central. The sweetness of the dates, the savory of the cheese, and the salty bite of the ham blend wonderfully.

“Lobster BLT on brioche, bacon, frisse, roma tomato, housemade mayo.” Another winner. I didn’t even mind the tomatoes here.

“Tandoori chicken salad, artisan greens, grape tomatos, raita, meyer lemon dressing.” This was great too. Somehow tandoori chicken does okay on salad.

“Crispened eggplant, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, marscapone cheese, chunky tomato and basil.” Mini pizza-like in flavor.

“Mixed heirloom tomatos, rainbow microgreens, citrus vinaigrette.”

“Lamb sausage flatbread, Moroccan red sauce, asiago cheese.” Not so mini pizza!

“Grilled Local Sea Bass, Purple Potato Ravioli, Ginger Beur Blanc, Black Sea Salt.”

“King crab ravioli, veronique sauce.” I love these butter sauces on delicate pastas.

“Grilled bison hanger steak, yukon smashed potatoes, red wine sauce.”

“Slow Roasted Kurobuta Pork, Sticky Rice, Oregano and Citrus.” This was really tasty, with a sweet asian pork thing going on.

“Moroccan Roast Chicken, Plums, Olives, Capers, Couscous.” Lots of flavor here as well.

“lamb meatballs, ouzo and mint.”

“Pappardelle Pasta, Veal ragu, Fresh Basil, Asiago Cheese.”

Dessert menu.

“Valrhona Chocolate Chip Gelato.”

“Sticky Toffee Pudding, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.” This was good, not amazing, but good, particularly with the ice cream. I wanted even MORE toffee flavor, but I’m an extremist.

Overall Upstairs 2 is a good place, particularly in that it offers a lot of variety and really strong flavors. It’s particularly good with a part of 4 or 6 and people willing to just order up a storm and share it around. The good, extensive, and flexible wine options are great too. Also if you buy a wine downstairs, there’s no corkage.

Related posts:

  1. Parlez Vu Modern?
  2. Bastide – Chef Number Six
  3. Quick Eats: Caffe Delfini
  4. Fraiche Santa Monica
  5. Quick Eats: Divino
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cook, Cucumber, Dessert, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, side dishes, Soups and Stews, Tapas, Tasting menu, Truffle (fungus), Upstairs 2, vegetarian, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors

Dinner Party – It all starts with Cheese

Mar16

Last Friday we hosted a little dinner party. I can’t say it was purely an excuse for more cooking and food photos, but well, here they are. Everything in this meal is made from scratch.

The first course in summary.

Cheese is always a good start. This time I tried a new cheese shop, Andrew’s Cheese Shop. This is closer than my usual haunt, the The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Andrew’s isn’t as big, but they had plenty of choices, and they were extremely friendly.

I put together a little foursome. Epoisses on the left (gooey washed rind fun), a fantastic goat, Monte Enebro, a nice rich nutty dutch cheese on the left (tasted halfway between a Gouda and Parmesan) and on the bottom, Stichelton, a beautiful rich English blue cheese.

Condiments. Marcona almonds, quince paste (the orange jelly stuff), Spanish olives, and accacia honey from Abruzzo.

The carbohydrates. Traditional french baguette, cranberry nut crisps, and olive oil cracker sticks. All from Andrew’s, and all excellent.

We also made these puff pastries from scratch. Stuffed with egg, cheese, and spinach. Basically little puff-Spanakopita.

What would all that cheese and bread be without some wine?

On the left a fantastic Burgundy, Parker gives it 92, but I’d give it more like a 94. “The 2003 Clos Vougeot explodes from the glass with licorice, dark cherries, and a myriad of spices. A wine of considerable depth, it is packed with suave black fruits immersed in chocolate. Well-structured, ripe, and exceptionally long, it will merit a higher score if its alcoholic warmth is absorbed into the wine with time (something that sometimes occurs with Pinot Noirs). Projected maturity: 2008-2017.”

On the right, earning 90 points (and again I’d give it more), “The 2006 Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone exhibits meaty, herbal, tapenade, pepper, animal fur, and damp earth-like notes. It is soft, round, lush, and best consumed over the next 10+ years.”

For the main course, we went with Salmon en Papillote, adapted from a recipe by non other than Julia Child. All done from scratch.

Sealed in with the juices are julianned vegetables, parsley, basil, garlic. We’ve done this before but tis batch turned out absolutely perfect.

And as the starch, couscous adapted from Houstons (see it HERE). I found a recipe on the web approximating what they do at the restaurant (HERE).

And then salad.

And this delicious but rather un-homogenized walnut vinaigrette (from scratch of course).

Then for dessert, our friend Geo’s Chocolate Ganache tart. He very graciously gave us this recipe after some prying, and it’s a terribly excellent and decadent dessert. Mostly it’s butter, sugar, and 70% cacao chocolate. Oh yes!

Then homemade whipped cream. None of those emulsifying agents. And homemade raspberry sauce (rasberries and sugar thrown in the blender).

And fruit to finish.

Related posts:

  1. Dinner and Drinks at Tavern
  2. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  3. Saturday is for Salt
  4. Lasagne Bolognese Minus the Meat
  5. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Abruzzo, Almond, Cheese, Cooking, couscous, Dessert, Dinner Party, Food, Goat Cheese, Gouda, home cooking, Julia Child, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pinot noir, side dishes, Spanakopita, Stichelton, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, vegetarian

Quick Eats: Caffe Delfini

Mar07

Restaurant: Caffe Delfini

Location: 147 West Channel Road, Santa Monica, CA 90402. tel (310) 459-8823

Date: February 6, 2011

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Good Italian, great value!

 

Caffe Delfini is one of our regular “sunday night” places. LA has a lot of neighborhood Italians, and so it’s only necessary to go to the one’s with a good kitchen. Delfini consistently delivers very good fare at reasonable places, and they are extremely friendly too, and very accommodating of our messy toddler.

The official Menu is here.

I got a glass of Amarone. I like the grapiness of this very traditional wine from outside of Verona.

“CAESAR SALAD. Hearts of Romaine lettuce, shaved Reggiano cheese, tossed with light Caesar dressing,      and served with homemade garlic croutons. (contains pasteurized eggs).”

“MISTA  SALAD.    Chopped butter lettuce, radicchio, shaved carrots and sliced tomatoes      dressed with extra virgin olive oil and aceto balsamico.”

“INSALATA SPECIALE.   Combination of rugola e radicchio, caprese and prosciutto e melone.” My favorite salad, a bit of everything.

“RIGATONI ALLA NORMA.   Tubular pasta with eggplant, plum tomatoes, scamorza cheese, onion, garlic,     basil, thyme  and a touch of red chili flakes.”

“PENNE AL POMODORO E BASILICO.   Penne pasta with basil and tomato sauce.”

“LINGUINE MARE (white wine sauce). Linguine pasta with Manila clams, N.Z. mussels, shrimp, calamari, snow crab claw,  garlic, parsley and a touch of red chili flakes.”

These aren’t the incredible fresh pastas of a place like Drago, but they are nicely done classics, fresh out of the pot/pan, served searing hot. You could also walk across the street to Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi and get them too, but you’d also pay 2-3 times as much, and get a dose of celebrity attitude too.

 

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Divino
  2. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2
  3. Quick Eats – Palmeri
  4. Quick Eats: Sunnin
  5. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Amarone, Caesar salad, Cook, Insalata Caprese, Italian cuisine, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pasta, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, side dishes, vegetarian

Rustic Canyon 3D

Feb27

Restaurant: Rustic Canyon [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 1119 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90401. 310-393-7050

Date: February 25, 2011

Cuisine: Farmer’s Market Californian

Summary: Excellent Seasonal New American

ANY CHARACTER HERE

As a seasonal market driven California restaurant Rustic canyon can be counted on to mix up the menu a bit fairly frequently. It’s a friday night favorite for us, and we return every two months or so. Many of the specific dishes change, but the overall types and categories stay consistant. If you are interested in the previous meals at Rustic Canyon, meal 1 here, meal 2 here.

The current menu.

Spanish style – olives on the table.

The current wines by the glass.

I had two wines tonight. The “2008 Yves Bruessin, Vouvray, Loire.” and the “2009 Domaine des Escaravailles ‘Les Antimagnes’ Cotes du Rhone.” The white was pretty much as expected, the red was a little rough around the edges.

“Local sardines, Crostone, Olivada.” Grilled sardines on the crunchy bread, with a sort of olive tapanade. I had hoped these would be a bit more marinated, like typical Spanish Boquerones-anchovies. It was tasty, but not for land-lubbers — Sardines always have a bit of the… sardine taste.

“Prawn and pork belly Spiedino, Garlic, Rosemary, Lemon, Chilis.” A lemon butter sauce with a strong garlic-rosemary thing going on. The pork was very soft. Essentially a variant of bacon wrapped shrimp!

“Roasted beets & farro, roasted beets, feta, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, fennel, yogurt.”

“Crispy white polenta, wild mushrooms, sunny side farm egg, parmigiano-reggiano.” Interesting mix of textures, crunchy soft. Very cheesy.

“Ricotta Gnocchi, braised duck ragu, parmigiano-reggiano.” Incredibly soft gnocchi, very nice cheesy/meaty ragu. Classic Bolognese type taste, but with the soft pillowy texture of the risotto.

The dessert menu.

“Lemon cornmeal sundae, meyer lemon sherbet, toasted cornbread, whipped cream.” The cornmeal was a bit like cornflakes, giving me this Japanese vibe. The sherbet had a great soft lemon flavor, enhanced by the whipped cream, which had an almost creme fraiche vibe. This all gave it the overall flavor profile of a lemon cheesecake. Refreshing.

Related posts:

  1. The New Cal Cuisine: Rustic Canyon
  2. Rustic Canyon Redux
  3. Figs are in Season
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  5. Brunch at Tavern – again
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: California, Dessert, Food, Garlic, Los Angeles, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Restaurant, Rustic Canyon, Salad, Santa Monica California, side dishes, vegetarian, Vouvray, Wilshire Boulevard

Quick Eats – Palmeri

Feb25

Restaurant: Palmeri [1, 2]

Location: 11650 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 442-8446 ‎

Date: February 13, 2011

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great, and good value.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Palmeri is one of Brentwood’s vast array of Italian restaurants. It’s one of our favorites though as the food is very good, the prices are extremely reasonable, and the service is very very friendly. Italians in LA fall either have a decent kitchen or they don’t, with only about 25-30% being having any real culinary knack. Palmeri is very solid this way. Everything is tasty and well executed. It’s not the most innovative place in the world, or the best Italian in town, but it serves very good modern Italian at very good prices.

From my cellar. Parker 95. “The profound, dense ruby/purple-colored 1999 Montiano (2,500 cases of 100% Merlot aged in 100% new French oak, and bottled unfined and unfiltered) offers a smorgasbord of aromas, including melted chocolate, espresso, blackberries, cherries, currants, and smoke. Full-bodied, with terrific purity, a multilayered texture, and surprising freshness for a wine of such depth, it can be drunk young, or cellared for 10-15 years. For technicians who care about such things, it has a whopping 37 grams per liter of dry extract.”

Palmeri has very nice bread, including the ever popular homemade grisini.

And best of all, they have this “amuse” (with the bread) of marinara sauce and ricotta baked. With bread, pretty much like pizza.

Barbiatelli, beets, goat cheese, a bit of nuts and fruit.

Carpaccio. Raw “piemontese” beef, thinly sliced, topped with arugula, Parmigiano cheese and mustard. A solid carpaccio, very beefy.

Artichoke soup, vegan.

Penne pomodoro, for our toddler.

Pizza Margherita, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. With some extra mushrooms thrown in. They do a very nice very crisp Neapolitan pizza. They have a real pizza oven.

Salade Invernale. Endive, baby frisee,  radicchio, grapes, gorgonzola dolce, almonds, prosecco vinaigrette.

Mussels and clams in a garlic tomato broth.

Pizza Fornarina. Mozzarella, St. Daniele prosciutto, argugla, parmigiano reggiano and truffle oil. I’m particularly partial to this pizza. The dough is very tasty and thin but chewy. The salad like combo of toppings top notch, and the bit of truffle oil lends a little extra zing.

The owner, Octavio — always extraordinarily warm and welcoming.

For a second review of Palmeri, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Divino
  2. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2
  3. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  4. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini
  5. Quick Eats: Piccolo
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cook, Endive, Food, italian, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, Marinara sauce, Mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pizza, Restaurant, Salad, side dishes, veg, vegan

Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday

Jan31

For the second half of my mother’s birthday weekend we hosted a small pizza party. I’ve already detailed the entire process involved in the making of my Ultimate Pizza (CLICK HERE for the index page). This party was merely a refinement of the process, but one which succeeded in taking the art to even higher levels.

This whole format makes a really great party. Newcomers don’t know what to make of it because pizzas come off the line slowly at first, in series, and everyone grabs a slice. No one sits down, but instead hovers around the kitchen island participating in the three hour frenzy of pizza making. Very fun and interactive.

First off the presses is this completely basic tomato and mutz pizza for my two-year old. He doesn’t appreciate complexity yet, although I have progressed him from generic orange cheddar to 2-3 year aged special reserve cheddar, which he is now very fond of :-).

 

Opening with some whites: a nice champagne, and a very nice riesling.

“The 2000 Brut Millesime Cuvee Speciale comes across as excessively heavy and almost sweet in its ripe fruit. Something is not quite right about the balance here. Disgorged: December, 2006. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2011.”

Parker gives this riesling 91 points, “An almost confectionary sense of sweetness and ripeness pervades the Prum 2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese, making it something of an exception in a vintage collection generally noteworthy for the restraint of residual sugar. Apple candy, caramel, and vanilla mingle on a creamy palate, with hints of salt, stone, and apple pit happily offering some counterpoint in a long and otherwise soothing finish. This showed more grip as it opened, and perhaps time will lend more cut and complexity to a Spatlese that on the basis of track record is likely to thrive for another quarter century or more. Incidentally, this represents the first of three lots of “regular” Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese, the last of which was still in tank in September.”

And the first red. Parker 93, “Super-ripe aromas of cookie dough, spices, and black cherry syrup can be found in the nose of the medium-bodied 2002 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Pruliers. Its fabulously satiny texture, concentration, and purity are immensely impressive. This medium-bodied wine coats the palate with innumerable black fruits, minerals, and spices. Projected maturity: 2008-2018.”

Here is the evolution of my wife’s favorite pizza. Fresh tomato sauce (HERE for details and recipe), black mission figs, corn, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, and marcona almonds.

This is actually the second pizza of the night, as I had made my creme fraiche salmon pizza, but I forgot to get a photo. Fortunately, details can be FOUND HERE.

Cheese: mozzarella, parmesan, pecorino.

And then out of the oven. This time around I was trying to concentrate on slightly less irregular shapes, with some success. I have not mastered the art of “spinning” the pizza to get it very round, and the soft “00” based dough makes them very fragile.

This pizza employed a base of my special herb oil (detailed HERE at the end of this post). Then pesto (RECIPE HERE), steamed asparagus, almonds, tomato, various cheeses (including Bucheron), mushrooms, basil.

Out of the oven.

Caramelized onions, gorgonzola, figs.

Dressed with balsamic glaze. A very yummy sweet and salty pizza.

Besides all this pizza there was also a very yummy salad my mom made, with micro greens, granny smith apples, and a fresh homemade meyer lemon vinaigrette. I unfortunately forgot to take a photo, must have been running to the oven and back.

Here is a new one. One of my friends brought two new cheeses, a 5 year old aged Gouda and a 7 year old cheddar. Both cheeses were used here, along with breadcrumbs. This made fore a very yummy crunchy pizza, not unlike cheesy garlic toast.

My mother likes her pizzas fairly simple and veggie. This has classic tomato and mutz, plus mushrooms, basil, and julienned zucchini. I got to practice my knife skills with the julienne. She did throw a bit of the aged Gouda on.

It looks pretty different out of the oven, but it sure tasted great. The Gouda turned out to be a great sophisticated pizza cheese and melted here with the parm and mutz into a really great cheesy mess like on a good New Jersey style pie.

Gelsons was out of the Tikka Masala Sauce I used on New Years (HERE FOR DETAILS), but I bought a “coconut curry” sauce by the same company. It’s arrayed here with mutz blocks, corn, chaneterelle mushrooms, basil, red onion and bucheron.

I finished it with cilantro pesto (we had two different kinds of pesto this time around, DETAILS HERE). The purpose of the cilantro pesto was to mirror the finishing of a curry dish with a handfull of coriander (cilantro) leaves. The net affect on this pizza was less in your face than the Tikka Masala, but still very Indian, like Naan bread dipped in curry. Yum!

Pounding through the wines, had to crack a pair of brunellos.

Parker 91, “The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is a fresh, vibrant offering bursting with dark cherries, violets, underbrush, minerals and sweet toasted oak on a medium-bodied frame. The wine reveals terrific balance in an energetic, focused style, with firm yet ripe tannins. The finish is long, clean and refreshing. This is a gorgeous effort from Loacker. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2019.”

Parker 93, “The stunning, single vineyard 1997 Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli, exhibits more new oak than its sibling, as well as more power, concentration, alcohol, and extract. A deep garnet color accompanies huge, sweet aromas of roasted herbs, red and black currants, cherries, earth, incense, tobacco, and soy. This is a wine to lay away for 5-6 years. This chewy, full-bodied, spectacular Brunello will be at its finest between 2010-2022.”

 

This was a great pizza made by a newcomer to our culinary circle. Pesto, red onion, bucheron, herb oil, some various cheeses, and I think a bit of acacia honey.

I sold her on finishing it with Burrata (details on my favorite fresh cheese HERE), and then single vineyard olive oil and balsamic must.  It was REALLY good.

This puppy, also by a newcomer, used a sauce base of both the crushed tomato sauce and homemade romesco (I had made it two days before for my special eggs, DETAILS AND RECIPE HERE). We also used both the aged cheeses, and some good aged parm.

Also a very yummy pizza, with the romesco lending an extra bit of tanginess to the sauce.

Another newbie with this novel shaped pizza. Basic stuffs, a lot of basil, lots of cheeses and onion.

Out of the oven.

Scott, one of my most regular partners in pizza crime, tried to make this “mexican pizza.” The sauce is actually salsa, not regular tomato. Then corn of course, various cheeses, tomato, red peppers, and some sliced jalepeno I think.

Finished with burrata and cilantro. We wanted to use avocado too, but our farmer’s market avocados were hard as rocks, they needed another week or two to ripen.

My mother liked her basic veggie so much (as did many others) that she whipped up another one.

This is a highly experimental pizza. It used a port wine cheese and aged gouda, along with chopped farmer’s market dates, and even some splashes of the currently open wine (either a brunello or a very good cote de rhone — below).

Then it was finished with fig jam (not shown). This made it a very interesting sweet pizza, even if the color was a putrescent pink.

I decided to experiment with my own caramelized onion based pizza. I added Bucheron, sharp cheddar, marcona almonds, cherry compote, and a bit of harrisa.

After cooking.

Dressed with burrata and balsamic glaze. This was not my most successful combo, and I think the problem was the cheddar. It added a tangy sharpness that just didn’t work.

This used romesco alone as the sauce, along with all sorts of vegetables, figs and cheeses, including bucheron.

Finished with burrata and balsamic and olive oil. Yum!

More wine. Parker 90, “The 2006 Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone exhibits meaty, herbal, tapenade, pepper, animal fur, and damp earth-like notes. It is soft, round, lush, and best consumed over the next 10+ years.”

For a finale Mirella, another regular and adventurous pizza chef, concocted this baby. The sauce is a mix of Moroccan Harissa and caramelized onions! Aged cheeses, onions, sliced garlic, and gorgonzola dolce.

Cheesy, spicy, sweet, this was a delicious finisher.

But we weren’t done drinking. 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.”

My mom’s birthday cake, yes she is one year younger than my toddler.


And after that cheese bomb of a meal, nothing like a little gelato/sorbetto to polish off the palette. We experimented with this gourmet store brand, Talenti. Pistachio, Lemon, Raspberry, Double Chocolate, and Blood Orange. For store bought ice creams these were very good, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to what you get at a good gelateria. Sigh. All were good, personally I thought the blood orange was the best.

Finito.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – New Years
  2. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  3. Ultimate Pizza – The Toppings
  4. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Sauce
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Almond, Apple, Bucheron, Cheese, Cook, Cooking, Dessert, Dough, Food, Gelato, Gouda, Homemade pizza, Mozzarella, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pesto, Pizza, side dishes, sorbet, Tomato, Tomato sauce, vegetarian, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors

La Cachette Bistro part deux et trois

Jan27

Restaurant: La Cachette Bistro [1, 2]

Location: 1733 Ocean AveSanta Monica, CA 90401(310) 434-9509

Date: January 15, 2011 & December 7, 2011

Cuisine: (Cal) French

Rating: Great food, good value for what you get.

 

Movie night, and off to La Cachette Bistro for some good French fare. Commentator’s note, that unfortunately as of January 2012 La Cachette Bistro seems to be closed 🙁 Santa Monica rents are obviously not healthy for our restaurant business.

The menu. They changed it up a little since we were last here (HERE FOR PREVIOUS REVIEW). Now there are a range of “French Tapas,” which are kinda like Spanish topics but… well, more French.

“Roasted Organic Beet Tower with Feta Cheese, Avocado, Tomato, Goat Cheese Raviolini and Cumin Dressing.”

“House Smoked Salmon Plate with Corn Blini, Sour Cream and Onions.”

“Salted Cod Croquettes with Rouille.” These are a traditional Spanish dish (despite the French Tapas claim). They weren’t bad at all, but they weren’t in the same league as The Bazaar’s version (REVIEW HERE).

“Stuffed Dates with Gorgonzola and Crispy Prosciutto.” Can’t go too wrong here. The sweetness of the dates, and the salty cheese and crunchy salty bacon. Yum.


Frisse salad with egg and lardons.


Steak Tartar. I’ve become very attached to the good old spiced raw beef in the last two years or so. This was a good one.

“Wild Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil, Parmesan Cheese and Mushroom Sauce.” Very mushroomy. A bit of butter, but not super rich.

“New Zealand Lamb Chops, with Horseradish, Mint, Peas and Bacon.”

What would a bistro be without bistro fries.

Cod in a cream sauce, with squash blossoms stuffed with ratatouille.


Classic boulibase. Safron garlic tomato broth with mixed seafood. Toasts with garlic mayo.


Side of steamed broccoli.

Cassolette, the classic white beans, sausage, and lamb stew. Exactly as it should be, rich, meaty, and beany.

Mostly variants of traditional bistro desserts, which is a good thing.

“Profiteroles With Vanilla Ice Cream, Dark Chocolate Sauce And Almonds.” Classic Profiteroles. The chocolate sauce here is perfect, combined with the pastry, ice cream.  Umm good.

“Warm Dark Chocolate Chip “Divine” Cake With Whipped Cream.” The cake was fine, but they need to upgrade the ice cream. it didn’t seem rich and creamy enough.

“Tahitian Vanilla And Orange Blossom Crème Brulee.” I love a good creme brulee. This one is good, with a nice hint of orange. It could have been a bit more custardy, and Sam’s by the Beach (REVIEW HERE) does a better brulee, but it’s still good.

Check out the custard!

Expresso.

In good weather, La Cachette Bistro has a gorgeous patio.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
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  3. Food as Art: Bistro LQ
  4. Food as Art: Ortolan
  5. Matsuhisa – Where it all started
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cooking, Dessert, Feta, Food, French Cuisine, Ice cream, Mushroom Sauce, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, reviews, Rouille, side dishes, smoked salmon, Sour Cream, Types of chocolate, vegetarian

Food as Art: La Terraza

Jan16

Restaurant: La Terraza

Location: Madrid Spain

Date: June 29, 2010

Cuisine: Molecular Spanish Gastronomy

Rating: Fantastic!

 

We spent the month of June in Spain and this included a legion of fantastic meals. Recently I covered a traditional Spanish place (REVIEW HERE), but La Terraza is radical modern Molecular Gastronomy, similar to the stellar Calima (REVIEW HERE), or LA’s — believe it or not — more restrained Bazaar (REVIEW HERE). Modern Spanish was reinvented at El Bulli in the Northeast corner of Spain. As we weren’t exactly in the vicinity, and didn’t have the impossible to get reservation, we had to make due with La Terraza whose chef, Paco Roncero, cooked at El Bulli for years. In fact, there is still some form of association.

A special cart prepares signature liquid nitrogen cocktails.

“Passion, mint, and coffee, nitro.” The frozen drink is shoved back into the passionfruit. The combo sounds weird, but it was delicious. I love passionfruit.


The menu. This is the “regular” tasting menu. They also customized a vegetarian and fish version for my wife.

Parker gives this 94. “Clos Mogador is produced by the esteemed Rene Barbier who has hit homeruns in both 2003 and 2004. For starters, the 2003 Clos Mogador, a dark ruby/purple-colored wine, offers an impressive nose of toast and smoke, earth, charcoal, and blue fruits. It is dense, layered, and very concentrated with the structure for 6-8 years of additional bottle age.”

The all white decor was pretty cool — shoved in here in a 19th century casino.

We begin with a whole series of amuses. This is “Olive Oil Butter.” A little crisp is filled with clover.

Then the butter is squeezed out of the little tube and then enjoyed.

“Polenta crisps.” A little like corn puffs.

“Popcorn nutty cake” and “Meringued Peanut.”  The cake had a texture like dust, but it tasted like popcorn! The peanut tasted like peanut butter, but the texture was… well… meringue.

“Cut of Parmesan.” The outside was light and crunchy, the center had texture like ice cream, but the flavor of Parmesan. Fun and delicious. As you can tell from  these playful amuses, a common characteristic of this cuisine is the playful interplay of unexpected textures and flavors.

“Cod Kokotxas in pil-pil.”

“Liquid ham croquet.” The ham and cheese croquet is a classic Spanish dish. This deconstructed version is a ham and cheese sphere with bready crumbles. The cheese popped in the mouth.

This is one of vegetarian substitutions. “Deconstructed Waldorf Salad.”

Check out the insides.

“Scallops, beetroot, and yogurt.” The beet is in sorbet form.

“Salmon marinated in miso with cucumber, pineapple, and fennel salad.” This has a relationship perhaps to the Nobu “miso marinated cod.”

One of the special substitutions, a fish with mushrooms.

“Oyster tartar.” Raw marinated oyster bits with a little pile of foam.”

The substitution. A bit of fish with a vegetable risotto.

“Extruded fois gras ‘noodles’ with green apple sorbet.” As fois gras is typically served with apples this is a rather unusual variant. The fois seems to have been deep frozen with nitro and extruded into little noodle like shapes. Fois is always tasty.

“Pesto Gnocchis and baby squids.” Very interesting mix of textures and flavors.

Afterward, it resembles modern art.

“Asparagus tips, almond soup, crayfish, and summer truffle.”

The almond soup. The soup is traditional. You can see the white asparagus tips. This was a really nice dish.

“Grouper with green bean cream.”

A different fish with cucumber “noodles.”

“Waygu with Iberian pork ravioli.” Rich and meaty!

“Violet, ‘madrorflo,’ strawberries and aniseed.” The red dust like stuff was like frozen sweet strawberry dust.

“Olive and citric ravioli with frozen chocolate dust.”

“Liquid bailies bombo.”

“Peach Palet,” “Alter eight tile,” and “Air biscuit.”

Spain won the world cup semi-final and the streets went crazy with honking cars.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Calima
  2. Food as Art: Ludobites 6.0
  3. Food as Art: The Bazaar
  4. Food as Art: Ortolan
  5. Food as Art: Hatfield’s part 2
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cooking, Dessert, eating-spain, El Bulli, Ferran Adrià, Food, liquid nitrogen, Madrid, Molecular Gastronomy, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Restaurant, side dishes, Spain, vegetarian

Ultimate Pizza – Day 3

Jan07

The seventh Ultimate Pizza post. Earlier in the series were Dough, Pesto,Sauce, Toppings, New Years Pizza, and Day 2. Woah!
We had family over on Sunday to polish off the seven remaining pizza balls and work our way through some more of the toppings. I made a number of repeat pizzas that I didn’t photo, like another Tuna and another Lox pizza. So there were about four pizzas made but not pictured.

This puppy has black truffle sauce, then a generous spread of caramelized onion marmelade, gorgonzolla, parmesaen, morel mushrooms, marcona almonds, cherry compote, and drizzled honey.

After baking.

Then I added some fresh basil, burrata, and drizzled balsamic glaze and olive oil. It was really good. The sweetness of the onions mixed nicely with the salty blue cheese and nuts giving it that sweet and salty factor that I’m very fond of.

A repeat of my Tikka Masala pizza. Ricotta, Mozzarella, Parmesan, onions, corn.

Dressed with basil and olive oil.

A tomato sauce, fresh tomato, mozzerella, archichoke, sun dried tomato pizza.

Dressed with a little basil and olive oil.

We ran out of balls, and my niece wanted a pizza of her own creation so we used a tortilla. This one has pesto, tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, and sliced tomatos.

Then dressed with bail. The tortilla actually worked incredibly well. It came out like a water cracker, incredibly thin and crunchy. The overall feel of the pizza was very light and crispy. I was surprised. Different than our chewy tasty pizza dough, but good.

With that I conclude the endless saga of Ultimate Pizzas. It will be at least a few weeks before I have the energy to do them again.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – The Sauce
  2. Ultimate Pizza – The Pesto
  3. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
  4. Ultimate Pizza – New Years
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Toppings
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Almonds, Cooking, Food, Home, Morels, Mozzarella, New Year, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pesto, Pizza, Tikka Masala, Tomato, Tomato sauce

Ultimate Pizza – The Toppings

Jan01

When making Ultimate Pizza fresh ingredients are one of the most crucial elements. I already went over the preparation of the Dough, the Pesto, and the Sauce. Now I’ll cover the bulk of the shopping and for toppings.

I get most of my “fancy” condiments at Bay Cities Italian Deli and Bakery. This is a convient one-stop-shop spot for all sorts of Italian (and other) goodies.

I have never been in there when they aren’t mobbed. The deli counter wait alone is usually 30-45 minutes.

They make some darn good hoagies, and they have a bit of outside seating. Even though it’s December 31 the weather is gorgeous.

I had them make a “Jersey Style” Italian Hoagie. No mayo. No mustard. Just cold cuts, provolone, and oil and vinegar. Oh and don’t forget the onions, lettuce, pepper-chinos.

I went to the Gelsons for produce. Bay cities doesn’t really have produce.

The loot nestled in the trunk. This is pizza only for five!

Dairy. Next after the dough, and possibly the olive oil, nothing is so important as the dairy. Burrata, world’s greatest fresh cheese, fresh from the local creamery. Mozzarella (balled and blocks from shredding), Creme Fraiche, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Ricotta, Bay Cities House Blend (parm and pecorino grated), and Bucheron (very fancy goat cheese). I threw in some Egg Nog because of the season.

Some jarred and canned stuff. Anchovies (in vinegar and in oil), black truffle oil, Italian tuna, capers, roasted peppers, sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, tomatoes, various compotes, jams, corn (sometimes I’ll roast it fresh but I was too busy), and more.

Polenta to use as “pizza lube” (getting it off the stones and peels). Olive Oil (single vineyard), balsamic must (the Romans used this), honey, garlic, vinegars, onion marmelade, balsamic glaze, black mission figs, marcona almonds. I have white truffle oil too, but I forgot to stick it in the photo.

Produce. Five types of mushrooms, including morels and fresh chanterelles. Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, Dill, Sage, Cilantro, Mint, Arugala, crushed red pepper.

More produce. Italian squash. Red onion, avocado, lemons, meyer lemons, roma tomatos.

Every item needs to be prepped and put in a bowl or similar so it is accessible during the pizza making. Here is the basil. In total, this is a huge amount of work.

Mozzarella is grated.

Arugala is coated in Meyer Lemon and fresh ground pepper.

Gorgonzola crumbled.

Dried mushrooms rehydrated, fresh ones washed.

White asparagus boiled and blanched.

Vegetables chopped.

In aggregate, this prep takes 2-3 hours, even after all the shopping. The the above is just a sampling of photos.

Here is the complete spread prior to guest arrival.

Please CONTINUE HERE WITH THE PIZZA ITSELF.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – The Sauce
  2. Ultimate Pizza – The Pesto
  3. Ultimate Pizza – The Dough
  4. Quick Eats: Andy’s Spanish Eggs
  5. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bay Cities, Black pepper, Bucheron, Burrata, Cook, Cooking, Creme Fraiche, Deli, Dough, Eggnog, Food, Home, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pesto, Pizza, Shopping

Ultimate Pizza – The Pesto

Dec31

This is part 2 of my series on Ultimate Homemade Pizza. For Part 1 (on Dough) CLICK HERE. We prepare a lot of different toppings, including homemade pesto, which makes an excellent substitute or compliment to tomato sauce. Most toppings will have to wait for the day of, but pesto can be made a day or two in advance.

The ingredients. Fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil (fine single vineyard), and parmesan.

One can do this by hand or with the Food Processor. Today was rainy, and we felt lazy. It’s also hard work to get a really fine texture with the mortar and pestel.

All ingredients in.

Bass-o-matic! A little pepper tossed in too.

The final result. Intensely basil — and green!

This is a photo of another time when I did it the hard way. Takes some serious elbow grease.

The Ultimate Pizza guide continues HERE.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – The Dough
  2. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  3. The New American – Gjelina
  4. Food as Art: Hatfield’s part 1
  5. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
By: agavin
Comments (12)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cooking, Food, Food Processor, Garlic, Home, Mortar and pestle, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pesto, Pine nut, Pizza, sauces, Tomato sauce, vegetarian

Lasagne Bolognese Minus the Meat

Dec28

Layered between our obsessive holiday restaurant forays we did sandwich in a little home cooked meal. As the main course was lasagne I reached into the cellar and pulled out some Italian.

Parker gives this Barolo a 93, “The 1997 Carobric, also tasted from magnum, presents a more evolved set of flavors including tobacco, earthiness and over-ripe, cooked fruit. Though it shows excellent length it is the wine that most clearly reflects the adverse conditions of the hot vintage in its wilted, somewhat tired quality. 90/Anticipated maturity: 2006-2012.”

Parker gives this one 90, “The 2000 Barolo Bricco Rocche is fragrant with important aromas of roses, anisette, and cinnamon. Polished and elegant in style, it benefits from the additional freshness and continuity provided by the sensations of mint and tobacco on its lingering finish. Drink: 2005-2016.”

This second was smokier than the Carobric.

A little Campari and soda was also in order, with fresh blood orange from one of our trees.

As we cooked (and drank) this 2 year old vermont cheddar was enjoyed by all — including my 2 year old.

The lasagne in the oven. We wanted a vegetarian Lasagne Bolognese, so the “meat” is actually soy. In searching low and high for some fake meat that actually tastes decent — the Boca was the best we found. By making a from scratch Bolognese sauce with the fake meat, it inherits a more complex flavor and does a decent job pretending.

Nicely browned.

Salad, with apples, mushrooms, and walnuts.

Dressing, a lemon vinagrete made with meyer lemons.

Some Broccoli Rabe, blanched, then sauteed with garlic and peppers.

Finished up.

And a fruit salad to finish. The grapefruits were from our tree too.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Ortolan
  2. Swish Swish – Mizu 212
  3. Food as Art: Chanukah in Style
  4. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2
  5. Rustic Canyon Redux
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: boca, Campari, Cooking, Dessert, Food, Fruit and Vegetable, Home, Lasagna, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pasta, side dishes, soy meat, vegetarian

Rustic Canyon Redux

Dec23

Restaurant: Rustic Canyon [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 1119 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90401. 310-393-7050

Date: Dec 20, 2010

Cuisine: Farmer’s Market Californian

ANY CHARACTER HERE

When I first moved out to California in the early 90s LA cuisine was typified by Asian influences and whacky fusions — all of which I enjoyed. In recent years fusion has become more subtle — and more prevalent — and more and more top restaurants have become ingredient driven. Those whose chefs have a knack are really good, and Rustic Canyon is one of them. My review of a previous meal is here.

Another gem from my cellar. Parker gives this 95. “Another unbelievably rich, multidimensional, broad-shouldered wine, with slightly more elegance and less weight than the powerhouse 1996, this gorgeously proportioned, medium to full-bodied, fabulously ripe, rich, cassis-scented and flavored Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a beauty. It should be drinkable within 4-5 years, and keep for 25-30. This classic Pauillac is a worthy rival to the other-worldly 1996. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2025. Wow! What extraordinary wines Grand-Puy-Lacoste has produced in both 1995 and 1996. At present, I have a marginal preference for the blockbuster 1996, but I am not about to argue with anybody who prefers the 1995! Both are compelling wines.”

The menu here changes daily. Very little is the same as the last time I visited and reviewed.

Like in Spain, olives on the table.

“Squash blossoms, goat cheese and mint.” Fry is always good. This is a Roman dish, specifically, it’s a Jewish Roman dish that’s centuries old — and it’s still great.

“coleman farms lettuces pickled shallots, parmigiano-reggiano, mustard vinaigrette.” Tasted more like pizza than salad!

“panzanella hierloom tomatoes, green olives, red onion, country bread, arugula.”

“ricotta gnocchi braised duck ragu, parmigiano-reggiano.” These melted in the mouth, and were as good as a similar dish at any Italian joint.

“niman ranch burger sharp cheddar, onion fondue, bread and butter pickles, herb remoulade 18 hand-cut french fries.”

“niman ranch pork chop roasted pears, pancetta, porcini, sage.”

“niman ranch burger, breakfast style. With confit bacon, sunny side-up egg, hash brown, tilamook cheddar, 18 hand-cut french fries.”

Zoom in here for the heart stopping view.

If you read regularly, you’ll have seen this favorite before. Parker gives this 96. “Beaucastel has been on a terrific qualitative roll over the last four vintages, and the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape (which Francois Perrin feels is similar to the 1990, although I don’t see that as of yet) is a 15,000-case blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the balance split among the other permitted varietals of the appellation. This inky/ruby/purple-colored cuvee offers a classic Beaucastel bouquet of new saddle leather, cigar smoke, roasted herbs, black truffles, underbrush, and blackberry as well as cherry fruit. It is a superb, earthy expression of this Mourvedre-dominated cuvee. Full-bodied and powerful, it will undoubtedly close down over the next several years, not to re-emerge for 7-8 years. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025.”

The desert menu.

Coffee ice cream, more like gelato.

“Pear ginger sundae, pear riesling sorbet, gingerbread crumbs, caramel sauce.” Not your classic sundae. The pear sorbet and the breadcrumbs tasted like pear pie. The creamy looking stuff was more a creme fraiche than a whipped cream. Overall delicious.

“Passion fruit posset, creme fraiche whipped cream, toasted pistachios.” Tasted like passion fruit pudding. I love passion fruit.

Again Rustic Canyon proves it’s chops. And Ron Howard was there too.

Related posts:

  1. The New Cal Cuisine: Rustic Canyon
  2. Food as Art: Saddle Peak Lodge
  3. Food as Art: Ortolan
  4. Brunch at Tavern – again
  5. Food as Art: Bistro LQ
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: California, Cheddar cheese, Cooking, Dessert, Food, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pasta, Pauillac, Pickled cucumber, Restaurant, Restaurants and Bars, reviews, Rustic Canyon, vegetarian, Wine bar

Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2

Dec20

Restaurant: Osteria Latini [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: Dec 03, 2010

Cuisine: Italian

_

As I mentioned last time, Osteria Latini is a reliable and reasonable neighborhood Italian. It proved that yet again.

From my cellar. Parker gives it 91 points. “The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is a fresh, vibrant offering bursting with dark cherries, violets, underbrush, minerals and sweet toasted oak on a medium-bodied frame. The wine reveals terrific balance in an energetic, focused style, with firm yet ripe tannins. The finish is long, clean and refreshing. This is a gorgeous effort from Loacker. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2019.”

Tomato, basil, goat cheese.

“ARTICHOKE SALAD, Marinated thin sliced artichokes, heart of palm and parmesan in a lemon dressing.”

“INSALATA BELLA, Arrugola, Pears, sun dried cherries, pine nuts, goat cheese and Parmesan.”

A special, calimari steak stuffed with lump crabmeat and drizzled in ponzu sauce. This is unusual, and certainly has a bit of fusion about it — but it’s good.

“BEET SALAD, Diced red beets, endive, pine nuts, walnuts, dried cherries and goat cheese.” This is Latini variant on this now ubiquitous dish.

Another special, “duck prosciutto with gorgonzola sauce. The duck has a very nice smokey flavor.

Branzino, roasted whole with a lemon butter sauce. They took it away to filet.

“PENNE ARRABBIATA , Penne rigate with spicy marinara sauce, garlic, olive oil and parsley.”

“RISOTTO DI ARAGOSTA, Sautéed with lobster, light marinara sauce and white wine.” I got this again because I love lobster and i love risotto,

“CHICKEN MILANESE OR PARMIGGIANA, Pounded and breaded. Sautéed with marinara and mozzarella cheese.” This chicken must have been the size of Godzilla. It’s lightly breaded, sauced, and has both parmesan and mozzarella.

Special pasta, spaghetti, salmon, zucchini, and tomato.

Here is the sea bass.

The chef brought some out in their raw form to show us.

This mixture of prosecco, lemon sorbetto, and meringue is very refreshing.

For other Osteria Latini reviews, click HERE or HERE.

Or for LA Restaurant reviews.

Or an entire month of eating in Italy!

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini
  2. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  3. Quick Eats: Mon Ami Gabi
  4. Quick Eats: Piccolo
  5. Quick Eats: Coastal Flats
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cooking, Dessert, Food, italian, Italian cuisine, Marinara sauce, Mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Penne, Restaurant, reviews, side dishes, vegetarian

Quick Eats: Osteria Latini

Dec09

Restaurant: Osteria Latini [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: Dec 03, 2010

Cuisine: Italian

_

LA is full of good Italian places, and, well, it was date night and my wife loves Italian. So off we went to Osteria Latini which is one of the ten or so in Brentwood, most on San Vicente. About half of the places are actually very good and we often rotate around between them. The menu can be found HERE.


“BELLA SALAD, Arrugola, pears, dry cherris, goat cheese and shaved parmesan.”

“BEEF CARPACCIO, Thin sliced filet mignon with capers, parmesan and arrugola.” This was a very good version of this classic. The beef was excellent, there was a nice tang to the dressing, and the cheese was very good. I love good cheese.

“BOMBOLOTTI, Small rigatoni with tomatoes filet and basil.” Very straight up pasta.

“RISOTTO ALL’ARAGOSTA, With lobster in a light tomato sauce.” I’m a huge risotto fan, all sorts of risotto. This was an excellent seafood variant. You can’t see it, but there was a lot of lobster in there. And the light tomato sauce was indeed — light — complementing the fleshy lobster well. It was not particularly rich — but was very good. Given that I was coming off the gluttony of the ThanksGavin, light was a good thing.


Latini always gives you this little glass of lemon sorbetto mixed with prosecco at the end, regardless of whether you order desert or not. Given my penchant for lemon and my sweet tooth, I like it a lot.

This place is well above the median line for the already high bar of LA Italian (although it certainly has A LOT of company). They’re friendly, tasty, reasonably priced, and the chef has a very good touch.

For other Osteria Latini reviews, click HERE or HERE.

Or for LA Restaurant reviews.

Or an entire month of eating in Italy!

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Piccolo
  2. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  3. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  4. Quick Eats: Coastal Flats
  5. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, Cooking, Food, Italian cuisine, Lobster, Los Angeles, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Restaurant, reviews, Risotto, Tomato, Tomato sauce
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