Archive for pasta – Page 4

Eating Positano – Mediterraneo

Aug08

Restaurant: Mediterraneo

Location: Viale Pasitea, 236, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. +39 089 811651

Date: June 25, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Solid neighborhood Italian

Night two in Positano and yet another… you guessed it… Italian.

The manager of our rental property recommended this one.

Which also abuts the road, although doesn’t actually straddle it this time.

The view.

The menu is big again, and includes a handle pasta key.

2014 Cantina del Taburno Falanghina Sannio Falanghina del Sannio. Another pretty tart local white, this time from the Falanghina grape.

Ricotta stuffed squash blossoms.

Caprese of local cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella.

Mixed appetizer plate with various cured and fried seafood. Octopus, cured anchovies, fish carpaccio, fried shrimp.

My son’s pomodoro.

Gluten free pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce.

The better homemade pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce.

Risotto del Mediterraneo. Mixed seafoods.

Gelato with chocolate sauce.

Hazelnut semifreddo.

The food at Mediterraneo was good, although not superlative. Still, they made up for it with a certain lively atmosphere and extremely friendly staff. There was live music, and they passed out tambourines, and just generally kept the party going.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating-italy, pasta, Positano, Wine

Eating Rome – Trastevere

Jun26

Restaurant: Eating Italy Rome

Location: Trastavere, Rome

Date: June 8, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun and tasty

Just a week or so before leaving for Italy my mom learned that one of my second cousins actually lived in Rome, and not only that, that he ran a gourmet food tour business. Turned out some of our other cousins had been on one of the tours and loved it — so we hastily signed up.

We met in this typical looking church square on an island in the Tiber. This particular tour was a four hour later afternoon/evening stroll around Trastevere trying out all sorts of various little eats.

Our lovely and vivacious guide was Jasine.

Here is the map and menu so to speak.

First stop is Da Enzo, a popular trattoria.

Not a giant place as you can see. We began with some Prosecco, but I forgot to photo it.

Burrata, Prosciutto, melon. A classic bit of antipasto. The burrata might have warmed up a bit much as it was making a valiant effort to return to the milk from which it came. Still, a yummy start.

And the vegetarian version featured eggplant instead.

Next up is Spirito di Vino — an auspicious name.

And down into the ancient cellar.

Really down.

2013 Molino a Vento Nero d’Avola Sicilia. A robust Sicilian red. Not my usual wine “level” and a bit over-oaked, but nice enough.

Baked pasta. A layered baked dish of pasta, cheese, and tomato sauce. Like lasagna meets baked ziti.

Ancient pork. A pork shoulder recipe from ancient Rome!

Cheesy grits. Not really, but mashed potato or polenta mixed with cheese. Delicious.

Third is a bit of mid dessert. Innocenti biscotti (cookies).

They make traditional tarts.

And various cookies. This kind had an apricot jam layer.

Then on the left chocolate dipped and on the right hazelnut macaroons, not so different than my mother’s Passover macaroons, but those use almonds.

Fourth is cheese at Anitica Caciara.

Dairy on display.

And the fresh stuff that never is that great in the states.

It goes on and on.

But we came for the Pecorino Romana, here seen aging. Notice the olive oil drip to the right. It literally oozes oil as it dries.

Fresh Pecorino. Nutty and mild.

Aged Pecorino Romano. Stronger and delicious.

After cheese is meat! Antica Norcineria.

Specializing in the famous Porchetta!

Have a few cured meats.

Or olives.
The “white pizza”, otherwise known as focaccia.

And the porchetta itself, drizzled with olive oil.

These last two are assembled into the “sandwich.”

And the vegetarians got some olives, ricotta, and honey.

Next, on to I Suppli for more snacks.

Fried stuff.

And this kind of Roman pizza by the slice.

The Suppli is really well fried and served piping hot.

Inside is a delicious mix of risotto, cheese, and meat. Really delicious.

Enotecca Ferrara is where we will fill up apparently.

Typical cute inside.

Some slightly sweet prosecco.

This Italian Merlot doesn’t even make it onto Cellar Tracker. It wasn’t too bad for a YOUNG merlot.

Ricotta with cheese and pomodoro sauce. A bit of a peppery kick too, quite nice.

cacio e pepe. The classic Roman pasta. Love it.

Gnocci with scamorza (smoked mozzarella).

And what would an Italian food tour be without gelato? Fatamorgana.

All organic, this gelato place was has very interesting flavors like “pears, porto wine, and elder”!

I got passionfruit and grapefruit with orange or lemon. The grapefruit in particular was amazing, with a 10 minute finish! This place is a little less creamy (I think they use less dairy) but VERY tasty.

And they have gelato sushi!

Or some of these Italian ice cream confectionaries.

All in all, a delightful evening of really yummy treats. If you are in Rome and love food I highly recommend it. The wine was too young and casual for my taste, but the food, without being fancy, was fabulous. It showed up the kind of street food and ingredient focused items that would easily be overlooked, but make Italy just so tasty.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating-italy, Gelato, pasta, Rome, Trastevere, Wine

Via Veneto

Oct08

Restaurant: Via Veneto

Location: 3009 Main St. Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 399-1843

Date: April 13, 2014

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent contemporary Italian

LA is overflowing with Italian restaurants, but there is tremendous range in quality (and price). From old fashioned “red sauce” places to modernist takes like Il Grano. Via Veneto is in that high middle ground were it serves Italian (not exactly Italian American) up with panache.

2011 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis. 89 points. White peach, white flowers and minerals. Fresh with a hint of effervescence. Straightforward but enjoyable.

They do get a strike for having not only a $30 corkage (which I can stomach) but a 1 bottle policy. This forced me to buy this decent bottle from the list — but I had to pay a $60 markup for it!

Bread and olives.

CAPRESE CON BUFALA LAZIALE. buffalo mozzarella from “Lazio”, heirloom tomatoes, basil, olive oil.

Caprese with Burrata. Because Burrata always makes everything better!

TARTARA DI MANZO AL COLTELLO. knife cut prime beef filet tartare prepared to order, Pantelleria caper, house special dressing.

MELANZANE ALLA PARMIGIANA. farmers market eggplant, parmigiana style. Not exactly a traditional shape, more like involtini.

INSALATINA DI ARAGOSTA E QUINOA CON MENTA E LIMONE. lobster and quinoa salad, min and citrus vinaigrette. They do love this cylindrical shape. This was a pleasant salad, but the quinoa dominated (i.e. it was hard to really taste the lobster).

RUCOLA SELVATICA, RADICCHIO TREVIGIANO E REGGIANO. wild arugula, treviso radicchio, parmigiano reggiano.

From my cellar: 1990 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Vigna Cicala. 94 points. Such a beautiful intense nose of tar, rose petals, leather…wow. Medium structured with great balance. Long and delish.

RAVIOLI DI VITELLO AI PORCINI. home made veal ravioli, porcini mushroom tomato sauce.

FETTUCCINE AL SUGO DI COSTINE DI MAIALE DELLA MONNA. home made fettuccine with slowly braised baby back pork ribs ragout, tomato sauce. Basically a porky Bolognese.

Pumpkin Ravioli. In butter and sage. Apparently very good, but no amareto cookie inside (that’s traditional).

RISOTTO AL ROSMARINO CON SPEZZATINO DI CINGLIALE. rosemary risotto with braised wild boar. It’s hard to pass up cingliale (boar), and this is a good reason why!

AGNELLO IN CROSTA. pan roasted rack of Sonoma lamb in a crust of fine herbs. Nice!

Mediterranean sea bass, simply grilled.

Some sides: beats and broccolini.

More sides: spinach and roasted potatoes.

The dessert menu.

Chocolate tart.

Profiteroles, stuffed with pastry cream.

Panna cotta with nutella. The hazelnut aspect was subtle, but this was delicious.

Crema di amaretto. A layered thing with lady fingers, this had that delicious complex secondary vibe going that I love from good Italian desserts. That’s why I occasionally make my own uber Tiramisu.

Overall, Via Veneto has a great kitchen. As this category of high end Italian Italians in LA goes, this is a very good one. All the food is extremely tasty. Service was good. It’s dark (not a problem) and a little loud. My biggest ding goes for a strict corkage policy of $30 and one bottle. That’s pretty steep, they could do without the bottle limit for those of us who want to work to empty our cellars.

Oh, and if you’re curious how this compares to the “real thing” I have about 50 write ups from Northern and Central Italy here!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Italian cuisine, Italy, lamb, pasta, Risotto, Veneto, Venice, Wine

Reference Pasta – Cacio e Pepe

Jan15

I’m pretty much a pasta fiend, particularly good homemade pasta, so an evening home with my son afforded a good opportunity to try out my pasta cooking chops on this ultimate reference pasta — cacio e pepe. Literarily, it just means “cheese & pepper” and it’s an extremely basic pasta from Rome that showcases its extremely few ingredients. In Gavin tradition, like my ultimate pizza or my uber tiramisu, I try to do it to the highest standard of quality.

That starts with a good pasta. Cacio e pepe is traditionally done with spaghetti or a similar thick long pasta. This pici, is a thick hand rolled pasta, like fat spaghetti. This one is homemade (not by me) out of durum semolina and has a fantastic bite and coarse surface perfect for saucing.

This is a 22 minute to al dente pasta! Wow. I used a pinch of applewood smoked salt in the water to lend a slight smokiness to it.

Some other supplementary ingredients. More on the egg late, but you need a little fat. The most traditional would be pancetta, but staying dairy olive oil or butter work fine. Romans would usually use the pork or olive oil. In the grinder is very fresh, very strong black peppercorns. This awesome grinder makes a very coarse grind. It’s extremely important to have coarse ground bitey pepper. This pasta is about cheese and pepper — so none of that weak sauce pepper with no flavor.

The don’t call it “cheese and pepper” for nothing.

My son and I grated the cheese as the pasta cooked. Only real, fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano will do. Check out the cute little olive wood grater box I bought last time I was in Tuscany.

And the signature cheese: Cacio de Roma (Roman Cheese). This is a sharp, salty, medium firm, creamy sheepmilk cheese. You could use generic pecorino, but it’s not really creamy enough. This is the right cheese.

Drain the pasta and keep some water (I just plucked it out with tongs and dropped it into the strainer). Even at 22 minutes it was seriously al dente, very thick, with a nice weightiness to it. Don’t rinse it. You want that starch.

Now here is the secret to proper pasta that Americans forget. You have to make the sauce in a pan and throw the cooked pasta into it. Before adding the noodles, I melted some fat (butter this time), then toasted some pepper in it for a minute or so, then added a bit of the pasta water and boiled it. This creates a butter/starch base. In went the pasta.

And then most of the cheese (about 3/4 a cup of ground Parmesan and 1/3 a cup of Cacio). You toss it all around for a minute or so to melt the cheese into the sauce and coat the noodles.

To finish it, I ground in a bunch more pepper and threw in an egg yolk. A tasty Carbonara I had a month ago gave me this idea. It’s not strictly traditional to the Cacio e Pepe, but it does add a nice richness. I stirred that in too.

And voila, one heart stopping bowl of simple pasta. This was pretty spectacular. Very weighty, with a richness to the eggy cheese, and a good bite from the pepper. Adult mac & cheese done right.

For more food write-ups, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Al dente, Black pepper, Cacio de Roma, Cacio e Pepe, Cooking, italian, Olive oil, pasta, Recipe, Rome

Gusto Italiano

Dec07

Restaurant: Gusto

Location: 8432 West 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048. (323) 782-1778

Date: December 5, 2013

Cuisine: Italian (Roman)

Rating: Fabulous meal

Our pal , Chef Vic Casanova, who used to be chef at Culina / 4 Seasons hotel opened his own Italian place. Tonight, for us Hedonists, he prepared a special “Roman” feast.

The 3rd street frontage, not far from the Beverly Center.

Our menu. I had been under the impression he was slanting more Ancient Roman, like this crazy meal at the Getty Villa, but this is more hard core Roman, as in the “modern” Italian city. Not that there is anything wrong with that, as authentic Italian food is unbelievably good (and this meal, you shall see, turned out great). It just wasn’t Ancient, which is a particular thing of mine. Antique Roman cooking has very different ingredients (no corn, no tomato, no potato, no pasta, etc) and a bold and unusual flavor profile that is herby, sweet, and salty.

From my cellar, 2012 Collestefano Verdicchio di Matelica. IWC 94. Pale straw-green. Knockout aromas of quince, pear, white peach and white flowers are complicated by lemony minerality on the vibrant, captivating nose. Rich and broad on entry, then explosive in the middle palate, saturating the mouth with bright, lively floral and fresh citrus flavors that are intensified by penetrating acidity. Finishes extremely long and creamy-rich, expanding to coat the palate and teeth with lingering white peach and floral flavors. The bright acidity conveys an almost weightless mouthfeel to this seamless, rich, extremely concentrated wine. You can tell that owner Fabio Marchionni studied white wine in Germany. This is but one of many outstanding vintages for this wine. Let me be clear: I think it is probably Italy’s single greatest white wine buy.

1996 Prince Florent de Merode Corton-Renardes. 90 points. A little “funked.” Translucent red fading to amber brown color, nose of port wine, dark candy and apricot. Initial tast of berries (red rasberries), smooth.

Cavoletti. Shaved brussels sprouts, cabbage & kale. Pomegranate. Cherries. Apples. Goat cheese. Mustard vinaigrette.

Interesting flavor profiles. Without the cheese, it would have been fairly exotic. Either way, it was good.

1980 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Brunate. A touch funky, and very mature, but certainly drinking nicely.

From my cellar, 2007 Paolo Bea San Valentino Umbria IGT. RJ Wine 93. Very dark ruby color; appealing, black raspberry, minerally nose with a sense of pepper; tasty, minerally, roasted plum, light pepper, juniper berry, lavender palate; medium-plus finish.

Cervello Fritti. Fried artichokes. Calves brains. Lemon maionaise.

Zombie food! Fried brains. This was actually very tasty with a nice deep fried flavor and bright lemony mayo in counterpoint.

The buzz is getting on. Lots of wine and the food came quite slowly.

1987 Bruno Giacosa Barbera d’Alba. While WAY paste where it was supposed to drink (that probably would have been about 1992), this was actually pretty interesting.

From my cellar, 2006 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici. IWC 91. Bright ruby-red. Perfumed, terroir-driven aromas and flavors of blackcurrant, licorice, iron, woodsmoke and minerals. At once dense and suave, with herbal and peppery nuances complicating the wine’s aromatic flavors of red cherry, plum, tobacco and flinty minerals. Finishes with building tannins and a juicy freshness.

Polpette alla Napoletana. Meatballs al forno. Tomato sugo. Locatelli pecorino.

These were some seriously tasty meatballs. Perfectly cooked, they constrasted nicely with the cheesy whip.

1997 Pertimali (Livio Sassetti) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. Parker 92. The 1997 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva boasts an opaque ruby/purple color in addition to deep, full-bodied flavors, and more tannin as well as a more angular finish than the regular cuvee. Hence the lower rating. Although it does not possess the exuberance, fruit intensity, staggering aromatic fireworks and concentration of the regular bottling, it is still a great meaty, leathery Brunello that should age well for 12-15+ years. I’d be happy to drink it on any occasion.

From my cellar, 1997 Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. RJ Wine 94. Raisins, mint and licorice in the nose; big taste in which the oak did not seem entirely integrated. The nose presents the hay notes of mature red wine, higher alcohols, chocolate, raisins, and the taste is huge with a sweet feel and then massive tannins; it has interesting mature flavors, raisiny, organic, decayed leaves turning into something cheesy in a very agreeable way. This is a very young mature wine with a lot going on!

Trippa alla Trasteverina. Brained honeycomb tripe. Spicy tomato.

Described as a tasty spongey hose.

2004 Musella Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva. Parker 93. Musella’s 2004 Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva offers terrific vibrancy and freshness in its dark fruit, herbs, tobacco, sweet spices and subtle French oak. This beautifully poised, medium-bodied Amarone possesses remarkable balance in a nearly weightless style. The refined tannins give this wine its gorgeous sense of proportion, which carries through all the way to the long, satisfying finish. This is an elegant Amarone that delivers incredible value for the money. It is not to be missed.

2010 Conte di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpolicella. 89 points. Crimson garnet appearance. Cherries, black and red currants, violets, cardamom, and dried fruit aromas. The palate exhibits a full body, crunchy texture, sappy cherry fruit, a dark chocolate mid-palate, crushed rocks on the back end, all under a dusting of coriander. Concludes with a crisp, medium finish. Ridiculously young, and very cheap for an Amarone, but in 10 years…

Asparagi Piemontese. Grilled asparagus. Black truffle fonduta. Sunny side egg.

Imagine what would have happened if she ate the brains instead!

2004 Azienda Agricola Reverdito Michele Barolo Serralunga. Young! Nice wine, but Barolo needs 15+ years.

1999 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Brunate. IWC 91. Medium red. Complex, mellow aromas of plum, cherry, marzipan and earth; ripe but not overripe. Suave, silky, full and deep, with noteworthy clarity of flavor and inner-mouth perfume. Finishes with broad, horizontal tannins. Way too young still.

Tonnarelli alla Carbonara. Fresh cracked black pepper. pancetta. egg yolk.

The pasta here was perfect, thick chewy, and very al dente. It was a very eggy Carbonara, and while extremely tasty, could have used a MUCH stronger pepper. Black pepper is one of those tricky things because some peppercorns are tasteless and some have that bright snappy bite. It’s not the amount here, but the pepper itself.

1994 Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Ornellaia. Parker 89. The 1994 Ornellaia is a decidedly small-scaled, mid-weight effort with attractive, fragrant aromatics and delicate notes of tobacco and spices that add a measure of nuance to the fruit. While the 1994 lacks the complexity of the finest vintages, it nevertheless possesses lovely overall balance and harmony. The 1994 Ornellaia is 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc that spent 15 months in French oak, a third of which was new.

1995 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon. Parker 89. Aged in 100% new French oak casks for 22 months before bottling, the 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon offers a dark ruby color, followed by a sweet, aggressively woody nose. The pungent wood dominated the wine’s fruit, which lowered my score. Nevertheless, once past the oaky overlay, the wine exhibits fine ripeness, copious quantities of rich, chewy fruit, medium to full body, and wood tannin in the finish. I am not sure if everything will ultimately come together, but this is a flamboyant, oaky, spicy Cabernet Sauvignon that requires 2-4 more years of cellaring; it should keep for 15-20 years.

Bucatini all’Amatriciana. Guanciale. Chili. Pecorino.

Slightly odd to have two long squiggly pastas in a row. Although, again ,the pasta itself was spot on. The sauce was pretty classic Amatriciana and had a good bit of heat. It probably could have used a bit more of a porky flavor. Certainly it was very good although being an egg fiend I preferred the Carbonara.

1996 Mario Marengo Barolo Brunate. Parker 91-93. The velvety-textured 1996 Barolo Brunate offers up a textbook bouquet of rose petals, cherry liqueur, and tobacco leaf scents. Melted tar also emerges with swirling. On the palate, there are gorgeous levels of black cherry and truffle flavors. Dense and full-bodied, with lofty but not excessive alcohol (14%), this sensational Barolo has moderate tannin underlying the layers of glycerin-imbued, rich, chewy fruit.

2006 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis. Parker 97. The 2006 Barolo Cannubi Boschis is seductive, round and sweet in its ripe dark fruit. The wine continues to gain weight in the glass, showing a level of density that nearly manages to cover the tannins. Floral notes add lift on the finish. This is a powerful, linear Cannubi Boschis with tons of energy and muscle, but it will require quite a bit of patience. Sandrone harvests his three parcels in Cannubi Boschis separately. Vinification takes place in stainless steel. The wines undergo malolactic fermentation and are aged in 500-liter barrels (roughly 20% new) for a year. Once the final blend is assembled, the wine goes back into oak for another year prior to being bottled in the spring. Sandrone is one of the earliest producers to bottle, which he does to preserve as much freshness as possible.

Baby killer! This needed at least 10 more years.

Petto D’Anatra.Spiced duck breast. Wilted cavolo nero. Butternut squash caponata. cherry glassato.

2008 Gianni Brunelli le Chiuse di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino. Parker 91. The 2008 Brunello di Montalcino comes across as very, very young and in need of serious bottle age. I suspect the 2008 will always be a bit of a brute, but at the same time it is quite beautiful. Savory herbs, licorice, tobacco, incense and leather wrap around the palate as the 2008 shows off its considerable personality. The 2008 doesn’t have the immediate appeal of some other recent vintages, but I will not be surprised if it turns out to be even better than this note suggests.

2007 Sine Qua Non Pictures (Grenache). Parker 97. 2007 Pictures Grenache: A blend of 87% Grenache, 11.5% Syrah, and 1.5% Viognier, this wine has wonderful floral notes intermixed with black raspberries, black cherries, licorice, graphite and some camphor. In the mouth, more white chocolate notes appear, along with meatiness and some silky tannins. Its great purity, density and richness make me think this wine could even improve a few points and flirt with perfection. This stunning wine should drink nicely for another 10-15 years.

And what is it with these annoying new world labels where the vintage is on the back? Make me take 2 pictures, sure!

Coda alla Vaccinara. Braised oxtail. Carrot. Celery. Polenta.

This is a classic Northern Italian dish and this particular example was lovely (big portion too). Very soft and meaty, not too too fatty, and a really yummy cheesy polenta. Great stuff.

2003 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Clos du Bourg. Nice sticky.

Coconut Gelato Pie. Chocolate fonduta. Graham cracker crust. Vanilla bean whipped cream.

This cake, while certainly extremely far from ancient, was right up my alley and rather delicious. I love coconut and it had that cool semi-freddo thing going on.

Just a small corner of the chaos.

Overall, this was another great meal. As usual, we had an insane overabundance of wine, probably over 1.5 bottles per person. The food was delicious, if not exactly what I thought it would be. Almost all the dishes were lip smacking good. The pasta was perfectly al dente. The service was extremely warm and helpful, although the pacing between dishes (particularly at the beginning) was decidedly authentic Italian. Just a great time!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dessert, Gusto, hedonists, Italian cuisine, pasta, Wine

Assaggi – not the first 3 letters

Jan14

Restaurant: Assaggi

Location: 4838 Bethesda Avenue. Bethesda, MD 20814. 301-951-1988

Date: November 27, 2012

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

A night out with friends in Bethesda (outside of Washington D.C.) brought us to this modern neighborhood Italian.

A fairly typical menu.

I love Amarone. It’s made in the “ripasso” (rested) style. This means the grapes are sun dried into raisons on straw mats before pressing. This gives it a richer raison quality than otherwise.

Can’t beat the pig. This is a mixed large plate of prosciutto di parma, lonza, cacciatorini, salame nostrano, and capocollo.

And some cheese to go with it. From left to right: smoked mozzarella, mozzarella di bufala, and burrata. This is all not so different than Obika.

And some marinated veggies in case the above wasn’t healthy enough.

Salad of local beets, baby spinach, toasted pumpkin seeds, and lemon vinaigrette.

Bigoli pasta with “maple leaf farm” duck and porcini mushroom ragu. A nice winter ragu.

Orecchiette pasta with “path valley farm” punpkin, goat cheese, and toasted pine nuts.

After killing the Amarone, we switched to this Taurasi. Taurasi is from near Naples and made with mostly Aglianico which is a delicious southern Italian grape.

Some gluten free pasta with tomatoes and olives.

Agnello. Slowly cooked lamb shank, mint mashed potatoes.

And its beefier cousin, classic osso bucco.

Finish with a little gelato.

For Washington, which isn’t known for great Italian, this was a solid meal. Service was friendly, the food was modern Italian American (not the dreaded “red sauce” style) and everything tasty.

For more Washington dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Assaggi, Bethesda Maryland, Buffalo mozzarella, Italian cuisine, pasta, Prosciutto, Washington

Tomato Night at Il Grano

Sep17

Restaurant: Il Grano [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 11359 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. 310.477.7886

Date: September 12, 2012

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Modern Italian to die for

After my stellar birthday meal at Il Grano, and with the closing of Drago, Il Grano has become one of my favorite westside Italians. Every Wednesday through the summer and early fall the restaurant has “tomato night,” where a crazy bounty of the fruits are used in every conceivable dish.

Chef/owner Sal Marino has some kind of mega tomato garden in his backyard where he grows approximately a 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in staggered progression (some have slightly different seasons). Here you can see just a few of them. I’m not even a tomato fan but I have to say they look gorgeous!

This spectacular Barbaresco comes from my cellar. Parker gives it 93, “The classic 1997 Barbaresco Santo Stefano is evolved and flamboyant. A medium ruby/garnet color with an amber edge is followed by a sweet perfume of black cherries, tobacco, leather, spice box, licorice, and tar. Full-bodied, with a creamy texture, superb concentration, and an exquisite finish.”

Fresh bread and olive oil. The pottery is evidently by the chef from Mori sushi!

First course is a pretty straight up Neapolitan pizza with arugala and… you guessed it… fresh tomatoes.

Then two sorts of gazpacho made from single varieties of tomatoes. Here is the garnish, which includes that dark stuff made from olives.

This green one is “Green Zebra.”

Since the GZ is an extra tart tomato, this made for a great gazpacho with a bracing vinegar flavor.

This variant was made from a red heirloom instead, I can’t remember which one.

A “carpaccio” of heirloom tomato, raw red snapper, and burrata. Il Grano uses only sushi grade fish!

Fresh wild blue fin tuna tartar (not yet fully extinct) with arugala and those lovely yellow and red puppies.

A tomato, arugala, burrata salad. As you can see, tomato haters should stay away from Wednesday.

Seared sushi grade Saba (Japanese Mackerel) with a green tomato slurry and roasted micro tomatoes. The fish was spectacular, with no fishy notes at all, and paired really nicely with the acidic slurry.

“Faux tomato.” While this is actually made from a number of tomato parts, it’s not a “real” tomato, but a construct with an artificial skin and a tomato mouse inside. Interestingly, I had a very similar dish at Calima in Spain. That one used an avocado “soup” and shrimp, but was otherwise nearly identical. It was good either way!

A cheese manicotti (homemade) with a very Neapolitan fresh tomato sauce. Yum!

Spaghetti vongle. The classic Neapolitan and clams. Not so much tomato but this was amazing with a nice heft to the pasta and a satisfying clamminess.

Fresh Carolina grouper, simply cooked (salt and pepper) with tomatoes. This fish was melt in your mouth.

Fried zucchini blossom with what has to be one of the best tomato purees I’ve ever had.

A bit of filet minion with the same sauce and some rappini. The dark stuff on top are sun dried and perhaps smoked tomatoes that had an almost ham like quality to them.

Tomato dessert!

Sal’s maniac grin and he literally whips it up.

This is a tomato sorbet made in the same manner as The Bazaar’s liquid nitrogen signature drinks.

And the result, topped with ground olives. Not your usual dessert and halfway between sweet and savory. The texture was that ultra-smooth one that comes from liquid nitrogen freezing.

While similar in format, Tomato Night shows a different palette for Il Grano. Everything was executed in spectacular fashion. Sure, I’m not a total raw tomato lover, so perhaps I prefer a more “normal” meal, but these were some of the best tomatoes I’ve ever had. Two of the people at the table were tomato fiends and were in heaven. And I love when a restaurant can keep mixing it up. If you like higher end Italian cooking (and who doesn’t?) you should absolutely rush over here. Make sure you get a tasting menu. I don’t think appetizer and entree selected off the regular menu would do the place the justice it deserves. I’m sure the dishes would be great, but this cuisine is about more than just two notes.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or experience my gluttonous month-long journey through Northern Italy.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Barbaresco, Chef, Dessert, Gazpacho, Green Zebra, heirloom tomato, Il Grano, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, pasta, Santa Monica California, Spaghetti vongle, Tomato, Wine

More Pizza – Hostaria del Piccolo

Aug03

I updated the post on this newish rustic Italian to include twice the yummy pizza, pasta, and old-school Italian delicacies. Click here to see all the details.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Hostaria del Piccolo, italian, Italian cuisine, pasta, Pizza, Santa Monica California, Tomato sauce

Giorgio Baldi – Canyon Perks

Jul20

Restaurant: Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi

Location: 114 West Channel Road. Santa Monica Canyon, California 90402. 310-573-1660

Date: March 3, 2012

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Overpriced, but so so good

Giorgio Baldi is a restaurant of extremes. The good: It’s five minutes from our house and the food is spectacular. The bad: It’s at least twice as expensive as it should be, crowded, has an attitude, and outside wine is not allowed. The ugly: Almost every visit has a-list celebrities on display. We’ve seen Spielberg three times, Tom and Katy (before that cratered), and a host of others.

Their wine list is big, well chosen, and very pricey. Parker 92. “The 2004 Barbaresco Gaiun Martinenga is elegance personified. I was quite impressed with this wine’s seamless texture and expansive, ripe fruit and refined bouquet. The style is simply beautiful, as the wine marries modern and traditional approaches with uncommon elegance. There is outstanding depth and lovely integration of the tannins Nothing in particular stands out, just the wine’s exceptional balance. Gaiun is made from a plot adjacent to Asili and shares a similar softness to the Barbarescos that are made in that storied vineyard. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019.”

This is the kind of dish Giorgio excels at, “truffle risotto.” Wow is this good. Be warned, some truffle dishes are over $100! This one was perhaps $35. I apologize for the poor photos. I had recently broken my hand and forgot a real camera and so had to use the iPhone.

Also amazing, the “white corn agniolotti with truffle butter sauce.” These little bits of pasta melt in your mouth. If you like butter and truffle, this is utterly amazing.

“Asparagus ravioli in butter sauce.” All the pastas here are fantastic.

“Santa Barbara prawn, tomato, and farrow salad.”

“Pumpkin ravioli in butter sage sauce.” A classic of the Vernoa/Mantua area. They do it well. Your tongue will love it, your heart not so much.

“Branzino with artichokes, mushrooms and tomatoes.” They make a great grilled/baked sea bass here. Problem is: $55-60!

Most dishes come with classic potatoes and spinach. Even this is good.

One of my favorites. “Three pound lobster, meat sautéed with tomato, garlic, and basil, stuffed back in the shell.” Just amazing. Over $100!

Classic pork chop.

A side of simple penne pomodoro.

Artichokes.

“Butterscotch budino.” Yum yum!

“Creme brulee.”

“Flour-less chocolate cake.”

These aren’t the greatest pictures, and while I’m sure the food looks good, you are probably saying to yourself: “Looks like an Italian restaurant.” Yes, but this is a very very good Northern Italian restaurant with a huge menu. And they do pretty much everything great. The biggest problem is the price. Everything is at least twice what it really should be and they ream you on the extras. You have to ask for the prices on the enormous list of specials, and all are sky high. Many dishes are over $100! They even charge $7-8 for 7 ounce bottles of water! It’s really painful and I only go these days when someone else is paying. Still, I do love it.

Also on the negative side is the overpriced winelist and no corkage allowed (almost all LA places allow corkage, to exclude is very rare). Then there is the crowd factor. Not only might you be sitting shoulder to shoulder with Tom Cruise, but it’s really shoulder to shoulder. The two-tops are completely adjacent. They have to pull out your table for your date to sit. This places stranger’s conversations about six inches away.

But I can’t fault the food.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Barbaresco, California, Giorgio Baldi, Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi, pasta, Santa Monica California, Truffles, Wine

Capo Hits a Triple

Sep18

Restaurant: Capo [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1810 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, Ca. 310-394-5550

Date: September 14, 2011

Cuisine: Italian with Cal influences

Rating: The food here is really very very good.

Capo is an occasional favorite of mine and I’ve reviewed it before HERE and HERE. They have a particular high end (but not formal) blend of California style (Farmer’s Market ingredients) and Italian tradition. But it’s not a strictly traditional Italian, more interpreted through a vaguely Tuscan / California vibe.

The intimate dining room.

They have very good bread at Capo, particularly the crispy things.

Capo always puts out this little humus-like spread. I suspect it’s fava beans. It’s addictive though.

We settle down to examine the MENU, which is big, and always a difficult decision because there is so much great stuff on it. They have an odd menu format, in which each item is identified by only it’s principle ingredient, forcing you to guess or ask how it’s actually prepared. Plus they have “fill in the blanks” on the menu which are filled in by a separate sheet of daily specials. No big deal, but it’s kind of bizare. Doesn’t matter though, as the food is great.

I got this 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva at the vineyard in Tuscany. It was just released as it’s aged for 5-6 years in old oak. “From vines in Castelnuovo dell’Abate, is gorgeous, layered and elegant in its violets, tar, licorice and cherries. The finish is long and impeccable, but this is a somewhat ethereal style, with aromas and flavors that are already a touch forward relative to most 2004 Riservas. Ideally the wine is best enjoyed within the next decade. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020.”

It’s worth noting that Capo has a peculiar corkage policy (I rant on it here). In short, you can bring one and no more than one bottle, and that it must not be on their list.

The amuse, a cone of tomatoes. Essentially like a tomato bruschetta — in a crispy cone.

“Heirloom tomato vegetable salad.” Very fresh Farmer’s Market vegetables.

The same salad, but with Burrata. Which, like bacon, makes everything better.

“Burrata black truffle bruschetta.” Besides the shaved vegetables and the bread underneath this is a big blob of burrata, fresh truffles, and a whole poached egg! It was pretty good, but decidedly rich. In some ways similar to my special eggs, in some ways like the famous Melisse truffle egg.

“Steak tartar.” The fries and aioli are obvious. The meat was delicious! There was a lot of pepper in there, and olive oil. But mostly it just tasted of wonderful raw beef. One of the better tartars I’ve had. Maybe a little shaved parmesan would make it even better!

We killed the first bottle (from my cellar) and bought this one off the list. It makes a horizontal of sorts, being another 2004 Brunello Riserva. It was good, but not quite as good as the Potozzine. “The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino comes across as lean and powerful in its expression of red cherries, tobacco, spices and earthiness. The aromas aren’t perfectly clean and the wine’s structural components seem to have the upper hand over the wine’s density and richness of fruit, suggesting the tannins will ultimately dominate the wine’s overall balance. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2018.”

“White corn ravioli.” You can’t beat fresh pasta in a butter sauce.

This is “buccatini with lamb ragu,” and it’s one of the best pastas I’ve ever had. I’ve come back like three times for it. I love a good ragu, and the buccatini (spagetti with a tiny hole in the middle) is perfect. The dish is rich and meaty, divine. I always order it.

Capo has an impressive wood fire in the corner that they cook a lot of the entrees on. The prices are pretty punitive, but they’re good. Plus the fire lends a wonderful wintery smell to the whole dining room.

Bronzino, grilled, with vegetables.

Dover sole.

Veal chop, nice and rare.

This is the “chocolate soufflé,” an excellent implementation of the classic. You have to preorder it at the beginning of the meal.

And they add a big dollop of fresh whipped cream.

The “chocolate volcano cake,” also with whipped cream, also preordered.

And this. This was to die for. “Meyer lemon semifreddo,” with a blueberry or blackberry sauce. Everything about this was spectacular, one of my all time favorite deserts. The cold-soft texture, the bright lemon flavor, and the tart sweetness of the berries. OMFG!

A nice plate of little petit fours, not so usual at American Italians, more french. In Italy sometimes you’ll get treated to little almond cookies and shots of grappa or sambuca.

So to conclude, Capo is hands down delicious. The food is VERY VERY GOOD, and the service is top notch. The intimate little atmosphere is great also. It’s just very expensive — definitely not a good value — perfect if someone else is paying :-).

Two other Capo meals HERE and HERE.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a legion of great eating in Italy itself, here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Brunello di Montalcino, Burrata, Capo, Cooking, Home, italian, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, Melisse, pasta, Poached Egg, Restaurants and Bars, Santa Monica, Santa Monica California, Truffle (fungus), Tuscany

Hostaria del Piccolo – Pizza + Pasta

Sep05

Restaurant: Hostaria del Piccolo

Location: 606 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401. P: 310-393-6633

Date: August 27, 2011 & May 6, 2012

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Good new casual Italian

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Hostaria del Piccolo is a casual new Italian with a rustic Pasta/Pizza emphasis from the people that brought us Piccolo (my review here).

It’s located in a chic modern space at the corner of 6th and Broadway three blocks behind the Santa Monica Promenade.

The interior has a modern rustic quality.

And they have a lovely patio, which given that it was 5pm on an 85 degree perfect California August day totally ruled.

Given the weather, I decided to take a cue from my Italian friends and order a glass of Lambrusco Frizzante. Sparkling grape juice with a kick, what more can you ask for in the heat?

Very nice thick and buttery grissini.

The menu. Secondi are not numerous in quantity, but they have a lot of pizzas and a number of tasty sounding pastas.

Valpolicella Ripasso is something I found in my Sommelier course on Italy. Ripasso means rested and this is basically baby Amarone.

“CANTALUPO tuscan melon and Bresaola.” Artfully arranged!

“MESCOLATA organic greens, roasted tomatoes, sliced almonds.”

“RICOTTINA seared fresh ricotta, seasonal mushrooms, vincotto.” This is a very Southern Italian dish and really, is pretty much identical to one I found in Apicus, the 1900 year old Roman cookbook. The sweetness of the vincotto (must) plays off against the creamy sweet cheese.

“FARRO organic farro, heirloom tomatoes, basil pesto, walnut, arugula.” Farro is also very common in ancient Roman food. This being a rustic Italian, we have more of those old school influences.

“COSTICINE roasted pork ribs, cannellini beans.” Pork and beans of this sort is classic Tuscan. This is basically like Italian babyback ribs.

Rigatoni pomodoro for the boy.

“PAPPARDELLE tomato sauce, roasted eggplant, mozzarella di bufala.”

“RIGATONI italian sausage, tomato-cream, peas, parmesan.” One of those meat, cheese, and pea pastas that I love so much.

“SALSICCIA tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella, sausage, bell peppers, Castelvetrano olives.” I actually ordered the FARCITA (which was a white prosciutto pizza) but he must have misheard me and anyway this was a tasty pizza. The sausage was very tender and flavorful. The crust was really yummy, and the whole thing not overly burnt like some wood oven pizzas are. If you want to see my Ultimate Homemade Pizza, click here.

A different sausage variant with broccoli, garlic, and fontina but no tomato sauce.

“QUATTRO PER tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, artichokes.”

“PARMIGIANA tomato sauce, breaded eggplant, basil, parmesan.” Looks like meat, but isn’t!

“AGNELLO Marinated and grilled New Zealand lamb chops, roasted garlic sauce.” Very nice tender straight up grilled lamb chops. Bone gnawing good.

The dessert menu. We were full and didn’t order any.

But they brought my 2.75 year-old this ice cream cone as a freebee and he was mighty pleased.

Overall, Hostaria del Piccolo is a very nice new contemporary Italian, with a heavy pizza/pasta focus. This is sure to make it a crowd pleaser. They could use to beef up the variety of anti-pasta and secondi a bit, but what I had was very nice.

Click here to see more LA dining posts.

The open kitchen inside.

Or for a legion of great eating in Italy itself, here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bresaola, Broadway, Buffalo mozzarella, California, Dessert, Hostaria del Piccolo, Italian cuisine, Los Angeles, pasta, Piccolo, Pizza, Santa Monica California

Osteria Latini 3

Sep03

Restaurant: Osteria Latini [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: August 20, 2010

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

We have a regular rotation of neighborhood Italians. There are so many of them, but only a few make the cut as genuinely good. Osteria Latini is one of them. You can see my previous reviews here and here.

Olive and chickpea/squash/bean pastes.

The 1997 Biondi-Santi Brunello. This is a solid Brunello I had bought years ago in Italy (probably in 2000). It probably scores somewhere in the low 90s, maybe 91 or 92 points.

A special, lobster bisque.

“BELLA SALAD. Arrugola, pears, dry cherries, goat cheese, shaved 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.

Gnocchi genovese (in classic basil pesto).

“ACQUERELLO RISOTTO. Organic carnaroli, sea urchin, truffle scent, lemon zest (Please allow 20 Minutes).” A very nice subtle sea urchin risotto. This special hand shaved rice takes 20-30 minutes to cook.

“OSSOBUCO ALLA MILANESE. With saffron risotto.” Latini’s version of the classic dish. Certainly good with a very nice meaty bone. The risotto could have been perhaps a tad creamier.

Two “rounds” of freebee desserts. This mixture of prosecco, lemon sorbetto, and meringue is very refreshing.

Chocolate chip cookies and biscotti.

Osteria Latini is always reliable. They have a big menu of modern Italian favorites and pretty much everything is very good.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a legion of great eating in Italy itself, here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Brentwood, Cooking, Dessert, Fish and Seafood, Italian cuisine, Italy, Los Angeles, Osteria Latini, pasta, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Risotto, Salad, Sea urchin, Squid, vegetarian, Wine

Waterloo & City is Victorious

Aug22

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

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

Date: August 14, 2011

Cuisine: Gastropub

Rating: Really tasty!

My wife and I went to Waterloo & City back in May, and I enjoyed it, so I thought we’d try again with a slightly larger group. By way of introduction this is a new wave comfort-food Gastropub joint. This place exemplifies the gastropub trend of more is more.

The menu.

I decided to test out some of the wines I brought back from my Eating Italy trip. This 2006 Brunello by Il Cocco can not be found in the US. The owner/winemaker makes 7,000 bottles a year only of all his wines combined, perhaps 3,000 of the Brunello. He does 99% of the work himself! It’s awesome, if it were rated, it’d be a 96 point wine.

We went for the “prince” of Charcuterie. Yum yum, heart stopping fun!

The cured meats, and some fine ones at that. There are at least three types of salami and two prosciutto variants. Stone ground mustard. The white stuff is some kind of beef gelatinous product.

The “Pig Trotters, Sweetbreads, and Salsa Verde terrine, with anchovy.” This was a freebee, but was rather too extreme even for me!

“Duck & Walnut Country Pate, orange-apricot marmalade.” This was very nice. Interesting crunchy texture too.

A special. “Boar terrine with romesco.” Really tasty. All that pork goodness you might want.

“Pork & Truffle Pate, Madeira Jelly, toasted Broche.” Wow. With the jelly (you can see it to the left in the zoomed out first photo) this stuff tasted like carmel sauce. The texture was super silky smooth too. Wonderful mouthfeel.

Spaghetti pomodoro for my son.

“Arugula, Grilled Mission Figs, Smoked Almonds, Pamesan.”

“Tuna Tartare, Fried Piquillo Pepper, Avocado.” The tuna part was good but ordinary. The pepper, however, was pretty interesting, although certain FRIED!

Parker gives this silky Rosso 90. “The 2009 Rosso di Montalcino is totally beautiful and elegant in its expressive bouquet, silky fruit and understated, harmonious personality. This is a wonderful, impeccable Rosso from Le Potazzine. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2017.” I’d rate it perhaps 91-92, with a little boost for understated style.

A vegetarian special. Some kind of vegi monster on top of cous-cous with a brioche. Apparently it was good.

“Indian Butter Chicken Pizza, Murgh Makahni Sauce, Mozzarella.” I really wanted to try this because I make a similar pizza myself. This one didn’t lather on the Tikka Masala sauce like I do so it was more subtle, but it was damn good, a bit closer to a “normal” pizza. I loved the addition of the raita-like sauce in the middle. I might try that myself.

“Beef shin ravioli, wild mushrooms, red wine, burrata cheese.” This was really good. The meat was super flavorful, as was the rich sauce. But the bacon/burrata combo really sold it.

A special. “Veal with fried polenta and eggplant sauce.” The veal itself was tender, but not super flavorful. The sauce was great, and in combo every was very yummy, particularly the fried corn balls (i.e. polenta).

The dessert menu.

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

The menu called these “Waterloo Bourbon Glazed Doughnuts with creme anglais and raspberry jam.” But I think that would be the version we got on our first visit here. These were sugared. They were still good, and the carmel sauce in particular rocked, but they weren’t quite as decadent as the glazed.

A special. “Profiteroles.” Pretty classic, with both ice-cream and whipped cream.

Waterloo & City is still going strong. This isn’t a light cuisine — in fact, nearly every dish is loaded with fatty goodness — but it is damn good.

Read my previous review of Waterloo & City here,

Or for more LA Restaurants.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Charcuterie, Cocco, Culver City California, Dessert, Meat, pasta, Pizza, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Restaurants and Bars, Sweetbread, Waterloo & City, Waterloo & City line

Knocked out by N/Naka

Aug18

Restaurant: N/Naka [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

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

Date: August 13, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Kaiseki

Rating: Awesome

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I first went to the amazing Omakase only N/Naka just three weeks ago, but seeing my review, my Foodie Club partner EP desperately wanted to go again. So we did. 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 concocted a whole new menu (just three weeks later!) without a single repeat — and it was even better!

We start off our wines with a light Spanish white. Parker 90. “A candidate for top Albarino of my Spanish tastings, the 2005 Bodegas Don Olegario is medium gold with honey and apricot aromas and flavors. On the palate the wine is viscous with enough acidity to hold things together. Very Condrieu-like at about half the price.”

Saki zuke

(a pairing of something common and something unique)

Chef’s garden eggplant puree, scottish smoked salmon, osetra caviar

Crème fraiche, chives

This opening course had a wonderful silky mouthfeel and tasted of smoked eggplant, a bit like baba ganush.

Zensai

(Main seasonal ingredient presented as an appetizer)

Japan ayu, pacific lobster roll, nanohana, daikon and kanpachi, lotus

Root kinpira

Zooming in, the Japanese Ayu. This is a smelt relative known as sweetfish. It was crispy and grilled. Alongside are cubes of watermelon and aged balsamic. The combo was lovely.

This is the lobster roll. Kind of like a piece of uber california maki.

A bit of diakon with either eel or kanpachi inside, not 100% sure. The little tomato is from chef Niki’s garden (as are many things in the meal).

Nanohana, a kind of broccoli rabe.

Lotus root kippira. Slightly sweet with a bit of crunch.

This is an alternative form of the dish for my wife who doesn’t eat shellfish or meat. You can see the lobster is replaced with a bit of seared Toro! N/Naka requires that you specify which menu and dietary restrictions a few days in advance, but they are very adept at customizing the menu.

Now stepping up to this killer California Chardonnay, Parker 95! This one is from EP’s cellar. “The Chardonnay Belle Cote is always a more exotic wine. There are 2,200 cases of the 2005 Chardonnay Belle Cote, a wine with undeniable notes of crushed stones, white peach, orange, nectarine, and quince. Medium to full-bodied, with zesty acidity, stunning minerality, and a firm structure, this is a gorgeous, French-styled Chardonnay that should drink nicely for up to a decade.”

Modern zukuri

(modern interpretation of sashimi)

Japan bonito, marinated onions, ponzu, myoga, shiso, shiso air, ginger

A lovely bit of bonito. And not only do I love shiso, but I get to try it as “air!” Although the real shiso had a bit more flavor punch than the airy form.

Fantastic containers add to the fun.

Owan “still water”

Black cod and shiitake, green tea soba, nameko mushrooms, dashi broth

This is one of those mild, but lovely, Japanese soups. With a vaguely sweet, soft mushroomy fishy taste. Very pleasant and soothing.

Sake- shichida, sago japan. This is an ultra-ultra rare sake I had the previous time and it blew away the entire table (except for the 6 year-old who was left out!) One of the best sakes I’ve ever had. Each grain of rice is hand shaved before brewing!

Otsukuri

(Traditional Sashimi )

Big eye otoro, shima aji , sea bream, santa barbara sweet shrimp,

Kumamoto oyster

Zoom into the bucket, where you can see the shima aji , sea bream, santa barbara sweet shrimp.

And then over here, past the hand ground wasabi, to the Big eye otoro and Kumamoto oyster. The Toro (o-toro is the most premium Toro) was absolutely amazing.

An alternative basket my wife received. She has hamachi belly and scottish salmon instead of the shellfish.

To pair with the upcoming lobster, this Parker 90 white from Alto Adige in Northern Italy. “The 2008 Muller Thurgau literally sparkles on the palate with well-articulated aromas and flavors that come together with notable harmony. The finish is subtle and nuanced in its suggestions of mint, flowers, lime and passion fruit. This polished white also happens to be a terrific value. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2012.”

Yakimono

Pacific lobster, maitake, enringi, tamale sauce

This was a wonderful dish, and the pairing (recommended by the sommelier) with the crisp white was delightful.

My wife had to tough it out with this fish alternative, topped with a bit of dynamite.

Another lovely container, opening to reveal:

Mushimono

Unagi and gobo chawanmushi, frozen foie gras torchon powder

On the left a traditional Japanese custard with mushrooms. On the right frozen foie gras powder! This second item was sprinkled into the custard to add killer meaty umph! Really nice interplay of textures and fats.

Shiizakana

(Not bound by tradition, the chef’s choice dish to be paired with wine)

Abalone pasta, pickeled cod roe, abalone liver sauce

I had this pasta on my previous visit, but knowing this, Chef Niki gave me a different one! (below) Still, this one was amazing (or so I remember and so the rest of the party said).

Chef’s garden kabocha ravioli with truffles, brown butter sage, manchego

My wife received this dish, perfectly in sync with her taste. It was gone in about a millisecond.

Spaghetti with uni, ikura, poached eggs, seaweed, truffle

I got this, which was also delicious, tasting strongly of uni and the briny bright tone and texture of the ikura — two sushis often paired together and two of my favorites. Yum. This kind of interesting east/west fusion is very unusual, and brilliant.

As we move into the meatier portion of the menu, this 94 point Burgundy. “The Chevillon 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Vaucrains projects an amazing sense of deep, dark concentration. Latakia tobacco; peat; rushed stone; roasted red meats; soy; and ripe, fresh blackberry inform the nose and absolutely stain the palate. The tannins here are as ultra-fine as they are formidable, and the tug on my salivary glands as relentless as are the finishing flavors. If this doesn’t leave you reaching for a napkin or your lips fluttering, probably no wine will. The energy and salinity here render a wine that you feel as if you must strain through your teeth nonetheless fleet-of-foot, enticing, and invigorating.”

Niku

Snake river farms kobe beef ishiyaki

Plus butter cubes and sisho peppers.

Then out comes a little hot rock.

You drop the butter on top, then the meat and cook to your taste. Like a mini version of Totoraku.

The non-meat substitute is baked miso cod, always a favorite.

Sunomono

Marinated halibut fin, cucumbers, ruby red grapefruit

Yuzu omoi, yuzu blend sake

The bright marinated flavors and the sweet/sour sake go perfectly together.

Shokuji One & Two

(Rice dish- sushi)

Jeju island hirame, o-toro

Aji (mackerel), hamachi belly.

Aji (mackerel) on the left. Not sure what’s on the right.

Mirugai, shinkomaki, miso hamachi, sesame butter chazuke.

And the other two of above, but I’m not sure which is which :-). live scallops on the left.

R.L. Buller Calliope Rare Muscat. Yum Yum! Parker 100! “Giving aromas of dark brown sugar, black strap molasses, licorice and preserved walnuts, the deeply brown colored NV Calliope Rare Muscat is again incredibly sweet and viscous with a good amount of acid to balance and is decadently rich and nutty / spicy in the very long finish. All these vintage blended fortified wines are bottled to drink now and though are stable enough to hold, they are not designed to improve with cellaring.”

Shokuji

(Rice dish)

A fish with a miso sauce on rice with seaweed.

It’s traditional to end the savories in Japan with a “rice dish.” On the left we have a very traditional bit of salmon like fish, rice, and nori. Refreshing and stomach settling. On the right were two pickles cut roll pieces. I loved these. I’m a huge Japanese pickles fan and really enjoy the crunchy vinegar thing.

Dessert

Chocolate tiramisu, ruby red grapefruit and passion fruit gelee, fruits

These were all extremely tasty. The grapefruit thing in the middle was particularly intense with a lovely gummy texture.

Kids Omakase

EP and his wife brought his young daughter with them and she got a special “kids omakase” which was very cool.

An assortment of rolls, including toro cut roll!

Ikura (salmon eggs), sweet shrimp, and bonito sushi.

Some of the best looking tempura I’ve ever seen.

Yellowtail belly sashimi. That was one lucky girl!

N/Naka really is a very special place. Both meals I had here were spectacular (here for the first). This second was, if possible, slightly better too, which was always wonderful because often one finds a slight bloom to come off a place on repeat meals. This was very much avoided by the completely new menu, which only three weeks apart was impressive. The quality of ingredients, preparation, and presentation here is pretty stunning.

Try it!

Click here to other LA Japanese restaurants.

Or other Foodie Club extravaganzas.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dessert, Fish and Seafood, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Kaiseki, Los Angeles, N/Naka, Omakase, pasta, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Sashimi, Sushi, Yuji Naka

Eating the Skys – Continental

Aug03

Restaurant: Continental Airlines

Location: Somewhere above the Atlantic

Date: June 30, 2011

Cuisine: Inedible

Rating: Barftastic

ANY CHARACTER HERE

So after an epic four weeks of eating in Italy — where the worst meal was merely mediocre — we boarded the first of our planes for home, specifically the Milan to Newark flight on Continental. And so, our final meal of the trip:

A lovely 2011 Ginger Ale, Seagrams.

Bread with softener and additives, served with pastic wrap.

A fine salad of wilted iceberg lettuces.

Soaked in packaged milk and emmulsifiers, it becomes… slightly more edible — and sadly the best item on the menu.

Chicken Parmesan with scalloped potatoes, mushy peas, and nitrate sausage. This was actually a kid’s meal (served to my son). As it was considerably more edible than mine (below) I picked at it.

Dry frozen rock hard chicken “breast” with teeth breaking noodles, soggy asparagus and canned tomato sauce.

Seriously Continental (and sadly they aren’t alone, really all the American airlines are just as bad) you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. This stuff is completely pathetic and was actually literaly inedible. You would have had to pay me more than $100 to try a second bite of that rock hard chicken. It’s not just a matter of cost, it’s a matter of giving a shit about all aspects of the product you offer. I think airline executives ought to be required to eat coach airline meals 100% of the time while on the job! That’d shake things up fast.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Airline, bad food, Chicken, Continental Airlines, Dinner, eating-italy, Ginger Ale, Italy, Milan, Newark New Jersey, Parmigiana, pasta, Seagram

Eating Santa Margherita – dei Pescatori

Aug01

Restaurant: Trattoria dei Pescatori

Location: Santa Margherita, Italy

Date: June 29, 2011

Cuisine: Ligurian

Rating: Solid lunch

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On this particular morning we had actually visited the nearby town of Camogli and wanted to eat lunch there but we fell afoul of that particular Italian (and French and Spanish) pitfall: the extremely narrow lunch hour. Basically you can only sit down to lunch between 12:30 (sometimes even 1) and 2. They just aren’t open any other time. Conversely, nearly all other services shutdown 12-3. In any case, our toddler nap schedule didn’t allow waiting around in Camogli so we went back to Santa Marghertia.

We picked this likely looking place right across from the western marina.

The usual multi-page menu.

And bread.

Their house Vermentino even has their name on it — sort of.

Caprese di buffalo.

Acciughe al limone. Marinated anchovies. I became very fond of this dish last year in Spain. Fresh white anchovies marinated in vinegar. Yum.

Penne pomodoro.

Trenette al pesto. Fettuccine-like pasta with pesto.

Spaghetti pomodoro.

Ravioli di pesce con salsa bianca di San pietro. Ricotta ravioli with white fish sauce.

Ravioli di noce. Ricotta ravioli with walnut pesto. This was the second best implementation of this, good, but not as good as at Antonios.

Overall this was a perfectly pleasant lunch. The pastas were very good.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: anchovies, Caprese, eating-italy, lunch, pasta, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Santa Margherita, Santa Margherita Ligure, Trattoria dei Pescatori

Eating Santa Marghertia – Da Michele

Jul31

Restaurant: Da Michele

Location: Santa Margherita, Italy

Date: June 28, 2011

Cuisine: Ligurian

Rating: Solid

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Another evening pick in central Santa Margherita, just a block away from the previous night’s Antonios.

Right in the main drag.

The outside seating was right on the square/street in front of the restaurant. I wish they did this more in America.

The menu.

Vermentino is one of the better quality local whites.

Seafood anti-pasta. This wasn’t as good as the raw plate the pervious night. But it was certainly tasty enough. This is more traditional, being marinated shellfish for the most part.

Another example of ravioli di noce (in walnut cream sauce). Also good, but not as good as Antonios’s version.

Trofie Genovese. Local pasta twists with pesto, potato and beans.

Tagliatelle ai gamberi, curry e piselli. Noodles with shrimps, curry, and peas. Something a little different, but very good. In it’s own way a little like a dish from Singapore. Maybe it’s the British influence in Santa Margherita.

Sea-bass Genovese. With potatoes, olives, pine nuts. This is the more traditional form.

Scampi all’agro. Shrimp in sweet and sour sauce.

This was basically a butter Vinaigrette, and it was absolutely delicious with the crawfish-like creatures. Finger licking good in fact.

Chocolate mousse.

Tiramisu.

This was a very solid and enjoyable meal. The food was a tiny bit better than La Paranza, but not as elegant or refined as that of neighboring Antonios.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cooking, Da Michele, Dessert, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Italy, pasta, Pesto, Pine nut, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Santa Marghertia, Santa Marghertia ligure, Sauce, Singapore, Vermentino, Vinaigrette

Eating Santa Margherita – Antonios

Jul30

Restaurant: Antonios

Location: Santa Margherita, Italy

Date: June 27, 2011

Cuisine: Ligurian

Rating: Best we had in Liguria

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I did my best at internet research to pick this restaurant in the heart of “downtown” Santa Margherita. It was #2 on TripAdvisor. Now this is a review source that I take with a block of salt, but in reading the reviews I got the feeling I’d like the place — and I was right.

You can see a hint of the quaint little garden inside. Like the rest of Liguria it was a little steamy, even late at night (the weather was 88 degrees and 100% humidity, shades of my youth in Virginia).

The “pre-bread” which look like donut balls but tasted salty — and delicious. After all, they were fried.

The regular bread.

We started with a romantic glass of “special cocktail,” which was probably more or less a Kir Royale.

A special appetizer of raw seafood. Two types of prawn, tuna tartar, and some yellowtail like lighter fish. It was all delicious and exceedingly fresh.

Another nice local white.

This was a marvelous example of a very traditional ligurian pasta. Cheese inside, with “salsa con le noci” which is a pesto of walnuts, milk, butter, flour and pepper. Totally delicious.

An unusual “seafood lasagna.” This was a fairly typical lasagna with a kind of lobster/shrimp ragu. Also wonderful.

Branzino Genovese. Fresh local sea-bass baked with a thin scallop of potatoes.

This was a fairly simple meal, and only for two (so less photos) but the food was pretty impeccable, showing a light seafoody Italian with just a hint of modernity. All very much to my taste. Bravo.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Antonios, Cinque Terre, Cooking, eating-italy, fish, Italian cuisine, Italy, Liguria, Olive oil, pasta, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Santa Margherita Ligure, TripAdvisor, Virginia

Eating Cinque Terre – Gianni Franzi

Jul28

Restaurant: Gianni Franzi

Location: Vernazza, Italy

Date: June 27, 2011

Cuisine: Ligurian

Rating: Solid local lunch

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We took a little train ride down to Cinque Terre, a very pretty region of five small towns clustered by the sea.

The second of these is Vernazza, which is accessible only by train or boat. Picturesque as you can see. In typical Italian fashion transport doesn’t really run during lunch so we were forced to stop and eat. I just chose a likely looking place by feel.

The menu.

The patio looks back on the harbor in the above establishing shot.

A caraffe of local white was totally drinkable.

This place puts the pesto on top, which is unusual. This is spaghetti genovese (known here as pesto).

Trofei Genovese.

Seafood ravioli. These were stuffed with fish and in a tomato based fish sauce. Very tasty actually, but not for the landlubber as it had a bit of a briny flavor.

This is minestrone Genovese. The waitress scolded me for ordering it with a pasta dish as there are technically pasta bits in here — but who cares. In any case, this is a very pesto minestrone, and pretty typical of the dish. Good though, as I LOVE pesto and could eat like 10 pastas in one meal.

Overall, a totally satisfying quick little lunch.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cinque Terre, eating-italy, Geographical Areas, Gianni Franzi, Italian cuisine, Italy, Liguria, pasta, Pasta Genovese, Pesto, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Travel and Tourism, Vernazza, Wine

Eating Santa Margherita – La Paranza

Jul27

Restaurant: La Paranza

Location: Santa Margherita, Italy

Date: June 26, 2011

Cuisine: Ligurian

Rating: Straightforward

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This restaurant was around the corner from the hotel, had a typical menu, and appeared very crowded at lunch. So we gave it a try for dinner.

Santa Margherita is really two towns joined at the hip. This is in the center of the western half of the town, which is far smaller than the eastern.

Normal enough inside.

A variety of breads. Some of these have cheese inside.

An amuse in the form of a sheet of fried cheese. Really, who can beat fried cheese?

The endless menu.

This was a very nice (and cheap) light local white. All local wines in Liguria fit the light, cheap, and white descriptors.

Salmone affumicato (smoked salmon). It’s always served with butter in Italy. Go figure.

Tagliata of tuna. I.e. seared tuna with some vegetables.

Antipasto di mare. Mixed seafood appetizer. Smoked salmon on toast. A bit of marinated white anchovies. Some other kind of marinated local fish and a mixed marinated salad of squid, octopus, and shrimps.

Spaghetti pomodoro.

Gnocchi Genovese. This is one of the 2-3 most typical pesto preparations. Pesto in Liguria (where it comes from) is fabulous, but a little different than in the states. It’s milder, but really emphasizes the basil and olive oil. These were nice fluffy gnocchi.

Troffie Genovese. This is THE most typical and traditional form of the dish. Little twists of fresh pasta in pesto with a few green beans and a little bit of sliced potato.

Fritto misto. Various lightly fried shrimps, squids, and mysterious shellfish.

The ubiquitous mixed salad.

Profiteroles. These were stuffed with custard.

Tiramisu.

A few “free” biscuits with the bill.

The bill. Here largely for the restaurant’s address etc.

Each lady got a rose as a parting gift. This kind of stuff is very Italian — if a little touristy.

La Paranza was a good place. Traditional, reasonable, and tasty. But it’s a little staid and straight up, so there are better restaurants in town as you will see in upcoming posts.

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