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Archive for Pizza

Old Baroli at Etta

Jul23

Restaurant: Etta

Location: 8801 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. (424) 570-4444

Date: November 10, 2021 and June 10, 2022

Cuisine: Italian Wood-fire grill

Rating: Tasty, hearty

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Etta is a new “transplant” from Chicago bringing a sort of modern Italian American wood-fire grill thing to LA.
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It’s located adjacent to the Shay boutique hotel in Culver City.

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The interior is large and attractive with a lively bar scene.
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On 11/10/22 we brought an all Italian slate of mostly old Baroli, plus this bonus white of mine.

2015 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. AG 93+. Good bright yellow. The pure, complex nose suggests lime, yellow apple and botanical herbs. Then very precise, intense and penetrating, if still youthfully unevolved, conveying a powerful, three-dimensional impression of extract and a deep, textured, multilayered mouthfeel. The wine closes very long and juicy, with herbal and saline elements that titillate the taste buds. Another outstanding wine from Valentini, who never misses a beat with his Trebbiano d’Abruzzo.

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1937 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva.
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1958 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva.
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1961 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva.

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1964 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva.
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1967 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva.
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1970 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo.
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1978 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva.

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The menu in November 2021.
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And in June 2022.

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Fire- baked focaccia. Ricotta, honey, truffle. Nice and fluffy.

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Meatballs. Sunday sauce, fire-wilted kale, herbed yogurt, grilled bread. A bit of heat.
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Roasted eggplant. Tahini ricotta, buttered hazelnuts, Calabrian chie, herb salad. Pretty darn spicy actually.
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Bubbling shrimp. Ginger, chiltepin chile, mint.

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Rack-roasted oysters. smoked-tomato butter, lovage, lemon.
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Grilled pork jowl. Smashed cucumbers, peanuts, herb salad.

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Little Gem Salad. Avocado, cucumbers, creme fraiche vinaigrette. Nice textures.

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Pizza toppings.

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Wild Mushroom Pizza. Goat cheese, black truffle raclette. Excellent except for the truffle oil.
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Fire Pizza. Sausage, giardiniera, chile de arbol. Spicy sausage basically.
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Cacio e pepe agnolotti. Pecorino, black pepper.
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Lumache. Sun gold pomodoro, basil, olive oil.
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Casarecce bolognese. Parmesan fondue.
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Spaghettone. Uni, lemon, black pepper.
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Orecchiette. Crispy sausage, cavolo nero, tomato jus, fennel pollon. Lots of hearty flavor. Some spice.

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Cacio e pepe. Mafaldine, pecorino, black pepper. Lovely, nice emulsion.

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Orecchiette with red sauce.

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Brussels sprouts. Honey dijon vinaigrette, crispy bacon, dill yogurt, herbs.

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Market haricot vrt. Grilled romano beans, sweet peppers, lemon vinaigrette, purslane.
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40oz bone-in hearth-roasted short rib. This is the fixings tower.

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Herbs.
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Pickles, sauces, and more herbs.

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The actual meat. 40oz bone-in hearth-roasted short rib. You made your own pita/taco like things out of this. delicious.

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Bread and “sauce”?

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Dry-aged whole branzino. Brown butter, capers, parsley, lemon.

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Spinalis. Last of the season tomatoes, wild arugula, parmesan & date vinegar.
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Hanger steak. Tamarind glazed bok choy, pepita butter, charred cipollini, crispy buckwheat. Nice steak.

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Dessert menus from the two days.

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Mint chip semifreddo. Devil’s food cake, creme de menthe, chocolate sorbet.
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Chocolate ice cream. Caramel, brownies.

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Strawberry ice cream. Olive oil, sea salt.
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Double Chocolate Mousse. Feuilletine crunch, dark chocolate cremeux, banana sherbert, oreo crumbs.

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Etta was good. Hearty and perhaps just as much American as it is Italian — maybe more than 50% — but it is pretty tasty. The space is large, loud, and attractive. Service was pretty good. Very friendly for sure, although I had to go “grab” some glasses because I’m impatient.

Our wines on this Barolo night (the second visit was more casual) were really awesome. Old Borgogno rocks!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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Related posts:

  1. Drago Centro Baroli
  2. Angelini Osteria
  3. Mountain Eats – Campo
  4. Italian? – Tom George
  5. Palmeri again
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Barolo, Culver City, Etta, Foodie Club, Italian cuisine, pasta, Pizza, Wine

The Rooster Crows

Mar16

Restaurant: The Rooster

Location: 2301 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404. (310) 264-0999

Date: January 31, 2020

Cuisine: Wood-fire grill and California / pseudo-Italian

Rating: Tasty, but too pricey for its vibe

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Continuing our streak of family dinners during my mom’s 75th birthday week, the gang of us headed off to the Rooster.

Bruce Marder, The Rooster’s chef/ restaurateur, lists Capo, The Brentwood, Cora’s Coffee Shop, and Marvin as his current successes. Renowned for his world class cuisine, his skills encompass a deep appreciation for international flavors that he unabashedly blends into an American style menu that celebrates our cultural diversity.

Bruce Marder’s latest addition to the Santa Monica scene features dishes kissed by almond-wood flames including tender, grilled meats served up family style, to pizzas and flatbreads baked in the wood fire oven.

The finest of ingredients, sourced from the farmers’ market, our personal garden, and highly regarded local ranchers, are the foundation of a cuisine that exemplifies the purity of the flavors without unnecessary adulteration.

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Big, colder, more casual dining room and wood-fire grill.
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Open kitchen.

I’ve always been a fan of Capo, despite a bit of attitude there, and have been at least 40 times, so I was interested to see what they did here in this larger more casual space.

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The menu.
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From my cellar: 2013 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Beaux Sens. 93 points. This is 100% Pinot Meunier. One of the few vineyards where the wines have not been grafted. Mostly because it comes from a vineyard of purely sandy soil. There’s spice and sunflower seeds and a very nice balance to the wine. Soft bubbles. Very well done.
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Fried bread and eggplant spread

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Artichokes. Lemon, horseradish. These were nice wood-fired artichokes.

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Eggplant. Rocca reggiano, tomato sauce. Basically a kind of skillet eggplant parm, this was quite delicious.
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Warm seafood salad. Beurre blanc sauce. Incredible sauce. Really tender seafood. Seafood was grilled. I’m not normally a huge fan of the warm seafood salad, but this one was fantastic. Big hunks of very tender and flavorful seafood, and then the beurre blanc was perfect. Same one basically that’s on the crab torta I love at Capo. They even threw in the bread to sop it up.
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From my cellar: 2004 Tenuta Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino. 93 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. (Drink between 2013-2019)
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Spicy pepperoni pizza. Solid wood-fired pizza, although nothing stunningly original.
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Simple pasta.
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Cacio e pepe. Nice, but a touch disappointing. Maybe not creamy enough, or peppery enough. I’m not sure.
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Spaghetti Roma.
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From my cellar: 1999 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Vecchie Vigne Sorì Paitin. 94 points. The 1999 Barbaresco Sorì Paitin Vecchie Vigne is dark, powerful and opulent, with more than enough stuffing to age well for the better part of the next decade. Smoke, menthol, tar, black fruit and French oak blossom in the glass as this resonant, exuberant Barbaresco show off its unique, totally compelling personality. The French oak is present, but well balanced at the same time. (Drink between 2014-2022)
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Loup de Mer.
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Babyback ribs. Very tasty with lots of meat. Not super sauced or anything.
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Lamb chops. Excellent lamb.
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I don’t usually show the bill, but I thought I would tonight to make a point. We had 6 people (eating). So basically $100. Not crazy, but we didn’t order drinks or dessert. They charge for bread/butter. Corkage was a perfectly fine 3X$35. I have no problem with that. I had expected the Capo deal of high corkage, 1 or 2 bottle limits, and vetting to make sure one’s bottle was not “on their list.” I did see any of that and they just let me open my 3 bottles. This may have changed because Erick said that when he went months ago they had the limits. Limits suck, but for this 1/31/20 dinner and my experience, corkage was totally fine.

Food is actually quite good, if a bit too much emphasis on the wood-fire. Now I like wood grills, but (almost) everything is a touch much. The space feels loud, colder, and not “cozy” like Capo. Menu is more limited (but with some pizza).

Service was very friendly, but our server was a touch good-naturedly confused. 4 of us guys shared dishes and she brought them out in the weirdest order. I had to send a thing or two back (for a bit) because it made no sense. I’ve presented it here in the post in the order it SHOULD have come in. But they brought the pizza, pasta, and eggplant all right away, then thought to bring the artichokes as a “side” with the meat? Strange. The 20% service fee is also included and mandatory. I always tip 20% anyway and so this feels a bit weird.

It was Friday night and they were half empty. I don’t think the feel of the place warrants the pretty high prices. Capo is very expensive, but manages to make it feel LA swanky in this way that works. I suspect the Rooster will have trouble and at the very least change format a bit.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Capo
  2. Capo Hits a Triple
  3. Hostaria del Piccolo – Pizza + Pasta
  4. Quick Eats: Divino
  5. Seconds at Sotto
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Grill, pasta, Pizza, Santa Monica, The Rooster, Wine, Wood-fire

Ancient Italian (wine) at Sixth & Mill

Dec25

Restaurant: Sixth & Mill

Location: 1335 E 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021. (213) 629-3000

Date: November 11, 2019

Cuisine: Italian Pizza

Rating: Super Tasty Pizza, but far (for me)

_

This post documents an interesting combo event. My friend Walker, member of the Foodie Club, put together this event at his friend, Chef Angelo Auriana’s new pizza place downtown (located next to his other restaurant, Berea).
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Chef Angelo’s pizza is his very own version of the pizza Napoletana, which was initially exported by the first waves of immigrants in the 1800s and quickly became what most people abroad identify Italian food by.

Beside the pizza, the cuisine of sixth+mill focuses on other traditional recipes that capture the uniqueness and versatility of the regional southern Italian food and include appetizers, fritters, homemade pasta, meat & poultry, seafood and desserts, keeping an eye on traditions and looking at today’s necessity of lightness, healthiness and simplicity.

The dining experience at sixth+mill  evokes joyous times of travel and memories through a casual-refined atmosphere that recreates the feel of a night by the Gulf of Naples and it is the platform to celebrate and share the culture and the life style of the Italian people.

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It’s in the left half of the Berea building, and is a bit of a transplant from Vegas as the chef opened this concept there first.

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Inside is a mix of contemporary and “factory.”
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Walker organized this HUGE (too huge) dinner with like 50-60 people to showcase the pizzas and his ancient and unusual Italian wines. The chef is in the blue in the middle of the above picture.
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I also brought some wine. From my cellar: 2010 Borgo del Tiglio (Nicola Manferrari) Collio Friulano Ronco della Chiesa. AG 94. Borgo del Tiglio’s 2010 Ronco della Chiesa shows what this hillside site in Cormons can do in cooler vintages. Still bright, focused and intensely saline, the 2010 bursts from the glass with grapefruit, lime, mint and crushed rocks. The 2010 will probably be appreciated most by readers who like tense, vibrant whites. Next to some of the other vintages, the 2010 lacks a little mid-palate pliancy, but it is quite beautiful just the same. I especially like the way the 2010 opens up nicely in the glass over time. (Drink between 2013-2020)
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Mozzerella from Southern Italy with peppers.
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Margarita with Gorgonzola. Pretty normal Margarita, but for the strong flavor of Gorgonzola — took it up a notch for me. Very salty and strong.
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Parmesan with purple cabbage and almonds. A strongly cheesy pizza with a bit of crunch and a hint of bitter from the cabbage.
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From my cellar: 2007 Paolo Bea Montefalco Rosso Riserva Pipparello. 94 points. I’m a sucker for Bea and my infatuation may blur my objectivity as a result. However, it would be disingenuous of me if I were not to gush over this bottle. A tree full of ripe cherries, pie spice, asphalt, charcoal, smoke, mushrooms, damp forest floor, teriyaki…it was a feast for the senses. After 11 years of age it’s still fiercely tannic but it’s not enough to bother considering the character. The finish lasts for minutes. I realize that making wine like this is scary and the results aren’t for everyone but my God, I am thankful that the Bea’s have the guts to do it.
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Mushrooms with butternut squash and arugula.
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Oxtail and smoked mozzarella. Strongly meaty, probably my favorite.
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Margherita fior di latte with Apulian EVOO and oregano.
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Gnocchi with Alfredo sauce. Cheesy and very very soft. Perfect pillows of potato.
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Much of the wine lineup.

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This was Jerome and Emma’s first full evening in Los Angeles (just in from the Netherlands) and we dragged them through 2+ hours of LA traffic!

The wines are all pictured below. Far too many to write up. This was an oddball event. I’ll break it down.

The pizzas were very good. Not 2+ hours in traffic good — no pizza in LA is — but good. I’d happily have them if there were closer. They are about the same (good) level as Pizzana. There wasn’t enough food for my taste, mostly because of the format (more on that later), but what we got was great.

The wines were very interesting. These are unusual varietals that I, of course, know because of my Italian wine studies, but unusual. Mostly far Northern Italian wines made from Spanna (a Nebbiolo variant). But you NEVER see these wines nearly this old! They varied from a bit rustic or acidic to delicious. This is surprisingly long lived stuff. Pouring was a bit uneven due to the format.

The format problem with this dinner was the size. There were huge numbers, perhaps 50-60 people, and first of all the restaurant can’t produce pizzas THAT fast, so they would periodically drop one on our table, giving us a piece each, then we would wait for a good while as they kept dropping pizzas on the other 10 tables before switching to a new pizza type. Initially there was only the salad and 4 small (slices of) pizza(s). We begged for the 5th pizza and the gnocchi, but it still wasn’t really enough. I think the concept originally was for it to be smaller and for the chef to try the wines and improvise on pizzas, but because of the scale he couldn’t really do that. The wine also suffered in pacing because Walker was opening and pouring EVERYTHING so he was one busy bee — but he still couldn’t get around fast enough at the beginning. These are pretty hard bottles to even open as the aged corks take some time to work through.

But anyway, other than the ludicrous LA traffic getting to the Arts District fairly early, it was a lot of fun.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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Related posts:

  1. Italian? – Tom George
  2. Heroic Wine Bar
  3. Fraiche – Ultimo Wine Dinner
  4. Wine in the Sky – 71Above
  5. Italian House Party
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Angelo Auriana, Arts District, DTLA, Foodie Club, Italian wine, Pizza, Sixth & Mill, Walker Wine Co, Wine

Angelini Osteria

Sep04

Restaurant: Angelini Osteria

Location: 7313 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 297-0070

Date: July 12, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: An LA classic

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It’s been years, maybe even 10 years, since I was at LA classic Italian Angelini Osteria. Foodie Club member Larry goes all the time so he organized this dinner.

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The frontage is located on busy Beverly Blvd in West Hollywood.
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The menu.
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Erick brought: 1985 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JG 96. The 1985 Dom Pérignon is still several years away from its peak of drinkability, and while it is certainly quite approachable at this stage in its evolution, this wine will continue to improve with further bottle age. The bouquet is deep, complex and still a tad adolescent, as it offers up scents of tart apples, pink grapefruit, gentle herbal tones, a touch of limepeel, stony minerality and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and still quite young, with a rock solid core of fruit, bright acids, fine focus and balance, tiny bubbles and superb length and grip on the racy finish. While some tasters around the table thought this wine was drinking beautifully, for my palate it remains still a bit bound up in its minerally adolescence and will offer up significantly more opulence and toasty charm with another five to ten years of bottle age. It should prove to be an absolutely classic vintage of Dom Pérignon.
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Pizza bread.
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A kind of free amuse in the form of some kind of grain and veggies.
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Salumi Board. Prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, salmi, fresh burrata, mixed baby greens. I wouldn’t really call this a board, as it’s a pile of meat and cheese on a bit of salad — but it was delicious.
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From my cellar: 2012 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. VM 93+. Light orange-yellow. Forward but racy aromas of tangerine, ginger, white flowers, sweet spices and medicinal herbs on the complex nose. Rich and round, but with lovely acid lift and energy to the concentrated flavors of apricot, pear and botanical herbs. Finishes long and pure. Not the most concentrated young Trebbiano d’Abruzzo from Valentini, but has a rich, ripe seamless personality that is hard to resist. Good to go right now but ought to age for 15 years at least. Really lovely wine.
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Maryland Soft Shell Crab, rice flour deep fried, arugula, capers, lemon cream sauce.
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White Marinated Anchovies, red beets, mixed baby greens, red onions, balsamic. I love white marinated anchovies. I touch odd paired with beets though.
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Polipo, Warm Mediterranean Octopus. Arugula, cherry tomatoes.
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From my cellar: 2004 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano. VM 95+. The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is powerful, deeply colored and still carrying a considerable amount of tannic heft for a twelve year old wine. Dark cherry, plum, smoke, tobacco, scorched earth and licorice give the wine much of its distinctive virile personality. The Madonna del Piano is one of the bigger, brawnier 2004s readers will come across. As such, it needs to be served alongside similarly rich, hearty cuisines.
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Pizza Margherita, ‘nduja, cherry tomatoes, olives, burrata. Sligtly odd pairing of meaty Margherita with the olives. Maybe I just don’t like black olives on my pizza.
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Tagliatelle, duck ragout. Solid duck pasta, much like the classic with pheasant.
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Homemade Spaghetti Chitarra alla Norcina, summer black truffles, sausage, parmigiana reggiano. Pasta Norcina is one of my utter favorite pastas, but this didn’t feel like a classic Italian Norcina. Now it was good, and very truffled, but the sausage (and cheese) were a bit subdued.
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Veal Shank Agnolotti, parmigiana reggiano sauce. Awesome meat agnolotti. Sumptuous, soft, delicious.
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Linguine, Santa Barbara Sea Urchin, garlic, chives. Very solid uni pasta. Not the best I’ve ever had, but very good.
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Trish brought: 2004 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Sperss. VM 97. The 2004 Sperss is one of the most finessed wines I have tasted from Angelo Gaja’s property in Serralunga. The darkness and gravitas of Serralunga are tempered by the supreme elegance of the year. Dark red and black cherries, smoke, tobacco, menthol and licorice flow through on the deep, resonant finish. This is another powerhouse wine that has been given an extra level of refinement in 2004.
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Risotto al Frutti di Mare. Risotto Acquerello, cuttlefish, lobster, calamari, shrimp, mussels, clams. Excellent seafood risotto.
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Whole Mediterranean Branzino roasted in sea salt, aromatic herbs, sautéed mixed vegetables.
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Comes with these classic vegetables.
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They do the filleting fortunately.
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The finished plate. Very moist delicate white fish.
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Larry brought: 2004 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. VM 93. The inky-colored 2004 Redigaffi, 100% Merlot aged for 16 months in new oak, offers expressive, nuanced aromatics along with sensations of richly-textured blue and black jammy fruit, minerals, mint, chocolate, spices and sweet toasted oak on big, powerful frame with notable underlying structure and a warm, resonating finish. Although it has enough structure and acidity to drink well for another decade or so, I enjoy Redigaffi most in its youth.
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Lamb Chops Scottadito. Grilled Colorado lamb chops, arugula.

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Mixed Italian Cheeses.
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The dessert menu.
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Cassata Italiana. Semifreddo, carmelized hazelnuts, pistachios. Half frozen ice cream with Italian nuts.
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Panna Cotta, vaniglia bean, raspberry sauce.
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Budino di Cioccolato, vaniglia gelato, chocolate sauce.
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Chocolate Peanut Pretzel Gelato — testing a new 80% chocolate fondant base made with Valrhona and Callebaut Chocolates — then layered that with a house made salty peanut pretzel ganache — you can’t see the base, it’s under the ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #ganache #pretzel

Bellini Sorbetto! — French White Peaches and Prosecco — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — I love the Pozzetti (round tubs), but I do need to figure out how to decorate the small batches in an attractive way — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #Bellini #peach #Prosecco

Overall, a very nice meal. Angelini Osteria hasn’t slipped at all and remains a great example of 90s/00s LA Italian. The kitchen is still very on point and the dishes are a mix of old 90s favorites, LA favorites (lots of burrata), and pretty solid contemporary Italian dishes not too different than you might find in Italy. Execution is spot on and service excellent.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Osteria Latini 3
  2. Quick Eats: Osteria Latini
  3. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
  4. Eating Modena – Osteria Francescana
  5. Eating Poggibonsi – Osteria da Camillo
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Foodie Club, Gelato, Hollywood, Italian cuisine, Osteria Angelini, pasta, Pasta Norcina, Pizza, Risotto, Wine

Eating Houston – Bombay Pizza

Jul30

Restaurant: Bombay Pizza Co.

Location:914 S Main St #105, Houston, TX 77002. (713) 654-4444

Date: June 15, 2018

Cuisine: Pizza and Indian!?!

Rating: Not bad

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One of my son’s math contests brought us to Texas and so I returned to Houston for the first time in 25 years.


This was next to our hotel and I was intrigued by the name/concept and had to try it.

Looks like a pizza parlor.


The menu features normal pizzas, slightly Indian ones, and kati rolls.

Fries.

Cheese pizza. My wife liked it.

Tandoori Chicken Kati Roll. Basically a CTM burrito (with naan). Not as good as the smaller, plated, Akbar version, but still pretty tasty. A touch dry.

Tandoori Masala Shrimp Kati Roll. Not bad either, particularly with the mint chutney.

I wish I had had time to try one of the more interesting pizzas, like “Gateway of India” or something. I’ve long argued with some of my Indian restauranteur friends that they should make naan based pizzas with curry toppings. These aren’t naan on the pizzas though.

For more Texas dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Houston – Tony Mandola’s
  2. Eating Houston – Brennan’s
  3. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  4. Ultimate Pizza 2012
  5. Ultimate Pizza in Review
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bombay Pizza Co., Eating Houston, Eating Texas, Houston, Pizza, Texas

Eating Tasmania – Cargo

Mar06

Restaurant: Cargo Bar Pizza Lounge

Location: 51 Salamanca Pl, Battery Point TAS 7004, Australia

Date: December 27, 2017

Cuisine: Pizza

Rating: Ok

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Our first night in the Tasmanian city of Hobart was the same night as the end of the big Sydney to Hobart sailing race so the city was packed.

Wandering around we found this pizza bar and lounge.

Odd format where you order food at one counter, drinks inside, then wait at a table for it.

So sort of fast casual bar.

The menu.

Garlic bread.

Lame caesar salad.

A sort of weird salad with various Italian deli meats in it. Described as Bresola, rocket, Spanish onion, cherry tomato, parmesan, fetta (spelled that way) & white truffle oil. This isn’t any bresola I’ve ever seen.

Kid’s cheese pizza.

Pizza with cherry tomatoes.
 Hoi Sin Duck Pizza. Roasted duck, peanuts, cheese, hoi sin sauce, chili, spring onions & stir fry vegetables. Dough wasn’t the best but the toppings were actually pretty good. I love hoisin sauce.

Overall, a nice enough atmosphere, but a so-so dinner.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

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People waiting on the harbor for the sailboats to head across the finish line

Related posts:

  1. Eating Adelaide – Coopers
  2. Eating Cairns – Tamarind
  3. Eating Sydney – Oyster Bar
  4. Eating Sydney – Salt Meats Cheese
  5. Eating Adelaide – Skyline
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Australia, Cargo, eating-australia, Hobart, Pizza, Tasmania

Eating Adelaide – Coopers

Mar01

Restaurant: Coopers Alehouse

Location: 316 Pulteney St, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia. +61 8 8223 6433

Date: December 26, 2017

Cuisine: Australian

Rating: Decent pizza

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Just a super simple pizza dinner at a local pub.

Cute old style Adelaide building. A lot of older Australia has a sort of “old west” style because it was built in a similar time period.

I love cider on tap. Local too.

Kid’s pizza.

Margarita pizza.

My weird pork, BBQ, and pita chip pizza. Not bad, if a little odd.

A pub with pizza, but decent pizza.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Adelaide – Skyline
  2. Eating Adelaide – Ding Hao
  3. Eating Sydney – Salt Meats Cheese
  4. Eating Sydney – Ibis Hotel
  5. Eating Barossa – Artisans
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Adelaide, Australia, beer, cider, Coopers Alehouse, eating-australia, Pizza

Pizza at Pizzana

Nov17

Restaurant: Pizzana

Location: 11712 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 481-7108

Date: October 9 & 24 and November 16, 2017 plus January 20 & February 26 & September 1, 2018

Cuisine: Neo-Neapolitan pizza

Rating: very good pizza for LA

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Brentwood’s former Osteria Lantini location has been rebooted as Pizzana. Candace and Charles Nelson, the couple who brought you Sprinkles Cupcakes, are opening a pizza restaurant called Pizzana in Brentwood on Friday. Chef Daniele Uditi, who is from Naples, is making Neo-Neapolitan-style pies using 48-hour fermented dough.

Right on San Vicente.

Looks like Osteria L, just repainted and no customer accessible upstairs.

Very crowded all the time because it got great reviews.

The menu. Lots of pizzas which is nice.

Pizza oven.

Caesar salad (10/24/17). Crunchy fried capers. Nice texture and good flavors. Not as potently bright as I like a (great) caesar — and this didn’t seem to have anchovy — but fine.
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Carulina Salad (1/20/18). Baby butter lettuce, crispy prosciutto crudo, charred corn, parmigiano oregano dressing. Nice salad with a lively texture, good crunch, and nice flavor.
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Cavoletto di Bruxelles (9/1/18). Shaved brussels sprout, lolla rossa, apple, toasted pistachio, caramelized shallot vinaigrette.

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Carciofi Arrostiti (2/26/18). Charred articoke heart, fried baby artichoke, toasted pine nut, parmigiano, lemon olive oil. Very crispy and salty tasty.

Pate di Fegatini (10/9/17). Housemade chicken liver pate, san marzano jam, wood fired bread. This is about as good as chicken liver gets. Pretty darn good.

Instagram shot!

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Kid’s cheese pizza (1/20/18). Basic, same size, but it’s nice that they make a kid’s version.

Pizza Margherita (10/9/17). San marzano dop, fior di latte, parmigiano, basil.

Pizza Corbarina (10/9/17). San marzano dop, squash blossom, burrata, cherry tomato, gremolata. Very bright flavors. Nice cool burrata. The gemolata (like a chimi churri) had lots of lemon juice in it.

Pizza Carnivoro (10/9/17). San marzano dop, fior di latte, spicy soppressata, fennel sausage, prosciutto cotto, parmigiano, basil. Like a spicy artisan version of the Little Cesars “Meatser Meatser”! But a really nice pie. I like it meated up like this.

Zoom!

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Uovo pizza (1/20/18). Fior di latte, cherry tomato, prosciutto crudo, bacon jam, arugula, egg. I really liked this pizza with it’s very bright acidic flavors and sweet/savory bacon jam. Photo isn’t as good though because it was shot on an iPhone instead of the real camera.

 Pizza Amatriciana (10/24/17). Housemade amatriciana sauce, fior di latte, cripsy prosciutto crudo, red onion, shaved parmigiano. Nice crunchy ham and a good approximation of amatriciana, but I would have maybe liked more of a Guanciale porkier vibe. Pizzana is good, but a little pulled toward mainstream and so they don’t really feature those more Italian funkier flavors — like that pork jowl.
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Pizza Pignatiello (11/16/17). Neapolitan Sunday Gravy, fior di latte, parmigiano crema, basil. The “gravy” is a tomato based Bolognese like sauce, very rich and savory – as good a beef/pork gravy as you will find. There are chunks of short rib here too and two types of cheese to brighten it up. Very good pizza, less acid than the other ones I had here, but a good hearty rich beefy taste. Very much like some kind of beef cannel or something in Southern Italy.
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Carbonara Pizza (9/1/18). Fior di latte, carbonara sauce, pancetta, parmigiano, activated charcoal bread crumb. Very nice meat and cheese pizza with a good eggy quality. Tasted a lot like a carbonara, although I could have lived without the charcoal.

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Vanilla gelato and chocolate sauce.

Overall, I need to go back. I liked the dough, very stiff and chewy. I liked that there are a lot of different pies. I have to try more to get a real verdict. Certainly now there with Milo and Olive as the best dedicated westside pizza joints.

After four visits I like the pizza a lot. Good variety and great dough. Service can be a little dicier. On visit four it took 15 minutes for anyone to come to our table (and a good 5 after I asked) and then several tables that sat long after us got their food first. It was quite noticeable (other tables were sympathetic) and I mentioned it and the server just said sorry — she should have comped the ice cream or something. Still, if the food is good I’ll keep going back.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  2. Ultimate Pizza – The Sauce
  3. Ultimate Pizza – The Toppings
  4. Ultimate Pizza in Review
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Comeback
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Brentwood, Pizza, Pizzana

Totally Toscana

Oct04

Restaurant: Toscana

Location: 11633 San Vicente Blvd #100A, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 820-2448

Date: August 18, 2017

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent upscale neighborhood Italian

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I haven’t been to Toscana (other than one quick lunch) in over 10 years but Seb was willing to drive across the city so we headed out on a Friday night “double date” (my wife was my date obviously). The place has been open since 1989 but is still seriously holding its own. It was mobbed as was Bar Toscana next door.

Raw vegetables on the table. Toscana has had these for at least 20 years, probably longer.

Sebastian demos — a theme for this post.

From my cellar: 2013 Azienda Agricola Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore. VM 92. Bright-straw yellow. Knockout nose combines orchard fruits, anise and crushed stone. Dense, juicy and brilliantly delineated, offering very pure, intense flavors of tangy stone fruits, almond paste and flinty minerality. Offers lovely grip and intense, lingering floral notes. This is much more minerally than the 2014 Verdicchio.

Crispy pizza-like bread.

Insalata Carciofi. Baby artichokes, fine slices of pecorino cheese, lemon, walnuts, fennel & fava beans.

Burrata. Creamy mozzarella, bibb lettuce, tomato. Love burrata of course.

Insalata di Pere. Spinach salad with pear, goat cheese and walnuts. My wife’s dream salad (she loves pear, goat cheese, and walnuts).

Prosciutto e Melone. Artisanal 24-months prosciutto di Parma with *melon

Tartufo Nero e Burrata. Burrata cheese and winter black truffle. Tasted of truffle…

Smelled like truffle!

From my cellar: 2007 il Cocco Brunello di Montalcino. 95 points. Great grapey brunello.

Trenette al Pesto. Linguine with pesto sauce. Nice solid classic pesto.

Ravivioli di Carne. Homemade veal ravioli with butter and sage. I love this old school butter and sage sauce with a meat ravioli.

Special spaghetti with king crab and shrimp. Great pasta too with lots of crab.

Risotto ai Funghi Selvatici. Arborio rice and wild mushrooms. A solid risotto.

Milanese. Pounded veal chop in bread crumb. Old school!

The lemon helped lighten it up. I was getting very full though.

Bone in.

The dessert spread. Like many traditional Italian places in Italy, Toscana has a great selection of tortes.

Blueberry torte. Fabulous buttery crust.

Chocolate mouse torte and profiterole. The torte had milk chocolate mouse, white chocolate mouse, and shaved white chocolate.
 Overall, I was very impressed, and we should go back more often — far more often than once a decade. Toscana was a regular place for my wife and I when we were young and used to eat out late (Naughty Dog hours). I assumed it was “dated” but far from it, still a great Italian and one of the best in Brentwood (which is jammed with Italians).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  3. Osteria Latini 3
  4. Eating Positano – Next2
  5. Fraiche Santa Monica
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Brentwood, Italian Cusine, pasta, Pizza, Toscana, Wine

Pasta makes me Felix

Sep22

Restaurant: Felix

Location: 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291. (424) 387-8622

Date: August 8 & September 10, 2017 and October 1 & 22, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Some of the best pasta I’ve had in LA

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Felix is Latin for happy — and indeed, pasta makes me happy. Chef Evan Funke takes the whole pasta thing VERY seriously. Funke’s singular passion as a pasta maker and chef was solidified in Bologna, under the mentorship of Alessandra Spisni at La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese.

The space was formally occupied by LA classic, Joe’s.

There is still the cute bar area, which is mobbed. Felix is one of the hardest reservations to get in town right now.

The dining room doesn’t look too different. They built a giant temperature controlled pasta room though — maybe it was the wine cellar before, hard to remember.

I believe in doing it right, and this is “the plan” hatched by Emil and myself for our night’s eating. We broke things down into about 6 courses and are ordering 9 out of the 11 pastas!
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The slightly different change on the second visit.
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The 10/1/19 menu.
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And the 10/22/19 menu. Surprisingly, they change up the specific pizza and pastas all the time.
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Regular bread on request.

Emil brought: 2013 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne. BH 91-93. Reduction flattens the underlying fruit but there is fine freshness, intensity and detail to the muscular and concentrated big-bodied flavors that possess excellent depth on the stony, lingering and austere finish that is dry but not hard to aggressive. This will definitely require a few years of bottle age to become more civilized as it’s quite firm today.

SFINCIONE. Focaccia siciliana, sea salt & rosemary. A poofy bread. People rave about this, it was a nice bread, but I was more into the dishes that followed.

Burrata Pugliese. Adriatic figs, basil & balsamico, sette anni. A really nice little burrata, basil, and fig salad.

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Burrata Pugliese (9/10/17). Heirloom tomatoes, basil & balsamico sette anni. The second time we came the burrata was tomato based.

Cicoria, honey dates, bagna cauda, capers, pine nuts & pecorino. Awesome salad. The dressing was very sharp and contrasted nicely with the salty cheese and the sweet dates.
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TREVISO (10/22/19). salsa di acciughe, lemon, pangrattato & pecorino romano. Another nice salad. Less bitey than the one above.

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Cavolfiori Fritti (9/10/17). Bagna cauda, capers, lemon, & bread crumbs. A very nice fried cauliflower, not unlike the classic Lebanese sort.

Fiori di Zucca. Squash blossoms & fior di latte. I would assume that in this case the fior di latte is ricotta or similar. Very nice fried squash blossoms.

Crudo di Gamberi. ridgeback prawns and umbrian black truffles. Nice. Salty. Truffle wasn’t that strong.

Polipo alle Brace. Grilled octopus, salmorligio & insalta di ceci. Very nicely cooked and tender octopus.

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Cozze alla Marinara (9/10/17). Hope ranch mussels, garlic, peperocino, pomodoro & scarpetta. Great guazetto based sauce. Perfect with bread.

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Polpette della maestra alessandra (9/10/17). Pork meatballs, salsa verde, & parmigiano reggiano. Slightly salty pork meatballs with a very nice pesto-like sauce.

Yarom and the manager.

Pougs brought: 1996 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares. VM 93+. Ruby-red. Intensely spicy aromas of blueberry, blackberry and licorice. Almost painfully sweet and powerful in the mouth, with a muscular backbone and compelling finishing flavors of sappy berries. A penetrating floral quality emerged with aeration. Really amazing fruit here, and quite explosive on the aftertaste. The ’97 Bonnes-Mares has even more structure and guts, claims Serge.

agavin: hard as nails even after being open awhile, needs 10 more years!


Viadante. Mortadella, ricotta & Sicilian pistachio. Really nice and quite different pizza — with Bologna1A0A2572

Pizza Funghi (9/10/17). Porcini, parmigiano, asiago, & mozzarella di bufala.

DIAVOLA Pomodoro, smoked for di latte & salame napoletano. Basically a spicy pepperoni pizza — delicious though! Crust is great here too.
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Fichi e Prosciutto pizza (10/1/19). Late summer figs, prosciutto di parma, mozzarella di bufalo & robiola. A love prosciutto on pizza.
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Quattro Pizza (10/22/19). Taleggio, mozzarella di bufalo, robiola & parmigiano reggiano. Nice and cheesy!

Erick brought: 1996 Domaine A.-F. Gros Richebourg. VM 96. Similar red-ruby color. Fabulous, noble aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, flowers, minerals and sappy oak. Juicy black fruit flavors of extraordinary intensity and sweetness. Uncanny inner-mouth perfume. The explosive finish builds and builds. One of the high points of the vintage.

agavin: drinking great

Gnocchetti Sardi. Guanciale, artichoke, & botarga. That salty/fish umami texture blended with the unctuous pork fat. Great chewy pasta.

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia. Sugo alla puttanesca. Squid ink pasta. Again texture was great. This was basically a guazzetto sauce (garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, seafood). It was good, but I liked some of the others better. It could maybe have used some more seafood, maybe even uni — but then it wouldn’t be traditional.

Spaghettone alla Norma. Eggplant, pomodorini, basil & ricotta salata. I would have thought this would be boring but it was actually very well balanced. Not fancy, really just a great spaghetti with pomodoro sauce (and eggplant).

Yarom brought: 1999 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. RP 99. The 250-case cuvee of 100% Merlot, the 1999 Redigaffi has an astonishing 36 grams per liter of dry extract, which exceeds most top Pomerols in a great vintage! Unfined and unfiltered, it is as close to perfection as a wine can get. The color is a deep saturated blue/purple. The powerful, pure nose offers smoke, licorice, black cherry, and blackberries. It boasts awesome concentration, a fabulously dense, viscous mid-section, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. This is riveting juice. Anticipated maturity: now-2015.

Trofie. Pesto Genovese & pecorino stagionato. This is an incredibly classic Ligurian dish. Check out the original, the only thing missing was the sliced potato and green beans. The Felix version was dead on and the trofie texture, perfect for the pesto, was fabulous.

Pisarei. Ragu di cutello & parmigiano reggiano. Amazing green larva-like chewy pasta, rice northern sausage, and a very complementary cheese. A super fabulous pasta.

Pappardelle. Ragu bolognese “vecchia scuola” & parmigiano reggiano 60 months. Classic, classic bolognese. Again perfect pasta and some really fabulous meaty ragu.

 

On our second visit (9/10/17) we got some additional pastas. One we missed the first time, the others were just changes on the menu.
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Tonnarelli cacio e pepe (9/10/17 & 10/22/19). black pepper & pecorino fruili. cacio e pepe (cheese & pepper) is all the rage these days — funny how you never saw it until about 5-6 years ago. Very easy to make at home too if you get the right ingredients.
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Chitarra (9/10/17). Ragu abruzzese & pecorino stagionato.
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Busiate (9/10/17). Pesto trapanese & pecorino siciliano. Interesting corkscrews with a squash sauce.

 

Third visit (in October 2019) had these new pastas (and some repeats):
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BUSIATI (10/1/19 & 10/22/19). pesto trapanese, pomodorini & pecorino siciliano. This had incredible bright tomato acidic flavors. Lots and lots of flavor and these thick rope-like pasta tendrils.

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Tagliatelle (10/1/19). ragù bolognese“vecchia scuola” & parmigiano reggiano 24 mo. Different shaped pasta than it was a couple years ago. Good, but not my favorite.

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MEZZE MANICHE ALLA GRICIA (10/1/19). guanciale, black pepper & pecorino romano DOP. A lot like a Carbonara, but maybe even porkier.

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ORECCHIETTE (10/1/19 & 10/22/19). sausage sugo, spigarello, peperoncino & canestrato. Awesome bursts of flavor and really chewy have sphere pastas.

 

Fourth visit had yet more new pastas:
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Special spinach and cheese stuffed pasta (10/22/19) with…
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Expensive but delicious white truffles.
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And cheese. Awesome, awesome dish.
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STRANGOLAPRETI (10/22/19). heirloom spinach, ricotta & burro fuso e salvia. Really nice burnt butter balls.

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Loads of flour.
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Chef Evan Funke in his special pasta chamber.

Emil brought: 1989 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigna Giachini. VM 91. Corino’s 1989 Barolo Vigna Giachini offers up cedar, mushrooms and a host of mostly mature aromas and flavors on a delicate, elegant frame. The tannins remain a touch firm, but there doesn’t appear to be much upside in holding bottles too much longer.

agavin: young still, but reaching maturity. Great Barolo!

Mezze Maniche all Gricia. Guanciale, black pepper & pecorino romano DOP. Pork fat, pepper, pecorino, flavors much like a cacio e pepe (leaning heavier on the pork) or carbonara (minus the egg). Super chew pasty, bright fatty flavors. Very Roman.

Rigatoni All’Amatricina. Guanciale, pomodoro & peccorino romano DOP. Classic version of this dish with extremely al dente pasta tubs and an excellent salty pork cheek fat flavor to the sauce (as it should).

Orecchiette. Susage sugo, broccoli di cicco, peperoncini & provola. Great texture to the pasta, this one had a “sausage” and “bitter green” vibe. It was really bracing and surprisingly delicious.

From my cellar: 2000 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. VM 97. I have had mixed experiences with Bruno Giacosa’s 2000 Barolo Riserva Le Rocche del Falletto, but this bottle, from a case I purchased on release, is absolutely stellar. Intensely sweet, floral aromas soar from the glass. Radiant, open-knit and super-expressive, the Riserva captures all the best qualities of the vintage. It has been a few years since I last tasted the 2000. In that time, the wine appears to have barely budged at all, which will come as welcome news to readers who own it. The 2000 Riserva doesn’t quite reach the heights of the truly epic Giacosa wines of the era, but it comes close, especially on this night. I can only hope that future bottles show this well.

agavin: I should have listened to my instincts. This was a fabulous wine, but I had brought 97 and 98 Gaja Barbaresco too and Yarom convinced me to open the red label. Even after 1.5 hours in the decanter this wasn’t even close to ready. Needs at least 10 more years.

Bistecca di Maiale. Peeds & Barnett Pork shoulder steak, nectarines and basil. Our lone “entree” was this salty bit of pork steak goodness. Paired nicely with the fruit and basil.
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Bistecca di Maile (9/10/17). Peads & barnett pork shoulder steak, peaches & basil. Very slightly different.
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Carre di agnello (9/10/17). rack of lamb, adriatic figs and mint. Great stuff.
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Coppa di Maiale (10/1/19). Pork shoulder steak, porchini & sugo di arrogato. Interesting dish, and delicious.

Potatoes.

A berry tart. Good but the weakest of the 3 desserts.

Tiramisu. I’m usually disappointed by tiramisu given how good my own is, but this one was excellent, as good as I’ve had in recent memory.

Budino. Walnuts or pecans. This was good stuff. I love adult pudding.

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Chocolate Tart, figs (10/1/19).

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Chocolate Tart, cherries (10/22/19).
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Amaretto Gelato (10/1/19 & 10/22/19). Delicate, and not as good as mine (Sweet Milk) but nice nonetheless.

Overall, this was a pair of fabulous meals. The manager and staff took great care of us, despite being amazingly crowded (even at 5:45 on a Thursday one time, similar time on a Sunday the other). And the food was just really really good. It’s very much a hybrid of the contemporary bright flavor rustic Italian that has been so successful at places like Sotto and Bestia and an ultra traditional top notch pasta execution. Each pasta dish had it’s own pasta, each was cooked perfectly al dente, and despite many of the sauces sharing a lot of ingredients (pork jowl, here’s looking at you), they each had strong individual flavors. Really, really great pasta and overall not a single dish that missed, varying from very good to amazing.

In October of 2019 I went twice again, with smaller family groups. A bit of a pain to get into, and extremely loud, but the service is great and while expensive the dishes are really punched up. Love the salads, pizzas, and pastas. The mains and desserts are good but just fine. But the pastas, while not totally Italian authentic, are incredibly GOOD. Very punchy high acidity flavors. Lots of chewy interesting pasta shapes.

Bravo!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Below are the 9/10/17 wines (the ones integrated above were from the 8/8/17 dinner).

Related posts:

  1. Hostaria del Piccolo – Pizza + Pasta
  2. Reference Pasta – Cacio e Pepe
  3. Palmeri again
  4. Seconds at Sotto
  5. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Evan Funke, felix, hedonists, Italian cuisine, pasta, Pizza, Wine

Eating NY – PizzArte

Sep01

Restaurant: PizzArte

Location: 69 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019. (212) 247-3936

Date: July 6, 2017 & November 30, 2019

Cuisine: Neo-Neapolitan pizza

Rating: Tasty!

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Alex and I had an opportunity to go out to dinner by ourselves in New York — then 2.5 years later he and my wife and I returned…

…so of course we chose pizza.

The menu.

Olives to start.

Bread.

A glass of Aglianico.

Prosciutto e Burrata. 24 Month Aged Prosciutto Di Parma, Burrata Cheese, Castelvetrano Olives, Grilled Country Bread Bruschetta.
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Spinaci. Spinach, beets, goat cheese, mango, pistachio nuts.
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Polpettine Passi e Pinoli. Home-style Neapolitan meatballs, Italian pine nuts, raisins, broccoli rabe.
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Simple pasta for the boy in 2019.

Margherita pizza. San Marzano Tomatoes, Mozzarella, Basil (Alex declined the basil as usual).

Ragu Napoletano. Smoked Buffalo Mozzarella, Traditional Neapolitan Veal And Pork Ragú. Not a traditional topping, but it did make for a delicious pizza.
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Cavofiore e Tartufo. Roasted cauliflower, mozzarella, sausage, black truffle sauce. Interesting, but a bit weird.

The dessert menu.

Chocolate and Vanilla gelato.

Amalfi Coast-Delizia al Limone. Lemon and cream sponge cake.

I LOVE this traditional (circa 1900) Sorento dessert. Traditionally, it’s a dome-shaped lemon sponge cake with limoncello cream and has an amazing Sorento Lemon flavor. You can see one at the source here.

Clearly Alex hated the gelato.
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He looks older but not too different 2.5 years later!
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In 2019, as we were rushing off to see Hamilton I felt the extreme need for speed (aka caffeine) in the form of this macchiato.

PizzArte didn’t disappoint. For whatever reason it was much more satisfying than Marta a couple days before and Alex and I enjoyed our meal immensely. Our server was friendly and delightful and the food was straight up and delicious.

For more New York dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating NY – Marta
  2. San Fran – Starbelly
  3. Eating NY – Baker & Co
  4. Eating San Donato – Pizzeria Pretorio
  5. Eating NY – Grom
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: eating_new_york, New York, Pizza, PizzArte

Italian? – Tom George

May24

Restaurant: Tom George

Location: 707 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017. (424) 362-6263

Date: April 16, 2017

Cuisine: (Sort of) Italian

Rating: hits and misses both

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Saturday night brings me Downtown to meet up with pal Sebastian.

He loves this difficult to park at unless you valet corner. And Tom George is a newcomer, a big attractive space that hosts a strangely named “Italian.” It’s the kind of Italian I don’t really get — where it doesn’t feel that much like an Italian restaurant.

The menu is kinda Italian. It has pasta and pizza. But kinda American too. And it’s certainly nothing like a menu you’d find in Italy.

We bought a Verdiccio or something like that off the list too, forgot to take a picture of it.

From my cellar: 2004 Tenuta le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. VM 93. The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva naturally offers a bit more structure and depth than the straight bottling. Powerful and intense, the Riserva also shows the wilder side of Sangiovese, with plenty of game, smoke, tobacco and licorice undertones. The 2004 has aged well, even if it is a bit rustic. Still, there is plenty to like.

Nduja sausage pizza. arugula, mozzarella, basil. This was a good pizza.

Hand chopped beef tartare. Quail egg, toast. Pretty straight up decent tartare.

We ordered some white truffle and just had it shaved to add ourselves.

They gave us lots of it, problem was it had no flavor — out of season?

Seb brought: 2007 Castello dei Rampolla d’Alceo. VM 97. Dark raspberries, cloves, menthol and crushed rocks wrap around the palate in the 2007 d’Alceo. Rich, voluptuous and sexy, the 2007 is very much a product of a vintage that yielded a crop of resonant, generous wines. The ripe, silky tannins will make the 2007 accessible relatively early, but it also has more than enough depth to age well for years. Today, the flavors are naturally still quite primary and there is still quite a bit of baby fat that has to melt off before the 2007 enters its prime drinking window. Still, there is a lot to like, including the wine’s huge, palate-staining finish. Grace meets power in the 2007. In a word: dazzling!

Spaghetti Carbonara. Guanciale, black truffle. This was a solid Carbonara. Definitely good. Not the best I’ve had in LA, nor even close to a good one in Italy, but certainly very enjoyable. Guanciale wasn’t crispy. I like it crispy.

Fettuccine duck ragu bolognese. Total fail. Looked good, but very little flavor.

Penne Vodka. Pork cheek bacon, basil. This was salty but delicious.

This wasn’t on the menu, but obviously it’s a whole fish with a ratatouille.

Seb also brought: 2014 Sine Qua Non Syrah Piranha Waterdance. VM 95-97. A striking, vibrant wine, the 2014 Syrah Piranha Waterdance is beautifully focused and energetic from start to finish. Plum, blueberry, lavender, mint, violet and sweet spices all take shape in the glass. This is an especially nuanced, sculpted Syrah long on class and personality. There is so much to like here. The 2014 is 81% Syrah, 8% Petite Sirah, 6% Mourvèdre, 4% Touriga Nacional and % Graciano, done with 26% whole clusters, all from Sine Qua Non’s estate vineyards: 35% Eleven Confessions, 34% Third Twin and 31% Cumulus.

Half jidori chicken, roasted miatake, brown butter sauce. I’m not normally a chicken fan, and this certainly isn’t very Italian, but it was good.

Butter lettuce. Cucumber, mustard vinaigrette. Never seen a salad like this in Italy.

Matcha Tiramisu. White chocolate. Nice texture, but the whole matcha and white chocolate is certainly very inferior to the traditional zabaione, coffee, chocolate, rum vibe.
 Gelato. The dark is chocolate sorbet, which was good for no dairy but still a sorbet. The white was basil gelato. Nice texture, but the flavor was very very sweet and very mildly basil.

Overall the food here was a bit hit or miss. It didn’t feel terribly Italian, certainly not authentically Italian, although I heard one of the owners or managers speaking Italian. Some of the dishes were good like the pizza, the carbonara, and the chicken, but non were terribly memorable. Service was perfectly pleasant and the space lovely.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  4. Villetta – More Italian in Brentwood?
  5. Graffiato Italian Tapas
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Italian Cusine, Pizza, Tiramisu, Tom George, Wine

Quick Eats – Mod Pizza

Nov16

Restaurant: Mod Pizza

Location: 8985 Venice Blvd k, Los Angeles, CA 90034.

Date: November 5, 2016

Cuisine: Pizza

Rating: Like a low-rent 800 degrees

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I keep passing this place on my way to work at our new restaurant-under-development and on a Saturday with my son (who is a pizza fiend) and in a time crunch decided to try it.

It should be prefaced that we eat at 800 Degrees all the time (even though I have never written it up) — and that chain was co-founded by my partner.
 Mod pizza is a similar concept. Made to order pizzas. It’s cheaper (and 800 Degrees is pretty cheap) and uses a fixed price model. Toppings don’t cost, only your pizza size and extras.

The ingredients aren’t terribly gourmet. They do have basic bases (like white, pesto, red etc), but there are no fancy cheeses, no Calabrian chilies, etc.

The buildout is simple and efficient. Drive-thru like almost. Not much style really.

Various drinks.

This margarita + mushrooms.

My custom meatser. Various sausage, pesto base, sweet peppers. The crust isn’t great at all, and the toppings so-so. And this pizza was REALLY REALLY salty, which tasted ok but left me feeling salted out.

Our son, who LOVES pizza and who declares 800 Degrees is his second favorite restaurant ever ate only one piece of his cheese pizza. He was confused why it was “worse.”

So Mod Pizza is kinda like 800 Degrees, but a little cheaper and quite a bit worse. Given that I don’t care about a $2 difference, no way I’d choose it in any kind of head to head. In fact, I’m unlikely to go back unless I’m desperate for some reason. They are cheap and fast. They do have flexible sizes (having that little size is good for kinds). But quality is meh.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – The Sauce
  2. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  3. Ultimate Pizza in Review
  4. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
  5. Quick Eats – Palmeri
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Culver City, Mod Pizza, Pizza

Mountain Eats – Campo

Mar28

Restaurant: Campo

Location:6201 Minaret Rd Suite 240, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546. (760) 934-0669

Date: January 17 & March 20, 2016

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: decent, for Mammoth

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Mammoth Lakes isn’t exactly a culinary capital, so we twice went to:

Campo, the Village’s designated Italian.

Campo calls itself Rustic Italian. Well, I guess that’s reasonable. More Rustic Contemporary Italian American, but who’s being specific.

Bread and olive oil / balsamic.

This is a composite of two dinners, both times I brought Brunello. Forgot to photo the first one.

From my cellar: 2004 Tenuta le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. VM 93. Deep ruby-red. Knockout nose combines red cherry, smoky plum, minerals and licorice. Enters creamy, fleshy and smooth, with decadently rich red and black fruit flavors, but turns more austere towards the back. Finishes with above-average complexity and depth, featuring ultra-smooth tannins and an enticing mineral persistence. Lacks the length for an even higher score, but this very serious wine only needs a few years in the cellar to show all it’s got. This is the first Riserva ever made by this estate.

agavin: I got this bottle (and a couple cases of others) at the winery. It was bricking slightly but in a really good spot.

Charcuterie. Meats!

Butternut soup.

Simple Green Salad. White balsamic vinaigrette.

Kale salad. Various extras.

Wood fired cauliflower. Calabrian chilies. garlic. Not bad.
 Beet Salad. roasted baby beets, butternut squash, rosemary goat cheese, chile oil. Strange neon glow to the beets!

Special with burrata and prosciutto and very salty crackers. Super yummy though.
 Pizza!

Kid’s pasta.

Special Pappardelle with orange and duck. A little sweet but quite good.

TAGLIATELLE wild boar bolognese, grana padano. A decent, but slightly dry version of this classic dish. The meat needed more flavor somehow.

Special seafood risotto with shrimp and scallop.

Steak and potatoes. This is Mammoth.

A very unattractive split of a root beer float.

Caramel budino. These are always great. Love it.

Campo is great for Mammoth and sort of decent by LA Italian standards. It’s got a good menu and execution is decent. Some dishes are tasty and some are a tad flat. Service is overwhelmed. Both times we were there — granted with big parties — they couldn’t really handle it and there were issues. They were nice though. Mammoth servers usually are. They just couldn’t get it all right / timed / etc.

For more dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  5. Quick Eats: Caffe Delfini
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Campo, Italian cuisine, Mammoth Lakes, pasta, Pizza

We Toss’em They’re Awesome

Jan08

Restaurant: Pizza Factory

Location: 970 N Main St, Bishop, CA 93514. (760) 872-8888

Date: January 1, 2016

Cuisine: Pizza

Rating: Solid non-chain Pizza parlor

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In the 1990s I used to go to Mammoth all the time to ski, and almost every time we would stop on the way back at one of the two Pizza Factory outlets. Now that I’m back up skiing with my wife and son, we decided to rekindle the tradition.

This is no neo-neo-Neapolitan pizza joint, but a classic small chain parlor.

They’re whole “We Toss’em They’re Awesome” signage was a source of mirth back in the day (20 years ago).

The dining room is pretty gamey — and there is even an arcade filled with dated classics like Galaga and Ms. Pacman!

Cheese pizza.

Mushroom pizza (gluten free).

Mushroom pizza.

Pepperoni, chili, and artichoke pizza.

Sausage, basil, pizza. Almost Thai!
 And my choice, the Meat Lovers pizza. Sausage, ham, pepperoni, and all that goodness. This was a solid pie, with a nice chewy crust and full of salty goodness.

Overall, Pizza Factory turns out solid pies. They aren’t new style, but they are well executed classic American pizzas. They have good crust, gooey real cheese, and a wide variety of toppings — so what isn’t to like about it?

For more dining reviews click here.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bishop California, Pizza, Pizza Factory, We Toss'em They're Awesome

Ultimate Pizza New Year 2014

Jan09

Every few months, and particularly at New Years, we do another round of our Ultimate Homemade Pizzas. If you’re curious about how these components are made look here, otherwise just enjoy the food porn.

Before diving in, I’ll note that this time I am making further progress in that most difficult of pizza problems: the transfer. The most challenging part of making pizza at home is getting it into and out of the oven without messing it up. Into the oven is toughest because the dough is soft and sticky and the pizza is laden.

My new technique is:

  • Roll on the marble countertop with flour
  • Coat a peel with tons of white flour
  • Transfer the pie to the peel
  • Add toppings. Make sure they don’t get too close to the edge.
  • Scoot it off the peel using the flour as lube onto the pizza stone. Do not use cornmeal, which is inferior to flour as a lube and leaves an annoying texture on the dough
  • Scoot back off the stone onto the peel with my huge pizza spatula
  • Use separate cutting blocks for cutting (not the peel)


NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé (magnum). IWC 92. Light orange. Vibrant strawberry and orange zest aromas are complicated by notes of tea rose, smoky lees and chalky minerals. Bright, incisive red fruit flavors pick up a toasty nuance with air. Fresh, incisive and refreshingly tangy, with impressive finishing clarity and stony persistence.


Straight up pizza + corn.


My classic “Jewish Pizza”. First I bake the dough with rosemary and truffle oil, then top with my mix of creme fraiche, dill and chives. Then add red onion and capers and…


finally nova lox. Really a fabulous bit of pizza.

This pizza focuses on a few new toppings, namely spicy lebneh cheese as a “sauce”, sautéed broccoli rab, mushrooms, green pepper goat cheese.

A great mix with an intriguing blend of heat and the slightly bitter vegetable.


From my cellar: 1991 Etienne Sauzet Bâtard-Montrachet. 91 points. Dry and subdued, but very clean and nice. Drinking young for its age.


This pizza focuses on my new Ultra Ligurian pesto (pine nuts from Liguria, lots of garlic, very good parmesan freshly grated). It includes ricotta and parmesan, mushroom, tomatoes, almonds, and a bit of fig.


Here finished.


Today’s incarnation of my tikka masala pizza. Tikka masala sauce, smoked mozzarella, morels, almonds, basil, ricotta, mozz balls, red onion.


Topped with burrata and a bit of balsamic. Yum!


A new simple cheese pizza with mixed mushrooms.


Another spicy labneh, similar to the last but with slightly different cheeses, a bit of sun-dried tomatoe pesto, and even a little smoked mozz. This was actually drizzled with honey too before baking!


Baked.


From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. 94 points. Great wine in great shape.


More pesto, with a bit of pumpkin, almonds, figs, blobs of garlic mint yogurt, and red onions.


Baked and topped with burrata.


A fresher pizza with a light pesto, tomatoes, onions, broccoli rab.


And topped with arugula and meyer lemon juice.


Tomatoes, pesto, garlic olives, basil.


And my final iteration on the pesto / afghan theme. Ligurian pesto, garlic mint yogurt, pumpkin, a bit of sundied tomatoe pesto, gorgonzola, figs, and sweet chili.


Baked.


And with burrata!


From my cellar: 1988 Domaine de Courcel Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Épenots. 92 points. Full color. What a completely different animal from that wine-brambly black fruit and licorice, medium to full bodied for a Pinot and very meaty feel. I must say that you rarely find this much flesh in an ’88 Burgundy. Relatively speaking, a brute, and much less resolved than the Clos St. Jacques. Wilder and riper. I always find Pommard a bit rough and jarring, but this one was beginning to soften with its 22 years of age. Maybe my problem is that I don’t hold these wines for as long as they need to soften. Very attractive in this chunkier style.


A bit of the dessert spread.


The fudge cake.


Chocolate cupcakes.


Vanilla.


Iced cookies. I love these actually.


Boring sprinkle cookies (always left over).


A kind of strawberry cream fruit tart monster.

The gory details on how to we made the dough, sauce and other components are available here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – The Comeback
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  3. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
  4. Ultimate Pizza 2012
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Dough
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Buffalo mozzarella, Dessert, Pizza, ultimate pizza, Wine

2009 Bordeaux Doesn’t Blow

Nov29

Location: Hollywood Hills

Date: November 24, 2013

Cuisine: Molecular American

Rating: Amazing night!

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My friend Stewart had this idea to host a dinner featuring the wealth of 99 and 100 point 2009 Bordeaux. I have to admit, their youth made me skeptical, but he assured me they were drinking great — plus, my vocation as a priest of Dionysus wouldn’t allow me to pass up on 15-20 100 point wines!

To sweeten the pot, he promised a first rate molecular dinner from celebrity chef, Marcel Vigneron (great name!) and co-chef  Haru Kishi. Marcel was the original Executive Sous Chef at The Bazaar too, and also cooked at Joel Robuchon. Haru was at Chaya Brasserie. Those pedigrees most certainly do not suck.


Stewart really knows how to organize a wine dinner — and I should know given how many I attend. This event was expertly planned from start to finish. One of the attendees generously donated her lovely Hollywood Hills home (off a narrow hill street) as the venue.


Stewart rented Riedel stems, and even more importantly, took on the services of two fantastic Sommeliers. All of us split the cost plus brought 2-3 bottles of the good stuff.


The view on this crystal clear November day was stunning.


In the foreground is Max Coane, one of our two awesome somms. I can’t tell you how much more relaxed having these two professionals made the event. Most of my zany (and awesome) wine dinners are free-for-alls. That can be okay up to about twelve people, but even so, I end up doing (really half-assing) the job of somm myself: opening the bottles, doing pours, etc. It becomes hard to get all the wines and you really have to worry about it (if you’re anal like me). These guys were pro (and super nice and enthusiastic as well).


1993 Moet Chandon Dom Perignon. Parker 93. Medium lemon-straw colour. Moderately intense nose of lemon curd, kaffir lime leaf, plenty of hot buttered toast and vague hints of chalk and crushed stone. The bubbles are calming a little in the mouth and the very crisp acidity is taking centre stage, yet this wine is drinking beautifully now, providing plenty of yeast and citrus flavour with a generous sprinkling of minerality. Long finish.


1990 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame. Parker 95. I highly recommend the Veuve Clicquot 1990 La Grande Dame. It is exquisitely rich and accessible, yet bursting with potential.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2WwE3plcE&feature=youtu.be]

To make this bottle even more exciting, it was opened with a sword!


2002 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses. Parker 96. The flagship 2002 Brut Clos des Goisses is simply stunning in this vintage. Seamless, ripe and beguiling, the 2002 is pure harmony in the glass. Dried pears, apricots, flowers, red berries and spices are some of the many notes that inform this towering, aristocratic wine. At once vertical yet endowed with serious length, the 2002 stands out for its breathtaking balance and overall sense of harmony. Layers of fruit built to the huge, creamy finish. This is a great showing from Philipponnat.


We retired downstairs to the garden for appetizers. These included fresh pizzas whipped up by Marcel here. Yum. These reminded me of my Ultimate Pizza. And he got his dough balls from Terroni.

Our host, Rachel, had an amazing (and gorgeous) wood fired pizza oven. Awesome!


Look at those coals!


And her view.


2009 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 96. Here too there are residual sulfur notes that are only background nuances to the otherwise very fresh and dense green fruit and stone aromas that introduce intensely mineral-driven, firm, rich and enveloping flavors that display a taut muscularity on the strikingly powerful, focused and bone dry finish that is really quite explosive. Like the Montrachet, this should reward at least a decade of long-term cellaring. A brilliant example of the appellation.


From my cellar, 1993 Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin. 93 points. this wine shows sweet cherries, sharp minerals, and forest floor on the powerful nose. Initially the palate is a bit shy, but with time it gains concentration and volume until it explodes with deep red and black fruits. This is medium bodied and elegant but the fruit is intense, the acids are lively, and there is a strong spice note on the finish. There are still some hard edges and this is probably 5 years from its peak, but it’s wonderful now. Paired beautifully with grilled chickens.


1995 Lagrange. Parker 90. The 1995 Lagrange is similar to the 1996, but the fruit is sweeter, the acidity lower, and the wine less marked by Cabernet Sauvignon. The color is a deep ruby/purple. The wine boasts a roasted herb, charcoal, black currant, mineral, and new oak-scented nose. Medium to full-bodied and ripe, with copious quantities of jammy black cherry and cassis flavors presented in a medium-bodied, low acid, moderately tannic style, this well-endowed, purely made wine requires cellaring.


Oyster spherification, finger lime and wasabi. These first two apps were the weak point of an otherwise stellar meal — not that they were bad, but they just didn’t reach the heights of the rest. The oysters were too warm, and probably could have used a nice Sancerre :-).


Bay scallop cones, ponzu, yuzu kosho, masago. I love raw scallops but these had a slightly odd oil or pine tang. Marcel thought it might be the yuzu, but maybe the oil in the cones.


White truffle pizza, buffalo mozzarella, squash blossom, bacon & shallots. Now these pizzas were AWESOME. I love a good pizza, and this certainly was it. Nice chewy dough. Perfect!


In this serious I’m going to show off some of our ingredients, in this case fresh truffles both white and black!


And persimmons, frozen for texture.


Squabs.


And venison loin. Look at that color.


Moving upstairs we return to our epic 100 point Bordeaux.


From my cellar, 2009 Pape Clement Blanc. Parker 100. The 2009 Pape Clement Blanc is an absolutely remarkable wine, which is not a surprise given what this historic estate has done in both white and red over the last 20 years. Their white wine, an intriguing blend of 40% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Semillon, 16% Sauvignon Gris and the rest Muscadelle, comes from 7.5 acres of pure gravelly soil. An exquisite nose of honeysuckle, tropical fruit, pineapple, green apples, and orange and apricot marmalade soar from the glass. Great acidity, a full-bodied mouthfeel and a texture more akin to great grand cru white Burgundy put this wine in a class by itself. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were others who also think this is pure perfection in white Bordeaux. I tasted this wine four separate times and gave it a perfect score three of the four times. It is one of most exquisite dry white I have ever tasted from anywhere – period. Certainly the founder of Pape Clement, Bertrand de Goth, would be happy with his decision to plant a vineyard here in 1305. Pure genius!


2009 Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc. Parker 98. Smith-Haut-Lafitte hit a home run with their red Pessac-Leognan and came very close to perfection with their dry white Graves. Possibly the best dry white the estate has produced since the proprietors, the Cathiards, acquired the property in 1990, this wine exhibits a sensational fragrance of buttered citrus, honeyed melons and a touch of grapefruit, lemon zest and orange rind. It also displays grapefruit on the attack and mid-palate as well as real opulence, terrific acidity and length. Drink it over the next 15-20 years. Astonishing!


2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 96. Prost was, justifiably, extremely proud of this wine and observed that it may be the best “straight” Chevalier that he’s ever made. Not surprisingly, this is a good deal more elegant than the Bâtard with gorgeously pure floral and white fruit, stone and subtle spice aromas that seamlessly merge into the almost painfully intense and vibrant flavors that, like the Perrières, possess crystalline purity and huge length. This is a knockout Chevy and if you can find it, don’t miss it.


Truffled egg. Like at Melisse. Good stuff.


Inside you can see the scrambled egg bits.


From my cellar, 2009 Clinet. Parker 100. Clinet has been on a hot streak lately and the 2009 appears to be the greatest wine ever made at the estate, surpassing even the late Jean-Michel Arcaute’s monumental 1989. A blend of 85% Merlot and tiny amounts of Cabernet Franc (12%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (3%), this big Pomerol boasts an opaque, moonless night inky/blue/purple color in addition to a gorgeous perfume of blueberry pie, incense, truffles, black raspberries, licorice and wood smoke. Viscous and multi-dimensional with silky, sweet tannin, massive fruit concentration and full-bodied power, there are nearly 4,000 cases of this thick, juicy, perfect Clinet.


2009 Smith-Haut-Lafitte. Parker 100. The finest wine ever made by proprietors Daniel and Florence Cathiard, the 2009 Smith-Haut-Lafitte exhibits an opaque blue/purple color in addition to a glorious nose of acacia flowers, licorice, charcoal, blueberries, black raspberries, lead pencil shavings and incense. This massive, extraordinarily rich, unctuously textured wine may be the most concentrated effort produced to date, although the 2000, 2005 and 2010 are nearly as prodigious. A gorgeous expression of Pessac-Leognan with sweet tannin, emerging charm and delicacy, and considerable power, depth, richness and authority, it should age effortlessly for 30-40+ years. Bravo!


2009 La Fleur Petrus. Parker 96-98+. Even with considerable youthful characteristics, this stunning, open-knit 2009 is quite approachable. This fabled terroir sandwiched between Petrus and Lafleur (hence the name) generally produces one of the more elegantly-styled Pomerols, but in 2009 it offers an extra dimension of flavor intensity as well as more texture and concentration. It reveals a super-seductive perfume of mocha, loamy soil, herbs, black cherries and black currants, truffles and licorice, full body and velvety tannins. The overall impression is one of intensity, power, glycerin and richness as well as undeniable elegance and laser-like focus.

Despite its (slightly) inferior rating, this wine stood out at the current moment.


Langoustine ravioli, kale, foie gras veloute, black burgundy truffle. Wow, this was great. The filling was solid dense langoustine and really tasted like it. The sauce was a decadent langoustine bisque made from the bodies and saturated with foie gras. Plus the truffle. Only the kale was healthy.


2009 Montrose. Parker 100. A colossal effort, the 2009 Montrose represents a hypothetical blend of the monumental duo of 1989 and 1990 combined with the phenomenal 2003. With 13.7% alcohol (an all-time high at Montrose), it is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and the rest tiny quantities of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Some structure and minerality can be detected in the background, but the overall impression is one of massive blackberry, black currant and mulberry fruit intermixed with forest floor, damp earth, crushed rocks and a hint of spring flowers. Full-bodied with sweet but abundant tannin, Jean-Bernard Delmas believes this is the greatest wine he has made during his short tenure at Montrose since retiring from Haut-Brion. This wine will undoubtedly shut down for a decade, then unleash its power, glory and potential perfection.


2009 Pavie. Parker 100. Bottled the week before I arrived, the 2009 Pavie appears to have barely budged since I tasted it two years ago. Many experts consider this phenomenal terroir to be nearly as great as that of Ausone. Made from a classic blend of 60-70% Merlot, 20-25% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, this inky/blue/purple-colored blockbuster reveals wonderful notes of blackberries, crushed rocks, roasted meats, spring flowers, cedar, blueberries, graphite and a hint of vanillin. With extravagant fruit and high extract as well as a hint of minerality, this structured, massively intense effort is typical of all the luxurious, perfect or nearly perfect Pavies produced under the Perse regime (which began in 1998). While built for 40-50 years of cellaring, the softness of the vintage and its flamboyant style is slightly less apparent in the 2009 Pavie than in some of the other Perse wines.


2009 Leoville-Poyferre. Parker 100. One of the more flamboyant and sumptuous wines of the vintage, this inky/purple-colored St.-Julien reveals thrilling levels of opulence, richness and aromatic pleasures. A soaring bouquet of creme de cassis, charcoal, graphite and spring flowers is followed by a super-concentrated wine with silky tannins, stunning amounts of glycerin, a voluptuous, multilayered mouthfeel and nearly 14% natural alcohol. Displaying fabulous definition for such a big, plump, massive, concentrated effort, I suspect the tannin levels are high even though they are largely concealed by lavish amounts of fruit, glycerin and extract.


White truffle risotto, Japanese rice, Parmigiano reggiano. Another great dish. The Japanese rice had a nice texture, but I’d give this 8/10 on my risotto scale as it needed slightly more cheesy creamy punch to hit the highest highs (I’ve had a lot of great risotto). Still great though.


2009 De Suduiraut. Parker 98. The 2009 is one of the greatest wines ever produced from the estate. It has a riveting bouquet of quince, honey, pear and a touch of clarified butter that is beautifully defined, offering scents of yellow flowers with continued aeration. It is a little heavier and more intense than its peers at this stage. The palate is beautifully balanced with perfectly judged acidity and immense purity. The finish offers crisp honey, quince and clementine notes laden with botrytis that is counterpoised by wonderful acidity. It possesses an unerring sense of completeness and composure that is irresistible. Bravo!


An intermezzo of pears. Looks simple, but paired with the Suduiraut, fabulous.


Most of the gang. Our hostess is in the front right.


2009 Pontet-Canet. Parker 100. An amazing wine in every sense, this classic, full-bodied Pauillac is the quintessential Pontet Canet from proprietor Alfred Tesseron, who continues to reduce yields and farms his vineyards biodynamically – a rarity in Bordeaux. Black as a moonless night, the 2009 Pontet Canet offers up notes of incense, graphite, smoke, licorice, creme de cassis and blackberries. A wine of irrefutable purity, laser-like precision, colossal weight and richness, and sensational freshness, this is a tour de force in winemaking that is capable of lasting 50 or more years. The tannins are elevated, but they are sweet and beautifully integrated as are the acidity, wood and alcohol (which must be in excess of 14%). This vineyard, which is situated on the high plateau of Pauillac adjacent to Mouton Rothschild, appears to have done everything perfectly in 2009. This cuvee should shut down in the cellar and re-open in a decade or more.


2009 Chateau Margaux. Parker 99-100. A brilliant offering from the Mentzelopoulos family, once again their gifted manager, Paul Pontallier, has produced an uncommonly concentrated, powerful 2009 Chateau Margaux made from 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest primarily Merlot with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. As with most Medocs, the alcohol here is actually lower (a modest 13.3%) than most of its siblings-. Abundant blueberry, cassis and acacia flower as well as hints of charcoal and forest floor aromas that are almost Burgundian in their complexity are followed by a wine displaying sweet, well-integrated tannins as well as a certain ethereal lightness despite the wine’s overall size. Rich, round, generous and unusually approachable for such a young Margaux, this 2009 should drink well for 30-35+ years.


2009 Cheval Blanc. Parker 99-100. It will be fascinating to follow the evolution of the 2009 Cheval Blanc versus the 2010 as well as the awesome 2005, 2000, 1998 and 1990. This famous estate’s vineyard is situated at the juncture of Pomerol and the sandy, gravelly soils of St.-Emilion, facing the two noble estates of l’Evangile and La Conseillante. A blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, the 2009 Cheval Blanc tips the scales at just under 14% natural alcohol. Its dense blue/purple color is accompanied by an extraordinary nose of incense, raspberries, cassis, sweet forest floor and a subtle hint of menthol. Opulent and full-bodied with low acidity but no sense of heaviness, this dense, unctuously textured, super-smooth, velvety, pure, profound Cheval Blanc is impossible to resist despite its youthfulness.


Chef pan fries up some foie gras, and manages to produce enough smoke to set off the smoke alarm :-).


And the lovely squabs.


Roasted squab, lollipop leg, faux truffle, real truffle, celery root puree, squid ink dyed baby artichoke hearts, persimmon, parsnip chips, jus. This was a 10/10 game fowl dish. Everything was amazing, from the lovely bird meat, to the truffles, to the awesome jus (I love a good jus) to the delicate puree. Really delightful.


2009 Mouton-Rothschild. Parker 99+. The 2009 Mouton Rothschild has a striking label from Anish Kapoor. The wine is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot that begs comparison as a young wine with what the 1982 tasted like in 1985 or, I suspect, what the 1959 may have tasted like in 1962. Representing 50% of their production, the wine has an inky purple color to the rim and not terribly high alcohol for a 2009 (13.2%), but that is reflected by the high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a remarkable nose of lead pencil shavings, violets, creme de cassis and subtle barrique smells. It is stunningly opulent, fat, and super-concentrated, but the luxurious fruit tends to conceal some rather formidable tannins in the finish. This is an amazing wine that will be slightly more drinkable at an earlier age than I thought from barrel, but capable of lasting 50 or more years. Kudos to the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild and the entire Mouton team, lead by Monsieur Dalhuin.


2009 Lafite-Rothschild. Parker 99+. The main reason the 2009 Lafite Rothschild did not receive a perfect score is because the wine has closed down slightly, but it is unquestionably another profound Lafite, their greatest wine since the amazing 2003. Among the most powerful Lafites ever made (it came in at 13.59% alcohol), the final blend was 82.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot. The selection was incredibly severe with only 45% of the crop being utilized. A tight, but potentially gorgeous nose of graphite, black currants, licorice and camphor is followed by a full-bodied wine revealing the classic elegance, purity and delineated style of Lafite. It is phenomenally concentrated with softer tannins than the 2005, the 2003’s voluptuous, broad, juicy personality, and low acidity. There are several vintages that I thought were a replay of their colossal 1959, most notably 1982 and 2003, but 2009 is also one to keep an eye on. It is still extremely youthful and seems slightly more backward than I would have guessed based on the barrel tastings, but it needs 10-15 years of bottle age, and should last for 50+.


2009 Latour. Parker 100. A blend of 91.3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8.7% Merlot with just under 14% natural alcohol, the 2009 Latour is basically a clone of the super 2003, only more structured and potentially more massive and long lived. An elixir of momentous proportions, it boasts a dense purple color as well as an extraordinarily flamboyant bouquet of black fruits, graphite, crushed rocks, subtle oak and a notion of wet steel. It hits the palate with a thundering concoction of thick, juicy blue and black fruits, lead pencil shavings and a chalky minerality. Full-bodied, but very fresh with a finish that lasts over a minute, this is one of the most remarkable young wines I have ever tasted. Will it last one-hundred years? No doubt about it. Can it be drunk in a decade? For sure.

My wine of the night. Really pretty awesome.


Venison loin, acorn squash puree, carrots & turnips, chanterelles, truffle noodle. Another 10/10. The meat was some of the best deer I’ve had and the jus was out of this world.


I just have to show off that rare goodness. Some really delightful red meat here, and perfect with all that Bordeaux.


bottles

Nitro dragon’s breath popcorn. Always fun. They do this at Saam.


Popcorn that is basically liquid nitro frozen, then you crunch and…


Breath fire (or smoke).


Another bottle of the 2009 De Suduiraut it was just that good.

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.


Now the chefs whip up some nitro frozen ice cream.


In this case, coconut lemon grass ice cream! It tasted like Tom Kha Gai ice cream!


And what’s up with this kiwi? It looks like a little tush!


Paleo banana bread, coconut lavender nitro ice cream, market kiwi. A lovely and refreshing dessert, which paired delightfully with the dessert wine.


Above are the two somms on the left, and me on the right in the shiny red shirt.

Someone makes off with the best of the bottles 🙂

Overall, this was an impeccable event. Not only were the wines and food incredible, but the atmosphere, company, and overall congeniality (helped by having talented sommeliers) really made it a delightful evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.


Related posts:

  1. Memorial Day Pig
  2. Hedonists at STK again!
  3. Luminous Lechon Pigout!
  4. Fraiche – Ultimo Wine Dinner
  5. Big Bottle Madness at Kali Dining
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bordeaux, Champagne, Dessert, Dionysus, Hollywood Hills, Marcel Vigneron, Pizza, venison, Wine

Return to Milo & Olive

Jul19

My wife and I return to one of Santa Monica’s best pizzerias for some more tossed dough balls… find the details here.

Related posts:

  1. Milo and Olive Pizzeria
  2. Jak & Daxter Return
  3. Din Tai Fung – The Return!
  4. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Milo and Olive, Pizza, Santa Monica California

Ultimate Pizza New Years 2012

Jan07

Every few months, and particularly at New Years, we do another round of our Ultimate Homemade Pizzas. If you’re curious about how these components are made look here, otherwise just enjoy the food porn.


This is about half of the arrayed toppings required to make the full range of Ultimate Pizza. It’s not an efficient process.


We open with a little champagne, as it is New Years. The Brut is round and generous in its candied apricots, honey and roasted nuts. The wine offers good length but not as much complexity or personality as I had hoped. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.


The first pizza off the line. Traditional fresh tomato sauce, a variety of cheeses including the homemade Crescenza that I made a few days earlier. There are also figs, cilantro, and mushrooms.

The pizza gained a few ingredients between the first photo and baking, including some Marcona almonds and broccoli (pre-sautéed).

One of the most difficult things in custom pizza making is “the transfer.” You have to get the pizza from the kitchen to the oven and back again. If you get it into the oven (here a pizza stone on the gas Viking) without making a mess, it will come off easily. Some keys are using a LOT of flour and cornmeal to “lube” up the surfaces and dry the dough, and also not letting the toppings get too close to the edges.


The finished pizza.


My go-to sweet white. Incorporating fruit principally from Wehlener Nonnenberg, Graacher Himmelreich, and Bernkasteler Johannisbrunnchen, the generic Prum 2011 Riesling Kabinett displays an archetypal Mosel Riesling nose of fresh apple, lemon, and clover allied to faintly cheesy, leesy youthful “stink”; and comes to the palate bright and zippy, with hints of wet stone, and prominent cyanic piquancy of apple pit invigoratingly extending its mouthwateringly juicy, if tart and relatively simple finish.


This is the base for my creme fraiche salmon pizza, which you can find detailed here.


We start in on the red. Parker 94, “The spectacular Bonnes Mares jumps from the glass with aromas of blackberries, cherries, flowers and minerals. It is a massively concentrated, powerful, full-bodied wine packed with stones, wild cherries, red currants, and touches of iron, tar and chocolate for additional complexity. Highly structured and with an exceptionally long finish, it should be cellared for 7-9 years and will hold through 2012. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy in Washington, D.C. in April. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided.”

After this there were 5-6 reds that the hectic evening didn’t allow me to photo, most of the Italian.


Here is one of my favorites, my tikka masala pizza. The sauce is tikka masala sauce, then with corn, red onions, feta, mozz balls, almonds, figs.


Here at the station.


My mom’s more classic margarita.


And my newest creation, extremely successful, the “Afghan Special.” The first layer (after a little olive oil) is mint yogurt, then the green is a cilantro pesto-like Afghan sauce, then the red is sweet pepper jelly. The white blobs are ricotta and feta. This was a superb pizza.


A almond pesto based vegie pizza.


And on the right my wife’s favorite, margarita with mushrooms, corn, almonds, and figs.


An awesome artisinal tomato-basil-pesto based pizza. Exotic fresh mushrooms, aged parm, gorgonzola dulce, some other fresh cheeses.


There was a little too much olive oil and it drooled a little, but no biggy. Still delicious.


p

A mushroom pizza.


And another tikka masala pizza, this time with extra mushrooms and cilantro pesto.


After baking.


And with burrata on top, because burrata makes everything better. It really does.


A big veggie and other pizza. It’s important to sauté your veggies before they go on the pizza as the time in the oven is too fast to really cook them.


After baking it looks like Pacman.


And a white pizza, with various cheeses. Those white blocks are my homemade one.


Baked.


And with more burrata and balsamic glaze. Yum!


A mushroom and tomato pizza. I got really interesting mushrooms from the mushroom vendor at the Pacific Palisades Farmer’s market this time, so we have a lot of shroom pizzas.


Baked.


And the final pizza, a pesto, goat cheese, veggie, which we forgot on the grill for an extra 2 minutes, resulting in this extra crispy style. Actually, still quite good.


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


Homemade piebald brownies.


Some Costco cake that despite having about fifty billion ingredients actually tasted decent. It will survive nuclear war.


Viktor Bennes pastries.


And mini Bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Chocolate and marble.


Red velvet and lemon.


Then to ring in 2013, Le Grande Dame 1990. Parker 95, “I highly recommend the Veuve Clicquot 1990 La Grande Dame. It is exquisitely rich and accessible, yet bursting with potential.”

Happy New Year!

And for more Ultimate Pizza, check out here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Pizza – New Years
  2. Ultimate Pizza 2012
  3. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  4. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
  5. Ultimate Pizza – The Comeback
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bonnes Mares, Cheese, Cooking, Dessert, Food, New Year, Pinot noir, Pizza, ultimate_pizza, Viking, 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.

Related posts:

  1. Hostaria del Piccolo – Pizza + Pasta
  2. Quick Eats: Piccolo
  3. Piccolo – A little Italian
  4. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  5. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Hostaria del Piccolo, italian, Italian cuisine, pasta, Pizza, Santa Monica California, Tomato sauce
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