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Archive for Roussanne

Food as Art – Babita

May20

Restaurant: Babita Mexicuisine

Location: 1823 S San Gabriel Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 288-7265

Date: May 17, 2014

Cuisine: Modern Mexican

Rating: A rare find

_

Chef Roberto and his wife Elba run this unique gem in the San Gabriel Valley. It’s family owned, upscale, tiny, chef driven and elaborate. And it’s Mexican food! Los Angeles has no shortage of Mexican restaurants, both of the classic and modernized formats, but we don’t have a lot (if any others?) that strive for an upscale ingredient focused style.


The tiny room is wood paneled (70s style) and lined with tequila bottles.


Speaking of bottles, we brought our own as usual:

1994 Williams Selyem Chardonnay Allen Vineyard. Our bottle was totally oxidized.


2001 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc De L’Orée. Parker 93-95. The great American patriot and wine connoisseur Thomas Jefferson called Hermitage “the single greatest white wine of France.” Slightly lower-keyed, but still prodigious, the 2001 Ermitage Cuvee de l’Oree does not possess the muscle, volume, or weight of the 2000, but it is a beautifully etched, elegant, intensely mineral wine offering hints of white flowers, citrus oils, and earth in its dense, full-bodied, chewy personality. Like its older sibling, it will be delicious in its first 3-4 years of life, then close down, to re-emerge 10-12 years later. It will last for three decades or more.

agavin: Ours was nice, with that strange semi-oxidized taste older Hermitage blanc usually has.


Chips and salsa. Classic, but very very good.

2006 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Roussanne Vieilles Vignes. Parker 98. The limited cuvee of 100% old vine Roussanne (50% vinified in barrel and 50% in tank), the 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc Vieilles Vignes is an extraordinary wine. Since the debut vintage in 1986, I have been unable to figure out how to predict this cuvee’s aging potential, but I tend to agree with most sommeliers who feel this wine needs to be drunk in its first 4-6 years of life, then not touched again until age 12-15. It is so amazing, I usually drink it as quickly as I can get my hands on a few bottles. The sensational 2006 possesses a wonderful honeysuckle note interwoven with marmalade, tropical fruit, peaches, and buttery pastry characteristics, and zesty acidity despite a thick, full-bodied, rich texture. It is difficult to find a better white Chateauneuf du Pape than Beaucastel. Much like their reds, their whites are made in a style that is atypical for the appellation. It is put through full malolactic, and one-third is barrel fermented, then blended with the two-thirds that is aged in tank. Extraordinarily rich and honeyed, it is ideal for drinking with intensely flavored culinary dishes.

agavin: No oxidation here, but a pure intense weighty white that paired very well with the food.


Spicy fresh guacamole, yellow chile stuffed with ceviche of salmon with strawberry sauce and brine poached large shrimp-cocktail with habanero sauce. Some real heat in this dish, particularly from the guacamole and shrimp sauce. Each element was delicious and different.


From my cellar: 1978 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. Parker 93. The 1978 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial spent 18 years in barrel and 10 years in bottle prior to release. It still has a deep cherry red color along with an aromatic array of underbrush, brier, tobacco, incense, and blackberry. It has slightly sweeter fruit and livelier acidity than the 1994. This lengthy effort is at its peak now where it should remain for another 20 years.

agavin: Very nice, arguably my favorite red of the night. Started a bit funky, but that quickly blew off. Way more fruit than one would expect for a 78 but Ygay lasts forever.


Duo of soups. Crema de jalapeno (right) and cuitlacoche (left) soup garnished with oaxacan chapulin and mezcal. There is actually a cricket in this dish, floating on the left of that toast. Both soup were wonderful, by themselves, and together.


1997 Luis Pato Bairrada Vinha Barrosa. Our bottle smelled and tasted like cork (cardboard). Others didn’t seem to mind it.


2005 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Finca El Bosque. IWC 94. Ruby-red. Spicy red fruits and minerals on the nose, with a suave floral element adding complexity. More restrained than the 2004, showing a more elegant personality but no less intrigue. Sweet strawberry and raspberry flavors combine flavor impact with stylishness. Finishes with lightly chewy tannic grip and fresh mineral lift. There’s a deft quality here that’s really compelling.


Partridge Eggs “Huevos Rancheros”, beans, cream, ranchero sauce.


Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Termanthia. Unfortunately I forgot to photo the year (anoyingly on the back).


2004 Torbreck Descendant. Parker 98. The 2004 Descendant, an old oak-aged blend of 92% Shiraz and 8% Viognier from a 12-year old vineyard, offers up notes of blackberries, ink, sweet truffles, and acacia flowers. There are 1,000 cases of this full-bodied, intense, rich blockbuster. It will drink well for 10-15 years.

agavin: can we say extracted? (but very good). Eucalyptus notes.


Colossal Sea Scallop seared, over herbed Squid ink Risotto. Yummy. Top flight scallop with a nice sweet squid ink sauce.


2004 Nit de Nin Nit de Nin. Parker 98. Only three barrels are made of Nit de Nin, made by Ester Nin, the vineyard manager for Clos Erasmus. The 2004 is 60% Garnacha, 30% Carinena, and 10% Syrah aged for 18 months in French oak. Purple/black, the wine has a fragrant perfume of mineral, truffle, creme de cassis, kirsch, and blueberry. Super-rich and layered on the palate, this opulent wine has exceptional depth and impeccable balance as well as a 60-second finish. Drink it over the next 10-12 years.

agavin: very nice.


Shrimp on pastry with squid ink sauce.


1996 L’ Ermita (Alvaro Palacios). Parker 95-96. The 1996 L’Ermita appears to be another blockbuster effort from Alvaro Palacios. The color is a saturated purple. The expressive nose boasts aromas of pain grille, roasted coffee, chocolate-covered, jammy cherry candy, minerals, and new oak. Full-bodied, dense, and thick, with an unctuous texture, lower acidity, and higher alcohol than the 1995 and 1994, this is a meaty, chewy, masculine wine with a flamboyant personality, in addition to a monster finish. It is super-intense, but exceptionally well-balanced, especially in view of its proportions. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2020.


Poached chicken in malbec-viognier, over Colachi Zucchini relish.


2004 Mas Doix Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles. Parker 98. The 2004 Costers de Vinas Viejas is 50% Carinena, 48% Garnacha, and 2% Merlot aged for 16 months in new French oak. Deep purple, the aromas are other-worldly with truffle, tar, graphite, kirsch, and wild blueberry among the array of scents leaping from the glass. Flamboyant and opulent, the wine has remarkable richness and depth of flavor leading to a 60-second finish. Drink this hedonistic effort over the next 10-12 years.

agavin: these priorats may be young and gigantic, but they are surprisingly drinkable (being so young).


2004 Sean Thackrey Orion Rossi Vineyard. 91 points. Beautiful, clear, deep, bright cherry color, very difficult to place the varietal blend based on this color, almost reminiscent of barbera or gamay. Similarly beguiling nose and palate of exotic spice, Penfolds-like eucalyptus and intense oak, blueberries, Rhone fruit and kirsch. Minimal acidity, pleasant tannins building late, and a kick of volatility and heat from the alcohol. A really interesting, cerebral wine that led to much opining around the table on this wine’s true quality, and much speculation on the unknown grape blend. This is not a wine I would enjoy drinking every day, but in an era when most California cult wines taste predictably similar, this seems more like what a cult wine should be, idiosyncratic and fascinating.


Braised Ox Tails over Carrot-Potato mashed and Cinnamon Mole. Loved this dish. Like Mexican osso bucco.


Look at that ox bone under the meat.


1972 Osborne Jerez-Xérès-Sherry PX 1827. agavin 98. I love PX, but this was just pure motor oil raisin pleasure. As good as sherry gets and intensely syrupy, balanced, and smooth.


1971 Bodegas Toro Albala Montilla-Moriles Don PX. 93 points. Also great, but fell in the shadow of the 1827. There was a lighter fruit note going on in the middle too.


Praline Semifredo with caramel sauce and fresh drizzles. This amazing dessert paired unbelievably well with the sherry. I love semifredo and caramel, and it was just amazing.

Yarom and Chef Roberto

This was just an amazing evening and quite different. I’m not sure what I expected (of a “fancy” Mexican in the SGV) but I was certainly blown away. Babita is just a unique gem of a place.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

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By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Babita Mexicuisine, hedonists, Mexican cuisine, Parker, Roussanne, san Gabriel valley

Birthday Party, Hedonist Style

Apr09

Restaurant: Shin Beijing

Location: 3101 W Olympic Blvd – Los Angeles, CA 90006. 213-381-3003

Date: April 1, 2013

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: very solid electric Chinese

_

Hedonist regular, Penny, wanted to go out for her birthday, so 15-18 of us descended on Korea Town Chinese restaurant Shin Beijing. As far as I can tell, except for the Kimchi, Korean Chinese is pretty much Chinese (food wise).


Birthday girl Penny on the right next to Hedonist leader, Yarom, who’s sporting his best Myspace pout.


In Chinese style, the staff brought us out some of our victims alive before cooking them up.


You can’t really see it, but we had a nice private room, one of several.


From my cellar, Parker 90, “With respect to Saint-Cosme’s white wine offerings, readers should check out the 2007 Cotes du Rhone blanc, a blend of Roussanne, Marsanne, Picpoul, and Viognier. Flamboyant scents of melon, tropical fruit, and honeysuckle jump from the glass of this beauty. It offers amazing richness, a dry, medium-bodied mouthfeel, superb freshness, and far more quality and complexity than one would expect from a white Cotes du Rhone. Luckily, there are over 1,000 cases of this cuvee.”


Kimchi. No self respecting Koreans would do without.


Kimchi spiced daikon?


Parker 91, “The Monchof 2007 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese Mosel Slate is scented with fresh tangerine, heliotrope, wisteria, and mint. Lush and brimming with ripe pineapple, musk melon, and tangerine, it spreads a creamy fruit concentrate over the palate yet remains infectiously refreshing in its long, sappy finish. Once again, this high-volume Eymael calling card represents an exceptional value and should go right on pleasing for a decade or more, provided anyone both thinks to cellar it and can resist temptation in the interim.”


Cold jelly fish (right) with wasabi sauce. Shrimp with mustard sauce (left) and aromatic braised beef (top) in black bean jelly.


In the upper right, Chinese pork sausages.


Some very unusual artisanal “sour” beers. Stawberry flavors and very… unique.


A stir friend chicken dish.


2008 Domaine  Macle Cotes du Jura. This old fashioned wine is made in a manner a little like Sherry where a layer of bacteria is used to prevent oxidation. It was very dry and hot with sherry fino like notes.


Ma po tofu (a.k.a Pockmarked-Face Old Lady’s Tofu).


2003 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. Very nice with strong notes of pear.


Bamboo shoot w/ black mushroom.


1978 Joseph Phelps Zinfandel. Not something you’d expect to still be good, but it was. Tasted like an old Bordeaux, very nice.


Crab w/ ginger and onion sauce. This sauce was delicious. Some wonderful crabs. Almost as good as the ones I had in Singapore.


2010 Domaine Gauby Côtes du Roussillon Villages Les Calcinaires. A little funky, with a distinct barnyard taste that someone described as “dirty piggy.” I liked it quite a bit though, as did many others.


Fried shrimp w/ hot sauce (traditionally twice cooked spicy shrimp). Damn tasty shrimp!


A Turley Howell Mountain Zin.


Lobster hunan style. Good stuff, some really great lobster. Lightly fried with hunan chillies (but actually pretty mild).


w

Fried whole fish w/ chili sauce. Yummy!


It’s not pretty, but great with white rice.


2007 Chin Chin Syrah.


Beef w/ black mushroom, bamboo shoots. Classic Chinese (American) dish.


Noodle with black bean jelly.


The noodles are hiding underneath. Looked cool, but the black bean jelly was a little mild flavored. I would have preferred pork ragu 🙂


Assorted fried rice (shrimp, chicken, pork). Great fried rice.


Parker 95, “Peter Michael’s Bordeaux program is built around their flagship Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine, Les Pavots. The 2008 Les Pavots, a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and 11% Merlot, offers up notes of roasted coffee, cocoa, chocolate fudge, black currants, licorice and a hint of truffles. This full-bodied, beautifully rich red boasts an opulent texture, impressive purity and a long finish. Impressively made with impeccable attention to detail (it is sorted berry by berry rather than grape bunch by grape bunch), this 3,500-case cuvee should drink well for two decades or more.”


The condiments for Peking duck.


Both pancakes and buns! I’ve never seen both at the same restaurant.


Peking duck. Looking good!


For the uninitiated, you put some duck skin, duck meat, onions, and hoison sauce in the pancake and roll.


1980 Château Nairac. Yarom always manages to find these ancient Sauternes. Tons of buttered popcorn and apricots. Not as syrupy as many desert wines. Still has a bit of acidity.


Apple pie (brought in).


2002 Domaine Weinbach Tokay Pinot Gris Altenbourg Cuvée Laurence. Parker 95, “Among the few slightly older wines from Weinbach that I tasted recently, the 2002 Pinot Gris Altenbourg Selection de Grains Nobles was especially notable. Black tea, citrus zest, musk, white truffle and honey aromas lead intoxicatingly to a plate the combine delicacy with density and richness, Like mandarins marinated in honey, tea, and grapefruit juice on the palate, on which 166 grams of residual sugar are tossed off and practically forgotten. This finishes with unquenchable refreshment rare for an S.G.N., and the sort of complexity and clarity that accrue to the best wines of this under-rated vintage.”


Glazed sweet potato. Basically sweet potato fries coated in sugar. Carby yum.

Overall, this was a great evening. Shin Beijing turned out to be a great find with a nice ambiance (as far as Chinese restaurants go) and terrific food. They really treated us well too. It’s not so easy to handle a boisterous group of this size and they managed perfectly. The price was very reasonable too, $60 a person all inclusive of tip and tax, considering the number of dishes and the fact that we had several lobsters, several crabs, and two peking ducks.

For more LA dining reviews click here.


The crab is making a break for it — unfortunately for him, he didn’t make it.

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beijing, Chinese Food, Côtes du Rhône AOC, crab, duck, hedonists, Kimchi, Korean cuisine, Lobster, Marsanne, Roussanne, Shin Beijing, Viognier, Wine

Food as Art – CR8: Purotekuta

Apr28

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

Location: LA

Date: April 25, 2012

Cuisine: Modern Art

Rating: Storybook

_

About a year ago I came across online a chef named Roberto Cortez who hosts periodic themed modernist dinners. Looking at Roberto’s work (visible on his blog) it was instantly obvious that his visual style and presentation were out of this world. They exhibit a standout playfulness and creativity well in advance of even top restaurants. On March 5 I went to his Dark Illuminated Forest and experienced one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

So I was extremely excited to find another invite to a new concept in my inbox this April. The current event/meal is called Purotekuta and you can see the thematic poster to the right.

This time, all the founding Foodie Club partners were available and we set off in mass for the event.

As a prelude, Roberto sent us the above gorgeous East/West fusion “story” in the mail. This contains a bit of Sci-Fi Manga style story set in future Spain. We will see later how this unfolds into a meal.

We gather in the outdoor space to enjoy a homemade cocktail.

Roberto whips them up. Below he explains the ingredients, be sure to listen in order to appreciate all the elements that go into this.

He calls this the kama sutra. At the core it’s mango (like a mango lassi).

The finished product has a delicious mouthfeel.

Above are the ingredients for tonight’s menu along with some of my wine notes.

And Roberto whips it all up in this tiny kitchen.

Roberto did me the favor of sending me the list of rough ingredients for each dish in tonight’s meal so that I could do a proper wine pairing. This is something I rarely have the opportunity to do because it requires a pretty big table. Tonight is elven people and so I figured we could handle almost one bottle per course. I doubled up the wine on one of the nine and settled on eight bottles. The two dessert wines are half bottles. This left three whites, three reds, and two dessert wines. Many drinkers prefer reds but Roberto uses a lot of complex and Asian flavors in his cooking that favored whites and reds with more finesse. I tried to mirror the dishes spiritually by choosing unusual varietals with local and offbeat qualities, avoiding anything international in style (although all are European).

We then move into the interior of the gallery and our dinner space. It’s been completely custom decorated for the event including two mural-sized paintings illustrating the dinner story.

Above Roberto explains the unique story concept for tonight’s dinner. Each course has a story card we must read. I apologize for the terrible video quality of this and later explanations by Roberto. The room was nearly lightless. In any case, it’s the audio that matters.

The first card.

And the first wine. All wines were selected by me from my cellar to match individual dishes.

“The king of Sancerres: a gorgeously, complete triumph from Jean-Max’s oldest vines. These deep roots provide concentration, structure and power. A combination of stainless steel and aging in large oak barrels combines vim with elegance. The VV is round and full-bodied with hints of crystalline honey and fresh mint.”

Roberto explains the first dish.

“Enchanted Paella. Saffron Bomba rice cream, dehydrated tomato confit, red pepper pudding, pea puree-shoots, crunchy chorizo, fire roasted shrimp/mussel consomee, soccarat crisp.”

Roberto loves to play with traditional dishes, mixing them up into entirely new forms and textures. This did in fact taste like a shrimp paella. Texturally, the saffron cream in the consomee was reminiscent of  the garlic aioli often served with boulibase.

A semi-close up of one of the wall murals.

The second story card.

And second wine:

Robert Parker 95. “The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc is even better. Meriting the same rating as I gave it last year, it is a delicious, beautifully textured, light gold-colored white revealing plenty of white peach, apricot, nectarine, and honeysuckle notes as well as a distinctive florality and minerality. More honeyed and fuller-bodied than its 2008 counterpart, it should drink beautifully for 7-8 years, then go into an oxidative state. It is somewhat of a gamble as to what will happen thereafter. Beaucastel’s limited production luxury cuvee first produced in 1986 is their 100% Roussanne Vieilles Vignes offering. Fifty percent is barrel-fermented in one-year-old barrels, but no new oak is utilized.”

“Emperior’s Uni. Avocado tartare, uni sabayon, frozen jalapeno, shinseiki pear gelee, Blis sake cure steelhead caviar, pickled grapes, lime leaf, chive oil.”

You wouldn’t think all those things would go together, but they do!

The third card.

Because of the white asparagus I chose this gorgeous Mosel valley riesling, located just an hour or two from the heart of white asparagus country. Wine often has an affinity to the nearby agricultural products.

“The Weins-Prum 2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese smells of dried apples and white raisin accompanied by wafting honeysuckle and heliotrope perfume; comes to the palate creamy and with remarkable lift, delicacy, and purity; and finishes with an unctuous sense of botrytis ennoblement allied to a remarkable degree of residual refreshment and even an uncanny hint of Mosel-typical wet stone. As Bert Selbach points out, in the 1990s, he would have bottled material of this sort as a gold capsule Auslese. He picked this beauty in the last week of October, about which decision he notes “here we had probably barely 20% botrytis. I’m not a fan of letting the grapes hang too long and letting too much botrytis develop. I maintain that an Auslese has to retain Spiel.” Try playing around with this one for the next 35 years or so.”

“Spring White. White asparagus textures, mint, dungeness crab, grapefruit curd, dill sponge.”

Late April and early may is white asparagus season. It’s also traditional in Holland and Germany to make them into a soup. The crab provided perfect sweetness and the foam, although texturally odd, paired nicely as well.

The table is actually a giant door and the we have a sword!

The fourth card.

This dish wins in terms of presentation.

“The Seed. 64C egg expression, toasted seed merinque, thai basil velote, buttermilk.”

Essentially this is a sous-vide poached egg. The toasted seed merinque was really yummy and could be dipped in the egg.

But key was to pour in this basil puree (basically pesto). I’ve always liked egg and pesto. At home I often sunnyside up eggs, sprinkle parmesan on them, and add pesto (and Tabasco). I love the mix of Tabasco and pesto.

The fifth card.

I paired this wine because of its foresty mushroom vibe.

“The 2004 Boca Il Rosso delle Donne shimmers on the palate with layers of fruit, mineral, and herbs. Stylistically the 2004 is a much more expansive, generous wine than the 2005, with layers of fruit that radiate with notable energy through to the mineral-laced finish. This fresh, vibrant and impeccably pure wine is a jewel. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.

The reds of Northern Piedmont remain insiders’ wines, but the finest bottles from these tiny appellations merit considerable attention. I came away very impressed with the wines I tasted from Conti. I also sampled a number of older vintages, the best of which are reviewed here. All of these wines are 70% Nebbiolo, 20% Vespolina and 10% Uva Rara, the traditional blend in these parts.”

“Trapped Funghi. Morels, sesame praline, spring alliums, mushroom sabayon, cardamon, homemade coffee oil, ginger.” The sabayon was to die for in this dish. We craved bread to mop it up.

The sixth card.

Parker 93. “One of the three batches that will be blended to make up d ‘Angerville’s 2005 Volnay Champans was still in malo, so I base my assessment on the other two. Scented with cherry and cassis, flowers and fungus, smoke and chalk dust, this displays richness and depth, fine tannins and emerging silkiness, and a youthfully firm but long finish loaded with savory subtleties. Just give it 6-8 years before revisiting. (The outstanding d’Angerville 2004s were also very late to finish malo, and the Champans is especially memorable for its vivid sauteed champignons, alluring ginger spice, marrowy richness, and flattering mouth feel, indeed comparable in quality though lacking the developmental potential of this 2005.”

“Glacial Brine. Halibut confit, white miso champagne risotto, fennel, gellied ham.” This was a pretty incredible fish dish. The miso was very sweet, almost mango like. Then the ham jelly just added an awesome bit of hamminess to the whole thing.

The seventh card.

Parker 93. “The estate’s top of the line 2001 Amarone Classico Riserva Sergio Zenato is superb. A blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Sangiovese, it reveals expressive aromatics followed by a compelling array of raisins, tar, chocolate and sweet fruit. It, too, comes across as powerful and brawny in style, but it is also a much more complete, rich wine than the 2003 Amarone tasted alongside it. This beautiful Amarone offers terrific length and a long, resonating finish. It spent three years in large oak barrels. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2011.”

“El Itimo. Black vinegar Iberico Carrilleras, wheatberry, foie gras emulsion, beet puree, brussel sprouts, maple consomee.” This was pretty awesome too. The texture was more like beef short ribs than pork.

Roberto filling us in on what’s coming.

The eighth card.

Parker 99! “The unreleased 1994 Tokay-Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal (Selection de Grains Nobles) Trie Speciale is the sweetest and densest wine Olivier Humbrecht has ever fashioned. It has 540 grams of residual sugar per liter and 12 grams of acid. As Humbrecht noted, “it makes no noise when poured into a glass, it is completely silent!” He has not yet presented it for certification as an SGN, which is why that moniker is in parentheses. Needless to say, this puree of fruit-flavored syrup sets new standards in power, concentration, and length.”

A shotglass of this unctuous nectar.

“Dragon Flower. Lychee tapioca, mascarpone elderflower ice cream, compressed liquid strawberry.” This doesn’t look like much but it was wonderful. Soft and refreshing with fantastic subtle flavors.

The ninth and final card.

Parker 94. “The 2003 Sagrantino di Montefalco Passito tastes just like the harvested grapes prior to fermentation. Deceptively understated at first glance, the wine offers up a compelling array of dark plums, prunes and spices, with a long, elegant finish and lingering notes of perfumed fruit that reappear on the close. Bea’s Sagrantino di Montefalco Passito is one of Italy’s great dessert wines, and the 2003 is a splendid vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019.”

“Phantom Porcelana. Amedei Porcelana (55C), banana, herb salad, oak wood ice cream, roasted malt, red wine, olive oil, tonka bean.” This is some kind of special uber single vineyard chocolate. It was pretty incredible. I’m not much of a banana fan (bad banana whiskey experiment in college) but even that worked for me. The “wood” ice cream was very subtle but added a nice whipped cream-like thing to the intense chocolate.

Overall, this was a spectacular dining experience. I wasn’t quite as wowed as I was during my first Roberto meal, Dark Illuminated Forest, as there is always a novelty factor with first time things. But on all levels the results tonight were truly outstanding. The most similar (non-Roberto) meal I’ve had was this one at 2-star Calima in Spain — but this overall experience took everything to the next level. This is the most complex and ambitious “meal” I’ve yet had. It combines location, music, story, food, and even my wine pairings.

The man is like a Toscanini of food. It’s mind-boggling. Every single dish worked. Some were a bit better of course, but all were great. They show technical virtuosity, but more importantly, they show his incredible talent for predicting the nature of sensory experience. Like a Mozart symphony, the notes were all harmonious. Really, Food as Art.

Roberto details this meal on his own blog.

Check out more of my grand Foodie Club meals.

Related posts:

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  4. Bistro LQ – 27 Courses of Trufflumpagus
  5. Food as Art: Ludobites 7.0
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Auslese, Chateauneuf du Pape, CR8, Foodie Club, Jean-Max, Purotekuta, Riesling, Roberto, Roberto Cortez, Roussanne, Wine tasting descriptors

Bistro LQ – 27 Courses of Trufflumpagus

Jan21

Restaurant: Bistro LQ [1, 2]

Location: 8009 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048. (323) 951-1088

Date: January 20, 2011

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Legendary. Trufflumpagus is still squatting inside my skull.

 

Back in December my Foodie Club friends and I had heard about this crazy “19 course truffle dinner” Bistro LQ was going to offer. It’s done only on Thursdays, and only with advance notice (2+ weeks). So I called up at the end of the year and made a reservation for eight. Filling the spots was rather easy. I’d eaten here before (CLICK HERE FOR THE PREVIOUS REVIEW), but this was going to be different.

It’s worth mentioning too that the service was first rate tonight. On my previous visit it had been a little rough around the edges, but they have it all sharpened up. They were also super welcoming and there was NO CORKAGE for the truffle dinner. I LOVE no corkage.

It ended up being 27 courses, almost 6 hours, and 8 bottles of wine (with 6.5 drinkers!).

Prepared for battle, we sally forth with no less than a dozen wines — for eight people!

With this many wines we begin with a white (really it should be 2 or 3). I literally ran across Chateauneuf du Pape to pick up two extra bottles of this fantastic blanc. Parker gives it a 95. “The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc is even better. Meriting the same rating as I gave it last year, it is a delicious, beautifully textured, light gold-colored white revealing plenty of white peach, apricot, nectarine, and honeysuckle notes as well as a distinctive florality and minerality. More honeyed and fuller-bodied than its 2008 counterpart, it should drink beautifully for 7-8 years, then go into an oxidative state. It is somewhat of a gamble as to what will happen thereafter. Beaucastel’s limited production luxury cuvee first produced in 1986 is their 100% Roussanne Vieilles Vignes offering. Fifty percent is barrel-fermented in one-year-old barrels, but no new oak is utilized.”

Amuses to begin. Oxtail with caramelized onions and… you guessed it… truffle.

“Amuse of Kushii oyster poached in truffle butter.” This tasted like… well a good oyster with shaved truffle on it.

“Cucumber ice cream with truffles and apple balsamic vinegar gel.” Now here we get interesting. This was surprisingly yummy.  Who would have thought, cucumber ice cream and truffles. But the sweetness and cool notes of the cucumber blended nicely with the early shroom.

 

Burghound gives this 93/100. Notes of strawberry. Very nice effort. Those of my fellow diners who haven’t had good pinot noir had their usual response: Wow, this is a really good wine!

“Cold poached quail eggs mold in pork aspic with sunchoke and fresh truffles. Terrine of fois gras.” I think I prefer my fois warm. Cold like this it did have a nutty quality, but it’s also a bit like a slab of fat.  Wait… it is. The egg I liked, as I’m a sucker for runny yolk.

“Celery-root, goat cheese, and yellow beets.”

“Panacotta infused with truffle and tonka bean in a sea urchin emulsion.” Wow! This dish was amazing. The Panacotta had a perfect creaminess, almost like Burrata (MORE ON THAT HERE). The Uni sauce was perfect, sweet and without a hint of fishiness, and the generous shaved truffles packed a punch.

 

Now the “light” reds. Parker gives this Burgundy 96. “Fashioned from a parcel located in the heart of its grand cru (mostly from 25-year old vines though Raphet asserts that “there are still some very old ones”), the 2003 Charmes-Chambertin Cuvee Unique explodes with red fruit aromas. Sappy, bursting with red cherries, this is a sensual wine made for hedonists. Medium to full-bodied, deep, and concentrated, it has serious depth of fruit, loads of smile-inducing spices and an exceptionally long, supple finish filled with superbly ripened tannin. Drink it over the next 11-14 years (incidentally, I served the 1996 at this year’s International Pinot Noir Celebration’s salmon bake in Oregon and it was terrific, wowing all who drank it.)”

“Venison tartar with truffle, celery root truffle remoulade and a hint of yuzu.” Good stuff here too, particularly the venison. This had been my favorite dish the previous time I was here, but then it was larger and with quail egg instead of truffle. I liked the egg actually, but this was still good.

Wine Spectator gave this wine the #11 slot for 2009 and 96 points. “Dried dark fruit on the nose, verging on date and prune. Full-bodied, with a dense palate of ripe fruit and supersilky tannins. This is a deep and beautiful red, delivering lots of subtle character. Fascinating. One of the undiscovered treasures of the vintage. Best after 2011. 2,000 cases made.”

“Scottish hare truffle consommé soup with hare filet, hare blood cubes and hare shu-mai.” Very interesting soup (broth added below). The hare was very gamey, and there were the sausage cubes. Blood sausage.

And with the consume added. The broth was very good, and there was some huge amount of truffle here. I don’t mind gamey — at this certainly was. It reminded me a bit of some of the rustic sausages I’d get in the Spanish countryside, the ones that instantly teleport you to the pig sty with each bite. Here it was the hutch instead.

“Truffle tapioca pudding with langoustines in a truffle crust.” Also a very nice dish. Very interesting texture to the tapioca. It was hard to get all the elements together in one bite.

My faithful readers will easily recognize the Beaucastel. The 1998 gets 95 points. “This wine performed even better than my high accolades in issue #131 suggested. The 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape is the greatest effort produced since Beaucastel’s 1989 and 1990. It reveals more accessibility, no doubt because the final blend included more Grenache than normal. Its dense purple color is followed by sweet aromas of blackberries, licorice, new saddle leather, and earth. There is superb concentration, full body, low acidity, and high tannin, but it is surprisingly drinkable for such a young Beaucastel. Ideally, it needs another 3-4 years of cellaring, and should keep for 25-30 years.”

“Scallop, truffles and leeks, in butter sauce.” The scallop was cooked perfectly (not over or under done). The sauce was pretty much to die for. We didn’t have any bread (I think if we had, it would have killed us), but I nearly licked the plate.

“Poached egg, truffles and leeks, in butter sauce.” The same prep but with a poached egg for a member of our party that doesn’t eat scallops.

Back to the classics. 1990 was a fantastic vintage in Paulillac. “Even though this is usually a delicately-styled Pauillac, the 1990 appears to be less well-endowed than some of the other recent top vintages of Pichon-Lalande, such as 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, and 1989. It displays medium dark ruby color, an attractive bouquet of vanillin from new oak, ripe blackcurrants, and spices. It is not as concentrated as I would have hoped, but it does exhibit good body, glycerin, and ripeness, as well as an overall sense of beauty and grace. While stylish, it could have benefitted from more length and intensity. Anticipated maturity: 1995-2008.”

“Chili rellenos with sepia, truffle mole.” This was kinda spicy. The mole was awesome though, and the relleno itself… well fried, which went well together. Somehow there was sepia (cuttlefish) in here. I didn’t really notice.

“Mushroom and cream soup, with truffles.” More shrooms!

“Miso soup, poached sea scallops and foie gras with truffles.” Here was my warm fois.

With the soup. The broth was somewhere between a miso soup and a consume, which was better than a straight traditional miso would have been.

“Oxtail and truffle sopes.” Wow again! Like amazing BBQ beef, and the bit of sopa and generous truffle didn’t hurt. The sauce was a bit spicy sweet, certainly a Central American kinda taste.

 

A massive monster from Sardinia, the Parker 94 point, “2005 Shardana is an awesome Carignano endowed with exuberant dark fruit, smoke, licorice, sage, rosemary and tar. This is a fairly big, masculine wine with great intensity, depth and roundness. It needs another year or two in bottle for the tannins to settle down. The Shardana is formidable, though, and a terrific choice for hearty cuisines. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2021.”

“Roasted beef loin with truffle.” Meat. Truffle.

“Beef bone marrow and truffle tartine with huckleberries.” This was also amazing, the “meat” just disolved in the mouth. Great feel and incredible richness.

“Pork loin with truffle.” It seems ALL the meats are included

“Wood pigeon, figs and truffle ragu with corn.” Also nice, I liked the corn, and the pigeon was nicely tender and pink. Not nearly as gamey as the crazy (but good) Scottish Woodcock (SEE HERE).

“Veal sweetbreads and sautéed duck foie gras soft taco with chanterelles.” I’m not normally a huge sweetbread fan. I mean the idea of eating baby cow brain is a bit off-putting, but this was an incredibly tasty dish. Spicy, sweet, very interesting textures. I hadn’t expected the Latin influences in this meal, but I really enjoyed them.

“Simple frisee salad with truffles.” This was just what we needed at this point. It was very light and citrusy. I enjoyed the crisp sting of the raddichio.

 

Parker gives Bordeaux 94 points. “Only the fourth vintage for proprietors Francoise and Alain Raynaud, this wine comes from an old vineyard (the vines are among the oldest in St.-Emilion) within the city of Libourne. A cutting edge vinification with cold maceration and aging sur lie, stirring of lees, and an obvious respect for the terroir and the goal of capturing the essence of a vineyard have all been lofty goals of the Raynauds. The powerful, multi-layered 2000 should rival 1998 as the finest Quinault produced. It boasts an opaque purple color as well as a gorgeous concoction of crushed blackberries, blueberries, and black currants intermixed with violets, licorice, and subtle smoky oak. It cuts a broad swath across the palate with an expansive chewiness in addition to terrific concentration, purity, and overall equilibrium. In spite of that, it is remarkably light on its feet. It is hard to find fault with this wine, making the cascade of local criticism of Raynaud all the more difficult to comprehend. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2018.”

Lots of condiments for the cheese! Walnut and hazelnut, Roasted Cumin Seeds, Canneberges Chutney with Cloves and Walnuts, Apple Gellee, Huckleberries Gellee, Bell pepper Mustard, Tomatillo and Figues Compote, Pumpkin Ginger Truffle honey, Homemade Green Ketchup.

The honey, cumin, and nuts were on a separate plate.

The “less gooey” plate.

And the “more gooey.” I was getting way too drunk at this point to write down the cheese varieties.

“truffle mousse served with truffle madeleine.” You wouldn’t have thought it’d work, but it did. I really enjoyed the mouse. Still, at this point I probably could have used some very powerful NON TRUFFLE desserts to prevent what’s happening now — truffle burps, 12 hours later.

 

“pear gratin with truffles and caramel.” This was also good, and the truffle was understated. The texture was really nice and soft, the carmel/pear combo great as one would expect.

“truffle financier and warm cotton candy syrup.” This was mild and truffley. I didn’t really need more truffley.

“chocolate crosmesquis with orange flower scented truffle cream.” But this was pretty awesome.

It exploded into chocolatey goodness.

“Petite Fours.” I tried two of the macaroons, they were pretty damn good.

Our wine lineup all together, so you can appreciate how bad my hangover is.

Overall this dinner surpassed purple epic and went straight to legendary orange (3lite geek cred to anyone who knows what this means!). Most of the dishes were great, and a few stunning. We had a great time — and the last hour was a real blur. But I’m not exactly feeling my best this morning.

For another Bistro LQ meal, click here.

Or for other Foodie Club meals, click here.

 

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Bistro LQ
  2. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  3. Melisse – How much would a Woodcock…
  4. Food as Art: Melisse
  5. Food as Art: Ortolan
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: bistro lq, Château de Beaucastel, Chateauneuf du Pape, Cooking, Dessert, Food, Foodie Club, French Food, French language, Los Angeles, Old vine, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, reviews, Roussanne, side dishes, Truffles, vegetarian, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors
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