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Archive for Saam

Truffles at Saam – I am

Nov24

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3, 4]

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

Date: November 20, 2014

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Truffley goodness

_

I’m a bit of a Jose Andres groupie as not only have I been three times to Saam, at least 10 to The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE), but also to brunch at Trés, and even to é by José Andrés (twice) and Jaleo in Vegas and several places in Washington D.C.

For those who don’t know, José Andrés is perhaps America’s leading practitioner of  my favorite culinary style: Spanish Molecular Gastronomy. This school of cooking, a radical interpretation of the preparation of food, was begun at El Bulli outside of Barcellona. Andrés cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Andrés’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and its own restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar.

I’ve eaten molecular a number of times in Spain, for example at Calima and La Terraza. The Bazaar and Saam brought molecular style to LA.

Saam is the “secret” prix fixe only room within the Bazaar, open Thurs-Sat.

For years I’ve wanted to catch the limited run truffle dinner, and I finally got a chance.


Always a little theatrical, the menu comes in it’s own special envelope.


Voila, a little minimalist, which is going to make writing up the dishes a challenge!


Our table of four had its own pair of white truffles for shaving!

Burg fiends that Erick and I are, we brought out a pair of oldies. First, celebrating its 50th birthday:

1964 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. Burghound 92. A very fresh and bright nose of spice, earth and an interesting herbal component leads to round, full and intense flavors that still possess a touch of classic Clos de Vougeot austerity on the long finish. This is an excellent wine that still displays a youthful dimension. While there is no reason to hold this further, it can be held without concern.

agavin: plenty of fruit still. Meadows was right about the herbal component. Almost musty. Certainly not corked, but a forest floor kind of thing. A very pretty wine.


Coco Loco. This signature “cocktail” is coconut cream, truffles, and rum and vodka. Definitely dessert like and pretty much like coconut gelato. Quite yummy, although don’t try to mix with red wine.


Truffle butter.


And truffle cone. You smear some butter in the cone and enjoy.


In case you got butter on your fingers there are these lavender scented wipes.


Truffle Tree. Actually a bread stick with truffle and some kind of flavored paste? Delicious.


Gougere. Puff pastries filled with liquid cheese (yum!) and topped with truffle.


Nasturtium Canape. A flower stuffed with something.


Corte Parmesan. Crisps with soft parmesan and apricot jelly or something.


Nori. Truffle blobs on crispy nori.


Rosemary springs, which feature in the next dish.


Young Potatoes. You skewer a potato with the rosemary and eat. They are covered with butter cream and you guessed it… truffles.


Light and shadow. Truffle razorback clams on the right with truffle air on the left.


Vegetarian version in mushrooms.


Hokkaido. An interesting savory of Hokkaido uni, caviar, dashi jelly and the like. Very briny and delicious.


With truffles of course.


And the no uni version.


Porcini Carpaccio. Hazelnuts and other good bits and a vinegary sauce.


Truffled up.


5 Star Breakfast. One of my favorite dishes. The egg was runny but had been sphereized. There were mushrooms and some kind of cheesy cream.


1966 Maison Roche de Bellene Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Collection Bellenum. 92 points. Young looking colour. Slightly green nose. Darker, supple fruit profile. Something oddly young and refreshing about it! Seems like it’s had a lot of plastic surgery!


Cavatelli. Funny chocolate pasta with iberico ham broth, some actual ham, and some creamy stuff, and truffles. Yummy and very firm.


Look who showed up, Jose Andres!


Non alcoholic Passionfruit martini.


Black Bass. Freeze dried squid ink.


Chuleton. Special Spanish T-bone steak with jus, truffles, little sphereized gnocchi and the like.


A vegetarian risotto.


Fideos. Cheese, cheese cotton candy, and truffle nitro frozen “noodles”!


Florentine. Praline, pistachio, and some kind of sorbet.


Blonde on Blonde. Various butterscotchy stuff. Quite yummy.


Chestnut Honey Truffle. Haha. Get it?


Exotic Caramel of passion fruit. Peanut Macaron. Bergamot & Domori.


A little chocolate bar as a “parting gift.”

Overall, Saam serves up a tremendous meal, full of creative whimsy, and even if the individual dishes are sometimes a bit “fluffly” it really works. There was a nice solid truffle factor to all the dishes, but it wasn’t quite as overwhelming as at my monster Bistro LQ truffle experience.

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Son of Saam – Actually more Bazaar
  2. Saam I am again
  3. Saam – José Andrés Squared
  4. Trés – Lunch Fantastique
  5. Back to the Bazaar
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Foodie Club, José Andrés, Saam, The Bazaar, Truffle, White Truffles

Saam I am again

Jul23

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: June 7, 2012

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, but needs to mix it up.

_

I’m a bit of a Jose Andres groupie as not only have I been three times to Saam, at least 10 to The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE), but also to brunch at Trés, and even to é by José Andrés (twice) and Jaleo in Vegas and several places in Washington D.C.

For those who don’t know, José Andrés is perhaps America’s leading practitioner of  my favorite culinary style: Spanish Molecular Gastronomy. This school of cooking, a radical interpretation of the preparation of food, was begun at El Bulli outside of Barcellona. Andrés cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Andrés’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and its own restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar.

I’ve eaten molecular a number of times in Spain, for example at Calima and La Terraza. The Bazaar and Saam brought molecular style to LA.

Saam is the “secret” prix fixe only room within the Bazaar, open Thurs-Sat.


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


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


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


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


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


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


“Parmesan Macaron.” Tastes like… parmesan.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


“Banh Mi, vegetarian.”


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


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


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


“Waygu & Mushroom Escabeche.”


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


With a poured in broth.


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


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


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


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


Breath on a spoon.


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


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


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


“Birthday spun sugar.” Tastes… sweet.


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


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

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

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Son of Saam – Actually more Bazaar
  2. Saam – José Andrés Squared
  3. Trés – Brunché Fantastique
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bazaar, Ferran Adrià, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Molecular Gastronomy, Saam, The Bazaar

Saam – José Andrés Squared

Oct08

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: October 1, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, even better than The Bazaar.

_

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

For those who don’t know, José Andrés is perhaps America’s leading practitioner of  my favorite culinary style: Spanish Molecular Gastronomy. This school of cooking, a radical interpretation of the preparation of food, was begun at El Bulli outside of Barcellona. Andrés cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Andrés’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and it’s own restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar.

I’ve eaten molecular a number of times in Spain, for example at Calima and La Terraza. The Bazaar and Saam brought molecular style to LA.

Saam is the “secret” prix fixe only room within the Bazaar, open Thurs-Sat.


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


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


And miniature “kaviar” (spheres of kir).


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


“Banh Mi, vegetarian.”


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


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


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


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


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


With a poured in broth.


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


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


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


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


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


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

Carmel corn “boiled” in liquid nitrogen.


Breath on a spoon.

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


Smaug, eat your scaly heart out.


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


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


Chamomile tea.


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


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

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

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

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

Related posts:

  1. é by José Andrés
  2. Jaleo by José Andrés
  3. Son of Saam – Actually more Bazaar
  4. Trés – Brunché Fantastique
  5. Dinner and Drinks at Tavern
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bazaar, California, Dessert, El Bulli, Ferran Adrià, Jaleo, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Saam, Spain, vegetarian

Son of Saam – Actually more Bazaar

Feb12

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: February 10, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, even better than The Bazaar.

_

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

For those who don’t know, Saam and the Bazaar are the children of Jose Andres, perhaps America’s leading practitioner of  my favorite culinary style: Spanish Molecular Gastronomy. This school of cooking, a radical interpretation of the preparation of food, was begun at El Bulli outside of Barcellona. Jose Andres cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Jose’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and it’s own restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar.

I’ve eaten molecular a number of times in Spain, for example at Calima and La Terraza. The Bazaar and Saam brought molecular style to LA, and now Jose also has a new and very tempting pair of restaurants in Vegas. My colleague at Kevin Eats was lucky enough to make that pilgrimage.

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

The sherry.

Some of our fellows kicking off the evening.

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

Tonight’s menu. Click to embiggen.

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ink art. A tradition with me.

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


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

This is an amazing wine, deep grape.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Carmel corn “boiled” in liquid nitrogen.

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

Mutant lamp in the room.

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

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

Video of one of us breathing the dragon.

“Birthday spun sugar.” Tastes… sweet.

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

“Crown of Sugar.”

The room itself.
The Bazaar is great, and Saam is even greater. The presentation is nicer, and it has more experimental dishes. I’d wish they’d go even wilder. This is exciting food with strong combinations of flavors and unexpected textures.
As I said earlier my only beef is with their agressive corkage policy. I know restaurants make a good share of profit on their wines, but I like to pick my own.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

Or for other Foodie Club meals, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: The Bazaar
  2. Bistro LQ – 27 Courses of Trufflumpagus
  3. Food as Art: La Terraza
  4. La Cachette Bistro part deux et trois
  5. Gjelina Scores Again
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Aging of wine, Auslese, Bazaar, Cabernet Sauvignon, California, Chateauneuf du Pape, Dessert, El Bulli, Ferran Adrià, Figeac, Food, Foodie Club, José Andrés, Los Angeles, Molecular Gastronomy, Olive, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, reviews, Riesling, Saam, side dishes, The Bazaar, vegetarian, Wine tasting descriptors
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