Salad :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Salad

Eating Lecce – Doppiozero

Apr23

Location: Via Guglielmo Paladini 2 Centro Storico, 73100, Lecce Italy. +39 0832 521052

Date: August 6, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great bright flavors

We were sent to this place by our hotel and it turned out to be just what I was looking for: authentic casual food from Puglia.

They had a huge interior but we (and nearly everyone else) sat outside.

Interesting.

Piazza patio.

The menu.

Bread. This wouldn’t be Puglia without breads.

Acciughe del Cantabrico e stracciatella su pane tostato carciofi e scorzette di limone. The stracciatella cheese is so good!

Burrata artiginale, gran misto d’insalta, pomodorini e noci.

Orecchiette pomodoro — of course.

Gargati con pesto di pistacchio, burrata e tartare di tonno. Pistachio pesto, burrata, and tuna. Sounds weird but it was totally awesome.

Spaghettoni con caponata di verdre uvetto passa, olive nere, pinoli e stracciatella. And putting the straciatella cheese in pasta with the strong sauces is also incredible.

Really tasty local place!

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Doppiozero, Eating Lecce, eating-italy, Lecce, pasta, Salad

Quick Eats – Mantee Cafe

Oct31

Restaurant: Mantee Cafe

Location: 10962 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604. (818) 761-6565

Date: March 18, 2023

Cuisine: Lebanese & Armenian Cuisine

Rating: very tasty

A quick meal with my lady.

Mantee Café, a family owned and operated charming café boasts a tranquil backyard garden, with an intimate atmosphere and the full comfort to enjoy our delicious selection of Mediterranean style home cooked dishes and sweets.

Front inside dining room.

Covered patio in the rear.

The lovely outside patio.

The menu.

Two types of bread. Pita and a crispy thin papadum-like flat bread.

Sesame oil with sesame seeds and a bit of lemon.

ARMENIAN SALAD. Fine chopped tomato, cucumber & romaine lettuce with fresh lemon & organic balsamic dressing. A great salad with a very strong and bright vinaigrette. It was strong enough that I didn’t even mind the tomatoes.

HUMMOS PINE NUTS. Chick peas blended with sesame paste, fresh lemon & garlic. Topped with pan grilled pine nut.

MOTABAL. Charbroiled eggplant mashed with sesame paste, fresh lemon & garlic. Very nice version with some brightness, great texture, and a very fresh taste.

LABNE TOOM. Yogurt dip blended with fresh garlic, dry mint & extra virgin olive oil. I always love labne.

KEBBE NAYE. Seasoned fresh tartar meat mixed with crushed wheat, served with chopped onion and parsley. Really nice fresh raw meat, super soft and succulent, with an interesting blend in the form of the onion/parsley “salad.” Great enjoyed with labne too.

BRANZINO. Charbroiled whole fresh Branzino, head/tail on or off served with cube Idaho potatoes.

KAFTA KEBAB. Charbroiled seasoned ground beef mixed with onion & parsley. Served with our delectable vermicelli rice pilaf, grilled tomatoes & Anaheim pepper. The Kafta was good, but there wasn’t much of it. It was fairly mildly seasoned but very fresh. I liked the ppper too. I nibbled at the rice (due to keto) and I would have enjoyed it if I could.

TOOM. Gotta have this garlic, lemon, oil paste — so good!

Overall, nice kitchen with great tasting food.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Armenian Cuisine, Date Night, kabob, Mantee Cafe, Salad

Eating Israel – Aroma Cafe

Jul26

Restaurant: Aroma Cafe

Location: all over Israel

Date: June 29, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Not impressed

Aroma Cafe is a chain that’s all over Israel. As far as I can tell, it’s not in any way related to the LA Aroma Sunset Bar & Grills (which is vaguely Israeli).

The Israeli chain itself is kinda like Au Bon Pain Israeli style, salads and sandwiches. They are everywhere (in Israel).

The menu.

An iced coffee.

Chocolate croissant.

To get simple pasta we had to order a more complex pasta with everything on the side. They wouldn’t sell us just the pasta.

Here is the “on the side.” lol.

Halloumi salad. Sliced of roasted halloumi cheese with white cabbage and roasted mushrooms, roasted pepper, red onion, tomatoes, ccarrots, lettuce, parsley, arugula. Seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice dressing. With an over easy egg.

A close up. I did NOT like this salad. It was warm, very white, and basically had no seasoning at all. In general Israeli food can be a bit under-seasoned and this certainly was. I had to go up and ask for dressing and all they had was tahini. Did not combine well, made it very heavy — and it was 100 degrees out. Really, I wanted some kind of highly acidic vinegar dressing. I didn’t find these at all in Israel, salads were usually sweet.

Shakshuka. Two eggs sunny side up, tomato and peepper sauce, parsley. Bread and butter. This is a very common dish in Israel.

Roast Beef sandwich. Not much of a looker.

Tuna sandwich. Also not exactly gorgeous.

I can’t say I was impressed with Aroma. In fact, didn’t like it at all. Felt so corporate and nothing I tried tasted good.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Aroma Cafe, chain, Eating Israel, Eggs, Salad

Quick Eats – Jon & Vinny’s

May30

Restaurant: Jon & Vinny’s Brentwood

Location: 11938 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 442-2733

Date: April 24, 2019

Cuisine: Italian American

Rating: Food was excellent

Despite the fact that Brentwood is already full of Italians, I was excited to hear that Jon & Vinny’s was opening on San Vicente as I’d been meaning to go and never make it out to Fairfax for someplace so casual.

Clean looking frontage.

And similar interior. Sometime by myself I’ll have to try the bar. Today I was meeting an old friend for lunch — but it was passover AND both of us are eating low carb, so despite the killer looking pastas and pizza we only ordered veggies and meat balls!

The breakfast and lunch menus.

Cappuccino.

Marinara braised meatballs, ricotta, garlic bread. These were really good.

Gem lettuce, calabrian chili dressng, parmesan, bread crumbs. Good and zesty/mildly spicy caesar clone.

Tuna brentwood, tuna conserva, heirloom tomato, gem lettuce.

Grilled broccolini, golden raisin, almond, chili vinaigrette. The chili etc made these excellent for veggies.

Grilled asparagus, lemon, parmesan. Same with the asparagus.

What I had was all very well prepared, giving me the sense that this is a good kitchen. Very bright flavors and on point. I also kept seeing all these incredible looking pastas and pizzas. When I’m either off my diet or being bad I will definitely have to come back. Sigh. It’s very convenient, being on the close side of Brentwood and only 10-15 minutes from my house.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brentwood, cappuccino, coffee, Italian cuisine, Jon & Vinny's, Salad

Better than Tangiers

Apr08

Restaurant: Tagine

Location: 132 N Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (310) 360-7535

Date: June 20, 2014

Cuisine: Modern Moroccan

Rating: Tasty and on point

After a couple of weeks eating up Vietnam, Tagine makes my return to the LA dining scene for a “last minute” informal Hedonist gathering.

The restaurant takes traditional Moroccan cuisine, and instead of serving it up in a theatrical family style manner converts it to more modern plated dishes.

From my cellar: 2012 Comte Abbatucci Ajaccio Vieilles Vignes Faustine Blanc. agavin 90 points. Very pale straw color, faint hint of green. Sweet citrus nose. Maybe some white flowers. Lots and lots of crisp acid with a slight stoney bitterness of the medium long finish. Drank with homemade pesto Genovese. At its best with the food.

A series of delicious amuses. Goat cheese and date on a spoon, a pastry with some meat filling and a lovely soup.

Bastilla. A light layer of phyllo with Cornish hen and scrambled eggs sprinkled with saffron and powdered sugar. This is one of the Moroccan classics, and the flavors in this modernist mille-feuille take on it were awesome. I still kinda like the crispy pastry texture of the original, but this was good.

Marie-Pierre Manciat Mâcon Les Morizottes. Bright bright acid. Not a bad wine, but also not really the level of Chard I usually drink.

Black tiger shrimp. Herb-crusted tiger shrimp, served with sautéed vegetables and shitake mushroom. Not the biggest shrimp in the world, but delicious!

Farmer’s market beet salad. Diced red beets and shallots, marinated in house vinaigrette. Is what it is. Good beets.

Tomato and cucumber tartar. Diced Israeli cucumbers, tomatoes, and shallots in house vinaigrette. Topped with a scoop of lemon sorbet and fresh raspberries. This was nice, a fancy version of the classic Middle Eastern salad. Still, it’s basically marinated cucumbers and tomatoes.

The bread. Lol. Shot glass bread.

2003 Martinelli Pinot Noir Russian River Valley. 89 points. Not bad at all for a new world pinot. Still pretty oaked.

Sea bass tagine. Roasted pan sea bass with fingerling potatoes and sauteed mixed peppers, topped with a lemon sauce.

Vegetarian cous cous. By all reports delicious.

Farm raised lemon chicken couscous. Marinated chicken with preserved lemon, served with couscous.

From my cellar: 1999 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva. 91 points. Fascinating, feral nose of wet fur and smokey dark Aglianico fruit. On the palate, brambly raspberry and earthy fruit with substantial tannins that soften after an hour or so. Virtually no sediment, and no sign that this is at all over the hill – still deep purple with a tiny trace of amber at the edge. Continually interesting, more rustic than refined, but not in a bad way. Delicious and well-matched with hearty food.

Lamb honey sauce tagine. Marinated lamb fore shank, finished with dates and prunes, served with couscous. Delicious, sweet and savory. Since I love sweet meat, this was great.

1992 Elderton Shiraz Single Vineyard Command. 92 points. Very nice. Still alot of fruit and oak, but turning earthy. Not a ton of spice, but drinking a bit more like a bordeaux, although alot more fruit and tasting younger than a similar age bordeaux. Best of the night (not that we had too many wines).

Colonial couscous. Quefta, lamb and chicken, served with mixed veggies and couscous.

Chocolate soup. Served with vanilla ice cream and baklava. Here the “soup” is being poured over the ice cream.

And a close up of the light crispy baklava.

The soup was delicious. It tasted like a great chocolate milkshake.

And we finished with some mint tea.

All in all, a fun evening and a tasty restaurant. They are a little pricey and “foo foo” for Moroccan, but it’s nice to try these flavors from a kitchen that is more on point. I’d be curious to see how the chef did at the same dishes in the traditional form factor.

(oh yeah, and the title refers not to a restaurant per se, but the fact that my one day in Morocco taught be that the city of Tangiers sucks — or at least their hostile “guides” do)

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: couscous, Fish and Seafood, hedonists, Moroccan Cuisine, Salad, shrimp, Tagine, Tajine, Wine

BarAcuda Kaua’i

Feb20

Restaurant: BarAcuda

Location: Hanalei Town Center, Hanalei, Kaua’i. 808.826.7081

Date: January 16, 2013

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Best restaurant on Kaua’i?

Hawaii in general, and Kaua’i in particular, isn’t exactly a bastion of fine dining. But with such a bounty of produce and fish great things are certainly possible. Most restaurants aren’t really chef driven, but BarAcurda is far more like a big city place — and it’s located in quaint (and gorgeous) Hanalei on the remote (and wet) North Shore.

BarAcuda is helmed by Jim Moffat, a San Francisco area chef with a great track record. Hanalei is really a slice of paradise, so it isn’t too hard to understand why he might want to relocate there.

The drink menu.

Gin Blossom. Boodles gin, muddled fresh basil, fresh lemon juice, club soda, on the rocks.

El Sol. Belvedere vodka, fresh squeezed orange juice, splash of cranberry juice and lime juice, St Geramine float, on the rocks.

The menu.

Tasty bread.

Brunello goes with everything. From my cellar (flown across the Pacific), “The Brunello di Montalcino Castelgiocondo is an earthy, herbaceous effort with a dark plum/ruby color as well as a sweet bouquet of cherries, compost, underbrush, and Asian spices. Medium-bodied, dry, and angular, with complex aromatics.”

Marcona almonds roasted and salted.

Medjool dates with celery salad, shaved parmesan, and aged balsamic.

Whole roasted tomato bruschetta with balsamic, scallions, and grilled crostini.

Belgian Endive salad with blue cheese dressing, candied walnuts, gorgonzola and apples.

Crock of roasted beets with goat cheese, balsamic reduction, and orange infused olive oil .

Seared Black Tiger Shrimp with sweet soy and coconut milk. This was one of my favorite dishes, with a Thai red coconut curry kind of vibe.

Slow Braised Short Rib with soft polenta and salsa seca. Rich and yummy.

Banderillas grilled ﬂank steak skewers with honey and chipotle chili oil.

Bacalao. Portuguese salt cod with garlic, potatoes, cream, and crostini. I’ve had this dish a couple of times. In Portugal, in Italy, and at the home of a Portuguese friend. This was a nice version and not too salty. Not as good as my friends, but that’s hardly surprising as that one was amazing.

Pizzetta with sweet onion soﬀrito, prosciutto, roasted cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella.

Seared Mahi Mahi with Big Island mushrooms and marsala reduction.

Local North Shore honeycomb with Humboldt Fog goat cheese and crisp apple.

Peach and almond galette with honey mascarpone ice cream.

Chocolate Pot de Creme with coconut macaroon and whipped cream. Yum!

After so many “casual” placed on the island, BarAcuda (which was still casual, just not in the kitchen) was a breath of fresh sea air. You can be a food snob in paradise!

For more Hawaii (and other) dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bar Acuda, BarAcuda, Brunello di Montalcino, Dessert, Hanalei, Jim Moffat, Kauai, Restaurant Review, Salad, Wine tasting descriptors

Cocoa Island – Decadent Dinner

Apr24

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: International Flair

We head back to Cocoa Island (and its single restaurant) to cover the last meal of the day. If you missed the endless breakfast, find it here or the spectacular Languorous Lunch.

Usually we ate on the beach. Even at night the temperature hovered around 80.

This is our jumbo long table.

For dinner, the restaurant has two common configurations. Seafood BBQ and ala carte. The BBQ isn’t available every night but the menu is.

The BBQ consists of a number of stations plus the above grilling station. You can order up as much of whatever variety of sea creatures you can stomach.

There is also a “salad” table.

This includes basic sushi. The variety might not be up to LA sushi standards, but the quality of the fish was very high.

Oysters on the half shell.

Various oyster sauces and little shooters of ceviche.

Crab shooters.

A seafood salad.

Papaya and mussel salad.

Another seafood salad. In general these were very light.

Broccoli and almonds.

Potatos.

Grilled vegetables.

Greek salad.

A grain salad.

Raddichio salad.

Classic prosciutto and melon — and this in a country that is supposed to have no ham.

Cheese and fruit.

Crackers.

Then we come back to the seafood grill. There are fish, lobsters, big prawns, tuna slabs, etc.

Any of them could be grilled up on command served with various sauces.

Then there was the regular menu.

This was a gazpacho.

Served with avocado.

“Cold smoked yellowfin tuna, oyster cream, apple & mint.” Lovely presentation.

“Duck liver parfait, spiced oranges & toasted brioche.” This was as good as any chicken liver I’ve had. Yum.

They had lovely breads here, particularly the naan.

“Black ink noodles with sautéed squid, chorizo & chili ink sauce.” Good stuff!

“Roast tomato, buffalo mozzarella & basil risotto with lemon & shaved fennel.”

“Baby chicken Biriyani with mint raita, tomato & red onion salad.” Chicken pot pie, Indian style. Inside, under the crust, was a a mixture of rice and chicken. It was pretty delicious.

“Basil oil poached snapper, bean, olive, caper, lemon & dill salsa with Jerusalem artichokes.”

The dessert menu.

This is actually a kind of flan with spiced pears and a homemade ice cream. It was darn good.

Homemade ice cream, always good.

One of us wanted some whipped creme, so they whipped it up to order.

It’s pretty amazing that a restaurant can do this breath of styles with such excellent execution, but they did. Everything I had was great, and the same 2-3 guys in the kitchen did it all (even the breakfast, lunch, desserts, and baking!).

For more dining reviews click here.

dec

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Barbecue, bbq, Cocoa Island, Dessert, Maldives, Restaurant, Salad, Seafood, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Cocoa Island – Languorous Lunch

Apr21

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: ?

We head back to Cocoa Island (and its single restaurant) to cover the second meal of the day. If you missed the endless breakfast, find it here.

Here in paradise the view from the lunch table doesn’t suck. One could eat outside there too, but it was pretty hot, like 94 degrees and humid. The food, however, was anything but tepid. It’s highly varied and international with an Indian slant fitting the location.

Tuna carpaccio with arugala and olives. Like nearly everything at the restaurant this was impeccably fresh and tasty.

Caprese salad.

Salad with beets and mozzarella.

An amazing “squid salad” with light fresh squid and a zesty vinaigrette.

Caesar salad with anchovies and spec.

Raddiccio salad. As you can see, there are a few salad options!

This typical frozen mock-tail was amazing for those with a sweet tooth. Strawberry passionfruit!

Spider roll. Fried softshell crab roll.

Some dipping sauces and ginger. The left is soy, the right a spicy mayo.

California roll made with shrimp. I like the wasabi balls.

Grilled blue fin tuna and potatoes. Sort of deconstructed salad niscose. The tuna was again perfectly fresh.

Fried calamari. Crisp and succulent.

A lot of folk went for the burger which had a kind of curried caramelized onions on it and came with salad and fries.

Goan fish curry. Local “job fish” stewed in fresh curry with Naan (house baked) and bismati rice.

Nasi Goreng. A kind of Indonesian fried rice with egg, chicken satay, mixed seafood, cucumbers, and a spicy peanut sauce. Not light, but it sure was good!

Chicken Tikka Masala. Also awesome.

We caught some local fish and they grilled them up.

And steamed some with ginger, garlic, and scallions.

Even this ugly barracuda.

And made these into fresh fish curry!

The bread was great too.

And the fries.

Plus one, day, I ordered this passionfruit semifreddo which was superb.

For more dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Asia, Cocoa butter, Cocoa Island, Cocoa IslandLocation, Cook, Indian cuisine, lunch, Maldives, Resort, Salad, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Jackson’s

Nov30

Restaurant: Jackson’s

Location: 11927 Democracy Drive. Reston, VA 20191. (703) 437-0800

Date: November 26, 2011 & 2017 — yes same day, 6 years apart

Cuisine: American

Rating: Solid mid-sized chain offering

Back “home” in DC we wanted a quick and easy meal and so headed out to Reston to this reliable place. I reviewed Coastal Flats last year, another member of the same small chain.

This is one of those well done (but not earth-shattering) mall places. It seems that good malls these days aren’t going with the giant chains or with one-off restaurants. they must feel the need for a little more stability in their business relationships.

This vast interior all decked out for the holidays.

The menu.

They have these donut-like rolls which are pretty delicious.

This was billed as an “perfect margarita” and actually, it was pretty good. Not quite as good as my own, but not bad at all.

A mojito.

“Lobster and ham mac and cheese.” Pretty good too. The ham made it.

A special salad. Fried oysters, blue-cheese, salad.

A simple green salad.
Salad with grilled salmon. Didn’t skimp on the salmon.

Lobster Club salad. Not bad at all.

Grilled cheese for my son.

Simple pasta for my son 6 years later.

Fried grouper, fries, and cole slaw. This was a tasty fried fish, nice and crispy. This chain has an unusual but very good slaw, chopped, with a bit of peppery bite.

Crab cake roll with a side of butternut squash.

And the platter version, two crab cakes with fries and slaw. The cakes a pretty good, with big lumps of crab. It does have a little breading (obviously).

Sautéed spinach.

Lobster roll with corn on the cob. No shortage of lobster here! They claim it’s all the meat from a 1.5 pounder. Looks like it.
Same lobster roll, 6 years later.

This isn’t really chef driven cuisine. It’s basically comfort food. But it is well done.

For more ThanksGavin meals, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Blue cheese, Coleslaw, crab cakes, Fish & Chips, Jackson, Jackson's, Lobster roll, Restaraunt, Restaurant Review, Reston Virginia, Salad, ThanksGavin

Breakfast = Carbs + Salt

Oct10

The best part about the 26 hour fast of Yom Kippur is breaking it!

Best to start with some wine on a really empty stomach.

Parker 91. “Bottled the week before I visited, his 2005 Morey-St.-Denis en la Rue de Vergy displays aromas of fresh, ripe plum, black cherry, bitter herbs and toasted nuts. Ripe plum and black cherry along with deep rich meatiness mingle in the mouth with notes of mineral salt and iodine and sweet nut oil nuances. Creamy in texture and boasting remarkably fine tannins for a village wine and no hint of its 50% new wood, this finishes with a flattering persistence of crisp, subtly-bitter fresh fruit skin and fascinating mineral suggestions. It should drink fabulously over at least a 5-7 year period.”

Traditional, of course, is deli (i.e. bagels and lox etc.). We get ours from Brent’s Deli, which is my favorite for dairy and fish.

The bagels.

Rye bread of course.

A variety of cream cheeses, old school, new whipped, veggie, and my personal favorite, honey almond (I like the whole sweet and salty thing).

The all important “monster cheese” (what my three year-old calls it).

Various bagel toppings: lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber.

Brent’s lox is so thick 18 of us toasted 3-4 pounds of it.

Chopped marinated herring. An acquired taste, but I spent too much time in the mid east not to.

Tuna salad (this is homemade by my sister-in-law Wendy).

My personal favorite, whitefish salad. Oh so good.

Salted cod, another classic.

Brent’s slightly sweet cucumber salad (like that) and cole slaw.

And old school pickles.

And fruit.

Plus a bit of homemade chinese chicken-less salad.

Parker 90. “The 2009 Rosso di Montalcino is totally beautiful and elegant in its expressive bouquet, silky fruit and understated, harmonious personality. This is a wonderful, impeccable Rosso from Le Potazzine. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2017.”

And my plate of gluttony. Four bagel halves. I even had another afterward.

The dessert spread is even more deadly.

Parker 99! “A monumental effort, the 2001 Rieussec boasts a light to medium gold color in addition to a fabulous perfume of honeysuckle, smoky oak, caramelized tropical fruits, creme brulee, and Grand Marnier. The wine is massive and full-bodied yet neither over the top nor heavy because of good acidity. With intense botrytis as well as a 70-75-second finish, this amazing Sauternes will be its apogee between 2010-2035.”

It was that good too!

Most of the desserts come from Viktor Benes, an old school Czech bakery with really good Eastern European baked goods. This is a chocolate fudge cake. My in-laws are chocoholics.

Apple pie. Halfway between American style and strudel.

Same with the cherry.

And an assortment of decadent baked goodies. Cookies, macaroons, apple fritters, rugelach, almond strudel-like things etc.

Afterward I stumbled upstairs in a pleasant salt and carb coma. I still felt bloated the next morning too.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bagel, baked goods, Breakfast, Brent's Deli, Cook, Cucumber, Deli, Dessert, herring, Lox, Munster, Salad, Sandwiches, whitefish salad, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors, Yom Kippur

Beverly Hills Hotel – Polo Lounge

Sep12

Restaurant: Polo Lounge

Location: 9641 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California 90210. 310-276-2251

Date: September 10, 2011

Cuisine: American

Rating: Good but pricey

My wife and I were married (10 years ago) at the Beverly Hills Hotel so it’s a tradition of ours to go back there once a year. We usually wander around and then eat at the Polo Lounge (even though the lounge itself had no part in the wedding, which was in the Crystal Ballroom).

This is an old school and iconic spot in Hollywood history. The hotel is still gorgeous too, having been heavily renovated by hot black oil cash from the Sultan of Brunei.

The patio.

Old school Hollywood style in the dining room.

And the bar.

The current lunch menu. Brunch is available only on Sunday.

What would a visit to the Polo Lounge be without a cocktail, in this case a mimosa.

They also have good bread. Same exact basket (basically) was served at our wedding LOL.

I’ve totally been on a gazpacho kick recently (made it at home here). This is “golden tomato gazpacho, garlic crostini, basil pepper relish.” Despite the yellow color it tasted classic. Very nice smooth refreshing summer texture and flavor.

“Pizza margarita.”

“Salmon burger, tomato salad, cucumber & yogurt, dill bun.”

The usual condiments, but stylishly presented.

“Lobster cobb salad, gem lettuce, tomato, bacon, avocado, quail’s egg, tarragon.” Pretty much a great cobb, the only thing to complain about being the price. The juicy bacon cubes sold it.

Cappuccino to combat the coma.

Overall, the Polo Lounge has great lunch/brunch food in a stylish setting. Really the only disadvantage is the price, which is pretty punitive. But this is pretty much the usual high end hotel tax — making it a special occasion kind of thing.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills California, Beverly Hills Hotel, Brunch, California, Cobb Salad, Crystal Ballroom, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Pizza, Polo Lounge, Salad, vegetarian

Osteria Latini 3

Sep03

Restaurant: Osteria Latini [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: August 20, 2010

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

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

Olive and chickpea/squash/bean pastes.

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

A special, lobster bisque.

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

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

Gnocchi genovese (in classic basil pesto).

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

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

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

Chocolate chip cookies and biscotti.

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

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

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

Eating Montalcino – Le Potazzine

Jul19

Restaurant: Ristorante Le Potazzine

Location: Montalcino, Italy

Date: June 20, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Tasty traditional

ANY CHARACTER HERE

We took a most excellent wine tasting tour of Montalcino (the home of the one and only Brunello). This was led by a top flight young guide named Matteo Perinti, who took us to a pair of top flight small wineries (but more on that itself later). In between we stopped at Montalcino the home base for Brunello.

Montalcino is one of Tuscany‘s long list of ugly locales — just kidding. It’s a gorgeous mediaeval village — with a LOT of wine for sale.

We went to the restaurant owned by the Le Potoazzine vineyard, which was one that we visited. Not only was their wine incredible, but they run a nice restaurant.

For lunch we actually had their IGT Tuscan, slightly down the curve than this amazing Rosso Di Montalcino, but I didn’t get a photo. If you can find the above wine in the states do — it was incredibly seductive.

Tuscan Prosciutto.

And a wider selection of local cured meats.

Panzenella, the very traditional “salad” of stale bread crumbs, onions, tomatos, and fresh olive oil.

Bruschetta with tomato, basil, and olive oil. Tuscan’s have no fear of serving bread too many ways.

Minestrone soup.

Gnocchi done the simple way, with cream, butter, and cheese.

Risotto Brunello. Very fitting, and very tasty.

Local wide pasta fresca with vegetables.

This was a nice little lunch place. Certainly nothing radical about the cooking but every dish was delicious.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunello di Montalcino, Bruschetta, Cooking, eating-italy, Gnocchi, Italian cuisine, Italy, Le Potazzine, Montalcino, Olive oil, Prosciutto, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, Toscana, Toscana (wine), Tuscany

Crafty Little Lunch

Jun03

Restaurant: Craft

Location: 10100 Constellation Blvd. Century City, Ca. 90067. 310-279-4180

Date: May 26, 2011

Cuisine: Farmer’s Market California

Rating: Nice little power lunch

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I was meeting a friend in Century City at the Annenberg Space for Photography (which I hadn’t even known existed), and we decided to catch lunch at nearby Craft. I’ve eaten dinner a couple times here before and thought it a very good “New California” style restaurant using a sort of large American tapas style. I think they may have ditched this format (at least the lunch menu shows no evidence of it). This seems to happen a lot and really bums me out as I completely and utterly prefer the small-plates style to the appetizer/entree dinosaur.

The menu. We both went for the little $30 “power lunch.” Craft is right in the heart of Century City with all the lawyers and CAA, so it’s obviously a spot for those putting lunch on the expense account.

Bread.

“Wild Mache, pistachio & raisin.” Really great little salad. The greens had a nice peppery quality, complemented nicely by the light dressing and the sweetness of the raisins.

“Rabbit tortellini, pecorino & baby onion.” Very nice little pasta too, in that buttery tortellini school. Inside was some good solid chunks of rabbit meat. The sauce was basically butter, cream, pecorino and onion.

“Sea Bream, leeks, fennel & watermelon radish.” The sauce was on the side as my friend preferred.

The leeks, fennel & watermelon radish.

The dessert menu.

Expresso.

“Ricotta cheesecake, poached cherries.” A slightly new format of an old classic.

“Profiteroles, mint chip ice cream & chocolate.” This should have been delicious, but for some reason it was muted. The pastries were really good, like a Beard Papa cookie shell, but the ice cream, while creamy, didn’t taste enough like mint. Not like the powerful mint leaf flavor of say Sweet Rose Creamery. The chocolate too was a bit muted.

Overall, this was a nice little lunch. I’ll have to go back for dinner again, although if they totally abandoned the small plates I’m bummed.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beard Papa, California, Century City, Century City Los Angeles, Cooking, Craft, Craft Los Angeles, Dessert, Ice cream, lunch, pasta, Power Lunch, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad

Locanda Portofino – In the Neighborhood

May30

Restaurant: Locanda Portofino

Location: 1110 Montana Ave. Santa Monica, Ca 90403. 310-394-2070

Date: May 20, 2011

Cuisine: Northern Italian

Summary: Tasty neighborhood Italian

ANY CHARACTER HERE

For whatever reason Los Angeles has a lot of Italian restaurants. There’s a lot of competition and innovation, and as far as I can tell we’re about tied with NY as the best town in the US for this wonderful (and justifiably popular) cuisine. This also means that there is a total and ridiculous excess of neighborhood Italians. I’ll try any of them once, but I pretty much never go to 75% of them a second time. There are just too many good ones to eat some ho-hum boxed pasta. In any case, Locanda Portofino is one of the good ones.

The menu.

I’m very partial to Amarone. They’re pretty much all drinkable (and grapey).

“Ceasar salad.”

“Bresaola con rucola. Thinly sliced cured beef with virgin olive oil, lemon, rucola and shaved parmigiano.” A very nice rendition of this classic.

“Penne vodka. Penne with light cream tomato sauce, shallots and vodka.”

“Tagliatelle alla boscaiola con salsicce. Green and white egg tagliatelle in a light cream sauce with pancetta, ground sausage, mushrooms and green peas.” I love love this pasta. It’s not far off from al carbonara either, but isn’t eggy in the same way. I love the combo of the peas, the two types of pig, and the peas. No wonder my cardiologist gives me a hard time.

Pretty much anything on the menu here is well done, but this was just Friday date night and so there are only a couple pics. Still, if you live on the Westside, forget those chain Italians, or the lame kitchen “red sauces” and go to Locanda Portofino, Delfini, Palmeri, Osteria Latini or the like. Or if you want higher end: Capo or Drago.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Amarone, California, Italian cuisine, Locanda Portofino, Los Angeles, Montana, Olive oil, pasta, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, Santa Monica California, side dishes, United States, vegetarian

Sam’s by the Beach 3D

May25

Restaurant: Sam’s by the Beach [1, 2, 3]

Location: 108 W. Channel Rd.(PCH), Santa Monica, CA90402. 310-230-9100

Date: May 14, Sept 4, & Oct 30, 2011

Cuisine: Cal French International

Rating: Stellar food and unparalleled service.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I already covered the background to Sam’s in my FIRST REVIEW. Let’s just say this is a local place with an unusual and inventive menu that’s worth a drive.

An amuse of tuna tartar on endive.

I’d never heard of this “lesser” Bordeaux, but Sam opened this half-bottle and it was very nice. Characteristic Saint-Emilionsmooth. The 8 or so years gave it just enough age to settle the tanins.

The glass.

Today’s menu.

“Roasted Beet Salad, mixed with onions and tomato in Aged balsamic dressing, served with Feta Cheese croquet.”

This salad was a special, heirloom tomatoes and sashimi grade salmon with a bit of greens, orange, and a mustard vinaigrette.

Another special salad, this time with Santa Barbara shrimp (with roe), corn, and a lovely vinaigrette.

Sam’s grandmom’s butternut squash soup. Vegan with some olives. A lovely bit of fall flavor.

A special today, boar lasagne. The sauce is a tangy tomato cream sauce. This was a really good lasagne. The boar meat was tastier than ground beef.

“Vegetarian Crepes. Homemade Crepes filled with Swiss chard, wild mushrooms and zucchini served in tomato coulis.” This is a very nice vegetarian option, and surprisingly hearty. The sauce is bread dippingly yummy.

Sam’s has a pizza oven and a variety of pizzas served mostly on Sundays. This is the margarita.

And the Shawarma pizza, which given my penchant for homemade interesting pizzas, I found very interesting. The sauce is a bit more like a harissa, and the pizza is covered with shawarma and pine-nuts.

And served with a tangy yoghurt dip. Good stuff.

Medditeranian seafood soup. But it comes with the traditional toastes and garlic aioli.

Prepping the breads.

The soup itself. Lots of different seafood and a fantastic tomato garlic broth.

With the toasts. They sog up nicely and make for gooey garlicky goodness.

“Grilled Wild Salmon. Served with braised Swiss chard, Pine Nuts, and roasted Sunchoke, with fresh oregano sauce.”

Special rack of Lamb in a dijon mustard vinaigrette. The lamb was tender. The sauce has a fantastic vinegary tone, bright with the mustard, but not overpowering. I had to sop it up with bread afterward. Served with various vegetables and ratatouille.

Green apple sorbet, with a true apple mouthfeel (even a bit mealy, like real apples).

His creme brulee is straight up traditional, and it’s the second best I’ve ever had in the world (there was this one in Avignon…).

My personal favorite, the bread pudding. Topped with a creme anglais, it is warm, rich, and soft, with a chocolate botom.

A few freebee biscotti for dessert.

The room (or technically, half the room).

For other reviews of Sam’s, see here or here.

By: agavin
Comments (5)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bordeaux, Chard, Crêpe, Dessert, Feta, Pizza, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, Sam's by the Beach, Santa Monica California, Sauce, side dishes, Tomato, vegetarian, W Channel (Australia)

Josie Restaurant

May04

Restaurant: Josie Restaurant

Location: 2424 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90405. 310-581-9888

Date: April 30 & December 30, 2011

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Very reliable and tasty New American

ANY CHARACTER HERE

We go to Josie’s a couple times a year. The menu is pretty solidly in the mid 90s New American, and it doesn’t evolve very much, but it is very good and quality control is excellent. There is an emphasis of farmer’s market ingredients and interesting game meats too.

The bread.

Parker 92. “Bachelet’s 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes – from 60- to 70-year-old vines both below the route nationale and north of Gevrey in Brochon – offers lovely black fruit aromas with hints of anise and mint. A truly palate-staining intensity of vividly-fresh, tart but ripe black cherry and blackberry is underlain by firm, fine tannins (not precluding an emerging silkiness of texture) and augmented by bitter-herbal and stony notes. Although palpably dense and abundantly tannic, this outstanding village wine still comes off as juicy, sleek, invigorating and refined. Put it away for at least 5-7 years.”

I have been coming here since at least 1997 or 1998 and the Amuse, this gruyere and mushroom quiche never changes. Now it’s tasty, but I do find it odd that they NEVER mix anything up :-).

The appetizer half of the menu.

“Beet and Herbed Goat Cheese Tart. Sweetheart beets, toasted Oregon hazelnuts, baby mizuna.” Tastes as good as it looks.

This was a special. White asparagus (just come into season), gnochi, all in a butter sauce with a bit of cheese. The sauce is much like the classic Italian butter and sage sauce.

A special, mushrooms in a sherry cream sauce with a puff pastry. I love those sherry cream sauces, like bisque with even more butter.

This small but excellent Bordeaux was also from my cellars. “Grand Mayne is one of St.-Emilion’s best-run properties. Aside from a couple of hiccups in the early nineties, the quality has been consistently excellent, often outstanding. The 1996 Grand Mayne exhibits a dense purple color, and an attractive nose of white flowers, sweet blackberries, cherries, minerals, and pain grille. It is medium to full-bodied, with excellent depth, an elegant personality, and a clean, mineral-like finish with moderate tannin. New oak is noticeable in the flavors. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2014.”

This was a split (half bottle) and the restaurant even had a mini decanter!

The mains.

Another special, salmon with spring peas, tomatoes, etc. A very nice seasonal take on the salmon, cooked perfectly through.

Trout in lemon butter sauce with local market vegetables.

And another special, a duck leg stuffed with duck confit, little gnocchi, and a meaty reduction sauce. This was a really nice duck dish.

“‘Tagine’ of Beef Short Ribs. Braised Moroccan-style and served with curried cous cous and a side of spicy almond yogurt.” I’ve probably ordered this dish 15-20 times, and it never disappoints.

The little cracker.

And the almond yoghurt underneath.

Notice how much I left of it. I love the mix in this dish. The savory richness of the meat, the soft cous cous, the bit of cream and yoghurt (always good with a heavy meat), the slightly spiced (but not spicy flavor). Yum!

The desserts.

“Chocolate Bread Pudding. Whipped cream, vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate sauce.” About as good as a bread pudding gets. Very similar in fact to the one at Sam’s by the Beach. This one is even more chocolaty though.

Super yum!

Josie’s doesn’t disappoint. It does mystify me slightly why there is so little change in the menu, considering particularly that the quality is so high. I mean, the supplementary vegetables move around with the seasonal and market changes, but the basic list of dishes doesn’t vary much, and I’ve been coming here well over ten years. Personally, if I was in the kitchen everyday I’d be bored. However, seeing as I come 2-3 times a year, I’m all over it.

If you liked this New American, click for reviews of similar places: Rustic Canyon (REVIEW 1, REVIEW 2), Tavern (REVIEW 1, REVIEW 2, REVIEW 3), or Gjelina (REVIEW).

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beef, beets, Brochon, Cooking, Dessert, Gevrey-Chambertin, Old vine, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, Salmon, Sandwiches, Short rib, side dishes, vegetarian, Wine tasting descriptors

Fogo de Chao – Beef!

Apr27

Restaurant: Fogo de Chao

Location: 133 North La Cienega Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90211-2206 (310) 289-7755

Date: April 21, 2011

Cuisine: Brazilian Grilled Meats

Rating: Meat meat meat!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I’m not normally a big fan of chains, but Fogo is one that works for me. It took the formula found is various independant Churrasquero restaurants and made it into a solid reliable festival of meat. And at lunch it offers tremendous value, particularly in comparison to a typical good American steak house. In case you’ve been living under a rock, this is a style of Brazilian BBQ where skewered meats are pulled fresh off the fire and carved at the table.

The fully carnivorous menu of meats. Fogo only offers two dining options. Salad bar, or salad bar + meat. Both are all you can eat.

The salad bar is extensive enough by itself, offering not only some token vegtables but a range of cheeses and cured meats.

Potato salad type salads.

Bacon!

Regular salad.

Dressings.

Cured meats and cheeses.

A giant full drum of real parmesan.

More salad.

I go sparingly in this department because I’m really here for the seared flesh.

The way things work at this kind of Brazilian BBQ is that the servers bring by the skewers of up to 15 different meats and cave them onto your plate. Fogo’s innovation here — and believe me it is a solid innovation — is this magic disk. Each person has one and you can flip it over. Above is the stop side.

And the go side. They key here is that you can control the awesome flow of meat onto your plate. Before the disk invention, you either got barraged or you were forgotten. Now, if you need a fifteen minute breather, no problem. Go red, then back again!

Beef sirloin. Delicious pure beef.

Prime rib eye. Fatty goodness! Actually, a bit too fatty for my taste, but many love it.

Chicken legs and pork sausages. They manage to make even chicken taste great, and the sausages are rich, hearty and delectable.

Here is all that, plus some pork rib, loaded on the plate. The rib on top, chicken and sausages on the left, sirloin on the bottom, the ultra fatty prime rib in the middle.

The pork BBQ ribs. This is one of my favorites.

Watch that soft piggy cut!

Filet minion. Lean and tender.

The garlic sirloin. This had an awesomely intense garlic beefyness to it.

Garlic sirloin on the left, filet on the right.

Lamb chops.

On the plate. Super tasty and tender. Sizzling hot.

Chicken breast (left) and filet (right) wrapped in bacon.

bacon truly does make everything better. They chicken might even have been tastier than the beef.

Picanha, one of the house specialties. A bit of prime sirloin seasoned with sea salt.

The bacon-wrapped filet, pork rib, and picanha (left to right). The last is a really tasty cut.

Fogo also throws a lot of sides on the table (included in the price). Cheesy mashed potatoes.

Fried polenta with parmesan.

Fried plantains. There is also cheese bread, but being passover, we didn’t take any and so I don’t have a photo.

The decor is sleek and modern, and they have a lot of hearty wines.

It’s easy to let your eyes exceed your stomach here. This refuse is just one person’s “leavings.” At lunch all this gluttony costs only $32.50, which is pretty impressive. You can easily make an entire day’s meal out of it!

For another take on excessive BBQ meats, see the Japanese Secret Beef joint.

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: bbq, beef, Beverly Hills California, Cooking, Fogo de Chão, Grilled, Home, Meat, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salad, salad bar, side dishes, vegetarian

Passover Seder 2011 – day 2

Apr22

This year we hosted the first seder (SEE HERE), but my Mom cooked the second. That means a very high bar of quality.

Parker 91 for the 2001 Opus One. “Tasted twice Deep garnet-black colour. Still a lot of primary fruit with dark cherry and blackberry aromas complimented by cloves, cardamom and a hint of mint. The medium to full bodied palate provides a medium+ level of very finely grained tannins and medium+ acidity. Long finish with lingering earthy / mineral flavours. Drink now to 2019. Tasted April 2009.”

The 1998 Haut Maillet was a typical mature pomerol. Tasty, but a bit sour.

The seder plate.

The ubiquitous matzah.

Horoset, a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon and other spices.

Mom’s homemade horseradish, sweetened and colored with beet juice.

The fully set table.

The components of the Hillel sandwich, a combination of matzah, horoset, and horseradish.

A sample Hillel sandwich. For more details, see here.

The salad.

Plated, endives, other greens, and smoked kosher trout. Very refreshing, and tasty.

Homemade matzah ball soup. The classic chicken broth and light fluffy balls.

Broccoli Rabe.

Sauteed with pine-nuts and currents

Brisket braised in sweet and sour sauce. Cooked to extreme tenderness.

Extra gravy.

On the plate.

To see the first night of passover, click here.

For the Hillel Sandwich, here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brisket, Cooking, Dinner, Hillel the Elder, Home, home cooking, Horseradish, Jews, Matzah ball, Matzo, opus one, Passover, Passover Seder, Passover Seder Plate, Pomerol, Salad, Wine

Sotto – Sicily con Sardo

Apr18

Restaurant: Sotto [1, 2, 3]

Location: 9575 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 310.277.0210

Date: April 16, 2011

Cuisine: Sicilian and Sardinian Italian

Rating: Bold flavors, off to a great start!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

This new venture into the crowded LA Italian scene is a welcome change of pace. Sotto offers very reasonably priced regional Italian dishes (southern, with a Sicilian and Sardinian slant) with an unabashed traditionalism of a sort. There is no real effort on this menu to cater to the long standing American Italian palette, as influences as it is by late 19th century Southern Italian cooking. This is no red sauce (restaurant with red and white checkered table cloths and chianti bottles).

Located in the rising lower Beverly Hills district we had to fight through crowds leaving shul to descend into the packed, loud, and hard surfaced interior.

The short but very reasonable menu.

James Suckling gives this 2004 Poggio Il Castellare Brunello 94 points. “A decadent and ultra-rich red, with plum tart, prunes, cooked meat and berries. Full bodied, with soft and silky tannins and a long, flavorful finish. An aromatically beautiful wine. Best after 2012.”

“Pittule pugliese (vincotto, ricotta).” These little fritters tasted like supreme funnel cake, and were delicious with the fresh ricotta and vincotto (which is a sweet grape must). The amusing thing, for me, about this dish is that it’s pretty much straight out of Apicius, the 1800+ year-old cookbook. Delicious any way you cut it, but very filling.

“Blistered little gems (anchovy garlic pestata, breadcrumbs, pecorino moliterno.” An interesting salad with a smoky grilled flavor.

“Shaved beet and mixed chicory salad (wheatberries, lemon vinaigrette, fiore sardo).”

Olives. There was a little wait between the first and second courses and they brought us these complementary olives.

“Bruschetta lardo.” And this gratis charred bread spread with lard and fennel pollen. Very wood fired (not to mention rich taste). I was in danger of extreme over eating before the entrees even came.

“Maharrones de pungiu (sugo semplice, fiore sardo).” A wonderful homemade take on a simple tomato and cheese pasta. The choice of fiore sardo (a Sardinian cheese) gave it a slightly different tang.

“Casarecce (braised lamb ragu, egg, pecorino).” This was one damn fine pasta. The pasta itself had exactly the right texture and firmness of good homemade egg pasta. The ragu was nicely flavorful and meaty. Yum! I love great ragu. Some of my other favorites are here at Drago or at Capo.

“Pizza Marherita (tomato, mozzerella, basil, EVOO).” Your basic Marherita, but well done. These pizzas have a VERY wood fired taste going on, much like those from Gjelina, they are a little over-fired to my taste. The dough is good, but they taste very strongly of the grill (char, smoky flavors). When I do them on the stones in my hot gas grill (see my Ultimate Pizza) they showcase the dough and toppings a bit more.

“Pizza Salsiccia e friarieli (sausage, broccoli di ciccio, mozzarella, chillies).” A very nice meaty sausage paired with the bitter tones of the Italian brocoli. Interesting, and good.

“Bittersweet chocolate crostata, hazelnuts, salted rosemary caramel.” This looked amazing, and the texture was fantastic and very chocolaty. There was a slightly odd flavor tone in here, which might have been the rosemary. I’m not sure it added, although certainly I enjoyed it.

After 11 and the place is beginning to thin out a bit. I really enjoyed Sotto and it BOLD take on Italian. This is heady stuff, and the homemade pastas were totally amazing.