Steak :: Page 2 :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Steak – Page 2

Fatty Friday 2018

Jan14

It’s tradition at ThanksGavin (the 4 day feasting our family engages in each November) for one of my cousins to host the Friday Night dinner, which is like thanksgiving night all over again (but with different food). This year, Matt and his wife Andrea handled BOTH nights!

2015 Jacques Perritaz Cidrerie du Vulcain Apple Transparente.

Colorful peppers being prepped.

Appetizers of muhamara, tapenade, olives.

Cousin Matt ordered these incredible tomahawk steaks over the internet!

Check them out in scale.

Matt is on the left seasoning them.

And close up of before going on the grill.

Matt somehow got these tomahawk steaks perfectly cooked first try.

Because it was a steak, he made an awesome wedge to go with it — and with the romaine scare it was actually hard to find even iceberg lettuce.

The ice berg lettuce.

A fully prepped (minus tomato) wedge salad. Amazing rich blu cheese dressing.

Salmon for those who don’t eat meat.

Bread, peppers.

Greens.

Potatoes.

Cauliflower.

Amarone goes great with meat.

Here are the steaks being sliced.

And what was left about 10 minutes later.

Bone it!

For dessert, we begin with my mom’s rustic cranberry tart. Looks perfect doesn’t it?

Pumpkin — oops butternut squash — pie.

Grandma’s brownies and blondies.

Cut up.

Apple pie from the previous night.

Candies.

Ice cream for ala mode.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Steak, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018, thanksgiving, Wine

Alexanders II – Not so Kingly

Jan24

Restaurant: Alexander’s Steakhouse [1, 2]

Location: 111 N Los Robles Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101. (626) 486-1111

Date: December 13, 2017

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Asian fusion & some of the best steakhouse I’ve had

The Foodie Club had an amazing meal at Alexander’s a few months ago, and many think it is the best steakhouse in the city, so the Hedonists braves the most hideous traffic to cross town on a weeknight to try it also.

Old Town Pasadena.

Here is the imposing entrance, right there next to the California Pizza Kitchen… lol.

From my cellar: NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

Amuse of some polenta like thing with uni and caviar.

The winter menu.

Ron brought: 2010 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. BH 91-94. Here the nose is dominated by reduction and sulfur at present and is thus unreadable. What can be assessed is that there is good detail, power, size and weight to the concentrated and mineral-driven broad-shouldered flavors that possess excellent length on the bone dry and overtly austere finish. This should be a classic Latour Corton-Charlemagne in time.

agavin: very young and tight, took awhile to open

HAMACHI SHOTS 3.0. dashi / avocado / fresno / ponzu / negi / arare. Very bright flavors and mixed textures.

Ron brought: 2004 Sine Qua Non Into the Dark. VM 95. Bright violet. Pungent raspberry and cassis on the nose, picking up sexy floral and mineral character with air. Silky, sharply focused red fruit preserve flavors offer excellent thrust but possess an airy, pinot-like personality, gaining weight and sweetness on the close. The balance and finesse of this wine are spectacular: how can it carry 16.1% alcohol so effortlessly?

TARTARE OF BEEF. marrow cream / smoked carrot / bleu cheese powder. Solid tartar.

Trish brought: 1997 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque. VM 92-95. Good red-ruby. Perfumed aromas of cassis, violet, lilac and brown spices. Lush and aromatic in the mouth; the combination of a bit more acidity than the Mouline and its mineral and gunflint elements gives this wine noteworthy elegance and firm shape. Tannins are quite fine.

agavin: unfortunately a corked bottle

FOIE PB&J. foie torchon / peanut butter / onion jam / grape baguette. Solid, but not nearly as good as the Foie implementation last time we came.

From my cellar: 1990 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron. Parker 98. The 1990 Pichon-Longueville Baron has always been one of my benchmark wines, one that never ceases to perform. Now at 27 years of age, it is clearly at its peak, and what a wondrous thing it is. Now showing some bricking on the rim, the bouquet is utterly sublime, with red berries, cedar, touches of graphite, crushed rose petals and incense. You just want to become enveloped by these aromas. The palate is perfectly balanced, perhaps not as structured as it once showed since the tannins have mellowed, but what you get is a Pauillac relishing its secondary phase, which is almost Burgundy-like in terms of mouthfeel. Suffused with tension, it gains weight in the mouth toward the slightly tart finish. It is a Pichon Baron that only knows how to give sophisticated drinking pleasure. I once wrote that Pichon Baron is better than many 1990 First Growth, and that is a statement I have no reason to change. Tasted April 2017.

YUBA WRAPPED PORK BELLY. shiso mustard / lemon-eucalyptus curd / pickled shallots. Interesting texture and quite nice, although I may have liked the previous time’s version of pork belly.

UNI TOAST. brioche / pork shoulder / five spice. Again they changed up a staple item, having brioche instead of egg this time.

ICEBERG SALAD. sweet sesame / bok choy / soft boiled egg / five spice / radish. Very asian variant, heavily dressed. It was nice but I prefer a really good traditional with the blue cheese and bacon.

The bread was amazing. The dark one was squid ink, then there was a cheese and a milk bread. Problem is they brought it in time for dessert!

Plus some fabulous butters, Strauss Creamery butter, bone marrow butter with honey, and a rendered beef tallow!

Arnie brought: 2004 Sloan. VM 94+. Bright, saturated ruby. Knockout nose combines black raspberry, dark plum, black cherry, violet, minerals, spices, soy sauce and brown spices. Lush, broad and rich, with a superripe blackberry flavor that remains this side of jammy. Thanks to its finesse of texture and juiciness, this ultimately comes across as less sweet and more classic than the superb 2002. Finishes with wonderfully suave, broad, building tannins that coat the teeth. The wine’s cabernet franc component contributes lift and spice on the aftertaste. This needs, and should reward, six to eight years of cellar time.

CRISPY PATA. pork shank / achara / vinegar soy / creamed taro. A whole crazy pig leg deep fried. Super crispy and succulent inside. Yum! Filipino style!

Yarom or Larry brought: 2003 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon RBS Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard. VM 90+. Good ruby-red. Highly floral aromas of blueberry, licorice, menthol and violet. Sweet black raspberry and blackberry flavors are firmed by a slight edge of acidity and lifted by floral and mineral nuances. Still a bit youthfully tart on the finish and in need of bottle aging.

BONE-IN NEW YORK 18OZ. grilled meyer lemon / chive butter / chives. Pretty gamey.

Yarom or Larry brought: 2005 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard. VM 96 points. Decanted about an hour. Served with grilled steaks. In a really good place now. Aromas of cherry, blackberry, currant, rose petals. Similar flavors leading to a long smooth finish. The tannins are silky smooth. Really well balanced. Starting to show some secondary character.

AURORA ANGUS RIBEYE CHOP 20OZ. illinois raised prime black angus / grilled lemon. Very “gristly”. Good flavor, but not tender.

BLUE LAKE BEANS. flash fried / garlic / sansyo. Awesome beans, like Szechuan green beans, but no pork. Reduced soy.

MACARONI AND CHEESE. five cheese mornay / truffle panko. One changed dish that was better than the previous version. Pretty normal Mac & Cheese, but very good.

KING CRAB FRIED RICE. lap xuong / egg white / chive. Really great fried rice last time and just “nice” this time, maybe a little under cooked.

Dessert menu.

Amuse of leechee ice. Very tasty.

GUAVA CHEESECAKE. tempura fried cheesecake / orange granita / candied shiso / guava sorbet. Kinda weird.
RED VELVET MINT. red velvet brownie / cranberry / mint cream cheese frosting / red velvet ice cream. Disappointing, very weak mint flavors.

Overall, a solid meal, but no where near as good as our previous visit. Many of the food items had the same protein/spot on menu but changed, and almost all for the worse. Things also just weren’t as on point and the steaks (probably we ordered poorly) were gamey (which was fine) but a bit tough.

Service was very friendly, but no where near as good as last time and they had significant pacing issues. The server was super nice, but maybe had too many tables and he couldn’t come by enough. We also had a very long gap between dishes for the first half of the meal. In their defense they had asked if we wanted it slow, but I had only meant one dish at a time, not 30 minutes between each. This was rectified. They also forgot some of the extras like the bread (until near the end), petite fours, etc.

Food was good, but it just didn’t blow us away this time. Maybe there was a different kitchen lead on duty?

Wines were great. Only major flaw was the corked Lala. A too many giant Napas too for my taste although they were great wines.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Alexander's, hedonists, Pasadena California, Steak, Steak House

Alexanders the Great

Oct09

Restaurant: Alexander’s Steakhouse

Location: 111 N Los Robles Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101. (626) 486-1111

Date: August 28, 2017

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Asian fusion & some of the best steakhouse I’ve had

People have been saying that Alexander’s is the best steakhouse in the city and so the Foodie Club braves the most hideous traffic to cross town on a weeknight to…

Old Town Pasadena.

Here is the imposing entrance, right there next to the California Pizza Kitchen… lol.

The menu.

The manager set us up spectacularly in the private dining room at this awesome 12 person square table. SO SO much better than a long table.

Right next to the wine cellar too, which we didn’t sample from, but certainly revealed some great bottles peeking out.

Charlie brought: NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 164eme. JG 95. The 164th Edition of Krug “Grande Cuvée is absolutely brilliant and one of the best iterations of this iconic wine that I have ever had the pleasure to taste. This is not surprising, as it is from the base year of 2008, though the team at Krug utilized reserve wines all the way back to 1990 in this version. The final cépages is forty-eight percent pinot noir, thirty-five percent chardonnay and seventeen percent pinot meunier, with the wine spending eight years in the Krug cellars sur latte. The beautiful bouquet wafts from the glass in a blend of apple, white peach, fresh-baked bread, very complex soil tones, white flowers, incipient smokiness and just a hint of the caraway seed to come with bottle age. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and seamlessly balanced, with a great core, utterly refined mousse, superb focus and grip and a very, very long, complex and zesty finish. The vibrancy of the exceptional base year of 2008 is very much in evidence here and this is destined to be one of the all-time great Grande Cuvées.

Ron brought: NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. BH 94. Medium rosé hue. A cool, restrained and highly complex nose that is not especially fruity displays a moderate yeast character along with slightly exotic aromas of mandarin orange and Asian tea, all wrapped in an enveloping array of beguiling rose petal scents. There is very good richness with a relatively firm supporting mousse that adds to the impression of richness to the superbly complex and highly textured flavors, indeed one could aptly describe this as more wine that Champagne. As such this is indeed a sumptuous Krug rosé that is difficult to resist already though it should reward extended keeping if desired. As I noted in the original 750 ml review, that while I am not always wowed by the Krug Rosé, this latest incarnation in magnum is strikingly good.

An amuse of tater tot with a bit of cheese and whipped something.

Charlie also brought (blind): 2000 Arcadian Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard. JG 92. This was my first introduction to the wines from Joe Davis at Arcadian and I was very, very impressed with what I tasted. While the 2000 Sleepy Hollow chardonnay is not the current release from the winery, the estate’s philosophy of holding back their wines several years prior to release obviously is a testament to their commitment to producing truly cellar-worthy wines. This 2000 chardonnay is drinking beautifully and is at its apogee of peak maturity, offering up a deep and complex nose of pears, acacia blossoms, a touch of beeswax, lemon curd, a very pretty base of soil, citrus oils and buttery oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still quite zesty, with a great core of fruit, excellent focus and balance, fine structure and a long, complex and tangy finish that closes with a bit of citrus peel. This is a lovely bottle at its apogee, but still with plenty of life ahead of it. Impressive juice.

agavin: our bottle was premoxed and tasted like an 80s white burg. I actually enjoyed its nutty tones as it wasn’t very hot like some premoxed bottles.

Emil brought: 2009 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. BH 93-96. A cool, fresh and densely fruited nose of crushed citrus, green apple and mineral reduction gives way to seriously concentrated and overtly muscular flavors that possess a suave and silky mouth feel yet do not lack for an underlying reserve of power. This isn’t as fine as the Montrachet but it’s even longer, at least at present with a chewy character that provides evidence of the massive levels of extract. Even so, don’t buy this with the intention of drinking it young as it will require plenty of cellar time, at least if you want to see its full potential realized.

Ron Brought: 2009 Philippe Colin Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 90. This is aromatically quite similar to the Demoiselles though the medium weight plus flavors are bigger, richer and more powerful with even more dry extract that are given lift by the solid minerality though again, the finish is distinctly sweet. To be sure, there will be some who appreciate that sweetness but it’s too much for me.

HAMACHI SHOTS 3.0. dashi / avocado / fresno / ponzu / negi / arare. Very bright flavors and mixed textures.

DRY AGED TATAKI. wasabi mustard / charred ginger ponzu / crispy yuba. Strong ponzu tastes but it left much of the beefy flavors intact.

UNI TAMAGO. egg salad / potato chip / celery. The omelet (tamago) made a nice bed for the uni, a Japanese take on the uni egg toast thing.

GRILLED OCTOPUS. calabrian chili / honeynut squash / pickled onion / ink crumble. Tender with a nice char.

GRILLED PORK BELLY. golden beet miso puree / fennel / truffle balsamic. Lol, fried pork belly.

CHILLED FOIE GRAS. kaya toast / pandan gel / soy egg yolk emulsion. This was an amazing foie terrine formulation. We started with 3 of them and ordered 3-4 more extra. It was crazy!

From my cellar: 1985 Domaine Jean Grivot Echezeaux. 95 points. Lots of bright red fruits and good penetrating acid. In fabulous shape.

Erick brought: 1991 Gros Frère et Sœur Grands-Echezeaux. 94 points. Deep and still youthful, although fully integrated.

(blind): 1996 Domaine Heresztyn/Heresztyn-Mazzini Clos St. Denis. 94 points. Beautiful and perfumed: spicy and sweet, baking spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, some meaty and savory. Somewhat similar to the nose on the palate – savory, meat, sweet spice, lots of 96 acid: tart but still enough perfume and depth. Finish is tart cherry and spice.

Vahan brought: 2000 Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux. BH 92. A gorgeously scented and wonderfully complex nose of black fruit, spice and warm earth aromas introduce forward, complex, intense and seductive medium-bodied flavors that display excellent power, all wrapped in a sappy and largely, if not completely, resolved finish of excellent length. This is lovely juice that is could either be approached now with pleasure or held for a few more years in the cellar first as it has only just arrived at the front edge of its drinkability. Tasted several times with consistent notes.

agavin: most people here thought this was the best red burg of the night. It certainly had the most intense finish with a ton of fruit, just entering maturity.

The bread was amazing. The dark one was squid ink, then there was a cheese and a milk bread.

Plus some fabulous butters, Strauss Creamery butter, bone marrow butter with honey, and a rendered beef tallow!

KOSHIHIKARI RISOTTO. squid ink / shrimp / uni / braised celery. Great congee-like texture, really nice blend of fresh ingredients.

CRISPY PATA. pork shank / achara / vinegar soy / creamed taro. A whole crazy pig leg deep fried. Super crispy and succulent inside. Yum! Filipino style!

1986 Ritche Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. All of our old Cabs were in great shape!

1973 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate. JG 93. The 1973 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was the second vintage crafted by the Richard and Peter Graff here at Mount Eden, and the wine is really very lovely and still right in its prime fully forty-three years out from the vintage. This was a small crop that was picked between October 7th and 12th and the wine was fined, but not filtered prior to bottling. The wine is showing beautifully today, offering up a deep and tertiary bouquet of cassis, cigar ash, complex, dark soil tones, menthol, woodsmoke and a touch of red curry in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and at its absolute apogee, with a good core, a wide open and inviting personality, lovely focus and balance and a long, velvety and very pure finish. Just a lovely vintage of Mount Eden cabernet in its prime.
The next bottle Vahan brought blind:

Vahan brought (blind): 1970 Cheval Blanc. 90 points. The ’70 Cheval Blanc has moved into the latter stages of its useful life, and while it remains a reasonable mouthful of wine, it has begun to drop a bit of its fruit and is more defined by its smoky and earthy characteristics today. The nose offers up a rather flat blend of anonymous black fruit, menthol, charred wood, tobacco smoke and damp earth. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, smoky and earthy, with solid mid-palate depth, but a rather flat personality that could do with a bit more acidity, but solid length on the rather tobaccoey finish. Flavor-wise, there is not much fruit left here, but the wine is not fraying or collapsing as of yet, but simply dominated by its smoky and damp earth character.

CAB PRIME RIB. until it’s gone / horseradish duo / natural jus. Soft and meaty.

With the jus.

And two types of horseradish.

AURORA ANGUS FILET MIGNON 8OZ. illinois black angus / negi salad. A nice filet. Filet is contentious among the carnivores. I have always liked it, but I’m not a steak guy. Some others prefer a gamier bit of meat.

MACARONI AND CHEESE. udon / caramelized mornay / truffle panko. This Japanese variant of Mac & Cheese was pretty fabulous actually. I liked the use of the udon.

ERYNGI MUSHROOMS. roasted garlic / thyme / lemon vinaigrette. Solid buttery mushrooms.

A selection of gourmet salts, mostly intended for the wagyu (below).

From my cellar: 1985 Leoville-Las Cases. RP 94. The 1985 is a gorgeously open-knit Las Cases with a sweet nose of lead pencil, sweet black cherries and currants, and a hint of underbrush and new oak. Medium to full-bodied with expansiveness, supple tannins, and outstanding concentration, this is a beautifully made wine that still tastes like it is an adolescent and may even have an even greater upside as it continues to age in bottle. The low acidity and sweet tannin, however, suggest it has entered its plateau of maturity. Anticipated maturity: Now-2018.

Michael brought: 2002 Palmer. RP 93-95. A successful wine for the vintage, this blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot boasts complex notes of menthol, black currants, plums, licorice, and a hint of cappuccino in its stunning aromatics. Dense, medium to full-bodied, with high levels of tannin in a big, full-bodied style (much in the spirit of such classic Bordeaux vintages as 1966, 1986, and 1996), this wine possesses superb purity and serious length, but should be purchased only by those with considerable patience and a good, cold cellar, since it will need plenty of time.

agavin: the baby of the night, but a great wine.

T-BONE 18OZ. grilled sudachi / chive butter / chives.

AURORA ANGUS RIBEYE CHOP 20OZ. illinois raised prime black angus / grilled lemon

BLUE LAKE BEANS. flash fried / garlic / sansyo. Awesome beans, like Szechuan green beans, but no pork. Reduced soy.

TRUFFLE FRIED POTATOES. truffle butter / togarashi / furikake. Solid potatoes too.

2000 Chapoutier • Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac. RP 95. There are approximately 500 cases of this wine. It is a large-scaled Chateauneuf du Pape that represents the antithesis of La Bernardine. This wine has been spectacular, and I have been a frequent buyer and consumer of this wine since the first vintage Michel Chapoutier made, 1989.

2000 Domaine du Pegau • Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee. RP 92. Fully mature, with a ruby/amber color that shows some lightening at the rim, it offers classic Pegau garrigue, olive tapenade, beef blood and wild herbs to go with a medium to full-bodied, seamless and resolved profile on the palate. It still has a core of sweet fruit and is drinking nicely now, so don’t make the mistake of waiting too long on this. It should be consumed over the coming couple of years.

Larry brought: 1998 Domaine de la Janasse • Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes. RP 96. A bigger, richer wine than the Cuvee Chaupin, the 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes is full-bodied, rich and silky on the palate, with classic Janasse notes of barbecue smoke, licorice, peppery herbs and smoked black fruits. I’ve been lucky enough to have multiple bottles of this recently, all of which have shown beautifully. There’s no upside, but it will continue drinking nicely through 2023.

Chris brought: 2004 Henri Bonneau • Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Celestins. RP 95. Classic Bonneau with its knockout perfume of sweet kirsch, blackberry, saddle leather and roasted herbs, the 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Celestins is medium to full-bodied, supple and elegant, with fine, sweet tannin on the finish. Showing more depth and richness than just about any other wine in the vintage, with a fantastic mix of aromatic complexity and textural richness on the palate, it’s drinking beautifully now, and should continue to shine for another decade.

滋賀県 SHIGA OHMI JAPAN A5. extremely rare / complex flavor / prized in japan. The first of the super marbled A5 wagyu monsters!

北海道 HOKKAIDO JAPAN A5. château uenae / farmed in below freezing temperatures. And even more amazing!

KING CRAB FRIED RICE. lap xuong / egg white / chive. Really great fried rice. Better than almost all the ones I’ve had at Chinese restaurants (and that’s a lot).

Special medal for the Hokkaido snow beef — only sold into 2-3 places in the US!

And look how marbled it is!

We were too full to order much dessert.

This intermezzo of tangy and sweet fruit and various textures was awesome.

Trio of sorbetti. Watermelon, strawberry balsamic, peach. All were way too sweet. Way too sweet. Texture was good though.

Various Petite Fours. Can we say wafer thin mint?

And a parting biscotti.

Refuse. Probably not even all of them.

And the lineup. They had a lot of stems too. Not all the same type, but even some Riedel Somms.

Overall, an amazing meal.

Service was knock down, drag out awesome. The manager and the maitre d’ took care of us personally, they helped design the meal, and really made sure we had an incredible time.

Food was really fabulous. I can’t really evaluate steak vs other good steakhouses as I’m not a steak guy, but they seemed up there with the best, but the appetizers and sides were both different and interesting (with their Japanese fusion) and extremely well executed. Every dish was pretty much awesome. Not all your typical American steakhouse stuff either.

Wines were great. Only major flaw was the premoxed Cali Chard (which I still enjoyed), and maybe a little bret on 1-2 of the Rhones. I like that we had old stuff. I’ve had too many of the giant young cabs recently. Nice progression too and well timed with our 6-7 waves of food.

Ordering (Emil and I did it) was spot on if very slightly too much. We reordered foie (even if it was great), ate a bit too much awesome bread, and maybe had 1-2 too many steaks — so there was no room for dessert. But better a bit too much than going out for ramen later! Price was even quite reasonable considering what we had, the service, and all that A5 (which has a steep premium).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (7)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: A5, Alexander's, beef, Foodie Club, Pasadena, Steak, Steak House, steakhouse, Wagyū, Wine

Seconds at Chi Spacca

May29

Restaurant: Chi Spacca [1, 2]

Location: 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 297-1133

Date: April 17, 2017

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Rich but delicious, a carnivore’s paradise

The little Mozza empire on Melrose now includes the Pizzeria, the Osteria, Chi Spacca, and Mozza 2 go. They do a great job with all their restaurants but their annoying corkage policy (2 bottles per table!) has limited my ability to attend. I only go to this sort of place with my wine groups (my wife being a near vegetarian) and so the limits make it near impossible. But anyway we managed to organize a small group after months of planning.

Chop chop.

The menu.

The small room.

The smoky in the room grill.

I ordered this off the menu.

2015 Bisci Verdicchio di Matelica. 91 points. Bright and crisp, very minerally. Nice summer wine. Great food wine too.

Grilled Octopus. pureed & fried ceci, parsley leaf. Very soft tender octopus. Basically as good as grilled octopus gets (which is pretty good).

From my cellar: 1974 Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo. 95 points. One of the stars in this tasting, the 1974 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo is quite a bit fresher and also more powerful than the 1971. A huge core of fruit hits the palate, followed by savory herbs, leather, tobacco and smoke. The 1974 remains powerful and virile, with fabulous intensity for a wine of its age and a compelling interplay of tertiary nuance, dense fruit and plenty of structure to back it all up. Readers lucky enough to still own the 1974 can look forward to another 5-10 years of very fine drinking.

Focaccia di Recco. Fett’unta. Super light, crispy cheese “pizza.”

See the cheese, feel the cheese. Very very salty though.

Smoked burrata & roasted parsnips. garlic, thyme, honey. Okay, but arguably the most disappointing dish tonight (most were awesome).

1995 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. Big!

“Moorish” lamb shoulder chop. mint yogurt, cilantro.

mint yogurt.

A special salad of citrus, kiwi, etc.

2005 Château Cos d’Estournel. VM 97. I have been fortunate to taste the 2005 Cos d’Estournel three times in recent weeks and it has never been anything less than stunningly beautiful, as it is once again on this night. The interplay of dark, ripe fruit and the more mineral, savory-inflected nuances typical of Saint-Estèphe yield a compelling, wonderfully complete Bordeaux that simply has it all. An exotic mélange of graphite, gravel, smoke, cured meats and dark-fleshed fruits flow through to the explosive finish. Riveting today, the 2005 Cos will continue to thrill those fortunate enough to own it for several decades. Given its price vis-à-vis many of the high-flying wines of the year, the 2005 Cos remains a terrific relative value in its class.

Costata alla Florentina. Dry-aged bone-in New York steak. Solid beef.
2000 Harlan estate. VM 93-96. he 2000 Harlan Estate is in a beautiful place today. Soft, open-knit and nicely mellowed by age, the 2000 is absolutely gorgeous, with soft contours to match is engaging personality. Mocha, black cherries, leather and spice are all quite forward in this succulent Harlan Estate. The 2000 might not be a profound Harlan Estate, but it is a striking wine that is peaking today and that should continue to drink well for at least another few years.

Tomahawk Pork Chop. fennel pollen. The top (far) part is the pork chop itself, wonderfully tender and with a lovely flavor. The bottom long parts are the pork belly, similar flavor but WAY richer.

Roasted cauliflower. crushed lemon bagna cauda. Excellent!

Roasted potatoes. Lardo, rosemary. Flower of sliced crispy potatoes.

2004 Harlan Estate. VM 95+. Bright ruby-red. Superripe aromas of raspberry, currant and tropical dark chocolate. Sweet, lush and large-scaled, hinting at surmaturite and compellingly mouthfilling without coming across as heavy. This extremely ripe wine’s high pH seems fully buffered by huge dry extract. Finishes with big but lush tannins and outstanding palate-staining persistence. A bit port-like but with mineral and licorice notes giving it definition and grip.

Beef & bone marrow pie. beef cheek, cippolini, funghi. Wow! Like the ultimate beef pot pie — and I mean ultimate. Salty, though, like almost everything here.

Mashed potatoes.
The dessert menu.

1986 Château d’Yquem. 96 points. Deep honeyed gold colour. Nose of burnt carameled toffee, soaped new leather car seats and shoe leather, white shoe cream, apricots…very suave but complex. Palate is gorgeously honeyed, rounded, almondy burnished copper and with a medium-cut acidity to stop it getting cloying. Tooth-coating. Massive head-expanding resonance and reverberance and all so smooth-edged… quite silence creating. Wow! Hard to stop sipping. It just gets more head-expanding with more time in the glass and the mouth.

Banana cream slab. hot caramel. Even I loved this, and I hate bananas.

Butterscotch Budino. sea salt & rosemary pine nut cookies. OMG, I love these creamy puddings. I ordered an extra too just for myself.

Cocoa Nib Caramel Tart. whipped creme fraiche. Rich.

Seasonal Gelati & Sorbetti. Pistachio and I can’t remember what else.

Seasonal Gelati & Sorbetti. Passionfruit (great) and others.

Overall, I thought the food at Chi Spacca was quite awesome, if not exactly authentically Italian. Certainly more to my taste than any normal steakhouse. They should import some pastas over from Mozza though :-). From the menu I thought prices looked crazy, but the total turned out to be reasonable ($130 a person before tip) even though we went to town. Really to town as the above was for 6 people! It was salty though. Extremely salty.

Service was great too, and the atmosphere fun. My only complaint is with the bottle limit. The $30 corkage is fine. But the 2 bottle hard limit, apparently strictly enforced, is quiet annoying. It totally breaks down for wine dinners. Their list has interesting Italians, but the wines are too young. Plus I just resent having to buy off wine lists altogether (beyond the occasional white or rose). If they priced a fixed $30-50 markup, and had my kind of wines, it would be fine, but they always use a multiplicative markup. I’m not paying $400-600 for a $200 bottle!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (5)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chi Spacca, Corkage, Gaja, hedonists, Italian Cusine, Meat, Steak, Wine

Grasping Gwen

Feb21

Restaurant: Gwen

Location: 6600 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 946-7500

Date: February 8, 2017

Cuisine: Butcher Shop modern?

Rating: not bad, but expensive and weird format

It seems everyone is opening a “butcher shop / restaurant” these days. Certainly Curtis Stone’s Gwen opened with a big splash last year but I didn’t go because they had a strict no outside bottles wine policy. I just don’t buy from wine lists, and certainly not high markup lists. That’s not saying there is anything at all wrong with selling wine at a restaurant — we sell wine at ours — but I just own too many bottles and need to work on “culling the herd.”

Anyway, recently our Hedonist group arranged a dinner at Gwen where we were allowed to bring our wines, so I was excited to try the place out. I enjoyed sister restaurant Maude, even if its annoying reservation system (and somewhat less strict but still irritating wine policy) has lead me not to go very often. Maude is so busy you have to call on a Saturday 1-2 months in advance and grab whatever you can. I don’t plan that far ahead :-).

The Gwen build out is very mid 2000 teens. Lovely though.

The meats certainly look “meaty” (and good).

It’s even got a real wood fired asador!

We dined upstairs at the well stocked bar.

Now the menu is odd. Curtis Stone seems to love weird formats. Maude has that one ingredient / one menu / one month thing. Gwen has an even stranger format. At the bar there is some ala carte ordering, but at tables you get a kind of unusual fixed menu. It reminds me slightly of Valentine’s day menus at fancy places. A bunch of courses, most of which are very small. Then there is sort of an “almost an entree” and the option to pile on some really expensive shared steaks. There isn’t a lot of flexibility.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. VM 94. The NV Grande Cuvée is absolutely stellar. This is one of the very best Grande Cuvées I can remember tasting. The flavors are bright, focused and beautifully delineated throughout, all of which make me think the wine will age well for many, many years. Lemon peel, white flowers, crisp pears, smoke and crushed rocks race across the palate in a vibrant, tense Champagne that epitomizes finesse.

Now bear in mind that we were a table of 10-12 people and that each of the pictured plates was shared by multiple people. I will designate the sharing factor. Technically each of these items is a “course.”

Pretzel Bread (one roll each). Nice bread (but it’s bread).

Chorizo spread (about 2″ in diameter, shared by 2-3 people). A decent meaty spread. A little heat. Not a ton of it, but considering the size of the bread… more than sufficient.

Dr. Dave brought: 2002 Jean Boillot & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles. VM 93-96. Superripe, highly aromatic nose of cling peach and clove, with no obtrusive oakiness. Explosive, sappy, peachy fruit is superconcentrated and rich but impressively dry. Perhaps less expressive today than the Clos de la Mouchere but this has grand cru intensity and class, and great sappy freshness and energy. Extremely long and fine on the aftertaste.

agavin: great Burg for the price.

Jacob brought: 1999 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. VM 92. Sexy nose of peach, butter and smoky oak. Rich, sweet and pliant but with firm supporting spine. Very silky wine enlivened by succulent acidity. Classic Folatieres, very long and firm on the aftertaste.

agavin: our bottle was a bit corky

From my cellar: 2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. BH 96. A reserved, indeed even reluctant nose of fresh and stony green fruit and citrus aromas that offer real depth leads to precise, minerally and exceptionally powerful full-bodied flavors that possess huge amounts of dry extract on the hugely long finish. This is still sorting itself out but the quality of the raw materials is impeccable and it possesses impressive potential, which will require at least a decade to realize. One of the finest examples from this appellation in the 2006 vintage.

agavin: nice, but still a bit hot and young

Duck Rillette, Tete de Cochon, Foie Gras Terrine, toast (shared by 3 people). These were all very nice bits of cured meats, but cutting them up 3 ways wasn’t the easiest. Plus I ran out of bread after about 2 of them. Note, sort of counts as “3 courses.”

Finoccina, Negroni, Coppa, Fuet? (shared by 3 people). Each salami was excellent, too bad they were about the size of a Necco Wafer.

From my cellar: 1993 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. VM 92+. Good deep youthful red. Quintessential briary Bonnes-Mares aromas of raspberry, roasted currant, mocha and menthol. Penetrating flavors of black cherry, flowers and mint; insinuating, ripe acids give the wine terrific verve and lift. Finishes long, vibrant and youthful, with firm but round tannins. Quite rich but not as concentrated or long as the ’96. “The crop size was down due to mildew. The aromas remind me of red Burgundies from 1953.

agavin: young and spicy

Seb brought: 2006 Marcassin Pinot Noir Blue-Slide Ridge Vineyard. BH 78. Here the nose offers a different aromatic composition of menthol and extremely ripe red pinot fruit though the same melted vinyl note is annoyingly present. There is fine richness and density to the round broad-shouldered and robust flavors that possess an admirable amount of dry extract but the finish is noticeably bitter and even warmer. An imbalanced and difficult wine to enjoy.

agavin: I didn’t hate it as much as Meadows, but still: “Fake Pinot!”

Jacob brought: 1986 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Echezeaux. Nice

Salad (1 per person, about 3″ across), buttermilk dressing. The salad was tasty. Tiny, but tasty. I liked the buttermilk.

Yarom brought: 1960 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Ygay Reserva. 95 points. Great bottle. One of the best reds of the night.

Gnocchi, smoked ham hock, salsify, black truffle. (1 per person, about 2″ across).

Someone had raved about the (tiny) pasta course from a previous visit. This one was just nice. I prefer a real plate of soft gnocchi. This had nice flavors, but it was small.

We got our knives in a box.

2003 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape. VM 95. Dark red. Exotic, even flamboyant on the nose, which displays strong red berry preserve, candied cherry, mineral and floral scents. Round and juicy, with deep red fruit flavors and a strong note of licorice. This is showing even more energy today than it did on release. Lush and sweet on the finish, leaving behind spicecake and cherry notes. I rated this wine 94 points on release and now think that I was stingy.

2007 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape. VM 95+. Deep ruby. Powerful, pungent aromas of kirsch, dark berries, smoky herbs and spicecake, with notes of black olive and tobacco coming on with air. Chewy, palate-staining dark fruit flavors are complicated by bitter chocolate, licorice and black cardamom. Acts like a 2005 today, with serious structure but also superb depth of powerful, densely packed fruit. A hint of cherry skin adds grip and refreshing bitterness to the long, smoky, focused finish. Not an easy read right now: this demands cellaring.

2003 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle. VM 92. Deep, saturated ruby. Intensely spicy aromas of blackberry, bitter cherry, tobacco and minerals, with a complicating note of black pepper that became more pronounced with air. This is quite fresh and lively for the vintage, showing tangy red and dark berry flavors and a solid, chewy texture. Finishes with considerable finesse.

2003 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. VM 95. Bright, deep red. Spicy, vibrant and tangy nose offers redcurrant, wild strawberry and minerally raspberry tones. Impressively fresh and nervy on the palate, with lift and thrust to the exuberant red fruit tones. As this opens in the glass, the fruit tones take a darker turn toward blackberry and cassis, also picking up notes of graphite and licorice. The deeply concentrated, spicy and wonderfully long, sweet finish is framed by huge but remarkably integrated tannins.

Ocean Trout. Finger lime, shiso, pumpernickel (shared by 5-6 people!). Now the size was a problem, and was probably the fault of our ordering. We should have had 2 of each type of entree for our table of 5, but we ordered 1 of each (don’t ask). As it was I got a morsel about the size of a piece of nigiri. It was very tender.

Boneless shortrib. Braised and grilled (shared by 5-6 people). Yep, tasty but not enough!

Fire Roasted Pork. Glazed cheek, grilled rack, smoked belly. (again shared by 5-6!). Hard to get a taste of everything except for the cheek.

Sides. (shared by 3 or more people). Cauliflower, smoky eggplant? These were decent, but again so little it was hard to remember the taste.

1997 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select. VM 93-95. Healthy saturated dark red. Very deep, musky, alluring aromas of roasted plum, dark cherry, nutty oak, mocha, leather and truffle. A seriously outsized Napa Cabernet with a compellingly plush texture but still with a juicy shape to it. This slightly warm wine can’t quite match the 1995 for complexity or energy but it makes for a mouthfilling meal substitute. Slightly dusty tannins reach the incisors.

2000 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon RBS Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard. Big!

1985 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha’s Vineyard. JG 96+. I can distinctly recall from my early days in the wine trade the release of the 1985 Martha’s Vineyard, which was eagerly anticipated after it was announced that this was the first vintage to be graced with a special label since the legendary 1974. This was at the height of the winery’s popularity and the 1985 Martha’s was an extremely difficult bottle to come by at the time of its release. Consequently, I had not seen a bottle in many years and was delighted to see it included in our vertical at the winery in June. The wine is flat out brilliant, as it soars from the glass in a mélange of black cherries, saddle leather, a great base of soil tones, eucalyptus, smoke, incipient notes of petroleum jelly and a very gentle framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and powerful, with a rock solid core of fruit, great complexity, moderate tannins and a very long, perfectly balanced, tangy and palate-staining finish. This is a very intense vintage of Martha’s that is decidedly younger than the 1987 for instance, and still demands plenty of cellaring time. It will clearly prove to be a legendary vintage of Martha’s and certainly has earned its special label.

Bone-in Ribeye. 30 day dry aged Creekstone farms. (we had 3 for 11 people). This is what filled us up. And it was a great steak. Very medium in the middle, and nice and crispy (and salty) on the outside.

1999 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Szt. Tamás. 94 points. Great dessert wine. Sweetness and a nice acidity.

Yuzu pavlova. White chocolate, thai basil. Nice intermezzo. Great flavors and very bright.

Chocolate praline, caramelized banana, cinnamon. Tremendous dessert, and I don’t even like bananas. Along with the steak it was the best dish by a solid margin.

Petite fours. Gelee, truffles, caramel.

Chevy had a bad reaction to the garlic.

Overall, this was an “interesting meal.” Really, the rigid format is not designed for 11 rowdy Hedonists (and we are a handful). There wasn’t enough room on the tables and because of it I think they just put down less plates than they would have normally, and they rigidly put the same portions on the plates they usually do. The result was us splitting some very tiny things many ways.

Sommelier Fahara Zamorano is a real pro and is a gracious and highly skilled Somm — but Gwen isn’t used or our chaotic format and the need to get a lot of bottles opened and poured. With bringing 2 bottles a person and constant flights the wine we need to get the vino flowing and fast. Ideally we can use a ton of glasses, but we had 3-4 each. Our needs don’t allow time for the careful opening, glass selection, placement, pouring that Gwen normally does. The result is a bunch of impatient boys who want their grape juice. After a flight or two it got moving, but at the beginning there was a momentum problem. Hedonist dinners need to get stuff popped and poured ASAP to get through the mountain of wine. I’ve tuned my own Somm duties to these needs, by throwing out the niceties! I just pound through the corks and get the stuff out there.

Food was good, but only a couple of dishes blew me away: namely the steak and banana dessert. The rest were just good. Extremely well executed for sure. But the price is high and the expectations even higher, so I’m not sure what to make of it. Clearly Gwen is a place to go on a romantic meal or with two couples. It’s very much a couples place by portion and feel. The setting is lovely and romantic. And the guy can eat half his date’s food!

But a very fun evening and they really went out of there way to take care of us despite the total mismatch between the group (big and boisterous bordering on boorish!) and the format (designed for upscale couples).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: butcher shop, Curtis Stone, Gwen, Meat, Steak, Wine

Sebi Mastro’s 2016

Jan04

Restaurant: Mastro’s [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 246 North Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, Ca 90210. 310-888-8782

Date: December 23, 2016

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: My favorite LA Steak joint

For the second year in a row, my friend Sebastian picked Mastros for his birthday dinner — no complaints here — so we all hauled out the wines and headed across town.

We setup in the luxurious Penthouse!

Bought from the list: Perrier-Jouët Champagne Grand Brut.

Pretzel bread — gotta love it.

Seb brought: 2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. VM 90. Complex, precise aromas of apricot, mirabelle , honey and smoke. Silky, fat and full if quite dry; considerably richer than the young 2003, with sound framing acidity. Finishes very long, with a subtle whiplash of flavor. This has filled in quite nicely since I tasted it from barrel last spring.

agavin: this bottle was terrific. It’s the 5th bottle of this I’ve had, and at least 4 of them have been fabulous.

A seafood tower. The quality of the seafood here is impeccable and the only thing we had to complain about was that there wasn’t enough! Really for five we would have expected the two or three story version Still there were amazing shrimp, claws, king crab (didn’t taste frozen), and oysters. The Dungeness chunks in the setter were the real winner.

With dry ice for coolness — haha.

From my cellar: 1982 Certan de May. Parker 98. Every time I have this wine in tastings outside my cellar, I have guessed it to be Petrus and I have rated it as one of the greatest 1982s. My scores have ranged from 96-100. From my cellar, the wine has always tasted super-concentrated, impressive, and frightfully backward, and not nearly as flattering and open. This tasting note is based on a wine from my cellar – a cold, damp storage facility. The wine reveals no signs of age in its color, which remains an opaque, thick- looking ruby/purple. The nose offers up reticent aromas of super-ripe black fruits (jammy cherries), combined with earthy, truffle, cedar, and chocolate notes. Full-bodied and super-concentrated, with high levels of extract, glycerin, and tannin, this remains an outrageously rich and compelling Pomerol that I find needs another 5 years until it begins to enter its plateau of maturity. It will easily last through the first three decades of the next century . It is a majestic Certan de May, as well as the finest young vintage of this wine I have tasted, but it is evolving at a glacial pace.

Bone marrow and toast — have a bit of fat! Actually not my favorite as I don’t love the texture of bone marrow straight up.

Foie Gras. Awesome as you would expect!

Annie gets her OWN tower!

Beef Carpaccio with capers, arugula, and parmesan. Awesome and a bit lighter.

Shoestring fries. Chevy wanted a fry course!

Dr. Dave brought: 2003 Thibault Liger-Belair Clos Vougeot. BH 91. This is very ripe though it stops short of being roasted with its plum, earth, wood, spice and pungent game suffused nose. There is excellent density and volume to the overly powerful, intense and broad-shouldered big-bodied flavors that are shaped by a very firm tannic spine that flirts with a bit of astringency on the otherwise lingering finish. This is definitely not a wine of refinement but it is certainly imposing. It’s not really a style that I particularly care for but then again that’s true of many ’03s as they’re just a bit too ripe for my taste. This particular example is slightly less ’03 in style than some but that said, it’s clear that it’s from a very ripe vintage.

Seb brought: 2002 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin. VM 93. Good bright ruby-red. High-toned roasted fruits, licorice, violet and sweet oak on the nose. Sweet, supple and creamy, with fruit currently dominated by an exotic coconutty oak quality. A second barrel showed even riper aromas and superb richness.

The wedge salad (chopped).

Mastro’s salad.

Seb brought: 2005 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage. VM 97. Inky ruby. Hugely aromatic bouquet of red and dark berries, cherry, Asian spices, fresh flowers, minerals and cured meat; smells like a great grand cru from Vosne-Romanee but with a wilder side. Flat-out gorgeous wine, with remarkably deep but fresh red berry and cherry flavors that stain the palate. Seems to actually expand on the finish, picking up exotic spicecake and rose pastille character and leaving a sweet trail of smoky red fruits behind. “If you insist on drinking this young, do it now,” says Chave, “because it will close up in about two or three years and not be open again for a long time.” You’ve been warned.

Dr Dave brought: 1998 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Centenaire. Parker 97-100. Happily, the last two bottles of 1998 Cuvee Centenaire from my cellar were representative of the score that has been bestowed above. Dense plum/garnet to the rim, with an extraordinary nose of creme de cassis, blackberry, licorice, camphor, new saddle leather, and scorched earth, the wine is full-bodied, opulent, rich, very pure, and from sound bottles, a great Cuvee Centenaire that comes close to rivaling the perfect 1990. This wine should drink well for another decade or more.

Arnie brought: 2003 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon RBS To Kalon Vineyard. Parker 97. The closest to full maturity and farthest along in its evolution appears to be the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon RBS Beckstoffer To- Kalon Vineyard. Notes of pen ink, creosote, tar, black currants and Christmas fruitcake jump from the glass of this dense ruby/purple-colored effort, which is showing less color saturation than its three siblings. Full-bodied and ripe with soft tannins, good freshness and liveliness, there is no reason to defer your gratification. It is an intense, mouthfilling, terrific, young Cabernet Sauvignon that should continue to drink well for 10-15 years.

Wagyu tomahawk steak. Actually a bit fatty and chewy.

Bone in rib eye. Awesome piece of beef.

Sautéed mushrooms.
Brussels sprouts.

And even better, the evil “king crab truffle gnocchi.” Yes that’s right. Cream, cheese, truffles, crab, potato. What could be better?

Lobster mashed potatoes. Somehow ours didn’t have enough lobster.

This is “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” Oh so light, oh so yummy.

Regular Fresh fries. A bit soggy actually.
Yarom brought this ancient Russian dessert wine.

1977 Massandra Muscat Rose Muscat South Coast Crimea.

Comes with cool documentation — straight outta the U.S.S.R.!

The all important Butter Cake. This is “Mastro’s signature warm butter cake ala mode.” Basically a pound cake with an extra four sticks of butter or something. It’s really sweet and really good. Goes well with the magic whipped cream (see below).

Whipped cream.

The birthday boy does the honors.

TMastro’s, while a zoo, and expensive, is a spectacular steak house experience. You can really feel your heart palpitating as you roll out of here!

Overall, another perfect steakhouse birthday!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Mastros, Steak, Wine

Mayhem at Mastro’s

Dec24

Restaurant: Mastro’s [1, 2, 3]

Location: 246 North Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, Ca 90210. 310-888-8782

Date: December 20, 2015

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: My favorite LA Steak joint

My friend Sebastian picked Mastros for his birthday dinner — no complaints here — so we all hauled out the wines and headed across town.

For good times were to be had!

Sebastian brought: 1992 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 91. Very fine aromas of quinine, lemon, lime, minerals and gingery; lightly musky suggestion of yeast autolysis. Very intensely flavored and solidly structured but already quite accessible and open to inspection. Slightly aggressive finish shows excellent persistence. Doesn’t offer the complexity or grip of the best D.P. vintages, but this is ripe and delicious wine.

A seafood tower for seven. The quality of the seafood here is impeccable and the only thing we had to complain about was that there wasn’t enough! Really for five we would have expected the two or three story version Still there were amazing shrimp, claws, king crab (didn’t taste frozen), and oysters.

One of the things that really makes the Mastro’s seafood tower are the sauces. We have cocktail, a spicy mustard, and the Atomic Horseradish. They use this particular magic brand (you can buy it here). The stuff is — pardon my French — fucking awesomely potent. I’ve taken to buying it myself for home. No other horseradish is this punishing. It has a nice flavor too. I particularly like it mixed in with the cocktail sauce. It can have you literally pounding the table in pain — ahem pleasure.

We broke out the appetizers into two separate courses, the seafood tower and salads/hot apps (below).

From my cellar: 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 94. Extremely unevolved aromas of pineapple, spiced apple and grapefruit skin. Thick, rich flavors of grapefruit, apple and minerals; showing a slightly flat, oxidized, resiny character today, as well as a leesy component. A very substantial wine, but presently awkward. My range is just a rough estimate of the wine’s potential quality. “The 2002 whites will need longer on their lees, even if they are transferred from barriques to vats,” says Prost. “They’ll be bottled on the late side, even if the reds get an early bottling.”

From my cellar: 2000 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. VM 93+. Pale green-tinged straw. Reticent but ripe and highly nuanced nose combines peach, nectarine, lime, lemon skin, nuts and an intriguing, soil-inflected vegetal/smoky quality. Very dry, taut and reserved yet already rich and mouthfilling, with the ripe fruit notes perfectly supported by a flavor of liquid stone. A wine of great energy, finishing with explosive length and powerful minerality. Grand cru size and cut.

Classic escargot. Buttery garlic goodness.

Seared ahi tuna.

Bone marrow and toast — have a bit of fat!

Mastros chopped salad.

Caesar salad. Not a bad caesar. I’d still like it even punchier.

From my cellar: 1993 Dominique Laurent Grands-Echezeaux. 94 points. Still some oak. Strong Vosne spice. Really nice pinot. Chevy and I thought it was WOTN.

Fries and Burgundy! An extra bonus intermezzo course.

Then a Bordeaux flight:

1982 Montrose. Parker 88-92. The 1982 is nowhere near the quality of some of the Montroses made afterwards (1989, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008), but it has aged better than expected having developed more complexity and richness than barrel samples suggested. Sweet kirsch, black currant, crushed rock, and floral notes are followed by a full-bodied, opulent, fleshy wine displaying no hard edges. It still possesses beautifully pure fruit as well as good body, but it should be consumed over the next 5-8 years.

agavin: I thought a very lovely mature Bord.

2003 Pavie. Parker 96-99. At its release, the 2003 Pavie was somewhat controversial in wine tasting circles, but eleven years later it is obviously a great classic. Its deep purple color is accompanied by notes of vanillin, lead pencil shavings, creme de cassis, plums, black currants and kirsch. Full-bodied, youthful and rich with terrific purity and texture as well as a striking opulence, its 40+-second finish, stunning purity and wonderful perfume suggest it can be drunk now or cellared for 15-20 years.

2000 Lynch Bages. Parker 97. Beginning to open magnificently, the still dense purple-colored 2000 reveals a blossoming bouquet of blackberries, cassis, graphite and pen ink. Full-bodied with velvety tannins that have resolved themselves beautifully over the last eleven years, this wine is still an adolescent, but it exhibits admirable purity, texture, mouthfeel and power combined with elegance. One of the all-time great examples of Lynch Bages, the 2000 is just beginning to drink well yet promises to last for another 20-25+ years.

We decided to order the mains “family style” by getting a couple steaks, sliced, and putting them in the middle. We brought them into two groups so we could arrange two flights of wines. This is the first grouping, which also included all the sides.

Salmon steak with olive tapenade.

Lamb chops.

Porterhouse.

Mushrooms.

Brussels sprouts.

Creamed corn. I love this stuff.

And even better, the evil “king crab truffle gnocchi.” Yes that’s right. Cream, cheese, truffles, crab, potato. What could be better?

This is “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” Oh so light, oh so yummy.

Dave brought: 2007 Domaine du Clos du Caillou Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve le Clos du Caillou. Parker 100! Just another perfect wine (ho hum), the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Le Clos du Caillou is an incredible effort that matches the 2010 in terms of quality, yet has a larger-than-life, richer and more over- the-top style. Loaded to the gills with sweet black cherry, cassis, licorice, lavender, roasted meats and creamy licorice, it hits the palate with a massive, full-bodied profile that carries awesome fruit, building, sweet tannin, incredible depth and blockbuster length. Spectacular in every way, enjoy it anytime over the coming two decades.

agavin: pure purple Grenache.

Sebastian brought: 2012 Sine Qua Non Grenache Stein. Parker 97. Starting with the Grenache release, the 2012 Grenache Stein is a blend of 76% Grenache, 16% Syrah and 8% Mourvedre, aged in 14% new French oak (15% was in concrete), that comes mostly from the estate’s Eleven Confessions Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, but also includes grapes from the Cumulus, Third Twin (Syrah) and Bien Nacido vineyards. Checking in at 15.7% alcohol, it’s no lightweight, yet it has considerable elegance in its sweet blackcurrants, white pepper, licorice, baking spices and hints of violet-like aromas and flavors. Possessing the hallmark purity of the estate, it’s full-bodied, concentrated, rich and textured, with sweet tannin barely noticeable on the finish. I don’t think it’s one of the greatest Grenaches from the estate, yet it’s still an incredible effort that will benefit from short-term cellaring and have 15-20 years or more of overall longevity.

agavin: even more teeth-staining purple!

Bone in filet.

Bone in ribeye.

Sebastian brought: 1995 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 95. Served from an ex-chateau bottle. The 1995 Chateau d’Yquem is moving into its secondary aroma phase. A deep golden color, it has a dense and almost Barsac-like bouquet with tangerine, apricot, acacia and melted candle wax. It displays good intensity, unfolding beautifully in the glass. The palate has a strident opening, with a slight bitter edge that lends this Yquem great tension. One can discern layers of marmalade infused with honey fruit, with a powerful, spicy finish that lingers long in the mouth. This is drinking perfectly now, but will surely age with style over many years. Tasted March 2014.

Chocolate sin cake. A lot like a soufflé.

Creme brûlée.

This is “Mastro’s signature warm butter cake ala mode.” Basically a pound cake with an extra four sticks of butter or something. It’s really sweet and really good. Goes well with the magic whipped cream (see below).

Extra vanilla ice cream.

Real whipped cream. Love it.
Mastro’s, while a zoo, and expensive, is a spectacular steak house experience. You can really feel your heart palpitating as you roll out of here!

Overall, a perfect steakhouse birthday!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beef, birthday, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Dessert, Mastros, Steak

More Meat – Chi Spacca

Jun30

Restaurant: Chi Spacca

Location: 6610 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 297-1133

Date: June 01, 2015

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Rich but delicious, a carnivore’s paradise

The little Mozza empire on Melrose now includes the Pizzeria, the Osteria, Chi Spacca, and Mozza 2 go. They do a great job with all their restaurants (annoying corkage policy notwithstanding), and I’ve been itching to sink my canines into Chi Spacca for some time. When a plan earlier this year for the larger Foodie Club gang to go to Chi Spacca failed, we ended up at Spear instead, and despite that being a great meal I still wanted to get here. But because of the annoying corkage policy (a complaint I will continue to reiterate from my soap box), we had to wait until a small dinner (3 of us), this time nominally for my birthday.

Chop chop.

The menu.

The small room.

The smoky in the room grill.

From my cellar: 1989 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc. VM 95. The 1989 Barolo Bric del Fiasc (3-liter) is still striking for its freshness. Some of that is a factor of the large format, but standard bottles have also develop very positively. Here we find a classic flavor profile of tobacco, herbs, spices, plums and licorice with the depth, muscle and concentration of the modern school. The 1989 is a touch more layered and aromatically intesne than the 1990, with a little more length and overall complexity. Tar, smoke and licorice linger on an eternal finish.

Pickles. spring onions, carrots, fennel. Nice crunchy pickled vegetables. The acidity is a nice contrast to all the fat to come.

Affettati Misti-Daily Selection of Cured Meats. Calabrese salame, oregano salame. pork butter. That white stuff that looks like butter, pure lard (smoked and aged).

Pate & Terrine. butcher’s pate, trotter fritti. The fried things are stuffed with pig feet meat. Now, I’m not normally a fan of pig’s feet at all, but these were delicious (maybe because you can’t SEE the trotter). The terrine was also very good, classic country pate.

Bread for the meats.

Erick brought: 1979 Chateau Margaux. Parker 93. This wine is just now reaching full maturity, much later than I initially expected. It is a classy, elegant example of Margauxpossessing a dark ruby/purple color, and a moderately intense nose of sweet black currant fruit intermixed with minerals, vanillin, and floral scents. The wine is medium-bodied, with beautifully sweet fruit. This linear, more compressed style of Margaux possesses a good inner-core of sweet fruit, and a charming, harmonious personality. Although not a blockbuster, it is aging effortlessly, and appears to take on more character with each passing year. Anticipated maturity: Now-2010.

Burrata Primavera. Snap peas, carrots, mint. Very nice salad with good contrast of sweet and acidic.

Pane bianco. Fett’unta. Super light, crispy cheese “pizza.”

Whole Branzino. herb salad, olive oil. Extremely herby and fabulous, with an almost Thai like lemongrass flavor.

Grilled Octopus. pureed & fried ceci, parsley leaf. Very soft tender octopus.

2003 Di Prisco Taurasi.

Braised Lamb Ribs. Castelvetrano olive, preserved lemon. Nice rich lamb meat.

Grilled Lamb Sausage. Calabrian peppers, roasted onion. Basically Merguez with a bit of heat. The herby salad is a nice counterpart.

2005 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. JG 94+. Beautiful dark rose color. Really unusual nose with an off note I can only describe as like something you might smell in a petroleum refinery or maybe cordite. Mild notes of Indian spices and perhaps a bit of prune. This wine is very hard for me to describe. It is spicy with deep red fruits.

Tomahawk Pork Chop. fennel pollen. The top (far) part is the pork chop itself, wonderfully tender and with a lovely flavor. The bottom long parts are the pork belly, similar flavor but WAY richer.

Dessert menu.

Cocoa Nib Caramel Tart. whipped creme fraiche. Rich.

Butterscotch Budino. sea salt & rosemary pine nut cookies. OMG, I love these creamy puddings.

Seasonal Gelati & Sorbetti. Mint, coconut Stracciatella, and a berry flavor. Nice complex Italian flavors.

Overall, I thought the food at Chi Spacca was quite awesome, if not exactly authentically Italian. Certainly more to my taste than any normal steakhouse. They should import some pastas over from Mozza though :-). From the menu I thought prices looked crazy, but the total turned out to be reasonable ($130 a person before tip) even though we went to town. Really to town as the above was for 3 people!

Service was great too, and the atmosphere fun. My only complaint is with the bottle limit. The $30 corkage is fine, and you can even wave the corkage ordering off the list — again great. But the 2 bottle hard limit, apparently very strictly enforced (we brought the Barolo and the Margaux), is quiet annoying. It barely worked for 3 people and totally breaks down for wine dinners. Their list has interesting Italians, but the wines are two young. Plus I just resent having to buy off wine lists altogether (beyond the occasional white or rose). If they priced a fixed $30-50 markup, and had my kind of wines, it would be fine, but they always use a multiplicative markup. I’m not paying $400-600 for a $200 bottle!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

More Foodie Club craziness.

A post dinner yummy cucumber gin drink

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burrata, Chi Spacca, Dessert, Foodie Club, Meat, Mozza, pork chop, Steak, Wine

Spear your Meat

Feb13

Restaurant: Spear Steak & Seafood House

Location:800 W 6th St, Ste 100. Los Angeles, CA 90017. (213) 688-3000

Date: February 12, 2015

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Surprisingly good

After the success of last month’s “Foodie Club instigated by Will” dinner, we wanted to do another one in February. We even selected and booked Chi Spacca, the Mozza Italian steakhouse, but at the very last minute (hours before) we tripped up on their “no more than 1 bottle per 2 people” policy. So I’m going to “dis” them here because these policies are obnoxious. They can charge corkage if they like (absolutely no more than $50 a bottle and flat per bottle), but bottle limits are offensive. We open and serve own bottles plus order and tip big too.

So screw them, their loss.

So at the last minute we relocated to Speak Steak and Seafood House downtown. Will knows the owner and THEY welcomed us in, had no bottle limit, and didn’t even charge corkage!

This is one of those sleek modern semi-corporate restaurants.

The menu is large and modern which I was happy about. I’m not a steakhouse fan and really not a fan of old school steakhouse.

Or semiprivate room. We buttoned up the wall to cut down on the noise from the big room. The service was awesome. They weren’t really set up for our type of wine dinner but they really tried. They dug up 4-5 glasses each and dragged in a little wine table for us.

I went through the menu and ordered up a storm family style in 4-5 waves. We even ordered the main meats family style getting a variety (David handled that course). Walker and I (more Walker) divided the wines (we had at least 6-10 unopened ones too as backups/options) into loose flights too.

The staff did a great job bringing out the food in waves too.

Flight 1: Whites

From my cellar: 2007 Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore Pietramarina. IWC 90. Straw-gold. Spicy minerals and apricot on the nose, with herbal and almond nuances. Rich and ripe on entry, then fresher and lighter in the middle thanks to high but harmonious acids, with intense minty white fruit flavors. Finishes long, with a strong saline note and a fusel whiff.

Erick brought: 2007 Domaine Marc Morey & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts. 92 points. This lovely négoce wine from Marc Morey never fails. Very fine fruit with lime, peaces and a hand full of minerals.

Larry brought: 1999 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. AG 94. Raveneau’s 1999 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre is in a marvelous spot right now. Petrol, smoke, slate, apricot pit and wild flowers are some of the many notes that grace the palate in an utterly vivid, vibrant Chablis endowed with magnificent purity and pedigree. At fifteen years of age, the 1999 Montée de Tonnerre still has a lot to say. What a beautiful wine!

agavin: sadly our bottle was a bit premoxed.

From my cellar: 2000 Etienne Sauzet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 93. Intense honeysuckle, fresh sliced peach and pear notes with flavors that are not quite as robust and powerful as the Combettes yet finer and more complex. This delivers exciting intensity and a degree of persistence that borders on the astonishing. The Combettes is perhaps grander but this is finer – it’s simply a question of preference, not quality.

Kusshi and Kumamoto oysters.

Uni Toast. roasted seaweed, triple créme, truffle salt. This was pretty awesome with both the rich Santa Barbara uni flavor and a kind of creamy underpinning from the triple créme.

Hokkaido Scallops. yuzu pepper, smoked salt, ponzu sauce, olive oil. A nice bright dish that is cousin to the proper version that sushi chefs serve.

Yellowtail Ceviche. fresno chile, cucumber, coconut-lime sauce.

I’m not actually sure this was the above dish and not one of their other sashimi-style dishes. It was just okay, the weakest of the set.

Butter Lettuce Wedge. Creamy bleu, minced herbs, bacon brittle, tomato, pickled shallot. A pretty awesome wedge, mostly because of the great dressing.

Quinoa Kale Salad. red quinoa, grilled apricot, pistachio, aged goat cheese, honey-olive oil vinaigrette. Slightly sweet and mild.

Flight 2: Italian

Walker brought: 1944 Borgogne Barolo Reserva. 95 points. Amazing. 71 years old. Mussolini was still alive when this wine was made! We decanted for an hour. The nose was incredible, and it had a soft burgundian vibe with lots of fruit.

Emil/Will brought: 1978 Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva Il Poggio. 92 points. Powerful and old-fashioned, rustic and polished at once. Complex nose of ancient fruit, tar and leather; real weight on the palate, very long and resonant finish. The nose got better and better. Tons of fruit.

Roasted Bone Marrow. smoked salt, veal jus. Bone marrow isn’t my thing, but this was a good version.

Snow Crab Beignets. bacon powder, old bay remoulade. The description is accurate, like a crab donut, awesome.

BBQ Pork Belly & Shrimp. crispy prosciutto, white bean puree, cilantro. The shrimp were tasty but the pork belly was amazing. Really tender and flavorful, not too fatty.

Flight 3: Old Bordeaux

Erick brought: 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild. IWC 94. Bright red with an amber rim. Captivating nose of dark plum, blackcurrant, oak, coffee, cocoa and flowers. Juicy, sweet and suave on entry, then brightly focused in its red fruit and black flavors complicated by cedar and citrus. Finishes with flinty, saline nuances and very suave tannins. This outstanding wine is perfectly balanced and light on its feet, still very young and capable of a very long life. It might disappoint those looking for a blockbuster, but I love its overall sense of refinement. An essence of claret.

agavin: our bottle was fabulous

Walker brought: 1982 Château Gruaud Larose. IWC 96. Bright red with a pale rim. The still-closed nose reluctantly releases aromas of red cherry, sweet spices, aromatic herbs and coffee. Dense, rich and fleshy, with ripe red cherry, tobacco and forest floor flavors given shape by harmonious acidity and smooth tannins. The very long, slightly chewy finish shows a peppery chocolatey persistence. This is developing at a snail’s space and might last another three or four decades in a cold cellar, but while its tannic structure is noble and impressive, I’d probably want to check in on it again in five years’ time to see how the fruit is holding up.

agavin: our bottle of this was fabulous too. Mature, but has decades left in it.

Char Siu Barbecue Duck Flatbread. smoked mozzarella, passion fruit emulsion, scallion sesame. Fabulous pizza with a richness and a sweet and savory vibe.

Roasted Pork Banh Mi Flatbread. pickled vegetables, jalapeño.

Whole Broiled Prawns. lobster butter, garlic. Pretty good big shrimp.

Seafood pasta. Shrimp, mussels, manilla clams, diver scallops, uni cream sauce. This was a bit controversial. The noodles were actually a ramen egg noodle. They were made very soggy by the rich dish. That being said, it tasted great and the seafood was very fresh. It also was deathly bad with the red wine, but that’s uni. Overall we enjoyed it.

Flight 4: 2000 Bordeaux

David brought: 2000 Pavie. Parker 97-100. I tasted this wine twice during the 2000 horizontals, then I actually popped the cork and drank a half-bottle of it. This wine remains, for me, one of the compelling success stories for proprietor Gerard Perse. An extraordinary effort made from a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from the limestone soils that dominate this very distinctive terroir, the 2000 Pavie has moved out of the closed, dormant, broodingly backward stage into an adolescent period where one can see its extraordinary vibrancy, and great complexity as well as potential. It boasts an unctuous display of rich, cedar box-infused cassis fruit and liquid minerality. The tannins have sweetened, yet the wine has thirty years of longevity and potential evolution. A beautiful wine of great mass as well as elegance, it is good to see the extraordinary efforts that Gerard Perse and his team have made confirmed in this prodigious wine. A legend now … a legend for the future.

Will brought: 2000 La Mondotte. Parker 98+. In two tastings this garagiste wine performed as if it were one of the wines of the vintage. Proprietor Stefan von Neipperg continues to lavish abundant attention on La Mondotte (as he does with all his estates), and the 2000 (80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc) boasts an inky/blue/purple color in addition to gorgeous aromas of graphite, caramel, toast, blackberries, and creme de cassis. A floral component also emerges as the wine sits in the glass. Extremely dense, full-bodied, and built for another twenty years of cellaring, I thought it would be close to full maturity, but it appears to need another 4-5 years of bottle age. It should age effortlessly for 2-3 decades.

Tomahawk Pork Chop 22oz. double cut, vietnamese bbq. Really nice pork chop.

Short Rib Osso Bucco. 72 hour, roasted garlic potatoes, horseradish gremolata. Great rich meat.

Colorado Lamb Shank. 48 hour, chermoulah, heirloom carrots. A fabulous bit of lamb.

Black Garlic Spare Ribs. tobacco onions, vinegar slaw. My favorite, it was very nicely spiced and I don’t like plain meat.

Tomahawk Rib Chop. prime, dry aged 30 days. 42 ounces.

For me this is just steak, others loved it.

Flight 5: Sledgehammers

Emil brought: 2008 Oasi Degli Angeli Kurni. Parker 85. The 2008 Marche Rosso Kurni is quite unusual in this vintage. The wine comes across as rather compact in its fruit, which accentuates the sweetness of the fruit and the French oak. In a blind tasting the 2008 could easily be mistaken for a sweet red dessert wine. Let’s hope 2008 turns out be an anomaly for one of the Marche’s most famous reds.

Pork Belly Farro.

Uni Risotto. A little mild, but with so many other flavors and dishes it was under heavy competition.

Duck Confit Mac & Cheese. Nice, but could have been even cheesier!

Double Cooked Fries. Good fries and I liked the green chimichuri like sauce.

Grilled Broccolini.

Herb Roasted Cauliflower.

David brought: 2010 Sine Qua Non Syrah Five Shooter. Parker 98+. The 2010 Syrah Five Shooter is straight up gorgeous. A massive wine that somehow holds everything together, it offers a wild array of cassis, blackberry, white chocolate, underbrush and pepper that flows to a full-bodied, layered Syrah that has masses of fine tannin and enough substance to evolve for decades. A blend of 85% Syrah, 5% Grenache, 3% Petite Sirah, 5% Roussanne and 2% Viognier that was fermented with 20% whole cluster and aged 22 months in 59% new French oak, it opens up beautifully in the glass and should be decanted if drinking anytime soon.

Key lime pie. Great key lime pie.

Chocolate hazelnut mouse. Rich and tasty.

Bread pudding. Our least favorite. Nothing wrong with it, but we were very full.

Above is the damage. Seven guys too, and think about the amount of food we had — particularly given we had two of many of the dishes! Spear was incredibly reasonable too. This feast came out to only $110 a person after tax and before tip! The service was awesome too. They weren’t really trained for our kind of dinner, but they really tried and handled it with great attitude and aplomb.

Food was surprisingly excellent. Only a couple of dishes weren’t great, like the fish sashimi. I loved the breath and variety of the menu. Execution was first rate. Personally I like this place way better than almost all of the steakhouses I’ve been too because it isn’t all about just a slab of beef on your plate.

Company and wines were fabulous, this is turning into a really first rate dinner series.

For more big Foodie Club dinners, click here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Corkage, Dessert, Foodie Club, Meat, Steak, Steak House, steakhouse, Will C, Wine

Pistola with a Bang

Jan19

Restaurant: Pistola [1, 2]

Location: 8022 W 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 323.951.9800

Date: January 14, 2015

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Tasty good

Tonight’s dinner is themed around 1990s grand cru Burgundy, both colors. Why exactly we took this to an Italian Steakhouse is anyone’s guess, but that didn’t matter — we had a blast.

1998 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire. AG 95. Le Clos Saint-Hilaire is a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne made from a small, one hectare plot located on the property in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. The wine is fermented in oak and bottled with no dosage. In only its third release, Le Clos Saint-Hilaire has already established itself as one of the region’s most fascinating wines. Anticipated maturity The 1998 Brut Le Clos Saint-Hilaire emerges from the glass with an exotic array of intensely perfumed, candied fruit. The wine possesses gorgeous textural richness in a deep, layered expression of Pinot Noir. The mousse remains refined and very elegant all the way through to the deeply satisfying, resonating finish.

The menu. We actually had the chef bring up appetizers, pasta, and dessert, with everyone ordering their entrees.

From my cellar: 1992 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 90. As would be expected from a relatively soft vintage at 18 years of age, this is fully mature with sous bois and truffle notes to the dried apple and rose petal nose. There is good richness but also lovely detail and minerality to the moderately concentrated finish that offer excellent depth and length. I would be drinking this sooner than later because even though it is in no danger of falling apart, it’s clearly time to be drinking up over the next decade.

agavin: doing great for 22+ year old chardonnay

1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 92. As de la Morinière suggests, this is a good deal more powerful than the 2000 version but it is not quite as bright or quite as focused. That said, this is a very impressive effort with big, almost massive aromas of earth, ripe green fruits such as apples and pears leading to equally big, powerful flavors that offer great mouthfeel, all of which is underpinned by plenty of minerality and more than adequate buffering acidity. This is extremely long already but this should continue to improve for 7 to 10 years and hold for much longer than that.

agavin: rounder and actually “older” tasting than the 92, but drinking great.

1997 Domaine Marius Delarche Corton-Charlemagne Reserve. 90 points. Really singing and massive.

1969 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 92 points. Mature Burgundy nose, forrest floor, mushrooms, damp earth. Fresh palate of dark fruits, great minerality, iron with nice acidity. Became sweeter after an hour and kept going. Great bottle.

Meatballs. On a bed of ricotta. Awesome. These were similar to the similarly awesome ones at Gusto.

Insalata Mista.

Steak tartar. Good meat, but didn’t have enough bite for me. Needed more pepper? It had some truffle oil in it.

Crab Crocchetti. Dungeness Crab Cake, scallion pesto.

1996 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot. IWC 92+. Deep, bright red-ruby. Complex, wild aromas of raw crushed blueberry, violet, raw meat and iron. Intense, primal flavors of crunchy berries and powdered stone. Integrated acidity gives the fruit an urgent quality. Quite powerfully structured for aging. Very long and bright on the back end, with tannins nicely supported by extract.

As a note, we did two flights of 3 reds each more or less blind.

1998 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Nuits St. Georges Les Hauts Poirets. IWC 89. Bright ruby-red. Fresh aromas of violet and nuts. Rich, sweet and silky, but also vibrant and shapely. Finishes with sweet tannins and very good length.

1990 Burguet Gilles Gevrey-Chambertin.

agavin: great for old village wine.

Squid Ink Agnolotti. Awesome stuff with a nice sweetness.

Buccatini alla Carbonara. Guanciale, onion, black pepper, egg yolk & pecorino.

Mixed up it’s great stuff.

Buccatini All’Amatriciana. Like a red suace pasta with more flavor.

1995 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares. IWC 93. Black raspberry, violet and herbs on the nose. Thick, brooding and very intensely flavored; has a mellow flavor of woodsmoke. Large-scaled and multilayered. Finishes with ripe, chewy tannins. A terrific example of the ’95 vintage at its best.

1993 Daniel Bocquenet Echezeaux. Burghound 88. Very elegant, spicy rich fruit framed robust, intense but edgy flavors that are a bit lean on the moderately long finish. It’s not clear whether this will regain its balance or not with a few years of bottle age but there is no doubting the lovely complexity and solid flavor authority.

agavin: whatever meadows says, our bottle was filled with great wine. Lots of power and elegance.

1995 Louis Latour Corton-Clos de la Vigne au Saint.

agavin: a nice wine but not in the league of its immediate predecessors.

Dry-aged Delmonico steak.

Herb butter.

Rib-eye.

Colorado lamb chops.

Veal Chop Alla Parmigiana. Wow, I’m not a big straight steak fan so this really saved the course for me.

Crispy Tuscan Fries. Not sure what is Tuscan here.

Funghi Misti.

Caramelized Romanesco. With a bit of heat and a little vinegary tang, very nice.

Creamy Polenta. Mild.

Various ice creams.

And sorbets.

Vanilla ice cream, because you can never have too much of that.

Cannoli. My fave.

Tortino (aka Chocolate cake).

The chef brought us out something he was working on.

Grilled bread, prosciutto, foie gras, and uni. Wow, you wouldn’t think all that would work together, but it so does.

Room is very pretty but a little loud with a bar feel (some love that, some don’t). If I were them, my biggest suggestion foodwise would just be to add some more decadent sides like a “gorgonzola gnocchi” and the like. Not really Italian, but then again, I’ve never actually seen a steakhouse in Italy. Not that Italians, particularly Tuscans don’t love steak, but the steakhouse format is an American thing — which is fine.

But this was overall a fabulous evening for a number of reasons. We had eight people all at a round table, which while cramped is great for conversation, and a great mix of guys. Plus we had a nice Burgundy focused theme.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, Champagne, Chardonnay, Foodie Club, Pinot noir, Pistola, Steak, Will C, Wine

Is that a Pistola in your pocket?

Nov21

Restaurant: Pistola [1, 2]

Location: 8022 W 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 323.951.9800

Date: November 18, 2014

Cuisine: Italian Steakhouse

Rating: Tasty good

It’s time for Ron’s birthday, Hedonist style. Last year — and I can’t believe the year has passed so fast — we hit up BOA for awesome steaks and crab. This year we try out the brand new Pistola, an Italian Steakhouse concept by the team that brought us Gusto. It’s taken over the old AOC space but transformed it completely.

The birthday boy.

The menu. We actually had the chef bring up appetizers, pasta, and dessert, with everyone ordering their entrees.

2004 Le Brun-Servenay Champagne Brut Grand Cru Millésime.

Insalata Mista.

Pistola “Chopped”.

1999 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Echezeaux. 94 agavin. This Ech was drinking fabulously tonight. I’ve found a lot of 99s closed and waiting, but this more forward style was in perfect form.

Steak tartar. Good meat, but didn’t have enough bite for me. Needed more pepper?

2005 Domaine d’Ardhuy Clos Vougeot. Burghound 92-95. This too displays a touch of wood spice that highlights the backward and still very tight and inexpressive nose that reveals only traces of black fruit and an intense earthiness that continue onto the hugely powerful, intense and full-bodied flavors that are muscled, taut and almost tense on the enormously long finish. This is old school burgundy with the hallmark finishing austerity fashioned in a ‘take no prisoners’ style that will please purists and the patient. Don’t even think about opening this for at least a decade and it will require close to two to really be at its peak.

agavin: I’ve never heard of this producer, although CV has a lot of them. It was obviously a great wine, but despite the 9 years wasn’t even close to ready (although still enjoyable).

Meatballs. On a bed of ricotta. Awesome. These were similar to the similarly awesome ones at Gusto.

Philippe Pacalet Corton-Charlemagne (recent vintage). This was young, although it began to open as the evening progressed.

Fried Calamari.

1999 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles. Burghound 90. Honeysuckle, peach and white flower aromas blend beautifully into fine, elegant, beautifully integrated flavors and a subtle mineral note that continues into the long finish. Surprisingly, this has better acidity than the Folatières and is clearly better balanced. Grand cru quality here in the same open, accessible style of the all of these 99s.

agavin: drinking great! No premox at all.

Oysters on the half shell.

2005 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. AG 93. A tense, brilliant wine, the 2005 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva stands out for its gorgeous length and impeccable balance. Next to the surrounding vintages, the 2005 is a bit compact, but it nevertheless possesses terrific cut and precision, if not quite the pure seductive powers of the very best years.

Linguine con le Vongole. Pretty classic.

2001 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova. IWC 96. Medium-deep bright ruby. Beautiful, profound nose of sweet ripe cherry, pipe tobacco, almond and raspberry jam. Ripe, suave and juicy, with sweet flavors similar to the aromas, this is an absolutely seamless wine with lively harmonious acidity on a suave, never-ending finish. Though extremely concentrated, this is a uniquely refined Brunello with wonderfully suave smooth, classy tannins.

agavin: must be aged in French oak barrels because this is just massively oaky for a Brunello (which is usually aged in big Slovenian casks). Looked it up, apparently 600L casks, which is small for Brunello.

Squid Ink Agnolotti. Awesome stuff with a nice sweetness.

2006 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova. AG 95. The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova is an explosive, heady wine endowed with considerable richness in its dark wild cherries, licorice, tobacco, herbs and cedar. This generous, exuberant Brunello shows awesome depth and richness in a style that captures the warmth of the southern reaches of Montalcino. The Tenuta Nuova dazzles with its stunning depth, textural polish and captivating, sensual personality. A round, inviting finish has the last say in this majestic Brunello. The 2006 is easily the best vintage I have tasted of the Tenuta Nuova. The harvest took place between September 29 and October 7. Maceration and fermentation lasted 25 days, after which the wine was racked into 600-liter barrels for 36 months.

Penne All’Amatriciana. Arguably the best Amatriciana I’ve had. Lots of great porky zing.

From my cellar: 1995 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sorì Paitin. IWC 91. Medium red, some amber at the rim. Plum, cherry and enticing smoky, toasty oak on the nose. Smoky, sweet and velvety, with insinuating flavor. Has firm backbone and finishes with some oak tannins but avoids dryness. Rather Pommard-like in its solidity.

Veal Chop Alla Parmigiana. Wow, I’m not a big straight steak fan so this really saved the course for me.

2007 Elio Grasso Barolo Riserva Rüncot. AG 96. The flagship 2007 Barolo Riserva Runcot is remarkably fresh for the year. Sweet, perfumed and sensual, the 2007 wraps around the palate with stunning depth and sheer radiance. Layers of expressive red fruit, flowers, spices and mint all come to life as the wine opens up. The Runcot captures the best qualities of the year; deep fruit, expressive aromatics and wonderful nuance, all in a soft, supple wine that should enjoy a long drinking window. I can’t wait to see how the 2007 ages. Today it is seamless and utterly impeccable from the very first taste. This is without question one of the great 2007s. Grasso gave the 2007 40 days on the skins, followed by 45 months in 100% new French oak barrels, all of which the wine handles with grace to burn.

agavin: good wine, but WAY WAY too young for Barolo.

Dry-Aged Tomahawk. Paleo.

And from above so you get the full picture.

2008 Tenuta Guado al Tasso (Antinori) Bolgheri Superiore. AG 95. The 2008 Guado al Tasso is once again fabulous. In fact, it may be Tuscany’s most improved wine over the last few years. Firm, vibrant tannins support expressive layers of dark fruit, plums, cherries, sage, espresso and mocha. The wine shows fabulous detail and nuance in a translucent, totally seductive style, with tons of focus, drive and verve. It is a striking wine that will be a joy to follow over the coming years. Guado al Tasso is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc.

Dry Aged Delmonico.

2007 Peter Michael Les Pavots. Parker 97. The 2007 Les Pavots, a Bordeaux varietal blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, is brilliant. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by gorgeously complex aromas of melted chocolate, espresso roast, blackberries, and cassis. Full-bodied with a superb texture, a subtle note of oak, and fabulous concentration, it is more reminiscent of a Right Bank Bordeaux than one expects with this much Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. A thirty-year wine, its impeccable balance and the sweetness of its tannins make it accessible already.

NY Strip.

2002 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard. Parker 96+. The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard is a massive, youthful blockbuster with an opaque purple color as well as firm tannins (despite the general openness and ripeness of the 2002 Napa Cabernets). Almost overly rich, it has a long evolution ahead of it given its firm tannins and off-the-charts concentration and extract. One has to admire this cuvee for its extraordinary structure and multidimensional personality, but at present, even with airing, the primary aromas of new oak, loamy soil, graphite, incense and black fruits are all one can expect. In the mouth, the wine remains brutally tannic, but there is enough stuffing to easily balance out the wine’s structure. It is a young, possibly great wine for the ages, and I would not hesitate to put my money where my mouth is. This 2002 should be absolutely amazing in 25-30 years.

I dunno, I’m not good at spotting steak cuts.

2000 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. Parker 97. A wine that always does it for me, the 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de La Reine des Bois is open for business and has a sexy, voluptuous texture to go with classic Mordoree spice, licorice, graphite and black cherry and currant-styled fruit. Beautifully complex, full-bodied and with brilliant purity of fruit, drink it over the coming 3-5 years.

agavin: great Syrah.

Lamb chops.

Dover Sole Piccata.

Mediterranean Orata.

Caramelized Romanesco. With a bit of heat and a little vinegary tang, very nice.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.

Creamy Polenta. Mild.

Braised Tuscan Kale.

Crispy Tuscan Fries. Not sure what is Tuscan here.

Funghi Misti.

2001 Union des Coopérativs Vinicoles de Samos Samos Nectar. 93 points. Good stuff. Nectar is appropriate.

Traditional Italian Cookie Plate.

Tartufo.

Cannoli. My fave.

Green Apple Crostata.

Tortino (aka Chocolate cake).

Overall, Pistola was really solid. We all thought some of the apps and the pastas were a bit better than the meats and sides (although I enjoyed my chop), but it was a very tasty meal. They treated us like kings too. Room is very pretty but a little loud with a bar feel (some love that, some don’t). If I were them, my biggest suggestion foodwise would just be to add some more decadent sides like a “gorgonzola gnocchi” and the like. Not really Italian, but then again, I’ve never actually seen a steakhouse in Italy. Not that Italians, particularly Tuscans don’t love steak, but the steakhouse format is an American thing — which is fine.

Super fun evening though and a great way to celebrate Ron’s birthday. Great wines, company, food and fun.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: hedonists, Italian cuisine, Pistola, Steak, Wine

Steak in the Blind

Oct03

Restaurant: Taylor’s Steakhouse

Location: 3361 West 8th St., Los Angeles, CA 90005. (213) 382-8449

Date: October 1, 2014

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Old School

About a month ago my Hedonist group started up a new concept, a sort of club within a club of high end blind tasting diners. The deal is everyone brings a bottle (and backups) blind. We eat drink and try to guess at what they are. The group is know as the “Dirty Dozen” (for being 12). Oh, and we have an official Dirty Dozen T-shirt which is required attire.

Tonight is actually the second “meeting”, but I couldn’t make the first. Both time’s it’s been at Taylor’s Steakhouse, oddly located in Korea Town. Except when Taylor’s was founded in 1955, there was no K-Town!

Everything about this place is like a time warp.

Look at the interior. Notice the red leather booths. The fancy glass. The woodwork.

The leather padded bar.

From my cellar: 2007 Lur-Saluces “Y”. Parker 94. The 2007 Ygrec has a light, fragrant nose with apple-blossom, pink grapefruit, citrus lemon and just a touch of cold granite. Good definition. The palate is bright and lively, a lot of energy packed into this Ygrec, with citrus lemon, green apple, a touch of lemongrass, very harmonious and smooth towards the finish that display superb persistency, a hint of fiery lemongrass lingering in the mouth.

agavin: for those that don’t know, this is the secret dry wine of Chateau d’Yquem, world’s most renowned maker of sweet wine.

Our table and old school thrones are located in the private room.

A note about the wines before jumping in. We organized them randomly into four flights of three, all served blind. We discussed each flight and opened them at the end of the flight before moving onto the next. This worked pretty well. It eliminated the free-for-all madness and shortened the time between tasting and finding out, so you could connect the taste with the information. This is important, because it’s hard at the end of the evening to remember back to the first wines. I had labeled the bottles with people’s names so we could tell them apart. Next time, we should use numbers or letters to eliminate the “Andy likes French” type biases. But some label is needed. We also might try out having one person (maybe even a “guest”) look at the wines and organize them into coherent flights.

From my cellar: 1986 Gruaud Larose. Parker 96-97. the dense, garnet/purple-colored 1986 Gruaud-Larose is evolving at a glacier pace. The wine still has mammoth structure, tremendous reserves of fruit and concentration, and a finish that lasts close to a minute. The wine is massive, very impressively constituted, with still some mouth-searing tannin to shed. Decanting of one to two hours in advance seems to soften it a bit, but this is a wine that seems to be almost immortal in terms of its longevity. It is a great Medoc classic, and certainly one of the most magnificent Gruaud-Larose ever made.

Avi brought: 2002 D R Stephens Cabernet Sauvignon Moose Valley Vineyard. Parker 90. A sleeper of the vintage, this 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Moose Valley Vineyard appears to have reached full maturity. It offers an attractive, jammy nose of red and black currants, damp earth, roasted espresso, cedar and spice box. Medium to full-bodied, lush and seductive with low acidity, ripe tannin and a fleshy, round, opulent mouthfeel, it will offer plenty of pleasure for 6-7 more years.

Kirk brought: 1999 Miani Friuli Merlot. AG 97. The 1999 Merlot marries power to elegance in a style that foreshadows the wines of recent years. This is simply an awesome bottle of wine, that’s all there is to it. Everything is right there in the glass; inner perfume, ripeness and complexity all come together in a profound Merlot of the highest level. This three-dimensional Merlot should continue to drink beautifully for at least another decade, perhaps longer. The 1999 is the first wine that shows a more enlightened approach to vinification, and it is marvelous juice.

agavin: really a pretty profound “new Italian.”

Chilled Jumbo Prawns. Pretty typical. The shrimp were okay. They tasted a little frozen and the cocktail sauce was weak.

The Molly dinner salad. Wedge of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, onions, blue cheese. I was pleasantly surprised by this salad. It was DROWNING in blue cheese dressing, which actually, I like. It would have been even better with bacon though.

Casear salad. House-made caesar dressing. I didn’t try it, but visually it looks like a decent caesar.

Onion rings. Classic, and fabulous.

House-made potato chips. Nice and crunchy, although maybe could have used more salt.

Stewart brought: 1982 Château Smith Haut Lafitte. Classic bordeaux nose with tons of earth in the beginning. After some decanting as the earth notes die down nice soft dark fruits emerge and provide balance. Medium body with firm acidity and mellowed tannins. Definitely has more years left. Deep purple with only light bricking. Overall very nice and enjoyable.

Yarom brought: 1984 Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon Martha’s Vineyard. Parker 92. With coaxing, a surprisingly tight bouquet offers up damp, woodsy aromas intermixed with scents of mint and ripe cassis. Full-bodied, firm, and admirably concentrated, with a wonderful layered palate, this impressively-endowed wine requires another 4-5 years of cellaring. The wine may be going through a closed stage of development as this bottle was less impressive than past tastings.

Arnie brought: 2002 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon. Parker 91-94. It is obvious Paul Hobbs prefers the influence of Taransaud cooperage on his Bordeaux varietals because they tend to give the wines a chocolatey character, and that is seen in the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa (3,120 cases), a Cabernet Sauvignon with terrific concentration, remarkable opulence, and layers of cassis- and licorice-infused tobacco leaf notes that just cascade over the palate with an unctuous texture. The wealth of fruit and concentration hides some relatively serious tannin in this large-scaled wine.

Culotte. The most tender cut of top sirloin. Only two per steer. Pretty darn good straight up steak. Thick and tender like a filet. One huge block of meat too, with no gristle. The baked potato was very good too. I mean, it’s still a classic baked potato, but it was a good one.

Prime rib with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. I heard it was great.

With baked potato.

Bone in something and spinach.

Spencer steak. Black and blue. A well-marbled cut, marinated and seasoned. With mashed potatoes and peppercorn sauce. Black and blue means raw in the center and burn on the outside.

Bone in rib-eye. That green sprig, that’s Taylor’s for salad.

John brought: 1998 La Mission Haut Brion. Parker 98. A candidate for the wine of the vintage from this somewhat forgotten year, consumers should be seeking out wines from the Right Bank and Graves as 1998 was a great vintage in those appellations. La Mission’s 1998 exhibits a healthy, opaque blue/purple color with no lightening at the edge. Thirty minutes of aeration brings forth a sensational bouquet of chocolate, cedar, truffles, graphite, blackberries, cassis and incense. La Mission’s so-called scorched earth/charcoal/hot rocks characteristic has not yet appeared. Full-bodied with superb purity, a multilayered texture, sweet tannin, good acidity and a fabulously long finish, this great, young La Mission-Haut-Brion’s finest days are yet to come.

Trish brought: 2004 Angelo Gaja Sperss. Parker 96. Gaja’s 2004 Langhe Sperss is an infant. Still incredibly primary, it exudes the essence of Serralunga black fruits, smoke and tar. The new oak is still very evident here and the wine seems to be at an awkward phase of its development. Still, it offers stunning concentration as well as length, with soft, caressing tannins that frame the fruit all the way to the long finish. This wine is in need of serious bottle age and may very well merit a higher score once it emerges from its temporary period of dormancy.

Larry brought: 1983 La Mission Haut Brion. Parker 90. This was the first vintage made under the administration of Jean Delmas. The most notable and dramatic change made at La Mission-Haut-Brion since 1983 became a more refined, polished, sophisticated style without the pure mass of older vintages, but also without the excesses of tannin and volatile acidity that sometimes plagued ancient vintages. The 1983, a very good vintage in the southern Medoc and Graves, is a relatively lightweight La Mission (particularly compared to the 1982) that is fully mature. Complex notes of smoked herbs, cigar tobacco, black currants, sweet cherries, damp earth and spice box jump from the glass of this dark garnet-colored wine. Medium-bodied with silky tannins, well-integrated, low acidity and abundant perfume, this fully mature 1983 should be consumed over the next decade.

agavin: this was voted wine of night (although close with the CNDP below)

The sides are equally old school. Fresh grilled Texas sweet onions.

Mushroom bordelaise. It was okay. Nothing like Cut’s amazing version though.

Sauteed fresh mushrooms.

Robin brought: 2003 La Mondotte. Parker 96. A killer wine (I’m so sorry I didn’t buy any), the 2003 La Mondotte is clearly one of the superstars of the vintage. An intriguing perfume of licorice, Asian soy, black currant jam, ripe cherries and subtle toast emerges from this extravagantly rich, voluptuously textured, opulent, full-bodied St.-Emilion. Just coming in to full maturity, it is pure, rich and full. Drink it over the next decade or more.

Dave brought: 2007 Robert Foley Vineyards Claret. Parker 98. The extraordinary 2007 Claret, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine, displays inky notes of lead pencil shavings, pen ink, creme de cassis, blackberry, incense, and licorice. The wine is super-pure and super-rich, an extraordinarily full-bodied powerhouse of a Cabernet Sauvignon that should evolve for 15 or more years. Its sweetness of tannin and headiness already make it accessible.

Adam brought: 1998 Les Cailloux (Lucien et Andre Brunel) Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Centenaire. Parker 97-100. The 1998 Cuvee Centenaire is an awesome Chateauneuf du Pape. Made from extremely old vines, this is the essence of both Chateauneuf du Pape and the Grenache grape. The wine boasts a deep ruby/purple color as well as an extraordinary bouquet of melted, jammy black cherry, raspberry, and currant fruit mixed with pepper and spice box. In the mouth, it is rich, full-bodied, and unctuously-textured, with extraordinary purity, and laser-like definition for a wine of such massive concentration and depth. The finish lasts for nearly a minute. This spectacular, youthful, amazingly accessible offering is a tour de force in winemaking, and a tribute to just how great Chateauneuf du Pape can be.

agavin: a really great wine, and more or less tied in my mind for WOTN.

Red velvet cake. Cream cheese icing.

Key lime pie. Actually a fabulous piece of key lime pie. As Yarom put it, “a 10!”

Chocolate cake.

Creme brule. Very nice custard.

Cheesecake. Also very straight up and very good.

Overall, this was an incredibly fun night with some really good wines. Our room and the blind format worked out great.

As to Taylor’s and the food? I was pleasantly surprised, although not blown away. The atmosphere is fun in a retro way. The service is friendly but nothing on par with a more modern higher end steakhouse. The food is really old school. The salads were pretty good and the steaks themselves actually quite fabulous. But I’m not a huge steak fan and the extras just aren’t nearly as yummy as at a place like Mastros or even Boa or STK. Because for me, it’s not all about the meat (in fact, at a place like Mastros I drown the meat Oscar style in creamed seafood), I’m not as jazzed. The desserts were first rate though. But I like those new-style over-the-top sides like “king crab truffle gnocchi”, “Gorgonzola mac & cheese” and “lobster mashers.”

Oh, but it is about 50-60% of the price. Our per person tab, including tax and tip, was $85! Mastros could be twice that.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

The back of our required club T-shirt

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: blind tasting, Caesar salad, Dirty Dozen, hedonists, Koreatown, Los Angeles, Steak, steakhouse, Strip steak, Wine

Old School Cool

Feb03

Restaurant: The Dal Rae

Location: 9023 E Washington Blvd, Pico Rivera, CA 90660. (562) 949-2444

Date: February 1, 2014

Cuisine: American

Rating: Excellent and extremely old school

With the success of our High End Burgundy and High End Bordeaux themed dinners, we Hedonists are experimenting with more ideas. Tonight all the wines are requried to be 99 and 100 point (in some major publication). The setting is The Dal Rae, which is a massively old school mid century classic out in the middle of outer Mongolia (Pico Rivera). I’d never been to Pico Rivera, probably never even heard of it. I still barely know where it is after going — just somewhere in the inland empire.

The place is like a blast out of the 50s. Sinatra could have (or probably did) hang here.

Our big private table.

The menu. Probably hasn’t changed much in 50 years! There are a few nods to the late 20th century, like “Ahi Sashimi on toast.”

2002 Vilmart et Cie Coeur de Cuvee. Parker 94. The 2002 Brut Coeur de Cuvee is absolutely stunning. This young, towering Champagne bursts from the glass with layers of mineral-infused fruit, showing fabulous intensity and purity from start to finish. Hints of tropical, opulent fruit are very nicely tempered by the wine’s underlying structure. Think Montrachet with bubbles. The Coeur de Cuvee is made from 50 year old vines in Les Blanches Voies Hautes. The blend is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir. Dosage is 8 grams per liter.

Nice champagne.

Pickles on the table. The cucumber has a nice lightly pickled quality.

Bread.

From my cellar: 1996 Chapoutier Ermitage Cuvee de l’Oree. Parker 99-100. It is no secret that I adore Chapoutier’s luxury cuvee of white Hermitage called Cuvee L’Oree. Made from 90-year old vines and microscopic yields of 10-12 hectoliters per hectare, this wine flirts with perfection. It is a compelling white Hermitage. Made from 100% Marsanne, it is as rich and multidimensional as the fullest, most massive Montrachet money can buy. It is unctuously textured, yet extraordinarily and beautifully balanced. I suspect it will drink well early in life, and then shut down for a few years. It should last for 4-5 decades. The 1996 possesses some of the most amazing glycerin levels I have ever seen in a dry white wine. In short, this wine must be tasted to be believed.

This is the second time I’ve failed to be impressed with this wine. I’ve had the bottles since release too. Maybe it’s just was Marsanne tastes like, and it was a perfectly nice wine (if a little on the oxidized side), but 100 points? The 1993 Pierre Morey Batard-Montrachet I had the night before totally blew it out of the water.

Crab Cakes (2) . . . Chili, Cilantro Cream Sauce. Lots of good lump blue crab in here, and as such, a surprisingly good crab cake (and I grew up partially in the Maryland Eastern shore).

2008 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard. Parker 100. Utterly perfect, the 2008 Chardonnay Marcassin Estate is a dead-ringer for the 2007, but slightly richer and longer, as hard as that may be to believe. This extraordinary effort is unquestionably the “Chardonnay of the Vintage.” In fact, it may be the “Chardonnay of the Decade.” Brioche, nectarine, citrus and orange blossom notes intermixed with a liqueur of rocks, great acid, phenomenal concentration and staggering length result in a sublime Chardonnay that should drink well for 15+ years.

Parker clearly knows nothing about great Chardonnay. This was a pleasant wine, and good for an American one, and it was intensely floral. But it was also totally lacking any backbone and acidic structure.

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (5) . . . Our Own Spicy Cocktail Sauce. Classic and strait-forward.

2008 Native9 Pinot Noir Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard. Parker 91. This is a nicely layered, full-bodied, and textured Pinot Noir, with a dark plum color and a sweet nose of white chocolate, black cherries, pomegranate, fresh mushrooms, and earth. Complex, deep, and layered, this is an impressive Pinot Noir to drink over the next 3-4 years.

This was a bonus bottle. Parker knows even less about Pinot, because this tasted like oak with a bitter unpleasant finish. Ick. Give me a half decent village from Burgundy.

Fried Rock Shrimp . . . Hot Sweet and Sour Sauce. Sort of like what you’d get if Panda Express did popcorn shrimp — but quite tasty nonetheless (although not even slightly spicy).

Teriyaki Tidbits (4) . . . Filet Mignon with Ortega Chile and Monterey Jack Cheese. A little odd and not my thing.

From my cellar: 1986 Leoville-Las Cases. Parker 100. The late Michel Delon always thought that this was the greatest vintage he had produced. We often tasted it side by side with the 1982, because I always preferred the latter vintage. Of course, the two vintages are quite different in style, with the 1986 a monument to classicism, with great tannin, extraordinary delineation, and a huge, full-bodied nose of sweet, ripe cassis fruit intermixed with vanilla, melon, fruitcake, and a multitude of spices. The wine has always been phenomenally concentrated, yet wonderfully fresh and vigorous. The wine still seems young, yet it is hard to believe it is not close to full maturity. It is a great example of Leoville Las Cases, and another compelling reason to take a serious look at the top Cabernet Sauvignon-based Medocs of 1986.

Slick, smooth and mature, this was my second favorite red of the night, but still, I was disappointed. It was an excellent Bordeaux, but it didn’t sing or really have any magic going. The 1982 Lafite I opened in December was vastly better, as the 1985 Margaux I split with one of my best friends over Thanksgiving. The cheapy glass glass didn’t help. I should have put it in one of my Riedels.

Escargots Bourguignonne (6) . . . A French Classic, garlic butter, herbs.

2006 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Vino da Tavola. Parker 97. The 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve is monumental, as it has been since the very beginning. Smoke, black cherries, plums, incense, licorice and tar are some of the many notes that burst from the glass in this powerful wine. The 2006 has fruit and structure to burn. It is going to be an absolutely fabulous wine to follow over the coming years, but patience is key. A huge, explosive finish rounds things out in style.

This gets a 99 from Wine Spectator, so it sneaks in (barely). Still, it was probably my favorite red (along with the 86 Leoville) as it had some character and depth.

Oysters Rockefeller . . . Chopped Bacon, Spinach, Pernod, Parmesanand Hollandaise Sauce. Can we say heavy?

Even more old school, lots of lemon wedges.

A few of the wines.

Garlic bred. Could have used a little more garlic punch.

2001 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch. Parker 97-100. While I am not surprised that the 2001 Thorevilos turned out to be perfect, the 2001 Madrona Ranch was more of an eye-opener in that it has become even more extraordinary than I predicted eight years ago. A prodigious wine, with complex notes of subtle barbecue smoke intermixed with blueberry pie, black currant liqueur, acacia flowers, lead pencil shavings, and sweet foresty floor notes, this wine builds incrementally with layer upon layer of fruit, glycerin and concentration. The finish goes well past a minute, and the wine is full-bodied and deep, with wonderfully sweet tannin. It is still an adolescent in terms of its total evolution, but it is irresistible simply because of the flawless nature of the wine and incredible perfume and flavor intensity. Simply amazing! Both of these wines are adolescents, and probably won’t peak for another 5-8 years and keep for 30-40.

I can’t really comment on this assault of new world red individually. Most of them don’t stand out in my memory. All were fairly pleasant (other than 1 that was corked) but they just don’t do it for me.

Hearts of Romaine . . . With Avocado, Maui Onion, Candied Walnuts, Grated Bleu Cheese, Vinaigrette. This one is missing the avocado (I missed the better photo).

2009 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard. Parker 96. Also incredibly concentrated, with burly structure and a mountain of tannin, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard (99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Merlot) delivers a seriously intense array of blackberry and kirsch-styled fruit, licorice, charcoal and spice box on both the nose and palate. Aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak and a big, broad shouldered, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon, it possesses a rocking mid-palate and fabulous length on the finish. Really showing the power of its Red Mountain terroir, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age to become civilized and will have decades of evolution.

Mixed Greens or Wedge of Iceberg . . . Choice of Dressing: 1,000 Island, Ranch, French, House, Bleu Cheese, Marinara, or Old Fashioned Grated Bleu Cheese.

I didn’t try this, but I’ve seen better wedges. Actually, I think CPK has a better wedge. Certainly Bouchon does.

2001 Verite La Muse. Parker 100. 2001 was the first truly great vintage for Jess Jackson and Pierre Seillan, and that is evidenced by the utterly perfect 2001 La Muse, a blend of 87% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Malbec. Over three-fourths of it came from the Alexander Mountain estate of Jess Jackson, and the rest from Chalk Hill, Knights Valley, and a tiny bit from Bennett Valley. This dense purple-colored effort exhibits notes of licorice, creme de cassis, plum sauce, violets and truffles. Full-bodied with magnificent density, overall equilibrium, stunning purity, sweet but abundant tannin and a fabulous finish, this profound wine remains a baby at age ten. Give it another 5-6 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 35-40+ years. It is very French in style even though one could argue that this level of concentration can only be achieved by a handful of wines from Pomerol and St.-Emilion.

Well, this was bigger, that was for sure.

2008 Verite Le Desir. Parker 100. The fruit for this blend of 61% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec came from Chalk Hill (58%) and Alexander Valley (42%). Pierre Seillan believes the Chalk Hill fruit provides a truffle-like character and the Alexander Valley gives minerality, structure, tannin and intensity. The 2008 will be fascinating to taste next to the 2007 over the next 30+ years. Sweet mulberry, blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with notions of black truffles, damp earth and forest floor emerge from this beauty of stunning intensity, purity and texture. The alcohol is 14.4% and the relatively elevated pH is 3.76.

Monster!

Baby Mixed Greens with Fried Goat Cheese . . . Raspberry Vinaigrette.

Like the salad grandmother made, or one of those bags at the supermarket.

Dal Rae Caesar Salad . . . Prepared Table Side, A Classic.

Before tossing.

During.

And the actual Cesar. This was a good Cesar, way butter than most of the bland ones, but it wasn’t up to the standards of Boa’s.

Fixings for baked potatoes. Fat!

2010 Dominus Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 100. Composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, the stunning, full-bodied 2010 Dominus boasts an exceptional perfume of hoisin sauce, licorice, underbrush, forest floor, plums, black currants and jammy cherries intertwined with hints of cedar, baking spices and oak. Full-bodied and voluptuously textured, the 2010 is on a slightly faster evolutionary track than the 2009 (somewhat of an anomaly for these two vintages). This exquisite as well as prodigious 2010 can be drunk young, but it should age effortlessly for 20-25 years. Bravo!

Like a young Bordeaux. A VERY VERY young Bordeaux. Still, pretty good.

Dal Rae Famous Pepper Steak. Large Filet Mignon (14 oz).

I had one of these (along with my lobster tail). It was tasty, although the peppers had enough umph to pretty much drown out the meat and did wake me up at 2 in the morning.

Dal Rae Famous Pepper Steak. Prime New York (16 oz) .

2002 Torbreck Run Rig. Parker 99. The 2002 Run Rig (97% Shiraz and 3% Viognier aged in 100% new French oak) represents the essence of old vine Barossa fruit. Extraordinarily opulent and rich, but playing it closer to the vest than the 2001, it gets my nod as one of the most remarkable wines made in either the Southern or Northern Hemisphere. An inky/purple color is accompanied by a sumptuous bouquet of apricots, honeysuckle, black raspberries, blackberries, licorice, and a hint of roasted meats. The wood has been soaked up by the wine’s extraordinary concentration. Fashioned from four sectors of Barossa (Maranaga, Koonunga Hill, Moppa, and Greenock), it spent 30 months in primarily new oak, and was bottled without fining or filtration. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2020+.

Duck à l’ Orange being prepared tableside.

Flaming sauce! (one of several tonight)

Duck à l’ Orange . . . Crisp Half Duck, Orange Liquor Flamed, Rice Pilaf.

2005 Alban Vineyards Syrah Lorraine Vineyard. Parker 100. An absolutely monumental wine is the 2005 Syrah Lorraine Vineyard. The finest Syrah John Alban has yet produced, its inky/ruby/purple hue is accompanied by gorgeously sweet aromas of flowers, blueberries, black raspberries, blackberries, and subtle hints of smoky oak, bacon fat, and licorice. In the mouth, the wine is seamlessly constructed with fabulous fruit, brilliant concentration, and virtually perfect balance. Moreover, the finish lingers on the palate for over 60 seconds. It should drink beautifully for 15 or more years.

Prime Dry Aged Tomahawk Ribeye (38oz)… Onion Staws. An amazing steak for those who are hungry.

This picture doesn’t even do justice to this massive steak. It was fully 20-24″ long from the end of the meat to the other end of the bone!

2001 Marquis Philips Shiraz Integrity. Parker 97-99. Deep garnet-brick in color, the 2001 Integrity reveals evolved aromas of black fruit, dried mulberries, prunes, sandalwood, leather and tobacco with some nuances of oolong tea and anise. Ripe, rich and seductive, it has a lively acid line, medium levels of fine tannins and a long finish with layers of kirsch and cherry syrup flavors lingering.

One of the two was also mildly corked, but I can’t remember which.

Double Cut Lamb Chops . . . Herb Crusted with Thyme, Burgundy Garlic Sauce
The Finest Large Eye Colorado Chops.

2002 Marquis Philips Shiraz Integrity. Parker 94-99. Deep garnet-brick colored, the 2002 Integrity is a 100% Shiraz that displays evolved leather and tobacco notes intermingled with some meaty and gamey aromas and nuances of coffee, olives and underbrush. Full bodied, it has a coffee flavors in the mouth, medium levels of velvety tannins, and a medium-high acid backbone. It finishes long with notes of eucalyptus showing through. It is drinking now.

Large Veal Chop . . . Bone in With Morel Mushroom Sauce.

Have a few calories?

Filet Mignon. Large Cut (14 oz) .

2007 Hundred Acre Vineyard Ark. Parker 100. A perfect wine, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Ark Vineyard (1,300 – 1,400 cases) from Howell Mountain is one of the great efforts from this high elevation terroir. It offers notes of burning embers, black raspberries, blueberries and flowers, a full-bodied opulence, wonderful intensity, but the wine is not weighty or overripe. Fleshy and voluptuous with terrific floral notes, it should drink well for 15-20 years.

No cheating here. This was the best of the big new worlds. Pretty massive though.

Filet Mignon Petite Cut (10 oz) .

Chilean Seabass Alla Ben . . . Mild White Fish, Our Signature Preparation.

Drawn butter.

A lobster tail added a little seafoody goodness.

Tomatoes.

Garlic mashers. Not bad, but I wish I’d ordered some mac & cheese.

Creamed Corn au gratin.

Sauteed Spinach with Olive Oil and Garlic.

Sautéed Wild Mushrooms.

Yarom with Loren, the owner.

2001 Chateau d’Yquem. Parker 100. There are 10,000 cases of this perfect sweet white Bordeaux. The 2001 Yquem reveals a hint of green in its light gold color. While somewhat reticent aromatically, with airing, it offers up honeyed tropical fruit, orange marmalade, pineapple, sweet creme brulee, and buttered nut-like scents. In the mouth, it is full-bodied with gorgeously refreshing acidity as well as massive concentration and unctuosity. Everything is uplifted and given laser-like focus by refreshing acidity. This large-scaled, youthful Yquem appears set to take its place among the most legendary vintages of the past, and will age effortlessly for 75+ years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2100+.

Pretty fabulous, even if not in it’s most expressive period. Seriously balanced and nuanced.

More tableside, desserts, including banana flambe.

Look at all that butter.

And sugar.

And it even flames!

Poured over vanilla ice cream.

A nice young Maderia.

Grand Marnier Supreme . . . Chocolate ice cream, raspberry sherbet hand whipped with Grand Marnier. A bit too much Grand Marnier flavor for me.

Overall, this was a fun night. The service at The Dal Rae was pretty over the top. With all the table side stuff and everything. At times we had a veritable army delivering, sometimes 6-8 people. There were about 5 waitresses and although they were clearly not experienced with our level of wine, they tried really hard, doing a pretty good job rounding up glasses and pouring around — even if a lot of the glasses were cheap heavy ones that don’t do 100 pointers any service (they only had limited good ones). Everyone was super friendly and it’s a tough task managing a big table like this, so I’d give them 10/10 for service.

The food is great for what it is, American classic, and it’s fun to see all that old tableside and flaming stuff. It’s not so much my taste (and I should have ordered seafood but I wanted to try the pepper steak because it’s “their thing”). Really, I like my cuisine far more modern (like this!). Still, food like this is almost a lost art and a different “genre”: call it 50s-60s high American done right.

I was a little disappointed in our wines. It’s just a preference thing, but 99-100 points or not, these New World wines just don’t do it for me. I’d take a decent 91-93 Burghound premier cru any day over most of these giant extracted reds. And to hold them up as wine perfection and compare them to the likes of the 1995 Rousseau Clos de Beze I had a couple of weeks ago? It just ain’t even close — but like art, architecture, music, sports teams, or even pretty girls, there are a lot of tastes out there! A modification that might work in the future would be “99 or 100 points, 1999 or older” or better yet, “99 or 100 points, from Europe” (or even better “1999 or older AND from Europe!” 🙂

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Yarom with his 86oz tomahawk! Good thing this isn’t the Great Outdoors

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chapoutier, Chardonnay, Crab cake, hedonists, Marcassin, Pico Rivera, Pico Rivera California, Pinot noir, Steak, The Dal Rae, Wine

First Growths First

Dec18

Restaurant: STK [1, 2, 3]

Location: 755 North La Cienega. Los Angeles, CA 90069. 310.659.3900

Date: December 16, 2013

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Gluttonous fun!

This year the Hedonists have been doing more high end themed dinners. So earlier in the fall we celebrated top end Burgundy, and now we are doing so with Bordeaux. Technically, this was a First Grown Bordeaux dinner. We also included La Mission, Lafleur, and Petrus (no one brought one, sadly). A pair of top California Cabernet’s snuck in too.

The space is chic and modern. Above is the La Cienega entrance.

NV Krug Grande Cuvee. Parker 91-95. The NV Brut Grande Cuvee emerges from the glass with freshly cut flowers, almonds, pastry and spices. This is a relatively floral, bright Grande Cuvee with fewer of the oxidative qualities that are typical of the house style. According to Krug’s ID Code, this bottle is based on the 2004 vintage, which explains the wine’s tense, taut personality. Another year or two on the cork will only help the wine gain expressiveness and depth. Today, the Grande Cuvee is quite reticent and not showing the full breadth of its personality.

These look like Glazed Pop’ems, but they’re savory. And that sauce is pretty much a under-spiced chimichurri.

1994 Laville-Haut-Brion Blanc. Parker 94. This tightly knit, medium-bodied wine exhibits an intense, sweet nose of toast, minerals, honey and spices. There is ripe fruit and intensity on the palate, but the overall impression is one of a backward, undeveloped wine.

“BLUE ICEBERG.” smoked bacon – blue cheese – pickled tomato.

Ron was generous to bring this treat, the rare “dry” wine from Chateau D’Yquem. This powerful and perfumed wine is by far my favorite white Bordeaux.

1978 Lur-Saluces “Y”. 97 points. Lush fruit aromas with big accompanying spice. Powerful aromas and flavors throughout. Moderate length. Worked very well with a seared scallop served over a slightly sweet puree. Showed young for a wine almost 35 years old.

“ORGANIC ARUGULA. grilled peaches, macrona almonds, manchego cheese.”

“HEARTS OF ROMAINE.” garlic crouton – parmesan lemon dressing.

1988 Mouton-Rothschild. Parker 89. The 1988 has an aroma of exotic spices, minerals, blackcurrants, and oak. In the mouth, it is a much firmer, tougher, more obviously tannic wine than the 1989. It is a beautifully made 1988 that will last 20-30 years, but the astringency of the tannins is slightly troubling. Patience will be a necessity for purchasers of this wine.

“TUNA TARTARE. soy emulsion – avocado – taro chips.”

1981 Chateau Margaux. Parker 91. In weight and texture, the 1981 Margaux is closest in style to the 1979. It is an outstanding wine, even in the company of the monumental wines of 1982, 1983, and 1986, although it does not have the power and weight of these vintages. It is still very dark ruby/purple-colored. The aromatics suggest ripe cassis fruit, spicy vanillin oakiness, and violets. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, concentrated, tannic, and extremely long. It is just beginning to open and evolve.

“BEEF TARTAR. black truffle – sliced radish – soy caramel.”

From my cellar: 1995 Chateau Margaux. Parker 95-96. Medium garnet colour going brick at the rim. The nose is beginning to showing signs of evolution with aromas of leather, game, warm cassis, dried plums and cloves. Medium to high acidity, medium body and medium to firm, fine tannins support earthy, blackcurrant-preserve fruit. Long finish.

“JUMBO LUMP CRAB. green melon, avocado, mache greens, kaffir limes.”

1990 Haut Brion. Parker 98. In terms of the brilliant complexity and nobility of the aromatics, scorched earth, black currants, plums, charcoal, cedar, and spices, the 1990 offers an aromatic explosion that is unparalleled. It is always fascinating to taste this wine next to the 1989, which is a monumental effort, but much more backward and denser, without the aromatic complexity of the 1990. The 1990 put on weight after bottling, and is currently rich, full-bodied, opulent, even flamboyant by Haut Brion’s standards. It is an incredible expression of a noble terroir in a top vintage. While it has been fully mature for a number of years, it does not reveal any bricking at the edge, and I suspect it will stay at this level for another 10-15 years … but why wait? It is irresistible now.

Personally, I thought this bottle was too funky. It had a strong bacterial contamination that gave it unpleasant bitter notes.

“Shrimp cocktail.” Classic.

1994 Haut Brion. Parker 92. This is one of the surprise sleeper wines of the vintage which has more successes than many people suspect in spite of all the rain. The tremendous drainage enjoyed by the Haut Brion vineyard worked in its favor during this wet September harvest. The color is deep plum/ruby with a bit of lightening at the edge. Notes of compost, truffle, earth, spice box, dried herbs, and licorice compete with sweet black cherry and currant fruit. The wine is medium-bodied, with a relatively plump, chewy feel to it. It is certainly one of the top half dozen or so wines of the vintage. The tannins are still there, but the wine seems far more accessible than the two bigger wines that Haut Brion produced in 1995 and 1996.

“BROILED MAINE LOBSTER. lobster butter, tarragon, baked lemon.”

1996 Haut Brion. Parker 92-96. As I indicated last year, Haut-Brion utilized only 60% of its production in the 1996 final blend (50% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc). While it is undoubtedly true that the appellations of Pessac-Leognan and Graves were less successful in 1996 than the Medoc, the wines produced under the administration of Jean Delmas (i.e., Haut-Brion, La Mission-Haut-Brion, and La Tour-Haut-Brion) are brilliant in the 1996 vintage, continuing a trend that has made Haut-Brion one of the most consistent first-growths in Bordeaux (consider the superlative performances in such difficult vintages as 1993, 1992, and 1987). The 1996 Haut-Brion has put on weight, and was even sweeter and more fragrant in November than it was earlier in the year. The wine exhibits a dark ruby color with purple nuances. Haut-Brion’s signature is most frequently its glorious perfume of tobacco, black fruits, smoke, and dried herbs, combined with sweet, supple fruit, all crammed into a concentrated wine that never has the weight or tannic power of a Medoc, or the thick unctuosity of a top right bank wine. As I have frequently written, the one significant change to my palate over the last twenty years has been the fact that while I have always admired Haut-Brion, now I am addicted to its perfume and complexity. It is never the biggest of the first-growths, but it is usually among the most compelling wines of this elite group, with the most profound set of aromatics of any of its peers. That being said, the 1996 should turn out to be an exquisite wine, perhaps slightly more structured and backward than the superb 1995, but very rich, with gobs of smoky, cherry, tobacco-tinged fruit, medium body, exceptional purity and equilibrium, and a long, moderately tannic finish. The tannins taste extremely sweet.

24oz Porterhouse.

Skirt steak.

1990 La Mission Haut Brion. Parker 99. Reminiscing over the 1989 and 1990 vintages, which I have followed from birth, there always seemed to be a dramatic difference in quality. Not that the 1990 was not a top wine, but in its infancy, I never thought it would come close to being as riveting and magnetic as its older sibling, the 1989. However, it has proven to be nearly as prodigious. One of the hottest years in Bordeaux, 1990, a vintage of enormous yields, even dwarfing yields in 1985 and 1982, produced a fabulously open-knit, seemingly fast track La Mission that, at age 22, shows no signs of fading or losing its grip. The color is slightly more mature and evolved than the 1989’s, exhibiting a lighter rim and a less dark blue/ruby/purple hue. Classic La Mission-Haut-Brion aromatics of camphor, licorice, scorched earth, hot bricks, barbecue, cassis, blueberry and kirsch are well displayed. Broad, expansive, velvety-textured and opulent with high glycerin and perhaps slightly higher alcohol (I don’t have the statistics to verify that), the 1990 is as delicious and open-knit as the 1989, with less density and possibly less potential longevity. Most 1990s have been quick to reach full maturity, and as brilliant as they can be, they need to be monitored carefully by owners. Currently in late adolescence, but close to full maturity, the 1990 should hold in a cold cellar for another 15-20 years. However, it is a fabulous wine to inspect, taste and consume, so why wait?

This bottle was a hair funky too, but blew off and became rather elegant.

Bone in rib eye.

From my cellar: 1982 Lafite-Rothschild. Parker 100. The 1982 Lafite possesses a dark, dense ruby/purple color with only a subtle lightening at the rim. Spectacular aromatics offer jammy cherry and black fruits intertwined with lead pencil, mineral, and smoky wood scents. Powerful for a Lafite, this wine unfolds to reveal extraordinary richness, purity, and overall symmetry in addition to stunning flavor depth and persistence. The finish lasts for nearly a minute. Plenty of tannin remains, and the wine displays a vibrancy and youthfulness that belie its 18 years of age. The modern day equivalent of Lafite-Rothschild’s immortal 1959, the 1982 will enjoy another 30-70 years of life! An amazing achievement!

Certainly WOTN. Pretty much unanimous. I was very pleased because it always sucks to open a pricey bottle one has had for a while and find it not up to snuff.

Bone in filet.

Some steak with crab on it.

2001 Lafleur. Parker 92-96. This Merlot-dominated 2001 has added considerable weight since last year. It is opaque purple in color, with an extraordinary bouquet of kirsch liqueur intermixed with hints of cola and underbrush. Full-bodied, sweet, and explosive on the palate, with great density and chewiness, it exhibits surprisingly low acidity as well as more precociousness than most top vintages of Lafleur. It is increasingly obvious that this is a sensational effort.

Very young Merlot, but impeccably balanced.

Another steak.

And another (bone in). I’m not an expert at spotting steaks.

1989 Latour. Parker 90. Neither the 1989 or 1990 wines has budged in quality or development since I first tasted them in cask. I am still disappointed by the 1989, wondering how this chateau produced an elegant, medium-weight wine that seems atypically restrained for Latour. The deep ruby color is followed by a wine with surprisingly high acidity and hard tannin, but not the depth, richness, and power expected from this great estate. This closed wine is admittedly in need of 5-6 years of cellaring, but what is so alarming is its lack of weight, ripeness, and intensity, particularly when compared to the 1990. I suspect there is more than what has been revealed in recent tastings, but this looks to be an excellent as opposed to outstanding wine. In the context of the vintage, it is a disappointment.

I loved this wine, even if Parker didn’t. I happen to be a Latour fan.

Bone in filet with with crab oscar style (i.e. with bernaise sauce!).

Mac & Cheese.

2001 Latour. Parker 95. Deep garnet colored, the nose is open and expressive even at this youthful stage, giving notes of black berry and black cherry compote, potpourri and anise with hints of sandalwood and cloves. The palate is drinking beautifully now (though with loads more to give), offering a high level of ripe, velvety tannins, enlivening acid and just enough fruit concentration, finishing long.

Asparagus.

Mixed mushrooms.

1983 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon. RJ Wine 93. Great nose lengthy finish and soft tannins. It has aged wonderfully. Cork wa in incredible shape.. amazing. Very little sediment.

Jeff Leve thought differently: Most of the fruit had moved to the big ranch in the sky. Some tart red cherries were all that was left.

Broccolini.

Creamed spinach.

2000 Grace Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Parker 90. The 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon (260 cases) offers plenty of up-front sweet black currant fruit mixed with toasty new oak and mineral characteristics. It is medium-bodied, plump, and accessible, revealing good fruit in its subtle, restrained personality.

“Sweet corn pudding.” We took to calling this stuff “corn porn” it was so good. We ordered 5 of them too!

“creamy yukon potatoes.”

“Parmesan truffle fries.”

My plate, a heart attack in the making.

Yarom carousing with our lovely servers, Rachel and Brenda. Our service was great. They were incredibly friendly and helpful and the restaurant was quiet allowing them to focus on our labor intensive table. We used ALL the cabernet glasses! STK doesn’t have a Sommelier (which is kind of mind boggling) but Rachel was a great sport and a fast learner and she managed well with the opening and glasses, even if Yarom and I had to decant and do the pouring. I played Somm and poured many of the wines, but it’s a job. Unfortunately, things do go much better that way because you need someone to make consistent small pours so that the bottle gets all the way around 15-16 people. Self pouring, if one or two over pour, the people at the end get screwed.

1976 Rieussec. Parker 90. This is one of the most controversial vintages of Rieussec. Very dark gold in color, some observers have said it is oxidized and is falling apart. Despite the dark color, the remarkable taste seems to suggest that this wine has a way to go. The huge nose of toasted almonds, caramel, chocolate, and brown sugar does exhibit a trace of volatile acidity, so technocrats are likely to be turned off. Incredibly rich and full bodied, with a honeyed, luscious texture and extremely intense flavors, this exotic, hugely proportioned wine (15% alcohol) can only be served as a dessert. The yield at Rieussec in 1976 was 2.5 hectoliters per hectare, which is approximately one third of a glass of wine per vine. This is a bold, rather overblown style of Sauternes, but I love it.

1976 De Suduiraut. Parker 92. For me, the 1976 is the greatest Suduiraut of the seventies, and the only wine other than the 1989 that resembles the magnificent 1959 this property produced. Medium to dark amber/gold, this full-bodied, massive wine has a very intense bouquet of vanillin oak, ripe pineapples, and melted caramel. Very deep and viscous, this is a decadently opulent Suduiraut with enormous presence in the mouth.

Donuts. cinnamon anglaise, butterscotch, marshmallow. These were FABULOUS donuts. Really sweet and yummy.

Ice STK. Mini ice cream cone sampler. Chocolate, strawberry, and some other chocolate.

An apple dish of some sort.

“CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. warm baked cookie – vanilla ice cream.” Also pretty spectacular.

The peanut butter, chocolate, banana thingy. Inside the chocolate disc was a bunch of peanut butter cream. It was awesome.

Donut on a fork.

About a third of our glasses!

The overall evening was spectacular. The place treated us really well with swift and friendly service you hardly noticed. Plus, there was the excellent company and all our amazing wines! The wines tonight were really fabulous, particularly in the second half. Some of the Bordeaux’s from the lesser vintages (88, 94 etc) were a little sour or awkward, and at least one 90 was funked (corked), but the ones that were on, like the 82 Lafite, 95 Margaux, 85 Mouton, and 89 Latour were fabulous. The 2000 Grace and 2001 Lafleur were also amazing, but very young. For me, the 82 Lafite stood out above all, it was mature, complex, and balanced on all notes.

As a steakhouse, I find STK much like Mastro’s but about 5% worse on average — although there are some different starters and sides, many of which are excellent. It’s also quite a bit cheaper than Mastro’s, and lets us skip the corkage, which is huge! We were out of here for $120 a person, including tax and tip, which is pretty amazing for such an enormous feast at a high end steakhouse.

For more crazy Foodie Club meals, click.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beef, Bordeaux, First Growth, hedonists, Krug, Krug Grande Cuvee, La Mission, Meat, Steak, STK, Wine

BOA Birthday Blitz

Nov22

Restaurant: Boa Santa Monica

Location: 101 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 899-4466

Date: November 20, 2013

Cuisine: Steak

Rating: Awesome night. Crab was amazing!

I’m not normally a huge fan of Innovative Dining Group, as they tend far toward style over substance with their trendy collection of sushi and steak joints. However, BOA, their high end steak house, made a convenient and excellent location for Hedonist mainstay Ron’s 70th birthday bash.

Ron is a Hedonist OG and besides being a nice guy has a hell of a cellar filled with great wines.

19-20 or twenty of us showed up for his bday bash and BOA put us in the private “room” (more an alcove). This is about a quarter of it. Besides being loud (like everywhere else in BOA) it was a great little venue.

With a modernist twist.

The menu is typical high end steak fare, but as you’ll see, the execution is top notch.

We brought so many wines that I just organized these into flights, this being the champagne starter. We had a LOT of wine and there were so many it was impossible to try all the good ones — not because they ran out, just because there were too many.

From magnum, 2000 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Coeur de Cuvée. Burghound 94. A moderately yeasty yet elegant nose that is fresh, complex and carries touches of both ~i#pain grillé~/i# and citrus blossom while leading to intense, pure and gorgeously deep flavors that possess first class breadth and genuinely excellent length. While still on the way up, after 30 to 45 minutes it began to display notably deeper and broader flavors that are at once powerful yet refined. A terrific effort that is absolutely worth your attention.

A tasty roll, presented by hand model Sarah.

From my cellar, 1996 Chapoutier Ermitage Cuvee de l’Oree. Parker 99-100. It is no secret that I adore Chapoutier’s luxury cuvee of white Hermitage called Cuvee L’Oree. Made from 90-year old vines and microscopic yields of 10-12 hectoliters per hectare, this wine flirts with perfection. It is a compelling white Hermitage. Made from 100% Marsanne, it is as rich and multidimensional as the fullest, most massive Montrachet money can buy. It is unctuously textured, yet extraordinarily and beautifully balanced. I suspect it will drink well early in life, and then shut down for a few years. It should last for 4-5 decades. The 1996 possesses some of the most amazing glycerin levels I have ever seen in a dry white wine. In short, this wine must be tasted to be believed.

I’m not sure how I feel about this wine I brought. I’ve owned it (well cellared) since release and it’s a Parker 99-100 wine, but while it had a really interesting nose there was a certain density and massiveness, plus a bit of funk and an “older” taste (but not like white Burg) .

2006 Domaine Guy Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. Burghound 92. This is at once ripe yet cool and reserved with a seductive mix of orchard fruit and brioche aromas that are strikingly elegant and refined before introducing equally elegant and pure middle weight flavors blessed with ample dry extract that confers a textured and full-bodied palate impression to the explosive and palate staining finish. As one would expect, this is finer than the Bouchères though perhaps not quite as deep. A choice.

2002 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 91. while it is impressively scaled and an excellent white wine, I am somewhat under whelmed if the important criterion is to produce wines typical of Chablis. In short, excellent white, average Chablis.

2009 Domaine Michel Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 94. Here mild reduction doesn’t materially diminish the appeal of the more elegant if ever-so-slightly less complex aromas that feature notes of stone, lemon zest, acacia blossom and spiced pear. There is superb intensity and simply gorgeous detail to the mineral-driven and impeccably well-balanced flavors and explosive finale. Still, as good as this is and it is indeed exceptional, the superior complexity of the Bâtard gives it the barest of edges in 2009.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Vendange Tardive. Parker 96. The 1994 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg V. T. exhibits a light to medium gold color, an exotic, honeyed cherry, lychee nut, rose-scented nose, thick, rich, moderately sweet flavors, fabulous purity, and a finish that lasts for nearly a minute. The wine is still unformed, but it can be expected to last for 20+ years, becoming increasingly dry in taste as it evolves. This wine bordered on perfection – it is that pure, rich, concentrated, ageworthy, and impeccably well-balanced. The grapes are harvested at strikingly high sugar levels, and would qualify as an off-dry, medium sweet wine. It is best served with foie gras, or at the end of a meal by itself. This wine is made in extremely limited quantities (under 100 cases).

Goat Cheese Baklava. Pistachios, black truffles, frisee.

Charred tuna Tartare.

Table-side Classic Caesar.

They mix it up the old school way.

I have to say, this might have been the best caesar I’ve ever had. It looks typical enough but it had a real peppery bite.

Baby greens, tomatoes, seasonal fruit, mustard vinaigrette.

BLT. Applewood smoked bacon, crisp lettuce, tomato, avocado, creamy bacon dressing.

The wedge. Crisp iceberg, vine ripened tomatoes, shaft blue cheese dressing.

Baby beet & watercress. Goat cheese foam, frisee, toasted caraway, pistachios.

This suffered a little from too much beet, too little other.

1998 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Bonnes Mares. Burghound 94. Massively dense in every respect with astonishing concentration of deeply pitched and still 100% primary fruit that complements the compelling, robust and powerful flavors that feature notes of cassis, blueberries, black cherries, minerals and earth, all wrapped in a mouth coating and fantastically long finish. The tannins are massive as well but the fruit is so dense I do not worry at all about the prospects for extended evolution in the cellar. A complete and utterly classic Bonnes Mares.

1998 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. Burghound 88. Quite deeply colored and this is presently almost opaque with very earthy, gamey fruit aromas and extremely dense, beautifully complex, texturally elegant flavors and while this is very long, the finish is rather dusty with a somewhat astringent quality to the tannins. Very good rather than exceptional quality.

I actually thought this was drinking a bit better (more hedonistically) than the Roumier!

1996 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin Michel Bonnefond. More Roumier!

Out comes our special order giant crab. We had THREE of these puppies!

Close up!

This is just one of three ways they prepped the crab. I didn’t get pics of the other two but the body was cooked and tossed with some herbs. The lower part of the legs were flayed open for the picking and on separate plates. But this part was crazy good. It was trivial to just pop out giant fresh nuggets of crab from those leg segments.

It was AMAZING! And I’ve had A LOT of crab. I spent most of my summers in Oxford MD, home of fresh blue crabs.

Some sauces. There was also drawn and melted butter (not pictured). All we were missing was one of those super potent yellow mustards (Chinese style).

Jumbo Sea Scallops.

1989 Palmer. Parker 96. Deep garnet-brick. Dark chocolate covered cherries, espresso, cinnamon, rose petals, tree bark and loam. Medium to full body with layers of concentrated fruit and spice flavours supported by crisp acidity and a medium+ level of fine tannins. Very long finish.

1995 Leoville-Las Cases. Parker 95. If it were not for the prodigious 1996, everyone would be concentrating on getting their hands on a few bottles of the fabulous 1995 Leoville-Las-Cases, which is one of the vintage’s great success stories. The wine boasts an opaque ruby/purple color, and exceptionally pure, beautifully knit aromas of black fruits, minerals, vanillin, and spice. On the attack, it is staggeringly rich, yet displays more noticeable tannin than its younger sibling. Exceptionally ripe cassis fruit, the judicious use of toasty new oak, and a thrilling mineral character intertwined with the high quality of fruit routinely obtained by Las Cases, make this a compelling effort. There is probably nearly as much tannin as in the 1996, but it is not as perfectly sweet as in the 1996. The finish is incredibly long in this classic. Only 35% of the harvest was of sufficient quality for the 1995 Leoville-Las-Cases.

1996 Montrose. Parker 91. The 1996 Montrose reveals outstanding potential. It boasts a saturated dark ruby/purple color, and aromas of new oak, jammy black currants, smoke, minerals, and new saddle leather. This multi-layered wine is rich and medium to full-bodied, with sweet tannin, a nicely-textured, concentrated mid-palate, and an impressively long finish.

1998 Penfolds Grange. Parker 96-99. A wine that flirts with perfection, and should rival the 1986 as one of the legendary Granges produced, the 1998 has one of the highest alcohol contents (nearly 15%) as well as one of the highest percentages of Shiraz in the blend (97%). Its stunning purple color is accompanied by exceptionally sweet aromas of blackberry liqueur intermixed with barbecue spices, an endearing, smoky earthiness, pepper, roasted meats, and coffee. Huge, massive, unctuously textured, and extraordinarily youthful, this impressive wine is a candidate for perfection. It should continue to evolve over the next three decades.

1990 Penfolds Bin 920. Parker 93. Deep garnet colored, the nose here is slightly closed to begin and needs a few moments to open, revealing earthy / evolved notes of dried mulberries, figs, tobacco leaf, dried Mediterranean herbs, dusty earth and a hint of aniseed. Medium to full bodied, it is very rich in the mouth with a firm level of grainy tannins, very crisp acid and a good long finish.

2003 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Da Capo. Parker 100. For the fourth time, the Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo has been produced, and for the fourth time, it has received a perfect score although I might back off the 2000’s perfect score based on the fact that it seems to be more of an upper-ninety point wine than pure perfection these days. The 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo has distanced itself ever so slightly from the 2003 Cuvee Reservee. Before bottling and immediately after bottling, these two wines’ differences were not as evident. At present the Capo reveals that extra level of flavor, power, complexity and richness. It is a big wine (16.1% alcohol – less than in the 1998, but more than in the 2000 and 2007) boasting a dark plum/garnet color as well as a stunning bouquet of aged beef intermixed with pepper, herbes de Provence, and steak au poivre. This unctuously textured, full-bodied Chateauneuf possesses enormous body, huge flavors and sweet, velvety tannins. Still youthful, it has not yet begun to close down, and I’m not sure it ever will given this unusual vintage. It is a modern day classic that should continue to provide provocative as well as compelling drinking for 20-30+ years.

1996 Guigal Cote Rotie la Landonne. Parker 93-96. The 1996 Cote Rotie La Landonne is a wine with tremendous intensity and tannin, as well as a pronounced roasted herb, smoked meat, and Asian spice-scented nose with tell-tale black fruits, melted tar, and truffle notions in the background. Rich, powerful, and massive, this effort will require 3-4 years of cellaring, and will last for two decades.

New Zealand Lamb T-Bones with cabernet sauce (sort of Bordelaise, but not as good). The lamb was very tasty, but the bones in the middle were hard to see and made sawing the meat out tricky.

New York Strip (I think).

Some steak with a rub.

And another steak.

Bine-in Kansas City Filet Mignon.

I’m guessing this was the veal with a rub (blackened?).

And a steak with a rub cut open.

Just a little wine on the table (and remember, this is about 1/4 of the room!).

2008 Caldwell in a giant signed magnum!

2008 Screaming Eagle Second Flight. Parker 92. The 2008 Second Flight emerges from the glass with black cherries, plums, mocha, espresso and chocolate. This is an especially round, rich vintage for Second Flight. All the elements are in the right place, but overall, 2008 does not appear to be one of the estate’s very finest years. Of course, that is in relative terms. The 2008 is 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot.

2006 Hundred Acre Cabernet Sauvignon. Parker 96-100. Finally in the bottle, the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is the only wine from that vintage I tasted. Most of these wines spend 38-40 months in barrel and as a result seem to be remarkably elegant and complex without showing any new oak. This cuvee is a selection from Kayli Morgan that has been aged longer. Notes of spice box, white chocolate, espresso and sweet black cherries and black currants tumble from the glass of this full-bodied, round, generously endowed wine that has no hard edges.

2009 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Parker 94-100. The 2009 wraps around the palate with layers of dark fruit. Seamless, rich and inviting, the 2009 is pure opulence and richness. Bittersweet chocolate, mocha, plums and spice box are some of the many notes that flow through to the rich, enveloping finish. A round, layered wine, the 2009 stands out for its depth and total plushness.

2001 Clarendon Hills Astralis (Shiraz). Parker 99. The 2001 Syrah Astralis Vineyard may be just as compelling as the 2002. Tighter because of being in the bottle, it is an extraordinary effort that offers the essence of graphite, blackberry liqueur, espresso, and acacia flowers, all combining into an olfactory smorgasbord for the senses. Sensationally concentrated, with sweet tannin, but neither weighty nor over the top as might be expected for a wine of such extreme richness, it is an extraordinarily well-delineated Syrah that should hit its prime in 10-12 years, and last for 30-40. Hail Caesar … I mean Roman!

2010 Château d’Abzac. This was for testing the Coravin.

Now the sides: Lobster twice baked potato!

Truffled cheese fries. These were pretty amazing and VERY creamy.

Sautéed seasonal mushrooms.

Apple hazelnut brussel sprouts.

Crab & Black truffle gnocchi. Amazing!

Mac-N-Cheese. Good too. Nice and creamy.

Creamed spinach.

Chipotle lime corn.

Truffle Parmesan Cauliflower.

My plate, loaded. This nearly did me in — although it was awesome. As Larry said, I hit my wall. About halfway through the plate I just had to pause for a while.

An awesome time was had by all.

2004 Tokaj Hétszőlő Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos.

1992 Fonseca Vintage Port. Parker 97. Fonseca has scored in both the 1991 and 1992 vintages. The 1992 is a majestic young port that should ultimately rival, perhaps even surpass this house’s most recent great efforts (1985, 1977, 1970, 1963). This colossal vintage port reveals a nearly opaque black/purple color, and an explosive nose of jammy black fruits, licorice, chocolate, and spices. Extremely full-bodied and unctuously-textured, this multi-layered, enormously-endowed port reveals a finish that lasts for over a minute. It is a magnificent port that will age well for 30-40 years.

Butter cake (and ice cream).

Chocolate something cake.

Cookies and ice cream (yummy).

Cheese cake.

These were some solid desserts, but I still think Mastros has the most uber desserts, all those giant well down classics. However, usually by the time one gets here, the tank is pretty damn full!

More drunken smiles.

Ron brought out this ancient brandy for his official birthday moment. Good stuff — and it’ll put hair on your chest.

They gave him his cake with an impressive sparkler!

Michael Carpenter, one of our members and a wine dealer, was trying out this cool recent gadget. I bought one myself a couple weeks ago and it’s awesome. The Coravin is essentially a hollow needle that punches through a cork, allowing argon to be injected and wine to be sucked out. The cork then resealed and you have stolen some wine from the bottle without opening it!

Savoring.

Our lovely and helpful server!

Overall, this was a knock out evening. We had a great crowd and incredible wine. The restaurant really took care of us and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. Everything was extremely tasty, from the caesar, to the incredible crab.

Afterward, we broke up into two separate after-parties. Us Westsiders went next door to the Ye Olde King’s Head pub and cracked open one of my bottles.

From my cellar, 1970 Gros Frère et Sœur Vosne-Romanée. 92 points. It was still very much alive and drinking quite beautifully. A veritable chameleon in the glass, the aromas kept changing every time I brought the glass to my nose. First sour cherries, then papaya, then raspberries, then red clay, then lemon rind, then caramel — it was intoxicating. The palate, on the other hand, was a bit simple and one-dimensional, but I thought the nose more than made up for it. A lovely wine!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Yarom with the manager (I think, I was too drunk to find out)

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BOA, BOA Santa Monica, hedonists, Meat, Steak, Wine

Hedonists at STK again!

Feb27

Restaurant: STK [1, 2, 3]

Location: 755 North La Cienega. Los Angeles, CA 90069. 310.659.3900

Date: February 25, 2013

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: Gluttonous fun!

It’s been six months since we Hedonists last hit STK and so it was time for a return. Being a steakhouse, STK is a great place to pull out all those beefy reds!

The space is chic and modern. Above is the La Cienega entrance.

These look like Glazed Pop’ems, but they’re savory. And that sauce is pretty much a under-spiced chimichurri.

Arnaud Margaine’s NV Brut Premier Cru is gorgeous. White flowers, crushed rocks and green pears literally jump from the glass in this beautifully delineated, energetic Champagne. Vivid, crystalline and beautifully layered, the Premier Cru impresses for its balance and exceptional overall harmony. This is a great effort in its peer group. The Premier Cru is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir, 50% vintage 2009 and the remainder reserve wines back to 2002. I would give the Premier Cru another 6-12 months to be fully expressive post-disgorgement.

“DIVER SCALLOPS.” coriander crust – young coconut – textures of corn.

Burghound 94, “2005 Domaine Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru White. A ripe and classic nose of distinctly discreet and reserved green fruit and floral aromas that are airy, pure and lightly spiced merge into intense, precise and penetrating medium full flavors blessed with terrific acid/fruit balance and huge length. This is really a lovely wine that is presently a tightly coiled spring and in need of extended bottle aging to really put on display the superb potential here. An understated stunner of a wine as well as ultra refined and one of the best examples of this appellation in 2005.”

“Seafood tower, medium.” While this was good, it wasn’t exactly towering.

Parker 93, “1996 Domaine Tollot-Beaut et Fils Corton Bressandes. This estate’s Corton-Bressandes is a wine I search out in vintages with good ripeness. It is never huge, muscular, or a blockbuster but can often be sultry, seductive, detailed, and simply lovely. A recently tasted 1990, while at least three years from maturity, was fabulous. The 1996 displays sweet red cherry and Asian spice aromatics as well as a gorgeously refined character filled with candied and delineated cherries. This elegant, sexy, and feminine offering is medium-to-full-bodied, silky-textured, and possesses a long and refreshing finish.”

“BLUE ICEBERG.” smoked bacon – blue cheese – pickled tomato.

Parker 86, “The 1997 VINHA BARROSA VINHA VELHA is a single vineyard wine (hence, says the winery, the “vinha velha” rather than plural for old vines, “vinhas velhas”) maturing, showing a little oxidation, and seems a bit older than it is. That said, and despite some astringency still on the finish, there are some things to like here, as the fruit has opened up. There is a distinctive touch of mint on the finish. The wine’s structure is outliving its fruit, so this seems to me to be a good time to drink it, although it has both the tannin and acidity to hold a good, long while. Drink now-2017.”

From the getgo, this wine had a barnyard funk, which at the beginning was actually pleasant, if rustic. As it sat in the glass the barn intensified in a very horse manure direction until it overwhelmed. Just smelling it made me smile — and called to mind visions of sweaty horses packed into the stables.

“HEARTS OF ROMAINE.” garlic crouton – parmesan lemon dressing.

92-94 points, “13.1% ALC, 96% Cabernet, 4% Merlot, 1% Cab Franc – Again this was much like the 1975 and 1979 on the nose with the pungent, sweaty, locker room nose. I knew again that this was the same producer and close in age. This had some notes of sweet fruit on the nose like boysenberry with good viscosity and good balance. The tannins were seamless but the finish brief keeping this my #2 of the night.”

There was a bit of funk, but it was still a very pleasant wine.

“TUNA TARTARE. soy emulsion – avocado – taro chips.”

Parker 95, “When I think back to the top California Cabernet Sauvignon wineries twenty-two years ago (1973), it is shocking to see how many of the finest wineries in 1973 have fallen behind today’s leading Cabernet producers. For example, Beaulieu, Heitz, Inglenook, Mayacamas, and Freemark Abby were undisputed leaders in the early seventies, but in 1995, they have been surpassed by thirty or forty other producers. I can think of only three wineries that were making fabulous Cabernet Sauvignons in 1973 that have continued to produce great wines, with no qualitative slumps through 1995 – Caymus Vineyard, Ridge, and Chateau Montelena. Because Chateau Montelena is “old” by California standards, it is easy to overlook the extraordinary wines produced by Jim Barrett and his son, Bo. Remarkably, there is not a bad vintage of Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon to be found. While hitting the peaks in top years, this winery makes fine Cabernets in vintages where other producers flounder. A recent example of this is the 1989 Estate Cabernet, a superb wine that continues to languish on the shelves of retailers. For that reason, an invitation to a vertical tasting of Chateau Montelena’s estate Cabernet is one of the most exciting tickets in town.”

For a 20 year old Cab, this was very youthful!

“BEEF TARTAR. black truffle – sliced radish – soy caramel.”

Parker 93, “1999 Barolo Brunate/Le Coste—Medium red. As is usually the case, the Brunate/Le Coste takes things up a notch. It presents a deeply mentholated, balsamic nose along with layers of dark fruit, licorice and tar flavors that develop in the glass in a potent style that captures the essence of the vintage. The Brunate/Le Coste is the richer and bigger of the two Barolos here, yet it also shows more elegance in its finer tannins. Still reasonably priced, Rinaldi’s Brunate/Le Coste remains the best traditional Barolo most people have never tasted.”

“Shrimp cocktail.” Classic.

Fresh green tomatoes.

Some oysters on the halfshell.

Just a bit of the chaos.

Probably around 90 points, a pleasant mature shiraz.

Probably a porterhouse or ribeye.

“Bone-in porterhouse.” Have a little beef!

From my cellar, Parker 95, “The great glories of this house are its Cote Roties, of which there are now five separate offerings. The single-vineyard 1994s were singing loudly when I saw them in July. All of them scored significantly higher than they did during the two previous years, which is not unusual as Guigal’s upbringing (elevage) of the wines results in better examples in the bottle than in cask. All three wines flirt with a perfect score. At this tasting, they reminded me of Guigal’s 1982s – opulent, sumptuously-textured, forward, rich, precocious, flattering wines that will drink well throughout their lives. The 1994 Cote Rotie La Mouline possesses extraordinary intensity. A dark ruby/purple color is followed by a penetrating nose of sweet black raspberry fruit intertwined with aromas of coconut and apricots. Jammy black fruits continue on the palate of this full-bodied, silky-textured, sumptuously-styled wine that is glorious to drink – even from barrel. It is an amazing La Mouline that offers all the elegance, suppleness, and sexiness this cru merits. It should drink well upon its release in 1998, and last for 15 more years. Guigal is one of the cellars where the wines always taste better after they are bottled than they do from cask, although as the scores in this segment indicate, some profound wines can be found in the 1994, 1995, and 1996 vintages Chez Guigal.”

A regular filet.

Parker 96, “More European in style than some of its siblings, the 2008 exhibits good acidity, more noticeable tannin (but it is extremely young), and plenty of crushed rock, espresso roast and licorice characteristics intermixed with a volcanic minerality. Full-bodied, ripe and opulent, with a closed, formidable personality.”

This was a pretty fabulous, albeit young, Cab.

A different looking filet.

“Bone-in porterhouse.” Have a little beef!

Parker 98, “From a single 9-acre parcel, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon True Vineyard exhibits extraordinary aromas of acacia flowers and violets along with an irrefutable minerality, an abundance of blueberry and blackberry fruit, outstanding texture, full-bodied richness, great depth, and ripe tannin. This Cabernet will benefit from 4-6 years of cellaring, and should evolve for 40 years.”

Powerful and delicious!

“Bone-in filet with lobster and bordelaise.” Certainly a great steak, and bordelaise makes EVERYTHING better.

“Bone-in filet” naked.

“New York strip with salt.”

Parker 93+, “A hundred percent Cabernet Sauvignon (800 cases), this is still an outstanding wine, with classic graphite, creme de cassis, blueberry and floral notes all well-presented in the perfumed aromatics of this full-bodied, rich, concentrated wine. It has some noticeable tannins to be resolved and is not as seamless and flawless as the monumental 2007”

I thought this was better than a 93.

Just some of our sides!

“Creamed spinach.”

“Sweet corn pudding.” We took to calling this stuff “corn porn” it was so good. We ordered 5 of them too!

Mushrooms and brussel sprouts.

Some stellar mac & cheese.

“Parmesan truffle fries.”

This is my own personal stem collection! I don’t like to be rushed. The more I do these wine diners the more I take things into my own hands, like:

1. Bringing my own stems (I didn’t need to here, but I often do).

2. Stealing stems off other tables or from behind the bar. Tonight I looted stems from half the tables in the room. 🙂

3. Opening my own bottles (I travel with several openers). In the bar, I asked for stems and then just opened a bottle and poured.

4. Pouring – of course!

Some very old Sauternes. This was very interesting stuff. A bit flawed perhaps, but entirely, totally, and extremely enjoyable. Like honey wine.

“Sticky bread pudding.” The sauce on this was to die for.

“Banana chocolate torte.”

“CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. warm baked cookie – vanilla ice cream.” Also pretty spectacular.

The overall evening was spectacular. The place treated us really well with swift and friendly service you hardly noticed. Plus, there was the excellent company and all our amazing wines! As a steakhouse, I find it much like Mastro’s but about 5% worse on average — although there are some different starters and sides, many of which are excellent. It’s also quite a bit cheaper than Mastro’s, and lets us skip the corkage, which is huge! We were out of here for $110 a person, including tax and tip, which is pretty amazing for such an enormous feast at a high end steakhouse.

Our previous STK outing.

For more crazy Foodie Club meals, click.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Corton-Charlemagne, Dessert, hedonists, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Pinot noir, Premier Cru, Seafood, Steak, Steak House, steak tartare, STK, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors

Wolfgang Puck’s Cut – A cut above?

May05

Restaurant: Wolfgang Puck’s Cut

Location: 9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, California 90212. P: 310-276-8500

Date: April 12, 2012

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: Great, but I think Mastro’s is slightly better at the over the top steak house thing

The Foodie Club rolled out on the town for the first time in a while (I was slowed up by my broken wrist) and it was founding member Simon’s birthday and he wanted to go to Cut.

Cut is located inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (think Pretty Woman) and is Wolfgang Puck’s take on redefining the American Steak House. In this, it succeeds very well. While it adheres to the Steak House basics: slabs of beef served plain on the plate, Cut upgrades things in a number of ways. But we’ll get to this in good time.

The modern kitchen turns stuff out in full view.

Puck himself was in attendance as well, he came by the table to admire my wines.

And self-help guru and modern Rasputin Tony Robbins was just a couple of tables over. Cut is definitely a place to be seen, and you can totally tell from the crowd.

Erick brought this Burgundy to start. “Displaying a bright, medium-to-dark ruby color as well as a cherry and ground white pepper-laced nose, this is a refined, thickly-textured, concentrated, and broad wine. It has outstanding depth of sweet cherry fruit, admirable structure, and a long, precise, and satiny finish. This gem has the requisite fruit, backbone, and concentration for extended cellaring. Projected maturity: 2002-2010.”

Out come the breadsticks. Given that this is passover, I had to abstain.

Which got even harder when the cheesy balls emerged. Simon and Erick snarfed the whole basket to save me.

Cut isn’t in any hurry. After about twenty minutes the menu showed. You can see that the center is a wide variety of “slabs of undercooked beef.” Also present are appetizers, sides, sauces and the like.

This is a presentation of some of the special “Kobe style” beef. The black ones are Japanese cattle, bred in America. The white ones are American cattle in a Kobe style. At the top is the American Kobe style filet mignon which Simon will later eat.

More temptation arrives in the form of a very delectable looking bread plate. The guys said it was great.

Then keeping with kosher tradition we have: “Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Asian Spices, Watercress, Persimmon, Sesame–Orange Dressing, Bosc Pear Compote.” Pretty fantastic actually. Like bacon in maple syrup.

Then the first in a trio of raw. “Big Eye Tuna Tartare, Wasabi Aioli, Ginger, Togarashi Crisps, Tosa Soy.” A nice take on the familiar dish.

As I’ve mentioned recently, I’m loving the steak tartare. “Prime Sirloin “Steak Tartare”, Herb Aioli, Mustard.” This was good, with sour dour (I didn’t eat it) and horseradish and various aioli on the side.

Plus a quail egg we dumped on top. It had a nice delicate flavor, but wasn’t as good as say this one I had in Chianti. Probably because it wasn’t from Chiana cattle!

And more raw beef, because I love it so. “Kobe Steak Sashimi, Spicy Radishes.” This was a wonderful dish too, although I liked the similar take at A-Frame a little better.

Now we pull out the big guns wine-wise. From my cellar. Parker gives this a 96 and it earned every point. “This fabulous, blockbuster has been totally unevolved since bottling, but at the Jaboulet tasting, it was beginning to reveal some of its formidable potential. A saturated opaque purple color is followed by aromas of cassis, minerals, and hot bricks/wood fire. Super-ripe and full-bodied, with a massive mid-section, teeth-staining extract, and mouth-searing tannin, it is a monster-sized La Chapelle. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2050.”

Now, coming to the main course. I’m not really a straight up steak man. I don’t enjoy plain beef. It’s too simple and I’m a more is more kind of guy. So I went for “Kobe Beef Short Ribs “Indian Spiced”, Curried Pumpkin Puree, Garam Masala, Slowly Cooked For Eight Hours.” Above is the curry like sauce.

Then they settle the succulent short ribs on top. This is beef my style. Not only is the meat itself rich and flavorful, but the sauce provides an intense medley of Indian spices. Love this.

For those going plain, they provide a bunch of “free” sauces like salt and three kinds of mustard. We also ordered a $2 thing of “Shallot-Red Wine Bordelaise” (not pictured) which was a really incredibly wine reduction sauce.

Simon’s “American Wagyu / Angus “Kobe Style” Beef From Snake River Farms, Idaho, Filet Mignon 6 Oz.” Looks beefy. You can see it raw above in the raw steak photo.

Erick settled on a classic “U.S.D.A. PRIME, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days, Bone In Rib Eye Steak 20 Oz.” Now that’s a man’s piece of meat. I had some. It tasted great, smothered in Bordelaise!

“Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Smokey Bacon, Pearl Onions.” Pretty good, but Cut doesn’t have the full array of massively decadent sides like Mastro’s.

“Roasted Campania Artichokes, White Asparagus, Guanciale.” The white asparagus are a nod to Puck, Austrians love them. But it was the artichokes that dominated this pleasant dish.

“Cavatappi Pasta “Mac & Cheese,” Québec Cheddar.” This is a little richer, and it was good, but it didn’t totally match up to a Mastro’s “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” or “king crab truffle gnocchi.”

Out comes the dessert menu.

“Dark Chocolate ‘Marquise’, Black Cherries, Chocolate Brioche, Red Wine Ice Cream.” This was good, rich, but a little chocolatey for my taste. The wine ice cream was very subdued.

“Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé, Whipped Creme Fraiche, Gianduja Chocolate Ice Cream.” Excellent classic Soufflé, if not quite as perfect as the one at Maison Giraud (I have photos of it, but haven’t written them up yet).

However, it did come with this superlative collection of sauces. Left to right, chocolate hazelnut ice cream (yum!), creme fraiche, and deep Gianduja chocolate sauce. All excellent.

“‘Baked Alaska’ Meyer Lemon Gelato & Blackberry Sorbet, Toasted Pistachios.” This was mine and it was good. Really good. The whole meyer lemon blackberry thing completely and totally worked. It was almost as good — and very similar to — the semifredo at Capo which is one of my all time favorites.

Then to finish, some little lemon and chocolate tarts. Both were excellent.

Overall, Cut is very very good, if a little expensive. It does succeed in taking the Steak House format and shaking it up a bit. Partly by offering unusual cuts of beef, partly by having newer more modern appetizers and sides. Execution is very good. Service is very good. It isn’t as over the top as Mastro’s. Not being focused on the pure beef, I can’t speak to the steak itself (both seem good to me). Mastro’s does, however, have a serious decadence factor — not that Cut is light. After coming out of Mastro’s my heart is usually palpitating. Perhaps that isn’t a good thing.

More Foodie Club extravaganzas here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills California, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, California, Cut, Dessert, Foodie Club, Kobe, Rodeo Drive, Steak, Wolfgang Puck

No Beef with Mastro’s

Sep21

Restaurant: Mastro’s

Location: 246 North Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, Ca 90210. 310-888-8782

Date: September 17, 2011

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: My favorite LA Steak joint

America is full of steak houses at every level from Sizzler to Cut. But I haven’t found one that I like as much as Mastro’s. Granted I’m not a plain steak fan (I prefer my beef more like this, or tartar, or even Fogo). But Mastro’s gets the steak house think right.

The Cannon drive entrance, just a block north of Spago. Inside the place is a ZOO. Sure this was Saturday, 8:30pm on Emmy weekend in Beverly Hills. But this huge restaurant was packed to the gills, including both bars. These are a sure scene. It’s hard to tell the merely underdressed and over siliconed ladies from the pros.

Our table was right in front of the rat pack. It was much more crowded than in this photo.

The PDF of the menu can be found here.

We were celebrating the engagement of one of my oldest friends so I brought some big guns from my cellar. This wine was the first truly GREAT wine I ever bought (circa 1996). This is the second to last of two cases I once had. It has constantly and without fail scored 100 points from Robert Parker. You will find no better expression of Syrah.

“The 1991 Hermitage La Pavillon follows the pattern of the 1989 and 1990 – it is another perfect wine. The saturated black/purple color is followed by a compelling bouquet of spices, roasted meats, and black and red fruits. Enormously concentrated yet with brilliant focus and delineation to its awesomely-endowed personality, this extraordinary wine should age effortlessly for three plus decades. In a short period of time (Michel’s first vintage was 1989) Chapoutier‘s Hermitage Le Pavillon has become a wine of mythical proportions. Produced from extremely old vines, some dating from the mid nineteenth century, with yields averaging under 15 hectoliters per hectare, this is the richest, most concentrated and profound wine made in Hermitage. There are rarely more than 500 cases.”

Everything at Mastro’s is well done, and that includes the bread. I’m partial to the pretzel rolls myself.

Five of us ordered the seafood tower. The quality of the seafood here is impeccable and the only thing we had to complain about was that there wasn’t enough! Really for five we would have expected the two or three story version 🙂 Still there were amazing shrimp, lobsters, claws, king crab (didn’t taste frozen), and oysters.

Beefsteak tomato and mozzarella. With pesto.

Since both I and my newly engaged friend were born in 1970, I grabbed from the cellar this puppy. Parker gives it a mere 95 points. Sure it isn’t quite the 1991 Le Pavillion, but it gets extra credit for age. “The 1970 Palmer is one of the great wines of the vintage. It exhibits a dark, opaque garnet color, and an emerging, fabulously complex, exotic nose of licorice, over-ripe plums and blackcurrants, soy, cedar, and minerals. Rich and concentrated, with medium to full body, a sweet inner-core of fruit, firm but silky tannin, and a long, rich finish, this remains a youthful, potentially superb Palmer. While approachable, it will keep through the first 10-15 years of the next century.

Here comes the beef!

Like most steak houses Mastro’s serves up the entrees bare (all the better to extract more cash from you). This is the New York Strip.

The bone in filet (12 ounce). This is my favorite cut of steak. It has both the filet tenderness and some extra flavor from the bone.

The straight petite (8 ounce) filet.

And the bone in filet, oscar style. Yes this was mine. Like King Robert, I’m trying to eat and drink my way to an early grave. “Oscar Style” means that it’s topped with asparagus, crab cakes and bearnaise sauce. Bearnaise sauce (French: Sauce béarnaise) is a sauce of clarified butter and egg yolks flavored with tarragon and shallots, with chervil and tarragon simmered in vinegar to make a reduction. Lean and mean baby!

Salmon steak. Looking lonely.

But it need not fear, the sides are here!

This is “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” Oh so light, oh so yummy.

And even better, the evil “king crab truffle gnocchi.” Yes that’s right. Cream, cheese, truffles, crab, potato. What could be better?

In case you don’t get the idea, you have to see it up close. Oh so good.

Then the light “lobster mashers.” That orange stuff, that’s butter.

And for those not seeking an instant heart attack, the “sauteed spinach” (cooked in butter).

We continue to suffer on the wine front as well with this third gem from my cellar. Parker 96 points. “The 2008 Flor de Pingus offers up an enticing nose of smoke, Asian spices, incense, espresso, black cherry, and blackberry. On the palate it displays outstanding volume, intensity, and balance. Rich, dense, and succulent, it has enough structure to evolve for 4-5 years and will offer prime drinking from 2015 to 2028.”

So now we get to the desserts. This is “Mastro’s signature warm butter cake ala mode.” Basically a pound cake with an extra four sticks of butter or something. It’s really sweet and really good. Goes well with the magic whipped cream (see below).

Because of the incredible whipped cream here, we ordered up some fresh strawberries. Combine with below.

The photo is a little blown out, but Mastro’s has the most incredible whipped cream. You can just chow down on it my itself. Made fresh with really good cream and LOTS of sugar.

I couldn’t resist their key lime pie either. I LOVE key lime pie and they make a real good one. Plus it goes really well with the whipped cream.

Overall Mastro’s, while a zoo, and very expensive, is a spectacular steak house experience. You can really feel your heart palpitating as you roll out of here!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

The wines lined up in my cellar. I even brought a bottle of 1996 Dom P that I didn’t even open (not enough Champagne fans at the table). Another night.

By: agavin
Comments (8)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Atomic Horseradish, beef, Beverly Hills California, bone in filet, Chapoutier, Dessert, filet, Horseradish, Los Angeles, Mastros, oscar style, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Seafood, Steak, Steak House, Syrah, whipped cream, Wine

Eating Staggia – Pozzo dei Desideri

Jun25

Restaurant: Pozzo dei Desideri

Location: Bologna, Italy

Date: June 11, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Good food, good value

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Today we drove through the mountains between Forli in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, then down past Florence to Staggia a small town near Siena. As this was a transitional day and we were settling into our new (temporary) home we just popped down into town for a quick local dinner.

This joint is in the center of this one horse town.

It has a big menu of typical Tuscan fare and very reasonable prices.

This being the heart of Chianti we chose a local Chianti Classico. This was probably about an 89 point wine, but it had some decent age on it making it fairly nice.

It was old enough that they decanted it.

In this modern age, the old adage, “don’t order seafood in the country,” no longer applies. This was billed as Zuppe di Mare. There wasn’t a lot of “soup” but it was tasty with a hearty garlic tomato sauce and various and mysterious shellfish.

Torte of Zucchini in a Pecorino sauce.

One of the MOST typical of pasta dishes, Pappardelle Cinghiale (wild boar ragu) with olives. The Cinghiale is the local hairy wild boar of tuscany. Click here for some pictures of this delightful creature.

This is a big wide fresh pasta with pomodoro and pecorino.

Gnocci with pecorino, tomato, and arugula.

The omnipresent insalata misto.

And another Tuscan classic, the block of beef. This is a fillet in balsamic sauce.

Notice how it’s served rare. Really rare. Tuscans don’t believe in cooking their beef. It was tasty though. Leaner and a bit tougher than an American filet, but full of flavor.

Overall the place was very good for just being a casual inexpensive local spot. We did however run an odd service quirk when they brought out a second steak a full hour after everyone else got their food (they had forgotten the order). Unlike in America they didn’t want to pull it from the bill (although it was only about 10 euro) and instead insisted on boxing it up for us.

Then we walked across the street for gelato. The place was humming at 11pm, packed with kids.

The didn’t have a lot of flavors, but they are all artisanal and very good.

Some various gelato cakes too.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beef, Bologna, Chianti, Dessert, eating-italy, Emilia Romagna, Emilia–Romagna, Gelato, Ice cream, Italy, pasta, Pecorino, Pozzo dei desideri, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Siena, Steak, Toscana (wine), Tuscany, vegetarian, Wild boar

Capo Valentines

Feb17

Restaurant: Capo [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: February 14, 2011

Cuisine: Italian with Cal influences

Rating: Well done, particularly for a special night.

Valentines is tricky restaurant-wise, and rarely shows off a place at it’s best. The economics of the situation tend to force them toward set menus (at high prices) and to rush the service so they can get 2-3 seatings in. We decided to try Capo, which I have reviewed on a normal night HERE.

Normally, Capo boasts of being a “slow food” restaurant. Tonight they hustled a bit, although the food was very good. We had a 7:15 reservation and they had us out of there (7 courses later!) at 9! Actually, we didn’t really mind, but that certainly wouldn’t be the case here on a normal night.

The have good bread. I particularly like the flatbread.

And this probably chickpea based dip.

For Valentines there were two menu choices, the regular on the right, and the truffle on the left. Both had two choices per course (more or less). Click to embiggen.

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

To start we got two glasses of white. A muscat on the left and a Sancerre on the right. Other than having a rather hefty per glass price tag they were very nice wines.

“Baby red beet, ricotta ravioli.” The first of many Beurre blanc type pasta sauces. They have very nice fresh pasta here, and well the butter sauce is hard to go wrong with.

“Russian Beluga caviar, linguini.” Again with the butter. A very simple dish of pasta, butter, and caviar. It worked. The sauce was bread dipping good. This might not be the BEST venue to show off the caviar, although it certainly wasn’t overwhelmed, lending a briny note to the whole thing.

I love Amarone, as it is very grapy, and that’s one of the things I like in a red.

Parker gives this 92. “The 2004 Amarone is beautiful and understated in its wild cherries, sweet herbs and flowers, all of which come together with unusual finesse and clarity. Silky, ripe tannins frame the exquisite finish. The 2004 is already approachable and should continue to drink nicely for another decade or so. This is a very representative vintage for Allegrini. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020.”

“Bluefin tuna tartar, caviali.” This is a very nice sushi grade tuna, essentially chopped like you might find in a tuna handroll. The bread is very toasted.

“Gnocchi lobster, truffles.” Again with the Beurre blanc! The gnocchi were perfectly pillow-like, the lobster tender, and the truffles do go spectacularly with the butter — really one of the best ways to show them off. Everyone but my arteries thought this was a fantastic dish. Again, I lapped up the butter with yet another piece of bread.

“Heirloom tomato vegetable, burrata.” No faulting this combination. Capo always has a lot of burrata, and you know I love it (HERE FOR MORE ON THE BEST FRESH CHEESE!).

“Jamon Iberico de Bellota.” Spain’s best ham (see leg below). My biggest beef with this dish is that the bread is too toasted. It has a nice charred flavor, but that overwhelms the subtle salty-nutty taste of this very fine pig product.

Oink! How did my leg get from Iberia to American?

“”BBQ Wild King Salmon.” My wife, a salmon aficionado, loved this salmon. It had nice accompanying veggies too.

“Cote de Boeuf, truffle potato puree.” This was my least favorite dish of the evening, but this is just because I’m not really a steak guy. It was very rare, more than medium closer to rare. That was good. But I’m just not that into simple meat. I like things jazzy. If one were a steak lover, I’m sure this would be awesome. As it was for me it was good, but not mind blowing or anything. The mashers were really good though, and went particularly nicely with the black truffles.

“Fruit Crostata, zabaglione.” They described this as a pear tart. It tasted like apple pie. I wonder if they mixed it up and gave us “Hot apple tart, truffle honey ice cream” except that’s whipped cream (zabaglione?) and not ice cream. In any case, it was good apple pie, although it tended to fall apart.

“Chocolate creme brulee.” Yum! This was very good, rich, creamy, nicely chocolatty!

Some various petite fours. Mostly simple nut cookies and a couple fruit cream filled chocolates.

And they even included a rose!

Overall, this was one of the better Valentines dinners we’ve done. Really, just like with the flowers one can expect to pay more for less on this special night. But Capo did as well as could be expected. The choices were good, and every dish was very well executed.