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Soulmate Study

Dec31

Restaurant: Soulmate

Location: 631 N Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (310) 734-7764

Date: June 16 & September 15, 2022

Cuisine: Spanish Tapa Fusion

Rating: Hit and miss

I adore Spanish food in general and Tapas in particular so I was excited to hear about a new “modern tapas” place in Hollywood. This report combines a normal 6/16/22 dinner with friends and a big set menu Chateauneuf du Pape dinner partially hosted by LVHM. It represents most of the menu and most of the key dishes sampled twice so I consider it a pretty solid review of the kitchen.

Soulmate has a lovely — but loud — build out with a very open feel. In fact the sky may actually be open.

The normal menu and specials on 6/16/22.

Our special menu on 9/15/22.

Jeridan brought this huge bottle of 08 Dom courtesy of LVHM to start.

HALF DOZEN OYSTERS / PINEAPPLE CAVIAR, TAMARIND FOAM. Nice bright flavors, particularly the pineapple. Offset the briney oyster flavor.

EGGPLANT HUMMUS / SESAME SEEDS, CILANTRO OIL , MARKET VEGETABLE CRUDITÉ (6/16/22). Nice crunchy veggies, but a touch boring. The ladies however loved it and ordered a second one!

HOUSEMADE FLATBREAD for the dip.

SALMON CRUDO / AJI AMARILLO, PINEAPPLE PONZU, BROWN BUTTER, JALAPEÑO (6/16/22). A tiny bit of spice. Lots of flavor. Not really too Spanish — more modern Japanese Peruvian influenced — but hey!

JAMÓN IBÉRICO DE BELLOTA & PAN CON TOMATE / MONTARAZ, AGED 48 MONTHS (6/16/22). Really nice balance.

2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 98. The 2008 Dom Pérignon is a huge, powerful Champagne and also clearly one of the wines of the vintage. This is one of the most reticent bottles I have tasted. So much so that I am thinking about holding off opening any more bottles! The 2008 has always offered a striking interplay of fruit and structure. Today, the richness of the fruit is especially evident. Readers who own the 2008 should be thrilled, but patience is a must. (Originally published in May 2021) (Drink between 2028-2058)

Bonus from my cellar: 2008 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. BH 94. An upper register and highly complex nose of green apples, white pear and citrus notes introduces almost painfully intense, pure and impressively powerful big-bodied and overtly muscular flavors that possess an almost aggressive minerality on the palate staining, tension-filled and driving finish. This is really a striking wine that is built to age as there is an abundance of dry extract. Gorgeous. (Drink starting 2016)

agavin: I brought this because having ALL CDP for a Spanish dinner is a little crazy.

SPICY PAELLA BITES / BIG EYE TUNA , CRISPY SEAFOOD RICE, CHILI AIOLI. Weird. A bit spicy and basically just tuna toast like you get at “trendy” Japanese places. Not sure what in the world is paella about them (I guess the type of rice?).

SANTA BARBARA UNI TOAST. ROCK SHRIMP, BUTIFARA SAUSAGE, CHILI HONEY, PIQUILLO PEPPER AIOLI. Tasty, but also a bit spicy and strong pepper flavors. Can’t really tell what is going on with the different elements.

LOBSTER ROLLS / MAINE LOBSTER TAIL , BRIOCHE BUNS, CELERY, CRÈME FRAÎCHE, GARLIC & CHILI AIOLI. These mini versions were “bun forward.” Fairly yummy although not Spanish at all.

BUŇUELOS DE PATATA / POTATO FRITTERS, QUINCE, PARMESAN CHEESE, BLACK TRUFFLE SAUCE. These were gross, like potato hush puppies. Worst item we had.

CROQUETAS DE POLLO / GARLIC AIOLI, BRAVA SAUCE. Way too temperature hot, but otherwise ok.

FIRE ROASTED SHISHITO AND SWEET PEPPERS / CILANTRO, LIME, GREEN ONION. Just peppers.

CRISPY EGGPLANT / QUINOA SALAD, CHARRED EGGPLANT PURÈE (6/16/22). Hehe, look at that “eggplant,” Beavis.

WOOD FIRED OCTOPUS / CHARRED ROMESCO SAUCE, NEW POTATO, PICKLED FRESNO CHILE. Ok, but not that crispy.

OVEN ROASTED STRIPED BASS / SWISS CHARD, TABBOULEH, AVOCADO PURÈE, HERB BUTTER (6/16/22). Very much a parsley/mint type flavor.

GAMBAS AL AJILLO / WILD BLUE SHRIMP, ROASTED GARLIC PUREE, CHILE DE ARBOL (6/16/22 and 9/15/22). This was one of the best dishes, maybe because how wrong can you go with melted fat and garlic?

HOUSEMADE FLATBREAD.

ROASTED PORK BELLY / BRIOCHE BUNS, MOJO VERDE, GARLIC AIOLI, CHICHARRON. Another pretty yummy dish, but lots of bun. Not exactly something I’ve seen in Spain either.

SOULMATE PAELLA / SHRIMP, CALAMARI, CLAMS, BOMBA RICE, SAFFRON, CHORIZO, AIOLI, MARKET VEGETABLES (6/16/22 and 9/15/22). Very middling paella. Or more precisely a bad paella, but a middling pan of rice with stuff. Also, I chocked on one of those watermelon radishes thrown in there for effect and it was stuck in my throat for 5 minutes. I eventually hacked it out.

Here is the offending radish. This was actually moderately traumatic. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to “choking” — except maybe that time in Sicily when a fish bone stuck in my throat. I wasn’t actually in any danger of not breathing, but it was just stuck there for a long time and by the time I coughed it out my throat was sore for 24 hours.

LOBSTER ROSSEJAT / VERMICELLI PASTA , SQUID INK & SEA URCHIN SAUCE, MAINE LOBSTER, SEPIA , GARLIC AIOLI (6/16/22 and 9/15/22). This was better with the little briney/sweet pasta. The tiny lobster tails were overcooked though and so stuck in the shells.

16OZ AMERICAN WAGYU NY STRIP, TRUFFLE JUS. Just some steak. A bit overcooked. This sent Albert into a frenzy and he almost got into a fist fight with the server.

SPINACH SALAD. Boring.

SUMMER SALAD / BABY ARUGULA , BING CHERRIES, ASIAN PEAR, MANCHEGO CHEESE, ALMONDS, DATE VINAIGRETTE (6/16/22).

WHIPPED POTATOES. These were ok with the garlic butter from the shrimp poured on top.

CHURROS. SPANISH DARK CHOCOLATE SAUCE. These were actually pretty good, mostly because of the sauce.

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO TART. COCOA NIB ICE CREAM, ESPRESSO CURD, CARAMEL CREAM, CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS. This was delicious. But I’m also a sucker for cream, custard, and coffee.

After dinner LVHM pimped out this elite super mega expensive cognac but one sip of it on my injured throat was like fire and I passed it off. I don’t really do the whole high alcohol drink thing anyway.

Now this dinner had a bit of a CF of great wine. We had the following big verticals of cuvee de capo and beaucastel hommage but they were served rapidly, willy nilly, in a random order. Total chaos. But all the wines were nice — but mostly way too big and way too young.

2007 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo. VM 96. Inky ruby. Pungent, exotically perfumed aromas of dark berry compote, Asian spices and garrigue, with bright minerality adding vivacity. Powerful and deeply concentrated but also shockingly fresh and lithe, offering sweet red and dark berry flavors and notes of candied flowers and licorice. The finish is smooth, sappy and extremely persistent, with echoing floral and herb notes.

2010 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo. VM 95-96. Inky purple. Heady, explosive aromas of black raspberry and blueberry preserves, garrigue and incense, with smoky mineral and anise accents. Lush and palate-coating, offering deeply concentrated black and blue fruit flavors that are enlivened by juicy acidity. Ridiculously rich but animated wine, with excellent finishing thrust and lingering spiciness. This wine had still not been bottled when I tasted it in mid-November.

From my cellar (only thing I had on hand): 2015 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo. VM 97. Opaque ruby. A hugely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red/blue fruits, pungent flowers, garrigue, licorice and exotic spices. Stains the palate with deeply concentrated, spice-laced black raspberry, boysenberry, fruitcake and floral pastille flavors underscored by a vein of juicy acidity. Shows superb clarity and floral lift on a strikingly persistent finish that features reverberating florality and building tannins. (Drink between 2025-2035)

1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo. VM 95. Saturated dark ruby. Nose like a fruit essence: blackberry and blueberry liqueur, licorice, pepper, Provencal herbs, and hints of more exotic fruits. A wine of extreme unctuousity, virtually too large for the mouth. Suggestion of marc, but with sappy fruits and great solid underlying structure. The tannins saturate the palate on the peppery finish. Very much in the style of Bonneau rarely made Cuvee Speciale. This wine took nearly two years to finish fermenting. Paul Feraud told me he feared that the alcohol would burn, that there would be too much residual sugar, and that the wine would show signs of premature oxidation. But in fact this headspinner (and I mean that in the purest, Linda Blair sense) boasts great surmaturite without quite descending into madness.

2007 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. VM 97. Opaque ruby color. Remarkably complex bouquet of dark berry compote, potpourri, sandalwood, smoked meat and licorice, complemented by a smoky mineral overtone. Broad, palate-coating dark fruit flavors pick up notes of candied flowers and licorice with air and show a pungent Indian spice character. Becomes more floral with air and leaves sweet cherry and floral pastille notes behind. I’d buy all of this that I could afford.

2003 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. JG92+. Given the mantra at the domaine that the Hommage à Jacques Perrin is only made in the finest vintages, I hardly expected to encounter a 2003 version, but the wine is really not bad at all and is now into its apogee. This is surprisingly low in octane for the vintage, coming in at the same 13.5 percent as the 2001 and 2004 iterations. The bouquet is really quite fine, wafting from the glass in a classy blend of dark berries, new leather, tree bark, woodsmoke, espresso and a lovely base of dark soil tones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and wide open on the attack, with a good core, impressive soil signature and just a bit of backend tannin perking up the long and complex finish. A very pleasant surprise! (Drink between 2016-2025)

2010 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. VM 97. Bright ruby. A drop-dead, room-filling bouquet evokes black raspberry liqueur, incense, anise and lavender, with smoke and herb overtones. Sappy and penetrating, offering deeply pitched but lively dark berry and cherry flavors and an exotic touch of candied flowers. Fine-grained tannins come up with air and give grip to an endless, fruit- and mineral-dominated finish. This remarkable wine would be at the top of my Chateauneuf to-buy list this vintage if I had the resources to swim in such waters.

2009 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. VM 96. Glass-staining purple. Hypnotic bouquet of black and blue fruits, potpourri and exotic spices. Broad, sappy and strikingly pure, with intense blackberry and boysenberry flavors that reach ever corner of the palate. Rich but lithe wine with a seamless texture and superb finishing clarity. This wine’s marriage of power and vivacity is something else.

1999 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. VM 96+. Full ruby. Knockout nose of black raspberry, roasted nuts, road tar, licorice, leather and game; comes across as riper and more roasted than the regular cuvee Fat, dense and superconcentrated, with extraordinary precision of flavor and tactile strength. Has the firm backbone to support its compelling flesh. Very long, slow-mounting finish throws off notes of licorice, game, tar and brown spices. This will go on for decades. I may have marginally underrated this wine a year ago. This is consistently one of the great wines of Southern France: it will be a fascinating experience to taste the ’99 and ’98 side by side ten years from now.

Albert brought: 1975 Château Latour Grand Vin. JG 94. The 1975 Latour is a very good example of the vintage, which was nowhere near as successful in the Médoc as it was in the Right Bank and Graves. But, in this era, Latour always seemed to rise above the general level of the vintage in more difficult years, and this was certainly the case in 1975. The wine offers up a fine, classic bouquet of sweet cassis, cherries, Cuban cigar wrapper, black truffle, dark soil tones, cigar ash and just a hint of petroleum jelly in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and now very elegant in profile, with a solid core, excellent acids and still a bit of tannin perking up the long and complex finish. The 1975 vintage was the highest ever measured for tannins and acidity on the Left Bank, up until the 2010 vintage came along, so for the Latour ’75 to be so beautifully balanced forty years down the road is no small achievement! Fine juice and a sleeper vintage of Latour. (Drink between 2015-2050)

This was very contentious because it was totally off theme. Some people loved it and some people hated it.

Soulmate is a great concept with a great build out but the details of the menu and the execution are a little hit and miss. It’s also much better as a 2-4 person casual dinner spot than as a venue for larger wine dinners like or CDP dinner. It has no private space, is very loud, and they aren’t setup at all for large table service.

Food wise the menu is a list of classic Spanish dishes, somewhat faithfully executed, and vaguely Spanish “riffs” on popular dish types (like the Lobster Rolls), and “healthier” options like the eggplant on cous cous. A number of times there are too many ingredients. They are a bit stronger at the classic items or maybe it’s just that some dishes are much better than others. Like very nice gambas and lousy BUŇUELOS. Paella wasn’t that great. The black (squid ink) one was much better than the “Valencia”.

Our large event was a whole lot of fun, but it was also a total CF. The food service was a bit confused (polite for SS) because they aren’t used to large tables and the order was very weird, not following their menu at all. I fixed the order in post, but we had appetizers landing way late, one end of the table getting things and the other not and all that sort of stuff. But the staff did try hard. They just weren’t prepared for this.

The wines were really great, no flawed bottles, but too young and big as a general rule. But the “wine service” (done by us, not the staff) was a total zoo. There was some mystery order blending wines from both winemakers and new glasses were constantly being poured into our 2 glasses. It was so loud and dark that I never even heard what the wines were nor could I remember what was in the glasses. So it was just one random great gigantic CDP after another. Large red verticals suck anyway because they never pair with a meal but this was especially chaotic.

Plus I almost choked on a radish!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chateauneuf du Pape, Paella, Soulmate, Spanish, Spanish Cuisine, Tapas, Wine

Midweek at Mizlala

Mar19

Restaurant: Mizlala

Location: 4515 Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 91403. (818) 783-6698

Date: February 22 & March 29 & Sept 8 , 2018

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Rating: Really bright and tasty

Several people told us that Mizlala in Sherman Oaks was really good, and so a small group of us Hedonists decided to give it a try.

The interior is cute and modern Middle Eastern.

The menu.

NV Christophe Mignon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 90. The Brut Rosé Pur Meunier is a rosé done with a blend of mostly Meunier vinified in white, off the skins, with the addition of still red Meunier for color and texture. Bright, red-tone fruit, tobacco and dried flowers give the wine striking aromatic depth to play off and contrast the fruit. The 6 grams of dosage feels just a touch sweet for this wine. Otherwise, the Pur Meunier is very nicely done. The current release is a blend of equal parts 2014 and 2013. Disgorged: February 2017. Dosage is 6 grams per liter.

Salatim. Four “salads” (3 pictured above).

With awesome house-made pita bread.

Eggplant babaganoush.

Lebane with Zaatar. I LOVE this stiff Middle Eastern yoghurt/cheese — so much that we ordered 3 plates of it for 5 people!

Creamy Beet salad. Also really good.

Smoked spicy eggplant (9/8/18).

Spicy Moroccan carrots. Love these too.

From my cellar: 2011 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. 90 points. With shrimp diablo, rice and black beans. Saline, lime, mineral crispness. Very lithe mouthfeel. Would have liked to see if it would have evolved, but too many eager sippers for it to last that long.

Jerusalem Salad. Cucumber, tomato, freekeh, lemon vinaigrette.

Mushrooms (3/29/18). Dates, hazelnuts, fig balsamic, puffed rice.

Potato Latkes (3/29/18). Horseradish creme fraiche, apple sauce, pecorino.

Bourekas (3/29/18). Cheese, truffled mushroom, spinach and feta. Unusual takes on these fried pastries.

Flaming cheese!

Haloumi Saganaki (3/29/18). Orange, honey, walnut chimichurri. The fruit really added a lot of sweetness to this which made me think of Hawaiian Pizza. I prefer it more tangy.

Hummus with crispy artichokes (3/29/18). Gremolata, cured lemon emulsion, aleppo pepper.

Moroccan Fried Chicken. Really moist and crispy.

smoked paprika aioli, Spiced duck fat.

World’s Best Greek Salad. Campari tomato, persian cucumber, feta, kalamata olive, oregano.

Garlic shrimp. White wine, preserved lemon, butter bean puree. I always love these garlicky shrimp. Like the Spanish Gambas Pil Pil.

Greek Octopus. Smoked paprika, grilled potato, celery, lebaneh.

Falafels (9/8/18).

1993 Faiveley Echezeaux. 95 points. Deep ruby, dense but bright. A touch of VA initially but this blows off quite quickly to reveal dark red fruit and a hint of the autumnal. Somewhere between silk and velvet on the palate, very cosseting and very drink…

1995 Daniel Moine-Hudelot Chambolle-Musigny. 91 points.

1970 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Cerro Anon Gran Reserva. Awesome!

Lamb Tagine. Colorado lamb shoulder slow braised with apples, dried fruit and silan, topped with sesame, served with saffron rice.

Shortrib Tagine. Slow braised with picholine olives, san marzano tomato and fennel.

Lemon Saffron Chicken. Brined airline chicken breast grilled over coals accompanied by baby artichokes, green olives, cherry tomato, and saffron rice.

Moussaka. Lamb Bolognese, bechamel sauce, gruyere cheese.

Moussaka, when done right, is such an awesome dish.

2007 Hundred Acre Vineyard Shiraz Summer’s Block Ancient Way. VM 93. Inky purple. Superripe aromas of cassis, cherry preserves and dark chocolate, with complicating notes of licorice and mint. Densely packed and chewy, offering palate-coating black and blue fruit flavors that show serious depth and building sweetness. A hint of smoked meat comes up on the long, clinging finish, which is framed by broad, pliant tannins. I’m not exactly sure what I’d serve with this but it would definitely have to be part of a dead mammal and it would be roasted, braised or grilled.

1994 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. VM 92. Medium red. Aromatic nose combines plum, redcurrant and cedary spices. Very suave, fine-grained, plummy wine with captivating saline minerality. Lovely balance and subtle sweetness of fruit here, not to mention suave, ripe tannins. Finishes firm and clean, with terrific subtle length. À point but will hold for a while.

Branzino (3/29/18). Cauliflower cous cous, lebaneh, currants, pine nuts.

Kefta and chicken kabob.

Grilled Merguez Sausage. Yum!

Fillet Mignon Kabob, Skirt Steak, and Lamb Leg. Really good, very tender kabobs.

Kefta and lamb kabobs (9/8/18).

French Fries!

Chocolate nut crunch dessert (3/29/18). Can’t remember what exactly was in it, but it was quite good.

I brought some more of my house-made gelatti. Ube Gelato. I roasted the Japanese Purple Yams from scratch and made them into this Filipino classic for Erick’s birthday.

And in Filipino tradition, Macapuno Coconut Sport.

You top the Ube with the coconut.

And one of my most unique creations: Gorgonzola Fig Walnut Gelato – a gorgonzola dolce gelato base with fig jam and candied walnuts.

You can see the candied walnuts and fig jam streaked through it. This gelato turned out perfectly. Super creamy, with a very distinct real Gorgonzola Dulce texture. Several at the table thought it was one of my best.

Overall, Mizlala was really good. It’s very bright modern Israeli, Moroccan, Lebanese flavors, much in the Yotam Ottolenghi style. Some of the best Middle Eastern I’ve had in a while. The second time I went (3/29/18) the food was just as good but the service was annoying. The girl was very slow to take our order, over-worked (or busy elsewhere), and said she was going to spread out our food but brought the entire dinner, 8 items, appetizers and mains all within a 7 minute spread (looked at the photo timestamps to verify!). Not even 2 courses really but 2 trips from the back. I hate that. Made for a super rushed meal. She felt totally checked out.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Middle Eastern, Mizlala, Tapas, Wine

Eating Cairns – Fusion Art

Feb07

Restaurant: Fusion Art Bar & Tapas

Location: 5/12 Spence St, Cairns City QLD 4870, Australia. +61 7 4051 3888

Date: December 21, 2017

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: Excellent

Our Australian trip brings us along to Cairns, near the Great Barrier Reef.

And with it a more tropical feel and a well recommended tapas bar.

Attractive interior, but it was a nice night and we sat outside.

The menu.

Bar snacks.

Some kind of typical aperitif.

A glass of rose.

Coffin Bay South Australian Oysters.

Condiments include mignonette spheres!

Kingfisher Creek Camembert and bread.

Sardines with tomato chili relish and orange segments.

Pan fried Haloumi with strawberry salsa and fig balsamic.

Wild Mushroom Arancini with saffron aioli.

Prawn Beignets with grapefruit aioli.

Baked Aubergine stuffed with pumpkin, parmesan and roasted tomato dressing.

Creamy Coconut Chicken Curry with cassava chips and basmati rice. There is a lot of curry in Australia, lucky for me!

Mango passionfruit dessert.

Chocolate ice cream dessert.

Waterfall on the skyride outside of town

This was one of our better dinners in Australia. It’s not fancy, and we didn’t tend to go to very elaborate places, but they had a solid kitchen and bright and interesting flavors.

For more Australia dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Australia, Cairns, eating-australia, Fusion Art, Tapas

Eating Majorca – Forn De Sant Joan

Aug19

Restaurant: Forn De Sant Joan

Location: Calle Sant Joan, 4, 07012 Palma, Illes Balears, Spain

Date: June 26, 2016

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: Tasty kitchen

Forn De Sant Joan represents our first foray into Palma.

The location is on a pedestrian street not far from the water and the big Cathedral.

The interior is an attractive modern with traditional materials.

The menu. Unfortunately there were only 3 real eaters, and 2 were vegetarians, so I didn’t get to photo a lot of dishes.

These toasts came with a kind of olive butter.

Albarino again, always a great food wine.

Toasted crispy bread with tomato and olive oil.

Cold tomato and cherry gazpacho with cheese ice cream and confited cherries. A really lovely non-tomato gazpacho. Sort of like a vinegary tomato borsch.

Oyster, galangai emulsion, avocado and prawn powder. A slightly weird mix with the oyster.

Mini cornet filled with ceviche of sea bass and langoustines and coconut foam. This was really tasty with a mix of flavors and textures.
Battered langoustines with parmesan cream. The fry itself was pretty light, and what not to like about parmesan cream sauce?
Grilled Sea Bass, sautéed spinach with garlic and creamy parmesan sauce.

Beef cannelloni with parmesan-truffle sauce and shimeji. Rich, creamy, and delicious.

Vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

Overall, we didn’t really get to test out enough of the cuisine at Forn De Sant Joan, but they have a good kitchen doing innovative (for Majorca) dishes. Moving in the direction of San Sebastian at least.

Click here to see more Eating Spain posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: eating-spain, Forn De Sant Joan, Majorca, Tapas

Eating San Sebastian – Fuego Negro

Aug03

Restaurant: Fuego Negro

Location: Calle 31 de Agosto, 31, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain

Date: June 23, 2016

Cuisine: Tapas

Rating: Good, but didn’t try enough

Fuego Negro was another very highly rated tapas bar.

The name means “black smoke”.

But as they were only open for dinner, and we couldn’t actually get a table for 8 to house our giant party, we just popped in and sampled a couple items.

The menu.

Home made pickles. Olives, anchovies, peppers. I just love these fresh marinated gems.

Makcobe with txips. A kobe beef slider with pickles. A good little burger to be sure. About the size I like my burgers, actually.
Crunchy risotto of sheep & cuttlefish. Not sure what the sheep part was, maybe cheese. The cuttlefish is the pasta like stuff on top. The rice had a crunchy texture not too far off from cocoa crispies! Overall yummy though.

We didn’t try enough items at Fuego Negro to get a solid opinion, although clearly this is a good and inventive kitchen. The menu is fairly small too and I like how they list the dates for the dishes.

Click here to see more Eating Spain posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating-spain, Fuego Negro, San Sebastian, Spanish Cuisine, Tapas

Eating San Sebastian – Borda Berri

Jul27

Restaurant: Bar Borda Berri

Location: Fermin Calbeton Kalea, 12, 20003 Donostia, Bizkaia, Spain

Date: June 23, 2016

Cuisine: Modern Tapas

Rating: Awesome New Wave Tapas

Borda Berri was one of the many tapas bars recommended by my foodie friends.

It’s located on a typical San Sebastian old town street.
The interior is tiny, with no seating. Outside there is a small table or two. While many pintxos bars have the food out on the counter waiting to be selected, Borda Berri makes you thrust in and order food in the same manner as you order drinks (and to the same people). They cook and plate back in the kitchen and call out when each dish is ready. I then dutifully returned to the bar to ferry them to our microscopic table.

The menu in Spanish and English.

Sangria.

Rosado wine.

At most there were two tables in the alley. Standing room only.

Gazpacho with watermelon, basilic and mozzarella. This was a stupendously delicious gazpacho. It’s hard to imagine it didn’t have tomato in it also, but there was a strong watermelon and basil flavor, along with the rich olive oil and the snappy vinegar. I so love good gazpacho. Too bad it gives me heartburn.

Toasted goat cheese salad. A lovely salad with a bit of sweetness on the cheese.

Bomba rice with wild mushroom. This was a nice mushroom rice, with that more paella-like texture. Probably one of the more boring dishes we had, but that’s not really fair in this company.

Cod Tripes and Pil-Pil sauce. Sounds gross right? Well the texture was solidly gelatinous, and probably not for everyone, but boy did it taste good. I ate almost two plates of it. Very rich.

Puntalette’s risotto with Idiazabal (Basque Sheeps Cheese). Wow, fabulous cheesy risotto. Everything you would want in a cheesy mass of rice.

Ravioli squid in its ink. Very tender, with briny sweet flavors. Yum!

Euskal Pork Ribs “Kebab.” This “Kebab” turned out to be basically a amazingly tender and flavorful BBQ babyback rib with a bit of sauce. Fabulous.

Borda Berri cooked up some really fabulous flavors. Additionally, freed from the confines of the pintxos format they serve fresher hot dishes in more of a small plates format. This is a little different, and perhaps a bit harder to just graze, but it provides for a more restaurant-like cuisine, even if the format is extremely bar-like.

Almost everything we had here was great, and fairly novel too. Just looking at these pictures makes me drool over the gazpacho, risotto, and lamb — and I could even mack down another plate of the cod tripes.

Click here to see more Eating Spain posts.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Bar Borda Berri, Borda Berri, eating-spain, San Sebastian, Spanish Cuisine, Tapas

Eating San Sebastian – Atari

Jul13

Restaurant: Atari

Location: Calle Mayor, 18, 20013 San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain

Date: June 19 & 23, 2016

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: The best traditional tapas we had in San Seb

San Sebastian is packed with tapas & pintxos bars, but the quality varies wildly from okay to awesome. We had the most success using recommendations from Foodie friends who had visited in previous years, even though a good percentage of the top bars were “mysteriously” closed for vacation.

Atari was on the recommended list and is located adjacent to the entrance to the big baroque church.

The interior is typical and there is an extensive patio as well.

El menú.

Typical bread.

I find Albarino, even this so-so one, to be a fabulous tapas

Atari has a counter full of pintxos. We didn’t really focus on these, but here are a couple.

Grilled tuna with cream of marmitako and vinaigrette.

Marinated white anchovies with crushed pepper. I just love these tangy little fish.

Fried green padron peppers. Salty but good.

White tuna pickled, green peppers, anchovies, and olives. This is a to die for set of marinated goodness. I particularly love the olives and the mildly spicy skinny green peppers.

Home-cured salmon with a horseradish cream. Like little sashimi cubes.

Salmon tartar. There was something sauced in here that led to a very interesting and addictive flavor.

Pate of foie gras on toast. Tasted as good as it looks.

Tomato salad.

Cod croquettes. Declared the best croquetas of the trip.

Patatas bravos. Above they appear as patatas frito.

This is the bravos part. Personally I prefer the orange potent sauce and covering the potatoes.

Fried calamari with confited garlic aioli. Great example. Nice chewy strips and great fry.

Scrambled eggs.

Some Rioja Blanca to step up the white wine.

Oyster mushrooms ravioli with foie gras sauce. We ordered 4 orders of these!

Grilled octopus with bravos sauce, potatoes, and onions. I feel bad about eating octopus (it’s a smart animal) but this one tasted so good — and actually the bravos sauce and veggies was even better.

Grilled foie gras with white chocolate and sweetcorn cream. Just amazing.

Rice of the day. Basically a chicken paella. I think it had chicken skin in there.

Hake with seasonal sauce.

Beef cheek with… (like mom’s beef stew — super tender)

mashed potato.
Plate of Spanish cheeses.

Overall, the group consensus was that Atari was the best “straight up regular” restaurant we went in the San Sebastian area. The dishes actually tasted better than most of the modern tapas. We weren’t comparing to the Michelin level restaurants, as it’s a totally different thing, although it was tastier than Mugaritz. haha. More on that later.

Basically the dishes are contemporary traditional, but the execution is superlative. Tons of flavor. Good ingredients. All that.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Atari, eating-spain, San Sebastian, Spanish Cuisine, Tapas

Eating San Sebastian – Zeruko

Jul08

Restaurant: Bar Zeruko

Location: Arrandegi Kalea, 10, Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain

Date: June 17, 2016

Cuisine: Modernist Pintxos

Rating: Funky Zoo

At the zenith of craziness on the mountain of “typical pintxos format” is Bar Zeruko which serves up an individually plated bread of modernist pintxos.

This is awesome for 2 people popping in for a drink and a bite to eat — but on a busy Friday night with 7 people a meal is a bit of “an experience.”

Let me explain how Zeruko works. While some of your party crams around a spare stool or two — likely in 2-3 separate clusters far from each other — you elbow your way into the fantastically crowded bar. There, after trying your best impersonation of a hot 23 year-old 100 pound girl (doesn’t work so well at twice that age & weight not to mention the wrong gender) you attempt to gain eye contact with one of the two extraordinarily overworked bartenders. After accomplishing this miracle, you might order a drink and ask for a plate — albeit a tiny one. You then load up your plate with appealing looking confections without any regard to what they might actually be. If you are lucky the bartender will take back your plate and then proceed, after some extended length of time, to individually cook, plate, and dress each item. These will be serially thrust back at you and you can offer them to your companions to eat while standing.

How the staff actually manages to prep these things in such short order (meanwhile serving drinks) is also a miracle.

Oh, and how they keep track of what you ordered? You can pay much latter after multiple such orders and I never saw a pencil or other recording device. I suspect they “lose” 10% of all the pintxos served.

In any case, on to the food. Unfortunately the insane crowds didn’t really allow me to photograph the plated dishes, which is a shame because they looked rather lovely. Here are some in their larval formal, before cooking, prepping, and dressing.

Fruity gel ball? Hard to tell what this was other than it was sweet and had a somewhat jelly-like texture. It was good though.

Below was a peppers, cheese, and egg pintxos.

You can see mushrooms, sliders, and the like.

These foie gras wrapped in chocolate gel with truffles. On toast, of course. Rich and super yummy.
A seafood something on a dry ice cone. It’s really sad that I didn’t capture more of the creative and whacky output. Sigh.

Overall, I really needed to come back to Zeruko during a quiet lunch or something — with no more than 3 people. If I had, I’m sure I would have been able to pick, photograph, and sample their wares much more effectively. I actually tasted about 15 pintxos the night I went, and many of them were delicious, and most looked very cool, but the chaotic nature of the “scene” and the demand of two different groups of family to be supplied with new dishes made it impossible to document.

If you are in San Sebastian I recommend you try it yourself. Just don’t go with a big group!

For more Eating Spain dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Bar Zeruko, eating-spain, pintxos, San Sebastian, Tapas, Zeruko

Eating San Sebastian – Baztán

Jul04

Restaurant: Baztán

Location: Portu Kalea, 8, 20003 San Sebastián-Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain

Date: June 16, 2016

Cuisine: Pintxos

Rating: “Straight up” Basque Tapas

I’m choosing to use Baztán as a sort of light introduction to San Sebastian tapas — in part because of its normality.

San Seb is packed with Pintxos bars. Dozens upon dozens of them and they vary wildly in style, quality, and crowds. Baztán is a pretty typical type.

First of all, the offerings are dominated by straight up pintxos (stuff on pieces of bread). These, for the most part, sit on the counter. You grab a plate (or 2) and load up as many as you like, then hand it to a bar keep along with your drink order. If something needs heating he’ll do that. Most things here don’t and usually they are eaten pretty much as they sit on the bar. Let’s look at some examples.

Salmon and cream, salmon and anchovies, tortilla espanola, fried fish, seafood salad and anchoives, egg, peppers & anchovies, etc.

Peppers and olives, seafood salad, octopus, cheesy scallop, ham & goat cheese, fried thingy, chorizo, egg, and pepper.

More salmon, mushrooms & eggs, gazpacho, peppers, etc.

More fried stuff, black pudding!

Sangria.

Flan. Quite a nice one actually.

And lots of pictures of the bar.

More.

And even more.

There are some funny things on bread, like stacked meat balls, a couple sausages and even skewered French fries pinioned to the toasts! See the chorizo and fries on the right!

Here are the meatballs. Some shrimp, steak tartar etc.

The desserts.
Straight pintxos like this is a funny cuisine. First of all, if the bar is crowded at all it’s sort of a nightmare: Nowhere to eat, very hard if you have a large party. 1-2 people, no problem, you just grab some stuff when you order your drink. 8, that can be a challenge! There is also no particular rhyme or reason to the distribution of plates (sometimes they are at the bar, sometimes you ask the bartender) or a mechanism for getting his attention so you can pay, order, etc. I found it much like a crowded club bar.

Then there is the pintxos themselves. They certainly taste very good, and you can pick what you want to try by looks and in small increments, but I soon tired of all those slices of thick French bread. I’m not the sort to eat 10-15 slices of bread! So I ate about 2 and then resorted to eating the toppings off. Felt kinda like eating the fish off the rice at all-you-can-eat sushi.

Still, this was a fun and tasty experience, and a good intro as we delve later into more exotic tapas/pintxos formats.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Baztán, eating-spain, pintxos, San Sebastian, Spanish Cuisine, Tapas

Eating Barcelona – Catalana

Jun29

Restaurant: Cerveseria Catalana

Location: Carrer de Mallorca, 236, 08008 Barcelona

Date: June 14, 2016

Cuisine: Catalonian Tapas

Rating: Excellente!

Not only was this place recommended on Chowhound, but my parents independently “blundered” into it and loved it.

So I had to go back and try it with them.

Very “typical” super upscale Barcelona Tapas bar scene with a gorgeous wood interior.

And lots of sit at the counter space.

The layout of “white” salad (consisting of stuff in mayo).

A lot of the tapas are out in a halfway prepped form.

And more.

And seafood.

And veggies.

And pinchos (stuff on bread) like these croqueta.

On anchovies and peppers.

Or walnut cheese spread and pineapple.

Or these amazing salmon and cream cheese.

And of course, Jamon.

Or Jamon with other stuff, like peppers.

Mushrooms can be selected and cooked up together.

More types, including mushrooms with Jamon (capitalized because in Spain, Jamon is a proper noun).

Boquerones en vinagre. One of my favorite traditional tapas. Super fresh here with that nice tang.

Crab salad on toast. Like an upscale spanish version of a Subway “seafood salad” sandwich.
Salmon and cream cheese or cream fraiche. Awesome.
Jamon.
Tomato bread.

Steamed shrimp. Super fresh and tasty with that bright briny flavor.

Sautéed mushrooms. Colon sweeper! Yummy with garlic and olive oil.

Asparagus with sea salt.

Duck cannelloni. This is the raw form. They cooked it up.

To this amazing, rich, béchamel wonder! Soft and creamy.

Coconut flan. To die for.

And cappuccino.
There was even a dessert bar.

Overall, Catalana was fabulous. Very straight up, nothing too modernist or anything, but really good, really fresh Catalonian tapas and a great atmosphere.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Barcelona, Catalana, eating-spain, Spanish Cuisine, Tapas

Eating Barcelona – Paco Meralgo

Jun19

Restaurant: Paco Meralgo

Location: Carrer de Muntaner, 171, 08036 Barcelona

Date: June 10, 2016

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: High quality tapas

Our first night in Barcelona kicks off with the highly rated Paco Meralgo tapas bar.

The frontage.

The tapas menu is extensive.

Paco Meralgo is typical of the modern Barcelona type of tapas, with a sleek modern space and lots of stools all around the room.
Albariño makes

Gazpacho. Tasty, but a little less intense then I really prefer.

Tomato bread. Our 7 year-old loves this.

Sephardic special. Salmon, toast, and creme fraiche. Really good.

Egg and tuna salad.

Local salami. Taste the pig!

Anchovies on toast. These are the salty darker ones. I prefer the vinegary white ones, but these are tasty too, if you don’t mind swelling up.

Cod fritters. Very light and fresh.

Fried squash blossoms stuffed with cheese. Delightful and light version of this Italian dish.

Brie on toast (melted).

Squid and beans. Lovely chew and a great slightly spicy flavor.

Fresh prawns in garlic sauce. Hear in Spain you always get the heads.

Filet mignon in garlic oil. Amazing garlic flavor and tender meat.

Check out the oil.

Vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate truffles.

Crema catalana on its home turf. A bit more liquid than creme brule under the crispy sugar top.
Profiterole with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Overall, great classic tapas. One of the two best straight Barcelona-style tapas we enjoyed on this visit.

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By: agavin
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Tagged as: Albariño, Barcelona, eating-spain, Paco Meralgo, Spanish Cuisine, Tapas

Manhattan Beach Post

Feb22

Restaurant: Manhattan Beach Post

Location: 1142 Manhattan Ave, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266. (310) 545-5405

Date: February 18, 2016

Cuisine: American Tapas

Rating: Solid New Style Eats

I needed to find a good place in Manhattan Beach and two Hedonist buddies both unanimously recomended MB Post, a New American style share plates place — all the usual features: loud surfaces, wood tables, paper menus, shared plates, fancy cocktails. Let’s see how it is.

The small but appealing menu.

Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits, maple butter. The house’s signature dish — and well worth it. Awesome biscuit notched up with cheese and bacon. The butter was awesome too.
From my cellar: 1995 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 92 points. The classic CVM cherry/strawberry nose and flavor. Light, but quite tannic still.
Assorted pickles. Nice crunch. Only mildly pickled. A bit of spice.
Blistering Blue Lake Green Beans, thai basil, chili sauce, crispy pork. This was pretty close to a Szechuan Green Bean dish. The pork ruled too.
Song Family Kimchi Fried Rice, butternut squash, Ha Farm’s Asian Pear, scallion, egg. Another great dish. A good bit of heat too, with nice eggy rich rice.
Albacore Tuna Tataki, Grilled Pineapple, Yuzu, Serrano. A hot/sweet thing. Not our favorite dish, just didn’t quite sync together.
Squid Ink Tagliatelle, shrimp, squid, maryann’s cherry tomatoes, breadcrumbs, serrano. More heat, but a nice pasta. Except the tomatoes.
Mac & Cheese, fontina, parmesan, mycella blue. A pretty straight up baked “fancy” M&C.
Solid stuff, sticks to the ribs.
BBQ Moroccan Lamb Belly, harissa caramelized onions, Japanese eggplant. Rich and tasty. Very soft flavorful meat.
Salmon Creek Roast Pork Shoulder. Apple Mostarda. Grilled Escarole. Good roast pork, but pretty straight up and not as complex as some of the other dishes.
The “Elvis.” A mess of chocolate pudding, peanut butter mousse, bacon brittle. Everything but the banana was great.
Chai Tea Soft Serve, brioche beignet, orange tapioca, caramel. Good stuff. This had a complex soft “chai” taste to it that really stuck with you. Nice combo of textures too.

Overall, MB Post is doing some good stuff. It’s not earth shattering, or haut cuisine, but this is creative tasty fare in a cute little setting and the chef has a good sensibility with combinations. I’m sure it is one of the best places in Manhattan Beach.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Manhattan Beach, Manhattan Beach Post, Tapas, Wine

Graffiato Italian Tapas

Dec27

Restaurant: Graffiato

Location: 707 6th St NW. Washington DC 20001. 202-289-3600

Date: December 2, 2013

Cuisine: Italian Tapas

Rating: Good stuff

The whole tapas or small plates things has slowly been insinuating itself into the contemporary restaurant scene and Graffiato is a Washington D.C. take on doing it up for Italian. I happen to love small plates, as I’ve become a jaded mega-diner who thinks that 5 courses is just getting started.

Gray December afternoon in D.C.

The menu. Paper of course.

The obligatory modernist open ceilinged and open kitchened interior.

Smoked Beets. sheep’s milk ricotta, pickled orange.

Brussels Sprouts. pancetta, maple yogurt. This had unusual sweet and savory flavors (like bacon with syrup). As a fan of that, I really enjoyed it.

Burrata. meyer lemon, caviar, bottarga. This was tasty, but a waste of burrata’s lovely creamy texture as it was partially cooked. Burrata is best raw.

Toast for the burrata.

Potato Gnocchi. pork ragu, whipped ricotta, crispy rosemary. A nice ragu with a pleasant flavor and interesting texture (curiosity of the whip and the rosemary).

Ricotta Cavatelli. lamb ragu, chili, feta, mint, pistachio. Similar to the gnocchi, but with a pleasant larval chew.

Chinatown Ribs. pear slaw, carrot, ginger. Not very Italian, but very good.

Pizza dough with “pepperoni” sauce. Sure enough, the sauce tasted like… pepperoni pizza!

American Pie. tomato, mozzarella, basil.

White House.mozzarella, taleggio, ricotta, prosciutto, black pepper honey. This was a great pizza. Again, I love those sweet/salty things and this had a nice vibe going between the ham and the honey.

Hobbit. castelrosso cheese, wild mushrooms, lardo, crispy rosemary.

Porky’s Revenge. sopressata, pepperoni, sausage, tomato, mozzarella.

Zeppole. salted toffee. Nothing wrong with donut like stuff, but the sauce, which wasn’t so different from cannoli filling, was great.

Overall, while not strictly and authentically Italian, Graffiato was extremely enjoyable. I loved being able to taste so many flavors and the plates were mostly on-point, bright and yummy.

For more Washington dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Graffiato, Italian cuisine, Tapas, Washington DC

Jaleo Bethesda

Dec07

Restaurant: Jaleo [1, 2]

Location: 7271 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. 301.913-0003

Date: November 29, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: Fun Tapas Bar

I’ve reviewed a lot of José Andrés restaurants on the blog, seven I think. This is een the second Jaleo. The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) and his high end Saam, but also brunch at Trés, lunch at Trés, and to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas and Zaytinya also in Washington. Back to Jaleo, the restaurant at hand. It’s basically a straight up Spanish Tapas place but with a slightly modernized and enlarged menu.

The menu.

One annoyance of this particular branch — and not the restaurant’s fault — is the Maryland law against corkage. They have a fine list, but I had brought an amazing Spanish wine 3,000 miles! Parker gives it 91 points. “The 2008 Termes offers up a sexy perfume of cedar, spice box, violets, incense, espresso, and blackberry. Savory, concentrated, and well-balanced, this flavorful effort will benefit from several years of additional cellaring but can be approached now.”

“Gazpacho de remolacha con queso de cabra y naranjas. Chilled red beet soup with goat cheese and oranges.” I’m a total José Andrés gazpacho whore. I even make it at home home.

This is a different variant, kind of gazpacho meets borsch. It was fantastic. Beety, with that vinegary tang. Delicious.

“Dátiles con tocino ‘como hace todo el mundo. Fried dates wrapped in bacon.” Really how can you beat fried dates wrapped in bacon? Yum yum.

“Ensalada rusa. The ultimate Spanish tapa, a salad of potatoes, imported conserved tuna and mayonnaise.” The Spanish love potato salad.

“Aceitunas rellenas de anchoas y pimientos del piquillo. House-made stuffed olives with anchovies and roasted piquillo peppers.” This is another classic, and these are a really good implementation.

“Jamón Ibérico de bellota Fermin. Cured ham from the legendary, acorn-fed, black-footed Ibérico pigs of Spain and miscellaneous other Spanish meats like chorizo.”

“Pan con tomate. Toasted slices of rustic bread brushed with fresh tomato with Pasamontes farmhouse Manchego.” Basically Spanish bruschetta.

“Salpicón de cangrejo. Jumbo lump crabmeat with cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower and Sherry dressing.” While Spanish in flavors I suspect this a bit of a nod to the Eastern shore. Big lumps of crabmeat too.

“Pan de recapte con anchoa. Traditional Catalan bread with peppers, tomatoes and salt-cured Spanish anchovies.” I really wanted Fresh Spanish anchovies, marinated (Anchovies en Boccerones) but they didn’t have them. These weren’t a bad substitute.

“Espinacas a la catalana. Sautéed spinach, pine nuts, raisins and apples.”

“Vieiras con romesco y mojo verde. Seared scallops with romesco sauce and mojo verde.”

“Lomo de buey. Grilled hanger steak with piquillo peppers.”

“Arroz con costillas de cerdo Ibérico de bellota. Made with the famous Ibérico de bellota pork ribs.”

“Arroz Mediterraneo. Made with porcini mushrooms, mixed vegetables, green and black olives and thyme.”

The dessert menu.

“A classic Spanish custard with creme and oranges.”

“Dark chocolate mousse with sponge cake and hazzelnut ice cream.”

“Various fruit sorbets.”

“Vanilla ice cream and grapefruit sorbet.”

“Chocolate ice cream.”

Jaleo is like a good Tapas place in Spain but a little slicker, with perhaps more consistant quality. And they don’t have fresh anchovies! It is also a little (actually more than a little) more expensive than a typical Spanish tapas place in Spain. But considering the scarcity of good tapas places in America… worth it.

For more ThanksGavin meals, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Bazaar, Bethesda, Dessert, Gazpacho, Jaleo, José Andrés, Maryland, Paella, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Spanish Food, Tapas, ThanksGavin, Washington DC, Wine, Zaytinya

Upstairs 2 – Modern Tapas, Lots of Wine

Apr17

Restaurant: Upstairs 2

Location: 2311 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064 Tel. 310-231-0316

Date: October 10, 2010 & April 15, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Tapas

Rating: Bright flavors and a lot of options.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Upstairs 2 is located just above the Wine House on Cotner. This is one of the two great wine stores on this road, the other being Twenty Twenty Wine Merchants which is even more erudite (and closer allied to my taste in wine). Upstairs offers not only a big wine list and extensive by-the-glass offers (in multiple sizes) but a rich and varied menu of modern American tapas. As you know, I love tapas style dining because of the ability to try more than 2-3 flavors and the much more flexible composition of dinner menus.

This review is a composite of two different dinners. I show both a small set menu and a variety of “regular” tapas off the menu.

The menu.

The bread and olive oil.

Tonight there’s a little tasting menu with wine pairings. It appealed to me so I gave it a try.

This riesling was to my taste.

The cold cucumber soup, creme fraiche, and dill, not as much. I was hoping for something a little closer to middle eastern yogurt salad. This was very cucumber and dill. I enjoy those flavors but the thin texture of the soup (almost watery: the texture not the flavor) put me off somehow.

I funky powerful white.

“Half lobster tail, spinach polenta, black truffle butter.” This was the best dish of the three. The green stuff was rich and creamy and went very nicely with the firm lobster meat.

A pleasant barolo.

The osso bucco itself was tasty. The meat was firmer than a traditional osso bucco, and tasted almost like lamb. The succotash was okay.

I should have ordered ala carte. The dishes were okay, but I could have done better picking myself.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

And so, here is a collection of modern tapas designed to be shared by the whole table.

“Blood Orange Caesar Salad, Pumpernickel Croutons, Shaved Parmesan.” Very close to a traditional caesar, just with a little extra sweetness thrown in.

“Grilled Mahi Mahi, Crispy Corn Pancake, Black Bean Hummus, Avocado Mousse.” Sort of a modern fish taco!

“Medjool dates wrapped in serrano ham, stuffed with asiago cheese.” These are always yum central. The sweetness of the dates, the savory of the cheese, and the salty bite of the ham blend wonderfully.

“Lobster BLT on brioche, bacon, frisse, roma tomato, housemade mayo.” Another winner. I didn’t even mind the tomatoes here.

“Tandoori chicken salad, artisan greens, grape tomatos, raita, meyer lemon dressing.” This was great too. Somehow tandoori chicken does okay on salad.

“Crispened eggplant, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, marscapone cheese, chunky tomato and basil.” Mini pizza-like in flavor.

“Mixed heirloom tomatos, rainbow microgreens, citrus vinaigrette.”

“Lamb sausage flatbread, Moroccan red sauce, asiago cheese.” Not so mini pizza!

“Grilled Local Sea Bass, Purple Potato Ravioli, Ginger Beur Blanc, Black Sea Salt.”

“King crab ravioli, veronique sauce.” I love these butter sauces on delicate pastas.

“Grilled bison hanger steak, yukon smashed potatoes, red wine sauce.”

“Slow Roasted Kurobuta Pork, Sticky Rice, Oregano and Citrus.” This was really tasty, with a sweet asian pork thing going on.

“Moroccan Roast Chicken, Plums, Olives, Capers, Couscous.” Lots of flavor here as well.

“lamb meatballs, ouzo and mint.”

“Pappardelle Pasta, Veal ragu, Fresh Basil, Asiago Cheese.”

Dessert menu.

“Valrhona Chocolate Chip Gelato.”

“Sticky Toffee Pudding, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.” This was good, not amazing, but good, particularly with the ice cream. I wanted even MORE toffee flavor, but I’m an extremist.

Overall Upstairs 2 is a good place, particularly in that it offers a lot of variety and really strong flavors. It’s particularly good with a part of 4 or 6 and people willing to just order up a storm and share it around. The good, extensive, and flexible wine options are great too. Also if you buy a wine downstairs, there’s no corkage.