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Seconds at Somni

Jul21

Restaurant: Somni [1, 2]

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

Date: June 7, 2018

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome

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

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

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

Somni is the “secret” prix fixe only room within the Bazaar, which replaces the previous secret room, Saam. The new one has a format more like é by José André as it’s 10 seats and fairly theatrical. There are two seatings, and a $235 dollar a person (includes tip) tasting menu. They do allow dietary restrictions with advance notice.

Tonight was my wife and her sister’s birthday dinner.

Somni has its own waiting tables out in the lobby before we move on to Somni proper. here they brought us an intro glass of Spanish wine (included).

The former Saam space has been opened up to the Bazaar kitchen, reformatted in lovely pale wood and with a semi-circular bar. It’s much more airy.

The whole kitchen is visible behind the bar. And there is a weird empty void space behind the guests.

The kitchen now merges into the Bazaar kitchen.

Homage to Spain?

Chef de Cuisine Zabala Aitor, hailing from Catalonia and Basque. He worked at El Bulli, Arzak, Aelarre, and ABaC!

The vessels are all exquisite.

The regular menu for tonight.

And the special vegetarian (+ fish) menu — they also did a gluten free version and even printed that one out (not pictured).

Hojita. A nitro frozen cocktail of rum. Delicious and strong.

The first of the middle level of wine pairings.

Almond shell. Looks like almonds, but you pop the whole thing in the mouth and eat it — soft, nutty, and amazing.

Apple floret, cheese & beet. One of these cheese, apple, beet salads served in sponge form.

Chicken skin and foie gras. Pretending to look like corn!

The vegetarian replacement for the foie: coco curry.

Idiazabal leaf.

Pan con tomate y jamon. Classic toast with tomato pulp and jamon. The toast itself may not have actually been toast.

Caviar & Truffle. Straight up briny goodness.

The vegetarian version was avocado hand.

The next pairing wine.

Spot prawn and that’s it. Pure succulent Santa Barbara spot prawn steamed or sous vide or something. Incredibly fresh and juicy. Sucked out the head!

The veggies got churro and mother mole.

Live scallop with burrata. A lovely and delicious dish. All soft textures.

The next wine.

Croissant (potato based) with a dipping soup.

Pigtail curry bun. You dip it in the curry sauce — incredible. This was an amazing dish.

Strawberry negroni — frozen and alcohol filled intermezzo “cocktail.”

Kohlrabi and snap peas.

The actual peas were inside. Quite lovely. I like the green on green.

The first red.

Fireflies with pil-pil. This is the pil-pil, i think, a web to catch:

These baby squid. Delicious when dipped in the sauce and very interesting.

White asparagus for the veggies.

Alubias y jamon. Sort of beans and ham — but spherized.

A fried something.

Turbot with mushroom tea. It had a BBQ flavor and a texture a bit like eel — very rich and soft.

Here is the “tea.”

More red.

Japanese A5 & bone marrow.

With the bone marrow sauce.

Eggplant substitutes for the veggies.

Nori empanada.

A nice Sauternes for dessert.

“Snowflake”. Under the sugary snowflake was ice cream, macha, and some kind of nut paste?

Black forest pizzelle.

Under the soft chocolate disc was the various black forest ingredients like cherry and Bavarian cream.

Matcha doughnut. Inside was gooey matcha custard that just exploded out! Amazing.

More desserts.

Mochi.

Merienda. A little white chocolate and nut paste sandwich.

This was my wife and her sister’s birthday and so out came the little birthday men.

Overall, the food was amazing at Somni. Much more advanced and “sophisticated” than the early Saam meals which were just Bazaar+. This is much more theatrical and formal, much more in the vein of E or minibar.

Service was excellent. First rate really and very attentive. Wine service was very slick too.

But things ran very smooth and FAST. A touch slower than the first time, maybe 2 hours, but too fast still! Yeah! It should have been 3. Maybe a few more courses. They do this, I assume, so they can comfortably get two seatings in and not be working super late. But it felt a bit rushed.

Because I knew it would be fast I just ordered the wine pairings. They were nice wines and quite interesting — probably didn’t add up that great a value by retail standards, but still a very tasty way to go. They were generous with repouring them during the course.

They said the first time that they change the food fairly rapidly, and roughly 40% did change, but it’s certainly not a total turn over in 3 months.

In our party of 3 we had 3 different meal variations (normal, pescatarian, and pescatarian gluten-free) and (with advance notice) they did a phenomenal job accommodating these with not only custom dish variations but 3 separate printed menus! We were also running late and out at the beach (in shorts) and so arrived in less than perfect dress — but they were totally cool with it (we had called in advance too, but I’m sure they would have been fine either way). Two people at our set came about an hour late. I highly recommend you DON’T do this as it messes up the experience but I could see the staff trying their absolute best to get them as many of the courses they had missed as possible.

The execution was very smooth. I’m surprised this isn’t more popular as they had an open spot or two and we were able to make the reservation a few days out.

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: birthday, Dessert, José Andrés, Somni, Spanish Cuisine, The Bazaar, Wine

Back to the Bazaar 2018

Jul06

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1 , 2 , 3 , 4, 5]

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

Date: May 26, 2018

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

I’m like a José Andrés groupie. I’ve been to every possible variant of his restaurants in LA, Vegas, and many in Washington. I’ve been here countless times, but today return with the Sauvages for a special Rioja lunch.No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. If you haven’t been, or haven’t been recently, you should.

I’ve been plenty of times where I don’t write it up, but this time we got the current tasting menu — which is by far the best deal and the way to go here — and I figured I’d do an up to date report.

From my cellar: 2008 Clos Erasmus Priorat Laurel. VM 92. Deep ruby. Seductively perfumed, with soil-inflected aromas of cherry, dark berries, smoke, spices and dried violet, along with a strong graphite quality. Velvety and tangy on entry, then ripe and sweet in the mid-palate, lending impressive energy to the almost medicinal cherry and singed plum flavors. Lively on the bright, very long back end, which features lingering floral and mineral attributes. Very pretty now but built for short- to mid-term aging, say another four to six years.

Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise. The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

Bagel and Lox Cone. The remainder of them are salmon roe with creme fraiche or cream cheese in the cone. Always a delightful little bite.

Spanish olives, traditional and modern. Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy (back). This is followed (on the right) by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

A newish take on the beet salad. Local Baby Beets. Smoked yogurt, pickled carrots, walnuts, avocado. This actually had a bit of heat (spice).

Pa’amb Tomaquet. Catalan style toasted bread, tomato. Jamon Iberico. Traditional Spanish ham.

Tuna Ceviche & Avocado Roll. Jicama, micro cilantro, coconut. Really nice bright flavors and interesting texture (soft and crunchy).

Tempura Squash Blossoms. Black olive, ricotta, fresh tomatillo sauce.

King Crab. Raspberries, raspberry vinaigrette. The crab and raspberry combo is something I haven’t come to complete terms with. Great crab though.

Not your everyday caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella. This is a near perfect deconstruction of the caprese. The mozzarella balls explode in your mouth, and pair great with the pesto and the little crunchy crackers.

Sautéed Shrimp. Garlic, tomato sofrito, guindilla pepper. There has been a sautéed shrimp on the menu since the start, but this newer version has more tomato. It’s great, but I probably prefer the more classic garlic/oil variant.

Grilled Spanish Octopus. Caramelized onions, chicken escabeche, cherry tomatoes.

Papas Canarias. Salty Wrinkled Potatoes, Mojo Verde and Mojo Rojo. The potatoes are very salty and you dip them in that slurry of parsley, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice. Really tasty. This has been on the menu since opening, but they recently changed the form favor (to have the potatoes on top of the sauce) and added the red sauce.

Croquetas De Pollo. Chicken-béchamel fritters. Classic! Super hot and gooey inside. Nice.

Seared Mary’s Farm Chicken. Honey dates, mustard caviar, mustard greens. In a way, this is like chicken with honey mustard sauce — but way better.

Catalan Spinach. Apple, pine nuts, raisins. Old dish, slightly new form factor.

I ordered this off the menu: 2011 La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri Rioja Reserva. VM 92. Bright violet color. Ripe cherry and blackberry on the highly perfumed nose, with a sexy floral nuance adding complexity. Fleshy and seamless on the palate, offering sweet red and dark berry flavors with hints of vanilla and smoky minerals. Closes smooth, sweet and very long, with excellent clarity and spicy persistence. Very suave wine with the balance to age but also with the upfront fruit to make it quite attractive now.

Coffee Rubbed American Wagyu Flat Iron. Passion fruit, pearl onions.

Wild Mushroom Rice. Idiazabal Cheese. A very nice cheesy risotto.

The deconstructed Philly cheese steak is one of my favorites. The “air bread” is super crispy with liquid cheddar. the beef is wagyu. On the right is The vegetarians got this “Hilly cheese steak” with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese. Last year, at a catered event at the SLS I ate over 20 of the cheesesteaks!!

Pan con Chocolate. Chocolate Flan with caramelized bread, olive oil, brioche ice cream. Great, just small.

Hot Chocolate Mousse. pear sorbet and salty hazelnut praline. Very soft texture but with crunch. Nice salty chocolate hazelnut flavor.

Traditional Spanish Flan. Vanilla and Citrus. I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint. Great citrus notes.

A few cookies.

I was at the Bazaar a few weeks earlier, and we ordered ala carte. Now the food was great both times, and very different things, but the tasting menu is such a better deal. Probably half the cost and we had way more — and more varied food. The problem is that if you order some of the super yummy “per piece” items by the person, it adds up really fast and you need a lot of the little bites — whereas the tasting menu includes basically all of the above for a single fixed (roughly $100) price.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bazaar, José Andrés, Molecular Gastronomy, Spanish Cuisine, The Bazaar, Wine

Sauvages Rioja at the Bazaar

Sep26

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1, 2, 3, 4]

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

Date: September 23, 2016

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

We have the entire inner dining room to ourselves with a giant table.

And LOTS of stems.

Flight 0:

1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia. 92 points. A lovely old Rioja Blanco. Lots of oxidative notes, but still plenty of life in this puppy.

From my cellar: 2011 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. 90 points. Fresh citrus…lemon, lime, grapefruit tinged w/floral notes. Razor sharp base minerality puncuated with clean even finish. Paired with steamed shrimp, oysters on the half. Bottle didn’t last long. Great wine for the summer!

Today’s special menu.

Flight 1:

1995 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia. 91 points. Great nose! Mature, complex, sweet. Lots of tannins and high acidity. Could use a few more years to improve. Very nice!

1999 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva. VM 92. Deep red. Blackberry, cherry and licorice on the nose, plus a strong note of smoky oak. Densely packed and very sweet on entry, then juicy and focused in the midpalate, with lush dark fruit liqueur and oak spice flavors firmed by a mineral spine. This still-youthful wine gains flesh and volume with air and finishes with silky tannins and resonating oakiness. Built for the long haul but should also show well now with enough aeration.

2001 Bodegas Valsacro Rioja Dioro. 90 points. vanilla, lots of oak at the start (this is a baby). plums and dark fruit dominate. minerality is well present in the mid. good finish. modern powerful wine – even with 2 hours in the glass it didnt move much. hard to judge it fully now – but the structure is there and so is the acidity and the fruit. With time this may develop into a beauty.

Organized Caesar. Egg Yolk Sauce, Parmesan. Little caesars rolled up in jicama. Taste pretty much like caesar salad. Not, perhaps, the ultimate Rioja pairing, but a nice dish.

Flight 2:

2004 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia. 91 points. Light ruby, tawny rim. Gorgeous scents of citrus peel and clove. Light to medium weight, just lovely sense of a complete, elegant package. Already complex with background vanilla, leather, tobacco, and a citric twist, gentle tannin. Beautifully balanced.

Tondonia is usually my favorite Rioja and we had 4 today (of different ages and levels and colors).

2004 Bodegas Muga Rioja. 91 points. Deep smoky cherry nose. Graphite, medium, dry, little spicy. Smooth. Paired great with spanish meal (paella). Enjoyable. Little prune on finish.

2005 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. 94 points. The 2005 Castillo de Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, a classic among classics, is back in top form with the excellent 2005 vintage. It’s produced from a blend of 89% Tempranillo and 11% Mazuelo (aka Carinena), a difficult grape that is in high esteem at the winery (they exceptionally produced a varietal Mazuelo in 2000 to celebrate their 150th anniversary) as they consider it adds acidity and aging potential to the blend and has been selected specifically to make part of the flagship wine’s blend. In 2005, the Tempranillo was harvested on September 30, the Mazuelo on October 3, and fermented separately in stainless steel vats. The Tempranillo ages in American oak barrels and the Mazuelo in French ones, both for a period of 30 months. The wine matures for a further two years in bottle before being released. It’s extremely backward and tight, showing very young, with a balanced nose between spice, tertiary and cherry fruit aromas. It’s a powerful, still young vintage, with plenty of glycerin, body, round tannins. An austere wine (is it the Mazuelo?), it is complex and ever-changing in the palate. It has a sense of harmony that only the best wines have. Very long and elegant. I loved its serious and austere overall feeling. 100,000 bottles produced. This is a true vin de garde which develops complex notes of violet and meat with time in the glass. This is a Gran Reserva greatly marked by the Mazuelo, which should give it great ability to age. At this quality level it represents very good value. Drink 2014-2030

Sauteed Shrimp. Garlic, tomato sofrito, guindilla pepper. A spicy gambas pil pil? A shrimp diablo? Either way, good and a bit spicy.

Flight 3:

2001 Artadi Rioja Grandes Añadas. VM 94+. Medium ruby. Penetrating aromas of blueberry, cassis and bitter chocolate. At once fat and firm, with strong acids giving shape and verve to the flavors of roasted blackberry, violet, espresso, nuts and baking spices. This has real power and thrust, not to mention inner-mouth perfume. Finishes with big but sweet tannins and terrific length. Like the Pagos Viejos, this is 100% tempranillo. This special bottling was previously offered only in 1994, 1998 and 1999.

2000 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 95. Deep red. High-pitched aromas of redcurrant, dried cherry, potpourri and spicecake. Silky in texture and alluringly spherical, offering seamless red fruit and floral pastille flavors and late notes of blood orange and Asian spices. Nothing heavy or fat here and yet this delivers the impact of a large-scaled wine. The finish is expansive and extremely persistent, leaving notes of rose and sweet red fruits behind. I find this to be drinking extremely well now but have no doubt that it will live a long life on its balance. (I also had the chance to re-taste the 1991 Unico and it is showing superb clarity and finesse, a seamless texture and suave red fruit and floral character. It is delicious now but holds excellent for further development in bottle.

2003 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único. VM 95. Inky ruby. Highly aromatic scents of ripe cherry and dark berries, singed plum, cured tobacco and succulent herbs, with a vanilla undertone. Sweet, expansive and powerful, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors with smoke and floral accents. Rich and full but surprisingly lively, with excellent finishing thrust and sweet, harmonious tannins adding grip. Shows the ripeness of the vintage to good effect; this is a somewhat approachable and exotic Unico, especially with some air, but it has the concentration to age slowly.

Jamon Iberico & Farm egg. Roasted Cipollinis, Tomato, Truffle butter, pan de cristal. Pretty much the consensus for the dish of the day. How can you go wrong with yummy egg and ham?

This is presumably the Pan de Cristal.

Flight 4:

More Tondonia! 1981 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia. 93 points. A lovely wine, drinking quite at peak. This had a classic Rioja nose, with cigarette smoke and tobacco aromas (somewhat reminiscent of Marlboro menthol lights) around a core of sweet cherry notes, then little drifts of dried herb and dried flowers and fragrant spice all playing against a backdrop of loamy earth – an absolutely beautiful bouquet. The palate had a stunningly youthful brilliance to it, with wonderfully bright, juicy acidity and the silkiest tannins hugging lovely flavours of bright cherries and wild berries. The wine may lack some of the depth that you will find in the Reserva or Gran Reserva, but there was such beautiful purity here. Bright, fresh, lively and absolutely joyous, I really enjoyed drinking this. A streak of metallic mineral and a little waft of cigarette ash and dried herb then stretched into a wonderfully fresh, lengthy finish. A beautifully elegant and graceful Rioja, this was drinking wonderfully on the night

1978 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. VM 93. Medium red with an amber rim. Highly complex bouquet of fresh and dried red fruits, cherry skin, pipe tobacco, smoky minerals, cigar box and potpourri. Sweet strawberry and cherry flavors stain the palate but are strikingly lithe. Cured tobacco and candied rose flavors emerge with aeration, and the fruit takes a darker turn toward cherry. The tannins have been completely absorbed, allowing the wine’s almost decadent sweetness to come through. Expensive, yes, but this would offer newly minted wine lovers an insight into the personality of aged wine from a great region and a very good vintage for the same price as many newly released Napa or Bordeaux wines.

1973 La Rioja Alta Rioja Reserva 904. 93 points.

From my cellar: 1970 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Cerro Anon Gran Reserva. Lots of fruit, but a touch corked.

Seared Wagyu Beef Cheeks. Black garlic, black olive. Rich meat, fabulous reduction.

From my cellar: 1973 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Gran Reserva. 91 points. Clearly shows evolution both color wise and on the nose/palate. A touch of oxidation, cedar, sweet strawberry and some oak. Elegant even if this is not totally focused. Clearly shows younger than its age. The oak is very well integrated. Very nice.

Sandeman Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Special Oloroso Sherry. Nice stuff, almost like a PX.

Quesos. Manchego “Pasamontes”, Murcia al Vino, and Valdeon.

The chef and co-poobah Kirk C.

This particular meal was great, mostly importantly for the company, the wines, and the service. The Bazaar staff did a bang up job with our private party and all the dishes we had were very good. But I do prefer the Bazaar in a format where one can taste 15-20+ things, not just 4-5. Plus, being a true glutton I could have eaten easily twice as much!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: José Andrés, rioja, Sauvages, The Bazaar, Wine

Bazaar Treats

Jun09

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: May 23, 2015

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

I’m like a José Andrés groupie. I’ve been to every possible variant of his restaurants in LA, Vegas, and many in Washington. I covered some introduction to The Bazaar in a previous review, but it’d been three years so I figured it was time for a third review.

The current dinner menu can be found here.

But we decided to do the $100 tasting menu (+ a few supplements for our less meat inclined diner). Back when the Bazaar opened the tasting menu was cheaper and smaller, but this one is pretty huge and a great deal as you get to taste nearly every classic on the menu.

There were 4 of us and the Bazaar’s food is so all over the places as far as pairings go, that I decided to open two Spanish wines simultaneously, a white and a red, and leave them both in front of everyone (two glasses).

From my cellar: 2011 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. 90 points. Fresh citrus…lemon, lime, grapefruit tinged w/floral notes. Razor sharp base minerality punctuated with clean even finish.

From my cellar: 1973 Bodegas Olarra Rioja Gran Reserva. 92 points. A touch of oxidation, cedar, sweet strawberry and some oak. Elegant even if this is not totally focused. Clearly shows younger than its age.
The oak is very well integrated. Very nice.

Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise. The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

Spanish olives, traditional and modern. Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy (back). This is followed (on the right) by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

A close up of the traditional, as you can’t see them that well in the first photo.

Bagel and Lox Cone. There is actually one in front that is tomato instead. The remainder of them are salmon roe with creme fraiche or cream cheese in the cone. Always a delightful little bite.

Baby beets, citrus, pistachio, goat cheese, pop rocks. A nice variant on what has become an LA classic. It actually crackles in your mouth.

Mushroom carpaccio, hazelnuts. A Saam dish that has moved over, a vinegary mushroom take on the thin sliced meat.

Pa’amb Tomaquet. Catalan style toasted bread, tomato.

Jamon Iberico. Traditional Spanish ham.

These two are combined into a yummy open faced sandwich.

Little Neck Clams. Market Pearl Onions, Cava Dressing. Very heavily marinated and quite lovely.

King Crab Can. Raspberries, Raspberry Vinegar. An unusual sweet and salty combination.

Not your everyday caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella. This is a near perfect deconstruction of the caprese. The mozzarella balls explode in your mouth, and pair great with the pesto and the little crunchy crackers.

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers. Capriola Farm goat cheese.

Market Fish Ceviche and Avocado Roll. Jicama, Micro Cilantro, Coconut Dressing. Sort of a catapiller version of the usual tuna/avocado tower.

Sauteed Shrimp. Garlic, Guindilla pepper. In Spain usually called Gambas pilpil. Basically shrimp boiled (fried?) in olive oil and garlic. These were very typical of what I must have had 30 times in southern Spain. The quality of the shrimp here was higher than is often the case at cheap places in Spain.

Sautéed cauliflower “couscous”. Cauliflower purée, harissa, lemon, crispy quinoa. A little bland.

Papas Canarias. Salty Wrinkled Potatoes, Mojo Verde. The potatoes are very salty and you dip them in that slurry of parsley, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice. Really tasty.

Ensaladilla Rusa. Potatoes, Carrots, Mayo, Tuna Belly. Like a high end tuna salad. Lots of mayo!

Grilled Spanish Octopus. Caramelized Onions, Chicken Escabeche, Tomatoes. Super tender, one of the best grilled octopus dishes I’ve had.

Croquetas de Pollo. Chicken and Béchamel Fritters. Super hot and gooey inside. Nice.

Catalan Spinach. Apple, pine nuts, raisons. Sweet.

Seared Wagyu Flank Steak. Piquillo Pepper Spheres. Meaty.
Loup de Mer. celery root puree, grapefruit, seabeans. Nice and crispy.

Braised Wagyu Beef Checks. Mojo Rojo, Roasted Potatoes. The meat here is so rich and soft you could cut it with your tongue.

Wild Mushroom Rice. Idiazabal Cheese. A very nice cheesy risotto.

The deconstructed Philly cheese steak is one of my favorites. The “air bread” is super crispy with liquid cheddar. the beef is wagyu. On the right is The vegetarians got this “Hilly cheese steak” with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese. Last year, at a catered event at the SLS I ate over 20 of the cheesesteaks!!

Traditional Spanish Flan. Vanilla and Citrus. I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint. Great citrus notes.

Pan con Chocolate. Chocolate Flan with caramelized bread, olive oil, brioche ice cream. Great, just small.

A sort of vanilla cream version, with some crunchy meringue.

A chocolate pistachio “cake.” These tartufo (not frozen) like balls were really quite something to look at, and tasted great too.

Passionfruit mango chocolate “cake.” Delicious.

No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. If you haven’t been, or haven’t been recently, I think the big ($100) set menu is a great way to go. There are a lot of dishes and it’s probably less than ordering them all ala carte.

I’ve also been to Saam, the fixed menu back room three times. Overall, I like the front room a tad better. Saam is great, particularly the first time you go, but they don’t change it up that often. Here in front you can really control what you get, and the prices are more reasonable and the atmosphere more playful.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: José Andrés, Spanish Food, The Bazaar

Truffles at Saam – I am

Nov24

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3, 4]

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

Date: November 20, 2014

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Truffley goodness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Truffle butter.

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

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

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

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

Nasturtium Canape. A flower stuffed with something.

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

Nori. Truffle blobs on crispy nori.

Rosemary springs, which feature in the next dish.

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

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

Vegetarian version in mushrooms.

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

With truffles of course.

And the no uni version.

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

Truffled up.

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

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

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

Look who showed up, Jose Andres!

Non alcoholic Passionfruit martini.

Black Bass. Freeze dried squid ink.

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

A vegetarian risotto.

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

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

Blonde on Blonde. Various butterscotchy stuff. Quite yummy.

Chestnut Honey Truffle. Haha. Get it?

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

A little chocolate bar as a “parting gift.”

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

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, José Andrés, Saam, The Bazaar, Truffle, White Truffles

Saam I am again

Jul23

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: June 7, 2012

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, but needs to mix it up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Parmesan Macaron.” Tastes like… parmesan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Banh Mi, vegetarian.”

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

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

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

“Waygu & Mushroom Escabeche.”

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

With a poured in broth.

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

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

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

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

Breath on a spoon.

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

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

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

“Birthday spun sugar.” Tastes… sweet.

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

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

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

For a previous Saam meal, click here.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bazaar, Ferran Adrià, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Molecular Gastronomy, Saam, The Bazaar

Back to the Bazaar

Jun22

Restaurant: The Bazaar [1, 2]

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

Date: May 7, 2012

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, one of LA’s best places.

I’m like a José Andrés groupie. I’ve been to every possible variant of his restaurants in LA, Vegas, and many in Washington. I covered some introduction to The Bazaar in a previous review, but it’d been almost two years so I figured it was time for another review.

The current dinner menu can be found here.

Grilled “tomato bread” with spanish Manchego cheese. A snack to start, and popular with my three year-old. Yes, he comes to meals like this. In fact, he’s been to at least four José Andrés restaurants, not to mention a couple Michelin two stars.

They have all sorts of interesting cocktails, but the signature one is the nitro caprina. Dry ice is used to freeze the rum and lime concoction down without added ice or water.

“LN2 Caipirinha. Brazilian cachaça, fresh lime and sugar frozen by using Liquid Nitrogen. Tableside service.” The result is above. It tastes like a sherbet, with a highly unusual smooth texture, but it’s intensely potent (in terms of proof). Goes down all too easy.

Then I pulled out this wine from my cellar (I’ve brought it here before). The 2007 Laurel. Yum. As I mentioned in my review of Calima this is a fantastic Spanish wine buy. Parker gives it 94 and says, “The 2007 Laurel, a blend of 65% Garnacha and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, is deep purple-colored with a bouquet of wet stone, Asian spices, black cherry compote, and incense. Dense and sweet on the palate with tons of spice, it is super-concentrated, rich, and smooth-textured. Give this lengthy effort 2-3 years of additional cellaring and drink it from 2013 to 2027. Laurel is produced from the young vines of Clos Erasmus as well as from the results of a triage in the vineyard and cellar of the flagship wine.”

Then we have “Spanish olives, traditional” (right). Classic olives with pimentos and anchovy. This is followed (on the left) by “Spanish olives, modern.” Pureed olive has been “sphereized.” The flavor is basically the same, but these pop in your mouth to deliver a concentrated burst of olive.

This first dish is “Sweet potato chips, yogurt, tamarind, star anise.” The crisp chips are used to scoop up the fluffy cool yogurt, which has a pleasing fruit tang.

“Smoked yellowtail and crispy rice. Yoghurt, grapes, capers, radish.”

I’m nuts over Jose’s Gazpacho. I’ve even made it from his recipe a number of times at home. The intense sherry vinegar vibe is awesome.

“Not your everyday caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella.” This is a near perfect deconstruction of the caprese. The mozzarella balls explode in your mouth, and pair great with the pesto and the little crunchy crackers.

“Sea urchin and mango spheres.” Interesting texture. Interesting flavor.

“Japanese taco. Grilled eel, shiso, cucumber, wasabi, chicharron.” These are really good. Some other people at the table wused out so I had to eat three of them. Poor me.

“Organized Caesar. Quail egg, Parmesan.” The classic salad… constructed.

“Sautéed cauliflower “couscous”. Cauliflower purée, harissa, lemon, crispy quinoa.”

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

“Sautéed shrimp garlic, guindilla pepper.” In Spain usually called Gambas pilpil. Basically shrimp boiled (fried?) in olive oil and garlic. These were very typical of what I must have had 30 times in southern Spain. The quality of the shrimp here was higher than is often the case at cheap places in Spain.

“Bunuelos, codfish fritters, honey aioli,” these are specular (but hot, right out of the fryer). The sauce gives them an almost Chinese flavor. Fried fish always works.

“Croquetas de pollo chicken béchamel fritter.” Awesome, I barely caught them before they disappeared. The inside is filled with fluffy béchamel. I love béchamel.

“Grilled Wagyu flank steak piquillo pepper confit.” This tastes like the melts in your mouth steak and peppers.

“Wild mushroom rice Idiazábal cheese.” Nice tangy mushroom risotto.

“Boneless Mary’s Farm chicken wings Spanish green olive purée.” These bits of hearty fried chicken are topped with a blue cheese sauce. They taste like wings, but go down so much easier.

My personal favorite along with the cheese steak, “Cotton candy fois lollypop.” The little cube of fois pairs with the sugar like a Sauternes. Oh so yummy.

The deconstructed “Philly cheese steak” (right) is one of my favorites. The bread is super crispy with liquid cheddar. the beef is wagyu. The vegetarians got “Hilly cheese steak” (left) with mushroom instead of beef. Same cheese.

You can see the cheese oozing out.

“Nitro coconut, floating island, passion-fruit, banana.” I don’t like bananas (had too many with half a bottle of whiskey in ’91), but the nitro island was delicious. Cold, refreshing coconut.

I’m a huge flan fan and this Spanish classic didn’t disappoint.

“Creamy Chocolate Heart. Coffee and cardamom.”

“Grapefruit and Olive Oil. Olive oil ice cream, mint and textures of grapefruit.” Really bright and fresh.

“Chocolate rice crispy.” There is a hint of peanut butter.

The passion-fruit “Pate des fruits” packed a wonderful wallop of fruit flavor. The others are clementine and berry.

No other restaurant in LA has the combination of ultra modern chic and whimsical playfulness that The Bazaar does — plus everything tastes great and you get to experience an great melange of flavors in one meal. One note, I ‘ve done The Bazaar’s “set menu” twice, and ordered myself four times. If you know what you are doing doing it yourself is the better way to go, particularly because they don’t mix up their set menu enough. However, if it’s your first visit, letting them handle serves as a fine introduction.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for a full swath of all my José Andrés restaurant reviews, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: California, Clos Erasmus, Grenache, José Andrés, La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, Olive, SLS, SLS Hotel, The Bazaar

Son of Saam – Actually more Bazaar

Feb12

Restaurant: Saam [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: February 10, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish influenced Molecular Gastronomy

Rating: Awesome, even better than The Bazaar.

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

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

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

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

The sherry.

Some of our fellows kicking off the evening.

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

Tonight’s menu. Click to embiggen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ink art. A tradition with me.

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

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

This is an amazing wine, deep grape.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carmel corn “boiled” in liquid nitrogen.

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

Mutant lamp in the room.

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

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

Video of one of us breathing the dragon.

“Birthday spun sugar.” Tastes… sweet.

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

“Crown of Sugar.”

The room itself.

The Bazaar is great, and Saam is even greater. The presentation is nicer, and it has more experimental dishes. I’d wish they’d go even wilder. This is exciting food with strong combinations of flavors and unexpected textures.

As I said earlier my only beef is with their agressive corkage policy. I know restaurants make a good share of profit on their wines, but I like to pick my own.

For a meal and The Bazaar proper, click here.

Or for other Foodie Club meals, click here.