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Brothers Sushi Two

May04

Location: 21418 Ventura Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. (818) 456-4509

Date: September 14, 2021

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi Kaiseki

Rating: Really wonderful modern style Kaiseki

This dinner is part of a “Sushi Series” (the others being here) in a vast array of epic Japanese sushi and/or Kaiseki dinners post lockdowns that all included myself, Erick, Joe and Bonnie — and often Larry, as is the case tonight. Herein we “endeavor” to visit or revisit most of the top sushi spots in LA.

Larry has been coming to Brothers for years, but in 2018 recently Chef Mark Okuda took over and totally transformed the place into one of the Valley’s — and LA in general’s — top omakase destinations. Larry took us on a foray a couple weeks ago, but we immediately set up a giant even longer one for more people a few weeks later (this meal).

But the inside is attractive and there is a large patio and this interior with an extensive sushi bar and a few tables.

1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. VM 94. The 1990 La Grande Dame is a shock to the palate after all the older wines in this tasting. Candied lemon, rosemary, dried flowers and spices are all super-expressive in the glass. The 1990 retain a good bit of brightness, especially for its age. The citrus flavors have still not moved into realm or more orangish tonalities, as is likely to happen over time. The 1990 can be enjoyed now and for the next 20 years or so. (Drink between 2015-2034)

From my cellar: 1996 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 97. Taittinger’s 1996 Comtes de Champagne is another highlight. The flavors are only now beginning to show elements of complexity, a great sign for aging. Gently spiced and buttery notes suggest the 1996 is about to enter the early part of its maturity, where it is likely to stay for another decade or so. (Drink between 2014-2026)

1995 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 95. Wonderfully subtle, complex aromas of white flowers, acacia honey, minerals, nuts and mushroom, with musky and leesy nuances. Oily, rich and smoky but with terrific verve and lift. Quite substantial and chewy for a young D.P. but not at all heavy. Yellow plum and strong soil tones in the middle and on the palate-staining finish. Offers a rare combination of richness and finesse. (Schieffelin & Somerset, New York, NY)

2009 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. BH 93. Subtle wood sets off aromas of flowers, oyster shell and tidal pool that complement perfectly the racy, pure and strikingly well-detailed medium plus weight flavors that brim with minerality on the delicious, mouth coating and impressively long finish. This beautifully vibrant and concentrated effort should drink well young and age well too plus it’s more classic in style than many wines from this vintage. (Drink starting 2016)

2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre. VM 92. Fruit-driven aromas of peach, apricot, pear and flowers. Then juicy and tight in the mouth, with strong citrussy acidity leavening the wine’s mid-palate sweetness. The long, peachy finish shows lovely finesse for this bottling.

2011 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. VM 96. An utterly mesmerizing wine, the 2011 Corton-Charlemagne conquers all of the senses with its grace and harmony. Lemon oil, white flowers, pears and crushed rocks are some of the many notes that are woven together in the glass. The 2011 is perfumed, sublime and drop-dead gorgeous from the very first taste. With time, though, the wine blossoms beautifully as it fills out its broad-shouldered frame with tons of style. (Drink starting 2018)

Marinated Jellyfish from Okinawa.

3 Week Dry Aged King Salmon, Marinated Tomato and Burgundy Truffle.

Smoke!

Smoked Dry Aged Amberjack Kanpachi.

Sautéed Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Ikura and Mango. Amazing texture difference with the crunchy shell and soft interior.

Sweet Corn Chawanmushi with Santa Barbara Uni and Japanese Watercress.

Japanese Milk Bread, Toro, Takuan, Sweet Onion, and Caviar.

Black Abalone with wasabi.

Risotto (with the abalone).

Monkfish Liver with a very sweet glaze.

Steamed Hairy Crab from Hokkaido.

Sweet and tangy sauce for the crab.

Fried River Crab (eaten whole).

Ginger.

Hokkaido scallop and shimiaji dry aged 1 week from Japan.

Japanese sea perch and golden eye snapper.

Otoro and chu toro from Spain.

Uni. Santa Barbara, Hokkaido, and Red Sea urchin from Japan

White shrimp from Japan and Wagyu.

Green tea cheesecake.

Tea.

Blue Cherry Gelato – a blend of Morello Cherry, intense Amarena Cherry, and Blueberry fruit make this dairy gelato really pop — topped with Candied Amarena Cherries — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #amarena #morello #cherry #blueberry

Burnt Basque Cheesecake Gelato — Milk steeped with Tahitian Vanilla Beans and Valencia Orange Peels and then blended with Cream-cheese and Egg Yolks, layered with house made “burnt” Caramel and topped with house-made Caramel Brittle, finished with the torch! — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #basque #cheesecake #caramel #brittle #orange

The wine lineup.

Some of the gang with Chef Mark in the mask.

I was really impressed by Brothers. Not only was the fish superlative and the dishes every inventive, but Mark has a really refined sense of balance to his flavors. Nothing was overly sweet, or overly salty, or overly tangy — but instead hovered in that lovely space where all of the flavors hang in proper harmony.

Bravo! I’d highly recommend Brothers as one of the best “modern style” Omakase places in the city.

This second (even bigger) dinner was just as good, if not even better, than the first visit. Really really great place. I’ve been back a couple times for lunch since but have been waiting (for six months since this dinner) for their long awaited Santa Monica branch to open!

For more LA dining reviews click here.
Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.
Or for more Sushi Series dinners, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brothers Sushi, BYOG, Champagne, Foodie Club, Gelato, Mark Okuda, Omakase, Sashimi, Sushi, Sushi Series, White Burgundy

Soko Sushi

Apr27

Restaurant: Soko

Location: 101 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (inside the Fairmont). 310-576-7777

Date: September 10, 2021

Cuisine: Sushi

Rating: Great for hotel sushi, but flavors a bit weird

Right in the middle of our 2021 “Sushi Series” (when we visited lots of great LA sushi places) Jeffrey kept egging us to try the new “micro sushi bar” inside the Fairmont Hotel — which he’d hit up a lot since it’s right between his work and home.

This is a tiny little spot inside the hotel with pretty much one employee. Maybe there was a server taking drink orders.

Hand ground wasabi.

1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. JG 98. I had not drunk a bottle of the 1996 Krug in several years, as I had deemed the wine still in climbing mode and I am not generally in the business of drinking Krug before its time. But, a friend recently opened a bottle and I was very impressed with how the wine is evolving in the bottle since its release. The bouquet is now starting to show some lovely secondary layering of complexity in its blend of apple, peach, a touch of sweet walnut, patissière, a refined base of minerality, caraway seed and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine flavors on the attack echo the nose nicely, with the wine’s full-bodied format sporting excellent depth at the core, still plenty of the vintage’s snappy acidity, great focus and grip and a very, very long and utterly refined finish. Though this remains quite racy structurally, I really like the point it has reached in terms of aromatic and flavor complexity and it is really not a crime to be opening bottles up at this point in its evolution, though it still has room to grow with further bottle age. A great, great vintage of Krug. (Drink between 2019-2060)

2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne P2. JG 98. Somehow, I never managed to cross paths with the initial disgorgement of the 2002 Dom Pérignon, so I was delighted to see the coming P2 version waiting in the wings in our tasting lineup in March at the Abbé d’Hautvillers. It would be fascinating to compare the P2 with the first release of the 2002 Dom Pérignon, in much the same way I tasted the two 1996 versions side by side, as this is a great Champagne vintage that dovetails so beautifully with the house style of this bottling. The 2002 P2 delivers a stunning young nose of pear, apple, stony minerality, iodine, dried flowers a touch of nuttiness, menthol and gentle upper register botanicals so emblematic of this cuvée as it starts to first stretch its wings. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and absolutely rock solid at the core, with lovely mousse, laser-like focus again and stunning backend mineral drive on the very, very long, perfectly balanced finish. The 2002 Dom Pérignon P2 looks to be almost unreachable by the passage of time and could easily last a century. (Drink between 2022-2095)

From my cellar: 2008 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles. JG 94. The 2008 Pucelles was very closed and reserved, but with great underlying elements that promise a profound glass of wine down the road. The superb nose offers up scents of lemon, orange, fresh pear, beautiful, chalky soil tones, vanillin oak and a pungent topnote of lemon blossoms. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and tightly-knit, with great mid-palate depth, superb focus and great length and grip on the zesty and reserved finish. This will be just a classic vintage of Leflaive Pucelles. (Drink between 2014-2040)

agavin: this bottle of mine was pretty advanced (so I opened the roulot), but it was marginally drinkable.

2007 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. BH 94. Initially this is still restrained but after only 10 minutes or so it becomes quite expressive with a nose that is airy, ripe, elegant and strikingly pure as it combines plenty of Chablis character that includes sea breeze, citrus and green fruit aromas that precede the delineated and equally pure flavors of stunning depth and intensity, all wrapped in a hugely long finish. Like the nose, the minerality seems subdued at first yet arrives in a real rush on the finale. A genuinely great wine that is a study in harmony and grace as well as one that should age effortlessly for many years. I have advanced the suggested drinking window by one year as this can already be drunk with pleasure even though it is still on the way up. In a word, stunning. (Drink starting 2013)

From my cellar: 2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir. VM 92. A statuesque Burgundy, the 2011 Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir is all class. Nothing in particular stands out, so impeccable is the wine’s balance. The depth and intensity of the fruit is apparent, but readers will have to give the 2011 at least another year or two before the elements start to truly come together. The 2011 is impressive for its depth and stuffing. (Drink starting 2014)

2007 Pierre Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 93+. Pale, bright yellow. Knockout nose combines underripe pineapple, crushed stone and a flinty nuance. Big, rich and voluminous, but with lovely penetration and purity to the pineapple and crushed stone flavors. Wonderfully sweet, tactile wine with outstanding density and breadth for the year. This very long, scented wine remained on my palate for minutes. From very old virused vines in a spot that’s protected from wind by walls on three sides, notes Morey. But the yield in 2007 was still a solid 45 hectoliters per hectare. Wonderfully powerful, youthful Meursault that should reward a decade of aging.

Yam cake, spinach, tofu sesame paste, carrots. Weirdly sweet.

Steamed monkfish liver.

Beans & tomatoes with sesame paste. The dressing was a bit oddly sweet.

Sashimi.

Sardine.

Kohada.

White salmon from Alaska and Barracuda.

Uni, Quail egg, Toro, Flying fish egg. Excellent.

Braided kohada.

Toro negi hand roll. Very good.

Keto roll. No rice. Really good, but not as acidic.

Sunomono with radish.

Taco (Octopus).

Tai and sardine.

Ikura uni roll. Best thing of the night.

Red roll (3 kinds of tuna). Very tasty.

House made tamago.

Special tamago and unagi.

The wine lineup.

While this was pretty good for hotel sushi and some of the dishes were great, the overall mix was a little weird. Most of the non nigri / non roll dishes were oddly sweet and desperately laking in acidity. Some not really pleasant at all because the cloying quality was just odd. But most of the rolls were great and the nigiri pretty good. However, the mix of nigiri was really peculiar as well. It was dominated by marinated “sardine-like” fishes. Now I actually like these quite a bit, but it was an odd balance and there was very little “whitefish” or “tuna” type nigiri.

Anyway, it was certainly a fun evening. Wines were great of course.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Fairmont Hotel, Foodie Club, Santa Monica, Sushi, Sushi Series, White Burgundy

Food as Art – The Brothers Sushi

Jan23

Restaurant: The Brothers Sushi [1, 2]

Location: 21418 Ventura Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. (818) 456-4509

Date: August 13, 2021

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi Kaiseki

Rating: Really wonderful modern style Kaiseki

This dinner is the third in (the others being here) in a vast series of epic Japanese sushi and/or Kaiseki dinners post lockdowns that all included myself, Erick, Joe and Bonnie — and often Larry, as is the case tonight. Herein we “endeavor” to visit or revisit most of the top sushi spots in LA.

Larry has been coming to Brothers for years, but in 2018 recently Chef Mark Okuda took over and totally transformed the place into one of the Valley’s — and LA in general’s — top omakase destinations. Larry took us on this particular foray for a “regular” jumbo omakase, but we immediately set up a giant even longer one for more people a few weeks later.

The outside shows off this ugly 1940s or 50s valley building.

But the inside is attractive and there is a large patio and this interior with an extensive sushi bar and a few tables.

On the right is Chef Mark.

2002 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. 96 points. The 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart is outrageously beautiful. The ripeness of the Chardonnay is front and center in a Champagne that delivers the goods, big-time. An infusion of apricot, orange peel, crème brûlée, chamomile, hazelnut and honey give the 2002 its racy, exotic personality. I enjoy it most with bottle age, but the 2002 is undeniably beautiful right now. The 2002 is a stunning NFB. The blend is 60% Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne and 40% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs, done partially in oak (20%). Dosage is 4 grams per liter. (Drink between 2020-2030)

2011 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre. VM 90+. Good bright yellow. Deeply pitched aromas of ripe peach, pineapple, hazelnut, smoke and vanilla, plus a hint of orange blossom (Lafon used no new oak for this wine). Then firmer and less round on the palate than the basic village wine, with an edge of acidity giving the finish a leaner, slightly boney impression. This needs at least a couple years of cellaring.

2015 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons. VM 90. Pale, bright yellow. Very ripe but slightly muted aromas of citrus fruits, white pepper, honey and oatmeal. Quite concentrated but comes across as a bit youthfully aggressive and dry following the set of 2016s here, offering flavors of grapefruit, lemon drop and minerals. Offers noteworthy inner-mouth tension and dusty minerality but this citrussy premier cru will need time to harmonize in bottle. Didier Séguier bottled the 2015 crus in December of 2016 and January of this year. (A second bottle of similar quality was a bit sweeter and more pliant in the middle palate.) (Drink between 2019-2025)

From my cellar: 1996 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. 93 points. Dark yellow, straw. Honey, toasted grain, flowers, straw nose. Lemony acidity, some caramel, baked apples, rich texture. A singular and beautiful bottle.

Seaweed, cucumber, jellyfish. Bright vinegar flavors.

Sweet Corn Chawanmushi.

Smoked Amberjack (dry aged 10 day).

Hudson Valley Foie Gras (Jeff Bovon), ikura, takuan, rice crisp “sandwich”

The outside is a crispy rice disk and the inside was fantastic.

3 weeks dry aged salmon. Summer truffle, pickled tomato, arugula. Very balanced.

Tuna. River crab. Caviar. Tuna is almost sweet.

Abalone from Japan. Tender. Wasabi. Truffle.

Monkfish liver marinated with mirin and brown sugar. Seared. Super tender and sweet.

Soft shell crab miso sauce.

Ginger.

Kohada gizzard shad.

East coast 1 week dry aged snapper.

Seafood chowder.

Washington jumbo clam.

Sweet shrimp.

Shrimp heads return fried.

Spanish toro.

Japanese sea perch.

Toro, uni (stored in sea water and steamed), shiso, takuan hand roll.

White shrimp shiro ebo Japan.

A5 Miyazaki nigri, seared.

Japanese green onion. Never had this nigri before!

Miyagi uni (not from either Hokaido or Santa Barbara).

Golden eye snapper.

Green tea cheesecake.

Tonight’s wines.

The fish locker.

The knives did in this tired staff member.

Bravo!

We immediately setup another even bigger omakase for just a couple weeks later!

For more LA dining reviews click here.
Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.
Or for more Sushi Series dinners, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brothers Sushi, Champage, Foodie Club, Kaiseki, Mark Okuda, Omakase, Sashimi, Sushi, Sushi Series, White Burgundy, woodland hills

Go Go Gozen

Jan19

Restaurant: Gozen Sake Bistro

Location: 521 N La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048. (213) 308-9393

Date: July 30, 2021

Cuisine: Japanese Kaiseki

Rating: Very good, but not mind blowing

This dinner is arguably the second in (the first being here) in a vast series of epic Japanese sushi and/or Kaiseki dinners post lockdowns that all included myself, Erick, Joe and Bonnie — and often Larry, as is the case tonight. Herein we “endeavor” to visit or revisit most of the top sushi spots in LA.

Gozen bistro.

A cozy looking spot for being right on La Cienega.

Fairly large and stylish interior.

We had a private room with a cool dragon decor.

The menu — lots of options.

Larry brought: NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé Edition 21eme. JG 95+. The Krug Brut Rosé “21ème Édition” is from the beautiful base year of 2008, with the oldest reserve wine in the blend going back to 2000. The wine was disgorged in the spring of 2015 and is a blend of fifty-one percent pinot noir, forty-one percent chardonnay and eight percent pinot meunier. Ten percent of the pinot noir in the blend is still red wine from Krug’s own parcels of vines in the village of Aÿ. The blend is a slight departure from many releases of Krug Rosé, as hail in the village of Ste. Ghemme in 2008 dramatically cut back the quality of pinot meunier from this vintage, so that Chef de Caves Eric Lebel opted to use all reserve wines for the pinot meunier portion of the blend. The very complex wine offers up the characteristically refined and gently exotic bouquet that this cuvée is cherished for, wafting from the glass in a blend of cherries, a touch of pomegranate, orange peel, beautiful, savory spice elements, rye bread, a complex base of soil tones , dried rose petals and incipient smokiness. On the palate the wine is full, complex and still quite youthful in terms of structure, with vibrant acids, a lovely core, elegant mousse and a very long, perfectly balanced and seamless finish. This is already beautifully complex, but I would love to revisit it five to ten years down the road and see what the passage of time does to this beautiful constellation of aromas and flavors. (Drink between 2018-2050)

5 Good Things.

Marinated fish and onions.

Taco (octopus).

Monkfish Liver with Caviar.

Seaweed salad.

Steamed sesame tofu with uni.

Marinated tomato.

Dashi-maki Tamago (Japanese egg omelet) with Mountain Vegetables.

Salmon roe in a lemon.

Young Peach with Wine Jelly. Sure looks pretty.

2007 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 94+. Bright, pale yellow. Rich aromas of stone fruits, yellow currant, lees and iodine, plus a complicating whiff of rye bread. Dense and powerful but not at all heavy. Quite youthfully closed but aeration brings up captivating inner-mouth floral character and penetrating talc-y minerality. Wonderfully precise, classy Batard with uncommon complexity.

2007 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 96. Given the almost extreme reticence of the Bâtard, I was moderately surprised to see how wonderfully expressive this positively brilliant wine is already. The nose is simply stunning with a supremely elegant and kaleidoscopic range of spice, floral, citrus, stone and pain grillé notes that is the perfect complement to the racy, detailed and equally complex middle weight flavors brimming with the underlying minerality advertised by the nose, all wrapped in a driving, delineated and explosive finish. As good as the Ramonet Chevalier is, in the 10 vintages that it has been made, I can’t think of one where it’s the equal of the Montrachet. However, 2007 just might be that vintage. (Drink starting 2015)

From my cellar: 2008 Domaine Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 94. Soft if not invisible wood sets off strikingly pretty and solidly complex honeysuckle, white peach and spiced pear aromas that give way to intense, delicious and equally complex middle weight flavors that possess ample concentration and outstanding balance and length on the palate staining finish. This is really classy juice and quite stylish as well. (Drink starting 2016)

Sashimi “plate”.

Chawanmushi Steamed Egg Custard with Japanese Sea Urchin.

Softshell Crab Tempura.

Three kinds of nigiri sushi. Toro on the left.

Uni, Ikura, and rice.

2001 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Richebourg. BH 94. While this has certainly matured since I first saw it from bottle in 2004, the original note still largely captures the wine with its deep, complex and spicy old vine aromas that are slightly floral in character. This brilliant introduction is followed by wonderfully harmonious and quite powerful middle weight flavors that are beautifully delineated and perfectly balanced while delivering superb length. In sum, this ultra-pure effort offers reference standard quality with more refinement than young Richebourg usually displays – plus it’s approaching readiness for prime time and could easily be enjoyed now though for my taste another 3 to 5 years would serve it well. Tasted twice in the last few months. (Drink starting 2015)

A smoked dish.

Roast Duck with Mashed Potatoes.

Raspberry Granita.

Red miso soup.

The grilled meat dish.

Yogan-Yaki A5 Japanese Kobe Beef.

Condiments for the beef.

Kamameshi (Japanese seasoned rice in a small pot) with Tuffles.

We had several bowls each (I love good fried rice).

Black sesame ice cream. Looks almost like a B&W photo!

Matcha Tiramisu. Delicious.

Our wines for the night.

Gozen was quite good. It’s tonally very Japanese and quite reserved. I probably prefer a slightly flashier style. Not all the way to Nobu style mind you, that’s too disconnected from the Japanese sense of balance, but maybe I like a touch more acidity and punch. And Gozen is expensive (as all top kaiseki and sushi places are). It does give you a lot of variety in flavors, ingredients, and style, but not very much actual nigiri (which I do love).

The wines were really singing too, particularly the Ramonets. Overall, a great evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.
Or for more Sushi Series dinners, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Foodie Club, Gozen, Japanese cuisine, Sashimi, Sushi, Sushi Series, White Burgundy

Power Providence

Oct15

Restaurant: Providence [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 460-4170

Date: June 15, 2021

Cuisine: Cal French

Rating: Best meal I’ve had at Providence

I usually make it to Providence about once a year, and so we return with the Foodie Club for a small, epic main dining room. After a long time off (for the pandemic) the core gang of myself, Erick, and Fred met up, joined by Michael Z wanted to really up the game and we focused on the awesome white Burgundy wines from d’Auvenay and Coche-Dury.

The space used to be Patina in the 90s.

While the colors are different, Providence still looks a lot like Patina to me — as the layout is basically the same.

This is the view from the chef’s special tasting room — adjacent to the kitchen in it’s own little nook.

Our special menu tonight.

One of the few places in town that still has elegant table wares.

2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. BH 95. Very Puligny in style with discreet white flower, pear and apple aromas with flavors that are so powerful that the palate experiences them in waves as they roll from the mid-palate to a thundering, top grand cru finish. Yet this is by no means monolithic as there is detail and subtle gradations of wet rocks, minerals, earth and an indefinable crystalline essence. I literally had to pause for a minute due to palate fatigue as this both stains and saturates the palate yet it remains perfectly balanced. For a premier cru, this is a veritable tour de force! A brilliant wine. (Drink between 2008-2020)

2000 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. BH 93. This has now peaked and is drinking beautifully with a fully mature nose of honeysuckle, peach, apricot and very subtle spice notes that can also be found on the enveloping flavors that possess a wonderfully seductive mouth feel and ample dry extract that both completely buffers the still firm acid spine and coats the palate on the long, lingering and strikingly perfumed if ever-so-slightly warm finish. One character that Coche seems to consistently be able to achieve is how his wines are at once generous yet retain a fine sense of focus and precision and this wine certainly displays this. Lovely stuff that is perfect now. Tasted thrice with consistent notes. (Drink starting 2016)

1999 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault Les Narvaux. VM 92. At nearly twenty years of age the 1999 Meursault Les Narvaux is just starting to enter its early plateau of maturity now! Exuberant and powerful, the 1999 possesses off the charts intensity and a level of pure class that is far beyond the realm of most village crus. Time in bottle has started to bring out slightly tropical overtones that add complexity to the yellow orchard fruit character. Readers lucky enough to own it can look forward to another 20 years of exceptional drinking. (Drink between 2018-2038)

2005 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. VM 96. The 2005 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er Cru has a multidimensional bouquet that delivers intense honeycomb and brioche intertwined through the mineral-rich citrus fruit. The palate displays a perfect line of acidity, a brilliantly poised and tensile Folatières from Lalou Bize-Leroy that unlike the 1999 just builds and builds towards a focused and electrifying finish that shimmers with energy. Frankly, I cannot think of many Puligny Premier Crus that have surpassed this astonishing wine. 897 bottles produced. Tasted at Carré des Feuillants restaurant in Paris. (Drink between 2018-2038)

From my cellar: 2009 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault Les Narvaux. 95 points. Rich quince, citrus, popcorn, crème brûlée, and minerals galore backed by abundant acidity. Fantastic wine, and will last a long time.

An amuse of crisp with seafood.

And amuse of toro tartare.

A third amuse of shellfish “tart”.

The final amuse of scallop with contrasting fruit.

With a bit of sauce. Super zingy and delicious.

Bald Point Oyster. Gently warmed, with golden kaluga caviar.

Tai Sashimi. Seville sour orange, rosemary, ogo.

Uni Egg. Sea urchin, champagne beurre blanc, brioche croutons.
Maine Lobster. Favas, daikon, ramps.

Special bread.

And French butter with salt.

Farfalle. Box and dungeness crab, uni, geoduck, basil. Amazing flavors with a strong Thai basil character.

Black Cod. Black truffle, dutch white and green asparagus.

Australian Black Winter Truffle. Porcini Cannelloni.

Australian Black Winter Truffle.

All put together it was spectacular.

A5 Wagyu. Potato, morel, watercress, bordelaise.

Fried Wagyu lump, amazing.

Rhubarb, citrus, almond.
With sauce and very refreshing.

House-made Hawaiian Chocolate. Chocolate gelato, whiskey.

Sauce for the chocolate.

Tea.

Petite Fours. I love some good fancy candies.

This was by far the best main dining room and probably the best Providence meal I’ve ever had. They had just recently reopened post-lockdown and had clearly spent the time well retooling the menu. Service was exceptional as well which was very nice, particularly in contrast with so many “middle end” places that are short staffed right now.

There was a little take home goodie too, but I forgot to photo it.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Burgundy, coche, Coche Dury, d'Auvenay, Foodie Club, Providence, Seafood, White Burgundy, Wine

Yasu a Year Yater

Sep24

Restaurant: Yasu [1, 2]

Location: 265 S Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (424) 355-0257

Date: May 27, 2021

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Awesome ingredients and technique. One of the best sushi places we’ve found in a while

Back right before lockdown Foodie Club co-founder Erick and I — along with last minute addition Jeffrey — hit up Yasu, a then new sushi bar.

We had a great time and meal and so eagerly decided to return once it was viable again. And with dinner we begin a new dinner series, one I’ve nicknamed Sushi Series, that explores some of the best sushi and kaiseki places in LA.
This photo shows our 2020 visit, but in early summer 2021 no one was allowed to sit at the sushi bar and so we were seated at a table instead (to the left, against the wall).

The restaurant “raison d’etre.”

Paul brought: 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. JG 98. I had not drunk a bottle of the 1996 Krug in several years, as I had deemed the wine still in climbing mode and I am not generally in the business of drinking Krug before its time. But, a friend recently opened a bottle and I was very impressed with how the wine is evolving in the bottle since its release. The bouquet is now starting to show some lovely secondary layering of complexity in its blend of apple, peach, a touch of sweet walnut, patissière, a refined base of minerality, caraway seed and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine flavors on the attack echo the nose nicely, with the wine’s full-bodied format sporting excellent depth at the core, still plenty of the vintage’s snappy acidity, great focus and grip and a very, very long and utterly refined finish. Though this remains quite racy structurally, I really like the point it has reached in terms of aromatic and flavor complexity and it is really not a crime to be opening bottles up at this point in its evolution, though it still has room to grow with further bottle age. A great, great vintage of Krug. (Drink between 2019-2060)

2001 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 95. Incredibly beautiful and elegant aromas of white flower and citrus softly introduce steely, gorgeously pure and delineated medium full flavors that seem as though they’re chiseled directly from solid rock. This is much more mineral driven than the typical Bâtard, and blind I would have mistaken it for a classically styled Chevalier. There is plenty of punch and racy supporting acidity plus simply knockout length. Of all these impressive attributes though, it’s the stunning purity and overall harmony of expression that make this one of the wines of the vintage. Interestingly, this is not a dramatic wine in terms of sheer size and weight but the focus and sneaky length make this a wine that is impossible not to be struck by its intensity. In short, this is one of the best examples of young Bâtard that I have ever had and one that will age for at least a decade. Don’t miss it! (Drink starting 2009)

From my cellar: 2016 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Clos des Bouchères. VM 92. (Roulot picked these hillside vines on the first day of his harvest; aged in one-third new, one-third once-used and one-third twice-used barrels): Bright, light yellow. Inviting musky aromas of yellow peach and hazelnut. Intensely flavored and sweet, with harmonious acidity energizing the flavors of lemon, orange oil and spices. Finishes suave, savory and aromatic, with surprising energy. The Charmes possesses more grip but this wine is more charming today. A very good choice of harvest date here! The first vintage for this wine was 2011, and since 2015 the estate has begun to reap the benefits of the work it has done in these vines, which were planted in the 1950s, the 1980s and around 2000, according to Eric Baudin. (Drink between 2021-2029)

2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 96. Lafon’s 2010 Meursault Perrières 1er Cru is simply breathtaking, the sort of wine we all dream of when we put a few bottles away in the cellar. I bought the 2010s on release in Burgundy and have tasted them together only once since then, when a friend opened the Goutte d’Or, Charmes, Perrières and Genevrières about five years ago. The wines were spectacular on that night. The 2010 Charmes was fabulous last fall, so I had high hopes. Upon first opening, the 2010 is very tight. The color is perfect, though. Two thousand ten is a vintage with lower-than-average yields, but relatively high levels of both ripeness and acidity. There is obviously a lot of wine here. I have never been a huge fan of decanting reds, except to remove sediment, but as I have gotten older, my preference is to nearly always decant whites. Time in the decanter releases a whole range of Perrières signatures – lemon confit, orchard fruit, mint, white pepper, flowers and a hint of reduction – all gently softened by the slow passage of time. More than anything else, though, I love the wine’s energy and tension. This is classic Perrières. There were a lot of wines on the table, so we did not finish the 2010. I poured the rest of the wine back in the bottle and tasted it the next day. There was no degradation at all of color, while the wine itself was even better. More aromatic, more vibrant, more finely cut and more Perrières. This is why we buy and cellar wines…for moments like these. Readers who own well-stored bottles of the 2010 are in for a spectacular drinking experience. I can’t wait to taste the 2010 again in another few years’ time. Bravo! (Drink between 2020-2030)

2010 Domaine Jacques Prieur Montrachet. BH 94-96. This is ever-so-slightly riper than the Chevalier and a bit more aromatically complex as well if not more elegant. There is outstanding richness, volume, muscle and unconcealed power to the large-scaled heavy-weight flavors that somehow manage to avoid any sense of undue ponderousness before culminating in a massively long finish that is almost chewy and tannic. This will require plenty of bottle age but it should be great in time. (Drink starting 2022)

From my cellar: 2009 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. BH 94. A much more reserved nose of fresh, cool and restrained green fruit, sea breeze and wet stone aromas precedes detailed, minerally and impeccably well-balanced and gorgeously persistent flavors that are Zen-like in their sense of harmony. There is a real sense of energy and flat out terrific length. (Drink starting 2016)

Sashimi. “Spanish” Mackerel (from Japan), Hokkaido Scallop and Uni, Snow Crab.

Because we were at the table, we received our sushi in pairs (two types) each, which isn’t bad for sushi at the table — although at the bar is always preferable for that minimum time form hand clap to mouth.

Shima Aji.

Goldeneye snapper. A touch of char.

Pair 2.

Firefly squid with a touch of miso paste.

Baby sea bream.

Pair 3.

Japanese Taco (octopus).

Skipjack, seared.

Pair 4.

Hokkaido Uni.

Sea perch.

Red miso with fish bone dashi.

A trio of tuna, all from the same fish.

Lean part of the tuna from near the backbone.

chu toro.

o toro!

Another pair.

Baby aiyu.

River trout (fresh water).

Toro and Ikura.

Anago Japanese Sea Eel and Tamago with fish dashi.

Another pair.

Hokkaido Scallop.

Amberjack.

Seared otoro with uni.

Final pair.

Aji (horse mackerel).

striped jack.

Yuzu sorbetto. Very refreshing, with that slightly icy Japanese sorbetto texture.

Overall, this was some absolutely first rate sushi. I’d call it modern traditional in style. It’s not “newfangled” at all with ponzu or very many toppings. Instead it showcases first rate seafood from all around the world, each treated delicately but with great respect in a way that really brings out the flavors. This is my favorite type of sushi as it’s very Japanese and extremely “pure” in its expression of the seafood. Besides the awesome eats, the service was really really nice and friendly. The chef was very chatty and our young (to me) server was fabulous as well. Of course our Champ and Burgundy went great too. We will try to go back, although there is a rumor that he doesn’t want outside wine anymore — which will of course knock this out of our rotation.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for more Sushi Series dinners, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Foodie Club, Sushi Series, White Burgundy, Wine, Yasu

Dirty Dozen Crustacean

Jul07

Restaurant: Crustacean Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

Location: 468 N Bedford Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 205-8990

Date: Spring 2021

Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion

Rating: Return after long hiatus

Two times in rapid sequence to Crustacean, as it’s both fabulous and features a great patio in these “outside is better” days. Tonight’s meal was Dirty Dozen, our blind wine group within a wine group.

We’ve had a couple awesome meals here in the last couple of years.

For extra caution in these uncertain times we ate on one of their fabulous patios.

Our special menu.

From my cellar: 2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut. VM 97. The 2007 Comtes de Champagne Rosé is a total knock-out. Racy and exuberant in the glass, the 2007 wraps around the palate with stunning textural depth and resonance. The 15% still Pinot adds structure and persistence to a creamy, inviting Rosé Champagne that will leave readers weak at the knees. Hints of rose petal, dried cherry, cinnamon and dried flowers meld into the sublime finish. This is about as good as it gets. Wow! (Drink between 2018-2038) PN 94. Really lovely mineral dried orange peel, freeze dried raspberry and strawberry, fullish body, perfect balance, good acidity, pure, long. Great stuff. DD at Crustacean.

2014 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne. VM 93+. Highly nuanced nose combines white peach, ginger, medicinal herbs, juniper, oyster shell and white pepper. Wonderfully smooth and fine-grained, with citronella and spice flavors spreading out to saturate the palate without leaving any impression of weight. Finishes complex, classically dry and long, with a repeating spice character. A very classy Corton-Charlemagne. (Drink between 2021-2030). PR 92. White flowers ripe peach, med. + body, balanced, concentrated, youthful, long with w tingly finish. Really excellent, a bit understated at first, but on 2nd tasting about 1 hour later it didn’t stand up as well to the other great Burgs. DD at Crustacean.

2016 Domaine de la Vougeraie Charlemagne. 93 PN. Tons of redux initially, tingly, rocky minerality, good extract, limey citrus, clean cut and precise. very nice, with a lean mouthfeel. DD at Crustacean.

King Crab Spoon. Uni Aioli, Meyer Lemon. a tasty little bite.

2015 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. PN 92. This was really good but compared to the other top Burgs it ranked in the middle. The 2015 showed its ripeness, with white peach, some redux on the palate, round-ish, fuller, touch of vanilla oak, soft entry, touch of oak in the finish but with excellent vibrancy. Riper, fuller than the other top wines. DD at Crustacean.

2017 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. Corked.

Salt & Pepper Calamari. Charred scallion, sweet red chili, Thai basil, Aioli. A tiny bit hot for the wine, but tasty.

Caviar Potato Tot. Royal Keluga, red tobiko, yuzu, creme fraiche. Fanciest tater tot you’re likely to encounter!

2008 Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Blanc. PN 93. A bit darker but just slightly; a picked up soy, herbs, peach pit, really interesting notes along with a hint of caramel and apricot pit/botrytis; slight sweet attack, lots of character, thought this was a 2004 or 2006 with the color. DD at Crustacean.

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. PN 93. This was also really good out of a stellar line up; Green color! lots of redux, but a mature kind of aspect with mint cilantro, bright, youthful. Well-balanced and very tasty. Guessed 2014. DD at Crustacean.

New Zealand Green Lip Mussels. Asian pesto, garlic crostini.

Truffle chicken pan seared dumplings. Chili oil. Ponzu. The dumplings were seared into one giant block!

2002 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. PN 91. Nothing wrong with this but darker slightly nutty, aging ok, but slight bitter nutty aspect, could be fresher but is a 2002 after all. DD at Crustacean. One of the least favs of the lineup that was fault free. DD at Crustacean.

2002 Coche-Dury Meursault. PN 94. Insanely good, redux but complex and felt aged but fresh and lively at the same time; great fruit, tangy long, soft entry and a super long massive finish. Great dept and concentration. Unbelievable village level from Coche. Guessed 2005. Wine of the night with stellar GC Burgs with DD at Crustacean.

Winner!

Karante Salad. Kohlrabi, black truffle, crispy Kennebec Potato, garlic blossom.

2007 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières. PN 93. Really fresh, young, youthfull tasting, lime/lemon notes with a touch of oak; very nice clean pure, bright. Can’t believe it’s 2007. DD at Crustacean.

From my cellar: 2007 Louis Carillon Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Old, dark and oxydized. Quite a shame since the ’07 Perrieres way out-performed this GC. DD at Crustacean.

agavin: sadly, an advanced bottle 🙁

2017 Domaine Michel Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet. PN 94. Up on par with the Coche, this showed bright, fresh herbs, good volume, depth, dry chalky extract, quite amazing. Wine #2 WOTN after the Coche. DD at Crustacean.

Sake Poached Whole Lobster. Caviar, red tobiko, Santa Barbara Sea Urchin & Meyer Lemon Reduction.

An’s Famous Garlic Noodles. Roasted Garlic & An’s Secret Sauce.

2014 Domaine Henri Boillot Bâtard-Montrachet. PN 92. Light green, lemon drop candy,fresh, crisp, tight, almost chablis like. very good just less complex than the competition. Needs a couple more years too. 92-93. DD at Crustacean.

2013 Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Blanchots Dessus. PN 93. Another stellar wine in the lineup. Hints of white pepper of all things, with lemon squeeze, juicy tasty, concentrated, med. body. 3 of the night. DD at Crustacean.

Truffle Dory en Papillote. Steamed Dory, Black summer truffles, leeks, napa cabbage, ginger. Surprisingly, this dish was “DOTN” (dish of the night). The fish was perfectly tender and had a lovely umami/ginger taste.

An’s Famous Garlic Rice. Steamed Jasmine rice, wok steeped garlic, hidden spices. Hidden spices must be sugar I’d guess. Basically white rice with a bit of a garlic flavor.

2015 Château Rieussec. VM 94. The 2015 Rieussec has a fragrant and quite floral bouquet, scents of yellow flower and earthy aromas filtering through the honeyed fruit. The palate is well balanced with a tang of marmalade and quince on the entry. This is pure and creamy in texture with shades of coconut and crème brûlée toward the punter, friendly finish. Lovely. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. (Drink between 2021-2042)

Kona Kona Gelato — Egg based Macadamia Nut base with chopped Mac Nuts swirled with house-made Coffee Caramel Valrhona Chocolate Ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato but plated at @crustaceanbh in #BeverlyHills — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #MacadamiaNut #coffee #Valrhona #Chocolate

The wine lineup.

My notes. By a slight margin Jeffrey snuck across the finish line with the Coche.

The gang (minus the photographer).

Overall, this was a kingly evening. Boy did the Ans treat us right and we had an incredible menu, amazing service, and great wines. Tonight’s particularly menu, while filled with tasty dishes, was a bit undersized (certain parties were probably watching costs). We had to ask for seconds on a bunch of items like the noodles and the fish as there was one of those little bowls of noodles for 6 people (by default)! And I would have liked the XO fried rice instead of the “plain” rice. But the quality was fabulous.

Discussing the food analytically. Very good, and most dishes varied from good to great. The Vietnamese influence is far more subtle, less heavy handed, then at most newer fusion places like Little Sister / LXSO or the more contemporary small plates style Khong Ten. Definitely more roughly 2000 in formal fine dining style — which I don’t mind at all. In some ways it feels like a millennium event fine dining place with Vietnamese — and to a lesser extent Thai and Chinese — notes. It’s a pretty fancy place, and priced accordingly — but they do knock it out of the park.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: An Family, blind tasting, BYOG, Dirty Dozen, Gelato, hedonists, Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese Fusion, White Burgundy, Wine

Vespertine does Alinea

Dec18

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

Location: 3599 Hayden Ave, Culver City, CA 90232. (323) 320-4023

Date: November 11, 2020

Cuisine: Jordan gets back to his roots

Rating: Top flight takeout

Boy it’s been a long time since I made a food post. Sigh, quarantine life. I still haven’t been in a restaurant since March 11, 2020. Total record for my life as I’m sure that from my birth 4-5 weeks was the record (during summer camp in the early 80s!). Now, that being said I have been cooking up a storm but they aren’t elaborate enough to write up unless I start cooking posts.

Vespertine is a very unusual confluence of all sorts of artsy weirdness. It’s helmed by Jordan Kahn formerly of Red Medicine and currently of Destroyer across the street. I’ve generally been fond of Jordan’s unique culinary style. Since the pandemic started he’s been doing “out of the box” fancy takeout meals, and this one is an Alinea retrospective from Jordan’s time there. As I’ve always wanted to go to Alinea but rarely make it to Chicago, this seemed a perfect opportunity to dabble in that direction from the safety of the patio.

Above is the building where the restaurant is located, but I wasn’t there, Erick picked up the food and we ate elsewhere socially distanced.

The survey of a two person meal. Because Erick and I are gluttons (and wanted to social distance) we each had a set just like this.
The printed “links” to the virtual menu.

And the virtual menu.

Pear. Celery leaf & branch, curry.

A top down view. This was light with a vague pear finish to the “water.”

Oyster Cream. Lychee, horseradish, chervil. This could dish had great texture (slippery and soft) and a very nice oyster / horseradish flavor. Refreshing and herbal.

Duck. Pumpkin, banana, Thai Aromatics. Following the instructions, first you ate the bite to the right which was quite lovely with the Thai bit infused into the pine-nuts. Then we drank the rather lovely pumpkin/banana soup. One of the best pumpkin or squash soups I have had.

Halibut. Shellfish custard, hyacinth vapor. There were some complicated instructions about boiling water and pouring it into the outer container in order to release the “vapor” components. We didn’t bother with that but the fish (and particularly the thick which custard) were moist and quite lovely.

Beef. Elements of root beer. The beef itself was pretty good, and the mashed potatoes I think were trying to serve as the cream part of a root beer float. There was this weird root bear tone to the sauce which made it overall too sweet for my taste. One of those whacky ideas that wasn’t entirely successful. Jordan has also been putting too much sweet in his savory in recent years.

Idiazabal. Maple, smoked salt. This cheese “chip” had the texture of a shrimp chip, which was quite nice. It had a sweet and cheesy flavor and was overall very pleasant.

Bacon. Butterscotch, apple, thyme. Here in this odd presentation the sweet and savory thing worked perfectly. Lots of interesting smokey depth.

Black Truffle Explosion. This optional dish require that I actually cook. I had to boil water and cook the pasta and then melt the truffle butter.

Finally it was topped with truffle, the greens (warmed in the melted butter) and parmesan. The whole thing was eaten in one bite and was a nice bit of truffle/umami exploision.

Chocolate. Avocado, lime, licorice. The Chocolate and lime parts were great, particularly the fluffy lime mousse. The avocado was fine but I’m not sure how I feel about avocado in desserts.

Our wine lineup.

From my cellar: 2007 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chevalier-Montrachet. VM94+. Bright medium yellow. Very ripe, expressive nose offers yellow peach and white flowers. Opulent, shapely and very ripe, in a distinctly sweeter style than the Batard. Gives an impression of lower acidity too, but there’s plenty of acid here. I suspect this one will shut down in bottle. Girardin, who bottled most of his crus in April and May of this year, noted that the 2007s really only started to express themselves in February, and that many of his fellow producers bottled this vintage too early.

Erick brought: 2008 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chevalier-Montrachet. VM94. Reticent but pure aromas of apple, clove and crushed stone. Powerful, tactile and rich, with a sweet impression leavened by a strong crushed stone component. (A retaste of the 2007 Chevalier-Montrachet, which I predicted a year ago would shut down in the bottle, was indeed tightly wound, but its apple and mineral flavors showed outstanding verve and purity; it would be a treat to taste these two vintages side by side in six or seven years.) Incidentally, Girardin gives his grand crus a slow fining but does not filter them.
Erick also brought (open from the night before): 2010 Jean Noel Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 94. A discreetly exotic nose combines notes of wood toast, acacia blossom, pear, peach and apricot along with hints of mango and papaya. The powerful and admirably concentrated broad-shouldered flavors possess a very round, suave and succulent texture where all of the dry extract really coats the mouth on the explosively long, complex and driving finish. This should be a knockout in 8 to 10 years.

Overall, we had a great evening. Great company, great wines, and great takeout.

Now in absolute terms the meal was only medium epic by my standards, but it was one of the best “fancy takeouts” I’ve ever had. They really do a great job packaging it and things survived the transit and the considerable length of our leisurely evening quite well. Really, actually bordering on amazing how this elaborate plating “travels” and clearly because of considerable effort on the restaurant’s part, including the very elaborate plastic containers. Yeah, the meal would have been better on premises, but considering, it was about as good as you get. Trying to imagine how it would have been on site, and therefore forgiving temperature issues and the takeout plating (which as I said is at the very pinnacle of takeout plating). Tonight was even better than our previous Vespertine menu (which was good) and all the dishes were tasty. The beef with root beer was a touch weird — in that very special Jordan Kahn way — but all the others were actually excellent.

Portions were also larger than the previous Vespertine take out meals I have had. Just one of my two meals was plenty. And as I had two, I ate the second the next day and it also held up quite well.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Alinea, Corona Dining, Foodie Club, Jordan Kahn, Modern Cuisine, Vespertine, White Burgundy, Wine

Yasu = Yummy

Apr22

Restaurant: Yasu

Location: 265 S Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (424) 355-0257

Date: March 5, 2020

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Awesome ingredients and technique. One of the best sushi places we’ve found in a while

With Foodie Club co-founder Erick back from several months in Asia, we decided to hit up a new place.

After some debate we ended up at a new sushi bar we found on one of our news feeds. This time around, new Foodie Club member Jeffrey joined us as well. Yasu is located just a few stores down from the very mediocre Summer Fish.

The decor is clean and modern, and somehow, despite the fact that they “only” had a 8:15 reservation, we had the restaurant all to ourselves. No matter, the food and service turned out to be amazing.

Jeffrey brought: 2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 98. The 2008 Dom Pérignon is once again stunning. More than anything else, I am surprised by how well the 2008 drinks given all the tension and energy it holds. Then again, that is precisely what makes 2008 such a unique vintage – namely that the best wines are so chiseled and yet not at all austere. Lemon peel, almond, mint, smoke and crushed rocks are all finely sculpted, but it is the wine’s textural feel, drive and persistence that elevate it into the realm of the sublime. The 2008 will be even better with time in the cellar, but it is absolutely phenomenal even today, in the early going. Three recent bottles have all been nothing short of magnificent.

Sashimi plate: Japanese Amberjack (kanpachi). New Zealand Scampi. Hokkaido Uni.

Japanese Amberjack (kanpachi) sashimi. Had a nice bite to it.

New Zealand Scampi. Element of brine “sea” taste and a great chewy texture.

Hokkaido Uni. Soft and delicate.

From my cellar: 2008 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. BH 92. A highly expressive, even exuberant nose of white peach, pear and acacia blossom aromas nuanced with citrus hints that are also reflected by the rich, full and nicely concentrated medium-bodied flavors that possess ample mid-palate fat that buffers the moderately firm acid spine. This is really quite stylish and crafted in a more generous fashion than the upper level 1ers. (Drink starting 2015)

agavin: our bottle was almost premoxed, so golden and rich, but totally delciious.

Erick brought: 2008 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne. VM 93. Pale green-tinged color. Lemon icing and minerals on the reticent, pure nose. Densely packed but with a light touch, combining vibrant elements of flowers, minerals and crushed stone. This may be better than the Combettes owing to its stony minerality-or at least it will outlast it.

agavin: Really nice wine with a lot of legs.

Boston Scallop nigiri. Lovely bite of scallop with lots of scallop flavor.

Remaining muscles of the scallop returned cooked in a bit of soy sauce. Also quite delicious and chewy.

Japanese horse mackerel (aji) with wasabi.

Baby sea bream. Much smaller more tender version of the fish.

Boston monkfish liver (Ankimo). I’m not sure I’ve had it very often as nigiri, but this was a stunning example. He apparently braises it instead of steaming it like most chefs do.

Striped jack (Shima aji).

Baby squid with miso paste. Super tender.

Hokkaido freshwater “cherry salmon” (a kind of trout) being cured on fermented rice.

Hokkaido freshwater “cherry salmon” as nigiri. Very soft and lovely.

Fresh Fanny Bay Canadian oyster from Vancouver. I’m not sure I’ve had an oyster as nigiri, but it was delicious.

Octopus (tako). From miyagi Japan. The chef massages it for 1 hour. With a bit of BBQ sauce. This was super tender and one of the best cooked octopus bites I’ve had.

Mix of chu and otoro with caviar. No sauce. The lack of sauce brought out the briney caviar flavor. Quite lovely.

Fish broth soup with snapper. Rich and savory.

Trio of blue fin tuna all from the same fish. Right to left: tuna marinated with soy sauce, chu-toro, and o-toro. All to die for. The tuna had the strongest taste but the o-toro totally melted in your mouth.

Map of the tuna belly.

Live Santa Barbara Spot Prawns dance about the table.

Hey there!

Chef takes charge. Chef Yasu Kusano was born in Fukushima in Japan, where his parents owned a small fish store. When he was a young boy, his father took him to an upscale authentic Japanese restaurant, and after that experience he decided to become a chef.

His first cooking job in 2000 was at the landmark Gonpachi Restaurant, a Japanese Izakaya, in Tokyo, Japan. In 2007, Kusano moved to the United States for a sous chef position at Gonpachi in Beverly Hills, Calif., and one year later became their executive chef.

In 2013, he moved to Seattle to join I Love Sushi in Bellevue, before heading to Shiro’s Sushi in 2014.

After moving back to Los Angeles he worked at Sushi Zo. Now he has his own place.

Live Santa Barbara Spot Prawn, lightly blanched. A stunning bit of ebi.

Santa Barbara Uni melts in your mouth.

And the chef put a piece of Hokkaido uni to the right of it. Also delicious, but I liked the Santa Barbara a touch better.

Buri shabu shabu with dashi and micro chive. Lovely too.

Erick brought: 2001 Joseph Drouhin Echezeaux. VM 87-90. Dark red. Smoky aromas of redcurrant and tobacco. Sweet, round and fruity, but with less density than a few of Drouhin’s better premier crus. Rather accessible today, but the finish shows a faint dryness.

agavin: drinking very nicely

Pickled saba with pickled daikon. Nice vinegar flavor.

Sea eel. Delicious and very soft.

Snow crab. Lots of nice crab flavor.

Silver fish steamed with cherry blossom leaf. This gave it an unusual bitter herbal tone.

Black cod with marinated and grated daikon.

Toro Takuan hand-roll — to die for. We made these at Ramen Roll too — and they were good — but this one was better.

The contents of the roll.

Kyoto unagi nigiri done two ways: with salt and lemon juice (pictured) and with sweet sauce (not pictured).

Seared toro. Insanely rich bite. He sears stuff on a little charcoal hibachi — none of that blow torch nonsense.

Dashi tamago. Not very sweet with a light bonito tone.

Yuzu sorbet. Very rough granita texture was quite pleasant and with an intense and very fresh yuzu flavor.

Overall, this was some absolutely first rate sushi. I’d call it modern traditional in style. It’s not “newfangled” at all with ponzu or very many toppings. Instead it showcases first rate seafood from all around the world, each treated delicately but with great respect in a way that really brings out the flavors. This is my favorite type of sushi as it’s very Japanese and extremely “pure” in its expression of the seafood. Besides the awesome eats, the service was really really nice and friendly. The chef was very chatty and our young (to me) server was fabulous as well. Of course our Champ and Burgundy went great too. We will be back!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Champagne, Foodie Club, Japanese cuisine, Sushi, White Burgundy, Wine, Yasu, Yasu Kusano

Jadot at Petrossian

Mar20

Restaurant: Petrossian Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 321 Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048. (310) 271-6300

Date: February 4, 2020

Cuisine: Caviar +

Rating: Amazing night!

Tonight’s dinner chronicles yet another masterly winemaker dinner hosted by Liz Lee of Sage Society. This time around it celebrates the diverse and excellent wines of Louis Jadot with winemaker Frédéric Barnier. This is actually at least the third time I’ve dined with Frédéric, the first being years ago at Bouchon and the second (also a Sage event) at Republique.

This time around we are back at another favorite Liz haunt, the awesome Petrossian Beverly Hills.

Petrossian has been importing caviar for a long time and has a high end restaurant — surprisingly excellent — tucked away inside their Beverly Hills location.

They are located on Robertson.

We begin with a Champagne I have been opening a lot of myself:

2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 96. Taittinger’s 2007 Comtes de Champagne will be nearly impossible to resist upon release. Soaring aromatics, mid-weight structure and soft contours give the 2007 its alluring personality. Lemon oil, white flowers, mint, chamomile and green pear add brightness and freshness throughout, with a persistent, clean finish that makes it impossible to resist a second taste. Today, the 2007 comes across as a slightly more open version of the 2004, with freshness that makes that wine so appealing, and a touch of textural richness that recalls the 2002. Although the 2007 does not have the explosive energy or verticality of the profound 2006, it will drink better earlier. The 2007 has been positively brilliant on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. (Drink between 2018-2047)

Caviar with crème fraiche on blinis — had about 5 of these.

Smoked salmon and tuna with crème fraiche on toast.

Our hostess Liz Lee in the center and Jadot master winemaker Frédéric Barnier on the left.

Flight 0a: 2018 Barrel Whites

2018 J.A. Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé Clos des Prouges Tête de Cru. BH 90-92. Subtle wood influence frames pungent citrus and petrol-suffused aromas. The dense, powerful and palate coating broad-shouldered flavors possess impressive volume on the more complex and persistent if slightly warm finish. (Drink starting 2024)

2018 Louis Jadot Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume. 89 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Ripe and fleshy for Chablis. Plenty of apple character start-to-finish. Good density for its level. Should drink well young. 88-89 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot. 89 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Also lots of ripe orchard fruit, less classic start, then firmer and more tart middle through finish. Very good length. Needs time to fully harmonize. 89-92 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. agavin 91. Very tropical and different. Lovely right now, but wonder how it will age.

2018 Louis Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Clos de la Chapelle Domaine du Duc de Magenta. 91 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Lots of apple throughout, some lemon and lemon curd. Intriguing combination of ripe and tart, with a long, leaner, minerally finish. Very good length. 89-91 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 92 points. Walk around tasting. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Dense and rich but with so much coiled energy in reserve. Very good density and length. 92-93 point potential.

Flight 0b: 2018 Barrel Reds

2018 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 91 points. Walk around tasting. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. More red vs black fruit coming across as ripe, but with just enough elegant tannins and acidity in the background for harmony already. Another very successful vintage for this cuvee, with 91-93 point potential.

2018 Louis Jadot Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Barre. agavin 93. Very elegant and ripe.

2018 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. 95 points. Year in, year out, a favourite from the Jadot stable. This seems to be the hypothetical blend of the Estournelles and Lavaux but by only taking the good elements of each. There’s a balance of rich fruit and tart-red-fruited-acidity here, as well as a convincing dose of rusty earthiness. The palate is more layered, silky, and complex. Very delicious already.

2018 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. 93 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Lots here with combination of ripe red and black cherry and a meatiness that I enjoy, but makes it seem background. But that’s young Corton.

2018 Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot. 92 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. Lots here but very tannic and angular, so impossible to fairly assess this young, this quickly.

2018 Louis Jadot Echezeaux. 91-94 points. From barrel sample that was assembled in the fall and shipped to the US then. A complex array of red cherry and berry on nose and palate with good power, but elegant textures already emerging. Good+ length. 91-94 point potential.

The lineup of 2018s.

Then we moved over into the dining room.

Liz likes to make sure there is a unique (labeled) glass for every wine.

The gang of us around the table.

Our special menu.

Flight 1: 2017 whites

2017 Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. BH 90-93. An expressive, ripe and fresh nose of white peach, pear and lavender displays discreet hints of wood and a trace of the exotic. There is good richness to the delicious and generously proportioned middle weight flavors that possess plenty of palate coating dry extract before terminating in a saline and mineral-suffused finish. This is really quite good and more classic than it usually is. (Drink starting 2025)

2017 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 90-92. The 2017 Meursault Les Genevrières 1er Cru comes from a single parcel of 50-year-old vines that tends to suffer a lot of millerandage and is often one of the first plots picked. It has quite a powerful bouquet of citrus fruit infused with touches of licorice, maybe just missing the precision of the best wines that I have tasted from this vineyard by Jadot in the past. The voluminous palate is well balanced with crisp acidity and touches of tropical fruit such as passion fruit and guava, and creamy-textured toward the finish. There is a lot of pleasure to be found in this Meursault, if not the intellect of the Charmes this year. (DIAM GC closure) (Drink between 2020-2030)

2017 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 92-95. A less elegant and slightly more wood-influenced nose offers up restrained aromas of essence of white flowers that includes rose petal, lavender and acacia blossom as well as discreet citrus nuances. There is both more volume and richness to the large-scaled, intense and powerful flavors that evidence seriously good punch and power on the muscular and wonderfully long finish. This is an impressive built-to-age Bâtard. (Drink starting 2029)

Lobster Salad w/ Truffle Mache. Lots of lobster. Nice bright flavors and interesting textural components. We had crunch from the crisp like thing (texture similar to a spring-roll shell), differing crunch from the radish, soft lobster and stringy greens.

Flight 2: Old Whites

1990 Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières.

1991 Louis Jadot Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d’Or. JG 90. It has been quite a while since I last tasted a 1991 white Burgundy, but the ’91 Goutte d’Or from Maison Jadot was drinking very well indeed and was impressive enough that I may keep an eye out for other white options from this vintage. The deep, complex and mature nose offers up scents of almond, citrus blossoms, apple, passion fruit, a touch of honey, incipient notes of nutskin and a beautifully complex base of soil. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still beautifully balanced, with a fine core of fruit, gentle, framing acids, superb soil signature and lovely length and grip on the complex and classy finish. Fine juice and a total surprise for a 1991 Meursault! (Drink between 2012-2020)

1994 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. VM 96. The 1994 Corton-Charlemagne surprises for its richness, density and power. Butter, dried apricots, tangerine and mango are alive in the glass. The presence of botrytis, which is high in 1994, is very much felt in the wine’s viscosity and pure textural richness. With time in the glass, though, the wine freshens up considerably as mineral notes become vivid. The 1994 remains bright, focused and quite youthful. Today, it is simply magnificent. Frankly, the 1994 is simply magnificent. (Drink between 2013-2024)

1986 Louis Jadot Bâtard-Montrachet. 95 points. This bottle was in pristine condition and the color was spot on deep yellow (not deep gold). The nose offered apples, hazelnuts, and macaroons.

Scallop w/ Trout Roe & Pine Nuts

Flight 3: 2012-2014 Reds

2014 Louis Jadot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots. BH 92. A highly restrained if not mute nose grudgingly displays notes of spice and brooding dark berries, earth and floral hints. There is by contrast excellent richness and volume to the velvety and supple yet serious middle weight plus flavors that display strikingly good persistence on the sappy and beautifully well-balanced if moderately austere finish. This has tightened up considerably since I last reviewed it from barrel and it seems relatively clear that this is going to require at least a modicum of patience but when it arrives at its peak, it should be lovely. Recommended. (Drink starting 2026)

2014 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. VM 93.5. Good bright medium red Aromas of raspberry, rose petal, minerals and crushed stone convey a very sexy, slightly high-toned liqueur-like quality Dense, fine-grained and taut, displaying piquant mineral energy and mouthwatering acidity to its flavors of raspberry, cherry and blood orange Really compelling inner-mouth tension here This firmly tannic, classic 2014 finishes with lovely rising floral length I would not be at all surprised if a decade of cellaring brought an even higher score (Drink between 2025-2037)

2014 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin. VM 95. Bright, dark red Ineffable floral and pepper topnotes to the aromas of black raspberry, tart cherry, licorice, menthol and spices At once savory and sweet; incredibly dense, refined wine with uncommon creaminess and concentration to its flavors of red and black fruits, minerals and herbs Superb old-vines thickness and silky depth here, but also with terrific definition, spine and energy Finishes with outstanding rising length A treat to taste today but this almost liqueur-like wine should go on for 20+ years A great performance in this cooler vintage (Drink between 2025-2040)

2012 Louis Jadot Clos St. Denis. BH 93-95. Here the nose is quite similar to that of the Clos de la Roche save for the fact that it’s spicier. There is a silky texture to the detailed and sleekly muscular medium-bodied flavors that are not as powerful though the refinement of a classic Clos St. Denis is explicitly in evidence on the hugely long finish. In a word, this is terrific. (Drink starting 2030)

Black Truffle Pasta with Parmesan Foam. Amazing dish. I could have eaten several of these. Just a really lovely creamy truffle pasta.

The glasses multiply like bunnies.

Flight 4: 80s Reds

1985 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. BH 90. Just a bit of bricking in evidence. The expressive, pretty and solidly complex nose has now gone completely secondary (though not tertiary as there is no sous bois) and complements the precise, intense and lightly mineral-suffused middle weight flavors that possess good length and depth. This is drinking perfectly now and about the only nit is a touch of gas so be sure to decant for 15 minutes or so to allow it to dissipate. (Drink starting 2009)

1989 Louis Jadot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots.

1985 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. JG 94. The 1985 Clos St. Jacques from Maison Jadot is a beautiful example of the vintage that has just now begun to truly blossom and is drinking very well indeed. The deep and beautiful nose offers up scents of cherries, red plums, woodsmoke, summer truffles, a beautifully complex base of soil, fresh herbs, a touch of sweet nutskin and just a bit of cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and beautifully delineated, with a fine core of fruit, lovely complexity and very good acidity for the vintage. The finish is very long, shows just a bit of melting tannin and is beautifully balanced and classy. It is interesting to see how this wine has evolved, as it was quite black fruity for much of the first twenty-odd years of its life, but is now blossoming into a beautifully red fruity example of Clos St. Jacques. Lovely juice. (Drink between 2012-2050)

Quail w/ Potato Nest. I was initially skeptical about this dish. Not as to pairing, Liz always gets that perfect, but to the the idea of this “ball of quail.” It turned out to be amazing. Sort of like a western shrimp ball, but with quail, sauce, and offset by the nice crunchy nest.

Flight 5: Special Old Reds

1988 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. BH 91. Mix of primary and secondary fruit aromas plus strong notes of earth and underbrush are followed by nicely complex, slightly edgy, medium weight flavors that offer good length. This is still firm on the backend but not hard and it’s drinking very well now though it will easily hold for another decade or more.

agavin: this bottle was fabulous, more like 96 points.

1978 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares. agavin 94. Very nice as well.

Duck Consomme w/ Duck Confit. Okay, I didn’t know what to expect. But here we have a lovely pressed square of duck with a consommé added tableside.

The finished dish. Lovely and delicious.

Drinking Continues

Cheeses. Papillon Basque & Beaufort.

The white lineup.

The red lineup.

When Liz sets up a dinner, she really endeavors to get everything right.

Food was some of the best in town for wine tastings. Really light, fresh, and delectable.

Wines were just off the chart good at this dinner. Just blockbusters and nothing flawed at all. This offered a great perspective on Jadot as it traveled the gamut of ages, giving a glimpse of 2018, showing off recent vintages like 2017 and 2014, and then delving into mature wines of both colors.

Service was great. Having our own Somm ensured that — and we had unique stems for everything. Petrossian really took care of us too.

Amazing night.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Caviar, Frédéric Barnier, Frederick Barnier, Jadot, Liz Lee, Maison Louis Jadot, Red Burgundy, Sage Society, White Burgundy, winemaker dinner

Astrea Caviar + Heroic Wine Bar

Jan27

Restaurant: Heroic Deli and Wine Bar [1, 2, 3]

Location: 516 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 490-0202

Date: December 3, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Pretty awesome, actually

Our friends Eve and Riesa, who own Astrea Caviar wanted to do a dinner with Erick and I so we enlisted Jeffrey Merrihue and his chef Barbara Pollastrini to make a custom caviar menu at Heroic Wine Bar.

They took over the old Real Food Daily / Erven space on Santa Monica Blvd.

This is an unusual space, divided into two halves, each of which has a separate loft. The build out is attractive though.

Here’s the main side loft.

Here’s Jeffrey, who like me at Ramen Roll is very hands on operationally.

Hand painted Zodiac ceiling.

The back space is much more dinner-like. But we were upstairs above this in the very dimly lit (but large) private room.

Our special menu.

Erick brought this “rare” Piper and it comes in a special case. Champagne houses love their gimmicks.

1988 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare. JG 94. I love the 1988 vintage of Rare, which is a very, very fine example of this underrated, but excellent year in Champagne. The wine is now fully mature, but still bright and zesty, as it delivers a fine aromatic constellation of pear, peach, a nice dollop of honeycomb, toasted almonds, plenty of smokiness, brioche and plenty of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off lovely mid-palate depth, with frothy mousse, fine focus and soil signature, excellent focus and grip and a very long, utterly classic and beautifully balanced finish. A superb vintage of Rare with years and years still ahead of it. (Drink between 2014-2030)

From my cellar to match: 1988 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 97. I am blown away by the 1988 Comtes de Champagne. Still incredibly fresh, the 1988 Comtes flows with intense mineral notes that frame a vibrant core of Chardonnay fruit. The color, aromatics and flavors are all remarkably youthful, while the crystalline purity of the finish suggests the 1988 will drink well for another two decades, if not longer. Readers who enjoy mature Champagne will need to be patient. Still, I see no reason to deny gratification; this is a rock star wine! (Drink between 2013-2030)

Just some of the caviar that Astrea brought for the dinner.

This one, a new “breed” was just for munching on.

Here it is open.

Amuse of NONNA’S GNUDI. Ricotta & spinach, sage infused housemade brown butter, fluffy Parmigiano Reggiano. This is basically a ball of soft spinach and cheese, topped with cheese, and soaked in perfect butter sauce. It’s richly cheesy — and buttery — very rich actually. Quite yummy. But you gotta like butter and cheese at its best!

Strange Bedfellows. Live oyster with Live Santa Barbara Uni and caviar. A delicious paring of raw — caviar, oyster, and uni — with the champagne.

Mad Hatter. Crispy fried egg yolk topped with caviar and house made creme fraiche. The fried egg was delicious, but tasted strongly of both “fry” and egg yolk — big surprise — so it wasn’t quite as good a caviar showcase (although it was great).

Night and Day. Squid ink spaghetti with live Santa Barbara Stone Crab and caviar. This was a “too die for” pasta. Fabulous by itself and even better with all that caviar and even better with old champagne.

From my cellar: 2011 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Vireuils Domaine et Selection. 94 points. Wow, even the “negotiant” Coche doesn’t disappoint. The intensity of this wine was unreal. Blazing. Struck like lightening both deep into the palate and broadly across at the same time. Just unreal that this is a village wine.

Erick brought: 2005 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 93. This continues to show somewhat oddly because while it now appears to be much more backward than it did when I originally tasted it for review in 2007, there still isn’t the elegance or refinement that I’m used to seeing chez Ramonet with this wine. Ripe and airy white flower and citrus blossom aromas offer excellent complexity if less elegance than I’m used to seeing are followed by still tight full-bodied flavors that possess impressive volume and concentration, all wrapped in a nicely long finish that displays less depth than promised by the nose. One change that is evident though is that if this is going to come together, it will take longer than I initially imagined and thus I have extended my initial drinking window by several years. (Drink starting 2015)

Red Planet. Poached live Santa Barbara lobster with champagne and caviar and beurre blanc. Another great dish. Perfectly cooked Pacific lobster is always great with beurre blanc — then add the caviar!

Secret Garden. It’s a (healthy) secret. Zucchini with vegetables, cured egg, and crab. This was a fine dish, but not nearly as good as the other (maybe because it wasn’t nearly as rich).

Castaway. Marinated Japanese A5 Wagyu tartare with live uni, thin scallop and caviar. Again — didn’t suck. Haha. Great, although not quite as good a pairing as the all seafood dishes.

Reisa brought: 1999 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. JG 90+. The 1999 Chambolle villages is deep, lush and powerful, with a style not dissimilar from a hypothetical blend of the 1990 and the 1995. The bouquet is quite primary, delivering notes of black cherries, herb tones, a bit of smoke, minerals, chocolate and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is quite full-bodied (the biggest Chambolle since the 1990), with lovely freshness and shape, plenty of tannin buried in the wine’s formidable fruit, and fine length on the complex finish. Like so many Roumier village Chambolles, it deserves, nay demands, cellaring time. (Drink between 2009-2020)

Adding an item “from the regular menu”: PASTA CARBONARA. Mezzemaniche, house made guanciale, pecorino Romano. Chef Barbara shows off her Roman chops with this scrumptious carbonara. The Mezzemaniche also has a really nice bite, and the pork cheeks the perfect crunch and porcine flavor. Very roman and again maybe the best Carbonara I’ve had in a long time. It maybe could have been a touch creamier — as this is an pork and cheese forward prep, but the guanciale alone is worth the price of admission.

Bacon & Eggs. Pork belly confit and caviar and truffle. Inspired by the Republique dish this wasn’t quite as good — but was still really great — and opulent.

Again from the regular menu: TOURNEDOS ROSSINI. Central Valley Rib cap, chicken liver parfait, King Oyster mushroom, Italian summer truffles. This was rich, but boy was it good! How can you go wrong with those ingredients?

Next we sat around drinking — for a while!

Erick brought: 1973 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JG 93. The 1973 Dom Pérignon is at a beautiful point in its evolution and is a great pleasure to drink. The deep and mature nose offers up a complex mélange of rye seed, oranges, fresh figs, honeycomb, a gentle touch of walnut, a beautiful base of soil that is both chalky and shows some signs of clay and a very gentle hint of DP’s signature herbal streak. On the palate the wine is fullish, very deep and utterly seamless, with impeccable balance, lovely focus and complexity, very gentle bubbles that frame the wine these days, rather than offer up youthful effervescence and a very long, refined and vibrant finish. I would opt for drinking the ’73 Dom Pérignon up over the next decade in regular-sized formats, while it remains at its apogee of peak drinkability, as there is not anything left in reserve at age thirty-five. Of course magnums (which should be absolutely brilliant right now) will cruise along significantly longer. A lovely bottle. (Drink between 2008-2018)

From my cellar: 2006 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut Rosé. VM 98. One of the highlights in this tasting, the 2006 Cristal Rosé is simply stunning. A vertical, towering wine, the 2006 Cristal Rosé is a thrill a minute, with a compelling interplay of aromatics and exquisitely layered fruit, all supported by a real feeling of phenolic intensity. While the 2007 is seductive, the 2006 is virile and imposing, with the statuesque lift of a Giacometti sculpture. All the elements meld together in a complete, alluring Champagne that will continue to drink beautifully for many decades. In 2006, the Pinot Noir was already being farmed biodynamically, while the Chardonnay was still under conversion. (Drink between 2016-2041)

Tightrope (dessert). Puff pastry with chocolate mousse and caviar. I’m not sure the caviar added here (hence the tightrope) but it was a nice dessert.

I went nuts here and brought not one, not two, not three, but four gelato flavors:

Mint Meringue Strawberry Sorbetto — An intense dairy-free base made from Avignon Strawberries and layered with house-made Spearmint Meringue — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #strawberry #sorbetto #mint #Meringue

True Tiramisu Gelato — after long hiatus, one of my best flavors remerges for a holiday party — This is a genuine tiramisu in gelato form, with a Marsala Egg Yolk Zabaione, fresh Mascarpone Cheese, and real Espresso. Then it’s layered with Valrhona Cocoa and Lady Finger’s soaked in house-made Espresso Rum Syrup — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Tiramisu #Espresso #coffee #chocolate #marsala #Zabaione #Eggyolk #Rum #Mascarpone

Root Beer Float Gelato — Sarsaparilla flavored gelato base with house-made vanilla cream cheese layers — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #RootBeer #RootBeerFlaot #Sarsaparilla #vanilla #creamcheese

Toasted Almond Truffle Gelato — My new egg yolk based nut formulation with Toasted Sicilian Noto Romano Almond makes a sublime base stacked with layers of house-made Valrhona Almond Amaretti Ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #almond #amaretti #cookie #ganache #ChocolateTruffle

The wine lineup.

Left to right, Reisa, Eve, and Erick.

This is actually some really serious Italian and in a style that is very unusual for LA. Ingredients are all either top flight Italian or really good fresh local California. It’s an interesting hybrid, but Chef Barbara’s flavors are great and really taste very Italian Italian (as opposed to Italian American) in flavor.

She’s quite a creative and flexible chef too and when tasked to make this special caviar menu came up with a bevy of really interesting and fabulous dishes.

Plus the wine, food, caviar, company, and gelato were all spectacular.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more Foodie Club dining, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Astrea Caviar, Barbara Pollastrini, BYOG, Caviar, Champagne, Foodie Club, Gelato, Heroic Deli, Heroic Wine Bar, Italian cuisine, Jeffrey Merrihue, pasta, White Burgundy, Wine, Wine bar

Hard to Find – Inn Ann

Jan06

Restaurant: Inn Ann

Location: 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 677-5557 (inside Hollywood & Highland)

Date: November 19, 2019

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Great sushi, hard to find

We Foodie Club guys always like to try great sushi, so when we heard that Mori — founder of Mori Sushi — had taken up in Hollywood, off we went (took a bit of rescheduling too).

Translating to “hidden retreat,” INN ANN offers a high-end, seasonal Japanese tasting menu dining experience within JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, evoking a serene sanctuary on the fifth floor of the bustling Hollywood & Highland. Bringing a taste of Japan to Hollywood, the innovative new dining room fosters discovery and curiosity, showcasing Japanese culture, traditions, and rich heritage through the lens of its cuisine. Rooted in the revered Japanese culinary philosophy, the menu incorporates local ingredients embracing Californian farmers’ market elements.

They weren’t kidding about the hidden retreat — Japan House is located in the deepest hardest to reach bowels of the top floor of the super annoying to reach and park at Hollywood & Highland. Past the junk shops and box stores and Forever 21, way up top, behind the elephants.

Then you must progress down a service coordidor into a realm you suspect that no one but mall staff ever go, beyond trash dumpsters to your sanctuary.

And while the build out is gorgeous, spacious, and sports a lovely Hollywood view there isn’t even a bathroom. You have to hike back through the strange Japanese library in Japan House proper. Very weird.

But it is chic (although not crowded. haha).

An esteemed sushi master, Chef Mori Onodera once told Los Angeles Magazine, “Rice is 70 percent, fish is 30 percent,” highlighting the importance he places on the quality of the rice he serves. He grows his own short grain rice in partnership with Tamaki Farms in Uruguay, further establishing his renown as a rice connoisseur. Chef Onodera also meticulously sources fresh fish for his signature sushi, placing a major emphasis on sustainable seafood. At INN ANN, Chef Onodera brings his expertise in sushi and rice to the table, as well as a singular “mobile” sushi cart of his own design.

The menu is omakase. We just told Mori to bring us everything!

Erick brought: 1993 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. JG 92+. I have drunk a few magnums of the 1993 Dom Pérignon to start off tastings in the last handful of months and this is at a lovely place in its evolution at age twenty-five. This is not a great vintage of DP, but a very good one that has retained a nice sense of its “good green” personality, as it offers up an aromatically complex mix of green apple, menthol, stony minerality, lime peel and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and still quite steely in personality, with a good core, elegant mousse and lovely grip and cut on the long, complex and energetic finish. This was a slightly leaner vintage of Dom Pérignon in its youth and it has retained this personality as it has started to blossom, but it remains a fine drink with a long future ahead of it. (Drink between 2018-2040)

Tofu and wasabi.

Then covered in special soy sauce. Simple, but scrumptious. Gorgeous soft tofu texture.

Japanese seaweed, Japanese sunchoke, Pumpkin, Mountain peach, blanched peanut, chestnut, burdock, eggplant. The giant bowl of Japanese veggies. Kinda nice and very Japanese tasting.

Sunomono. Red clam. Cucumber. Japanese shallot. I always love marinated stuff, particularly with the sweet rice vinegar typical of sunomono.

Sashimi. Buri. Japanese mackerel. Saba. Maybe some clam thing.

Dobin mushi. Seasonal soup. Harvest season. Matsutake mushroom. Fried shrimp ball. Rock fish. Mitsuba. Ginko nuts. Slightly Smokey. This was one of those really like Japanese mushroom broths with a bit of seafood flavor (from the shrimp ball) and a good dose of Japanese citrus.

Larry brought: 2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 96. A wonderfully layered and nuanced nose features an intense yeasty character to the maturing fruit that displays interesting phenolic characters, in particular petrol, along with aromas of apple, pear and soft citrus hints. In contrast to the nascent maturity expressed by the nose the flavor profile is still tight and backward with a genuinely gorgeous texture, all wrapped in a strikingly persistent and highly complex finish. For my taste the 2000 Brut is at an inflection point as the nose does offer enough maturity so that it’s really quite pretty whereas the palate impression is substantially younger. As such it really just depends on how you prefer your Champagne because I suspect that the nose will be very mature by the time the still very youthful flavors attain their majority. For my taste preferences it would be no vinous crime to begin enjoying this now but be aware that this will age for a very long time. The best approach is probably to buy 6, or even 12, bottles and enjoy them over a longer period of time.

Grilled King crab. Grilled Yellowtail. Wild arugula.

Tempura. Abalone. Abalone liver. Shisito. Baby corn. Mission figs. Matcha salt. Very rich and delicious.

The Matcha salt and tempura sauce.

A5 wagyu. Wasabi. Purple Okinawa. Homemade radish pickles. 2 year old yuzu kosho. The yuzu kosho and wasabi stands in for “mustard” with the beef.

Erick brought: 2008 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. BH 94. Readers may remember that last year the ’08 Combettes had not even started its malo at the time of my February visit (more than 16 months after the harvest!) and thus it was not rated. Well, I am very happy to report that it has turned out marvelously well with an ultra-fresh nose of mildly exotic yellow orchard fruit aromas trimmed in floral and wood components. There is excellent richness, size, weight and punch to the medium weight plus flavors that brim with dry extract that both coats the palate and buffers the very firm acidity on the driving, even explosive finish that is stunningly long. This is quite simply an extraordinary wine and it is not an exaggeration to say that the ’08 is the best young Leflaive Combettes that I have ever seen.

Really good homemade ginger.

Tai snapper. Sea bream from Japan. Wasabi.

Needle fish from Japan.

Chu-toro.

Marinated Kohada.

Aji. Spanish Mackerel.

Marinated tuna from New Jersey.

Ikura (salmon eggs).

From my cellar: 2008 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 91-94. A subtle touch of pain grillé highlights citrus notes that, like the Pucelles, exhibit hints of honeysuckle and fennel nuances that complement perfectly the textured, rich and sweet medium plus weight flavors that are quite supple yet remain detailed, energetic and strikingly long on the explosive finish. This is a relatively powerful Bienvenues. In a word, terrific. (Drink starting 2018)

Santa Barbara Uni (sea urchin).

Hokkaido Uni.

Golden snapper. Seared skin. Nice smoked seared taste.

Special sea eel.

Lovely bowl.

Contains miso soup. Nice dashi flavor.

Clam and Cucumber roll.

Dashi whitefish shrimp tamago. Salty version, not sweet at all.

Chu toro again. How could we not.

Buri belly from Hokkaido.

Persimmon. Fruit.

This pair of gelati I made for my son’s birthday:

House favorite and my son’s birthday pick: Triple Chocolate Cloud – As usual the base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Ganache and the rotating ingredient is crushed Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #creamcheese #ganache #icing #Oreos

Strawberries and Cream Gelato — A dairy strawberry base with Avignon Strawberries plus Strawberry Jam Ripples and Strawberry Wafer Cookies — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #strawberry #cream #jam #wafer #cookies

simple but awesome.

Chef Mori.

Hard to find place, but outstanding sushi. Some of the best classic sushi in LA. Pricey, as it always is, but worth it. Mori is one of the local masters.

NOTE: apparently as of 12/31/19 Inn Ann is now closed. Perhaps the ridiculously weird location didn’t help! I’m glad we got to go!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Champagne, Dom Pérignon (wine), Foodie Club, Gelato, Hollywood, Japanese cuisine, Morihiro Onodera, Omakase, Sushi, White Burgundy

Marcheing South Again

Nov20

Restaurant: Marche Modern [1, 2]

Location: 7862 Pacific Coast Hwy, Newport Beach, CA 92657. (714) 434-7900

Date: October 10, 2019

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Great food and service

This particular reunion of the Foodie Club: OC Edition has been in the making for months and follows the format of the previous dinner. Tonight’s them was loosely, coche vs. Domaine d’Auvenay (plus a “bit” of spectacular Champagne).

Due to group constraints, we had to meet deep in the OC at 6:00 — lots of traffic again. This time most of us didn’t do the double header (lunch + dinner) because we were so full last time (even me). Fred, however, is a beast and he met up with some other friends beforehand!

For our super duper elite Foodie Club OC dinner, we selected Marche Moderne — pretty much because it’s one of the best wine friendly restaurants in Orange County (which is a bit of a limited pool).

It’s high end modern French bistro.

Attractive modern decor.

Lots of sunset light.

Our special menu tonight.

Bread.

Butter.

Liz brought: 1969 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Oenothèque. Vinous 98. One of the highlights in this range, the 1969 Dom Pérignon Œnothèque (Disgorged 2006) is magnificent A stunning, vibrant Champagne, the 69 Œno hits all the right notes. Lemon peel, white flowers, crushed rocks, slate and smoke all soar out of the glass. A thin veil of reduction adds character without being overpowering or dominant. Vivid in color and totally crystalline, the 1969 dazzles at every turn. What a gorgeous wine it is. (Drink between 2017-2027)

Santa Barbara Sea Urchin. Grapefruit Gelee, Fresh Oregano, Radishes, Avocado, Kosho lime vinaigrette. The uni was great, but some of the elements here didn’t quite gelee (haha). Maybe the grapefruit? Maybe the avocado. A touch weird.

From my cellar: 1998 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. VM 92. Fred says much higher. A shockingly elegant and pretty Coche open from the beginning. The delicious Coche signature is present and try as you may you cannot detect any vintage flaws. The more I drink Coche Caillerets the more I am convinced I like it better than the Genevrieres. A wonderful wine that was in the discussion for WOTN next to 92 Coche MP, 99 d’Auvenay Puligny En la Richarde, and 00 d’Auvenay Folatieres. An impressive showing.

Fluke Crudo & Faux Gras. Burnt Shallots Creme, Thinly Sliced Maui Hearts of Palm, Yuzu Confit Marmelade, Beurre Monte Matsutake. Again a slightly bizarre combo of poultry liver and fish.

Kent brought: 1992 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 98. Fred says: Darkest wine is the night next to the 98 Coche Caillerets, 99 d’Auvenay En la Richarde, and 00 d’Auvenay Folatieres. Also the most dense and ripe. The balance is there with the acidity and richness in play. There is fruit and rich honey notes but not leaning into botrytis. This continues to build throughout the entire 3 hours. Impressive power.

Egg & Caviar & Cured Scottish Ocean Trout. Kaluga Caviar, Sorrel, Beurre de Citron Confit. More uniform and successful than the previous two dishes. Hard to go too wrong with either egg and caviar or cured salmon and butter.

Fred brought: 1999 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet en la Richarde. BH 91. Fred said: Given the comparisons to Chevalier Montrachet I was expecting power. Instead I got elegance and balance along with floral and mineral puligny character. This bottle is still young and needed 2-3 hours to slowly pick up weight and power. All the while it remains impeccably balanced, not unlike the 98 Coche Caillerets. I believe the best is yet to come and will try to wait another 5 years to open my next one. Lovely. Just lovely.

Sauteed Black Bass. Demi Jus de Bouillabaisse, Barigoule d’Artichaud, Calamari and Mussel, Olive, Basil Emulsion, Spicy Tomato Tartine. The Bouillabaisse “base” was nice. Fish maybe a touch dry.

Erick brought: 2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. BH 95. Fred says: Wow. Now this has the power and weight of a Chevalier Montrachet. The most fruit forward of the bunch but supported by that d’Auvenay linearity. A massive and structured wine impressive richness and a hint hazelnut deliciousness. What a treat.

Civet de Homard & Dover Sole. Lobster in a Civet Style, Dover Sole, Gnudi, Chanterelle, Shallot Soubise.

With the sauce. Another slightly oddball mix. This didn’t do the lobster justice. Reduction was good though.
Premier Dessert. Rose & Lychee Sorbet, Eau d’ Hibiscus.

Close up! Nice refreshing sorbet. Texture isn’t as good as mine — of course.

Cheese — because it’s so great with wine. Nice cheeses too.

Strawberry & Pistachio Croustillant. Almond Butter Gateau, Citrus Mousseline, Pistache, Cassis Berry Sorbet. I love a good “Napoleon” although this was jazzed up a bit too much.

Because we didn’t just have 3 ice creams/sorbets from the restaurant, I brought 4 (never one to be outdone).

Nocciola Caramello Budino Gelato — Nocciola custard base made with Pure PGI Piedmont hazelnut paste, infused with house-made caramel (instead of sugar) then mixed with toffee and topped with Toffifay — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — so good it’s an instant signature flavor –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #hazelnut #nocciola #caramel #caramello #toffee #toffifay

Cinnamon Apple Pie Gelato — An intense cinnamon base layered with my house-made bourbon apple pie filling and house-made caramel — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #applepie #apple #cinnamon #caramel

Blood Orange Compari Sorbetto — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #bloodorange #orange #compari #cocktail #sorbet #sorbetto

Key Lime Pie Gelato – base is a key lime egg custard, layered with house-made frozen graham cracker and covered with house-made meringue — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #KeyLime #lime #custard #meringue #GrahamCracker #cookie

Overall, an incredibly epic meal.

Service was first class. We did the wine service though, which is how we wanted it with these wines. Which, by the way, were all incredible. The MP was probably in the “weakest” drinking spot — but that’s like calling Michael Jordan short because he’s not as tall as Manute Bol. Haha. Fantastic and very lucky that we had no flaws.

Food was “interesting” this time. Not as uniformly successful. It was certainly well made and executed, but the combos were a bit odd. Last time they felt much more harmonious.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Coche Dury, d'Auvenay, Foodie Club, Gelato, Marche Moderne, Orange County, White Burgundy, Wine

The Valley’s Secret Sushi|Bar

Oct07

Restaurant: Sushi|Bar

Location: 16101 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91436. 818.876.0818

Date: August 21, 2019

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Very good, particularly for white guy sushi

I’ve wanted to try Sushi|Bar since I first heard about it as it’s an unusual sushi bar concept.

Not the fact that’s it’s located on Ventura Blvd — which is about as typical as you get for sushi bars — but that it’s a secret place tucked behind Woodley Proper and Scratch|Bar.

In this very 90s Valley mall.

Hidden behind his revered tasting menu restaurant Scratch|Bar, Sushi|Bar is Chef Phillip Frankland Lee’s Omakase Speakeasy that serves up a whimsy of its namesake fare in 17 courses. Behind an unmarked door lies an intimate counter housing 8 prized seats where you will sit right up to the chef’s cutting boards. Relax and enjoy as the chefs prepare a playful reverie on new wave nigiri and other delicacies from both land and sea in a free form interpretive take on the traditional sushi counter experience where you can expect unexpected riffs on beloved standards.
The front bar part of Scratch|Bar where we waited for our seating. It should be noted that Sushi|Bar has same day reservations via Tock or a “membership” which allows for advanced reservations and corkage discounts. Some of our party were members and booked the whole place for tonight.

They gave us an welcome cocktail, which I think had a sake base, but I can’t remember.

Eventually — and it was about 45 minutes late — we were moved into the secret Sushi|Bar room.

Unlimited Sunomono (marinated pickles). I must have eaten about 10 bowls worth.

The chef’s plating the first course.

1989 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut Collection. JG 96. The 1989 Krug Collection is absolutely brilliant Champagne and one of the best bottles of wine I have had the pleasure to taste this year. The totally à point nose soars from the glass in a regal blend of baked apple, buttered almonds, a touch of crème patissière, a beautiful base of minerality, brioche and a gentle topnote of smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and magical on the attack, with a great core of fruit, flawless focus and balance, refined mousse, brilliant complexity and a very, very long, crisp and vibrant finish. This wine is fully mature aromatically and flavor-wise, but still retains the structural bounce and grip of a relatively young Champagne and still has decades and decades of profound drinking ahead of it. A great, great wine at its magical summit.

1982 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 97. Both 1982 Champagnes are utterly spellbinding. It is amazing to taste these wines at 30 years of age and see that their signatures are all very much intact. Of course, the magnum format is so ideal for Champagne. The 1982 Krug Vintage is warm, toasty and totally expressive, with gorgeous exotic orange peel and white truffle overtones. This is one of my very favorite Krug vintages. Although fully mature, the 1982 is going to continue to develop at a glacial pace. The 1982 Dom Pérignon is just a little more focused and vibrant in style. Here it is the wine’s salivating minerality that really sings. It, too, is quite youthful and vibrant for its age. What a flight.

Kushi Oyster from British Columbia with Italian sturgeon caviar, shari puffed “Rice Krispies,” and sake foam. Light and briny. Very pleasant, with an interesting textural play between the crispy, foamy, and slimy.

Blue Fin Tuna & Krasnaya Ikra. Spanish bluefin tail tartare, braced with dehydrated nori and covered with avocado mousse, house-cured ikura (salmon roe), and green onion. I really liked the contrast of the soft fish and the crispy seaweed. Great flavors too.

Japanese Yellowtail (hamachi) with sweet corn pudding, sourdough breadcrumbs, and soy sauce, and wasabi. This was good, but a touch less successful as I found the corn and breadcrumb mush a touch distracting.

Spanish Blue Fin Toro, scored, with sherry shisky, brown sugar, and a tiny slice of pineapple. Plus some house soy and wasabi. This more unusual topping really worked, adding an unctuous sweet tone to the rich fish not unlike pairing with Sauternes.

2013 Maison Leroy Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes. Very nice!

Purple Peruvian Scallop. The mollusk was smothered with leche de tigre (the Peruvian zesty sauce). Of course the sauce is so zesty it’s hard to taste the scallop, but it was still very succulent.

2011 Coche-Dury Meursault. BH 90. An elegant, pure and very pretty nose is now displaying just touches of both wood and some secondary development though it’s clear that the ripe orchard fruit and citrus-infused aromas are still developing. There is a lovely sense of energy to the delicious, round and caressing middle weight flavors that exhibit a subtle mineralitly that continues onto the nicely intense and sappy finale that delivers excellent persistence and particularly so for a villages level wine. This is really lovely stuff and while it could easily be enjoyed now, I’d be inclined to allow it another 5 to 7 years of bottle age first.

2011 Maison Leroy Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 93. An elegant, fresh and airy nose of that is distinctly floral and citrusy in character offers up notes of green apple and a nutty hint. There is excellent intensity and cut to the chiseled middle weight flavors that exhibit the classic minerality of a fine Perrières, all wrapped in a delicious, complex and classy finale. This is first-rate and particularly so for the vintage, indeed this more resembles a 2010 than a typical 2011. Impressive.

Tai Snapper topped with caviar, lemon, sea salt, and scallions. The caviar pairing also worked.

Black snapper with yuzu koshu made from fresno chilies. The little dab of heat paired nicely with the snapper.

2010 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 96. This notches up the ripeness just a touch more yet there are only the barest hints of exoticism to the peach, apricot, pear and acacia blossom aromas that display a top note of citrus zest. This is a classic Bâtard in the sense of being big, bold and powerful with imposingly-scaled flavors that coat the palate with dry extract before terminating in a massively long and borderline painfully intense finish. To be sure, this is a big wine yet it remains light on its feet with no undue sense of being top heavy. Indeed the balance is perfect though note that patience will be required. Marvelous. (Drink starting 2022)

Medium fat chu toro with caviar, lemon, sea salt, and scallions. Chu toro is always one of my favorite cuts and the caviar added a extra level of brine.

Smoked albacore soaked in garlic paste, wrapped in sake nori, topped with crispy onions, ponzu, and scallions. It’s fairly traditional to pair albacore with garlic and while this was a novel approach to it, it was ultimately sucessful.

New Zealand King Salmon, seared, lemon sea salt and pickled wasabi. Here the pickled wasabi takes the place of the pickled bit of kelp sometimes layered on the salmon. Also a great piece.

From my cellar: 2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne Rosé. VM 97+. The 2002 Dom Perignon Rosé is deep and chewy yet amazingly refined. The Dom Perignon Rosé is still very taut and shut down, hinting at yet more complexity and fun to come with proper cellaring.

1995 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. JG 95. The 1995 Krug in magnum is really starting to drink with style and grace, but it remains a wine that has just reached its plateau of maturity and has years and years of life still ahead of it. The lovely and quite classic nose wafts from the glass in a constellation of apple, peach, caraway seed, a lovely base of minerality, a touch of walnut, rye bread and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and complex, with a wide open attack, a fine core, elegant mousse and really lovely length and grip on the focused and classy finish. Fine juice.

Wild caught Korean Escolar, house cured Ikura (salmon roe), scallions, wasabi, soy. A rich fish, balanced nicely by the briny roe.

King Crab Dynamite. Russian king crab leg covered with a beet mustard, brûléed to caramelize the sugars, then topped with lemon juice, rock salt, and puffed red quinoa. The sweetness went nicely with the crab (much like Spanish crab with raspberries) and the puffed quinoa added an interesting crunch.

Giant Clam, wasabi, house soy sauce, lemon sea salt, matcha salt. Chewy and delicious.

Bone Marrow. Roasted ox marrow with wasabi, soy, and rock salt. This was an unusual nigiri and was not my favorite. I never really like bone marrow as it’s soft and fatty without much heft.

Santa Barbara Sea Urchin with wasabi. Classic and delicious.

The menu is up on the wall. The things below come with the tasting, but underneath the name are a bunch of optional ala carte items. I ordered all that were available.

Uni handroll. So good I got 2.

King crab handroll. Mild, without mayo, but nice.

Unagi with bone marrow fat. Here the bone marrow served just to make the rich eel even richer — which I enjoyed.

Jellyfish with vinegar. I loved with, as it had a really nice “bite” (the chewy crunch) and a great acidic flavor.

“Kobe” Beef with salt and green onion. Very salty and rich. Fine, but maybe not worth the price.

White chocolate matcha shell, kafir lime ice cream, black sesame shortbread cookie. Delicious, both in flavors and in it’s textural play between the shell and frozen interior. I may emulate as a gelato flavor at some point.

Mocha Bourbon Butterscotch Gelato — expresso infused milk, Valrhona cocoa, Knob Creek Bourbon, and a house-made Butterscotch Sauce — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #mocha #expresso #coffee #chocolate #Valrhona #butterscotch #bourbon #KnobCreek

Tingly Passion Gelato — passionfruit variant, striped with blackberry coulis, but steeped with Chengdu Street Market Szechuan Green Peppercorns — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #passionfruit #blackberry #coulis #SzechuanPepper #SpicySweet #passion

Green tea with yuzu and honey. Sweet and tangy!

The wine lineup was amazing tonight!

One of our chefs looked like he was 16 — but he’s in his mid twenties. None of the chefs are Japanese from Japan. The main day to day sushi chef does have extensive sushi bar experience. I’m not sure all the guys know how to “pick fish and cut” in the traditional subtle Japanese way that helps make the texture and flavor of top flight fish so superlative. Here there is some distraction from that traditional Japanese focus with the “toppings.”

Overall, this was a great experience and the sushi was fabulous. For weird “topped” sushi it was far more successful than the odd Sushi of Gari. Almost all of the “pairings” were successful and many actually added to the flavor rather than subtracting.

There isn’t a ton of food by my standards, and so to be full I not only had to order ALL the supplements (2 of a couple) but I had to chow down on cucumbers (sunomono). In the end I was satiated. Price was reasonable for high end sushi as the base omakase is “only” $125 — which isn’t too bad (again for high end sushi). The experience, setting, and sushi style is unique too, which is always fun.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Champagne, Foodie Club, Gelato, Japanese cuisine, Sushi, White Burgundy, Wine

Hayato Redux

Jun26

Restaurant: Hayato [1, 2]

Location: 1320 E 7th St #126, Los Angeles, CA 90021. (213) 395-0607

Date: May 17, 2019

Cuisine: Japanese Kaiseki

Rating: Amazing

For the third of the three epic meals shoved into Fred’s 36 hour May LA visit we again traveled east to DTLA Japanese newcomer, Hayato.

It’s located in Downtown’s fancy new “ROW” complex — and quite hard to find (use the guide on the website).

This time we had all (7-8) seats in the place and we gathered outside for a few minutes before the set entry time (7pm).

It’s tiny, as I mentioned, only 7-8 seats, and helmed entirely by chef Brandon Go. As he says, Hayato is the culmination of a twenty year journey he has taken as an American-born chef learning about Japanese cuisine.

Brandon says himself:

My Japanese father owns a sushi restaurant in the Los Angeles area, and I began working in his restaurant when I was fifteen years old. As with most Americans, sushi was the gateway through which I became seriously interested in Japanese food. During my teenage years, I made sushi. Throughout college, I made more sushi. After graduating from college, I went to live in Tokyo for a short time, I got a job in an izakaya, and I started to realize that sushi is a very tiny part of Japanese culinary tradition. I have spent rest of my life trying to learn the rest of it.

I dreamt of having my own restaurant since I began making sushi. But the type of restaurant I wanted to open has evolved since then. For my entire life, I have heard Japanese chefs talk of how good the cooking is in Japan, but how it would be impossible to garner support for truly authentic Japanese cooking in the U.S. because of how different American tastes are. I heard this constantly from chefs both in Japan and at home. I have even read it in cookbooks. Because of this, I always envisioned my restaurant being mostly authentic but having to play to the American tastes in order to ensure survival.

Brandon Go.

Like at many good Japanese places, the service is very elegant.

The dinner begins with a glass of (included) sake.

Look at these cute gold sake bowls. Reminds me of a fancy Buddhist alms bowl.

We brought loads of good wine as usual:

1985 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 94. I have had a number of bottles, even from the same cellar, that have been showing plenty of age and even occasionally flirting with oxidative hints yet this most recent bottle (from my cellar) was among the freshest I’ve had in a while with its intensely yeasty and toasty aromas of white orchard fruit, citrus peel, marmalade and orange peel. This is arguably the most complex vintage of the 1980s (though not necessarily the most vibrant or the most complete) and in particular I like the way that the mousse has managed to maintain most of its original vigor on the sweet yet ultimately dry finale that delivers very fine persistence. While this bottle was admirably fresh it’s clear that it’s time to drink up sooner than later unless your taste runs to post-mature characters.

Brandon even pours between his culinary labors.

Components for course one — most things being prepared in front of you.

Hokkaido Scallop with chrysanthemum greens and Tosa Zu Jelly.

The contrast between the rich scallop and tangy jelly was great. Interesting textures too, with the cool soft jelly and the slightly firm scallops. I’m an acid freak so I could have eaten a bowl of this jelly straight.

1996 Coche-Dury Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères. VM 92+. Fred says: Outstanding. Very light yellow in color. No signs of being advanced at all. Lots of ripping 96 acidity with elegant fruit and floral character. Starts out excellent and just keeps getting better all night. Seems ageless and could go another 20 years.

Hokkaido Kobashira and Tara No Me Tempura. Great tempura. Light fry. Reminded me of New England fried clam — elevated. And I mean no disrespect in that, as I happen to love good fried clams. I’ve always enjoyed something about the chewy texture.

1998 Coche-Dury Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères. BH 89. Fred says: Light yellow in color. Minimal Coche flint on the nose. The palate is softer and more gentle. Not hot per se but more rounded in texture. Wonderful ripe fruit and lemon. Very easy drinking and in a great spot.

Prep for the next dish. Notice the real wasabi root and hand grater.

Kasugo dai Bo-Zushi. I haven’t seen (or maybe don’t remember) this particular sushi prep where the shiso is mixed into the rice as opposed to layered between. In any case, like all of Brandon’s dishes, it was lovely.

From my cellar: 2004 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots. VC 93. The 2004 Meursault Les Rougeots is a vintage that I have not encountered previously and proves a very pleasant surprise considering the vintage. It is a little deeper in color than I was expecting however, the nose is immediately entrancing with wet stone mixed with orange blossom, quite astonishing delineation, later traces of yellow plum and jasmine emerging. Both nose and palate sport a very subtle reduction (less than other vintages in my experience). It retains wonderful tension and poise, perfect salinité with an understated and yet energetic finish that remains over the course of two hours in the glass. Tasted at Taillevent restaurant in Paris.

Lovely lacquer bowl.

Dungeness Crab Shinjo Owan. This class of dish was delightful both this time and last (when it was the lobster ball). It was great again this time, although not quite the highlight. Dashi was scrumptious. Crab had nice depth of flavor.

2004 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. BH 95. This too is ultra pure and fine with its nose of wet stone, white flower, sea water and iodine that precedes delicious, full, detailed and impeccably well balanced flavors that are tight but long with a laser-like sense of focus and coherency. This too finishes with noticeable austerity yet there is real freshness and presence, indeed vibrancy here. The ’04 Le Clos will require at least 5 to 7 years to really begin to open up but once it does, it should drink well for 15. A stunner of a wine and one of the stars of the vintage that will be a long distance runner.

Chop chop.

Tai and Live Spot Prawn Sashimi, hokkaido uni sashimi, fresh nori. Excellent. All incredibly fresh and toothsome. Well maybe not the uni, that was fresh but soft.

1997 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin. BH 91. Dense and richly fruited with copious black fruits trimmed in a deft touch of wood followed by round, intense, full-bodied flavors and fine persistence. This is not a great Chambertin by the lofty Rousseau standards but there is plenty of wine here, not to mention excellent richness and length. It is approaching peaking drinkability though it should hold here for at least a decade. Consistent notes.

Don’t lose a finger Brandon!

Elegantly piled ingredients.

Katsuo Tataki. Early season lean bonito, topped with onions, ginger, probably some kind of ponzu. Perfect texture and nice assertive flavor.

1999 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. VM 92+. Bright ruby-red. Sexy nose combines maraschino cherry, roast coffee, bitter chocolate and lively oak spices not apparent in the foregoing wines. Full, sweet and chewy in the mouth, with a silky, layered texture to buffer the wine sound acidity. Cherry and black raspberry flavors are nicely sweetened by the wine’s new oak. Features a long, gripping whiplash of a finish and fine tannins that coat the entire palate.

Nodoguro Shioyaki with Lotus Root. This was a very notable “grilled fish” the first time around and is again. It’s very oily, but not in an off putting way at all, more just rich. And the crunchy lotus adds some great textural balance.

Next.

Kisu with Fava Bean Ankake. The fish was extremely lightly fried and then covered in a very gooey (thickened) dashi which added its own complementary fish flavor. Light and extremely subtle in a very Japanese manner. Not everyone might be down for the unctuous texture either — but we enjoyed it.

Greens for the next course.

A5 Omi Wagyu.

A5 Omi Gyu Shabu Shabu, komatsuna, bamboo, shiitake. A sort of highly elevated shabu shabu bite crossed with an ultra elevated version of the toppings you get on a Japanese beef bowl. None of that description does it any justice, as there was this intensely rich and beefy + dashi thing going on.

Ko no ko (sea cucumber ovaries). It’s fairly similar to the Izakaya favorites like fermented squid guts. Slimey and briney. Without the off notes that a lessor prep might have had. I happen to like these fermented flavors and weird textures. Not everyone does. I’ve been really digging the seas cucumber this last year since my most recent trip to China.

1990 Domaine Leroy Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Narbantons. 94 points. Best Savigny I will ever taste, probably. Amazing nose of ripe fruit and mature whole-cluster notes (spices, soy, hoisin, stems), which, alone is worth the price of admission. The 1990 Leroy wines are showing more tannic structure than DRCs. The abundant fruit lets you get past the equally abundant tannins, but the overall persistent structure makes me wonder if this wine needs more time (after 25+ years?) or if this is how this wine will always be. A pleasure to drink, regardless.

Sawara Yuan Yaki Rice Pot. I forgot to photo this dish as a whole, as the various elements are presented on a tray together, but this is the fish ready to be prepped into the rice.

This is the miso soup with a spongy type of tofu or fish cake.

The pickles. They are traditional with rice at the end of a meal.

The fried rice itself. I had several helpings.

Roasted tea.

A different, green tea.

Brandon prepares the dessert.

Harry’s Berries with Kinako Infused Whipped Cream. I had these same strawberries the night before and they were amazing both times. Just a simple dish with two notes (strawberry and cream) but both where complex harmonic notes. The strawberries had a lot of zing, intense sweet and tangy berry flavor. Like a fresher (more acidic) but slightly less intense version of great French Strawberry puree or jam. The “cream” was nutty and served as a nice counterpoint to the acidity.

A bunch of gelatti brought (and made) by me:

Almond Amaretto Truffle Gelato — Amaretto Zabaglione (egg yolk, amaretto, and sugar custard) Sicilian Almond gelato base with stacked layers of house-made Valrhona Almond Amaretti Ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #almond #amaretto #amaretti #cookie #ganache #ChocolateTruffle

Sicilian Tiramisu Gelato — attempting to reinvent Tiramisu with Sicilian flavors: Pure DOGC “Bronte” pistachio paste gelato base with lady fingers soaked in house-made orange syrup and layered with house-made “cannoli filling” (sweetened fresh ricotta with cinnamon and mini dark chocolate chips) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — this one will be a test of concept: too much? –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #pistachio #sicily #ricotta #chocolate #orange #ladyfingers #tiramisu

Nocciola Espresso Caramello Gelato — A classic nocciola base made with Pure PGI Piedmont hazelnut paste and then layered with a house-made Espresso Caramel Ganache then topped with fresh roasted hazelnuts — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #hazelnut #ganache #dulcy #ChocolateTruffle #nocciola #caramel #caramello

Brandon with the wines and Eve — who always makes livens up any dinner or photo!

Overall, stunning evening.

Hayato was some of the best food I had in 2018 and remains so in 2019. He’s mixed things up a little bit, but it’s still the same very focused style. He intensifies ingredients and brings forth this very natural expression of nature’s bounty. Every dish just tasted great.

Plus there was the intimacy of being right there with the chef — and our great crew — and our great wines. Really great wines. Brandon told us they were the best he’s had at the restaurant and I believe it. We had some real stunners tonight, and on the heels of our crazy old White Burgundy dinner the night before!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

More Foodie Club meals.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brandon Go, BYOG, Champane, Coche Dury, DTLA, epic, Foodie Club, Gelato, Hayato, Japanese cuisine, Kaiseki, Legendary, White Burgundy

Marche Modern Madness

Jun21

Restaurant: Marche Modern

Location: 7862 Pacific Coast Hwy, Newport Beach, CA 92657. (714) 434-7900

Date: May 16, 2019

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Great food and service

This particular reunion of the Foodie Club: OC Edition has been in the making for months. Fred was buying up old Coche, Roulot, and Leroy for us in anticipation.

Due to group constraints, we had to meet deep in the OC at 6:15 — but before that, we caught a late, HUGE, amazing wine lunch at the LSXO — even my hollow leg was full before we got started on dinner.

Because we were down in the OC for hours and hours I packed my gelato cooler full of dry ice, worried that my normal cooling packs wouldn’t keep it cold enough. Boy did the dry ice keep it cold enough — so much that it was like a block of diamond ice at the end of the evening!

For our super duper elite Foodie Club OC dinner, we selected Marche Moderne — pretty much because it’s one of the best wine friendly restaurants in Orange County (which is a bit of a limited pool).

It’s high end modern French bistro.

Attractive modern decor.

Lots of sunset light.

And our perfect corner table.

Bread to start.

We had four epic bottles we were all sharing, all mature super producer White Burgundy. We pretty much opened all four at the start and drank them through the night. These were crazy good wines!

1986 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Fred writes: A beautiful medium gold color similar to the 86 Coche CC to indicate this was indeed a properly stored bottle. Again, the 86 botrytis is apparent. On the palate the fruit is rich and ripe and there is incredible length and power. The wine continues to improve over the next 3 hours picking up more acidity and precision. A rare rare treat and I doubt I will see this beautiful wine ever again.

1989 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Fred writes: Wow from beginning to finish. This started off with the classic Coche aroma of flint that was less prominent on the 86 CC. On initial sip it was perfect in every way: the fruit, the acid, the precision. Everything was perfectly integrated, extremely elegant, and nuanced. A wine that makes you vow not to open any more Coche MP prior to its 30th birthday (knowing that you will fail miserably and happily). The greatness of it is only highlighted by drinking it next to other great wines. Not much else to say except that it’s a 100 point wine if there ever was one.

First course was an uni parfait with I think tomato jelly underneath. The whole menu was designed by Fred (and the chef) to perfectly pair with our epic whites.

Next up real caviar with blini and a version of the traditional accompaniments suspended in a vanilla lemon foam. Quite awesome, actually.

Here you can see the below foam strata a bit better.

1986 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne. Fred writes: The honey and botrytis of 86 was apparent as was with the 86 Roulot MP. There is that long elegant floral finish that you get with Coche Corton Charlemagne. Initially a little behind the 89 Coche MP due to the weight and slight lack of acidity and focus. However, over the next 3 hours it continued to improve becoming more refined and elegant with each repour. By the end of the night, it was as good and maybe even better than the 89. Hard to say as both wines were flawless tonight and showcasing their vintage and vineyard perfectly.

1996 Domaine Leroy Corton-Charlemagne. Fred writes: This is a powerful Corton Charlemagne. The 96 acidity is very prominent. There is not as much fruit or depth as the 04 that we had a few months ago. However the oak on this was far more integrated and not noticeable. There is a fine mineral streak through this great wine. On any other night this has a shot at WOTN. Tonight it lacked the complexity and nuances of the Coche and even the Roulot. Still, a great drink.

Lightly poached or raw salmon with baby asparagus and beurre blanc. Another lovely dish.

Fried soft-shell crab with ginger. In season too. This was a good bit of food and we finished a massive lunch just an hour or so before this dinner!

Scallops with saffron, artichoke heart, and puff pastry.

Lobster with risotto. Awesome courses, but not light — I would have been full without the huge lunch!

Turbot with some kind of broth. Feeling really full!

Tarte Aux Fraises – Strawberry Tart Harry’s Berries Strawberries – Crème d’amande. Strawberry Compote – Crème Fraiche Chantilly – Lemon Confit Gelato. Really lovely intense berry flavor and nice textural interplay. Harry’s Berries are fabulous when in season.

Fondant Au Chocolat Amer 64%. Apricot Stracciatella Gelato – Cashew Praline Crème Monté. Bring the wafer thin mint!

Plus, I had 4 flavors of gelato! Yeah, 4. But they were so frozen rock solid by the dry ice that I couldn’t even chip into them. They were still rock solid when I got home hours later and had to “thaw” in the freezer. But will return for tomorrow night’s Fred dinner.

Overall, an incredibly epic meal.

Service was first class. We did the wine service though, which is how we wanted it with these wines. Which, by the way were all four incredible. Fantastic and very lucky that we had no flaws. Probably the 89 Coche MP was the “best” — but all 4 were amazing. Legendary wines and we may never see their like again.

Food was amazing too. Certainly the best non-Asian I’ve had in Orange County. Very good by any standards. And our custom meal was stunning. TONS of food too — it would have been a lot even if I arrived starved, and I’m a big eater — but after being stuffed at LSXO an hour or two before, it was a serious struggle to find the room. I mean, I pretty much finished every plate — that’s what I do — but I was in some serious overstuffed discomfort! Ah, first world problems.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Coche Dury, Foodie Club, French Cuisine, Gelato, Legendary, Leroy, Marche Moderne, Orange County, Roulot, White Burgundy

Perfect Atmosphere – LSXO

Jun17

Restaurant: LSXO

Location: 21022-21148 Pacific Coast Hwy, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. (714) 374-0083

Date: May 16, 2019 and January 30 & February 19, 2020

Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion

Rating: Awesome flavors

LSXO, a concept-within-a-concept, inside Bluegold at Pacific City, is the brainchild of Chef Tin Vuong of Blackhouse Hospitality. Cuisine is inspired by District 1 in Saigon (where Tin’s family hails from) and dishes range from more traditional to innovative amongst a stunning hideaway overlooking the Huntington Beach pier. Behind an unmarked door adjacent to the wine room, guests are transported to District 1 (China Town) in Saigon via Blackhouse’s 28-seat restaurant-within-a-restaurant, LSXO. A spinoff of the Little Sister brand (Manhattan Beach and Downtown Angeles), LSXO is love letter to the culture, heritage, and lineage of Vietnam (Vuong’s relatives hail from the region). While Little Sister is known for its French Vietnamese menu, LSXO follows the same Southeast Asian inspiration with a more refined, expat feel.

LSXO draws inspiration from Southern Vietnam with a number of Chinese influences. While the menu is 90% different from Little Sister, a handful of signature dishes are offered, such as the Beef Tar Tare, Imperial Rolls, and Salt & Pepper Lobster. Lunch & Dinner items range from cold plates from the garde manger to salads, rice paper rolls, fish & shellfish, meat & poultry, both dry and soupy noodles, and banh mi (lunch only). A unique addition, LSXO debuts Afternoon Tea, featuring a selection of open-faced finger sandwiches, French pastries, and specialty sweets to complement an array of international tea blends

Bluegold is located on the top level of Pacific City at 21010 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach, CA 92648. The restaurant serves California coastal cuisine alongside craft wines, beers, and inventive cocktails. Bluegold is open Monday-Sunday for breakfast, lunch, “in between,” and dinner (9am to close). For more information please call (714) 374-0038 or visit website, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

LSXO draws inspiration from Southern Vietnam with a number of Chinese influences. Check out the cool Indochina-style room with it’s ocean views.

The view.

So OC too, as the big table had a huge part of OC moms and their babies living it up — must have been a Mommy & Me group or something.

On my first visit, in May of 2019, our threesome was Foodie Core members Erick, Fred and myself, kicking back ocean-side to enjoy some Champagne and White Burg just hours BEFORE our epic and crazy evening white burg dinner.

Elegant touch.

Hot sauce! They have two different kinds of house-made hot sauce and a “sweet” fish sauce. All are fabulous.

The menu.

From my cellar: 1996 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. 97 points. Taittinger’s 1996 Comtes de Champagne is another highlight. The flavors are only now beginning to show elements of complexity, a great sign for aging. Gently spiced and buttery notes suggest the 1996 is about to enter the early part of its maturity, where it is likely to stay for another decade or so.

Red curry spiced pork rinds, chili oil & scallions. Nice crispy shrimp chip textured pork rinds. A touch of heat. I expected more curry flavor.

Pickled cabbage, crushed peanut, chili. Light little snack/side.

Goi du du. Green papaya salad, Viet beef jerky, peanuts, chili lime vinaigrette. Awesome bright salad.

Beef tartare, Viet herbs, fried aromatics, quail egg, lobster rice crackers. Pretty decent meaty tartare.

Grilled pork spring roll. Nem Nuong red leaf lettuce, mint, carrot, cucumber, house sauce.

Autumn roll, sweet potato, jicama, egg, herbs, Chinese sausage, candied shrimp, coconut peanut sauce. Incredible take on the classic Vietnamese sausage roll. So much flavor.

Pork, shrimp & crab dumplings. Spicy black vinegar dressing, chives, spinach, peanuts. Very tasty. Lots of complex herby flavor.

“Ga xao xa ot” spicy lemongrass chicken. Fried garlic & dried chilies. This was the most incredible “fried chicken”. It had this sweet and tangy and crunchy thing going on and a really bright complex savory flavor.

Pho banh cuon with beef and tendon, herbs, lettuce, pickled onion. These can basically be seen as either deconstructed pho or pho flavored soft rice rolls. It’s a rice crepe roll, with the pho components, and a bit of a sweet and sour sauce. Great texture and flavor.

Vietnamese crepe. Bánh xèo. Sizzling pancake. PRawns, pork belly, bean sprout, herbs and greens, house dressing.

Here are the herbs. This is actually a very traditional Vietnamese dish. You take some of the omelet and add herbs and sauce and eat. Delicious.

“Bun Rieu” omelet, soft shell crab & tomato chili sate, Viet herbs and condiments. Delicious, with a good amount of crab.

XO sticky rice, lap cheung pork flass, crispy shallots, slow egg, roasted chili vinegar. I’m all over anything with pork floss — and this had incredible flavor and texture.

Pork floss zoom! Gotta love the pork floss. It looks like insulation but tastes incredible.

Lamb belly with shrimp chips and herbs.

2001 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux. BH 89. A trace of wood spice frames expressive aromas of limestone, white flowers and obvious Chablis fruit that lead to bigger, richer, firmer and more penetrating flavors plus a finish that is both persistent and very dry. I like this very much as it offers a bit more precision than the Forêts.

agavin: reviewers were crazy because this is an amazing wine.

Fred: A bit of honey and ripe fruit on the nose. Almost like botrytis. However, on the palate there is good acidity with some waxy round texture. Very full but not flabby. A wonderful wine to start the day.

Lamb satay, egg noodle, mustard greens, long beans, fried garlic.

You mix this up. This dish was an 11. Now, I’m a noodle fiend, but it was amazing — rich with TONS of flavor — like a lamb satay.

Noodles with coconut and seafood. Delicious with light vermicelli noodles.

Black duck egg, chilies, sesame rau ram. Chili sauce was great but the egg itself didn’t have enough of that salty flavor.

1996 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon. 92 points. Fred writes: Excellent wine. Still incredibly youthful with a strong classic Leflaive flint signature. A bit more acidic and than than the 01 Raveneau Butteaux but both wines are just drinking superb right now. Plenty of lemon acidity and an awesome long finish.

Tom rang thit ba chi caramelized prawns with pork spare ribs and lardons. Awesome!

Salt and Pepper lobster, butter fried shallots, fried chilies and garlic. Tasty, but not worth the big markup.

Viet braised Salmon in a claypot. This is a take on the tradition caramelized catfish (or whatever fish they use in Vietnam). I didn’t particularly love substituting the salmon. All those heavy oils settle with salmon.

Pan fried eggplant & basil. Sausage, scallions, satay sauce. Very nice eggplant. Super temperature hot on arrival.

A kind of beef tomato stew that was delicious.

The stew above came with this perfect baguette roll, chili butter, chicken liver paste, limes, and tangy pepper sauce. The combination of all of these on the rolls was a fatty foodgasm.

Crab salted cod chao, white fish and egg white. A mild salty congee — savory and delicious.

Carb on carb. The chao (congee) comes with these Chinese savory doughnuts — unsweetened crullers.

Chao. Confit duck & bamboo with aromatics, herbs. Served with cilantro, scallions, fried shallots & Chinese style savory crullers.

Toppings for the congree/chao. The congee (rice porridge) itself is very mild, but when you throw this stuff and both some of the sweet fish sauce and the house-made chili goo in — delicious!

Pork. Absolutely amazing grilled meat with stunning flavors.

Shaky Shaky Beef. Watercress, baby tomatoes, burnt butter soy with tomato garlic fried rice. A very nice version of the classic shaking beef, but not the most exciting of LSXO’s dishes — mostly because the others were so amazing.

Pork belly with a sweet and tangy sauce. Very tender and nice.

Birthday cake for my brother on 2/19/20. Awesome day piggybacked with a lunch “snack” at Oc & Lau.

Now, I do love Asian food of almost all varieties, and adore Vietnamese food, but LSXO is stunning in every way. Hard to imagine this is in a mall. The ocean views and light are spectacular as is the intimate room. And the food. For the most part it’s better than anything I had in Vietnam — even though some of that was amazing — because the ingredient quality and execution is so good. Basically it’s Vietnamese classics, but really elevated way above street food (with its fly infested meat and little plastic chairs). Of course you pay about 30X (compared to Saigon street food).

Also, Fred, Erick and I had a blast as we always do — and our wines didn’t suck.

I returned with my family in January of 2020. It was just as good and might possibly be the best Vietnamese restaurant I’ve been to — including Vietnam. It’s different than in Vietnam, and more “modernized”, but has incredibly good bright flavors and great ingredients. We also came back 2/19/20 for dinner — where there is a very slightly different menu — and had another fabulous meal.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

Wines from 2/19/20:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, Foodie Club, LXSO, Orange County, Pacific Ocean, Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese Fusion, White Burgundy, Wine

Dirty Dozen at Water Grill

Jun10

Restaurant: Water Grill Santa Monica [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1401 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 394-5669

Date: May 8, 2019

Cuisine: American Seafood

Rating: Solid coastal seafooder

Tonight’s outing to Water Grill Santa Monica is for Dirty Dozen, the sub group of the Hedonists that does periodic themed blind wine dinners.

Tonight’s theme was relatively young White Burgundy (2002-2017).

The Water Grill was chosen probably because they don’t charge for corkage (Dirty Dozen is cheap about this). It is VERY nicely located (close to my house). The ocean sunset throws some awesome color on the facade.

And they have a great private room. Huge, paneled, and very secluded.

The menu is classic California seafooder. It’s a bit over priced, a touch “boring”, and a tad challenging to arrange into small plates. But kitchen execution is fairly solid.

Flight 0 – Champagne:

2010 David Leclapart Champagne Premier Cru L’Artiste Blanc de Blancs Pas Dosé Trépail. 91 points. The nose started a bit difficult, I guess because of the glas. Very intensive but not very positive. One hour later typical notes of peach, baken pineapple. Good acidity structure with fine bubbles, refreshing, precise. Good wine foor food because of the power and concentration.

NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Cuvée Rubis. VM 93. The NV Cuvée Rubis, a blend of 2014 and 2013, is unusually strict and severe. Those are not bad qualities at all, but this edition is especially focused and pulsing with energy. The cranberry, white flowers, grapefruit and white pepper notes are finely cut. In many years, I find the Cuvée Rubis to be airy and even a touch diffuse, but in this release, the wine is finely etched and sculpted, not to mention a huge overachiever. I loved it. The Rubis is 90% Pinot Noir (of which about 15% is still red wine) and 10% Chardonnay. Disgorged November 2016. Dosage is 9 grams per liter.

Hot bread and butter.

Our seafood tower accompanies the first flight. A trio of different oysters.

Giant shrimp and crab “nuggets”. On top is some uni — way too little of this. Both the shrimp and crab were quite good for what they are. Lobster was left off for cost saving reasons. Truthfully, you do need to get a lot of it, which adds up.

Various sauces for the raw bar.

Flight 1:

2011 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne Quintessence. VM 93-96. Distinctly cooler on the nose than the “regular” Corton-Charlemagne: lime, crushed rock and white flowers, with a hint of the chicken broth quality shown by the classic bottling. Tighter in texture and higher-pitched in the mouth, with the crushed stone minerality currently dominating the lime and floral flavors; imploded today yet utterly vibrant. The pure, saline finish builds and builds. This should be long-lived.

2005 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. VM 98+. Wonderfully ripe, deep aromas of lime, minerals and crushed stone. An incredible mouthful of stones and minerals, with uncanny intensity, juiciness and lift. At this point in my marathon tasting with Boillot, my handwriting was degenerating and I was using exclamation marks rather than adjectives. Flat-out great white Burgundy. Incidentally, Boillot changed his supplier of Corton-Charlemagne as of this vintage; he now works with vines in Aloxe-Corton that face full south.

2004 Morey-Blanc Corton-Charlemagne. VM 91+. High-toned aromas of raw pineapple and menthol. Then tightly wound and imploded in the mouth, with pure, juicy flavors of lemon peel and crushed stone. Very solidly built but not hard on the back. Not yet longer than the Genevrieres, but this one really needs to be buried in the cellar.

A trio of crudos:

Farmed New Zealand King Salmon. fig jam, sour cream

Wild Eastern Sea Scallop. togarashi rub, Japanese mustard aioli, pickled vegetable, golden raisins

Wild Pacific Bigeye Tuna. fennel orange purée, diced oranges, fennel pollen

Flight 2:

2009 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 96. The 2009 Chablis Les Clos is inward, cool and impeccably precise. It presents a chiseled, sculpted expression of fruit, then blossoms on the mid-palate and finish as the voice of the year comes through. The 2009 is a relatively open, radiant Les Clos that should offer rewarding drinking fairly early for this cuvée. It is drop-dead gorgeous from start to finish.

2008 Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Blanc. VM 93. Healthy bright yellow. A sexy note of reduction to the highly complex aromas of white peach, pear, minerals, mint, hazelnut and toast. At once silky and vibrant; a wonderfully concentrated midweight with terrific balance and thrust and a winning combination of fresh white fruits and minerals complicated by subtle salinity from start to finish. The aftertaste delivers lovely sappy, building length and a weightless impression but no hardness. The highest in acidity of all the vintages in this tasting–and right up my alley. This is a big success for its vintage and is evolving slowly.

2014 Joseph Drouhin Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. VM 92+. Pale, bright yellow. Tight, bright aromas of lemon-lime, grapefruit pith and crushed stone. Pliant on entry, then adamantly minerally and firm in the middle palate and dominated by its structure. But this very intense, fine-grained wine really resounds on the finish. Very closed today but has the balance and backbone to age gracefully.

Uni Toast. Toasted brioche. a bit dry, not enough uni!

Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Cake. Celery root remoulade

Seafood Fritters. Crab, shrimp and Atlantic cod, with romesco sauce and pickled peppers. Tasty, but DEEP fried.

Wild Spanish Octopus. Charcoal grilled with tomato, feta and nicoise olives. Pretty good.

Wedge Salad. bacon and blue goat cheese. I love a wedge — all about the dressing.

Bitter Greens. salt cured anchovies and garlic vinaigrette

Flight 3:

2015 Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes. BH 91. This was strongly reduced, indeed to the point that it was unpleasant and difficult to like, both on the nose and on the palate. On the plus side there is good density to the caressing yet powerful medium-bodied flavors that brim with dry extract that imparts a sappy texture to the slightly warm and mildly bitter finish. I gave this an extended aeration and it helped but like the Morgeot, it’s not completely clear that this is going to grow out of what could generously be described as youthfully awkward. To be sure, there is excellent underlying material and given the excellent track record of this wine, I am inclined to offer the benefit of the doubt. But that’s not a guarantee that this will eventually transform from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

2012 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 91-94. Pale yellow-green. Vibrant, precise aromas of lime leaf, thyme and mint. Then rich and pliant on the palate, with lovely texture and restrained sweetness to the flavors of ripe peach, noble herbs, smoky oak and spices. Wonderfully harmonious, classy wine with lovely floral and herbal lift to its persistent white fruit flavors.

From my cellar: 2007 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 94+. Bright medium yellow. Very ripe, expressive nose offers yellow peach and white flowers. Opulent, shapely and very ripe, in a distinctly sweeter style than the Batard. Gives an impression of lower acidity too, but there’s plenty of acid here. I suspect this one will shut down in bottle. Girardin, who bottled most of his crus in April and May of this year, noted that the 2007s really only started to express themselves in February, and that many of his fellow producers bottled this vintage too early.

Wild Channel Islands Black Cod Kabayaki (Sablefish). soba noodles, green onions, spiced fish broth

Wild Ross Sea Chilean Sea Bass. pan sautéed with herbed ricotta gnudi and brown butter

Dover sole with lemon butter.

Santa Barbara Spot Prawns.

2010 Mongeard-Mugneret Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Orveaux. BH 89-92. The composition of the nose is similar to that of the Vosne villages though here it’s a bit more elegant and slightly fresher as well. There is good mid-palate fat and a touch of minerality that adds interest to the solidly precise and vibrant medium-bodied flavors that terminate in a dusty and naturally sweet finish. I like the balance and interestingly the sweetness is balanced off by just a touch of austerity.

Prime Split-Bone Ribeye. 20 ounce

Broccolini with Chinese sausage — sausage makes everything great!

Crispy Polenta with Melted Fontina. Ok, but a touch bland.

Mac and Cheese.

French Fries.

Flight 4 – Dessert:

1988 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes. VM 89. Reticent aromas of almond, petrol and brown spices opened to show a honeyed richness and good botrytis character. Very rich, fat and honeyed in the mouth; showed a grapefruity freshness with aeration. Still, this expansive wine seems rather low in acidity. Finishes quite suave, and a bit less sweet than the middle palate would suggest. This was the turnaround vintage, under the management of Jean-Pierre Jausserand.

Cheese plate. Pretty good.

Chocolate Orange Pistachio Gelato — my classic 63% Valrhona chocolate base but with orange infused milk, and laced with house-made Bronte Pistachio Valrhona Gananche — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Just say it again: Bronte Pistachio Valrhona Ganache — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #pistachio #orange #chocolate

Reimagining an old flavor Cocoa Samoa Gelato — Coconut dairy base, new super delicious formulation, house-made caramel and Valrhona chocolate ganache, with Girl Scout Samoas — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Crazy Choco Caramel Nostalgic Goodness! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #coconut #caramel #samoas #girlscoutcookies

Moscow Mule Sorbetto — new highly technical sorbetto made with lime, cucumber, ginger beer, and Stoli Vodka — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — yeah, there is actually a lot of vodka in here — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #MoscowMule #lime #cucumber #GingerBeer #Stoli #vodka

My minimalist notes.

The scores for tonight.

The DD results history.

The wine lineup.

Winner, winner, chicken (or fish) dinner Kirk with his bottle. Cotsen is jealous.

The gang.

Overall, a fun evening. Food was tasty and fresh. It’s not the most exciting or novel, and some dishes are just okay. I don’t love trying to make a tasting menu out of this menu. It doesn’t really have share plates and the entrees are hard to split (we didn’t). But the restaurant did a good job by us, and the private room is awesome.

Wines were quite nice tonight by D&D standards. Whites were showing better than they usually do in this group.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chardonnay, Dirty Dozen, Gelato, hedonists, Water Grill, watergrill, White Burgundy, Wine

Montrachet Central

Apr10

Restaurant: Drago Centro [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 525 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071. (213) 228-8998

Date: March 14, 2019

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great high end Italian

This dinner is the second part of the annual White Burgundy Premox test series, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. This dinner covers 2011 Bienvenues-Bâtard, Criots-Bâtard,Bâtard-Montrachet, and Chevalier-Montrachet.

This particular dinner is at Drago Centro, which is the new home for these big dinners after the closing of Valentino. I’ve been a Drago fan (and friend) for years. Celistino Drago has even cooked at our house a bunch of times.

2011 White Burgundy is a vintage for those who prefer elegance and purity over power and concentration. It is the size of the wine that worried some white wine producers – many whites were willowy and gentle with low alcohol and modest acidity levels. This contrasts with the past several vintages – 2010, 2009 and the 2008 – where the overall frame and size of the wine was bigger. With the 2011s now either in bottle or about to be bottled, the wines have gained stature and flesh, though they will remain slim. What the best 2011 whites offer are seductive delicate flavours, purity of expression and delightful aromatics.

Located on busy Flower in DTLA.

Drago!

There was a private party outside and the place was packed.

Fortunately, this time, we were in the vault room which is separate and quiet.

Our special menu.

Flight 0: Champagne

2004 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée. VM 95. The 2004 Coeur de Cuvée has gained considerable weight, richness and resonance over the last few years. Brioche, almonds, marzipan, anise and dried flowers are some of the notes that flesh out in a radiant, super-expressive Champagne built on texture and class. The 2004 is every bit as impressive as it has always been. At eleven years of age, the Coeur de Cuvée is just entering an early plateau of maturity that is likely to last for at least a handful of years. Disgorged May 2012.

Mini crab cakes.

Sweet breads with caviar. Not my favorite as I don’t love offal.

Hamachi cones with roe and gold. A little mild in flavor. Could use a bit of spice or something.

Don imported (former) Valentino Wine Director Paul Sherman to mastermind the wine service for who-knows-how-many-years-in-a-row.

My friend, chef Celestino Drago checks to make sure everything is in order.

Grisini.

Fresh baked bread (Drago has its own bakery for the restaurant group).

Flight 1: BBM & Criots

2011 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 93+. ale, bright green-yellow. Precise, high-pitched aromas of lime, white flowers and crushed stone. Then juicy and supple on the palate, with enticing sweetness to its pure, sharply delineated flavors of lime and orange. Impeccably balanced Bienvenue with nothing fat or warm about it. Really sparkles on the powerful, mounting finish.

From my cellar: 2011 Etienne Sauzet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 95. Mint, lime, lychee, jasmine and white pear notes abound in the 2011 Batard-Montrachet. This is an especially tense, vibrant Batard that stands out for its energy, distinction and pure class. Super-finessed throughout, the 2011 impresses on the finish, where its crystalline brilliance dazzles. The style is very much built on precision, energy and minerality, rather than opulence. Today the 2011 is understandably a bit tight, but it should be superb in another few years. What a beautiful wine.

2011 Domaine Jacques Carillon Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 95+. arillon’s 2011 Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru is total silk on the palate. Subtle, layered and exceptionally polished, the 2011 is all about texture. Exotic white truffle, mint, smoke and Chamomile notes are just starting to develop in the glass, but the 2011 has a long time to go before being ready. Riesling-inflected petrol notes add nuance on the finish. This is a seriously beautiful wine from Jacques Carillon.

2011 Henri Boillot Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 92-95. Bright yellow. Vibrant nose combines smoke, honey and sexy minerality. More concentrated and sweet than the Criots but with the verve–not to mention the saline density–of Boillot’s Pucelles. Lovely creamy old-viney texture and length. The minerally finish leaves the taste buds quivering.

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Light color, smells young and reductive but the palate is smooth doesn’t taste as young as it smells. Interesting wine that’s in a good spot and should remain here for at least a couple of years.

2011 Hubert Lamy Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 97. There is little doubt Olivier Lamy’s 2011 Criots-Batard-Montrachet is one of the truly great wines of the vintage. Utterly vivid and constantly changing in the glass, the 2011 captivates all of the sense – both hedonistic and intellectual – with a captivating mélange of exotic white flowers, crushed rocks and pears. The bright, crystalline flavors blossom beautifully in the glass in that sweet, perfumed, ethereal style that is the signature of Criots. What an utterly moving, delicious wine this is.

2011 Louis Jadot Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 94. The 2011 Bienvenues Batard-Montrachet is huge. Rich, voluptuous and layered, the 2011 flows across the palate with stunning depth and richness. With time in the glass more subtle hints of almonds, hazelnuts, baking spices and mint emerge, albeit with great reluctance. There is plenty of energy in the glass. It will be interesting to see if the 2011 acquires more polish in bottle. Regardless, there is plenty to admire in a succulent, generous Bienvenues that is likely to offer a broad window of drinkability.

2011 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 92+. Pale yellow. Youthfully imploded nose hints at peach and smoky lees. Closed in the mouth as well, showing a slight bitter edge to the flavors of herbs, flowers and crushed stone. Best today on the juicy, echoing finish, which shows a subtle saline character.

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 94-96. Exotic white flowers, ginger, white pepper and lychee are some of the many notes that emerge from the 2011 Criots-Batard-Montrachet, a wine that dazzles from start to finish. The 2011 is pure seduction. Captivating aromatics, beautifully layered fruit and fabulous persistence are the hallmarks. Colin-Morey thought the 2011 needed a little more time in cask, and planned to bottle the wine later in the summer.

Jumbo scallops crudo, potato cream, onion jello and truffles. Very light dish and attractive plating. I was glad the scallops were raw — as I prefer them that way.

Flight 2: Bâtard-Montrachet

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 97. The 2011 Batard-Montrachet boasts serious richness, depth and structure. A wine of pure brawn and intensity, the 2011 impresses for its exceptional balance and harmony, but it is also very reticent and nowhere near ready to show the full breadth of its personality. The finish alone is simply sensational. Readers should give the 2011 at least a few years in bottle to settle down. The Batard is imposing, sensational and regal in every way.

2011 Domaine Bachelet-Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet.

2011 Domaine Henri Boillot Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 95. Boillot’s 2011 Bâtard-Montrachet is striking. Pear, almond and spice notes open up in the glass, leading to bright fruit and expressive floral notes. In 2011 the Bâtard is linear, powerful and intense. This statuesque Burgundy is best left alone for at least several years.

2011 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 94+. Pale bright yellow. Sexy perfume of lemon, lime, clove and white flowers. A step up in weight and power from the Bienvenue, but still with lovely lift to the generous flavors of ripe peach and spices. Wonderfully energetic, tactile wine with terrific rising length and grip, and a late mineral character that contributes finesse. But this big, rich, backward Batard will need time to express itself.

2011 Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers. VM 92. Pale, bright yellow. Subtle, pure nose offers pear and white flowers. Suave on entry, then juicy and sweet in the middle, with a minty lift contributing to the impression of inner-mouth perfume. Sappy, minerally, sharply delineated Chassagne with a positive iodiney character. This lively wine really coats the palate and lingers, without leavening any impression of undue weight.

2011 Etienne Sauzet Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 96. Gently spiced notes open into lemon oil and subtle yellow stone fruits in the 2011 Batard-Montrachet. The style is surprisingly weightless for Batard, in fact, this is one of the more refined, introspective 2011 Batards I tasted. The long, persistent finish along is striking. There is no shortage of nuance or finesse in this exceptional wine from Sauzet.

2011 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 93+. Good full medium yellow. Musky aromas of yellow peach, apricot and minerals lifted by a floral topnote. Boasts impressive volume and palate-saturating breadth but comes across as more closed than the Bienvenue in spite of its richness of texture. Finishes very long, though, with lingering notes of spices and smoke. Pernot recommends waiting three years before opening this.

2011 Pierre Morey Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 94. The 2011 Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru blossoms in the glass with light, floral-infused honey. Chamomile, tangerine and hazelnut notes. Rich and voluptuous all the way through to the finish, yet never heavy, the 2011 is a model of finesse. This is another superb showing from Pierre Morey.

Rigatoni Kamut, swordfish and eggplant ragu. An unusual pasta dish. The texture (al dente) on the pasta was incredible. Really these seemed closer to a picci (but not exactly). Very nice soft mildly rich flavor.

Flight 3: Chevalier-Montrachet part 1

2011 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 96. A wine of pure texture the 2011 Chevalier-Montrachet captivates all the senses. Mint, lime, white flowers and Chamomile all vow for attention in a pliant, expressive wine of the highest level. The 2011 has a level of inner richness that is simply waiting in reserve. Another few years in bottle should unlock all of that potential.

2011 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. VM 97. Honey, almonds, white flowers and nectarines all take shape in Jadot’s 2011 Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles. Exotic white truffle, orange peel and spice notes appear later, adding dimensions of complexity and nuance to this pedigreed Burgundy. The flavors continue to blossom in all directions as the wine opens up in the glass. Simply put, the 2011 Demoiselles is a stunner.

2011 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret. VM 92+. Lemon, lime, crushed stone and some noble herbal high notes on the nose. Citrussy and penetrating, with a hint of youthful bitterness to the lime leaf and chalky mineral flavors. Very pure, juicy, mineral-driven wine with sneaky depth and a persistent, vibrating finish. This is 12.7% alcohol following about 0.3% of chaptalization, notes Alix de Montille.

2011 Francois Carillon Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 95+. The 2011 Chevalier-Montrachet is drop-dead gorgeous. Hints of light floral honey, almonds and lemon oil are just beginning to develop, but the Chevalier-Montrachet is mostly a wine of texture and shape. Not a huge wine, the 2011 impresses for its incredible class and nuance. With air, slightly more exotic and tropical notes emerge, providing a hint of what waits for those lucky few who will be able to source this jewel of a wine.

2011 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 93+. Good bright, pale yellow-straw. Perfumed aromas of peach pit and vanillin oak, lifted by spicy high notes. Rich and concentrated but light on its feet. Shows sweet stone fruit flavors and very good breadth on the front half, then turns firmer and more saline on the back end, finishing dry and brisk, with lingering notes of citrus peel and white peach. Boasts a lovely core of sweet fruit but this will need patience.

2011 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 95+. Subdued but pure aromas of pineapple, crushed rock and white flowers; less fruity today than the Bienvenue or Batard. Then fat and ripe but with terrific verve to the mineral and spice flavors. With a few minutes in the glass, this highly concentrated, electric wine came across as more tightly coiled, with its energy and cut becoming more apparent. Most impressive today on the extremely long, perfumed back end, which leaves the palate vibrating under a layer of mineral dust. Winemaker Remy says he wouldn’t start drinking this wine for 12 years.

Cioppino, assorted seafood, lobster broth. Fabulous seafood soup. Really a lobster bisque with various extremely fresh seafood.

Flight 4: Chevalier-Montrachet part 2

2011 Domaine Marc Morey & Fils Chevalier-Montrachet.

2011 Domaine Michel Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 95. Exotic white flowers, lychee, mint and lime blossom in the glass as the 2011 Chevalier-Montrachet shows off its compelling personality. Impeccably pure and layered throughout, the 2011 impresses for its exceptional balance and class. There is plenty of Chevalier richness and honey, but no excess weight or sense of heaviness at all.

2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 94+. Pale yellow. Slightly sullen, medicinal aromas of pineapple, menthol and crushed stone. Then taut and powerful in the mouth, with little early pliancy to the penetrating flavors of fresh pineapple and crushed rock. All in reserve today and in need of at least several years of cellaring. Classically dry on the high-pitched, echoing finish, which leaves behind piquant notes of dusty pepper, ginger, wild herbs and crushed stone. In the same bracing, mineral-driven style as Colin’s superb Meursault Perrieres and Corton-Charlemagne.

2011 Domaine Ramonet Chevalier-Montrachet.

2011 Vincent Dancer Chevalier-Montrachet.

2011 Etienne Sauzet Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 94+. Good pale yellow. Ripe, highly perfumed nose combines pineapple, flowers, mint and humid fern. Less obviously powerful than the Batard but offers insidious intensity and a more pliant texture to its yellow fruit and mineral flavors. Tightens up considerably on the back end, finishing subtle and long, with fresh minerality and a strong chalky character.

Pan roasted breast of duck, kumquat sauce. Great duck. Perfectly cooked and I loved the kumquat sauce (which was an interesting take on the orange duck thing). The forbidden rice was just there.

Appendix Flight: dessert

2002 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Eiswein. VM 93. This drinks like a pure and incredibly fragrant Normandy cider laced with lemon, vanilla and fresh strawberry. Weightless in feel, effortless gliding down, yet with incredible tenacity of grip.

Dark chocolate cremeux, cocoa almond, milk chocolate chantilly. The cake and its cream top was amazing. Really nice contrast of textures and strong chocolate flavors. The ice cream is gelato made by me (Celestino had it plated with the dessert):

After my advanced gelato class, trying a slightly new pistachio formulation — Pistachio Madeline Gelato — base uses my same awesome Pistachios from Bronte Sicily but also a small amount of egg yolk for extra body. I baked the Madelines from scratch and soaked them in hand made Grand Mariner syrup — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #Pistachio #lemon #orange #Sicily #GrandMariner #Madeline #cookie #baking

This one is also by me:

Getting whacky — Thai Peanut Coconut Lime Chili Gelato — Salty peanuts, Thai coconut cream, lime zest, and serrano chillies — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — almost too spicy! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #chili #spicy #thai #peanut #coconut #lime #SavorySweet #Serrano

Have a few glasses!

The reveal sheet.

And the full lineup.

Don’s notes on the wines:

It was interesting to “watch the race” for the top wine as I compiled the votes. The group’s top overall wine was the Bernard Moreau Chevalier Montrachet, which won despite getting fewer first place votes than the number two finisher, the Colin-Morey Chevalier (which was my favorite wine). Both were spectacular and easily the equal of the best 2010s (and I thought the PYCM Chevalier was clearly superior to his 2010 Chevalier.) Finishing third was the Jadot Demoisselles, which was easily the best version of that wine we’ve had since at least the 1996.
The huge difference in the number of oxidized and advanced wines between night one and night two was disconcerting. It demonstrates the risk of judging a vintage based on wines from a limited number of appellations. We had a large percentage of premox on night two, but with almost no premox on night one, at this point the cumulative statistics are right about even with 2010. (Hard to figure….)
The flight of Criots/BBM was maybe the best overall flight of those wines ever. Carillon was again the favorite of the flight as it usually is.
PYCM – Solid performance again, and the Chevy was spectacular, and probably the best he’s ever made. The Criots, Bienvenues and Batard, while all very good, were not as exciting.
Jadot — Three wines out of the four included finished in the top three over the first two nights. Jadot will go back on my “buy” list for their top wines starting with 2011. DIAM will probably restore their reputation, but the Bienvenues proved that you can still make bad wine despite DIAM.
The ringers – the Montille Puligny Caillerets (tied for No. 5 overall) was spectacular in context and nobody identified it as an obvious ringer in a flight of Chevaliers, which is what I had hoped. The Pillot Clos St. Marc (tied for 11^th), which comes from 100 year old vines in the best part of Vergers, also seemed to compete with the Batards, although it didn’t quite have the weight of the top ones. Maybe matching it with Bienvenues and Criots flight would have been a fairer fight. Finding really good ringers to include is one of the fun elements of this.
Leflaive – amazingly, all three wines were very good to excellent and not advanced or oxidized, though the style isn’t remotely the same as it used to be.
Ramonet – Obviously the least impressive showing for Ramonet since the premox disaster vintages in 1996 and 1999. I’m hoping that the Chevalier was an off bottle, but clearly that was the worst example of a Ramonet Chevy I’ve ever tasted.
Pernot – Both wines were again advanced. These wines seem to have notably declined since the 2007 vintage and are too often advanced.
Dancer – An enigma. Capable at time of producing spectacular wines (e.g. 2010 MP, the overall night one winner), yet also capable of producing horribly flawed, or in the past oxidized wines. Two disasters in 2011.
Boillot – On the second pass I concluded the Batard with the “blood orange” aroma was indeed advanced. Pretty underwhelming showing. Really hard to justify the insane pricing for the Boillot grand crus given the consistently poor premox performance.

Overall another highly education and fun evening. The wines were incredible and it is always amazing to taste so many great White Burgs side by side.

The food was a big step up from Valentino. Much better plating and more modern, sophisticated style. It’s still a touch plain by design as Don likes to keep it understated compared to the wines (while I, myself, am a bit more forgiving in the name of flavor). Service was excellent.

There is a lot to say about this tasting. The wine service was impeccable, and this is a difficult task (pouring lots of big blind flights). Overall service is absolutely first rate. It’s a large quiet room, and the staff was highly attentive. Celistino is a great host and his menu paired spectacularly.

Don has so many wines that the flights were too large. The first was 9 wines! And several were 8. Really this dinner could use 6 flights, no bigger than 5 wines each and about 6 savory dishes. But it’s a long evening as is, so I can understand why that might be pushing it. We debated going to Killer Noodle or KTown after but we were just a little too tired and full.

A great evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: 2011 White Burgundy, Bâtard-Montrachet, BYOG, Celestino Drago, Chevalier-Montrachet, Don Cornwell, Drago Centro, DTLA, Gelato, Paul Sherman, White Burgundy, Wine

Coche vs d’Auvenay at Melisse

Mar13

Restaurant: Melisse [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Location: 1104 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-0881

Date: February 20, 2019

Cuisine: California French

Rating: Great finish

With Foodie Club champ Fred in town the core gang of Erick, myself, Fred got together with Liz for a final meal at Melisse, one of LA’s too remaining Michelin type restaurants — closing any day now sadly and reinventing itself. Liz “twisted our arms” to step up to the rather heroic standard of Coche and d’Auvenay 1re crus. woah!

Not only is the food at Melisse great but I always enjoyed the super close Santa Monica location.

Tonight we got the “10” menu plus the truffle pasta + the special preorder chicken.

2005 Jacques Selosse Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Millésimé. 94 points. Jumping right out of the glass with notes of top quality vanilla bean, chalk, white flowers, citrus, honey, and many other things. It’s super tense, high-toned, explosive, with razor-sharp acidity and perfect mousse. EXcellent length. A superb combination of richness, excellent tension and mineral salinity. There is a certain sweetness of fruit too. I really love this.

agavin: we bought this lovely champagne off the list to save on a corkage — although it was pricey enough that I’m not sure it was a save, even if great.

Melisse always has great bread.

Erick brought: 2003 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières. 96 Points. Fred’s notes: Coche vs d’Auvenay night. Tasted single blind. This was beautiful from the beginning. Very light in color and wonderfully floral. No hint of heaviness or heat. I thought it could have been the 04. The fruit is ripe but not heavy. This was unchanged in its beauty for the entire 4 hours. The floral perfume is just intoxicating. Remarkable for the vintage and tied with the 95 Coche MP and the 00 Coche Caillerets for my WOTN.

agavin: This and the 95 (below) were my favorites.

Fred brought: 2004 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d’Or. BH 93. Like the 2005 version (see herein) this is relatively strongly reduced though in this case it’s possible to see some maturing notes underneath the reductive funk. There is a good deal of petrol character on the impressively dense and intense flavors that possess a seductively textured mid-palate before culminating in a citrusy and ever-so-slightly dry finish that doesn’t really affect the persistence as much as it slightly compromises the overall sense of balance. While this could certainly be drunk now for my taste I would advise holding it for a few more years first. Note too that I would strongly advise decanting this first as help alleviate the reduction.

Fred’s Notes: Very rich and honeyed. There is some lemon acidity but this is more advanced than it should have been. Followed it through for 4 hours in the hopes it would improve but it did not. Drinkable but not what it should have been. Possibly heat damaged.

agavin: Fred, always the mensch, opened his backup

Liz, generous as always brought: 1995 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 94. A killer nose of absolutely stunning complexity and incredible elegance, especially for the vintage is followed by precise, pure and delineated middle weight flavors that offer plenty of sappy and generous Meursault character and a crisp, intense and utterly mineral-driven finish. This is impressively harmonious, strikingly long and while there is a trace of finishing warmth, this remains a marvelous effort. I have tasted this wine many times over the years and the last few bottles are starting to lose a bit of freshness and thus I would be drinking up over the next few years. To be sure, there is no rush but unless you like very well-aged aromas and flavors, there is no reason to wait any longer.

Fred’s notes: Coche vs d’Auvenay night. Tasted single blind it had so much reduction and richness I was sure it was a d’Auvenay. It then when through a grumpy phase where it was not giving up much. After 2 hours it really blossomed and the richness was replaced by floral perfume and a wonderful ethereal quality. This needed time to unfurl and when it did it became one of my favorites of the night.

agavin: loved it. a little closed at first, but opened to be gorgeous after some time.

Fred’s backup: 2000 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. BH 93. This has now peaked and is drinking beautifully with a fully mature nose of honeysuckle, peach, apricot and very subtle spice notes that can also be found on the enveloping flavors that possess a wonderfully seductive mouth feel and ample dry extract that both completely buffers the still firm acid spine and coats the palate on the long, lingering and strikingly perfumed if ever-so-slightly warm finish. One character that Coche seems to consistently be able to achieve is how his wines are at once generous yet retain a fine sense of focus and precision and this wine certainly displays this. Lovely stuff that is perfect now. Tasted thrice with consistent notes.

Fred’s notes: Coche vs d’Auvenay night. This was wicked good right out of the gate. Much lighter weight than the others and in consummate balance between fruit, acid, and the Coche profile. A long finish. Some thought it was better than the 95 Coche MP and 03 d’Auvenay Folatieres. For me it was too close to call with each wine showing a little something different.

agavin: very good, and really singing.

From my cellar: 2002 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. BH 93. There is a hint of mineral reduction on the otherwise wonderfully fresh, complex and cool nose of mostly acacia blossom and pear scents. I very much like the detail and sense of underlying tension to the mineral-driven middle weight flavors that possess a lightly saline character on the balanced, long and strikingly harmonious finish. While this is sufficiently close to its peak that it could certainly be enjoyed now with much pleasure, I would suggest holding it for another 2 to 4 years first if you want to try the ’02 Caillerets at its apogee.

Fred’s notes: Similar to the note below from Burgundy Al this was muted. With time a faint hint of cork emerged not enough to be obvious on the nose but enough to render it flat

agavin: very flat. I really couldn’t smell/taste the cork, but it was certainly flat, and much much lamer than the other two Caillerets. Sad. Very sad. Opened my backup (the 11).

Backup from my cellar: 2011 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Caillerets. 94 points. Pale, bright yellow. Peach and spicy oak on the nose. Sweet, fleshy and rather opulent, with a fine-grained texture and superb concentration. Very ripe but refined wine. Coche told me these vines suffered in the late June heat spike, but I don’t find the wine obviously marked by heat. Aged in 30% new oak.

Fred’s notes: Some lime and sweet tart notes to start. That profile starts to blow off to reveal a remarkable wine of elegance and acidity. Very young and give these another 10 years.

agavin: very tart, sweet tarts ground in, but lovely. Young!

An opening cocktail? Or juice. Hard to tell.

Some kind of very bright punchy fruit flavor.

Hawaiian Kanpachi. Sorrel panna cotta, hass avocado, radish and yuzu. Very nice bright starter. A unique take on the “tuna and avocado” thing. Loved the panna cotta and the yuzu.

Potato Leek Soup. Crisp Oyster, Preserved red onion. Fine and creamy, if not the most exciting dish of the night.

Egg Caviar. Soft poached egg, smoked lemon creme fraiche, golden ostera caviar. I’ve had this nearly every time I’ve been to Melisse. Still love it. Hard to eat neatly though.

Wagyu Beef Tartare. Charred leek, sunflower, capers and black garlic. Really great tartare with interesting crispy and leafy texture and great flavor.

Toast and chicharrones for the tartare. Chicharrones are perfect for me, less carbs, more fat and flavor!

Dungeness Crab and Geoduck Clam. Sisho and kefir lime infused custard, nori dashi. Very light Chawanmushi-style dish with extremely Japanese flavors. There has been strong Japanese influence at Melisse for some time.

Stonington Maine Diver Scallop. Diver Tim Robbins, FV Nilly Willy, Blue Hill Me. Young leeks, Brussels sprouts, fermented black beans, pomelo and mussel jus. A fine dish, but I don’t adore scallops in this kind of prep. I prefer them raw with yuzu!

Wild mushroom risotto. Aged acquerello rice, shaved perigord truffles.

Here with the truffles. Fabulous dish. Expensive supplement (maybe $85) but fabulous.

Black Bass “En Ecailles”. Salsify, fava beans, morel mushrooms, parsely and green garlic. Tasty white fish, but the scales give me the willies as always. Trypophobia!

21 Day Aged Liberty Duck. Salsify, bloomsdale spinach and procini. Very aged — tasty meat though.

We ordered special the Poulet Roti. It comes table-side like this.

Poulet Roti. Potato Mousseline, sunchocke, chanterelle, black truffle. Really nice chicken. Maybe not as great as the chicken baked with straw I had here once or twice, but great.

And bonus legs.

And they served this chicken and truffle salad. Best “chicken salad” I’ve ever had by an order of magnitude.

Camembert. Perigord truffles. We screwed up and forgot to tell them we wanted the cheese cart and not a fixed “cheese course” like this. It was fine, but nowhere near as good as the cart — and you can barely find the cart anywhere nowadays.

Red Velvet. Cream cheese tres leches, red beet and rose geranium.

With the sauce. Beautiful and tasty. Reminds me I have to make red velvet gelato again — been two years!

Lisa Cherimoya. Cara cara, passion fruit, lemongrass and coconut. For me, this was like a perfect dessert. I love this kind of bright creamy passionfruit / coconut kind of thing.

Petit fours. The usual, cannelles, chocolates, pate de fruits, macarons.

Mint tea. Unusual, but nice.

Erick.

Fred (He and Sebastian keep in the best shape of any Foodie Club guys).

Liz.

And me.

The full wine lineup.

Overall, another epic epic night.

Service at Melisse is first class. As is the food. Plenty of it, delicious, if rich. The price tag is a bit high and it’s not that surprising that they are transforming into something more casual and modern. Our dinner was about $800 a person! The set menu itself isn’t so bad, maybe $210, but add the truffle supplement, the chicken, the hefty corkage, the champagne and all the tax and tip and it really gets up there!

The somm is a friend and really on it. One of the best in town. Our wines were great, but our luck wasn’t as we had to open two backup with only 4 people and these aren’t exactly bargain basement vino. The 02 d’auvenay and 95 MP were the wines of the night — but everything (not flawed) was quite lovely. Paired perfectly with the food and we skipped the red meat (replaced it with the chicken) to highlight the white burg more.

The no flash thing (like many fine dining places) makes photography hard, but I was set with two tripods and my new 35mm 1.8 macro lens. A big improvement in quality but fussing with the tripod constantly makes it a lot more work.

Very fun evening.

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or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

I brought some gelato for a bit of a parking lot tailgate (didn’t bring it into the restaurant).

Another new flavor, but continuing my Sicilian theme — Pistachio Almond Lemon Gelato — base made with a 50/50 blend of Pistachios from Bronte Sicily and Noto Almonds, plus Sicilian candied lemon! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #Pistachio #Almond #lemon #sicily