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Eating Porto Cervo – Clipper

Jan24

Location: Via della Marina, 10, 07021 Porto Cervo SS, Italy. +39 0789 91644

Date: July 1, 2022

Cuisine: Seafood Italian

Rating: Solid (this is Italy) but nothing amazing

Online various people seemed to insist that Clipper was the best restaurant in Porto Cervo and “quite a scene.” Not sure I trust “those people” too much anymore.

The outside was cute enough.

They specialize in fresh seafood like many restaurants all over the coast of the Mediterranean basin.

Inside is cute but casual. They had a fairly bustling bar.

The menu.

Something fishy about these plates.

2020 Capichera Isola dei Nuraghi IGT. We ordered it again. After I tried some other Vermentinos I went back to ordering Capichera!

Crispy Sardinian bread.

They had gluten free bread (and crackers) but it was all packaged. A far cry from Confusion, but still they had it.

DOP Buffalo Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and EVOO.

Plate of Sardinian cheeses.

Antipasto of fresh seafood, including various shrimp-like creatures, clams, oysters, etc.

Sauces for the crudo.

Simple Spaghetti pomodoro.

Linguine all’astice with half a live local lobster. Very fresh tomato sauce. I was to have this basic dish a bunch of times in Sardinia and it was delicious every time. Really nice straightforward Italian pasta.

Spaghetti with tomatoes, fior di latte.

The other half of the lobster grilled with potatoes and beans.

Random packed cookies and candies.

A free degistivo.

Confusion was a much better “deal” at 2x the price of Clipper. But Clipper was enjoyable enough. Just basic good local Sardinian food done for the higher end tourist audience. Not fancy exactly, but perhaps a bit International. Like most decent kitchens in Italy it was totally enjoyable, if not exactly exciting. Not totally sure why this place was considered by so many online as “the best” though.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Porto Cervo, Eating Sardinia, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Italy, pasta, Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Seafood, Wine

Eating Porto Cervo – ConFusion

Jan22

Restaurant: ConFusion

Location: Promenade du port Via Aga Khan 1, Via Porto Vecchio, 1, 07021 Porto Cervo SS, Italy. +39 340 120 9574

Date: June 30, 2022

Cuisine: Modernist Italian

Rating: Amazing, one of our best meals of the trip

Having learned my lesson about relying on “non foodie” sources for restaurant reservations, particularly tourist centric ones like TripAdvisor, I went right back to Michelin for our first night in Sardinia with this modernist Italian 1 star in the heart of Porto Cervo.

Porto Cervo is straight out of a James Bond film — literally The Spy Who Loved Me.

Confusion overlooks the main square.

It features gorgeous, if a touch overdone, al fresco dining.

Nice details including the moist toilets that “inflate” when water is added.

2020 Capichera Isola dei Nuraghi IGT. This was my first introduction to this stellar local Vementino. I ended up visiting the winery and sending home a couple of cases.

Parmesan puff with a liquid center. Amazing.

“Pasta” twist with salmon roe. Delicious briney quality.

Crisp with eggplant mousse.

Gluten free amuses. Olive, gluten-free version of the eggplant, and tuna.

The menu.

Trio of tomato things.

Tomato gazpacho with avocado mousse. Absolutely amazing.

Cured tomato.

Crisp with cheese and tomato flavor.

Bread sticks.

Gluten free crisps.

And with this we finish the AMUSES!

Simple pasta. My son thought this was one of the best he’s had. He ordered two.

Sea bream tartare, bread and cucumber salad, and yellow tomato gazpacho. Awesome mix of flavors and textures.

More bread.

Special butter spread.

Poached and crispy egg, caviar, truffle, sesame asparagus, Parmesan fondue.

Risotto with raw red prawns, marinated in vinegar with veal nerves, and licorice powder.

More excellent local wine.

Another great bread.

Seaweed wrapped in nori seaweed, green curry sauce, turmeric lentu bread.

Sardinian cheeses, mostly pecorino.

The plated spread.

Parmesan.

Bread for the cheese. Lots of bread tonight!

Pre-dessert of white chocolate and vanilla. Lovely soft texture.

Chocolate gelato with strawberries.

Faux apple with apple mousse.

Raspberry and chocolate.

Deconstructed gin and tonic.

Petite fours. Passionfruit and raspberry.

More in the drawers.

Gluten free petite fours.

The check came in this cute box.

Not actually bad for such an epic meal with 4 people. And there was even a E15/pp coperto (an Italian charge for sitting outside, fairly standard actually).

Overall, Confusion was quite amazing. The setting was fabulous, the service smooth as room temperature Normandy butter, and they did an incredible job of adjusting to dietary restrictions and needs. But primarily, the food was just simply wonderful. In retrospect, and a bit at the time, I’m bummed that we didn’t come back and have a second meal here. Highly recommended and probably more enjoyable than the 2 and 3 stars I ate at during this trip.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Confusion, Italian Cusine, Italy, Modern Cuisine, Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Vermentino, Wine

Eating Paris – L’Ambroisie

Jan20

Restaurant: L’Ambroisie

Location: 9 Pl. des Vosges, 75004 Paris, France. +33 1 42 78 51 45

Date: June 29, 2022

Cuisine: 1980s Haute Cuisine French

Rating: Amazing

This was supposed to be my fourth starred restaurant in Paris, but some complexities of the “2022 moment” led to us missing two of them. I also ended up going here by myself instead of with a big group, but c’est la vie.

L’Ambroisie is a traditional French restaurant in Paris, France founded by Bernard Pacaud and now run by his son Mathieu that has maintained three Michelin stars for more than thirty years. The name “L’Ambroisie” (“Ambrosia” in English) comes from Greek mythology and means both “food for gods” and “source of immortality.”

The restaurant’s founder and head chef is Bernard Pacaud. He was abandoned by his parents at age 13 and raised in an orphanage in the mountains of Lyonnais. Pacaud started cooking at age 15, in 1962, as an apprentice at the famed Eugenie (Mére) Brazier’s restaurant Col de la Luère located 20 km from Lyon. Pacaud spent the next three years as commis at the Tante Alice restaurant in Lyon before becoming chef de partie at La Méditerranée in Paris. Pushed by Eugénie Brazier’s encouragements, he applied to work in 1976 with Claude Peyrot, the chef and owner of the Vivarois (a Michelin three star restaurant) on avenue Victor Hugo in Paris. In 1981, he opened his own restaurant quai de la Tournelle (at the crossing with rue de Bièvres) in Paris. In 1986, he opened L’Ambroisie at place des Vosges and obtained three Michelins stars in 1988 which he has kept since then. His refined and classical cooking style makes it one on the most esteemed French restaurants.

The restaurant is in a period house on the southwestern corner of the Place des Vosges in Paris. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Place des Vosges was an upper-class and noble neighborhood.

The interior was very 1980s “le Grande Restaurant.” I didn’t photo much of it because the Madame en Charge was giving me the evil eye and I didn’t want to get boxed out of using my camera. As it was I didn’t dare even put the flash on, I could just tell that wouldn’t fly.

2015 Rapet Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. BH 92. This easily possesses the most complex nose in the range with its ripe yet cool array of green apple, citrus, petrol, soft wood and spice hints. There is impressive size, weight and concentration to the muscular big-bodied flavors that coat the mouth on the citrus and mineral-inflected finish. I would make the same observation here that while this could easily be enjoyed young, I would be inclined to give it at least a few years of bottle age first to develop more depth. (Drink starting 2022)

The menu. This is pretty close to the style of menu I generally encountered at nice restaurants in the 1980s. Dishes are vaguely clustered into courses and the intent is that you order one from each. Lighter eaters could skip one.

Special cornbread-like bread.

Amuses. Fennel tart (front). Delicious. Red pepper mousse (back left) on a crisp. Leek with Caviar (back right). I always enjoy the rich and varied tastes of amuses — I could do an entire meal of amuses trivially.

Sour dough bread and Normandy Butter. Sour dough seems a recent thing at high end French places.

The bread itself.

And le beurre.

I started (with the amuses) trying to shoot these dishes with my F1.8 lens and a tiny tripod. About one picture in the eagle eye’d manager honed in on me and made me ditch the tripod. Why me sitting alone at my large table with a 6″ tripod was “distracting to the other guests” is anyone’s guess, but as I had to make due hand holding in dim light with no flash I was basically shooting with a couple mm of depth of field — hence I present several photos (pretty hard to focus stack without a tripod).

Feuillantine de langoustines aux graines de sésame, sauce au curry. Langoustine feuillantine with sesame seeds, curry sauce. Lanougstines (course 1). Very precise. Perfectly cooked and the buttery mildly curry sauce was delicious. This was an excellent dish.

Interlude de homard aux pusses de legumes, nage a l’anis etoile. Lobster interlude with vegetable pusses, star anise broth. Lobster (course 2). Incredibly tender and another great beurre blanc. Basically you could think of it as perfectly cooked lobster in perfect beurre blanc — nothing wrong with that. The broth was so good that it made the vegetables awesome.

2013 Domaine Poisot Pere & Fils Romanée St. Vivant. BH 92. There is a fine sense of freshness to the cool and overtly spicy aromas of various floral, plum and sandalwood hints. I very much like the purity of the energetic, sleek and attractively detailed medium-bodied flavors that possess a highly refined mouth feel thanks to the fine grain of the supporting tannins, all wrapped in a balanced, persistent and beautifully complex finish. This is quite good and should age effortlessly over the next 10 to 15 years. (Drink starting 2025)

They noticed me squinting at the wine list and offered me reading glasses! Very helpful.

Supremes de pigeon laques a la Montmorency, meli-melo de betteraves confites. Supremes of pigeon lacquered with Montmorency. Pigeon (course 3). Good, and perfectly cooked, but touch heavy.

Candied beetroot medley. Beat side dish as part of duck. Kind of lovely.

Centerpiece on the table.

Pre-dessert. Very light.

Blanc-manger meringue aux agrumes, sorbet cerises a la Kriek. Blancmange meringue with citrus fruits, cherry sorbet with Kriek. Super fresh and great cherries and cream thing.

Petite fours.

Mini strawberry tart.

Perfect cannel.

Pastry with Chantilly cream and a caramelized top. It’s sort of related to a Saint-Honoré pastry and includes a slate of elements I love.

An immense amount of cocoa almonds.

Overall, this is a great kitchen and in summary a great way to experience the 1980s/early 90s style of high end French Cusiine, but I’ll break down the elements:

Food. Dated, without the heavy Asian or modernist influence that’s common these days, but extremely precise and and well cooked. This makes the cuisine more “French” than most other 3 stars. It also floats everything along with butter and creme instead of using some of the lighter newer “solvents.” The format also features a more or less 3 savory style which I found less exciting than a newer style with many more, smaller, savory courses. Being by myself, I didn’t get to sample that many things.

Wine. The by-the-glass wine list was surprisingly poor compared to my meal the previous night at Le Grand Restaurant – Jean-François Piège. I had to pick from the kind of “off vintage, off producer, a bit too young” Burgundies I won’t even buy anymore.

Atmosphere. The room is pretty, but formal in the classic way. I’m certainly fine with that. Tables were very spaced out and things were quiet. For me, being along, and in combination with the relatively small number of courses and the slow pacing and my inability to use a tripod or flash (which would occupy me a bit longer with my photography) the whole experience was kind of slightly uncomfortable and a bit dull. I was a little too far from the other diners to easily listen to their conversations. haha. The staff, particularly the manager, seemed more stern and disapproving, if always flawlessly polite, than the friendliness I experienced the previous night.

For more French dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating France, Eating Paris, France, French Cuisine, Haute cuisine, L'Ambroisie, Michelin, Michelin 3 Star, Paris, Wine

Eating Paris – Jean-François Piège

Jan16

Restaurant: Le Grand Restaurant Jean-François Piège

Location: 7 Rue d’Aguesseau, 75008 Paris, France. +33 1 53 05 00 00

Date: June 28, 2022

Cuisine: Haute Cuisine French

Rating: Amazing

This was supposed to be my third starred restaurant in Paris, but some complexities of the “2022 moment” led to us missing two of them. Fortunately I didn’t miss Le Grand Restaurant Jean-François Piège as it was very high on my list.

I did however, due to another Paris in Summer of 2022 fact — a complete lack of taxis and Ubers — have to walk 45 minutes across the city to earn my dinner.

It’s tucked away on a classic street near a lot of the high fashion stores not too far from the Champs-Élysées.

JFP isn’t a huge place, but it does have a very stylish modern setting.
An opening glass of Champagne.

Fancy salt and pepper.

Elegant plates.

I went for the classic menu. All of the food here is regionalized to France.

Bretagne, Île-de-France. Le meilleur de la grenouille. The best of frog. This is playing on the old French/Frogs thing. It’s basically a buttery bread with some parsley garlic butter (and a tiny bitty bit of frog). Delicious though.

Île-de-France, Normandie. Radis beurre Hauts-De-France, Loire-Atlantique Rôtie de “Plumes”, macération de garum, feuilles et racines de réglisse. Hauts-De-France butter radish, Loire-Atlantique Roast “Feathers”, garum maceration, licorice leaves and roots. This plays on the classic “radish and butter” dish — albeit in a much fancier form.

Bretagne. Foie de lotte comme je l’aime. Monkfish liver as I like it. Taking a hint from the Japanese.

The girl with the box of knives!

This is just the “by the glass” wine list! The main list was something like 50,000 bottles!

2010 Coche-Dury Meursault. VM 92. The 2010 Meursault Village from Coche-Dury has a fresh, tight bouquet at first, gradually unfurling to reveal shucked oyster shell and sea spray notes that gain intensity over the course of 15-20 minutes. The palate strikes a sublime balance with a domaine-typical judicious line of acidity that keeps this Meursault on its tiptoes. Toward the finish, white chocolate and hints of marzipan emerge, completing (predictably) a sublime 10-year-old Meursault that is probably <em>à point</em>. Tasted at Hatched restaurant in London. (Drink between 2020-2032)

Vendee, Provence. Crevettes bouquet de Bretagne, nage de poutargue, ail des ours. Shrimps from Brittany, bottarga broth, wild garlic. This was a stunning bit of raw shrimp and buttery, almost curry-like, sauce. All the dishes with sauce come with a bit of “bread” to manage the sauce — which was a good thing considering how good the sauce was.

Bretagne, Pays de la Loire. Cuite sur un pave parisien, langonstine de belle taille, laitne de mer, sabayon de sarrasin. Cooked on a Parisian pavement, nice size langoustine, sea milk, buckwheat sabayon. The shrimp was cooked table-side on a hot rock and then the elements were layered on. There were buckwheat and seaweed type flavors giving it a bit of a Japanese vibe.

Provence, Île-de-France. Tourte de pois chiche en farine de Bertrand Allais et Fontainebleau. Chickpea pie in flour from Bertrand Allais and Fontainebleau. A very light, almost sponge-cake-like, bread with a sort of whipped cream.

2012 Etienne Sauzet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. JG 96+. The 2012 Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet from Domaine Sauzet is a dynamite wine, offering up a deep, pure and stunning bouquet of apple, white peach, clementines, beeswax, citrus oil, chalky soil tones, apple blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and quite concentrated, with a supremely elegant profile, a great core, crisp acids and simply stunning length and grip on the long and racy finish. This is a broad-shouldered vintage of BBM, but at the same time, the inherent elegance and grace of this terroir are still very much in evidence. A great wine in the making. (Drink between 2020-2060)

Sologne, Normandie. Bar de ligne, cuit tout doucement, beurre noir Bretagne. Line-caught bass, gently cooked, Brittany black butter. This was a spectacular dish. Basically very very tender moist white fish with a black squid butter sauce and what seemed like corn flakes. You wouldn’t think it’d be so good, but it was.

Brioche to go with it — used for mopping up.

They took me to the kitchen.

Île-de-France, Provence. Concentre de celeri rave des jardins, huile d’olive maturee. Garden celeriac concentrate, mature olive oil. The chef himself serves this shot — interesting as it tasted like celery and olive oil.

Some gorgeous foods and/or decorations.

2011 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet. BH 91. A perfumed and very spicy nose features ripe and well-layered aromas of plum, violet, red and black pinot fruit plus hints of sandalwood. This is impressively rich with a highly seductive texture on the mid-palate as there is plenty of mouth coating dry extract, all wrapped in a complex, balanced and beautifully long finish. There is enough structure to suggest that this will need most of a decade in the cellar. (Drink starting 2020)

2017 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant. VM 98. A total stunner, the 2017 Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru is the most expressive wine in the lineup today. Rich, creamy and so wonderfully textured, the RSV simply has it all. The tannins are present, but they are also matched by tremendous fruit density and pure power. Floral and savory overtones grace the lifted, saline finish. Leaving price aside, if I could only have one wine in this range, it would unquestionably be the RSV. The 2017 is a total knock-out. That’s all there is to it. This fruit was picked on September 10 and 11. (Drink between 2027-2057)

Pyrenes. Mijotes sur des coques de noix, ris de veau sucs au gout de sotolon, girolles, briffeton a la graisse. Simmered on walnut shells, veal sweetbreads with sotolon flavor, chanterelles, briffeton with fat. This was rich and delicious, very meaty with amazing mushrooms. However, it was a hell of a lot of sweatbreads. It was almost like a test of will to get through the whole lobe or whatever it is. I observed that no lady I could see in the dining room made it past the half way mark. I finished it of course.

A different Bread to mop up the sauce.

Île-de-France, Bourgogne. Brie de Meaux vielli deaux ans, moutarde. Brie de Meaux aged two years, mustard. Very very aged cheese. Delicious.

Aquitaine, Val-de-Loire. Croute de fraises fleuree de feuilles de laurier. Strawberry crust with bay leaves. A lovely little tart with unusual flavors.

Tabiti, Normandie. Mon Blanc a Manger. My Blanc a Manger. This marshmallow-like texture broke open to spill out the most delicious Crème anglaise.

Somme, Val-de-Loire, Sud Ouest, Île-de-France, Bourgogne Rhubarbe. Dans un coin du jardin. In a corner of the garden. The amuses were particularly fun.

Persil. Parsley. A bit of parsley “pudding.”

Coriandre. Coriander. Bourgeon de cassis. Blackcurrant bud.

Fraises. Strawberries. Fleurs de sureau. Elderflower. A candied or soaked strawberry with a bit of elderflower liquor.

Pavais. Paved. A kind of chocolate mouse treat.

Chartreuse. Hands down the best Chartreuse I have ever had.

Overall, this was a pretty spectacular meal. Yes it wasn’t cheap, but it was playful and delicious. Service was amazing, fully at the 2-3 star level. Table-side presentations abounded. And the wine list! It was vast and cheaper than retail and the number of by-the-glass options were impressive.

For more French dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Coche Dury, DRC, Eating France, Eating Paris, Jean-François Piège, Michelin 2 Star, Wine

Eating Paris – Les Antiquaires

Jan14

Restaurant: Les Antiquaires

Location: 13 Rue du Bac, 75007 Paris, France. +33 1 42 61 08 36

Date: June 27, 2022

Cuisine: Parisian Bistro

Rating: Touristy, but delicious

Wanting something casual, but ignoring Tripadvisor, we found this well rated street cafe/bistro.

Yeah, it appears a bit touristy, and the menu is “classic” but execution is quite good.

The classic Paris street-side seating.

A glass of Chablis.

Condiments.

Classic Escargot. Straight up but perfect.

Tools for the snails.

Onion Soup. Also classic, but a very good cheesy/bready soup.

More bread — useful for dipping up the garlic butter from the snails.

Beef Tartare and fries.

There was actually a choice of Tartare style, the old pure French barely adorned style and this slightly newer “Italian” style with arugula and Parmesan.

French Fries. Really good thin crispy fries.

I was surprised how good the food was. I actually just wanted to order these obvious French favorites as a benchmark and they didn’t disappoint. Each of them was pretty much a perfect example of what it was.

Service was brusk but extremely efficient.

For more French dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Antiquaires, Beef Tartare, Eating France, Eating Paris, escargot, Onion Soup, Wine

Soulmate Study

Dec31

Restaurant: Soulmate

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

Date: June 16 & September 15, 2022

Cuisine: Spanish Tapa Fusion

Rating: Hit and miss

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

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

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

Our special menu on 9/15/22.

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

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

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

HOUSEMADE FLATBREAD for the dip.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HOUSEMADE FLATBREAD.

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

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

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

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

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

SPINACH SALAD. Boring.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Plus I almost choked on a radish!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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

Charcoal Checkin

Dec29

Restaurant: Charcoal Venice [1, 2, 3]

Location: 425 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292. (310) 751-6794

Date: June 14, 2022

Cuisine: New American Grill

Rating: Some great meats

Josiah Citrin’s (owner/chef of Melisse) newish more casual eatery has been open for a while — and although I bike past it weekly and went once for brunch, this is my second official dinner visit — and we are enjoying the lovely back patio.

It’s located on Washington Blvd about 2 blocks in from the ocean.

Inside at night. By the middle of dinner service it was hopping.

This is one of those pandemic “parking lot” patios. Not sure it’s actually the parking lot, but it has that informal look but I love al fresco, so totally works for me.

The menu.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 168eme. JG 96+. The new release of Krug Grande Cuvée “168ème Édition” is from the base year of 2012, with the reserve wines in the blend stretching all the way back to 1996. The final cépages has ended up as fifty-two percent pinot noir, thirty-five percent chardonnay and thirteen percent pinot meunier. Forty-two percent of the blend is made up of reserve wines in this beautiful iteration of Grande Cuvée. The bouquet is superb, wafting from the glass in a mosaic of apple, white peach, a touch of Clos du Mesnil-like fresh apricot, almond, a beautifully complex base of soil tones, fresh-baked bread, hints of the caraway seed to come and a whisper of buttery oak (which is particularly evident when the wine is first poured, but quickly is subsumed in the other elements on the nose). On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and very complex, with a lovely core of fruit, fine soil signature, utterly refined mousse and a long, perfectly balanced and very energetic finish. This is one of the most effortless and seamlessly balanced young releases of Grande Cuvée in several years and is utterly brilliant wine. (Drink between 2020-2080)

2014 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée A Tempo. VM 95. Vivid yellow. Mineral-tinged citrus and orchard fruit aromas show excellent clarity and pick up a suave floral accent with air. Silky and precise on the palate, offering bitter lemon pith and pear skin flavors that show fantastic power and a subtle, slow-building suggestion of iodine. A distinctly mineral, Chablis-like quality characterizes the remarkably long, penetrating finish, which strongly echoes the floral and citrus fruit notes. This deeply concentrated yet vibrant wine is one the most mesmerizing versions of white Châteauneuf that I have ever tried and, in fact, it measures up to some of the best white Rhônes, period. (Drink between 2018-2025)

Oysters on the Half Shell, Garnished Traditionally and Creatively.

Bread with Beurre De Baratte.

Yellowfin Tuna, Pickled Cucumber, Avocado, Citrus Vinaigrette. Classic, but good.

Crisps for the tuna tower.

Smoked Mushroom and Beet, Crème Fraiche, Currants. Tastes like liquid smoke, but really nice actually.

2000 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve. 95 points. Unique and fantastic Pape! nose with remarkable note of Grappa as well as roses, tar, asphalt, wild raspberries, raisins. Extremely concentrated, lush, silky and sensuous on the palate. Character as a mature Barolo, long lingering on. At peak now.

2001 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve le Clos du Caillou. VM 96. Saturated, bright ruby-red. Knockout nose of black raspberry, meat, minerals, spices, chicory and espresso. Like liquid silk in the mouth; an incredibly concentrated, nearly confectionery wine, with compelling flavors of blackberry, violet and game. As creamy as a molten Valrhona chocolate cake. The oak component serves to frame and intensify the flavors, enabling this wonderfully thick wine to retain a sappy character. Finishes with intriguing garrigue notes and a repeating espresso element.

2001 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Deux Frères. VM 91. Bright ruby-red. Superripe, roasted aromas of singed red fruits, carob, marzipan and walnut. A huge, roasted wine showing strong evidence of surmaturite; flavors of dried fruits and walnut. With alcohol in the 16% range this is undeniably massive, but I found myself wishing it had more primary fruit and verve. Quite different in style from the Cuvee de Mon Aieul. A rare and expensive bottling, recommended for fans of the type. (Wines from France, Mountainside, NJ)

Smoky Grilled Chicken Wings, Oregano, Chili, Vinegar. Good, but I like Vietnamese wings better.

Smoked Lamb Ribs. Fatty, smokey, awesome.

California Avocado Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes,Fresh Tagliatelle. Really nice “green” minty flavor.

Oxtail Bolognese, Gremolata, Horseradish, Cavatelli Pasta. First class meaty pasta.

21 Day Aged Half Liberty Duck, Honey, Coriander. Amazballs. Sweet but very ducky and delicious.

Little Gems, Shaved Market Vegetables, Bread Crumbs, Grilled Scallion Vinaigrette.

2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée XXL. VM 94. Inky purple. Wild, highly expressive aromas of kirsch, blackberry and fruitcake, with complementary notes of anise and violet. Broad dark fruit flavors show exotic spice and herb nuances, with velvety tannins providing support. Finishes sweet, sappy and long, with smoke and spice notes lingering. This wine, which fermented its sugars for two years, will be bottled in March of 2010.

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

16 oz Prime Ribeye. Nice meat.

Cabbage Baked in the Embers, Yogurt, Sumac, Lemon Zest. Really great veggie. This is actually one of my favorite dishes here.

Grilled Vermillion Rock Cod, California Citrus, Port Wine, Brown Butter, Mint. I didn’t try.

Steak Fries with Ketchup, Mustard.

Roasted Wild Mushrooms, Parsley Breadcrumbs, Fermented Garlic Dressing.

Coal Roasted Carrots, Sheep’s Milk Ricotta, Herbs, Honey, Black Pepper. Bad photo, I know, people were “Langing” it.

Hpnotiq Blue Hawaiian Sorbetto — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Thai Coconut Milk, Pineapple, Lime, and Hpnotiq liqueur –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #Hpnotiq #BlueHawaiian #pineapple #coconut #lime

Hazelnut at the Ritz Gelato — Nocciola (hazelnut) custard base made with Pure PGI Piedmont hazelnut paste then mixed with house-made caramel and crushed Ritz Crackers (for that salty offset) — 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 #hazelnut #nocciola #caramel #caramello #ritz #crackers

Apple Crumble, McConnell’s Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Cake, McConnell’s Double Peanut Butter Chip Ice Cream. Really nice.

I was impressed by our meal here. Not everything was perfect, but some of the dishes: duck, cabbage, lamb ribs were exceptional and most of the rest really good. A couple were a bit flat (like maybe the salads). The name, Charcoal, implies wood cooked, and they deliver on that promise with an experience that has a bit of a non-Spanish Asador feel.

Tonight we had a great evening out on the patio. BIG wines for pretty big food! These were some serious Chateauneufs!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: bbq, BYOG, CDP, Charcoal Venice, Chateauneuf du Pape, Gelato, Wine

Summer Miyagi

Dec21

Restaurant: Sushi Miyagi [ 1, 2, 3 ]

Location: 150 S Barrington Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (323) 382-5635

Date: June 2022

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Top Shelf Omakase Sushi

Great sushi is always a good excuse to pull out the beloved Champagnes and White Burgundies.

The unassuming storefront on the largely ignored side street that is S Barrington Ave.

The space is small but attractive (these are pre covid pics).

This is chef focused serious sushi, and so we pre-ordered the largest omakase possible — Erick even egged them on to a larger than offered menu. This picture is also pre-covid, post there is a plexiglass barrier across the bar and no bar seating.

Chef Shinichi Miyagi says about himself on his website:

Born in Osaka, the art of sushi mesmerized the chef at an early age and decided to devote his life as a “Decchi” (apprentice) under Master Higuchi at the age of 16. He opened his first “Kappo” (traditional style of cooking in front of a crowd) restaurant at the age of 25, and moved to LA at 29, working in numerous well known Sushi restaurants in West LA, Beverly Hills, and San Diego.

Through managing a Sushi restaurant in Manhattan Beach (i-naba), now in present day, he found an opportunity to try his skills as an executive chef in Brentwood/Los Angeles. The chefs many years of experience in choosing the freshest fish, will surprise even the most sophisticated pallets of this beautiful city.

His methods and techniques in preparation follows the traditional Japanese style, bringing out the true flavors of the fish. The chef also prepares two styles of rice, AKAZU SHARI (Red vinegar sushi rice), and SHIROZU SHARI (White vinegar rice). The SHARI (Sushi rice) will alternate depending on the fish being prepared, and we hope you enjoy the eclectic flavors of the different vinegars being used.

2008 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 98+. Taittinger’s 2008 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is simply breathtaking. I have tasted it many times over the years in various trial disgorgements and it has never been anything less than compelling. The final, finished wine captures all of that potential. Bright, focused and wonderfully deep, Comtes is a fabulous example of a vintage that expresses so much energy but with real fruit intensity, the signatures that distinguish it from other vintages (1996 comes to mind) that were similarly taut, but more austere in the early going. Although the 2008 impresses right out of the gate, it only really starts to open up with several hours of air. The 2008 Comtes represents the purest essence of the Côtes des Blancs in a great, historic vintage. Readers who can find the 2008 should not hesitate, as it is a truly brilliant epic Champagne that no one who loves the very best in Champagne will want to be without. (Drink between 2023-2048)

Amuses. Oyster with caviar. Monkfish Liver with ponzu jelly. Deep fried River Crab. Steamed Conch in the back. The monkfish liver was particularly good for its type, super tender and not a hint of bitterness.

Sashimi. Japanese Bonito with ginger on top. Japanese Halibut. Toro from Spain.

Japanese hairy crab. Both some meat and a bit of leg. Very sweet and tender.

Octopus egg in soy sauce with wasabi. I’m not sure I’ve ever had this. It was a texture a bit like a chewy rice, quite delicious.

2007 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes. VM 91+. Deep aromas of pear, white flowers and clove. Sweet and lush but with ripe harmonious acidity keeping the flavors under wraps today. Best now on the long, vibrant finish, which offers a lovely combination of ripeness and energy. But distinctly firm-edged at present. Colin told me he thought that pHs levels in his 2007s were in the range of 3.2 but noted that he doesn’t pay attention to technical parameters as much as to the taste of the wine.

Japanese red snapper.

Hokkaido Scallop.

Triggerfish with fresh liver from the same fish. Never had this particular variant. Lovely.

Striped Jack from Japan.

Oregon Giant Clam.

Amberjack that was 10 days aged topped with Yuzu koshu.

Japanese Sweet Shrimp.

Norwegian Salmon.

2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. BH 94. This is more expressive and a bit riper with ultra pure aromas of peach, apricot, pear and spiced white peach leading to ripe, concentrated and superbly precise flavors that display plenty of mid-palate fat and ample minerality that this part of Charmes always seems to impart to the wines and overall, this is a stunningly harmonious wine of finesse. (Drink starting 2017)

Bluefin Tuna that was 19 day aged.

Almost O-toro.

Spanish Mackerel from Japan.

Japanese Baby Barracuda.

Black throat from Nigata prefecture.

Goldeneye Snapper with Summer Truffle.

Hokkaido Uni.

Japanese Beef nigiri.

2007 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 96+. Bright yellow. Subtly complex nose melds Asian pear, violet, lavender, ginger, iodine and powdered stone. Tactile and dense on entry, then creamy in the middle, conveying an impression of great volume without weight. This extremely backward, youthfully understated Clos firms up dramatically on the back end, finishing with palate-saturating citrus and talc flavors that refuse to fade. One of the longest Chablis bottlings I tasted for this issue, this truly transcends chardonnay.

Chawanmushi with Uni, Mushroom, and Tofu. Very soft.

Crab Hand-roll.

Anago Eel.

Kohada.

2005 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 93. Taittinger’s 2005 Comtes de Champagne was a perfect way to commence proceedings. Orchard fruit and hints of brioche on the seductive nose are joined by a hint of lemon verbena filtering through with time. The palate is beautifully balanced, perhaps not as riveting as a recently tasted 2008, yet underpinned by a fine bead of acidity and exuding harmony on the apricot-tinged finish. This is drinking perfectly now but should give 15-20 years of drinking pleasure. (Drink between 2022-2042)

Vanilla and Truffle ice cream. Not actually that big a fan of truffle in my ice cream.

Cherry Gelato – a blend of Morello Cherry and intense Amarena Cherry 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

Matcha Almond Latte Gelato – Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea and Sicilian Noto Romano Almond gelato base — 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 #almond #matcha #GreenTea #Sicily

Sushi Miyagi is exactly the kind of sushi place I like best — all omakase and very traditional. This is some seriously good fish. Mostly just straight nigiri and a bit of spectacular sashimi and a handful of cooked dishes. This is really really good and instantly catapulted into the top westside sushi joints. Very friendly too. Intimate as well. Sushi at this level is all about the chef and Shinichi Miyagi is very talented.

Not for the sushi neophytes and roll loves, but fabulous for those of us who really enjoy great fish being showcased in a straightforward and delicious manner.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Champage, Gelato, Japanese cuisine, Miyagi, Sashimi, Sushi, White Burgundy, Wine

N/Soto Goodness

Dec15

Restaurant: N/Soto

Location: 4566 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016. (323) 879-9455

Date: June 2 & 11, 2022

Cuisine: Japanese Izakaya

Rating: Elevated Izakaya

The N/Naka group — the original being one of LA’s top Japanese restaurants — has recently opened a more casual Izakaya (Japanese bar food) place. One of my former cooks (and friend) even works there!

Classic Japanese frontage.

Unless you look out on the street 🙂 in which case it’s classic LA frontage.

Nice modern (polished concrete) interior.

The menu.

Fizzy non alcoholic fermented drink.

2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. VM 99. The 2008 Cristal is one of the most complete, most dazzling Champagnes I have ever tasted. A stunning wine from any and all perspectives, the 2008 simply has it all. Spherical in construction, with superb persistence. The 2008 takes hold of all the senses and never gives up. One of the many things that makes the 2008 special is a combination of ripe fruit and bright, piercing acidity. Marzipan, lemon confit, dried flowers and orchard fruit all build into the explosive, resonant finish. “We learned from the mistakes of 1996, when we picked more on acid than ripeness, as was the norm in Champagne back then” Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon told me recently. “In 1996, the best fruit turned out to be the last picks, where the fruit was physiologically ripe. Today, we aim to pick all our fruit with that criteria.” (Drink between 2020-2050)

From my cellar: 2007 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Vireuils. VM 88. Slightly reduced aromas of soft citrus fruits and toasted bread. Ripe, round and nicely balanced; classically dry but not austere, with a flavor of orange dominating the palate. Not yet complex but offers lovely texture. Roulot bottled his 2007s between January and March of 2009, after storing them in cuves for five or six months. Incidentally his Bourgogne blanc, bottled in March, offers lovely floral lift and bright acid cut, and reminded me of a baby Meursault.

2011 Domaine Thenard Montrachet. BH 91-94. Here too there is visible but not intrusive wood that sets off a very closed nose, indeed this is almost mute. There is excellent volume and power to the big-bodied, intense and equally closed flavors that possess plenty of underlying tension on the tight, focused and beautifully long finish. This moderately concentrated effort is very much a work in progress. (Drink starting 2019)

Warm House Made Tofu. ginger, tosa joyu. Soy sauce on the side. Hiding in the soy milk it was made of this was soft and delicious tofu with a bit of bite from the wasabi.
Mentai Mochi. nori, mentaiko. Really delicious. High acid marinate on the onions and seaweed was really good.

Cucumber & Wakame. tosazu, ginger. Jelly version of the classic sunomono.

Carrot & Fennel Tartare. pickled fennel, chickpea miso, chips. Dips were good.

Ankimo. Sumiso, seaweed, ponzu. Really delicious. High acid marinate on the onions and seaweed was really good.

Brussels Sprouts & Salmon Skin. red onion, poached egg. Nice warm salad with good crunch.

Sashimi Moriawase. chef’s selection. Uni, scallop, toro, and others.

Sashimi Moriawase. chef’s selection.

Blue Crab Handroll.

Toro Takuan Handroll.

Shigoku oyseters. Tosazu jello, ginger. Nice bright oyster.

Shigoku oysters with uni. Tosazu jello, ginger. Nice bright oyster.

Beef Tataki. seared zabuton, crispy garlic, ponzu. Perhaps a touch overseared.

Sakamushi clams. Shiitake, dashi. Absolutely delicious garlicky broth.

Maitake Tempura. green tea salt. Very tasty.

Softshell Crab Tempura.

Steamed Seabass. shiitake, kombu, egg. Very soft and pleasant.

From my cellar: 2008 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru. VM 94. The 2008 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru (from young vines in Musigny) is a powerful, inward wine. There is lovely depth to the fruit, but the wine remains tightly coiled at this stage, even if occasional glimmers of richness emerge over time. Cloves, cinnamon and a host of other spiced notes add complexity on the finish. This is another superb, textured wine from de Vogüé. (Drink between 2018-2028)

2002 Nicolas Potel Grands-Echezeaux. VM 92-94. Red-ruby color. Penetrating, pure, highly complex aromas of raspberry, minerals, flowers and pungent spices. Wonderfully urgent and intense, with the mineral and pungent spice elements carrying through on the palate and giving the wine superb lift. Tightly wound but already showy. Finishes very long and nuanced, with fine, ripe tannins. From a selection massale planted in 1957. Very impressive.

From my cellar: 1978 Camille Giroud Beaune 1er Cru Grèves. Awesome.

Chicken and scallion and prime beef shoulder skewers (on the right).
Chicken Thigh with scallion.

Lamb chop.

Jidori Tebasaki. Jidori chicken wing. Nice and crispy.

Kurobuta Sausage. Awesome!

Unagi.

Bacon Tomato. A little sour.

Beef Tongue. butter lettuce, pickled red onion. Totally awesome, probably in no small park because of the pickled onions.

Miso Baked Bone Marrow. umeboshi onigiri. Rice was really crispy and nice.

Motsunabe. Tripe, daikon, cabbage. WIthout the funk this dish often has this was amazing.

Trout and Ikura Donabe. This salty and slightly fishy rice was an awesome finish.

The rice plated.

Pickles, sesame seeds, and nori for the rice.

Coffee Budino with jelly.

Yuzu Boysenberry ice cream from Ginger in Culver City.

Okinawa Yam Pudding, which has mochi (the balls), kokuto (Okinawa brown sugar), and adzuki beans. It’s topped with kokuto sauce that’s made in house and poured tableside. Very sweet!

Melon Float. Vanilla ice cream with homemade melon soda (like Jidori but fancier). The melon soda was poured in tableside.

Mango Sorbet.

N/Soto is a very solid addition to the extensive LA Japanese food scene. It fills a niche (more or less) vacated by MTN, a place I miss a lot. It’s not quite as approachable to Izakaya newbies as that, but definitely upscale and a little more Caucasian friendly than more classic Izakaya like Hero or Takuma. And it’s WAY WAY better than the rash of more consumer friendly “sushi + robotoyaki” type pseudo izakaya like Kappo Miyabi. Those places can be ok, but the food is really uneven. N/Soto on the other hand is quite casual, not too expensive, and has very good execution for a fairly wide array of Japanese “drink friendly” dishes.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Izakaya, Japanese cuisine, N Soto, Robatayaki, Sashimi, Wine

More Old California (take 3)

Dec13

Restaurant: 71Above [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Location: 633 W 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

Date: May 31, 2022

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Awesome in all ways

71Above is one of my favorite LA restaurants and I’ve been many times. In fact there are 10 previous write ups! Original Chef Vartan Abgaryan has moved on to his own new place, Yours Truly (which the pandemic has sadly done in), and 71Above is now seamlessly helmed by his disciple, Chef Javier Lopez. Today the location plays host to a special old California dinner owner Emil Eyvazoff organized with an equally special menu. This dinner is the spiritual sequel to a much older Old California dinner back in 2015 and one from 2021.

Besides being located on the 71st floor (950 feet up!) of the US Bank building, being the highest restaurant west of the Mississippi, it’s owned and operated by my friend Emil Eyvazoff!

On one of these visits, Emil gave me a quick tour of their new “patio” on the 70th floor below where they are serving up Mezzes and drinks.

Gorgeous build out upstairs for the main event.

Look at the crazy view and the crazy fog on this weird spring night.

We set up shop for this evening in the private room.

Just a few glasses at the ready.

Our special menu for the night.

NV Schramsberg Vineyards Mirabelle Brut. BH 89. A notably fresh, fruity and overtly yeasty nose evidences notes of green apple, citrus and pear scents. There is good vibrancy to the delicious and equally fruity flavors that possess good if not special depth on the moderately dry but not really austere finale that is shaped by firm effervescence. This has arrived at a point where it could be held for a few more years or enjoyed now. (Drink starting 2015)

Chickpea Panisse, Truffle Aoioli.

Crispy Chicken, Mustard Emulsion.

House-made bread and butter.

1994 Stony Hill Chardonnay. JG 94. I really like the potential on display with the 1994 Stony Hill and fully expect this to be one of the reference point vintages of the 1990s. The nose is still in its youthful stage of development, but shows plenty of promise in its aromatic mélange of buttered apples, lemon, gentle leesy tones, orange peel, dusty minerality and lemon blossoms in the upper register. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and beautifully reserved, with fine acids, impeccable focus and balance and excellent length and grip on the still quite primary finish. Excellent potential. (Drink between 2014-2045)

1975 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa & Alexander Valleys. JG 90. The 1975 Château Montelena chardonnay is still drinking beautifully out of magnum at age thirty-five, as the non-malo style fashioned here at this time by Mike Grgich has proven to be very ageworthy indeed. The wine is a blend of Napa Valley and Alexander Valley fruit, which a few years later would end up being bottled on their own by the winery. The bouquet is deep and quite classy in its mature, but still vibrant mélange of apple, orange, a touch of popcorn, orange peel, salty soil tones and new leather. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very, very fresh for its age, with good mid-palate depth, lovely acidity and impressive length and grip on the finish. The complexity here is in the good, but not great camp, but all other aspects of this wine are most satisfying. (served from magnum) (Drink between 2010-2020)

1987 ZD Wines Chardonnay. 89 points.

1984 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay McGregor Vineyard Edna Valley. 94 points.

1973 David Bruce Chardonnay.

1984 Acacia Chardonnay.

1984 Saintsbury Chardonnay Unfiltered Carneros.

1985 Matanzas Creek Winery Chardonnay Sonoma County.

Hamachi Crudo. Mandarin, ginger, coconut, jicama, white soy, thai basil, habanero, sake. Flavor a bit like Tom Yum soup.

1968 Inglenook Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. VM 88. A powerful yet eccentric brute, the 1968 Cabernet Sauvignon Cask H-12 is full of dark tonalities. Smoke, game, blood and molasses linger on the muscular but rustic finish.88 (Drink starting 2014)

1974 Charles Krug Winery (Peter Mondavi Family) Cabernet Sauvignon Lot F1 Vintage Selection. JG 92. After the bitter falling out of the Mondavi brothers in the mid-1960s, where Robert and Peter actually came to blows in the winery, Peter Mondavi was eventually forced to make financial arrangements to allow his older brother, Robert to receive his share of the family legacy. The history of the family’s acrimonious parting and eventual law suit is chronicled in James Conaway’s book, Napa, and also notes the falling out between Peter Mondavi and a number of the winery’s former suppliers of grapes, which included Nathan Fay. The Lot F-1 “Vintage Select” is the last Krug wine made from Fay Vineyard fruit by the winery, and may well be the last of the great Charles Krug cabernet sauvignons that had ranked right up at the very pinnacle of California cabernet during the decades of the 1940s and 1950s. The 1974 Lot F-1 has been fully mature for many years but remains in full bloom on both the nose and palate, as it offers up a superb bouquet of dark berries, chipotle peppers, woodsmoke, herb tones, lovely soil nuances, tobacco, a touch of nutskin and a fantastic spice box of Indian spices in the upper register that just become more and more complex and vibrant with extended aeration. On the palate the wine is fullish, complex and velvety, with very little remaining tannins, but such fine balance that it will have no difficulty continuing to drink at a very high level for at least another decade or more. The wine shows lovely focus and fine mid-palate depth, and is very long, elegant and complex on the finish. A delightful bottle. (Drink between 2009-2020)

1974 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. 90 points.

1974 Clos du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon Proprietor’s Reserve. JG 87.

1976 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve. VM 92. Decent medium red. Ineffable high-pitched aromas of redcurrant, raspberry, tobacco, cardamom, curry powder, celery seed, dried rose and loam. Then intense and penetrating, boasting terrific inner-mouth energy and strong notes of cocoa powder, earth and resiny oak throughout. Finishes firmly tannic and long, with noteworthy lift for a drought year. The yield in 1976 was an extremely low one-and-a-half tons per acre, or roughly the same as in 2015, compared to a normal three to four for Beaulieu’s Rutherford Cabernet. Another seemingly ageless wine. (13.5% alcohol; 7 g/l acidity) (Drink between 2019-2034)

1978 Clos du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon Proprietor’s Reserve.

Crispy Octopus. Black garlic aioli, hazelnut dukkah, beets, guajillo Vinaigrette, Gremolata. Super tender and delicious.

1980 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Bosché. 93 points. Brown and bricked throughout. Bottom neck fill. Perfect cork. At first a worrying smell of lacquer. But then such an elegant wine emerges. Silky smooth mouthfeel. Smoky aroma. Plums and licorice, smooth cherry, long warm finish. Truly remarkable at 42 years. Do not decant!

1980 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve. VM 91. Full healthy red with an amber rim. Expressive scents of redcurrant, plum and milk chocolate show some nutty oak tones but also something distinctly fresh. Silky, rich and concentrated but juicy and delineated as well, boasting building intensity on the back half. Still full of life, with some remaining tannins that may yet be resolved. I have liked this vintage of Georges de Latour since the start. According to Trevor Durling, this 1980 was still raised entirely in American barrels but he noted that this vintage may have gotten a small percentage of new barrels and a slightly shorter élevage than in earlier years. (I must note that a second bottle tasted two weeks later in New York showed a less lucid color, a stronger tobacco quality and more obvious oakiness. It was beginning to dry out on the finish and reminded me increasingly of a dry Oloroso as it opened in the glass.) (13% alcohol; 7.2 g/l acidity) (Drink between 2019-2028)

1980 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate. VM 91. Medium red with a hint of amber. Red berries, coffee and earth on the fragrant nose, lifted by a minty nuance. Lively and firmly built, with its red berry and tobacco flavors conveying an attractive sweet/savory quality. This, too, struck me as a bit Saint Julien-like. Building tannins spread out to saturate the palate. A very nice showing. This vintage had a brett bloom in the bottle, admitted Barrett, “but it ultimately went away.” (13.5% alcohol) (Drink between 2019-2028)

1983 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard. JG 90. 1983 was a particularly difficult year for north coast cabernet sauvignon, but the ’83 Phelps Eisele has done quite well in this tough vintage and the wine was drinking beautifully when I last crossed paths with it in October of 2011. The deep, complex and quite classic nose offers up scents of cassis, eucalyptus, woodsmoke, a touch of tariness, petroleum jelly, beautiful soil tones and a nice base of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with a touch of the tariness on the nose repeated here on the palate (no doubt a reflection of the difficulties getting cabernet ripe in ’83), but also with excellent complexity and focus, and very good length and grip on the still slightly chewy finish. This is not a great vintage of Phelps Eisele, but it is a superb effort for a difficult year and a very, very tasty bottle of mature cabernet. (Drink between 2011-2030)

1984 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha’s Vineyard. JG 95. The 1984 Martha’s Vineyard is a great wine and one of the best cabernets to be found in the vintage. It is quite ripe by the standards of the day, listed at its customary 13.5 percent on the label, but probably closer to fourteen percent, as Joe Heitz did not really enjoy changing details on his labels for the vagaries of a single vintage! The wine is very deep and pure on the nose, while still retaining plenty of youthful vigor in its constellation of black cherries, petroleum jelly, eucalyptus, cigar wrapper, a beautiful base of soil tones, allspice, incipient notes of chipotles and a nice touch of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, ripe and full-bodied, with a plush core of fruit, fine soil signature and focus, ripe, seamless tannins and a very, very long, complex, tangy and impeccably balanced finish. The 1984 Martha’s Vineyard is now starting to drink very well indeed, but I have the sense that it is still in climbing mode and will be even better a decade down the road. It will prove to be one of the longest-lived 1984 cabernets. (Drink between 2021-2065)

1984 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve. 88 points.

Handkerchief Pasta. Mushroom, Brown Butter, pine nut, salsify, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Lemon. Really nice, rich, and savory, particularly given there was no meat.

1985 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve. VM 92. Good full medium red, with faint amber at the edge. Pungent scents of raspberry, spices, cedar and eucalyptus. A distinctly penetrating, high-acid style with noteworthy clarity and energy to its floral flavors of berries, dark cherry and loam complicated by a touch of molasses and an obvious oak component. This soil-driven midweight, the product of a long, cool growing season, finishes with a sneaky building whiplash of flavor, with a slight dry edge suggesting energetic extraction. Classic older-style Georges de Latour. (13% alcohol; 6.4 g/l acidity) (Drink between 2019-2033)

1985 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve. VM 92. Medium red with some amber at the rim. Sexy aromas of redcurrant, raspberry, truffle, underbrush and flint. Sweet and a bit wild, showing terrific retention of candied raspberry and plum fruit. This concentrated wine is a step up in texture and depth of fruit from the earlier vintages. Strong but integrated acidity gives it definition and lift, with the long finish showing broad, tongue-dusting tannins. (Drink between 2015-2024)

1986 V. Sattui Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Preston Vineyard. 88 points.

1986 Fisher Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Coach Insignia. 90 points. This one was built for aging. Had a case from release and it was tannic and almost undrinkable. Finally it has reached its potential and the tannis have resolved and left a nicely aged cabernet with plenty of fruit and wonderful integrated flavors. This is an example of the old style of California wine making. The color was ruby red with very slight bricking at the edges. Old cabernet nose with fruit still showing. Blackberrys and cassis on the palate. Two bottles left and no rush to drink up.

1986 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve. VM 88. (13.9% alcohol; 14% Chabot, 23% State Lane, 42% St. Helena and 21% Bancroft Mountain Vineyard; an early budbreak was followed by a cooler growing season): Medium dullish-brown color. Aromas of cherry, orange zest and tree bark show incipient maderization. Soft but slightly tart and angular, with a flavor of dried redcurrant. This has a firm tannic structure but I think it’s beginning its decline. This was Laurie Hook’s first vintage and she believes that this wine will still open further in bottle. (Drink between 2015-2015)

1986 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. VM 92. Full medium red with a faint hint of amber. Aromas of dark cherry, menthol and mint show a slightly medicinal cough medicine quality; very Médoc in style. Then surprisingly supple and fine-grained, offering terrific inner-mouth energy and acidity to shape and freshen its intense dark raspberry and menthol flavors. This wine is fully mature but still full of life, displaying plenty of tobacco and savory spices but also superb remaining fruit and floral lift. For a bone-dry wine, it delivers captivating fruit sweetness that perfectly supports its firm tannins. An excellent showing–and not as dry as the ’83 or ’84. (13% alcohol) (Drink between 2018-2028)

1989 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve. 87 points.

Grilled ribeye. Charred Broccolini, crispy shallot, date puree, macadamia, jus.

1978 Ridge Late Harvest.

Cheese Plate. Sofia, red rock, Ameribella, Seasonal Accompaiments.

1978 Chateau St. Jean Johannisberg Riesling Select Late Harvest Robert Young Vineyard. JG 82. Back in the mid to late 1970s, the Château St. Jean late harvest rieslings were amongst the most renowned dessert wines produced in California. I drank many examples of these wines back in the decade of the 1980s, with great enjoyment. The winery produced two levels of late harvest riesling back then, with the wines designated as “Special Select Late Harvest” (abbreviated above as SSLH) their equivalent of Trockenbeerenauslese, and the Select Late Harvest (SLH) their version of Beerenauslese. These were wines that were delicious in their youth, but not particularly long in acidity, and it is not too surprising that they are a bit tired more than twenty years on. The 1978 Robert Young Vineyard SSLH is very dark in color, but retains an interesting nose of burnt caramel, new leather, gentle notes of orange rind and tea leaves. On the palate the wine is full-bodied and still shows a vestige of its acidity, but is not particularly complex, despite it still being impressively long. This was great in the day, but its apogee has been in the rear view mirror for many, many years now. (Drink between 2010-2020)

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail and a signature Sweet Milk favor — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime juice, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau

Caramel Double Chip Gelato — Base is Salted Caramel made by replacing the sugar with house-made Water Caramel. Laced with Valrhona Chocolate Chunks and Toffee Chunks — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #caramel #SaltedCaramel #valrhona #toffee

Emil with Chef Javier Lopez.

Best Somm in the city, Catherine Morel.

The wine lineup.

The aftermath.

Heading down!

Overall, 71Above is just a seriously well conceived and executed one-of-a-kind restaurant. Really, it’s more like a NY, Singapore, or Tokyo kind of concept. First of all, the view is just awesome. I can’t wait to come back on a really clear day. Particularly once they begin brunch service, a nice winter day will offer an observation deck like panorama.

But then Emil and crew built out such a lovely space to capture the drama. It’s modern, but welcoming. Not too loud, you can hear the conversation and the music both. And from when you enter off the double elevator ascent it folds from one experience to another: lounge, dining room, more intimate corridors, chef table, quiet and romantic view areas in the back, and a series of two adjustable private dining rooms. The attention to architectural detail is amazing.

Today’s dinner excelled on all counts. Service, food, company, and of course the wines. I’m not normally a California wine guy, but these older wines are much softer, nicer, and more Bordeaux-like.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: 71above, BYOG, California Cabernet, Chef Javier Lopez, DTLA, Emil Eyvazoff, Gelato, Wine

Tai Siu is New

Dec11

Restaurant: Tai Siu [1, 2]

Location: 8728 Valley Blvd #101, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 307-0203

Date: May 29, 2022

Cuisine: Cambodian

Rating: Awesome meats!

We Hedonists have been going to Tai Siu for years. I think I first came here in 2015.

But they recently moved into a new Valley Blvd space.

I guess it’s lucky they did!

This is the main dining room.

But we set up in the small private room off to the side.

Herbs for the next three of dishes. Thai Basil is great.

Sweetened fish sauce.

Mega crispy deep fried wontons. Really nice crispy texture and delicious.

Super crispy deep fried spring rolls. Fabulous with the herbs etc. Very fried. Very crispy.

Omelet with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts. Really delicious with the herbs and sauce.

Chicken and Chicken Liver Cambodian Salad. Very nice dressing but the unusual star of the show were the small chunks of liver that gave it an unusual flavor punch.

Crispy fried Garlic Quail. Extremely crispy and so delicate one could just crunch through the bones. Delicious.

Almost every dish came with this salad of greens, onions, and a pleasant dressing to help wash things down.

Dressing-like salt and pepper sauce.

French style venison. More flavor and a bit chewier than the usual beef.

Goat Curry. Delightfully balanced curry (I was drinking it) with tons of flavor. Potatoes in there with the goat to absorb the sauce.

French bread to dip in the curry.

Crispy fried garlic bait fish. Quite delicious and salty with perhaps a hint of curry flavor, or maybe because I was also eating the curry.

Spicy hot pot. This broth was actually quite spicy. The following proteins and herbs were added.

Little squids and thick cut soft beef with egg for the hot pot. First we added the squids then we mixed the egg and beef and added that with a bunch of herbs. All delicious.

Herbs for the hot pot.

Clams with a very odd white pepper and corn starch sauce. Clams themselves were good but the sauce wasn’t my favorite.

Deep fried crispy frog legs. This was some fabulous frog. Super crispy and light (but thick) batter with delicate and moist frog. Boney though as usual.

Hypnotiq blue, chocolate peanut butter, and lemon cookie from the archives. The chocolate was a bit freezer burned.

I had “forgotten” how good Tai Siu is. This was a really fabulous meal filled with bold flavors and well balanced cooking. Service was great and overall a total winner.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Cambodian Cuisine, Gelato, hedonists, SGV, Tai Siu, Wine

Teatime at Tata’s

Dec09

Restaurant: Tata’s Cafe

Location: 12627 Hawthorne Blvd, Hawthorne, CA 90250. (424) 675-4168

Date: May 27, 2022

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Great ingredients and a lot of fun

Our friend Jeff Bovon owns and operates this unusual restaurant in Hawthorne. He’s part chef, part food importer and supplier, being a purveyor of super high quality seafood and meats and he basically took over this little cafe and turned it into a very unusual destination. We setup a big custom group dinner.

The interior is basically a little Hawthorne cafe that’s been mildly scaled up.

NV Henriot Champagne Brut Souverain.

Erick and I brought almost all the wines for this dinner as most of the guests aren’t collectors.

2017 Costaripa Valtènesi Rosamara.

The place setting.

Our special menu tonight.

2013 Prager Riesling Smaragd Achleiten. VM 93. Clarity and primary juiciness emerge from the present collection of Rieslings only when we get to this point. A shimmering interaction of crystalline stony suggestions with white peach, raw almond and bittersweet liquid floral perfume plays out on a subtly satin-like if also fundamentally firm palate. Bright lemon and its pips lend refreshing vivacity and piquant counterpoint on the vibrant, long finish. (Drink between 2015-2025)

Hokkaido Scallop and Uni Crudo.

1997 Verget Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume Vieilles Vignes. VM 90-92. Exotic tropical fruits, apple, honey and a whiff of caramel on the nose. Superripe honey and apple flavors are almost too ripe; in a Show Reserve Australian chardonnay style. Finishes with a note of butterscotch. This has more impressive material than the above, but I’d find the regular Fourchaume easier to drink.

Toast with Egg Yolk and Caviar. Creme Fraiche, celery root puree, chives. This was really yummy.

2005 Cantina di Santadi Shardana Valli di Porto Pino IGT. VM 94. The 2005 Shardana is an awesome Carignano endowed with exuberant dark fruit, smoke, licorice, sage, rosemary and tar. This is a fairly big, masculine wine with great intensity, depth and roundness. It needs another year or two in bottle for the tannins to settle down. The Shardana is formidable, though, and a terrific choice for hearty cuisines. (Drink between 2013-2021)

Roasted Bone Marrow with sea salt and peppered crostini. I don’t really like bone marrow dishes like this. There is basically no “marrow” on the bone, so you scrape a thin layer of fat and collagen onto a toast. Not really my thing. The pickles were good though.

New world juice.

2014 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 94. Pale, bright yellow. Fresh yellow peach, apricot, lemon and toast on the nose, accented by a subtle spearmint note and a whiff of oyster shell. Densely packed, intense, saline and penetrating; tightly wound yet somehow pliant, this wine offers considerable charm owing to its early balance and sweetness but is built for a graceful evolution. Superb, seamless wine with enlivening saline minerality carrying the finish and giving it terrific grip and lift. (Drink between 2020-2032)

Heirloom Tomato Salad. Compressed cantaloupe, Bulgarian feta, pine nut salsa verde. I think for tomato lovers this would have been great. I can handle the little tomatoes, but the big ones have too much “tomato gut.”

2011 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°. VM 94. Inky ruby. Sexy, high-pitched dark berry and floral pastille aromas are complemented by suggestions of oak spices and smoky minerals. Shows a surprisingly light touch on the palate, offering sharply focused blackberry, bitter cherry, licorice candy and floral pastille flavors that deepen and become sweeter with air. Harmonious tannins add grip to the extremely long, sappy finish, which leaves behind notes of dark berry preserves and candied lavender. (Drink between 2021-2032)

Whole Roast Suckling Pig!

So soft he cuts it with a plate.

We each got this much meat!

2010 Domaine Lignier-Michelot Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée Bertin. VM 91-93. The 2010 Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée Bertin is rich, dark and sensual. Black cherries, plums, spices and minerals are some of the notes that are woven into this generous, textured wine. The Cuvée Bertin finds a higher, brighter register on the mid-palate and finish. This is a beautifully poised, elegant Gevrey. The Cuvée Bertin was made with 40% whole clusters. (Drink between 2015-2025)

Crispy Duck Breast. Cherry sauce, purple cauliflower & King Trumpet croutons. This was a good dish. The brown mushy stuff under the duck was very savory and delicious.

2014 Compania de Vinos del Atlantico Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz Vara Y Pulgar.

Porcini Crusted NY Steak. Getting full here.

Yuzu Tart. Very nice little “meringue” pie.

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau

The wines.

We had a very fun time. Big group and diverse wines with a LOT of food.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Foodie Club, Gelato, Jeff Bovon, suckling pig, Tata's Cafe, Wine

Ancient Baroli

Nov29

Restaurant: Heroic Deli and Wine Bar [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

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

Date: May 17, 2022

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome wines and time

In Spring of 2022 friend Jeffrey, owner of Heroic Italian, hosted a series of old wine dinners. This one is (mostly) old Barolo. These things are immortal and some of my favorite accessible old wines.

To complement Jeffrey prepared an almost ludicrously rich and copious amount of food. Pay careful attention as the plated courses are INDIVIDUAL.

The street view.

We situated ourselves in the back of the main dining room. This was an epic dinner. Not only were the wine’s crazy good — these last forever.

Tonight’s special menu.

From my cellar: 2015 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. VM 93+. Good bright yellow. The pure, complex nose suggests lime, yellow apple and botanical herbs. Then very precise, intense and penetrating, if still youthfully unevolved, conveying a powerful, three-dimensional impression of extract and a deep, textured, multilayered mouthfeel. The wine closes very long and juicy, with herbal and saline elements that titillate the taste buds. Another outstanding wine from Valentini, who never misses a beat with his Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. (Drink between 2022-2033)

Jotas Jamon brushetta. Special piggy toasts.

Scallop with Uni and Caviar.

Walker manages the wines.

From my cellar: 1958 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva. Unfortunately flawed. Tasted like old dry sherry. Really really good dry sherry.

The 1958 is on the left next to another wine of similar age. Uh yeah, it’s gone. Had to open a backup 58 (below).

One old Spanish “snuck” in.

Praise Cheezus. Jeffrey concocted this whacky take on fried mozzarella served with spicy sauce, garlic aioli, and pesto.

We demonstrate how cheesy the interior is!

1947 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva. 94 points. Wild strawberries with balsamico was mentioned by one at the dinner, and I completely agree. Also the slightest hint of nail polish. Also leather, rose hip, rose petals and “old” scents like an aged book or an old style library.

1955 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo.

Lobster Claw “prequel.” Served before the main lobster event.

My backup: 1958 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva. 96 points. Very light color in the glass, but the wine got better and better with air. Overall it was consistent with my previous experience. Complex nose of dried flowers, caramel, quite a bit of red fruit, tar, and cherries. Good structure with present tannins and fruit notes that picked up weight with air. Long finish. Amazing experience.

Spicy Calabrian Sausage Pasta. This is an awesome dish with great al dente pasta and quite a lot of heat. Sort of a wine killer, but delicious all the same.

Lobster “Thermidor.” Mayhaps there is a “reaction” to this joke.

Farmer’s market asparagus.

1964 Fontanafredda Barolo. 93 points.

1967 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo. JG 94. 1967 is one of my absolute favorite vintages in the Langhe for current consumption and the ’67 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo is a stunning example of this very underrated year. The celestial nose offers up a complex and classy mélange of black cherries, licorice, pungent roses, road tar, spit-roasted gamebirds, complex soil tones and a topnote of bonfires. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and absolutely à point, with a great core of pure fruit, melting tannins, bright acids and simply stunning length and grip on the focused and impeccably balanced finish. Just a great bottle of fully mature Barolo at its zenith! (Drink between 2010-2040)

1970 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo.

Heroic’s amazing garlic bread. So good, so carby.

Pan seared foie gras “Estilo Hoffman.” Larry likes his foie.

Herbed Kurobata Pork Roll. aka porchetta.
The porchetta served with smashed potatoes, liver sauce, and creamed spinach (below). The meat was amazingly flavorful with that perfect crispy exterior. The smashed potatoes are very sexy as well.

Creamed spinach.

Old Amaro and Etrusco — cool stuff!

Holy Cannoli. Good cannoli, but the shell needs that bubbly flakey quality from adding the wine to the dough and the ricotta, while good, wasn’t made fresh that morning in a small Sicilian village.

Overall, another amazing meal. So much food and so good. And the old Baroli… Except for my dead solider there were so many good ancient grapes. I really like old baroli as they have this lovely dried fruit quality that just keeps going and going!

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: Barolo, Foodie Club, Gelato, ham, Heroic Italian, Jeffrey Merrihue, pasta, Pig, Wine

Sunny Sauvages

Nov27

Restaurant: Chef James Lambrinos

Location: Pasadena

Date: May 13, 2022

Cuisine: Italian

Today’s Sauvages lunch was graciously hosted by Tim at at his beautiful home in Pasadena. This event is held outdoors and features Cru Baroli, 2007 & Older. We enjoyed a Northern Italian inspired menu prepared by Chef James Lambrinos, of Bistro 45 in Pasadena.

It was a toasty 100+ day in this gorgeous ridge-top setting.

So we hid under the shade and cracked some champagne!

And a white burg.

Jose brought in some caviar.

Pizza margarita.

Pesto pizza.

Then we moved back to this shady table for the main event.

Today’s menu.

2020 La Spinetta (Rivetti) Timorasso Colli Tortonesi Piccolo Derthona. VM 91. The 2020 Timorasso Derthona is a phenolic, savory wine. Orchard fruit, almond, citrus peel and white pepper all open in the glass. Racy floral and tropical accents add an exotic element that is quite appealing, (Drink between 2021-2025)

2020 Enrico Serafino Gavi di Gavi. 87 points. Tightly wound aromas of comice pear, Fuji apple . White stone river rocks, and a touch of almond butter. Mouth is quite acidic, With tart green apples coming your way. Very round with a nice mouth feel.

From my cellar: 2013 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Vigne Sparse. VM 86. The 2013 Roero Arneis Vigne Sparse comes across as green and grassy in this vintage, with distinct Sauvignon-like inflections. Lemon peel, grapefruit, lemongrass and flowers are all expressive in the glass, but the overall impression is of an overly vegetal, aggressive wine that is best enjoyed sooner rather than later. The Vigne Sparse is always on the leaner side of Arneis. In 2013, that aspect of its personality is especially prominent. (Drink between 2015-2016)

2018 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Langhe Chardonnay. VM 89. The 2018 Chardonnay Grésy is an attractive, soft wine to drink now and over the next few years. Lemon confit, almond, dried flowers and tropical accents all open in the glass. The 2018 is starting to show the first signs of flavor development. I would prefer to drink it over the next 2-3 years. (Drink between 2021-2024)

Halibut Crudo. Lemon infused olive oil & Maldon salt.

Jeff R brought: 1990 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis. VM 96. Still young, it is simply magnificent on this night. Luciano Sandrone’s 1990 Barolo Cannubi Boschis is the wine that made him a super-star, and rightly so, as it is tremendous. Still, this is one wine where I am starting to see limited potential from further cellaring.

Jose brought: 1990 Parusso Barolo Bussia. VM 94. Similarly, the 1990 Barolo Bussia (magnum) is a touch more forward than the 1989 but it nevertheless impresses for a richly-textured palate of plums, spices, prunes and flowers. This is a very typical Bussia as seen through the lens of a warm vintage that has given the wine a gorgeous level of richness and roundness. Expressive aromatics are woven throughout, adding further shades of complexity and dimension. Here, too, the higher percentage of French oak detracts a touch from the finesse of the tannins and the sheer elegance of the wine, especially when compared with the 1989. (Drink between 2013-2020)

Tim O brought: 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. VM 95. The 1996 Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba is one of the many overachieving White Labels Bruno Giacosa made when he was at the peak of his powers. Dark, brooding and structured, the 1996 will reward readers with at least two more decades of exceptional drinking. The White Label is a bit less dense and explosive than the epic Red Label Riserva, but it nevertheless captures all the personality and character of the year. This is a superb showing. (Drink between 2016-2046)

Emil brought: 1996 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra. 93 points. Rich, intriguing, earthy, pepper and roasted meat nose; gorgeous roasted meat and sage palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.

John brought: 1997 Prunotto Barolo Bussia. VM 92. Deep red. Spicy, lively aromas of dark berries and dark chocolate. Chewy and dense; the enticingly sweet red berry flavors are kept fresh by harmonious, ripe acidity. Finishes firmly tannic and long, with hints of cocoa powder and mocha.

Wild Mushroom Raviolo. Porcini sauce. The world’s largest single ravioli! Delicious with that reduction.

From my cellar: 1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. VM 94. Giacosa’s 1999 Barolo Le Rocche del Falletto is a true classic. Laced with rose petals, tar and camphor, the 1999 is textbook Barolo from one of Serralunga’s very finest sites. What a wine!

Kirk brought: 2000 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate. VM 96. The 2000 Barolo Brunate is a fabulous, explosive wine. Still impossibly young and vigorous, it shows remarkable intensity and power. Sweet, balsamic notes develop in the glass, lending further notes of darkness and seductiveness. This is a beautiful, centered Brunate that is sure to provide fabulous drinking for another two decades. (Drink between 2015-2030)

Tim C brought: 2001 Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté. VM 94. Time to move on to the reds. The 2001 Barolo Ginestra Vigna Casa Matè from Elio Grasso is outstanding. There are plenty of Ginestra signatures in the glass. At the same time, I can’t help noting that this small, family-run estate has since gone on to far greater heights. Still, the 2001 is an early gem from Gianluca Grasso.

Wade brought: 2004 Roberto Voerzio Barolo La Serra. VM 94. The 2004 Barolo La Serra is just starting to show the first signs of tertiary evolution. The typically firm La Serra tannins have now softened, making the 2004 an excellent choice for drinking over the next decade or so. Today, the 2004 shows a darker profile than is often the case, with leather, spice and cedar notes that add shades of nuance throughout. La Serra can at times be a bit angular in style, but that is not at all the case in 2004. (Drink between 2015-2024)

Larry brought: 2004 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra. VM 96. Conterno-Fantino’s 2004 Barolo Sorì Ginestra captures the essence of this great vintage. Exotic orange peel, spices, cedar, dark plum and menthol meld together in a big, structured Barolo endowed with considerable depth, power and enough structure to drink well for another decade or perhaps more. (Drink between 2015-2026)

Petaluma Duck Confit Fettuccine. Pecorino. Fresh pasta.

Jeff K brought: 2004 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo Vigna Cappella di Santo Stefano. VM 96. The 2004 Barolo Cappella di Santo Stefano is drop-dead gorgeous. The wine reveals notable clarity in its translucent, violet-hued color. Vibrant dark cherries, tar, smoke, sweet herbs and toasted oak sweep across the palate in a stunning expression of Nebbiolo and the high-altitude Perno vineyard in Monforte. This wine is all about precision, delineation and striking balance. The oak is beautifully integrated and the tannins convey an impression of vitality and poise. This is an emotional, breathtaking Barolo of the highest level. (Drink between 2014-2029).

Albert brought: 2007 Prunotto Barolo Bussia. VM 93+. Good deep red. Wild, aromatic nose offers black fruits, sour cherry, licorice, marzipan and spices. Velvety, deep and utterly seamless, but with superb freshness for the year. Impressively primary too. Finishes with firm tannic spine and terrific length. “Give this three to five years for the tannins to resolve,” suggests Torrengo.

Gino brought: 2007 Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato. VM 94. Quite closed on the nose, with the oak element in the foreground. Then hugely rich and opulent in the mouth, with an utterly smooth texture that goes beyond the other 2007s here. The concentration of plummy red fruit is accentuated by the wine’s energy. Explosively long finish saturates the entire mouth with rich tannins.

Eric brought: 2007 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia. VM 94. Good medium red. Superripe aromas and flavors of cherry, raspberry, smoke, mocha and underbrush. Plush, large-scaled and harmonious from the outset; utterly seamless. This classically dry Barolo, which includes the Monfortino juice, is as chewy as a solid. Saturates the entire palate with broad, ripe tannins. If I had to quibble, it lacks the energy and force of the very best vintages, but it’s a mouthful of pleasure.

2006 Parusso Barolo Bussia. VM 95. The 2006 Barolo Bussia reveals a multitude of balsamic, mineral-infused aromas and flavors. Large-scaled and dramatic, the Bussia sweeps across the palate, showing off tons of pedigree and sheer class. The Bussia is quite a bit more backward than the Le Coste-Mosconi, and it will require considerable cellaring, but it is a beauty. Flowers, spices and minerals waft out of the glass on the sensual, ethereal finish. I also tasted the Riserva version of this wine, which won’t be released for a few years. For now, let me just say the 2006 Riserva is shaping up to be an important wine in this vintage. (Drink between 2018-2031)

Free Range Veal “Scallopini.” Tuscan white beans & rainbow carrots, Italian herb demi.

2013 Capezzana Vin Santo di Carmignano Riserva. 94 points. 100% Trebbiano, 7 years of aging. Nougat, Hazelnut cream to the palate. wonderful wine.

Cheeses and condiments.

Coconut Cream Pie Gelato — Coconut dairy custard base, house-made Graham Crackers, and house-made Coconut Caramel — 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 #coconut #caramel #grahamCrackers #cookies

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau

My notes.

The lineup.

The ladies gather for their own table.

Inside where they basked in the A/C.

Overall, a delicious afternoon — food and wine both! Really just a fabulous setting and great company. Thank you very much to Tim for hosting!

Barolo was generally great as well :-).

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Barolo, Bistro 45, BYOG, Chef James Lambrinos, Gelato, Italian Cusine, lunch, Pasadena, Sauvages, Wine

Slytherin Specialty

Nov22

Restaurant: Toku Unagi & Sushi

Location: 1106 N La Cienega Blvd #201, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (310) 854-7285

Date: May 12, 2022

Cuisine: Japanese BBQ Eel

Rating: D-eel-ishish

Our Foodie Club / Sushi Series group decided to hit up this Unagi (Japanese freshwater eel) speciality spot.

Unagi or Japanese freshwater eel, has been consumed in Japan for centuries. Unajyu and Ohitsu are couple of the staple dishes and the recipes for these ever-popular Japanese traditional foods is said to have been around since the Edo period (1603 ~ 1868).

Their restaurant was founded in 1909 as an Unagi market in one of Japan’s renowned Unagi locations, Hamamatsu in the Shizuoka prefecture. Their special Unagi sauce has been carefully passed down from generation to generation and to this day, they continue to offer our original flavor. Toku Unagi and Sushi opened its door in the fall of 2019 on La Cienega Blvd, one of Sourthern California’s premier dining areas. Their specialty, the Unagi, are directly imported from Japan every week and continuing the legacy of their founder, Toku Unagi & Sushi is proud to offer Unagi using the same cooking method and the special sauce created over a century ago.

The interior.

Big menu actually.

2008 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année. VM 97. Bollinger’s 2008 Grande Année is rich, ample and full-bodied, with all of the pedigree of the vintage on display. Dried pear, dried flowers, chamomile, red plum and mint develop as the 2008 shows the breadth and creaminess that are such signatures of the Bollinger house style. A whole range of brighter, more floral and chalky notes appear later, adding translucence and energy. The 2008 is 71% Pinot Noir and 29% Chardonnay taken across 18 crus, and it is the Pinot that very much informs the wine in both flavor and texture. More importantly, the 2008 is one of the best Grande Années I can remember tasting. Bollinger fans won’t want to miss it. Disgorged November 2018. Dosage is 8 grams per liter. (Drink between 2020-2048)

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

Amuse of macaroni salad. Delicious, actually.

Sunomono. Very “prepared.” A little bit of chili heat to the marinate.

Monkfish liver. Great sunomono-style kelp underneath.

Cold Tofu. Nice. Great silken texture.

Ago-dashi tofu. Great.

Some of the tofu pulled out.

Yuzu Cervice. Nice and bright.

Unagi liver. Bitter and not that pleasant. This is a traditional dish Eel BBQ restaurants in Japan and I’ve had it there many times — still not my favorite.

Unagi Chawanmushi (egg custard).

2002 Louis Jadot Latricières-Chambertin. BH 90-93. This sample displayed heavy oak and was largely “un-Jadot-like” in style, which again makes me wonder about how the cask sample was pulled. The full-bodied flavors however are round, supple, sweet and wonderfully intense with obvious minerality and a long, pure and beautifully balanced finish. The overall impression, aside from the wood, is one of power and grace and my score offers the benefit of the doubt with respect to the oak influence. (Drink between 2009-2017)

2002 Domaine Launay Chambertin. BH 94. This is extremely ripe and aromatically forward, offering notes of game, leather, tea, spice and plenty of Gevrey earth plus big, intense, muscled and robust yet supple flavors that are structured and deep on the powerfully long finish. The tannins are pronounced if ripe and the supple mid-palate makes this wine seem deceptively approachable yet it should age for years. A great effort. (Drink between 2012-2022)

Unagi Terrine. Jelly-like texture. Not that much flavor.

Unagi Yanagawa. Delicious. Some very fibrous vegetables.

Rib Eye. Not that much flavor.

Unagi (and vegetable) Tempura. Quite nice.

Eel box. Unajyu. These eel meals come as sets with the eel, rice, and pickles.

Pickles. I love Japanese pickles.

Grilled Eel. This is the classic and it was lovely. There is a great combination of the char, the sweet sauce, and the fatty texture of the meat. The textural and flavor contrast with that great Japanese rice is fabulous too.

Special soup. More or less a dashi.

Ohitsu eel with tea. You pour the tea over the eel and rice.

Here is the eel, “pre tea.” You just pour the tea right over it, helps cut the fat.

Macha Cream Brulee.

Vanilla Cream Brulee.

The wines.

This was a super fun evening. Like most traditional Japanese restaurants Toku has great service. The best part was the eel. I always love BBQ eel and while even cheap BBQ eel is kinda enjoyable, this was some of the best I’ve had in the US. It’s nice to have a specialty shop here in town. We didn’t try anything from the sushi side tonight.

The wines were awesome, of course.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: bbq, BBQ eel, Burgundy, Eel, Foodie Club, Toku Unagi, Unagi, Wine

Crustacean Again?

Nov16

Restaurant: Crustacean Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

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

Date: April 26, 2022

Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion

Rating: Awesome as always

Crustacean is one of our regular haunts and features a great patio in these “outside is better” days. Tonight’s meal was a Hedonist wine dinner, the second so far in 2022.

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.

Tonight’s special menu.

From my cellar: 2005 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 93. Taittinger’s 2005 Comtes de Champagne was a perfect way to commence proceedings. Orchard fruit and hints of brioche on the seductive nose are joined by a hint of lemon verbena filtering through with time. The palate is beautifully balanced, perhaps not as riveting as a recently tasted 2008, yet underpinned by a fine bead of acidity and exuding harmony on the apricot-tinged finish. This is drinking perfectly now but should give 15-20 years of drinking pleasure. (Drink between 2022-2042)

2008 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare. 93 points. A lovely expression of the 2008 vintage but patience will be rewarded to those who cellar. This wine has all the stuffing to go the distance. If you decide to drink now enjoy it over the course of a day/weekend. Your last glass will be your best.

2017 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin La Pucelle Blanc. 92 points. Juicy and accessible, this is more giving than the ‘14 villages level PYCM St Aubin was at this stage but less structured. The palate is clean, aroma is dominated by burnt popcorn. I like this wine, and it will probably evolve over the next couple years. But I doubt it will ever quite achieve that extraordinary level of ‘14.

Charred Lobster Crudo. Tangerine Granita, Chili Oil, Carrot-Kaffir Lime Emulsion, Lemon Thyme. Really interesting spicy/sweet/herby Vietnamese flavor going on in the granita.

2013 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard. Marc’s Ass Inn. Big, ripe, fruity, lots of citrus, but pretty much dominates all other aspects. No mineral, very flat acid structure, no complexity nor elegance.

2018 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. BH 91-93. Here the beautifully layered nose is at once riper and more complex but also more restrained with its reasonably fresh aromas of apple, spear, spice, herbal tea and soft oak wisps. There is outstanding volume to the equally ripe and powerful flavors that exhibit a lovely underlying tension on the impressively persistent and attractively stony finish where the only nit is hint of warmth. (Drink starting 2026)

Diver Scallops & Green Apple Sashimi. Yuzu Kosho, Kaffir Lime, Earl Grey, Ancient Grains, Calamansi-Tom Yum. Strong bright high-acid flavors. Very nice textures too.

2010 Marcassin Pinot Noir Blue-Slide Ridge Vineyard. 94 points. PnP. Perfect cork. Lovely brilliant ruby. Intense ripe nose of cherry and red apple. Lovely velvety texture on the palate with intense berry, cherry and orchard fruit flavors. Intense but very fruit driven on the finish with any tannins buried. Lovely wine – may not be as complex as the Marcassin estate but very good.

2002 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. VM 95. Good medium-deep color, showing the faintest beginning of amber. High-pitched and refined on the nose, conveying remarkably youthful scents of raspberry, cranberry, rose petal, blood orange and mint. A juicy, sappy, succulent wine with terrific energy and precision; like a smaller-scaled, or at least a less explosive, 2010. Finishes vibrant, minerally and gripping, with subtle salinity, sneaky saline persistence, and seriously firm tannins that avoid dryness. This wine shares the light touch of the 2010 and is a remarkably youthful 2002. (Drink between 2019-2036)

Maple Leaf Farms Duck Potstickers. Luxardo Cherry Acrodolce. Nice meaty dumplings with semi-sweet sauce.

Kagoshima A5 Wagyu Tartare. Rau Rum Chimichurri, Quail Egg, L’amuse Gouda, Sesame Rice Cracker. Fabulous tartare with very interesting flavors.

1989 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle. JG 90+. After a few absolutely desultory bottles of the ’89 La Chapelle, I was very pleasantly surprised to hit a very good bottle of this wine. My last several examples prior to this bottle had been overripe prune juice that was already getting quite oxidative, but this bottle was very good and a far cry from those previous examples. As readers may know, there were multiple bottlings of La Chapelle back in this era, so there are some distinctly different wines out there under the same label and vintage banner. In any event, after several very disappointing bottles, I finally got a good one this last time around. The deep, complex and meaty nose offers up scents of ripe cassis, black pepper, grilled meats, smoky overtones, a touch of balsam bough and incipient notes of chipotle peppers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and fairly roasted in personality, but, with a good core of fruit, moderate tannins and good focus and grip on the complex and gently tangy finish. I imagine that this is what sound examples of the better cuvées of this wine have shown consistently, and why folks with these bottles in the cellar thought I was completely off my rocker with my notes on less enjoyable bottles. This example is a good, solid Hermitage at its apogee, but with still a couple of decades of life ahead of it- though not quite in the league of the 1988 La Chapelle in terms of complexity and elegance. (Drink between 2012-2030)

Braised Lamb Soup Dumplings. Tom Yum Jus, Galangal, Japanese Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, Puffed Rice. Awesome broth (and dumplings).

Orange Cauliflower for a gluten free person.

1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. JG 93+. I have always been a fan of the 1989 Château Beaucastel, which I rank just behind the superb 1981 at this fine estate. The most recent bottle I tasted of this wine was still just a touch youthful, but offered up fine complexity on both the nose and palate and shows excellent promise. The bouquet is a blend of roasted fruitcake, cherries, new leather, venison, incipient notes of sous bois, woodsmoke and hot stones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and rock solid at the core, with a bit of tannin still to resolve, fine focus and grip and a very long, classy and slightly chewy finish. I would be tempted to give this wine a few more years to really resolve, as it will be a superb wine and it would be most enjoyable to drink it at the same plateau that the 1981 has been enjoying for a good decade already. (Drink between 2015-2050)

1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. VM 93. The 1990 Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a compelling bouquet of plump red fruit, oxtail, leather and morels, all well defined and full of chutzpah. The palate is smooth in texture and, at 29 years old, has certainly mellowed. There is a core of sweet fruit here, but it has softened with age and delivers a smorgasbord of second flavors: meat juices, clove and touches of fennel. It does not possess the audacity of the Hommage à Jacques Perrin, yet it has retained effortless charm. (Drink between 2019-2036)

Charcoal Cavatelli. Dungeness Crab, Grilled Ramps, Snow Pea, Tiato Leaf, Chili Bread Crumbs.

2001 E. Guigal Ermitage Ex-Voto. VM 94-96. Saturated medium ruby. Knockout nose combines superripe, liqueur-like black- and redcurrant, gunflint, pepper, leather, game and chocolate. Huge, spicy and rich, with outstanding sweetness and depth of flavor. A massive but well-delineated Hermitage that finishes with extraordinarily suave tannins. Built for two decades of development in bottle. This is 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3. 87.

2006 Ovid Red Wine. VM 94. Ovid’s 2006 is a powerful, intense wine. Still fresh, vibrant and focused, the 2006 is super-impressive today. All of the site signatures are very much present. Mocha, espresso, dark cherries, spice and tobacco add aromatic nuance. The tannins have softened, but the 2006 has more than enough depth to drink well for another 10 or so years. This is a superb effort in a vintage that is mostly overlooked these days. Winemaker Austin Peterson describes 2006 as a year with a warm summer and pronounced heat spike around Labor Day followed by more moderated conditions for the rest of the season. Harvest took place from late September to the middle of October. (Drink between 2016-2026)

Smoked Berkshire Pork Belly. Acorn Squash, Vietnamese Carmel, Hazelnut, Winter Truffle. Very sweet and very fatty but amazing.

With An’s Famous Garlic Noodles — can never have too many of these!

Irish Coffee Gelato — Tullamore Dew Irish Whisky blended into a Coffee Custard Gelato base with (optional) layers of Crushed Oreo — Designed to pair with “Baileys Irish Gream Gelato” and includes a hefty Caffeine kick — 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 #expresso #whiskey #custard #oreos #irish

Baileys Irish Gream Gelato — New stabilized 13% Bailys Irish Cream recipe, with a touch of seasonal coloring! — Designed to pair with “Irish Coffee Gelato” — 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 #expresso #whiskey #baileys #StPatricksDay #cream #green

Overall, this was an awesome evening. Boy did the Ans treat us right and we had an incredible menu, amazing service, and great wines. A was initially skeptical of tonight’s particularly menu, as it had less dishes than usual and none of the “favorites” (except the noodles) but they turned out to be home run unique dishes that really knocked it out of the park.

Wines were great too.

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 particularly during these last two dinners have really knocked 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, BYOG, Crustacean, Gelato, hedonists, Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese Fusion, Wine

Heroic Beef

Nov05

Restaurant: Heroic Deli and Wine Bar [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

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

Date: April 12, 2022

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome wines and time

In Spring of 2022 friend Jeffrey, owner of Heroic Italian, hosted a series of old wine dinners. This one is old Spanish. These things are immortal!

Given that Jeffrey and I are good pals and he owns Heroic we have done a whole series of dinners here of varying scopes. This one was originally supposed to be old Barolo, but that got pushed by around a month, so this ended up being a smaller affair where he wanted to show off some genuine Tuscan Chiana beef.

The street view.

From cellar: 2007 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. VM 93. Bright golden-tinged straw. Complex nose of apricot, quince, flint and mint. Dense, suave and juicy, with a multilayered quality to its flinty-mineral and orchard fruit flavors. The note of diesel fuel emerges again on the long, magically mouthcoating but vibrant back end. One of the best Trebbiano d’Abruzzo’s I have memory of from Pepe. This older Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is a specific release for the US and other international markets. (Drink between 2016-2026)

Gorgonzola stuffed olives. Delicious.

Tomato and Anchovy pizza. Delicious but very very salty.

Squid stuffed squid.

Garlic bread.

Scallop, Uni, Caviar, Butter. Super tasty (and again salty).

Salmon and Flying Fish Roe Vodka Pasta. Also fabulous, particularly for salmon, but salty.

From my cellar: 1983 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. JG95+. The 1983 and 1985 vintages from Emidio Pepe make great bookends, as both wines are fully mature and drinking at their peaks today. The ’85 is perhaps a touch more elegant, with the ’83 a shade deeper at the core and a bit more structured for the long haul. The stunning nose of the 1983 offers up scents of red berries, forest floor, botanicals, lovely spice tones, a fine base of soil, an autumnal touch of acorn, dried herbs and a topnote of spices meats. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and complex, with a fine core, tangy acids, beautiful balance and a very, very long, poised and classy finish that closes with excellent grip and bounce. Another absolutely classic vintage for the Pepe Montepulciano. (Drink between 2014-2045)

Foie Gras (for Larry).

2004 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT. VM 93. The inky-colored 2004 Redigaffi, 100% Merlot aged for 16 months in new oak, offers expressive, nuanced aromatics along with sensations of richly-textured blue and black jammy fruit, minerals, mint, chocolate, spices and sweet toasted oak on big, powerful frame with notable underlying structure and a warm, resonating finish. Although it has enough structure and acidity to drink well for another decade or so, I enjoy Redigaffi most in its youth. (Drink between 2013-2016)

This is A5 Wagyu with its characteristic fat stripes.

A5 Wagyu. One of the best “steak format” A5s I have had. Delicious.

Veggies.

Compare the ultra lean, ultra red China “White Cow” Beef to the A5 above.

Chianina steak. A bit of aged flavor, but still a bit mild. Overrated.

1978 Faustino Rioja I Gran Reserva. 92 points. Amazing freshness and near perfect balance. Lots of sweet fruit on the finish. Beautiful nose with earthy barnyard funk, caramel, wet leaves and old burnt wood. Dense with a smooth texture and ripe super fine tannin. Really holding up well.

Cherry Ginger Limonade Sorbetto – Fresh squeezed Lemons, Limes, and Avignon Cherries were blended with house-made Ginger to make this delightfully tart and tingly frozen treat — 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 #sorbetto #lemon #lime #cherry #lemonade #ginger

Caramel Double Chip Gelato — Base is Salted Caramel made by replacing the sugar with house-made Water Caramel. Laced with Valrhona Chocolate Chunks and Toffee Chunks — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #caramel #SaltedCaramel #valrhona #toffee

Dark Chocolate Sorbetto – Doing the dariy free thing — a super intense mix of Valrhona and Dandelion 70% Chocolate plus 100% cocoa plus Valrhona 100% Cocoa Mass — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the best no milk straight chocolate I’ve yet made — #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 #cocoa #sorbetto

Toasted Almond Coconut Sorbetto – when I can’t use milk this Thai coconut milk base with toasted almonds from Sicily is pretty darn awesome — 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 #coconut #almond #CoconutMilk #ToastedAlmond #sicily

All together — best gelato maker in the city — nudge nudge, wink wink.

We situated ourselves in the back of the main dining room. Fun night, although not as epic as last time with the old Spanish. However, the Chiana steak wasn’t to my taste. A bit tough and “aged” flavor.

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: beef, Bread, Chiana Beef, Gelato, Heroic Italian, Spanish Wine, Steak, Wine

Sauvages Carousel

Oct24

Restaurant: Carousel Restaurant Glendale

Location: 304 N Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91203. (818) 246-7775

Date: March 25, 2022

Cuisine: Lebanese

Rating: Best Lebanese in the city

The March 2022 Sauvages lunch was at Carousel, a classic (for good reason) Glendale Lebanese banquet restaurant. The wine theme was originally supposed to be Northern Rhone but mysteriously allowed in a bunch of Cabs at some point.

The hall is big and very themed.

2008 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Millésimé. 92 points.

Bonus from me: NV Henriot Champagne Brut Souverain. VM 90. Light gold. Lees-accented orchard and citrus fruit aromas are complicated by sweet butter, iodine and smoky minerals. Dry and expansive on the palate, offering lively pear and melon flavors and a refreshingly bitter touch of orange pith. Ample but lithe brut, with very good finishing punch and repeating smoke and pear qualities.

2001 Château de Fieuzal Blanc. RJ 93. Light medium yellow color; aromatic, deep lemon, lemon peel nose; oily textured, mature, tart lemon, preserved lemon, saffron, mineral palate; medium-plus finish

Our menu today.

1996 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. VM 92-94. Saturated ruby. Deep aromas of cassis, blueberry, game, woodsmoke and iron. Thick, powerful and gamey in the mouth; has the texture and thickness not yet shown by Chapoutier’s ’96 Hermitage Méal. Primal dark berry and violet notes. Explosive fruit on the very long aftertaste, which features huge, chewy tannins. Neither particularly <I>sauvage</I> nor especially austere. Should be a beauty with seven or eight years of bottle aging. A great performance for the vintage.

1999 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. VM 93+. Full medium ruby. Classic Hermitage aromas of dark berries and gunflint, with a suggestion of bitter chocolate. Concentrated, sweet and expansive, with inky and minerally components suggestive of the granite soil. Finishes with impressively ripe fruit flavor and huge, spreading tannins that take over the palate. From a crop level just under 30 hectoliters per hectare.

2000 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. VM 92+. Saturated ruby-red. More reserved aromas of blackberry, cassis, licorice, minerals, cinders and spices. Juicy and tight, with a varietally accurate raw currant character. Fresh, intense and structured for the year. Finishes very long, with firm tannins and strong spice character.

From my cellar: 2001 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. VM 95. Saturated red-ruby. Explosive, superripe aromas of black raspberry, boysenberry, black olive tapenade, licorice, coffee and smoked meat. Wonderfully opulent and voluptuous in the mouth, with a texture like liquid silk. Coats your mouth, cheeks and whatever other surfaces it can find. Finishes with extraordinarily fine tannins and great sweetness and persistence. The best bottle of Pavillon I’ve tasted in at least a decade.

Hummus. Garbanzo with sesame seed oil, tahini, lemon juice and garlic. Great version of the classic.

Moutabel. Roasted eggplant with garlic, sesame seed oil, tahini & lemon juice.

Sarma. Fresno grape leaves, stuffed with rice and vegetables. This was hands down some of the best stuffed grape leaves I’ve ever had. They were very soft and very tangy (sumac I think).

Beef Tartare. Filet Mignon with Olive Oil. This Lebanese/Armenian version is blended into a pasty texture and very soft.

Fatayer. Turnovers stuffed with shite cheese and pan fried. These were scrumptious, particularly when used like bread to scoop up other mezze.

Fattoush Salad. Cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, spices, toasted pita bread in a sumac-citrus vinaigrette. Very tangy.

2000 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District.

1999 Merus Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 90+. Deep medium ruby. Sexy nose of roasted black raspberry, cassis, root beer, meat and spicy, toasty oak. Lush, dense, sweet and powerful; an outsized wine with rich flavors of black fruits and spices. Still, I’d like to have found a bit more verve and finesse. Decant this wine well in advance if you plan to try it now.

1998 Dalla Valle Maya. VM 93. One of the biggest revelations in this tasting, the 1998 Maya is drop-dead gorgeous. Expressive aromatics lift from the glass, followed by small red berries, pine, menthol and leather. The 1998 is all about detail. What a wonderful surprise the 1998 Maya has turned out to be. There is also little doubt the 1998, from a poorly regarded vintage, has handled time with far more grace than the 1997. (Drink between 2014-2020)

Muhammarra. Crushed walnuts, red pepper paste and pomegranate. I love this stuff.

Kbbeh. Spheres (bullets) of beef and cracked wheat, stuffed with minced beef, onion and pine nuts. Also awesome.

Soujuk Flambe. House-made Armenian beef sausage flame broiled at the table.

Frog Legs Provencal. Pan-fried frog legs with lemon juice, garlic, and cilantro. So addictive!

Lamb Kastaleta. Prime Australian lamb chops, seasoned and charbroiled. Nice char and well cooked.

Mantee (Shish Barak). Mini meat pies, oven baked and topped with a tomato yogurt sauce. I love these. This has derived both in name and style from dumplings brought west by the Mongols. It’s clearly closely related to the Afghan version.

1997 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve. VM 93. Bright medium ruby. Sexy aromas of dark berries and earth complemented by mellow mocha and coffee tones; inviting and mature but not at all old. Wonderfully suave, silky dark berry, spice and floral flavors are framed and extended by harmonious acidity. The tannins are serious but less dusty than those of the special Anniversary bottling and the juicy, subtle, rising finish avoids tartness. Showing beautifully today–and more refined than a bottle, rated 92 points, that was part of my big Beringer vertical tasting in 2015. (Drink between 2017-2028)

1993 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Proprietor Grown Pritchard Hill. VM 92. One of the most surprising wines of the night is Don Bryant’s 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon. The 1993 won’t last forever, but it is in a gorgeous place right now. The brightness and purity of the fruit remain alluring. This is one of the all-around favorites at the table, and it is easy to see why.

1995 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 96+. Togni’s 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is simply dazzling. Deep, unctuous and explosive, this Cabernet Sauvignon screams with the essence of exotic spices, iron, graphite, leather, smoke, game and dark fruit. The 1995 gets better and better with time in the glass, revealing myriad shades of dimension and extraordinary balance. Although stunning today, the 1995 has at least another decade ahead of it. The 1995 was made from the original vines that were ten years old at the time. (Drink between 2015-2025)

1992 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon. 93 points. Another superb bottle of this. Popped and poured. The nose is just gorgoeous. Cherry, flowers, herbs and truffles. The wine is beautifully integrated with black currant, cherry, earth and lead pencil. Well balanced and long on the finish. Excellent. Too bad this is my last bottle of this.

Chicken Breast Kebab (Shish Tawook). Boneless and skinless chicken breast, marinated and charbroiled.

Beef Shish Kebab (Lahem Meshwey). Cubed beef filet mignon, marinated and charbroiled.

Lula Kebab (Beef Kafta). Minced lean beef mixed with fine chopped onions, parsley, seasoning and spices.

Frri (quail). Pan-fried quail sautéed with sumac pepper and citrus sauce. Sauce was very tangy with a hint of spice and delicious.

Veal Liver Kebab. Fresh veal liver cubed and marinated with special spices, broiled tomatoes topped with cumin.

French fries.

Toum (garlic aioli).

2004 Dolce Winery Late Harvest. 92 points. Extra sticky, mostly honey flavored, good dessert wine if you like this style of late harvest.

Passion for Pistachio Gelato — Sicilian Pistacchio di Bronte DOP custard gelato base with just a touch of Grand Mariner, ribboned with bits of Valrhona Dark Chocolate Passionfruit Ganache — 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 #pistacchio #bronte #Sicily #Valrhona #Chocolate #Passionfruit #GrandMariner #Ganache

Peach Rose Sorbetto — A blend of White and Blood Peaches from Avignon with a bit of Persian Rosewater! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — I’ve tried variants of this flavor several times and am at 1/8 the rosewater I started with, still titrating down! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #BloodPeach #rose #rosewater #peach

Plated (by me).

Ashta B’aasal. Authentically prepared ashta (condensed milk) layered over french banana with honey and pistachio. This was awesome… except for the banana (which I had to pick around).

Basma.

Baklava.

Lebanese coffee. Good for knocking all the alcohol out of one’s system.

Food was amazing. So much of it and nearly every dish was incredible. Really really tasty. Much fresher, better cooked, and zestier than almost any other Lebanese/Armenian place I’ve been too. For sure the best I’ve had in LA.

Hermitages were nice, but the new world wines were… well new world. At least they had some age on them.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Carousel, Gelato, Glendale, kabobs, Lebanese cuisine, lunch, Mezze, Sauvages, Wine

Yakiniku Osen

Oct22

Restaurant: Yakiniku Osen

Location: 3503 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026. (323) 426-9455

Date: March 18, 2022

Cuisine: Japanese Yakiniku

Rating: Good, but I hoped it’d be better

Yakiniku Osen is a newish A5 Yakiniku place in Silverlake. I imagined it was somewhat like Yazawa.

It’s just street-side on Sunset in busy Silverlake.

There is a fairly tight interior.

And a small but nice set of patio tables with built in grills.

We sat outside.

From my cellar: 2005 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. JG 95+. The 2005 Comtes de Champagne is a stunning young wine. The bouquet is deep, pure and youthfully complex, as it offers up a very classy blend of pear, delicious apple, fresh almond, incipient notes of crème patissière, chalky minerality, brioche and just a whisper of vanillin oak in the upper register. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with exquisite balance, refined mousse, crisp acids and simply superb length and grip on the seamless, youthful and oh, so promising finish. The style of the 2005 vintage gives this some early accessibility that was not evident with the more tightly-knit 2004 out of the blocks, but this wine has the structure to also age long and very, very gracefully. It has been a year since I last tasted this wine and it has started to show more precision to go along with its early generosity and is a classic in the making. My gut feeling today is that it will be superior to the 1989 version, to which I compared it to a year ago. Brilliant wine. (Drink between 2015-2045)

2010 Dominique Lafon Meursault. 93 points. The 2010 Meursault emerges from the glass with notable elegance and class. This is a slightly more restrained, nervous style than fans of Comtes Lafon have become used to over the years. The 2010 is made from parcels in Petit Montagne, Charmes and Narvaux that belong to Dominique Lafon and that were once used in the Comtes Lafon Meursault. (Drink starting 2013)

1976 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle. 92 points.

Decanted into a narrow/tall water beaker. Moderate sediment. Initially, watered down and a muted nose of red fruits. Two hours later, aromatics increased – the most unbelievably ridiculous nose of dried red berries . Light bodied. Moderately long finish. A gorgeous wine. I don’t know if it improves, but it held in the beaker and only improved with air.

1978 Rioja.

1997 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli. VM 92. Intense garnet with ruby reflections. Opens with wonderfully sweet tobacco scents and spicy cedar. In the mouth there are nicely delineated, fresh flavors of anise, mocha and roasted coffee, the whole supported by very soft tannins, and the rather smoky close conveying an essence of raspberry. Although there are no hard edges in this sleek and mellifluous medium-bodied wine, it does not possess quite the depth and concentration of the best Brunellos of this vintage. (Winebow, Hokokus, NJ)

1997 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill. 93 points. Dark red violet color; intense, ripe cassis, berry, plum nose; tasty, berry, cassis, plum, cedar palate; medium-plus finish.

The menu is long. We ordered almost everything!

A5 Wagyu Beef Uni. A5 Wagyu Beef Tartare with Uni, Garlic, Crispy Sea Trumpet and Caviar. Delicious. Sweet sauce on the beef pretty much hid the uni.

A5 Wagyu Gyoza. Groudn A5 Wagyu Beef, Tofu, Mixed Vegetables, Glass Noodles. So (temperature) hot that it could have been anything inside.

Chawanmushi. Japanese Steamed Egg Custard with Uni and Caviar. Fairly runny custard.

Amaebi Carpaccio. Yuzu oild dressing, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Chive. Not the greatest shrimp, but the pepper and dressing were pretty good.

Staemed Awabi (abalone) with abalone innards dressing.

Lobster Carpaccio with Caviar and Somen Noodle, Creamy Dressing. Butter-like sauce was reat on the noodles.

A5 Wagyu Tataki Salad with Spicy Citrus Dressing. Delicious strong tanyg/sweet sauce. Microgreens had a nice bite. Meat was quite cold.

A5 Wagyu Beef Diced Steak with Sweet Shrimp and Chimichurri Dressing. This is was one of the weakest dishes.

Honey Citron Sorbet.

Gas grills.

Tallow to grease the grill.

3 Kinds of sauce: salt and pepper, house-made wasabi, and yuzu-koshu

Assorted Vegetables and Mushrooms.

Veggies on the grill.

Mushrooms at the ready.

3 Kinds of Japanese A5 Wagyu. It comes on this cool tower.

On the grill.

Beef cooked.

Beef Tongue.

Cooked.

A5 Japanese Wagyu Sukiyaki.

Marinated A5 beef for the sukiyaki.

Egg to dip it in.

Truffle A5 Wagyu Beef Hot Pot. A5 Wagyu Beef, Chive, Ala Minute Dashi Rice, Fresh Black Truffle, Sesame Oil, Tsuyu, Shoyu Marinated Egg Yolk.

Smash that yolk.

Sukiyaki pot beginning to boil. For those that don’t know, Sukiyaki is like the sweet soy/dashi stock version of shabu shabu. You coat the beef in raw egg and then cook it briefly in here, or cook it then coat it with raw egg (which will cook on the hot beef).

Short Rib.

Special Alligator from the chef.

Cooked gator.

Berry Panna Cotta.

Red Bean Ball.

Sesame Ice Cream and dried fruit.

Sesame Ice Cream, Red Bean Cake, and Syrup. Like most of these very Japanese desserts, sweet without intense flavor.

Sesame Ice Cream, Cake, and Syrup.

Very fun meal and good food. Far away (Silverlake is not only far but one has to battle some significant traffic). Many of the dishes, particularly the straight up grilled A5 and the sukiyaki, were quite good, but many of them were hit and miss. The chef is trying some new things here, but not always successfully. It’s not nearly as focused nor as good as Yazawa, although it is quite a bit cheaper.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: A5, bbq, Foodie Club, Meat, Wagyū, Wine, Yakiniku, Yakiniku Osen

Mischief & Mayhem at Marino

Oct20

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

Location: 6001 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 466-8812

Date: March 3, 2022

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Superb

Marino is a favorite haunt for many of my wine groups. Tonight my friend John arranged a special dinner with the owner of “Mischief and Mayhem”, a relatively new Burgundy producer.

The amazing chef/owner Sal Marino cooks at his original family location, venerable Marino Ristorante on Melrose and continues to whip up his unique blend of amazing modern Italian. And if anything, he’s gotten even better.

Post pandemic they’ve turned the parking lot into a cute patio.

This is the main interior, or at least some of it.

But we were set up in the private room which really is private. It’s totally separate, connected to the main dining room via the kitchen and even has its own bar and bathroom.

Wines at the ready.

Various Champagnes.

Our menu tonight.

More Champagnes.

Smoked trout with roe.

2018 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières.

2018 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts.

A selection of starters.

Tuna. Stuffed Mexicola Avocado.

Octopus Crocce.

Razor Clam.

Snapper Tartar, Salicornia.

2017 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain.

2016 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain.

Bass, Salsify, Spring Veggies.

2014 Mischief and Mayhem Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras.

2012 Mischief and Mayhem Clos St. Denis.

Lamb Pappardelle.

2018 Mischief and Mayhem Clos St. Denis.

2010 Mischief and Mayhem Corton-Bressandes.

Duck.

Ancient Cheesecake Gelato — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Base crafted from Galbani Whole Milk Ricotta and Sicilian Toasted Noto Romano Almond Paste with a touch of the sugar subbed out for Sicilian Honey. Mixed in is more Honey and Chopped Pistachios! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #dessertgasm #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #ricotta #almond #RicottaCheese #cheese #Sicily #honey #pistachio

Chef Sal and John.

Another awesome dinner. Food was great, I’ve had more elaborate meals from Sal, but all the dishes today were excellent. Sal’s a fabulous chef when you let him go all out and today’s lunch was very on point and paired extremely well with the wines.

I hadn’t really heard of Mischief & Mayhem before but these turned out to be lovely wines. And owner Michael Ragg was a very interesting and fun guy to hang out with so this turned out to be a great evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or experience my gluttonous month-long food trips through Italy.

But, as the dinner was calibrated for mere eating mortals, Erick and went to Izakaya Sasaya for our infamous second dinner.

Toro sashimi.

Bulgolgi.

Crab rice congee.

Sukiyaki veggies

Sukiyaki pork belly. There was a Sukiyaki pot, but I forgot to take a picture of it.