Amuse Bouche

And the Oscar Goes To...

2010-04-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Since I'm from LA, an Oscars party is de rigueur. I usually hate watching the Academy Awards show (I started up again many years ago when one year I came home from going out and my roommate said, "Oh! You missed it! Rob Lowe and Snow White singing Proud Mary!" Since this was before the days of the internet, I had to start watching the show since I didn't want to miss anymore juicy tidbits such as that disaster) but I do like the party and the creative names that people give their Oscar centric dishes. This year the names of the nominated movies/actors left a lot to be desired when naming dishes (hint to screenwriters: give your script a clever title that may inspire a future Oscars party dish) but mumsy did come up with Avatartichoke in 3 D(ip).

As luck would have it, I was asked to sample some Mezzetta® products and to try out some recipes using them. Most people know Mezzetta® as the "peperoncini people" but they have so many more products than the famous pickled chiles; I especially love their varied marinated olive mixes. I was sent roasted peppers, pesto, and marinated artichoke hearts (just in time for me to make two of the three dips!)

The pesto came with a wonderful sounding pesto lemon goat cheese dip (recipe below - I must make this sometime soon since it sounds so good) but I had my heart set on making a variation of Michael Chiarello's Potato Cakes with Mozzarella and Pesto (I used an additional potato, "mashed" the potatoes in the KitchenAid mixer, added gobs of Parmigiano and grated low-moisture mozzarella to the potatoes before forming into cakes, and used fresh mozzarella to top the cakes.) This appetizer was well liked and paired beautifully with an unoaked Chardonnay (or you could try a nice dry sparkling white such as Prosecco.) I'm really picky about jarred pestos because they always seem a bit bland to me but Mezzetta's pesto was pretty tasty - I noticed on the ingredients list that there is Chardonnay in the pesto which probably gives it its oomph.

Below, a very easy appetizer to make: yummy Artichoke Cheese Toasts.

Well, this isn't actually a dip but it was so good, who cares? This appetizer is fabulous paired with an oaky Chardonnay and was one of my favorite apps - it was so cheesy and delicious. The artichokes added a nice zing to the toasted cheese. Did I mention that it was easy to make?

I also used the artichokes in a "lower-fat" artichoke bean dip that I've made on occasion that is quite popular with the party crowd. I liked how the Mezzetta® marinated artichoke hearts added a nice tangy flavor to the dip; far more preferable than the frozen artichokes that I've used in the past.

And the Oscar goes to...Roasted Red Pepper with Feta Dip!

The guests attacked this dip before I could take a photo of it. This dip was insanely good! And it couldn't have been easier to make. You'll want to make this dip everyday. All of the recipes came out fabulous and I would definitely serve them all again at a party but this dip was the crowd favorite (and it paired extremely well with Prosecco.)

I was a big fan of Mezzetta® product but now I like them even more. Because I didn't have to roast my own peppers, make my own pesto, or defrost artichokes, these recipes were so easy to make. Not only did they fit in well with the theme of the Oscars party, they are easy enough to make when you have last minute guests (ok, not the potato cakes but the goat cheese dip is easy) because you'd have most of the ingredients on hand.

Artichoke Cheese Toasts

1 jar of Mezzetta® marinated artichoke hearts
4 cups cheddar cheese
¾ cup mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
Touch of fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste
1 baguette
(Note: I added about 2 Tbsp. of fresh chopped parsley for color)

Preheat broiler. Drain Artichoke Hearts, pat dry, and chop coarsely. Combine all ingredients well, except bread. Slice baguette crosswise 1/3 inch thick and spread bread thickly with cheese mixture. Broil 5 to 6 inches from heat until cheese is bubbling and browned, about 2 minutes.

Roasted Red Pepper with Feta Dip

1 cup Mezzetta® Roasted Bell Peppers
1/8 cup olive oil (2 Tbsp.)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups crumbled feta cheese

Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pita chips, fresh vegetables, or crackers.

"Lower Fat" Artichoke Dip

1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz. cream cheese
2-3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 jar of Mezzetta® marinated artichoke hearts
1 15 ounce can white beans beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil for coating the baking dish

Preheat oven to 400°. Combine all of the ingredients (except olive oil) in a food processor - use only 3/4 cup of Parmigiano - and process until smooth. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with olive oil. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup of Parmigiano. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Garnish with the parsley.

Lemon-Pesto Goat Cheese Dip

10 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream
½ jar of Napa Valley Bistro™ Homemade Style Basil Pesto
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pita chips, fresh vegetables, or crackers.

Highlights of a Friday Night Wine Tasting at JV Wine & Spirits

2010-02-20T15:55:00.000-08:00

It seems like everyone in Napa has discovered the Friday Night Wine Tastings at JV Wine & Spirits. Why are they so popular with the local folk? 1. Something to do in Napa on a Friday night; 2. $10 for all the food and wine they can consume; 3. Packed, fun atmosphere that feels like they are at a party in a big city.

At the recent tasting that I've attended, the theme was "Big Reds." I only went because it was rumored that Orin Swift's The Prisoner was going to be poured. Alas, it was not but there were other great wines being poured that night.

Upon arrival, I immediately headed to the "best" wine - an '06 Opus One It was a good wine but it just didn't have that wow factor that wines in this price range ($160) usually have - think Signorello's Padrone ($110). Could it have been that it was too young? I remember when I did a fabulous vertical Opus One tasting in LA in '08 and the youngest vintage was an '02. However, the '06 paired very well with the grilled sausage being served that night.

An '07 Lang & Reed Cab Franc. Not a bad wine for $20. It faded a bit on the palate but again a good price for a CA Cab Franc (why are they so expensive? I was just in Kermit Lynch looking for French Cab Francs and they were so much cheaper overall.)

My favorite wine that night: an '07 Peter Franus Napa Valley Zinfandel. Insanely good and an excellent food wine! This is the ultimate Zin to be paired with bbq sauce (we were served little cocktail wienies with bbq sauce) and the wine tasted as equally good with the tri-tip sandwich with garlic aioli. This wine retails for about $24. (Next to the Peter Franus is a bottle of 2006 Cade Napa Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon: young, expensive, and high in alcohol but oh so yummy to drink!)

You probably think that I liked the Peter Franus just because it was a Zin. Not true, Dear Reader, as the next wine was my least favorite: an '06 Alexander Valley Vineyards Redemption Zinfandel. There was so much eucalyptus on the nose and palate that it actually tasted horrible with the aforementioned wienies and tri-tip. I've had their Temptation Zin (and they make a very nice Rose) before and actually found it to be a fairly good food wine (goes better with vegetable based Italian dishes rather than meat based Italian dishes) so I had higher expectations of this wine.

Another great wine: an '02 Cerretto Barolo Zoncherra.

This retails for almost $60 but you are paying for the aging. I've noticed that the current release, an '04, retails for about half that much but then you might want to age it for a few more years because the '02 was really smooth and balanced. Great food wine, especially with Italian.

Someone get me a Cab, please!

Everyone was oohing and ahhing over the Chimney Rock Tomahawk Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Not bad but I preferred the plain old Stags Leap District Cab (who knows which vineyard?) For those of my Dear Readers who do not drink, Chimney Rock was the winery at which the judging of the finale of last season's Top Chef took place.

A fabulous peppery Cab from a ghost winery that you'll be glad was resurrected: an '06 Liparita Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon (they also produce an Oakville Cab). What really impressed me about this wine is how it stood up to the Salt & Pepper Kettle Chips (ok, these didn't really belong at a red wine tasting but they were put out late and so I decided to do a little experimenting with pairings) which would have most likely eviscerated most of the wines at the tasting. It would appear to me that the Liparita could be paired with some atypical foods that one wouldn't think of pairing with a big red.

Hoopes not only gets my vote for a great Cab but it has the cutest label ever! This was the last wine that I tasted that night and even though I had severe palate fatigue, I loved this wine! It was really rich and complex. Oakville AVA. I've recently perused their website and I think that there might be a Screaming Eagle sort of thing going on (and perhaps a well deserved Screaming Eagle thing) so buy this wine now before you have to pay $6K to obtain a bottle.

JV Wine & Spirits

Opus One

Lang & Reed

Peter Franus

Cade Winery

Alexander Valley Vineyards

Chimney Rock Winery

Liparita

Hoopes Vineyard

A Noodle Whoring Weekend: Pho Ga Houng Que Cafe and Santouka Ramen

2010-02-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

A preview of coming attractions - oodles and oodles of rice stick noodles:

I'm continuing my quest to find insanely good noodles in the Bay Area. Recently I partook in a noodle centric weekend, and went to one new restaurant and one favorite noodle joint from Los Angeles that just opened in San Jose. Both places did not disappoint.

So far the only pho place that I had been to previous to Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe was Turtle Tower which has been hailed as the best pho in the region. Although it wasn't bad, it wasn't as good as what I was used to getting in LA. Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe has been on my radar for quite a while and it was time to check it out.

Below, the incredible (and I mean incredible) green onion ginger dipping sauce for the pho ga:

I had heard that Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe was better than Turtle Tower simply because of this sauce but overall I thought that the broth and noodles were far superior to Turtle Tower's. Also a plus is the rather varied choice of pho ga with different types of noodles and different cuts of chicken (boned or with bone, all white meat or a mix of white and dark, etc.)

I almost ordered this wonton soup with ho fun:

But instead I ordered boneless chicken (yes, yes, I know, I'm normally a bone person but I didn't want anything to interfere with my ability to get as much dipping sauce as possible; however, someone next to me ordered her chicken with bones and her dish looked really good) with ho fun. Next time though I'm going to try the pho ga with rice stick noodles.

Not only was the pho ga insanely good, but we averaged just over $7 person all inclusive (my iced Vietnamese coffee to-go almost cost half that amount). Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe is a noodle whore's paradise!

Those who know me know that I will whore for a big bowl of shio ramen from Santouka Ramen. The gods were watching over Bon V. when Santouka finally opened a store in the Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose.

Gratuitous photos of shio ramen with "special" pork (jowl meat):

Was the shio ramen as good as I remember? Yes, but the broth was slightly different, just a tad less rich. Also, the pork was sliced thinner in San Jose than in LA and the noodles seemed a bit thinner as well. Still, these differences did not hinder my enjoyment of my shio ramen. I was worried about what my fellow noodle whore, Noah, would think of the ramen since I had built it up so much, but by his exclamation (censored) when he first tasted it, I knew that he really liked it. Now, if only my other favorite, Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen, would come up here...

A sampling of yummy sides - rice bowl with salmon roe and chopped stewed pork, respectively - that you can get along with your ramen:

With the good sometimes you have to take the bad. Case in point: a spaghetti bun that I bought at a bakery in the same mall. Don't ask, I couldn't even bring myself to eat it.

Pho Ga Houng Que Cafe
1228 7th Avenue
Oakland, CA 94606

Santouka Ramen
Mitsuwa Marketplace
675 Saratoga Avenue
San Jose, CA 95129

Chef Alex Marsh Presents "Dungeness Crab Dinner"

2010-02-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

A votre sante! A toast with a glass of the fabulous Sorelle Bronca Prosecco (which had a dominant yet yummy taste of green apple on the palate.)

When Rose invited me to Chef Alex Marsh's Dungeness Crab dinner at Coffee Bar in SF, (which I love because they serve Hitachino Nest beers) I couldn't say no. I had heard great things about his last ingredient centric dinner - the heirloom tomato dinner - and I didn't want to miss out (also the crab dinner offered a fairly priced wine pairing which is always a draw for me). Plus Rose offered to drive.

Our "amuse" - an avocado gazpacho with Dungeness crab, tomato, and cilantro.

Although it received a lukewarm reception from some at our table, I really enjoyed this dish. It was light and very subtle but not boring at all. No ingredient (such as the cilantro) dominated, instead they all worked harmoniously together. There was a touch of citrus that worked really well with the Prosecco's crisp acidity. Rose tasted a lot of cucumber but that didn't bother me since I'm a cucumber fanatic (check out my latest favorite recipe for pepinos con chiles y limon aka "tangy cucumber snack" from Mmm, Me Gusta).

A mache salad with Dungeness crab, tangerine, and the most amazing Meyer lemon "crisps."

Quite a lovely salad, with a balanced acidity that went really well with the Prosecco though the tangerines were a bit superfluous in my opinion (I have to admit with the exception of Daphne's outstanding Academy Awards salad I usually don't like fruit in my green salads.) The "crisps" were not only brilliant but insanely good - you could really eat these like potato chips.

Our second course: "Spring Roll" stuffed with bacon, crab salad, and green beans, with creme fraiche.

I didn't dislike this as much as others at the table. This dish was also very subtle but maybe a bit too subtle. I was lucky in that I could taste the bacon because one complaint from some at the table was that there was no bacon flavor at all.

Unfortunately, this dish was paired with a horrible tasting wine, an '07 Vina Valoria Blanco Rioja. We must have gotten a bad bottle because it was fairly dreadful and the head waiter that night had told us that they had received a lot of compliments on that particular wine. My notes say "chemical smell" "rotten mushroom" and "overly ripe ammonia cheese." I always give wines that I don't like drinking a chance with food since wines that I've "hated" I end up liking with the right food. It didn't improve with the Spring Roll but I have to say it wasn't as horrible with our next course.

That's right the wine improved with our creamy white corn polenta with artichoke and crab spiced with Old Bay. This was perhaps the most unusual dish of the night. It wasn't my favorite but I did enjoy eating it. However, like the Spring Roll it could have used just a touch of oomph.

Next up: an '07 Balletto Pinot Noir Russian River Valley (if I had a dollar for each Russian River Valley Pinot Noir produced...)

Everyone knows that with few exceptions I am not a Pinot Noir person. This one was barnyardy on the nose and sour on the palate as most are to me. However, this wine paired surprisingly well with one component of our next course of beef filet cook sous vide served with collard greens and a crab bernaise.

I really loved this course. My favorite part, which paired excellent with the wine, was the collards with the crab bernaise. Who would have thought that collards would pair better with a red wine than beef? I just loved the bernaise and loved it slathered all over my greens. Fried Dough Ho thought that the collards were too bitter to serve with the beef, but this Italian girl, who serves arugula, rapini, and dandelion greens with meat all the time, thought that the collards were on the sweet side (the more unctuous the meat the more bitter the green can be and with the filet, which was quite lean, it was better to serve a milder tasting green.)

Fried Dough Ho went crazy for our fried dough.

Yes, homemade doughnut holes with crab jelly, vanilla, and apricot. Since the crab, throughout the entire meal, was so fresh it was very sweet and not fishy at all so it actually worked well with the doughnut holes. I really liked this dessert since it wasn't too sweet and the doughnut holes were perfectly fried.

Chef Alex Marsh
http://thejetsetchef.com/wordpress/

Coffee Bar
www.coffeebar-usa.com

Fremont Diner: A Gem in Sonoma

2010-01-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

A preview of coming attractions: a close-up of the insanely good pulled pork sandwich.

How many times have I driven by the Fremont Diner on my way to SF or Petaluma and wondered, "hm, I wonder what that place is?" Many. Recently I noticed that the old wood shack (which used to be Babe's Burgers) that looked a drab Army barrack had been painted a fresh bright white and there were a bunch of yuppie cars in the parking lot. Swore to self that I would definitely check it out. Didn't even have time since on the same day I was invited to join Peggy for lunch later that week.

Another view of the ridiculously good pulled pork sandwich with the best onion rings I've had maybe ever.

I had done a little research ahead of time and discovered that the thing to order is the Nashville Hot Chicken (fried chicken served on a piece of bread that soaks up all of the grease from the chicken - divine!) Uh, oh, the chicken was not on the menu but there were twenty other things that I wanted to order (I believe that the menu changes daily).

I limited myself to only three items and asked about the Nashville Hot Chicken. The lady at the counter was so nice and she offered to have the kitchen make me an order. This was the best fried chicken that I've had yet in the Bay Area! Although it was a tad bit greasy, the crust was uber crispy and flavorful and the chicken tender and juicy. The ultimate test was that it tasted even better the next day.

Salad or macaroni and cheese as a side? What do you think this noodle whore ordered?

My only complaint was the the mac n cheese didn't have enough cheese in it but I took home the left-overs and added a bit more cheese before heating and it morphed into extremely good creamy mac n cheese.

The charcuterie platter speaks for itself:

From left to right: Prosciutto with wine marinated prunes; chorizo with Mahon, pistachios, and chopped quince; bresciola with fresh grapefruit and balsamic drizzle; and sopressata with pickled onions.

Not only was this one of the most fantastic tasting charcuterie platters that I have in a long time, it was also one of the most beautifully presented.

Well, I felt obligated to order something "healthy" and opted for the Gardner's Open Faced Sandwich instead of the Cincinnati Chili. While this sandwich did not have the cajones of the pulled pork sammie, it was still quite lovely (to look at and eat!) Shaved fennel, radish, and onion with a hint of dill were served over some great bread slathered with goat cheese. Definitely a great option for a vegetarian or someone who wants to eat light.

Fremont Diner
2698 Fremont Drive
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 938-7370

Keller Estate's Sashimi and Wine Pairing

2010-01-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

What yummy treat awaits us?

I had heard nothing but fabulous things about Keller Estate wines from the Winos so when Alicia and Kim informed me of the "sushi" (and I say this because sashimi is the more appropriate word since there turned out to be not a grain of rice in our tasting) and wine pairing at Keller I was the first person who signed up.

Ed Metcalf, who is the chef and owner of Shiso restaurant in Sonoma, was on hand to prepare our sashimi delights that day (I've been meaning to schedule a noodle event at his restaurant and then go out wine tasting at Grange Sonoma - the SF folk can be lured to a restaurant in the extreme North Bay with the promise of wine tasting nearby.

A close-up of our first course: raw salmon "roll" filled with avocado, daikon sprouts, arugula, fresh black pepper, and a hint of fresh lemon.

This was a lovely starter and went so well with the wine (ok, ok, I should really take notes before I start to drink since I can't remember if this is the Pinot Gris or the Oro de Plata Chardonnay; we were served both of them but I just can't remember the order in which they were served. Anyway, since both wines leaned towards the acidic, each of them would have paired great with the salmon, so when you serve salmon sashimi buy both of these wines!)

A close-up of our next course: peppered hamachi served over an edamame puree and topped with tobiko.

Our hamachi paired with a fabulous Viognier.

While the hamachi could have been a bit fresher, overall this was a good dish and was a great pairing with the Viognier. There were a lot of different textures (crunchy, soft, unctuous) and flavors (salty, acidic) going on with this dish that worked really well with Viognier. The Keller Viognier is so good that I think one could pair it with many foods - including the atypical.

The piece de resistance! A glass of insanely good El Coro Pinot Noir and Ahi Poke served over udon noodles (what a genius Metcalf is! Poke and noodles!)

A close-up of the Ahi Poke.

Needless to say this was my favorite pairing. First of all, Poke is fabulous served over noodles. Secondly, I couldn't stop drinking this Pinot Noir. And for those of you who know my drinking habits that's rare for me since I usually don't like sipping Pinot Noir (though I think that generally it's a good food wine.) The unctuousness of the Ahi and a hint of spiciness went really well with the Pinot Noir.

Ended up with a bottle of the Pinot Noir and the '07 Rose (not tasted at the pairing) which was made with Syrah and that I've heard is the best Rose around (the '08 is made with Pinot Noir so I'm definitely go to have to buy a bottle of that on my next visit). The bad news is that Ed Metcalf informed us that he's moving his restaurant so as of this writing Shiso is without home but will hopefully reopen this spring.

We had such a wonderful afternoon at Keller drinking excellent wines (and they poured heavy, Dear Reader), eating great and imaginative sashimi dishes, and enjoying the wonderful hospitality of the Keller family.

Keller Estate Winery
5875 Lakeville Hwy
Petaluma, CA 94954
www.kellerestate.com

Shiso
www.shisorestaurant.com

Grange Sonoma - a Tasting Room Collective
23564 Arnold Drive
Sonoma, CA 95476
www.grangesonoma.com

Host, Toast and Post - The 2009 Nine Vines Holiday Challenge

2010-01-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

A preview of coming attractions: Upon arrival, our guests are greeted with a glass of 2008 Nine Vines Grenache-Shiraz Rosé.

I was so pleased to be given the opportunity to participate in the "Host, Toast and Post – The 2009 Nine Vines Holiday Challenge." Daphne of Sonoma Sip understands my obsession with food and wine pairings so I asked her to be my co-host for what I knew was going to be a great holiday dinner party!

One of the requirements of the challenge was to create original recipes to be paired with three different varietals of Angove Winery’s Nine Vine wines: the aforementioned Rosé; a 2007 Viognier; and a 2008 Shiraz-Viognier. In creating our recipes, we took inspiration for our sit-down dinner from the Feast of the Seven Fishes normally served on Christmas Eve in Italian households. We wanted to create dishes that were light and unique in order to better showcase the wines.

We thought that the Grilled Shrimp “Ceviche” would pair nicely with the Rosé. And were we right! At first the wine was nice and fruity with hints of strawberry and kiwi, however, paired with the ceviche a lovely acidity was brought out in the wine. There was one ingredient in the ceviche that just made the wine sing: the jicama. Indeed. Normally people don’t think about jicama at all let alone pairing it with wines but it just created this harmonic convergence of wonderful flavors with the Rosé. I just love the unexpected when pairing foods with wines!

Despite the fabulous pairing of the ceviche with the Rosé, my favorite pairing was the Viognier with the Linguine and Clams with a Twist. This Viognier had a lovely nose of stone fruit, vanilla, and honeysuckle yet its balanced acidity paired beautifully with the saltiness and brininess of the clam sauce. I normally would pair a Viognier with a much richer dish but because the Nine Vines Viognier is a bright, fruit forward style Viognier it didn’t overwhelm the subtleness of the pasta with clams, and in fact, it gave it a certain amount of complexity.

We had wanted to pair the Shiraz-Viognier with something atypical but when we think of Shiraz we think of lamb! We were torn because it’s just such a natural pairing but I had heard through the grapevine that fresh tuna was phenomenal with Shiraz and since this particular Shiraz had a hint of Viognier in it, I was just dying to try it. What to do? Well, we compromised and created a dish that I like to call “Sonoma Surf and Turf.”

The dish was comprised of lamb shoulder chops served with an amazing fennel relish and grilled Ahi tuna steaks served with a wild arugula salad. The fennel relish was fabulous with the tuna as well and the arugula salad was great with the lamb. Needless to say, the peppery Shiraz-Viognier paired fabulously with all of the components of the dish. I want to further explore the pairing of tuna with the Shiraz-Viognier because I think that the pairing would be spectacular with a tuna preparation that is more unctuous such as a Hawaiian Poke or a spicy tuna roll or bowl.

Overall the Shiraz-Viognier won best wine of the evening (though my personal favorite was the Viognier). Our guests really enjoyed the Nine Vines wines and were impressed by how well they paired with the food. I think that all of these wines are extremely versatile and would pair well with the heavier foods of winter and would also be great at a summer bbq. I like the fact that these wines are extremely well priced for the quality ($12 per bottle) and that they are ready to drink now.

Below are the recipes from our fabulous dinner. Each recipe serves 6.

Grilled Shrimp “Ceviche”

1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil such as Canola

½ cup finely chopped red onion

2/3 cup finely chopped Persian cucumber

2/3 cup finely chopped jicama

1 to 2 tablespoons bottled red hot sauce*, or to taste

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large avocado, peeled and cut into 1/3 inch pieces

Lime wedges

Toss the raw shrimp with the salt and pepper. Add the oil to a heated grill pan or fry pan. Over medium high heat, add the shrimp and cook until just cooked, turning once (this should take about 3-4 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp). Remove shrimp to plate to cool. Cut each shrimp into ½ inch pieces. Place in a bowl and chill for at least an hour.

Combine the onion, cucumber, and jicama in a large mixing bowl. Add the chilled shrimp, hot sauce, and olive oil and stir to combine. Gentle fold in the chopped avocado.

Fill six serving bowls or cups with the “ceviche” and place a lime wedge on the edge of the rim. Serve immediately.

*We used Cholula which is a bit spicier but we also recommend using Tamazula.

Linguine and Clams with a Twist

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

½ cup Nine Vines Viognier

2 one inch strips orange peel, white pith removed

3 ½ lbs. little neck or manila clams (the smallest you can find), scrubbed, soaked until free of sand, and drained

2 tablespoons butter

1 lb. dried linguine

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook over medium heat until garlic is just barely brown. Twist the strips of orange peel to release the orange essence and add to the pan along with the Viognier. Bring to a boil and reduce the wine by half. Add the clams, shake the pan, and lower heat until sauce comes to a strong simmer.

Meanwhile, boil the linguine in salted water. If the clams start opening up before the pasta is ready to be drained remove the clams from the sauce temporarily. Just before the pasta is ready to be drained, swirl the butter into the clam sauce. Drain the linguine when it’s al dente (7-8 minutes depending on which band that you use) and add to the pan with the clams (add back any removed clams). Toss the linguine with the clams and sauce. Remove to serving bowl and sprinkle with the parsley. Serve immediately.

"Sonoma Surf and Turf"

Part One:

3 TB extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 fennel bulbs, cored and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

4 anchovy fillets, rinced and minced

2 TB minced kalamata olives

2 TB minced dried plums

pinch red pepper flakes

2 tsp. sherry vinegar

6 1 inch thick lamb shoulder chops

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, head 2 TB olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the fennel, garlic and shallot, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until softened. Remove from heat. Off the heat, add the anchovies, olives, dried plums, pepper flakes and vinegar.

Heat 1 TB olive oil over medium high heat. Season the chops with salt and pepper, and cook until browned, about 5 minutes per side. Let rest for 5 minutes. Serve over relish.

Part Two:

Two thick (at least one inch) Ahi Tuna filets, equaling 1 ½ lbs.

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating the tuna

5 oz. wild arugula

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Nine Vines Shiraz-Viognier

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

While the lamb chops are resting, drizzle the tuna with olive oil to just coat the filets. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a grill pan or fry pan over high heat. Add the tuna and cook for two minutes on each side for medium-rare.

Drizzle the olive oil over the arugula and toss until all leaves are coated. Add the wine and vinegar. Toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper.

Kara's Cupcakes in Oxbow

2009-04-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions – cupcakes galore:

Like a lot of people, I had been waiting for Kara’s Cupcakes to open up in Oxbow for a long time. Finally, this week I received an email from the good folks at Oxbow informing me of Kara’s grand opening – that day.

I was hesitant at first since I’m uber picky about my cupcakes. Down in my former domicile, Los Angeles, cupcake stores are everywhere and most of the cupcakes are dreadful: dry, tasteless cake and frosting that is over dominated by sugar and lacks any nuance of flavor. But I was pleasantly surprised by Kara’s cupcakes.

My favorite cupcake thus far:

This is the Spring Chick, a vanilla cupcake filled with passion fruit cream and topped with a vanilla frosting adorned with coconut. Great flavors (all of the components were really balanced) and the texture was lovely.

A close-up of the Meyer Lemony Lemon which seems to be one of their more popular flavors:

The grand tour of the platter of cupcakes:

Both chocolate cupcakes, the Chocolate Velvet and the Fleur de Sel, were really good! The Fleur de Sel was one of my favorite cupcakes: the cake was very dense and the chocolate ganache was fabulous. Added to this was a caramel filling which I felt was somewhat unnecessary considering how rich and delicious the cake and frosting were.

And finally, a pic of the “normal” chocolate cupcakes:

Kara’s Cupcakes
Oxbow Public Market
610 First Street, Suite 19
Napa, CA 94559

Shan Dong Restaurant

2009-03-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

The second half of our meal that day – we were doing some serious noodle whoring:

Ever since I left LA I’ve been having saudade for that certain aptly named dumpling house in San Gabriel. I’ve begun my quest to find a Bay Area alternative and first up was Shan Dong in Oakland’s Chinatown.

We got into a dumpling frenzy and ordered vegetable dumplings (boiled), Shan Dong special dumplings (boiled), potstickers, green onion pancake (ok, officially not a dumpling), and steamed veggie buns.

I think that the crowd favorite were the Shan Dong special dumplings. They were filled with ground pork and vegetables and a little something else that gave them a bit of oomph. I was really looking forward to the onion pancake and the potstickers, since I had heard that they were really good at Shan Dong, but they were just ok; the restaurant seems to do a lot better with the steamed and boiled dumplings.

Several of the many noodle dishes that we ordered:

The sesame paste noodles were actually my favorite dish. I was surprised that these were served hot instead of cold. The sauce worked really well with both the noodles and the Chinese broccoli. My only complaint was that the menu said that these noodles spicy and it turned out that they weren’t at all (but that wasn’t something that a big spoonful of chili sauce couldn’t cure.)

I haven’t had Singapore noodles in years and Shan Dong’s version was better than I remembered the dish to be. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the curry sauce had a nice spicy kick to it. Also, the vegetables, especially the onions, were cooked (there is a place for raw onions but I don’t like them in stir-fries).

The soup turned out to taste better than it looked. We also ordered a sizzling rice soup and both soups had very flavorful broths.

We went a little crazy and splurged for the hand pulled noodles in almost every dish.

Although Shan Dong wasn’t as good as my beloved SoCal dumpling house, I thought that most of the items that we ordered were good and I would probably go back and try some different noodle dishes.

Shan Dong
328 10th Street
Oakland, CA 94607
http://sd.222.to/

SacsTasty Hot Dogs - Indeed.

2009-03-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

Immediately after reading this review, I knew that I had to go here. I thought that the perfect time would be when I was returning to Napa after my vegan cooking class and lunch in Oakland (I like to seek redemption before I give into temptation).

I started off with the Original Tasty Dog with mustard, relish, onion (chopped), and tomato. I really wanted to get cheese on it but I was trying to practice some sort of restraint since I knew that I was also going to get a chili cheese dog.

I loved this hot dog. The dog itself had really good snap! and I really liked how all of the accoutrements worked together. It really didn't need cheese but that is not going to stop me from ordering it with next time!

Next was the chili cheese dog. Oh man, I got so excited when I saw the gobs 'o' cheese that went on the dog.

My only complaint was that the chili that day tasty a bit pasty/grainy. I miss the days when fast food chili was emulsified by thick orange grease instead of the low-fat thickeners. Despite that, this was one great chili cheese dog.

SacsTasty Hot Dogs
2445 Springs Road
Vallejo, CA 94951

A16 - Swinealious!

2009-02-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

A preview of coming attractions: still life at A16. In the foreground you can see my carafina of the ’03 Mastroberardino Taurasi Aglianico; in the background there is a glass of the ’04 Emmanuel Scammaca Murgo Brut (it’s Sicilian!)

I knew the lunch at A16 was going to be fabulous. Luck was on my side that day: no traffic coming into the city, I was able to avoid the Marina District hills (manual transmission, Dear Reader), and I found a great parking spot right away.

Since I had been praying to the Porcine God earlier, I planned on ordering the pork liver terrina but it wasn’t on the menu that day. So to start, I ordered the wonderfully subtle ciccioli:

Next up was the burrata with prosciutto. Yes, burrata is excellent on its own but slathered in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt it becomes amazing:

Both of these apps paired really well with the sparkling white. The Aglianico, which was HUGE, didn’t work as well (although it tasted fine with the burrata alone). I was originally going to order a bottle of Aglianico but once I put on my reading glasses the bottle that I wanted ended up being priced at $228. I had to implement Plan B.

Mumsy’s choice was the scarola pizza since she’s old school Italian and loves her sautéed escarole.

This was not my favorite dish (although it tasted pretty good the next morning with a fried egg on it.) I noticed that most people ordered pizza at lunch and the pizza of choice at A16 is the Margherita supplemented with prosciutto and arugula. I will definitely try that next time that I am there.

Two views of the utterly famous meatballs:

These were so lovely - they were almost as good as mine (nota bene: every Italian cook thinks that they make the best meatballs). The meatballs were the perfect match with the Aglianico – the meat and the sauce just brought that wine to life. When I put a spoonful of the sauce in my mouth for the first time, I tasted this wonderfully rich pork flavor; I’m wondering if the sauce is simmered with other pieces of pork along with the meatballs?

As we learned from our burrata appetizer “what doesn’t taste better slathered in olive oil and sea salt?” How about a chocolate budino tart? This was insanely good. We all know that salt goes great with chocolate but olive oil? Yes, Dear Reader, the olive oil added a new level of unctuousness to the creamy chocolate tart.

I’m looking forward to trying the expanded dinner menu.

A16
2355 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA
www.a16sf.com

Ad Hoc, Street, and BarBersQ - The Fried Chicken Trifecta

2008-12-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

A preview of coming attractions – a platter of fried chicken at Ad Hoc:

People up here are always baffled by how far I’m willing to drive for food. The Nappans are always shocked that I do food shopping in Berkeley (it’s cheaper!) and the people in San Francisco can’t understand why I would drive from Napa to the city for dinner. In Los Angeles no one thinks twice about rejecting a potential squeeze because they may be considered geographically undesirable but a true foodie worth his or her salt will drive anywhere for a good meal.

How far was I willing to drive (one way) for good fried chicken?

Ad Hoc (11 Miles):

Ms. Diva Princess was in the city for a few days and informed me that she would be coming up to Napa to stay with me for a day or two. It’s only the best for my little Princess so I made rezzies at Ad Hoc. It didn’t really matter what was on the menu that night since all Princess needs is a bottle of wine to make her happy. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to discover that it was fried chicken night since I’ve been hearing of its infamy for months.

Some balk at paying $48 per person for fried chicken but how many of those dinners are served with a white anchovy salad?

And French Laundry garden vegetables?

I totally dug this fried chicken. The execution was perfect: nice and crispy without being greasy. The batter had a nice kick to it. Princess remarked to mumsy that she was unimpressed with Ad Hoc since they “only served fried chicken” but she obviously forgot that she raided my refrigerator the next morning and ate three beautiful pieces and left me the dregs – those dregs still tasted pretty damn good the next day.

Fried chicken is normally served on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of each week.

Street (46.9 miles):

When I told mumsy that I was going to drive into the city for a fried chicken specific dinner, she said, “When you were really skinny you wouldn’t go near fried chicken.” Well, I’m not really skinny anymore and I’ll now drive 50 miles for it.

I was initially a little skeptical about the fried chicken at Street. I had read that it was skinless and I wondered if the chicken would be dry. I was pleasantly surprise when I took my first bite: although it was not really juicy, the meat was not dry at all. The coating was crispy, well seasoned, and not at all greasy. Everyone really liked the fried chicken but I have to say that this chicken needs to be eaten right away – it wilted tremendously on the ride home (ok, ok, it was a long drive and I got hungry) and wasn’t as good left over the next day.

The sides here are a carboholics dream: fresh shucked sautéed corn; mashed with gravy; and if you are feeling indulgent, you can splurge for the sour cream corn bread - and I suggest that you do. I wasn’t too enamored with the coleslaw though, it had too much celery seed in it and it also tasted like the acid in the dressing was Meyer lemon which gave it a somewhat weird flavor like slightly sour (not in a good way) mixed with lemon ice cream.

Fried chicken is served only on Sunday nights.

BarBersQ (5.2 miles):

The unveiling of the BarbersQ fried chicken (Pepper approved!):

After reading about fried chicken night at BarBersQ in Napa my expectations were really high. The chef, Stephen Barber, took a foodie road trip throughout the state of Kansas researching fried chicken, and his efforts have paid off: I had an excellent meal. I was a bit worried at first since I got the dinner to-go but the chicken stayed very warm and crispy in its container on the ride home (it’s obvious that this chicken is fried to order). This fried chicken dinner was my favorite of the three due to the well seasoned and crispy crust (they use a flour coating as opposed to a batter) and the fact that the meat was uber juicy. And it tasted great the next day.

Although my favorite mashed were at Ad Hoc, BarBersQ gravy was fabulous – it had such a rich, deep flavor. The meal is also served with collards. These I had an issue with: they either had sugar in them or the restaurant used a very sweet vinegar to flavor them. I guess it’s a matter of personal taste but I prefer a savory chile spiked vinegar on my greens. Since I wanted to go into a carb coma, I also ordered a side of macaroni and cheese which was fairly good.

Fried chicken is served all day Sunday.

Ad Hoc
6476 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-2487
http://www.adhocrestaurant.com/

Street
2141 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 775-1055
http://www.streetonpolk.com/

BarBersQ
3900 D Bel Aire Plaza
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 224-6600
http://www.barbersq.com/

Yu's Garden (of Earthly Delights)

2008-11-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

Below, can this noodle whore go anywhere without ordering a bowl of wonton noodle soup?

Ever since my brother got married, mumsy has discovered that it’s easier for him to fly to China to visit his mother-in-law than it is for him to drive to Los Angeles (from San Diego) to visit her. This past Mother’s Day, said brother and his bride drove up the 101 to Hollywood (ok, Dear Reader how close is Silver Lake to both the 101 and Hollywood?) to attend an anti anti Beijing Olympics rally but had no time to stop by and visit for even five minutes. It has come down to this: if we want to see him we have to meet him in Orange County.

But since he has started taking us to Yu’s Garden this is not such a bad thing. Not only is the food good it’s also incredibly cheap. There is a menu that you can order off of but it’s so much fun to choose from the various hot and cold delicacies from their “deli” case. Two items piled on a plate costs just under $5; for a buck more you can get three items.

Plate No. 1 consists of star anise braised chicken “drumettes” and a sesame seaweed salad (or maybe it’s gong cai?)

Plate No. 2 consists of a yuba (tofu skin) salad and a wonderful chopped green bean salad with ground pork. The green beans had some type of really yummy sour funky flavor in it (this was my favorite dish, I could have eaten it all day long.)

Plate No. 3 consists of more tofu salad (can you ever get enough?) and “drunken” chicken. These two dishes go so well together.

Add another plus to this place: there is a Ranch 99 and a fro yo place that serves LAMILL coffee in the same complex.

Update: since I'll be en Napa for Thanksgiving, male sibling will actually be going to mumsy's house for dinner; I guess it was me who he was avoiding all along.

Yu’s Garden
5408 Walnut Avenue, Suite H
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 654-2366

Santouka Ramen - I would kill for a bowl of shio ramen right about now

2008-11-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

The weather has been perfect in Napa and the pool has stayed blue. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to my favorite food stores in Berkeley. The best Ranch 99 is in Albany. I have finally found a way to avoid driving through American Canyon to and fro Napa. Could anything lure me back to LA now? Perhaps there is one thing, something that I cannot find even up here: a steaming bowl of Santouka’s shio ramen with special pork.

Surely, Dear Reader, you’ve this experience: you taste a dish for the first time and it’s so brilliant that you remember it forever. I had this experience when I tasted the miso ramen with special pork:

And the spicy miso ramen:

However, both miso ramens pale in comparison to the shio ramen:

How can I describe the taste? To paraphrase my good friend, Monsieur De…, it’s just so fucking sexy. Now, with very few exceptions, other ramen broths just taste like salted water to me. You take one sip of the shio broth and you say, “wow!” – it’s just so rich and deep in flavor. Is this what umami tastes like?

Let’s get a closeup this luscious pork:

Now, I’ve felt this way about ramen before. The meal that I had at Momofuku Noodle Bar in October ’05 was one of the best in my life (and I went to Per Se during that trip as well).

How did the miso ramen at Santouka Ramen compare to glorious Momofuku Ramen last year?

And which is the favorite between the two this year? Let's hear the verdict:

If you are really hungry, you can get ramen sets with various rice bowls like salmon roe and more pork!

I’ve recently discovered that there is a Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose but unfortunately, no Santouka Ramen (it appears that along with Downtown LA and San Gabriel, San Jose is the only other store in the country without a Santouka.)

Santouka Ramen
Mitsuwa Marketplace
3760 Centinela Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90066
http://www.mitsuwa.com/

Micheladas de Clamato - a Way of Life

2008-07-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Below, my new favorite drink (in the background you can see the chartreuse colored pool):

Marygun had insisted that I buy last Wednesday's SF Chronicle for the food section. Was I glad that she did because one recipe really caught my eye: Micheladas de Clamato. I really love Micheladas and remember drinking them at 9 am in the morning last summer in order to cool off after my exhilirating vegetable buying excursions at the Hollywood Farmers Market. I had never had one with any type of tomato juice in it so I was intrigued (I later discovered that Clamato has high fructose corn syrup and MSG in it so I think that I might switch over to a mixture of V-8 and bottled clam juice.)

In anticipation of the bombardment of Ranchera music coming from my neighbors' houses that we would be listening to all weekend, mumsy and I fortified ourselves with a six pack of Tecate, a bottle of Clamato juice, some organic limes, and a bottle of Frank's hot sauce (the recipe calls for Tabasco but I prefer Frank's).

Sure enough, the music starts. It wouldn't bother me so much if there was a good taco truck in the neighborhood; I mean, what better way to balance annoying music than with good tacos?

I really needed this drink, Dear Reader. We were involved in a bit of a fender bender on the Carquinez Bridge and while there was not a lot of damage to the old M3, the stick shift got out of whack so I could only drive it in third gear. Shades of Little Miss Sunshine? But I managed to get the Teutonic powerhouse to the dog kennel just in time to pick up los doggos.

Below is the recipe. Make them, you'll be so glad that you did!

1 light bodied Mexican beer (I used Tecate - it always needs doctoring up!)
Salt
1/4 cup Clamato juice
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 dashes Worcestershire or Maggi (I left this out since I didn't want to pay $4 for it)
3 dashes, or to taste, Tabasco (I used Frank's)
Salt and pepper to taste

Gently pour beer into salt rimmed glass. Add the rest of the ingredients and adjust taste accordingly.

What the recipe doesn't tell you is to serve it over ice which makes it a million times more refreshing.

It's Official! My Culinary Adventures is Moving to Napa

2008-04-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader, it's time to make the announcement that I am leaving my hometown of Los Angeles and I'm moving up to Napa in May. So now, not only will you be able to read of my culinary adventures in Los Angeles (I have a zillion of them that I haven't yet posted and I will be back many times a year to have Art cut my hair, The M Shop tune my car, and to eat plenty of dumplings and ramen) but also of my adventures in the foodie centric Napa Valley and Sonoma County areas.

So here is a preview of coming attractions. The Oxbow Public Market has opened since the last time that I was up there so Ms. Hollywood, who was so kind to drive me up there and give me so much support before my interview, and I mostly hung out there. For those of you who may not have heard of Oxbow, it's like a mini version of the San Francisco Ferry Building.

How lucky can I be? A Taylor's Refresher has opened up four blocks from my new job - the trick is to rent one of the houses across the street! It was so friggin good we went twice in one day.

This was the best calamari fritti that I've had in a long time. The coating was perfect, very crispy and not oily at all, and the calamari was fresh and had a wonderful texture.

Who doesn't get a burger when they go to Taylor's? Ok, I didn't and that was a mistake but I was so bloated that night that I opted to get a salad and fish tacos. The upshot was that I could fit into my skirt the next day but I was secretly coveting Ms. Hollywood's bacon cheddar burger. She took pity on me and gave me a piece of her burger. In the past I've always ordered my burgers without the "secret sauce" but after tasting it on the bacon cheddar burger I decided that I really liked it.

The kitchen of the Oxbow Wine Merchant. This place has a great small plate menu. Again, I opted for lighter food and stayed away from the charcuterie platter with meats from the Fatted Calf and instead ordered smoked trout pate, a salad, and a wonderful tomato soup with a swirl of pesto.

My new favorite place, the Oxbow Cheese Merchant (may I remind you Dear Reader that it's four blocks from my new job):

Oxbow Public Market
610 First Street
Napa, California 94559
http://www.oxbowpublicmarket.com/

Mr. Baguette: Banh Mi, Baby, Banh Mi

2008-03-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

Ooh, let's start with dessert! The foodie porn flix of us eating a very weird yet quite delicious Vietnamese dessert at Mr. Baguette in Rosemead.

Two still life views of our "weird" dessert which consisted of sweet grean bean noodles, white beans, red beans, and ice drowned in coconut milk.

Mr. Baguette is a banh mi and bakery chain in So Cal. Mr. Baguette's banh mi seem like a steal if you happen to live in the Silver Lake or Eagle Rock area and are used to paying $9 for something that is called a banh mi but is really a poor excuse for a sandwich served on stale French bread. How much would a banh mi cost on the Westside? Anyhoo, Mr. Baguette's banh mi range in price from $2.85 to $4.35 which is actually pretty high end considering that most places in the OC charge about $1.50.

These high prices are not scaring the masses away. Hiking Gourmet T and I revved up the old M3 and bombed out to the San Gabriel Valley on an early Sunday morning only to be greeted by mobs of people ordering banh mis, pastries, and iced coffees galore. One would have thought that we were at Philippe's after an SC game! But the place opens at 6 am so I guess that banh mis early in the morn are de rigueur.

Two views of the grilled chicken sandwich (I splurged for a sesame baguette which is 20 cents extra) which included the odd ingredient of sliced American cheese. I thought that it worked but Hiking Gourmet T was not as enamored with it as I.

My other sandwich (I only order a lot for my art, Dear Reader), the grilled beef banh mi. This was "eh." The first time that I had had it was at a picnic at the Hollywood Bowl and it was fabulous but on this day it was kind of boring.

My Doppelganger's smoked bacon banh mi. This looked really French to me.

I bought a "Special" banh mi for mumsy. The "Special" is the house sandwich so to speak. It has pate (accent aigu), ham, pork meatloaf, and headcheese. Since mumsy has old world tastes I knew this was the sandwich for her.

Two views of my pate chaud (that's "pat show" to you) stuffed with beef curry. In Italy this would be called a "Nun's Breast." For some reason the Italians like to call anything that slightly resembles a boob a "Nun's Breast." Apparently, the Vietnamese have the same sense of humor since they've added a nipple to the top of this pastry.

Despite the shape, this pate chaud was quite yummy and one could see the skill that went into making the pastry: many layers that were tender yet flakey at the same time.

Mr. Baguette
8702 E. Valley Boulevard
Rosemead, California 91770
www.mrbaguettesandwiches.com

Dumpling 10053

2008-02-26T20:12:00.000-08:00

I present to you, Dear Reader, the best damn dumplings in Los Angeles County (if not the entire State of California). The pork, crab, and sea cucumber dumplings at Dumpling 10053:

Does the title refer to how many dumplings you can eat? Or, are the dumplings good to the 10053th degree? Neither, it’s simply the address of this fabulous restaurant (this is not such a bad thing because it makes for finding the restaurant so much easier.) Located on the very western edge of El Monte, Dumpling 10053 is perhaps one of the best dumpling houses in the region.

Although Luscious Dumpling is my personal favorite of the two, Dumpling 10053 has many things about that give it an edge over Luscious Dumpling. Besides being able to seat far more people, Dumpling 10053 has a much bigger, and more varied, menu.

Now, let’s move onto the foodie porn.

Yummy, and nice looking, sesame seaweed salad:

A glistening shrimp and tender leek dumpling:

Fantastic stewed beef and beef tendon soup noodles:

I liked the broth and the noodles better at Dumpling 10053 but the beef was more flavorful at Luscious Dumpling. (Needless to say, this is a great soup to eat when you have a cold. Not pictured are the pickled mustard greens that you sprinkle over the soup.)

This was insanely good! Baby bok choy with meat sauce:

Another great soup for colds, in two parts:

This was a great, and simple, chicken noodle soup. I was really surprised by how well the fried pork chop went with the soup. This is a must order!

My new favorite dessert. Fried “rolls” with condensed milk:

I was amazed by how good this was. Its simplicity was truly brilliant. The condensed milk balanced the yeasty bread really well.

I am obsessed with people tossing noodles:

Dumpling 10053
10053 Valley Blvd.
El Monte, CA 91731

Hae Jang Chon

2008-02-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

Our table is loaded with food but we’ve only just begun…

Hae Jang Chon is my current favorite all-you-can-eat (“AYCE”) Korean bbq. It’s not my favorite Korean bbq place, that spot is reserved for Park’s and/or Sa Rit Gol, but for an AYCE place Hae Jang Chon is pretty good. For $16.99 per person you not only get all of the pork belly, sliced brisket, and marinated kalbi that you want but that price also includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Cold fermented radish soup (this is so refreshing when you are cooking and eating bbq):

Kimchee pancake:

Spicy soybean soup with tofu (complete with the de rigueur chipped vessel):

Kimchee fried rice:

Take a peek at our brisket and the marinated kalbi:

I liked both of these meats. Once most of the fat is rendered off the brisket you don’t feel so guilty eating it. I usually don’t like marinated meats since the marinade is often too sweet and you can end up with candied meat. But at Hae Jang Chang the marinade on the kalbi has a nice balance of sweet and savory.

Considering that this place specializes in pork (I assuming this because of the cartoon of the very happy pig on the sign) I was surprised that the pork belly lacked flavor. It looked good though:

To eat with your meat you receive both pickled daikon radish slices and rice noodle sheets. You also get a really nice salad that has a wasabi dressing on it that complements the meat very well.

Four yummy dipping sauces to choose from: fermented bean paste, sesame oil seasoned with salt and pepper, red chile sauce, and a very nice vinegar based marinated garlic and jalapeno sauce. Note the stone grill. A friend of mine, who is originally from Korea, told me that this is a particular type of grill used in a certain region in Korea. It has been placed on an angle and it has a hole in it at the low end. Every now and then the server comes over and pours marinated radish on the grill to clean it and scrapes all of the liquid waste out through the hole. Another reason why my preference is for charcoal bbq.

Hae Jang Chon
3821 W. 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
http://www.haejangchon.com/

El Atacor: Potato Taco Madness!

2008-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

Pop Art Potato Tacos:

Two words: potato tacos. Who doesn’t like, every now and then, to indulge in this carboholics’ and fatlovers’ (yes, they are little fat bombs) dream? There is something about potato tacos that makes people crave them, they just taste so damn good.

I was able to lure several foodies to El Atacor #11 recently on a very cold and soon to be rainy Sat afternoon with the promise of the best, and perhaps the cheapest, potato tacos in town. Said foodies took the bait but surprisingly I was the only person who ordered potato tacos.

An uber-fussy potato taco fanatic eats one of my potato tacos:

Indeed. These potato tacos are fantastic. I just love the fabulous contrast of the crispy taco shell with the creamy, soft potato filling. The tacos are piping hot but are served with cooling avocado sauce, lettuce, and cheese – another great textural combination. Want to know the best part? You can get four potato tacos for $3.29.

Two words: porno burrito. In J. Gold’s review of El Atacor #11 he affectionately refers to the Super Burrito as the Porno Burrito and claims that if one does a Google search of “porno burrito” ten thousand hits for El Atacor will pop up. Surely this is hyperbole, when I followed Mr. Gold’s instructions I just got hits for porn sites.

See the four stages of the burrito’s undress:

Is the porno burrito so named due to its size and shape or because it is true foodie porn? Unfortunately, the former - this burrito is “Super” in size only. I ordered a carne asada porno burrito with rice, beans, cheese, guacamole, onion, cilantro, and salsa (sans lettuce and sour cream). The carne asada tasted more stewed than grilled and there were just mere vestiges of the guac, cheese, ect. The beans dominated, and although they were good, in this case less would have been more since more was no bueno. I would try the porn burrito again but I think that it might be better with carnitas.

Word association:

Chiles rellenos (and Mexican Coke)

Shrimp ceviche

Frickin’ great salsa

El Atacor #11

2622 N. Figeroa Street

Los Angeles, CA 90065

Lucky Devils: Devilishly Delicious!

2008-02-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

A preview of coming attractions:

Out of the two, I have always preferred 25 Degrees over Lucky Devils. It’s not so much for the food but for purely emotional reasons: the first time that I went to 25 Degrees I was very sad because my beautiful Mr. Darcy had passed away that day from a heart attack at a very young age. The waiter knew that I was upset, he didn’t know exactly why, and he gave me a free milkshake. I have always remembered his act of kindness.

But nearly two years have past and I can now emotionally jump into the Hollywood Blvd. Burger Battle. I recently revisited Lucky Devils (which is owned by the extremely gorgeous Lucky Vanous from the Diet Coke commercials) with some serious foodies to see which burger place is indeed the best.

My chocolate cake shake:

I was originally going to order the roasted pecan shake (it has reached the notoriety of the date shake) but since I had a migraine that afternoon I thought it prudent to stay away from nuts. My shake was just ok; the whipped cream was certainly delicious but there was too much on it and I pretty much got filled up before I could seriously sip the shake.

We discuss burgers, weight, and chili cheese fries:

A close-up of my perfectly cooked Kobe Blue Bacon burger:

The foodies really liked the burgers but the only complaint was with the bun which most felt wasn’t hardy enough in texture and taste.

Who doesn’t love devilicious chili cheese fries? These are made with Kobe beef chili:

The foodies did not like the plain fries at Lucky Devils. I remember that the last time that I ordered them I didn’t particularly like them either. But with some good chili, cheese, and onions smothered on them how can you go wrong? It’s a definite improvement but it’s going to cost you $$.

So which is place is better? In my opinion the fries (with a zillion dipping sauces) and the shakes (oh, how I dream of the Valrhona Chocolate shake) are better at 25 Degrees but the burgers (and isn’t all about the burgers?) are better at Lucky Devils. You don’t get as much variety in toppings at Lucky Devils as you would at 25 Degrees but what you do get is plentiful, high quality, and very tasty. Also, I’ve always gotten my burgers perfectly cooked at Lucky D’s but the last couple of times that I went to 25 D’s my burgers have been overcooked and dry.

Lucky Devils

6618 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90028

http://www.luckydevils-la.com/

Asanebo and Its One Michelin Star - Feh!

2007-11-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

A preview of coming attractions – Salmon with Caviar with a little surprise in the middle:

A rare opportunity came my way: Stubborn Gourmet T invited me out to dinner and told me that I could pick the restaurant. Alas, said bequest had a contingency clause, i.e., it had “to be close.” I correctly took this to mean close to her, not me. Still, this worked in my favor, or so I thought, because I could finally go to Asanebo.

If you do nominal research on this most beloved Studio City sushi joint, you will discover that it has the top food rating in the city according to that certain “exceedingly” “annoying” restaurant guide. Also, many have claimed that Asanebo has the FRESHEST fish in town. And let us not forget about the shiny Michelin Star (which they did not have yet when I went there).

Question: Was I going to have the greatest sushi experience of my life or was I being set up to be very disappointed?

Answer: The latter. Overall the food was pretty good but it just wasn’t worth the $100 per person tab (I’ve had much FRESHER fish at Sushi Nishi-ya for less money.) I don’t know if the sushi chef thought that we were a bunch of rubes and gave us mostly crappy fish or if they knew Les Critiques Michelin were coming and went all out but my meal was not worthy of any type of award.

Our quasi-Omakase begins...

Spinach Salad:

Excellent! One of three best dishes that night.

Snapper with shaved yuzu skin:

This dish had a very nice flavor combination but the fish had a slightly watery texture.

Kampachi with a miso-sesame sauce:

Again, the fish had a slightly watery texture but I though that it the fish went well with the sliced jalapeno and the sauce.

Halibut with black truffle (note that it’s preserved truffle):

A totally pointless dish. The truffle completely overwhelmed the halibut and was very unpleasant to eat.

The aforementioned salmon:

This was actually pretty good even though it had competing components, the caviar and the ponzu sauce, but the radish salad encased in the salmon brought everything together. Only problem was that the salmon had a watery texture (are you starting to see a pattern here?)

Spanish mackerel two ways:

Fabulous! The raw mackerel was great with the minimalist ponzu sauce and a dash of ginger, horseradish, and green onion. We asked for the deep fried mackerel bones and they were the best thing that night.

Ankimo with sweet goop:

Worst ankimo that I’ve ever had (actually, I’ve never had bad ankimo before this!)

Ono with ponzu (again) and fried garlic chips:

The fish had such a watery texture it ruined the whole dish.

Toro with more sweet goop:

The toro was pretty good. And the sauce was pretty good. But the two just did not go together very well. The sauce was too rich for the fatty toro; the toro was drowned in it and I had to scrape it off but it was still a bit overpowering.

The steamed uni:

Now this was an interesting dish: the uni had been steamed over salt water for 15 minutes. Why they didn't give us raw uni I will never know. Fanatics of raw uni would have missed the buttery ocean flavor that completely disappeard with steaming (it just tasted really salty afterwards). The only thing that saved this uni was the great Korean seaweed served with it.

Don’t even get me started on the extremely gross (re-frozen, many times based on the texture, ice cream and sour fruit) dessert that they served us.

Les Critiques Michelin need to get their tongues over to Sushi Nishi-ya tres vites. But since it’s not a scene they probably never will.

Asanebo
11941 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 760-3348

The Old School Korean Trio: Dong Il Jang, Ham Hung, and Jeonju

2007-10-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

I walked into Dong Il Jang and thought to myself, “Holy crap! This looks like a place that my grandparents used to go to.” I looked around, and sure enough, other people’s grandparents were there. It was nice to see a retro place that hasn’t yet been colonized by trendoids.

Dong Il Jang has a fairly well rounded menu with all of the Korean classics, but the specialty of the house is the “Roast Gui”:

While many covet the Roast Gui, I felt that it was dullsville compared to what you can get at other Korean barbeque places. While the fatty pieces were just ok, the leaner pieces had a very dry and unpleasant texture to them. Instead of getting nice and brown most of the meat cooked up watery and grey.

But this insipid foreplay had to be endured before my happy ending: Kimchee Fried Rice. The fried rice was as great as the Roast Gui was bad. Kimchee, rib-eye trimmings, and whatever was leftover of our daikon radish panchan was cooked with rice in the Roast Gui scraps:

Ham Hung is another old school Korean with many classics on the menu but they specialize in Naeng Myun, or cold buckwheat noodles in very cold broth. This has been the only Korean restaurant in which I have felt like yanki-nom (the Korean version of gwailo) since we were heavily induced to order the noodle/kabli combo; yes, we probably could have ordered something else but I have a feeling that we would have ended up with the combo anyway, and I noticed that we hardly got any panchan compared to the other tables.

I ordered the Bibim Naeng Myun which is dry cold noodles in a sweet spicy chili sauce. It was good as was the Kalbi. Raven ordered the Mul Neng Myun, and though she says that it was very good, it looked very pallid: the noodles seemed to be more grey than the nice rich deep brown that I am used to.

Jeonju is one of the best mom ‘n’ pop dives in Koreatown. You’ll never find this place unless you already know where it is (or can read Korean); it’s located in the same mini-mall as Sokongdong.

Jeonju is known for their Dol Sot Bimbibap. You can get three kinds: beef, kimchee and beef, or seafood. It’s great when everyone at the table orders the bibimbap so that you can hear a chorus of the sizzling rice.

The Bibimbap is pretty good but I go crazy for their Jo Gee Gui (whole fried Yellow Corvina fish). The fish is simplicity at it’s best. While eating it, I was singing The Cat’s song from Red Dwarf:

I’m gonna eat you little fishie
I’m gonna eat you little fishie
I’m gonna eat you little fishie
‘Cause I like eating fish!

I got my comeuppance a few days later when a big mean raccoon ate my fish out of the pond in the backyard.

Although I haven’t had them, the jigae look really good. Next time it’s more Jo Gee Gui and some kimchee jigae for me.

Dong Il Jang
3455 W. 8th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90005

Ham Hung
809 S. Ardmore Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90005

Jeonju
2716 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90006

Park's BBQ

2007-09-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

I know that these are fightin’ words but I’m going to say them anyway: move over Soot Bull Jeep! There is a new King of Korean BBQ in town!

Ok, maybe I’m being a bit premature. I recently went to Park’s BBQ and it was love at first site and bite. I declared it my new fave. But a few of my dining companions stated that the still liked Soot Bull Jeep better. Hmmmm. I don’t often go to Soot Bull Jeep, I think that it is good, but it’s not my favorite (Sa Rit Gol has held that spot for a while). So, let the Korean BBQ challenge begin! I will be revisiting Sa Rit Gol and Soot Bull Jeep in the near future and we’ll see how they stack up to Park’s.

But in the meantime, delight your visual sense in the world that is Park’s BBQ…

Our three dippies: coarse salt with toasted sesame seed; a soy based sauce with chiles; and fermented soybean sauce.

Panchan! I had such a case of Stendhal’s Syndrome that I didn’t get a solo picture of the potato salad (it’s at the 3 o’clock position) but it was fabulous. It was oil based (slightly, and no vinegar) with a hint of garlic.

The wonderful spinach with ground tofu and roasted sesame seed:

The Gae Jang (this stuff has a cult following):

The seafood pancake (this did not have a lot of seafood in it – I think that Sa Rit Gol will win this part of the competition):

Foreplay:

And the piece de resistance – the de rigueur #2 – prime kalbi (thanks, ipsedixit!):

A luscious piece of sizzling kobe beef:

One thing that I like about Park’s is that they let you keep the bone from the short rib which they don’t do at Sa Rit Gol (I think at Soot Bull Jeep they have an order of bones!)

Raven stated that she likes the tongue better at Soot Bul Gui Rim since it’s cut thicker; I’ll have to try tongue at the other places.

Not as expensive as I thought it would be. It came out to $25 per person with a hefty tip (the service here is excellent!)

And for dessert, some Pot Bing Soo at Ice Kiss. Woof!

Park’s BBQ
955 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90006

Ice Kiss
3407 W. 6^th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020

Vietnamese Soycafe - A Hidden Gem in Silver Lake

2007-09-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

If you race up and down Hyperion in order to hit the green light at Lyric (or Fountain, as the case may be) you might miss the lilliputian Vietnamese Soycafe. If you are a true foodie, you’ll see a glimpse of it out of the corner of your eye. The first thing that you’ll notice is that it is not open on Fridays and Saturdays. This piques your interest.

You finally go there one Sunday morning after being intrigued by the limited but unique menu that you happen to look at through the window one Saturday when the pet food store was not yet open and you needed to kill some time, so you walked up the block to check this quirky place out.

Below, a cup of cinnamon soymilk:

If you usually buy your soymilk at Trader Joe’s you have not had soymilk until you’ve had it at the Vietnamese Soycafe. Viet, the warm and personable owner, makes the organic soymilk in house. Other flavors include black sesame, mint, and yerba mate. It’s a better deal to buy a quart and share it with someone – you’ll end up with twice as much for about the same price.

Below, a double Vietnamese coffee – you are in heaven.

Below, the jicama fresh rolls:

These are wonderful. You cannot eat the peanut sauce with which they are served (or you’ll take a trip to migraineville) but it doesn’t matter; the texture is perfect and the minimalist flavors blend so well together.

Below, the overwhelmingly popular lemongrass chicken banh mi:

You pledge that next time you’ll order the green onion and sardine banh mi. There is also a vegetarian option: the shitake mushroom and tofu.

Below, two views of the Sunday special bun with tumeric whitefish:

You’ve heard about this dish through the foodie grapevine, and you purposely came here on a Sunday just to get it. It surpasses all of your expectations; it’s so simple and lovely. You’ve declared this the best dish in LA County since the late Kuala Lumpur’s wonton laksa.

Below, the soyskin mushroom bun and the soynugs:

On a health kick? You’ll have to try the “C Shot” – Viet’s upscale version of the uber-cleansing detox libation of lemon juice and cayenne pepper.

Vietnamese Soycafe
1997 Hyperion Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Luscious Dumpling!

2007-09-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions – my luscious dumpling:

This is one review wherein the flix and pix will do all of the talking for me. All I can really say about Luscious Dumpling is that it is very aptly named. The dumplings (and soup noodles) are just fabulous. I will also add that I like the fact that you can arrive there at 10:55 am on a Saturday and get a table; the same arrival time at Din Tai Fun would earn you an hour and a half wait.

The always wonderful chive, pork, egg, and shrimp dumplings (I missed the “money” shot):

The pan-fried pork dumplings – spectacular!

The stewed pork soup noodles with big pieces of unctuous pork belly – yum!

The cabbage, pork, and shrimp dumplings – delicately delicious!

Everyone loves this dish – the beef tendon soup noodles (though they forgot to bring the broth – it’s served on the side) with hot and sour sauce. Divoon!

“Flavors” stewed beef soup noodles – one non-beef eater loved this!

My favorite dumplings – the pan-fried napa, pork, and sole dumplings. These are so friggin’ good!

The steamed dumplings with cabbage, mushroom, and bean curd – good, but not the crowd favorite:

The steamed pork with soup dumplings (more on these below):

Ok, I have to say one more thing: once, I made the mistake of referring to Luscious Dumpling’s pork with soup dumplings as XLB (xiao long bao) on a chowhound thread. Not the thing to do, Dear Reader! Even though I apologized profusely (offering myself up to be pelted with several orders of soup dumplings – not a bad way to die when you think about it) I have never been forgiven and I’ve been ostracized ever since!

The above feast, with the addition of stewed flavored bean curd as an appetizer, came to $13 per person. Good times. Good times.

Luscious Dumpling
704 W. Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Osteria Mozza

2007-09-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

I was really looking forward to going to Osteria Mozza since Mario Batali’s Lupa in New York City is one of my favorite restaurants. From the reviews that I read, I had very high expectations of Osteria Mozza. After the dinner I realized that the Nancy Silverton dishes, especially those at the Mozzarella Bar, were the standouts. Batali’s dishes have not yet translated to the wonderful dishes that I know them to be. If you haven’t had Batali’s cooking before, you would probably find his dishes to be quite good by LA standards.

Our “amuse bouche” – a mozzarella involtini stuffed with fresh basil, roasted tomato, and olives. This was really good and would have tasted even better with the wine that I had ordered that arrived to the table extremely late.

Since it was still officially Summer, I ordered a Bastianich Rosato. It suited my appetizers well.

My grilled octopus salad:

This was really fantastic, though the octopus could have been slightly fresher. The salad was composed of braised leeks, fresh chives, boiled potato, and the octopus tossed with a vinaigrette. The vinegar was way too strong but somehow worked with the blandness of the octopus. I took most of this home and ate it the next day for lunch and it was just extraordinarily delicious. The vinegar dissipated somewhat and the flavors just really came together.

My Bufala Mozzarella with multi dippies:

This was just fabulous! I loved the mozzarella wit the assertive flavors of most of the dips. I thought that the romanesco worked the best as it was made with a nice smokey pimenton that complemented the mozzarella well. I also liked the caper berry relish (which I put on my cold steak sandwich the next day – delicious). I had a problem with the tapenade though: it had too much lemon essence in it plus a touch of what I think was lavender. That might go well on crostini but it was quite awful with mozzarella.

Bonus Pic! Burrata with Bacon and Sauteed Escarole:

My Bavette Cacio e Pepe:

This was good but was missing most of the unctuousness that you would find at Lupa (also, the cheese was melted through instead of being in soft, small crumbles). Despite this, I thought that this dish was executed well due to the perfect balance of the cheese and the pepper, and for the fact that the Bavette was perfectly cooked.

The Beef Brasato with Polenta:

My great-grandmother used to season her meatballs with some chopped celery leaves so I was excited to see them as a garnish on this dish. But unlike my great-grandmother, who used the leaves sparingly, Osteria Mozza put a big handful on a dish, and the leaves were so aggressive that it dominated it as opposed to augmenting it.

Most Foodie Chicks preferred Pizzeria Mozza to the Osteria. I have to agree but I will definitely come back and sit at the Mozzeralla Bar.

Osteria Mozza

6602 Melrose Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90038

http://www.mozza-la.com/

The Corner Place

2007-09-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions – my bowl of Dongchimi Guksu (somen like noodles in cold radish broth):

Late last year I started working for a Korean firm. One morn, before work, I was perusing the Chowhound board and read a post about these cold noodles (Dongchimi Guksu) at a place called The Corner Place. I was in love with these noodles, sight and taste unseen. Later that morning, the office manager, Judy, asks me if I want to go to lunch with her and Chris. She said, “It’s probably going to be Korean, is that ok?” and I replied, “OMG! I’ve been cravin’ Korean all day!” and she looked at me really funny and said, “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Perhaps she had forgotten that I and another employee were the only two people to eat the Jo Gee Gui (fried whole Yellow Corvina fish) at the last firm luncheon.

Needless to say the noodles were all that I had expected and more. I had been meaning to go back, like every day, but there have been so many other places to try. Finally, I got a group to go on what would definitely be a hot summer day. The day before, one of my colleagues tells me that the Dongchimi Guksu “aren’t as good as they used to be.” What! “I think they changed the recipe or something.” Oh, mon Dieu!

The recipe for Dongchimi Guksu is a closely guarded secret. Legend has it that a little old lady in Cerritos makes the broth and it is delivered to the restaurant in a Brinks truck. This is one secret that you’ll never learn: you are not allowed to take home your leftover noodles nor may you order them to-go.

The one secret ingredient that everyone can agree on is 7-Up which was very distinctive the first time that I had these noodles but since the 7-Up flavor has diminished somewhat. My colleague was right, the recipe probably has changed but in my opinion they are even better now. They are slightly more spicy (almost like a jalapeno agua fresca) and taste a little more of cucumber.

The waitress splits our noodles for us:

Raven wants something extra in her noodles and I explain why she’s out of luck:

Below, a photo of our Kalbi that we ate with the noodles:

Above, we just ate the meat with the scallion salad and sesame oil dippy. Rice and lettuce leaves were extra and with the noodles who needed them anyway?

Below, select photos of our panchan:

Above, the fermented cabbage in jalapeno water. This was so refreshing! It’s pretty spicy but it also came with a whole bunch of ice cubes in the bowl – perfect for a hot summer day.

The Corner Place
2819 W. James M. Wood St.
Los Angeles, CA 90006

Shaka's Hawaiian Cuisine - A Moveable Feast Part II

2007-08-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions – my Spam Musubi:

Ever since having read this thread on Chowhound about Shaka’s Hawaiian Cuisine, I’ve been dreaming of bacon fried rice. I decided that a little bacon fat is just what fried rice needed to give it that luscious unctuousness.

So Hollywood Bowl Picnic time rolled around again and I was torn between going classy (Fra Mani salumi and mortadella; fresh mozz; gamberi con fagioli; caponata; and pomodori ripieni, with a bottles of Prosecco and Zin) or going “theme”; since we are seeing "South Pacific", Mr. Sales suggested that we go Polynesian. I quickly chose the latter since I finally had my chance to get some bacon fried rice.

We started off with the “Shaka’s Sampler” which had Spam Musubi, Sesame Chicken Wings, and Teriyaki Beef Skewers. The Sesame Chicken Wings and the Skewers didn’t travel very well but the Spam Musubi was absolutely delicious! And I don’t even like Spam! Next time I will order the Manupua (Char Siu Bao) along with the Spam Musubi.

For entrees we brought bacon fried rice, Kalua Pig, Teriyaki Steak (I forgot to tell mumsy to get the Kalbi instead), and the Teriyaki Chicken.

Let’s get the Teriyaki Chicken out of the way by saying that this was a dish for people who are afraid of real food: it was a dry boneless, skinless chicken breast covered with a sauce that was a bit wan. The rice was good though.

Mumsy really liked the Teriyaki steak but like I said earlier I wished that she had gotten the Kalbi; even so, this dish was still pretty good.

The Kaula Pig was great and was served with a steamed cabbage that tasted slightly pickled. The cabbage complimented the pork really well.

Ah, the bacon fried rice: it was sublime! We received enough to feed ten people and it was packed with bacon and Portuguese sausage. It also contained slivers of Kamaboko (fish cake) which I normally do not care for but in this case it really added a certain je ne sais quoi to the rice.

Let us not forget about the macaroni salad. I actually liked Shaka’s version; it was very minimalist (and wasn’t runny and gooey like most) and I could detect a bit of grated onion in the dressing. I was really tempted to bring an ice cream scooper so that I could have put two scoops of rice and one scoop of macaroni salad on everyone’s plate.

Here’s our tropical cocktail (sans umbrella):

Shaka's really took us to Bali Ha'i!

Shaka’s Hawaiian Cuisine
101 W. Main Street, #C
Alhambra, CA 91801
http://www.shakas.com/

Suhrabal Korean BBQ

2007-08-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note: My Guest Blogger, Raven, and I (and a large group of people) went to Suhrabal for lunch about a week before the tragic shooting there. We decided to wait to post the review until a respectable time had past. If mention of the shooting might be offensive to you, please read no further.

Gee, it's been about three posts since I, or most likely Raven, has written about Korean food so I decided it was about that time. Thanks to Raven for being my Guest Blogger (again!) this week.

We Enter Korean Drama Territory: Suhrabal

FADE IN:

INT. SUHRABAL – DAY

A KOREAN MAN enters, gun in hand... Okay, I don't want to be flippant about the tragedy that occurred at Suhrabal barely a week after we were there, but you have to admit it could be something out of a kdrama (a dark one where folks get killed). The restaurant owner was rumored to be having an affair with one of the waitresses, so her husband showed up with a gun and killed the owner and himself. Plus the restaurant was open for business the very next day, or so I'm told. I can't imagine who would have gone there then...

But when we were there this tragedy was still in the future, and we had no inkling that it was going to take place. So...

BEGIN FLASHBACK

A large party enters Suhrabal. From the ambience you expect this place to be expensive. It has an upscale dining room, heavy tables, overall an upscale atmosphere. You walk in past an area where the many meats available are open to view. This could seem chintzy, but it doesn't. It seems classy.

We ordered a LOT of food. In fact we ordered so much that we couldn't keep track of it all before we placed the order, so I had to write it down in Korean to give to the waitress, proving that I have bad handwriting in every alphabet. I'm not sure she bothered to read it, though, since she ended up bringing us an appetizer we hadn't ordered. Here it is, the accidental appetizer:

Granted, although we did pay for this appetizer (since we ate it), because of the mistake we also received an order of kimchee jigae on the house. I don't do spicy, so I didn't try it, but it looked appetizing. See what you think:

The barbecue (Note from Bon V.: charcoal, baby, charcoal!), of course, was our main course. Take a look:

We also ordered a number of other dishes to round out our meal. Hey, there were a lot of us. We deserved a lot of food. We pigged out on a delicious seafood and egg pancake (yum!), delicious chapchae (noodles with vegetables), and a plate of kimchee dumplings. Despite the fact that I don't do hot food, I was enticed by the dumplings (below).

I don't recall much about the panchan except for the deep-fried seaweed. I think this is the Korean answer to potato chips. I loved it at the time. It's sort of salty, sweet, and crisp all at once. I have to say, though, after I picked up a whole container of my own at HK Market, I got tired of this seaweed treat really fast.

Finally, after we were done eating, we all received a refreshing rice drink, which I really enjoyed.

And the best part is, the bill didn't live up to the pricey atmosphere. I was sure we'd be paying through the nose, but it was really quite reasonable.

END FLASHBACK

FADE OUT.

Note from Bon V.: After Suhrabal, we all went over to HK Market and saw this crazy warning:

Suhrabal
100 S. Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90004

Father's Office

2007-07-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions:

Those who have never been to Father’s Office in Santa Monica have heard the legends: it is tiny, tiny, tiny; the employees have serious attitude; and most importantly it has the best burger in the region if the not the entire United States.

Tiny? I wonder if the naysayers who make this claim have actually been to a tiny restaurant (Vietnamese Soy Café comes to mind). I was expecting the place to be of Lilliputian proportions and was worried that half of our party of 13 would not be seated even though we were first in line. I would say that Father’s Office is tiny by dim sum palace standards but it seats about 50 people easily.

Missing was the purported Father’s Office attitude; my bartender was so nice and helped me pick a great beer to go with my burger: Racer Five IPA (I normally don’t like IPAs but this was really good and went great with the burger) brewed by Bear Republic Brewery up in Sonoma County. The owner, Sang Yoon, is diligent about serving artisanal beers that compliment his gourmet burger. While my glass cost about $2.75 he has beers available that I believe are several hundred dollars per bottle. Just be careful about which beers you order Dear Reader.

But the legend of the phenomenal burger is indeed fact - it is quite delicious. The meat is of obvious high quality and I believe it is a mixture of ground sirloin and chuck. The carmelized onions, Maytag Blue, arugula, and toasted French roll just highlight the wonderful beef, and all of the components work really well together. Six conversations about one thing:

The rest of the items that we tried were extremely good. The sweet potato fries are absolutely incredible (I don’t even like sweet potato fries.) These are a must to order with the burger - don’t be tempted to order the regular fries like I was as they are not so great. My favorite item that day was the spiced olives. I was just blown away but the complex Moroccan spices that enveloped the olives. I definitely want to go back to Father’s Office to get non-burger items (the goat cheese gratin and the white anchovies are calling me, “Bon V, come to me…”); if the kitchen can put out olives that are to die for, imagine what the other items must taste like.

I do have a few criticisms though. While most people in our party complained of their burger being undercooked, my burger was overcooked. It was still tasty and juicy but I think that it would have been better (for me, at least) if it were a little less well done. The burger was supposed to have Gruyere cheese on it but it seemed to be absent from my particular burger. And the main problem for me, and this might sound silly to some (or even most) but even though the burger is truly excellent it seems more like a steak sandwich than a burger.

Father’s Office
1018 Montana Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90403
http://www.fathersoffice.com/

A Moveable Feast - Part One

2007-07-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Ah, Dear Reader, it's my favorite time of the year - Hollywood Bowl season! That's right, July 9th marked the first of many Bowl Shows and great picnics. We went to see "Die Zauberflote" (that's "The Magic Flute" to you.) Unfortunately, Sumi Jo was not feeling well that night and her famous aria, "Der Holle Rache Kocht in Meinem Herzen" (that's "Hell's Vengence Boils in My Heart" to you) suffered but the picnic was fabulous!

Our starter - La Quercia prosciutto:

Oh, man, this producer of American prosciutto is giving Gli Italiani a run for their argento. It was really excellent and the pork is from Berkshire pigs raised humanely in Iowa (they also make pancetta, speck, and guanciale). We served this with a mediocre brie from Whole Foods and the absolutely wonderful Two-Seeded Lavosh cracker bread from Rustic Bakery in Marin. I first bought this at the Cowgirl Cremery store in the Foodie Building in San Francisco but luckily I've been able to find it down here - for $2 more!

A photo of our sup:

Hear the commentary (and see Raven's hand!):

And our wine (organic grapes Dear Reader):

Now, I'm going to get on a soap box Dear Reader: with all the news about contaminated food lately, please consider buying and eating local foods, or if not too local, then food raised/grown by people who practice organic/sustainable/humane farming in the U.S. Every little effort helps. And the food tastes better too.

Hollywood Farmer's Market
http://www.farmernet.com/events/one-cfm?venue_id=587

La Quercia

http://www.laquercia.us/

Robert Sinsky Vineyards

http://www.robertsinskey.com/

Vito's Pizza

2007-06-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions:

The top photo is of the Pizza Margherita - essentially their cheese pizza with added fresh tomato and basil.

The bottom photo shows the "Terra Firma" pizza with sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms (this was originally called "The Works" when Vito's was located on Vermont but my Calabrese friend admitted that they changed the name in order to Westside-ize the pizza when they moved to La Cienega.)

For many months I've been hearing the roaring accolades about Vito's New York style pizza. I haven't been a big pizza eater since my 20s, when I OD'd on pizza, and in my 30s I naively went to Casa Bianca until a bad experience with the wait and, more importantly, the crust, sent me searching for the next great pizza. Naturally, it was time to check out Vito's.

So a gaggle of us foodies met at the 80s inspired mini-mall, whose parking lot was filled with Range Rovers parked in compact spaces, in which Vito's is now domiciled.

The Gallery of Pizza:

A close-up of Vito's Mediterranean Veggie Pie - their most popular pie right now:

Red Carpet Pizzas:

For my tastes, I think that Vito's pies are best eaten with fewer toppings. On the Margarita I thought that the tomato and basil were very distracting and did not really enhance the pizza; once I removed them I was left with a very delicious cheese pizza. And while the vegetables on the Terra Firma were fresh, and plentiful, again I think that I would have liked less toppings since the basic pie is so good. I should mention that I'm in the minority here, perhaps an island unto myself, since my fellow foodies really liked the abundant toppings.

My only critcism of our pizza pies was that the crust was slightly tough. But I found with the calzone that I took home the crust was perfect (I took home a Mio Fratello calzone [mozz, ricotta, parmesan, spinach, fresh tomato, garlic, and meatball] and as I was driving the calzone slid out of the bag on the front seat and onto the floor. The calzone managed to stay in the foil but half the filling oozed out onto the mat. Both calzone and mat were salvaged.) The flying calzone was my favorite dish.

Here's Paulie making mumsy's to-go sausage and pepper sandwich:

Vito's Pizza
846 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
http://www.vitopizza.com/

Pho 2000 v. Pho 4000

2007-06-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

I'm used to Pho 79, Pho 99, and I seem to remember that Pho Cafe in Silver Lake was originally called, for a very short time, Pho 101. But in Koreatown pho has gone bigtime with Pho 2000 (branches at 7th & Vermont and Western near 1st) and Pho 4000 (located at Western and 4th).

Pho 2000's website states that "many in Koreatown, Los Angeles, have voted PHO 2000 as 'BEST PHO' restaurant in Los Angeles." But word on the street is that Pho 4000 is exponentially better. Just how good are these Korean phos?

Amy dresses her rare beef pho at Pho 2000:

Sassy C and I split an order of rare beef pho at Pho 4000:

This is one of my favorite videos! Check out Sarah's beautiful noodle technique:

The side of herbs served at Pho 4000 was definitely better; the herbs were fresher and more varied. The day that I went to Pho 2000 the herbs were a little wan.

Love-15

Crab and pork spring rolls at Pho 2000:

And at Pho 4000:

While 2000's were hot and crunchy, they lacked a lot of flavor. 4000's were really good (and too hot to eat!)

Love-30

Pho 2000 has a menu limited to pho and spring and summer rolls while Pho 4000 has a much more varied menu. Check out Raven's Bun Tom Thit Nuong (aka "Number 11"):

Love-40

Championship point for Pho 4000? Hardly! The restaurant keeps double faulting. The fatal error is that their broth sucks (how else can I put it?). You know how people talk about things looking and tasting like dish water? Well, this broth really does. I should have known since I noticed that most people before us left large amounts of broth in their bowls.

The non-pho dishes were pretty good. A big foodie turned me onto the stir-fried rice noodles. They were good but they came with a price:

So, I wanted to order another order of the stir-fried noodles. I go into the back to look for our waitress but she has disappeared. I go up to the owner, a matronly woman, and say, "Excuse me, may we order another order of number 16?" She nods her head affirmitively. But 30 seconds later, she grabs a menu, walks over to our table, and starts yelling at me in pigdin english and pointing to number 16 (stir-fried noodles). She's getting madder and madder. I guess that I'm not getting my noodles. So we call the cook/busboy/waiter over and tell him what happened and he says, "that's just the way she is." He tells her that we want another order of number 16 and she's headed back to the table. Uh oh. But this time she's all smiles and says, "yes, you get number 16!" WTF!

So, Pho 2000 has pretty good broth and the service is friendly, efficient, and quick so it wins the Korean Pho Bowl.

How do these two places stack up against Vietnamese places? Well, not very well but if you live mid-city and you don't feel like driving to Westminster or SGV (or you don't want to pay $10 for a bowl of pho at a trendy Silver Lake Vietnamese place) it might be worth it to stop in at Pho 2000.

Pho 2000
698 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90005

Pho 4000
414 S. Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90020

Paris Baguette

2007-06-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader, as of late I've been having car problems, dog problems, and not surprisingly, brain problems; thus, this week we have another guest blogger! Here is Raven's review of my favorite bakery in Los Angeles, Paris Baguette:

My Culinary Adventures Goes to Paris (sort of)

I haven't been to Paris myself. Maybe someday I'll go. But in the meantime I'm told by a reliable source (namely, Bon V.) that the pastries at Paris Baguette are nearly as good as you'd find in Paris.

A visit to Paris Baguette starts out with a feast for the nose. The bakery is tucked away off a small parking lot around First & Western. The upside to this location is that you can park in the lot when you go, assuming there's room. The downside is that if you don't park in the lot, it's hard to find the door to the bakery, even after you've found the address from the street. But once you do locate the door, which will probably be open if the weather is warm, you'll immediately know you're in the right place. Because the heavenly smell of baking pastries will waft out and surround you.

Paris Baguette is apparently part of a Korean chain that has opened up shop in the United States. They bake throughout the day, and outside they post a signboard listing which items will be coming out when. This means that whatever you buy is going to be fresh. And if you see something that looks appetizing, snap it up on the spot, because an hour later it will probably be gone, and someone else's taste buds will be enjoying it instead of yours.

Part of the charm of Paris Baguette is that it's a feast for all the senses. In fact, in some ways I'd say the smell and presentation of their baked goods is even more important than how they taste. Everything they makes looks gorgeous. Check out these beauties (not mine, by the way):

The bakery isn't large, but there's room inside for a display case filled with cakes, and on the opposite wall you'll find help-yourself bins full of reasonably-priced pastries. Basically, you grab a box and a pair of tongs and help yourself.

I helped myself to the following: a rice flour doughnut (sweet sugar coating but a bit bland), a pastry with green pea filling (yes, the vegetable), a banana cream pastry (it was heavenly), and some kind of pastry stick with black seeds. Bon V. told me what this was when she recommended it, but I promptly forgot (Editor's Note: it's like a sweet potato croissant dough twisty thingy).

Meanwhile I was maneuvering my way past the staff in white hats and aprons who were busy restocking the bins and helping customers. In addition to sweets, Paris Baguette also offers savory options, which I will be sampling when I go back sometime soon.

So if you're craving French pastries and you don't feel like going all the way to Paris to get them, head over to Koreatown in Los Angeles and pick some up.

Paris Baguette

125 N. Western Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90004

Koreatown Plaza Food(ie) Court

2007-05-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here, Dear Reader, is a new feature: Guest Blogger! I want to thank Hiking Gourtmet T for writing this review:

Bon Vivant, Raven and I hit the Koreatown Plaza at Western and 9th Street at noon on a Sunday, ready to sample what its food court had to offer. Like those at most other malls, the food court was full of hustle and bustle and lacked much atmosphere. However, the food choices more than made up for it. Of the 10 or so food vendors in the food court, the primary dishes offered were Korean soups and stews, noodles and meat dishes.

After surveying the various choices, we each decided to get one dish and share. Bon Vivant had had her eye on Chew Young Roo’s dumplings since her last visit. Her order of the steamed dumplings, or mandu, consisted of four large dumplings, which resembled bao. Inside the warm, plump buns were a mixture of vegetables, including leeks and onions, sautéed in garlic, ginger and other flavors. The dough was fresh (you can watch them make the dumplings) and light, contrasting nicely with the flavorful vegetables and crunchy celery. The dish comes with a dipping sauce that tastes like soy sauce and vinegar. Four buns would be more than enough for a filling lunch.

At Gamja Bawi, which specializes in bibimbap, Raven ignored the cashier, who tried, yet again, to steer her toward the less interesting #1 bibimbap, and ordered the beef dolsot bibimbap. A mix of rice, vegetables, meat and a freshly cracked egg in a stone pot, the dish is filling and comforting. Like the dumplings, the mix of the soft rice and crunchy bean sprouts (with the bean) stood out. Richly flavored bits of beef add texture and flavor. It came with a variety of traditional Korean side dishes (panchan), as well as radish soup and seaweed soup, which are basically light broths.

I ordered cold noodles (neng myung) from Plaza. The thin noodles are served in a tin bowl, floating in a clear, thick, faintly sweet liquid, with cucumbers, a boiled egg and bean sprouts on top. The nest of noodles can be a little hard to untangle for the inexperienced. Both the noodles and the soup have a delicate flavor. While I enjoyed the noodles (I love noodles), the lack of a strong flavor in either the liquid or noodles left me feeling like something was missing. However, this was the third dish we sampled and thus the stronger flavors of the first two may have made noodles pale in contrast. I can also see how on a hot day, one would not want strong flavors drowning out the cool noodles.

Each dish was around $7, quite a bargain. I highly recommend a visit to Koreatown Plaza’s food court as well as a stroll around mall, especially some browsing time at The Plaza Market.

Editors Note: After Hiking Gourtmet T left, Raven and I went to get some pot bing soo:

Koreatown Plaza Food(ie) Court
928 S. Western Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90006
www.koreatownplaza.com

Soot Bul Gui Rim

2007-05-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions:

Our meal started off right at this Koreatown favorite. The top photo reveals our first round: unmarinated short rib, beef tongue, and the de rigueur pork belly. Glimpses into our second round in the bottom photo: marinated short rib (and we also threw on some fresh garlic and jalapeno).

Lately, I've been having a hankering for charcoal Korean bubbaque. With all of the Korean bubbaque places in Los Angeles, only a small percentage use charcoal. On this past Easter my nose took me (you can literally smell this place a block away) to Soot Bul Gui Rim which is known for being the best all you can eat bubbaque places in the city ("awesome" said one reviewer): what makes Soot Bul Gui Rim stand out from all the other all you can eat places is the use of charcoal briquettes and the high quality of meat.

Come, delight your senses in the world that is Soot Bul Gui Rim:

So, for the first round we were limited to the three choices. I thought that the unmarinated short rib was more tender than at Cham Sut Gol ($24 there) and the pork belly was much tastier than at the over rated, in my opinion, Honey Pig (don't even get me started on Honey Pig!).

I really liked the marinated short rib; at most places I feel that they put too much sugar in the marinade and what I'm left with after barbequing is candied meat. At Soot Bul Gui Rim the marinated meat was more on the savory side. And with our second round we also got a dainty...

Have a heart - literally:

You know, Dear Reader, I fail to understand why people do not eat heart more often? It's like a really tasty and uber tender filet mignon.

Ooh, look at the flames:

Below, photos of some panchan - a lovely bean sprout salad and a healthy dose of kim chee:

Take a full tour of the panchan and the dipping sauces:

I forgot to film one dipping sauce (the chili garlic paste) which was fabulous with the pork belly.

And finally, my thoughts on charcoal Korean bubbaque:

Soot Bul Gui Rim
233 S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90020

Orochon Ramen and The Wall of Bravery

2007-05-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Some like it hot:

Although it has many fans, and is often quite full, Orochon Ramen is my least favorite ramen place of the elite ramen restaurants in the Los Angeles County area. It does have one thing going for it, that the others do not, and that is a gimmick:

So if ones finishes their super spicy Special No. 2 within a half hour, the waitstaff will take a Polaroid picture of The Brave One with his or her (most likely his) empty bowl and posts it on the restaurant's front wall. I have never attempted to get on The Wall of Bravery but I have been there with people who have and it's quite entertaining.

On this past Friday the 13th my friend and co-worker Chris attempted to get on The Wall. I know he likes spicy food, really spicy, so I figured this was going to be easy for him. Was it? We'll find out. Here we are when the clock starts ticking:

Actually, Chris came up with an impromptu strategy: he dumped a big cup of ice into his soup to cool it off and to facilitate slurping the broth. Not only was the spice meter hot, hot, hot but the temperature was as well (this worked out in my favor - see below).

So while he's tackling his soup, let's talk about mine. I normally order the regular No. 2 (miso) which is three levels below the Special No. 2 and is called "Hyper." For some reason, I ordered the No. 7 which is the lowest of the nine spice levels and has the very unsexy name of "Non-Spicy." Hmmm. But this time I can taste the miso which I don't like very much - it was too salty and didn't have any vestiges of fement funk.

Let's check in on Chris:

Here, hear Bon Vivant got tongued tied and ask a really dumb question:

Now back to my soup. So I was dreaming about the spicy miso from Hakata Ramen and wishing that there were far more noodles in my soup (some skinny teenaged girl who won't eat carbs was probably cooking in the kitchen based on the amount of noodles we all received) when I remembered that I wanted to order some chashu for my soup (if you don't order it, $.99, then you get about a quarter sized slice of pork in your soup). So I decided to let my noodles soak up the broth and expand while I awaited my pork.

So I kept thinking about the succulent slices of pork from Santouka Ramen and then my slice of pork arrived: WTF! I felt like Christina Crawford in a chapter of "Mommy Dearest" - my pork was ice cold and the fat was congealed to the point of being as hard as a coconut. I quickly threw the piece into my blazing hot soup and burried it in my soaking noodles.

Like the ugly duckling that emerges as a beautiful graceful swan (this is so cheesy!), in two minutes my pork became meltingly delicious (note to self - next time order two slices of chashu):

I tried Chris' broth:

Did Chris make it onto The Wall of Bravery? Let's see:

I have to say that even though I initially had problems with my ramen, it turned out to be the best that I have ever had there.

Orochon Ramen
123 Onizuka Street
Third Floor, Weller Court
Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.orochonramen.com

Rick's Drive-in Featuring "The Spuderito"

2007-04-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

For the last 10 years, on and off, I've worked in Pasadena. On many occasions I've driven by the intersection of Walnut and El Molino and noted to self to one day eat at the very popular burger place on the southeast corner. Well, I never got there and the note to self faded into the netherworld.

But one day I read that Rick's Drive-in was closing. Mon Dieu! That's the burger place that I always wanted to go to in Pasadena. As it happened, My Doppelganger and I were starting a Great Burger Challenge series and we made the decision to get to Rick's tres vites before it closed.

Is it fair to compare a Rick's Drive-in burger to one from Father's Office? Perhaps not. I realized after eating at Rick's and speaking with my fellow foodies that there is definitely a burger hierarchy in Los Angeles: you have your fast food/drive thru burgers (Tommy's, In N Out, Rick's, etc.); your well known restaurant burgers (Dish, Pete's, Village Idiot, etc.); and then your "elite" burgers (Father's Office, 25 Degrees, Lucky Devils, etc.). Is a burger that's not made with kobe style beef and served with a posh cheese and chipotle aioli worthy of a foodie's accolades? Even though the elite burger might always win out, due to the quality of ingredients and level of skill that goes into the preparation, I think that a fast food burger could easily have a place on a top ten list.

Check out Mr. Taste of Thai's thoughts on his double cheeseburger:

Actually, off camera he admitted that he thought that a Rick's Drive-in burger was better than In N Out. I have to agree: I thought that the burger was really tasty.

LAgourmet ordered one of the special french bread burgers and was quite disappointed:

The big hit, with me at least, was "The Spuderito." While we were standing in line, and then waiting for our burgers, nearly everyone who went to Rick's said, "What's a Spuderito?" Here, find out:

See my passionate reaction to "The Spuderito":

One of the other retro items that we ordered was the Taco on a Bun. It was essentially an americanized taco (seasoned meat, lettuce, tomato, and cheese) on a burger bun with mustard. Check it out:

Pursuant to MaxMillion's request, I've mixed it up a bit. My homage to French New Wave Cinema:

As an added bonus, here is a photo of my Crema di Limone gelato from Bulgarini Gelato Artigianale in Alta Dena. One spoonful of this stuff and I was transported to my favorite sea side resort in Sicilia.

Rick's Drive-in
680 E. Walnut Street
Pasadena, CA 91101

Bulgarini Gelato Artigianale
749 E. Altadena Drive
Altadena, CA 91001

www.bulgarinigelato.com

Beacon, an Asian Cafe

2007-04-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Below, two views of the luscious yaki udon: glistening strands of udon noodles stir fried with slivers of tender pork, green onions, cabbage, and kim chee. The kim chee is what makes this dish for me - it highlights the other flavors (mostly bland) plus the funkiness of the kim chee gives this everyday dish a little oomph.

Beacon, although officially located in the City of Los Angeles, is a big part of Culver City's dynamic dining scene. Situated in the southern corner of the Helms Bakery Complex (right across the street from The Jazz Bakery and my favorite cheap steak frites place, La Dijonnaise), Beacon became, right from the start, not only a destination restaurant but a favorite with the locals as well.

Below, iced green tea and pomegranate sake. In the past I've had the pleasure of sipping the lychee infused sake as well as pineapple.

Below, the Beacon Roll: no rice nor nori, just salmon, crab, and avocado wrapped in a thin layer of cucumber topped with the distinct ponzu gelee and sesame seeds. I feel like Violet Beauregarde, before she inflates, as I chew one of these delicious little morsels: each component's taste comes through yet they all blend so perfectly with one another.

Below, a beautiful sugar snap salad with radishes and goat cheese, diffused with daikon sprouts.

Below, the delicate and very elegant avocado salad with mixed greens, cilantro, Tokyo negi (a Japanese green onion which tastes kind of sweet - the flavor reminds me a bit of fennel), and kuro goma (black sesame seed) with a rice wine vinaigrette.

One of my other favorite salads, the stir fried mushroom salad. I hate to admit this, but I never knew that this salad existed until I saw a Rachel Ray show (this is so embarrassing!) several years ago and she was knoshing on this salad. The next time that I went I ordered it out of curiosity and it has been one of my standards since. I especially love the flavored almonds and the marinated carrots.

Below, a carnivore's delight: a half pound burger with carmelized onions, bacon, and a posh cheese, and the meat has a sweet soy glaze on it.

Below, Les Beaux Cheveux, Esq. ordered the upscale Ring Ding for dessert. I am not from back east so I didn't know that a Ring Ding is a Ding Dong; had I known, I would have ordered one too since I am a Ding Dong fanatic.

Beacon
3280 Helms Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90034
www.beacon-la.com

Sean's Burgers, Yuca's Hut, and Burrito King - the Great Silver Lake/F'iz Burger Crawl

2007-04-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

A preview of coming attractions:

On top: the Double Chili Cheeseburger from Sean's Burgers.

Middle: the Double Chili Cheeseburger from Yuca's Hut.

Bottom: the Double Cheeseburger from Burrito King.

I've been tempted to do a Silver Lake/F'iz (Los Feliz) burger crawl since reading two recent threads on the chowhound LA board. In the first one, lil mikey tells us of his burger adventures at Sean's Burgers (the new place that is now in the old Jay's Jayburger stand), and in the second, Burger Boy ponders the merits of a burger from Yuca's Hut and waxes nostalgic for the burger from Burrito King.

Sean's Burgers:

When I said "charcoal" flavor what I meant to say was "grilled" flavor (sorry, my mind must still be on charcoal Korean bubbaque). Speaking of grilled flavor, my next stop was at Yuca's:

Burger Boy mentioned that there was too much mustard on the burger. I have to admit I took my few bites from the perimeter of the burger and didn't taste any mustard; however, when I got the burgers home and dissected this burger, there was a huge splat of mustard right in the middle of Yuca's burger.

Burrito King:

I think that the best overall tasting burger was from Sean's but if I had ordered the burger from Yuca's without chili I think that one would have been best. The meat was of higher quality and it was really charred giving it a wonderful flavor.

While dissecting the burgers I couldn't help but notice how well Burrito King's burger held up: the lettuce on the other two burgers had already wilted but Burrito King's lettuce was still really crisp. If one just subbed Yuca's patties into the Burrito King bun and accoutrements, it would be a fabulous burger.

Sean's Burgers
4481 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90029

Yuca's Hut
2056 N. Hillhurst Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Burrito King
2827 Hyperion Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Mozza

2007-04-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

The first appetizer to arrive: the bacala crostini. It was creamy and yummy, and not salty at all. The drizzle of fruity olive oil and the black olives were the perfect garnish.

And to drink with it a carafina of Rosato produced by Joe Bastianich's vineyard in Friuli:

I have to admit, I was all prepared to hate Mozza on my first outing there. Mumsy had already been a few weeks ago and she brought home some leftovers that were absolutely dreadful! "Nancy's" Chopped Salad had a virus killing amount of vinegar on it (plus it tasted like something that one would get at a big corporate chain) and the special sausage had a casing the texture of parchment paper plus the sausage meat tasted mealy. Mumsy said that the pizza was excellent but she ate it all before I could try it.

So I met a dozen women there this last Sunday for My Doppelganger's surprise bday party. Boy, was she surprised. And so was I by how damn good the food was!

One of my favorite things to eat is arancine. These arancine were smaller and more like suppli al telefono (so called because when you pull them apart the melted cheese looks like telephone wires):

Ooh, watch the bubbling roasted olives fresh out of the oven:

These smelled divine! However, there was too much rosemary in the dish and I thought that Lucques olives were too firm - I would have preferred a softer olive. But the garlic in the dish was fabulous and the oil/herb mixture made a great dunk for our leftover pizza crusts.

A must to order at Mozza, the chicken liver crostini with guanciale. The flavor combinations were great as were the contrasting textures of the smooth liver and the crispy guanciale:

Below, the squash blossom, burrata, and tomato pizza. This was good, but the burrata cheese was way too cold and clashed with the hot pizza crust. It would have been a lot better if the cheese were slightly warmer - it would have been a nicer contrast with the crust.

See the different pizzas that we ordered:

The special "pizzetta" in the second video had mascarpone, peas, ramps, and pancetta on it. I figured out right after I filmed the pizzetta that the weird flavor was anise seed. That pizza did not need that much anise seed, if any.

Here was the special on Sunday, the lasagne al forno:

I loved this but most people in our party did not because the dish did not conform to what they know as lasagne, i.e., it wasn't the Italian American lasagne, or what passes for Italian American lasagne in this City. This was perfect to me: the noodles were like silk hankerchiefs, a wonderful bolognese, and a creamy balsamella (bechamel); just a simple minimalist Italian dish.

The best dessert ever:

I don't mention it on the video, because I hadn't tried one, but the little cookies served on the side were absolutely incredible, nearly as good as the butterscotch budino. They were like a shortbread but I think that the fat was olive oil instead of butter and they had some carmelized pine nuts and fresh rosemary sprigs on top. Divoon!

I have to admit that Mario Batali's Lupa is one of my all time favorite restaurants, and while Mozza is not as good as Lupa, it's still an excellent restaurant.

Mozza

641 N. Highland Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90036

www.mozza-la.com

Cham Sut Gol

2007-04-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

Raven exclaims, "Bulgogi chuseyo!" ("Korean bbq please!")

A couple of years ago, Soot Bull Jeep was the standard for me when it came to Korean bubbaque places that used real charcoal in their grills as opposed to just gas (come to think of it, Soot Bull Jeep was the only place that I knew of that used charcoal). Then a friend told me of this legendary place that was better than Soot Bull Jeep. It was hard to find since there was no sign in English, but the name in Korean meant "House of Charcoal."

I never did find out exactly where this place was (I knew that it was on Olympic somewhere) until I posted a comment on eatdrink&bemerry's site and mentioned the legend of the "House of Charcoal." He responded that he thought Cham Sut Gol might be the place that I've been looking for. Since Raven and I were going to see "The Host" and I knew that I would be craving Korean afterwards, I suggested to her that we try this place.

Cham Sut Gol might just be the "House of Charcoal." It's on Olympic, there is no English sign, and it definitely has charcoal grills. Is it better than Soot Bull Jeep?

Smoke gets in your eyes (and in your clothes and in your hair...)

Cham Sut Gol has fairly high quality of meat but it's not a large amount and it's rather expensive. The Galbi (short rib) was nearly $24 and the Bulgogi (thinly sliced marinted beef) was nearly $18. We probably could have ordered an additional meat, since we were still hungry, but we really didn't feel like paying an additional $10 - $12 each for it. At most places that I go to ordering one plate of meat per person is a sufficient amount of food. However, in their defense, they do have lunch specials that are a combination of meat and some other dish like naeng-myun (cold noodles). I didn't look at the price of the lunch specials but I'm assuming that they are considerbly cheaper.

Below, the waitress suggested that I add a slice of the wasabi marinated daikon radish to my beef and rice noodle wrapper (not only did it look pretty but it tasted great.)

At this outing we received rice noodle sheets and lettuce salad to make our bangja gui but I think that my preference is towards lettuce leaves, rice, and scallion salad. We received a variety of dipping sauces: fermented bean; chile garlic; and sesame oil with a healthy dose of salt added to it.

A tour of the panchan. Good but nothing stood out.

Below, beautiful and tasty seaweed salad:

The de rigueur kim chee:

Slices of raw garlic and jalapenos that we put on the grill (notice the bean sprout salad in the background):

Now to answer the question posed above. Even though I like the sides better at Soot Bul Jeep (that scallion salad is fabulous!) I think that I'm leaning towards Cham Sut Gol. I thought that the quality of the meat was higher and the service was quite good. I like the fact that parking was pretty hassle free at Cham Sut Gol (lot and plenty of street parking.) It's probably not too much more expensive than Soot Bull Jeep because SBJ charges an additional $2 per person for rice and panchan.

Cham Sut Gol
3700 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
www.chamsutgol.com

A Few of Bon Vivant's Parties: New Year's Eve

2007-03-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

Have had so many parties since December that I figured it might be a good idea to dedicate some time to them. Often times I'm so busy with the preparation and playing hostess that I often forget to take photos. Luckily, Adorable Gourmet H took some pix on New Year's Eve.

If it's any indication of how my holiday season turned out, see the photo below of how it began:

That's not me dancing but I was a member of Daryl's harem that night. Yes, Daryl spun the wheel of fortune that night and the needle landed on the you'll-be-the-only-guy-in-private-room-at-Moun of Tunis-filled-with-women slot.

Here is a photo of the "spread." What you don't see close-up pix of are the wonderful Russian salads and savory pastries that Raven and I bought during one of our Russian Deli Crawls along Santa Monica Blvd. I have to give Raven even more credit since the Russian theme was her idea and she knew what to buy.

We first bought some cheese and meat stuffed blintzes and peroshki at the bakery with the Georgian bent. A loaf of brown bread was de rigueur. They also had some fabulous looking salads so we got "Russian Salad" (translation: really good potato salad), a wonderful diced beet, potato, and kidney bean salad (my favorite), and a very garlicky eggplant salad. Next, we headed over to New York Deli, everyone's favorite, and bought what turned out to be the most popular salad: the marinated shredded cabbage and cucumber with beaucoup de fresh dill.

It was pretty crowded at all of the delis but nothing prepared us for the Soviet era lines at Odessa Grocery. Stubborn me had to get the garlic marinated cherry tomatoes but I paid a price! Not only did we have to wait forever, but we were so packed in that I nearly got impregnated by the guy in front of me.

Raven and I got a ton of food for like $50 bucks or less. The next day I was worried that I wouldn't have enough food so I went over to my beloved cheese store and got a pound of Fra' Mani soppressata and a big chunk of the Basque cheese, Etorki, and it came to $43! Oh, the sticker shock!

Hiking Gourmet T who just finished her glass of Lakefront Brewery's Holiday Spice Beer. Or was it the Almond Champagne? Or was it the Limoncello?

Nevera: The Reason to Get Your Car Washed in the City of Bell

2007-03-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

Three views of the making of Bionico, the luscious fruit salad of Mexico. Our bowl of friut consisted of banana, strawberry, guava, mango, apple, and melon. The fruit is doused with a wonderfully sweetened crema and then topped with shredded coconut, raisins, granola, almonds, and wheat flakes. The flavors work so well together that I could eat this 24/7.

A group of us foodies lead by My Doppelganger met one early Saturday morning to sample the delightful Mexican fruit juices (jugos, agua frescas, and licuados) and other treats. Nevera is located in the City of Bell right off of the 710. It shares a mall with the most crowded car wash that I've ever seen (I should have used the service since the M3 was looking kind of dowdy - if that's even possible.)

Several of the juices that we sampled. First is the Vampiro (which really is the color of blood) made from beet and carrots. Next we had dietetico which we were told was very popular with the ladies as a dietary aid. It's made with the juice of cactus paddles and acts as a diuretic. The last juice that we had was my favorite: a cucumber lime slightly sweetened. It was so refreshing.

My favorite items that day were the raspados: flavored shaved ices. First we had the cafrio which was so friggin excellent! It was a wonderful cafe de olla mixed with milk, poured over the shaved ice, and then topped with a dulce de leche sauce. Divoon! Just when you think that life can't get any better, we sampled the diablito which was tamarind juice poured over the shaved ice topped with a mango pickled in chamoy sauce (chamoy sauce is like a spicy vinegar sauce). It was harmonic convergence of three great flavors.

We liked the chamoy sauce so much that the owner then pulled out some savory snack mix and stirred in some chamoy sauce. Oh, man, was that good.

Yeah, I would bomb down to this place, get the car washed and nurse a cafe de olla and a Mucho Mango smoothie.

Nevera
4846 Florence Avenue, 101
Bell, CA 90201

www.enevera.com

Breakfast at Blair's in Silver Lake

2007-03-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

What looks like a perfect cinnamon bun; but, alas, perfection eluded this breakfast pastry: simply put, it was a bit too dry.

I met with some fellow foodies on an early Sat morn, with high hopes, at Blair's, a restaurant that is becoming a Silver Lake institution. I've been to Blair's many times for dinner and once for breakfast a few weeks ago and have always had great meals. On this morning, however, the restaurant was way off. I'm hoping that it was an atypical situation as opposed to a sign that the place is going downhill after only being open for breakfast a short time.

My cafe au lait. I was really shocked when our server asked me what exactly was in a cafe au lait. Huh? How can anyone in over-caffeineted Silver Lake not know what a cafe au lait is? After a while I was kind of glad that she asked me since if she didn't I may have ended up with a caffe latte (made with espresso instead of brewed coffee).

Some photos of other pastries: a beautiful banana muffin with a decorative design et une tranche de banana bread.

Two views of my main dish: scrambled eggs with kale and fontina cheese. Certainly nothing wrong with the eggs but the cook really skimped on the cheese. This cheesehead hates that! The spinach served on the side was a real problem: while my dining companions received fresh sauteed arugula with their meals, my sauteed spinach tasted old and was very gritty.

The blueberry mascarpone (please, not marscapone) pancakes that half of the table ordered. These were a big hit with the foodies.

Poached eggs with sides of mushrooms and that arugula. The cook committed a cardinal sin by leaving too much water in the bowl - one needs to gently drain poached eggs!

Now, a word about the service: it sucks. From 10 am to 11 am the restaurant was fairly empty so one could expect the service to be somewhat attentive but when you are one of three tables in the place, it's unnacceptable to wait 3 minutes for silverware and for butter and syrup for the pancakes. Why didn't the servers have enough sense to bring the necessities before the food came?

Blair's
2903 Rowena Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90039
www.blairsrestaurant.com

Sapp Coffee Shop

2007-03-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

Two views of the funky yet highly addictive Thai Boat Noodles. I think that foodies agree that Sapp Coffee Shop has the best Thai Boat Noodles in the City. Since I had ordered the beef version before and ended up with the offal version (still really good) my dinner companions were forewarned. But they did end up with the beef versions with a handful of chicharrones thrown in for good measure. Nothing better than those crispy chicharrones soaking up that delicious broth - spicy, sour, sweet, and salty with a touch of that je ne sais quoi (actually, it's pigs' blood.)

On this very cold and lack of street parking night, us foodies converged onto Sapp Coffee Shop (it got bumped up to a B rating!) to celebrate not the Thai Boat Noodles but the Jade Noodles. Jade Noodles can be ordered "dry" with big heaping tablespoons of sugar and red chile flakes, or in a soup version. As you can see from the photo below, the noodles are really the color of jade. This soup was a big hit with the foodies.

The table split an order of pork fried rice. This was so good and cost less than $5.

chickfillet and Les Beaux Cheveux, Esq. split an order of duck with greens over rice.

Two views of my shrimp wonton soup with the addition of noodles. This version came with egg noodles; last time I received rice noodles. Which would you prefer? I thought that it worked a little better with the egg noodles. Sapp Coffee Shop has a really good basic broth and on my soup they added lots of fried shallots. Divoon!

What trip to Sapp Coffee would be complete without a trip to the snack shop next door? When we walked in, our eyes were treated to colors as vibrant as a Rose Parade float. I don't know what most of this stuff is but it's good looking, no?

Sapp Coffee Shop

5183 Hollywood Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90027

Osteria La Buca

2007-02-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

What an true Italian dinner is all about: good food, good company, and good times. Good times. Here is our table at the very popular and crowded Osteria La Buca on Melrose and Wilton. You can see Mr. Taste of Thai's arms in the background - his arms always get into the photos. On this night my genetics took over and I had an antipasto, a primi, a secondi, and dessert.

Situated in a tiny store front a few blocks from Paramount Studios, Osteria La Buca has been a hit since it first opened. They only have a handful of tables in the place, and about two years ago, or so it seems, they started an expansion into the place next door. From my viewpoint when I drive by, it looks as though they haven't made much progress. But I don't mind; I really like the intimate feel of the place and am afraid that it will lose a lot of it's charm when it becomes a normal sized restaurant (I used to work at Authentic Cafe when it was just the counter and those seven small tables right next to the kitchen, and I have to say the dynamics of the place changed for the worse when it expanded.)

Below, my antipasto with the highly coveted burratta cheese, prosciutto, salami, and arugula. The mellowness of the burratta works so well with the saltiness of the cured meats and the spiciness of the arugula.

My next course was tagliatelle with bolognese sauce. Sorry, mama (she was cooking that night) the sauce was good but not as good as my bolognese (although the texture of the homemade pasta was superb.)

My main course was the steak with gorgonzola sauce served over more arugula. Another triumpant flavor combination. Steak and blue veined cheeses go so well together as does the arugula with both of those items. How could this dish not be a success?

My dessert, a pear custard tart. The pears had been previously poached in a Barbaresco.

They just loved us there so mama came out of the kitchen, they pulled out the limoncello, we toasted to everyone's good health, and then they gave us a couple of more desserts on the house: tiramisu and a coffee panna cotta.

I have to say that this place has the yummiest looking pizza but I've never tried it. On my next outing there I will order it and report back to you.

Osteria La Buca

5210 1/2 Melrose Avenue

Hollywood, CA 90038

www.osterialabuca.com

Maran Restaurant: The Russian Revolution

2007-02-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

Below, chicken lula kebab that Nick ordered at the ever popular Maran Restaurant (recently featured in Los Angeles Magazine). This looked really good but I didn't get to try it.

If you want to celebrate five weddings at once, I suggest that you go to Maran on a Friday or Saturday night. What a spectacle it is to walk into the restaurant and see huge tables piled high with Russian and Georgian appetizers. Socalqtpi held an event here; it wasn't a wedding party though, but we were in the mood for some good times and good food.

Party like it's 1917? Hardly. We did nearly revolt though. It was our goofy waiter's first night and let me just say that when you still don't have your drink order correct 40 minutes after arrival you know that you are in trouble. The trend continued when half the table, my half to be exact, didn't get their appetizers, and then later our entrees refused to materialize. But I have tried to go back, been turned away due to lack of tables, because the food is so good.

Below, Mr. Taste of Thai's smoked fish platter. I had to resist eating this because I'm always eating Mr.'s food.

Below, two of the three eggplant appetizers that are offered. The one with walnuts I didn't eat (migraines) but the other dish was mine. It was so much better than it looked! It was a puree of roasted eggplant and peppers.

Below, my Borscht. Not such a great photo but the soup was divine.

Here is a bowl of Kharcho which is a spiced lamb and rice soup.

This was one of the last dishes to arrive. A split roasted cornish game hen with rice and potatoes - just my kind of dish! I haven't had a cornish hen since I was 10 years old but I've been trying to go back and order this.

Two views of my Georgian dumplings. These were very tasty and satisfying. You can see by the bottom picture how juicy they were - more so than a "soup" dumpling.

Maran Restaurant
6430 San Fernando Road
Glendale, CA 91201
www.maranrestaurant.com

The Little India Tour in Artesia

2007-02-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

Savor the wonderful flavors, and beautiful colors, of Indian ice cream from Saffron Spot. On the top left is saffron pistachio; on the right is rose petal, and on the bottom is rajbhog (I have no idea what that flavor is!) Next time I'm trying the banana cardamom.

My Doppelganger set up a Little India Culinary Tour in Artesia a while back which was hosted by two very nice and lovely women (one had just been crowned Mrs. Asia USA) from the LA Mumbai Sister City Affiliation. First stop was at Tirupathi Bhimas Restaurant which is a chain of vegetarian restaurants in India that have come to California. Judging by how people started lining up to get in a half hour before it opened I would say this place is very popular.

Below, the feast that we received. In the foreground is a "mini" masala dosa (the regular sized ones are as big as my German Shepherds!); a dosa is a pancake made from fermented urad dal and rice batter, and masala is the spicy potato mixture that the dosa is stuffed with. In the second row to the right is idli sambar (kind of like Indian "gnocchi" in a spicy lentil sauce).

Below, a close up of my dosa with coconut and green (?) chutneys.

Below, a wonderful pea and carrot dish season with mustard seed and coconut flakes (these flavorings are used quite often in Southern Indian vegetarian cooking.)

Below, a very intersting curry. I have no idea what this vegetable was but it had the texture of squash.

Below, chai masala. The real thing, not that gross stuff made with powdered milk and high fructose corn syrup that you get at Starbuckies.

The ladies then took us to a jewelry store were we oohed and aahed over the wedding jewelry (this set below probably costs over $30K).

Next we went to Mirage to look at saris. Below, one of our volunteers is quickly transformed.

Below, all of our volunteers looking very dapper in their new threads.

Below, a little eye candy, Amir Khan, for the female contigency of Dear Reader.

Tirupathi Bhimas Restaurant
18792 Pioneer Blvd.
Artesia, CA 90701

Saffron Spot
18792 Pioneer Blvd.
Artesia, CA 90701

Mirage
18638 Pioneer Blvd.
Artesia, CA 90701
www.miragecollection.com

Friends in High Places: Lakefront Brewery

2007-02-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

Below, a photo of the highly coveted Holiday Spice Lager brewed by Lakefront Brewery; I beat out the Ukranian hockey players for the last case available in 2006 (please don't tell them where I live - I would like to keep my teeth.)

Some people are very happy when they are friends with a Hollywood agent. Others when they marry into the managing partner's family. Me? I'm more than happy to have friends that have a brewery in Milwaukee. And not just any brewery but a brewery that brews the best beer that I've had since I've discovered the Hitachino Nest Beers. A shout-out to Orlando and Luther and all the guys at Lakefront Brewery!

What makes the Holiday Spice Lager so special? Could it be the wonderful spices (nutmeg, orange peel, cinnamon, clove, and ginger) from the Spice House? Or could it be that it's 10% abv? For us Angelenos who are used to the weak beer that is shipped to the West Coast (need I remind you of the Staples Center/"neer beer" fiasco?) this is a very big deal (even 5% abv is a very big deal out here!)

Below, two very happy Holiday Spice drinkers, USC Rad Grad Student and Maestro. Maestro, until very recently, was in the doghouse but now he is in the penthouse. How did he do it? you wonder. Well, he brought back from Paris for me for my bday a Miles Davis CD that you can't find in the States and a bottle of creme de fraise a la fraise des bois. See how easy it is to please me Dear Reader?

Below, another very happy Holiday Spice drinker.

Is reaching for a bottle of Holiday Spice Lager like reaching out to God?

Thanks to Orlando for making me a very popular hostess this holiday season!

Bonus photo: a cupcake made by Adorable Gourmet H. After staying up for 24 hours (how does Jack Bauer do it?) my reward after the bacchanalian New Year's Eve fete. 218 calories, 6.8 grams of fat each. Not bad stats, but I was left five of them...

Lakefront Brewery
1872 North Commerce Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
www.lakefrontbrewery.com

Pepper's Continued Culinary Adventures

2007-02-05T17:24:00.000-08:00

This is Pepper. I've posed the question to you before, Dear Reader, about whether Pepper was a Gourmet or a Gourmand (or as one Dear Reader put it: pain in the butt!) but I think I now have the answer: Pepper is a Gourmet. This past week he ate my sunglass case (Italian) that my brother got for me as a present from this chichi eyeglass store in Nolita. He also noshed on the box containing my new Kitchen Aid food processor that my brother gave me for Xmas (if he had touched the food process I'm afraid Dear Reader he would have joined his big brother Mr. Darcy on the "Rainbow Bridge.") Further, he got his chops on a fabulous cookbook, Biba's Italy, that I received for my bday (autographed copy too!)

Hm, I'm seeing a trend here: Pepper likes to eat presents.

Bon Vivant Speaks: 6 Strange Things About Me

2007-01-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been tagged by Adorable Gourmet H, who for some reason is now known in bloggerville as "wwh" - could it be beta blogger hell?

So, if you are not sick of me talking about me all of the time, here is some more about me:

1. I prefer non-breakfast food for breakfast than breakfast food (or really non-American breakfast items over American breakfast items.) Give me some wonton noodle soup or a dosa masala any day over ham and eggs. Apple cinnamon oatmeal? Blech! I want pan-fried pork dumplings, dammit!

2. Many years ago, in my youth, I was on the Playboy Channel.

3. Even though I'm very dog centric (at least when it comes to my dogs) I'm really a cat person.

4. I think that I may be in a segment of Jackass: Number Two.

5. If I could live my life over again, I would choose to be a dancer or a tenor sax player. I would probably suck at both.

6. I hated Firenze (Florence).

Bonus: my paternal grandfather was a stoner.

Here are the rules - Each player of this game starts with the "6 Strange Things about You." People who get tagged need to write a blog entry of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog!

A Sad Farewell: Kuala Lumpur

2007-01-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

Below, a photo of what was the best dish in Southern California: Wonton Curry Laksa. A wonderful Malaysian coconut curry soup which delights all of your senses and tastebuds. The laksa is a curry paste that is usually made from onion, ginger, galangal, garlic, lemongrass, chiles, candlenuts, coriander (not fresh although I think that I may have seen recipes that call for cilantro roots), paprika, and cumin, but there are probably as many laksa recipes as there are cooks. The curry paste mixed with broth and coconut milk produces something tart, salty, sour, sweet, rich, tangy, and creamy all at once - in other words divoon! The Wonton Laksa at Kuala Lumpur is served with thin rice noodles (but I always ask for the thick rice noodles), bean sprouts, Chinese broccoli, fried tofu puffs, and those wonderful wontons.

A close up of the wontons. I've been eating this dish for over ten years and love the wontons. The wontons are filled with shrimp and pork and they are seasoned with something that gives them just this wonderful flavor of funk. I just can't describe it; it's like a good funk like truffles, not too funky like natto.

I was so depressed to learn that one of my favorite restaurants, Kuala Lumpur in Pasadena, was going to close at the end of December. Kuala Lumpur was a staple of the Old Town Pasadena restaurant scene and a big favorite of Jonathan Gold's. I made three final treks up there in December with many different foodies and these photos memoralize some of the dishes that we had indulged in.

I don't know why I didn't eat here everyday - the food was so damn good! I liked this place better than Little Malaysia in El Monte although LM makes these really good fresh fruit Slurpee-like drinks that can't be beat. The cooking at Little Malaysia is a little greasier and a little funkier (they use pig's blood in a lot of their recipes.)

Below, the refreshing Chendol. It's a sugar syrup and coconut milk drink with green "worms" that are made out of green pea flour - the worms are sweet and taste like candy.

Below, a curry puff. A deep fried turnover stuffed with curry flavored ground beef. Excellent! We inhaled them so quickly that I forgot to take a picture when they first came out of the kitchen.

Below, KL Mein. This was also referred to as "midnight noodles." In other words the type of noodles that you order on the street in the early hours after a long hard night of drinking. Noodles stir fried with shrimp, chicken, cabbage, green onions, and the thick Malaysian soy sauce.

Below, Mee Rebus, another famous Malay street food. A sweet potato curry sauce atop egg noodles with chicken, shrimp, hard boiled egg, bean sprouts, cucumber, and garnished with lime and chili sauce.

Below, the regular Curry Laksa sans wontons. This version had shrimp and chicken in it and rice vermicelli as opposed to the thick rice noodles that I always request.

Below, deep fried shrimp with a sweet chili sauce. I've been eating at Kuala Lumpur for over ten years and never ordered these but they seem to be very popular since most tables were ordering the dish.

Below, the Spicy Wonton Soup. At my last meal there, I just went straight for those funky wontons! This dish is a lighter version of the Wonton Laksa, more broth than coconut milk.

Below, another favorite dish of mine, Hainanese Chicken. It's a steamed chicken breast covered in Malaysian soy and fried shallots and served with a ginger garlic rice. Simple, delicious, and light.

Below, the standard Beef Rendang. This is stewed beef in a wonderful curry sauce served with coconut rice.

I spoke with the owner of Kuala Lumpur just before it closed and he said that he was going to take a break for a couple of months and then decide if he wants to start looking for a new space in Pasadena. I sure hope that he does because I don't know if I could go through life without eating anymore Wonton Laksa!

Gourmet or Gourmand? Part Deux

2007-01-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

This is Pepper (maybe I should change his name [again] to Rasputin). Pepper likes to eat to eat things that are inappropriate, for a dog at least.

The culinary adventures of Pepper continues. What praytell has Pepper eaten lately? My spaghetti al tartufo that I received for Xmas; a bag of flour; a box of powdered sugar (I still can't get that damned stuff off of my kitchen floor!); two boxes of thank you cards; a two pound bag of raw basmati rice (Chyna was a co-conspirator on this one - don't ask me how I know); more Calabrian chile peppers; a box of food coloring (yes, it does stain your floors); a bag of frozen pelmeni; many packages of tortillas; a package of dried soba noodles; three calendars that I bought as gifts for Xmas (with the replacement gifts that I had to buy I should have just given him a hundred dollar bill to chew up!); and the list goes on and on.

The problem is that Pepper knows how to open my pantry doors. I tie them closed but sometimes I forget and he takes advantage. I'm really grateful that he hasn't learned how to open the fridge yet.

So, Dear Reader, the question is is Pepper a Gourmet or a Gourmand?

The Noodle Soup Series: Daikokuya's Daikoku Ramen

2006-12-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

Below, my big bowl of Daikoku Ramen before I dig into it. I ordered my ramen with extra pork (they use only kurobuta pork.) Notice the egg at twelve o'clock: it's a harb-boiled egg that has been soaked overnight in a secret sauce. Yumzola!

Since I don't yet live in New York City and thus I am far away from the greatest ramen place on earth, Momofuku Noodle Bar, I have to settle and get my ramen groove-on at Daikokuya and Hakata Ramen (not too bad for settling!). Some days I like Daikokuya better and other days my fave is Hakata Ramen (to be reviewed here at a later date.) Daikokuya is pretty minimalist when it comes to their ramen: you can get extra noodles, extra pork, and/or order it Kotteri style which means "richer broth" but many feel that it's more like "fattier broth." But in this case the minimalist approach works just fine for me since this is a damn good bowl of noodles! (I fail to understand why people even go to Orochon - blech! - when Daikokuya is half a block away? Who cares if there is a wait when the food is a million times better.)

Below, my bowl of ramen at the half-way point:

Below, Monsieur de... ordered his ramen with extra noodles. I tried doing this once and the nice waitress recommended that I order the LARGE ramen. Uh, ok.

Below, the Daikokuya salad. This is the only sweet dressing that I like. At Daikokuya's sister restaurant, Ebisu (located in the old Mandarin Deli space on Second St.), the salad is made with gourmet baby lettuce instead of shredded cabbage. Oh, by the way, Ebisu has killer shishito.

Daikokuya
327 E. First Street
Los Angeles, California 90012
www.daikoku-ten.com

The Noodle Soup Series: Mami Soup at Asian Noodles

2006-12-08T12:38:00.000-08:00

Below, the infamous Filipino dish Mami Soup. If you have a cold, head to Asian Noodles in Downtown and you will be assured a cure. Mami is an amalgam of Tagalog words for chicken ("manok") and egg noodles ("miki").

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict

I'm one of those people who dislikes Filipino food but every time that I eat it, I'm always moaning about how good it is; what is the cause of this dichotomy?

My Doppelganger had a "Soup's On!" event here a while back, and I was a little hesitant to attend considering that I don't like Filipino food. But I do love noodle soup and I figured, "how bad can it be?" It wasn't bad at all, and as a matter of fact is why quite great and I could eat at Asian Noodles daily especially now that the weather is getting cold again. (Ok, apparently it's not cold, it's like 80 degrees and above during the day but I'm in my office where I think someone might be aging beef it's so damn cold)

Below, a slight variation on the classic Mami Soup: this soup had wontons and a different type of noodle. I preferred the thicker, flatter noodle served in the classic version.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict

Below, some fried wontons. These looked really good but they were so-so and the dipping sauce was really boring.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict

But luckily, someone ordered Lumpia! These were excellent and came with a great sweet and spicy dipping sauce.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict

Below, my Bola Bola Siopao. A Siopao is similar to a Chinese Bao but three times bigger. There were many types of Siopao on the menu but I went all out and ordered the Bola Bola which was supposed to have chicken, pork, sausage, and a salted egg but mine was sans salted egg(though, I still enjoyed it.) I used three different sauces for dipping: the sweet spicy sauce from the Lumpia; some Sriracha sauce; and the all-purpose dipping sauce that they served which is made from soy sauce, sugar, water, and cornstarch.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict

Despite how good our food was, we were dying to take photos of the garlic fried rice and deep fried pork shank that the table of 20 somethings next to us ordered. However, when we saw their food and started oohing and aahing, they did what any 20 something worth his or her salt would do: they rolled their eyes and then glared at us with that perfect balance of disgust and contempt. Oh, how I weep for that generation! But I delight in shadenfreude thinking about how when they are "slightly" older they too will experience this.

Asian Noodles

643 North Spring Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

The Noodle Soup Series: Thai Boat Noodles at Sapp Coffee Shop

2006-12-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

Below, a bowl of what many say is the best Thai Boat Noodles in the City.

I told Mr. Taste of Thai that he had to have a dinner at Sapp Coffee Shop before eatdrink&bemerry's episode of "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain airs and all of the guai loh (that's foreign devil ghosts to you) descend onto the place. Since he's a November Scorpio and I'm an October Scorpio, he complied.

And boy, were we glad he did! If you are sick and tired of the same ole, same ole that you get at practically every Thai restaurant in the City, you must make your way to Sapp Coffee Shop. Ok, ok, it has a C rating but I always say, "the lower the grade the better the food!" I think that the C rating might have to do with the fact that momma, who cooks, hangs out in the restaurant with slippers and a quasi bathrobe.

Now, there are two kinds of Thai Boat Noodles one the menu: one has just beef, and the other has moltissimi offal in it. I ordered the beef (and pointed to it on the menu) so when the waitress said, "with everything?" I said, "Sure!" Well, apparently that means you get the second Thai Boat Noodles with not only beef but beef ball, plenty of liver, tripe, chicharrones (crispy pig skin for my Dear Readers who do not live in LA), and other stuff that I couldn't recognize. There is one thing to say about all that stuff, it sure gives the soup a lot of flavor!

Below, for the faint of heart there is Jade Noodles. A typical Thai broth with roast pork and duck and the addition of crab. I will be holding a Jade Noodles dinner here in January.

Below, a very beautifully presented bowl of Tom Kah Kai (spicy/sour coconut milk soup usually with chicken). This had so much coconut milk in it! It was like drinking a milkshake (albeit a weird one.)

More noodles! Below, Pad See Ewe. I liked this though it was a tad too sweet for my taste, but I would still eat it (with a ton of the chile vinegar on top.)

Below, my ground chicken with bamboo shoots and two kinds of chile. On the side was served some type of chile sauce that I poured over the dish. Damn!

Below, squid with basil. This was deceptively the hottest dish that night. The guy who ordered it would say, "hey, want some squid?" and you're like "yeah!" and then five seconds later you are gurgling, "help me!"

Below, some pretty good Pad Prik King. I kept eating Mr. Taste of Thai's green beans. Yummy.

So the only way that I could "borrow" $20 from mumsy was if I promised to bring her back something. So what does a dutiful daughter get her mumsy with funky tastes? Below, Spam Fried Rice!

After you go to Sapp, make sure that you stop by the Thai snack place next door. They have some interesting snackies. As the young girl who worked there said, "you eat when you sit and watch movie." I bought some chicken curry pastries (mumsy ate them all so I never got to try them.)

Sapp Coffe Shop
5183 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Boil, Boil, Toil, and Trouble*; Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble!

2006-11-28T14:36:00.000-08:00

Talk about conjuring up a great meal at Mon Land Hot Pot City! Below, three views of our Chinese hot pot.

The broth as a symbol of the yin yang: one spicy and one rich and mild.

Yummy bits found in the broth. In this picture you can see sliced ginger, whole cardamon pods, and green onions. Also, included were whole cloves of garlic and plenty of piquin chile peppers.

A big hunk of tofu bobs in the spicy broth.

So five of us foodies met here on a very cold Sunday afternoon (geez! it was just 90 degrees a few before!) for some good food, good company, and good times. Mon Land Hot Pot City, which is located in San Gabriel across the street from the Western edge of the Great Mall of China, did not disappoint.

Below, some photos of our our dunkins:

Thinly sliced lamb.

Thinly sliced pork.

One of my favorite greens, Shungiku (Chrysanthemum leaves).

We also ordered daikon radish (delish!), egg dumplings, shrimp balls, tofu, ong choy, vermicelli noodle bundles, and enoki mushrooms.

Below, some of our side dishes:

Crisp, and not at all greasy, scallion pancake.

Very juicy lamb dumplings. These were like the infamous Din Tai Fung/Luscious Dumpling soup dumplings - they were spewing broth.

We didn't order these lamb pancakes but we were the recipients of Divine Intervention - they totally rocked! You must order these when you go.

Below, some photos of the finished product:

A comforting noodle bundle atop some ong choy in mild broth:

A thick slice of daikon radish nestled in ong choy in spicy broth:

And what does a bon vivant do after eating spicy soup? She balances it with something sweet. So I walk across the street to Tea Station and order a Passion Fruit with Jelly Shaved Ice. This would have been perfect for the 90 degree weather we had early last week but it was in the low 60s so...but it was so tasty you could eat it whenever.

*For you Macbeth (or if you are in a theater right now "A certain Scottish play") freaks, I know the line is "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" but it often gets paraphrased as written above - it just worked better, ok?

Mon Land Hot Pot City
251 W. Bencamp Street (it's actually on Abbot just south of Valley Blvd.)
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Tea Station
158 W. Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
www.teastation.us

A Sunday Night Dinner at Jar

2006-11-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

Below, a perfect girly-girl martini: the delicious and pearlescent litchi martini at Jar.

Hey, Stubborn Gourmet T, look, a person in my blog: our totatally fun waiter Kevin outside the restaurant. He really wanted to be in my blog (might it have been because he looked at mumsy's credit card and saw that her name was nearly identical to that of a famous casting director's?)

My Doppelganger held an event here just before my bday as a part of her steakhouse series. The last time that I was here, which was for mumsy's bday, the food was excellent but the steak so-so so I decided that I was going to order something other than steak on this night. Not a smart move. Overall, the food was great but there were some disappointments - the kitchen seemed a little off.

Below, my first course of house cured salon with a sour cream dressed cucumber salad and red onions. This was excellent and a huge portion. I took home half and luckily had some bagels at home and I have to say the excellence carried over to my breakfast for the next two days.

Below, the big mistake of the evening: coq au vin. You may remember Dear Reader reading the entry for Le Petit Bistro (click here) wherein I raved about their coq au vin. Well, I had that coq au vin one night and Jar's lousy version the next night. It was really bad because the sauce was too thin and tasted of smoked bacon fat, and the chicken was dry and stringy, and it tasted liked it had been reheated more than once.

Below, some of the best fries in the city.

Below, the braised brussel sprouts. Last time that we ordered these they were fabulous. This time however they had too much acid in them so they were a little unpleasant to eat.

Below, another great side dish: the duck fried rice.

So what do you do when you've had a lousy entree? Order dessert! Below, two of the best puddings that I've had in a while (and I had just had some two nights before!) : butterscotch and chocolate. Both were beyond divoon.

Jar
8225 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
www.thejar.com

Milwaukee Day 4: Three Brothers Restaurant

2006-11-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

A bottle of Golden Pheasant beer from Slovakia and below that, a still life with beer and stuffed grape leaves. This beer was good and complemented the Serbian food extremely well.

So, as I mentioned earlier, we had planned on going back to Coquette Cafe for some steak frites and more Rendezvous beer but when we arrived, the place was dark. Oh, no, what do we do now? As we were trying to figure out where to eat, mumsy said, "What about that Serbian place that you really wanted to go to last time?" and I responded, "Huh? What Serbian place?" But as we were driving around Downtown Milwaukee it hit me! I saw in my head the Jane and Michael Stern article that was published in Gourmet magazine about Three Brothers. Thus, our quest to find the restaurant started (it was very frustrating and took a long time so I'll leave this part out.)

We finally managed to find Three Brothers, and what greeted us was wonderful hospitality and food. I wanted to order everything on the menu, it all sounded so good. Three Brothers will definitely be a must the next time (and the time after that) we go to Milwaukee. Also, I might add that this is a perfect foodie destination restaurant.

Below, mumsy and I split and order of stuffed grape leaves and the Serbian hors d'oeuvre platter to start. The stuffed grape leaves were served with yummy olives and a hard cheese similar to a tangy aged provolone. The platter included fantastic salami, tomatoes, olives, cheese, and "Russian Salad" (potato salad).

Below, my fabulous Serbian salad with chopped tomatoes, onions, and bell pepper, topped with grated Serbian cheese (kind of like a mild, soft, feta cheese.) I could eat this everyday.

Below, my stuffed zucchini with potato dumplings. I haven't had stuffed zucchini since I used to go to that great Armenian/Lebanese place that was on the northwest corner of Hollywood & Normandie (unfortunately it closed but it was one of my childhood favorites.)

Below, mumsy's roast duck with duck dressing, carrots, and sauerkraut. This dish was fabulous! The duck was extremely fresh (and fresh roasted), the dressing was very unique and tasty, and the sauerkraut was some of the best that we had in Milwaukee.

Three Brothers Restaurant

2414 S. St. Clair Street

Milwaukee, WI 53207

Upscale Homebrew - Limoncello (Part 2)

2006-11-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

Well, Dear Reader, the Limoncello is at the half-way point. All I have to do tonight is add a few more ingredients and let it sit another 40 days or so and it will be ready for Christmas.

I hope that you can appreciate it's rich yellow hue. Most commercial Limoncelli are cloudy and are a pale yellow so you know homebrew above is going to be molto bene!

Milwaukee Day 3: Karl Ratzsch's

2006-11-10T22:52:00.000-08:00

A glass of Sprecher's Oktoberfest beer. I was surprised to learn that this beer won a gold medal in the Oktoberfest category at this year's LA County Fair. I suspect that this beer does not have the de rigueur Wisconsin high alcohol content because I didn't have a buzz at the wedding afterwards. Ok, I had a buzz but not a beer buzz: I was just so happy for my niece Jenn - she was the most beautiful bride!

Karl Ratzsch's is another Milwaukee institution. Sis and Grill Master took me here about two years ago and I have always wanted to come back and try some more items. While Mader's has the reputation, Ratzsch's has the good food (and the food came out hot!) Mumsy and I decided that the next time we go to Milwaukee we are staying at the Hotel Metro which is conveniently located about 30 feet from Ratzsch's.

Below, cream of mushroom soup. Not the canned kind Dear Reader. This was very comforting and had a great texture, but was slightly bland.

Below, what would a trip to Milwaukee be without a brat? Last time that I was there I ate a brat everyday - I think that it's a local law that you have to. The sauerkraut was good (it was too sour at Maders); I think that it was cooked with some caraway seed and some type of cured pork. Not pictured is my red cabbage - while the red cabbage at Maders was soft and tasteless, it was flavorful and still had a slight crunch at Ratzsch's.

Below, dreamy potato pancakes. They were as good as they looked!

Check out my pimp mobile. It handled fairly well for a rental car so I started driving it like the M3 but then I nearly skidded off an offramp - hey, I'm just used to accelerating around curves rather than engaging my brakes (or maybe it was all that beer that I drank?)

Karl Ratzsch's
320 East Mason Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
www.karlratzsch.com