The Furious Seasons, Chase Frank, The Capshuns, and Meredith Meyer at Junglerush 12/10

The Furious Seasons (click the link for a preview of the goodness)
JungleRush
542 S. Alameda Street, 2nd Flr.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 494.7608

Shilling for Mr. FoodSheThought's band, The Furious Seasons during December ArtWalk in DTLA.  In by 10, $5, after 10 $7. It's going to be a full house with Meredith Meyer, The Capshuns and Chase Frank. Come on down.

An Evening with Alan Wong

Alan Wong's
1857 S King St
3rd Fl
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 949-2526
http://www.alanwongs.com/

On our next to last night in Honolulu this fall, Mr. FST was feeling the affects of our travel in his tummy and we begged off a family dinner. After some quality snooze time, D awoke feeling much restored and we high tailed it over to Alan Wong's for a late supper.

 

Martinis made from Pau Maui pineapple vodka. NOT pineapple infused or flavored vodka, but a vodka tasting vodka made from pineapples grown on Maui. The pineapple flavor dissipates during the process of distillation. Available, sadly, only in Hawaii.  

Alan Wong is one of Hawaii's premier chefs. Along with 11 others (Sam Choy, Roger Dikon, Mark Ellman, Amy Ferguson Ota, Beverly Gannon, Jean-Marie Josselin, George Mavrothalassitis, Peter Merriman, Philippe Padovani, Gary Strehl, Roy Yamaguchi) he is one of the co-founders of a food movement called Hawaii Regional Cuisine.  Hawaii Regional Cuisine is characterized by a fusion of many ethnic cuisines including Japanese, Fillippino, Chinese, American, Korean, Polynesian, and Portuguese sourced from agriculture imported from around the world but grown in Hawaii. The basis of this regional cuisine was taking the common hotel cuisine of the tourist industry the islands rely on heavily as part of their economy and elevate it using these multi-ethnic approaches and regionally sourced produce.

I have had the pleasure of dining in Alan Wong's unassuming room several times during my annual trips to O'ahu.  But this is the first time I have been in several years.  Typically, dining with my Hawaii based family, we eat more family friendly food at lower price points and without all the fancy. Zippy's, Maguro-Ya, Du Vin, Izakaya Nonbei, CPK when the boys were younger, etc. 

Appetizers.

 

Salads.

 

5 Course Menu Prix Fixe.

 

And a long list of specials for the evening.

 

D started with the Ohini Shooter.  Local Limpet in Spicy Tomato Water, Fennel Basil Ume Shiso Essences.  One is supposed to down the entire shot in one gulp to experience the holistic flavor sensation. While it was fun to eat, he was meh about the flavors.

 

We sat at the chef's table, which is really just the bar overlooking the kitchen. They do kind of  make much ado about sitting at the chef's table, and while I enjoy watching the cooks work I was glad you could order a la carte as opposed to having the tasting menu be your only choice.

 

I also love watching the expediting. For some reason, one of my favorite things to watch is the wiping of the plate's edge before walking a dish onto the floor.

 

I started with one of the evening's specials.  Mochi crusted unagi with quail's egg and BBQ sauce. How do I start here? Flavor profile or portion size? Big, big, very big flavors here.  The BBQ sauce basically drowned out the taste of egg, which is a shame because they are so beautiful. I was really wanting to taste egg yolk soaking the mochi crust, but the BBQ sauce effectively hegemonized anything subtle about this dish. And size wise, this was enough appetizer for three people. I could only eat 1.5/3.  They asked me if I wanted it wrapped to go, and sadly I didn't think it was worthy of coming home (hotel) with me.

 

After his shooter, D ordered the special soup, on the menu just for Thanksgiving. Turkey and bacon chowder.  Our wonderful server told us it tastes just like turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, it did it did.

 

While it definitely tasted good, it was a low brow taste of goodness.  There was nothing subtle about this dish, it hit you over the head like a bowl of Campbell's Chunky Soup.  The flavor reminded me precisely of the filling in a Swanson's Chicken Pot Pie. As a child on the rare occasions Mom and Dad went out in the evening, Mom would leave Swanson's Chicken Pot Pies for the babysitter to pop in the oven. This tasted exactly like that.

 

For an entree with barely room left in my tummy after my gut bomb of an appetizer, I was served a beautiful pan steamed opakapaka with shrimp pork hash, truffle nage, gingered vegetables, tapioca pearls. Bok choy added a bright green pop to a round flavored dish, with a few truffle shavings in evidence if not really big in the flavor.  Opakapaka was beautifully fresh, moist, yielding, with the tapioca pearls underneath adding a lusciousness texturally.  This was the most successful combination I tasted all night.

 

D ordered beautiful scallops for his main and was.not.happy.  Red barley miso, eggplant, Tokyo turnips and breakfast radishes.  Texturally, he said it reminded him of baby food *gasp* because all the textures were soft, the veggies resembling a ratatouille flavor and texture wise. And strangely, he said it was so much food it made him feel weird. Granted, it was a pricey dish. But the scallops were huge. really huge.

 

I did love the carb options for each dish on the menu. I tried the barley, quinoa and eda mame mixture instead of rice and it was beautiful. Some crunch, al dente whole grains, a little Maui onion.  What a lovely option for the health and flavor conscientious. Other options were white or brown rice, and mashed potatoes.

 

Chocolate covered macadamia nuts, Wong's signature goodbye offering.

I reflected that evening upon the universally rave reviews of Wong's, and the disparity of our experience. Service was really beyond compare. I would like to carry our server in my pocket as my personal restaurant valet, he struck the prefect balance between professional and personable.  High quality elements in the dishes. Ingredients are locally sourced for the most part, and Wong has been approaching ingredients this way long before the slow food trend hit headlines and home cooking practices, when exotically imported ingredients were still desireable. I applaud Wong and his peers for making the best use of the bounty offered by the islands, supporting the economy and the health of our planet long before Leo drove a Prius and we discussed using solar paneling to go off the grid at cocktail parties. What was lacking for me was something profoundly important in a meal of this stature, subtlety & finesse.  To me, this is fine dining for people who love the Cheesecake Factory. Behemoth flavors and equally massive portions. This was not a bad meal, it was an experience meant to dazzle the above average diner. It just missed my mark by, oh, I don't know, 22.5%? That's still a solid C+.

Do the Hokey Poke a Little Bit Every Hawaiian Day

Ono Hawaiian Foods

726 Kapahulu Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

(808) 737-2275

Fresh off the plane for this fall's trip to paradise, we met Dad for a quickie lunch at Ono Hawaiian foods on Kapahulu.  There are two food venues called Ono on Kapahulu, I intended to visit the other one. Oishii Eats! has recently written about her trip and poke scores across O'ahu, and her post about Ono Seafood had my mouth watering.

 

However, Ono Seafood is only a walk-up counter, and my dear DH was not Hawaiianized enough only an hour into our arrival to be willing to picnic it. So we strolled down to Kapahulu looking for foods.  Turns out Ono Hawaiian Foods is very highly rated on Yelp and Trip Advisor, so we dove in. (And Irifune on Kapahulu closed at 1:30 for lunch. WTF?)

 

I ordered tako poke spicy, 'twas deliciously unspicy. I love the way Ono Hawaiian Foods prices everything. This was $8.25.

 

I wasn't super hungry after flying United, an airline on which one is not served food unless one pays through the nose for it (and are only allowed one free checked piece of luggage), and even then it was simply a box of assorted crackers. Starving and bored I ate the crackers and was thus unhungry for lunch.  But I can never resist some poke. The ahi poke here comes unmixed, you get to concoct it to your liking. This ended up v spicy. And damn, was that fish fresh.

One of the things to love about the ahi poke at Ono Hawaiian is both the large quantity of seaweed to fish, I like to call this kind the branchy kind as opposed to nori (the dried sheets wrapped around maki) or the flat wet type (wakame used in miso soup).  Also, at Ono Hawaiian, I could feel the crunch of Hawaiian salt crystals as I nommed. I love the larger crystals...

 

D ate a delicious bowl of chicken and glass noodle soup. With large slices of mushroom, and a dark clear broth this was delicious. $5.60.

 

L&L Hawaiian BBQ

710 Keeaumoku St
inside Wal-Mart
Honolulu, HI 96814

(808) 955-3382

The morning of day 2, we set out to play tennis. Needing tennis balls and other bits and pieces, we stopped in at the Walmart behind Ala Moana. There right in the lobby of Walmart was L&L Hawaiian BBQ.  In need of breakfast before playing tennis, I strolled over and asked for something that was easily eaten by hand.

 

View of downtown Honolulu from the Punahou tennis courts. We play here every time we are in Hawaii. Both my brothers graduated from Punahou and the athletic facilities here are top notch.

 

The woman at L&L handed me a musubi, a yummy BBQ piece of spam over rice wrapped together with nori.  I ate one of these every day this trip as well. Tweeting about the musubi, I was informed by Sam that musubi can be found in several places in LA.  Yelp tells me a spam musubi can be had at The Beach Hut in Manhattan Beach, Aloha Food Factory in Alhambra and Rutt's Hawaiian Cafe in West LA. But there are frigging L&L Hawaiians in Eagle Rock and Glendale. Broak da mout!

 

 Mai Tai Bar

1450 Ala Moana Blvd Ste 3247
Honolulu, HI 96814

(808) 947-2900
http://www.maitaibar.com/index.php

Humans are nothing if not ritualistic, and one of our rituals when in Honolulu is to head to Mai Tais, the sports bar at the top of the Ala Moana mall. This is the most beautiful sports bar on the entire planet. I dare someone to come up with one better.

 

After some tennis, D, Dad and I hit Mai Tais to watch the Broncos v. Chargers. Some guy gave up his table with the promise that we would root for Denver. We lied.

 

With a name like Mai Tai, they better throw down a deliciously potent beverage. I had two.

 

Sports bar food, Hawaiian style. Poke. Good, fresh.

 

Pu'pu beef platter. Iono about that mayo-miso stuff on top, but the beef was cooked perfectly medium-rare and really pretty durn good.

 

But what really delighted me was the mixed calamari platter. Calamari mixed with deep fried peppers. I picked through this and ate all the peppers, red and green. So good, a leedle spicy.

 

Ono Seafood

747 Kapahulu Ave
Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816

(808) 732-4806

 

Monday we finally made it to Ono Seafood, after sea kayaking out to the Seabird Refuge in Kailua, another spam musubi, and right before an afternoon nap.

 

There are so many options listed because they make everything fresh, by-hand to order.

 

Back in our hotel room, with a little sake, Hawaiian style poke, spicy with a little Sriracha, chili pepper flakes, green onions and white onion slivers. This one had some pop!

 

And to be experimental, I also ordered miso poke.  This is one I could eat every day. Just the freshest of fish with a beautiful sweet and savory miso dressing. Miso, high in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals apparently played a key part of the diet in feudal Japan. Who knew?  It played a key role in both my lunch and my nap

 

On our very last night, right before eating our traditional farewell dinner at Maguro-Ya on Waialae, we stopped in to Tamura's to grab some poke for that cheap ass United flight back home. Pre-made, we ordered three types. Dried salmon poke, wasabi ahi poke and tako poke. All were decent, but didn't touch the poke from Ono in terms of flavor.  It probably was an issue of freshness, leaving it overnight before eating it. But it was head and shoulders above a box of crackers.


I hate to leave Hawaii. Every single trip is bittersweet.

Long Before...The Gorbals.

The Gorbals
501 S Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 488-3408
http://thegorbalsla.com/information.html 

Mr. FST guest blogs on the culinary delights of The Gorbals.

I've enjoyed the pleasures of dining out long before I was married to my lovely food blogger wife.  In my twenties, thirties and early forties, before the food channel, before I was aware of the names of the chefs, before ingredients were scrutinized, techniques were wowed over,  dining out served as the main social event of the evening.

 

Restaurants fell into a few choice categories.  Cheap, funky, and fancy.  The meal itself fell into the categories good, bad, or so-so, and were rarely considered more closely than that. Eating out was an opportunity to meet friends, talk for hours, and drink and plan for our next venue for drinking.  Most of the time for me eating out was a date. The romantic centerpiece to an evening, and ultimately, hopefully, a prelude to sex.  A lot has changed in the way I dine out since food blogging became a passion of my wife's.  But on those nights when Liz and I have a plain old-fashioned romantic dinner out, I feel like I had it right all along.

 

Ilan Hall was a Top Chef winner a couple years back. He was my favorite on the show because he is quirky and earthy and though slightly pretentious seemed genuine. As a matter of fact, he was forthright in a way that his pretense made him seem charming as opposed to annoying. The Gorbals is the prefect venue for his personality.

Downtown is the most exciting area of Los Angeles by far these days. New restaurants and bars are popping up like pimples on the face of a 14 year old. Some of them trendy, some of them budget friendly and funky, some of them upscale and urban in a way that reminds me of Manhattan and a few true dive bars in a city that sorely needs them.  The Gorbals is on 5th and Spring.  It's a block away from Pete's and Warung, not far from Yxta and The Must. But it's also close to an internet cafe that does blues shows for the homeless and quite a few bars where short skirts and high heels would not be a good idea.  You could still get killed here. And if you hit enough bars in the area you will drink with locals. And when I say locals I don't mean folks that live in the newly renovated condos downtown, I mean people who live on the streets two blocks away.  Don't let that fact scare or deter you from frequenting The Gorbals. There's enough activity and cop presence to feel pretty safe and its exactly that environment that helps showcase the earthiness of Gorbals and Hall's wonderful cooking.

The Hotel Alexandria was built in 1906 with a lobby that hasn't seen a renovation since the 1960's.  Picture a cross between the starkness of the offices in Mad Men with the dangerous cool of the ministry sets in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. The Gorbals has an upscale diner feel. It's stark and understated wth dim lighting. We sat at the bar, which we usually do.

Though I don't remember Ilan hall mentioning being Jewish on Top Chef, the food he cooks is decidedly so.  Not to say that he doesn't mix it up with some wonderfully non-kosher ingredients.  He also brings a lot of different elements in his preparations.  That said, the general feel of the food reminded me of my Jewish mother and grandmother's cooking. Hearty, rustic and homey.  All the proteins were cooked through, which I believe must be a characteristic of Jewish cooking, because I grew up in a house where all meat resembled some form of jerky prior to ending up on our plates. We started with Ketel One martinis, a fine start to any meal.

 

 Bacon Wrapped Matzo Balls

Great idea, Smallish matzo ball with well cooked bacon, wonderful texture and perfectly non-kosher. (Did I mention bacon? Yum!)

 

 Butternut Squash Latkes with Sunchoke Cream

Very nice latke. Crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. Sunchoke cream, though nice, just wasn't my thing.  Can you really beat applesauce with a latke? I think not.

 

 

 Oxtail, Creamy Oats, Crispy Tripe

This was one of my favorite dishes.  As strange as the flavor combinations sound, this was like a beautiful Shepherd's Pie.  The oxtail melted in your mouth and the oats gave a delightful mushiness with the tripe an intestine flavored tortilla chip.

 

 Crimini Soup with Haggis Meatballs

This was my favorite. Jason, the chef de cuisine, informed us that this was just voted one of the ten best soups in LA. I can see why, it was straight up awesome. The haggis meatballs felt overcooked to L, but were the prefect crunchy contrast to a flavorful light broth. Bravo!

 

 

 Octopus, Gizzards, Lemon

Liz loved this one. Kinda looked like a scene from Alien to me.  This was a gentle reminder that I am still at heart the pizza and sloppy joe eating boy from the SF Valley.

 

 Pumpkin, Coffee Nitro Ice Cream

Jason was kind enough to barrage us with a rapid fire succession of the desserts offered on the menu. (hello, FTC!). I dug this one, Liz called it so good that it was fucking insane.

 

 Israeli Cous Cous Risotto, Nitro Ice Cream, Bacon Candy

A little too much like baby food to me.  Go Gerbers.

 

 Toffee Pudding, Vanilla Nitro Ice Cream

We were told the above is a staff favorite, I can see why. If you are going to order dessert definitely give the toffee pudding a shot. The pudding was beautiful.

Bread Pudding

This was my favorite, though I am not really a bread pudding guy. This seemed like a classic preparation and was perfect in every way.

With so many things to do and places to go downtown, The Gorbals is a go-to kind of place.  The food is outstanding, the location is central to a great night out.  And the prices are very doable. This will be to us like Church & State, Izayoi, and Rivera; a new place to frequent.

In Bed Together: Art & Bites from Ludo Lefebvre at Royal/T

 

Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
310-559-6300
http://www.royal-t.org/http://www.royal-t.org/

Currently showing at Royal/T is a group exhibition curated by Jane Glassman entitled "In Bed Together".  At the Novewmber 20th opening Ludo Lefebvre cooked, champagne, wine and sake flowed while food & art lovers co-mingled.

Ludo's ballyhoo'd pop-up restaurant Ludobites will have a much awaited and planned for short run at Royal/T in December. Friday night gave event goers a titillating preview of what's to come.

 

Royal/T knows how to host an engaging event. At every event I have attended, there has at least one interactive element to the festivities. The most intriguing this evening was Ludo and assistant cooking up inspired snacks in a plexiglass box while a line of party goers snaked through the box picking up snacks as they gawked and drooled.

Making thin buckwheat pancakes.

 

Adding goat cheese and some bacony goodness. 

 

Folded over, these turned out to be a savory blintz.

 

Ludo dirties his hands mincing and dicing pineapple and I don't remember what else for a delicious raw scallop dish.

 

 Tidbits for partygoers tummies were also coming out of the Royal/T kitchen,

French maid cosplay waitresses passed paper water cooler cones of French fried potatoes and sweet potatoes.  Light, crunchy and classically delicious.

 

Also passed through the crowd from the Royal/T kitchen were beef wrapped asparagus and caramelized onion crepes.  The crepe squares were delicious, but the beef wrapped asparagus left something to be desired in the flavor department. Perhaps the beef should have been marinated. I once copied Tuna Toast's recipe for beef wrapped asparagus and it was off the hook flavorful, it set a rather high benchmark.

 

One of my favorite pieces of the exhibit, an installation. All separate pieces of  paper, each with a piece of a gorilla's body hanging from above when assembled together representing the entire ape.

 

A beautiful riff on Manet's Olympia.

 

D wondered if this was a parody of Jann Howorth and Peter Blake's work, creators of the Grammy winning Sgt. Pepper's LHCB album cover.

 

Echoing the joy and irreverence of Royal/T itself.

 

"What I miss most is your incredible smile."

The series below is from the screening room. I call this in my head "The Dildo Progression", but I don't really know the name.

 

 

 

 

I found this striking.

 

Poignant.

 

And this reminds me that all art, like all food, is not meant to be understood by all people.  But that doesn't mean we cannot enjoy.

Dinner Party With Stella

This week we decided to share our newest family member with some friends, and feeling in a warm and fuzzy mood I reached for a comfort food recipe. I followed Simply Gluten Free's recipe for Clams and Mashed Potatoes.  This will be added to the regular rotation.

 

The end result was gorgeous.

 

I started with organic potatoes from my L.O.V.E. delivery box. Personally, I like to leave the skins in the mash, it makes a heartier mash with extra fibre, color and vitamins.

 

 Prepped the pan for the clams with a shallot and garlic...

 

 Sauteed in some olive oil with just a trace of butter.

 

Little miss Stella stretched herself out across my toes and settled in for a short winter's nap. Srsly. She fell asleep on my toes. This is right after.

 

Birthday boy Ray helped by mashing the skins-in spuds, with just a trace of hot milk and butter.

 

I steamed the clams in the garlic, shallot, olive oil, butter and about one entire bottle of shitty dry white wine that was malingering about the kitchen. Yes, malingering. No one calls in sick dishonestly on my watch. Not even wine.

 

With some more of my organic produce I tossed together a salad of arugula, cress, avocado, pom seeds, green onions and goat cheese.

 

And someone else fell full snooze chin to the floor.

No, Jackson. Dog beds are not one size fits all.

Rio Brazil Cafe on the Westside: Feijoada, and Risolis and Caipirinhas, o my!

Rio Brazil Cafe

Suite 103

3300 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 558-3338

I recently had the pleasure of being exposed to Rio Brazil Cafe and their wonderful authentic Brazilian food and drink at the expense of my friend and fellow food blogger, Bill from StreetGourmetLA.  Bill has written about Rio Brazil here, and here and here.  Back in September, Miles Clement of the LATimes deliciously described Rio Brazil Cafe's feijoada.  Monday night (and weeknights in general) food outings are challenging for me due to early morning hours and needy clients. However in this case I am glad I made an exception.  Also joyously in attendance were Fiona from Gourmet Pigs, and Cathy author of Gastronomy and co-originator of Eat My Blog Charity Bake Sale on 12/05 at Zeke's in Culver City to benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Rio Brazil Cafe is a postage stamp size room brightly colored and lovingly decorated.  Above see the sandwich board that stands outside on the sidewalk during the day advertising their lunch special. $7 for three courses, the Ipanema Plate.

 

 

Something to like love about Rio Brazil? A BYOB establishment, they take BYOB to a punchy level by offering to make authentic Brazilian beverages for you if you bring in your own bottle of Cachaça. Wiki tells me that while we think of rum as being made with sugarcane, usually rum is made with molasses. Cachaça is always made from the distillation of fermented sugarcane with some amount of sugar added in the process.  Bill treated us to three kinds of Cachaça Monday, I tasted them all with uncharacteristic reserve, it being Monday and all.  To the left, we sipped Isaura first, made in Minas Gerais the largest Cachaça producing state in Brazil, a clean and lightly sweet tasting liquor. And to the right, Weber Haus made in Rio Grande do Sul and available at Beverage Warehouse. Weber Haus is very smokey, characterized by undertones of wood and licorice.  Weber Haus is definitely a sipping Cachaça that would please the palate of anyone loving aged bourbon, and the deepest dark tequilas. It wowed my tastbuds.  Bill also brought a bottle of Cachaça 51, the most popular Cachaça in Brazil, making up 30% of the market share for Cachaça in the Brazil. Cachaça was used to make all the mixed drinks we enjoyed Monday.

 

 Batidas.

 

We drank two batidas that night, both made with the Cachaça 51 Bill brought with us.  To the left, the first one, coconut scrumptiousness.  Cachaça 51, coconut cream, coconut milk and condensed milk, frozen and blended. Despite the fact some people think coconut blended beverages are best served at a Jimmy Buffet concert, there is never a wrong time for coconut anything. To the right is a passionfruit batida.  Cachaça 1, passionfruit and condensed milk. This is worthy of recreating at home, it was that wonderful. Sweet but with an authentic fruity brightness.  At Rio Brazil, if you bring in your own Cachaça, they will make you batidas for $3 a glass using your booze and their supplies. A great cocktail deal, IMO. They are even starting a Cachaça club where you can bring your own bottle, and leave the remains there for your next visit.

 

Bill arranged to have our first course delivered by a local woman who caters out of her home, her company is called Sabor de Bahia.  Her specialty are street foods from Bahia, in particular, acaraje a black eyed pea fritter fried in dende oil (African Palm oil drawn from the palm fronds). Wiki tells us than dende oil is red due to the high amount of beta carotene it contains, however it is higher in saturated fats than other vegetable oils.  Also served on the plate, to the upper left a shrimp paste, on the upper right a simple salsa with tomatoes and onions, and the little cup in the middle contains a malagueta pepper sauce. Malagueta is spicy, maing. It made me lips burn. It was exactly the right amount of spicy for me, any hotter would have been too hot and any milder would have been not really impressive.  D wouldn't be able to even look at malagueta.

Constructing the acaraje.  Somewhat reminiscent of falafel ( but really, only barely), you split open the acaraje and stuff it with shrimp paste, salsa, drizzle malagueta over, eat with your hands. On the street of Bahia these are sold as large as baseballs. The catering version Sabor de Bahia sells is made for easy eating by hand.  Very crunchy on the outside, with soft yielding dried and ground black eyes peas (eyes removed) on the inside with the spice of malagueta and the tang of shrimp paste...this definitely goes into the file for something to attain for the next gathering of humans chez foodshethought.

Sabor de Bahia's business card.


Sabor da Bahia
Catering and Festivals 
310-841-2729
orders are for pick up only
cash only

 

  

First course served via the Rio Brazil kitchen were tantalizing little puffy savories. On the sides of the plate are coxinha de galhina, or chicken puffed savories shaped like little drumsticks.  In the middle, in the same batter, risolis.  Again, savory little puffs. We had one shrimp, one beef, one chicken and one cheese. Hoping no one had swine flu, we all had a nibble at each of the four flavors, all were yummy.  To the right there is a little bowl of the fiery malagueta.

The inside of a coxinha galhina, lovingly stuffed full of chicken and vegetables.

Ubiquitous rice.  Bill explained Brazilian food to us Northern Hemispherians can seem either too salty or too spicy. However most dishes are made to be eaten with rice which will cut the potency of the salt and spice. Fiona mentioned the the world wide serving of dishes with lots of rice is how poorer people make their food stretch...Fiona has an impressively stamped passport, I wish have traveled to half the places she has visited.

 

Not a great shot, but a delicious dish. Bobo de camarao.  Shrimp in yucca cream with manioc meal, coconut cream and dende oil.  The consistency was interestingly thick but also maybe a hair gelatinous. The flavors were comforting, thick, subtle, savory. I was surprised the coconut flavor did not stand out clearly against the other flavors. The shrimp were cooked perfectly, not even slightly chewy, just the right amount of firmness.

 

In the background, abobora com carne seca. Butternut squash with homemade beef jerky.  Autumnally satisfying, I did not find the beef to be too dry at all. Certainly to the tooth and a little chewy. It brought out my inner carnivore.

 

Feijao.  Black beans cooked with pork, bay leaf, onions and garlic. Yum.

 

Mi plata.  Just a taste of everything.

 

Out strolls a fluffy green salad with a light vinaigrette in a small pitcher.  I am reaching maximum capacity here, but everyone else dives in to refreshen their palates.

 

Moqueca de peixe.  Clean tasting fish stew from cod, peppers, onions, tomatoes, dende oil and coconut milk. Again in this dish, the coconut milk is very balanced by the strong stewed veggie flavors. Surprising, because coconut can be such a powerfully distinctive flavor, in the dishes at Rio Brazil it is so well balanced it does not take over the other flavors.

 

Limaos para peixes.

Last, the piéce de resistance. Feijoada completa. I could smell this the entire time it was on the stove. The deep scent of the feijoada wafted from the kitchen through the entire room, my watering mouth ignoring the fullness of my belly.  This is the national dish of Brazil, traditionally served on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Labor intensive, this black bean stew had pe' de porco (pork trotters), rabo (tail), costela (ribs), carne de porco (pork meat), carne seca (beef jerky) also laden with onion, garlic, bay leaf, and rock salt.  Immensely fragrant.

We ladeled it out onto our plates with a giant spoon. My spoon contained a trotter, which was thoroughly enjoyable in the delicious richness of the bean broth.

Also part of the course are garlicky collard greens, rice and a small dish of manioc meal to be sprinkled atop the feijoada completa. Bill called the manioc meal edible sand, but to me it was similar to corn meal in taste and texture.

 

Cathy's plate was prettier than mine, with a runner's appetite this girl stayed the course through every stage of the meal.

 

At this juncture, out strolls a huge pitcher of caipirinha.  I shouldn't, but I had to.  Just.one.small.glass. An ever so slight syrupy-ness from the added sugar cut beautifully by the lime, Cachaça and ice.  Again, they will make this for you if you bring in your own Cachaça.

 

And dessert. Experiencing my Violet Beauregard moment, I refrained from all but one.  Above is a coconut cream with fresh blueberries and raspberries.

Brazilian flan.

And a mousse de manga, mango mousse.

Could not resist. It was smooth,

cool, creamy and delicious.

Spending some time out of town in the near future, as soon as I return I am carting Mr. FST across town on first the #704, then the Santa Monica #12 on a Saturday with a bottle of Cachaça in our backpack to gorge on the feijoada completa, drink caipirinhas and listen to local Brazilian musicians drop in to jam Bossa Nova classics like Corcovado, Agua de Beber, and Desafinado.  Can't wait.

Stella at Home

Last morning with the littermates. Stella is the one all the way to the right.

Big yawn, in the gentle dog-loving hands of K.

 

Perfect head & snout. And legs, fur, tail, ears, teeth, toes...all 15 pounds of her.

 

Inca the mom says goodbye. I think she knew we were there to take Stella away, because Inca barked at me for the first time ever.

 

And Jackson says hello.  He is the perfect balance of interested and engaged but not overbearing.

 

Stella has found a spot behind the cushions on the couch to hide just enough when things get scary.

 

Le sigh.

 

And D bought Jackson the most gigantic bone in existence for being such a gentleman to the new family member.  There is no dog quite like a German Shepherd.

Happy Hour at Corkbar

Corkbar
403 W 12th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 746-0050

After a quick trip to Sacramento for a business meeting, D swept me up from the airport and we met the wonderful SKT downtown at Corkbar for happy hour.  I keep meaning to go in on for Test Kitchen Tuesdays when Chef Albert Aviles tests an appetizer-sized portion of a new, market-driven dish not available on the regular menu, for only $2 (one per person, while supplies last!). Haven't made it yet, but I did finally just make it in at all.

Corkbar is gorgeous.  All pale wood, smokey glass, very sleek. Loving wine bars like City Sip and Enoteca, I was expecting something more rustic. However, Corkbar is quite posh with prices to match. Nothing outrageous, but I certainly didn't find the happy hour particularly economical.

 

There are lots of tempting things on the menu including a spicy mac & cheese with Fontina, cheddar, asiago and roasted pasilla chiles. I must have been craving carbs because I was also tempted by the handmade gnocchi in lemon butter and romaine sauce with cherry tomatoes and ricotta salata.

 

Celebrating the hour of happiness with a glass of viogner,  I may be somewhat jaded by restaurants' and chefs' inexpensive offerings during this economic downturn because I do not think an $8 glass of wine is that penny-wise.  It was delicious, certainly.  Normally it sells for $11 so we are talking about a 27.3% discount.  Maybe I am becoming miserly in my old age. That would certainly be an interesting development.

 

We shared the white bean puree, French bread ovals topped with micro greens and truffle oil. This pleasant appie was pureed within an inch of its life, overly smooth. I like some chunks and texture to a bean puree. I would order it again, though, on a happy hour second.

 

 

These might be the best of a trend in the whole city. Cheddar cheese gougeres. These are being served everywhere, it feels like.  Or maybe just also at Church & State. The gougeres at Corkbar are on the large size, uber cheesey, hot and puffy, generously portioned.  I think there were 8?

 

We are mid-duck hunting season here in California.  Corkbar is offering a beautiful duck & Brussels sprouts salad with goat cheese and frisee. I love that this salad was not only not overdressed but maybe a little underdressed. Not a huge dressing person, the flavors of the duck and cheese stood out comfortingly against the sprouts and frisee without too much acid or sweet overtaking the mix. This is a destination salad. I want it again, tonight.

 

The soup of the week was a Manila clam chowder, and I think I remember a couple mussels in there as well. Did not like. Way too thick, not enough clams. This shouldn't even be called a soup. It was almost pasty in texture. No.

 

At the bartender's suggestion, we all enjoyed generous glasses of Bokisch Grenacha. This is gorgeous. 2006, from Lodi of all places.  I just don't think of Lodi when I think of wine. This wine is case-worthy.

I plan to hit Corkbar again. It's local, friendly and there were more hits than misses.

Hot Beef Injection at Great Chefs of Los Angeles November 9, 2009

Go Green, Go Organic!
Great Chefs of Los Angeles

CBS Studio Center

4024 Radford Dr.
Studio City, CA 91604
November 9, 2009
12-3:30PM

Last weekend, on a blindingly sunny early November Sunday, CBS studios hosted the 2009 Great Chefs of Los Angeles to benefit the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California.  George and Ann Lopez were honorary chair people lending their humor to the event and their visages to the red carpet. Chefs included Govind Armstrong of 8 Oz. Burger Bar on Melrose and Table 8 in NYC and Miami, Neal Fraser of Grace, Josie Balch of Josie in Santa Monica, Celestino Drago of  Drago Ristorante, Enoteca Drago, and Drago Centro, my personal favorite Adam Horton of Saddle Peak Lodge who recognized me from commentary on KevinEats blog review of SPL *yay*, and many many more. So many more, and so many many chefs serving autumnally appropriate red meat under the hot Indian summer sun.

 

Not a member of the invited media for this event, Mr. FST and I both received one of these generous goody bags stuffed with fun and useful items, including one seductive pomegranate.

 

The POM company had quite a presence at the event, from the cartload of fruit to their own table with juice samples and something even more irresistible. More about that later.

The very first table I hit was Saddle Peak Lodge manned by the aforementioned Adam Horton. I shook his hand but I kinda wanted to lick it.

A simple bite of grilled antelope with cabbage, bacon, apple and black garlic on a crouton round.  Delicious, appropriately sized, easy to eat.

 

We were both charmed by the people and product at the Sushi Poppers table.  A new product that will hopefully be working its way across our radars.  I chose a hamachi (3 pieces sized for the event, I assume they will sell a 6-8 piece roll) which was simple made with no dairy or mayo (a shame to have to qualify this) and very fresh.  They plan to sell these at convenient stores such as Famimas, 7-11s, and the airport. This kicks ass on the greasy Caesar salad served at the sports bar in the Southwest terminal at the Bob Hope airport.

 

The POM Wonderful table.

 

Mr. FST went gaga for these POM/chocolate cupcakes. Chocolate cake with POM infused chocolate ganache icing.

 

I have not yet had the opportunity to hit up Akasha, so it was not high on my list of spots to visit.  However, D was starving, so started off at a frantic pace. He came running back to me demanding that I try Akasha's Niman Ranch Short Rib on a pretzel roll.

 

Akasha FTW at the event, I think.  Short ribs, check. Pretzel bread, check. horseradish slaw, omg, check. Pickles, check.  D and I will be visiting Akasha sometime this season for sure.

 

Frank Family represents with three kinds of red. I was taking it easy on the boozing after a crazy Saturday night. But Frank Family makes some beautiful wines.

 

Loteria! Grill showed up with two quesedillas. Corn truffle.

 

And zucchini flower, which was nice but the zucchini flavor was subtle in the one I tasted.

 

I definitely have a white girl's schema when it comes to a quesedilla, because these look like empanadas. I am certainly no expert, really in any kind of cuisine. They were beautiful and tasted good.

 

Neil Fraser of Grace jumped into the red meat fray with these bites of veal and polenta.

 

I don't ever remember having had veal shortribs, they were certainly satisfyingly fatty and the polenta had the right amount of earthy grit. The food at Grace always makes me happy.

 

Thank you, SmartWater, for soothing my hangover and keeping me hydrated during the relatively warm day.

 

SmartWater stations abounded throughout the food marathon.  Speaking of marathons, Neil of FoodMarathon.com tweeted that he was on his way but I saw neither hide nor hair of him.

 

Brian Moyers cooking for BLT Steak offered the following:

 

Red meat with a squash puree, I thought it was pumpkin but I could be diremembering.

 

This is one of the smarter tasting events I have been to. There was a proper amount of seating for weary eaters, tables scattered throughout our pathways to pause and savor a bite. And several bars, wine stations and alcohol-free beverage offerings. Classy, thoughtful.

 

Ice cold fruity beverages were being concocted above at this bar in the shade, they were really tempting in the heat.

 

Govind Armstrong was the guest chef of the afternoon.  Pace Webb of GreenGirls.com interviews Govind about the event and the challenges of cooking sustainably and organically here.

 

Govind offered us beef.

 

A beautiful panini-esue short bib grilled Bel Paese cheese with truffled heirloom potato chips.

 

Starting to get full, I could not resist the generosity of Andrea Cavaliere from Cecconi's in West Hollywood..

 

A simple truffled risotto, with plentiful truffle shavings on top.

 

I considered nicking the truffle jar, but it wouldn't fit in my purse.

Dakota Chop House and Jason Johnston.

 

Offered a short rib slider with kale and caramelized onion.

 

This was a really large bite.  More than I could chew, at this point in the day. It looked lovely, I hope what they are offering these days in their restaurant is of equal or superior quality.

 

Josie Balch of Josie in Santa Monica shared with us a quiche.

 

If I was puzzled by the uniformly red meat approach of the day, I was even moreso by the quiche. When I think of Josie, I think game & local produce. I like quiche, Quiche reminds me of mom and baby showers.

 

Fuego in Long Beach offered the only lamb I spied.

 

I got the opportunity to chat with Jesse Perez, but apparently his lamb en mole (28 ingredients) was so delicious, I didn't take the opportunity to shoot it. It was really wonderful.

 

Although I found the idea of beer kind of off putting, Fireman's Brew was there along brewery row to share three concoctions.

 

Sterling Vineyards squeezed in among the beer to share their organic wines with us, I sipped at a Sauvignon Blanc and it was lovely. I would defnitely buy this for keeping at home and drinking while cooking.

 

A little glass of cold white wine started to set my head on straight.

 

Stella Artois and Hoegaarden.

 

Melissa's, one organic option you see as a strong presence at Gelson's and Mayfair. I buy their products sometimes, but marvel at the amount of packaging used. Paradoxical somewhat, I suppose. But who am I to complain about paradoxes when grocery shopping at Gelson's nearly defeats the purpose of buying items to prepare food at home. The purpose of saving money at any rate.

 

Trefethen Family Vineyards.

 

The above strawberry cupcakes come from the cutest table in the entire event, Leyna's Kitchen. These cupcakes were strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream frosting and strawberry puree filling. I know, D took the bullet and ate one for me. They won Public Choice for Most Original at the Los Angeles 2008 Cupcake Challenge.

 

I should have snapped some shots of the beautiful girls in their matching hair ribbons...

 

Minx is located in Glendale, and despite the fact that their table was all the way at the back of the event, they threw down three different options for hungry people.

 

Pork Belly Sliders with Bacon.

 

Vegetarian Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Tarts with Kabocha Squash,

 

Spicy Ahi Tuna Tacos in Wanton shells.

Izze was pushing fruit drink shots and lip balm. My lips thanked you.

Paco & Lola were also on hand with their Albarino, one of my favorite varietals. It was refreshingly delicious, and I love the packaging.

 

I dared to ask the chef at Moonshadows if they were serving a Virgin Octopus Bloody Mary. He was not amused.

 

D said this was wonderful. Octopus, tomato, pickled onion and I thought there was olive on the skewer as well.

Jorge Gomez was front and center at La Grande Orange.  We chatted about my love of his green chili burger.

Jorge fed us the simple, the classic, the devilled egg.

 

And a wonderful Brussel sprout sald with manchego, almonds and a vinaigrette. LOVED.

 

Kevin Alan Lee (Lutece, Vegas) from the new East on Hollywood Blvd was around, somewhere. I kinda wanted to chat, but the guy working the station was torn between being helpful and something else.

 

We stopped into East for a late night cocktail the first weekend they were open, and the interior is indeed beautiful in that restaurant-come-nightclub kind of way.  The cocktail list was tempting, the manager was very friendly and helpful, but the food served by East at Great Chefs definitely made me hanker for a visit.

 

Hawaaian Waia with a Miso Mustard Cream. Fantastic, and kept pleasingly chilled.

This might have been the best bite of the entire day. Raw scallops on the half shell with Sambal and Wasabi Creme Fraiche.  The accompaniments to the scallop were kept minimal allowing the freshness of the shellfish to burst forward in your mouth, this was divine. I hope it's replicated at the restaurant.

Michael Mina's XIV.  The qualifier that now pops up under XIV during a Google is, "a lively lounge with casual dining". What a difference a year makes. When I dined there for my anniversary, a few months after they first opened in 2008, it was dressy opulent luxe with fur throws and couches cozied up to fireplaces.

 

Clearly, someone planned for a warm afternoon.

 

The Vichysoisse was nice, but nothing to write home about.

 

Jose Andres' The Bazaar.

 

Mixing the delicious and potent nitro-caipirinha.

 

Instead of the caviar cones served in the restaurant from the carts menu, they were handing out guacamole cones.  Perfect for the beautiful afternoon. All the elements of guacamole, with Andres' special way of using only the heart of the tomato, a little avocado and other minced veg in the bottom of the cone.  Charming.

 

Sweets from the Patisserie.

 

We didn't indulge, but gosh it was a pretty display. It remained unmolested, so I am assuming that people were either full or didn't want to spoil the visual.

 

A bounty of beautiful 'shrooms...

 

and a zuppa di funghi.

 

From Giacomino Drago at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills.

 

Celestino Drago offered a nice little duck sandwich that was lovely, with a fall squash soup.

 

It looks bigger than it was, it was perfectly bite sized and yummy.

 

I skipped the madness at the Border Grill truck on the way in, and on the way out it was my last thin mint.

 

Mary's baby tacos were too interesting looking to pass up.

 

Mustard seed encrusted avocado tacos on corn tortillas.  Still rich, but a luscious break from all the meat. Reminding me why we as a city love Milliken and Feniger's food.

 

On the way out I felt like taking attendance based on whose jacket was left on the rack. It's the teacher in me.