Three Tastes: Cliff's Edge Mother's Day Weekend

It's been awhile since my press dinner at Cliff's Edge.  Having followed Chef Bailly from Petrossian to Fraiche, I was thrilled to have him in my own neighborhood. Also thrilled to see Silver Lake adopt a chef of note to add some polish to a neighborhood spot.  Since the press dinner I have been in three times with various folks to try more things on the menu, and my initial assessment holds true. Bailly elevates the menu with delicious dishes across the board retaining the same Mediterranean focus and approachable atmosphere. Three items from an al fresco pre-Mother's Day dinner.

Grilled pears, burrata, pomegranate vinaigrette.

Mom had the flat iron steak with arugula, basil, bleu cheese and a tomato panzanella. D has ordered this a couple times, it's a favorite.

Seared scallops, lebne, cauliflower, vadouvan, and a verde sauce.

A few tried and true items from the menu: chick pea fritters, chicken liver crostini, smoked trout rillettes, the skate wing (my favorite). Something new this week that I am continuing to obsess over is the crispy polenta with fried egg and mushrooms.  Try any and all of this with the Duende tempranillo...by the glass or bottle.

Walkabout in Chicago March 2012

Funny how you get busy in life and work. Look up and it's been months since you've blogged despite the many fun experiences in your mental tank and camera just waiting to be re-explored. In March I visited my great friend C in her home town; she took me on several long walking tours during the four day weekend. Friday, we left the Water Tower neighborhood and rambled toward the Art Institute.

Crossing the Chicago River.

Early modernism; me of a zipper.

A beautiful early spring day. Blue skies, mild temps and the wind died down as we headed southward.

Fell in love with the Rock of Gibraltar relief by Alfonso Iannelli, who also worked on  Midway Gardens with Frank Lloyd Wright.

Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

The L.

Later that same weekend, walking northward from Water Tower toward Lincoln Park and Old Town.

C's parents live in the oldest standing neighborhood in Chicago. It managed to escape ruin during The Chicago Fire of the 1870's.

Even later that same weekend, as our time draws to a close.

Under the L.

We walked westward through trendy Wicker Park on Easter Sunday, shopping and noshing and sipping and chatting and gesticulating, even.

The mild winter and early spring had set the lilacs in bloom, which left this lilac lover shocked but not paralyzed. Lilacs in March? WTF! This is a Kodak moment, brought to you by iPhone.

Books. I could see myself inside this room. And I think the projection of myself as a Chicagoan was facilitated by the enjoyable weather. Realistically, Chicago weather scares me.

The last gasp of evening light, before dinner and the inevitable walk back to the hotel to pack and prep for Monday's flight.

IDGI: Rokuan vs. Ojiya: Sushi in the IE

I bounce around California a lot for work, many days I eat a home packed lunch sitting in an empty classroom or in the driver's seat of my car. Some days I actually eat at a table with knife and fork or chopsticks like a civilized human. This month I played two sushi restaurants in the Inland Empire against each other, one my long time favorite Rokuan and the other Yelp favorite Ojiya. I ordered exactly the same at both restaurants. Here's what I ate and what I thought about it.

Rokuan
14230 Chino Hills Pkwy
Chino Hills, CA 91709
909-590-1233

I have been praising the wonders of Rokuan's ramen for a couple years now. I have also eaten sushi here a few times, loving their simplicity and freshness, the deftness of the cuts.

Nothing to disappoint from Rokuan. Crunchy cabbage salad with a dark umami-esque sesame dressing. Hotate and hamachi nigiri, the hamachi generously cut, the hotate looked like the entire scallop (rather than sliced in half) and neither  was over-riced. Spicy salmon handroll. I love how he loosely packs and wraps the seaweed, you can see that it doesn't even come to a point at the back, sort of laying slightly open. I like the balance of fish to rice in this handroll, it makes for easy eating and doesn't overwhelm the beautiful crunchy nori. The service can be a tiny bit on the chilly side at the sushi bar, friendlier if you take a table. I chalk it up to sushi genius behind the bar, because I find the simple sushi perfect in every way.

Ojiya
4183 Chino Hills Parkway
Chino Hills, CA 91709
909-606-8638

Same exact lunch order a couple weeks later at Ojiya. An iceberg lettuce salad with ginger dressing that I have to say I was not keen on. The lettuce seemed to have been kept a little too close to freezing in the fridge because it had that slightly limp translucent quality, although it didn't seem not fresh. Iceberg browns so quickly when it's not fresh and this was very green. Very disappointed in the scallop sushi. I didn't look at a menu when I ordered, and the chef gave me no indication this would be a creamy bay scallop nigiri. It wasn't bad, but it's not my style. However, the scallop was generous and succulent. Regarding the hamachi. I know absolutely nothing about cutting fish for sushi and assume there are different schools with regard to the slicing. Ojiya slices theirs much thinner and longer than Rokuan, compare the photos. Ojiya also served the hamachi much colder, and I know I am right in thinking serving it slightly warmer delivers the flavor of the fish more effectively to your taste buds. The spicy salmon handroll was fine, although the generous scoop of fish made the nori a little soggy and messy to eat. Still, it was good.


Ojiya is always packed. I admit I don't 100% get the love for Ojiya. It's good, it's not great. I went by a couple times before getting to eat this lunch. The first time I got there 15 minutes after opening and there was a 20 minute wait. This week, my friend K got there before me to put our name in 5 minutes before they opened. I found the service friendly but on the slow side, and for some reason they seemed surprised we were going to sit at the sushi bar to "eat sushi?" I don't know, maybe I missed something in the translation of our request. Like Ojiya, Rokuan also gets busy as the lunch hour extends itself, and the single time I drove out for the amazing ramen on a Sunday night the joint was packed with Asian folk. We waited for a seat. Nevertheless, Ojiya seems to be a Chino Hills favorite, probably because of their more extensive menu and lunch specials. For me, hands down Rokuan is the favorite. When I go for sushi or ramen, I am not looking for 12 different kinds of rolls nor izakaya style side dishes (although I love these, too). However, there seems to be room for both kinds of restaurants in Chino Hills. I just know which one you will find me dining at on random weekday mornings at 11:35.

Three Tastes: Michael Mina Vegas Spring 2012

Michael Mina has always gotten a lot of love chez FST. I like that his restaurants feel luxurious but not in an over-the-top Roman bingeing and purging kind of way...in a much more approachable "this restaurant could be in your hometown kind of way". Solid food and good service, I can honestly say I don't think I've ever had a sub-par experience. Dinner #1, both Friday and Saturday during New Year's Eve 2012 make-up weekend.

Nob Hill Tavern

MGM Grand

New England Crab & Lobster Rolls

Nob Hill has changed a lot since its early days, not for the worse. Dining is a little more casual and the price point is a little lower (although not much). These sweet little slider-esque baby New England style crab and lobster rolls were lots of fun with micro tarragon and just enough creamy mayo to smooth out the shellfish and sweet roll. Down the hatch.

StripSteak

Mandalay Bay

 Duck Fat Fries

Instead of bread at Stripsteak, your server will start you off with a Mina-typical trio of duck fat French fries, cut narrow, fried crunchy and served with three sauces: ketchup, creamy horseradish and truffle aoili.

Hamachi Sashimi

Hamachi sashimi with white soy, little chips of browned garlic, and citrus greens. Every bite was perfection, and there were a lot of bites. This was generously plated.

Food images courtesy of iPhone and Instagram, Jackson photo courtesy of Masterpiece Me! As the iPhone cameras get better and better, my Nikon stays at home more and more often.

Dinner #1 at Playa, Playah

Playa
7360 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-933-5300

vodka martini (gasp)

We had an impromptu meal at Playa Saturday (dinner #1) and they really delivered. Playa is clearly the more casual but no less elegant sibling to Rivera. The decor has a similar sleekness but is less dark & moody. The interactiveness of the bar seating is enjoyable, great view of the kitchen and entertaining to watch the mixologists go to town. I have a couple negative things to say about the service at the bar, but instead I'll state what was positive: by the end of the meal we were loving our server and the 180° in attitude he showed us...recommending a dish to round out our meal and the perfect nightcap. 

bespoke cocktail: in the 'tenders hands

maize cake breakfast: 63˚ egg, truffle cheese espuma, exotic mushrooms, spinach

This was my favorite, I love a runny egg and I love truffle anything. But a light whipped truffle cheese with runny egg yolk? Mmm'hmm.

octo-palm: grilled octopus, palm hearts, scallions

This light protein salad was great, it has a slightly tart flavor to the dressing. Tiny grilled tomatoes round out the acidity. The octopus is cooked perfectly, no overly chewy bits or otherwise. You know how octopus can be sometimes.

maize cake gambas; grilled shrimps, spinach, nitro mustard ice cream

This one is really fun. I love the flavors of shrimp and spinach with the crumbly nitro ice cream. The ice cream actually tastes like the sharp honey mustard you might find in a deli.

tamale chipotle: wild mushroom duxelle dumpling, filet mignon, chipotle Bearnaise

This dish is stunning. It was rec'd to us by our bartender/server, so I hadn't read the menu descriptor before we ate it. I couldn't figure out what was making the tamale dark, and was betting on black beans. It didn't taste of black beans, though, and the texture wasn't quite right, it was lighter than black been and masa would be mixed together. Mystery unraveled. Wild mushroom duxelle, one of the most heavenly concoctions created by humans. Mushrooms chopped finely and cooked til all the moisture has been cooked down and evaporated. Duxelle is usually used as the layer outside the pate but inside the pastry in a Beef Wellington. The beef was beautiful and cooked perfectly medium-rare, even D liked it, he who typically likes his beef cooked within a minute of jerky. But the star here for me is the chipotle Bearnaise sauce. Amaze.

The entire meal thrilled me, I might prefer the casual setting and service of Playa to Rivera, which to me is sometimes pretty fancy, yo, for a weeknight-no-occasion meal. Choices, it's nice to have Sedlar choices.

Ben Bailly at Cliff's Edge

Cliff's Edge
3626 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323-666-6116

I have been darkening the doorstep of Cliff's Edge since it opened in 2004; birthday parties, Sunset Junction blow outs, cocktails with friends at the bar, I have always enjoyed the space. It's exciting to me that a local restaurant scored James Beard nominated Chef Benjamin Bailly to take over the kitchen and elevate the menu to heights worthy of this inviting inside/outside space. Last week public relations rep Bradley invited two other bloggers and me in for a peek and a nosh. I was duly impressed. I liked what I ate yet also feel like this is still a space I can frequent regularly based on the variety and quality of food and the price point. I like the fact that there are lots of small plate options but it's not a small plates restaurant, per se. The menu is varied, which opens it up as a venue for different occasions.

We started with cocktails, of course. I sipped a cucumber margarita, lovely blend of flavors. D would love the punch of cucumber with the zing of tequila.

Food wise, I was intrigued by the whipped ricotta with lavender blossoms and honey.

Not wrongly, this was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The balance of sweet honey against the herbal lavender was lovely with the whipped ricotta, spread across thin crisp breads. This would make an excellent cheese or dessert course.

I almost always cave on whatever Brussels sprouts dish is on a menu and am a little picky, so many tend to be over salted or over vinegared. This was neither...although there was a creaminess to it that was unexpected and not unpleasant.

I requested the chick pea fritters, stacked like Lincoln logs with a rosemary/lemon aoili.

I resent it when French fries are served this style, but since chick peas can't naturally be formed into perfect "fries", I am more open to playing with their texture. These are delightful. Crispy and hot on the outside, fluffy and light on the inside.

I probably wouldn't have chosen the burrata anchovy bruschetta myself, given the roasted red bell peppers on the bottom. I find bell peppers to be so overwhelming in many dishes. It didn't seem so in this nibble, given the briny strength of the anchovy.

The seared scallops are definitely a D dish.

Two large sea scallops seared perfectly over cauliflower just barely caramelized around the edges, vadouvan, a pureed salsa verde and cooling yogurt sauce. This is entree worthy, but also very shareable. 

Lamb cheeks were another one of my requests.

With celery root puree and rapini, the braise on the cheeks coupled with the rapini reminds me a little of Suzanne Goins' famous short ribs with horseradish cream and broccoli rabe. Comfort food at its best, this is a destination worthy dish.

The only item I was lukewarm on was the sea bream en papillote. I love the healthy preparation (and chances are I will order this again if we swing by when I am "eating healthy"), but I found it a little lacking in flavor.

The desserts? This non-dessert girl stuffed her face.

Lemon creme brulee tart with raspberry coulis. Constructed perfectly with a nice crust. Nothing to complain about here, lemon curd rules.

Pistachio creme brulee. This was very light in texture, the brulee very caramelized almost to burnt but I loved it.

And this kind of unassuming little ramekin of stuff? OMG it's a chocolate budino with gianduja. Chocolate/hazelnut heaven.

Part of what thrills me here is the variety on the menu and the quality of ingredients. I am pleased that Bailly hasn't strayed far from the Mediterranean/Italian roots of Cliff's Edge's earlier menu. It's also just fun to have followed Bailly through the progression from the delicate and precious eats at Petrossian, to the casual French fare at Fraiche, now cooking Mediterranean in my own front yard. In this era of taxis and buses, I am pleased Bailly is so close by for spring and summer al fresco dining at Cliff's Edge. I have my eye on the crispy polenta with a sunny egg, sometime soon.

Disclosure: Meal was hosted with generosity by Cliff's Edge. Images courtesy of iPhone 4S and Instagram. (They kind of suck this time, but that's half the fun...I never know for certain what I am going to get.)