Stalking Kris Morningstar at 750 ml

Located in an adorable neighborhood in South Pasadena on an adorable block with adorable shop fronts, situated on an adorable corner with signs and architecture reminiscent of the Whistle Stop Cafe and a light rail speeding mysteriously by every 20 minutes or so...



sits 750 ml, a wine bar & restaurant with Kris Morningstar of Blue Velvet temporarily at the helm.



We inquired delicately about Morningstar, asking if he was still in the kitchen, to which our server replied, "No, I think he went upstairs."



We couldn't have had a better atmosphere on a balmy Sunday evening, and we couldn't have had more personal service. Kip waited on us, guided us toward dishes that would suit our palates perfectly and made sure our meal was headed in the right direction. This is a man with a passion for food. He is pretty much passionate about all his endeavors, it would seem. He is founding a company called Eco-Kids, which makes a playdough-like product for kids and sells them in eco-friendly recycled and recyclable packaging. He actually brought a container out and I got to play with it. I love that salty smell of playdough. The packaging is cool, toys with an eco-conscience.

http://www.ecokidsusa.com/index.html


And, onto the food.



I started with a hamachi tartare, decorated with crispy pork belly flakes and diced summer melon. Hamachi is my favorite raw fish. But I would have liked more than two bites. I shouldn't be surprised, and I really wasn't. But I needed 2-3 servings of this to satisfy my appetite and tastebuds because it was a beautifully constructed dish.



Kip strongly reccomended the sweet corn agnolotti. In a review somewhere on the innerwebs, someone ate this and swooned. So D ordered this for an appie, and all reports were true. This dish is amazing. The pasta is house made, the corn is sweet and thick, and this dish was adequately sized for a starter. Kip tried to talk us into the entree size, and he was right. We would have eaten it all.



For an entree, I ate another small plate. This was a marguez sausage, on a fennel and olive salad with honey sauce. The mix of flavors was nice, and the size was hearty enough to assuage my hunger.



D ordered the tilefish. What the hay-yell is a tilefish, you ask? One of my reviews was referred to as the Cliff Claven of Chowhound, so I feel compelled to share with you what a tilefish is.

The University of Delaware has an informative little page on the tilefish:

http://www.ocean.udel.edu/mas/seafood/tilefish.html

"The tilefish is sometimes referred to by names such as golden bass or golden snapper. It is olive green or dark tan above, changing to yellow or rose on the lower sides. The back and upper sides are dotted with brilliant yellow spots, and the belly is white. The tilefish is further characterized by a fleshy protuberance on its back, just in from the dorsal fin, which looks like a miniature rudder balanced on its head. Although this species can reach 50 pounds, tilefish are usually marketed at 4-8 pounds. Crabs and crustaceans are their favorite foods.

Tilefish occur from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico and are most abundant from Nantucket to Delaware Bay. They are known to occupy a narrow band of the ocean floor on the upper part of the continental slope where a belt of warm water is found. A significant commercial fishery exists, especially off the Mid-Alantic coast.

CULINARY DESCRIPTION

According to the New Jersey Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service ("From Catch to Kitchen or Catching and Cooking Your Own Fish Dinner"), "If you love lobster, you'll like tilefish". This expression has been making the rounds. But those who know how tasty tilefish is and how well it sells have turned this saying around to "If you love tilefish, you'll love lobster".

Tilefish has firm, pinkish white flesh that provides a lobster- or crab-like taste. Once cooked, the meat is mild-flavored and succulent. The meat remains very moist after cooking; therefore, it is ideal for baking or broiling. Tilefish is delicious in seafood stews or chowders. This fish is excellent poached or microwaved, then cooled and used in a salad."

This particular dish was nice and tasty. Served on a bed of quinoa with grilled grapes and long slices of grilled eggplant, I am guessing this filet came from a tilefish of the 4 lb size. Not enough food for the big guy.



Despite the oftentimes small sizes of Morningstar's portions, I have every intention of following him to Casa. I love his flavors, and frankly, it gives me something to do with my time.

Blue Velvet sans Kris Morningstar: Delicious & Well Managed

John McDowell, Morningstar's sous chef, is now heading the kitchen at Blue Velvet. In my opinion he is heading the kitchen to good effect. It may be my imagination, but it seems as though the food is heartier and a touch less precious. In addition to the wonderful food we ate, an issue with the wine we ordered was handled beautifully and with such politesse that we will surely visit again sometime soon.



I don't understand or really appreciate French wine in the way that I understand New World wines. I have taken classes on Old World wines. I drink French wine on a somewhat regular basis. I have visited France more than once, and I go to wine tastings at a shop that specializes in European wines. Nevertheless, my taste buds out me consistently as a rube. My mouth is accustomed to bold, Oregonian reds & rich California whites. For some reason D decided we needed to try a French pinot Friday night, and it did not sit well with me. This 2005 Chambolle-Musigny was so tart that my face screwed up every time it hit the back of my mouth. My eyes watered. I know an off wine when I taste it, and this was not off. It just did not suit me. The waiter asked if he could decant it, and we agreed, hoping the not inexpensive wine would open up and soften. In the meantime we downed martinis and ate these appies.



I noshed on the above piece of pork belly. As fatty as pork belly is, I don't typically order it. But after watching several contestants from Top Chef have a go at it over the last few seasons, I was intrigued. And it was good. Very good. It was served with sour cherries with a cherry glaze drizzled on the plate, and accompanied by the short seasoned and much loved squash blossom, lightly fried.



D has come to love frisee au lardons, or anything mimicking that, this summer. This particular version used pea tendrils as the green, and it was a lovely rendition.



About this time the waiter swings by and we try the decanted and oxygenated 2005 Chambolle-Musigny yet again. I pull a sour puss. We assure the waiter that there is nothing wrong with the wine, rather there is something wrong with us, and we will happily pay for it, but we really need to drink a different bottle of something else. He sends the manager our way, and the manager offers to bring us something different and eat the cost of the offending wine. We assure him this is not necessary, but he convinces us in such a lovely way that I left feeling both very pampered and very drunk. Goldilocks ended up with the above Oregonian pinot noir and it tasted just right.



Goldilocks also ate the above guinea hen, wrapped around caper berries then wrapped in what I believe was its own skin, served with long beans and a variety of mushrooms. The menu mentioned a cream sauce, but knowing how sparely sauces are used in this kitchen I ordered it anyway, and I guessed correctly. There was just a trace of cream sauce to accent the mushrooms rather than drowning the bird.



D predictably ordered the scallops from the prix fixe menu. I didn't taste the shellfish, but I sampled what looked like vermicelli on his plate. It was actually some sort of radish type veg cut to mimic pasta, it tasted wonderful and added a lovely acidity to the dish.

After martinis and red wine, on a much needed Friday night...

Halloween @ Blue Velvet

There is nothing not cool about Blue Velvet Restaurant in Los Angeles. Everyone on staff is not only friendly and accomodating, they also offer, in my opinion, above par service. The atmosphere is fun and young yet sophisticated. The location is great, close to Silver Lake, Echo Park, downtown and just a short drive on the 101 from Hollywood. They even have a co-ed bathroom.




The chef, Kris Morningstar, studied at the Cal School of Culinary Arts and has cooked at Los Angeles restaurants A.O.C., Grace, Patina and Meson G. I have enjoyed eating at all of these restaurants (Patina the least, surprisingly) multiple times so it is not surprising that I enjoy the food at Blue Velvet.

http://www.bluevelvetrestaurant.com/


We went in on Halloween evening for their special Harvest prix-fixe supper, entertainment and DJ'ing to start on the patio at 9. We didn't love the look of the prix-fixe menu, so we stuck with the regular menu happily, and we drank a bottle of David Bruce 2005 Pinot Noir from the Russian River. I would definitely order this up again. After a 15 minutes breathing session it opened into a surpringly full bodied pinot with a nice depth of flavor. It was pretty great.



The kitchen always sends out an amuse-bouche, which I always find an unnecessary bit of fun and joy. Tonight's amuse-bouche was a chilled cream of parsnip soup. I think it would have been better off not chilled. Because it was 101 degrees in Los Angeles county last week, a chilled soup still seems appropriate, but I think the flavor of the parsnip would have been richer if the soup had been warm. Whatever. This was the least lovely thing I put in my mouth last night, so I think we did pretty good.



To start, I was served the fig salad with burrata & raddiccio in a lovely sweet and savory vinaigrette. Surprisingly, the portion size of the salad was quite large. Blue Velvet is notorious for small portions. This was pretty delicious. I loved the texture of the burrata with the figs, and the dressing ensured that the dish was not lacking in intense flavor due to the subtle nature of the figs and cheese.



My personal song writer ordered linguine with clams to start, and I cannot remember having has a better bite of pasta...it was al dente, house made (I think) and the clams were fresh, in the shell. It was a lovely little dish, and perfect for a starter. I think it would have been too rich for a main course.



As an entree, (Why do they call it an entree? It is not the start of the meal. Whatever.) I had the wild boar. I love wild boar because it is both gamier and more lean than regular pig. I love it. Love love love it. This time it came served rare over a small bed of what I think was creamed spinach, with a couple of nice swooches of pureed sweet potato on the sides of the plate. Nom nom nom!!!



The composer ordered the dayboat scallops, as usual. These were, well I have no idea what these were served with. I looked at them and they were purdy. But really, I have no clue.



We skipped out on dessert, being full as ticks. We had come as much for the food as for the promised entertainment, but said entertainment never materialized. We had been promised a fire eater, a glass walker, and other circus acts on the gorgeous patio between the fire and the pool. The outdoor space of the restaurant is a HUGE selling point, it is nothing short of remarkable. There is a large pool, an outdoor firepit with banquette, and a beautiful view of downtown Los Angeles and requisite palm trees.





We didn't leave until close to ten, and there was nothing more amusing outside than merry makers in various forms of Halloween costume. Sigh. It's just as well. I fell asleep in the car, as usual.