Third Time's the Charm at Ortolan

One lovely Friday evening, when the air was just starting to turn crisp, we left the house directionless and hungry. We ended up at Ortolan on Third. We had been there previously twice, both times enamored of the decor but less so with the food. The decor really draws me, it is like dining in Marie Antoinette's private apartments. And the food, appropriately, is French. This is a modern style French that really appeals to my California sensibility. Chef Christopher Eme has cooked in Los Angeles at L'Orangerie and alongside Joel Rubichon with Philippe Braun and at famous French restaurants Taillevent and Auberge de l’Eridan. We dined at Ortolan when it first opened out of curiosity about the remodel of the Lynq space, then again about a year later for our wedding anniversary and haven't been since. It is definitely a special occasion atmosphere, which worries me for the longevity of the restaurant. Wildly successful restaurants in Los Angeles tend to be more casual and easily adaptable for any occasion, like a Lucques or a Jar where you are as easily comfortable in jeans as a suit. And I feel even more concerned at this writing because our food Friday was phenomenal. The third time was the charm, everything was beyond delicious, flavorful and presented with whimsy. What a joy.

The service was also stellar. Every person who approached our table seemed genuinely interested in our comfort and pleasure and they all seemed like they were enjoying being there, something I love to see in a wait staff. The sommelier even chose a wine by the glass appropriate for our orders, and did so in a professional manner 100% unconcerned that we were not going to order an entire bottle. I have no clue what he chose for either of us, save that each was French and utterly sublime. White for me, red for him. I should call him and see if he remembers because I would love to try and dig up a couple of bottles. Chef Eme came out toward the end of the meal and we had a lovely conversation about upcoming events, the obligatory beaujolais nouveau coming November 15th, and the unfortunately missed white truffle menu of mid-October. Le sigh.



We ate in the bar area/lounge which feels a little more casual. I love this bar area. Above the room is a massive skylight, which makes for no particular impression in the evening, but during the daytime provides them with enough sunlight to host a gorgeous tiered herb garden hanging from the west wall. It looks so beautifully striking in the candle light and runs the entire length of the room.



To start, the chef sent out a lovely autumnal amuse-bouche. There were two soups to share in these funky little test tubes he loves to use. One was a pumpkin and the other was a roasted red bell pepper, both soups were so intense and infused with evggie richness. Both were also topped with a trace of the omnipresent foam that all contemporary French restaurants use prodigiously. A lovely mix of textures.



Also served was a little dish of eggplant caviar surrounded by pesto. Eggplant caviar is one of my favorite things, although I rarely see it on a menu these days and have only made it myself a few times. The pesto gave it a nice kick.




To start, we ordered one course of Heirloom Tomato Five Ways. What amazing tomatoey goodness. Let me count the ways: a small mound of tomato ratatouille, two small lumps of tomato puree encased in a light aspic, one part of the plate looked like a small cigar with something vaguely pink but delicious in the middle, another was akin to a tomato mousse thinly wrapped in cooked kale, and the fifth seemed to be a tomato puree that we swirled around the plate and used for dipping. It was truly lovely.



The second starter was a ceviche of bay scallops with osetra caviar. These were wrapped in thin little sheets of browned sugar so they would keep the shape of a neat little circle. I loved that Chef Eme is so dedicated to presentation. I am always happy with anything that tastes good and I am not a stickler for presentation. But how fun to eat the food of someone who is. It is an art form to be reckoned with. I love watching the French food competitions like the Bocuse d'Or, where the presentation is clearly more than half the battle.



For main courses we tried poached turbot with lemongrass and ginger with pumpkin gnocci, and there were also lovely chunks of okra, red grapes and red bell pepper on the plate.



The second main course was a cod wrapped thinly in cooked kale. This seems to be a theme. I like it because it gives shape and color to the food using something slightly uncommon on most restaurant menus. In my memory, I have only seen this done in one other restaurant, Monet in Ashland, Oregon. This dish was strongly suggested by the server (Chef Pierre Verger's wife) and it was basically a melange of veggies overcooked into a slightly mushy but dry texture and then wrapped in kale. I was not overly pleased with that dish, but I loved my cod at Ortolan. The cod was accompanied by clams in their shell, julienned potatoes, and a lovely light sauce lightly flavored with truffle. Honestly, you could put truffle on the most horrifically prepared and conceived crap on Earth and I would gobble it down. I love the truffle. This dish would have been delicious even without.

http://www.restaurantmonet.com/



We declined dessert and dove into the little plate of petite fours they sent around with the bill. These are always cute and fun. Two of them looked like little sugar hamburgers, two of them were simply homemade marshmallows, one was a little chocolate football and the sixth was mysterious. I always love these little plates because I am not a huge dessert fan and these fill the need for just a taste of sweet.



Enfin.

My Recent Photos Suck Because.........

I left my camera in my purse in the back of a taxi one rainy night in Atwater Village. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell ya. I should be getting a brand new Canon G9 any day now, and my mouth is watering not at the thought of another meal, but at the thought of pics even better than my Canon a640 Powershot.

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.

Celebrity Night at Memphis

Walk down a long alleyway between a Mexican restaurant and a cyber cafe on Hollywood Blvd and you will find Memphis restaurant. Memphis is housed in the last remaining Victorian in Hollywood, Jane's House, and experiencing the structure and the decor is certainly worth the visit even if the food was nothing to write home about. It has been a residence and a school educating the children of Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. It was refurbished by Guy Miller, a friend of the original owners and in 2006 opened as Memphis.



http://www.seeing-stars.com/landmarks/JanesHouse.shtml


The inside is decorated bordello-like in lots of red velvet, red flocked wallpaper, mirrors and crystal chandeliers. The many small rooms typical of Victorian homes make for interesting architecture for a restaurant. Lots of places to tuck away for a private cocktail, and separate rooms for celebratory dining.




Although the restaurant was far from crowded for a Friday evening, minor celebrities abounded. I typically do not pay attention to celebrity and rarely do I recognize one when I see one. However, being that the restaurant was quiet and the food was not outstanding, I thought it was notable. In the bar were several members of the Seinfeld cast. Upstairs in a semi-private dining room, Gabrielle Union was with a large group of friends and outside the restaurant we saw William Hung standing online to get in to a Halloween party with his mum! How cute!




I will just do a quick run down of the eatable but not memorable food we ordered and ate. I started with the tuna tartar. What used to be a delicacy on a menu has now become a standby. One can usually order this dish anywhere and get something fairly healthy and lite. Memphis' version was covered in a creamy sauce. Why? Just, why?



D started with the gumbo, which was tasty enough, but just ordinary.




As a main course I had the fried chicken. Now for me it is hard to go wrong with fried chicken. While I am not a fried food advocate by any means, fry me up some chicken and I am usually happy. I was surprised that, this being a Southern restaurant, the chicken pieces were limited to breasts. I expected a thigh, a wing or at the very least a drumstick. I always admire a chef who doesn't assume his patrons are afraid of the body parts of their meat.




The one sound endoresment they will get was for the martini. Due to the patio/nightclub/veranda setting outside the lounge area, it came oxymoronically in a plastic glass. However, it was the largest martini I have ever had in my life. Small multi-cellular organisms could do the back stroke in one of those suckers.

Vegetables Rolled in Beef

I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers to make this Japanese dish for supper last night. Tokyoastrogirl always makes such beautiful dishes, her presentation is elegant and I love the way she takes pictures of step by step preparation.

http://tokyoastrogirl.blogspot.com/

I am not tokyoastrogirl. I rarely use a recipe, and when I do I read it once and get rid of it. (Unless making something complicated or specific like Mom's oxtails.) So I read tokyo's recipe and got started.


First mistake: not going to an Asian market for the beef. The butcher at the local yuppy market, while stocking an excellent cut of filet, didn't grasp the concept of slicing the meat paper thin. I said I wanted it thin like for shabu shabu and he gave me a good stare. I knew when I took it out of the package the sheets were too thick, but looking at the ingredients in front of me, I knew I could not lose flavor wise.

My mis-en-place:



I plowed ahead. I blanched the carrots, green beans and asparagus separately in baths of water, mirin and soy sauce. I used the same bath for each veggie, so by the time the asparagus was done I had a lovely fragrant veggie broth. I tried to think of something to use it for, but knowing me I would have let it spoil or spill in the fridge before ever using it productively.

Next I rolled veggies in sheets of filet. I had to use lots and lots of visible toothpicks to make the roll stay put. It was unsightly, but I just knew it was going to be good, and what else would I have done with hose sheets of filet? Toss them? Not a chance, they were such beautiful little cutlets. I sauteed the weirdness in soy sauce, mirin, sake and I added a little sesame oil for good measure.




The smell was immense! Savoriness filled the air. The end result looked nowhere near as perfect as tokyostrogirl's, but I had a great time cooking while drinking a glass of William's Selyem 2004 Chardonnay, a thank you gift from our friend Jeff Z. at the Rosso wine store in Montrose.

http://www.rossowineshop.com/



I served the awkward rolls with big globs of wasabi mashed potatoes, seasoned with an eye-watering amount of wasabi. Too spicy, according to D, in just the right way. The flavor of both the beef and the veggies was just wonderful. I look forward to another stab at these sometime during the holidays. Very easy to make, colorful and healthy.

Thanks to tokyoastrogirl. She has inspired me to blog not just about eating out and traveling, but also about eating in!

an experience not to be repeated

During my recent travels, I decided I wanted a special meal Japanese-style when in Tokyo. I wanted to try an upscale Izakaya. Based on reviews on websites such as Chowhounds, Travel & Leisure and TripAdvisor, I decided that Daidaiya was a desireable destination. Daidaya is hailed by many writers as a wondrous and modern Izakaya experience. Anya von Bremzen of Travel & Leisure states that Daidaiya is, "to a back-alley eating bar what Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao is to a community art center."

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/tasting-tokyo


This seemed like a likely endorsement, so armed with a plethora of reviews that spoke of Daidaiya as an experience not to be missed, I took us there for something truly Japanese in the contemporary sense. Not just another sushi or udon bar.


Daidaiya in Shinjuku is in one of the common Tokyoite versions of a strip-mall. Tokyo being small and population dense, a strip mall in Tokyo runs veryically rather than horizontally. What looks from the outside like uber modern office buildings are often retail spaces. We took an elevator up many floors to the cavernous lobby of the restaurant. The friendly host showed us to a private booth created by hanging metal mesh curtains with banquette seating and a small table in the middle. It is a beautiful effect, but prevented people watching as the drinking Japanese salarymen and cuddling couples were all but hidden from view.



I think the main problem with the experience was being at a disadvantage linguistically. Tokyo is the first place I have visited where I did not speak, on at least some level of fluency. the language. Additionally, we were surprised to discover not as many people spoke English as we had expected. This might have been due in large part to the fact that we tend to steer clear of places intensely touristic. So, presented with a Japanese menu and a Japanese speaking waiter, we decided on the omakase menu, which was the only word I understood on the page. On to the food.

The first course was a lovely little soup, a clear broth with white dumplings floating in a small bowl. Upon tasting however, I would swear on my mother's homemade chicken broth that those dumplings were floating in nothing more than water. Pretty to look at and nearly entirely flavorless.



Next up were twin appetizer platters. Each platter contained the following: sponge cake, octopus salad (delicious), tiny whole fish grilled (pretty yummy), and what looked like a still live and completely raw squid.



When the waiter came to clear the plates my squid was hidden by a piece of spongecake. Poor fella! He deserved to be fried up calamari style in some neighborhood kitchen in Manhattan and served with a nice marinara.




The one course I thoroughly enjoyed was the tuna sashimi. Hard to ruin and perfect in it's simplicity.





Another tiny course I enjoyed was a very very small portion of asparagus on a rather large plate drenched in a miso based sauce. I could have eaten an entire platter of this, if I knew how I would have asked for more.





The most humorous course was the giant clam served in it's shell on a personal clay grill. The clam was raw and I assume was to be eaten slightly cooked by the little grill. But it was so huge the idea of eating it was just not plausible. My dining companion was slightly embarrassed that so much of his food was being sent back to the kitchen uneaten. He handled this by throwing the clam over the side of the booth where it landed on the lightbox hidden from view.




Clam overboard!




My one question about the meat course would be, what the hell? It looked like a small piece of excellent quaility beef sitting on a plate next to some dog poop. Despite my hunger, I was really unable to even sample the poop.



The one thing that got us through that meal was our innate ability to communicate our need for a steady stream alcohol. We ordered round after round of delicious cold sake. This was extraordinarily good sake, fresh and delicate but stood up nicely to the small amounts of food we managed to swallow. I am not sure how many bottles we drank, but at some point the waiter started laughing every time we ordered another round.



Despite the strange and not wonderful food, it was a truly enjoyable evening. We laughed til our sides ached and ended up bringing teriyaki mystery meat from a street vendor back to the hotel to assuage our hunger and stave off the inevitable hangover.


http://www.chanto.com/english/restaurant/dai.html

most.delicious.food.ever.(maybe)

In San Francisco last weekend meeting friends, we stopped in at the South Market wine bar and restaurant Bacar for a quick meal. I have been there once, and remember it being a nice meal with an excellent wine list, but I do not remember being of this caliber. This meal was the best meal I have had in a long time. Interesting choices, well prepared and cooked meats, top class service and consideration...I was really floored by the experience.

http://www.bacarsf.com/



We started with a beautiful bottle of 2004 pinot noir from hope & grace vineyards, it was great. Full bodied for a pinot, deep and delicious but not overpowering in the company of chicken and fish. Love the balloon glasses, I could drink diet coke or coffee out of these daily.


Because you never see this rustic and earthy item on a menu in California (I never have, as a dish unto itself anyway) I HAD to order the bone marrow. It was delectable, silky and luscious...a treat after all the walking of the past two days. I spread it on the wheat bread crostini it came with and it was perfect with sprgs of parsley to add a touch of grassy green flavor.



My constant dining and sleeping companion ordered the "warm mushroom salad", which was a misnomer. It was really a frisee au lardons, with warm wild mushrooms and butter lettuce added to the frisee. It looked gorgeous, and he swears it was yumminess. Two pics, one for the presentation and one for the good bits at the bottom!

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For mains, I ordered the oven-roasted chicken and he ordered the salmon. Both were exceptional. The chicken was perfectly cooked, juicy with crisp skin served over a genius bed of chicken livers, warm green grapes, slivered green beans and candied walnuts with a reduced chicken jus...and along the side of the plate was a pureed sauce of walnuts and bread, soft an subtle flavor, warm homey texture. I would fly back to SF just for this dish. Why do I love chicken so? It tastes....just like chicken.



The salmon seemed well paired if not well cooked. Not well cooked for a barbarian, anyway. My companion cannot eat any meat that is not cooked within an inch of charcoal So he sent back the lovely slightly pink salmon so they could scorch it to his liking. It came back served over lovely little fingerling potatoes and honeydew melon. I love the idea of pairing the salmon with the honeydew..sweetness and light with that unique flavor and fatty texture of salmon. Nice. I didn't taste it because I don't always want to share food. Usually because I order what I want to eat. I see no reason to share. Unless yours looks better than mine.



Last but not least was the cheese course (for me) and the chocolate "looks like a gooey pile of sugary junk from Ralph's" dessert for him. I never understand this type of dessert. If I want chocolate, I want something simple like a chocolate mousse or chocolat pot de creme. Whatevs! My cheese was great, some kind of tomato rubbed pecorino.

Weird and Wonderful Things About Tokyo

My first visit to Japan was indeed a trip. I am comfortable and happy almost anywhere I go, I behave myself as an "ugly American", attempt to speak the native language, and obey both local and universal customs. However, none of my world travels prepared me well for Tokyo. Tokyo is so many things, in so many parts of the city, that once you get used to the customs and flavor of one neighborhood you are quickly adjusting to the next. It is genteel, mild mannered and steeped in tradition, wildly exotic and kinky, luxurious and frugal.


Some cool things about Tokyo:

Diet Coke out of a vending machine with a screw top lid. Isn't it pretty? Small things amuse the small minded. What can I say? Light Taste & Refreshing.





This truck advertising a new song by the band, "Arashi" haunted our tracks for days. The sound of the new single "Happiness" blasted into the air in neighborhoods as far and wide as Shinjuku, Omotesando and as far east as Ropponggi.





Bathrooms are an experience unto themselves. In a ritzy department store in Ginza, when a customer sits on the seat the music of a running stream and chirping birds plays to drown out the sound of any untoward flatulence. In nearly any westernized locale, the toilets are equipped with seat warmers and a bidet with three choices of stream direction and intensity. And in a final thoughtful gesture, I noticed several toilets accesorized with emergency systems. If your flatulence, nausea or bird flu gets the best of you, pull on the red emergency chord and help will come running.





Lastly for today, boobie pillows.



That.is.all.

Saturday Night Lights, Wahiawa, Hawaii

High school football. The fanfare, the pageantry, the excitement, suspense and adolescent intention is a weekly autumnal event that is commonly staged across the green athletic fields of Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Americana plays itself out in common ways in the stands and at the sidelines in New Mexico, Florida and Maine. Quarterbacks, cheerleaders, the waterboy, the pig skin, and the omniprescent stage parent screaming out directives to the coach from the first row of the bleachers.

Watching these archetypes skew themselves in Wahiawa, Hawaii has made my week, maybe even my trip. Natives take for granted that their version of this play is not unique, giving themselves credit for their mimicry but failing to note the stark juxtapositions between the paradigm of American high school football mainland style and the simulacrum of high school football Hawaii style.



Wahiawa, Hawaii is a small rural town of 16,000 people, about halfway between the south shore tourist mecca of Waikiki and the north shore town of Kahuku, a famous surfing destination reknowned for big waves and anti-hale sentiment. The view from the stands is stunningly beautiful, to start with. From where I sit, I see rain forest trees, mountains built from the lava rock of a hot spot volcano, and the threat of mercurial tropical skies overhead. The kids are a dazzling mix of ethnicities. Hawaaian, Japanese, Samoan, African American, Phillippino, and even the occasional Caucasian face thrown in to the mix. But the majority of the students stem from a medley of genetic combinations of all the above and more. The culture of the game and the island is in perfectly aligned to the harmonious mosaic on the field. A true diversity of people, ideas and habits that astounds the senses of someone who was raised in suburban middle class unexotic Northern California.

Food? What would 2 hours of football be without snacks? Hot dogs? Cotton candy? Popcorn? Um, no. There are no hot dogs at the football game. They serve egg rolls, lumpia and fried rice at the food stand. My dad treated us to a snack from his favorite deli in town. Again, a mixing of Hawaiian & Japanese in the form of poki sushi. Anywhere else I might just call it spicy tuna sushi, but this is poki. The nicely textured chunks of square cut ahi tuna, mixed with a generous portion of tobiko and whatever else makes it hot and savory. It comes in two forms of spiciness, "mild" and "creeps up on you and make you breathe fire".





"Creeps up on you" is at the top, and "mild is on the bottom. We ate every morsel and it was delicious. Our team lost, but have you ever seen a cuter receiver?