Heavenly Dumplings at Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung: 4.5/5

I've been hearing about Din Tai Fung in Arcadia for years now. Yes, this is the US outlet of the world renowned (one of the top 10 restaurants in the world according to the New York Times!) Taiwanese dumpling house. For whatever reason, I just never bothered going. I decided the other day to try running in for lunch. I knew that they're always busy, but I wasn't prepared for the extent of that business for Sunday lunch. Given that I was there to quickly grab a bite with Puppy before dropping him off at High End Virgin Grain Food Emporium, we didn't have the requisite hour and a half (!) wait. I gave up but gained a new-found desire, no, NEED, to eat here. If the wait's that long, I just had to see how worth it it was.

Fast forward a day to Monday. I got us up earlier and drove back out 18 miles to sample some dumplings. I went abso-effin-lutely determined to get in. Whatchya know? Even on a Monday, there was a wait. I got a ticket (number 121) and they were still calling the lower 80s. Oy! But since Puppy had the day off and we didn't have anywhere to be, we sucked it up and waited. Besides, I wasn't about to go and be defeated two days in a row. One thing to note here: Din Tai Fung is all about getting you in and out. While you're in line, you get a fill in menu kind of like a sushi card. You fill in the things you want while you wait, and they bring things as they are ready. Great for speed, not too great if you want certain things in a certain order (like we wanted our soup as an appetizer -- it came last).

Our order was the following:

Juicy Pork Dumplings (Xiaolongbao)
Juicy Pork and Crab Dumplings
Vegetarian Dumplings
Shrimp Fried Rice
Shrimp and Pork Won Ton Soup.
2 X Coke


We sit down, and the waitress quickly checks our order sheet. Withing 2 minutes, the first steamer of dumplings (pork and crab) arrive. I smell... I drool... then I pick one up ever so gingerly so as not to break the dough... dip it into the black vinegar, top with shaved ginger and then put in on a spoon... carefully slowly break the dough with my teeth, and then suck up the soup in the dumpling. I'm getting aroused at this point, it's so good. Then I just plop the rest in my mouth and chew. Wow! That's good. Right there, first dumpling, I already know why there's that line here.

Xiaolongbao. Soup Dumplings. Definitely one of those things that have a place in my heart. When I was a teenager and sick, my grandfather used to sneak me out of the hospital once a week to take me to polish off a platter of these soup filled delights. And these here are the best, hands down, that I've gotten here in the US. Not that there are that many places that actually offer them.

The regular pork ones were actually better in my opinion than the crab ones. It was just more meaty and "clean" if that makes sense. The fried rice was a great serving for two or three to share, and the soup was a light chicken broth filled with eight or so giant shrimp and pork dumplings that were heavenly once you got over burning your tongue on them.

The only miss here was the vegetarian dumplings. It was filled with a combination of things that was at once bland, but also had a mealy texture. It was edible, but I won't be ordering that one again.


All in all this was an amazing experience. Definitely worth the wait... The best part here is how inexpensive it is. After eating all that, the bill came up to less than $40. Really, not that bad considering that every dumpling order is for 10 pieces, and the most expensive one, the crab and pork dumplings come in at $8.50. You've heard rumors about Din Tai Fung... yes, they're all true. Don't think. Just go.

Happy Eating!

Canele in Atwater Village... the verdict is in...

Canele: 2.5/5 Stars

I love a great neighborhood restaurant. And I definitely love supporting them. Since I live in the Atwater area, I've gone to Canele (Mediterranean Cuisine) four times now over the past several months. While there are great things about it, I still have some reservations on the consistency of the food.

Let's start though, with the good here. I love the space and concept. The idea of a restaurant catering to the community with a (guess what?) communal table and a no reservation policy really does jive with me. I don't want to go to the restaurant down the street and not be able to get a table because some Westside snob decided to throw their name around to facilitate a last minute res for herself and 20 of her closest friends. Ok, I know I'm exaggerating, but, hey... At Canele, everyone's equal. If there isn't a table, you can make one of two choices: a) wait like a normal person, or b) choose to leave and go somewhere else. Pretty simple and democratic. No problem.

In terms of the food, I have to give them credit for doing fish well. Both times I've had fish here (trout once, branzino another time), it's been served whole (head and all) and been lightly but deftfully seasoned and wonderful. Maybe it's the Japanese in me, but I'm definitely not one to be squeamish about fish staring me in the face, and in fact, I am the one who loves to poke at the cheek meat. I almost yelled to the couple sitting next to us at the communal table earlier, "no, give it to me!!!" when they sent back the beautiful branzino to be decapitated to better serve their morals or well, I guess, tastes. I say kudos to the Mediterranean restaurant that actually, gasp, serves fish like they do, gasp, in the Mediterranean.

I also love that despite the small scope of the menu (6-7 appetizers, and 8-10 entrees with daily specials), that the chef here does try some interesting ideas. One of the dishes that I've tried that fits this bill is a dish that was served last winter. It was lamb chops with a grapefruit sauce served with Israeli couscous. I honestly would never have though to pair lamb with grapefruit, but this was a decent dish if only for the novelty factor. I guess my problem was that once you got over the combination, it was boring after the third bite, and the couscous was totally lackluster. I'm imagining that the Israeli couscous was trying to emulate the texture of the individual juice sacs of the grapefruit.

The flan here, voted as LA's best by LA Magazine, does stand up. It's a sinful delicious, oozy blob of YUM. Save space for it. If you don't, just share one with the table. It's really THAT good. Oh yeah, not to make it and afterthought, but the other desserts I've tried, like the cheesecake, are good as well.

The nicest touch, and one that definitely screams "neighborhood restaurant" is the fact that you get a fresh two bite canele on your way out. What's a canele, you ask? It's a baked custard similar in taste to a flan or creme caramel, but much denser and chewier. Can't get the idea? Refer to the picture to your left. Mmmmmm... if their flan wasn't as good as it is, I would skip dessert altogether just 'cause of this.

Ok, onto the things I didn't like. As much as Canele does a great job with fish, I'm not a big fan of the way most other animals are prepared. I ordered the summer iteration of their rack of lamb today (herbed rack of lamb with eggplant and tomato ragout) and got a tepid and rubbery trio of chops instead. The flavors were ok... I mean, how do you screw up some good lamb with a mixed herb pesto, really? But the texture just said that they didn't care. Tepid and chewy (not a good thing here like with the canele) is not medium-rare in my book. We all know that most of the food that we eat in a restaurant is pre-prepped to some degree, but this felt like they just weren't trying with this one.

Pork chop... again, boring. It was definitely well brined, but it seems that whoever was at the oven reheating this chop... (no sear whatsoever here), forgot to reseason it. Bland and boring. Somewhat overcooked (aren't we glad it was brined?) No sauce to boot. Eh...

Look, I live in this neighborhood, and I love to support a good neighborhood restaurant. But if I'm in the mood for good Mediterranean food, give me that, ok? And while I'm willing to overlook quite a bit in terms of perfection, give me what I pay for. See, the big issue here is that for the dishes that aren't great, the price tag really seems high. Higher than usual high. The Cuban place down the street, with its rustic home cooking, I believe is a much better bang for your buck. Sure, you won't get fancy pretty food there, but the prices make you feel that it was worth more that it is.

Bottom line. If you go to Canele, which you should, order a fish dish (and PLEASE don't let me catch you getting it guillotined), and get the flan with a cup of coffee to wash it down with. If you do that, you'll be happy since the fish dishes tend to be less pricey than the pork, lamb, beef, or other land meat. You'll get more, it'll taste better, and you'll want to go back. And do sit at the communal table. Serious dates aside, what's better than eating good food in a neighborhood restaurant than being able to meet your neighbors while doing it? This is Canele at its best. You should go for it.

Happy Eating!

Macrobiotic Eating at M. Cafe de Chaya

My model sister (hello, size -2) and her mate, Brazilian Tatoo Guy asked me out to lunch today. Given that I'm in Atwater Village, and they're in Westwood/Sawtelle, we decided to meet up somewhere in the middle at M. Cafe de Chaya at La Brea and Melrose. Of course, they're the healthy people, so they chose the place, since I didn't know any veggie/vegan/macro/raw/etc. kind of place in my area (ok, so I do, but I didn't want to go). Given that I've heard some amazing things about the food at both Chaya Brasserie and Chaya Venice, I thought this might be interesting. Since puppy-white-boy had the day off from his butchering job, I took him along. I do admit though, I did tell him to take a look at the menu on the website before we went just to make sure that he could find something that was appetizing sounding -- while puppy-white boy is making huge strides on his palate (he'll try just about anything without complaint), he's just not used to the whole vegie-macro-designer-sprout-model diet, so I thought I'd make sure he was ok with it all.

Basically, the mantra at M. Cafe is:
M Café de Chaya introduces Contemporary Macrobiotic Cuisine — featuring balanced, nutritious, creative cooking which can be enjoyed daily by everyone, not just vegetarians or people with dietary restrictions. Building on the foundation of Michio Kushi, our chefs prepare each item fresh daily, using only the finest ingredients without any refined sugars, eggs, dairy, red meat or poultry.

Not exactly Motor City food fare like Puppy's used to.

We get there, and yes, it's a cafe... Order at a counter (most of the food is pre-prepped and wrapped for easy egress), and if you can, sit down and eat once they plate the food for you. I got a Falafel and Hummus wrap with a side of Sesame Soba noodles, and puppy-white-boy got the panini provencale with a side of Chickpeas with Red Rice (I ordered that when I was told that the sandwich came with a side), we both had a couple OJ's, and I had an extra side of Spicy Tuna Rolls. With tip, it's a whopping $40. This food might be designery and healthy, but it sure ain't cheap!!! Damn!

Food comes... it's ok. I mean, the ingredients are all great and it tasted fine. That being said, I don't know if it was the sticker shock, but I really didn't much think that the flavors were great. Like they were trying so hard to make something macrobiotic and good for you that they forgot that the food itself had to more tasty at the prices they're commanding. Don't get me wrong, I love falafel and hummus -- you'll even see a hummus recipe of my own in the archives -- but for close to $12 with a side, I've had much better variants for much less. Maybe it's because the falafel was cold? Who knows? There was just something missing.

The soba side that I had was fine. Bland, but fine. The same sesame oil tossed cold soba salad you can get anywhere at a chi-chi deli.

The Panini Provencale was ok. It's a panini of "seasonal grilled vegetables, arugula, balsamic vinaigrette, pesto aioli and creamy tofu cheese on our house baked focaccia, grilled hot & crisp to order." Asked to describe it, Puppy thinks for a long while, says, "Ok... it was flavorful, but just not satisfying." Aha! See I was right! He added, "the chickpea salad was much better."

I think my sister got it right. She ordered the Bi-Bim Bop Rice Bowl. A bowl of brown rice topped with pan fried tofu, veggies, sprouts, shiitakes, etc, and served with a Kotchu-Jyan-ish sweet and spicy miso sauce. I had a bite and I think if I were to go back, I would try this for myself instead.

If you're into the whole vegamacro thing, I guess this is good. Since I don't though, the fact that it's healthy doesn't give it the right to not satisfy me (I don't eat to get full, I eat to enjoy), especially when it costs as much as it does. Give me less healthy full flavored food any day of the week. I'd rather enjoy mo good food in moderation than live on this kind of food only. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that one eat a cheeseburger for every meal, but don't get on my case if I choose to every now and then.

All in all... why does healthy food have to be so bleh? I went vegan for a week while my daughter was here (she's vegan), and I was able to come up with some pretty good stuff. Don't just call a place "macrobiotic" and set up a pretty space in a nice neighborhood and expect me to love it. Make real good food that also healthy? Great!!!

Yeah sure, I'll try this place again... if I'm stuck with a bunch of vegamacros and I don't know where else to go. Otherwise... give me my full flavored good food. And... I'll take the falafel from the Israeli take out down the street next time.

M. Cafe de Chaya
7119 Melrose Ave. (@ Detroit)
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323-525-0588


Happy Eating!

The art of yakitori -- Little Tokyo

Server: Have you been here before?
Guest: No
Server: Do you know that we don't make sushi here?
Guest: Yes
Server: You know there is minimum order of 5 skewers per customer?
Guest: Yes
Server: Counter or table?
Guest: Counter
Server: Please wait for a minute.

This is the exchange that happens upon entering into Kokekokko, a small Yakitori restaurant on Central Ave. Yakitori is Japanese for "grilled chicken." Every part of the chicken is skewered and grilled to perfection over charcoal, and you eat sort of tapas-style, where a skewer or two show up every 10-15 minutes, and you wash it all down with a nice frosty beer.

Kokekokko is a very authentic experience if you remove the above exchange first -- if you're in Japan and enter a Yakitori joint, you know that they don't do sushi. The grill master here is a middle-aged Japanese guy (well, the whole staff is Japanese) who almost seems like he could have spent some time in the Yakuza once you hear him yelling at the staff... Definite Grill-Nazi potential here. But then again, once you're eating, he'll come over and ask how you like things done, if you're enjoying yourself, and will adjust seasonings and condiments based on whether he thinks you're worthy, or not. But I get ahead of myself.

I think a funny thing here is that I'm in this Japanese restaurant, speaking Japanese, and the entire staff take about 20 minutes to realize that I do the lingo. Granted, I had puppy white-boy next to me that needed some explanation ("No fork for you!"), I was amused that these people had such a hard time looking at me and hearing native Japanese coming out of my mouth. You'd think that in LA of all places, they'd be used to a not-so-Japanese looking guy speaking Japanese. The Oyaji (grill master) finally got it and asked "Sansei?" (third genereration Japanese immigrant), and I explained that I'm first generation (i.e. born and raised in Japan) but half. The service got MUCH better at this point.

The first skewer up was breast. It's actually the breast tender that in Japanese is called "sasami." Once the above exchange was completed and Oyaji understood that I was native, he tells me, "I'm doing this more Japanese style, medium-rare." Yes, I said that. Yes, chicken, yes, medium-rare. Actually it came out more raw than not. I trust a place like this, and if I actually were in Japan, I could have gotten the chicken completely raw. He tells expediter-boy to season our "breast" with wasabi and ginger. The first two bites with that sinus clearing blast of wasabi, the second two with the warmth of ginger. At this point, I'm in heaven. Expediter-boy still things I only speak English though...

The whole meal was really masterful, each piece perfectly seasoned and served with the perfect condiments. We had chicken balls (soft and salty and sinful), gizzard (crunchy and no offal taste whatsoever), quail eggs (yum), and a couple other pieces.

Finally, it gets through to expediter-boy that I'm Japanese, so he leans over the counter and asks me if there are any "specials" I'd like to have. I ask what's available, and go for neck meat (yippy-ki-yay! that was good), and cartilage (mmmmm, meaty... crunchy...).

All in all wonderful experience. I felt like I went back to Japan for a little while and I was so happy. I was also happy that puppy-white-boy that I went with didn't pull what some others around me have in the past... he not only let me enjoy the wonderful food, he tried everything end enjoyed it too.

Go, it's worth it!

Kokekokko
203 S. Central Ave., Little Tokyo
(213) 687-0690

Happy Eating!

Tomato-Garlic pasta from Capricciosa Tokyo

I woke up the other day with a hella craving for a dish that I last had probably 14 years ago. It was one of those things that friends and I would go eat when we were in high school and had no money. There was this great Italian chain in Tokyo called Capricciosa that served all their pasta dishes family style in giant portions. If I recall, their signature spaghetti with tomato-garlic sauce went for about 1700 yen ($16-ish) at the time and easily fed four hungry teenage boys, or two REALLY hungry boys. Add a cheese filled rice croquette with meat sauce and you're all set. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

The dish, while by no means high brow or fancy, is just one of those guilty pleasures that's tangy, garlicky, spicy, and oh so yummy. It's actually seasoned well enough that you really don't need meat in it to make it good, although you most certainly could add some in there if you prefer a richer taste.

So, off to cyber-land to see if I could recreate the dish. After about 20 minutes of looking around, I found a couple Japanese blogs/postings that had different opinions on how it's made. Given that this is a "corporate recipe" of sorts, I did find out from a site where former employees of restaurants give out "forbidden recipes" that there were some interesting things that go into it. I'll go through the method -- it's easy and fun, and easily adaptable. Try it and see if you like it.

Capricciosa-style Tomato-Garlic Spaghetti

Yield: 4 Servings

8-10 Cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 dried Japanese Chiles, sliced, OR 1 TBLS Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (adjust up or down depending on heat level desired)
1 ts Dried Oregano
3/4 TBLS Chicken Base or 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
1 ts MSG (this is a corporate chain recipe, what did you expect... omit if you're squeamish about this)
1 24-OZ Can Whole Peeled Whole Tomatoes
2 cups + extra Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Cup Powdered Cofee Creamer (really)
3 TBLS Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste




Slice Garlic into thin slices and place into a cold pan over medium/medium-low heat along with Chiles/red pepper and oil. Carefully toast the slices until crunchy and golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. DO NOT BURN THEM. Remove and reserve on paper towels.



Saute onions in the same pan until translucent, then add the entire can of tomatoes with juices into the pan. Bring to a boil and add back in the garlic. Turn down the heat to low, add in the chicken base and MSG, then simmer for 20 minutes, making sure to not let the sauce burn. Once the tomatoes are cooked through, smash them into chunks with a mixing spoon, and then add the grated cheese and coffee creamer to the pot. Mix, cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down a bit further, and the cheese and creamer have melded with the sauce.

Serve on top of freshly boiled spaghetti (slightly thick spaghetti works really well here), top with more grated cheese and enjoy.

Happy cooking!

Speechless

As much as I'm often critical about food, I just had an experience where I was left speechless. Both my dining companion Jose (also notorious foodie and cook) and I had nothing to say and could only make strangely orgasmic noises. As Jose put it, "I finally understand the reason why the old woman said 'I'll have what she's having' in the diner scene in When Harry Met Sally.

The restaurant in question? Daniel in New York. Yes, Daniel that occupies the old Le Cirque space on E. 60th Street, and where the chef, Daniel Boulud, has proven to me that he is a God... And yes, he was in residence that night in the kitchen.

All I can say is, go. You won't be disappointed. It was the best meal of my life. Truly. This foodie now has another bar to compare everything else to.

And for once, the food was so good the inside of my brain just went fuzzy with static. Every scent, texture, flavor... overwhelming and just brilliant.

Daniel
60 E. 65th St.
New York, NY
Tel: 212.288.0033

Lunch at Central Michel Richard

DC had to redeem itself. My previous venture into a food adventure (read previous posting) just sucked, and I desperately needed to eat good food lovingly prepared (no offense Jose, I love McCormick & Schmick's, but eating 6 meals in a row there at the bar while you work does get old after a while). I've heard quite a bit about Chef Michel Richard, and thought I'd give his new ode to an American style bistro a go, since at this late juncture, I wasn't about to get a same-day reservation at his flagship restaurant Citronelle, in Georgetown.

I called up the restaurant and asked if reservations were required for lunch, and was told that they were highly recommended and that although they do allow walk-ins, that there's a chance we wouldn't get seated. When I asked the host-zilla what time during the lunch hour would be the best to try, she told me in not so many words to go do unspeakable things to myself. Well, no, she actually said, "well, it depends, sir, if you really want to eat here, please make a reservation." click

Hrm... I guess if the rumors of the chef being a class A A-hole were to be believed, i shouldn't be surprised that he has a host-zilla answering the phone. Nevermind. Opentable.com... oh, 1:30, that works. Click, click There, biyotch, I have a res, AND I get points towards a future discount at a restaurant of my choice. Take that!

I decided to take a female dining companion with me since Jose decided that work was more important (ok, that's not fair, I guess) whom I was told could "put it down." Alrighty, bring it on!

First impression after announcing myself to nondescript queeny host(ess)... Ok, nice space, airy, glass, light wood. Nice. Bar area looks too simple and haphazard, but ok.

Host(ess) comes to get us in a couple minutes and we're off to our table. Bread comes. Yum... crusty French rustic bread with softened butter. We look through the rather truncated lunch menu (damn, I can't have the Gougeres, or the 72-hour beef rib?) and decide on a couple appetizers to share, and on some entrees.

Asian Style Ahi Carpaccio: Lovely to look at. A plate of perfectly round paper-thin slices of raw ahi just lightly salted and topped with a dice of red onion and chives. Great taste. The fish was screamingly fresh, and the texture was heavenly. It wasn't over seasoned, and there was just the right amount of oil to lubricate the palate but not detract from the star which was the ahi. I thought the yellow slices on top were preserved lemon rind, but upon closer inspection, it was a julienne of Takuan, a Japanese daikon radish pickle that's slightly sweet. Ah... Asian, right? All in all, flawless. No complaints here.

Duck Rilletes and Faux-gras Terrine: The rilletes were to die for. Meaty, chunky, a little fatty. Definitely the stuff to make a French man cry. Paired with the Shiraz (yay, a Big Serving!!!) it was just breathtaking. The Faux-Gras was sinfully flavorful, and had the texture of whipped butter. Ok, maybe this place does deserve to have Cerberus guarding the gate.

I got the Crab Cake, and my companion opted for the Lamb Shank. Both were stellar. The crab cake was served over leeks that had the maionnaise worked in (fresh, not Kraft, of course), and was just chunks of crab meat barely bound and pan seared. The crunch came from etherial fried ribbons of carrot and beet. Mmmmm yum. Good crab cake.

The shank was definitely sous-vide cooked. It fell apart and was spoon tender but the meat was completely red, looking almost rare. Again, served with creamy cheesy polenta and fried onions with some rosemary-herb brown sauce... it was wonderful.

Entrees completed, my companion actually went back to finish the bit of appetizers that were left... and then ordered dessert. Ok, can I have that metabolism, please!

She got the signature dessert called the Kit Kat Bar. It comes out looking like a giant Kit Kat. It's a cocoa-dusted ganache served over a praline crust that once you eat, truly tastes like it's a Kit Kat bar, if one were served elevated into the stratosphere.

Damn, that was some good eating. If you can, go.

It's pricey, but not overly so. We ended up getting a bill for two glasses of wine, an app each, an entree each, dessert, and coffee for $120.

And I felt so bad for Jose having to work, that I brought him a quarter of the crab cake just so he could get a taste.

Central Michel Richard
1001 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC
Tel:202.626.0015
www.centralmichelrichard.com

Happy Eating!

Disappointement at Les Halles DC

As you all can tell, I'm a foodie. I love to eat and cook and think and live food. As that kind of person, I LOVE Anthony Bourdain. I've read all his books, have the Les Halles Cookbook, and watch his shows on tee-vee whenever I can catch them. So, I was delighted to actually be in a city and have the time to venture into a Les Halles location.

Although I doubt that I set my expectations too high, what I ended up getting was one of the sigularly most disappointing dining experiences of my life.

I walked down to the restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue from my friend's place on Thomas Circle, thinking I'd eat a couple courses as an early dinner. Since it was 5:30 PM, there was almost no one in the restaurant, which was fine by me. The server comes over, greets me (Bonjour!), and I order a glass of Medoc to start. (Un verre de medoc, s'il vous plait!) The glass comes, and I'm already apprehensive that I'm paying 12 bucks for what looks to be a tasting serving (literally three sips, max).

I look through the menu (like I didn't know it pretty much by heart by now), and decide to get the Mini Tartare de Boeuf, prepared tableside. Hey, I love my theatrics, leave me alone.

Another waitress comes over (Bonjour!) and asks me how I'd like the tartare prepared. I responded by telling her to make it a tad on the spicy side, but other than that, to make it the way she thought was the best. It took her about 7 minutes of mixing egg with various condiments (pepper, tabasco, worcestershire, etc) with the fresh beef before she scooped the tartare and arranged it oh so prettily on a plate with some toast points and a mesclun salad.

I take a bite anticipating a little corner of heaven... Ok, not bad. Competent, but definitely not nearly in the same league as the Kobe Tartare that I had at craftSteak in Vegas several months ago. Still, nice. Then I made the mistake of taking a bite of the salad... Ok, did the garde-manger fall asleep or what? The thing must have been salted at least three times. It was so salty that it burned my mouth. I gagged on it, and then lost the use of my palate for the next 10 minutes. So much for enjoying steak tartare. I'm a little pissed at this point, but I finish the tartare and leave the rest of the salad on the plate as a mini-protest for ruining my mini-tartare.

So, fine, I feel jipped on the wine, and can't taste anything yet. Let's refresh the palate by guzzling water, wine, then eating a piece of (stale) baguette. Ok, better.

I ended up getting the Mignons de Porc, since it is one of their signature dishes, and since I've actually made it from the cookbook. I wanted to see how mine stacked up to the original. Pork comes... it's tepid? Ok waitron. You've got three tables in an empty restaurant and I get cold-ish food? Well, whatever, I'll eat it anyway. Like I said, I've made this recipe... it starts out by making garlic confit (fancy way of saying slow roasted garlic) and then rubbing two pork tenderloins with it and leaving it overnight. Instead of confit, I got burnt. Basically, the pork and the sauce just tasted burnt. The sauce itself was fine (basic brown jus-glace-whatever type thing)but I couldn't get over the burnt garlic flavor. My rendition of the recipe was sublime by comparison. I gagged on the meat, ate a couple bites of the very boring mash (gluey!), and paid the bill.

All in all, the worst $50 I've ever spent on a bill short of being gouged for bad buurgers and fries at the Mouse Trap (sorry, don't want to get sued by a certain animation and entertainment company).

Les Halles DC... maybe it's time to close your doors, since ya ain't giving a sh*t about what you're serving. I got a drop of wine, a salt lick, and piece of charcoal for 50 bucks. I will never go back. Ok, I'll try the Park Avenue location, maybe.


Les Halles, DC
1201 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC
Tel: 202.347.6848
www.leshalles.net/washington.php

Happy Eating!

Nobu NYC

I'm in New York. A former business associate and friend of mine decided that he wanted to get together for dinner and suggested that we go eat Japanese. Originally, he had intended for us to go to Masa (hey, big spender), the new location of Masa Takayama, formerly of Ginza Sushi-ko in Beverly Hills. Since he got confused with my travel dates, he had to give up the reservation that he had there. Damn.

As a second best choice, we ended up at Nobu in TriBeCa. Now, any foodie worth anything has heard of Nobu Matsuhisa, the pioneer of nouvelle Japanese cuisine, who marries Peruvian accents into an otherwise truly Japanese meal. I walked in with my buddy with the orders to "do damage" and that "money wasn't an issue." A guy very much after my own heart when it comes to food!

We ordered cocktails (Citron rocks, lemon, for me), and the slaughter starts. We ordered three appetizers to start with and told the waitress to leave the menu since we had every intention of continuing to order as much as we could gorge ourselves on. Remember, money wasn't an issue?

First up, Kumamoto Oysters with two sauces. One is a ponzu type soy citrus number, while the other is a Maui onion salsa. The oysters are screaming fresh and go down so easy, it's almost sinful. Of the two sauces, I actually prefered the Maui onion salsa -- you could get the taste of the oyster better.

Next, Monkfish Liver Pate with Caviar. Talk about sinful. It's rich, sweet, and just melts in your mouth like... foie gras... wait, it might be better than foie gras. I must say, as much it was nice to see the caviar topping, it was completely unnecessary. My friend and I actually decided that the dish tasted better without the caviar. We actually wasted the caviar. I felt kinda guilty. But money wasn't an issue, right?

Third up, Toro Tartar. Unctuous, melty... great... wonderful fish, but nothing you couldn't get at any other high-caliber restaurant.

Well, we're off to a good start.

In the course of the next several hours (4 and a half to be exact), we ordered several of the cold dishes, a few of the hot entrees, and finished off with a variety of sushi.

There were amazing high notes such as the monkfish liver pate, and the New Style Sashimi of Copper River Sockeye Salmon, to which my friend said, "I think I may have wet myself a little bit," and the O-Toro Sushi that were truly transcendent. However, there were some other dishes that while not bad, just felt like "eh?"

Examples of these... The Lobster Salad. For one, I hate to admit, the only reason that either of us continued eating it after the first couple bites was the fact that we didn't feel comfortable wasting the lobster. There was just too much on the plate. And given that it was badly dressed (i.e. flavorless)and unbalanced (too much oil and hot spice without any acid)the dominant flavor was of the char-grilled shiitake mushrooms.

Another dish that was shiitake dominant was the Squid Pasta. Side note: ok, does Nobu use any other mushroom? I mean, there are plenty of great Japanese mushrooms like enoki, shimeji, ehringii, matsutake, nameko... the list goes on. Back to the squid, it was well cooked, just that the sauce was really dominating, and you really couldn't taste the squid in it.

The Hamachi Cheeks were really cooked the wrong way in my opinion. The whole head of the fish is served in this presentation, and while it was well flavored and well cooked in terms of doneness, it was cooked in the wrong medium. I could immediately tell that it was broiled over a gas flame. For something like this where the texture is important, you can't do that. Gas flame create water vapor as a byproduct which in essence steams the meat, giving it a mushy texture. Ask any Japanese connoisseur of Unagi, and they will tell you that they won't eat it somewhere that doesn't deal with charcoal. For a restaurant of the caliber of Nobu, this lack of attention to detail was disappointing, to say the least.

All in all though, it was a great meal. I just wish that it was consistently awe-inspiring like the few great dishes I mentioned above. Would I go back? Definitely, since I now know what not to order. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

So wanna know how much we ended up spending? :D Let's just say it was really expensive.

Nobu NYC

105 Hudson St.
New York, NY
Tel: 212.219.0500
http://www.noburestaurants.com/newyork/index.html

Happy Eating!

That's a good burger!

I thought about the amount of money I spent for lunch at Tep(id) Thai the other day, and here's a case where I spent a bit more, but was MUCH more satisfied. A nice atmosphere, good food, and stellar service. That's what dining should be about.

Houston's. Yes, that chain restaurant. Well, upscale chain restaurant. I've been in a couple locations on both coasts, and I usually end up ordering the same thing here. The Hickory Burger. I admit that at $14 it's a bit on the pricey end for a mere burger (that's not Wagyu Beef, at least), but here's where the money is totally worth it. Freshly ground chuck, cooked to order, and served with lettuce, onions, a mound of grated cheddar cheese (tastes like Tillamook to me), and several slices of Canadian bacon on an eggy and fluffy bun and served with ethereally fried shoestring fries. Don't let me forget the hickory BBQ sauce... made on premises and to die for. Really.


As much as I like burgers in general, this is definitely one place where it's ok in my book to spend that kind of money. By all means, if you can't finish it in one sitting, take it home and reheat it. You'll be glad you did. In my book, this is so far the best upscale burger there is.

Granted, I haven't tried the $32 burger that Daniel Boulud serves at Bistro db... yes, I would have to try a burger that's stuffed with braised ribs and topped with foie gras and black trumpets. I'm going to NYC soon, so I'll let everyone know if I get the chance to try this one.



Back to Houston's. The other dish I tried was their oak grilled artichoke appetizer. Three rather large artichoke halves were brought out, slightly charred around the edges and smelling delicious. The remoulade/aioli that it came with was pretty good too. A little on the thick side, but it didn't overpower the artichokes too much. Good thing that they were grilled to make them more assertive. The only thing here is that it's a bit messy and labor intensive to eat the artichokes. You really to have to eat them leaf by leaf and by hand, scraping the bit of flesh off with your teeth, until you finally get to the heart. Still, I love it, and the tactile aspect of this is wonderful.

All in all, with a couple beers (Sierra Nevada), an appetizer and two burger orders, I won't say that it was cheap at $70 (with tip), but it was definitely worth it. I left with half of my burger for later, and feeling ever so much happier that I got to relax and just have some simple, good, food.

Houston's Century City

10250 Santa Monica Blvd.
Space D
Los Angeles, CA
Tel: 310.557.1285
www.hillstone.com

Happy Eating!

Tep(id) Thai

I received a flier a while back from Tep Thai in Glendale. Not only was it gorgeously designed, it showcased the beautiful renovation that they had gone through.

That should have been my red flag right there. I was drawn to the design of the direct mail piece and my subsequent viewing of the web site (www.tepthai.com), which really didn't showcase images of food. I should have been able to guess by this alone that it was going to be another one of those "love the space... but something's missing" experiences. But their tagline is "Angelic Cuisine!" It had to be good, right?

Here's to guinea pigging... I took my friend who likes Thai food with me for lunch. He had helped me with some things related to my move, so I thought the least I could do was buy lunch. We parked in the lot right next door, and walked in. Little late for lunch, so we were seated immediately. The space is gorgeous. Simple, yet clean, modern, but retaining a sense of warmth. Kudos to whoever designed the interior here. I really was getting excited. The waitress was the standard young pretty Thai who was polite to a fault. No complaints there. I ordered a Thai iced tea, and put in an order of Angel Wings (again, it's "Angelic Cuisine," right?) and an order of Tom Yum Koong to start.

Angel Wings -- These are breaded and fried chicken wings that are stuffed with pork, prawns, cellophane noodles, etc. Normally very flavorful and satisfying. I took my first bite here and thought that the breading was a little heavy handed (i.e. very thick) and that the filling was next to tasteless. The sauce that came with it was a very sweet glaze that didn't add to anything. I was able to finally enjoy this dish once I figured out that it only had a flavor other than sweet if I added the garlic chili paste that sat on the table. While not bad, nothing to rave about here.

Tom Yum Koong -- Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp. This was barely palatable. There was way too much lemongrass and tamarind that made you think you were drinking a warm cup of Sour Patch Kids gummy treats without the sweet afterwards. Not spicy enough, and the shrimp was rubbery. Pass on this one unless you like the idea of drinking a citrusy warm vinegar.

After the first couple appetizers, I was getting over the lovely decor. At the point in which there are plenty of other Thai restaurants in the neighborhood that are far cheaper, the fact that it's prettier just stopped cutting it for me. Onto main courses.

My friend ordered the Thai BBQ Pork. While it wasn't inspired, it was definitely the best thing ordered so far. The meat was well flavored and moist, but again, there was nothing special about it. In fact, I bet that the Thai takeout two doors down from Tep Thai does it better, with a bigger portion for half the price.

Pad Thai -- This is definitely a Thai restaurant staple... and I've had quite a few variations thereof. I like this dish, there's a bit of everything here from starchy to crunchy to sweet to fresh to pungent. And I like the fact that after the app and soup we had earlier, I wanted something a little less heavy in the protein department. Mistake. The noodles were gummy from being overcooked, and the flavoring seemed like the person who cooked it was following a cookbook for the first time. The various components just didn't gel together, and it was really more of a blob of a dish to me. For a place that professes to serve "Angelic Cuisine," this dish made me want to tell them to replace the "Angelic" with "Amateur." In all honesty, I've had some do it yourself instant Pad Thais that were far superior to this.

All in all, this wasn't a great experience. I'm not going to say that it's not worth going to, but I think the flavoring and presentation of the dishes really caters more to an American palate than an authentic Thai one. If you're looking to try Thai food for the first time, this might be the kind of place that will make you interested. Most of the stuff is bland and non-threatening. If you're into Thai or SE Asian cuisine at all, you'll feel like I did after picking up the $50 lunch tab with no alcohol for two... You just paid for pretty.

Tep Thai

209 Wilson Ave.
Glendale, CA
818.246.0380
www.tepthai.com

Happy Eating!

Would you like a side of crazy with that burger?

So, my friend Zack-I and I (wow, say that ten times fast) couldn't think of anything that we wanted to eat the other day. Given that we weren't looking for something too involved, we ended up at Rick's on the corner of Fletcher and Riverside in Silverlake.

Mind you, I didn't necessarily recommend it, but it was there, and it was quick and easy. First things first. We walk in (I have been there on a couple other occasions) and Zack-I just laughs at the stereotypical Southern California 70s diner decor inside. Seriously, this thing hasn't been updated in a couple decades at least at this point -- pink naugahyde booths and all. We get in line to place our order at the counter and the girl behind the counter (loudly chatting in Español to the back of the house) finally looks up after a couple minutes with this abject look of I couldn't be bothered.


We order our burgers and fries and lower ourselves into one of the pepto-colored booths and wait. Food comes out quickly enough, and I must say, the burger is definitely one of the better ones I've had at a takeout joint in a while. The meat was succulent, and not cooked to undead status, and the buns were buttered and toasted. Fries were fresh, and light. So far so good. I'm thinking that I'm going to forgive the timewarp decor and even the attitude of the cashier...



And then Schizo-guy walks in. Imagine someone that looks like a distant and very tired looking older cousin of Billy Bob Thornton dressed in ripped construction pants, a faded flannel shirt and a ball cap, and you've got the idea. He's yelling at the counter as he's walking out the back door that he doesn't have any money for the coffee he ordered. If that were it, I would have said, "OK, that was weird" and left it at that but no. Guy keeps coming in and out. At one point, he's mentioning to one of the Latina employees (who pretended not to speak English at this point) that they should install 15-watt light bulbs in the bathroom to make it more "mood lit" while he sat on the throne and read in there. Um... when was the last time you remembered to take your meds, guy?

I'm getting amused at this all, and Zack-I is rolling his eyes while shoving more burger in his mouth. Schizoid leaves again after his request for "mood lit bathroom" is met with silence, and starts commenting on the cop that had just pulled someone over in Rick's driveway.

"Man, that's a mean looking sumbitch. I bet he was in the ARMY and got kicked out. Only LAPD would hire one of them and give them a gun. I remember when Daddy was in the ARMY and I have his discharge papers. I have the REAL ones. They don't give out the real ones like they used to anymore. I need to make sure that it's somewhere safe when the government comes knocking at the door. I'm so sorry Daddy, I shoulda spent more time with you. I'm missing you. But I kept your discharge papers safe..." So on and so forth. And the above is the part that actually made enough sense for me to remember.

So, boys and girls, if you go to Rick's (and by all means do -- the food is cheap and really not bad), remember to stay for the slice of human life drama that comes with your order. The characters are definitely there.

"Welcome to Rick's, may I take your order? And would you like a side of lithium or a razor blade with your Asada Burrito and fries?"

Cuban in LA

I went out with a friend for dinner to Versailles in West LA the other night. If you ask someone where to go in LA to get good Cuban food, this is where you'll be recommended to go nine times out of ten. I've been in LA several years now, but since I live on the east side of town (Silver Lake), I've never had a good enough reason to go here. That was until a friend who lives close by invited me to dinner.

Good company, a restaurant I've wanted to try for a while, and a cuisine that I genuinely enjoy... Sounds good to me!

Like many other Cuban restaurants, this is a casual dining establishment where the focus is on a good home-style cooking. For a Tuesday night, it's pretty busy, which definitely bodes well for the food that's coming my way.

First up, the obligatory Croquetas. $2.50 gets you two of these tasty treats. Croquetas are deep-fried mashed potato balls with ham in them. Versailles does them just fine. Croquetas can sometimes be overpoweringly salty, but not these. Just the right crunch, lightness, and just a nice ham flavor throughout. Perfect for an appetizer at just two bites each.



At the recommendation of my friend (and the menu), I order Versailles Famous Garlic Chicken. It's a gargantuan serving of half a chicken smothered in a citrusy garlic sauce topped with onions, lots of fried maduros (ripe plantains), white rice, and a bowl of soupy black beans. The chicken is good. Cooked well, the legs and thighs practically fall off the bone, and are succulent. The breast meat is slightly overcooked for my taste, but still edible. Overall, the flavor is fine. If the setting were slightly more intimate, I'd say someone's mom made the chicken especially for me. The rest of the sides are ok. The white rice is a little dry, but it's fine once you spoon some of the tasty black beans over it.

My friend had the Sandwich Cubano, which is described as:
SLICES OF SMOKED HAM AND ROASTED PORK, SWISS CHEESE, SWEET PICKLE AND MUSTARD, SERVED ON CUBAN BREAD - ENTIRE SANDWICH IS THEN GRILLED

I didn't try it, but my friend said it was good.

Overall, I thought the food and service was fine, and the prices were very reasonable. I would go back, but I don't think that I would make a special trip to go that far for me. Unless, that is, I have a hankering to eat something really hard to come by elsewhere like Vaca Frita. Unless I'm really craving something that obscure, there's a perfectly good alternative right in my neck of the woods on Glendale Avenue in Atwater Village.




I've been going to Baracoa Cuban Cafe for about three years now. Like Versailles, it's a casual establishment the serves up good home-style cooking, with generous portions and reasonable prices. Baracoa is a much smaller restaurant than Versailles, and tends to be more quiet/intimate. The decor is bordering on the God-awful, but this is not the kind of restaurant you go for to be dazzled by the million-dollar contemporary art collection. Besides, being LA, there are PLENTY of chi chi restaurants where one can go to for that. You'd go to a place like Baracoa because the food is good and cheap.

The menu is much tighter than Versailles here. The way I look at it, instead of being the Cuban food emporium that Versailles tries to be, Baracoa makes a select few dishes very well. Well enough that a good Cuban-American friend of mine who was visiting from out of town, called over the waitress and told her that the food was every bit as good as he got at Mama's table at home (and of course, he would deny ever having said that if his mother ever were to hear about it).

Having been to Baracoa many times, I've tried many of the items on the menu.

I always start out with the Empanadas. I get one each of the meat and the cheese. The texture of the pastry is flaky without being greasy, and has an almost biscuit-like quality. The meat filling is a traditional picadillo which is a ground beef flavored with green olives, tomatoes, and spices. The way I see it, it's kind of like a less sweet and drier sloppy Joe mixture. Delicious! The cheese is a mozzarella-like white cheese which is very well melted, and slightly sweet.

If it's your first time here, ask if they have Arroz con Pollo available. They almost always sell out this by 7PM, but it's worth it. It's a quarter of a chicken and yellow rice that is just succulent and wonderful. You'll feel like you've gone to Cuba with this one.

If you're wanting something more meaty, go for the Bistec Empanizado. It's a marinated and flattened top sirloin steak that is breaded and deep fried. It comes with black beans and rice, as well as a few pieces of maduros (plantains). It really is a huge plate of food and very reasonable at $13.95.

I almost always order the Tilapia with tomatoes and garlic. The fish itself is quite bland (well, it is tilapia after all) but the tomato-garlic relish is great. A meal for a lighter appetite.

If you're in the Silver Lake/Atwater Village area, this is one place you can't go wrong with. Just don't expect to be dazzled.

On the topic of Cuban eateries, Porto's Bakery on Brand Boulevard in Glendale needs to be mentioned here briefly. All I have to say is this. Go, and now. Great breads and hot foods. I usually go by here when I have a party, and need to supplement the finger foods section. Their Croquetas and savory pies are great (and CHEAP!!!), but the show stopper is their Potato Balls. It's a breaded and deep-fried mashed potato ball filled with picadillo. At 80 cents (!) a piece, I buy a boat load for party nights. You won't find the quality of the breads and cakes you can get here easily, and you definitely won't at the rock bottom prices they charge. Just be patient, and remember to take a number when you enter if you want to be served. :D

Happy Eating!

craftsteak Las Vegas

So I was in Vegas this past weekend. As much as I wanted to get around and eat at every good restaurant, I ended up only being able to go out once for a nice dinner due to some transportation/communications snafoos with friends and such.

I was in the mood for steak, and didn't want to do the traditional American steakhouse thing. For one, I tend to be disappointed every time I do it, and I find that the high price tag of the Morton's-type club eatery not worth it. While there are many choices in Vegas, I decided to limit it to two choices. My first choice was Thomas Keller's Bouchon at the Venetian, and my second, Tom Colicchio's CraftSteak at the MGM Grand. I was going to take my friend with me, so I printed out the menus and let him choose. Since we're both currently watching (read: addicted) to Top Chef on Bravo, we decided to go to CraftSteak.

We arrived at about 7:30 on a Saturday night with no reservations, but were given a club table almost immediately in the bar section, since there was a huge party that couldn't decide what they were going to do. Score!

The atmosphere was nice. Leather wall panels and steel beams and the back wall of the bar was all glass showing the wine cellar behind it. The only thing I could say that I didn't like about the atmosphere was that the air was very stale, and it was warm. I have a tendency to get flushed in places like this, so I had to have the waitress bring me a glass of ice water (for dabbing on my forehead) and a vodka rocks asap. Once I cooled off though, it was fine.

Onto the food. I got three of the Olde Salt Oysters from VA which were absolutely screaming fresh and succulent/sweet. We then ordered the Kobe Beef Tartare for our appetizer. I've had a lot of tartare, but this one really took the cake for me. Buttery, unctuous, tangy, sweet... I don't know that I have the words or the memory to describe it, since I basically had a mini-orgasm when I took the first bite. As jaded as I can be about food sometimes, this was just plain wonderful.

For our main course, I ordered the 10oz. Bison New York Strip (med-rare), and my friend ordered the King Salmon. We're both experienced cooks, but my friend was flabbergasted when offered to choose his salmon's temperature (med-rare). For sides, we got grilled asparagus and potato gratin. I'm a real stickler for steak temperatures, but the first (and every) bite I had of the bison steak was SPOT on. Nice and crusty on the outside, nice and pink/red in the middle, and HOT. It was well rested enough that all the juice stayed in the meat and not run on into the jus that was served with it. Heaven. The salmon was equally delicious, all buttery and crunchy all at the same time. To be honest, the sides were competent but not earth shattering, which was ok, since the main dishes were so amazing. They really were just there to support the main protein and not overshadow it.

By the time we were done with the main courses, we looked through the dessert menus and decided that while everything looked very tempting, that it'd be best not to overdo it. Despite not ordering any dessert, we each got three pieces of something sweet from the pastry chef. A nice chocolate browny, an Italian Amaretto cookie, and a peanut butter fudge. All in all, I felt like I was in paradise.

Not only was the food great, but what really made the evening even more special was the server we had. She was so nice and attentive without being in our face. I actually left an almost 40% tip since the experience she provided was that great.

If this experience is a testament to the level of cooking that Tom Colicchio does in his own kitchen, I was more than thouroughly impressed -- yeah, he's got the chops to judge other chefs/cooks. Don't think about this one. Just go. You won't regret it.