Showing posts with label DineLA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DineLA. Show all posts
Dine LA: Italian Cuisine at Scarpetta & Sotto
My tastes usually gravitate toward Asian food. After having traveled through Italy, it's been hard to appreciate Italian food in my town. As much as I support the L.A. food scene, the fact is that I've had much better Italian food in New York and San Francisco.Well, during the recent DineLA, restaurant week, I gave two fine Italian restaurants a try and can honestly say there was very little disappointment.
Chef Scott Conant's take on modern, earthy and refined Italian cuisine at Scarpetta provides an elegant and inspired experience.The setting within the Beverly Hills Montage Hotel, especially seated outdoors as we were, provides for some interesting people watching not to mention the feeling of being on a mini-vacation. It also brings that "New York" Italian food vibe to L.A.
As a low carb eater, I save my carb indulgences for meals like this - between polenta, pasta and a decadent dessert, it was carb heaven.
First Course: Creamy polenta, fricasee of truffled mushrooms.
From the time this lovely dish arrived with lids on each vessel to the time the server gently placed the first spoon of mushroom on the polenta, it proved to be a creamy, earthy feast for all senses.
My friend had the braised short ribs of beef with vegetable & farro risotto.
The beef melted in the mouth while the risotto had a creamy quality with some bite and still-crunchy vegetables.
Lucky for me, we ate our appetizers half way and switched plates.
Second Course: Speghetti tomato & basil
Ever since I heard Ted Allen raving about his pasta dish on The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network, I wanted more than anything to taste it.
Genius in its simplicity, it tasted perfectly of sweet, Mediterranean tomatoes, high quality olive oil and basil. The sauce did not fall off the al dente pasta. Definitely worthy of all the hype (and recipes floating around).
Third Course:
Coconut panna cota guava soup & carmelized pineapple
Chocolate cake burnt orange-caramel gelato & espresso sauce
Once again we all tried each other's desserts. The beautiful presentation continued, although the desserts did not come with domes! While I love chocolate, the cake was of the dense, rich, heavy variety where 2 bites do the trick. The panna cota surprised me with the tropical coconut and guava flavors and a very buttery tuile on top.
Once again we all tried each other's desserts. The beautiful presentation continued, although the desserts did not come with domes! While I love chocolate, the cake was of the dense, rich, heavy variety where 2 bites do the trick. The panna cota surprised me with the tropical coconut and guava flavors and a very buttery tuile on top.
While this decadent, almost 3-hour lunch (food offered on Italian time) satisfied me immensely, our table faced Bouchon. After we said goodbye and parted ways, a cappuccino from Bouchon Bakery ended it the right way. Perfect cup with loads of luscious foam.
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And that was my second favorite DineLA meal! The top honors go to Sotto, Steve Samson and Zach Pollack's southern italian cuisine restaurant.
Sotto prominently features a wood burning oven, so clearly pizza stood out as a must-try, but the extra treat was the fact that every other item as well as the service exceeded expectations.
A trusted foodie friend recommended it to me long ago as his "go-to" restaurant. I can see why.
Olives to me are what chocolate is to many - absolutely adore them. So upon arrival, this bowl of cured olives, marinated with parsley, chilies and orange zest.
This prix fixe deal also offered, in lieu of dessert, a well-chosen glass of Cantele 2009 Negromaro Rosato. I love DineLA menus that offer a cheese plate or beverage in place of dessert.
My friend selected for first course the Blistered little gems salad with anchovy garlic pestata, breadcrumbs and aged caprino Sardo.
For me, much like with Scarpetta's speghetti, I came for one dish and one dish only, that I'd seen in a photo online - the Cauliflower Almond Zuppa with chilies, capers and sultanas (golden raisins).
I love cauliflower, and have cooked it countless different ways. I love soup, While I prefer Asian soups, this bowl taught me to explore more Italian soups.
Served piping hot, this soup bursts with gorgeous, warm colors. Its creamy, spicy, crunchy, sweet flavors meld into a heavenly combination. My dining companion took a few bites and declared it's the best soup she ever tasted. It deserves that honor for sure and I'd happily make a meal out of it any time.
Because it was both of our first times at Sotto, we also shared our second courses. The Margherita Pizza made with just tomato, mozzarella, basil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, was one of the best versions of this dish I've had in the U.S.
We cut it in half thinking we'd take the rest home, but ended up rapidly eating the other half too.
Our other dish, the Casarecce braided pasta with braised lamb ragu, egg and pecorino dazzled us so much that I forgot to photograph it before eating - a very rare occasion since I usually have my camera and have been photographing beautiful food for over a decade.
Instead, allow me to provide this link to click on, which I found on a web search, that will take you to Flickr to see the dish.
Our meal ended and our bellies both satisfied and full, we still ordered a dessert to share a la carte. Who can turn down a well made cannoli? This crispy Cannoli Siciliani, filled with ricotta, orange marmalade, pistachios, chocolate then sprinkled with powdered sugar, provided a poetic end to a perfect meal.
With that comes the end of another exciting season of DineLA and some standout choices for Italian food in Los Angeles.
Dine LA: Short Order - More Than Just Burgers
During this recent DineLA restaurant week period, I availed of 3 participating locations all starting with the letter "S".Short Order, located at the Original Farmers Market, is the collaboration of Nancy Silverton and Amy Pressman, who met almost 30 years ago at Spago and stayed friends ever since. Pressman's passing during fall of last year shortly before this special project of hers came together really encouraged me to support her efforts.
My group and I arrived just before the dinner rush since they do not take reservations, and we were seated upstairs at the communal table immediately.
The communal table definitely served as fun people watching since it contained a couple of Top Chef former contestants. I didn't really stare at the whole group, who were circulating quite a bit, but fairly quickly recognized Marcel Vigneron and Alex Reznik. Both chefs whose food I've loved.
Among quite a few menus the beverage choices stood out, especially the "adult milkshakes". Most notable is the Charlie Brown - a vanilla custard shake with chocolate ganache and roasted Spanish peanut infused bourbon (infused in-house in an immersion circulator).
They serve custard shakes which are more popular in the east coast and midwest. An interview I read of Amy Pressman just before her passing mentioned that they were inspired by Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack in Manhattan, making custard ice cream and hand-spinning shakes into four flavors.
The daily special vanilla custard shake with crushed graham cracker and caramel and the chocolate shake with Guinness practically overflowed from their jars. Each of us ordered different flavors.
Being a big fan of malt flavors, I decided on the Coffee Malt shake. The jar size is just right with a creamy yet not too heavy consistency. One doesn't have to wait to get the shake through the straw. I loved the frothy texture, especially on the top, which reminded me of the foam you'd find on a cappuccino.
The menu contains regular, classic fries or these Spuds, torn pieces of baked potatoes fried to a crispy golden color. The dipping sauce of baked potato fixins such as sour cream with chives and bacon bits cling to all the rivulets on the spuds to add punches of flavor.
I didn't know if Chef Christian Page, formerly Chef de Cuisine at Eva, would remember me, especially with all the chef buddies around. But he did and spent a fair amount of time chatting with us (and posing for a couple of fun pictures with a colleague).
He gave some good tips on the menu and I have to say, between the hat, button down shirt and cool apron, definitely one of the chic chefs I've seen around town. I've tried his food and loved it, which is another reason for wanting to come to Short Order.
Let me reiterate that his constant relaxed state and grace under pressure really really impressed me yet again. We had a lot of hiccups in our service, to put it mildly, between their recent opening and a new server who was nice but was not familiar with DineLA!
Many components of our meal were forgotten and we had to remind the staff repeatedly. It was hard to stay positive, but the chef definitely helped me to roll with the punches.
The shake won as the best thing to order but unexpectedly, this Bean Salad won for me as a close second. The mixture of green and yellow wax beans, gigante beans, garbanzo beans, red onion, oregano, parsley, and lemon vinaigrette melded perfectly.
It's always good to try a well seasoned salad as well as a high protein salad, since I'm always looking for sandwich (low carb) lunch alternatives. Chef Christian mentioned that many of the staff eat this salad daily and I can see why. I took most of mine home and it might have even tasted better the next day, still crispy.
The salad of market greens, persian cucumber, celery, dill, champagne vinaigrette also provided a light, crispy side for the entrees.
For the DineLA menu we were given a choice of 3 burgers for the entree. Nancy's, Ida's or Amy's. I had read that these burgers were meant to be the simpler flavors that chefs enjoy when they are not working. They are named after the people who inspired them, which is true to eating what the chefs actually make at ahome.
As much as a I love high quality beef burgers, and heard Ida's burger was inspired by In N' Out Burger, I opted for Amy's Turkey Burger, based on the recommendation of food critic Jonathan Gold.
It contained organic turkey, sage cheddar, melted celery, leeks, mustardy mayo. Very clean and light, I particularly enjoyed the all green condiments and the notion of melted celery, which was probably braised or sauteed. I loved the seeded mustard, choice of lettuce, juicy turkey and general lightness of it all. Even the bun, which I usually do not eat, was delicious and light enough to eat.
Was it a burger I'd crave? Probably not. In fact I've enjoyed other burgers more. It was solid though, and a burger you don't feel guilty about eating afterward.
They offer burgers made with various meats, including lamb, so I'd definitely be willing to give others a try.
I'd gone to a brunch earlier that day at friends' house and did not have a huge appetite to begin with, so had packed half of everything to go. At this point Chef Christian kindly came out with a tray of more items to try - Pretzel Dogs and Pretzel Pups.
I'd been eyeing this dish of mini pretzel dogs at a neighbor's table. Even though I didn't eat it until the next day, it heated up well. I loved the La Brea Bakery pretzel bun, well seasoned dog and lightly pickled cabbage kraut, along with mustard. My third favorite dish on the menu so far.
My friends took home the Corn Dogs with Anson Mills corn batter, mustard. If they were the same dogs with batter instead of the bun, they were probably also tasty.
These cute little decorative touches, like the banana peel doorstop, add a great whimsy to the open air setting upstairs.
The staircase lies next to the original clock tour, which looked charming at dusk.
This charming table upstairs contains one of a couple of beautiful in-table fireplaces.
Upon walking out, I saw this sign outside the kitchen, explaining the story behind Short Order.
My group walked over to Bob's Coffee & Donuts, one of my favorite vendors in the market and an L.A. institution. They had run out of most of their items since it was near closing time.
I decided to do a quick visit to Short Cake and Single Origin, around the corner from Short Order and utilize the $5 certificate they'd given us as part of the DineLA menu.
The decor exuded a very happy, energetic vibe. Even 5 minutes to closing there was no lack of customers in line.
Items in the case included uniquely intriguing flavors such as: chocolate cardamom cream cake, double baked croissants, curry raisin/buttermilk blueberry/sesame date/feta scallion scones, brown butter cranberry muffins. I picked up a sesame date scone for breakfast and a cookie for late night snack. It is indeed a delightful bakery.
I'd only tried one of Amy Pressman's creations, an extremely elaborate Peruvian-inspired dessert, at Test Kitchen during a Ricardo Zarate dinner.
Despite not having a huge sweet tooth and being insanely full, almost everything appealed to me from the cases. I'm sure her spirit is extremely proud of this swan song.
Beautiful Food: The Raymond's Salad of Forgotten Roots
During the past month I encountered some food almost too beautiful to eat. Food on a plate whose artistry I stared at for at least five minutes before breaking up the arrangement.When I dug into this elegant and extraordinary Salad of Forgotten Root Vegetables at The Raymond Restaurant, it tasted as good as it looked. And that's saying something.
The menu simply describes it as "flowers, herbs and other neat stuff".
It's rare that I encounter a dish where upon sight and taste I can't figure out most of the ingredients.
Because these vibrant vegetables ranged from raw to compressed to fried to pickled, it kept me guessing.
From this detail you an see a slice of lotus root, a dainty pickled cauliflower, watermelon beet, red beet, a nasturtium leaf, turnip, radishes and toasted crumbs that look like pepper but offer a surprising crunch.
This salad, based on a classic French salad (whose name I am still searching for), with a glass of Prosecco makes a perfect start to the meal we enjoyed on the outdoor patio.
The salad also contained rutabaga, artichoke, carrot, a tomato peeled with skin arranged pointing up to resemble flour petals. It possibly included celeriac (celery root, parsnips
Each section offered its own set of flavors including dressings, herbs, sauces and crumbs.
I'd eaten at the charming Raymond, set in a historical Craftsman cottage in Pasadena, with the food being homey American food. Braised short ribs, a wonderful roasted chicken, etc.
Executive Chef Tim Guiltinan, influenced by molecular gastronomy master Chef Grant Achatz, blended this traditional vibe with a modern gastronomic flair. He's modernized the menu of classics in a creative way with such modern techniques.
My light and fresh entree consisted of Hand Harvested Scallops with a Champagne and vanilla sauce, grilled king trumpet mushrooms, white asparagus and cilantro.
And the perfect California meal ended with an unexpected dessert called Candy Shop, with malted milk cake, chocolate caramel, sponge candy and root beer ice cream.
As my additional also show a similar aesthetic and uniqueness, I can only say that I look forward to more exciting creations from this chef.
