February 1, 2012

dineLA dinner at 3Twenty Wine Lounge

Posted by the minty under dessert, events, food, foodie alert, restaurant reviews, tasting menu, wine tasting | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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burrata plate

For my last dineLA dinner, I went to 3Twenty Wine Lounge on La Brea (not to be mistaken for 320 Main in Seal Beach).  We were celebrating a friend’s birthday and this was her choice. When we arrived just before 7:30, the place wasn’t full yet but once we were seated, it filled up and continued to be busy all night. 3Twenty is the sort of place you’d get a glass of wine and perhaps some cheese. I don’t think they were really prepared for dineLA. We ended up staying well over 3 hours and although the food was good, I am not sure I had that much time I wanted to devote to this meal. Still, the company was very good.

pea and pecorino bruschetta

 

What made the 3Twenty menu different from other dineLA menus is you got to choose 2 appetizers, 1 main and 1 dessert. I opted for the pea and pecorino bruschetta and haricot vert (green beans) while the birthday girl had the burrata plate and bacon-wrapped prawns. Our other friend opted to go off-dineLA and got the butternut squash soup and salad.

bacon-wrapped prawns

salad

 

So far the burrata was very good with chopped olives and roasted garlic. We also liked the bruschetta. The salad was salad and the prawns were nice and juicy.

butternut squash soup

green beans

 

The butternut squash was on the thinner side. Perhaps no cream? The green beans were great though. I enjoyed the bits of garlic with them.

lamb poutine

 

As I mentioned, my friend went off dineLA and got the lamb poutine. Great albeit salty fries.

diver sea scallops with asparagus

skillet steak

 

My friend went for the diver sea scallops which came with asparagus. My skillet steak surprisingly didn’t come with any greens. I should have saved some of the green beans from the other course. It did come with a Roquefort butter but the steak was flavorful enough on its own that I didn’t smear any on. Besides, I’m not a stinky cheese fan.

orange peel and marzipan petit four

warm cookie with chocolate gelato

For dessert, we had the two choices- cookie with chocolate gelato and the marzipan. There was such a long wait they gave us an extra marzipan. I liked both but really liked the chocolate gelato. You can’t beat a warm cookie!

I’d like to come back just to try the nifty Enomatic wine machines and perhaps share a few small plates.  I don’t recommend this as a first date place especially during dineLA. This is more of an anniversary place where you can lovingly look into your adored one’s eyes.

 

3Twenty Wine Lounge

320 S La Brea, Los Angeles, CA 90036 – (323) 932-9500

 

 

January 31, 2012

dineLA dinner at Tres by Jose Andres

Posted by the minty under cocktalian, dessert, events, food, foodie alert, restaurant reviews, tasting menu | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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spicy gin cocktail

 

I met friends at Tres by Jose Andres last week for dineLA dinner. I had wanted to try Bazaar by decided to save that for a later time to get the full experience. We did stop by for cocktails after dinner so a sneak peak post of sorts is coming.

jasmine

 

We started with a couple of cocktails. After I told my friend vodka was dead a few weeks ago, she has resolved to start drinking more gin. She requested a spicy gin cocktail which they made with St. Germain. It was nice but I’ve been over Elderflower (and cucumber, bacon-infused) cocktails lately. I ordered the Jasmine (gin, Cointreau, Campari, lemon) which to my dismay was rather disgusting. I expected the Campari to take control of the cocktail but instead it was sickly sweet. It was out of balance with too much triple sec (Cointreau).  I should have abandoned the cocktail but I hate to waste booze.

Hawaiian Bigeye Tuna Ceviche

 

We let our friendly server talk us into the ceviche, a Hawaiian bigeye tuna that came with plaintain chips. It was a bit difficult to eat but worth it for the fresh fish.

soup of green lentils and chorizo

buttifara con setas

 

We were impressed by the starters. My friend begged for the first four ingredients of her lentil soup with chorizo. It was pretty amazing but I liked my buttifara con setas more. The sausage was a heavy starter with plenty of mushrooms and creamy sauce. I could eat this with just the wonderful house bread and the best butter I’ve had in a while.

seared wild salmon

slow roasted beef tenderloin

 

Staples of a dineLA menu seem to be salmon, Jidori chicken and steak. Tres was no except. My friend liked her seared wild salmon though. She proclaimed it just the thing she wanted.

I went with the slow roasted beef tenderloin with oxtail jus and heirloom potatoes. Meat and taters, that’s what I needed. I found the plate to be extremely hot but the actual beef itself was barely above lukewarm. I would have liked the steak to be hotter. Still, it was expertly cooked and the thick jus was almost a gravy.

Jale Berry

Whistle Pig Manhattan

 

The Jale Berry (pronounced like Halle Berry’s name) is from the Bazaar menu but they happily made it at Tres. I had a Manhattan since my disastrous run in with the Jasmine cocktail. I very emphatically told them to stir it and stir they did. The Whistle Pig was quite perfect though what’s up with the neon red cherry? For $16, I expect a nice Luxardo or something similar. Ah well, at least it was cold and boozy. /endboozenerdrant

coconut tapioca

dark chocolate cake

For dessert, we had the coconut tapioca and the dark chocolate cake. I was so full I just had a few bites. Friends raved about their coconut tapioca but I was very well satisfied with the cake. I loved the monkeys holding the giant goblets imprinted on the chocolate candy.

We left feeling very pleased with our experience. Tres is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s more quiet than Bazaar and service was great. I wouldn’t mind coming back as I loved the decor.

rifle lamp

 

Like this rifle lamp was hilarious. For more photos, check out my flickr set.

 

Tres by Jose Andres

465 S La Cienega Bvld., Los Angeles, CA 90048 – (310) 246-5551
 

January 27, 2012

dineLA lunch at Cafe Pinot & The Mystery of Chicken Oysters

Posted by the minty under dessert, dtla lunch, food, foodie alert, restaurant reviews, tasting menu | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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fried chicken oysters

It’s that time of year again. As part of my whirlwind tour of dineLA restaurants around town, I landed at Cafe Pinot for lunch.

What are chicken oysters, you might ask? Apparently it’s a nub of meat near chicken thighs. When I saw Cafe Pinot was offering fried chicken oysters as part of their dineLA menu, I was intrigued but didn’t know exactly what it was. The word “oysters” made me think of some other kinds of oysters. But happily it wasn’t those er, delicate parts.

There’s something about fried chicken that’s always good but eating the fried chicken oysters made the adventurous foodie in me very happy.

lobster bisque

tuna tonnato

The other choices are the lobster bisque and tuna tonnato for the first course. The lobster bisque was a work of art. It was almost too pretty to disrupt the Jackson Pollack-looking surface.

And the tuna was very fresh. I liked the capers and aioli it was served with.

flat iron steak

The steak looked so prominent and was quite perfect for the business lunch crowd at Cafe Pinot. It was jazzed up with candied Moroccan olives and a vadouvan goat cheese mousse. It was perfectly cooked at medium rare.

Japanese Hokkaido scallops

I chose the Japanese Hokkaido scallops. And like classic Japanese block prints, this was a work of art. The thinly shaved mushrooms, the sprinkle of spice, the garlic veloute worked wonderfully with the delicate scallops.

The other choice is the carrot braised pork. We were told it is a shredded pork with lentils and a ginger emulsion.

creme fraiche panna cotta

red currant brioche bread pudding

For dessert, I nabbed the red currant brioche bread pudding. The pudding was very light and flaky and came with vanilla whipped creme fraiche. I liked that it came with salted caramel as well. I also had a taste of the creme fraiche panna cotta. Loved the thinly sliced crab apples on top.

The other dessert choice is ricotta fritters which sounded awesome with a tangerine sauce. The ricotta is even house made.

I was trying to decide which was the best seat at Cafe Pinot. The patio overlooks the Central Library and you see all walks of life. There is another outdoors patio that is more intimate off to the side. It’s almost like a balcony and seemed really romantic and secluded.

Cafe Pinot hasn’t announced their new executive chef yet but if you go for dineLA or any other time, you just might see a certain quirky mustachioed chef. He comes from a fine dining background and it really shows in the artistry of the plating and elegance of the food.

Cafe Pinot

700 West 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 239-6500

** previous Cafe Pinot meal

 

November 1, 2011

DTLA: Dinner at Bar | Kitchen

Posted by the minty under cocktalian, food, great cocktails, hot bartenders, restaurant reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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Quince Clover

It’s not often I make it a dineLA lunch and dinner at the same place. Of my five dineLA meals last month, I went to Bar | Kitchen twice, once for lunch and once for dinner.

foie gras terrine

smoked trout frisee salad

There were three of us so we decided to get one of each of the offerings. For the appetizers, Bar | Kitchen offered foie gras terrine, smoked trout frisee salad and the Tuscan kale and bean soup (pic here) also offered at lunch.

grilled pork porterhouse

kabocha pumpkin risotto with bleu cheese & grapes

pan roasted sockeye salmon

I was very happy with the foie gras terrine and pork porterhouse. I’m not a bleu cheese fan so the squash risotto wasn’t quite what I wanted. I can see how the kabocha pumpkin, cheese and grapes could work though. The salmon was cooked very well.

Death & Taxes

I had two cocktails this night including Quince Clover from the new cocktail menu and Death & Taxes from the weekly rotating menu.

Quince Clover- gin, Chef’s quince jam, dry vermouth, lemon, egg white

Death & Taxes- Beefeater gin, Pig’s Nose whiskey, Benedictine, Caparno Antica, orange bitters

apple croissant bread pudding

In addition to the delicious butterscotch pot de creme and chocolate and peanut butter cake, we had the apple croissant bread pudding. I had previously compared the butterscotch pot de creme to Mozza’s budino. I think it’s close — Mozza’s is still creamier but the taste is very good. On this night, we had someone who worked at Mozza with us and she agreed…after tasting it again and again just to be sure.

I’ll be back to BK over and over for cocktails and food. I’m glad dineLA introduced more folks to this DTLA. Just save me a seat at the bar. Or better yet, come along on the Fireplace Crawl in a couple of weeks.

 

Bar | Kitchen at the O Hotel

819 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017 – (213) 623-9904

 

November 1, 2011

Rivera: Another Blast From The Past, St. Estephe

Posted by the minty under dessert, dtla lunch, food, restaurant reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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pork ravioli

 

Chef John Sedlar’s St. Estephe menu ended in September at Rivera but then dineLA came around early October and elements from that menu were offered for both lunch and dinner at Rivera. I dropped in for lunch and though I really enjoyed the eggs (huevos rancheros), I decided to open with relleno which had been stuffed with a mushroom duxelles.

mushroom duxelles relleno

interior of the relleno

The mild pepper played well with the rich mushroom duxelles. I was sad when I finished the pepper.

 

roast chicken

 

I was originally going to get the stuffed pork adobada ravioli (pictured above) but my friend went for it and our server said it wasn’t very filling. The other option was the salmon mousse. I was surprised to see the salmon mousse make an appearance under the entrees since I know it was an appetizer. When I asked if it was a bigger portion, our server it was still the same appetizer portion. I ended up ordering the roast chicken which came with delicious veggies.

 

chicken enchilada

 

Another friend had the chicken enchilada and didn’t partake in the dineLA menu. He said he enjoyed it.

blue corn crepes

cactus fruit sorbet

For dessert, we shared the blue corn crepes, cactus fruit sorbet and my favorite chocolate cake (not shown).

It’ll be interesting to see what Rivera comes up with next dineLA. I have often lamented that restaurants take the easy way out by featuring a fairly staid menu (most often with items not normally found on their menu- jidori chicken, short ribs, salmon). I was happy to see Rivera take a risk and offer their St. Estephe menu.

 

Rivera Restaurant

1050 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015-5100 – (213) 749-1460

 

October 31, 2011

DTLA: Lunch at Tiara Cafe

Posted by the minty under cocktalian, dessert, dtla lunch, food, foodie alert, restaurant reviews, tasting menu, wine tasting | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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mimosa

As dineLA hit its second week, I made it over to Tiara for lunch. It’s been a few years since I last went. It was around the time it first opened and I was dazzled by the pretty turquoise decor and fashionable lunchers pecking away at flatbreads and salads. I recall thinking the iced tea at $3.50 being way too expensive and out of my then unrealistic lunch budget of $10. With dineLA lunch at $16 and a mimosa at $4, it seems almost normal to spend $25 for lunch (I said almost). Good thing dineLA gives me an excuse to eat out more often.

complimentary appetizer

We were given a complimentary appetizer first with our meal. I did like the garbanzo bean “fries.”

pizzette

There’s something about my dining partner that always causes us to order extra food when we’re doing a tasting menu. He wanted to try Tiara’s pizzette which was admittedly good. After a couple of slices, we had it wrapped up because our courses were starting.

great balls of fire

yellow tail fresh'wich

My dining partner chose the Great Balls of Fire which are mac and cheese balls with BBQ sauce. I previously tried these at the last LA Street Food Fest and they’re pretty good. I opted for the lighter sounding yellow tail fresh’wich. It turned out to be a roll served with Tiara’s Thai Cobb dressing. These were fun to eat as well.

fish enchiladas

smoked short ribs

My dining companion had the fish enchiladas and I tried the smoked short ribs wrapped in bacon. His came with a really great rice and beans side and mine with fluffy grits.

Berry Cobbler

Lemon Sabayon

For dessert, we shared the berry cobbler and lemon sabayon. The lemon was covered with a caramel sauce. I generally don’t like pies but I make an exception for cobblers and crisps. There’s something so adorable and rustic about ‘em.

And when the check came and my friend realized his iced tea was $3.50 and my mimosa was $4, this illustrated the case where it’s always worth it to get booze.

Tiara Cafe

127 E 9th St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 – (213) 623-3663
 

October 7, 2011

dineLA: lunch at Bar | Kitchen

Posted by the minty under dessert, dtla lunch, food, foodie alert, restaurant reviews, tasting menu | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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maple chili-glazed pork belly

 

My other dineLA lunch this week was at Bar | Kitchen. So far, I haven’t been exploring new restaurants but going to favorites like Starry Kitchen  and BK instead. Going to Bar | Kitchen is also like going home.

 

Tuscan kale and white bean soup

My dineLA buddy and I decided on the pork belly and Tuscan kale and white bean soup. Like our Starry Kitchen meal, we shared everything. Yes, I like sharing hard-to-share things like soup. The pork belly was a surprise to me. It was so tender and I really liked the plum sauce– it was vaguely Chinese plum sauce tasting to me. The crunch of the pickled sunchoke was a bit of a surprise. I really liked this dish.

I’ve had the Tuscan kale and white bean soup before and it’s as good as ever with a bit of parmasean.The other choice was the baby beets salad.

bone marrow

 

We were naughty and ordered bone marrow in addition to our dineLA meals. It was so worth it.

shrimp & grits

roasted jidori chicken

To be frank, I rarely order chicken but I adore BK’s roast chicken. I sometimes just get this dish which is already $16 and a cocktail (or two) after work. It’s the ultimate comfort food. The dish changes somewhat with the availability of vegetables but the chicken is consistently good. Juicy, succulent and the perfect dish for the rainy day.What a bargain to have a 3-course dineLA meal for $16!

The shrimp and grits is also a fave. For the vegetarians, they have a mushroom toast option.

butterscotch pot de creme

chocolate and peanut butter cake with banana ice cream, peanut brittle

You know a butterscotch pudding is good when it reminds you of your favorite version, the budino, at Mozza. We marveled at whose was creamier. I also like the chocolate and peanut butter cake. The other option was apple and croissant bread pudding.

I almost want to go again next week for another dineLA meal and get all the things I didn’t get. Or the chicken. And most assuredly the butterscotch pudding.

 

Bar | Kitchen at the O Hotel

819 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017 – (213) 623-9904

 

October 6, 2011

dineLA: Starry Kitchen

Posted by the minty under dtla lunch, events, food, foodie alert, restaurant reviews, tasting menu | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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savory pork wontons

 

My first dineLA meal this round was lunch at Starry Kitchen this week. I went with a friend and we shared everything. I think the ideal number to go with would be three people though since there are three choices for each of the three courses. We got the savory pork wontons in chili oil and the cilantro scallion meatball soup to start.

Starry Kitchen "Asian Albondigas"

I really wanted more wontons! We ended up spooning the sauce on other things. SK describes the chili oil as “oil-liciousness.” The other choice would have been the sweet and spicy ginger fried tofu wraps. They sounded really fun.

salad

I always love the dressing on the salad. This came with my pork belly meal. The citrus really helped cut the richness of the pork belly that followed.

braised coconut pork

salted plum chicken wings

As much as I love veggie meals, I passed on the jalepeno tofu green curry in favor of the pork belly and the salted plum chicken wing meals. Of course I got the pork belly with spam fried rice. Nguyen Tran of Starry Kitchen said the chef, his wife Thi, had confited these babies. The meat was definitely falling-off-the-bone tender.

apple fritters and coconut pandan panna cotta

Although I missed trying the pandan doughnut holes at LA Street Festival, I opted for the coconut pandan panna cotta. My friend chose the apple fritters. I have to make a note that as someone who doesn’t like grated shredded coconut, I was pleased to find none in my pork belly or panna cotta. The coconut flavor is subtle and actually very nice.

Fluffy the Apple Fritter and its Banana Jam Friend

Without any apologies, I swiped the third fritter before anyone could blink. I figured it was even steven since I got only one wonton earlier. Heehee.

Go hang out at Starry Kitchen for lunch, it’s a fast-paced way to enjoy dineLA.

 

Starry Kitchen

350 S Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90071 – (213) 617-3474

 

 

September 28, 2011

The Minty’s dineLA Picks + a little social media

Posted by the minty under calendar, events, food, foodie alert, minty life, tasting menu | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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dineLA Social Media panel

 

Last Friday, I attended dineLA‘s Social Media in the Restaurant Industry panel at the Palm. The panel featured Katie Burbank from Yelp, the Critic and Nguyen Tran from Starry Kitchen. I couldn’t help but compare this panel with the recent ones I’ve attended. This panel was clearly geared towards the restaurant industry and in way, so was Chefs versus Bloggers (which ended very well). Katie and Nguyen gave out the most helpful and useful information for restauranteurs talking expansively on social media- what to do, how to respond, when to use social media. The Critic had a few one-liners, offering why he likes Twitter, who to follow and comments on anonymity. He apparently agrees with the philosophy that a kitchen doesn’t automatically make things better just because you’re a known critic. He stated anonymous critics really aren’t and that people like SIV probably was known by the fourth week into her post by the people who make it their business to know.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the critics versus bloggers issue. I get it when restaurants question a blogger’s palate and their credentials. Yet judging from my inbox full of invitations, they are relying on bloggers for much of their marketing. Perhaps bloggers are attractive because the marketing costs are relatively cheap in comparison to advertising. And there are certainly plenty of them and enough of them write much more frequently than a newspaper critic would. For instance, the LA Times may have a review from SIV almost weekly. And then some are revisits. If you calculate how many restaurants she actually reviews, it’s not really a lot. To combat this, it seems critics are jumping on the social media bandwagon. The Critic mentioned his twitter stream was like his personal paper- with a large circulation.

Now on to  my picks for dineLA which starts Sunday, October 2 – 7 and then again October 9-14.

I tried to pick restaurants I hadn’t been before but a few I love sneaked onto my list. I have broken it down by neighborhood.

 

Beverly Hills

The Bazzar by Jose Andres- I’m fascinated by modernist cuisine so I’d like to try this menu.

Chaya Brasserie – I love Chef Haru’s food so it’s a no brainer to go for dineLA

Culina Modern Italian – a gorgeous restaurant with impeccable food and service, done deal.

Scarpetta – I kind of wish the famous spaghetti was served as an appetizer because I really do want to try it but not over a (meat) entree.

Tres by Jose Andres – If the Bazaar isn’t in the cards for you, try Tres.

 

Century City

Craft – I have gone once to this restaurant and enjoyed the service and the food we ordered except for my own entree. I always meant to go back and I have heard in the past Craft does an outstanding job with dineLA. Their dineLA menu features many choices for entrees unlike the typical choice of 3 entrees.

 

Culver City

Lukshon- love ‘em. Both the lunch and dinner options look great.

 

DTLA

Bar | Kitchen – Although I’m at BK practically every week, I’d go especially for dineLA. The roasted chicken is normally $16 so to get it + an appetizer and dessert for lunch is a great deal.

Noe- kind of bummed they don’t have a lunch option but I’d go for the ribeye at night

Water Grill – even though Chef Amanda is no longer at Water Grill, I wouldn’t mind trying out this temple to seafood

 

Hollywood

Lexington Social House- I’ve been surprised by the few tastes I’ve had so it’s time for a full meal

Osteria La Buca- I haven’t been since the new owners remodeled so I’d like to check it out

 

Koreatown

LaOn - I love Korean food and try to eat it as much as possible.

 

Marina del Rey

Cafe del Rey – dining with classic views

Vu – the lunch menu looks great with the Brussels sprouts salad

 

There were a few more I am interested in but they have not posted their menus.

 

Past dineLA meals

Fraiche Culver City

The Raymond in Pasadena

Petrossian in West Hollywood

First & Hope in DTLA

 

 

 

October 18, 2010

dineLA: The Raymond

Posted by the minty under cocktalian, dessert, food, restaurant reviews | Tags: , , , , , , |
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For my last dineLA meal, my fine dining partner and I hit up the Raymond. I’ve wanted to go to the Raymond for years. I’ve heard so much about their brunch. I’m not entirely sure why I have yet to go but am very glad to have tried it. Also, Tello/Demerast is working on a cocktail menu for them. Although reportedly it would be available late summer, they still didn’t have it when I went last week. Our server said it’s been under wraps and possibly very soon they’ll be announcing the new cocktails menu. In the meantime, I made due with a bourbon and soda.

Unlike other dineLA meals I recently had at First & Hope and Petrossian, the Raymond offers more than three choices for the dineLA menu. My fine dining partner opted for the sashimi, steak and poundcake. I decided on the pork belly, scallops and chocolate ganache.

hamachi

pork belly

The sashimi this evening was hamachi. My friend discovered the flowers weren’t too tasty but she liked the fish. My pork belly was fine. I liked the tart garnish on top.

prime Iowa beef strip loin

hand harvested deep water scallops

I may have done things backwards by starting off with the pork belly but I’m glad I chose to have the scallops. These hand-harvested deep water scallops were amazing. Easily top 10 scallops I’ve had ever. Plus there were plenty of tasty mushrooms to go with.

carmelized poundcake

flexible chocolate ganache

Gosh, I loved my little chocolate bridge. It was so adorable and that clear cube was like a shot of pure booze. The gelee was creme de cacao (ah, the ingredient for a chocolate cake shot!). In any case, this was a great dessert and the most inventive thing. The flexible chocolate ganache as a bridge! The ice cream melted a bit and created “tracks” on the bridge. It was just so dandy and great plating.

My friend thought her fruit was a little too tart. I found it oddly dry. It may be from the carmelization.

Overall, we had a great time and thought it was well worth the $34 a person.

The Raymond

1250 South Fair Oaks Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91105-3417
(626) 441-3136

 

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