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

 

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

Last week was quite the busy week for me. I met with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while at Josie in Santa Monica for a dineLA dinner. It’s been on my list forever.  I started off with a classic cocktail, The Martinez (gin, Carpano Antica, Luxardo Maraschino, twist of lemon). It was very, very good and probably worth the $15 I shelled out for it.

amuse bouche- cheese quiche

Next we were given a cheese quiche as an amuse bouche. I was still feeling full from lunch so I ate a couple of bites of this rich dish.

cauliflower soup

oxtail ragu

I opted for the cauliflower soup with braised short ribs. I was torn between that and a salad. I was starting to feel the effects of multiple dineLA meals in a day but of course I went with the soup because it’s more interesting. It was an ideal starter, light and hearty at the same time with the addition of the short ribs. My dining companion had the oxtail ragu which she found a bit salty and thought the polenta was on the thin side.

Brittany salt-crusted Jidori chicken

I didn’t really get a good shot of the Brittany salt-crusted Jidori chicken. The round thing in front is the savory sausage bread pudding. I had a bite of the chicken and it’s fine. Probably not as juicy as other roast chicken dishes I’ve had before. I thought the Brussels sprouts that came with it tasted boiled and watery.

campfire trout

The Campfire trout on the other hand was great. I loved that they deboned the fish and I didn’t really have to mess around with it other than to take off the skin.

The other entree choice would be the short ribs but since I had short ribs with my soup, I thought it’d be an overkill.

hand-pulled apple strudel

chocolate bread pudding

I told my friend I didn’t care what we got for dessert and she ultimately picked the apple strudel and chocolate bread pudding. She really wanted to try the white chocolate puff too but I’m glad she got the apple strudel because it turned out to be my favorite dessert of the week. The light pastry had the perfect amount of butter and sugar to balance the “healthy” apples. And the warm chocolate bread pudding was delectable as well.

It’s just too bad I didn’t care for the service at Josie. I left the restaurant feeling like I was a second class citizen. Our server didn’t even look at us when he dropped off the check and rarely checked on us. I realize restaurants have a love/hate relationship with dineLA customers. We are not your regular guests but we can be. Treat us well if not better because you don’t know if you’re going to retain our patronage.

I eyed Josie Next Door and felt a bit sad I didn’t get to have as much fun as the people dining there. They were happy and it was an entirely different atmosphere than Josie. The average age of the guests were probably a good 20 years older than my friend and I. The food is good but not good enough for me to return. I can get great cocktails for $15 or less somewhere else. Maybe even Next Door.

Josie Restaurant

2424 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405 – (310) 581-9888

steamed mussels

Rounding out my dineLA lunches, I headed over to Drago Centro. Since it was lunch, I didn’t partake in any of the fab new cocktails but their iced tea is wonderful on a sunny day.

soft boiled egg salad

yolk revealed

 

I drove the bus on this dineLA meal and picked out the steamed mussels and soft-boiled egg salad for our appetizers. The egg was perfectly done and when split, revealed a beautiful golden runny yolk. We greedily gobbled the mussels (always the best value) and even soaked some of the croutons from the salad in the mussels broth for added oomph.

mid-course ravioli

We had cheese ravioli with mushrooms as a mid-course that is not part of dineLA. I highly recommend any of their pastas as it’s some of the best in town.

grilled quail

wild mushroom and artichoke risotto

 

For one of our mains, I picked the grilled quail which sounded amazing when Chef Ian Gresik tweeted about it. I enjoyed the parsnips in the dish in particular. And the quails were practically boneless. They were stuffed and this made me think this would be a great idea for mini Thanksgiving treats.

We also got the wild mushroom and artichoke risotto which I happily ate despite the onslaught of carbs. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t ask for bread for the table because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get to dessert!

cheesecake glace

brown sugar cake

 

When I ordered the cheesecake, I didn’t realize cheesecake “glace” would mean the cheesecake would be semi-frozen. The texture was very different and refreshing for the sunny day. Did I mention we were sitting near the window which looked out to bustling Downtown?

However, the brown sugar cake with espresso crumble and pear sorbet was my favorite. I like spice cakes of all sorts and this hit the spot.

There are a few days left for dineLA so get to it! I’m curious about the beef tongue potato salad and braised beef cheeks on the dinner menu for dineLA.

 

Drago Centro

525 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071(213) 228-8998

 

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

Starry Kitchen

 

It’s dineLA again! Last year, I loved Starry Kitchen so much it was the only restaurant I repeated this round. There’s something to be said for great food for not a lot of money. Although it’s stated it’s $16 for lunch and $26 for dinner for the 3 courses, it’s actually $16 for both lunch and dinner so take advantage if you can.

citrus sesame silky tofu

Vietnamese egg rolls

 

I loved the egg rolls so much the last time I was in for the special pho night at Starry Kitchen, I got them as my starter. However, the thing to get is the silky tofu! The citrus was a fresh and dominant flavor for the flavor sponge tofu.

Your other choice is the savory pork wontons which I had the last run. If I were you, I’d keep the sauce just to dip something else in.

Burmese galangal chicken wings

I was talking to owner Ngyuen about his wife, Chef Thi’s wings. I’ve had quite a few versions of chicken wings now from Starry Kitchen and they’re all good. Definitely get them with plain white rice to fully enjoy the galangal (a type of ginger) flavor.

braised coco cola jackfruit

Vegetarian? VEGAN?  Not but still love culinary surprises? Get the coca cola braised jackfruit. It may look like meat and has a “chewy” meaty texture but it’s fruit! This was a tasty dish that happened to be vegan. Pictured above with the (in)famous garlic noodles.

beef-tacular

I chose the beef-tacular because the darn thing had a fried egg on it! C’mon, strong showing from the team and lots of comfort food points. I got this with fried rice and it’s served with fish sauce (a different fish sauce than the one served with egg rolls). I really admire Starry Kitchen’s attention to detail for things like that. I chose the soba noodles as my side and all the dishes came with the crunchy salad I love so much.

soba noodles

 

The soba noodles do get soggy so only add the sauce when you’re ready to eat. I was in serious carb food coma after this meal but it was so worth it.

lychee panna cotta with salted plum sauce

pandan flan

 

The edible flowers on the two desserts tasted like watermelon! Wouldn’t it be funny to eat a bag of these tiny orchids as a snack at a movie theatre? Healthy, right?

Starry Kitchen was out of the coconut pandan panna cotta with rum banana jam but we had the lychee panna cotta with salted plum sauce and pandan flan. I am into lychee so this was perfect for me. The pandan flan is classic and always solid.

You have one more week (until February 3) to get these delicious eats.

Starry Kitchen

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

oVo, the latest Cirque du Soleil show in Santa Monica

CONTEST ALERT!

Win a date night package for Valentine’s Day which includes dinner at Ocean and Vine plus a night stay at Loews Hotel! Contest ends February 3. Tweet a pic from your night at oVo or a dineLA dinner at a participating Santa Monica restaurant with hashtag #santamonicadate to @goSantaMonica and be entered to win.

Check out all the participating dineLA restaurants in Santa Monica here.

….

Cirque du Soleil returns to the Santa Monica Pier with oVo. For a great date night, park and dine at nearby Ocean and Vine restaurant at Lowes Hotel. If you show your ticket, you’ll get free parking at the hotel.

The oVo show is amazing and even a bit foodie oriented. My tip is to watch for the girls with the kiwi and corn in the first half.

No photography is allowed during the show so you’ll just have to go check out the show but expect trapeze artists, displays of human strength and beautiful costumes.  It’s centered around an egg and bug characters. This would actually be a very family and kid-friendly show to watch.

Ocean and Vine

bread with roasted repper dip

After the show, we walked back to Lowes Hotel to enjoy our dinner at Ocean and Vine which is currently doing a special menu inspired by oVo. It’s a bit similar to the dineLA menu but instead of a dessert course, you get a glass of wine. You have a choice of shiraz or chardonnay. Although I was eating seafood which Chef Keith Roberts is known for, I opted for shiraz. I firmly believe in getting what you like.

Santa Monica seafood chili

Chef Roberts is known particularly for his Santa Monica Seafood chili. Here’s his recipe.  For his oVo and dineLA menu, the chili is made with laughing bird shrimp instead of rock shrimp. I loved this dish and had a hard time not immediately stuffing myself on it. The Staub dish kept everything nice and toasty.

The other choices for the starter include a tomato basil soup, Farmers’ Market field greens salad and calamari. I noticed they also have a sushi counter for those who want sushi. We had an incredible view of the pier and the lovely neon lights from the Ferris Wheel.

salmon with lobster risotto

For the main course, my friend had the salmon with lobster risotto. I opted for the Seafarer’s stew. I just can’t get enough seafood.

seafarer's stew

The Seafarer’s stew came chock full of shrimp, mussels, clams and a ton of fish. The bread was great for dipping into the stew. The shiraz went really well with the stew, actually. The slight acidic tang married with the wine’s round notes.

fruit tarts

 

We didn’t get dessert but the chef sent out little fruit tarts for us. The kiwi reminded me of the great oVo show we just watched.

It was the perfect #santamonicadate with the gay boyfriend.

Don’t forget to tweet to win!

Win a date night package for Valentine’s Day which includes dinner at Ocean and Vine plus a night stay at Loews Hotel! Contest ends February 3. Tweet a pic from your night at oVo or a dineLA dinner at a participating Santa Monica restaurant with hashtag #santamonicadate to @goSantaMonica and be entered to win.

Check out all the participating dineLA restaurants in Santa Monica here.

oVo Cirque du Soleil at the Santa Monica Pier

Ocean and Vine  at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel

1700 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90407 – (310) 576-3180
 
 

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

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

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

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