February 21, 2012

DTLA: Brunch at Baco Mercat

Posted by the minty under brunch, cocktalian, dtla lunch, food, foodie alert, restaurant reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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tangerine mimosas

A couple of weeks back, I saw some tweets about brunch at Baco Mercat. Seeing as I’ve enjoyed both lunch and dinner at the recently opened spot on Main Street, I could help but think brunch would be fantastic. The biscuits and gravy were calling my name. Loudly.

biscuits and gravy

I’m not a huge breakfast person but when I do eat breakfast, I prefer savory items. Getting the biscuits and gravy is the ultimate comfort food breakfast. The biscuit was so fresh and flaky and it was the perfect amount of bacon and cheddar cheese as well. Add a fried egg to the mix and you got yourself breakfast. Or brunch. Or “hair of the dog” as Baco is calling their brunch menu.

We were torn about getting the breakfast baco with egg and chorizo or some other items. I was eying the sausage (either merguez or pork) with fennel or English breakfast with morcilla (blood sausage) and celery. Or maybe simple like steak and eggs. The only sweet item I’d consider is the yeasted waffle .

We had the tangerine mimosas with Szchuan sweet and sour. I may try the Bloody Mary with sundried tomato and harissa mix next time.

green cabbage and papaya salad

Moving on to the more lunch part of the menu, we had the green cabbage and papaya salad. I’m a big fan of Chef Josef’s vegetables and this was his take on a Thai green papaya salad. It is fairly spicy so look out. I loved how the veg were sliced for this salad– so pretty.

bazole

 

I had the Bazole when Baco first opened and the manager had told us they were going to perhaps tweak the recipe so you can add your own spicy sauce to it. It’s still not every spicy but after having the salad, we enjoyed the relative calmness of the broth.

beef tongue schnitzel baco

 

Can’t leave Baco without a baco. We got the beef tongue schnitzel. We ordered too much but the two of us still managed to eat it all anyway.

I was very happy with brunch and it’s the little things like sitting outside on a sunny clear day in Los Angeles that made this meal even better.

Baco Mercat

408 S Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 – (213) 687-8808
 

January 30, 2012

dineLA lunch at Drago Centro

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

 

 

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

 

January 27, 2012

dineLA: Starry Kitchen & the Beef-tacular!

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

 

January 4, 2012

DTLA: Artisan House

Posted by the minty under cocktalian, dtla lunch, food, foodie alert, photography, restaurant reviews, shopping | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Artisan House

 

This week, I admitted to “breaking up” with Bottega Louie last year. It was one of my favorite restaurants but something changed. I suspect the opening chef leaving had something to do with it. Suddenly I couldn’t take the loud crowd, the long wait for a table and the loss of some of my favorites including the peanut butter terrine.

prime beef crudo

Enter Artisan House. It’s more compact than Bottega Louie and it doesn’t serve anything remotely similar. Yet, the restaurant, bar and market concept is very much welcome in bustling Downtown. And right in the Old Bank District where many live? Fantastic.

burrata with cured trout belly

cured trout belly on crispy potato cake with burrata

I headed over for lunch a couple of weeks ago. We decided to get three starters, a side of vegetables and a main. While pondering dessert, I questioned why I was still so hungry. I realized after I got back to the office and looked at the pictures, we never got one of the starters! Oh the horror. I didn’t get a reply or apology when I tweeted the restaurant so at the moment, I can’t recommend them for social media follow-up.

However, the service we did receive was pretty good. Very attentive and I’m hoping for more good times to come. Any new restaurant should have a grace period, I suppose.

chicken fried Duroc pork

 

grilled broccolini

 

We liked all our food. I was particularly into the prime beef crudo and the broccolini. I liked the chicken fried pork but it was a little small to share (oh, why am I still so hungry…oh, yeah, that’s right). I found it interesting the same crispy potatoes in the dish were the same used in the trout belly burrata appetizer.

It was lunch so I didn’t partake in cocktails. Nothing really grabbed me though I might try Genevieve (Aviation gin, Green Chartreuse, lemon syrup, tarragon garnish) or the Collaboration (rye, port, maraschino, sweet vermouth, garnished with goat-cheese stuffed Luxardo cherry) if I come in for dinner. I see myself returning again to try the deli side. The sandwiches are a couple bucks less than if you were to sit down.The Artisan House Reuben or the Truffle Chicken Salad sandwiches sound good. Or maybe the Confit Albacore Tuna or Roast beef.

So Bottega Louie, au revoir and bonjour Artisan House!

And yes, those are my pictures.

Artisan House

600 S Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90014 – (213) 622-6333
 

December 1, 2011

DTLA: Vintage 10-Fifty Menu Revamp

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loaded tater tots

 

Vintage 10-Fifty led the way to a couple of interesting restaurants to open at the corner of 11th and Hill at the Belasco building.  First Wraps & Rolls opened then Dos Chinos. Of the three, I really wanted V1050 to work. I tried it a few times but it was obvious the disorganization was not helping. About a couple of months ago, I had heard they were going to do a menu revamp and focus on burgers. I stopped once in the interim and many of the items were crossed off the menu. Progress.

Then I went in this week and the menu had indeed changed but now it’s pricey sandwiches instead of pricey psuedo-sushi. What happened to the burgers menu? It’s obvious the menu is trying to cater to the late night crowd of the Belasco but as a nearby office lunch spot, it’s uncomfortable. The lounge is invariably empty and even the bartender is confused why we would want to have lunch there.

We decided to try the loaded tots as an appetizer. Although I’m not a proponent of dairy, these tots needed more cheese.

chicken club

 

My friend got the chicken club. She said it was good. I eyed the smallish sandwich suspiciously. It seemed hardly worth something about to hit the $10 mark although it did come with a choice of sides; fries, tots or onion rings. I would have liked a salad option.

pulled pork sandwich

 

I ordered onion rings with my pulled pork. I was a bit surprised to see several rings stuffed into my sandwich. If I had known, I would have gotten tots (not the loaded ones though). Or maybe extra cole slaw. It was nice it came with a wheat bun. It wasn’t totally horrible but I just can’t see myself eating this unhealthy during lunch. Maybe I should have gotten a quesadilla and added shrimp or chicken to it. But when you get to that point, it’d be better to get a chicken quesadilla at the reasonably priced taco shacks across the street like El Comedor or Taqueria Llamas across the street.

 

Vintage 10-Fifty Lounge

1050 S. Hill Street Los Angeles, CA 90015 – 213-746-5670

 

December 1, 2011

DTLA: Lunch at Pattern Bar

Posted by the minty under cocktalian, dtla lunch, food, foodie alert, happy hour, restaurant reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Strawberry Lemonade

 

I finally had a chance to check out Pattern Bar for lunch last week. I always meant to go back after my initial drinks when the bar first opened this summer. I really wanted an arepa but once I got there, I opted for a sandwich.

Dolce & Havana

 

The fashioned-themed named items didn’t stop at the cocktails list. The cubano sandwich was named the Dolce & Havana. It was unlike any cubano sandwich I ever had. For one thing, it was massive (which relieved me since it was also $12). Unfortunately, it didn’t come with sides although I doubt you needed any after the liberal helping of braised pork and ham along with caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, banana peppers and aioli. It also came with a chimichurri-like dip.

Three of the four of us had the exact same order- strawberry lemonade and Dolce & Havana. Next time, I think we should have ordered some salads to share along with different sandwiches. I eyeballed someone’s Del Mar, a tuna fish salad sandwich. I asked her if it was fresh tuna and she said it was. I happen to love tuna but get turned off if it’s from a can. I wouldn’t mind trying it next time or the Italian press knowing my love of Italian deli meat sandwiches.

Or there are the Venezuelan arepas which sounded on the lighter side. The braised pork, La Pabellon, with caramelized onions and black beans is probably as wonderful as the cubano sandwich.

There are also 10 different salads, probably paying another nod to the Fashion district where Pattern Bar is located. A few have animal protein and one is turkey. If you’re into Thanksgiving-like flavors, I’d give La Pava with turkey, romaine, candied walnuts, sundried tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese and lemon ranch dressing a whirl. Although I’d probably go with the Mixta myself. It’s chicken, romaine, avocado, pepperoncini, bacon, bleu cheese, hardboiled egg and that lemon ranch dressing. Although I’d switch out with the strawberry balsamic or the basil olive oil and vinegar. I’m not much into creamy dressings.

Overall, it’s a bit pricey for the typical DTLA lunch but it’s such a nice spot, you almost can forgive the $12 sandwiches and $5 lemonades. The strawberry at least is freshly made with agave and presented very much like their cheerful and brightly colored cocktails.

 

Pattern Bar

100 W 9th St.,  Los Angeles, CA 90015

 

 

November 21, 2011

DTLA: Baco Mercat Now Open

Posted by the minty under cocktalian, dtla lunch, foodie alert, restaurant reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Baco Mercat's jazzy sign

Baco Mercat is now open in Downtown Los Angeles. It is open for both lunch and dinner. I visited last week and was surprised that the “little baco shop” is a full-blown beautiful restaurant. Sure, you order at the counter for lunch and you take a number but service is really great. They’ll bring you table and check on you quite a bit. There’s also a full bar and many planned specials for dinner.

The Egg flatbread

I have been following Chef Josef Centeno since his days at the now shuttered Opus. That is where I first had his bacos. I heard rumors of him being at Lot 1 and serving them there but I never made it out to Echo Park. Eventually, I found him again when he opened Lazy Ox with restauaranteur Michael Cardenas. Chef Josef seemed reluctant to bring his bacos to Lazy Ox though they did appear every now and then.

bazole

Having not had a baco in a while, I went a little crazy and ordered two. At $8, a pop, it wasn’t really the cheapest lunch but in the future I know I can get by with one baco. And maybe a side. My friend also had the bacozole and the flatbread.

The bacozole was surprising to me. For a bowl of essentially noodle soup, I was expecting more of an Asian slant. It is not. The bazole has a pork-chile broth, housemade noodles, crispy pork and beef carnitas. It’s topped with a fried egg. I imagine this is the sort of late-night “ramen” Chef Josef would make for himself at home. Baco is considering handing out more chili sauce on the side as some might not actually find it spicy.

The Egg flatbread

Baco also serves four flatbreads or cocas as Baco calls ‘em. My friend got The Egg coca. There are also the Tomato & Cheese, El Cordero and Roasted Eggplant.

The Egg is a farm egg with salsa verde and ricotta cheese. It’s deceptively simple but it’s always the simple things that taste so good.

blue lake beans

The Blue Lake beans with mustard along with all the sides remind me why I like Chef Josef’s food so much. He’s into meat, sure. But he’s into veggies as well. The green beans had a nice snap and it was a great side to the bacos I had. I’d probably also try the pickled vegetable salad, grain salad or kabocha squash next time. Or you could go with the simple roasted peanuts or market lettuce salad with a sherry vinaigrette.

The Original- pork belly and beef carnitas

pescado- crispy shrimp

When I first had had a baco all those years ago at Opus, I remember thinking the flatbread-taco hybrid was the greatest thing ever. We ordered the short ribs which I thought tasted like really great carnitas but I loved the pork belly more. Chef Josef makes an easy choice for you. He combined the two into his Original Baco– carnitas and pork belly in one!

I also got the pescado which this day was crispy shrimp. It reminded me of a po’ boy. Great slaw and great crunch.

The other three on the menu that day were the El Pollo, Chilled Pork Belly and Fava Bean Fritter. Those into Middle Eastern flavors might be interested in the chicken as it comes with spiced lebni and zhoug (green harissa). I’m interestedin the fava bean.

I can’t wait to go back to check out dinner. The bacos and menu would support the family style daily specials.

Baco Mercat

408 S Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 – (213) 687-8808
 
 

November 15, 2011

DTLA: Shin-Sen-Gumi

Posted by the minty under dtla lunch, food, foodie alert, minty life, restaurant reviews, writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Shin-Sen-Gumi

 

A couple of weekends back, I met up with Corianda to discuss her thesis project. She was interviewing food writers and after circling back and forth on where I go, I impulsively named the new Shin-Sen-Gumi in Little Tokyo.

toppings

I have been to the SSG in Rosemead before but I still was confused by the DTLA one’s set-up. My previous bowls of ramen contained all the toppings. This location brought out the toppings in individual containers until our table looked like a Korean restaurant’s instead. All those little dishes reminded me of banchan.

egg

crispy pig's ear

Of course it was my fault. I picked out a normal bowl of ramen (I selected “normal” across the board) and merrily filled out the sheet like it was a sushi ordering form.

bean sprouts

 

Next time, I’ll have to limit the amount of toppings I want. Maybe it’s like pizza- you shouldn’t have more than 3 toppings lest the darn thing is too muddy in flavors.

Hakata ramen- normal everything

You may select how firm the noodles are, amount of oil and soup strength- whatever that means. I would probably make my noodles firmer, less oil and keep the normal soup strength.

As for the toppings, I’d skip the egg, thick-cut pork belly and cooked bean sprouts.  I like eggs to be more marinated and SSG also offers the option for a fried egg. I’d try that next time. The thick-cut pork belly didn’t have much flavor and blech, cooked bean sprouts? I love crunchy raw sprouts. The seaweed, wood ear mushrooms, spinach and bamboo were fine. In fact, I’d probably just do the seaweed, bamboo and crispy pig’s ear. But I wouldn’t add in the pig’s ear until I want to eat it. After I put the ears in, they became soggy, defeating the purpose of having crispy pig’s ear.

I didn’t try the wontons and the although I like the idea of miso butter, the broth didn’t need it.

fully-decorated bowl of Hakata ramen

After all said and done, I didn’t enjoy this DIY bowl of noodles as much as my regular bowl of Daikokuya up the street.

I’d still go back but only if the Big D is busy…which of course, it always is.

 

Hakata Ramen Shin-Sen-Gumi

132 S Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90013 – (213) 687-7108
 

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

 

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