@jose.andres G that "Club" TFO of your "Restaurant"

At least I was prepared for The Bazaar last night. In prepping for my visit to Jose Andres L.A. Hotspot, I had searched Al Gore's Information Superhighway and found plenty of reviews: The L.A. Times gave it four-stars, many said the food was outstanding but the service was uneven but the most worrisome thing was the seating issue. There were plenty of horror stories about how people were seated thirty mins, forty-five mins, even an hour and a half AFTER their reservations. And I'm not talking about some post at Yelp where a bunch of wannabe foodies all got aboard the Bitchtrain and tried to one-up each other about how long they had to wait. Just lots of different descriptions of people experiences at The Bazaar with a common thread.

That being said, even though I was braced for a long wait, that didn't make it that much better. Granted, I was in a slightly better place than the couple that were standing in front of us who probably believed the hostess when she told them 'It'd just be a few minutes'. I knew better.

The basic problem is twofold: they're taking reservations they shouldn't actually be taking (i.e. overbooking) and there's no place to sit while you wait you extra 30-60 minutes (for the record, we waited until 10:50 for 10:15 reservations although we did arrive ten minutes early). The latter is the ironically amusing part because the bar area is HUGE – at least as big as the Rojo area we dined at, but the Bar Centro is, currently, one of THE hotspots in L.A., so it was packed with douchebags and tanorexics. Seriously, by the time we finally got a place to sit in the bar area on the outer, outer edge The Hottie had already gone over to talk to the hostess to see how much longer it would be (i.e. 20-30 mins). Now, normally I LIVE for places with eye candy as does The Hottie but, sadly, I was so annoyed that I couldn't even really enjoy the scene (and it IS quite the scene) :*(

The overbooking problem is something they COULD do something about but, apparently, they just don't care. The Bazaar is a new restaurant but it's not THAT new that it shouldn't have simple aspects like reservations figured out by now, so, clearly, they're fine with making reservations they shouldn't be taking and having patrons wait. It also self perpetuates: when people have to wait what they perceive as too long a time for their table they tend to stay at said table for an extra-long time to justify the wait. One might argue that it's a very Euro/Spanish thing to do but, to that, I call bullsh|t. If Keller or Mina opened an “New American Style” restaurant in Spain, they wouldn't expect the patrons to follow U.S. style dining rules and make them show up on time, order quickly and leave promptly. Slow and casual may be the norm in Spain, here it's just bad and, at a restaurant like The Bazaar that has visions of Michelin Stars dancing in it's head, simply inexcusable.

So while I SHOULD be writing about the awesome Cotton Candy Fois Gras, the frozen caprahina drink made tableside with liquid nitrogen or the Tortilla de Patatas “New Way” but, instead, I'm ranting about the craptacular clusterfuck that is The Bazaar's front of the house that took so long to seat us that The Bazaar's back of the house closed on us. Yeap, we never even had a chance to go to the Blanca “formal” part of the restaurant or the Patisserie for desserts. We were still at Rojo (tapas/small plates) when we were informed that the line was shutting down so, if we had any more items we wanted to try that we should get the order in ASAP.

Bottom Line: If THAT'S what passes for four-stars in La-La-Land they must be R-E-A-L-L-Y desperate for places to eat or have the bar set short-bus low. FAIL!

P.S. Still on track for 3 Michelin starred places in one night. /fingerscrossed.

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Hard Target: Los Angeles

If you've paid attention to the 'In The Crosshairs' section of my A to Z Challenge, you might have noticed that I've had a few locations there for a couple of months now that require a bit of a drive. Neither Gordon Ramsey nor Jose Andres have a location in The City OR Vegas, which can only mean one thing: Road Trip!

Oddly enough, the impetus for said trip has little to do with food and more to do with...sports? Yes, for those of you who know me solely via the blog this will come as a surprise. Those of you who know me IRL, notsomuch. The Meat Guy graduated from and works for the University of Spoiled Children and while he spends well over one month of every year up here in the Bay Area with us, we pretty much never go to La-La-Land. Like, the last time we did was at LEAST five years ago and, even then, it was a one-night stopover with a trip to The Magical Kingdom. I did however tell him that when the A's (a.k.a. The Oakland Atheltics of Major League Baseball) played the Dodgers in L.A. we'd come down. This, however, happens less often than a presidential election: they play each other only once every three years and, even then, it's a fifty-fifty chance they play on the road, so once every six years. Well, this is that year. You can take your finger off the StumbleUpon button now, I'm done boring you with baseball scheduling talk...

It wasn't that long ago that The Meat Guy lamented to lack of decent eateries in Los Angeles. He wanted Mina and Keller to come to L.A. but, as I explained, there was no reason to go there. A restaurants 'hotness' often had more to do with who DINED there or what celebrity OWNED the place rather than who prepared the food. You think anybody really thinks the food at The Ivy or Mr. Chow's is the be-all-end-all of cuisine? If you were a chef and wanted to expand, you'd open a place in Vegas to prove your culinary mettle and pad your income statement. L.A. wasn't even in the conversation. This wasn't to say that there weren't any good places in L.A., just not as many as there SHOULD be for a city of that caliber. That, however, has all changed.

L.A. now HAS it's Mina (XIV) and, come this fall, will have it's Keller (BevHills Bouchon). It also has it's Andres, Ramsey, Colicchio, English and Batali, among others. The latest ZAGAT guide even proclaims that LA is the new Las Vegas, and it's hard to argue with so many high-value targets being added to the Los Angeles landscape.

As for the Road Trip, we're mixing in some of the touristy stuff with the haute cuisine. You see, The Hottie never really did any of the L.A. tourist stuff as a kid beyond Disneyland, so La Brea tarpits, Knott's Berry Farm (where everybody keeps telling her, 'You've gotta do the Chicken Dinner' – which we are), Venice Beach, Griffith Park Observatory and Pink's are all on the itinerary (plus the A's vs. Dodgers, of course). Culinary highlights include going to Jose Andres new place at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, trying the french dip at Philippes (the alleged birthplace of said sandwich), Sunday brunch at Joe's in Venice (26 ZAGAT rating) and, quite possibly, THREE MICHELIN STARRED RESTAURANTS IN ONE DAY!!!

Yes, gentle reader, on SAT we plan on going to Gordon Ramsey for high tea followed by Sushi-Zo for omakase and then the two-starred Providence for a eight-course dessert tasting menu. Now, I'm not 100% sure my stomach capacity will allow said adventure and, if there's an odd man out, it'll be tea. I love tea...I love fancy high tea even more BUT Sushi-Zo has an ungodly 29 ZAGAT rating and some argue it's even better than Urasawa. Personally, I seriously doubt it, but even going to the second best sushi place in, arguably, THE best sushi city in North America is good enough for me. And I've got reservations at the Sushi Bar on a SAT nite to boot, so no way I'm blowing that off. As for Providence, ZOMGWTF is all I could say when I saw they had a dessert tasting menu. Culinarily speaking, if that doesn't get you excited then you're at the wrong effing blog dude. Do a google search on 'Bobby' 'Flay' 'Fan' 'Fiction' - that'll prolly appeal to you more. /shudder

See you when I get back!

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The Dine About Town Halftime Report

The OpenTable Dine About Town Halftime Report is brought to you, in part, by VISA, The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau and The Letter D.

So we're one week into Dine About Town and I've already hit up three restaurants in seven days: XYZ, Luce and One Market. I would have hit a fourth but, sadly, Jeanty at Jack's closed the weekend before I called it one of my go-to places for downtown dining. Bistro Jeanty in Y-Ville remains open, so I can still get my tomato soup fix when needed, but I'll prolly never see The Secret League of Culinary Francophiles Robohostess again! /cry. And, let's face it, Yountville is a serious trek compared to hopping on a BART train, but in an age where places like Aqua are (allegedly) having financial problems it's not surprising to see places close their doors for good. Still, it will definitely be missed.

But, on to better news! First off, my assertion that Dine About Town more or less amounts to getting a free dessert or starter was wrong, particularly at lunch. It's more like $5+ of your meal AND a free dessert/app. For example, the tuna that The Hottie had at Luce is normally $19. You don't need to break out the spreadsheet app on your Blackberry to see that 3-courses for $21.95 is therefore a he|| of a deal. And, thus far, it's the same sizes as regular menu items as well. In fact, when the server from XYZ brought out The Hottie's ginormous ham croque & salad he commented that “I thought we were giving half-portions for Dine About Town...I guess not”. (BTW, the same server gave The Hottie the single largest pour of wine in the history of dining out. Seriously, there was m-a-y-b-e 1 cm left empty in the glass by the time he was done pouring – and it wasn't a particularly small glass. Best of all the “Wine - LUNCH” as it showed on the receipt was a whopping six bucks. The Hottie went back to work happy)

Also, places seem to have embraced Dine About Town a little more. XYZ and One Market had the Dine About Town Menu's printed on the regular menu while Luce had a separate menu presented to us as we were sat – so no 'asking' for the special menu was necessary. In fact, One Market had two different offerings (one with pricier mains and desserts for an additional charger) AND a special wine pairing. Much like the aforementioned tuna, the wine was a steal. It's was $14 for the pairing but the first glass (a pinot grigio) was regularly $12 so, basically, the second glass was free. And this was AFTER The Hottie has a Green Flash at the bar. A delicious concoction of Hendricks gin muddled with cucumber, kiwi that had something to do with San Francisco Happy Drink Special Time (or some junk). Apparently, One Market is too upscale for a “Happy Hour”, so they give it a different euphemistic name so we won't notice o_O

And if you're beginning to notice that The Hottie is a bit of a lush...yeah. I'm not saying she is...I'm just sayin'

Finally, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if Dine About Town got “extended” an extra week or two. L.A. extended theirs last year and, if it's packing the booths and making less Open Tables (That's a pun, son - get it! Okay...that was pretty lame...but I'm not taking it out...so there) I can easily see restaurants wanting to keep it going. In fact, One Market had a little insert with the check, announcing that they would already be extending the promotion AND debuting a new Dine About Town menu for the extra two weeks. Nomnomnom.

Next week: Hard Target – L.A.

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Where to Dine About Town?

Yes, Gentle Reader, it's that most Wonderful Time of the Year once again! Dine About Town is upon us and my surgical strike on The City's Epicurean Centre starts tomorrow – but I'm getting ahead of myself...

For those with little or no memory retention, Dine About Town is a citywide promotion to get people to go out to eat. It's the winner of my Bang For You Buck Foodie Award and lasts JUN 1-15. This year it features 127 restaurants offering 3-course prix-fixe menu for lunch ($21.95) and dinner ($34.95). Pricewise, it generally amounts to a “free” app or dessert and some places will have bonus/prestige menus where you can add another course or wine pairings at a discounted price as well. Also, AmEx has a promo where if you use your card 3 times at participating restaurants you'll get a $15 credit. But enough marketing schpeil, if you want that go to their website :p The REAL question is WHERE to go to Dine About Town.

Okay, at first glance, the list can seem a bit imposing. You see 127 restaurants BUT how many do you recognize? Where to start? If you're a true foodie you really only recognize a few truly outstanding restaurants and if you're not really into the SF dining scene your eyes probably glaze over as you try an process random names that you THINK you might recognize (but aren't really sure).

First off, what is it that you want? Do you want to try a cuisine you've never experienced? Do you want to maximize your bang for the buck and go to a place you'd normally only go to for a special occasion on the cheap? Or do you want to try a place you've been curious/heard good things about, so this would make it a perfect time to go? So make sure know what you're looking for because (say it with me) Knowing Is Half The Battle. Personally, I've gone for ALL these reasons. In fact, some of my fave go-to places in The City (One Market, Chez Papa Resto, Jeanty at Jack's) are all places I first tried as part of Dine About Town.

For the TRUE foodie, you can whittle nearly 100 names off the list right off the bat (sorry, San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau). Of the 100+ restaurants participating, only 50 merit mentions in the Michelin Guide (And, yes, I went through the ENTIRE 2009 Michelin Guide. ZAGAT too). And, of those, only ONE received a Michelin Star: One Market. If there's one area where the aforementioned Bureau really needs some work on the promotion, it's getting the higher end places to participate. I'm not saying Aqua and Coi should let people eat for $35, but BOTH L.A. And Vegas have FAR more Michelin starred restaurants participate in their Dine About events, despite having fewer Michelin starred restaurants to work with. So step it up!

Okay, so besides One Market, what other places should you be looking at? Well, if you go by the ZAGAT , you can add Absinthe, Ana Mandara, Big 4, Foreign Cinema, Fringale, Scoma's, Spruce, Town Hall and Yoshi's to your Hit List. Likewise, aziza, Chez Papa Resto, Foreign Cinema, Spruce and Yoshi's join One Market as the only places on Michael Bauer's list of Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants. But before you get TOO excited, Absinthe and Spruce are ONLY participating for lunch so, like I said, for the TRUE foodie, the options are limited.

That being said, there are till more than enough excellent eateries to fill your culinary dance card over the next 2 weeks. I start tomorrow with lunch in The City with The Hottie at XYZ. It's a perfect multitasker: Counts as the x-tremely hard to fill 'X' in my A-Z (that was a pun – get it? x-treme...nvm), is literally just down the street from where The Hottie works and is a place I've wanted to check out for a while now. If you'd like my humble (but deadly accurate) opinon on where to go, I think One Market, Chez Papa Resto, Luce, LarkCreek Steak and Jeanty at Jack's are all great downtown options. None of those places have ever disappointed me nor anybody I've recommended them to. Obviously, Absinthe and Spruce are high value targets but, the 'Lunch Only' tag crimps the ability to eat there. And if you're looking for further dinner options, aziza, Foreign Cinema and Yoshi's are no brainers. Want to make up you own mind? Check out the list below. It's all the participating restaurants that are , , , or .

Also, keep in mind that to GET the prix-fixe menu, you might have to request it (it's not automatic at all places) and that many restaurants only offer said menu early in the week (i.e. M-Th), so check out the level of participation on the Dine About Town website before making reservations...

Absinthe: /
Ana Mandara: /
Americano:
Anchor & Hope:
ANZU:
Asia de Cuba:
Azie:
aziza: /
Bacar:
Big 4:
Cafe de la Presse:
Campton Place:
Chaya Brasseerie:
Chez Papa Resto: /
Circa:
Colibri: /
Cortez:
Crustacean:
1550 Hyde Cafe:
Fish & Farm:
Foreign Cinema: //
Fringale: /
Grand Cafe:
Isa:
Jeanty at Jack's:
LarkCreek Steak:
Le Colonial:
Luce:
luella:
Maverick:
Maya:
Mexico DF:
Namu: /
One Market: /
Paul K:
Plouf:
Poleng: /
Pres a Vi:
RNM: /
Salt House:
Scoma's
South Food + wine bar:
Spruce: //
Sutro's:
Tommy Toy's:
Town Hall: /
Universal Cafe: /
XYZ:
Yoshi's: //

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