Tasting Notes: MAY 2010

05.01 - Went to the closest thing The Bay has to Alinea tonight and, not surprisingly, had a mixed bag @ Baume. First off, the concept is just, plain kewl: 5, 10 or 15-course menu...but you don't know what you're having - just a listing of possible ingredients. For example, early in the menu you have a savory, bite-size scallop dish served in a spoon and then, a few courses later, you have a sweet lychee dish that looks IDENTICAL. The main component, condiments and plating are manipulated to look EXACTLY the same, but the flavor profile is completely different. We also had a frozen licorice cloud that tasted like nothing until AFTER it was gone and an amazing pinapple/foie gras dish that they paired with pineapple wine. With ten, small "experimental" courses - a couple of our dishes had debuted JUST that weekend - you're bound to miss occasionally (yes, I'm talking about YOU, bizarre Thai influenced "salad" with coconut water and an offputting granola texture that looked just plain unappetizing when mixed together), but at least there are plenty of opportunities to make up for it later...

05.14 - Landed in L.A. and bolted to Campanile to make our nine-o-clock reservations. It was good, not great and I was expecting a bit more...something, although the "space" is a great place for a restaurant. On FRI they have a Friday Night Flights (3 wines paired with 3 small plates all served at once) for around $30, so we pretty much knew what we were going to get. The Burgers & Beers pairing went much better than the German Wines/Raw Seafood one but the star of the nite was the Sauteed Trenne Pasta which is an app that I wanted to try but our most excellent (if slow) senior server suggested getting a main-sized portion and split it 3 ways. It was the right call as it was easily the best thing we had that nite. Dessert looked uninspired and overpriced, so we headed out the have Pink's for "dessert".

05.14 - [Copy/Pasted from the LA Live Blog]
The Foodie just spent thirty minutes in line for a Hot Dog, so you can prolly guess where he is. Resisted the urge to try the Wendy Williams, Lord of the Rings and Hasselfhoff 'Hoff Dog' and went for the classic 10-inch Chili Dog (along with their battered, off-putting orange-hued fries and a bottled pink drink that claims it's peach...which it isn't...it's just really, really sweet). I must say it IS a really good, snappy dog with a good hot dog chili to boot. Better yet, unlike Taylor's Automatic Refresher where a burger runs you ten+ bucks, the Pink's dogs are all reasonably priced - mine was three bucks and change. Seriously, The Hottie would pay a lot more for the same thing in Downtown Frisco that wouldn't be nearly as good. And, unlike TAR, the wait in line is kinda fun. It's an interesting mix of tourists, locals, hipsters, businessmen, people coming FROM a bar and people headed TO a bar. The Foodie didn't really "get" Taylor's, but he definitely "gets" Pink's.

05.15 - The newer, larger Father's Office is supposed to have the best burger in LA...but I'll keep looking. Known for their beer and burgers, I was expecting a variety to choose from, but there's only one burger available. It's good, moist and flavorful but it just wasn't ALL that. I'll still take a Taylor's (now Gott's) or Nation's Burger thank you very much. Beer however wouldn't disappoint ANYBODY unless they wanted a Corona, Heineken or Bud. If you're looking for an obscure, limited production microbrew on tap, this is the place to go. Seriously, the Beer Loving Meat Guy was in Hoppy-Malty Heaven with the dozen of choices. IMHO, small plates are the way to go here: Fries (both micro-shoestring and sweet potato), Bone Marrow and the Soft-Shell Crab with a spicy asian sauce and corn salad all get thumbs up.

05.15 - I'm very sorry to say the Providence didn't bring their A game tonight. Sat us v-e-r-y late and, even then, we still didn't have a menu (or a visit from anybody save the sommelier - and he met our menu-less status with indifference) for a good 15 minutes. The Hottie finally asked a suit "Could we possibly trouble you for something resembling a menu" and got going...about an hour after we arrived. Fortunately, whatever bad juju the front of the house was having didn't spread to the back. Both my choices (Spot Prawns baked in salt and Foie Gras Raviolis with shaved Black Truffles) were 'WHOA!'-worthy. I had the Steamed Lobster @ RM Seafood (another Seafood 'Place' helmed by a Seafood 'Guy') a few weeks back and this DESTROYED that lobster - Like, LA Lakers vs. LA Clippers level of destruction. Should you ever be fortunate enough to see either of those dishes on the menu, I can't recommend them highly enough :D

05.15 - By blowing off dessert we had j-u-s-t enough time to jet across LA and make it to the Kogi BBQ Truck @ Abbot Kinney before they stopped service. This wasn't THAT big a sacrifice as we'd had the seven-course dessert tasting @ Providence before. Kogi was parked next to the very popular Brig along with the Dogtown truck. There were several other Food Trucks parked on the street (about seven total), so next trip I'll have to make a special visit JUST for the trucks and hit them all up - but I digress. I got the Kogi staple, the Short Rib Taco, and I must say it deserves the hype. It was, however, missing the "Asian Slaw" that people rave about (or, if it was there, it was such a small portion that it was invisible in the poorly lit parking lot), but I have a feeling that service @ noon to businessmen lined down the block is different that service to drunk people in Venice @ midnight, fifteen minutes before they're about to close. Regardless, the Korean-Style Beef, cooked twice and chopped up carnitas style is pure genius when paired with two tiny corn tortillas (even w/o the slaw). I <3 the old-school Taco Trucks in the 510 & I've got nothing bad to say about the Upscale Food Trucks in the 310, there's room for both in my world :D

05.22 - I Haz a New Favorite Restaurant (sorry Luce) and it's name is Commis!!! Been there twice in the last month and both experiences were transcendent (particularly for a tiny restaurant in the shadows of the Kaiser Oakland parking lot). Much like The Fifth Floor, there's too much to write in a short space, so I'll post an OT/Director's Cut Review later with all the juicy details. Mmmmm...Pork Jowl Salad...