Special Foodventure #54: DineLA Dinner @ Napa Valley Grille

I've been hesitant to post about my DineLA dinner @ Napa Valley Grille since my digi-cam (more specifically, my memory stick) went on the fritz and thus, the bulk of pictures went into the graveyard of 0s and 1s. However, the dinner I had here was pretty good overall, and this restaurant hasn't been getting much love as of late, so a (mostly) pic-less write-up I will post.

Napa Valley Grille is a small chain (six locations, including one, appropriately enough, in Napa Valley) specializing in Californian cuisines, and of course, lots of Californian wines with a decent by the glass list.

The Westwood location is somewhat discreetly tucked into an office building; however, this place definitely stand out in the UCLA 'hood, especially when you compare its diner audience and menu prices to the likes of Falafel King, Diddy Riese and In 'n Out just blocks away (then again, there are upscale-chic looking places like Yamato opening in the area, so maybe there's a demographic shift in that area for food patrons.)

Their Restaurant Week menu looked pretty interesting so I decided to check them out, having remembered having a decent meal there about a year back.

The prix-fixe deal was made even sweeter by my discovery that by signing up for their email club, I get a coupon for a complementary flight of wine. Nice! Given what I'll be eating that night, I chose a set of medium-bodied California reds that were pretty bright on the fruit notes and kind of soft on the tannins.

The bread basket here was somewhat interesting and served with olive oil/balsamic and a dip that tasted midway between tapenade & hummus, but we were saving our appetites so we only nibbled a little bit while waiting for our first courses.

To start, I got the house-made pappardelle pasta in a brown butter nage with winter squash & artichokes - more complex than I anticipated but the flavors blended very harmoniously, the mildly sweet & savory combo from the veggies, nutty-toastiness from the brown butter, and wheaty goodness of the al dente pasta.

My dining companion thought the pan-roasted sea scallops with hummus, brussel sprouts and mushroom salad was less successful, particularly because the scallops were too salty. I had a bite and didn't think it was oversalted in general, but could see how eating the seared exterior would result in a sodium overload. The accompaniments to this dish, however, were pretty nondescript.

For main course, we both went with the prime aged sirloin filet with sweet garlic cream, butterball potatoes and caramelized salsify. Overall it was solidly delicious, the steak, about 8 ounces worth, was succulent & rich with beefy flavors. The potatoes were fluffy & buttery without being too heavy, and the veggies tender but not mushy. As tasty as everything was, nothing really stood out - it basically felt like a higher-quality, but standard, steak and potatoes meal. Maybe the restaurant was intentionally playing it safe for broad appeal, maybe it was just poorly executed that one night. I can only shrug.
For dessert, I got the blood orange bread pudding with white chocolate ice cream and kumquat confit . . . wow! A warm, gooey baked creamsicle like concoction with a marvelous balance of the creamy richness and fruity tang. The kumquats were exceptional too (i.e. not too bitter). My DC agreed that it was quite delish.
My companion got the chocolate sampler which included a chocolate pudding tart, a chocolate creme brulee, brownie topped with chocolate ice cream & a mini-mug of hot chocolate. We both agreed it was a hit and miss. The tart tasted generic bleh (the pudding could've came out of a Jell-O mix, as far our tastebuds are concerned) and the brulee was soupy and had an unappealing bitter-tart aftertaste. The hot chocolate and the mini ice cream-brownie sundae fared much better.

Like almost all my other DineLA meals, I was neither overly impressed nor thoroughly disappointed by the mixed bag of offerings. But I'll probably swing by again if I'm in the Westwood area and in the mood for a meal with wine and without the usual college crowd.

Napa Valley Grille
1100 Glendon Ave.
Los Angeles (Westwood)
310.824.3300
http://www.napavalleygrille.com/westwood/

Special Foodventure #53: DineLA Dinner @ Circa 55

The very last of my DineLA dinners (literally, this took place on the last day of Restaurant Week) and it was a cool occasion to 1) meet up with the bloggers from What's to Eat LA and 2) check out the new Trader Vic's lounge right next door at the Beverly Hilton.

After a tropical libation at swankier Trader Vic's lounge (and the cocktails are still as deceptively potent as I remembered from its old location), we met up and proceed to grab our seats at Circa 55, the somewhat upscale and stylish-looking Californian-Fusion restaurant in the hotel.
Being a restaurant in a hotel, I'm immediately suspicious of the food, since they typically cater to the tourist/business conference crowds that are too lazy and/or not picky enough to look around for food - but the menu (both the regular one & the DineLA prix-fixe) was interesting enough for me to get over the initial skepticism. And hey, it *is* Beverly Hills, surely the tourists & meeting-goers have more discerning palates.

Indeed, they made a great first impression with their sophisticated bread basket (served with butter balls & olive oil), and I *rarely* get impressed enough with the pre-meal baked carbs to take photos of them.
So we happily feasted on our breads of varying flavors & textures until the arrival of the first course, California dungeness crab cake with grain mustard aioli, cherry tomatoes, white asparagus and wild cress salad
which was delicious: oodles of sweet, succulent crab meat that's pan-fried to near perfection and kicked up a notch with the wonderful mustard sauce. The vegetables accompanying the crab cake were also very fresh-tasting.

Following the delightful appetizer, fruity soy marinated 10 oz. New York steak with roasted pepper & blue cheese topping, served with garlic mashed potatoes and assorted vegetables
A generously portioned, juicy and full-flavored slice of meat - I didn't pick up much of the fruity soy marinade, but it went very well with the slightly tangy blue cheese topping. The accompanying starches and veggies weren't bad either.

One of my dining companions got the herb crusted halibut with mustard greens and yuzu pepper sauce
I had a forkful and it's a nice flaky filet of fish. Again, I didn't pick up much of the sauce but felt the halibut is fine on its own with the crispity, aromatic herb crust.

Finishing off the meal, my favorite course - dessert! - which for me meant a journey into chocolate
which contained a classic Opera Cake, a Chocolate-Thyme Mousse Cake and Chocolate Soup in a shotglass. All of them were delightful in their own right, from the familiar chocolatey creamyness of the Opera, the eccentric cocoa-herb combo of the mousse cake (very interesting, but not sure if I would order it on its own) and the soup which my companion very accurately described as "liquid chocolate churro".

Not quite as successful was my friend's passion fruit creme brulee
which looked pretty, but wound up being a bit too tart and a bit too soupy for his preferences. Oh well, live and learn.

So in short, Circa 55 is pretty good (and certainly way better than my initial expectations). Given its location and its price range (around $50-60 a person sans drinks), it's probably a place I'll save for special occasions or if I'm in the Beverly Hills area. But its DineLA dinner, which saved us $25-30 compared to the regular prices, was quite a bargain -- so it's definitely on my check out list if they're participating next year.

Circa 55
9876 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills 90210
310.807.6055
http://www.circa55beverlyhills.com/

Special Foodventure #51: DineLA Dinner @ Grace

The starlet of the DineLA set, of course I had to check out what Grace to offer and thanks to my serendipitious checking of OpenTable (well after everyone pointed out that they're fully booked and I got stuck on a double-digit waitlist) I managed to score a table for me and my friend last week. So off we went to see what Neal Fraser whipped up for Restaurant Week . . .

. . . and that was a lot of choices, if you're willing to pay the price. On top of the standard DineLA $34 dinner offerings they also had numerous upgrades available for supplements of various prices. Want to try the foie gras appetizer? Sure, add $16; or maybe the wild boar entree? $14 more and you got it. How about a wine pairing for an extra $30?

But all those extras miffed me a little. True, they are fully disclosing the additional charges and the diner still have choices on the standard option, but it's still got to me that they're getting you in the door with a $34 menu, only to besiege you with 6-8 upgrades that can easily double the price of the prix-fixe. But for diners who can stick to their guns and not get tempted (and boy were all those extras tempting!), dining here during Restaurant Week is a good deal (for comparison, their five-course tasting menu would've costed $85).

For starters, I decided to stick with the standard one and got the Shrimp Cavatelli:

which was a nice little dish of pasta, shrimp, peas and chanterelle mushrooms in a garlicky cream sauce. I was thinking "creamier, fancier shrimp scampi with pasta" when I was eating this, and it was pretty pleasant overall, the garlic could've been a little less strong - if only for the sakes of this being a first course and I don't want to have to check my breath for the rest of the meal.

My friend opted for an upgrade and got . . .
Foie Gras with Winter Fruit Clafoutis & Sauternes Gelee, Pistachio Compote (below the foie gras) and Hemp Seed Tuile quite a mouthful on the menu and on the plate. I had a little taste of everything and I think I can sum it up with "exotic", with a myriad of aromas & tastes that's hard to describe ("It tastes kinda like . . ."), though perhaps that may mean I need to polish & refine my palate some more. Overall, the dish was sweeter & fruitier than I expected ~ since those elements were present in all the non-foie gras components of this dish. As for the fattened liver itself, good - but I've had better.

For our main courses, we both went for Wild Boar with Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Spaetzle and Violet Mustard, at the waitress' recommendation and since it wasn't a meat we encounter every day:
For me, the spaetzle and the brussel sprouts were the highlights of the entree, both having that divine roasted, caramelization aromas that went wonderfully with the violet mustard sauce. The boar itself was not as successful; it was too gamey for my preference and had an unexpected minty-sagey aroma that I just didn't care for. But hey, at least now I can cross "wild boar" off the list of meats I've eaten -- though if they all taste like this I probably wouldn't try again anytime soon.

And finally, our sweets --
Cinnamon Glazed Doughnuts with Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Foam The fried dough were well-executed (crispy, fairly light with a mildly sweet and authentically cinnamony glaze) though I recall having much better doughnuts on their doughnut nights; understandable since they're pretty much mass-producing these doughnuts for Restaurant Week. The hot chocolate was also pretty good (way better with the marshmallow foam stirred in!), but would've been more awesome if it came out hot and not lukewarm.

Based on this meal alone, Grace wounds up on my list as one of those places I had a high expectation of, but wounds up falling considerably short. Part of that may been no fault of the restaurant (maybe I'm just not a wild boar person) but there were other shortcomings that were (and any who've drank room temperature "hot" cocoa before knows what I'm talking about.) But outside of DineLA, I've have had wonderful experiences here so really hoping that this is just a fluke of mediocrity. I guess time will tell when I return for an actual meal here.

And since it's one of the big stars of the DineLA set, of course there were other food blogger reviews. Here's what they have to say.

Grace
7360 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
323.934.4400
www.gracerestaurant.com

Special Foodventure #50: DineLA Dinner @ Beacon

Apologies in advance for lack of photos, lighting was simply too dim to take anything flash-less that evening
Ahh... Beacon - a place I've been meaning to checking out, and finally did - with a little incentive from DineLA. When my dining companion and I arrived for a late dinner last week (~8:15p), it was still a full house. Hopefully that's good news about the food.

Like the other new restaurants of revitalized downtown Culver City area, the atmosphere and vibe of this Asian Fusion restaurant is pretty swank without going overboard with the kitsch (i.e. no oversized Buddha statues or giant sake barrels lying about.) Anyways, here's a breakdown of our 3-course menus.

For starters, my companion had a warm Carrot Ginger Soup which was delightful for a chilly night, though not particularly distinctive from other carrot ginger soups I've tried or bought. I got the Stir-fried Mushroom Salad with Manchego Cheese and Yuzu Dressing that was truly delicious, with the little cubes of potent-yet-buttery cheese (think texture of Mozzarella or Gouda combined with pungence of Parmigiano) cutting into the tart dressing, warm, meaty mushrooms and the crisp mixed greens. One of few salads I would actually be content ordering as an entree.

And speaking of entrees - I got the Grilled Thai Curry Chicken with Black Rice Risotto, which was pretty decent, though the sauce, wonderfully aromatic as it was with the smells of lemongrass and coconut, was considerably too salty. The black rice was more impressive, fluffy with a slightly nutty note. My companion got the Tasmanian Salmon Trout with Grits and Chinese Black Bean Sauce - the fish was perfectly cooked, super-moist and flavorful with a skin that's crispy as a chip. I was surprised by the combo of creamy grits & briny black bean sauce ~ nice example of "fusion done right".

Finishing off our meals are Pink Lady Apple Crisp and Passion Fruit Cheesecake; both good but not great, the former was too sweet and the latter too sour. Maybe if we mixed the two desserts into some pink lady/passion fruit cheesecake crisp amalgamation...

But overall, a pretty kickin' meal that my dining companion and I both enjoyed -- and we both look forward to returning to check out some of their other innovative fusion dishes.

Beacon
3280 Helms Avenue
Los Angeles 90034
310.838.7500
www.beacon-la.com

Special Foodventure #49: DineLA lunch at Ford's Filling Station

Finally, DineLA Restaurant Week . . . first stop, Ford's Filling Station - A modern, fusion-ish American joint in the heart of re-vitalized Culver City (also known for hotspots such as Fraiche and Beacon, the latter of which I'll also be visiting during the DineLA weeks). And a $22 three-course lunch sounds like a good deal (especially when their restaurant menu doesn't list prices - always a budgetary warning sign - and when compared to the likes of their other events, such as the gastropub lecture & dinner costing $75/person). So off we embarked.

FFS' environs were pretty inviting: a mix between swank bachelor loft and a country cabin. Warm and inviting enough for a meal with friends and with enough hip factor for a date too.

Anyways, we wasted no time ordering - and here's what we got for our twenty-two bones.
Clam Chowder with Manila Clams, Roasted Potatoes, Tomatoes, Bacon in a Creamy Leek Broth - very rich and, as you can see, chock full of the good stuff... no little, limp, rubbery pieces of mollusks here. A good and filling soup (would've been OMG amazing if it wasn't served lukewarm). It was here that service also started to falter, the five of us received our appetizers in 15 minute increments, so my friend and I started on our lukewarm soups -- not knowing it'd take another half hour before the last guy of our table is served his first course.

Onto our entrees:
Flatbread Sandwich with Porchetta, Caramelized Onion and Fontina cheese with a side of mixed greens - Again, a solid but not-that-impressive dish. I enjoyed the crispy texture of the flatbread against the juicy, flavorful pork - but after a few bites I deemed the whole combination too greasy. The pork was very well marbled, add to the cheese and the oily-upped onions equaled a pretty queasy experience. The zippy salad with its vinaigrette dressing was kind of able to cut into the fat, but I still couldn't bring myself to finish the sandwich.

And finally, the dessert:
Vanilla Bean Cremé Brulee Smooth, velvety deliciousness with a perfectly burnt caramel top! Not too sweet (which happens all too frequently with creme brulees in my experience) and I could see actual vanilla beans, always a plus.

All in all, a slightly-above-OK experience. The food has the potential to be good but not quite there yet, and the service can definitely use some improvement (I observed a few neighboring tables where the serving timing looked off as well.) But I'm glad I gave it a try and at a discount.

Ford's Filling Station
9531 Culver Blvd.
Culver City
310.202.1470
http://www.fordsfillingstation.net/