No. 195: Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop (Beverly Hills, Century City)

May must be a month of salads for me -- on top of a salad being my most memorable dish in New York, I also had the opportunity to sample some pretty amazing tossed greens here in L.A. at a blogger dinner @ Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop in Century City (they also have a location in Beverly Hills.)

I know, salads usually elicits a yawn -- serving as a half-finished precursor to the actual entreé, or an even worse rep as a healthy/diet food - "healthy" being code for "this isn't what I would be ordering if my love handles/blubber butt/thunder thighs didn't have a say in it."

At Greenleaf, however, these are salads worth ordering on the taste factor alone, if anything - its being healthy is more of a noteworthy afterthought. Hell, these are salads I aspire to making at home if I had the time & energy to prep, cook and combine 8-12 different ingredients. The flavors & textures here are balanced, clean, bright and most of all... satisfying, as opposed to one of those entreé salads that leaves me craving an actual entreé afterwards.

We sampled a few made-to-order & prepared salads that evening, and while they all tasted great--these are my definite faves:

Antioxidant Orchard - I know, some people have a 'problem' with fruits in their salad, but I don't so I definitely love this vibrant mix that's abundant with strawberries, blueberries, grapes, apples and dried cranberries - along with a dose of crisp celery, crunchy walnuts, blue cheese crumbles and pomegranate vinaigrette. Despite all the components, it's not cloyingly sugary -- if anything, the overall fruitiness balances out the tang and the sweet very well and the salad itself was a myriad of delightful textures, from the snappy crunch of the celery & apples to the juicy burst of the berries to the occasional creamy pungence of the cheese.

Lemongrass Chicken - their take on the ubiquitous Asian chicken salad, with mango, grilled pineapple, toasted coconut, agave-glazed cashews, thai chili & thai basil with a lemongrass-lychee dressing. Yes, another fruit-forward salad, but again - it's not that sweet and the fruits binds & mellows out the basil and the chili. I also love the cooling and refreshing tropical dressing that adds a decidedly relaxing summer feel to anything it's drizzled on or tossed in!

Wild Mushroom and Truffle "Pizza" - I'm not a big fan of healthified remakes (i.e. if you crave a pizza, eat some pizza & just do it moderation!) but this lighter variation had me sold on the taste alone, even if I hesitate to put it in comparison with an actual pizza. The whole wheat tortilla 'crust' had a pleasant nutty flavor & chewy texture, and the toppings were a nice contrast between the fresh, peppery arugula, intense parmesan shavings and a bold mushroom spread with just a hint of truffle. Of course, the icing on the cake (or pie, rather) is knowing this whole ~10" dish is approx. 400 calories.

Green Lentils & Beets-Yam-Walnut-Goat Cheese Deli Salads - I'm a lentil lover, but even those at the table who were ambivalent or wary of the stuff gave high praise for this version, which were nicely cooked to an al dente-ish feel with a deeply nutty and earthy flavor brightened up with some herbs. Likewise, the beets & yam salad tasted as colorful as it looked. A little sweet, a little tang, a little creamy and a little crunchy . . . and mostly festive as it all combined in my mouth!

And for those who like to customize, Greenleaf offers a Counter-like menu option where you can build it as you like it with nearly any combination of greens, toppings, proteins, dressings, etc. as you please. But since all those choices tend to paralyze me with indecisiveness - I think I'll stick to their already solid menu of signature dishes (with maybe a tweak or two.)

Finally, to commemorate their recent 3rd anniversary this week (May 31 to June 4, 2011) they're offering specials all week long - including 50% off the entire beer/wine list and gifts for bringing 2 newbies (to make a 3some) to try Greenleaf. So give it a try (with some friends!) if you have the chance to swing by either of their locations -- hope you'll agree that healthy & tasty aren't mutually exclusive with one of their delicious fare (and if you're like me, inspired to whip up some fancy salads @ home yourself!)

What Do Others Say?
- My two compadres @ this blogger dinner, Savory Hunter & Gourmet Pigs, were both pleasantly surprised by the deliciousness of the foods here
- LAist praised chefs/co-owners Jonathan Rollo & Kristi Ritchey's ability to "find ways to move from caloric wastelands to tastier, healthier territory."
- Green LA Girl recommends this for anyone who "Wanna order a damn good organic salad for lunch." Enough said
- LA Weekly got a few pointers about pairing beers & wines with salads from Rollo
- Gayot rightly pointed out that "Greenleaf is not just for the health nut . . . a flatiron steak salad and another one inspired by Buffalo chicken wings make things interesting"

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop
Beverly Hills
9671 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310) 246-0756

Century City
1888 Century Park East
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(424) 239-8700

Twitter
Facebook

No. 147: Thankfulness for Cupcake Tour around L.A.

Photo courtesy of TaraMetBlog

As I have confessed before, cupcakes aren't on my top list of sweets -- with my fair share of "misses" from an off-ratio of frosting to cake, and more than one instance where the cupcake isn't finger-friendly, defeating their purpose as a portable dessert. Even after judging 40 or so of them at the Cupcake Challenge earlier this year, I was left with an ambivalent aftertaste.

But thanks to bloggerprom committee comrade Tara (of TaraMetBlog and LA Cupcakes Meetup) and GM Chevrolet, I was invited check out four of L.A.'s finest cupcakeries as part of their "Best of Tours" campaign to promote their vehicles.

Needless to say, with the unfortunate rain, we bloggers were lucky that we got to be driven around -- if it was up to our less-than-professional driving skills against the torrential rain and the other extra-rabid L.A. drivers, we'd probably just park our butts at Crumbs (our first cupcakery stop) and scrounge for food around that area, like 9021Pho! Come to think of it, that sounds pretty good for rainy weather, but I digress...

Shortly after entering Crumbs, we were greeted with smiles and, more importantly to a bunch of lunch- and maybe breakfast-skipping foodbloggers, bags of cupcakes in a myriad of flavors, generously offering coffee and "any cupcake flavor not in the bag" to boot, to which Caroline eagerly replied "ELVIS!" (because she wanted the PB & banana cupcake, not because she saw an impersonator or apparition.)

I opted for a cookies 'n creme-style cupcake with chocolate cake and topped with half an Oreo, which def. taste like one of my fave ice cream flavors. Sweet but not sickening so, and the frosting:cake ratio was pretty spot-on, though I wish the cake itself was less crumbly after I peeled off the wrapper. But what I can say, the bakeshop IS called Crumbs!

After a good 15-20 minutes enjoying our cupcakes and hot coffee, we made the two walk block down to the infamous Sprinkles, where Tara and her colleague picked up the cupcakes while we stayed outside since their shop interior is so teensy-tiny. Feeling a bit chocolated out from the previous half a cupcake, I opted to balance things out and got the vanilla one here -- even though the Red Velvet, with not-so-signature dot, seems to be first to go.

Next stop, SusieCakes, which I remembered from the Cupcake Challenge as being too sweet for my liking, but willing to give another try since Tara said it's her fave. I got the Strawberry cupcake to-go after Tara mentioned that Martha Stewart endorsed it, saying it was "DA BOMB" (Ok, maybe not in those exact words.) Being sugared out, I didn't eat this on the spot, but when I did get around to it later, I do have to concede to the frosting's deliciousness. And I agree with Natassia from Let Me Eat Cake in that it tastes a like a yummy strawberry starburst, minus the annoying teeth-stickiness of that chew.

I'm also glad to find out I'm not the only who's overloaded with sugar. Lindsay of the LAist relented to a La Salsa burrito to get some much needed salt and proteins--smart girl!

Last, and I will say least, was Vanilla Bake Shop - which I had prev. positive moments of, most recently from their being featured at the Casa Del Mar dessert buffet brunch. But that quickly turned sour when we entered and started bringing out our cameras ready to take shots, when an enraged-looking manager stormed out from the back and screamed "NO PICTURES!" Now, I'm aware, and have respected, no photo policies at other places (see: Bourbon & Branch in SF) particularly when *politely requested* instead of angrily-demanded to do so.But, whatevs -- maybe she had a stressful day or a bad run-in with a photographer in the past. However, just as I was about to mentally forgive and forget, she comes back out again to say "NO SAMPLES EITHER!" . . . which we didn't even ask for, so needless to say it made for a WTF moment. So I placed my order and was read to just get out of the store when I heard a toilet flush and noticed the restroom door! The mischievious gremlin in me took over . . .

. . . and I took a photo of their cupcake with the toilet in the background, partly to show them what I think of their policy and how they're enforcing it, but mostly for hilarity's sakes. Extra funny points that I just happened to have ordered, by pure coincidence, a dark brown bittersweet chocolate cupcake!


But despite that bummer of a final stop, overall it was a great experience to taste and compare so many cupcakes. Right now I'll say Crumbs and Susiecakes tie for my faves, but hard to compare since it was a chocolatey vs. fruity cupcake (which of course means I gotta make some return trips to do a little more R&D.) And of course, thankful to be participant of such a cool idea, all the while wishing with other bloggers that they'll take this "Best of Tours" idea for a multi-stop drinking excursion, when having a driver would really be a boon.

And following Lindsay's lead, Caroline, Shelley and I swung by The Golden State some much needed real food in the form of sandwiches and burgers, and they served one of the better BLTAs I've had in a while (w arugula, aioli, avocado and lots of glazed applewood bacon) w a refreshing cabbage slaw lightly dressed with a vinaigrette . . . and some beers too.


Other reports on the Cupcake Best of Tour:
Caroline on Crack whose "Elvis!" screams I'll take with a grain of saltLet Me Eat Cake fell into a cupcake comaBurrito-eating Lindsay pits these four with two more local cupcakeries for the bestPretty sandy feet tried on her wedding dress AFTER the cupcake tour... bravo!Happy Go Marni loves the cakes and the ride (Transformers edition Camaro,) only thing missing for her: Shia LaBeoufAnd of course, organizer Tara's got it down in her blog too!And more photos from the trip on my flickr here.Crumbs Bake Shop9465 S Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA(310) 550-9811Sprinkles Cupcakes9635 Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA(310) 274-8765SusieCakes Bakery11708 San Vicente Blvd.Los Angeles, CA(310) 442-2253Vanilla Bake Shop512 Wilshire Blvd.Santa Monica, CA (310) 458-6644The Golden State426 N Fairfax Ave.Los Angeles, CA(323) 782-8331

Special Foodventure #116: Opening Night at the Bazaar's Saam (Beverly Hills)

My 2009 splurge meal came earlier than I expected, since my Jose Andres lovin' friend wanted to check out Saam on its opening night this past Friday. Despite my DineLA Bazaar meal being a hit and miss affair, I decided to give the place another shot ~ to see if it lives up to the perfect four-stars anointed by LA Times' S. Irene.

Having arrived a tad early, my friend and I went to Bar Centro area to check out a couple of drinks. I got the Jale Berry, which was still tasty though significantly less spicy than I remembered, and my friend had the bartender's choice (pictured above) - a mix of Partida reposado, lime, mint and ginger syrup that went down really smooth and had a nice bouquet of spicy, minty flavors with the slightest tequila edge. After our drink, we checked in with the host stand to be taken into the Saam section of the Bazaar.

Saam, which turned out to be a Baz*aa*r-ish play on SBE owner Sam Nazarian's name, is situated in a private room situated right behind Bar Centro. With its wood-paneled walls and roof, high ledges lined with kitschy books and knick-kacks, and a winebar smack in the middle, it gives off a den or game room feel, I was even keeping an eye out for a dart board or a box of cigars somewhere. But overall, it was cozy and comforting, and a far-cry from the glitzy-bordering-on-gaudy ambience of the other Bazaar areas and much more appropriate for a tasting menu affair than the noisy hub-bub and visual distractions going on in the Rojo and Blanca rooms.

Another surprise is that for an opening night, Saam wasn't very filled -- only about a third to a half of the tables were occupied at any given time throughout our dinner. Then again, the buzz for the opening was kept pretty low (only Urbandaddy disclosed it ahead of time) and the server noted they are in a sort of soft-launch phase to see what works and what could be tweaked.

Soon after we settled into our seats, the waitstaff gave a breakdown of how the meal will proceed and asked about our allergies/preferences, then quickly presented us with a "snack and a cocktail" of their salty air margarita and sweet potato chips with tamarind paste and star anise. The margarita was decent and I do like the soft-and-light foam better than the typical coarse grains rimming the glass, but the tequila's harsh edge (blanco, I presume) was a bit too rough for my personal preference. Their spin on chips and dip was delicious, hitting three flavor notes with the slight saltiness of the sweet potato to the sweetness of the tamarind paste and the sourness of the yogurt.

As we finished our sips and nibbles, we were besieged with a quartet of bites. From front-to-back, we had a “olive oil bonbon” with a touch of saffron, caviar steamed bun with American sturgeon caviar, crème fraiche and “lemon air” on a mini bao, the bagel and lox crispy cone with salmon roe and dill cream cheese, and their cotton candy-wrapped foie gras. Here, the two fish egg dishes were wonderful tasting, with the roe harmonizing well with the other components and carrying it through with its briny, fishy (in a good way) flavor. The olive oil bonbon and the foie gras, on the other hand, seemed more fun to eat than tasty themselves. With the former, it was neat to crack the glassy bonbon in my mouth to flood my tongue with the saffron-infused oil, but ultimately it’s just oil on my tongue, albeit a quality olive oil which made me wish I had bread. With the foie gras, there’s that sweet-savory match going on and the expected richness of the fatty liver, but that was it and it felt single-faceted.

It was here that we also mentioned being interested in a wine pairing, and found out that instead of a traditional pairing, they offer four wine flights (self-explanatory Global, Spanish, Sparkling and Fortified) and essentially let the diners do their own pairings. Depending on your take, this can be DIY fun or a bit lazy on part of the restaurant. I started leaning towards the latter after some of my own pairing experiments went awry and resulted in puckery-cringe facial expressions. Also, I got the sparkling flight, which, despite being two 1.5 oz pours of four wines during the meal, didn’t last very well, since the bubbles ~ particularly for the two Cavas ~ dissipates fairly quickly and I really can’t let them just sit at the table and get flat while waiting for other courses to present themselves. A Spanish or a Global flight would work way better for pairing purposes…

After the four amuses and initial sips of our flights, we were presented with another Bazaar signature, the olive spherication, with olive juice contained in a gellified olive “skin” steeped in olive oil. A playful morsel that tastes like an extra dirty martini minus the alchy (though if you order a standard martini at the Bazaar you will get one of these lovelies in your glass.)

Following the spherified olive is Jose's Ham & Cheese sandwich (on an oddly-cute monkey pedestal tray!) with the deliate "air bread" bread filled with creamy La Serena sheep's cheese and topped with slices of jamon iberico. Pure decadence as all the components melded together, the cured, marbled ham with the creamy-yet-assertive cheese with the crisp, cracker-like bread.

After the monkey pedestal was bussed away, we were served the "canned" uni conservas with flowers and diced vegetables. Since my uni experiences thus far have been in sushi form, it was interesting to see it paired with the more lively veggies, but it worked surprisingly well. The creamy-sweetness of the urchin still came forth, and was nicely contrasted with the crunchy, mildly tart vegetables.

The boneless wing was up next, a 12-hour-marinated and breaded chicken with olive puree and iceplant. I like the mild garlicky flavor that was thoroughly infused throughout the moist chicken as well as the accompaniments that gave it a green-grassy note, but not so much the breading that was soggy rather than crispy.

Next up, their interpretation of the shrimp cocktail, with a Santa Barbara shrimp studded with petals, herbs and sesame seeds, pierced by a pipette filled with cocktail sauce and shrimp-head broth. Simply heavenly, and tasted every bit as colorful as it appeared; the plump, sweet shrimp was cooked to perfection (tender with that almost-crisp snap of firmness) and that broth-infused cocktail sauce tasted like a spiced-up red chowder. Totally could’ve eaten another few (dozen) of these!

Then came our intermission “show” where two servers almost struggled to push their ubiquitous liquid nitrogen cart in front of our table, to do a full on, cold-fog demo of their nitro gazpacho. For our photo-taking purposes, she really loaded up on the liquid N2 for the mad-science-lab effect. Nice!

As for gazpacho itself, decorated with edible flowers and airbread pieces and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, it was competent. All the expected flavor components were there, and I like the frozen sorbet texture, but the taste didn’t wow me and I actually could’ve used a little less of this since it’s very intense-tasting and left a distinct tomato and vegetal aftertaste that I had to drink plenty of water to get rid of before my next course of . . .

Bluefin toro with 63 celsius quail egg, caramelized watermelon, rice puffs and wasabi. Oddly enough, the fatty tuna belly had more of a salmon sashimi look and taste. The egg, whose yolk is still molten, had a nice richness that binded the flavors of the fish and the watermelon, and I liked the little poppity-crunch from the puffs. But again, another good-but-not-great dish – though I was still wondering about the salmon-y tuna for quite a while afterwards.

Following the toro was the Norwegian lobster with a thin slice of toasted baguette atop a seaweed salad, with a espresso cup of lobster broth. We were instructed to eat the lobster and baguette, have a sip of the broth, then eat the seaweed salad – which worked pretty well, the lobster meat was sweet and succulent, and the broth further brings out the savory flavor, and the seaweeds serve as an efficient palate cleanser, so that I can experience it fresh all over again. Definitely an impressive dish since I’m usually not that fond of lobsters.

Finishing off our seafood experience, smoked sous-vide salmon with a tzatziki sphere, chickpea pancake, dill, pressed cucumber, green chickpeas and olive oil. Rich yet refreshing and reminiscent of Mediterranean cuisine, this course was very delightful, distinctive yet familiar, basically a haute-refined salmon-dill-cucumber-yogurt dip. Definitely spoiled me for any creamy smoked salmon-dill spreads that I’ll encounter in the future!

Next is a partially destroyed “Not Your Everyday Caprese” salad because we forgot to take a photo before chomping down. It basically consisted of a liquefied mozzarella sphere with “sexy” tomatoes, airbread pieces, housemade pesto and dots of balsamic. Like the gazpacho, all the flavor expectations of caprese are here, but I don’t necessarily feel it’s an improvement over a traditional caprese and actually prefer a more solid mozzarella.

Rounding off the main courses is the Tournedos Rossini 2009, an homage to the famous composer and gourmand, consisting of a A5 Wagyu beef in a black-truffle gel, topped with foie gras shavings, king oyster mushroom and black trumpet mushrooms (mistakenly called “black trumpet truffles” by our server); between the truffle gel, the shrooms, foie gras and marbled beef, it was an attack of richness all vying for attention from my tastebuds. As such, this dish actually tasted better when I ate one or two components with the jus rather than a combined bite, when everything is just overwhelming one another in an orgy of fatty foods and it wounds up being an unappealing glob of heavy oiliness in my mouth. But it was divine when eaten separately, when the individual ingredients really shone in their unique flavors.

Transitioning our way into desserts, we got the signature and popular dragon’s breath (actually even too popular, such that the Bazaar won’t serve it unless Jose is in the kitchen). A fun, tasty bite of caramel popcorn, especially when the nitrogen vapors go up the nasal cavity and out the nostrils to produce that infamous effect.

Our first dessert is the chocolate biscuit coulant Michel Bras, essentially a molten chocolate-souffle inspired by the notable French chef, topped with gold flakes and served atop cardamom foam. Even if the chocolate-cardamom combo isn’t particularly edgy for me, this was a perfectly delicious sweet and I practically spooned every last bit into my mouth.

Second sweet was coconut-in-a-half-shell with an edible white chocolate-coconut shell, coconut sorbet, caramelized banana, passion fruit sauce with seeds and vanilla. Looks very pretty, and like the chocolate, tasted fine but also felt a bit ordinary on the creative scale.

Wrapping everything up, their petit fours of chocolate lolly with candied orange, saffron gumdrop and earl grey chocolate bonbon. All three were good but the gumdrop (with edible candy wrapper) was the most memorable because of its distinctive flavor and texture.

And for better or for worse, stomach-space-wise I left the meal feeling satisfied and not stuffed, though I will disclaim that my appetite leans on the lighter side. As for the overall experience of the meal? While it definitely is a mark up from the erratic menu landmine at the Bazaar, my Saam dinner felt less memorable than my previous years’ splurge meals at Providence and Spago, which were almost consistently good throughout the meal whereas with Saam I had greater variances, with some dishes being really good (Santa Barbara shrimp, Tournedos Rossini when eaten apart) and some that just tasted OK (gazpacho, caprese, boneless wing). But it was at least a nice visual treat watching many of these dishes being served (or served tableside!)

For the sakes of opening day, I’d rather not rate them since there’s bound to be a few significant changes over the next few weeks (for one, they’re trying to give Saam its own menu rather than borrowing a few dishes from the Rojo y Blanca one.) But if there’s one thing I’d recommend, it’s definitely to have a sommelier on-site to make appropriate pairings for the dishes. At $120 for the dinner and $40-$55 for the wines, that’s something I’d rather leave to the pros rather than blindly DIYing my way through.

A few more photos from me and my friend's flickr.

Saam at The Bazaar at SLS
465 S. La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles
310.246.5545
http://www.thebazaar.com

Friday Quickies #52: Food Events Frenzy

Cupcakes and other treats from Vanilla Bakeshop at Dining by Design '08

Not a whole lot of food-related thoughts this week, but did get quite a few releases and advisories on interesting events - so here ya go:

In case you're wondering why the lights suddenly went out when you're dining Saturday, rest assured it's not a blackout (though it's never too early to conserve energy) -- LA Times ran a nice piece that over 40 restaurants will be participating in Earth Hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., turning off all possible electric lights to make a symbolic statement on concern for climate change. I'm all for environmental awareness, but hopefully I can still read the menu and not be caught in the middle of an accident with people stumbling about.

Sunday March 29 seems to have a bevy of food-related events. Asides from the previously mentioned Cupcake Challenge and the Shojin Matsuri party (both of which I plan to attend),Cafe del Rey is holding an a pre-Passover wine tasting event, with a variety of kosher wines available to try as well as kosher hors d'oeuvres and petit desserts prepared by the kitchen to prepare the annual holiday which begins on April 8. The event costs $45 advanced and $55 at door. For more information, call Kehillat Ma'arav Synagogue at (310) 829-0566.

For wine and classic fine dining lovers, on March 31st Morton's at Beverly Hills will be hosting a five-course dinner and reception with wine uber-celebrity Peter Mondavi, Jr. as guest of honor. Signature dishes such as jumbo lump crab cakes with mustard-mayonnaise, tuna tartare with avocado, tomato, Thai cream and balsamic glaze and filet mignon with bernaise sauce will be served alongside vintage wines from Charles Krug winery. $150/person all-inclusive. Reserve at (310) 246-1501 or jason_forst@mortons.com.

On April 2 at 7:30 p.m., Border Grill will be doing an UN-Margarita dinner to showcase tequilas in forms other than that ubiquitous limey drink. The four-course paired menu include ono ginger napoleon with a ginger collins cocktail, duck confit tamale with a red velvet martini and dulce de leche churros with an organic espresso cocktail with housemade coffee liqueur. Like the Ciudad wine party event I noted earlier, this one sounds like it'll sell out so make your rezzies fast.

Special Foodventure #101: DineLA dinner at the Bazaar (Beverly Hills)

The Bazaar was one of the hottest restaurant openings last year, with tapas-forerunner chef Jose Andres joining forces with local uber-hospitality management company SBE to open a three-part restaurant in the new SLS hotel in Beverly Hills. Since the Bazaar's focus is on small plates, ideally it would be great for me to go with a group so we can all order, split and share a variety of different items. And that perfect moment came when DineLA Restaurant Week rolled around, and the Bazaar's deal sounds particularly sweet since instead of a prix-fixe like almost all the other restaurants, we can choose our own courses from pretty much their entire menu, or so we initially thought.

I've been to the Bazaar for drinks a few times before (and apparently, the bartender noticed; I feel like such a lush now) and I still can't decided whether the over-the-top glitzy decor makes for fascinating, albeit gaudy, eye-candy or just an tasteless celebration of all things tacky. It certainly doesn't help the case that right next to the bar and patisserie is an exorbitant gift shop selling wares like a golden squirrel coin bank for $4,500 or limited-edition paparazzi prints of poor celebs-in-hiding for about a grand each. Oh yea, a considerable percentage of the bar and patisserie clientele unnecessarily flashy too (think guys wearing heavily-embroidered jeans and deep V-neck t-shirts with giant chest graphics, and women in neon-colored stockings and faux-fur vests and top-hats; both gender tend to sport too much fragrance) leaving me aghast and amused at the same time.

But anyhow, my pre-dinner cocktails since I arrived early - my first drink was a Brandy Alexander (pictured above) that had nice aromas (esp. since the bartend freshly grated nutmeg on top) but ultimately too thin in texture since half-and-half was used in lieu of heavy cream. For my second drink I decided to order something I already know I'd like, the Jalé Berry with fresh jalapenos and blackberries with gin and Cointreau (I requested Plymouth). I just love the spike of spice and grassiness that the pepper added to another-wise standard and somewhat fruity ccoktail, and the overall bouquet of aromas was pleasantly complex (peppers and berries go well with the citrusy, mildly-herby aromas of this particular gin, which is one of my faves.)

Aaron of Food Destination and his g/f and ordered drinks of their own, and a few minutes later Tony of SinoSoul came with his g/f (yea, I ventured here solo -- thankfully was joined by Tony's friend Danny later on) and we slinked into our booth in the "rojo" room of the restaurant (fyi, the menu and the dining room is divided into rojo and blanca with totally different feel.)

After our waiter confirmed the DineLA setup (three tapas except from the meats & cheese sections, plus a "philly" or "hilly" sandwich and any $10 dessert from the patisserie menu) we put our budget-minded math brains to work. With tapas ranging from $6 to $16 how much one saves (or even lose) on the DineLA deal hinges on the price value of what's ordered. So of course, we mostly stuck with the pricier small plates. But we weren't being total penny-pinchers and put in an order of jamon iberico de bellota ($36 for two ounces, OK -- split six ways it's only an extra $6 each...)

First to arrive was our shared jamon and a complimentary starter of toast with olive oil and tomato puree. The toast was refreshing, flavorful but surprisingly not heavy -- like a fresh margherita pizza sans basil and cheese.

As for the jamon - it was divine and I can see why they kept the pigs on an acorn-only diet (and fetching the consequent high price for the ham) it had a smooth, silky and rich texture w/o feeling fatty at all thanks to the marbling and was bursting with meaty, bacon-like flavors with a slight tinge of smoke-cure and nut taste. It was hard to refrain from taking more than my share of 2-3 slices.

Since none of us were vegetarians, we all got the "Philly" sandwich (the "Hilly" merely swapped the beef for mushrooms) - lovely to look at and fun to eat, the best way I can describe it is that it's the eclair's savory, meaty cousin. The light, crispy bread was puffed and it's interior is filled with molten cheese. While delightful to try, I think mine had a little too much cheese, which overwhelmed the otherwise nicely-seared thin slices of beef.

Next up was their king crab in a raspberry vinegar with fresh raspberry, served in a can as an homage to Spain's claim of having the best canned foods. I absolutely love the presentation and the spectrum of sweet to sour in this dish, from the ripe, sweet raspberries to the more subtle, tender and fresh crab pieces and the fruity-tart sauce.

I was curious about their mini sandwiches, so I got their foie gras on brioche with quince jam; since Tony got a trio of sea urchin on steamed buns /w avocado slices, we decided to swap one -- and we both agreed the foie gras tasted better, so buttery rich with a hint of liver flavor - the brioche were a perfect backdrop and the quince jam was a nicely matched pairing, as if I was sipping the Sauternes while eating the meat. The sea urchin sandwich was a bit lackluster due to the ratio, the sheer amount of bun and the richness of the avocado easily overwhelmed the naturally subtle sweet-briny flavor of the urchin.

My final savory (and only hot dish) is the rossejat, described as a paella-like dish with shrimp, served with a garlic sauce on the side that I'm supposed to toss in. Unlike everything else so far, this dish looked amazingly ordinary (like a stir-fried vermicelli dish minus the granules of vegetables -- or as Tony noted it "something out of a Rice-a-roni box"), and the taste was off too. The garlic sauce pretty much overpowered everything, rendering the dish more like a shrimp scampi with noodles as opposed to a paella. It's not Stinking Rose pungent, but the lingering aftertaste did stick for a quite a while after I finished this.

For desserts, we all decided to order something different so that, again, we can split and share.

I think this time I got the bad pick with the apples cooked in red wine with vanilla ice cream (and bean, apparently); on their own the apples had no sweetness at all but retained all the tannic astringency and acid of the wine it got cooked in, I have to scoop a little ice cream with every bite to make it palatable. However the other sweets, particularly the Greek yogurt panna cotta with apricot and muscat gelatin and hot chocolate mousse with pear sorbet and salted-hazelnut pralines, were provocatively tasty.

And of course, after the meal's over we took our sweet time exploring the space, from the various exorbitant gifts at Moss to the other sweets on display at the Patisserie to their glitzy bathrooms (mirrors all over; kinda fun, but also weird to stare at myself while I'm doing my business.) By the end I still haven't had a better clue of what the place about (asides from coming up with the phrase "bizarre Bazaar" in my head,) but the space, food and drinks are definitely intriguing enough for me to make a return trip one of these days for a special-occasion meal. Of course, not on a weekend when the tacky d-bag crowd is out in full force.

For more photos of this meal, including what others in my party had, check out my flickr set here.

What Do Others Say?
- Here's SinoSoul's account of the same meal
- Dig Lounge had a pleasant DineLA dinner here
- KevinEats came on grand opening night, tried practically every course here for 50% discount, had a less-than-stellar experience, and got invited back to check out the food again with the chef (along with FoodDigger)
- Gourmet Pigs had a better experience with her half-off grand opening meal
- Food, She Thoughts soaked in every little detail and had some great photos
- Yelperocracy gave it 4 stars

The Bazaar at SLS Hotel
465 S. La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles
310.246.5555
http://www.thebazaar.com

Foodventure #96: Spago (Beverly Hills)

Ok, I finally did my '08 splurge meal at Spago -- and that's likely to the delight and relief of anyone who hung out with me for the latter half of the year, where I kept bringing up "I finally saved up for Spago, I just have to take the time to actually reserve and eat there!" Hey, at least I didn't wait till New Year's Eve.

After last year's splurge at Providence, I figure this year I should do something more classic but still with a modern touch. Spago, Wolfgang Puck's signature brand which existed in its first incarnation in '82 in Hollywood with the flagship transferred to the opened-in-'97 Beverly Hills when the original location closed in 2001, fits that bill nicely. And though I have a special curiosity for CUT, I am not particularly fond of the dog-and-pony show of displaying the various cuts of raw beef in a cart, and I don't want to risk being nauseated by gianormous portraits of faux-lebrities. Guess I can live vivaciously through others on that one for now.

Being a rather brisk and cold evening and wanting to capture better photos and get a better view of the operations, I opted out of courtyard seating and took a side table inside. For a space that large and a restaurant this upscale, I am surprised by how welcoming and homely the Spago dining area, like the large communal dining hall of a family-run farm or winery. Could be the beige earthy tones of the walls, the sordid mix of art -- ranging from giant rustic hand-painted plants of edibles, to large portraits of harvest and farm-life -- or the pleasantly soft ambient lighting with points of bright spotlights on the table so diners can appreciate the visuals of what they ate (and so folks like me can take half-decent photos.)

Christian, the waitress, greeted me with the menu and the immense 60+ page binder of a winelist but I really took thirty seconds looking over at each; I am doing the tasting menu and opting out of wine pairings in favor of the curiously-crafted cocktails I've eyed on their bar menu when I was waiting for my table.

My first cocktail was the "Svenalicious"; I know, I mentally rolled my eyes too at the hokey-sounding name but the ingredients were more sophisticated than the label: diplomatico reserva rum, sherry de jerez, cointreau noir, huckleberry, cloves and peppercorn with a pepper-salt rim. And it turned out to be a wonderful spicy little number, complex with sweet and fiery spices, dark molasses and dried red fruit aromas and a surprisingly light mouthfeel, it was like drinking a fluffy homemade gingerbread loaf studded with crystallized fruits made by someone with a love for all things hot. Great way to open up the nostrils and palate!

After a few sips came first of amuses, spicy tuna roll in a sesame-miso cone, a nice take on the familiar Americanized temaki. Even though the tuna wasn't really spicy (especially compared to my drink) I love how the edges are softened by the nuttiness of the sesame cone and the mellow savory flavors of the miso dressing, letting more of the raw tuna fattiness shine through.

Then the bite-sized variant of toad in a hole with a poached quail egg embedded in a brioche with a black truffle flake. Now this is a great amuse in the truest sense! I loved how the warm, rich yolk bursts my mouth with the very first bite and is immediately soaked up by the bread while still on my tongue, with the truffle contributing that bonus flavor of earthiness.

Finishing the amuses was a freshly-baked bacon en croute, taken apart here to display the interior. Crispy exterior, steaming fattiness within -- hard to go wrong there. If these savory small bites were a sneak peek of what exec. chef Lee Hefter and chef de cuisine Thomas Boyce have to offer, I'm certainly in for a treat.

While waiting up for my first non-amuse dish, I struck up a conversation with Michael and Pam, a real foodie couple from the O.C. (been to Per Se, Michael Mina and other places I can only dream of now); they sat about 10-15 minutes after me and are also doing the tasting menu, but they're in the same section in me so their tasting soon caught up on speed and pace with mine, and I felt a little bad since I'm eating at a pretty brisk solo diner tempo and didn't mind the lack of lagtime, but I am sure they'd want a little more of a break so they can talk between dishes, bites and sips (to showcase the velocity at which the staff serve and bus versus their rate of consumption, one time Pam had three courses' worth of wine pairings on her table!)

But back to the food, my first actual course was the japanese cucumber sorbet over a relish of ume boshe and daikon -- if it was bite-size this would truly feel like an extension of the amuse, it was very refreshing and palate-cleansing. I loved the brightness of flavors that ran throughout the relish-sorbet combo. And being a lover of unusual-flavored ice creams already, I certainly didn't object to the comparatively innocuous cuke sorbet.

Next up was the fricasee of maine lobster, veal sweetbreads and black truffle with crispy rye bread and apple-celery root puree. With so much going on in there I wasn't sure if this would work, but it turned out well. The sweetbreads was more meaty than fatty, so it blended well with the lobster meat and the meaty-earthy truffles. I love the extra contrast added by the crunchy greens and bread and the creamy-smooth puree, with the ever-so-slight celery root zing. In hindsight I wished I followed Michael and Pam's cue and used bread to mop up the remaining juices and puree (sidenote: great bread service, almost every 15 minutes someone is passing by with a tray full of assorted carbs ranging from a standard sourdough to a crispy-thin lavash to rustic walnut and olive breads; I had four slices, frankly three-and-a-half slices too many considering all that I am going to eat tonight.)

Then came the seared maine diver scallop with pea shoot salad, pad thai noodles and red curry sauce (I took a slight objection and a note that the menu indicated the plural 'scallops' but only a single one is served, maybe I am more offended than most since I could never get too many of my favorite bivalves.) The pad thai in the red curry is prepared and plated tableside, which was a nice touch. While the sauce had the wonderful nuances of ginger and lemongrass that went great with the perfectly-seared scallop (crispy-caramelized outside, creamy-rich inside) and the peanutty-sticky noodles, it was also restrained on the spiciness especially compared to an actual Thai curry. The sticky noodles, with a tendency to clump, were also tricky to eat with a fork and I think there was too much of it. The first few bites were amazing, but towards the end it lost some luster and felt actually a bit too sweet and overbearing on the palate and nostrils.

Since we're midway through the tasting menu, I took the moment order another drink: the Lily White Pear with Hangar One spiced pear vodka, St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, asian pear puree and a caol ila rinse. While it didn't have the flavor slam-bang of the svenalicious, it was equally complex with its fruit and floral notes and the occasional tinge of fresh herbs and warm spices. Again, it'd make for a great starter drinks but was delightfully refreshing and palate-cleansing between courses as well.

Soon arrived the dish I was anticipating the most since I saw it on the menu (and Christian readily admitted to being her favorite): roasted Italian chestnuts-mascarpone agnolotti with italian white truffle shavings. Having only enjoyed black truffles and white truffle oil (but at least it's the real deal and not synthetic) so far, it was certainly a treat to taste actual shavings of the Italian white variety on these pasta. And it's definitely in a class of its own, worlds apart from the others I've had. Its complex, hard-to-describe but easily distinctive and heavenly aroma works so well against the backdrop of the tender, slightyly-sweet pillows of pasta and the light cream sauce. I was surprised such a few thin flakes could change the flavor profile so much, and can easily see why these hard-to-forage fungi are still worth hunting for and fetch the prices that they do.

The last of the savories was a duo of grilled snake river ranch "kobe" new york steak with black trumpet mushrooms, sauteed brussel sprouts, rutabaga puree and an armagnac-peppercorn sauce poured tableside (in hindsight I really should've asked the waiter to hold off and do it myself later so I can better capture the rare steak on camera). Again, pretty good stuff -- the perfectly-cooked, nicely-marbled steak requires minimal chewing and really just melts in your mouth. Like everything else I've had yet, the sauce was complex, rich and flavorful. The rutubaga puree and mushrooms were also nice on their own but both were easily overwhelmed by the sauce when eaten in combination. I also would've like a few (ok, a lot) more mini-leaves of the wonderful brussel sprout.

Finally, the sweets and where stuff really wound up going a bit south. The main dessert was Sherry's pannettone with tangerine sauce and butterscotch gelato. The sauce and the gelato are great, but the actual dessert itself is a fruity Christmas bread that was lacking in finesse and flavor, basically a lighter fruitcake that's also pretty dry and needed the sauce or gelato to be palatable. Michael and Pam also commented on the disappointment of this dessert too, noting that this not up to snuff compared to the desserts of their previous Spago visits. But at least the espresso I ordered was well-pulled, even after being made more of a coffee snob from reading this.

The mignardises consisted of a thumbprint raspberry-spice cookie, pistachio and rose macarons, chocolate cookie and mini opera cake. It ranged from OK to good and none are particularly memorable, though I was saddened by the macarons, which had wonderful flavors but were way too chewy and almost gummy.

Thankfully, not all hope was lost with sweets here since Michael and Pam were in the know and ordered a Kaiserschmarffen, an Austrian dessert (literally "Emperor's mishmash") that consisted of a haphazardously stacked pancake, a custard cream and berry sauce. Don't let the humble mishmash looks fool you, they let me try a spoonful and this was way more on-par than the other stuff on the menu. The combo of the airy, soft cake, the luscious custard and the fresh sauce yielded a combo between a light bread pudding and a souffle and definitely unique and delicious. Thanks to them, my final impression of Spago was not on a sour note.

Last tidbit worth mentioning: Spago automatically tacked on a 20% "service charge" even for my party of one. That auto-tip slightly threw me off, though I am giving them the benefit of the doubt since Beverly Hills is a tourist-attracting neighborhood, and other global diners may not have the same tipping customs (read: they don't tip) so I can see, even appreciate, Spago's stance to avoid their very professional and pleasant waitstaff from being stiffed. But 20% still felt a bit high for me.

Nonetheless, despite the dessert courses, this was certainly a meal to remember and treasure (and certainly one of my most memorable of '08) and a restaurant that certainly worth re-visiting if and when I can afford it. So a thanks to Wolfgang for starting this up (he was actually making the rounds and greeting diners by the time I was leaving), to Lee and Thomas for running the kitchen and creating such wonderful dishes, and Michael and Pam who became instant foodie-friends and hopefully look forward to meals in the future!

THE BILL:
Tasting menu - $105
Cocktails - $32 ($16 each)
Espresso - $3.50
"Service Charge" - $28.10
Pre-tax total - $168.60

THE RATINGS:
Ambience: 4/5 (comforting, rustic and artsy without being distracting, I also loved the acoustics too, even as the room was being packed with diners it never felt too noisy)
Value: 4/5 (overall not bad even in light of the auto-tipping; $105 felt right for the menu; cocktails, though well-crafted, were on the pricier end)
Service: 9.5/10 (the staff all-around was great from the hostess who carried my glass of water as I was moved to the dining area, to Christian the waitress and Eddie the lead busser who were a professional team and Mike the front-end manager who was checking up just enough to make us feel "taken care of" without being overbearingly interruptive; my next table foodie friends may give a considerably lower score due to the synchronized single-diner pacing, though.)
Food: 17.5/20 (despite the desserts, the meal was pleasant with plenty of high-notes that make it especially memorable; the taste of the Kaiserschmarffen also redeemed the sweets department somewhat)
Bonus/Demerit: N/A (was tempted to do a -.5 for the auto-gratuity, but giving the benefit of the doubt -- so just fair caution/warning)
Total: 35/40 (easy to see why it's a michelin two-star restaurant)

WHAT DO OTHERS SAY?:
The Delicious Life had reservations given Wolfgang's empire (read: selling-out), but quickly gave into the fabulosity of the place
The husband-and-wife duo of Infinite Fress had more divergent opinion of the place
KevinEats also checked out this iconically L.A. restaurant; hilarious final photo after 10 glasses of wine from the pairing
ExileKiss had a good time here, and actually inspired me to try Spago sooner rather than later
And of course, the Yelperocracy, which gave it a four-star.

Spago
176 N Canon Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 385-0880
Website