Special Foodventure #120: One Sunset... Again! (West Hollywood)

Thanks to Abby and the One Group, I got another opportunity to check out One Sunset for free (save for tips at the end) -- this time with a bunch of other foodbloggers! Since it's been about a month or two since my last visit there (when Jason Ryczek just became the new executive chef) so it's also a good opportunity to see how he steered the menu.

Like last time, the event occurred on a Tuesday to, of course, promote their "One of Almost Everything" Tuesday special ($45 for a four-course meal, each course being a duo or trio of dishes so more like 11-12 belly-busting "tastings", and a bottle of wine for only $1 more!) but this time, One Group mixologist Pablo Moix was on hand to help create cocktail pairings with the various courses. Which totalled up to five cocktails PLUS wine... um yeah, I'm thankful for my tolerance and my semi-legible notes (which, of obvious reasons, got more illegible as the night went on.)

Of the drinks, the ones I loved the most are the LUSHious raspberry served at the beginning (a delightful combo of fresh raspberries, Leblon cachaça and Gloria Ferrer Champagne) and the pictured-above Sucker Punch (Tommy Bahama rum, clover honey syrup, red wine with mint garnish -- or as I call it, the delicious lovechild of mojito and sangria.)

Some of my favorites from my previous time there made a reappearance, including the short rib sliders with smoked cheddar and the "adult candy" (medjool dates stuffed with bleu cheese and wrapped in bacon) and those turkey meatballs that are SO moist and fluffy they don't taste "turkey" at all, but here are some new items I really liked:

- Strawberries and burrata - a simple spin off a traditional caprese salad, with strawberries standing in for tomatoes, but the subsitution was sublime. The strawberries still lent that familiar tartness to offset the creamy cheese, but I love how its ripe, sweet, fruity aroma worked with the almost syruplike balsamic vinegar. A generous sprinkling of pink peppercorn also gave it much-welcomed extra little zip.

- Tuna tartare on eggplant tempura - ok, not entirely 'new' since I had it at the last tasting, but this one worked considerably better since the eggplant slices were smaller so it didn't taste too heavy; the ratio of the crispy batter, the creamy eggplant and the fatty, meaty raw tuna were 'just right'.

- Chowder in a clam shell - asides from the cute presentation, it's a nicely-sized mini-course of roasted clam, chorizo and creamier-than-usual chowder sauce, satisfying my palate for something heavy without making me feel guilty for slurping down a whole bowl of chowder.

- Vegan Godiva chocolate gelato w a side shot of Disaronna amaretto - the gelato was deep and intense with cocoa flavors and not-too-sweet, and if Chef Ryczek didn't mention the vegan aspect of it I wouldn't have been able to tell, since instead of the usual rice or soy milk he used agar to give it that creamy/thick consistency (I'm sure it's more complicated than just throwing agar gel, cocoa powder and sweetener together -- but the rest I chuck up to culinary magic.) Mixing in that amaretto worked enchantments of its own as it slowly turns into an alcoholic chocolate-almond non-milkshake.

And as with most hosted dinners attended by foodbloggers galore, a major part of the fun is chatting up with them, as well as with Chef Ryczek, on food trends, places they love to hit up, and noting their food preferences from how they reacted to the dish (my sweet tooth is easily unveiled by my love of the desserts as well as the short rib sliders, which others felt were a touch too sugary.)

Nonetheless, I'm definitely glad to still be able to recommend the "One of Almost Everything" Tuesdays as one of the better and tastier deals going on at the swanky Sunset Strip, and with the seasonal menu direction that Chef Ryczek is adapting, I'm definitely looking forward to something fresh and innovative the next time I'm swinging by, which I'll gladly do on my own dime.

For other reports of this same meal, check out the posts by gas•tron•o•my, Kevineats, Tangmeister and When Tara Met Blog.

One Sunset
8730 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 657-0111
Website

Complete Flickr set with more photos here

Friday Quickies #57: Springtime Sweetness...

The delicious Black Orchard beer from the Bruery, enjoyed at Riva!

I love weeks like this when my Friday Quickies practically write themselves, lots of tasty going-ons just over the horizon so without further adieu...

Found out via FoodGPS and Caroline on Crack, the Bruery is having their 1st anniversary celebration party tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For $25/person you can enjoy foods from Beachwood BBQ while enjoying this craft brewer's various concoctions (I, for one, am ga-ga over their light and flowery Black Orchard) as well as the Trade Winds Tripel from Craft Beer Fest. Oh yes, there'll be goodies to take home too!

And to give some representin' to my local 'hood - Old Town Pasadena is having their restaurant week from June 1st to June 8th, with three-course lunches for $15/$25 and dinners for $25/$35. For those who think Old Pas has nothing edible to offer, I beg to differ, especially with exhibits from the menus of POP Champagne & Dessert Bar and La Grande Orange Café (and a few other solid choices, such as Vertical Wine Bistro and Red, White + Bluezz, whose menus aren't up yet). Anyways, this is one of few restaurant weeks that actually goes into the weekend too (unlike others that blackout Fridays and/or Saturdays) so do use this opp to give some of those restos a try!

A little more west, Cube Marketplace has a fantastic menu this week featuring fried soft-shell crab with sweet corn puree and arugula salad, seared diver scallops with lemon risotto and asparagus w bacon vinaigrette and raspberry pavlova with stewed mulberries. Delicioso indeed! And get there fast since this menu is only till May 20, when at least a few fab items will surely rotate out.

Also, LA Mill Boutique introduced a few new things in light of the season and the economy. Their spring drinks menu will feature sweet basil julep (or as I call it, a "detox mojito" with white tea and basil instead of rum and mint -- tried it during a warm afternoon and it was utterly refreshing!), caramel corn (with housemade peanut milk, espresso, popcorn, sea salt and caramel sauce! oh my!) and a recession roast that's cheaper option by the cup ($2.50) or the pound ($11.75). The recession roast will rotate, when I was there last weekend it was Ethiopian Limmu, a citrusy, winey brew that is very smooth and just easy-to-drink. Oh yea, I tasted their spicy-cheesy jalapeno-cheddar biscuits that's so heavenly fluffy; as if I needed yet more reasons to go there.

And last but not least, the winner of the McCormick&Schmick gift card giveaway, drawn at random, is Mike from FamishedLA. Congrats!

10 Under $10 Lunch at McCormick & Schmicks and Gift-Card Giveaway!

some of the 10 under $10 lunch specials, photo courtesy of McCormick & Schmicks

McCormick and Schmicks is well known with my circle of frugal friends because of their famous Happy Hour specials - between the 2.95 cheeseburger with fries and their trio of oyster shooters for around $5, it's definitely a wallet-friendly way to unwind after punching in the ole 9-to-5. And a great promo to get people in the door to check out the space.

Now M&S is introducing another option that's easy on the budget: the 10 under $10 lunch specials, where ten items are available for 7.95-9.95 each. As is the M&S's style, the menus will rotate seasonally and the selections vary between locations, but some locally available items include Oregon Bay shrimp mac 'n cheese, a gussied-up tuna melt with fresh ahi and albacore tuna and salmon skewers with jasmine rice and vegetables (and for the fish-wary, there's a variety of land meat and vegetarian items such as caprese sandwich w fresh mozz on foccacia bread and tri-tip and ground chuck beef chili.)

And as part of their 10 under $10 promotion, their PR folks teamed up with me to hold a giveaway of a $10 McCormick & Schmicks gift card, so you can have an opportunity to check out their lunch deals. To enter, simply comment and I'll draw the winner at random by midnight Friday. Good luck!

P.S. goes without saying, if your e-mail contact info isn't readily available (on your own blog or profile) do leave your addy in the comment too. You can even mangle it up - use (at) instead of @, for example - if you're scared of bots and more spam (Mmmm... spam...)

Foodie Flashback: 1st LA Craft Beer Fest (Echo Park)

What my friend conbon did and didn't like at the Craft Beer Fest.

When I heard about the Craft Beer Fest about a month and a half ago, that was my must-go event of May - with a nice list of artisanal brewers and free grub to go along, it sounded like it was gonna be a happy, hoppy time.

Well . . .

. . . on the plus side, thanks to my previous experience with food events, my friends and I got there early (1:15 p.m.) and I got my tickets presale, so I managed to get in right away (and my friends joined in a 1/2 hour) but I heard there were crazy lines 2+ hours long. Add to that the steamy, not-very-well-ventilated interior of the Echoplex and it's practically a college house party gone out of control where everyone brought +1s... and 2s... and 10s. And unfortunate for the later crowds, the free grub ran out pretty fast - so they either had to buy their food at the taco truck parked outside or *gulp* drink their beers on an empty stomach.

But back to my main point, I got there pretty early so I had a good chance to check out a lot of the different foods served, including the cheeses and freshly-roasted nuts from Nicole's Gourmet Foods, Scoop's gelatos, and small items from the vegan Pure Luck (including vegan hefeweizen cupcakes!) The L.A. Burrito project was there too handing out fairly hardy burritos gratis too (I think they should've cut them up, at least in halves, so more people can have them and so that it's more portable. I felt BAD throwing the last third of mine away 'cause I was so full!)

As for the beers? Even with the mildly disappointing development that the event isn't really all-you-care-to-try (you get 15 tickets, each good for a ~3 oz. pour, with additional tickets available for purchase) it turned out to be more than what we could drink, and between my friends and I getting different beers we definitely checked out the entire menu! Given how hot and crazy crowded the spot was, my faves of the day were definite on the light and refreshing side, including the juicy, citrusy Orange Wheat from Hangar24, the Tradewinds Tripel from Bruery and the Carlsbad Hefeweizen from Pizza Port.

Of the heavier ones (most of which I tasted during the beginning of the event) I enjoyed the assertive, caramel-coffee-ish Arrogant Bastard from Stone and the Bruery's Cuvee Jeune young lambic ("tart cherry pie w creme fraiche" was my notes) - the latter pairing wonderfully with the intense-yet-still-creamy Beemster XO Aged Gouda.

Overall, we had a fun time at this event (as well as everything else we did after!) -- but definitely hope next year (crossing fingers) they'll hold it in an outdoor venue and have a better system for controlling the crowds and bottlenecks.

P.S. Sorry to all the folks my friends and I cutted in front of... multiple times! Seriously, after one 20-minute wait for 3 ounces of beer, we decided to wise up Echo Park style and just weaved in where we could. Thankfully, folks were to oblivious, shy or drunk to call us out.

Here's what LA Times & EatingLA had to say about the same event.

Special Foodventure #119: Jitlada (Hollywood)

Thanks to an invite from Mattatouille, I was able to check out the L.A. (possibly U.S.) gold standard of Thai food in late March, Jitlada, for free! After doing a little homework and reading up on them, I knew I was in for a foodventurous treat -- provided my tastebuds don't get seared to a crisp.

Situated on the southern edge of Thai town on Sunset between Normandie and Western, from the outside Jitlada looks like a very typical, and very packed, Thai restaurant. Cloth-covered tables topped with a glass pane, lots of gold embellishments and assorted Buddhist-centric items (yes, including the waft of the incense.)

Not-so-usual was the menu, particularly the last pages with there were over a hundred items listed under the "Southern Thai Specialty" category (apparently, this was a step up from years past -- when this part of the menu was just written in Thai, and had way fewer dishes -- and only natives or the curious would get to taste.)

Now should folks be so inclined, there is the "regular" menu with more familiar and ubiquitous (insert color) curry, pad thais and pad see ews, but truly appreciate what this place has to offer, you gotta talk the owner, Jazz, and just trust the dishes she suggest. On our excursion, that's certainly what we did and our meal was nothing short of spectacular.

Practically every course Jazz dished out was a delight, with a vibrant explosion of assorted aromas, flavors and textures that's wonderfully layered upon one another. It's hard to pick out one favorite dish because many of them are uniquely tasty, but here's some of the highlights for me:

- Fried-morning glory and shrimp salad: It took me a while to figure out whether "morning glory" was a descriptor or actual ingredient in the dish (turns out it's the latter.) Nonetheless, this simple starter was bright, fresh and beautifully balanced, combining crunchy greens, plump shrimp and lightly-fried morning glory with a dressing that's a little spicy, a little sour, a little sweet and plenty intriguing and addictive.

- New Zealand mussels in Thai-style broth: despite how I feel about foods shipped from far away, these mussels were totally worth the carbon footprint. Tender-yet-meaty minus any of that off-flavor I get with substandard mussels, it was wonderfully enhanced by the light broth, with a subtle bouquet of ginger, basil, lemongrass binded the warmth of chilies.

- Deep-fried soft-shelled crab with sweet mango salad - who knew it would be so good to be burned. This deceptive little number starts out sweet, fruity and crunchy -- but rapidly gave way to a wave of spiciness that left me going OMGWTFMYMOUTHISONFIRE!!! (kudos to Food, She Thought - who was there on a separate visit - for inspiring this very accurate, if non-journalistic, description) A good ten minutes, two cups of iced water and nearly a full glass of Thai iced tea later (i.e. an eternity in hell) the heat finally dissipated. Not sure if it was the rush of endorphins following the capsaicin attack, but I was left pleasantly numb, and almost wouldn't mind if this was the only dish served in hell. Almost.

- "Pork Jerky," slightly chewy, fairly savory and plenty caramelized. While the flavor profile it didn't ring particularly Thai to me (especially after the other dishes that wildly darted all over my palate) it was a very comforting bite ~ reminiscent of the Chinese/Taiwanese-style fried pork chops, only more finger friendly.

Overall, it was certainly a lovely adventure discovering new dishes, expanding my palate and, of course, enjoying great company (other dinner companions included Choisauce, Food Marathon, and Scoops' owner Tai Kim) in a casual, relaxed setting. It may not have the uppity-fine-dining panache that's typical of other LATimes reviewed places (which only gave this place a paltry two stars recently) but it's definitely a must-try-if-you-are-in-LA in my book.

More photos of other courses here, and of course, here's what a few others have to say about their Jitlada trip:
- Of course, Mattatouille's glowing post and full rundown of every dish
- Sinosoul is utterly addicted to the scoville smackdown here
- EatingLA braved this place on a packed weekend, but still mostly enjoyed the dinner
- FoodGPS havs some great notes on this place's history and rise to stardom

Jitlada
5233 1/2 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(213) 667-9809
*P.S. Reservations highly recommended, heard it's packed even on weekdays!