Back to Napa

Time for the annual trip to Napa, and that means that our first stop must be at Morimoto in Downtown Napa.  This year we arrived early and were able to take advantage of lunch instead of dinner, so I'm able to talk about different menu items than the ones I posted last year.

Wednesdays in Napa are very quiet, so we were able to dine while hearing what the other said, which was a challenge with last year's Friday night dinner.  Our waiter asked us if we had any questions about the menu, and I only had one "How do you decide?"  I had already been thinking about just ordering from the appetizers, and he actually recommended it stating that some of their most unique items are listed there.  He recommended ordering 3-4 appetizers and supplementing with sushi.  Okay, no twisting of my arm needed.

Morimoto has two tartares on his menu.  Last year we decided to try the hamachi tartare, but this year we went back to the tried and true toro tartare just because I prefer toro to hamachi.  Everything else about the dish is the same: perfect.  The tartare is served with nori paste, wasabi, sour cream, chives, guacamole, and a crispy sesame puff, along with a soy dipping sauce so that you can create the perfect bite.  Realistically, they are all perfect bites.

toro tartare – wasabi, nori paste, sour cream 

Next up was the wagyu carpaccio which I tried to convince my husband was absolutely awful.  My tease failed and I had to share the heavenly dish.  The beef was perfectly tender, just a hint of searing, and the sauce was the perfect compliment.

wagyu beef carpaccio – yuzu soy, ginger, sweet garlic

The kitchen decided to serve the sushi next since our remaining two appetizers were on the heavier side.  We are big fans of saba, so to see horse mackerel on the menu, we knew we had to try it.  We also really wanted to try the amberjack.  All of the sushi was fresh and simple.  The kitchen didn't add any sauces to the enhance or change the flavor of the fish.  There was, of course, soy on the side and wasabi served with the dish.  One thing to note: the prices listed on the menu are per individual piece of sushi and not per pair as is more traditional.  So be careful when ordering if you're worried about money.

Clockwise from top left: hamachi / yellowtail, aji / horse mackerel, kyu-ri / pickled cucumber, kanpachi / amberjack, saba / japanese mackerel 

There are no words to describe the next dish.  No words that could possibly give it the justice it deserves.  All I will say is this: I love the pig and I feel for those who are unable to eat pig due to dietary or medicinal reasons.  You might recall how much I loved the pork belly at Hinoki and the Bird.  Well, I only like it in comparison to this.  I never wanted this dish to end.  And when eating the congee mixed with the natural juices of the pork, along with jus, it made me happy that the dish wasn't over just yet.  Our waiter said that next time we need to order the sticky ribs, but I can't imagine them being better than this.

kakuni – ten hour pork belly, rice congee, soy-scallion jus

And for our final dish, we were served our hamachi tacos.  The wonton taco wrapper was light and airy and the fish was served very naturally  A light way to end our meal.

hamachi tacos – avocado, yuzu koshu, lime

I can't wait to go back to Morimoto try even more dishes (and have the pork belly again).  Having been to both his Napa and New York locations, perhaps its time to venture to Philadelphia and Waikiki to see what they have in store for me.

A basket is all you need

It was Friday morning in Manhattan and my husband and I were in search of food before heading over to the Central Park Zoo.  I quickly pulled out Yelp! to search for good breakfast options (other than Dunkin Donuts) and found Sarabeth's.  Reservations were recommended, but the first available per Open Table was not for a few hours and I was hungry now.  So we walked over and took a chance.  We first saw the patio hostess who told us if we wanted first available that we needed to go inside and speak to the main hostess.  Made me wonder why there was two hostesses - very confusing.

When we went inside we were a little overwhelmed by how packed the place was, but the hostess told us the wait was only twenty minutes, so we decided to give it a try.  I was looking around the front room and I saw some jars of preserves with labels that looked familiar, but it really didn't click with me that I was in fact at the famous Sarabeth's known for amazing preserves.  I can't even tell you for sure where I have seen her products before, but I will be in search of them in the near future.

After twenty or so minutes we were escorted back to our table and I think my husband and I both felt we were in a Tardis as the restaurant was ten times larger than it had appeared from the outside and the lobby.  The ambiance was a classic New York restaurant that you would see in Sex and the City, probably because the girls ate there once.

The first thing I noticed on the menu was the 26 ounce Bloody Mary. Three and a quarter cups of tomato vodka heaven.  And the pickled vegetables on top were perfectly pickled and nice variety ranging from carrots and bell peppers to jicama.  I was determined to finish the whole thing, while still having at least one cup of coffee, and I was successful.  Lucky children at the zoo since I was blitzed.  Can I get more of those veggies?

26 oz Pickled Bloody Mary (vodka, house pickled vegetables)

My husband selected the Farmer's Omelette and chose a corn muffin for his side.  The corn muffin was what you would expect - a simple corn muffin.  But the preserves made it amazing.  And the omelette was very tasty as well. It should be noted that the choices of sides were muffins (English, corn, bran, banana, pumpkin), croissant, scone or toast, all served with housemade preserves.

Farmer's Omelette (leeks, ham, potato, Gruyere)

I wanted to go with the short rib hash, as I was feeling carnivorous.  The eggs were perfectly cooked and the meat and potatoes were good, but not amazing.  I should have saved such an entree for more of a diner-style restaurant rather than a place like Sarabeth's, but it was by no means not good, just not great.

Short Rib Hash (baked eggs, poblanos, tomatillo salsa)

But it was my side that made the whole experience simple amazing.  And so my one piece of advice would be for any visitor to Sarabeth's to simply skip all of the other breakfast selections and simply choose the Basket of Sarabeth's Muffins & Legendary Preserves.  This scone was the most amazing scone I have ever had before.  It was buttery, bu not overly flaky.  It was dense like a cake, but yet moist.  And once I added even the smallest amount of the most amazing preserves on Earth, it was literally heaven.  I wanted to take some to go, not that I knew when I would be able to eat it or that I had earned the right to experience more of its high-caloric goodness, but I just didn't want to say goodbye to it.

Side scone & preserves

If you're looking for breakfast while in New York, I highly recommend Sarabeth's.  Make a reservation and get the pastries.  Oh, and don't forget the Bloody Mary.

Possibly my favorite place on earth

A little over two years ago I first walked into the Eataly in New York City and was massively overwhelmed.  We had just eaten lunch in Chelsea before we walked our way here not knowing what to expect, and ended up only having some gelato.  Don't get me wrong, the gelato was amazing, but I wanted so much more!

Flash forward two years and this time I was prepared.  My husband and I woke up and made our way to Eataly.  We arrived a little after 10:30, so we had time to walk around before any of the restaurants started serving at 11am.  There are so many to choose from, but today we decided on La Pizza and La Pasta.  Can you guess what they serve?  La Pizza and La Pasta share a dining room, but are two separate kitchens meaning that if you order one dish from each that they could be served at different times.

First up was The Classic.  Honestly, after one bite, I didn't need to eat anything else - ever.  Everything about this simplistic dish was amazing.  I don't think I had ever thought of drizzling olive oil on mozzarella before, and now I can't imagine not doing so.  The mozzarella was perfectly soft, but not mushy.  The olive oil added the right amount of sweetness, with the sea salt adding the complimentary salty bite that you need and bringing out the flavor in both the mozzarella and the olive oil.

The Classic Mozzarella (buffalo mozzarella with sea salt and extra virgin olive oil)

The mozzarella was served with three slices of house made Italian bread, which was great to sop up the remaining olive oil left behind after the mozzarella was gone.  While the bread was perfect (crispy on the outside, soft on the inside), I just didn't want to fill up on bread.

House Italian Bread

For our pasta dish we decided to go with the gnocchi.  As you might be able to tell from the picture, it wasn't smothered in sauce.  Instead, it was complimented by just the right amount of lamb sausage and showered with fresh cheese.  Each gnocchi was perfectly soft, yet dense, unlike any potato gnocchi I had before and by which all future gnocchi will be judged.  Simply amazing.  Oh, and that bread?  Yeah, my husband used it to clean this plate.

Gnocchi con Salsiccia di Agnello e Melanzane (housemade gnocchi and lamb sausage with roasted eggplant and pecorino romano)

And finally we had to have pizza, of course.  The menu has two margherita pizzas on the menu: the basic and the fancy.  The two were separated by a mere $5, so of course we had to go with the fancy, or as they like to call it, the Verace.  So what makes it fancy?  Buffalo mozzarella from Naples instead of cow mozzarella, and extra virgin olive oil from Sorrento.  Simply amazing.  I'm sure the basic was just as good, but why go with basic when there is fancy?

Verace TSG (tomato sauce mozzarella di bufala from Napoli, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil from Sorrento)

We finished off our meal by walking over to the gelateria to get some black cherry gelato just because we couldn't leave without experiencing even more of the food.  Eataly is literally heaven on earth and 2017 can not come fast enough when they finally open their first location in Los Angeles.  I'll probably be there every Saturday....all day.  Thank you Batali and Bastianich.

Time to fill 'er up!

My husband and I were in Central New Jersey for a family wedding and went in search of food.  I opened up my Yelp! app on my iPhone to see what was nearby and saw Quaker Steak & Lube.  Just the name had us interested, and we saw it was well reviewed, so off we went.  We arrived to find what looked like a former service station, with all of the accouterments to match, including door knobs in the shapes of gasoline dispenser handles and a faux gas dispenser outside.  Inside there are race cars suspended from the ceilings, motorcycles, and motor-themed memorabilia.

We were seated by the manager who welcomed us to the restaurant, explained the menu, and told us about upcoming events.  Then our server came and exhibited the same hospitality, but we told her we couldn't attend the upcoming events as we were from Los Angeles.  Well the next thing we know, the manager is returning having heard we were out-of-towners and hands us two complimentary t-shirts, making sure to apologize for any size assumptions, as he'd like us to provide free advertising.  We were both overwhelmed by his kindness.

We placed our food and drink orders and then I checked us in on Facebook to report the kindness of the establishment.  When I did so Facebook then showed me photos from other check-ins and I saw that they have a drink that comes with a rubber duck.  I'm a rubber duck collector and immediately regretted ordering their Unleaded Lube-N-Ade (freshly squeezed lemonade).  So when the manager walked by again I simply asked if I could have one of the rubber ducks.  Within minutes he returned with two rubber ducks provided I give him Likes on Trip Advisor and Yelp!  Consider it done!  If only he knew I was an amateur blogger!

Quaker Steak & Lube is known for their wings which come in all kinds (traditional, grilled and breaded boneless) with over 25 choices of sauces to match.  I decided to go with one of their Custom Built Combos as my husband and I were craving their pretzels.  So I picked the 4 grilled boneless wings with their Award winning zesty garlic sauce Golden Garlic and 3 premium pretzels served with beer cheese dip.  My husband loved that the pretzels were appropriately salted, but personally I thought there was too much sauce.  But I loved the beer cheese dip.  And the chicken wings were moist and the sauce was perfectly garlicky.  I also loved that the wings were served on top of grilled pita wedges as the wedges absorbed some of the tasty sauce and I could enjoy it even more.

Custom Built Combo: premium pretzels and beer cheese with 4 grilled boneless wings

My husband decided to go with their Texas Cheeseburger Melt which is a 1/2 pound Steakburger on grilled Texas Toast with melted American cheese and bacon and their Boom Boom sauce, which is a creamy garlic and red pepper sauce.  My husband asked for Lube Chips, instead of fries, and it also came with a fried pickle wedge.  Apparently it was a very good burger and the Boom Boom sauce had a nice kick.

Texas Cheeseburger Melt (Steakburger, Texas toast, American cheese, bacon & Boom Boom sauce)

Our experience at Quaker Steak & Lube was unlike any other casual dining restaurant we've been to.  The service was over the top, and yet genuine.  The food was good, and the ambiance was exactly what you would expect.  We were disappointed we couldn't have dessert, but we did have a wedding we needed to get ready for.  If you're near Central Jersey and hungry, head over to the Quaker Steak & Lube in Brick for a good meal without all the fuss.

These are a few of his favorite things

Time for the annual birthday steak dinner for my husband.  I was originally going to go somewhere else when a coworker mentioned to me that there were new restaurants at the Americana at Brand.  A quick Google revealed that famed chef Michael Mina had just opened a branch of his Bourbon Steak chain at the mall, and with a name like that, how could I pass it up!  Plus I've heard great things about Michael Mina, so this would be a good opportunity to give him a try.

Now while I might be an amateur foodie, there are a few things I won't eat and one of those things is duck.  There is no rational explanation for why duck is considered a "forbidden food," so you just need to accept that it is.  Michael Mina is known for his duck fat fries, and they are served at his restaurants as an amuse bouche, so I was prepared to turn them away.  The server brought them much quicker than I expected and I felt guilty cutting her off with my "We don't eat duck!" declaration as she was starting to explain the dish, so imagine my relief when she said they no longer prepare them in duck fat.  Hallelujah!  I don't know what they were cooked in, and to be honest, I don't care either.  She explained the fry seasoning and dipping sauces too quickly for me to catch, so all I can tell you is that the middle sauce seemed like a Caesar and I didn't like it, but otherwise it was very tasty.

Amuse Bouche: a trio of fries not cooked in duck fat

For our appetizer we decided to go with the tuna tartare which is assembled tableside traditionally with a quail egg; however, quail is a "forbidden food" so we asked our server to substitute with a chicken egg.  It might have changed the taste a little, but I'm not sure how.  The plate comes with the diced tuna shaped in a circle and the accouterments on the side, but before you know it, its all mixed together and then shaped like a heart.  It took me a second to remember that the diced white pieces were pear and not onion, as that would have been overwhelming.  The dish was perfect and was served with the right amount of toast points.

Michael's Tuna Tartare (Asian pear, pine nuts, scotch bonnet, mint, sesame)

One of the unique aspects of Bourbon Steak is their bourbon cart.  The sommelier comes by and serves a trio of bourbons smoked tableside to accentuate ones particular flavor profiles.  When I first read that description I thought the smoking was particular to the individual diner, but its more about finding a flavor that will accentuate the bourbon.  Each flavor accentuator is smoked into the glass before the ounce of bourbon is added.

The Bourbon Cart

Tonight's trio were Rittenhouse Rye with Cinnamon, Elijah Craig with Star Anise, and Larceny with Orange and Lemon Peel.  As the drinks were for my husband, I can only tell you what he said which was that it was amazing how the smoke had accentuated the flavor of the bourbon, but he wasn't sure that it made enough of a difference.  Honestly, I think he was just excited to get to try three other bourbons.

The Bourbon Cart Trio

For our salad course my husband selected the beets.  I got an opportunity to taste a golden beet, and it was as good as it should be.

Heirloom Beets (cypress grove goat cheese, pistachio, golden balsamic)

I went with the garden kale salad, which is traditionally served with blue cheese, but I asked to be served without as blue cheese does not like me.  I'm honestly not sure what the chips on top were.  The salad was good, but honestly too large as I found myself tiring of eating kale.

Garden Kale (kumquat, golden raisins, candied pecans)

I wasn't sure what to order as I wasn't in the mood for steak and our server made the lamb sound so tasty, I couldn't refuse.  She said it was actually the dish that she recommends to foodies.  The dish is made up of two lamb chops, a lamb cigar, and lamb tongue.  The tongue was interesting, and I think, quite possibly, the first tongue I have ever eaten.  It was small, but I shared it with my husband.  The lamb cigar was heavenly.  It was, I believe, lamb shank rolled in a phyllo dough and fried.  And, of course, the lamb chops were heavenly, though I had to bring the bones home in order to get all of the goodness off the bone instead of embarrassing my husband in the restaurant.

Anderson Valley Lamb (medjool date, carrot couscous, harissa jus)

One of the specials that night was an American Wagyu Rib Cap.  My husband has loved this cut of meat ever since he first experienced it at Gordon Ramsay's Steak at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas.  He said it was exceptional.

American Wagyu Rib Cap

For sides my husband selected the lobster whipped potato.  This picture was taken after my husband served himself a spoonful.  I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but the whipped potato was looser than one would expect.  It was quite gloopy which you can sort of tell from the aftermath of a serving in the picture below.  Also, I didn't notice much lobster.  The flavor was good, but not what I would think of when ordering whipped potatoes.

Lobster Whipped Potato

For the vegetable he selected the Delta Asparagus, I think because he was curious what the seven treasures were.  He said the seasoning reminded him of something he would have gotten out of the freezer section of the grocery store.  I have to disagree with him as I thought it was fantastic.  One of the seven treasures is I believe a Chinese sausage cut thinly, but honestly I'm not certain.

Delta Asparagus with 7 Treasures

Dessert was a difficult decision to make, but ultimately we selected the bread pudding.  The bananas didn't seem very caramelized, but I'm not complaining.  The bread pudding was the perfect consistency, and not very sweet, making the buttered rum sauce the perfect compliment.

Pastry Case Bread Pudding (caramelized banana,buttered rum sauce)

Bourbon Steak was the perfect restaurant for my husband's birthday dinner, and I can't wait to go back again and this time, try the steak myself!

Oh My!

About six weeks ago I received an email from L.A. Weekly with the subject "Steaming burnt miso ramen."  Naturally I was curious and clicked to open when I saw that there was a review of restaurant called Ramen by Omae.  Now, I know of an Omae, but when I clicked on the link I was surprised to find out that it was the very Omae I was thinking of. Chef Omae is famous to the average American foodie for his role as sous chef to Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, but to true international food connoisseurs he is a twice-awarded Michelin starred chef.  So what's he doing in Sherman Oaks?

Serving the most amazing ramen I have ever had in my life.  I told my husband that I don't even think I can enjoy Pho after eating Omae's ramen.  We had actually eaten ramen twice before in this very same location under a different name, and the name is the only thing that changed about the place.  The old restraurant was dark with booths, and Chef Omae's has literally lightened up the joint and added crystal chandeliers above the table tops.  Its a better atmosphere to be dining in, to be quite frank.

First up my husband ordered some edamame.  Two things to note: 1) it comes cold, and 2) juice squirts out of it like nobody's business.   Other than that, its your basic edamame.

Edamame

In choosing your ramen, you only have a few choices: pork, chicken or veggie and then kogashi (burnt miso) or not.  Here's the description of what burnt miso ramen is according to the L.A. Weekly article. "Exactly what it sounds like. Order it and, behind the counter in the kitchen, cooks set explosive, leaping fire to the red fermented bean paste in a wok, before adding it to a tonkotsu broth that has been cooking for 40 hours. The milky, fatty, porky broth takes on a charred but sweet flavor, a lingering smoke almost like mesquite. It's absurdly seductive."  Yes, that's exactly what it is.  When selecting your ramen you also choose the type of noodle (yellow thick or white thin) and then how cooked your egg is (hard or soft boiled).  With no originality my husband and I both selected the pork kogashi ramen with yellow thick noodles and a soft boiled egg, and its probably a good thing we did as there was not going to be any sharing at the table.

After a few minutes one of the bowl of ramen appears and smells amazing.  I took my soup spoon and dipped it into the broth to take a sip, and was overwhelmed by the flavor coming from a broth.  I had died and gone to ramen heaven.  I then used my chopsticks to pull of a small bite of the pork, and in my mouth I tasted quite potentially the most flavorful pork ever.  My husband compared it to bacon, with its sweet and salty flavor, but it reminded me a little bit more of what Chinese barbecue pork should taste like.  Sadly the bowl only came with two slices.

Pork burnt kogashi miso ramen with yellow thick noodles and a soft boiled egg

My husband finished his bowl, but I brought half of mine home to enjoy later.  We immediately declared that we would be returning, and only half-joked that we would be back tonight for dinner.  There are many other ways to enjoy your ramen either with add-ons or their "make your own ramen" menu selection.  I can't imagine having anything except the kogashi again, but I should try to branch out and who knows, maybe I'll find that Omae has even more up his sleeve.

Other items should be noted.  The restaurant is honest about the hours its open.  For example, its open from noon to 3pm for lunch, but that means the last serving is at 3pm as they close the restaurant at 3:30pm.  Also, on the chalk board wall decoration they advertise that if you pay for your meal with cash that they will give you a 5% discount.  And as I explained to my husband when he noted by $1.20 savings, I can buy a cup of coffee at McDonald's with that.

So in summary: Go directly to Ramen by Omae.  Do not pass Go.  Do not collect $200.

A trip to The Farm

As you know by now, I'm a fan of food related television shows, one of which being Top Chef.  So when I watched Top Chef Season 10 I became curious about chef Stefan Richter, mainly because he seemed so sure of himself and his cooking.  A few months back a Living Social deal for his Santa Monica restaurant popped up, so I jumped at the chance to partake in his 5-course tasting menu.

Upon arriving at the restaurant we found the chef sitting outside by a fire pit smoking a cigarette.  I immediately thought to turn to my husband and whisper "There's Stefan!", but before I got a chance, Stefan greeted us.  And then the next thing I knew, Stefan was talking to us like we were old friends, and showing us how badly he does laundry.  It was a very warm welcome to the restaurant, and very different from his Top Chef competitor C.J. Jacobsen who only talks to single, attractive women in his restaurant, or old people with money.

Once inside the restaurant we felt like we were outside.  The interior was designed to look like an exterior with a pagoda and lighting.  It was a very cool feel, with an open view of the kitchen and the bar.  We looked at the cocktail list and were impressed by both the beer and wine selection, but since we had recently heard amazing things about Justin cabernet sauvignons, a bottle was in order.

First up on the tasting menu was the gravlax.  The salmon had a very subtle flavor to it, not at all like what most of us think of when eating smoked salmon, or anything with the word lax in it.  But personally, I loved the egg mousse.  It was like two tiny dollops of the best egg salad I have ever had.

Gravlax (salmon, dill mustard sauce, watercress, egg mousse)

Next up was the mushroom ravioli.  I had hoped to borrow the full description of the dish from the website, but sadly this is not listed on the posted menu.  It might be hard to tell from the picture, but inside the bowl are four quarter sized raviolis filled with goodness, surrounded by the yummiest of mushrooms in a fantastic sauce.  Even my husband, who is not a fan at all of cream sauces, used the complimentary bread to wipe his plate clean.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli with parmesan reggiano

Our next dish was the scallop, which our waiter informed us was something that was always on the menu.  He even told us the best way to cook a scallop, presumably from watching the chefs in the kitchen.  This scallop was just perfect, with a nice crust on top.  The only thing wrong with the scallop, was that it was missing the S at the end - it was just one scallop.  But what else could I ask for from a tasting menu.

Scallops (sweet corn puree, pumpkin seed oil, crispy parsnips)

There seemed to be a very long gap between the scallop and the next dish.  In fact, the table next to us who was also doing the tasting menu and had started after us, got their next dish before us.  It was okay as we weren't in a rush, and we got to take nifty pictures of the Justin in candlelight.  By the way, did I mention that the Justin was served in a Bordeaux glass?  Apparently Bordeaux is French for freaking large wine glass.

Justin Cabernet Sauvignon in the dark

Our server's break must have ended, as the rack of lamb appeared.  I'm a big fan of lamb and I don't mind its gaminess at all, so I was disappointed when the lamb didn't taste like lamb.  I know that sounds weird, but it didn't.  While it was too dark in the restaurant by this time to see, part of me wondered if the lamb might have been overcooked (or sitting too long under a heat lamp) because of the time delay in service, and if so, then that is not fair to the lamb.  But it was delicious, if a tad bit too mustardy.

Rack of Lamb (red wine mustard crust, black truffle grits, curry roasted romanesco, natural jus)

And now for the final course.  Imagine my concern when our server appeared with two dishes of bitter chocolate mousse, considering the fact that my husband hates chocolate.  But would you believe that he finished his mousse before me?  Yup, it was that good.  I can't remember what the sauce was below it, but it was some sort of berry that was perfectly sweet and tart at the same time.

Bitter Chocolate Mousse

Our overall experience at Stefan's was fantastic.  The food was great.  The ambiance was inviting.  And even the chef was friendly and welcoming of his patrons, even if he wasn't cooking because his housekeeper needed the day off and he ruined his laundry.  Our only regret was that we don't live closer, but that doesn't mean we can't find an excuse or two to go back, and hopefully finally put an S on the end of that scallop.

Time For An Oil Change?

Over the summer I caught an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and Guy was at a restaurant in Phoenix that served the most amazing looking pancake ever.  Since I grew up in Phoenix, though I almost never go back, I made a mental note of the restaurant on the off chance I would have an opportunity to go there.  Flash forward to late December and I'm booking a trip to Phoenix to see my close friend and his family, and while we're on the phone talking about the trip he says that he wants to take me to St. Francis for breakfast on Sunday.  What a happy coincidence!!!  Especially since my mental note had failed me until just that moment.

Back home in L.A. if you aren't at a breakfast spot by 9am, then you can expect long lines getting in to any restaurant.  St. Francis doesn't even open until 9am, so we arrived at 9am on the spot as we were a party of six and needed to make sure we got a table.  We arrived just in time and were seated in their loft area.  While we were up there I realized that the restaurant was in a converted oil-n-lube garage and still had the roll-up door.

Without hesitation I ordered the Iron Skillet Pancake.  I knew it would be sweet and I would need something salty to counteract it, so I made sure that my husband ordered a side of bacon.  And boy was I right!  The pancake was pure decadence.  It was fluffy, with the chocolate chunks melted perfectly inside.  The warm caramel apples were on top and merged with the maple syrup.  And the creme fraiche added the needed creaminess to the whole dish.  My only regret is that I was dieting, so I limited how much of the pancake I would eat, and ended up leaving slightly more than half on the table.  I had originally hoped that my husband would finish it, but he was full of sweetness from his own breakfast, and turned off by the chocolate.  I definitely need to go back when I'm not dieting.

Iron Skillet Pancake (olive oil, dark chocolate, caramel apples, maple syrup, and whipped creme fraiche)

One big positive of St. Francis is that children under 10 eat for free.  And they also get to order the Iron Skillet Pancake.  Its the same size as the adult version, but it doesn't come with the caramel apples or the whipped creme fraiche.

Iron Skillet Pancake - Kiddo Version

My husband decided to indulge in the cinnamon roll.  It was probably at least six inches long.  I only had a small bite, but it was yummy.  And my husband was thankful that I had ordered him that side of bacon as he too needed something to counteract the sweetness in his mouth.

Cinnamon Roll with caramel sauce

My friend, on the other hand, chose to go the more traditional route and ordered the eggs benedict.  That said, St. Francis foregoes with the traditional Canadian bacon, and instead lets you choose between prosciutto, smoked salmon, and avocado.  The dish looked delicious and I did get to taste the crispy potatoes which appeared to be fingerling potatoes that pop when you cook 'em.

Eggs Benedict (poached eggs, english muffin, hollandaise sauce, crispy potatoes with smoked salmon)

My friends are always trying to find ways for me to come visit them more often, and I think they might have found their hook.  I can't wait to go to St. Francis again for breakfast, and want to try them for the other meals of the day too.  Yummers!

A Trip Through the Chunnel

Our close friend decided to celebrate his birthday in Las Vegas and selected Gordon Ramsay's Steak in the Paris Hotel and Casino as the location for his birthday dinner.  I was skeptical having eaten at Chef Ramsay's restaurant at the London Hotel in West Hollywood as the portions were freakishly small and after having spent $200 on dinner, I still needed to take my husband through the drive-thru in order for him to have a complete meal.  But, this was not our birthday dinner so we stayed quiet about our concerns.

We walked through the casino to find the unusual entrance to the restaurant.  It reminded us of a tunnel, but no one said anything to us as we entered.  We checked in and were asked to spend a few minutes in the bar while our table was set up.  When we were called we were brought back to the inside entrance of the restaurant and at the point our hostess explained that when we entered the restaurant that we left Paris via the chunnel and were now in England.  That's actually kind neat, but maybe that should have been explained when we first arrived in England and not minutes later as an after thought.

We were escorted through the main dining room heading towards the upstairs seating when our hostess stopped us and pointed to the ceiling fixture in the center of the room.  She then explained to us that the fixture represents Chef Ramsay's hand movements.  No explanation of what movement his hand is making, just his hand movements.  Took everything inside me to not giggle as the hostess was explaining this to me with a straight face.  This was only the beginning of Chef Ramsay's displays of arrogance.

Chef Ramsay's hand movements as a ceiling fixture

We were seated upstairs and were directed to a bi-fold on the table containing the Hell's Kitchen Limited Edition Tasting Menu.  If everyone at your table orders the tasting menu for $145 per person (and its an all or nothing order) then you get to take home the accompanying autographed photo of Chef Ramsay.  Arrogance display number 2.

We were then given our menus that were engraved with the same representation of Chef Ramsay's hand movements, along with a logo of Chef Ramsay holding two knives.  Arrogance display number 3.  God forbid you forget for even a moment whose restaurant you are in.

The Wheel of Meat (my name for it, not theirs) is then brought to the table and each cut is introduced and explained.  We are also told that the meat is hand selected by Pat LaFrieda of New York and dry aged for 28 days minimum in his Himalayan salt room.

Wheel of Meat

The bread plate is then brought to the table and it was difficult to not eat each kind of tasty bread, but alas, I had to share.

I chose the English Chowder as my starter.  It was very yummy and not terribly creamy, and I loved finding the citrus pearls that popped in my mouth.

English Chowder (smoked haddock, scallops, fingerling medallions, citrus pearls)

Everyone else at the table ordered the onion soup.  I was able to have a taste of it and while it was very flavorful, I actually found it to be too sweet.  And for those who don't know, Welsh rarebit is cheese sauce on toast and has nothing to do with rabbit.

British Ale Onion Soup (Boddington's Pub Ale, caramelized onion broth, Welsh rarebit)

I have been a fan of Beef Wellington ever since I was a teenager when it was served as the main course at a wedding.  I have since even made it twice for Christmas dinner, once using a filet loin and once as individual wellingtons using filet mignons.  It is not often on restaurant menus due to its complexity, and as this menu states, the length of time required for cooking.  But I felt tonight that my dinner dates could wait the 45 minutes it would take for my Wellington to be prepared.  I actually think in the long run that the extended wait was a blessing as it gave us time to digest our soups and the bread.  While the Wellington was prettier than any version I've prepared, I was actually disappointed in the taste as I found it to be bland.  I'm not certain if any pate was coated on the meat as is traditional.  It simply tasted like meat inside puff pastry and I like my recipe better.

Roasted Beef Wellington, glazed root vegetables, potato puree, red wine demi-glace

My dish came with its sides so I allowed everyone else at the table to decide the sides and I simply had a taste of each.  Both the potatoes and the mac & cheese were yummy, but I felt bad as everyone else was so focused on their steaks that we left most of the side dishes behind.

Fingerling Potatoes (parmesan, truffle) and Mac & Cheese (blue, cheddar, parmesan, truffle)

Admittedly I never had a taste of the asparagus, which is a shame as I love asparagus.

Grilled Asparagus (chanterelle relish, asparagus spears, aged sherry)

When we were shown the Wheel of Meat the server focused a great deal of time on the American Wagyu Rib Cap as the rib cap is rarely on restaurant menus.  The rib cap is also referred to as the tastiest part of the cow.  That was all the men needed to hear as both of them ordered it as their main course.  And while I was only allocated one bite, I must agree that it was yummy.

American Wagyu Rib Cap (beef marbling score of 9 or higher)

We did not order dessert that night as there was birthday cake waiting for us back at the hotel.  That said, we all left with our tummies filled to the brim - the complete opposite of my last Chef Ramsay experience.  I would strongly recommend Gordon Ramsay's Steak not only to any Celebrity Chef Foodie, but also to anyone who wants to enjoy a good steak while in Vegas.  It was a great experience and I'm proud to say that I was again able to withhold my giggling at the ceiling fixture when we were leaving the restaurant.

Not to be Confused With Your Grandmother's Kugel

As already established, we watch a lot of cooking shows on television.  This past summer we watched Top Chef Masters, which I definitely prefer to the traditional Top Chef as the chefs have more fun as their prize goes solely to charity.  This season one of the Masters was chef Sang Yoon known in Los Angeles for his burger destination Father's Office, and the neighboring upper-scale Lukshon.  After weeks of watching Sang cook we knew a trip to Lukshon was in order.  And trust me, we will hit up Father's Office soon enough!

Someone actually asked me where I traveled this past weekend to try food, and I responded "Does Culver City count?"  At the old Helms Bakery location is where Sang's restaurants are located.  We were seated outside on the heated patio.  The overhead heat lamps were so strong that my cushioned bench was nice and toasty.  Our waitress greeted us and told us that the restaurant was modern Southeast Asian and that the dishes are small and are meant to be shared.  She also offered us either flat or sparkling water, both of which are complimentary.  Complimentary sparkling water?!  That's unheard of!  Too bad I prefer flat.

Our first dish was the Hawaiian butterfish which was served sashimi style, nice and cold with yummy salsa. Okay, so the "salsa" is nahm jim, which according to Wikipedia is Thai for "dipping sauce". It can refer to a wide variety of dipping sauces in Thai cuisine, with many of them being a combination of salty, sweet, spicy and sour.  And rau ram is a Vietnamese coriander which I'm not sure how was presented on the plate.  The fish was tender even though it is a meatier fish and the nahm jim complimented it perfectly and was not even the slighted bit spicy.  This was the perfect way to start our meal.

Hawaiian Butterfish (pickled watermelon radish, daikon, nahm jim, rau ram)

Next up came the crab fritter because, well, I love crab.  This was also the beginning of servings that are not easily divisible amongst any size party aside those that are factors of three.  The fritters are near impossible to pick up with chop sticks due to their odd shape. And then once you take one bite they are impossible to hold onto with anything other than your fingers. That said, they are yummy. Nice and crispy on the outside, soft and crabby on the inside. The chili jam that it is served with is tasty, but not spicy, and a great compliment to the fritter.

Crab Fritter (red crab, Singapore style chili jam)

Admittedly this dish was not at all what I was expecting.  While very yummy (especially the perfectly deep fried pork belly) it was difficult to eat due to the combination of glass noodles and sauce.  I had to serve, or at least try to seve, the noodles and sauce onto my plate without splashing myself and everything around me.  This was definitely a dish that was difficult to share due to how hard it was to grab anything other than the clams and the pork belly.  One more note on the pork belly, it was perfectly crispy on the outside and tender in the center, and surprisingly not too fatty.

Manila Clams (glass noodles, pork belly, cloud ear, hijiki, thai basil)

For our vegetable we decided to go with the Chinese black mushrooms.  As soon as they were delivered to the table we both looked at each other and exclaimed, "Smells right!"  The mushrooms are cooked and prepared Szechuan style with the right amount of heat that does build, so be careful.  I really enjoyed the lap cheong (Chinese sausage) which was dispersed as thin slices throughout the dish and the mustard greens added just the right amount of crunch.

Chinese Black Mushrooms (maitake, woodear, shitake, mustard greens, lap cheong)

Originally I only wanted the crab fried rice to feed my crab craving, but my husband suggested the fritters.  The dish is served with individual rice bowls that are served warm for you to dish your serving(s) into.  I liked that this dish was also served with teaspoons to make the rice eating easier as with this not being sticky rice the use of chopsticks exclusively would have been disastrous.  You could easily see the crab shavings when looking down at the dish which is always a positive sign.  Unlike most fried rices, this dish had a subtle flavor that was accented with serrano chiles to provide just a little bit of heat without overpowering the dish.

Crab Fried Rice (blue crab, jasmine rice, egg, pea tendrils, serrano chile)

I think Kurobuta pork might just be my favorite type of pork.  What I liked best about these ribs is that they were tender, but didn't fall off the bone.  The bbq sauce is dark in both color and flavor with a slight bitterness from the chicory coffee.  Absolutely delicious.

Kurobata Pork Ribs (spicy chicory coffee bbq sauce)

After we were done with our ribs a bus boy came by with a small plate that looked like it had two large Life Savers on it with the L from the Lukshon logo imprinted on them.  I assumed it was for my breath after the ribs, but instead he poured hot water over the discs and they grew into washcloths for our hands.

Washcloths, post water pouring

My biggest complaint with the dinner service was that at no time during the serving of the six dishes did they ever change our plates.  So while my plate was covered with sauce from Manila clams, I added to that the sauce from the mushrooms and then the ribs.  That said, it wasn't the end of the world, but merely an observation especially when compared to other restaurants that also serve small plates family style.  It should also be noted that this was a meal that required the use of a napkin, and I'm not just referring to the ribs dish.  Each course involved getting so into the food that I found myself repeatedly wiping my mouth and my hands.

There were three main desserts offered on the dessert menu, along with the basic ice cream with topping, and they were out of one of them.  I'm still trying to understand how they would be out of one of the desserts by the 7pm seating.  So we decided to go with the barley pudding, largely because the other dish was chocolate and my husband doesn't like chocolate.  The pudding itself had a subtle flavor which was nicely complimented by the very-banana sorbet, which seemed more like an ice cream or gelato.  The coffee streusel added the needed crunch, which made the nasty puffed barley superfluous.  The combination of the coffee streusel and the banana sorbet was a perfect pairing, and who can complain about caramelized bananas.

Barley Pudding (coffee streusel, caramelized banana, mandarin, banana sorbet, puffed barley)

When our dessert was complete, and just before we were presented with the bill, we were given a complimentary dessert of small bites of palm sugar butterscotch brownie and raspberry pate de fruits.  Even my chocolate-hating husband cried out "Oh it's good!" when he bit into the brownie.  And the pate de fruits was sweet and slightly chewy jellied raspberry preserves.  The perfect caps to the meal.

Palm sugar butterscotch brownie and Raspberry pate de fruits

One nice touch of the meal was that our server swiped my credit card right at the table.  This is actually something that is done in Europe to help minimize fraud as the diner has their eyes on their credit card the entire time.  The only suggestion I would make would be to give the servers portable printers as well as it seemed awkward when she stepped away to collect our credit card receipt.

Every dish from our meal was delicious.  And the nicest part was that they were all reasonably priced allowing people from all walks of life the opportunity to enjoy them.  That said, you'll be sitting with industry-types as the restaurant is in the neighborhood of the Sony and Fox studios, but at least its entertaining conversations to overhear.