tastebuds & earbuds
Alinea: Part 2 (the Savories)
On with more food:
9. Maitake (pumpernickel, black garlic, blis elixer)…this was hands down my favorite thing all night. No joke, the umami goodness of this mushroom dish was unbelievable and I wanted to lick my plate. (I didn’t…but I saw an older gentleman do just that when he was served this same dish later in the evening.) First they brought out the bowl of hot lava rocks and a tea kettle with liquid and a bouquet of caramelized root veggies and herbs. Next they asked us if we wanted it classic or gangster style…come on, of course gangster…and they lit it with a lighter shaped like a mini machine gun. (Nobody in the room asked for classic…so I can’t tell you what they would have used to light it the other way.) After the tea kettle came to a boil, they brought out the plate with maitake mushrooms, puffed rice, black garlic and other goodness and poured the broth over it, instructing us to mix it around before we ate it. The portion size was a nice. I love mushrooms. I love that umami flavor profile. This was simply heaven. I wish there was a way for me to recreate this dish for every single person I know.
The mushroom dish was served with what would turn out to be both my and Michelle’s favorite wine pairing…Rioja Alta “Vina Ardanza - Reserva Especial” 2004. Must find in store. And we proceeded to ask for not one, but two more pours of this one later in the evening. Of course we did.
Simply put, the ninth tasting with its wine pairing killed it. Awesome, in the literal sense of the word.
10. Hot Potato (cold potato, black truffle, butter)…this item basically stays on the menu at all times. My picture doesn’t do it justice, but our server told us it was time sensitive and I wanted to taste it in all its glory. This is one of those unique serving vessels that was made specifically for this dish. The pin is holding a hot round potato with a generous slice of truffle over top. Then there are cubes of butter. You slide the pin out and they mix with the cold potato soup in the dish and you shoot it back in one swallow. It was amazing….more umami flavor with the truffle and butter. I could have used a second shot of this.
11. Duck (……..?????…….!!!!!!!!!!!!)….seriously. This is how it was listed on the menu. Kind of like Duck WTF this is so crazy. Ha. It was duck five ways…fois gras, mousse, duck breast, duck neck rillettes, and duck leg with crispy skin. This was all paired with the remarkable tray with 60 different condiments to pair with your duck. The key part…they don’t tell you what anything is…so it’s all blind tasting and super fun! Some things were obvious from sight…a candied walnut, an egg yolk, a fried onion, blueberries, pink salt, apricot, etc. Some were recognizable once you tasted them…apples, hearts of palm, caviar, tequila gelee, whiskey gelee, garlic. Others were just interesting and I had no idea what I was eating. They say to try about 3 condiments with each serving of duck…and after the duck was gone, I kept tasting the condiments. It really was like Willy Wonka for adult foodies. My favorite? Who knows…they were all interesting. Now here’s the thing…as my brother will happily tell you, I do not eat duck. But I told myself I was eating everything that was put in front of me and I can now happily say that I like duck. (At least as imagined by Chef Achatz and his kitchen.) Second favorite course of the night. And let me tell you, we were beginning to get stuffed at this point. The duck was paired with Chateau Msar, Bekaa Valley 2004.
12. Black Truffle (explosion, romaine, parmesan)…a single raviolo arrived on a spoon with a small piece of romaine lettuce and a sliver of parmesan cheese. The instructions for this one were very particular. Put the entire raviolo into your mouth, close your lips (and make sure they are tightly sealed) before you bite down. Michelle was nervous on this one because she had no idea what to expect. The word explosion had her thinking it was going to be a pop rocks type of sensation. Instead it was a mouthful of warm, liquid umami flavor of truffles. Wow. This was spectacular. And I think it might have been Michelle’s favorite.
13. Pork (pain d’epices, turnip, orange)…this suckling pig with turnip puree and crispy fried kale tasted like every Thanksgiving/Christmas flavor wrapped into one. It was homey and comforting. The cloves and other spices with the orange reminded me of our cranberry sauce. This was our final savory dish and it didn’t disappoint. It was paired with a Tommaso Bussola “TB” Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2007.
A quick note about the service. Even though I felt our team was a little on the less experienced side, they were super. Every glass was taken away on a silver platter, they set Michelle’s utensils on her left once they realized she was left-handed. They were spot-on with their descriptions and we had a great time joking around with them and the table next to us. (A couple there celebrating the wife’s birthday who had dined there several times before and they said this was their favorite service experience because it was so fun.) When you got up to go to the bathroom, they escorted you there and had a fresh napkin for you upon your return. Every person we came in contact with was super professional and really made the dinner better.
Alinea: Part One (the starters)
Expect several posts about dinner at Alinea last weekend. I need to get all the pictures up and I’ve got to figure out how exactly to describe such a unique dining experience. (Due to limitations on Tumblr, I can only post 10 pics at a time…so we’ll start here.)
The word alinea refers to the copy editor’s symbol for a new paragraph or new train of thought.
Our reservations were for 6 pm on Friday evening. I came prepared with both my iPhone (with Hipstamatic Foodie pak) and my work DSLR (with low light settings). Dork much? Yes, but I don’t care. I knew I’d want to share photos of the food with everyone, but mostly I knew I’d want to be able to look back and remember the evening. The pictures turned out OK, not great. I was trying to snap a quick pic and then enjoy each moment. (I also brought Chef Grant Achatz’s book “Life on the Line” in the hopes that he’d sign it for me. Sadly…and this is the only disappointment of the evening…he wasn’t in the kitchen that night. I guess that means I’ll have to go back.)
A little history first…I read Chef Achatz’s memoir a few years back and was fascinated with his story of becoming a chef and battling mouth cancer at the pinnacle of his career. His love of food and invention was apparent from reading his book. Three Michelin stars, multiple James Beard awards, and seven years running on the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants (currently at number 7). He’s interested in creating and invoking memories with food. And many of the serving vessels were created to his specifications to elevate the diner’s experience.
Back to the evening. Michelle and I arrived at a nondescript building in Lincoln Park and upon entering walked down a narrow, blue-lit hallway. About halfway down a sliding door opened and we were greeted my multiple servers. They took our coats, led us to a glass wall where we could watch the kitchen staff at work, and handed us an interesting hot chocolate with marshmallows that had a smokey spruce/pine flavor. A great start to a cold Chicago evening.
The kitchen was spotless and practically silent. It was like watching a well-rehearsed ballet. Every member of the kitchen staff had his or her own job, knew his place and performed wordlessly — except when they chanted out numbers in unison in response to the expeditor.
We were seated in the downstairs dining room that has five tables. There are several more dining rooms upstairs and we never went to peek up there to see what they looked like. All very similar I assume. Each dining room has a team: a captain, a head waiter, a sommelier, and numerous other wait staff. Our team were all adorable, if not a little nervous (we later found out our captain had only be in that role for a short time).
We prepaid for our “tickets” when we made the reservations. But upon arrival the captain went over our wine options. Michelle and I both opted for the standard pairing of 9 pours (they told us it would equal a little over 3 1/2 glasses of wine) to accompany the 17-course tasting menu. The sommelier (cute, young, mumbly, but really knew his wines) would bring our tasting out and explain the wine, where it was from, how it was made, and what the significance was. It was interesting, but I have to admit, I paid less attention to the hows and whys and more attention to the taste.
The head waiter (darling, very shaky hands, but very friendly and fun), the captain, or one of the other servers were always on hand to bring out our food with great explanations on how to eat it to best enjoy it. Our glasses were cleared on silver platters. We were never waiting long for anything. It was all timed down to the littlest detail.
OK…so let’s get down to the food:
1. Hot chocoate (abinao, smoke, spruce)…warm and delicious and tasted like pine trees. (Sorry no picture. I was too excited to pull my camera out in the hallway.)
2. Butternut (muscovado, finger lime, West Indies)…these two ice sculptures were set on our table when we arrived and we were told more would come later…then they brought out two glass straws filled with the butternut puree and the other ingredients (can’t remember what they all were) and we were told to set it inside the liquid in the ice sculpture and suck it all down in one sip. It was slightly sweet and a very cool presentation. The wine pairing with this was a cocktail of L. Aubry Brut with dry vermouth, vin santo, and amaro.
The next five courses were all brought out together and paired with a cold sake called Ginga Shizuku “Divine Droplets” Junmai Daiginjo-shu, Hokkaido-ken. Yeah, I don’t know, but it tasted great and went well with the seafood.
3. Scallop (mirin, bonito)…raw sliced scallops were brought out marinating and we were instructed to cook them for 10 seconds on one side on the hot lava rock (there were lots of rocks used for heating/cooking throughout the course of the evening). So good! Although I kind of dropped one of my slices in the sand under the hot rock so I had a little sand in my mouth. Ha.) This was my favorite of the seafood courses.
4. Shrimp Head (togarashi, pincage)…basically a deep fried shrimp head served with a sauce made out of the innards of the shrimp head and tomato. Michelle was skeptical on this one….but it was great. Crispy, not overly fishy, and just plain cool.
5. Ehu (white soy, ginger)…basically a Hawaiian short-tailed red snapper tartare. The small round vessel was placed in our icy orchid centerpiece to chill while we were enjoying the other parts of this course. It tasted good. But wasn’t the star of this round.
6. Onaga (lemongrass, star anise)…another Hawaiian red snapper, this time long-tailed…it was brought to the table raw on a lemongrass skewer and we were instructed to drop it into a broth of lemongrass and herbs and let it poach in there while we ate the other courses. It was light and delicate in flavor. I love lemongrass, so this was very tasty.
7. Pineapple (slush, shot)…this was basically a palette cleanser and I didn’t really understand it. I think maybe it sat on the table too long. It had some sort of frozen powdered component with pineapple chunks that melted together. (No picture.)
8. Halibut (mole, avocado, escabeche)…beautiful and DELICIOUS. It tasted like Mexico…like a really, really, really amazing fish taco. And it was a nice three-bite size (the portions were great). The fish was perfectly cooked, the micro cilantro and radishes on top with so cute, and I especially appreciated the cubes of mezcal gelee on the side. Yum.
The halibut was served with FX Pichler “Urgestein Terrassen” Gruner Veltliner Smaragd, Wachau 2011. Basically, it was a white. Haaaa.
Next up: Alinea: Part 2 (the savories) and Alinea: Part 3 (the desserts)
Went up to Hollywood on Friday night to see The White Buffalo at the Troubadour and we decided to try out Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo’s Son of a Gun. Their other restaurant, Animal, is all about meat. But Son of a Gun has a seafood flair, harkening back to their Florida roots.
The decor was a crazy eclectic mix of maritime and other salvaged goods. Pictures in the bathrooms are actually of their ancestors out fishing. It’s small (I think it seats 55 people) and we didn’t get reservations, but we got there early enough that we didn’t have to wait for a seat at the communal table. (It was very close quarters with our neighbors.)
The food was delicious. And as far as small plates go, it was actually decent sized portions. We ended up giving our table-mates some of the food that we couldn’t finish. Ha. (Hush puppies anyone…I mean come on…who needs 8 hush puppies?)
The lobster roll on a buttery croissant-like roll was AMAZING. So good. The peel and eat shrimp were HUGE and delicious. The beet and baby lettuce salad was fresh and TASTY. The only thing that was a miss was the country ham and hush puppies. The honey butter on the hush puppies was great. But it wasn’t country ham, it was prosciutto, and I really only needed one or two of those fried balls. We also ordered fries…forgot to snap a pic. They were fine, nothing amazing, and we were really too full to even eat that many.
They also had a great bar menu. We started off with a delicious mezcal cocktail, followed up by our recent favorite Moscow Mule.
Awesome dinner. Awesome place. Cool little touches. I will go back. And I’ll definitely be trying Animal too.
Doheny Days for the second year in a row was a blast. This year we weren’t lucky enough to stay on the boat…but we got a great hotel room right above the venue that we could walk back and forth from (except for the gnarly uphill walk back to the hotel in the hot mid-day heat…ha).
I mostly just wanted to see The White Buffalo and he was playing early…so we got down there around noon. Got some cocktails and got all set up. He was great, as usual…and I even got to meet him a little later as he was hanging out at the festival. (He was staying at our hotel and we saw him and his family out at the pool the next morning, but decided not to be crazy stalkers.)
We also caught some of Delta Spirit’s set…that was good. Mishka was a disappointment…didn’t look or sound very reggae…maybe he’s going for a new vibe? And the surprise of the day was Santigold. She was amazing. It was a really, really good live show. I would go somewhere just to see her.
All in all, it was a great day with fun friends. We totally bailed on the headliner…Jane’s Addiction…should have stayed to check out Dave Navarro and Perry Ferrell looking all buff with their shirts off…haaa. We’ll be back next year for sure. It’s a great venue and a great crowd.
(I have a bunch of pics…so will probably split this into two posts.)
OK…so I’ve noticed I’ve been a bit slack on the blog lately. Hardly any food posts…I haven’t been cooking and I haven’t been going out to many tasty meals…I’ll get on that soon. I promise.
For now…I’ve got some catching up from the last week of music. It started with Doheny Days on Saturday and I’ll get to that post in a bit…but first…Monday night I was lucky enough to get tickets to see The Avett Brothers perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The tickets are free, but it ends up being a whole lot of waiting around. First you stand in line to get wristbands. Then you get in another line to get into the venue. Then you get into the venue and you stand around while Jimmy interviews all the guests inside and they run through all the skits. Finally (and about 3 hours later) the band comes out to play.
And it was an awesome mini concert. They only show one song on TV and usually one more online. But the Avetts played about 6 songs…a good mix of songs from the new album and old favorites. They were really on spot and super energetic (not that they usually aren’t). Plus, we were super close (practically in the front) so we got a good look at all the guys and they just seemed really stoked to be there.
I’m loving the new album, The Carpenter, that came out yesterday. “February Seven” is one of my faves. They played that one live. And I love “The Once and Future Carpenter”. And “A Father’s First Spring” is probably the prettiest song written by Scott about the birth of his daughter with this line…”I never lived until I lived in your light….” So good.
Can’t wait to see them again at ACL next month…hopefully I’ll get up close again. (I took all these pics with my iPhone and ran them through the Brannon filter in Instagram…perfect Americana look for the Avetts.) Love these guys.
OK…Porkapalooza part deux…
As I said in my previous post, this meal was porky and decadent and delicious. I love how it was served family style and the presentation was perfect. Not too-fancy, just allowing the food to shine.
Sixth course: Pork belly with sweet kraut, roasted figs (? I think it was peaches), and fried okra. At this point, my eyes were definitely larger than my stomach. But hey, when in Rome Porkville…the pork belly was perfectly prepared and the tangy cabbage and sweet peaches cut the fattiness of the pork belly. Lovely. Might be my favorite course.
Seventh course: Apricot-sage pork chop served with cilantro coconut rice. At this point, I was up to my eyeballs in pork. But I had to roll up my sleeves and dig in. (And yes, I was kicking myself for that extra serving of orzo earlier in the meal.) These pork chops were super succulent and perfectly prepared. And the sage and apricots on top were an awesome modern spin on the old school pork chops and applesauce. The rice was good too, but I had to save room for the pork…so I only had a few bites of rice. This course was paired with a Stephen Ross Pinot Noir. So good. Favorite course? Maybe.
Eighth course: Bread pudding with bacon butterscotch sauce and a chocolate pot de creme. YUM. Double YUM. Triple YUM. Minh came out and served us herself out of the pan…this was over the top goodness. (I didn’t get a picture of the pot de creme because we all just shared one cup because there was a kitchen accident and they all went careening to the floor…one was enough. I couldn’t have eaten a whole cup of that rich, yummy chocolate after the rest of the meal. But it was a perfect bite.) This was paired with a sparkling torrontes. Another favorite course? Yep. Haaaa. Honestly, each and every course was amazing.
In case we didn’t have enough…Minh brought out ginger shortbread cookies at the end of the meal. I couldn’t fit one more bite in my mouth so I took one home (and I left it Rowe’s without tasting it…so I don’t know how good it could have been).
Cooked with love, eaten with love. I enjoyed this meal more than anything else I’ve eaten in the near (or not-so-near) past. Minh is amazing. The service was really spot-on. Great waiter. The owner also helped serve us and was friendly and appreciative that we’d trekked up to Hollywood for a famous Minh-dinner. I love the retro diner vibe of the decor. And I love the down-home comfort feeling. Having the side room to ourselves was perfect (at one point we had to all stand up to stretch…I’m not even kidding).
Thank you, thank you to Minh and Beachwood Cafe. And thank you to Rowe, Mel, Crissy, Michelle, Nicole, Glynna, Carrie and Eric for the experience. Awesome. And to quote many US olympians…surreal. Haaaaa.
I love good food. And even more than that, I love enjoying good food with others who appreciate it as much as I do. And even more that that, I love eating good food made with love and passion by someone I know. Last night was such a night. A great group of friends went up to Beachwood Cafe for a very special supper. You might remember my last trip to Beachwood for brunch. It was incredibly tasty, but I left wanting to try out the dinner menu.
Chef Minh Phan (my dear friend) prepared a special chef’s tasting menu just for us and it couldn’t have been more perfect. She promised us Porkapalooza. And she did not disappoint. We had the smaller side room to ourselves, and the service was impeccable. The food…well I’m going to do my best to describe it…but let’s just say we pretty much had to be rolled out of the restaurant at the end of the night after the eight course tasting menu.
PORK! Who doesn’t love pork? Well, I mean, sure some people don’t love pork…but luckily this group was not afraid. I’m so proud to call them all my friends. And I’m even prouder of Minh for following her passion and allowing us all to eat her sumptuous creations. (Sidenote: Minh created the butterscotch pot de creme with fleur du sel at Gjelina when she was the pastry chef there. I still dream about that dessert.)
Since all of the photos won’t fit in one post, I’m going to break it up into two posts…here we go:
First course: Bacon cookies (shaped like pigs with bacon sprinkles on top) and dates with fontina cheese on rosemary skewers. Delicious. We wanted another round of the light and flakey pastries. Thankfully our waiter knew what was in store and moved us right along. This course was paired with a salty plum champagne cocktail with thai basil. And it might have been the best thing I’ve ever sipped. So, so good. I had to have a second. Ha. (Minh’s recipe for salty-sweet pickled plums was just featured in Food and Wine magazine.) The cocktail pushed it over the top. We knew we were in for a feast. Favorite course.
Second course: Rillettes de Provence with pickled strawberries and lavender-infused watermelon rind. WHAT? Yes, exactly. I love pork rillettes and Minh was the person who introduced them to me some years ago at the Tasting Kitchen on Abbott Kinney. I’ve been in love with this salty, fatty pork dish ever since. Here’s a good explanation of rillettes. All I have to say is YUM. And the strawberries had a spicy, tangy kick…so good and the perfect complement to the pork. And what is lavender-infused watermelon rind? I have no clue…but it was soft and delicious. Also a perfect match for the salty, shredded rillettes. Oh. My. God. No wait…favorite course.
Third course: Pressed watermelon and fried feta with a basil, current, and pinenut pesto, drizzled with really good olive oil. This was amazing. No other words. It was light and the combo of the fresh juicy watermelon with the crispy warm feta was so tasty. This course was paired with a Le Renaudie sauvignon blanc, which I really enjoyed. Favorite course? Possibly.
Fourth course: Arugula, plums, and almonds with a mojito dressing. The fresh mint and lime dressing with the peppery arugula made for the perfect cleansing salad course between all of the decadent pork. Thank you for offering our stomachs a brief respite from the gluttony. Haaaaa.
Fifth course: Orzo with corn and smoked bacon. This. Was. AMAZING. Creamy and warm, smooth and sweet, savory and comforting. (Pretty sure I helped myself to too much of this dish…not understanding that the main courses were still to come.) I have to get this recipe. It would be a crowd-pleaser and might be the only course that I could attempt to replicate. Everything else is a little too…complicated…for me. This course was paired with a Jack Hammer chardonnay. Favorite course..seriously…how do you choose a favorite when everything is so great?
Sound like a lot of food? Well it was and we still aren’t even to the TWO main courses and dessert. To be continued…
SO…finally I can sit down and write my review of Red Rocks and the Avetts show from last Friday night. In a word: AMAZING. But I certainly have a few more words than that.
The venue was beautiful. Thankfully, there were no fires burning up there and there was a bit of cloud coverage for a good chunk of the afternoon (even a little rain storm with a rainbow) so it wasn’t too hot. We got up there around 4 pm for tailgating in the parking lot.
We went into the show around 6:30 or 7 in time to get a great view of the venue and see a good portion of City and Color open up. We even saw this awesome moment when two people got engaged during the song The Girl. It was awesome and the whole crowd, and the band, were super stoked. (And I absolutely love that someone got it all on video…duh…posted it, and the girl who got engaged found it on YouTube. The internets. They are wonderful sometimes.)
I can’t really describe how cool it is to sit among those gorgeous red rocks that form a natural amphitheater with such an awe-inspiring view. If only I lived closer. I’d see every show that came through town. We had pretty decent seats…28 rows back…smack dab in the middle. It’s a little far back for true Avetts swooning, but the sound was great and the energy from the crowd was really on key. Plus, there were some moments when the winds just whipped around right at the perfect time in the music that it really felt like we were witnessing something special. (I can’t confirm or deny that I said, “If I went to church, this is what I’d want it to feel like.”)
They opened with Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise, which was awesome. And they played a bunch of really great songs (Murder in the City, Paranoia in B Major, January Wedding, And It Spread, The Ballad of Love and Hate, Ten Thousand Words, Salina, November Blue), but there were some misses in there as well. Gimmeakiss and Go to Sleep seemed off. And there seemed to be more Seth-fronted tunes than usual. Scott seemed a little off his game, which was a bummer because I love him so much. I say this only because I’ve been to a lot of shows and I have VERY high expectations of how great they are live. It was still amazing.
Salina and November Blue are definitely two of my faves…and it was great to hear those live (November Blue for the first time). I like the new song Live and Die (although I don’t really remember it from the show). But I missed a toned down a cappella moment like Closer Walk With Thee. And I was hoping for Swept Away and If It’s the Beaches…two favorites I’ve never seen them play. (They played all three the next night. And their sister Bonnie and dad Jim joined them onstage. I now know I should always go to both shows.)
Scott started out the show by putting money in a boot and passing it around to the other guys on stage and then sending it into the audience to raise money for the Colorado fires. I put some money in when it came around my way. And at the end of the night he said they had raised more than $20,000. That’s so cool. (I saw online that over the two nights they raised close to $50,000 to donate.)
It was an awesome evening at a truly beautiful venue with my brother, cousins, and good friends…and my favorite North Carolina brothers. Red Rocks, I’ll be back. And Scott and Seth…I’ll see you in October at Austin City Limits.
My full Red Rocks report is coming…but first I wanted to post about our Saturday night dinner. We had reservations at The 9th Door in downtown Denver — pretty traditional Spanish tapas in a quaint low-lit room. Great atmosphere. Impeccable service (our waiter was on and it was great…he knew his wines and he even recommended another bar for us to go to after dinner that was right up our alley). Delicious food. Tasty wine. And really good company.
We sampled quite a few things including cheese and charcuterie plates, tortilla a la espanola, beef filet with a blue cheese sauce, fried goat cheese topped with honey, crispy serrano ham-wrapped dates stuffed with almonds and drunken goat cheese (the best thing I ate and the best version of this frequently ordered dish I’ve ever had), fire-roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with fresh goat cheese and rosemary (second best thing I ate), a Spanish take on caprese salad with a non-mozzerella cheese, a yummy brussels sprouts and bacon salad, and maybe something else that I’m forgetting.
We topped it off with several really good bottles of wine…the last of which, Black Tears by Tapiz, was probably one of the tastiest wines I’ve had in a while…well, since a few weeks ago when I drank The Thread…but I haven’t had anything as good as those two wines in a really long time. The waiter recommended it and decanted it for us at the table. It was really, really delicious. It was a nice, leisurely meal with plates coming out as we ordered them. We never felt rushed, the servers were all attentive and helpful, and like I said before our waiter was spot-on.
Sorry a few of the pics are of half-eaten meals. They all looked so good, I had to act fast to take a photo before we devoured the plates. And worst of all? I didn’t get a picture of the serrano ham-wrapped dates because those little suckers flew off the plates directly into our mouths.
On Saturday, after the shower, we had dinner reservations in Laguna Beach at Watermarc Restaurant. I can’t remember how I found out about it…but it was written up in one of the magazines I was looking through and it turned out to be the perfect spot for a big group to have dinner (as it turned out there were at least three other shower/bachelorette parties in there at the same time as us).
Originally they told me we were going to be in the bar area, but they switched us around and I’m so glad they did. It was crowded and loud and not very special-feeling down there. We were on the second floor up against the wall right off the little deck and I thought it was a great spot for us. The service was awesome. And the food was delicious. We all shared a bunch of stuff (Nene, Em and I actually got an assortment of small plates to share) so we really got to taste a lot of different dishes.
A few of my favorites: fried goat cheese with apples and honey; baby beets with feta, shaved red onion and walnuts; burrata mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes and pesto; ahi watermelon skewers with seaweed salad and ponzu; flatbread; smoked bacon-wrapped dates with almonds and brown sugar basalmic; chicken saltimbocca with prosciutto, fontina and sage herb butter…and my favorite-favorite: the New Zealand greenlip mussels with saffron lemon cream. YUM. Sorry I didn’t get pictures of everything because we were passing it all around so quickly and I couldn’t get a picture of everything! Wow…that seems like a lot…and that’s not even everyone else’s…that’s just the stuff I tasted down at my side of the table. Ha.
The drinks were pretty good (although my first blood orange one tasted a wee bit like baby aspirin) and we also had some great wine. And for dessert? Not that we were hungry, but I just had to try to the PB&J profiteroles. They were good, but not amazing.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant (Gretchen and Tamara were filmed having afternoon cocktails on the deck for Real Housewives of Orange County a few weeks ago) and I would love to try it again. Great spot for a big group of ladies drinking and dining.
(That top pic is of me, Emily (the bride) and her sister Liz…the three of us played field hockey together starting in 1986 or 1987 in Charlottesville, VA. Liz was a freshman I think and Emily and I were in 7th or 8th grade. That’s just plain crazy!)
Last night Nicole and I went to the Los Angeles Coliseum to see Roger Waters perform Pink Floyd’s concept album The Wall live. He did this at Staples Center a few years back and I heard great things about it so when Brian offered us free tickets, I knew we should check it out.
I remember (sort of…) watching The Wall back in middle school in my friend’s basement and thinking how whacked out it was. And it’s still pretty whacked out (flower sex scene anyone?) but it’s taken on new meaning in today’s political arena. There were some very poignant moments when images of killed soldiers filled every brick of the wall…and other times when messages about consumerism and commercialization flashed frantically. There was a flying pig, amazing surround sound that actually made it feel like helicopters were going to land on top of us, an airplane crash, and very cool imagery and media show on the wall itself. It was very entertaining.
And the people watching was superb. I don’t know where some of these people came from…but it was definitely a fascinating crowd. Fun, out-of-the-bubble experience.
Had an awesome brunch today at Beachwood Cafe up in Beachwood Canyon right under the Hollywood sign. Danielle and I went up to have a bite in honor of our mothers. My friend Minh is the chef and I’ve been wanting to check it out since she helped reopen it a few months ago. Danielle had actually been to the former diner location. For mother’s day, there was a pre-fixe menu and it was all so delicious. I’ve known Minh for probably 12 years and I’ve been lucky enough to eat her cooking from time to time. I knew it would be great.
Our meal started with savory and sweet handmade pickles and jams. So good. For our main courses, I chose the pea and leek quiche with shaved ham and bacon croquettes (YUM!) and arugula and pickled red onion salad, and Nene got the caramelized onion and cheese grit cakes topped with marinated artichokes, asparagus, red onions and a peashoot and berry salad. They were both really good and the portions weren’t too big or too small. Perfect. The bacon croquettes were the best part of my meal. Ha…oh, and the pickled red onions were delish too. We got both of the dessert options…stonefruit crumble with handmade ginger ice cream and a fresh fruit tart with handmade strawberry sorbet.
Minh came out to say a quick hello, but being such a busy brunch day, she had to get back in the kitchen and I didn’t get to snap a pic. It was such a cute neighborhood place and it’s so pretty up there…literally right under the Hollywood sign in the Hills. I’ll have to go back for the regular menu…it looks awesome! Locally sourced, farm-to-table type cooking. Great job Minh!
Manicures in Beverly Hills afterwards (with no mention of “who” I am so it was just relaxing). After another intense day of yoga (13th day in a row), it was a nice way to spend the day.
I had an awesome weekend in NJ/NY with my friends. Loved seeing and hanging with Karen, Sean and the kids in Jersey…fun family supper followed by dance show from the kids. Then on Saturday (after some LAX with the kids), we went into the city and met up with Molly and Mark and sweet baby Kaki. Had an awesome picnic in Central Park and walked all over the park. It was lovely.
And Saturday night Mollie and Rob came down from Princeton to have drinks with us. I love seeing my college friends. It’s so easy to just pick up where we left off even if we don’t see each other often. We had drinks at Public in Soho (I think it was Soho) and it was my kind of cool place. Thai basil champagne bellini…grapefruit and jalapeno margaritas. So good.
Then we went to Barmarche down the block for a super tasty supper. The atmosphere was cool and eclectic with a funky mix of antique wall hangings. It was a funny little place because it felt like it should be a French bistro…but the menu was more Mexican (with some other odds and ends thrown in). We started with a ton of apps…calamari, guac and chips, bacon wrapped dates with blue cheese (YUM) and the best: bacon hummus with homemade pita chips (double YUM).
We all got tacos…well except Sean…he got the truffle shrimp risotto, which I didn’t try but it looked really good. So we all switched around tacos and got to try them all…fish, shrimp, and pork. And they were all delish. Great place. Great friends. Great food.
We ended the evening by going back to Public…well technically next door to The Daily, but it’s the same ownership. They had some more cool drinks…that mixologist vibe…and a note to Cameron Diaz scribbled on the wall…apparently she had been at Public the day before and she didn’t come into The Daily and they weren’t too happy about it.
We were stuck in a crazy rainstorm when we tried to leave…which ended up being kind of a nightmare trying to get cabs…but Molly and Mark were sweet enough to grab a car and drop me off even though it was in the complete opposite direction.
I don’t love NYC…but I love going to cool bars and restaurants…especially in such great company.
Dying…just wrote a whole blog post and it got lost…long story short…Elsbeth and I took the train to the capitol of Switzerland, Bern, and did a little sightseeing from 10-12 and then we met her Swiss distributor and went to a bunch of little towns and saw salons (I also got a pedi) and saw her distributorship…then we had dinner at a place called Florida. I was apprehensive at first because I didn’t want “American” food…and when I walked in and saw that it looked like someone threw up orchids, I thought I was really in for it…but it ended up being awesome.
The menu was very Swiss and Elsbeth and Marlise ordered for me. A delicious winter Swiss greens salad (I need to figure out what those greens were…apparently they grow under the snow in the winter….) that had a great vinagerette. The I actually had veal…I never eat veal. Zurigschnatzlets is chopped veal in a creamy mushroom sauce and it was delicious. We ordered it with rochti, which is just like the hashbrowns we make on Christmas morning…yum. I would definitely order this again. And now I might try veal more.
After, we had this chestnut and schnaps puree that is made to look like vermicelli noodles…served with whipped cream. Also very good and something I would never order. Good, traditional Swiss meal. Glad we went to “Florida”.
Tomorrow….the Alps!
