wasabica's Recent Activity
Chowhound Post
Foundry Tasting Menu?
I went to the Foundry on Melrose when it first opened and was not overly impressed and never went back and did not think much about it. Recently, I was quite upset at the way it went down for Chef Greenspan on the Next Iron Chef and I decided to show some love and go back to the restaurant to try the tasting menu, which is supposed to be well-renowned. Or is it?
Some friends recently went and ordered off the menu and had very ok food and not so good service.
Perhaps the tasting menu is a step up? Has anyone had it recently? How would you describe the quality and creativity of the ingredients and preparation? I could not find any relevant reviews on this board.
I have upcoming reservations and am toying with canceling them.
Chowhound Post
Japanese food tour LA this weekend
Musha is way more overt in this regard. With Torihei, I just think they use too much mirin and/or other ingredients that make their glazes sweeter than other places. I think for me the most glaring and controversial example of this is everybody else's favorite - the meatballs. Yes, I do like their fall-apart tender texture. But I far prefer the salt or shio seasoning used by Shin Sen Gumi Gardena, the old Yakitori (now Izakaya) binchu, and many others. I find that all their broths also contain too much mirin or other sweetening ingredients.
Chowhound Post
Japanese food tour LA this weekend
I just looked at your map. Sorry, but it looks like the LA tourist's guide to Japanese Food. This is the map of someone looking for the hot celebrity places, not foodie experiences. If you are going to spend that kind of money, just go to Urasawa and be done with it.
Chowhound Post
Japanese food tour LA this weekend
I live in Torrance and am REALLY into Japanese food. I will caution you to consider what you are after when you pick the places. My personal preference is extremely high quality ingredients and authentic Japanese flavors with simple preparations . Unlike most, I do not care for Musha and Torihei because I find what they do more "Americanized." They have a lot of sweet miso-ey and mayo-ey sauces, which I do not like. They are some of the liveliest and coolest places in town to be sure, but I think the food is much better elsewhere. In Torrance/Gardena only, I think your best bets are Sansui Tei for Washu, Yuzu for sashimi and high end Izakaya experience , Kagura for authentic Kaiseki, Sushi Nozami (on a friday only) for up to 10 kinds of Snapper flown in from Japan, Otafuku for Soba. It is also worth hitting Izakaya Binchu in Redondo.
Chowhound Post
Long Beach area......what restaurants are the must go to?
agree on Benley.
Chowhound Post
Rosh Hashanah Restaurant Dinner?
I decided to roast the proverbial chicken tomorrow, not today. This is last minute, I know, but I am looking for a restaurant that is offering an interesting spin on Rosh Hashanah dinner tonight. Ideas?
Chowhound Post
First Peak: New England Style Seafood Shack Finally Available in LA: BP Oysterette in Santa Monica
Hi Rameniac, I read your posts a lot - I think you would like the restaurant. Keep it simple, though. This is not the place to get fish and chips. Keep to their specialty - oysters, clams, lobster roll, etc. Also, I recommend their brown rice - listed as a side on the menu. It is a nice healthy filler. I didn't mention it earlier as it is not a typical thing one gets at a seafood shack and I don't think many people are moved by rice, but I am personally very into excellent rice and I think they do a great job with it.
Chowhound Post
First Peak: New England Style Seafood Shack Finally Available in LA: BP Oysterette in Santa Monica
Not sure. I think it was made to order so that is possible. I will note that it was more buttery than mayo-ey, which probably also makes it less authentic. Mayo was lighter vs hungry cat
Chowhound Post
First Peak: New England Style Seafood Shack Finally Available in LA: BP Oysterette in Santa Monica
The sandwich contained enough meat to what I estimate to be most of the tail and (1) claw from a small one and a quarter pounder lobster. I have had them with more meat, but it was certainly not a stingy portion. Also, the meat was soft, juicy, and not overcooked. It tasted like it was actually removed from a lobster by hand as opposed to factory processed. It is about the same size as the one from hungry cat, and about the same price at $22. Think about the labor and cost involved to produce something like this. If we were in NE it would be cheaper b/c it would be local, but not that much cheaper. I would not begrudge them the price. Being that the last time I was in Cape Cod (more than 10 years ago) the lobster rolls were much cheaper than $22, I was curious what to expect today. So just for laughs, I checked NE Chow and Google for local lobster roll prices these days, and they look to be $16-$20 on average. $22 for a maine lobster roll in los angeles is perfectly reasonable.
I agree the lemon zest made it not authentic, but it did not bother me.
Chowhound Post
First Peak: New England Style Seafood Shack Finally Available in LA: BP Oysterette in Santa Monica
I love QS, but that parking lot ambiance never quite did it for me. Plus, no wine. Now if only BP gets live uni... ;)
Chowhound Post
First Peak: New England Style Seafood Shack Finally Available in LA: BP Oysterette in Santa Monica
He promised the full-bellies were coming soon...
Chowhound Post
First Peak: New England Style Seafood Shack Finally Available in LA: BP Oysterette in Santa Monica
sorry, I meant to include that, thanks!!!
Chowhound Post
First Peak: New England Style Seafood Shack Finally Available in LA: BP Oysterette in Santa Monica
My biggest shock in moving out to LA was the complete lack of casual seafood shacks like one finds on the Jersey Shore, Cape Cod, Baltimore, etc. Gladstones, with it's low quality, poorly prepared, overpriced fare never counted.
I read about this place some months ago and have been anxiously awaiting its opening, which occurred earlier this week. We opted to get there on Saturday at 11:30 AM right when it opened for lunch so that we could avoid a long wait. (They do not take reservations.)
We feasted on amazing oysters and clams on the half shell (they offer four varieties), grilled oysters, authentic steamers and broth, and a beautifully-buttered succulent lobster roll.
We look forward to going back another time to also try the ceviche, chowder, fisherman's stew, crudo, and fish tacos.
All-in-all, great food, decent wine list, excellent and friendly service, and fair prices. Salvadore, the manager, gave us hints of what is coming in the future once they get things going. Most notable on the list for me is Ipswich clams, yay!! We also asked him why the salmon, which was the daily crudo offering that day, was farmed Atlantic when clearly all the other fish was better sourced and of much higher quality. He blamed it on convenience and ease for their early stages, and indicated it was his intent to procure wild down the line. He is still getting organized with his fish suppliers as he does not have enough room in the restaurant to meet the oyster demand. He is already getting two shipments a day.
This place is a gold mine. THey are working on some logistics so that people can put their name on a list and hit the promenade. But for now, try to go during an off hour (I am not sure when that will be) so the wait is not too excessive. But don't let the wait deter you - it's worth it.
Please visit my blog for food pix as well as pictures of the menus with pricing.
http://foodandwineblog.thefoodietrave...
Chowhound Post
My First Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares Experience: Lido - Before and After
I was completely shocked the place was that bad considering the positive reviews on yelp. Maybe they have a lot of loyal regulars? There are not a lot of premium dining options in that area in that price range so no really tough local competition.
Re: I suppose Yoda Ramsey could stand to have a few of his own restaurants made over. ;)
Totally. I just searched the boards looking for my review of the London from a long time ago, but I can't find it. I think I am not allowed to link to my blog review or CH will remove the post. Suffice it so say it was not a positive review. The post was called Kitchen Nightmares: Where are you Gordon? and it is somewhere in CH history - 5/08.
Chowhound Post
My First Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares Experience: Lido - Before and After
Back in June I had the pleasure/misery of partaking in the "before" night at one of Gordon Ramsey's projects, Lido in Manhattan Beach. My husband and I were there with another couple who hooked us up. The entire meal was horribly dreadful but we had a blast.
The patrons who were there were mostly friends of people who got in from a casting call and friends of people involved with Gordon or the rest of their team. We knew we would have to pay for the meal before we ordered. It was very expensive, took 3 hours, and it was all very, very, bad. Thankfully, we had 4 bottles of wine over the 3 hours so that made everything more palatable in more ways than one. The female owner cried the whole time and seemed not to have a clue what the show was about. At one point my girlfriend and I went into the bathroom where she was weeping uncontrollably and we were unable to console her. We explained that she was going to be lavished with an overhaul, redecorating, and lots of free press, but she kept weeping and saying "I didn't think it would be this bad."
Early on, the producer encouraged us to call over the cameras to report bad food, and of course we enthusiastically complied. Later, the producer (not a very friendly person) came by and said that we could not send back any main courses because they were done filming that part and that if we wanted dessert we should get it to go. At various points during the night, Gordon walked past us many times and made eye contact. No direct conversation, but by happenstance he overheard my friend say the osso buco was cold (we were no longer allowed to complain to others) and he yelled very loudly: This osso buco is STONE COLD take it back! They proceeded to microwave it and return it. YUM.
All in all, the food was WAY icky. Low quality ingredients all over or undercooked. Food tasted diner-like. You could tell a lot of it was premade/processed. The servers were sweet but clearly terrified.
From watching the show, we all assumed that we would find out later that the kitchen was filthy. It almost always is on that show. At one point, all service stopped for about an hour and we found out later that it was because Gordon was in fact reaming them out over filth and incompetence. But hey, I go to Chinatown and eat at C restaurants. How bad could it be versus that? I was there for the experience of watching Gordon in action and despite the expense and the yuck I am glad I got to see how it all went down.
So last night we decided to pay them another visit - post Gordon. We were expecting to be totally wowed. And expected them to embrace the fact that it was supposed to be an Italian restaurant. But the decor was odd. Light fixtures in the main dining room were pink umbrellas inside some kind of giant pink balls.
We sat in the patio, had it to ourselves. The decor was even more odd here. Around the entire perimeter of the room were auto windshields with bullet holes in them mounted on particle board. More particle board furniture was in the center of the room around a firepit. And the music was techno and angry. All I could think of was that Extreme Home Makeover show where they tear down the house and rebuild it in a week, clearly on a budget with many shortcuts.
As for the menu, they did not change the rather limited wine list but just added some carafe and tasting portion options.
We only ordered two things. First, a Marguerita heirloom tomato flat bread. The bottom was burned black, the top raw, the buffalo mozzarella cheese was of such low quality it did not melt properly and stayed an odd bright white color. The small cherry tomatoes on top were obviously not farmer's market quality even though we are in peak tomato season.
Wary from the appetizer, we opted to all share an order of chicken parm with a side of pasta in marinara. The pasta was overcooked. I suspected it was reheated in the microwave, but others disagreed. The chicken parm, however, was the piece de resistance. It was PROCESSED. As in chicken nugget. As in that stuff they made you eat at the school cafeteria or a NJ diner. Macaroni Grill looked like 2 star Michelin in comparison. Yes, that's right, Pre-breaded inedible chicken mush. It has probably been over a decade since I have been exposed to fowl that foul.
We were just horrified. I could not believe Gordon approved such an abomination. Perhaps Lido did like other KN restaurants? Tried out Gordon's changes and reverted back? Did we just miss the window? Reviews on Yelp are not that bad. I can only speculate on what went so horribly wrong.
As a final thought, they did not really update their website to reflect all the changes and leverage Gordon's visit. Maybe they have simply rejected him. A shame. I guess we will know more when the show airs in the fall.
I also posted this on my blog: http://foodandwineblog.thefoodietrave...
Chowhound Post
HATCH CHILE ROASTING 2009 Please add dates
OMG the Hatch Chili Burger at Bouzy (Chez Melange) in Redondo Beach was so good the other night. Get that, truffle fries, and beer on tap.
Chowhound Post
Restaurants with-in walking distance to the Santa Monica Pier................
Capo for steak and pasta or Catch for seafood. They are not only close to the pier they are both two of the best restaurants in LA, IMHO.
Chowhound Post
Interesting Dinner with the Top Chef: Stefan's at LA Farm
I find it fascinating that kevineats and albatruffles had virtually the same dinner yet had completely different impressions.
Mine was closer to Albatruffles: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/643291
Chowhound Post
Let's talk TEXTURE
I am totally with you - the texture can be sometimes even more compelling than the flavor. To keep it to restaurant dishes, here are a few recent successful texture experiences:
abalone sashimi at Otofuko in Gardena - amazing crunch
the live sweet shrimp (still moving) at pacific seafood in redondo
the corn agnolotti at Rustic Canyon - al dente pasta, creamy filling, explosive flavors bring it together
the truffle fries at Chez Melange - perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and smooth on the inside.
The foie gras lollypop at Bazaar - silky center like gelato but with fatty mouthfeel + cotton candy and crunchy coating makes for amazing multii-textured experience
Chowhound Post
Stuck in LA
DOn't know if you have time for this, but NYC food critic put Fraiche on the map It is in culver city, a few miles from LAX. Could be 30 min in traffic tho. Fantastic charcuterie, pastas, seafood, great wine list, more. THey have a nice happy hour.
Chowhound Post
GOOD CHINESE RESTAURANT IN CULVER CITY?
Nope. Not gonna happen. I work in Culver and over the last 6 years have tried ALL of them as we are a big take-out office. I could not even find a decent won ton soup that does not taste like canned chicken soup with dehydrated pork fat. For Asian, stick with Japanese, Thai, Indian, or Pho.
Chowhound Post
Stefan's LA Farm - First Taste
I hate dissing a place when they first open, With certain exceptions, (Gjelina and Mozza come to mind) I do think most places rarely get it right out of the gate. I also wonder if these dishes were really made to Stefan's specifications. Of course, IMHO, a good proprietor should live and breathe his new baby and not assume others are going to properly execute his vision. I know it was lunch, but he belonged on site.
Chowhound Post
Help! Moving to Redondo Beach!
First and foremost, you'll want to check out Chez Melange and Bouzy, their gastropub. THey are both in the same location on Catalina one block from the water. They have an extreme focus on quality ingredients and service. Best place in town for sustainable fish, farmers market veggies, as well as burgers and truffle fries.
Besides Chez, my love is for the asian places. I like Nozomi sushi in torrance, Izakaya Binchu on the pier, pacific seafood on the pier for Dungeness Crabs, Inaba for tempura and sushi in torrance, Yuzu for high-end japanese in Torrance. I disagree with an earlier poster on Gina Lees. I strongly dislike the place after going with big groups on two different occasions and trying most of the menu. THe catfish is good, but it is hard to not like a deep fried fish. THe rest of the menu is very americanized with an emphasis on sweet sauces. Nice service though.
Chowhound Post
Stefan's LA Farm - First Taste
I saw on Eater that Stefan Richter's (Top Chef) new restaurant was at their soft opening stage a few days ago. We had to be in Santa Monica on another errand on Saturday so we decided to take the opportunity to check it out for Lunch. I actually made reservations but that turned out to be unnecessary as they were empty. They were shocked to see us as they had not yet formally announced their opening. Go Eater!
The space itself is quite impressive. It is in the middle of nowhere Santa Monica on Olympic near the studios. When I first plugged the address into my GPS, the car was determined to take us downtown. Thankfully, I caught that in time. But back to the restaurant. There is a beautiful bar, a huge indoor seating area, then an elegant patio adjacent to the relatively open kitchen. The patio is clearly the place to be. The look is a cross between Tavern and Spago. Comfortable and peaceful setting. Sinatra and other brat pack music played quietly in the background.
Service was extremely friendly and attentive, no problems here at all considering it just opened.
However, we experienced two red flags right off the bat. A basket of bread, Grissini breadsticks, and butter was brought to the table. THe breadsticks and butter were both excellent. The bread, however, was precut into small chunks slightly bigger than what one might use for stuffing. While the bread was quite fresh and of good quality, it LOOKED stale and the presentation came across as cheap.
Next problem is the wine list. For me, lunch on a Saturday means Rose (ideally from Provence) or at least a nice minerally white from Italy or France. With the exception of a few Champagnes, his list was all domestic, mostly California. All the non-traditional whites such as Sokol's Evolution were more on the fruity Rhone side. Stefan displayed such European sensibilities on the show, I was shocked to see that not carry through to the wine list. There was not one thing I wanted on the list, and that was a bummer.
The menu mostly had standard cafe/bistro fair, but there were a few interesting standouts. We ordered two starters and two entrées.
1) Arancini with Summer Truffles and Lemon Aioli - $10: Four small pieces of deep fried risotto. Nice crisp on the outside, but the rice was cooked to mush - you could not distinguish the individual kernels of rice and the texture was a bit gummy. No truffles to be found. Tasty, but at $10 an extravagance.
2) Smoked Salmon with endive, frisee, and dill vinaigrette potato salad: $16: 6 small slices of smoked salmon were served on top of a pile of cubed potatoes with a stack of frisee on top. No endive. This dish presented awkwardly and the flavors did not integrate well. Because the ingredients were presented in layers, we assumed the best way to consume the dish would be a fork full of potatoes, salmon, and frisee. The potato salad was VERY heavy on the mayo and pickles and it overwhelmed the subtly-flavored salmon. This was our least favorite dish. I think if the potatoes had far less mayo, or better yet a light aioli, this was have been a much more integrated dish.
3) Turkey Burger with Herb Aioli, Swiss Cheese, Frisee, Pretzel bun, and sweet potato fries. $14 This was a very white sandwich. The taste profile was very reminiscent to that of a turkey Reuben, probably because of the swiss and the Russian dressing like aioli. I needed something to break it up, in the way a Reuben has sour kraut. Perhaps some herbs, tomato, arugula, maybe just a bit of mustard.
4) Mini Mushroom Ravioli with Black Truffles and Foie Gras Sauce: $19 This was our favorite dish. Hedonistic, really. However, until I wrote this, I had forgotten the sauce was described as Foie Gras. We thought it was a heavy cream sauce and did not detect and Foie Gras flavor profile. That said, presumably house made raviolis were perfectly au dente and the mushroom filling was delicate and well-flavored. But it was drowning in a rich white sauce that overpowered the delicate taste profile. Yes, the truffles did show up on this dish. I would have preferred the raviolis with a great olive oil and garlic. They simply did not need the heavy sauce.
Summary: Ok but pricey menu with a few highlights. High quality ingredients that in some cases were unnecessarily over-sauced. I think with tweaking the menu will improve, and I also think locals will swarm as the space has a lot of appeal. I would like to come back for dinner once they get settled.
Please visit my blog for pictures of the restaurant and the food.
http://foodandwineblog.thefoodietrave...
LA Farm
3000 W. Olympic Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 449-4000
http://lafarmrestaurant.com
Chowhound Post
Best Upscale Burger
There are two. The burger at Rustic Canyon, which somebody already mentioned, and the the Chez Burger at Bouzy Gastropub at Chez Melange. It is worth a special trip to Redondo Beach just for the burger and their unbelievable truffle fries. I recently dragged a bunch of people from my office on the west side down there just for burgers, fries, and microbrews on tap, and the reaction was extraordinary.
Chowhound Post
LA Hound/extreme Foodie looking for the best local seafood
No worries. Every meal can't be perfect. We also had a mediocre and very overpriced meal at Cin Cin. However, all was not lost...
We had a fantastic experience at Octopus Garden. So good we went back a 2nd night. Chef Sada agreed to do a full local menu for us. While we loved the spot prawns, it was the albacore toro that won our hearts. Here is my blog post with photos: http://foodandwineblog.thefoodietrave...
Chowhound Post
LA Hound/extreme Foodie looking for the best local seafood
Too funny - we were there that same friday around 8:30-10:30 at the bar. We actually went back the following thursday and tried again, but this time kept it to the ama ebi (sashimi) and they were great. I saw your thread on the other board as well - we also had the C tasting menu but I didn't post on it as we were disappointed that the prawns were kind of afterthoughts in many of the courses where another fish was more dominant. (He would have lost on Iron Chef for sure). Based on your description I wish I did chambar. The cooking class was awful, chef had no problem with announcing he acquired the prawns in Chinatown (so prob not locally sourced) and they were pre-poached for a number of the dishes prior to the class.
Chowhound Post
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
I don't have local perspective but I just had it tonight at Boneta as a daily special and it was quite good. The cheese curds were chedder, the gravy was chicken with a veal bone base. Very nice with a Rioja....
Chowhound Post
Lime, Tojo, Octopus Garden? Who is best for Local Fish?
I am visiting from LA where I have easy access to top of the line sushi, all flown in from Japan on a daily basis, etc. But what is not in LA is the beautiful exceptional local fish that Vancouver is famous for. I have a few more nights here in Vancouver and what I really want is top of the line creative interpretations of local fish in season, especially spot prawns, halibut, salmon. No tempura, rolls, cooked stuff, Izakaya, etc, just exceptional raw fish. I had a fantastic experience with Yoshi at Blue Water and am tempted to just go back there, but it would be nice to try something different. Thoughts?
