Redbird

I usually know where I want my next meal to be in LA.  I keep a running list of places to try.  While that list continues to grow, sometimes my enthusiasm for the places wanes as I read reviews and blog posts.  Redbird was such a place.  The place generated much buzz and anticipation since Fraser had been off the fine dining scene since the closure of Grace.  With LA being more of a mecca for ethnic rather than high end eats, I look forward for any chance to wear my fancy pants and prepare to have my wallet raped.  Unfortunately, the reviews I read didn't scream home run for Redbird but I always try to give every place a chance.  The Bear Crew wanted to convene for another one of our "Let's Get Obese" dinners so this was our pick.  Our usual group of 6 (Luau Bear, Farm Bear, Buff Bear, Panda Bear, Mani Bear, and myself) grew to 8.  Newlyweds Silent Bear (previously known as Macadamia Nut Bear) and The Blonde Lady joined us for the first time.  I'm pretty sure they weren't prepared for the obesity that was to follow.  We kinda over ordered...

Bread

The aesthetic of the place is clean, contemporary, with just a touch of hipster.  Take for instance the bread that comes in a small cloth tie string bags.  Is it this weeks laundry or is it hot toasty carb bombs?  Lucky for us, it was the latter.

Dinner Roll & Gougere

The dinner roll was whatever, and the gougere was a disappointing gummy dense rock.  I'm used to light fluffy cheesey delectableness.  Nope, just hockey pucks.

Grilled Spanish Octopus cherry tomatoes, black chickpeas, baby kale, anchovy vinaigrette

I appreciated the charred supple yet snappy tentacles.  The anchovy vinaigrette was a bit overpowering at points, but overall it was a nice dish.

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Kinjiro

Oishi Nazi, who I dined with at my first visit to Totoraku, is the brain child behind Kinjiro, Little Tokyo's newest izakaya restaurant.  He actually operated b.o.s., the restaurant which previously occupied the same space.  b.o.s. had some amazing food, but it didn't quite get the following it deserved.  So Oishi Nazi, being the passionate and ambitious restauranteur that he is, is back at it again with this new concept, a slightly higher end izakaya.  At first, I was reluctant about Kinjiro because the whole point of izakaya is small eats, grilled things, a mish mosh of stuff to be enjoyed over beer.  So the idea of paying more for food that's meant to be casual and inexpensive did not seem appealing.  Smooth Obturator and Triple T went and gave it their seal of approval, so I figured I needed to give it a shot. 

Kinjiro Agedashi Homemade Tofu mushroom ankake sauce
Triple T talked up this dish saying it was as good as the agedashi tofu at Raku.  It didn't quite hit the mark, but it was still pretty tasty.  I wasn't used to the thickness of the ankake sauce, but it brought a delicious umaminess.

Kinjiro Free Range Chicken Maki-Age
I had a similar dish at Raku, but I think they did a better job here, though I can't pinpoint the reasons. It was just very juicy.

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Bestia

Bestia is one of the hot restaurants in LA that has alluded me for some time now.  It's been open for a few years and many have extolled its solid offerings, especially the pastas.  I've tried to come here not once but twice with Ho Bag.  Once she cancelled on me, and once I cancelled on her.  Maybe it just wasn't met to be?  Come to the rescue The Bear Crew.  Buff Bear, Panda Bear, Luau Bear, Mani Bear (previously known as Little Bear), and myself hiked it to DTLA fighting all sorts of traffic.  Farm Bear was down for the count because the trek from Santa Monica to DTLA was just too ugly to tackle.

I don't think any of the newer restaurants in DTLA understand the concept of quiet dining.  The din of the very busy dining room here and at The Factory Kitchen were both energetic and draining.  The point of dining out with friends is, of course, to eat great food, but also to have great conversation.  It's so hard to do that when you're screaming at the top of your lungs.  But I guess anything is better than the acoustics at Bottega Louie.

Butter Poached Lobster chanterelles, kabocha purée, pea tendrils, pickled shallots, aged balsamic
Wonderfully sweet and supple lobster.  Everything was spot on, but I thought the kabocha wasn't the best pairing with the lobster.

Foie Gras Terrine stumptown coffee, spices, lemon paste, sea salt, brioche
We were so fortunate to come to Bestia just days after the foie gras ban was lifted.  The terrine was simply devine.  The lemon paste was a wonderful complement to the smoothe butteriness.  Why does foie gras pair so well with fruit?

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The Factory Kitchen

I think I'm ready to admit to myself that I like Italian more than French food.  Growing up, I had more French influences in my life than Italian.  Baguette and pate were common things in my household.  Escargot and poulet roti were foods that I ate without a second thought.  To love French food is to be refined and sophisticated.  But when it comes down to it, French food is boring.  I need some zing in my life and Italian food really brings it.

Pomodori heirloom tomatoes, red onion, radish, shallot vinaigrette, basil
Me and tomatoes are best friends.  Or maybe it's actually a one sided relationship because tomatoes don't have feelings and could not possibly love me back.  Either way, I love me a good heirloom tomato.  Considering it's not actually tomato season, these guys were juicy and sweet.  I really loved the vinaigrette which had a tomato sauce quality to it.  It was just more tomatoes on top of tomatoes.

Prosciutto parma prosciutto aged 24 months, lightly fried sage dough, stracciatella

This had some much promise.  You can't go wrong with fried dough and prosciutto.  Everything was really nice except that fried dough part.  It had a strange slightly sweet donut quality to it that was distracting.  I'm sure that's how it's supposed to taste but I guess I wasn't expecting it.

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Orsa & Winston

I was a bit puzzled walking into Orsa & Winston.  I had heard its Japanese-Italian, which seems like 2 completely disparate cuisines.  I couldn't imagine how they could merry harmoniously on a plate, let alone in my mouth, but the food this night certainly went far beyond my expectations.  There were definitely elements of Asian and European flavors going on here.  The food was unique and delicious.  The style of dining is omakase, so it's the chef's choice.  What you can choose is how many courses: 5, 8, or super omakase at 25!  We opted for the 8.

Amuse Bouche fennel panna cotta
These days, the amuse never really fits the definition of a "one bite" treat from the chef.  I'm not really bothered by that anymore because its just extra food anyways, and who am I to turn down extra food just because the portion size is too big??  I love panna cotta and one of my goals is to learn to make the perfect panna cotta, one that is just perfectly jiggly and most silky soft.  There were definitely some sweet savory flavors going on here.  A delightful first start.

Trout Crudo gingered cucumber gelee, radish, orange, creme fraiche

It looks like salmon huh?  It was both light and refreshing, yet rich and flavorful.  There were so many subtleties with the ingredients and flavor profiles.  One of the more distinctive and memorable crudos.

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Badmaash

Over the years, I've come to love braises and stews.  In that same vein, I've come to appreciate the varying brown spicy mushiness of Indian food.  I guess I just like food that doesn't require a lot of teeth to eat and enjoy.  I love food for the senile and edentulous!  I don't think I have a very refined palate when it comes to Indian food; it mostly all tastes pretty good to me.  But Badmaash was recommended by Bruin Bear, and she's born and bred brown.  Apparently, she knows the owners and really wanted me and some of our other friends to try this up and coming DTLA spot.  It was a sort of reunion for Care Bear, Token Bear, Bruin Bear, Derm Bear and myself.  The latter two had their husbands in tow too, Thai Bear, and ENT Bear respectively.  Yeah, it was an all bear kinda night.  We sorta ate like bears too!

Samosas traditional & butter chicken
Truthfully, I think I like the traditional potato samosas, but the meat one was good too.

Chicken Tikka Poutine masala fries, cheese curds, hot beef gravy, chicken tikka, cilantro
This is one of the signature dishes.  They are getting creative here combing a traditional Canadian favorite with Indian flavors.  I commend their efforts, but it just fries topped with all those things.

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Marugame Monzo

I love all kinds of noodle soups.  It wasn't like that when I was a kid.  I was all about rice and my mom always had to make me something else when everyone else was eating pho.  I also was a big tomboy and hated wearing dresses.  It's amazing how some things change so much.  Marugame Monzo is known for making fresh udon.

Here's the udon man slinging fresh noodles.

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Maccheroni Republic

When I was in college, too many years ago, the only reasons we went to downtown LA was to volunteer at the soup kitchens and feed the homeless people by Skid Row.  Fast forward, again, too many years, and downtown is a destination to dine and spend a night out, what with LA Live, the Nokia Theater, Staples Center, and many restaurants popping up throughout the area.  It certainly feels a lot safer hanging out in downtown LA, so I was a bit surprised to find Maccheroni Republic in a sketchy part of DTLA on Broadway.  The rustic Italian cuisine showcasing a variety of handmade pastas is a stark contrast to the neighboring McDonald's and random shops selling bridal gowns, CDs, discount goods, etc.  I think what was more off putting was the fact they don't serve wine!  What kind of Italian restaurant does not serve wine?  There's no corkage fee so we could have brought our own bottle had we known.  Or we could have hiked over a few miles to the nearest wine shop like our waiter had suggested.  I think The Face Puncher and Lactose Intolerant T (formerly known as Quack Man T) were both thinking the same thing I was, which was "you want me to what?!"


Polpettine di Gamberi crispy pan fried shrimp cakes, caramelized onions
These were golden fried on the outside and shrimpy and snappy on the inside.  The caramelized onions were sweet and added nice contrast, though really I'm not sure how they two went together.  I'm not even sure what was Italian about this, but I do believe the place was authentic.  Our waiter was a real Luigi, with the accent and all!

Fettuccine slow cooked venetian braised duck sauce
The pastas were perfectly al dente.  The duck could have been any other meat really, but tomato sauce was not too overpowering.

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Mo-Chica

Oh Ricardo Zarate, you've come such a long way since your days at Mercado La Paloma, the original location of Mo-Chica.  I first dined at Mo-Chica when it was housed in this food court-esque type venue.  It really blew my socks off at that time, probably being the best fancied up Peruvian food I'd had, even better than the highly lauded Andina in Portland.  Since then, I've tried Picca, Zarate's second effort, but was a bit disappointed.  I left that meal still wearing both my socks.  The H.o.P. (House of Piggy - this is the reference for my family for all of those new to my blog) dined there without me and was also unimpressed.  Soooo, I have yet to try Paiche and instead wanted to try Mo-Chica again to see if it was still just as good as a I remember.

Ceviche Mixto halibut, prawns, scallops, squid, red onion, rocoto, leche de tigre, camote
I think I'm REALLY over ceviche at Peruvian joints.  They're just SOUR SOUR SOUR.  It's hard to appreciate anything else, say the inherent freshness of the seafood?  Nope, nope, NONE of that.

Yellowtail Tiradito rocoto ponzu, garlic chips, green onions
I apologize for the poor quality photos.  It's been awhile since I've blogged and I'm still trying to remember how to use my camera again!  Anyways, the yellowtail was not as fresh as it could have been.  Not much special going on here.

Causa de Cangrejo Aji amarillo mashed potatoes, fresh crab, avocado
I thought the causa was really good last time with the freshness of the crab shining through on top of a tasty mash of potatoes.  The crab seemed a bit too mayo-y this time.  It was still a pretty dish.

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Drago Centro

I dunno who started the tradition of the "First Paycheck Dinner" in my family.  Somehow it went from, "Oh, gee whiz a nice dinner on your tab?  How nice!" to "Dude, where's my 'first pay check dinner'? I'm waiting...I'm waiting!!"  I can't even remember what dinners I was treated to by Smooth Obturator and Triple F.  I remember Triple T treated us to brunch at the St. Regis in Monarch Beach.  Anyways, my time has come and our family has expanded to include Dumpling Man and his parents.  It seems like we've done many of the nice restaurants in LA, Providence, Osteria Mozza, Bazaar, etc, so it was sort of a struggle to find a real gem of a restaurant that was gonna be worth the money and really impressive.  I settled on Drago Centro, but my Smooth Obturator didn't have many great things to say about it.

L'insalata Di Barbabietole All'agrodolce baby beets, warm goat cheese, pine nuts, chile vinaigrette
I've only had 1 really bad beet dish, otherwise they're always pretty tasty.  This was no exception.  Sweet beets, tart dressing, spicy bitter greens.  It's always nice when nuts are added for texture and some sort of cheese for creamy richness.

La Burrata burrata, endive, basil pesto, crostini
Good, but I've had better burrata.  Somehow this didn't achieve that luscious milky creaminess I've experienced in the past.  It tasted too much like a wet lump of soft cheese.

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WP24

You know that saying, "It's all about who you know"?  It's not just a statement for the job seekers, business whores, and budding actors/musicians/artists of this world.  For the last few years, I have been to some nice restaurants for FREE because I roll with King Arthur and his entourage.  It's a difficult status to attain, but I have managed to maintain a firm position within this "inner circle" of eaters and intellects (my euphemisms for gluttons and nerds).  Being an outsider, I feel that one has to prove one's worth to join The King's possy.  Of course, you better like to eat, and you better be damn amusing.  The King does not employ any jesters in his court for this very reason!

This was probably my last gratis dinner with The King and his crew, Teety, Soprano Man, and Chops (previously known as Ms. Chatty Cathy).  The Pouter had more important people to dine with that evening (who could be more important than The King?), and The Attending, let's just say we've gone our separate ways.  One for good and the other for evil.  Haha...jk?

Santa Barbara Spot Prawn Toast sweet ginger chili sauce
Compliments of the chef, this was the first of 2 amuse bouche to kick start the evening.  We were all sooo hungry by this point.  Shrimp and crispy!

Curried Seafood Turnover
These were sorta like seafood empanadas.  I didn't think they were as tasty as the shrimp toasts.  

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Syrup

The problem I often encounter when I dine with friends, is that people are so full by the end of the meal that nobody wants to get dessert.  Or out of guilt, they don't want to get dessert.  Syrup Desserts has been on my radar since its early opening.  But its location in Downtown and the aforementioned reasons, I didn't get to try it until recently.


The place was pretty packed, but I was able to snag a table.  From my table, I eyed a shiny bright display full of treats.  I knew better than to order anything from this window, since the place is known for their waffle creations.

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Honda Ya Izakaya

Honda-Ya is located in the Little Tokyo Mall in Downtown Japan.  It’s a sad mall, with only a few saving graces such as Beard Papa’s and restaurants like Honda-Ya.  I like Japanese people.  I like Japanese cars.  I like Japanese food.  I don’t like how Japanese sit on the floor to eat.   I was reminded of this when we were seated in the tatami room on cushy pillows.  Maybe I would have been happier if my pants weren’t so damn tight.  No folks, I am not the fat ass you all think I am.  I’m just a trend follower and chose to wear the skinniest of skinny jeans this evening.    But I’m a trooper.  I suck it up when it comes to eating, or more like suck it in…

Yakitori

Big Head Talks A Lot and Lo-Ma Linda had been to the Honda-Ya in Tustin many times so I just let Big Head do the ordering.  We started off with some yakitori items, which for the most part were pretty standard in quality and flavor.  Nothing particularly knocked my socks off except for the chicken meatballs and maybe the bacon wrapped scallop.  I found them both really juicy and flavorful and wanted a whole stick of chicken meatballs as opposed to just one meatball for myself.  The corn gave some nice balance to all the protein.

Bacon wrapped asparagus (left to right)

Pork belly

Chicken meatballs

Chicken gizzard

Bacon wrapped scallop

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Daikokuya

Daikokuya makes up one of the Big 3 ramen joints in LA.  I already posted about Shinsengumi, which probably ties for 2nd place with Daikokuya in my opinion.  While I love their curly ramen noodles, I get more excited about the pork bowl than the ramen.  Also, the wait time is simply atrocious.  I thought I'd bypass a 30 minute to 1 hour wait by hitting up the Monterey Park location.  The place is even more hole-in-the-wall than the Little Tokyo location and just as crowded.  It's ok because I had lots to catch up on with Ho Bag to pass the time.

Ho Bag and I go waay back, back to the days when she actually wasn't a ho bag and to the days when I consumed carbs like a naughty diabetic.  I couldn't think of 2 people who were more different but got along so well.  Nowadays, you can find Ho Bag traipsing around the Big Apple living the "Sex in the City" life.  Let's just say she's definitely NOT Charlotte. 


Salad
The salad at Daikokuya is far from refreshing or light.  The dressing, which drenches the shredded cabbage beneath it, tastes heavy, rich, and slightly fishy.  I can only have a few bites before feeling overwhelmed.  I'll give it credit for being one-of-a-kind.


Shredded Pork Rice Bowl 
It is hands down one of the best pork rice bowls I've ever had.  The pork is either extremely tender or extremely fatty because every bite of it just melts in your mouth.  The sauce permeates through ever bite and wraps each rice kernel in a blanket of heavenly sweet umami flavor.  Big winner here!  Because we both ordered a combo of rice + ramen, I barely finished my rice bowl.  I took the leftovers home but left it in my car overnight.  What a waste!

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The Water Grill (DineLA)

DineLA descended upon the hungry citizens of Los Angeles last week.  For $26/$34/$44 (depending on where you dine), you are offered a pre fixe dinner menu from a wide variety of restaurants throughout LA.  My previous experience with DineLA has been really hit and miss.  Locanda Veneta was superb, but Craft was stinkin'!.  Sometimes Dine LA may not be reflective of a restaurant's true quality because you may not necessarily be offered the best things off the menu or the restaurant gets lazy and does a half ass job (ie Craft).  So I made reservations at various restaurants hoping for the best, but not surprised if I got something average.

The Water Grill seems like a restaurant that has been around for ages.  As you could imagine, a well established restaurant serving more traditional American cuisine doesn't generate much buzz in the food community.  I was hoping the food would quell any doubts I had about dining at a place nobody talks about.   Besides, Amanda works here, and I was very much impressed by her sous chef skills.


Amuse Bouche spicy tuna
Served on ice cold spoons, the amuse was a singularly harmonious bite of perfectly brunioused accoutrements and tuna wrapped in a thin cucumber slice.  It was refreshing and clean with well balanced light flavors.

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Patina

What is a "shill"?  Wikipedia describes a shill as a "person who is paid to help another person or organization to sell goods or services. The shill pretends to have no association with the seller/group and gives onlookers the impression that he or she is an enthusiastic independent customer."   King Arthur (not the fabled one from the stories and movies) may be considered the king of shills with his support of many a pharmaceutical company or two.   Lucky for me, I have fallen into the good graces of His Majesty.  And when a king looks favorably upon you, you reap the rewards of his bounty.  Bounty, of course, being fine dining with free flowing libations.

Melisse was just the start of it all, with Patina being the continuation of what I hope to be a fruitful foodie harvest this year.  I dined with King Arthur and his loyal subjects, Wontuan, The Communist, Soprano Man, Tofu, and a smattering of the king's groupies from The View (not the morning television show).  

The wine was divine...

...the cocktails, ambrosial.

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Church & State

Church & State had been on my "to try" list for some time, but after the change in chef's I heard the food was not as mind blowingly good.  In addition to that, RCM and Triple T went there and said it was just OK.  So Church & State got bumped down on the list. 

My friend, MC BowTie had been itching to try the bone marrow dish from Church & State.  So together with Mrs. BowTie and Hates Asian Food, we traveled to the far depths of Downtown LA.  When I say "far depths" I certainly mean it.  When I imagine downtown LA, I think of anything within a 1 mile radius of Little Tokyo and the Staples Center.  Church & State is just outside of this vicinity.  It's where all the strip clubs are!  You know what I'm talking about, the Play Pen, Speariment Rhino, etc.  I was worried we would get ambushed by dirtbag pervies and crack whores as we searched our way to the most random location for a nice restaurant. 



As you can see, the place is quite nice as are the surroundings.  I actually think normal people live here.





My attempt at an artistic shot.  Salt anyone?

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