Hatchi series at the Breadbar- Eda Vesterman

The Hatchi dinner series at the Breadbar in Century City, which began in June of this year,  continues in featuring a guest chef every month.  It’s a wonderful 1 night-only event of 8 dishes for $8 each.  After a successful event in September featuring Chef Remi Lauvand, who is now the executive chef at Cafe Pierre in Manhattan Beach (the new menu features tantalizing French dishes like duck rillette and  house-made pâté de campagne), I was very excited to attend the October event.  The guest chef in October was Chef Eda Vesterman.

Chef Vesterman is known for healthy cooking.  She obtained a masters degree in Nutrition and has worked with several hospitals and medical centers to promote healthy living through smart eating.  Quite different in pedigree and philosophy from the other ‘celebrity guest chefs’ in the Hatchi line-up, I thought she was an interesting choice.

The theme for her dinner was ‘The Four Elements’, reflecting her doctrine of honoring beauty and health in unity with nature’s basic elements.  I was touched by the menu card band, stamped with diagrams of the 4 elements of earth, air, fire and water, which was made with plantable paper embedded with flower seeds.

Representing ‘Water’, we started with sous vide scallops 3 ways.  Each was on a bed of parsnip purée and corn butter, and served with 3 different sauces and matching dyed tobiko.  The red sauce was a tart and sweet raspberry sauce that teetered a bit too much on the sweet.  The yellow smelled and tasted of saffron, and the green, my favorite, a spinach basil sauce with microgreens.  We ordered 2 plates, as there were 4 of us, and found a big difference in plating and garnishing between the 2 orders.

Representing ‘Fire’, the filet mignon medallion with potato squares in a porcini and syrah reduction sauce was perhaps the toughest piece of meat I have ever had in Los Angeles.  The plating was very feminine and cute, but the workout that the meat gave my jaws was no joke.  Although the sauce had a wonderful earthy flavor, the quality of the meat disappointed.  At least we had a beautiful bottle of 2001 Lopez de Heredia “Viña Bosconia” Spanish Rioja to keep our taste buds happy.

Representing ‘Water’ again, was the Dungeness crab cake with grapefruit, mint and avocado.  The moist and tender thick flakes of crab meat were good, and I appreciated the playful presentation.

There were 2 dishes representing ‘Earth’, of which one was the butternut squash and roasted corn fritters with micro celery.  I liked the slight kick that the ancho chili sauce imparted on the light and airy fritters, but I couldn’t help but feel a little unsettled with this dish.  8 gourmet dishes for $8 each is the deal of the century, but 3 bite-size vegetable fritters for $8 seemed a bit ungenerous.  I also thought about what 8 dishes I would serve if I had an opportunity to showcase my talent at such a prestigious event, and I definitely wouldn’t choose to serve fritters.

The best dish of the evening was the other ‘Earth’ dish, a wild mushroom and boucheron lasagna with fresh spinach pasta.  The large succulent meaty chunks of mushrooms were heavenly, and the microgreens with vinaigrette livened up the cream sauce.  We put in 3 orders of this dish, and again each order came with different plating, garnishing and flavoring.  What was going on in the kitchen?

I loved the mini breads that our meal came with, each dusted with flour in the ‘Four Elements’ stencil.  There was pumpernickel, sage, poppy seed and sun dried tomato.  Each chewy doughy piece was saturated with flavor and aroma, and we asked for seconds, and thirds….and fourths.

I was really looking forward to the mini duck burgers, representing ‘Air’, after previewing the menu on Breadbar’s website.  I brought my bottle of Spanish Rioja in anticipation of some good duck.  These duck patties were much leaner and lighter than I had imagined, and didn’t taste too duck-y.  Probably a good thing for those who don’t love duck, but it left me yearning for more.  The menu description read ‘ground lean organic duck breast infused with black tea and a special center on whole wheat brioche’.  So what was the special center?  We didn’t find anything in the middle of any of our patties, so we asked our server, who seemed just as confused.  He returned from the kitchen saying the special item was a ‘garlic confit’, but we still couldn’t see or taste it.  In fact, the patty didn’t really have any taste at all, so it was the tomato salsa that really made and saved the dish.  Or was it a plum salsa?  They had the consistency of plum, a little crunchy, but with a wonderfully deep vinegar flavor that I absolutely loved.  Micro greens seemed to be the consistent theme throughout this dinner, reflecting the micro portions.  Overall, a pleasant slider, but we were surprised that only 1 mini slider came with each $8 order.  Of course, it was only appropriate that we each get our own slider, so in the end 4 sliders cost us $32.  Very unsettling.  Well, at least our fantastic bottle of 2004 Chateau Haut-Bailly Pessac-Léognan from Bordeaux kept us happy.

The wild berry martini we had for dessert tasted like a cranberry cinnamon Thanksgiving sauce.  Although it wasn’t bad, it felt more like a sauce than a dessert.

The other dessert was a green tea-ramisu ice cream, which had a wonderful dark green tea sauce that combined sweet and bitter very well, although the rock hard solid ice cream almost bent our spoons and our wrists.

Hats off to Chef Eda Vesterman for putting a lot of thought into creating a healthy and beautiful menu, as this was probably one of the healthiest dinners that I have had in a while.  She showed me that nutritious and well-balanced healthy food doesn’t need to be boring, and that there are infinite possibilities to having fun while eating right.  However, eating right doesn’t mean eating slight, and I wish she would have been more generous with the portions.  One of my fellow diners was upset that the servings were stingy, and wanted to go get a real burger to feel more satisfied.

This Hatchi dinner at the Breadbar was another interesting glimpse and taste into the world of another chef, and I look forward with great anticipation and curiosity to the next events.  I really hope that the Breadbar continues this event every month.  It’s a fantastic concept and a great experience.

November:  Waylynn Lucas

December: Marcel Vigneron

January:  Ricardo Zarate

http://www.breadbar.net/

Random literature:  Ever wonder how Dungeness crabs mate?  It sounds much more exciting than what we humans do.  Here’s an excerpt I found from “Between Pacific Tides” by Ricketts, Calvin, Hedgpeth, and Phillips.  Read it while listening to Barry White.

“Love making in the Dungeness crab takes place soon after the female molts and her shell is soft, but before the male molts and while his shell is hard. First the male embraces the female firmly, belly-to-belly, holding her this way for several days, stroking her gently with his chelipeds. When she is ready to molt, she signals the male by nibbling at his eyestalks. He loosens his grip, allows her to turn over, and she molts while still confined by his legs. After she molts, the male shoves away her cast off exoskeleton. There is a short waiting period, about an hour, before actual mating, possibly to allow some hardening of the carapace. When the moment arrives, she turns back over, again belly-to-belly, and lifts her abdominal flap to receive the male’s gonopods into her spermathecae, the receptacles in the female that hold the spermatophores.”

Lyon, France

Lyon is the second largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, and as previously noted,  known as the French capital of gastronomy. In part due to famous chefs like Paul Bocuse who put this city on the culinary map, but also from the fact that Lyon is flanked by 2 of France’s famous wine-growing regions- the Beaujolais to the North, and Côtes du Rhône to the South.

Having the international headquarters of the Interpol, Lyon is also historically known as the silk capital of the world. The original medieval city of vieux Lyon is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its narrow passageways, or traboules, that pass through buildings and link the streets on either side.  Traboules were originally used by silk merchants, or canuts, to transport their products since the 4th century.  The Lyonnais also used them to get rapid access to the  Saône river for transportation of water.

Inside a traboule

Now most of these traboules are private property, serving as entrances to apartments and offices.  Some looked like trash alleys for restaurants, and were not well kept.  We spent some time exploring the numerous traboules throughout vieux Lyon.  The doorway to some looked large, grand and heavily decorated, while others were very inconspicuous.  Most of the traboules were dark and mysterious, and served as a cool refuge from the blistering heat.

Inconspicuous traboule entrance on the right

A short trip on the funiculaire took us up to the top of the Fourvière hill into the great Basilica, from where we enjoyed the breathtaking panoramic view of Lyon.  La Tour Métallique, the TV tower rising high above the hilltop, is a replica of the famous Eiffel Tower and looks gorgeous in the evening from across the river.

Click on the ‘View Images’ button on the bottom right to get a larger view of these photos of beautiful Lyon.

Lyon is a beautiful city with a lot of history and allure.  It’s not too far by TGV from Paris, and it’s worth the trip.  You can experience interesting architecture and art, stuff yourself silly at Les Halles or the bouchons, and take in the amazing view along the rivers before retreating to bed.  My time in Lyon was quite amazing and memorable, thanks to my gracious hosts Guillaume and Nathalie.

Random trivia:  Klaus Barbie, aka “The Butcher of Lyon”, was a famous Nazi leader who tortured and killed many during WW II, including members of the French Resistance.  In Lyon, he was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, and eventually died in jail of leukemia.

La Cour des Lys – Meximieux, France

After a wonderful afternoon spent in Pérouges, we stopped by the neighboring town of Meximieux for dinner at La Cour des Lys.  The ground floor restaurant inside the hotel, which used to be a coaching inn,  has a lot of old world charm.  Flowery wallpaper, antique wooden cabinets and tables, and large wooden embroidered chairs with hefty arm rests inside the dimly lit dining room seemed almost a bit too stuffy for the creative food that came out of the kitchen.

The kitchen is now run by Chef Frédéric Navez, who used to work at the famous patisserie Troisgros.  Although you can order à la carte, there are a variety of set menu options here.  We all ordered the 38 Euro menu called “La Promenade des Plaisirs” with 1 appetizer, 1 main course, and delicacies from the cheese and dessert carts.  Indeed, our new adventure of pleasures was about to commence with a wonderful warm escargot cassoulet.

The first appetizer choice was my favorite dish of the evening.  The foie gras pâté with fig compote was just divine.  It was one of the best foie gras dishes I’ve ever had, and although I didn’t order this dish for my ‘pleasure menu’, I kept stealing some from my friend.  The incredibly flavorful, rich and smooth foie gras fumigated my whole mouth with its deep essence.

I ordered the Mosaïque de legumes, de lapin et de ris de veau parfumé au liseron d’eau, jus froid moutardé, a terrine of vegetables, rabbit meat and veal sweetbreads wrapped in water spinach with mustard sauce.  Despite its colorful and light appearance, the sweetbreads imparted a very hearty and robust taste to this dish.  It was a beautiful feast for the eyes and palate.

One of the main course choices was a filet of dorade.  Interestingly, this fish dish came with a cute little accessory- a live goldfish!

As you can imagine, this goldfish became the main conversation piece of the evening.  We passed it around the table and each of us played with the little fellow.  Although my friend Gregory terrorized it with his fork, most of us played nice and even gave it a pet name.  I wonder what it thought of the big dorade filet sitting on the plate in front of it.  Gulp….

Most of us ordered the Volaille de Bresse (Chapon Bresson) et Royale de lard, sous une cloche de fumée, pomme purée soufflée a l’huile de truffes blanche. One of my previous blog entries about my trip to Burgundy featured the famous poultry from Bresse.  This dish used castrated Bresse chicken, served with an assorted mushroom sauce and presented in a very dramatic way under a cloak of smoke.  See the slideshow below for this theatrical presentation.

The chicken dish was accompanied with a foie gras, smoked bacon and egg purée inside an egg shell.  We had to sip this warm savory pudding through a straw.  I really enjoyed this side dish.  I mean, it’s sippable foie gras and bacon!  Very cool indeed.  Greedy Gregory smashed the perfectly trimmed eggshell to finish off the pudding.

The potato purée with white truffle oil was amazing.  I actually enjoyed the 2 side dishes more than the chicken itself, which was quite gamey and robust.

Les délices de la Bergerie:  we enjoyed numerous ‘delights’ from the cheese cart.  There were many that I had never tasted before, let alone even seen before.  The assortment of cheeses included all types made from sheep, cow and goat milk.

La découverte des Plaisirs Sucrés: My jaw dropped and my pupils dilated when I saw this alluring dessert cart.  As the title indicates, I was ready to discover these sweet pleasures.  My friend timidly asked the server, ‘How many desserts can we choose from?’.  To our joy, the reply was ‘As many as you want’.  Greedy Gregory asked ‘So we can try all of them if we wanted to?’.  The answer was still yes.  Marvelous.

So many to choose from, and so little stomach space left…

We each made our own little dessert plate.  Mine featured a mini baba au rhum, pistachio mousse, marinated pinapple in syrup, a bottle of rosemary and rose essence water, and a side of kiwi purée playfully painted in a treble clef.

Others had chocolate mousse, chocolate mint mousse, marinated prunes, fruit and custard tart, praline tart, macaroons, and creme brulée.  Their plates were garnished with rasperry and passion fruit purées.

We enjoyed our playful and creative meal with a wonderful bottle of 2007 Le Caveau Bugiste Bugey Manicle, a local white wine.  I never imagined that we would encounter such an inventive meal at this small historic restaurant.  From the goldfish to the smoke presentation, the dainty egg shell custard to the decadent dessert cart, this dining experience is one that I still talk about often.

La Cour des Lys

17 Rue De Lyon
Meximieux, Rhône-Alpes 01800
France

Tel: 0474610678

http://www.la-cour-des-lys.com/

Random trivia: Did you know that a pregnant goldfish is called a ‘twit’?

Pérouges, France

If you are ever in Lyon, I highly recommend taking a day trip to the village of Pérouges, only 35 km from Lyon in the Rhone Alps.  Said to be one of the most beautiful villages in France, it is a medieval walled town on a small hill overlooking the Ain River valley.  It’s a charming village that developed in the 14th century around the weaving industry.

Pérouges boasts some of the best preserved medieval buildings in France, and still has intact fortress walls.  It’s a pleasant stroll along the cobblestone streets through narrow alleys sandwiched between old stone houses.  People still live in these original Middle Age stone houses, and it almost seems like one can turn the corner and run into Snow White and the seven dwarves.

The local specialty is a thin sugar crepe/cake called Galette du sucre or Galette de Pérouges. Place des Tilleuls is the centre of Pérouges with a 200 year old tree planted in commemoration of the French Revolution.   There are a few restaurants and bars in the center square for when you need to rest those weary feet after walking on the uneven cobblestone streets. Wear comfortable shoes when visiting this village.  My friend, who was wearing heels, was dying.

The day that we went, there were very few tourists.  Only the sounds of chirping birds filled the air as we quietly immersed ourselves in this medieval world.

Random trivia:  Did you know that Pérouges was the background village for ‘The 3 Musketeers’ movie?

Cooking with friends – Lyon, France

View across the Saône river from the market

Continuing on with my food adventures in Lyon, France…

On Saturday morning we decided to go shopping at the farmers market along the Saône river in vieux Lyon.  My friend Guillaume offered to cook lunch for us, and we were so excited to get a homecooked meal full of fresh seasonal vegetables after our heavy meat-centric dinner at Café des Fédérations the night before.  It was a beautiful sunny hot day with clear blue skies, and the walk along the river was breathtaking.  The outdoor market was teeming with energy and the vibrant bright colors of vegetables and flowers were bursting with happiness.  Here are some photos from the vieux Lyon Saturday farmers market:

We were lucky enough to get fresh morel mushrooms, just at the end of their season.  I’ve never had the opportunity to cook with fresh morel mushrooms, so this was a new experience for me.  I’m used to the dried store-bought version.  These fresh morels were soft and spongy, light and airy, earthy and pungent, and just simply delightful.  Guillaume also bought fresh ris d’agneau, or lamb sweetbreads which I was extremely excited about.

Fresh morel mushrooms

Guillaume’s kitchen is tiny.  There’s really only enough room for 1 person.  It’s barely even tall enough for him to be able to stand fully erect.  I offered to help, but there was only 1 1/2 cutting boards (the 1/2 board was the size of a passport) and a few pairing knives.  How can this tiny kitchen with hardly any fancy gadgets whip out this fancy meal that Guillaume was describing to me?  Frankly, I was a little worried.  However, as soon as I saw him clean the sweetbreads, prepare the morels, sauté the fingerling potatoes in butter, cut the artichokes down to the heart, and throw the peas in boiling water all within a 10 minute period, I knew I could sit back and relax.  It’s not about the kitchen, or the equipment, or the fancy gadgets, or the space.  It’s about the chef, his creativity and his passion.

Cleaned morels and lamb sweetbreads waiting to be cooked

The deep earthy aroma of morels filled the apartment as he sautéed them with butter.  At the same time, he individually and carefully cooked each vegetable before putting them all together in the pot.  He knew exactly how each vegetable had to be prepared to enhance their natural sweetness and character, and he was not cutting any corners.

Chef Guillaume multi-tasking in his small kitchen

Before we knew it, a beautiful pot of asparagus, artichokes, peas, fingerling potatoes, haricot vert and garlic had been assembled on the tiny stovetop.  Meanwhile, he was finishing his morel sauce with cream and white wine from my cousin’s winery that I brought from Burgundy, and cooking it with the sweetbreads in the oven.

Beautiful farmers market vegetable pot

The rest of the crew set the table and decanted a bottle of my cousin’s red wine, Simon Bize et Fils Aux Vergelesses.  We all proceeded to crowd around the small kitchen to watch the chef in action, all the while drooling and wagging our tails.

Table is set, and wine is decanted

This ended up being one of the most memorable and delicious meals of my entire Europe trip.  There is just something so special about being invited into someone’s home and having a homecooked meal.  Shopping together at the market and seeing all of the fresh seasonal ingredients being transformed in front of my eyes in the kitchen also heightens the experience.   Everything was delicious, especially the lamb sweetbreads with morel mushrooms.

Delicious market vegetable pot

Succulent ris d'agneau with morel cream sauce

Of course we had the obligatory post-dinner cheese plate, again all selected by Guillaume at the cheese stand at the farmers market.  It included goat cheese with ashes and pepper, fresh goat cheese from goat’s milk that had just been milked the day before, and a Comté from the North Alps.

After dinner farmers market cheese plate

Guillaume busted out his espuma gun for fresh whipped cream to complement the juicy strawberries.

Succulent market strawberries

What a perfect weekend so far in Lyon, I thought, as I drifted away in a post-prandial snooze on the couch…

Random trivia:  Did you know that morel mushrooms, otherwise known as brain mushrooms, honeycomb mushrooms, or sponge mushrooms, are the official state mushrooms of Minnesota?

Café des Fédérations – Lyon, France

On my recent trip to France, I went to Lyon to visit my friend Guillaume, a fellow doctor, cook and gourmand.  It was my first time in Lyon and I was looking forward to the culinary adventures that he would take me on.  For our first dinner in Lyon, he chose Café des Fédérations, a most fitting and appropriate introduction to the gastronomic capital of France.

Café des Fédérations is one of, if not the most famous bouchon in Lyon.  A bouchon is a type of restaurant in Lyon that serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine which is heavy on offals, sausages, pâtés and all things oozing with animal essence.  There’s an emphasis on hearty meat dishes, and it’s certainly not a place for vegetarians or the faint hearted (or the cholesterol plaque-hearted).

With sawdust on the floor, red and white checkered tablecloths and sausages hanging from the ceiling, this famous bouchon that has been in business for more than 80 years is casual, lively and festive.  Bouchons were born in the 17th and 18th centuries from the traditional inns that silk merchants stayed at while traveling through Lyon.  There are around 20 officially certified authentic bouchons in Lyon according to Les Authentiques Bouchons Lyonnais. All others are imitations and wanna-bes.  Meals in a real bouchon are cheap, the meals are hearty, and the people are loud, obtrusive and garish  (but they’ve got a heart of gold and are always wanting to share a laugh with you).  Our server’s tie says it all.

The 36 Euro prix fixe menu comes with tons of appetizers, cheese and desserts, as well as bottles of Macon and Côtes du Rhône wine, and about 8 choices of entrées.  Along for the ride at the adjacent table was Bill Buford, amateur chef and author of Heat, who was being filmed for a BBC documentary.  I was impressed that my travel partner Shirley recognized him right away.

We knew that we were in for a hearty experience when they placed a basket of freshly fried pork skins on our table with a bottle of Macon.  Pork cracklins and white wine…the proper way to start a bouchon meal.

A large plate of the most beautiful and succulent saucisson de Lyon with cornichons came with a huge bowl of lentil salad, or caviar de la croix rousse.  It’s a lentil salad in a cream sauce that is named after a region in Lyon called La Croix Rousse, a hilltop neighborhood that was once populated by silk workers. As the name suggests, it’s a ’poor man’s caviar’, although they use high quality French green lentils, or lentilles du Puy.

Oeufs en meurette, a classic Burgundy dish, is poached egg in dark and concentrated red wine sauce.  The brown sauce was very rich and had the salty intense flavor of a broth that had been cooking on the stove for days.  The egg was perfectly poached, and its thick yellow yolk carefully enveloped the full-bodied sauce.

Frisée aux croûtons et lardons, or salade Lyonnaise, is a classic Lyonnaise salad with frisée, bacon, croutons and eggs in a Dijon vinaigrette.  Little did I know that this was the only fresh vegetable dish we were going to get before a full-on meat fest bonanza.

The terrine du chef that day was a terrine de canard, a wonderfully rich duck liver terrine that we lapped up very quickly with our bread.

Poulet au vinaigre, or chicken cooked in vinegar sauce, couldn’t be more Lyonnaise.  Farm raised chicken braised in a vinegar, wine and tomato sauce that was really flavorful and nice.

The joues de porc bourguignonnes , or pork jowl with red wine sauce, was a no-nonsense simple dish of meat, potatoes and gravy- nothing less, nothing more.  The sauce had a really basic robust pork-y flavor to it that I almost couldn’t handle.

Tête de veau with sauce ravigote was my favorite.  The braised calf’s head was extremely tender and luscious, and the tantalizing richness of the soft collagenous exterior was enhanced by the acidity and tartness of the ravigote sauce.  Ravigote is made with white wine vinegar, mustard, shallots, capers and herbs.  The word ravigoté means ‘reinvigorated’ or ‘freshened up’, and this sauce did just that.  In true bouchon style, this calf’s head came with small fine black facial hairs on the skin.

Quenelle de brochet sauce nantua et ses écrevisses, pike quenelle with creamy crawfish sauce, is also a typical Lyonnaise dish.  Quenelles are made by combining panade (milk, butter, egg and flour mixture) with diced pike fish fillets, eggs and butter which is then molded into its characteristic torpedo shape and poached to a light fluff.

Andouillette sauce moutarde is perhaps the most unique and intimidating of all Lyonnaise dishes.  You will either love it or hate it.  I’m not even sure if it’s an acquired taste, something that one can actually learn to love.  It’s pig tripe rolled up into a sausage shape, served with a grainy mustard sauce which isn’t powerful enough to mask the shockingly putrid smell of pig shit.  I am a huge fan and lover of offals (organ meats), and nicely fried or braised tripe is in my top 10 favorite foods of all time, but even I couldn’t stomach the tripe (ha ha).  It tasted and smelled like a dirty urinal, and I couldn’t handle more than a nibble.  As somebody who prides herself in being able to eat any part of an animal, this andouillette put me to shame.  My friend Gregory, on the other hand,  was loving every bite.

Tarte aux pralines roses is a pink praline tart, much different from dark chocolate pralines that we are used to here in the US.  You can see pink praline desserts everywhere in Lyon, as I did in a praline stand in Les Halles.

Gateau au chocolat with creamy custard sauce was rich and decadent.

Raisin ice cream with berry sauce was delicious.

We were also presented with a humongous cheese assortment, as if we could eat anymore after our carnivorous banquet.  The cheese plate included St. Marcellin, a beautiful creamy soft cheese, and cervelle de canut, a soft cheese paste of sorts with fromage blanc, white wine, garlic and herbs that literally translates to ’silkworker’s brain’.  I think they should also be serving cheese crusted with aspirin and Lipitor.

My Lyonnaise bouchon experience at the lively Café des Fédérations was incredibly fun and memorable.  Although a lot of the meat dishes were a bit too heavy and hardcore for me, I loved the concept of no-nonsense country cooking that warms you to the bones.  The staff were all so friendly, I almost felt like they were family by the end of the night.  It’s not a graceful, dainty or upscale restaurant where you can find white linen tableclothes, let alone even a menu, but they’ll still treat you like royalty and make it an unforgettable evening.

With large full bellies bursting at the seams, we laughed and skipped our way back home along the beautiful Saône river.

http://www.lesfedeslyon.com/

10, Rue du Major Martin
69001 Lyon, France
+33 4 78 28 26 00

Closed on Sundays, last seating for dinner at 9:30pm

Random trivia:  Did you know that the optical ‘lens’ is named after the food ‘lentil‘ because it has the same shape?

Summer baby shower

Summertime, outdoor BBQ, sunshine, cool breeze, champagne, friends, laughter, gifts, food, laying out on the grass…

All of these wonderful elements came together for my friend Emi’s baby shower that I co-hosted this summer.  I was genuinely excited to throw this bash and make it a special day for her.  Emi, wife of the chef and owner of The Curious Palate, has been my good friend since the 6th grade.  I brainstormed for weeks about the food spread for the joyous occasion.  I wanted to keep things simple and fresh, and I wanted to use farmers market ingredients that were at their summer peak. I also needed to simplify the preparation, garnishing and plating, in order to minimize my time in the kitchen and maximize my time having fun at the party.

For starters, I made a watermelon gazpacho.  I used plump heirloom tomatoes to deepen the flavors, blanched almonds to add texture, Spanish Jerez Reserva sherry vinegar to add a subtle kick, and a nutty French extra virgin olive oil to bring it all together.  Garlic and red peppers were thrown in for some underlying zest.  Garnished with edible flower petals, chopped chives and drops of basil oil that I made the night before, it was the perfect cool concoction for a hot summer day.

Roasted red and yellow beets were flavored with Jerez Reserva sherry vinegar, olive oil, ginger and slivers, zest and juice of Valencia oranges.  The snapping ginger and citrus flavors balanced out the deep sweetness of the beets, and the vibrant colors of the edible flower garnish really popped out against the crimson background.

For the main course, we decided to do the obligatory BBQ.  What’s an outdoor summer party without slapping some meat on the hot grill?  I marinated kalbi short ribs in my own secret recipe, and let it absorb the flavors overnight.  Italian zucchini and eggplants cut lengthwise were brushed with olive oil and flavored with fleur de sel.  What a sight to see 3 chicks (the 3 hosts) running the hot smoking grill in heels and summer dresses!  Sorry, no photos of the meat, it went too quickly.  They were tender, succulent, juicy and delicious.

I wanted to do something special, original and cute for dessert.  A store ordered cake with a messy ‘Congratulations’ in chocolate inscription?  Boring.  Cupcakes from Sprinkles?  Been there, done that.  After numerous revisions, I decided to make a playful plate that featured ripe summer white peaches.

I found this interesting fruit called a honeyloupe at the farmers market in Santa Monica.  As you can guess by the name, it’s a cross between a honeydew melon and a cantaloupe.  I used cookie cutters to cut the flesh into star, leaf and flower shapes, and marinated it for a few hours in lemongrass syrup.  Lemongrass syrup is easy to make- boil equal parts water and sugar in a pot with bruised lemongrass stalks for a few minutes.  You can drizzle it over ice cream or yogurt, and it marinates fruits really well.  It also keeps in the fridge for a long time.

I made a chocolate fudge sauce that I painted onto the plate with a pastry brush, and sprinkled the honeyloupe pieces along with edible flower petals and mint leaves to create a shooting star effect.  Using a cardboard stencil that took me only a few minutes to cut out with an exacto knife, I sprinkled a Valrhona chocolate powder teddy bear onto each plate.

I poached the white peaches the evening before in water and sugar with: cinnamon, cloves, black peppercorns, vanilla beans, honey, star anise, ginger and lemon zest.  To make the peach foam, I puréed some of those peaches with the poaching syrup, then added bloomed silver gelatin sheets before pouring it into my Espuma gun.  For those of you who don’t own an Espuma gun, I highly recommend getting one.  You can turn anything into foam or cream, and it’s so fun to use.  Load it with a couple of CO2 cartridges, and you’re ready to foam away.

It all came together nicely for a colorful and cute summer dessert plate.

My friend Emi had a healthy and beautiful baby boy, and I’m already thinking of the desserts that Auntie Tomo can spoil him with.

Random trivia:  Did you know that lemongrass oil enhances milk production in breast-feeding mothers?  It’s also believed that babies who drink this milk will have a better immune system, making them less prone to infections.

Grana Padano cheese grater

My latest obsession:

I discovered this fun and wonderful toy during a dinner outing at Terroni this past weekend.  When our server brought this plastic cheese grater to our table to complement our pappardelles and tagliatelles, it was love at first sight.  I was more mesmerized with this ‘Little Grater That Could’ than my duck ragu pappardelle.  Each plastic grater comes with an 8.9 ounce block of fine 16-month aged Italian Grana Padano cheese inside, nicely packaged in plastic to keep it fresh until opened.

Grana Padano is an Italian hard cheese that is similar in appearance and concept to Parmigiano Reggiano, but more grainy in texture and milder in taste.  It goes with pretty much any type of bread, soup, salad, or pasta dish.  Have you ever groaned over the cumbersome task of taking a block of cheese out of saran wrap, fishing in your cabinet for a cheese grater, placing it all on a plate, bringing all of that to the table and back, then washing the sharp stainless steel grater and re-wrapping the cheese in saran wrap?  Well, this innovative yet simple contraption solves all of our woes.  It’s a self-contained cheese grating system, so all you do is take this cute cheese stand straight from fridge to table, turn the bottom part, and perfectly thin and delicate cheese ribbons come right out.

It’s simple, it’s compact, it’s light, it produces no mess, and it’s quite genius. It comes with an orange cover to keep the cheese fresh and moist.  It’s tall and thin, so it occupies very little space in your fridge.  It’s sturdy, so it won’t break even if you drop it.  The bottom grater is well engineered to produce consistent thin strands of fresh cheese with minimal torque.  In this day and age of expensive mechanical cooking instruments and superfluous over-the-top culinary utensils to pick, scrape, ball and inject things that we can easily do by hand, this practical and simple device is refreshing.  How in the world have I gotten this far in life without it?  My only lament is that these are made for one-time use, and the plastic container is not reusable.

It inspired me to cook Italian food today.  Home made linguini pasta with farmers market heirloom tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil…

…was transformed into something more special with a simple twist of the wrist.

Although it cost me $16 at Terroni, you can buy it for $9.99 at iGourmet.com.  It’s like a new pet: you can put it in your bag and take it with you to the office.  You can travel with it.  Bring it to restaurants and sneak a few twists on your food when the server isn’t looking.  Treat it well and it will reward you with unconditional love and companionship.

Don’t be fooled by the Kraft imitation for $4.99, it’s domestic Parmesan cheese.

Random trivia:  Did you know that the whey from Parmigiano Reggiano cheese production is fed to pigs which will eventually become the famous Prosciutto di Parma ham?  Ah, the circle of life…

Caché Restaurant

Bar area

Caché, which means ‘hidden’ in French, is a lovely gem that recently opened on Main street in Santa Monica.  After the former restaurant Hidden’s schizophrenic menu failed to keep the crowds coming, Josiah Citrin took over to transform this large space into a rocking joint.  We all know and love Josiah Citrin from his other successful LA projects- Jiraffe, Mélisse and Lemon Moon.  Caché is a different concept, serving straightforward but well executed food in a loungey setting.  Diners can enjoy their meals indoors or outdoors, and late night partiers can congregate for cocktails in the outdoor patio by the enticing oblong fireplace.

Chef Arrington checking the white truffles for dinner service

Citrin has chosen a bright young star to lead the Caché kitchen.  Nyesha Arrington, the Chef de Cuisine,  is a SoCal native who was entrusted to take this position after proving her capabilities at Lemon Moon and Mélisse.   Her impressive resume also includes stints at Joël Robuchon’s L’Atelier and The Mansion in Las Vegas.  Her appreciation of cultural diversity, stemming from her multi-cultural background, is reflected in the superb balance and integration of different flavors.

We were greeted with a wonderful warm mason jar of assorted olives.  Warm olives are so much more pleasurable than cold or room temperature ones, it makes me wonder why more restaurants don’t serve it this way.  I love the warm olives at Pizzeria Mozza, and what a joy it is to dip my pizza crust into that aromatic warm olive oil.

Caché offers 4 types of mason jar starters, but the ones to get are the duck confit and foie gras parfait.  The rich and creamy foie gras parfait was topped with a luxurious port wine gelée.  The duck confit jar had tender shredded duck meat mixed with herbs and vegetables.  Both were equally satisfying and addictive, and we kept asking for more bread.  The bottle of 2005 St. Émilion Bordeaux from Chateau de Bellevue we ordered was a bit tart before it hit the decanter, but it got better and better through the course of our meal.  The lustrious tannins in this full bodied wine were a wonderful complement to the mason jar delicacies.

There was no conversation or interaction at the table during the first 10 minutes of our ravenous mason jar frenzy.  These delectable delights had tapped into a part of our brain that had been scientifically thought to be dormant since the caveman era.  Dilated pupils, flushed face, rapid heart rate and incomprehensible gutteral grunting… these incredible edibles almost caused a sympathetic nervous system overload.  Once we calmed down, we started talking about what our ideal ‘last meal’ would be.  The heated debate included stellar candidates like sushi, steak, lamb chops, caviar and truffles.  The one thing we all agreed on was that we would love to have this foie gras parfait mason jar there before we draw our last breath.

The lovely calamari dish with chorizo, confit meyer lemon, cherry tomatoes and parsley came straight from the wood fired oven.  The chorizo slivers imparted a wonderful smokey flavor to the tender calamari, and the citrus kick from the meyer lemons kept the dish fresh and sharp.

Caché’s version of moules frites was spectacular.  The black mussels were cooked in a delectable white wine, shallots and tomato sauce that we lapped up with the fries.  After the fries were gone we used our spoons to drink it like soup.  I’m normally not a fan of thicker cut fries as they tend to be soggy and overcooked, but these were fried to a perfect outer crisp and moist tender interior.  I could really taste the innate rustic potato flavors in each dazzling morsel.  The farmer who made these potatoes would be proud.

I was ecstatic to see bone marrow on the menu.  It’s one of my favorite things to eat, so we placed 2 orders.  The fire-roasted bone marrow was silky and rich, oozing with blissful beef essence.   The green parsley foam on top added a perfect amount of saltiness to complement the marrow gelatin.  The wild mushroom tapenade on the toasted baguettes was earthy and aromatic, but it overpowered and competed with the bone marrow.  I had to scrape off the paste in order to indulge in a full-scale unadulterated marrow orgy.

The crisp and fresh market wedge salad with cherry tomatoes, egg, blue cheese and bacon vinaigrette was the perfect palate cleanser to reset my heavy marrow-saturated taste buds.

Caché has many delicious flat breads on their menu that are all baked in their special wood fired oven.  Toppings range from spicy sopressata to duck sausage, zucchini to caramelized shallots.  They all sounded amazing, but we decided to go with the evening special:  lardon, caramelized onion, cantal cheese, bechamel sauce and thyme.  A splendid array of caramelized sweetness, fresh herb aromas, lardon saltiness and cantal sharpness on a doughy flatbread canvas baked to perfection.

The crispy pan-fried loup de mer was served on a bed of marinated eggplant, lemon and rosemary caponata.  The best part of this dish was the loup de mer skin with crispy scales, fried to a light flakiness that crunched and danced on my tongue.  The fragile texture was addictive, and I found myself enjoying the skin more than the flesh.  The hearty caponata was a bit too intense for the fish, and I left it untouched.

One of my dining companions had already been to Caché and raved about the Kurobuta pork chop.  Even though we offered to order another dish so that he could have the opportunity to try something new, he insisted that we get it.  He wanted to relive the experience- it was that good.  The thick cut of meat was cooked to a perfectly even color, temperature and consistency.  The freshness of the mint ribbons and the subdued sweetness of the pineapple and five spice chutney embellished this juicy pork.  There was nothing really fancy about this dish, and it was a new flavor combination for me, but somehow it hit the spot.  It was comforting, warming and soulful.  Yes, this was a fantastic and solid dish, and I would order it again on my next visit.

Chef Arrington complemented our entrées with 3 sides of: carrot with passion fruit, thyme and black pepper, asparagus with curry and pistachios, and a yukon potato purée that was whipped up in classic buttery Robuchon style.

I bumped into Nyesha a couple of weeks ago at the Santa Monica farmers market as we both rummaged through a box of fairytale eggplants.  She had a twinkle in her eye as she enthusiastically told me how she was going to prepare it for the dinner menu that evening.  I could see the wheels of creativity and inspiration cranking at full speed in her brain as she proceeded to sniff, pick, taste and caress all of the fresh produce throughout the market.  It looked like she was having an intimate conversation with each vegetable.  I couldn’t help but feel a twang of jealousy toward the lucky people who would get to enjoy the farmers market inspired menu that evening at Caché.

The food at Caché boasts innovative flavor combinations with simple fresh ingredients.  It’s fine dining in a hip LA setting.  Yet it also has the comfort of soul food and the familiarity of happy childhood memories at the kitchen table.  How is it that in a jar of refined foie gras, on a superbly baked flatbread, on a side of Robuchon-style whipped potatoes, and in a crispy loup de mer skin that is difficult to perfect, I can taste the love and passion of this talented chef?  How is it possible for these plates to satisfy my soul as much as it pleases my belly and my eyes?  It’s something about the essence of the food and the aura of the chef.

Any chef can cook to impress, please, execute, and entertain.  But only a great chef can take that to a higher level and also cook to nourish and nurture.  That’s why the greatest chefs in the world are our mothers and grandmothers.  Young and beautiful Nyesha sure ain’t your grandmother, but she cooks with the same intention and soul.

http://www.cacherestaurant.com/

Random trivia:  Did you know that mussels are gonochoristic?  That means that each individual mussel is born either male or female.

Bond Street at the Thompson- Beverly Hills

At the Beverly Hills Thompson Hotel, Chef Brian Redzikowski mans the helm of the kitchen at Bond Street restaurant.  The restaurant and hotel, just like the original in New York’s SoHo, is beautifully designed in true Dodd Mitchell style.  Sleek dark brown suede banquettes and checkered patterns encompass the dimly lit dining room.  The classy bar is an ideal place for incognito lovers to whisper sweet nothings by flickering candlelight. A quaint sushi bar sits by the open kitchen,  a traditional Japanese haven almost hidden from the otherwise contemporary space.  The large wooden communal table by the bar decorated with bonsai plants almost took my breath away.  My goodness, is that a George Nakashima table?!  After close inspection, I could tell that it wasn’t, but it was still a beauty.  Japanese artistry juxtaposed with lustrous modern design compose the perfect background for the innovative food here at Bond St.

Chef Brian Redzikowski is almost too perfect of a fit for this restaurant known for sushi and Japanese fusion cuisine.  Only a chef who has the mastery of classical French techniques and an eye for Japanese aesthetics can competently operate and actualize this menu.  His impressive bio reflects how his path was naturally bound for the executive chef title at Bond St.  Le Cirque, Alain Ducasse, Le Bernardin and Joel Robuchon at the Mansion have refined his culinary skills.  His position as executive chef at Matsuhisa in Colorado and executive sous-chef at Yellowtail in Las Vegas prove his competence with Japanese cuisine.

He started off our special tasting menu with a prosecco sangria jello and foam.  The flavors were sweet, fruity and seductive.  The foam layer fizzled away like fine prosecco bubbles.  As we examined the chiffon lace decoration on this dish and toasted with Bruno Paillard Brut Rosé champagne (a signature Robuchon bubbly), the two former Robuchon chefs that I was dining with both chuckled as they simultaneously exclaimed “This is SO Robuchon!”

My favorite dish of the evening was the big eye tuna tartare with truffle oil, thinly sliced red onions and microshiso.  It was stunningly plated on a thin wooden plank that was reminiscent of the Nakashima-esque wooden table by the bar.  Served on a light and airy crisp, this dainty appetizer saturated the air with its ethereal truffle aroma.

A ’sashimi’ plate of king crab and hamachi.  The intense aroma of the bacon foam on top of the king crab with vinegar gelée opened the flood gates of my salivary glands.  This foam can easily be marketed to become a basic tabletop condiment right next to salt and pepper.  I felt like the vinegar gelée was unnecessary and took away from the excitement of the bacon essence.  The hamachi belly with soy strip was delightful.  The soy flavors kicked in after a few seconds, as the strip slowly dissolved in my mouth and transfused through the wonderful fattiness of the fish.

The Skeena river salmon sushi went back to the basics.  After all, this is a sushi restaurant (well, sort of).  But of course, Brian put a little twist to it.  It was served with soy pearls, small round jelly-like pearls that were probably made with either alginate or agar.  Although it was a fun concept, I would have preferred to keep this simple and a little more traditional with soy-marinated salmon roe.  Not that we usually eat salmon sushi topped with ikura in Japan, but you know what I mean.

By this time we were knee deep in the most insanely delicious bottle of 2005 Domaine Etienne Defaix Chablis Vielle Vignes from Burgundy.  It was a perfect balance of dry and sweet, and went well with all of the seafood dishes.

Foie gras with spicy rice krispy treat, yogurt powder and yogurt chip was interesting.  The only good part for me was the actual foie gras which I only got to enjoy for a nanosecond before it disappeared under the overwhelming sweetness and chewiness of the rice krispy treat.  I didn’t quite understand the role of the yogurt, as it did nothing to enhance the dish.  The yogurt powder reminded me of infant formula and the chip, a coagulated version of that.

The next dish was a corn flan with carrot marshmallow, sweet pea foam and spot prawns that I unfortunately forgot to photograph.  You can see a photo of it on Chef Redzikowski’s site.  A deep white bowl with a layer of yellow corn flan at the bottom, colorfully dotted with orange and green with a side of light green pea foam.  The flan was incredibly smooth and silky, and the sweet pea foam was beautifully aromatic.  The crunchy texture of the croutons mixed with the succulent meatiness of the prawns and melty marshmallows was brilliant.  We all enjoyed this dish.

The Alaskan black cod with miso dengaku and potato miso foam was nice.  The cod was perfectly cooked and flavorful, motivating me to eat carefully with the precision of a plastic surgeon so as not to leave behind even a small flake on the plate.  I was a bit surprised to see a red miso dengaku paste on this fatty fish, as cod is usually marinated with white miso which has a lighter taste.  The warm potato foam was good enough for me to want to bathe in.  Bravo to the bottle of 2004 Chenin blanc ‘Les Genêts’ from Savennières by Damien Laureau for enhancing this portion of our dinner with its fruit and honey undertones.

The sous vide Snake River Farm Kurobuta pork belly dish was interesting.  It was served with artichoke foam and olive oil powder.  Our server gave us strict instructions to incorporate the foam and powder in each bite.   I applaud the chef’s creativity and determination in incorporating molecular gastronomy elements in his dishes, but this really didn’t work for me.  The powders and foams were too frail and muted to do their part in enhancing the fatty pork belly.

The sous vide Kobe beef on a bed of applewood smoked bacon was presented beautifully.  The beef slices were nicely marbled and fatty as Kobe beef always is, though I question the presence of the bacon.  I’m assuming it was for consumption and not just for visual and olfactory foreplay, but these were some of the toughest slices of bacon I’ve ever had.

The beef was accompanied with a side of veggies.  Similar to the carrot marshmallows in the corn flan dish, it came with a round carrot sphere.  This was served on a bed of cippolini onion purée with microvegetables and honey teriyaki sauce.  The haphazard plating seemed uncharacteristic of the chef, but the cippolini purée was exquisite, teeming with that unique sweetness that only an onion can produce.

Sous vide meat round 3 was Sonoma lamb with carrot purée and powder, gingerbread, lamb jus and mint paper.  The meat was tender and delicate, beautifully done.  Assembling the scattered powders, cubes and dots to accompany the 2 small slices of meat was a bit exasperating.

The meats were beautifully paired with a flawless 2006 Vosne Romanée by Domaine Forey Pere et Fils.  Luckily we still had a little left to enjoy with the first of 6 desserts which couldn’t be more perfect with this wine.  As a tribute to the Vosne Romanée, these pinot noir and strawberry liquid-filled chocolate spheres were chaperoned by pinot noir reduction dots, micro shiso and strawberries.  Upon first glance, this brown sphere seemed timid and nervous, sweating fine beads of perspiration under the ravenous stares of its predators.  Once consumed, its surprisingly thin and delicate crust ruptured between tongue and palate in a torrent of seductive poison, rendering its predator paralyzed in a fervent state of ecstasy.

The warm cherry clafoutis with vanilla ice cream was next up in this sinful dessert carnage.  It was nice to get a classic French dish made simply and splendidly.  A most amazing dessert that almost caused a war when it came down to the last bite.

The lemongrass and espresso ice creams with cappuccino foam was sharp and refreshing.

The caramel flan with popcorn foam was interesting to say the least.  Not my cup of tea, but a bold experiment in unique flavor and texture combinations.

Mochi donuts with coconut ice cream and rhubarb was something I could easily do without.  The mochi balls had a caustic chewy texture that made it distinctly un-mochi like.  I mourned for the tragic fate of these mochi pieces.

The grand dessert finale was fittingly carried out by the caramel chocolate ball filled with liquid vanilla ice cream on a bed of caramel powder.  We were instructed to eat this in one bite.  Mind you, they were the size of golf balls, so we all initially hesitated, not wanting to look silly trying to do this.  But we were among good friends, and happy tipsy friends at that, so we all took the plunge together.  Just like the pinot noir chocolate ball, this heavenly sphere instantly collapsed in our mouths, resulting in a tsunami of rich vanilla decadence.  See this YouTube video of Brian making these opulent orbs.  Avoid the somewhat cheesy music by viewing it on mute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoeeC5ABgZU

The decadent feast concluded with colorful origami boxes containing chocolates.  The flowing progression of our meal narrated a beautiful story and each dish allured us with mythical charm.  Like traditional Japanese kaiseki, the aesthetics of each plate demonstrated the esteem and discernment of understated beauty.

The exorbitance of powders, foams, strips, dots and sous vide meats left me yearning for a simple and robust piece of seared meat on bone hot off the grill, accompanied with fresh vegetables in their original natural form.  However, I appreciated Redzikowski’s creative and daring adventure into new culinary frontiers.  Like the restaurant decor,  his food represented a flirtatious blend of sexy modernism and traditional elegance.

http://www.bondstrestaurant.com/

Click here for more beautiful photos of Chef Redzikowski’s culinary creations.  The lighting was too dark for me to take good photos.

Random trivia:  Careful where you pop…

Jan 2, 2009 12:31 pm US/Pacific

Popcorn Trail Leads Police To Suspected Thief

NATOMAS (CBS13) ―

A messy thief has been arrested after a trail of popcorn led police directly from a crime scene to the suspect’s living room.

Sacramento police say they responded to an alarm at the Food Stop store in Natomas early in the morning on New Year’s day.  When officers arrived they found that the business had been broken into and several items taken.

That’s also when they noticed a trail of popcorn.  Officers followed the trail of clues to an apartment complex behind the store and to the door of one unit.  When officers knocked, they noticed the popcorn kernels continued inside the apartment.  Officers found the stolen property inside.

Officers arrested Tyree Brown for a theft warrant and possession of stolen property.  He may be charged with burlgary at a later time.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)