Test Kitchen LA- TiGeorges

Centuries of invasion, foreign occupation, blackmail and slavery have plagued the beautiful island nation of Haiti.  Despite gaining independence, the aftermath of a long history of turmoil has left the country to deal with poverty and disease.  Matters only got worse when the infamous earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, and the nation suffered one of the most catastrophic natural disasters that our world has ever experienced.  I witnessed first hand the devastation of this calamity when I spent a month in Haiti on a humanitarian aid project.  Death, desperation and destruction came raining down on Haiti with brute force, but just like their ancestors who fought through hard times with resilience and resistance, the Haitians remained determined to survive.  Their inherent strength and courageous spirit lived on through energetic dance, music and art.  The only thing that I saw missing on my visit to Haiti was an expression of culture and identity through food, due to the dire food shortage and lack of resources.

When I heard that Georges LaGuerre, affectionately known as Ti-George, was cooking at Test Kitchen LA, I was overjoyed at the opportunity to be able to enjoy authentic Haitian cuisine.  I wasn’t going to miss this dinner for the world, as I wanted to show my support for this Haitian chef who himself lost his esteemed Echo Park restaurant, TiGeorges Chicken, in a fire while working hard to raise earthquake relief funds.  Ti-Georges has spent most of his life in the US, but he goes back several times a year to his hometown Port-De-Paix on the norther coast of Haiti.  He is pure Haitian, in flesh and blood and in heart and soul, and his food, influenced by his grandmother who was a Haitian street vendor, is made with pure love.

For a mere $25, his tasting menu featured classic Haitian specialties that reflected Creole, African, French and Caribbean cooking styles and used island ingredients like conch, plantains and taro.  In true Test Kitchen LA fashion, resident mixologists Julian Cox, Eric Alperin and Joel Black were in house to serve delicious cocktails paired with the food.  The theme was rum, and only the finest Haitian Barbancourt rum at that.  Haitian rum punch, made with Rhum Barbancourt, muddled pineapple, house made grenadine and lime, was refreshing, sweet and delightful.  The special rum, blackberry and mint cocktail that Joel made for me was fantastic.

Acra, grated Taro roots blended with herring, green onion, bell pepper, onion, garlic, black pepper and parsley, was introduced on the Test Kitchen menu as the national dish of Haiti.  These Taro fritters had an incredibly soft texture with a delicate fresh flavor without any fishiness from the herring.  It was served with Pikliz, a Haitian hot slaw made with sliced cabbage, carrots, habanero chile, salt, key lime juice, oregano and vinegar.  TiGeorges obviously tamed the heat in his pikliz for his American diners, as there was only a mild noticeable spiciness to the slaw.  Is acra truly the national dish of Haiti?  Google searches brought up other contenders like plain rice & beans, fried pork (griot) with rice & beans, rice djon djon, soup joumou (pumpkin soup) and kibrit (goat).  We’ll have to trust TiGeorges on that one.

Bannan pézé, or deep fried green plantains sliced, crushed in salted water and fried in oil, were the perfect crispy complement to the conch lambi.  Slippery but tender and flavorful pieces of stewed conch cooked in garlic, olive oil, bell pepper, onion, paprika, key lime juice, cloves, oregano and habanero chile gave me a tingling happy sensation all over- perhaps the effects of what is declared to be an aphrodisiac for the Haitians?

My favorite dish of the evening was the festive cabrit, or goat meat fricassee, baked with key lime, boiled in vinegar, then grilled over a fire.  The result of the painstakingly long and careful preparation of the goat was a beautiful dish rich in flavor, juices and complexity, with tender meat falling right off the bones.  A spicy sauce made with key lime juice, olive oil and habanero chile gave it an extra boost of savor that moved me to lick the entire plate clean.  The Test Kitchen menu description of the cabrit came with a comical anecdote of ‘if you have ever been to a Haitian party and goat meat was not served…you did not go to a Haitian party.’

Deep fried mounds of chopped sweet plantains drizzled with caramel and powdered sugar rounded out the simple but delicious and surprisingly filling Haitian meal.  With a texture similar to rice krispies, this warm dessert was an absolute joy to wolf down with my glass of Haitian rum while chatting with TiGeorges at the bar.

It was ironic to be having my first real home cooked Haitian meal in the US, but I was happy to be able to support and meet TiGeorges through this Test Kitchen experience.  I discovered that like many of the Haitians whom I met on my trip earlier this year, TiGeorges is a man of integrity, passion, determination and grace.  When we talked about our respective experiences in post-earthquake Haiti, I was still questioning the current state of affairs while he was already projecting the direction of growth and prosperity through education and self-sustainable agriculture.  With ambassadors like TiGeorges working tirelessly in rebuilding and repairing his country, we can start to see hope and light at the end of the tunnel for Haiti.

TiGeorges’ Chicken

Construction to repair fire damages is currently under way at the original restaurant, and will hopefully reopen within a couple of months.  In the meantime, he is temporarily operating at Caveman Kitchen, a rotisserie restaurant in West Adams

The Caveman Kitchen

2215 S. Vermont ave
Los Angeles, CA 90007
ph: 323-737-3717

TiGeorges Haitian Coffee

Thank you TiGeorges, for the delicious coffee beans.  TiGeorges’ organic blue bean coffee, made in the mountainous northwest region of Haiti where he grew up, is available for purchase online.

TiGeorges Foundation

Please support TiGeorges’ foundation, which works to restore the vibrant eco system of Haiti by replanting trees in underdeveloped areas of deforestation.  Through cultivation of Haiti’s land, the foundation hopes to build a more sustainable country rich in resources.

Random trivia:  Did you know that the pupil in a goat’s eye is rectangular instead of round?  This gives them better peripheral depth perception.  

Test Kitchen LA- Michael Voltaggio

Our world is filled with interesting oxymorons, from controlled chaos and organized mess, to virtual reality and positive let downs.  Such incongruities and contradictions make life awfully nice, don’t they?  Or does it make you feel almost exactly, absolutely unsure?  Hmm, this is clearly confusing…  We can agree to disagree, but we can surely all concede that there’s one oxymoron, a ‘permanent pop-up’, that’s been revolutionizing the Los Angeles restaurant scene.  Test Kitchen LA brings the best of all worlds under one roof by inviting renowned LA chefs to showcase new restaurant concepts for limited engagements while star mixologists pair the revolving menus with specialty cocktails.  Masterminded by Bill Chait and Brian Saltsburg and orchestrated by Chef Ricardo Zarate and GM Stephane Bombet, Test Kitchen LA has been the talk of the town by headlining chefs like Jordan Kahn, Ricardo Zarate, Walter Manzke and Neal Fraser in the kitchen.  When it came to Michael Voltaggio, who only cooked for 1 night, the Test Kitchen crew successfully teased Angelenos by keeping his appearance a secret until the day of the event.  Where every day is a pop-up, you can almost never be certain of who’s dropping in at Test Kitchen LA.

Michael Voltaggio needs little introduction-his face, style of cuisine and arm tattoos are easily recognizable, especially after he snagged the sixth season Top Chef title from his own brother.  He was working as Chef de Cuisine at The Bazaar when the series aired, and his adoring fans followed him and his food to The Dining Room at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena when he subsequently took the Chef de Cuisine position there.  Ever since he left the Langham a few months ago, we’ve been on our toes wondering where his next project will be.  Any talk of future restaurant projects have been kept under strict lock and key, which only makes us want to know more.

Voltaggio and his trusted crew of chefs spent 4 days prepping in the upstairs kitchen at Test Kitchen LA for this 1 night-only event.  It seems like a lot of work for just a few hours of service and 140 covers, but that is the beauty of this chef, whose level of thought and attention to detail really shows in his food.  When I heard that he was in the upstairs kitchen sous viding beef tongue on the night that I dined for the Walter Manzke dinner, I knew that I was in for quite a meal.   The 10 course tasting menu for $69, called ‘A Meal in 10 Tracks’, started with a ‘petit befores’ of porcini mushroom canelé topped with goat cheese cream and a very chewy tomato pâtes de fruits, a gumdrop on a stick made with tomatoes, basil, Arbequina olive oil and Maldon salt.  As always, resident mixologist Julian Cox was in-house that evening, along with mixologists Josh Goldman and Daniel Nelson, who prepared cocktails like the Basque Sangria, a white sangria made with Floc de Gascogne and freeze dried fruits.

Voltaggio, being the clever trickster that he is, took traditional straightforward dishes and gave them a whole new twist, playing off of classic flavors and concepts and reinventing them in a unique style.  Mole, for example, wasn’t a thick sauce drizzled over chicken, but a terracotta flower pot filled with crusted fried Padrón peppers.  Most of these are sweet and mild, but you may get the occasional one that packs a lot of heat, our server warned us with a wink, as we dug into these beautiful green peppers coated with powdered coffee, chocolate, cumin and coriander.  Thankfully I survived the pot without combusting and didn’t have to rely on the feta queso fresco ice cream as an extinguisher, as it was a little too musty for me.

Fish and chips wasn’t a basket full of deep fried artery cloggers, but an elegant dish of hamachi sashimi garnished with the classic flavors and components of the quintessential pub food.  Translucent crispy potato chips, round croquettes that burst with flavorful tartar sauce and most surprisingly little malt vinegar caviar balls made with calcium chloride and sodium alginate that looked like ikura, were a joy to dissect and eat.

Classic caprese salad seems boring now, after having Voltaggio’s take on it.  Skinned cherry tomatoes, smoked mozzarella and lemon basil kept the dish grounded in its traditional style, but the crispy fried calamari chips, bonito flakes, crunchy sea beans and delicious squid ink vinegar brought a whole new level of oceanic flair to this alluring dish.

Reinterpreting classic kitchen dishes is one thing, but Voltaggio dared to challenge an all-American delicacy that has served and pleased over 99 billion people worldwide.  Instead of the somewhat mashed up chicken meat that we all admittedly grew up on and loved, his McNuggets, served in a basket with rhubarb ketchup, were made with deep fried lamb sweetbreads that melted into savory liquid in my mouth.

The variety of ingredients and flavors seen in a hearty serving of Greek Mezze were given a classy and polished twist where octopus legs were served on Greek yogurt with olive oil, black olive dots, thyme leaves and the most pleasant fried liquid falafel balls that erupted into a river of bright green delight.  A dollop of what tasted like sweet apricot jam took away from the savory flavors of the dish, where I wished that he would have used something like a taramosalata instead.

I was excited to see the final product of the famous sous vide beef tongue that was being prepared all week, and it presented itself as succulent, slightly smokey and wondrously tender slices gently nestled under a blanket of shaved iced arugula, fresh arugula leaves and flowers, and smoked mayo.  Prosciutto and melon never tasted so good and so robust in Voltaggio’s daring interpretation that won my heart over as best savory dish of the evening.

The plump meaty soft shell crab deep fried to a satisfying crunch was amazing in the Maryland Crab Feast, augmented by the fiery hotness of Old Bay seasoning dots, but I wasn’t a fan of the corn scramble underneath, extremely sweet in flavor but puréed into a soft mush that reminded me of texturally absent baby food.

Another sensational savory dish was the Veal Picatta, buttery morsels of veal cheek prepared so perfectly that it melted right into my inner cheeks.  Dehydrated cauliflowers, a strip of slightly torched cauliflower purée, yuzu dots, chanterelles and caper dust rounded out the wonderful play of flavors and textures on this winning dish.

For those who know me, I am all about meat and offals, and rarely ever impressed with desserts, but dare I say that the most memorable, and the most delicious dish of the entire tasting menu, was the Carrot Cake dessert?  The dish looked like a bit of a mess at first, but combining the yogurt powder, bright orange carrot sorbet, the sponge cake that I heard was microwaved to get that airy consistency, rum raisin and yuzu drizzle all together inside my mouth revealed an explosion of flavors that were on point.  Sweet, light, cold, airy, delicate and soft with a hint of dazzling rum are the only way that I can begin to convey the sublimity of this dessert.

Finally, the Tiramisu, a heavenly cup of light chocolate crumbles, coffee crumbles and mascarpone pearls on thick and creamy soy pudding.

Michael Voltaggio’s cuisine hit it out of the park, scoring a home run with every dish that was bursting with flavor, touched with elegance, exploding with creativity and presented with so much thought and intention that one can only bow down to this talented chef with appreciation and respect.  This dinner has proved to be one of Test Kitchen’s best events so far, and one can only hope that he’ll make another surprise appearance before moving on to his next restaurant project.  Just like Test Kitchen LA, Voltaggio’s food proved that oxymorons can be a positive thing- sinfully good.

Test Kitchen LA

9575 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035

(310) 277-0133

Random trivia:  Did you know that the tongue is not 1 big muscle, but consists of 16 different muscles?  No wonder we can do so many interesting things with it…how terribly nice!

Test Kitchen LA- Walter Manzke

Test Kitchen LA, the newest sensation to hit the restaurant scene in Los Angeles, has been causing quite a stir among the local food community.  In this golden era of the ‘pop-up’ dining phenomenon, Test Kitchen LA comes as an exciting new venture where every night is a pop up night, and every week is a new rotation of chefs taking center stage.  The kitchen line up has been an impressive list of local star chefs, from Jordan Kahn and Ricardo Zarate, to Michael Voltaggio and Neal Fraser, and it’s only by checking the restaurant’s website or Twitter feeds daily, at times hourly, that one can keep up with the constantly evolving roster.  Bill Chait and Brian Saltsburg have successfully created a safe haven where everybody is a part of a big culinary experiment- for chefs, it’s an ideal venue to explore their creativity and try out future restaurant and menu concepts, while for diners it’s a rare opportunity to preview and taste a distinguished chef’s food.  As an added bonus, star mixologists like Julian Cox and Joel Black are always in-house, mixing sensational cocktails to pair with each unique dinner.  After a wonderful experience at Church & State and a sold-out Hatchi dinner at the Breadbar, I was excited for Walter Manzke’s dinner at Test Kitchen LA.

Walter Manzke is one of our resident superstar chefs, having worked all over the world at reputable institutions like El Bulli, Monte Carlo under Alain Ducasse, and Patina in Los Angeles where he earned 3 stars from the LA Times.  Several other successful ventures like Bastide and most recently Church & State really solidifed his authority in the culinary world.  I had high hopes for this dignitary’s dinner, but I have to admit that I was regretfully disappointed.  This is the place to be pushing the creative envelope and testing out new ideas, but he played it safe, even serving a few repeat dishes from his Hatchi dinner like the foie gras butter with honey gelee.  This butter is quite amazing, but I’ve already had it before and the epi bread at the Breadbar was far tastier than the baguette served at this dinner.

Another repeat from the Hatchi dinner was the Santa Barbara spot prawns, butterflied with chopped cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and kalamata olives on top.  Only this time it was dressed with a Mediterranean vinaigrette, a version that didn’t quite drive me to lick the plate clean like the garlic sherry sauce at Hatchi where he celebrated the Spanish style of gambetas in his ‘Around the World’ tasting dinner.

One dish that I really did enjoy was the calamari, alternating pieces of grilled and deep fried squid served on dollops of black squid ink aioli with wisps of wild arugula on top.  The luscious and tasty aioli moved me to put all of my table manners aside and go for the finger sweep.   The foie gras butter, prawns and calamari were part of a tapas menu, along with items like lobster custard, white corn fritters and clear gazpacho, which could be ordered separately from the $52 tasting menu.

The first course to kick off the tasting menu was another familiar dish from the Hatchi dinner, hamachi ceviche.  A spicy and tart yuzu jalapeño marinade was the perfect complement to the tender buttery yellowtail sashimi, and the crunchy green apple cubes and avocado purée added a nice sweetness to temper to heat, although the dish could have used a little more salt.

My favorite dish of  the evening was the Thai curry-carrot soup, a bowl of Maine lobster, coconut tapioca pearls, mango, peanuts, Thai basil and basil seeds that amazed me with its variety of playful textures and flavors.  The hot creamy soup was poured at the table, releasing a powerful enticing aroma of sweet carrots and coconut milk into the air as it filled the bowl.  Manzke balanced the flavors of sweet, spicy and salty to perfection in this amazing soup that I gulped down to the last drop with a smile.

Loup de Mer with crispy grilled skin was served with Sungold cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, crème fraiche and what the menu described as ‘mole verde’, to which my dining companions smiled and shook their heads.  Unfortunately, Manzke’s ‘mole verde’ did not fly with my 5 dining companions, who were Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet LA, Chef Javier Plascencia of the Plascencia restaurant empire in Tijuana, and Chef Javier’s 2 business partners and restaurant architect from Tijuana.  Team Mexico was not crazy about the tomatillo sauce.

Beef tenderloin was good with the chanterelle mushrooms, poached egg and sesame seeds in the katsuobushi bonito broth.  Yuzu-kosho, one of my favorite Japanese condiments made with green yuzu and peppers, was the key element that brought excitement and brightness to the soft flavors of the dish.

The tasting course ended with a strawberry sorbet crème brûlée, more like a strawberry parfait with strawberries, strawberry sorbet, crumbles, cream and a caramelized top layer that was enjoyable, but I expected a little more from this tasting menu that cost more than his Hatchi dinner.

Walter Manzke’s food is always good, and he is an excellent reputable chef, but something was missing that night.  One of my dining companions summed it up very well when I explained the concept of Test Kitchen LA to him, and he inquired as to why, then, didn’t this chef take more risks with his dishes.  I wish Manzke took the opportunity at Test Kitchen LA to be more adventurous and playful with his culinary concepts, rather than recycle old menu items and play it safe.  Even if a dish fails, it’s a Test Kitchen after all, and nobody is there to give a career damaging bad review.  In fact, this is exactly the time and the place to push the envelope, test one’s limits, think outside the box, and execute inventive and daring if but a bit crazy creations.  The staff at Test Kitchen have done an excellent job hand-picking an elite crop of chefs for their dinners.  We already love and adore all of these chefs- if they can reciprocate the love by trusting us and showing us what they’ve really got, it will make for an exciting and memorable evening.

Test Kitchen LA

9575 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035

Phone: (310) 277-0133

Random trivia:  Did you know that tapioca root can be used to manufacture environmentally friendly biodegradable plastic bags?  A polymer resin produced from the plant is a viable plastic substitute that is not only biodegradable (biodegrades in less than 1 year), but is also compostable, renewable, and recyclable.

Test Kitchen LA- Red Medicine, Jordan Kahn

‘Pop up’ eating venues are all the rage in Los Angeles, from Ludobites to Breadbar’s Hatchi events, underground dinner functions like Room Forty and even Michelin-starred restaurants such as Mélisse where chefs from New York’s Spotted Pig and Los Gatos’ Manresa have popped in to present a one night-only dinner event.  The newest kid on the block to join the pop-up phenomenon is Test Kitchen LA, a novel type of restaurant where chefs pop in to test out future restaurant and menu concepts.  Bill Chait and Brian Saltsburg have taken over the old Spark Woodfire Grill location in West LA and transformed the building into a multi-level food and beverage institution, inviting high profile visiting chefs to showcase planned restaurant concepts for limited engagements while renowned mixologists pair the constantly rotating menu with innovative cocktails.  In this city where diners are becoming more appreciative of fine cuisine and increasingly driven by a curiosity for mixology, the Test Kitchen comes as a perfect hybrid of all things delicious.

Headlining Test Kitchen LA’s debut 2 weeks ago was Chef Jordan Kahn, a pastry chef prodigy whose inventive desserts have been likened to the works of Salvador Dali and Jackson Pollock.  At 17 Kahn was the youngest chef to ever work for Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, and he subsequently went on to fill his resume with impressive stints like Per Se, Grant Achatz’s Alinea, Varietal and most recently Michael Mina’s XIV in Los Angeles. Kahn is teaming up with Noah Ellis and Adam Fleischman of Umami Burger to open a Vietnamese themed restaurant called Red Medicine in Beverly Hills, and he used the Test Kitchen LA forum to introduce diners to this upcoming venture.  For 5 nights only, Kahn showcased an impressive 12 course menu for $40 a person, a real bargain for his artistic Southeast Asian-inspired creations.

Crisp crunchy radishes with dollops of coco-butter and lime peel shavings were served on a carpet of dried soy flakes.

Cured amberjack sashimi was beautifully laid out on a sweet french melon boat with garnishes and flavorings of lime leaf, mint and a very present nuoc cham made with fish sauce, garlic and chile.

I was pleasantly surprised with the luscious texture of creamy silky tofu topped with cherry tomatoes marinated in an infusion of their vines, crunchy tofu and herb greens.  The silky tofu was like a crème fraiche, a light and sweet cream that would have been just as amazing as a dessert.

One of the table favorites was the bite-sized Saigon tartines made with tender pork belly, pâté, pickled carrots, green chile and wisps of coriander flowers.

I didn’t expect to find inspiration and excitement in a savory dish, as Jordan Kahn is known for his whimsical pastries, but the crispy charred brussels sprouts that were served with caramelized shallots, fish sauce, purple basil and crunchy prawn crackers were an absolute joy to eat.  This dish alone made the difficult-to-get reservations worth while, introducing a whole new sexy and sophisticated way to enjoy brussels sprouts.  I could taste and appreciate the caramelization and smokey flavors of each individual leaf in the crunchy sprouts, making for a truly memorable and fantastic dish that I will remember for the rest of my life.

We wrapped caramelized chicken dumplings topped with cucumbers, scallions, mint leaves and lemongrass in bibb lettuce for an exciting bite of complex flavors.

The green papaya salad with crispy taro, deep fried shallots, rau ram and peanuts was like a drug that fed an insatiable addiction, rendering me incapable of putting down my chopsticks until the last drop of sauce was cleaned off the plate.

Farmers market baby carrots got a boost of miso-caramel like sweetness with fermented black bean sauce, star anise, coconut and tarragon flavors.

I couldn’t get enough of the beef bavette with bacon X.O. sauce, chinese celery, lime, palm sugar, white sesame seeds and chinese eggplants, another delicious dish.

Bay scallops with pomelo fruit, young ginger, puffed tapioca, charred frisée and sweet tamarind syrup was passable, but still a novel and exciting way to enjoy new flavor combinations.

The bright colors of the summer peaches and flower garnishes were striking in the dessert dish with creme de cassis, raspberries, condensed milk and tonic water sorbet.

Aside from the brussels sprouts, the final coconut bavarois dessert with coffee, basil seeds, crispy peanut croquant and chicory was the creation that made me a believer in Jordan Kahn.  With so many different textures, complex flavors and surprising elements in each spoonful, I couldn’t believe that dessert could be this stimulating and sensational.  This was a true work of art and a product of pure genius.

Jordan Kahn’s 12 course tasting dinner was all throughout delicious, at times bewildering and always innovative.  It was an amazing experience to be able to get a sampling of his food for his upcoming restaurant Red Medicine, which will be serving similar Vietnamese-inspired cuisine.  Creative cocktails like the plymouth with lemon, cherry heering and kombucha made by staff mixologists Julian Cox and Joel Black were an added bonus to the unique pop-up dining experience.  Chef Ricardo Zarate, of Mo-Chica, will eventually take over the second floor space to open a permanent anticuchos restaurant, while the bottom floor will continue to function as a venue for rotating chefs like Michael Voltaggio, Neal Fraser, Walter Manzke and John Sedlar.  Who will come in to cook for the next venue?  Who knows…the only way to keep up with the fast pace of Test Kitchen LA is to check their website daily.  They may not even announce the chef until the day of your reservation- but that only feeds the addiction and adrenalin rush of this exceptional pop-up restaurant for all Angelenos, including myself.

Test Kitchen LA

9575 West Pico Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90035

(310) 277-0133

Reservations can be made through Open Table

Random trivia:  Did you know that according to a 2002 survey, brussels sprouts are the most hated vegetable in Britain?