Bouchon Bakery
235 N Canon Dr
(at the Montage)
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-271-9910
website
Archive for the ‘Los Angeles’ Category
Bouchon Bakery, Beverly Hills – Los Angeles
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011XIV Now Closed While SBE Comes Up With A New Concept – Los Angeles
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
The Philippe Starck designed XIV Restaurant Now Closed
Michael Mina & Sam Nazarian Iranian-American entrepreneur and CEO of SBE closed the failing XIV on August 23, 2011. The concept with its strict rule that all guests at a given table had to order the same list of courses from its 35-item menu, be it three courses or 30. It did not catch on after opening at an inopportune time in the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008. Look for a new concept coming from SBE, most likely with Michael Mina aboard, when they come up with something that will work in this space and location.
Providence Restaurant – Los Angeles
Monday, August 29th, 2011By Sandy Driscoll
The beautifully appointed dining roomProvidence Restaurant
5955 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Phone: 323.460.4170
Website: http://www.providencela.com/
Hours:
Lunch: Friday – 12 noon – 2:30 pm
Dinner: Monday-Friday 6pm-10pm
Saturday – 5:30pm – 10pm
Sunday – 5:30pm – 9pm
Ever since Providence opened in 2005, it has received accolades as one of the top restaurants in the country from
everyone including Gourmet and Esquire magazines, the James Beard Foundation, Gayot, and Michelin (two stars). Chef
Michael Cimarusti and co-owner Donato Poto (who is always there to greet you!) make dining here an unforgettable culinary experience.
Having eaten at Providence several times, to me, there is no finer restaurant in Los Angeles. On all levels……food, service,
ambiance……it is superb. It’s comfortably elegant, service is spot on, and the food (they specialize in fresh fish) is unsurpassed
in its category, similar to Le Bernardin in NYC.
They frequently have special tasting menus, and the chefs table, which is in a very private, quiet and lovely room all its own seats 4-6. It has an unfettered view of the gleaming kitchen and all of its beautiful orchestration. For those of us who love to cook, and love to watch good cooks in action, there is no finer treat than to enjoy the chef’s multi-course tasting menu at this table.
My most recent meal, pictured below, was a Friday lunch. Fortunately, they were featuring Australian Black Winter Truffles,
shaved over a choice of Risotto, Pasta alla Chitarra, Soft Scrambled Eggs or Raviolo alluovo. After the delicious complimentary
Amuse assortment, I started with the Bigeye Tuna Tartare, stunning in its gorgeous presentation. The truffle-topped and perfectly cooked risotto was memorably delicious (just looking at the photos makes me want to order it again!) and was one of those dishes where you hoped it would never end……just one more bite, please!
Confident that I will always have a perfect dining experience, I can’t wait to return!
Complimentary Amuse – Beautiful and delicious assortment of tastes (including frozen Mojito-Screwdriver Baja Shrimp cooked sous-vide with piquant chile, Carrot Soup with foam)
Bigeye Tuna Tartare, exquisitely plated!
Presenting the Australian Black Winter Truffles
Risotto awaiting the truffles!
Shaving the Black Truffle over the Risotto
Complimentary Dessert BitesShort Order at the Farmers Market, Umami Burger at Grove – Los Angeles
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
Short Order construction site pictured above at Farmers Market
image credit: pop sugar city
UPDATE: Sadly, Amy Pressman passed away just before Short Order & Short Cake were about to open in Los Angeles.
According to Amy Pressman, she is not concerned about Umami Burger opening a large space next door at the Grove.
Her new venue Short Order is about to open along with partner Nancy Silverton, it is completely different, a seasonal gourmet burger concept and she has said, “If he (Adam Fleischman) wants to be the new Fuddruckers, the new Johnny Rockets.” Short Order is going be a completely different experience and not to be replicated anywhere else. This gets interesting, as The Los Angeles Times quoted Fleischman as saying these two chains were examples of what he is trying to avoid, “I was focused on doing something new and exciting.”
Short Order will be “the reinvention of classic burgers utilizing all types of proteins: beef, pork, lamb, fish and tofu topped with homemade condiments like flavored aïolis, mustards, ketchups, pickles, relishes and spreads, served along side dishes, classic appetizers, salads, desserts baked on the premises, and custard-based milkshakes utilizing local ingredients…as well as artisanal beers and California wines.”
Short Order will also offer an adjacent bakery, which Pressman is naming Short Cake. The bakery will have a huge coffee component (“single origin, like Intelligentsia,” says Pressman) and will provide Short Order with custard milkshakes and other sweets.
Related Link: Amy Pressman Passes Away
Le Chene French Restaurant – Los Angeles
Sunday, August 7th, 2011
Le Chene French Cuisine
12625 Sierra Highway
Santa Clarita, CA 91390
Tel. (661) 251-4315
lechene.com
Le Chene’s (The Oaks) cooking is, and has always been, very consistent over the many years I have been driving to this lovely French country “Auberge”, owned by Chef Juan Alonso. It is always a pleasure to re-visit classic favorites such as: (Starters) Shrimp Monegasque, Tongue Vinaigrette, Artichoke Vinaigrette, and Mushroom Salad (Mains) Veal Forestiere, Calf’s Liver Bercy, Rabbit with Mustard Sauce, and Sandabs Meuniere (Desserts) Profiteroles Au Chocolate, Poire Belle Helene, Tarte Tatin, and Peach Melba.
Le Chene has an underground natural cellar housing more than 32,000 bottles and has consecutively won the Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence for many years.
You will not find “frou-frou” designs swirled onto the plates or precariously constructed food towers here, just well-arranged dishes containing Juan’s fine quintessential cooking.
The climate in Mint Canyon near Agua Dulce is warm during the day but cools off at night due to the breeze blowing up the canyon and is well suited for growing wine grapes, although when Juan first started to plant them, he was warned that it would not be successful. He has proved that these critics were wrong, and is presently growing Grenache, Sirah, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Alvarino and other varietals.
I tasted a wide variety of the wines, which they produce at their various properties during a long, leisurely lunch on my most recent visit last May, and all of them were pleasant and easy to drink. I could not complain about any of the bottles I tasted, and that is what drinking wine on a Sunday afternoon is all about, and the reason I took so few photographs, as I was having too good of a time!
The garden where many weddings have taken place under the arbor
Pictured above: Juan and my daughter picking citrus fruit at his home
Blood oranges growing very well on his beautiful property nestled in the hills overlooking the vineyards on one side and the canyon on the other
Water Grill Restaurant: Blue Fin Tuna Caught Off Catalina Island, A Rare Experience These Days – Los Angeles
Monday, July 11th, 2011
Hunted almost to extinction in the Northern Pacific, it is indeed rare to find a Blue fin wandering around Catalina Island off Southern California these days, and even rarer that it was line-caught and wound up at the Water Grill Restaurant on the menu. I have no idea how this came about but it is on the menu for the next few days (July 8-15 2011).
The good news: Sushi connoisseurs adore the toro and maguro from a fish that was shunned by ancient samurai as they considered it unclean and would not eat it. The bad news: it has been hunted down to near extinction and it is unfortunate but with the demand so high there is no way that this will stop. Progress has been made for breeding this fish, which is prized for its fatty parts on the belly, in captivity.
Pink’s “Royal Hot Dog”, Just Another Way To Try To Make A Dollar – Los Angeles
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
Maison Giraud Opening in Pacific Palisades, Hindered by I-405 Weekend Closure?
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
Maison Giraud
1032 Swarthmore Ave.
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Chef Alain Giraud’s new venture in Pacific Palisades is scheduled to open on Bastille Day July 14th, 2011. The timing might not be ideal, at least for customers living outside the Pacific Palisades Village, as the closing of the Interstate I-405 Freeway (the major North-South Freeway in Southern California) for the demolition of the south side of the Mulholland bridge will occur during that weekend, and Los Angeles Area streets likely will be a virtual parking lot.
Zucca Ristorante Has Closed – Los Angeles
Saturday, June 25th, 2011
Zucca Ristorante, a member of the Patina Group who operate numerous landmark restaurants on both East and West coasts in America, has closed their doors due to a problem with their lease. They were located in downtown Los Angeles and offered area residents good food in beautiful surroundings.
Vegan Fast Food? Plant Food For People – Los Angeles
Monday, June 20th, 2011
4933 York Blvd
, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Highland Park
Go for the jackfruit tacos!
