This is the kitchen symphony at Lukshon.

"Chiang Mai no chicken."

Huh, Sang Yoon allows substitutions/modifications? No wait, he's not here.

"Make your plates beautiful."

spanish mackerel

With its minimalist design, Lukshon feels sterile, but its food is anything but.

heirloom black rice

The heirloom black rice, simple, you complex, rich and full of flavor, it's a reminder of home.

shanghai matzo ball soup

The mashup. Was I at the Gorbals? No. The soup was very clean, the chicken, herbally.

shrimp toast

Shrimp toast BALLS would be more accurate.

duck popiah

All it was missing was the texture of crispy duck skin with each bite.

spicy chicken pops

Who knew I'd get my chicken fix at Lukshon of all places. A hint of sweetness, salty and spicy with each bite (one bite to be exact). You won't feel your mouth by the end of the plate, but you'll have no regrets.

dessert

Complimentary dessert to cleanse and cool the palate. Who can complain?

Lukshon is beautiful, sterile and refined. The design is meticulous and no detail is missed. Lukshon refines Asian food and flavors and takes it to a different level.

We'll be back.

Lukshon
33239 helms ave.
culver city, california 90232
310.202.6808

It's been a long time.

Let's see, so in between the last time I blogged (not counting the J Gold map) and today, life's been...kind of busy. Between work, side projects, and you know...GETTING engaged, it's been crazy busy. It's a good thing twitter is a nice and simple platform for microblogging. Not to mention, my love affair with the Instagram iPhone app, blogging has almost become, dare I say, pointless?

But alas, sometimes it's just good to do some good ole writing and after today's visit to Aburiya Toranoko, the newest baby in Michael Cardenas' Downtown LA empire, I thought it'd be a good time to revive this blog. Well, let's not kid ourselves. I'll probably post again in 2012.

Anyhow, on to the next one.

The sushi bar at Aburiya Toranoko

So first things first, this is less a review and more a preview of what's available at Toranoko. I had the honor of being invited to friends and family night and we were given the opportunity to sample any and everything on the menu, gratis.

And as this was a preview night for friends and family, this really is not the right time to pass judgment, but as with my experience with Lazy Ox when it first opened, Cardenas runs a relatively tight ship on opening day.

In Michael's words, "Lazy Ox is rock, Toranoko is hip hop" and that is indeed the case when you walk in. Old school hip hop is playing through the sound system and setting the tone for the evening while a massive piece of street art by Prime, a downtown graffiti artist, adorns the north wall. A large mirror overhanging the bar allows you to play voyeur around the room. In the main room, there are tables and booths along the walls while the center is split by a giant communal table that can seat at least 24 people (I didn't count, so don't hold me to this.) The rear of the restaurant is the sushi joint, featuring a 10 seat bar with a mother tiger holding a baby tiger designed by Jiro of Onitsuka Tattoo. The art on the bar (which for some reason reminded me of an Ed Hardy t-shirt), is also a Jiro creation. If you had to make analogy, you could say that Toranoko is like a mullet, business in the front and party in the back. Or maybe it's just a party everywhere.

I see you

So what about the food? The menu is broken down into various sections. Apparently this only represents fifty percent of the menu, so like Lazy Ox, I expect that their menu will continually evolve and rotate through various dishes. For tonight's tasting, we sampled a few dishes from each category

Vegetables

Nasu Dengaku baked in two ways, with white and red miso

New Union farms sizzling mushroom with red cheddar cheese tobanyaki

Both were tasty. I loved the broth that the mushrooms were cooked in. If only I had a bowl of rice, I'd soak all that sauce right up.

Next up is the seafood section. In addition to its varied seafood list, Toranoko offers has a "catch of the day" and a "fish of the day."

House made shiokara marinated intestines

Nothing like eating intestines. Another dish that would've been great with rice.

Yanagita seafarms uni goma tofu

You can't go wrong with uni. The goma tofu was kind of crazy. When we ate it, it tasted like peanuts. The texture was a different from most other tofus I had. With the help of google, I discovered that goma tofu is in fact sesame tofu. The interplay between the unctuous uni, the goma tofu, and the saccharine sauce made for fantastic bites (I have no clue what I'm talking about here. I just figured I'd use some big cloying words.)

Moving right along, we made our way to the beef/pork/poultry section of the menu.

Filet katsu meat of the day

I believe tonight's meat was rib eye. Unlike most tonkatsu dishes, this was very tender and moist, as it should be with rib eye. The only gripe I could make was that it could use about about an ounce more of the tonkatsu sauce.

Jidori fried chicken with oroshi sesame

You can't go wrong with fried chicken. EVER.

We then made our way to the sumiyaki portion of the menu.

Liver and heart

These were some big hearts. Both liver and tender were very tender.

Tender beef

Not as tender as I thought it'd be, although the table next to us that got it had more of a medium rare preparation.

Chicken skin

For the motherfucking win. It's fried skin. Tell me where you could go wrong here.

Chicken thigh

Tender. As it should be. You know what they say, once you go dark meat...

New Zealand lamp chops

I could easily order a dozen of these, but it'd cost me $60.

We close out the sumiyaki section with one of the more interesting items ever ordered outside of a dim sum joint.

Tonsoku

First time I had pigs feet prepared over a grill. I'm more used to the pigs feet being braised until the cartilage and ligaments break down. Grilling the feet gave it a nice flavor, but it was definitely a lot chewier than I am used to. It's nice to see them take risks and put some pigs feet on the menu though.

On the current menu, Toranoko features six types of oden.

Yamamura farms daikon radish oden

Chino Valley ranchers tamago egg

Mochi kinchaku rice cake

The odens are definitely on the lighter side of the palate and provide a nice counterbalance to a lot of the richer dishes on the menu.

And there's no way to eat with my fiance and not consider some rice/soups/noodles.

Manila clams asari miso soup

This was probably our favorite of the night. The braised pork belly just fell apart the moment your fork hit the meat. The daikon was rich and the broth savory. I'd argue this should be under the meats section though.

That is an assload of food, but guess what, we are not done.

Let's rock out with our...nevermind. Check out some of the sushi options available at Toranoko.

Bincho Maguro

Ikura

Toro with Japanese Pickles

Sake and Hamachi

Uni

Ama ebi

Hotate

Soft shell crab

Awabi

Whereas Lazy Ox featured a curated wine and beer selection, Toranoko expands on the wine selection while adding a pretty deep list of sake and cocktails.

Fuji Aspen: Absolute Citron, Germain, Apple Juice, Apple Slice, Mint, Lemon

Makers Mark BBQ. Makers Mark, antica, peychaud bitters, aberol, hint of bbq sauce

Ginger Dream: ginger infused vodka, canton, ginger, ginger beer, champagne

Toranoko Bloody Mary: bacon infused bodka, wasabi, and yuzu infused bloody mary mix

And with all the gluttony out of the way, we moved on to the final two dishes of the night: dessert.

Flourless chocolate cake

Matcha flan

Absolutely loved the matcha flan. Then again, I love all things matcha.

So the verdict on Toranoko? It's a fun place. Michael and team have worked hard to create an inviting atmosphere where you can enjoy a night out, eat good food, and have fun. I suggest you go yourself and make your own determination. I love hip hop, so I love the atmosphere. If you don't love hip hop or want a quiet night, this might not be the best place, just as Ox isn't the best place for a quiet evening out. If you're looking for a fun lively environment that allows you to enjoy a good cocktail, sushi, izakaya and yakitori, then Toranoko might be right up your alley.

Aburiya Toranoko
243. S. San Pedro St.
Los Angeles, CA
Sun-Thur: 5p-11pm
Fri-Sat: 5p-midnite
Bar open til 1:30am

The man gets around

View 99 restaurants and a snitch ain't one... in a larger map

While I don't agree with everything on the list, it's Jonathan Gold's list and not mine. I've been to 51.

How many have you been to?

And where does IKEA's swedish meatballs rank on this list?

Sometimes, you have two.

It's been a challenge putting this post together because there is so much going on: the food, the chef, the experience, it's altered how I think about food. But let's break this thing down piece by piece and hope that ya'll don't get bored. But in case you do, just scroll through the pictures and I'll meet you at the bottom.

So let's take it back to the old school. It started with a simple question, "Want to have dinner at Craig's place on Thursday? He's cooking." I didn't think much of it and said sure.

C had told me a little bit about Craig Thornton (@wolvesmouth). He was the personal chef for a celebrity. He loved to cook and he was kind of out there. For example, in March, he tweeted that he was going to give away some food on a random street corner in LA. You know what he gave away that day: foie gras. Needless to say, I wanted to know what was up with this guy.

This big bad wolf can be found on the streets giving away foie gras

Let's just say that things were not what I had in mind. When we arrived for dinner that night, we stepped into a random Hollywood Hills home to find this view:

this table:

and this guy working the kitchen:

Suffice to say, my curiosity was properly piqued.

Soon after all the dinner guests arrived, we got down to the business of dinner.

Oyster with lemon juice, elderlower hibiscus gelee, compressed cucumber, and lime powder

Nothing out of the ordinary right? I thought the elderflower hibiscus gelee added a different spin to a nice tart oyster mignonette.

Squash blossom with goat cheese, thyme, raw hazelnut, compressed peach and saba

A simple dish really, but the goat cheese, squash blossom, and peach went great together. Craig compressed the peach, which enhances the flavor of the peach. It's a common theme throughout his dishes and it's got me wanting to compress all of my fruit before eating it. Wait, never mind, I don't really eat fruit.

Beet curd, arugula black pepper ice, raw golden beet infused with bergamot, frozen roaring forties, pickled salt roasted beet, and arugula

This is when I said whoa. The first comment I made when this plate was set in front of me was how much it reminded me of our meal at Eleven Madison Park. This course was playful and whimsical, it was not just visual artistry, but gastro-artistry, a perfect blend of textures and flavors. I don't like beets, but I was excited to see how the beets would taste with the arugula black pepper ice and frozen roaring forties. I have a new found appreciation for beets as a result of this dish. You can catch me eating beets Mondays at Souplantation (because Monday is cream of mushroom day).

Corn, cotija, white onion, nopales, and shrimp chili gelee

I learned the pour shot at the first Phototasting workshop. The soup starts off light, but with each spoonful becomes more intense as the cotija and shrimp chili gelee warms and melts into the soup and alters the flavors. Very creative and very good.

Clam, reduced juice, shallots, parsley and crouton

No magic was needed here. It was just simple and rich. The croutons were homemade and off the hook.

Squid, watershield, white soy, spicy sesame and garlic

Watershield sounds like something you'd spray on your car or house to protect it from the rain, but alas, this isn't some 3M product. Watershield is an aquatic plant with a jellylike coating on the underwater stems and roots. The squid was tender and almost sweet, while the watershield provided a nice acidic counterbalance.

Lobster rolls: lobster, ranch profiterole, lobster creme fraiche essence and lobster caviar

Tasty little morsels. Craig went all out here, even making the profiteroles himself. In hindsight, I shouldn't have eaten these with a knife and fork. I should've just tossed one into my mouth.

At this point, we'd gone through quite a few dishes and I was wondering how many more were coming when I noticed that Craig kept looking at a list on the fridge. I walked over and took a pic.

Holy shit. This was going to be a sixteen course dinner and we'd only gone through...SEVEN! I had no idea this was the kind of epic dinner we were going to have, so I buckled down and prepared myself for the onslaught of food. Craig doesn't fuck around. The man wants to satiate you.

Tomato, nori wasabi pea granola and tofu

While light and simple, the different flavors of the ingredients really played well together. The wasabi peas brought me back to my childhood while the nori made and sweetness of the granola balanced the acidity of the tomatoes. Craig does an excellent job of balancing the rich dishes, like the lobster profiteroles, with palate soothing dishes like this.

John Dory, John Dory juices, butter, fleur de sel and lemon

Absolutely no magic or fancy tricks here. The John Dory was elegant and understated. Again, taking us on a journey through the lighter parts of our palate.

Pork belly, pickled cherry, eggplant pork jus puree and purslane

And just when we thought we'd hit the light portion of this dinner experience, Craig brought out the pork belly. The pork belly was perfectly prepared and was beyond tender. The sweetness of the pork belly was played perfectly with the puree and pickled cherry.

Compressed melon and Iberico ham fat

Yes, you read that right. It is Iberico ham fat. And look there, the compressed fruit again. A fun play on melon wrapped with prosciutto, this was a challenging dish because the temperature of the Iberico ham fat needed to be just right, otherwise it'd be too chewy, or it'd melt. You could feel the ham fat glazing the melon and glistening your lips as you smacked down on this bad boy. This dish was a big win.

Short rib, red pepper cashew cheese, potato confit, chives and stinging nettles

If I didn't know better, I'd think this was a deconstructed cheesesteak. The short rib was braised for almost fifty hours, which meant that this meat just melted in your mouth. Just writing about this dish right now makes my mouth water, damn it all. The thing about Craig's dishes is that they may very well be once in a life time dishes. He's always exploring and trying something new and not having to run a restaurant means having the freedom to explore each and everytime he has a dinner party. I can only hope that the short ribs come back in some form in the future.

Blueberry soup, carbonated grapefruit and vanilla panna cotta

Yum. Seriously, that's all I could say. I'm a big fan of citrus and tart and this dish did it. It was a refreshing chaser to the short ribs.

Watermelon, cornbread honey ice cream and bacon biscuit

If Craig ever decided to go into the ice cream making business, he'd make a killing. The cornbread honey ice cream was great and went surprisingly well with the watermelon. A nice homage to good old southern comfort foods.

Banana, chocolate, whiskey caramel, crispy rice and banana cremeux

Truth be told, I can't remember much about this dish except that I didn't want to accidentally inhale the chocolate shavings and cough for the next twenty minutes. Would you remember course fifteen very well if you didn't take notes? I don't think so.

Coffee, doughnuts and pop rocks

I actually thought we were getting coffee and doughnuts. Duh. At this point I should've known better that Craig wouldn't do something so simple. I loved this spoonful of coffee, doughnuts and pop rocks to close out our dinner.

And with dinner complete, Craig joined us and walked the dinner party through the menu, discussing the various reasons, motives and challenges behind each dish.

The thing you to come to realize is that Craig is not just a chef, but he is an artist and he's in love with the artistry of food. He painstakingly frets over each peach, each squash blossom that is going to grace your plate. He will drive hours to find that perfect ingredient. He's devoted to his food, all to ensure that we, his dinner guests, have a unique and fun experience.

And what fun we had. Craig's food is artistic, creative, and stretches your boundaries and comfort zones, but it is still approachable and more importantly, good to eat.

So the question I'm sure you have is...how can I get in on this goodness? Later this week, I'll post our second wolvesden dining experience and give you more information on how you can experience Craig's food art.

to be continued....

Wait, I have a job.

But it was nice for the last few months to not think about blogging. Not that I was blogging much to begin with, but it was nice nonetheless to take a break.

So what did I do during my free time? I took a lot of pictures, ate a lot of food, hung out with a lot of people, traveled, and gained weight. It was worth every pound. Just don't tell my doctor.

And for the few readers who still have my blog in your RSS feed, or occasionally check this blog, thank you. For those that left, no thank you. I'm kidding, I still love you too.

But anyhow, it's time to get back crackin' here.

New York, San Francisco, and Las Vegas all have great food scenes, but there is something special about LA and this is just one example:

We did not roast nor eat this man.

But if we did, he'd be damn tasty. I've seen what he eats. The man pictured above, as many in the food blog/restaurant world already know, is Mister Bill Esparza. When he's not leading intrepid explorers South of the border (Mexico, not Orange County) to explore culinary delights, he's showing us what the deal is in and around LA. You might have seen him on Top Chef Masters, chowing down geoduck or with Andrew Zimmern, showing him around Mexico. You can find Bill's rants and raves over at Street Gourmet LA.

Enough with Bill though. You're here for the food and I'm here to...well, talk about food. Bill and Evan Kleiman have teamed up to do a monthly pop up at Angeli Caffe showcasing the city's best "street foods" and this month it was Ricky's Fish Tacos.

Most everyone, well at least those in the foodie/yelp/twitter universe, is in the know about Ricky's Fish Tacos. And that the crux of the problem. In order for Ricky's and others like Ricky to survive, they need to expand their clientele beyond the FYT universe. These pop ups are one way to accomplish that goal, exposing the rest of this city to the fantastic street foods that can be found all over LA.

Bill and Evan discussing food hegemony. Or just negotiating who's going to bus tables.

So what exactly does Ricky's Fish Tacos serve?

Ensenada Style Fish Tacos

Ensenada Style Shrimp Tacos

Why are they so good? Great batter, fried just right, light, crispy and flavorful on the first bite. It's what Rubios and Wahoos wishes they could serve. The white sauce, salsa, everything works together and delivers. It's what you dream a properly fried fish taco should taste like.

In addition to tacos, the advantage of being at Angeli Caffe meant that you could pair a cerveza, or in this case a michelada, with your tacos.

Evan's Michelada: beer, fish sauce, chiles, soy sauce, and lime juice

Or if you were in the mood, a refreshing aguas fresca.

Aguas Melon: Cantaloop & Honeydew

Dinner concluded with a sundae.

Mexican Ice Cream Sundae: Ice Cream, Mexican Chocolate Sauce, and Nina's Seeds for Spice.

This would've been even tastier if the chocolate sauce was warm and gooey.

All in all, a fun experience. The evening was packed and lots of folks came out to support great street food. I'm looking forward to what pops up next at Angeli Caffe.

Ricky at work

Remember to go out and support your street food vendors, the mom and pop shops, the hole in the wall joints all over LA. It's what makes LA a great food city and it's what makes LA yummy.

Angeli Caffe
7274 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 936-9086

Ricky's Fish Tacos <- click to get his most up to date schedule and location.
1400 Virgil Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

By now, everyone knows that executive chef Daniel Humm picked up the James Beard Foundation"Best Chef: New York City" Award. That, however, wasn't the case when we stepped into Eleven Madison Park for an early and eventually memorable dinner.

Welcome to Eleven Madison Park from Nick Cannell on Vimeo.

First impressions are important and Eleven Madison Park does an excellent job here.

EMP is a beautiful space. I don't even feel qualified enough to properly describe it, but I'll give it a shot. There are giant windows that bathe the restaurant in a ton of natural light during the day. Through the windows, you can catch the tops of the trees across the street at Madison Park. The tables are large and spacious, just far enough apart from each other for you to have your privacy, but not so far as to make you feel like you're on an island. There's a lively bar populated by Credit Suisse bankers taking a break from deal making upstairs and injecting good background noise into main dining room. But really, enough about the space. We came for the food and there's a lot to go through.

EMP offers a three course prix fixe, a Spring tasting menu, as well as "Eleven," Chef Daniel Humm's selection of eleven courses. We chose the "Eleven" and for good measure, threw in a twelfth course. We'll go ahead and refer to the rest of the dinner as "Twelve."

Cheese Gougères

We were presented with these cheese gougères as we looked through the wine menu. They were tasty, light, and just enough to jump start the palate.

2006 Arnot-Roberts Hudson Vineyard, North Block Syrah

900 pages later, we settled on this bottle.

I didn't capture a picture, but EMP uses a lot of unique decanters and it was fun watching the different ones used throughout the evening.

Soon after the wine arrived, a long tray of hor d'oeuvres arrived at the table.

Carrot Marshmallow

Tuna Tartare

Foie Gras

Morel and Egg Quiche Tartlet

Sweetbread Cornet

The hors d'oeuvres were all good, but the sweetbread cornets stood out for us. I could have eaten a hundred of them without flinching. There was a decent amount of tweezer work put into each of these morsels of yum.

Before we jump into the food, I decided to have a derby julep, created by Jason Littrell of Death & Co.

Did it fit into our dinner plans? No. Did I care? Not really.

With our drinks ready and hors d'oeuvres completed, we jumped into our dinner.

Sterling Royal Caviar with spheres of smoked Sturgeon and Salmon Cream

I will admit, this was my first encounter with spheres. And yes, it was a flavor explosion in my mouth. I can't wait for the next sphere to pop in my mouth.

Santa Barbara Sea Urchin, Custard with Green Apple and Shellfish Ragout

I kept thinking I'd somehow crack the shell and they'd have to bring me another, but alas, nothing cracked. The concept behind the dish is to have the three different ingredients represent three different temperatures: cool, warm, hot. Each spoonful was rich, tart, and briny, a great combination.

Amuse Bouche: Garden Pea & Mint Lollipop

It arrived in a patch of grass and I wasn't sure what to expect, but a bite of the lollipop revealed exactly that: a hard shell with a soft center tasting like garden peas and mints. The amuse bouche was playful and fun, a theme that we'd continue to see the rest of evening.

Spring Out of Winter: Variations of Asparagus with Jamon Iberico

This was one of my favorite courses and I'm not even a big fan of asparagus. The combination of flavors and textures, the delicate nature of the dish, everything about it was on point. Who knew I'd fall in love with a veggie dish? Yes, it did have ham and that helped, but still, a great representation of the seasons.

Foie Gras Torchon with Tete de Cochon, Picked Spring Vegetables & Horseradish

A beautiful presentation which easily could have been a meal in of itself. EMP is liberal with their portion sizes and it's evident when you have this course. The plating of the dishes was done so well that it was almost difficult to take your fork and knife to the plate, almost.

The only weakness in my book was the bread service. The butters, especially the goat milk butter, were fantastic. However, the breads we did get were a little harder than expected.

Seared Atlantic Halibut with Smoked Spring Garlic and Crayfish

If restaurants could prepare Atlantic Halibut the way EMP did, I'd never order Chilean Sea Bass again. The Atlantic Halibut was incredibly tender and buttery, and melted in your mouth the moment you bit into it.

Poached Nova Scotia Lobster with Young Carrots, Ginger, and Vadouvan Granola

One of the more impressive aspects about EMP's Gourmand Tasting was that each dish was better than the next. The poached Nova Scotia lobster did not disappoint. There is a precision to the EMP staff that was fun to watch. Whether it was the specific routes they took through the dining room, the table side preparations, or the ironing of the table linens, the movements and actions of the staff were like a carefully choreographed performance. This video of EMP never gets boring watch.

Eleven Madison Park from Nick Cannell on Vimeo.

Earth and Ocean: Slow Cooked Poussin with Hawaiian Blue Prawns and Seaweed

This was an interesting dish and as soon as it was set in front of us, we reminisced about Ludo Lefebvre's Chicken Royale. Would it be as tender? Would it be as good? Yes and yes. At first glance, it didn't even look like chicken, based on the way it was presented, but indeed, a very unique dish.

The below video shows how the poussin is prepared.

The Art of Sous Vide - Organic Poulard with Black Truffles and Autumn Vegetables from Nick Cannell on Vimeo.

Herb Roasted Colorado Lamb with Sucrine Lettuce, Garden Peas and Oregon Morels

This course was actually Colorado Lamb prepared five ways. In addition to the obvious, there was lamb ravioli, lamb sausage, lamb short rib, and sweetbreads. Was it a lot of lamb? Yes, but it was incredibly good.

At this point, you started feeling the weight of all the previous courses settling into your system, but the EMP team does a great job of spacing out the courses, allowing you to recover before heading into the next course.

Lavendar Honey Glazed Grimaud Farms Muscovy Duck with Asparagus, Ramps and Strawberries

As you'll recall in the beginning, this was a Gourmand plus one tasting and the duck for two was the plus one for our party. Our waiter had a chuckle when I asked if we could add the duck to our tasting. Neither of us realized just how big the duck would be.

Waiter: "Of course you can, but you won't finish it. You'll have it for breakfast tomorrow."
Us: "So, we shouldn't order it? Is it excessive?"
Waiter: "Most definitely, but you should order it, it's fantastic. You'll be taking it home, everyone does."
Me: "We'll see about that."

Needless to say, we ate the whole thing. In addition to the duck breasts that were carved and plated tableside, a small dish duck confit was prepared in the kitchen and brought back to the table for us (not pictured). I strongly recommend this dish, regardless of whether you go down the a la carte or tasting menu path. The presentation and taste were both exemplary. The duck was seasoned well, the skin crisp, and the meat tender and juicy. Donald duck would not be happy.

Another video from the EMP site showing a similar duck dish.

The Art of Sous Vide - Roasted Duck with Endive, Orange & Ginger from Nick Cannell on Vimeo.

Fromage

A cheese cart to rival that of Bistro LQ's! At this point, I couldn't remember which three cheeses I had. I recall asking for: medium/soft, briny, mixed and that's exactly what I got. The fig tart was great. The raisin walnut bread that came along with the cheese course was excellent and helped redeem the bread service at EMP. This was the perfect transition into the final two courses.

"Soda Pop" with Tangerine, Grapefruit, Pomelo and Lemon

This dish literally pops when you take a bite. I already knew what I was in store for, but it was fun watching the table next to us experience this dessert. I can eat 10-15 tangerines a day, so I really loved all the different types of citrus that were part of this dessert. Plus it looked cool.

Milk & Chocolate: Variations of Flavor and Texture

I was not ready for this. It was awesome. It was not as rich as the dish suggests, and the different textures were very fun. I always enjoy a dish that brings a lot of surprises and this is one of those dishes that accomplishes that. Each bite was different and you never knew what you'd expect.

Top (L-R): Pink Peppercorn with Caramel, Chocolate Banana
Middle (L-R): Peanut Butter, Coconut with Chocolate Ganache, Meyer Lemon
Bottom (L-R): Toasted Sesame with Green Tea, Grapefruit with Fennel

I'm not normally a big fan of macarons and when we were presented with a gigantic plate of them, I wasn't really sure I'd enjoy them. But after describing the different types that were available, I threw caution to the wind (I mean come on, they're just macarons) and we got one of each of them. They were actually pretty good. My favorites were the peanut butter and meyer lemon. I'll have to give macarons another try.

Digestif: Guillon-Painturaud Cognac V.S.O.P.

Drinks for Two

To close out our tasting dinner, we were presented with a bottle of Guillon-Painturaud Cognac V.S.O.P. and told that we could enjoy as much of it as we wanted. And oblige we did. Right around this time, Will Guidara, general manager of EMP, stopped by the table and introduced himself. Earlier in the night, with texts from some guy and twitter updates from JBFA, I congratulated our server on chef Daniel Humm's win for Best Chef NYC. He was surprised that we knew he won as the staff had just been told minutes before. Apparently the story got to Will and when he came back from the JBFA Gala, he invited us to stay the night as there would be a party to celebrate the win. And oblige we did on this request too.

And was the party incredible! With nearly ever restaurant industry player in attendance, it was just awesome being a spectator. We enjoyed seeing Wylie Dufresne, Rick Moonen, Danny Meyer, Gabriel Kreuther, and many others throughout the night as we sipped on our cognac.

Later in the evening, we got to enjoy this scene. Yup, that's Daniel Boulud celebrating with Daniel Humm spraying the crowd with champagne. Memorable times indeed.

To close out the evening, ladies are given a parting gift, a small box of jellies.

EMP was of the best dining experiences I've had a chance to enjoy. It was refined, upscale, and fun, but without the pretentiousness typically associated with this type of evening. The accolades EMP has garnered is well deserved and I am glad I had a chance to be partake in such a unique evening. As many places as there are to enjoy in NYC, EMP will now become a regular stop whenever I'm in NYC.

Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10010
212-889-0905

I had that moment of clarity at Sapp Coffee Shop.

At this point, I might be the very last person in the food blogosphere to try Sapp, much less thai boat noodles. Hell, even Anthony Bourdain had it with Dylan of Eat, Drink & Be Merry.

So what have I been missing out on? Joy. Happiness. Flavor bombs. Bliss. Seriously, I mentally kicked myself as I slurped down this bowl of noodles, thinking "why the f**k did I not come here sooner????"

I love Pho and I usually get the #1 or #2, because it's the one bowl that gets all the fun parts in there: tripe, tendon, brisket, meatball, etc. But the one thing that was always missing for me was a strong, savory flavor profile. I can appreciate the light and delicate nature of good pho broth, but I always end up dropping in a dollop of hoisin and sriracha (ok, make that five dollops of sriracha) sauce into the bowl, and thereby really destroying the essence of the broth. But I LOVE a strong, savory soup.

Cue Sapp's thai boat noodles.

It was love at first smell. It might not be a big bowl, but it packs a big punch. Sweet, salty, sour, hot, spicy, you name it, it's in there and hitting your senses. And damn, did it smell good. Visually, it was just as complex. You have pork rinds, meat balls, tendon, beef liver, beef tripe, all bathing in a rich, dark, broth. Each spoonful, each bite was rich and unique. It was simply...fantastic.

It's heaven in a bowl and it's perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Sapp Coffee Shop
5183 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 665-1035

You can guess exactly when I took this picture from KFC's website.

Psych!!! Sike?!? wtf knows? Come on now. Did any of you really think KFC would extend an invitation to me to test out the Double Down before its launch on Monday? Here's what really happened:

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and we were headed to see Jill at Domaine LA when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a bunch of banners for the Double Down at the the KFC on the corner of Vine and De Longpre in Hollywood. Immediately, I thought "there's no way they'd put that many signs up for a product that wasn't available until Monday right?" Right? Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled into the KFC parking lot and said to C "I'm just going to run in real fast and see if the Double Down is really available today."

Once I was inside, I nearly crapped my pants when I realized: it WAS available. What to do though? I just had Sapp's Thai Boat Noodles, so I wasn't hungry. But did I really want to pass up on the opportunity to try out the Double Down? Minutes turned into hours (ok, it was a few more minutes), as I decided what to do. I wasn't planning on eating the Double Down today, especially since I had a lunch date meeting with one of my twitter unicorns, Jesse aka TriceraPops, Monday for the Double Down showdown tweetup. My fried chicken addiction got the better of me and I ended up getting in line to order one of these bad boys.

With the bag in hand, I jumped in the car, opened up the box and the first I did was...snap a pic.

What were my initial thoughts upon looking at this thing? It's f'ing substantial. It's a large ass sandwich, that's a lot of fried chicken and there is NO WAY that thing is only 540 calories. NO WAY. You're holding two pieces of fried chicken with some cheese, bacon and sauce. It's absurd. With that thought in my head, I took a bite of the thing.

Verdict? Wow, was this thing salty! I couldn't taste anything except salt. In fact, my tongue went numb after the second bite. I could feel my body starting to bloat from two bites of this bad boy. Whatever spices they used on the chicken, it was just too much. I couldn't taste the Colonel's special sauce, but it was probably adding to the saltiness of the "sandwich." 1380mg of sodium my ass. Everything on the nutritional content for the Double Down screams BS once you take a bite.

Don't get me wrong, I love my fried chicken, but when I order a two or three piece combo somewhere, I don't try to eat ALL of the chicken at once. It's eaten and enjoyed one piece at a time. For me, good fried chicken means taking a bite and getting just the right ratio of fried skin and juicy tender meat. You just don't get that with the Double Down because there is TOO MUCH OF IT AT ONCE! Even for someone like me who loves fried chicken, this was overkill. I never thought I'd say I had too much fried chicken, but I had to capitulate with the Double Down. We stuck it back in the box and tossed it in the back seat.

Later on in the afternoon, C and I decided to walk around Hollywood and Melrose like tourists. We'll take a little picture break before getting back to the Double Down situation.

With that little tour Hollywood and Melrose out of the way, dinner became our topic of discussion. Granted, my tongue still felt like it was stuck to a salt lick from the first two bites of the Double Down, but as a fried chicken fanatic, I couldn't let it go to waste. C suggested we eat light and at the moment, it clicked: the Double Down Chopped Salad was born.

Fried Chicken should never be wasted. NEVER.

Once we got home, we took the remainder of the the Double Down, heated it up and chopped it. It became the protein for our chopped salad.

We chopped the Double Down down to size

The Double Down plus the salad was an perfect evening dinner. Chopping up the Double Down brought the fried chicken into proportion and was a perfect complement to the chopped salad.

So in the end, we still salvaged the Double Down. On Monday, I will still slay the Double Down beast with TriceraPops. Game on KFC. Game on. And yes, my life insurance policy is updated.

You can get C's take on the Double Down here. She was the executive chef of the Double Down Chopped Salad.

Gram and Papas, home of Ludobites 4.0

While I do have a few reservations lined up for Ludobites 4.0, I was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest to the FoodDigger TastEvent: Ludobites 4.0 Preview Dinner. The evening was hosted by FoodDigger (aka: I didn't pay a dime), wine pairings were provided by Domaine LA, and the food, obviously provided by Chef Ludo.

Since this was a FoodDigger event, this meant that there would be bloggers. And there were lots of them.

Bloggers mingling and breaking some ice prior to dinner.

The LA Times was in attendance this particular night.

Point and shoot cameras were the camera of choice for this evening. If memory serves me right, I counted 3 dSLRs in the group. It brought a smile to this Canon S90 point and shoot user.

After a few glasses of bubbly, we jumped right into the first course.

Tartine Plate "Three Fat Textures"

What were the three fat textures: lavender lard, clarified butter and whipped brown butter. Diners at Ludobites 2.0 will remember the lavender, although this version doesn't share the same sweetness as 2.0. Needless to say, you'll be asking for more lard, sweet or not.

No, I didn't scoop the fat textures right into my mouth. I had this nice baguette to use.

While getting my fill of lard, I noticed the wineglasses had some engravings on them.

Before I continue with the food, I just have to say Jill of Domaine LA did an AMAZING job pairing wines with the preview dinner. If you are going to Ludobites, I strongly recommend you stop by her store. In fact I suggested that she create a Ludobites wine pairing package so that folks could stop by and pick up all the right wines for this dinner.

Chef Ludo is Iron Man.

Carrot Salad, Saffron Anglaise Cream, Pearl Onions, Citrus, and Mustard Powder

The saffron cream really brought this course together.

Chef Ludo is always working hard.

Egg, potato mousseline, lobster, borage flower

Not much to look at right?

Well, dig a little deeper and you get to the surprise.

This was freaking fantastic. I'm already trying to figure out how to ration this out on Friday. More than likely, we'll each be getting one...yes it's that good.

Jill from Domaine LA always made sure our courses were properly paired.

Foie gras croque-monsieur, lemon turnip chutney

The foie gras croque-monsieur makes its triumphant return from Ludobites 2.0. Chef Ludo used lemon turnip chutney since cherries are not yet in season.

In addition to his sous chef, Chef Ludo has quite a few interns this go around and it was fun watching them get harassed. The completely open kitchen will make for some interesting moments.

Burgundy Escargots, Garlic Flan, Green Jus (Parsley), Yellow Flowers

Saying that this dish is rich would be an understatement.

Saying that Gram and Papas is all kitchen would also be an understatement.

There's a whole lot of coqs in the kitchen.

It's a good thing all these coqs in training have mastered the art of synchronized plating.

Columbian River King Salmon Confit, Spring Cabbage, Orange Skin & Juniper Berries

This salmon, which was cooked to 85 degrees, was amazingly tender. The crispy salmon skin brought this dish home for me.

Poached Jidori Chicken, Crispy Skin with Hazelnuts, Garden Vegetables, Bacon Royale

Tender moist chicken, you'd almost think this was prepared sous-vide, but no, it was poached. And crispy skin?

Yes, crispy skin. I just wanted to emphasize that one more time: CRISPY SKIN. And BACON royale.

Brie Chantilly Napoleon, Honey Comb, Balsamic, Frisee Salad

The brie was churned for 2 hours. I feel sorry for the poor coq in training that had to do that. Thank you though, it took me 30 seconds to inhale this thing.

I just loved how this dish was plated. And anything that was churned for 2 hours deserves more love than just one shot.

Krissy does it all.

Dark Chocolate Souffle, Black Pepper Mill Chocolate Ice Cream, Chocolate Cream

The black pepper mill chocolate ice cream was intense.

After dinner, Chef Ludo spent a few minutes chatting with the group. Ludobites 4.0 is his twist on classic French cooking. As previous Ludobites diners know though, this is bound to change. Even Chef Ludo admitted that he'll likely bore of the classic French cooking concept in a few weeks, so it will be interesting to see how the menu evolves over the next eight weeks. A chef's imagination, especially Chef Ludo, cannot be restrained!

The preview dinner and wine pairing menu.

Ludobites 4.0 at Gram and Papas
227 East 9th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 624-7272
From 4/28/2010 - 5/28/2010

Post Script: There is ABUNDANT free street parking on 9th Street after 6p. My recommendation is to park on 9th or at the intersection of 9th and Los Angeles or 9th and Santee. If you do park on Santee, I recommend parking on the North side (left) of Santee rather than the South. Lots are available, but they are a bit farther away and there's really no need to park that far.

Insider Tip: The yellow loading zone is free and parking ticket free AFTER 6p and there are 2 spaces directly in front of the restaurant and 2 more across the street, so take advantage of those spots!

This dinner was free and sponsored by FoodDigger.

While I don't find myself in the South Bay often, I was impressed enough with Nozomi Sushi that I would definitely take another drive down to experience the omakase there.

The omakase is really a chef's chance to show off their skills. Chef Yasu's attention to detail really comes through as you taste and experience each course.

Not to mention, Chef Yasu is one funny guy, so make sure you try to get a seat with him when you are at Nozomi.

But enough of the chatter, really what you want to see is the food, and without further ado, a journey through Nozomi Sushi's omakase.

Dinner was kicked off with a cracker topped with uni, marinated squid and cream cheese. At first, I thought, cream cheese?!?! But yes, it was a rich and savory way to start off the evening.

The standard sunomono to cleanse the palate and soul for the onslaught that was about to begin.

The alfonsino is an ugly fish (based on what I saw on wiki). It's better known as red bream or Tasmanian snapper. It was a tasty fish and something I've never had before. The grated yuzu on top was the perfect complement.

The black sea breem was topped with a very interesting ponzu jelly that Chef Yasu carefully cut and formed. The level of intricacy and detail to each dish was amazing.

This red snapper was topped with a sesame soy sauce.

The hiramasa was brushed with soy sauce.

We take this quick commercial break to introduce you to Sapporo. Sapporo, it's Japanese for sharing...and getting your ass drunk since 1876.

Sorry about that, let's get back to the omakase.

We took a short break from the sushi extravaganza and the kitchen brought out these tasty plates of calamari. I can't remember what the green stuff was, but it provided a nice tart flavor to the calamari. I'm a sucker for anything tart and vinegary.

It's always exciting when the chef breaks out the torch. You know something is about to get seared/burned/fried.

I never had barracuda before. I kicked this barracuda's butt. Does a barracuda even have a butt? The barracuda was topped with yamaimo, which is a Japanese mountain yam. Supposedly it's an aphrodisiac. I requested a second serving.

We had a healthy debate about this shrimp since we misunderstood the chef and thought the shrimp came from the Dead Sea instead of the Red Sea. See what happens when you let Sapporo sponsor your dinner? (Note: Sapporo didn't sponsor jack ish...)

The orange clam was really good and didn't have the texture that you expect to get from a clam.

With all the unique cuts of fish we were experiencing, could I dare say that this was kind of...boring? The white thin kelp was a nice addition and reminded me of Shibuya's toro in Calabasas, CA.

Hamachi. Yum. No other words necessary.

This tuna was marinated in soy sauce which added a layer of flavor to it. Very interesting.

Toro. Sushi for the Gods. Need I say more? Melt in your mouth good.

What's under the hood?

Eggy goodness. A nice break from the sushi.

The Santa Barbara uni was rich and flavorful.

Rich and flavorful in a different way, I ate cod milt. I'll give you 30 seconds to google cod milt. Yes I ate it. Tasted kind of like monkfish liver.

The ikura had a ton of flavor. Dos Huevos senor!

Our last course was the anago with lemon zest. Topped with a little teriyaki sauce, this was a nice warm treat to end the meal.

Don't piss off the chef or he might just shank ya.

Nozomi stood out it with its eclectic selection of fish, attention to detail and delicate handiwork. It was an an excellent time, and I can't wait to go back.

Nozomi Sushi & Japanese Restaurant
1757 West Carson Street
Torrance, CA 90501-2828
(310) 320-5511