Andy Gavin's Blog, page 12
November 27, 2024
ABSteak Night
Restaurant: ABSteak
Location: 8500 Beverly Blvd 111 level 1, Los Angeles, CA 90048. (424) 286-9900
Date: May 10, 2024
Cuisine: KBBQ
Rating: Moderately sterile high end KBBQ
_Tucked away right next to the former Angler space is this Korean BBQ. A bunch of us former (and one current) Naughty Dog gathered for Brian’s birthday dinner.
The menu.
Banchan salad.
Condiments.
Kimchee.
Fried rice cake or tofu – bland.
Bean sprouts.
My favorite, the crunchy radish.
Spicy turnips or similar.
Y...
November 25, 2024
Drouhin il Pastaio
Restaurant: Il Pastaio [1, 2, 3]
Location: 400 N.Canon Drive. Bevery Hills, CA 90210. Phone: 310.205.5444
Date: January 24, 2019
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Superb
_Liz Lee of Sage Society always puts on fabulous winemaker dinners. She focuses on making every element perfect from the location, food, wines and has some of the best winemakers in the world.
This dinner focuses on classic Burgundy Negotiant Maison Joseph Drouhin.
Il Pastaio has a nice private room — or maybe it was a section of the ...
November 23, 2024
Yangban at Pasjoli
Location: 2732 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (424) 330-0020
Date: April 24, 2024
Cuisine: Bistro French
Rating: Really good
_Pasjoli is an elevated French bistro from award-winning chef Dave Beran. The restaurant pays homage to French cuisine utilizing the bounty of produce available in Southern California. Dave Beran is the guy behind Dialogue, which I didn’t love on my single visit. In any case, looking at the photos of Pasjoli (before I went) it looked ve...
November 21, 2024
Wallflower
Restaurant: Wallflower
Location: 609 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291. (424) 744-8136
Date: April 18, 2024
Cuisine: Southeast Asian Fusion
Rating: Tasty
_Interesting that Southeast Asian is having a moment. Just on the westside we have Cassia, Cobi’s, and now Wallflower in the fusion arena alone.
The menu.
Crab rendang dip. Blue crab, beef rendang spice, shrimp chips.
Shrimp chips.
som dtam salad. green papaya, jicama, carrot, tomato, ebi peanut, thai chili.
duck lumpia. cirspy duck roll, cermi...
November 19, 2024
Vespertine 2.0
Restaurant: Vespertine [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Location: 3599 Hayden Ave, Culver City, CA 90232. (323) 320-4023
Date: April 19, 2024
Cuisine: Jordan merges back in Meteora ideas
Rating: Expensive, but flavors are better than old Vespertine
_Vespertine is a very unusual confluence of all sorts of artsy weirdness. It’s helmed by Jordan Kahn formerly of Red Medicine and currently of Destroyer across the street. I’ve generally been fond of Jordan’s unique culinary style. Post-pandemic he opened Meteora and...
November 17, 2024
Date Night at the Georgian
Restaurant: The Georgian Hotel
Location: 1415 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-9945
Date: April 13, 2024
Cuisine: American
Rating: Solid, great room
_Date night out…
With a menu crafted by Chef David Almany and inspired by the vibrant cuisine of coastal Italy interspersed with iconic global dishes, a cocktail menu stretching from 1930s classics to modern explorations, and a carefully crafted selection of wines and spirits from Wine Director Kristin Olszewski, allow yourself to be w...
November 15, 2024
Living Large with Lamb
Restaurant: Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine [1, 2]
Location: 742 W Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91803. (626) 782-7555
Date: April 14, 2024
Cuisine: Uyghur Chinese
Rating: Excellent execution, and closer to Afghan than Chinese
_It took Yarom and I about 4-5 years to manage to come back here for dinner with a large enough group to order the whole roast lamb!
Dolan’s, which is a new Uyghur place celebrating the cuisine of Western China — the part above Tibet known as Jing Jiang. Perfect for lunch to as they ...
November 12, 2024
Game Night at STK
Restaurant: STK Westwood
Location: 930 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024. (310) 659-3535
Date: April 12 & Oct 26, 2024
Cuisine: Steak house
Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian
_Erick put together this game guy dinner at the Westwood STK. This is similar too, but different location than the older Hollywood location.
The menu.
Bread with blu cheese butter.
Tuna Tartare. hass avocado – taro chips – soy-honey emulsion.
Maple & Bourbon Nueske’s Bacon. apple cabbage slaw – pickled mustard see...
November 10, 2024
Yangban Society
Restaurant: Yangban
Location: 712 S Santa Fe Ave Los Angeles, CA 90021. (213) 866-1987
Date: April 11, 2024
Cuisine: Korean Deli Fusion?
Rating: Really tasty!
_I’ve wanted to try this well reviewed Korean and “Deli?” Fusion for a long time.
Yangban, the genre-defying Korean American culinary ‘conversation’, which opened in Los Angeles’ Arts District, re-opens after a transformative interior overhaul of the space, revealing an evolution of the highly acclaimed restaurant. Now featuring a full-...
November 8, 2024
Eating San Fran – Mister Jius
Restaurant: Mister Jiu’s
Location: 28 Waverly Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108. (415) 857-9688
Date: April 2, 2024
Cuisine: Chinese Fusion
Rating: Hybrid modern Chinese
_Always gottta try the interesting Chinese, even if it’s a bit fusion.
Here we go.
The tasting menu.
Amuse of caviar and nori.
big eye tuna, beets, blood orange, lanzhou chili. Sweet and tangy.
grilled mackerel, snap peas, green farro, black bean, pistachio.
dungeness crab, asparagus, tofu skin, chicken consommé.
chicken, sh...
