Andy Gavin's Blog, page 128
February 27, 2015
Elite New Years
Restaurant: Elite Restaurant[1, 2, 3]
Location:700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754.(626) 282-9998
Date: February22, 2015
Cuisine: CantoneseBanquet
Rating:Elite!
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Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places, butless well known is how great a Cantonese banquet place it is. For Chinese New Year, my Hedonist group decided to put this to the test.
We took over one of the private rooms with two tables and a big set menu.
2004 Domaine Carneros Brut. 88 points.Outstanding! Crisp and...
February 25, 2015
Shunji Super Omakase
Location:12244 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.(310) 826-4737
Date: February20, 2015
Cuisine: Japanese Sushi
Rating:First rate traditional sushi
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I’ve been meaning for some time to come back to Shunji for a mega dinner omakase and tonight finally provided the excuse. My wine friend Sam was in town with his friend Matt and so Erick and I draggedset up some serious Shunji.
Shunji, which took over for the “Mr. Cecil’s BBQ” in this oddball looking building on Pico has develop...
February 23, 2015
Mastro’s Ocean Club Malibu
Restaurant: Mastro’s Ocean Club Malibu
Location:18412 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265.(310) 454-4357
Date: February19, 2015
Cuisine:Steakhouse
Rating:Exactly like the other Mastro’s, but closer and with a better view!
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I’ve been meaning to try the new Mastro’s Ocean Club since it opened as it’s all of about 10 minutes from my house. My brother’s birthday provided an excellent opportunity!
As you can see, the view is awesome — and despite Charthouse deja vu, it’s a lovely location. As usual, it’...
February 20, 2015
Why Lucy Why?
Title: Lucy
Cast:Scarlett Johansson (Actor), Morgan Freeman (Actor), Luc Besson (Director)
Genre:Science Fiction
Watched: January7, 2015
Summary:Dumb ^ 3
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I loved The Fifth Element and The Professional (flaws and all), so if you add Scarlett Johansson into the mix, you’d hardly think things could go too wrong. But they do, they really do.
Lucy is just a stunningly dumb film trying to “act” like a smart one. Now, it’s not unwatchable (unless there is stock footage, a CGIaustralopithecine, or Morgan...
February 18, 2015
Tatsu – Ramen with a Soul
Restaurant: Tatsu Ramen
Location:2123 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025.(310) 684-2889
Date: Fall, 2014
Cuisine:Japanese Ramen
Rating:Nice modernization
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These days, Sawtelle is crawling with Ramen joints. From the uber specialized and rich Tsujita to the old school Daikokuya.
Tatsu does things a bit differently, with a sleek updatedlook and modernized take on the classics.
They even have ipad based ordering, down to minute customizations!
The modern interior.
Chashu bun. Sweet BBQ pork in a peking...
February 16, 2015
Lofty Heights
Restaurant: Daniel Benhaim
Location:Downtown LA
Date: February12, 2015
Cuisine:Modern
Rating:Awesome
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Adam, one of our Hedonist regulars, likes to organize high end dinners.
This particular one is game meat themed, and hosted in a DTLA loft.
The chef is Daniel Benhaim. He managed this amazing meal for 15 handling the kitchen all by himself with the help of two talented servers.
The loft is in a sketchy area, but has access to a giant roof with an amazing view of the city!
Tonight’s menu.
It should be n...
February 13, 2015
Spear your Meat
Restaurant:Spear Steak & Seafood House
Location:800 W 6th St,Ste 100.Los Angeles, CA 90017.(213) 688-3000
Date: February12, 2015
Cuisine:Steakhouse
Rating:Surprisingly good
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After the success of last month’s “Foodie Club instigated by Will” dinner, we wanted to do another one in February. We even selected and booked Chi Spacca, the Mozza Italian steakhouse, but at the very last minute (hours before) we tripped up on their “no more than 1 bottle per 2 people” policy. So I’m going to “dis” them here...
February 11, 2015
Jupiter Ascending – All in the Script
Title: Jupiter Ascending
Cast: Mila Kunis(Actor), Channing Tatum(Actor), Sean Bean (Actor) The Wachowskis(Writer/Directors)
Genre:Science Fiction / Space Opera
Watched: January 10, 2015
Summary:Awesome but flawed
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While original film works of Science Fiction arenot as rareas original High Fantasy, they are still rare indeed. So even after critics panned Jupiter Ascending, I sawit anyway. I’m glad I did, and so should you. First of all, you have to support any filmmaker orstudio willing to talk bo...
February 9, 2015
Oliverio 10x10x10
Restaurant: Oliverio[1, 2, 3, 4]
Location:9400 W Olympic Blvd.Beverly Hills,CA90212.(310) 407-7791
Date: January6, 2015
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: AwesomeFood & Wine
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Like I do, Foodie Club co-founder Erick arranges his own mega dinner for his birthday, this year at the fabulous Oliverio in the Avalon Hotel. He went all out and got the chef to “whip” up a massive 10 course tasting menu. Plus, he and I brought about 20 wines together to serve as a palette for the evening. We ended up going through 10...
February 6, 2015
Valentino – 2007 White Burgundy part 1
Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica[1, 2, 3, 4]
Location:3115 Pico BlvdSanta Monica, CA 90405.(310) 829-4313
Date: February3, 2015
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Fabulous!
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This dinner is the first part of the annual White Burgundy Premox test series, hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. This dinner covers 2007 Chablis, Meursault, and Corton Charlemagne. 2005 White Burgundy Dinner series Part 1 can be found here. You can also read about last year’s2004 Red Burgundy dinner and 2006 White Burgundy tasting....
