Andy Gavin's Blog, page 140
May 30, 2014
BOS – Nose to Tail
Restaurant:BOS
Location:424 E. 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012.213.700.7834
Date: May28, 2014
Cuisine:Exotic Cow Parts
Rating: Whacky concept / Excellent chef
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BOS, a new opening in LA’s extended downtown, is quite the unique concept. It focuses on the cow — and all the cow. This is a very modern restaurant, serving up very contemporary (but not molecular) American food, using unusual proteins and all sorts of fusion influences.
The mini-mall frontage.
BOS is located in Little Tokyo’s Honda Plaza.
The...
May 28, 2014
Eating Hanoi – Club Opera
Restaurant: Club Opera
Location:Hanoi
Date: March 28, 2014
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating:Upscale take
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Our second night in Hanoi brought us (accidentally) to an even more upscale take on Vietnamese cuisine. Of course, it still had the giant menu.
And fresh spring rolls. Just here, you get an individual sauce on a spoon!
Or these Friend Spring Rolls Hue Imperial Style impaled on a coconut.
Or these other fried spring rolls.
Mango Salad with Grilled Australian Beef. These are always great.
This was a kind o...
May 26, 2014
Seasons of Hanoi
Restaurant: Seasons of Hanoi
Location:Hanoi
Date: March 28, 2014
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: Lovely
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Hanoi has very good food. Our guide the first day took us to this upscale location.
Hanoi is filled with lovely colonial buildings and many of the city’s better restaurants seem to have taken them over as idyllic settings. From a glance, you can see this isn’t a local joint, which is more a plastic stools on the sidewalk kinda thing.
I was too hot and exhausted to photograph the 15 page menu.
Seafood...
May 22, 2014
Wolvesmouth – Cut Your Teeth
Restaurant: Wolvesmouth: Cut Your Teeth
Location:?
Date: May16, 2014
Cuisine:Modern
Rating:Pretty awesome
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I’ve been wanted to try out Wolvesmouth for a long time, but the whole normal “application” process is highly irritating. I have so many elaborate dinners (several a week) that I don’t feel the need to fill out lengthy applications selling myself or call places at exactly this time. But my friend Stewart who has been many times secured tickets for my wife and I to this special installation di...
May 20, 2014
Food as Art – Babita
Restaurant:Babita Mexicuisine
Location:1823 S San Gabriel Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776.(626) 288-7265
Date: May17, 2014
Cuisine: ModernMexican
Rating:A rare find
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Chef Roberto and his wife Elba run this unique gem in the San Gabriel Valley. It’s family owned, upscale, tiny, chef driven and elaborate. And it’s Mexican food! Los Angeles has no shortage of Mexican restaurants, both of the classic and modernized formats, but we don’t have a lot (if any others?) that strive for an upscale ingredient foc...
May 18, 2014
Game of Thrones – Episode 37
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Watched: Episode 37 – May18, 2014
Title:Mockingbird
Summary: Fabulous episode
ANY CHARACTER HERE
As I said last week: poor Ty. Quite a pickle he’s got himself into. Anyway, as usual, I’ll break down the threads into their sub plots for discussion.
Tyrion-Of course this is the thread we are most interested in. It takes the form of a test of three champions:
Champ 1: Jaime scolds Tyrion for throwing his life away. The dialog is so sharp — actually it’s so sharp...
May 15, 2014
Yarom Shot Everything
Restaurant:Il Grano[1,2,3,4,5, 6, 7]
Location:11359 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025.310.477.7886
Date: May 12, 2014
Cuisine: Italian
Rating:Awesome night!
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About once a year, my Hedonist group heads to Il Grano for a game feast cooked up by master chef Sal Marino. This time, nearly every animal featured was shot by Yarom!
Tonight’s menu.
1990 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. IWC97+.Full copper-gold color. Initially restrained, brooding nose exploded with aeration, showing apple, orange, apricot...
May 13, 2014
Wake up Hanoi
Restaurant: Hanoi Metrolpole
Location: Hanoi
Date: March 28, 2014
Cuisine: International
Rating: Much better than at the Hilton
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Moving north through the DMV into Hanoi we come to rest at theSofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi.
This is a seriously nice hotel. It’s up there with some of the best city hotels I’ve stayed in like the Tokyo Park Hyatt and the Four Seasons Istanbul.
Plus there’s that lovely colonial vibe. Back when labor was EVEN cheaper (read even more exploited) they really knew how to build...
May 11, 2014
Game of Thrones – Episode 36
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Watched: Episode 36 – May11, 2014
Title:The Laws of Gods and Men
Summary: Good stuff
ANY CHARACTER HERE
Joff’s death set it up, but the next big event is finally here: the trial of Tyrion Lannister. Poor Ty.
Anyway, as usual, I’ll break down the threads into their sub plots for discussion.
Davos & Stannis- Have made the journey across the narrow sea to Bravos. This isn’t in the books as far as I can remember, and it’s our first (but not last) glimpse of the c...
May 8, 2014
SOS – Smoke Oil Salt
Restaurant:Smoke Oil Salt
Location:7274 Melrose Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90046.(323) 930-7900
Date: May6, 2014
Cuisine:Spanish
Rating:Good “New American” Spanish
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Hedonist leader Yarom is an investor in the new Smoke Oil Salt, a tapas bar fromAdam Fleischman (Unami Burger) and Perfecto Rocher (Lazy Ox), so it’s only natural that the group should hit it up just a few weeks after opening.
Our special menu tonight, but we had considerably more than this as you’ll see.
2002 Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blanc...
