Andy Gavin's Blog, page 143
March 23, 2014
Good Morning Vietnam
Restaurant: Hotel Intercontinental Saigon
Location: Saigon
Date: March 22-24, 2014
Cuisine: Vietnamese / International
Rating: First rate buffet
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Having arrived at 2am, my first meal of the trip was breakfast, in this case at our hotel, the Intercontinental Saigon. Right off the bat the buffet looked impressive.
Fresh squeezed juices.
Cane sugar syrup for sweetener!
The French presence in Vietnam may have been miserable for the country, but it did leave them an excellent baking tradition. The custard...
March 21, 2014
Chinese at 20,000 feet
Restaurant: Air China First Class
Location: somewhere over Alaska
Date: March 20, 2014
Cuisine: Chinese?
Rating: not bad for a plane
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So to open up the first meal of my 2014 Asia trip what better than some plane food, in this case, Air China First Class (yay miles) on the way over Alaska.
‘nuf said.
Our menu this afternoon.
2011 Hospices de Beaune Volnay 1er Cru Cuvée Blondeau. 88 points.The nose was dominated by oak, which continued to distract on the palate. But to find a 1re cru Burg on a plane? W...
March 13, 2014
Totorakuly Epic!
Restaurant: Totoraku[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Location:10610 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.
Date: March 12, 2014
Cuisine: Japanese Yakiniku
Rating: Best beef in town!
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About twice a year my Hedonist group makes a regular pilgrimage to Totoraku, LA’s “secret beef” restaurant. Toto (as its affectionatly known ) serves a refined version of Japanese Yakiniku, which is Beef BBQ originally from Korea but filtered through Japanese sensibility.
This time, after some of our 30 person mega dinners, we kept it to...
March 9, 2014
Game of Thrones Draws Near
Tonight (3/9/14) HBO released yet anotherGame of Thronesseason 4 trailer:
I’m really loving this one, certainly makes the season look pretty awesome. I particularly like the character driven approach that emphasizes the big themes and moral ambiguity. GOT, despite being Fantasy fan boy fodder, is really one of the most adult shows on television. And I mean that in the best way. Martin really touched on a lot of universal themes of power and family and the showrunners have chosen to underline t...
March 8, 2014
Valentino – 2006 White Burgundy
Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica[1, 2, 3]
Location:3115 Pico BlvdSanta Monica, CA 90405.(310) 829-4313
Date: March 6, 2014
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Fabulous!
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Last year I went to an epic three night 2005 White Burgundy Dinner series (Part 1 can be found here), hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. This year, he’s mixing it up a bit and we did a 2004 Red Burgundy dinner and tonight’s 2006 White Burgundy tasting.
2006 was a vintage that initially was a bit heavy and overly tropical, but let’s see ho...
March 6, 2014
Republique of Jadot
Restaurant: Republique[1, 2]
Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036.(310) 362-6115
Date: March 4, 2014
Cuisine: Modern Bistro French
Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service
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Republique is certainly one of LA’s most anticipated recent openings. Taking over the gorgeous old Campanile space, this replacement is helmed byWalter Manzke and Margarita Manzke (of Church & State and Milo & Olive). As you’ll see, while the core cuisine marries Brasserie with neo-tapas, this is a...
March 4, 2014
Nothing like N/Naka
Restaurant: N/Naka[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Location:3455 S. Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034. 310.836.6252
Date: March 1, 2014
Rating: Awesome
ANY CHARACTER HERE
For some reason I haven’t been to N/Naka in over a year (even though I love it). So when one of my Burgundy friends invited me we jumped on a return visit to see what the fabulousChef Niki Nakayama has been up to!
The setting is elegant, minimalist, and very Japanese.
Tonight’s rough menu (kitchen notes).
1995 Bruno Pa...
February 28, 2014
Valentino – 2004 Red Burgundy
Restaurant: Valentino Santa Monica
Location:3115 Pico BlvdSanta Monica, CA 90405.(310) 829-4313
Date: February 27, 2014
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Fabulous!
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Last year I went to an epic three night 2005 White Burgundy Dinner series (Part 1 can be found here), hosted by Burg-meister Don Cornwell. This year, he’s mixing it up a bit and we’re doing a 2004 Red Burgundy dinner and a separate 2006 White Burgundy tasting next week.
2004 red is a peculiar vintage. While plenty ripe, it has this reputation fo...
February 27, 2014
Late Night Medicine
Restaurant:Red Medicine[1,2, 3, 4]
Location: 8400Wilshire Blvd.Beverly Hills, Ca. 90211. 323-651-6500.
Date:February 19, 2014
Cuisine: Elfin Fantasy Food
Summary: Open Late!
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On my brother’s birthday this year we got out of a show (The Book of Mormon) late and needed to find some 11pm dinner, which isn’t always easy in LA. We ended up at the radical Red Medicine.
From my cellar: 1985 Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva. 92 points. My brother likes it old, so I grabbed this — and as we had no...
February 24, 2014
Tiffany had a Little Lamb
Restaurant: Old Sasoon Bakery
Date:February21, 2014
Cuisine: Armenian
Rating: Great meat!
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My Hedonist group periodically does big cookouts at member’s homes. Tonight’s theme is Whole Stuffed Lamb, catered by Old Sassoon Bakery, a Glendale Armenian place.
The romantic little courtyard is packed with 25 or 30 of us gluttons.
Such is our wonderful weather in LA that even in February it’s possible to have an enjoyable dinner on the patio!
The spread.
Some French bread and cheese (not from Sassoon).
Chees...
