Andy Gavin's Blog, page 16
September 3, 2024
Szechuan Delicious Was
Restaurant: Szechuan Delicious
Location: 8921 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 559-9017
Date: December 29, 2023
Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese
Rating: Very tasty
_It’s been like 6 months since I was able to get out to an AFF, but the holidays provided a decent openning.
Szechuan Delicious is a relatively new addition to the profusion of often excellent SGV Szechuan restaurants.
Straightforward interior.
Good sized menu.
Salty / sweet peanuts.
Hot & Sour Jelly. Excellent version of t...
September 1, 2024
Raving about Miyagi
Restaurant: Sushi Miyagi [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]
Location: 150 S Barrington Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (323) 382-5635
Date: December 15, 2023
Cuisine: Japanese Sushi
Rating: Top Shelf Omakase Sushi
_Great sushi is always a good excuse to pull out the beloved Champagnes and White Burgundies. Tonight’s Foodie Club theme was Raveneau.
The unassuming storefront on the largely ignored side street that is S Barrington Ave.
The space is small but attractive (these are pre covid pics).
This is chef focused ...
August 30, 2024
Emperor Yamamoto
Restaurant: 鮨やまもと / Sushi Yamamoto
Location: N Rodeo Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Date: December 14, 2023
Cuisine: Japanese Sushi
Rating: One of the best meals of the year
_And so we come to the Foodie Club’s epic End of Year Blowout!
At one of LA’s most elite sushi spots, up stairs on Rodeo in the old Ginza Sushiko spot.
The sushi bar
Our special menu.
Ginger. I had about 10 of these.
Kichiji-rock fish in dashi. Mild and delicious. Super soft and tender.
Astrea caviar of course.
Kyoto...
August 28, 2024
Shin Sushi
Restaurant: Shin Sushi
Location: 16573 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91436. (818) 616-4148
Date: December 6, 2023
Cuisine: Japanese Sushi
Rating: Very solid high end sushi
_I’ve been wanting to try Shin for some time.
Here is our extremely enthusiastic host!
Appetizer plate of river crab, seasonal mushrooms, house-made tofu, monkfish liver, conche etc.
Little snapper and adult snapper of the same fish breed.
Black snapper.
Hokkaido scallop with yuzu.
Blue fin tuna from Spain with 100 year soy...
August 26, 2024
Culina Krug
Restaurant: Culina Modern Italian [1, 2, 3]
Location: 300 S Doheny Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310) 860-4000
Date: December 4, 2023
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Way downhill
_Hotel restaurants are always rebooting themselves, and so it goes with the 4 Seasons Beverly Hills. I ate here twice in 2017 and had very good meals, so I was reasonably optimistic coming into this Krug dinner.
Sebastian and David Chhay put together this really fun night of awesome wines at Culina in the Beverly Hills 4 Season...
August 24, 2024
An Array of Goodness
Restaurant: Array36 – 36宴
Location: 5449 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91776. (626) 866-0623
Date: December 2, 2023 and May 5 & July 21, 2024
Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese
Rating: Great new “high end” Chinese
_I was eager to find out about Array 36, another new “high end” Chinese resteraunt in the SGV — most similar to Orange County’s Chang’an.
We booked a private room for 14 and pre-ordered a number of dishes. I did the menu planning.
The service was very nice, although they did make us wait a...
August 22, 2024
Harlan part 2
Location: 9500 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 276-8500
Date: November 28, 2023
Cuisine: Modern Steakhouse
Rating: Amazing special meal
_Michael Palmer arranged this incredible Harlan tasting dinner in two parts. Not only did he procure the wines, but he organized with Piero Selvaggio our total takeover of the Cut lounge and a custom menu.
Classic Spago Tuna cones with that crispy/sweet shell.
Wagyu beef rolls.
Uni yuzu toast. The ingredients were ...
August 19, 2024
Eating D.C. – L’Avant-Garde
Restaurant: L’Avant-Garde
Location: 2915 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007. (202) 652-1855
Date: November 24, 2023
Cuisine: French
Rating: Great food and great service
_My friend Dave brought us to this excellent French restaurant.
L’menu.
An amuse of pepper mouse. Very creamy.
Bread and butter.
Bouillabaisse soup with macaroni & Marseille. rouille topped with puff pastry. I’ve never seen it in a puff pastry before!
The guts.
Scrambled egg topped with Pétrossian. Caviar “Tsar Impérial”.
...
August 17, 2024
Eating Virginia – Ruthie’s All-Day
Restaurant: Ruthie’s All-Day
Location: 3411 5th St S, Arlington, VA 22204. (703) 888-2841
Date: November 24, 2023
Cuisine: American
Rating: Rich but tasty
_My parents love this place too — but it is really good.
Busy on the morning after Thanksgiving.
The menu.
Pretty darn excellent cap too.
Marsh Hen Grits + Pulled Pork Bowl. Smoked pork, grilled peppers, pickled fresnons, topped with a fried egg.
Salad.
Buttermilk pancakes.
Three-egg omelette. Smoked ham, tomato, spinach, cheddar.
Br...
August 15, 2024
ThanksGavin 2023
The 2023 Thanksgiving spread. More limited and fewer people.
A bracing raddicio salad.
Wild rice.
The infamous spicy cranberry chutney.
My mom’s lighter take on green bean casserole.
Our BBQ turkey. Pretty much as excellent as always. Nice and smokey.
Sliced
Bits.
Stuffing.
I made the gravy. A bit livery and at first it was too thin.
And as there was no corn starch in the house I had to make a traditional roux.
That did the job right quick.
The 2023 ThanksGavin plate.
The 2023 Than...
