Andy Gavin's Blog, page 64
October 14, 2019
Skaf’s Lebanese Cuisine
Restaurant: Skaf’s Lebanese Cuisine
Location: 367 N Chevy Chase Dr. Ste A, Glendale, CA 91206
Date: August 27, 2019
Cuisine: Lebanese
Rating: Awesome mezzes
_Hedonist Anthony set up this particular dinner because he considers Skaf’s to be the best Lebanese in town. Now this is controversial — and the Armenian contingent at dinner doesn’t agree, but in any cases I trekked out to Glendale to check it out.
Street corner location in Downtown Browdown.
Inside is very casual. This is basically a...
October 11, 2019
Yunnan Night
Restaurant: Yunnan Restaurant
Location: 301 N Garfield Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 571-8387
Date: August 25, 2019
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: Really interesting and delicious
_I’ve been looking forward to this one, as I always love unusual regional Chinese.
It’s the usual SGV sort of frontage, including the B rating.
The huge menu.
The space is divided between a more formal back half with semi-private rooms and a more casual front.
Yunnan restaurant is well known for its exte...
October 9, 2019
Sloan not on Loan
Restaurant: Private Chef, David Slatkin
Location: Bel Air
Date: August 23, 2019
Cuisine: American
_Somehow this season I keep getting “dragged” into New World themed meals, so it’s back again to the house of my friend and wine journalist Jeff Leve for a slate of Cabernet Sauvignon featuring top wines from Sloan.
Member Jeff’s lovely backyard and features food by private chef David Slatkin.
Our host Jeff, and to his left one of the principals at Sloan.
Chef David Slatkin leans in.
2014 Sl...
October 7, 2019
The Valley’s Secret Sushi|Bar
Restaurant: Sushi|Bar
Location: 16101 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91436. 818.876.0818
Date: August 21, 2019
Cuisine: Japanese Sushi
Rating: Very good, particularly for white guy sushi
_I’ve wanted to try Sushi|Bar since I first heard about it as it’s an unusual sushi bar concept.
Not the fact that’s it’s located on Ventura Blvd — which is about as typical as you get for sushi bars — but that it’s a secret place tucked behind Woodley Proper and Scratch|Bar.
In this very 90s Valley mall.
Hidden...
October 4, 2019
Heroic Wine Bar
Restaurant: Heroic Deli and Wine Bar [1, 2]
Location: 516 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 490-0202
Date: August 17 and September 27, 2019
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Pretty awesome, actually
_Heroic Deli and Wine Bar is a double concept run by my friend Jeffrey Merrihue (we share an ex-partner in common). By day, it puts the modern spin on the Italian American “hoagie” concept, by night it serves as a wine bar with exceptionally fresh take on modern Roman (the city, not the emp...
October 2, 2019
Quick Eats – Dim Sum House
Restaurant: Dim Sum House
Location: 1822 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 441-9651
Date: August 20, 2019
Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum
Rating: Mediocre but theoretically fast
_Dim Sum House is a newish strip mall take on dim sum.
It’s just in the mini-mall, right south of Santa Monica Blvd, on Westwood — next to the little Pharmacy and dry cleaners. I think it’s owned by the same people as Hop Woo.
The interior is very Chinese — could be in the SGV — but it’s not. Oddly, even though...
September 30, 2019
Ring in Tang Gong
Restaurant: Tang Gong
Location: 111 N Atlantic Blvd #350, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 888-5188
Date: August 14, 2019
Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum
Rating: Great new made to order Dimsum
_Our friend Derek has been the manager variously at Elite Seafood, World Seafood, and China Red.
Now he’s helping open up Monterey Park newcomer, Tang Gong.
In an era when the Cantonese Palaces are closing, it’s rare to have a new one opening up — including all the glitzy Hong Kong style trappings. These pla...
September 27, 2019
Providence Chef’s Table
Restaurant: Providence [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Location: 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 460-4170
Date: August 12, 2019
Cuisine: Cal French
Rating: Awesome food, awesome night
_I usually make it to Providence about once a year, and so we return with the Foodie Club for a small, epic Chef’s Table night.
While the colors are different, Providence still looks a lot like Patina to me — as the layout is basically the same.
This is the view from the chef’s special tasting room —...
September 25, 2019
Cali Pinot Kali
Restaurant: Kali [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
Location: 5722 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. (323) 871-4160
Date: August 9, 2019
Cuisine: New American French
Rating: Fake Pinot is still Fake
_It’s been a while since I made it to Kali to visit my friend Chef Kevin Meehan — doesn’t seem like so long but time flies — and so with him having earned a Michelin star and our Sauvages group heading there for gasp… fake pinot (New World Pinot Noir) I figured I’d join in.
The interior is more or less...
September 24, 2019
The Last of Us Part II – Release Date Reveal Trailer
It’s been a while since we heard too much about The Last of Us part II, but rest assured that Naughty Dog has been plugging away full steam on what promises to be a second epic installment. So, today (9/24/19) they announced that the game will be available next year on February 21, 2020 and we got this juicy new cinematic trailer:
Ellie has grown up, and is making choices of her own, plus, after some degree of absence, we’re reminded that that Joel still has her back too. Looks gorgeous, cre...
