Asia AND Cuba both in West Hollywood? Sign me up!

It felt like a dream, driving through the gigantic doors sculpture at the Mondrian last week. The hotel is surreal, as white as a laundry detergent commercial and just as tranquil. The doors leading out to the dining patio were wide open, allowing a breeze to come through the restaurant. Asia de Cuba had been on my overpriced list for sometime, a place I avoided because of the perceived high cost-benefit ratio. I can't speak for the dinner, but I discovered that a relaxing lunch can be just the calm you need in the middle of Los Angeles.

More...

I started with the black bean and chickpea dumplings in a tomatillo-ginger sauce that tasted vaguely like Indians samosas. I'm not a fan of chickpeas, so maybe the appetizer would have been less lost on someone else. The tempura rock shrimp with black bean aioli, jalepeno aioli and sweet chili sauce were much more delightful. Fried just right, these little morsels had a light tempura coating that worked well with each of the sauces. However, the shrimp themselves were small and didn't taste particularly fresh.


Tempura rock shrimp with three dipping sauces

My entree, as well as the entrees of three of my other coworkers, was the miso cured Alaskan butterfish with black bean edamame salad and tempura shisito peppers. The salad was amusing, the green and black colors playing nicely off each other. Flavorwise, it lacked any strong accents. I would have preferred the shisito peppers fried without the tempura coating. The fish had a sweet miso glaze and was grilled to excellent doneness of barely flaking.

Miso cured Alaskan butterfish

Asia de Cuba exceeded my expectations. I'd come back just for the venue, but the food wasn't a letdown either. The gigantic terra cota flower pots housed miniature trees and created a beautiful outdoor dining terrace. It's worth checking out.

Asia de Cuba at the Mondrian Hotel
8440 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, 90069
(323) 848-6000
Website

^

Read More

O Rly? Actually it's Orris on Sawtelle

Orris, with its whimsical font, has always been in the corner of my eye in the last four years. Everytime I pass through Sawtelle, I always see the purple sign beckoning. But it wasn't until this last weekend that I finally dropped in.

More after the jump...

HC of LA OC Foodventures and I have been planning to come to this restaurant for weeks. Things came up, including a rushed LASIK surgery on my part, and we pushed the dinner back. Eventually, the two of us and my girlfriend found an early Saturday night to try the place. Pronounced "Ore-reese" as explained by the waiter, the restaurant is a Japanese inspired French restaurant serving tapa style small plates. If that isn't a mouthful, the portion-sizes certain aren't either. The menu is split into two simple sections "hot" and "cold." Inside, I found the place tastefully decorated and the waiter knowledgeable and charismatic. In fact, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised if this was his day job and he spent his nights rehearsing his audition monologues like the rest of Los Angeles' waitstaff.

We decided to order two dishes each, a hot and a cold. In the end, six dishes for three people was slightly too little so we topped it off with a dessert. The crab and cucumber salad had a creamy ginger sauce but otherwise tasted plain. I could see it being a more successful dish if the crab itself was better. Being from San Francisco, I tend to be a dungeness crab snob. Also, a crab salad should not have pieces of shell. The braised duck breast with yuzu chili paste did not have much duck flavor and should be avoided.

Crab and cucumber salad

Duck breast

The star of the night was ordered by HC--trio of smoked salmon croquettes with caramelized onions, creme fraiche, and flying fish roe. The amazing combination of both tastes and textures could hold its own as either an appetizer or even a light main course. Sweet onions combined with the tart cream and smokey salmon to top the hashbrown consistency of the potato pancake. Little tobiko bits brought briny flavor grainy texture. I'm beginning to think that smoked salmon makes anything better, just as my previous theory with bacon at Fogo de Chao.

Salmon croquettes

For the heavier side of the meal, our Berkshire pork medallions were tender but not much more. The heavy peppercorn sauce covered everything. The shrimp mousse in the ravioli was hardly a factor in what amounted to more of a wonton than a ravioli drenched in a shiitake mushroom sauce. Served with a side of bread, the shiitake sauce made a great dip. Our foie gras in sweet-soy reduction finished it off with a nutty seared texture. I'll admit, I rarely have foie gras, but it always reminds me of uni. It's something I'll eat, but probably not order exclusively.

Pork medallions

Ravioli

Foie gras

The banana and fig flambe lacked the tableside pyrotechnics I like to see in flambes. Also, the menu said blueberries, which were clearly lacking in our dessert. It was the first time I've seen figs with ice cream, but they did a great job cutting through the sweetness. My greatest discovery was actually my beverage for the evening--Asahi Black. Unlike most Japanese beers which are far too light for my tastes, this one had body and depth, but still tasted pure and refreshing. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with Orris. But if I'm looking for something Japanese with a little more French, I'd return. If I'm looking for Japanese with a little more Italian, it's off to Restaurant 2117.

Flambe

Orris
2006 Sawtelle Blvd,
West Los Angeles, 90025
(310) 268-2212
$10-15 per plate

^

Read More

Search for Sweetbreads

Restaurant 2117
(310) 477-1617
2117 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, 90025
$30 for three small plates

I had checked the menu before arriving and I promised myself that no matter what I decided to order, the sauteed sweetbreads would be my appetizer. My determination came from the fact that I've just never had sweetbreads before. Don't let the name fool you, as any foodie worth his salt knows, the sweetbreads are the thymus glands generally of beef. Now whereas that should be common knowledge, who knows what thymus gland actually does? According to Wikipedia, in humans it is located in the chest cavity behind the sternum and is instrumental in the formation of infection fighting T-cells. Sweetbreads, like giblets and kidneys are considered offal, organ meats that are not skeletal muscle. Apparently liver is an exception though. Now I've never liked liver as a kid, and my one experience with foie gras wasn't that gratifying; but sweetbreads were my new quest dish, something I just had to try.

Besides having the most difficult name to remember, this restaurant looks very non-discreet. I actually forgot to take a picture of the exterior because it was so plain. The restaurant is named simply after its address. Chef Hideyo Mitsuno makes predominately French dishes with Italian pastas, both accented with Japanese ingredients and flavors. Actually, the menu is very similar to Sawtelle Kitchen, although I'd argue that Sawtelle Kitchen leans more towards Italy while Restaurant 2117 has a Gallic slant.

Since I had just gone to Josie the night before and planned to go to a buffet the next night, I opted for three small plates to get a good sampling of the food. Come to think of it, I probably should've tried the pasta too, but the appetizer menu was too tempting.

Half duck leg confit, ravigote sauce


Following my somewhat disappointing duck confit at Comme Ca, I hoped to redeem my opinion of duck confit. Traditionally, a duck or goose leg is salted and herbed, then submerged in its own rendered fat for preservation. What part of that sentence doesn't sound finger-licking good? This duck confit pictured above had a much richer flavor than the one I've had before. The duck flavor was prominent, as it should be since it is such a delicious poultry. Underneath the meat was something like a relish which contrasted nicely with the salty leg meat.

Kobe beef short ribs, Thai style, spicy lemon fish sauce


What I liked about this dish was its startling simplicity. It really showcased the quality meat, and the sauce didn't distract too much from that. This dish was loaded with umami, and I had that satisfying lip-smacking feeling for an hour or two after the meal. I think if the fish sauce was lime accented instead of lemon, it might have benefited the beef more. At least it would've offered something sweeter to cut through the fat.

Sauteed sweetbread, port wine sauce


Here was the reason I came, those two cripy nuggets on a lake of port reduction. When I say nuggets, I mean McDonald's chicken McNuggets. These resembled them in form; I was actually quite surprised. I've seen raw sweetbreads, but never breaded and fried as they are commonly prepared. Taking a bite, I couldn't keep that thought of chicken nuggets out of my head, and rightly so. These flavors were the same ones I encountered in my Happy Meals as a kid, except much more intense. They were incredibly juicy and the texture was much creamier than that of the mechanically processed chicken. I would best decribe these sweetbreads as super nuggets, or what nuggets would taste like if you paid $10 a plate. I was not exactly disappointed, but I felt like there are many more things you can do sweetbreads.

Overall, Restaurant 2117 is actually a great place to go for some simple French food at an affordable price. The Kobe style meatloaf was delicious, although I still believe that's a waste of good beef. And if it was waste meat anyway, as common in ground beef, would you want to eat a loaf of it? Next time I come, I will try the pastas.

Read More

I'd Like My Sushi De-fused Please

One of my pet peeves when evaluating a restaurants is any variation of the word "fusion." Commonly seen as "Asian-fusion" it's supposed to mean some sort of combination of ingredients, techniques or flavors. When I see fusion, i just think "pass." It's a shame really; after all, there are few cuisines I will judge right off the bat based solely on a name, but fusion restaurants just tend to fail.

It's not that I'm against combining cuisines. To me, authenticity is one thing, but good food can benefit from spanning other cuisines. New creative combinations, while often fail, can open new venues for gastronomic delight. Take for instance, New American, Nouvelle French and Nuevo Latino. My issue is with the word "fusion" itself. The only time I want to see fusion is in the colorful blue and orange commercials for Gillette razors. It has just been degraded into a new "it" word that everyone says but no one really understands. Actually, in most cases, the creative effort is nothing more than slapdashing a few ingredients that don't actually belong together. Proper culinary innovation involves science, logic and experimentation. But don't dare experiment on me and charge me for it. Many restaurants have picked up on this trend too and are moving away from referring to themselves as such. Junnoon in Palo Alto actually called me and told me that I could use a picture for FoodDigger so long as I make sure not to call them fusion cuisine.

I'm not discouraging the practice of creative combinations of cuisines. Food is an art too, and as such, needs innovation to stay alive. Just don't call it fusion, unless you're really trying to run your restaurant into the ground. Sawtelle Kitchen serves somewhat fusion cuisine with Japanese ingredients often prepared in Italian and French techniques. It's an example of responsible fusion. But they know not to call themselves by that wretched name. Oh, and also avoid saying anything is "infused" with flavor, it creates the same sense of disgust in me.

Read More