I Heard Lucques is the Best Restaurant in LA...

Lucques
8474 Melrose Ave
West Los Angeles, 90064
$124 for two entrees, two appetizers, wine, cocktail and tea

Taking a break from my Peruventures, I thought I would share my thoughts on my dinner at Lucques. Alas, I could not make the famous Sunday Supper reservations, but I was able to grab an 8:15 on Monday night. It seems every major publication in the area gave glowing reviews for Lucques including S. Irene Virbilla of the LA Times and Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly, not to mention being ranked as the best restaurant in LA by LA Magazine. That said, I'd have to add my own blog to that list of Lucques reviewers.


Bread offering with almonds and olives

The atmosphere was quaint, as you'd expect from a restaurant set in the converted cottage of silent movie star Harold Lloyd. Wooden rafters give way to brick siding and open out to a small patio. In LA, there's hardly ever a restaurant that doesn't take full advantage of the beautiful evening weather with outdoor seating. The space wasn't large, but it conveyed elegance in intimacy. A group of slightly inebriated women chatted in a corner with a tall bottle of red wine, a clumsy suitor chatted nervously with his date nearby and what looked like a sugar daddy was showering his little ward with gifts of wines and desserts. Whatever the social circumstances, Lucques seemed to provide an appropriate backdrop.


Market lettuces with green goddess dressing, ruby grapefruit, avocado

The restaurant features one of those constantly updating menus depending on the seasons and availability of ingredients. It's also one of those menus which I could blindly point at and still be completely satisfied. Supposedly, the cuisine is Mediterranean-inspired but channeled through a Californian focus. Elements of Greek, Spanish and Italian dotted the menu, but the most prominent feature was the variety of ingredients. Indeed, with the dishes I tasted, I could sense the deep appreciation that Chef Goin has for the foods she works with. She allows each flavor to trumpet its own horn, whether the sweetness of the grapefruit or the tartness of the citrus dressing of the salad. Her expertise is not only limited to produce, but the delightful lamb carpaccio also showed a great respect for meat. The crispy fried fingerling potatoes and the creamy scallion aioli paired so nicely with the tender lamb that each forkful blended with complexity. The flavors are good enough separately, but combined they were heavenly. It reminded me of the scene from Ratatoutille where Remy describes to his brother how combining notes can create whole new chords of aroma and flavor.

And that was just the appetizers.


Slow-roasted Veal

The two entrees I tried, the slow-roasted veal with potato gratin and the crispy pork belly with peaches were hearty. So hearty in fact, the food doesn't look that exquisite. There wasn't the excessively large plate with a dainty morsel in the center with a single chive resting on its side. No, this was the food you wanted to see when you're hungry. Unfortunately, I had filled up quite a bit on the bread and appetizers already and seeing my pork belly made me somewhat anxious. While I would gladly order pork belly again as an appetizer, having a full serving as an entree is just too much. The pork had contrasting textures of the crisp skin and the tender fat that made eating it so interesting. But it was that fat, combined with a sauce heavy on the butter, that was simply too much for me. It was actually one of those moments where I could feel my life shortening. But who wants to live a life without food like this?

That night I knew precisely why Lucques received all those accolades. It reached out to an LA that was hungry. Hungry not for large portions, but food you eat when you really want to enjoy your food. Sometimes we get so caught up in experimental cuisine, where it's often more of a test for your brain than your stomach, that it's easy to miss the food that just makes us say, "Yum!"

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Destination Peru #7: Lost Churros, Please Help

Most Delicious Churro of My Life

Admittedly, I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to Latin American food. Up till now, my churro experiences have been limited to the sugary snacks found at Disneyland for $5 or whatever they're selling for these days. Yes, they are good, but they got nothing on the churro in the above picture. The shape is quite unlike the star-shaped ones available here, though I did see a few of those as well. This one is designed for filling, a brillant idea to invigorate the snack.

My family and I were walking through the Plaza de Armas in downtown Lima taking the obligatory tourist pictures and buying trinkets in the markets when I saw a line gathered outside a small storefront. There were no tourists here, just hungry locals looking for a neighborhood favorite. Whatever it was, I had to have it.


Los Autenticos Churros Espanoles de la Virgen Del Carmen

Nothing more than a counter facing the street and a bench along the wall, the shop served one thing. The name says it all, Los Autenticos Churros Espanoles de la Virgen Del Carmen. Pure, unadulterated pastries of fried dough filled with a creamy custard. I think it may have been manjar blanco, a thickened milk cream similar in consistency to condensed milk. The churros were pulled out of the hopper, dusted in sugar and handed to me wrapped in paper. It may have been fried, but it tasted like it was baked in heaven. Light on the stomach and light on the conscience, I felt good having it as a snack.

Sadly, I don't know the exact location of this churro shack. If anyone has any information, please comment. All I know is that it's within several blocks of the main square of downtown Lima, down a side street.

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Destination Peru #6: Wet Your Whistle

I wanted to write an entry addressing the beverages in Peru. I mentioned the chicha morada, purple corn drink before, but there are many more worth mentioning. Also, the famous Pisco was also addressed previously.

The two drinks you'll find everywhere

The above picture shows the two most common drinks you'll find in Peru, much more popular than water. Actually Coke is also on that list, but we have Coke here don't we? Actually, more on that further down. Cusquena is by far the most popular beer in Peru by its sheer ubiquity. They seem to sponsor so much down there, including this remote wedding on a floating island in the middle of Lake Titicaca.


See the Cusquena gazebo?

For the non-drinkers, which seem to be very few, there's always the non-Coke standby Inca Kola. I've heard about Inca Kola during my research back in LA, but I was quite shocked to discover its florescent yellow coloration. My mom explained that it was likely due to the association of Incas with gold. I definitely racked up quite a few bottles of this during my trip. It tastes similar to bubblegum or cream soda. Apparently, it's also caffeinated. Pity I've never seen it before here, but I'll be sure to ask for it at my next Peruvian restaurant. In Peru, Inca Kola is closely associated with Chinese food. I'll explain more on that in the future.


Melon juice


Mixed fruit juice

Commonly, you'll see places serving jugos or juices from various regional fruit. I frequently saw banana, strawberry, papaya, pineapple, apple, orange, passionfruit and peach. The above melon juice is fresh squeezed from Astrid y Gaston. As with all the juices, it was sweet and refreshing. Also, they're all rather puply, usually not strained. While I usually like mine pulp free, it makes the drink healthier. I'm sure there's fiber or something in it. The mixed fruit juice is from a little restaurant in Agua Calientes that I will soon review. I tasted predominantely banana, pineapple and orange. Again, it's nothing unique besides the quality of the ingredients.



This was a Guarana soda my brother bought at the supermarket. I told him to try it because I'm in love with the Guarana Antarctica from Brazil. Sadly, the Peruvian counterpart seemed too artificial for my tastes. Asked to describe it, I would say that the soda tastes something like cream soda with a slice of apple. Please try it at your next churraschuria. Apparently, the guarana berry has two to three times the caffine of a coffee bean. Something to keep in mind next time I'm pounding these sodas at Fogo de Chao.

Something I notice when drinking Coke and Sprite in Peru. The sweetness is different. I have a feeling that the sweetener is more likely cane sugar than high fructose corn syrup. I've had sodas I've known to be cane sugar before, and the flavor is definitely superior. But I've heard conflicting information about HF corn syrup. On one hand, the body is supposed to find it indistinguishable from regular sucrose, common table sugar. But I've also heard people decrying HF corn syrup for being worse than transfats, cholesterol, salt or whatever our society is waging war on these days. Can anyone confirm or deny that for me?

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Destination Peru #5: Alfresco in Miraflores

Alfresco
Malecon Balco 790
Miraflores, Lima
$10 or so per person for lunch

One of the restaurants that came up time and again on the Peru Chowhound boards was Alfresco for ceviche. Along with Puerto Madero, Pescadores Capitales and La Mar, Alfresco was on my list of possible lunch places. My plan was just to accumulate a selection of restaurants I know with a good reputation so that I could stumble into any one of them when a meal came up. However, when our driver picked us up at the airport, he immediately suggested Alfresco. So off we went!



The interior of the restaurant is casual, with a beach theme. The Northern wall has a large mural of coastal scene, and the large windows make the place bright and airy, even if Lima is never sunny in the Winter. From my research, I've heard that ceviche is only eaten at lunch and that Alfresco only served lunch, but when I arrived, I found an advertisement for their extensive dinner menu as well. I glanced at the menu, but I already knew what I came here for.

Ceviche, or sometimes cebiche, is something of a coastal delicacy popular in Lima. It's relatively common not only in Peruvian cusine, but also in any number of Latin American countries with access to fresh seafood. Ideally, it's a simple preparation of any type of white fish marinated in lime juice with some other flavorants such as red onions and chiles. You may have commonly heard that ceviche is raw, but the acid in the juice actually denatures the proteins of the seafood, in a form of heatless cooking. While it's debatable whether or not cooking has to involve heat, it's not debatable that Peru is home to some excellent ceviche. Due to the Japanese influence, Lima also has tiradito, which is a younger brother to the ceviche, lacking onions and less of a strong flavor more akin to Italian crudo.



To start, the waiter brought out a small bowl for the table. At first I was startled by its appearance, looking somewhat like little bugs. I know insects aren't completely foreign from the table in certain South American countries, as mentioned in my post about entomophagy, but I hadn't heard of any instances of it in Peru. Luckily, I realized that this was a bowl of cancha instead, roasted corn kernels. These make a terrific bar food and went well with my beer. I could definitely snack on these as an alternative to nuts or pretzels at the bar.



Again, a charge for bread meant the rolls that arrived were delicious. The larger ones were nothing particular, but the small rolls along the edge of the plate are onion rolls no larger than a half-dollar in circumference. I popped one into my mouth and got a surprise of rich onion paste filling. I always wonder how much more I eat when the portions are small enough to fit several into my mouth at once.



Finally our ceviche came. Since I didn't quite know what the portions were like and I wanted to try a combination, I ordered two different types of sampler platters for the four of us. The first plate in the top picture consisted of mixed ceviche, tiradito with lemon chili cream, causa (potato cake), octopus with olive sauce, a California roll and seafood salad. I don't even pretend to know which item is which, so you might have to use your detective work to figure it out. Although I do know the one on the bottom left is the ceviche.



The second plate consisted of flounder ceviche, tiradito in lemon pepper vinaigrette, crayfish cocktail, scallop tartare, octopus salad, salmon nigri and something call an Inka maki. In both plates, the plainest ceviche was always the best. The octopus is also surprisingly tender, lacking the chewiness common when served raw. I loved the presentation of each individual dish on scallop shells. It was quite a bit of food as just an appetizer for four people though.



With two appetizer, we decided to order three entree for the four of us. My scallops were disappointing. I wasn't sure how it would be prepared, but I didn't like the heavy sauce, which reminded me of the sauce served on takoyaki in Japan. I was also less than thrilled with the plating after they've already served the scallop shells with the ceviche. Although, it was nice to know they were using whole scallops.



My mom and dad shared a pretty grilled octopus salad. I actually don't remember much about how this tasted and there's nothing in my notes, so I suppose it wasn't particularly memorable.



As much as the other two entrees were letdowns, my brothers squid ink risotto was the redemption. I'll agree, it's not particularly appetizing to eat something that looks like that, but I wonder if there's anything really delicious that's black. The ink was fresh, so it didn't have a fishy taste. However, the waiter told us there was no calamari, so they were substituting it with crab, crayfish and shrimp instead. Makes you wonder what happened to the pens in the restaurant.

At this point we were all stuffed to the gills. Fresh seafood is usually pretty hard to screw up as long as the cooking process is kept simple and quick. I had my taste of the sea, now it was time to move inland.

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Destination Peru #4: Miscellany of Fruits and Produce

As mentioned in my last post, Peru is home to a huge amount of biodiversity. What this means for me is a huge amount of things to eat. The above picture was taken at Vivanda, an upscale Whole Foods type market in Miraflores. Although many of the fruits and vegetables are recognizable as global staples, there are many that you don't see here unless in specialty markets.

For one thing, I was amazed at the varieties of heirloom tomatoes that have grown in popularity recently, but the number of those tomatoes are a paltry number compared to the over 3,000 varieties of domesticated potatoes in Peru. During my time there, I only had perhaps 5-6 that were consistently used in dishes, each with distinctly different flavors and textures. A potato can be intensely earthy, while its counterpart could be almost ethereal. One can be mealy and the other creamy. I suppose you can accomplish some of these different textures due to cooking method, but the differences in flavor are not so easily replicated.

Besides potatoes, there were also different types of corn, although not to the same degree. A constant staple was the large kernel corn you can see in my short ribs in the previous post. Below is a picture of a man selling boiled corn on the street. It was quite a common site actually, though typically with an Andean woman. My first impression upon seeing the giant kernel, each about 3-4 times larger than regular corn, was that it must be a large ear. Instead, I soon realized that the ears were the same size, but the kernels were just disproportionately large. I was also disappointed when eating it. There was no crunch, no satisfying snap to the corn. Each kernel was chewy and soft. In fact, it has almost no discernible flavor. I suppose I might be spoiled by the ultra-sweet GMO white corn here, but if this is what corn originally tasted like, then I would rather make a tortilla out of it instead. I think you would lose the pleasure of having a tasty corn on the cob treat.



Also, Peru has a purple corn most prominent as a drink chicha morada. The corn is boiled in water, turning the liquid the signature purple, and then pinapple and sugar are added as it cools. We bought a bottle at Vivanda, but it wasn't very good. It tasted artificial, and looking at the bottle I wouldn't be surprised if it was. It was much too sweet, but had an aftertaste of corn. I didn't see anyone eating the purple corn raw, but sometimes in a cooked state as a complement to a dish.




Every morning we had a complimentary breakfast served by the various hotels. In each hotel, there was always fresh squeezed papaya, pineapple and orange juice. Every fruit I ate was deliciously sweet, no "bad apples", not that I actually ate any apples. The plate below is a typical breakfast fruit platter I would make of kiwis, watermelon, papaya and an unidentified fruit in the top left. Those three pieces were sweet and a little mushy, but the seeds were round and extremely hard. If anyone can identify them, please comment below. My family also had many of the passionfruits in Peru. Considering how expensive they are in the States, it was a pleasure having them so cheaply we could eat them until we got sick of them. In the second picture, we bought a mandarin orange on the bottom right and three different types of passionfruit.



Of course I can't leave out meat. Commonly, there is the pork, chicken and beef that we all know and love. It is the alpaca and guinea pig that we don't see often. Strangely enough, I've heard that alpaca are illegal to slaughter for food, which makes me wonder where the meat comes from. Since I am much more a carnivore than anything else, I will go into these when I mention the restaurants that served them to me. But here's a picture of a typical meat market in Lima near Barrio Chino (Chinatown).



Sorry for the dearth of non-meal related pictures. Believe it or not, I'm still using a 256 mb memory stick on my camera. It wasn't until meticulously documenting this trip that space became a problem.

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Destination Peru #3: Astrid y Gaston

I haven't done much traveling since I started this blog back in April. In fact, I didn't realize how big a part of my life food was until three or so years ago. Therefore, I have never traveled before with quite the intensity and commitment to culinary excellence as I did this last week during my trip to Peru. Luckily, I realized this before Peru, which has so many gastronomic pleasures to offer. When my mom asked me to find activities in Lima, I found restaurants instead. Prowling the Chowhound boards, I came up with a list of over twenty restaurants around the country at the cities we would be visiting from Lima, Cusco, Agua Calientes, and Puno. I figured with this list, I would have somewhere to go wherever we stayed. But with such an impressive list, I wanted to ensure that I hit up at least one place--Astrid y Gaston.

As you will see in this series of entries on Peruvian cuisine, the appeal is often in the cultural hodgepodge that comprises this South American country. Three main regions contribute heavily: the coast, highlands, and jungle. From the coast, we get fresh seafood forming such dishes as the ceviche and tiradito, a subtler cousin of ceviche more similar to Italian crudo or Japanese sashimi. The jungle provides an assortment of fruits and vegetables, many unfamiliar to us in the States. Up in the highlands, the cultivation of potatoes and other hardy plants combine with alpaca and guinea pig. One of the reasons I was so interested in Astrid y Gaston was its extensive menu encompassing multiple cultures and all these regions together.

This was my first time making a reservation for a restaurant in another country in a language I haven't used since high school. Luckily, Astrid y Gaston has a website with convenient English and a reservation submission form. However, as my trip approached, I still hadn't received an e-mail confirmation as stated on the site. When I got to Lima, I asked the helpful concierge to confirm the reservation for me. We got to the restaurant with no problem, its location being not too far from the hotel in Miraflores.

The interior of the restaurant could have been in any metropolis in the world. A team of professional waitstaff attended to our every need, including replacing my dad's silverware after each of the four times he dropped it. Diners can look back into the kitchen, with modern art lining the walls. The dining set of assorted plates were different for each table. The food was comparably expensive, more than ten times the cost of our cheapest meals. This was a place for the Liman elite and globetrekking tourists.


That is my brother sitting across from me

In Peru, as in many other countries, the classiest restaurants charge for bread. While that may sound ridiculous to me, I am at least assured that they will provide bread worth paying for. I wasn't disappointed. A collection of corn, potatoes and regular wheat bread was presented by the waiter paired with a dipping sauce of garlic cilantro and an unidentified spicy one. It was even served to us as a course, with the server explaining each component of the basket. The various baked goods were satisfying, but dangerous to the hungry customer. I needed to conserve my stomach if I was going to be eating here. The portions were enormous.



As an appetizer, I ordered the Limeña, a golden potato puree formed into neat stacks with tuna, crab, avocado and spicy cream. While the plate of four indeed looked pretty, the taste was underwhelming. On the bright side, I could actually taste some complexity in the potato that is largely absent from the varieties we have in this country.



Initially, I wanted to try the roasted kid for my entree. That's kid as in young goat. While I could've said goat, there wouldn't be that glee from the momentary shock on people's faces when you tell of your meal of kid. However, my brother was much more adament about ordering it; and so in the interest of diversity, I ordered the el asado de tira y el maiz morado--beef short ribs with purple corn in a red wine reduction and baby corn. The picture is as unappetizing as the ribs. They were simultaneously burnt and cold. Not quite what I was expecting or hoping for.



But to redeem my dish, the other three entrees were phenomenol. As a side note, in Peru, as in Britain, entree refers to the appetizer, causing much confusion for me and my Spanish speaking waiter. I let my brother have the nuestro clasico cabrito lechal del del valle de chillon--roasted kid in purple corn juice with Huamantanga potatoes. Come to think of it, many of the names of our dishes were quite a mouthful. His was my favorite item of that dinner. The meant was succulent and tender with a full flavor in the meat absent from the bland livestock we're used to. It's the most expensive entree there, but well worth it.



My mom had the Pachamanca urbana--a whole chicken cooked in an earthen pot with Andean herbs and potatoes. While a simple looking dish, besides service in said large pot, the chicken had so much flavor that I could hardly recognize the poultry we see so commonly here. While Pachamanca is traditionally reserved for feasts and celebrations in the Andes, served communally, this urbana version was just split between us four. I also doubt they prepared underground on a bed of hot stones as it should be, but no complaints here.



For my dad, I ordered the conchinillo de tres semanas del invierno--a suckling pig confit prepared for three weeks in a cocoa reduction and served with a poached peach. The skin was crispy if not for the sauce, but the meat as tender as a suckling pig should be. I am constantly disappointed I can't find quality pork like this more often without paying for Kurobuta or Berkshire.



For dessert, I wanted to try something fruity to encompass their wide selection of produce. I already had a melon juice with my meal which was fragrant and complex, but we decided to try the three flavor seasonal sorbets for dessert. While the menu lists 5-6 fruits, the ones we got are prickly pear (aka tuna verde), lemongrass with lemon and passionfruit. The prickly pear turned out to be the winner, light on the palate, while the lemongrass was much too sour and the passionfruit lacked depth. With the check came another little treat of chocolate truffles and candied fruits.



I would highly recommend anyone on their way to Lima to make a trip to Astrid y Gaston. It really is a fine experience and a good way to get your feet with to all that Lima has to offer. I don't know if I would return immediately, but that is only because there are so many other restaurants to try. However, I wouldn't be surprised if this represented the most progressive cuisine the country has to offer.

Astrid y Gaston
www.astridygaston.com
Calle Cantuarias 175, Miraflores
Entrees were about US$21

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Destination Peru #2: Pisco and Our New Super Drink

Arriving in Lima, my family met up with our airport pick-up. We had a semi-tour, several days and meals on our own, with transportation services to our destinations and occasional guided tours. Our guide in Lima introduced us briefly to some sites around the city and also Peru's role as a culinary mecca in South America. More on that in the following entries. But today, my focus is on Peru's treasured nectar.

The national drink is Pisco, a brandy-like liquor distilled from grapes. It's got quite a kick at 43% alcohol, but it's deceptively sweet and delicious. It even has Denominacion de Origen protection, the Spanish equivalent of the Protected Destination of Origin label for Champagne. At our first hotel, Hotel Embajadores in the affluent suburb of Miraflores, we received vouchers for free Pisco Sours at the bar. This cocktail, a combination of Pisco, lemon or lime juice, simple syrup, egg whites and bitters has a distinctive look. The egg whites creating a foam that sits above the liquid and a few drops of bitters that float on the cloud of foam. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it, but rest assured I will one day make one myself and upload the picture here.

On my return from Peru, I bought two bottles of Pisco, one for myself and one as a gift at the duty-free stores. If you're curious, you're allowed to bring up to 3 litters of alcohol through US customs. Last night I had dinner with my old and new roommate at Restaurant 2117 and came back to my apartment to make some drinks. Besides finishing off a bottle of Nanbu-Bijin sake at the restaurant, I suggested we try to make cocktails out of my new bottle of Pisco. Remember, you saw it here first, created by Aaron Chan, Azriel Ghadoosashy and Abhijeet Joshi. Introducing the Piscaloe Vera (aka Verde Vera):



1 part Pisco
4-5 parts Korean Aloe Vera drink with pulp

There it is, simple and effective! We're relatively sure we're the first people ever to mix these two together and so we claim naming rights. As a variation, you can also mix any alcohol with the aloe vera drink and create Vokda Veras, Sake Veras, Rum Veras, etc.

So next time you're in Peru, or Chile apparently, try a Pisco sour. Remember, it's stronger than you think.

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