Thanksgiving

Alessandra getting the stuffing out of the turkey. I put it in cheesecloth to make removal easier. Pure genius. Wish I thought of it, but I think I stole the idea from Yahoo food.




Me making rolls. From scratch. With yeast and everything. ;-)




The beautiful bad boy all trussed up




The Perogi (Russian meat dumplings) that Alessandra made, with my beautiful finished rolls




Daddy making cappuccinos. He's the master. Mmmm and then we added Frangelico. MMMMM.





Me, Josh & Eric (Navy boys). The first time we cooked for Josh he said, "I need to marry me an Italian girl." So cute. He's our adopted little brother. He even takes out the trash when I ask! And Eric helped me a lot with the turkey, it was damn heavy with the roasting pan and everything.




Alessandra rocking out to my ghetto culo shaker music, making spinach dip.




Okay, so my parents opened a restaurant in Riverside a few months ago, called Trilussa. As a result, this year my mom announced that if my sister and I wanted Thanksgiving, we were going to have to do it ourselves. She’s too busy. Luckily for the fam we are culinary masterminds. We had 12 people over for the best Thanksgiving of their lives. I'm not exaggerating. I’m not just tooting my own horn. The only snafu of the evening was now Alessandra and I have to do Thanksgiving every year. Not exactly conductive to studying for finals, but the food was damn good. What did we make? Read on.

I put Alessandra on appetizer and mashed potato duty (her mashed potatoes are always amazing, this year they were garlic mashed Yukon Golds MMMM). She made homemade Perogi, which took FOREVER but were sooo good. I ate almost all the leftovers. They make a great breakfast actually! She also made low fat spinach dip, that actually tasted good. Then she made sautéed herbed shrimp. Everything was FABULOUS. She got all recipes from the new Joy of Cooking. Ever since I failed at the JOC's apple pie recipe I have been skeptical of it, but apparently the new edition is fab.

For the piece-de-resistance, I ordered a Williams-Sonoma organic free range 20 lb. turkey. It comes via FedEx! So cool! I brined it with my famous turkey brine recipe which I forced on my mom a couple of years ago (I am willing to share it). Since then it has become the family recipe. If you've never brined a turkey, you don't know what you're missing. It seems like soaking a turkey in a salty apple cider bath would make it taste weird and salty. But it doesn't. It just tastes like delicious tender goodness. Plus the fact that I ordered a fancy expensive turkey also helped with the tenderness and flavor factors.

For the stuffing, I found this great recipe for sausage apricot cornbread stuffing. I actually used Stove Top (and admitted it to everyone) and it was still amazing. I have no idea why. I guess Cooking Light just has the best recipes ever. ;-)

Then I made homemade rolls. I found this recipe last year. They turn out buttery and flaky, sort of like less-greasy croissants. You have to cut the dough and stack it to make little "fans." And I have a weakness for anything with poppy seeds. The very first thing I ever baked was a loaf of challah in 3rd grade. It wasn't very good, but ever since then I've had a fondness for baking bread. It smells really good, and kneading the dough is a positive non-destructive way of getting out aggression. I think bread making should be part of anger management programs.

Every year my Auntie Gay makes this sweet potato chestnut dish. It's sooooo good. So I requested that she bring it this year. It's got gobs of butter and brown sugar, but that's why it tastes so good. ;-) Auntie Gay also brought cranberry sauce from Bristol Farms, it had whole cranberries in it and was great, sweet and tart all at once. One year she made homemade cranberry sauce herself, but she said it was a pain. This was much better than the stuff in a can (obviously).

For dessert, I made my famous homemade apple pie. I have been perfecting the recipe for 10 years, and finally succeeded last year. I have always been a dessert maker. I think it's because my mom never bought junk food when we were kids. If I wanted a cookie I had to make it my damn self. Luckily, I was able to replicate my success this year. ;-) The key is in prepping it in a food processor and refrigerating it overnight. Auntie Gay brought pumpkin pie which I did not try because I hate pumpkin pie. To top off the evening, Daddy made cappuccinos for everybody with sambuca, grappa, or frangelico. Guess which I picked? ;-) Of course Daddy made sure we were well stocked with delicious wines, Amarone, La Roncaia Eclisse, some super tuscan I have since forgotten the name of, and Taurasi Villa Raiano.

NYC Edition

Day 1: So last weekend I went to NYC to visit my cousin Robby and my friend since Jr. High, Jezra. It was a culinary whirlwind! My first night there, I had a hankering for Thai, so Robby took me to this cute place in his neighborhood in the village. We had fresh spring rolls with shrimp and chicken, a little heavy on the lettuce, but the peanut sauce made it worth it. Mmm. And I got green curry since they didn't have yellow (is yellow Thai curry a west coast thing???) and Robby got the Pad Thai. The Pad Thai was made with flat rice noodles (sort of an Asian linguine) which works better than the vermicelli some places serve it with. No place is as good as Taste of Thai in San Diego though. Mmm.

Day 2: I met Robby at work (near the MOMA and Rockafeller Center) for lunch. We went to this Japanese noodle house, which served all manner of weird Japanese stuff in the noodle dishes. I offered to eat Robby's shrimp heads, since he clearly wasn't into it, but they were kind of chewy from sitting in the ramen, and I usually only eat them fried or sautéed. That's really the only reason why I order sweet shrimp sushi, so I can eat the fried shrimp heads. They're really good. You should try it! I chickened out and got a pork ramen (which I could not even come close to finishing), but Robby's came with all manner of weird stuff. There was this gelatinous ball, which reminded me a little of mochi balls, and hot pink fish cakes. For dinner, we went to this pub place somewhere in the village. We had chicken wings (see pic above) and Jezra and I split a burger. Pretty good for English food. For dessert, had beer. Lots of beer that night. And then some tequila. And then demanded Robby stop at the all night market so I could make eggs and toast at 2 in the morning.

Day 3: Jezra promised me her famous enchiladas and she delivered. :-) They had mushrooms, jalapenos, cheese, onion, cilantro, and zucchini. I almost ate all the vegetables, which is an accomplishment for me. :-) I really only eat them because I know I should. I mean who says, Mmmm what I crave right now is some steamed broccoli? NOBODY. Well, at least not me, and that's who counts, at least here. ;-) I crave cheese, steak, mashed potatoes. I only crave salads that come with bacon and blue cheese. Anyway, I digress. They were really delicious and she made them lickety split. Quite tasty. Then we went to this Lost In Translation style karaoke bar in Koreatown. Surreal to say the least. The Koreatown in NYC is way cooler than the one in LA.

Day 4: Jezra and I actually went for a run. She left me in the dust, as expected. We ran by along the Hudson, it was actually pretty. Well, except for the crap brown color. That evening, we went to Pistici. Jezra said it was her favorite Italian restaurant, so we had to go there. Now, I am always wary of people who tell me they want to eat Italian food. I am spoiled. My dad only takes me to the expensive places. Cheap Chinese food? I'm in. Cheap Italian? BARF. But, I was feeling especially trusting after the enchiladas, so we went. O.M.G. I can't believe how good it was. We started out with the Insalata Caprese (which I'm also wary of, they SAY it's mozzrella di buffala, but it never is). WOW. It really was mozzarella di buffala, from the buffalo! I felt like I had taken a plane straight to Campagna. Mmm. (That's where the best mozzarella di buffala comes from). After you have buffalo mozzarella, the cow's kind has no flavor AT ALL. So score 1 for Pastici. AND the olive oil was really extra virgin. (Like I can't tell the difference? So many restaurants LIE about this. Including the one I used to work at. SHHH don't tell!!!!) I had the house meatballs over polenta. I have a weak spot for homemade meatballs. It's so not really Italian, but they are SOOOO good. And these ones were no exception. Plus, I liked the fact it was served with polenta and not pasta. In the north of Italy, polenta used to be more popular than pasta. I LOVE polenta. But really, the stuff they serve in restaurants (outside of Italy) is so premade and weird. I want the fresh gloopy stuff! So this polenta was pretty good coming from and American restaurant. But mine is better. ;-) Robby ordered the homemade fettuccine with mushrooms and herbs, but he couldn't be talked into adding the truffle oil. I'm sure with the truffle oil it would have been extra fabulous, but alas not everyone's palate can handle the explosion of taste that is the truffle. (I'm talking about the fungus not the chocolates people... in case anyone was confused.) But the pasta was good and homemade, and the mushrooms were fresh. The sauce was a little boring and sparse. It needed salt or something, or maybe a dash of mushroom stock. Jezra got the prosciutto and spinach pasta which was very simple but quite good. THEN we had dessert. We got the Frangelico chocolate mouse, which was delicious. Frangelico is probably one of my favorite liqueurs, and it was the perfect flavor accompaniment to the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate mousse. We also had the tiramisu, which was passably good. Nobody makes it like Mario from the Rex. ;-) So all in all, it was the perfect meal on my last night.

I miss you NYC! And Jezra and Robby too. :-) Luckily, they are both coming home to LA for Chrismakkah. P.S. Robby is much more attractive in real life, he just looks ridiculous in all photographs. And he's single ladies!!!

Dinner With Chef Sidoe

A couple of months ago I was at a friend's wedding, and I sat next to Sidoe, who I know through mutual friends. Now, she is a chef, so this got me wondering if our powers combined we could do a wine dinner for our friends. (She'd be doing the cooking.) This is the result of our effort:

We started off with champagne, the Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaires 1995 -- Rated 95 by the Wine Spectator. AMAZING. And I don't even like champagne (and yes, I've tried the best). The bubbles just popped on your tongue. The finish was dry and crisp, and didn't leave a funky aftertaste. I wish I would have had a man and some strawberries to share it with. We had planned to serve it with some palate-cleansing mint lime sorbet, but the ice cream maker was not cooperating. (Of course Sidoe was making it herself!) The picture (albeit blurry) is of me holding this fabulous champagne.

The first course was a delicious mild cheese, served with a dab of fig jam. I can't recall the name of the cheese (I think it was a type of gouda), but it was delicious. It was firmer than a cheddar, a little salty, and very tasty. Definitely cow's milk. Paired with the fig jam, the salty creaminess of the cheese really stood out, and the jam was not oversweet. We paired that with the Antinori Cervaro Chardonnay, one of my favorites. It has a hint of vanilla, goes great with food. It's bold enough to stand up to a Cakebread Chardonnay, but without the overpowering fruit and oak.

The second course was homemade pesto (some of the best pesto I've had, and that's saying a lot) topped crostini (slices of baguette which have been toasted with a brush of olive oil), with sundried tomatoes and Chevre goat cheese. We paired this with an Antinori Tenute Marchese Chianti Classico Riserva. This is a very classic chianti (hence the name, LOL... actually Classico means it comes from the Classico region of Chianti, the best part). Full bodied, with red berry fruit flavors, not too much tannin, and a dry finish.

The third course was my favorite, Saga blue cheese (from Denmark) stuffed dates, baked and wrapped in uncured applewood smoked bacon. This was heaven in a bite. The salty/sweet combination was perfect! We also paired this with one of my favorite wines, Masi Amarone. We decanted the wine about an hour ahead of time, so it was perfect to drink right away. Amarone comes from the Veneto region of Italy (where my dad is from). The unique thing about this wine is they dry the Valpolicella grapes on mats (so basically they are raisins) before they press them. This gives a heightened sweetness and alcohol content to the wine. Yet, it's big and bold all at the same time. Goes great with steak. Or these little divine bacon date things. Mmm....

And last, but not least, the main course. Thin sliced medium rare NY steak. The BOMB. Sidoe made this delicious demiglace sauce with some of the wine. The steak was paired with sauteed vegetables and a mushroom rice pilaf. I have always loved NY steak. When I was a kid at my dad's restaurant, I always ordered it, since I was born in NYC and I thought I should support my peeps. It must have been really funny to watch an 8 year old girl polish off a whole NY once a week. We paired this bad boy with a Val di Suga Brunello. Brunello is one of the best wines that Italy produces (aside from the recent Super Tuscans). Rich, bold, clean, with only a hint of dark fruit, sometimes blackberry or blueberry. With the steak it was just AWESOME. Of course by this time, our palates were pretty shot, since we were on bottle #5, so we didn't fully appreciate it. But still.

I hate to admit it, but we finished off the night with a couple of bottles of Charles Shaw. (Ah, even I cringe as I write!) The thing is, none of us were driving, so we figured, why not? And we couldn't really taste it anyway. Thanks to all my girls for making this one of the best girl's nights ever!

Roy's

There was a Roy's Hawaiian in La Jolla when I used to live there. I heard it wasn't that good, so I never went there. Then, my friend's sister and her husband went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They went to Roy's and raved about it, especially the Ahi Poke. But I was still not convinced enough to go the one in La Jolla. However, I work down the street from the Roy's in Downtown LA (on Figueroa), and so does my attorney uncle. So when he offered to treat me to lunch at Roy's, I jumped at the chance. (The picture at right is one of the selections available, which I personally have not tried.)

As you enter the restaurant, about 5 people say Aloha to you. This might be cute in Hawaii (and I wouldn't know since I've never been), but in LA it's downright annoying. But at least they have made the most with the small space, with a "tropical" decor (bamboo and weird flowers). And we got a kind of crappy table by the kitchen. But I digress. The food should be the centerpiece, no?

The menu changes all the time (so our server claimed) and they have a large variety of fresh fish. I ordered the bento box so I could get a nice sampling of what they had to offer. The first thing I tried was the Ahi Poke, since my friends raved about it. It's fresh diced Ahi, marinated in some yummy soy sauce wasabi mixture, crunchy smelt roe, and avocado (which came in big chunks so it was easy for me to pick out) :-). It was sooo good. The fish was so fresh, and the silky smoothness of the tuna was a great complement to the tangy sauce and crunchy smelt roe. Roy’s calls the smelt roe “Tobiko Caviar,” which is probably Hawaiian fancy schmancy for smelt roe. Let’s call a fish egg a fish egg people.

The next thing I tried was some mild whitefish (probably sea bass) in a weird sauce. It was purple-black and light. It was too light to be pureed black beans, and it didn’t have a lot of flavor. The fish was fresh, but it was so mild and the sauce didn’t have a lot of flavor. So I didn’t even finish it.

The third compartment had a delicious Chinese chicken salad. The chicken was lightly breaded and crispy, and the salad was really like an Asian cabbage slaw in a tangy dressing. Very tasty!

And last but not least, the charbroiled and braised short ribs. WOW. They sure know how to make their piggies taste good in Hawaii!!! The meat was marinated in a yummy teriyaki like mixture, and just FELL OFF THE BONE. MMMM. And my big complaint with ribs is that they are too fatty, but these were perfect, meaty, hearty, and sweet and sour all at once. I’m never going to Tony Roma’s again!

Kabuki Sushi

Wow, this has to be the best kept sushi secret in Los Angeles. Every day, they offer half-off sushi and rolls. The only catch is that if you're eating at dinner, each person has to order 3 things (for lunch it's only 2). So my friend and I ordered 3 rolls and 3 nigiri sushi to share. All this plus a large Sapporo (which was $6.95) brought our bill to about $27. So we spent $10 each on really yummy sushi. A good deal to say the least. There are several locations in the greater Los Angeles area, and we went to the one in Old Pasadena on Colorado.

Now, I know you're going to be kind of skeptical. I mean, if it's half-off, is it still GOOD? Yes, yes it is.

They start you off with free edamame, which were adequately salted, and kept us nibbling before our sushi arrived. And let's face it, nibbling on edamame is much better than wolfing down three pieces of bread with butter.

Then, the sushi came. We ordered three nigiri sushi: albacore, maguro (tuna), and shrimp. The albacore was amazing. It came with this ponzu dipping sauce which made it extra tasty, but the quality of the fish was excellent. It was perfectly seared on one side, and the fish was flaky and melted in our mouths. The maguro was also excellent. It wasn't previously frozen (you can tell from the texture and color) and also was a generous portion of flaky melty goodness. The shrimp was crap, but what do you expect? Shrimp is always frozen, and it's cooked. (Other than sweet shrimp sushi which is just seared, but still raw in the middle. And often comes with fried shrimp heads. Mmm. Crispy.) In retrospect we should have ordered something else. Oh well.

The rolls we ordered were spicy tuna, philadelphia, and shrimp. The spicy tuna was AWESOME. Now, I personally can't handle a whole lot of spice and heat, so this was just right. (I suppose die hards will expect a more spicy roll, but I could not handle it.) It was spicy with a mild heat, just enough to be tasty without overpowering the actual flavor of the roll. I also liked the phildelphia. Something about the texture of the cream chesse with the fresh fish just makes an excellent combination in the mouth. And I don't even like salmon. :-) The shrimp roll was okay. It had thinly sliced cucumber, which added a nice coolness and crunch, but the shrimp just wasn't that good.

The only catch of this great deal is you have to order a minimum amount of sushi, and your choices are limited. The menu has some very interesting rolls on it, but they are not included in the half-off deal. (For example, the lotus roll has baked baby lobster on top of a california roll with eel sauce.) One of these days when I'm flush with cash, I might try one of those full-priced rolls. But, I'll probably just order more albacore. :-)

Valentino Las Vegas

Older review:

Okay, so last weekend I went to Vegas with my sister. It was awesome. We flew and stayed at the Luxor for $200 pp. :-) The best part though, was my Dad gave me the thumbs up to use the Amex at Valentino to treat ourselves to a delicious dinner sans parents. I was super excited to go, bc my parents said the food was even better than the Valentino in Santa Monica (as if that's even possible), and the chef won a James Beard Award. So, it was a bit of an adventure getting there. I thought it was at the Bellagio (all those WOP names sound the same) but it was in fact at the Venetian. So we had to huff it, and Sis was in hot shoes (I of course, was not) so her feet were on fire, and we were late, and apparently Daddy didn't make the reservation. Whatev, it was Monday night (albeit Memorial Day) and there was plenty of room. Now, I saved the menu (okay, STOLE the menu) but now I can't find it, so you'll all have to rely on my memory of this delicious meal.

It was surreal actually looking at the menu, since I've never seen one (Piero, the owner, just brings out lots of plates). Sis and I decided to get the tasting menu that didn't have escargot (gross!) and fois gras (Sis likes it, but I don't think it's worth the calories).

So, first course was 3 tastes of appetizers. One was this shrimp on top of shredded marinated asparagus. Ohmigod. It was the perfect shrimp. The outside was crispy, but the inside was plump and juicy. Then there was duck, which was OK, but Sis didn't like it. It had some demiglace sauce. Then there was a lobster morsel on some beet salad. Ohhhh... this lobster was tender succulent juciness. I wish I got to eat the whole thing, not just a morsel.

Next was pasta course. Sis liked this course the best. There was a lobster cannelloni. The filling was good, but the stripped (black and white fresh pasta) outer wrapping was a little too firm. Then there was fresh garganelli (weird homemade pasta things) with a fresh tomato sauce, and some delicious cheese which I can't remember the name of. Must have been French. ;-) Then, we had the best gnocchi EVER. (Even better than Trilussa back in the day). It was stuffed with quail sausage, and was AMAZING. Sis doesn't even dig sausage and she was slobbering over it. I love sausage, and I love gnocchi done right, so this was perfect. The gnocchi was tender, the sausage juicy... MMMM.

Then, the meat course. There was this nasy kobe beef roll with pinenuts and pancetta. It was gross. The kobe beef was tough and stringy, and kind of looked like shaved roast beef. The pancetta was overcooked, and with the pinenuts it was just gross. (And kobe is normally AMAZING!) But then there was this piece of pork in a simple demiglace, and I don't know what part of the pig this little slice of heaven came from, but it was delish. Kind of fatty, but tender, juicy, and flavorful. Then, we had the most delicious piece of squab I have ever had. In fact, it was one of the best peices of meat I've ever had (almost as good as the kobe beef I had at Rocca delle Macie in 96). The squab just melted in my mouth, and had the outside was perfectly seared so it was crispy but retained all the juices. It was topped with fois gras, and Sis refuses to eat squab, because it's really pigeon (and as I was eating mine, she was making cooing noises. Quite amusing acutally. It did not deter me from my pigeon feast. I told her if sewer rat tasted like lobster I'd eat it too.) So we did a little trade, squab for fois gras. I think I got the better deal. She of course made me take a bite of the fois gras. It just tasted like pureed liver. Oh yeah, that's what it is. And for $100 and 1000 calories, it's NOT WORTH IT. And don't you feel bad for the little force-fed goosies? Nah, me neither.

On to dessert. MMMM. I am a big dessert person. Unfortunately most places don't have a pastry chef, and just order their stuff from Bindi. Just bc something has a lot of sugar and fat in it doesn't mean it tastes good. Okay, it tastes GOOD, but it could be amazing with just a little more effort. So I love dessert, but I'm picky. I'm also a bit of a baker myself, so I am entitled to a bit of snobbery. So I was not dissappointed when we got our dessert course. There was this praline semifreddo croccante (which frankly I think was hazlenut, but whatev) which was amazing. It was ice-cream esque, flavorful, creamy without being too rich, crunchy... mmmm. Then there was this orange muffin thing which was kind of weird, but it rocked when I dipped it in some vanilla sauce. Then there was this panna cotta. O. M. G. I love panna cotta. (It's sort of like a custard, but it's made with gelatin so it's not as high in fat). Mmm.... it had shaved vanilla particles, and it was CREAMY, and cool melty goodness in my mouth. Then there was pricky pear sorbet (wtf?) which was good, but I'm not into sorbet. Not caloric enough probably.
Then I finished off our bottle of Masi Campofiorin, and proceeded to make bank playing Pai Gao.

LOL, there was this old white dude sitting next to me at the table, who said to me, "I think Pai Gao means screwed in Japanese." I said, "it's Chinese, asshole." Okay, I didn't call him an asshole. But still.

Brunch at the Ritz

Oysters. Caviar. Omelet Bar. Sushi bar. Lobster claws already shucked. Seared ahi with more caivar. Crab cakes. Lemon custard tart. Sausage. Stinky cheeses. Jumbo shrimp. Cheese blintz. Chocolate croissant (not worth it). Prime rib. Champagne. MMMMM. It's not every day my Gma turns 88. I thought it was a much deserved study break. Would... write... more... but... too ... full.

Osteria Latini

Yes, more food blogging. I really can't get inspired about anything else. So last night I went to Osteria Latini with my parents (the truth is, my current budget only accommodates Del Taco, so if I want to eat well, gotta go with the parents). It's this small restaurant in Brentwood on San Vicente, not too far from SorTino. (Mmm. Best tiramisu there. And wild boar... but that's for another post.) SO GOOD! I have only been there once before because it's always full. (They have like, 12 tables or something ridiculous like that.) The owner/chef is from Fruili, the region north of the Veneto (where my Dad's from.) Wow. Lots of parenthesis. If my current parenthetical mood bothers you, suck it up.

Anyway, Paolo (chef/owner) starts us off with some mashed potatoes on spoons topped with Sevruga caviar. He set the dish down at our table, and told us it was baby chicken eggs. (Ha!) Apparently this is the correct way to serve certain types of caviar. I, sadly, know jack shit about caviar, except that I like it (although only when I don't have to pay for it). Ohmigod. The potato/caviar combo was soooo good. The salty creamy goodness just melted in my mouth. I savored it for 5 minutes while my parents wolfed theirs down.

Next course was lobster salad with cantaloupe (interesting choice, but it worked) hearts of palm, and arugola, in a balsamic vinaigrette. It was a delightful sweet/sour combo. Plus it had a whole lobster in it. Mmm. This was also served with a delicious cold meat plate, with speck, mortadella (which I didn't eat. It's Italian bologna. Gross) shaved parmesan and goat cheese. The speck was sliced so thin it melted in my mouth. More melty salty goodness.

Then we had these tiny fresh pastas (not quite mini ravioli. I think they are called capucetti or something) with veal in a delicious butter sage sauce. But, I am really a brown butter sage sauce fan. So this non-browned butter sauce was thick. It must have cream in it. While the ravioli/capuwhatevers were deliciously fresh, the sauce just made me fantasize about how good it would be if it was a browed butter sauce. When I told my dad this, he said brown butter is bad for your liver because it's burned, or some other Italian old-wives' tale such bullshit. He's obsessed with the fact that burned food can give you cancer. Too much "carbon." Yet he takes meds for BP, cholesterol etc. Whatever!!

Onto the main course! I had pan seared John Dory (fish) on a bed of course ground polenta (which was good, but lacking in salt) and spinach. It was very tasty, and had a crispy crust which I couldn't quite identify. My dad had venison in a balsamic reduction with cranberries. Really tender for venison. My mom had wild salmon, which I forgot to taste because I'm not a huge salmon fan. All this was accompanied with a Poliziano Rosso di Montalcino (a light alternative to Vino Nobile). We ended the meal with some passably good biscotti. At least they were made with real butter. But ever since I had the biscotti at Pane Vino in Santa Barbara, all others are flavorless.

So, happy reading. And invite me the next time you go someplace fancy shmancy to eat. :-)

Il Fornaio Beverly Hills

Okay, some of you might think Il Fornaio is just a chain. But it's really not. Each one has their own chef who has menu control. I've been to the ones in Del Mar (OK) Coronado (nice view, OK food) and Pasadena (good bakery, OK food), so when I went the one in Beverly Hills last weekend I was expecting more of the same, OK food, good bread, whatever. OhmiGOD I was wrong. It was AMAZING. I'm not sure if it was so good because I didn't have high expecations or what, but it was the bomb!

We started with a focaccia (mmm wood burning oven), fresh polenta with various savory toppings, and calamari fritti. I admit, it's hard to screw up calamari fritti, but this was one of the best I've had. Very lightly breaded, crispy, and too chewy. Then, my sister ordered this simple pasta, penne with a burrata (stuffed fresh mozzarella) and a light tomato sauce. The past was ACTUALLY AL DENTE! Which I have not encountered in any restaurant in recent years (it's always parboiled). Then I had fresh spinach fettuccine with black truffles (always yummy!). My parents both ordered the rabbit wrapped in pancetta (which was tasty, but not extraordinary), but the mashed potatoes that accompanied the rabbit were PERFECT. I am not exaggerating. They were light and smooth, but not at all gluteny. They just melted in my mouth. MMMM.

My sister and I were fighting over who got to eat our parents' mashed potatotes, and she started scraping the potatotes off a carrot. The chef saw this and sent a huge side of mashed potatoes to our table. (LOL! She blushed to her hairline!)

For dessert we had bread pudding (with their tasty bread they really can't go wrong with that one) and chocolate mouse cake with creme anglais. So good! All of this was accompanied by a bottle of Nozzole Chianti Classico which really completed the meal.

Valentino Santa Monica

This is an older review:

For those of you who know me, you know I have a HORRIBLE memory. For those of you who know me really well, you know that the only way I can remember events are by what I happened to be eating at those events. For example, I remember the first time I ever had truffles (the fungus kind). It was Christmas Eve '94 at Toscana. Mmm. Black truffle ravioli in a brown butter sauce with shaved parmesan. (Yeah, if this law school thing doesn't work out, I'm going to work the food critic angle.)

What is the point of all this rambling, you ask? Well, last week I ate at Valentino, arguably the best Italian restaurant in LA. [Osteria Latini in Brentwood is a close second.] And I felt I should write about it not only because it was so good, but because I tend to actually forget what I ate at Valentino because I've never seen the menu and debated over choices. (The owner just keeps bringing out courses for us.) So, we started with an anitpasto plate with "parmesan chips" which are really delicate sheets of shredded parmesan, Italian olives (I forget what kind), and whitefish carpaccio. Then there was cured venison (I think like a bresaola.) Then we had jumbo grilled prawns wrapped with swordfish, the shrimp was cooked just right, not too tough or stringy. Then there was a trio of ravioli (TO DIE FOR) with prosciutto, squash, and I think the third was wild boar. Then we had venison risotto (it was okay, but I'm super picky about risotto.) Then we had this AMAZING filet mignon. I was really impressed with the perfect grill marks. For desert we had assorted gelati and pretty good homemade cannoli (but I'm not really into cannoli).

So anyway, I guess I was just wishing I was at some really expensive restaurant instead of sitting here attempting to write my legal memo. And if any of you have any restaurant recommendations (outside of Italian) I'd love to hear them. I'm always looking for my next favorite place.

Welcome

Hi everybody! I have been toying around with blogging on MySpace, and I finally decided to set up a real one here. This way, I have a link to give the relatives and they don't have to get all freaked out about how to use MySpace. :-)

A little bit about me:
I am half Italian, a quarter Dutch, and a quarter English/Irish blend. (Wow, I sound like something from Starbucks.) Anyway, it's from the Italian side that I get my love of food. My Dad always worked in the restaurant industry when I was growing up. More specifically, Italian fine dining. I was running around the kitchen of Perino's at 6 years old begging the pastry chef to give me some homemade ice cream, which I would then eat with grissini (small dry Italian breadsticks). I didn't know he was the best pastry chef in L.A. All I knew was his ice cream was damn good.

Now, my Dad can barely boil water. Luckily, he is a food snob and will not eat non-Italian food unless there are copius amounts of pork involved. (Long story about only eating pork once a year as a child, when they killed the pig.) So, my non-Italian mother had to learn to cook Italian cuisine. And she's good. So I was eating rabbit, lamb, and octopus in elementary school, while other kids ate macaroni and cheese. While nobody wanted to come to my house for dinner, I did develop an expansive palate. Nowadays I am sort of picky (no eggplant, etc.), but I will try anything once. Even twice. Or thrice. (Ex: escargot. It was nasty all 3 times.)

So, you want me to get to the point? Welcome to THE FOOD PAGE. My place to rave about some artisan cheese I tried, or some great meal I had. Please feel free to comment.

Your wannabe Annapurna,
Lety