Eat, Play, Run

Los Angeles: Comme Ca

I did something I'll probably never do again: I flew to LA for dinner and turned around and flew right back home. It was a spontaneous, "I have tons of miles" and haven't seen my friends together for quite some time moment.

While in New York, I used to eat with Elaine and Anzela at least once a week. We went everywhere together. Then, Elaine moved to LA and I moved to Seattle. Well, Anzela was visiting LA week and she and Elaine had made dinner reservations. Elaine told me I should fly down and surprise her. I said 'no' for about a week. Then, two days before their dinner, I changed my mind.

Comme Ca (the second "c" has a weird beard under it that my keyboard can't reproduce... it's pronounced SA) is an LA brasserie that reminds me quite a bit of Keith McNally's NY brasseries Pastis and Balthazar. In fact, our server said it was modeled after them.

As per usual with this group, we ordered a ton of food.

We started with a frisee salad. It was served with warm bacon vinaigrette and a perfectly poached egg. The lettuce was crisp and the little chunks of bacon, oh so good. I don't actually eat eggs that often, but this egg was nicely prepared, it actually turned me back on to eggs, and I've been eating them since this dinner.

Next up was the amazing mushroom risotto. Seriously, amazing may not be a good enough adjective to describe it. The mushrooms were fresh and full of flavor. The rice was rich and creamy with just enough parmesan reggiano to give it a slight kick, I loved this dish.

It was burning hot outside, literally, the surrounding areas were on fire, so we ordered a gazpacho soup. It was beautiful in the bowl. It also tasted very good.

Finally, it was time for our two main courses.

Our first main course was the special steak of the day, New York Strip. The meat was nicely charred on the outside and a beautiful deep pink in the middle. Being New York, though, it was tough. I'll always prefer the fatty tenderness of rib eye. The steak was served with an enormous heaping of french fries. While the fries were very good, I was expecting them to be 'the best ever'... they weren't. Still, they're better than 90% of the fries out there.

Our second main course was the lamb shank served on a bed of ratatouille. I've come to really love lamb. Again, I'm a big fan of tender meat, and lamb always fits the bill. I figure, I'm just practicing with tender meats for the day when I have no teeth. The lamb was wonderful and the ratatouille flavorful.

We also ordered a cheese plate, which we were going to eat between the main courses and dessert, but canceled that order, as, uh, were stuffed. We nearly skipped out on dessert, as well, but went forward with it. We all split the pot de creme de chocolat. Basicaly, a shot glass of chocolate pudding with creme freche. It was very good, but by that time, we were so full, we each took a spoonful and called it a night.

As we were finishing up, the executive chef/owner, David Myers came out and greeted the table. This was kind of a big deal. He's huge in the LA restaurant scene, also owning what's generally regarded as the finest restaurant in Los Angeles, Sona.

New York: Bar Artisanal

While in New York, my friend Laura scored us a reservation at Bar Artisanal, a new French Bistro-styled restaurant from Chef Brennan. Physically, the restaurant is in a really cool Tribeca space (click image to enlarge).

The food here is all top notch. Known for their cheeses, we actually dove straight into small plates and the main courses.

Our amuse bouche was grilled cheese bites. Yep, these are just quarters of a grilled cheese sandwich. Perfectly cooked, though, using three cheeses, these little bad boys had me wishing we would've ordered more.

For an appetizer we had Blue Prawns, served simply with garlic, olive oil and hot pepper. This is easily something I could make, will make. So simple, yet so full of flavor. Definitely on the spicy side. If you're adverse to hot foods, this may be too much for you. 

Next, we had an arugula salad, served with burrata cheese and caponata. I'm not sure I had ever had caponata, and I honestly didn't know what I was eating. At it's root, it's eggplant and olives. Though I don't especially like olives, I found it to be really good. 

OK, onto the main dishes. Laura ordered the hamburger and fries. I'll start with the fries. They're modeled after McDonald's fries, and they pull them off splendidly. Let's face it, McDonald's fries are the best in the world. These aren't that good, but they're pretty damn close. The burger itself was exquisite! Greasy, sloppy goodness. If I ever return here, I have to say, I'll probably order one for myself. Truly, one of the best burgers I've had in NYC.

I had the steak tartar. I don't order steak tartar often, but this is the best I've ever had. The only issue I had with it is that I wish there was more of it. The serving was about the size of a standard hamburger patty.

Finally, we each ordered desserts. Laura went with the cheese panna cotta, which is served with roasted rhubarb and strawberries. I love the texture of panna cotta and this one didn't let me down. It's ultra smooth. The roasted fruit was also interesting (in a good way), though the rhubarb was a bit tart for my taste.

The other dessert we had was truly great. It was a chocolate mousse. But not just any chocolate mousse. It was chocolate mousse, with a thin layer of hazelnut crunch and coffee granita, topped with chocolate foam. What made this dessert so special was the light, smoothness of the mousse and foam combined with the crunch of the hazelnut and course texture of the granita. This dessert is a chocolate lovers dream. Even if you don't eat at Bar Artisanal, you need to go to the bar and order this dessert.

Dinner at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon New York

During my last visit to New York, my friend Anzela and I went to L'Atelier, located in the Four Seasons on 57th Street in Manhattan.

By making a reservation about a month in advance, we were able to secure seats at the bar that lined the kitchen. From these seats we could see the chefs preparing the meals. They also explained what was going on with each dish.

The food and atmosphere were amazing. I couldn't be happier with the meal. Then again, when the dinner costs more than the round-trip ticket you purchased to get to NY and back, it better be good!

I posted these sections in meal order... but of course, you'll be reading them upside down. Oh well, I've always been a fan of having dessert first, just in case you have a heart attack in the middle of the meal.

(Photos courtesy of Anzela's Blackberry)

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon: Dessert

Pre-Dessert: Passion fruit tapioca, lemon grass panna cotta, mint syrup. Smooth, light, tart, sweet... this little shot glass pretty much had it all.

L 'Orange: chocolate souffle with orange sorbet, candied violet. I'm not too big on fruit with my chocolate. I've never really loved the combo, so I wasn't that into this dessert. Also, the souffle itself wasn't all that flavorful. This was the only dish that didn't work for me all night.

Le Chocolat Tendance: chocolate cream, bitter chocolate sorbet and Oreo cookie. This dessert though, rocked. Amazing. So much rich, dark chocolate. The Oreo cookie crust buried at the bottom added nice crunch.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon: Entrees

Fluke with thin scalloped potatoes and capers with basil potatoes. This was the special of the day, which Anzela ordered. I loved the little scalloped potatoes that lined the top of the fish.




La Caille: free-range caramelized quail stuffed with foie gras, potato puree. Yeah, I adore foie gras. I don't really see it much, so when it's available, I order it. I'm not sure how they stuffed such a teeny little quail, but I'm glad they did. This was divine.




Potato Puree: or as Anzela liked to call them, butter with a little bit of potato. Sinfully rich and creamy. If you visit one of Robuchon's places, you should order an entree if only so you can try this decadent little little treat.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon: Small Plates

Le Fenouil: salad of fennel, tourmalet sheep cheese and pears with grilled almonds. It's a salad. Hard for me to get too worked over it. But, it was very good.

L'amadai: sautéed amadai in a yuzu broth with lily bulbs. Amadai is a fish. I had never heard of it until this meal. It's sort like a light cod. The broth it rested in was very nice.

Le Foie Gras: seared foie gras with gratinated grapefruit. The fruity flavor of the grapefruit seemed to bring out the flavor of the foie gras. I really enjoyed this.

La Langoustine: crispy langoustine papillote with basil pesto. Langoustine is sort of a giant shrimp, yet the consistency is more like lobster. If the crisp coating was any lighter, it wouldn't be there.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon: Amuse-Bouche

This little shot glass of goodness is the single best thing I've ever placed in my mouth.

An amuse-bouche is not something you order, but rather the chef prepares before your first course arrives.

In this case, the amuse-bouche consisted of three layers. The bottom layer was a foie gras mousse, followed by a thin strip of port wine reduction and topped with a parmesan cheese foam. Combined, it was a light, fluffy burst of flavor that almost tickled your tongue. It was fun to eat and oh so flavorful.

One bite and I couldn't stop smiling. Unfortunately, with the second bite, it was gone.