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saulbass

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Everything posted by saulbass

  1. Russell Le Meridien officially closed in July for the renovation. The renovation will be extremely extremely comprehensive and looks to finish sometime in Spring 2008. The hotel when reopened will be called the SLS at Beverly Hills. As soon as we have more public info will post as I believe what we are working on with Jose Andres will be pretty groundbreaking from a concept and culinary perspective. The renovation was designed by Philippe Starck and will be operated by Starwood under their Luxury collection.
  2. The company i work for is currently renovating the Le Meridien on La Cienega Blvd into a luxury hotel product with food by Jose Andres. Opening set for early 2008. Will add another star shef to the LA scene along with Batali and Collichio.
  3. "I mean lets talk about , the fat duck, les manoir, louis xv, michel bras, au crocodile, guy savoy , robuchon, do we really have that in san fran?" Not in SF, but French Laundry in Yountville deserves the ***. Also, was at Fat Duck less then a month ago and in many respects, Manresa is a very-good/better comp for Fat Duck in terms of ambiance, service standards, food creativity and location around an hour outside of a major food-centric city. However, across every metric, Manresa provided the better dining experience. Most importantly, the food quality and consistency at Manresa were far above Fat Duck.
  4. Also, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to David Kinch, Michael Kean and the rest of the Manresa team. Well deserved!!!
  5. Gary Danko is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere!! However, I think from a Michelin perspective it had two factors that prevented a higher star count: 1. The restaurant turns its tables far more frequently than the restaurants that scored higher 2. The restaurant only offers a five course or less (including dessert) menu option as opposed to the much longer tasting options of other higher scorers Neither of these factors have any impact on my experience. I have always received amazing food, service and ambiance in a ultra-luxurious yet casual, relaxed and not-stuffy environment. I think that it is this balance that local diners have come to love while it is this balance that is not fully understood by the folks at Michelin.
  6. Slanted Door for Lunch Gary Danko for Dinner
  7. For Thursday dinner go for Angelini Oesteria on Beverly (in my opinion a step up from La Terza) For breakfast i enjoy Bread and Poridge on Wilshire at 24th.
  8. Manresa in Los Gatos (10 miles from Santa Clara) is not to be missed Lots of discussion of the restaurant in other threads in this forum It is non-Indian cuisine but spectacular They have also been very very good at working around my dietary restrictions
  9. Email received overnight for reservation for 4 @ 8pm on Monday Sept 11 2006 Thank you so much to the elBulli team CAN NOT WAIT
  10. Am still waiting for reply Requested any date after April 20 Sent request on evening of October 15 Pacific Time Still Hoping...
  11. Same Still waiting with high and increasing anticipation...
  12. Have not gotten a yes or no yet, but on another note I received an email from Juli Soler that the English edition of elBulli 1994-1997 will be available during the first few months of 2006 and the English edition of elBulli 2003-2004 will be available during the early Spring 2006. Still hoping for a reservation for the 2006 season...
  13. Sent in request on October 15th evening CA time... heard nothing yet but still hoping to be able to plan a trip to Europe around a meal
  14. Just a quick questions... Where can one buy foie gras from a butcher etc in Los Angeles? Thanks in advance saul
  15. I made my reservation for my trip to TFL last Oct through a somewhat unique method I called about 30 min before the phone line opened and got the voice menu I then kept hitting the key that repeated the voice menu message Then after 10am when the phone lines opened i was able to get to a message prompt that allowed me to transfer to their information line. I then waited on hold for 20-25 min before being picked up and scheduling our reservation Dont know if its would still work but allowed me to ge a Saturday dinner reservation for 2
  16. May want to check out the "Bourdain Does LA..., Book Signings around town..." thread if Nov 12 wont be one of the convention days
  17. Visit Manresa in Los Gatos, CA for dinner then either stay over or take the 25 min trip to Santa Cruz, Lots of great Santa Cruz spots for breakfast including Zacharys, Linda's Seabreeze Cafe, Aldos Tacos Morenos for lunch (although Vallerta would be a decent substitute) Then Omei or Oswald for dinner (Omei for amazing szchewan chinese and Oswald if you are in the mood for more CA cuisine) Stay in Santa Cruz for the night then head on to Carmel/Monterey
  18. Ive been to Clementine many times My girlfriend likes it because the food "looks pretty" I however, find it extremly bland
  19. Tacqeria Vallerta in Santa Cruz Manresa in Los Gatos Chung King in Monetrey Park
  20. i think we order 10 dishes egg soup with tomato chicken with crispy rice chicken with chilis crispy chicken kung pao chicken sauteed beef crispy beef fish in chili sauce crispy fish string beans Many were recommended by the restaurant i didnt care much for the "spicy dishes" not so much because of the heat which was okay when combined with the riesling/rice etc., but rather i didnt find any depth to them. The one exception i felt was teh kung pao chicken which was by far the best version of kung pao i have had in LA. I will have to go back and try again as i enjoyed the string beans, egg soup and the kung pao quite a but. Thanks again for the rec.
  21. Went to Chung King tonight for dinner with a group of 6 Brought wine and wine glasses - 2 bottles of riesling (~dry) and 1 bottle of pinot noir I felt the food was better than any of the chinese i have had in LA (especially West LA) However, I felt that some of the dishes were one dimensional The spicy dishes all had a dryness to the spicyness that took over and didnt allow the flavors of the underlying chicken/beef/fish or much sudelty to show through The best dishes that we had were the kung pao chicken, egg soup and string beans I just wish there was a little more richness and depth to some of the flavors Thank you all for the recommendation as once again it was clearly the best chinese i have had in LA
  22. Belwood Bakery on Barrington Court is great and there is a pretty good ice cream place right around the corner
  23. Sushi Masu Bread and Poridge - great breakfast/brunch Brent's Deli Philippe Tlapazola Grill Father's Office - for Burgers also - Mori sushi is really good and more traditional than most LA sushi (ie no spicy tuna) put I perfer Takao which is a little further away from Palms in Brentwood. Mori is also a pretty expensive place. Also, you could substitute Josie for Joe's
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