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saulbass

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    Southern California Culinary Scene

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    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.

    Michelin 2007 Results for SF

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    "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.

    Michelin 2007 Results for SF

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    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.

    El Bulli 2006 Reservations

    in Spain & Portugal: Dining

    Posted

    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...

    The French Laundry 2001 - 2005

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    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

    West Coast Adventure

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    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

    Los Angeles Area Szechwan Recommendations

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    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.

    Los Angeles Area Szechwan Recommendations

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    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

    LA next weekend: help requested

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    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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