Honkman

What kind of food are you looking for in LA - high-end, ethnic, etc. ?

Curry with sweet potatoes, eggplant, green beans and chickpeas - simple but good.

An Old German Family Recipe for Sour Cherry Pie

Has anybody information about Ubuntu (quality of food etc.) after the recent changes ?

Full review with photos: Full Tasting Menu at Hatfield's First Chef's Tasting Menu at Melrose Ave On our recent visit to the reopened Hatfield’s a few weeks ago we had the chance to get a first glimpse at the new location and prix fixe menu. We were overall very satisfied with our first impressions of the new, bigger location and the first dishes we experienced from the kitchen. Since this first visit was just two weeks after the reopening the restaurant was still in the process of ironing out small kinks and didn’t offer a true chef’s tasting menu. Even though you can always choose from the regular menu of any good restaurant and have a good meal we also believe that often only a chef’s tasting menu tends to give you the chance to really experience the talent of a great chef. Over the last few weeks the Quinn’s started slowly to perfect their vision of the new and “upgraded” Hatfield’s by first starting to offer lunch and very recently also a chef’s spontanée tasting menu. After hearing this news we knew it was time to go back to Hatfield’s and see if their chef’s tasting menu which was the highlight for us at their old location traveled over well to Melrose Ave. The restaurant has an interesting large stone resembling an apple outside at the entrance which is a nice touch for a restaurant. One of the new improvements of Hatfield’s is their new bar. This might be a great place for a late night drink and some upscale bar food. This picture was taken very late in the evening just before we left – this is the reason it does not look more busy at the bar. When we made the reservation we mentioned that we were planning to go for the chef’s tasting menu and we are not sure if this “labeled” us as foodies but we were very happy that they gave us the best “foodie” table in the restaurant – directly next to the large window of the open kitchen. From here you have a great view of the whole back of the restaurant. But most importantly you have a perfect view of the whole action in the kitchen. It was fascinating to see the different workflows in the kitchen throughout the night and how concentrated everybody was working starting from Chef Quinn to the Chef de Cuisine Brian Best and the 8-10 line cooks but also how, as the night progressed and less orders came in, the tension eased and quite a lot of talking and joking happened. A perfect table if you are interested in cooking and restaurants. We started the night with some cocktails. Pimm’s Cup – Pimm’s, gin, cucmber, lemon, Bundaberg ginger beer. Classical approach to a Pimm’s cup with a strong ginger beer taste. Early Spring Bellini – Prosecco frizzante and rhubarb puree. A repeat from the last visit which shows how much we liked this cocktail. Amuse Bouche: House-cured salmon with celery root slaw. Before we started with our 9-course tasting menu the kitchen started the evening with a nice amuse bouche which reminded us that celery root is often underappreciated and pairs good with the salmon. 1st Course: Sashimi Aji with marinated fennel, apple-shiso sauce and crispy duck cracklings The apple sauce was an interesting part of this dish but worked nicely with the delicate aji and the fennel. The crispy duck cracklings gave good textural contrast. 2nd Course: Foie Gras Terrine, Brioche and pineapple-muscat reduction Unusual presentation by incorporating the foie gras in the cut out slice of brioche. The sweet pineapple sauce was a good counterbalance to the richness of the foie gras but close to being too sweet and overwhelming the dish. Since we didn’t plan to do a wine pairing this evening (we just had one extensive wine pairing the night before) we asked our excellent server Timothy for a recommendation and his choice was a very good Riesling which had some residual sugars to go with the foie gras. 3rd Course: Butternut squash custard, mushroom broth, coconut soup and crispy sweetbreads. If you just see the cup with the coconut froth at the top one expects nothing unusual but this dish turned out to be very complex and one of the highlights of the evening. Here we have a three layered soup – at the bottom some earthiness from the butternut squash custard, the second layer full of umami from mushroom broth with small mushrooms and on the top some sweetness from the coconut soup. When eaten together all flavors work perfectly together and build a strong foundation for the sweetbreads. At this point Peter Birmingham, sommelier of Hatfield’s, came to our table with a bottle of Vinhas Velhas Luis Pato 07 Bieras and mentioned that he doesn’t think that this course would go well with our Riesling and that he had a little bit left in his bottle and we should try it. This was of course a very generous offer but more importantly it gave us the chance to strike up a conversation with him and it is rare to meet somebody with such passion, enthusiasm and knowledge for wines. His recommended very unusual wine was a perfect pairing for this complex dish and we decided spontaneously to not miss this chance and let him pair all our remaining courses – a decision we definitely didn’t regret. 4th Course: Salmon Roulade and salsify carbonara Very interesting and successful idea of using salsify as replacement for pasta in this carbonara variation. Pairing: Maranges “Le Croix Moines” 06 Camile Giroud – supple with light raspberry and cherry. 5th Course: Roasted squab breast, oat grains, carrots, ginger, squab jus and oat chip. Very tender meat with slight, favorable gaminess. The oat grains and carrots gave this dish a rustic foundation. Pairing: Pinot Noir Estate 05, Hallcrest Vineyards – some spicyness and herbal fruit having the right balance to not overwhelm the squab. 6th Course: Braised pork belly, Beluga lentils, Meyer Lemon confit, baby arugula salad. In a tasting menu of many highlights this dish was still good but overall the weakest course. The pork belly could have been more tender and was quite dried out. The lentil and especially the lemon confit accompanied the meat nicely. Pairing: Cidre Greniers Brut Julien Fremont 08 – You don’t see cidre very often as part of wine pairings but here it really “saved” the dish for us. Not too sweet, subtle fruit, perfect pairing. 7th Course: Pan roasted NY Steak, crispy spaetzle, soy glazed longbeans, béarnaise. This dish is a good example of the food at Hatfield’s where different cuisines, e.g German (spaetzle), French (béarnaise) and Chinese (soy glazed longbeans) are perfectly combined. Pairing: Clarendon Hills Baker’s Gully 04 – Very strong, rich wine with some blackberry fruit which holds up against the steak. 8th Course: Passionfruit Pavlova with pineapple Very refreshing passionfruit ice to this meringue-based dessert. 9ath Course: Chocolate soufflé with mousse The last dessert course was the only course where we each got a different dish. The chocolate soufflé was a good end to the tasting menu. Pairing: Brachetto d’Acqui Il Saulino 08 – light, delicate and raspberry flavored. 9bth Course: Chocolate Napoleon, “inverse” affogato Very good napoleon (or mille-feuille) but the affogato was the surprising part of this dessert. Instead of having the vanilla flavor in the ice cream and the coffee taste in the liquid this dessert consisted of coffee granite and vanilla cream. Pairing: Dark Stout with Dawny Port – nice play on an Irish Car Bomb with Dawny Port instead of the whiskey. Mignardies: Chocolate-hazelnut pralines Reminded us on Kit-Kat but way better. We came to Hatfield’s with great hopes to have a similar fantastic experience with their tasting menu as in their old location. At the same time we had just the night before an outstanding chef’s tasting menu at Bistro LQ and were wondering if Hatfield’s could hold up against it but we are happy to report that Hatfield’s didn’t disappoint and very fast starts to establish itself also in the new location as one of the top spots for creative high-end dining in LA. But it is also interesting to see how Laurent Quenioux at Bistro LQ and Quinn Hatfield at Hatfield’s are some of the most creative chefs in LA but have very different approaches. Bistro LQ uses often strongly contrasting flavors and ingredients to create dishes with a lot of culinary “tension” whereas Hatfield’s tends to create new dishes with “nearby” flavors which are unique and left you wondering afterwards why nobody else thought about it before, e.g. butternut squash custard with coconut soup or salsify carbonara. It is great to have Hatfield’s (and their chef’s tasting menu) back on the culinary scene in LA and we will soon be back.

Spaghetti Carbonara with homemade bacon

Full review with pics: Animal Animal (Los Angeles) – Two Dudes – One Restaurant Many restaurant names often have a meaning, like names of the owner or their place of origin but rarely does a restaurant name so clearly reflect the food you will experience: Animal in West Hollywood is one of these exceptions. From the very beginning this name makes it very clear that all kinds of animal protein will be the main focus of every dish – but everything else on the plate won’t disappoint either. Animal was started in the spring of 2008 by chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo. Both met in 1999 at culinary school at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and decided from there on to tackle the challenges of the culinary world together. After finishing their culinary education they worked together in numerous restaurants in Florida such as The Strand, Mark’s and The River House before moving to the Wildflower restaurant at the Lodge in Vail. They then finally decided to move to Los Angeles to work under chefs Govind Armstrong and Ben Ford at the Chadwick Restaurant before opening their own catering service – Caramelized Productions. The catering service was also part of the short-lived Food Network series “Two Dudes Catering”. Having experienced once how it is to work as their own bosses they decided to open their own restaurant – Animal. Animal is located on Fairfax Ave. in a non-descriptive building next to the Schwartz Bakery and a few buildings up from Canters. The interior has a very rustic, bare-bones and minimalistic look. It is a single large room with a bar at one end and several wooden tables. But similar to the food at Animal the first look might indicate a very bold and straight feel but if you look at bit closer you will find many small details like bare filament light bulbs and few pictures which make everything comfy and welcoming. The service at Animal is always professional but at the same time personal – at which restaurants do you experience waiters who recognize you and greet you with a handshake when you come into the restaurant? Animal has an interesting list of wines with some more unusual finds like some Italians, e.g. Negramoro or Coste della Sesia. At a recent visit we decided to order a few beers including a Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale which had a malty start with a long sweet finish and an Abita Amber which is a nice smooth beer pairs nicely with the food at Animal. You can easily only just focus on several of the small plates of Animal to get a full meal but we tend to share a few of them before switching to the entrees (but not forgetting the desserts either). Small Plate 1: Chicken liver toast We really like chicken liver in all of its renditions. The night before we had the chicken liver toast at Pizzeria Mozza which has a more coarse structure whereas the Animal variation is very smooth with balsamic drippings on top. Small Plate 2: Rabbit loin, parsnip, pear mostarda and benton’s bacon This plate has some ingredients you unfortunately don’t see often on menus – rabbit which had a delicate taste between chicken and game wrapped in bacon which helped to keep it moist and parsnip which has a nice earth flavor. The pear mostarda (an Italian condiment made out of candies fruit and mustard flavored syrup) gave a good balance with its mix of sweetness and slight spicyness from the mustard oil. Small Plate 3: Duck confit, apple, pecans, dates and arugula Rather classic version of duck confit with carefully chosen sides – bitter greens, sweet dates, sour apples - which helped to cut through the richness of the meat. Perhaps not the best version of duck confit we ever had but definitely a very enjoyable one. Small Plate 4: Barbeque pork belly sandwiches and slaw. As certified pork belly addicts it is hard for us to see pork belly on a menu and not order it. Animal has several dishes on rotation and this time we chose the pork belly sandwiches – wonderfully tender meat with a not too overwhelming sauce and slaw on a tasty bun. Unfortunately only one sandwich for each of us. Entrée 1: Flat iron steak, sunchoke hash and truffle parmesan fondue Very tender and perfectly cooked steak with an unusual but balanced sauce of truffles and parmesan which is quite addicting. The potatoes and sunchokes had a good smooth consistency. Entrée 2: Veal breast, polenta, savoy cabbage and prosciutto An Italian inspired dish which worked best if you tried to taste all the components at the same time. Dessert 1: Tres leches and dulce de leche Animal has only a few desserts and we tend to end up with the same two desserts – An outstanding tres leches cake which even though it is quite rich is at the same time very light. The dulce de leche adds a interesting caramel-like flavor. Dessert 2: Bacon chocolate crunch bar and s&p anglaise Animal’s signature dessert – not unlike a Kit-Kat bar but with added saltiness from the bacon which could have been a bit more pronounced. You mainly taste the good chocolate-nut combination. We have yet to have a disappointing evening at Animal. The restaurant is a great addition to the many restaurants in this area with a very strong focus on excellent food and less formality. The ever changing menu – even dishes which are on the menu for a longer time often get different sides or flavor changing variations – makes every visit an unique experience.

Full review with photos: Hatfield's It is always interesting when we look around in our circle of friends to realize how many couples work in the same occupational area. But if you really think about it, it is not that surprising that if you don’t know your partner from school days it is very likely that you will meet him/her during college or job years when the interests and life styles are very similar. So it is not surprising that in the culinary world where unusual working hours require a lot of understanding, chef couples are not unusual. Karen and Quinn Hatfield first met when they both worked at Spago. They both then worked separately at different restaurants in New York (Jean Georges, Bouley, Gramercy Tavern etc.) before they decided to work together again at Cortez in San Francisco. In 2006 they decided to open up their own restaurant in Los Angeles – Hatfield’s. We always enjoyed our nights at Hatfield’s as this restaurant provides in interesting contrast to most other high-end restaurants since in its original location it was a very small and intimate place with very few tables and a small kitchen. One of the highlights of Hatfield’s for us was their 7-course tasting menu which featured well executed French-Californian cuisine. As an interesting sidenote – when we ordered the tasting menu with two people both of us would get different dishes for each course which gave you a chance to taste 14 different courses. Due to the small number of tables it was always difficult to get a reservation at Hatfield’s and it wasn’t a real surprise that middle of last years the Hatfield’s decided to do the next plausible step and move to a bigger location. They moved their restaurant from Beverly Blvd to the new location on Melrose Ave formerly occupied by Red Pearl Kitchen and several other restaurants including Michel Richard’s Citrus. The first thing one recognizes is that the number of tables has at least doubled compared to the old location. The dining room has an interesting vibe somewhere between intimate and minimalistic with a very eye-catching honeycomb chandelier. One of the most interesting changes to us is the new open kitchen. Many restaurants claim to have open kitchen but you often can only see parts of the kitchen or just a few of the line cooks – not so at the new Hatfield’s. Here you have a very large window with a fantastic view of the whole kitchen from everywhere in the restaurant, you can even see Chef Quinn in action. Another nice new feature at Hatfield’s is their bar with gave us a good opportunity to start the evening with two excellent cocktails. Candied Kumquat Mojito – 10 Cane Virgin, pineapple, smashed kumquat, lime and mint. The cocktail had a nice balance between sweetness and tartness of the kumquats. Winter Bellini – Prosecco frizzante and rhubarb puree. Unusual but successful variation on a bellini which had a nice tartness from the rhubarb, loved it. Unfortunately Hatfield’s was just two weeks open at the time we visited and didn’t have the tasting menu up and running so that we decided to go with the 4-course prix fixe menu and covering all dishes. Amuse Bouche: Diced yellowtail, squash, lime, curry. A very light and fresh start of the evening which showed already how Hatfield’s combines many different flavors from all over the world. 1st Course A: Pan roasted diver scallops, braised celery, salsify, apple froth Nicely roasted scallops which had the typical sweetness and as a contrast the slight bitterness of celery and apple. 1st Course B: Charred Japanese mackerel, oven dried pineapple, avocado, fried shallots, nori infused salsa verde Mild fish with some sweetness from the pineapple and an accompanying aromatic/herbaceous salsa verde 2nd Course A: Pan seared dorade, carrot puree, Chinese broccoli, mushroom ragout Very moist fish with a crispy skin. The sweetness from the carrot puree is balanced from the slight bitterness of the Chinese broccoli. The mushroom ragout added some “meatiness” 2nd Course B: Prawns a la plancha espelette, creamy crab rice, roasted peanuts, preserved lemon, mint One highlight of this dish was the creamy crab rice. The prawns were crusted with pepper and sprinkeled with peanuts. A very Asian influenced dish. 3rd Course A: Long Island duck breast, whiskey prune smear, butternut squash, quinoa porridge Sous-vide cooked rosy duck breast with a nice crispy skin, sweet butternut squash and quinoa porridge which reminded of a risotto. 3rd Course B: Horseradish dusted short ribs and hanger steak, spring onion confit, smoked potato puree Very tender short ribs which got some spiceness from the horseradish accompanied by a surprisingly “smokey” smoked potato puree. The hanger steak was also very tender and was accompanied by a sweet-garlicky onion confit. For the desserts we could pick anyone from the dessert menu. 4th Course A: Coconut custard “Macroon”, marinated pineapple, vanilla tapioca, passion fruit-elderflower sorbet The coconut custard was the center of the dish and came along with many different flavor profiles from the sweet pineapple, tart sorbet. This dessert reminded us of desserts we had at Providence that we are completely addicted to. 4th Course B: Chocolate “Nutella” ganache cake, butterscotch rosemary ice cream, hazelnut toffee Interesting take on a chocolate cake with a twist by the rosemary flavor of the ice cream. Mignardises: Chocolate cupcakes Overall we were very happy with the reopened Hatfield’s. The ambience is very different from its old location but it is still not too large and especially the open kitchen makes the atmosphere unique. Service was professional while friendly, and the food was as good as we remembered. The only small complain was that the portion size tends to be quite small. We normally feel that most restaurants in the US serve way too much food but Hatfield’s was one of the rare occassions where we felt that we should have added some supplements for the prix fixe. We are really looking forward to go back when the full tasting menu is available.

Full review with photos: Fort Ross Wine Dinner at Cafe Chloe The Fort Ross Vineyard is uniquely situated for a vineyard with just a miles from the Pacific Ocean. It is located close to the mouth of the Russian River between Jenner and Fort Ross, and at a height of 1200 to 1700 feet overlooks the ocean. The Fort Ross Vineyard is made up by 28 small vineyard blocks at the top of the coastal ridge. The South Africans Linda and Lester Schwartz started winemaking at this location in 1994. Today the Fort Ross Vineyard focuses on three varietals – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinotage. The name Fort Ross Vineyard might be not as familiar as some of the “big” vineyards in Sonoma and Napa County but nevertheless their numerous favorable reviews for many of their wines show that many wine connoisseurs appreciate their wines. For many years now we have been very interested in food and cooking and always enjoyed drinking a good beer or wine to accompany our food, but only over the last two years or so we really started to get much more interested in learning more about wine, beer and cocktails. You can of course learn a lot by reading about these areas, but one approach that we have started to enjoy is to participate in wine/beer dinners, or to opt for a wine pairing with a tasting menu. So when recently Cafe Chloe hosted a wine dinner with wines from Fort Ross Vineyard we decided to take this opportunity to combine good food with some good wines. Tasting menus with wine pairings can sometimes be quite formal but in this case it turned out to be a laid back and relaxing night. Only a limited number of tables took part in the wine dinner but at the same time regular customers could select a few of the courses with the wine pairing individually which was a good idea to at least get some taste of the food and wines. 1st Course: Chilled chicken & truffle galantine with Persian watercress and green garlic sauce vert. Great start for the evening and our favorite course of the night. Galantine is stuffed meat (often forcemeat) that is poached and coated with aspic. The addition of truffle gave it a very elegant taste. The green garlic sauce vert completed the dish by giving a nice light, herbaceous touch. The 2008 Rose of Pinot Noir was a good pairing with its taste of strawberries and jasmine tea and a smooth finish which didn’t overwhelm the delicate taste of the galantine. 2nd Course: Branzino with sauce au vin blanc, spring vegetables – peas, asparagus, favas, pea vines, radishes and beets. This Mediterranean seabass had firm, moist flesh and a nice crispy skin. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, and especially the beets had a nice earthy flavor which suited the fish. The ingredients and the colorful presentation made this a great spring dish. The 2005 Chardonnay Reserve was interesting as it was an unfiltered wine. It had some fruity tones of peaches, apricots and melon with some acidity and a long finish. 3rd Course: Grilled duck breast with tangelo duck jus, wild mushrooms, creamed spinach and duck rillette crepe Breton. Also one of our favorites of the night – the citrusy sauce helped to balance the richness of the duck breast and the meatiness of the large pieces of wild mushrooms. The creamed spinach and especially the buckwheat crepe with duck rillette filling were outstanding “side” dishes. This course was accompanied by two different Pinot Noirs – 2007 Pinot Noir (left) and 2005 Pinot Noir Reserve (right). You could already see by the darker color that the reserve would have a much stronger and refined taste than “regular” Pinot Noir. The reserve had a strong taste of brambleberry, cherry and plums and quite a lot of tannins whereas the “regular” had less tannins and also less intense berry flavor. 4th Course: Smoked pork shoulder braised with rosemary, roasted fennel, tomato, cranberry beans and local olive oil. Altogether a good dish but probably the weakest part of the tasting menu. The meat was very tender and had a slight smoky flavor. The beans worked as a good base for the dish but the fennel was hardly detectable and it felt overall unbalanced and overly rich. Some balancing flavors which would have cut through the richness of the meat like some bitter kale/chard or some vegetable mash with some added sweetness from carrots or winter squash would have been nice. The paired 2006 Pinotage reminded us not surprisingly of a Pinot Noir with some raspberry and blackberry flavors with a smooth finish. 5th Course: Irish cashel blue cheese, roasted green grapes and honeycomb. A good finish of the dinner with this Irish cheese which reminded us of a mixture of Gorgonzola and Roquefort. The honeycomb had the perfect balancing sweetness to the tanginess of the cheese. The roasted grapes with their slight smokey flavor were a nice addition. This course was paired with a Sauternes from Café Chloe which had a good balance between its sweetness and raisiness. Supplement Dessert: Affogato – drawn espresso with vanilla bean ice cream. Even so we were quite full we were thinking about some coffee and sweets to finish the night. What is better than combining these two than in an affogato. Cafe Chloe has very good house-made ice cream, including their vanilla bean ice cream, and they use high quality Illy coffee beans for their espressos. By the way, this is one of our favorite desserts at Cafe Chloe together with their exceptional pistachio bread pudding, or their outstanding chocolate pot de crème… we like desserts… Overall we enjoyed this wine menu at Cafe Chloe a lot, and it was a good combination of excellent food and good wines. We found most of the Fort Ross wines to be good “restaurant” wines which means we would easily order a glass of them in the restaurant. On the other hand they sometimes felt raw and unfinished so that we probably would not order larger quantities for home enjoyment, one exception might be the 2005 Chardonnay Reserve. John, one of the three owners of Cafe Chloe, mentioned that they are planning three more wine dinners over the course of this year, and we hope that we might have time to enjoy them.

On some days the simple recipes are the most satisfying one - French Lentil Soup

Most likely not the answer you are looking for but even if you don't speak German it is not that hard to translate recipes (which are normally quite short )with the help from online dictonaries (e.g. leo.org). Based on this I would recommend to buy a German cookbook written in German. One of the best to cover all regions of Germany might be "Die echte deutsche Kueche" (The real German Cuisine) which is a quite popular book in German. http://www.amazon.de/echte-deutsche-K%C3%BCche-Sabine-S%C3%A4lzer/dp/3774215383 If you have problems to get the book in the US I recommend ordering it through amazon.de which I do on a regular basis (see link). Shipping is not that expensive if you take the slowest one.

Full review with pictures: The Linkery Similar to every business area the food world also has always buzz words and fashionable trends. Some of them stay only for a short period of time, some of them are here to persist for a long time, like Farm-to-Table, local, seasonal, sustainable. Without doubt over the last few years more and more restaurants in San Diego and elsewhere try to focus more on local, seasonal and if possible sustainable ingredients but if you really look in more detail on most menus it is also clear that many restaurants follow this philosophy only in a very limited way. Therefore it is even more remarkable how consistent the Linkery decided from the very beginning to be very thoughtful about the sourcing of pretty much everything they use in their restaurant. On a recent visit you could find on the top of the menu that your organic potatoes came from Cal Organics, Bakersfield, the free-range organic chicken from Fulton Valley co-op, Petaluma, the greens & produce from La Milpa Organica, Escondido etc. etc. This list is always a good reminder how resource intensive it is to serve any dish in a restaurant and how much more supportive we should be for restaurants who really care about these issues. The Linkery was started five years ago in February 2005 by Jay Porter who has a background in computer science and worked as a consultant for consumer electronics companies before he decided without any experience in the restaurant business to have a deeper impact on the community by opening a restaurant. The Linkery originally started at the corner of 30th and Upas St. in a much smaller place (which is now occupied by Searocket Bistro). From the very beginning we were interested in his approach of food/restaurants and started visiting the Linkery and had many great nights there. We were quite sad when he decided to move from the more intimate original location to his current larger place but which made of course much sense from a business point of view to bring it to the next level and have more possibilities. The Linkery has now a much larger room with a nice bar area and large moveable windows which are especially nice during warmer days since it makes half of the restaurant feel like sitting on an airy patio. During the colder months we prefer to sit in the back of the restaurant which is much more quiet with a few booths and a nice view of the open kitchen. One of the new possibilities which opened up by the move to a larger location was to go beyond just being a restaurant and start offering hand cured meats in the smaller side room – North Park Meats Co. Over the last five years the Linkery has acted as one of the important seeds for the now very active restaurant/pub scene on 30th. It was also an integral part of the ever growing brewing landscape in San Diego by offering many ever changing local beers over the years. When the Linkery celebrated their 5th anniversary on February 25th it was no question for us that we would celebrate it with a dinner there The Linkery has the nice options of beer flights (5 oz pours of four beers). This time we had from cask – Levitation (specially brewed for the 5th anniversary from Stone with 5 hop varieties), Hop Porter (Green Flash) and from draft – Super Freak (Green Flash), Decadence 09 (AleSmith – for both of us the best beer of the evening) and Old Guardian 05 (Stone). Grilled flatbread with house cured Blue Butt bacon, caramelized red onions, queso fresco, Portobello mushrooms and roasted garlic sauce The flatbread is very thin and had a nice sweetness from the onions which was balanced by the slight sourness of the queso fresco. And as we all know – everything tastes better with bacon ! And it helps that the house cured bacon at Linkery is one of the best you will get in San Diego Choucroute plate with Cincinnati link (duroc pork, sage, thyme, mace, PORK BELLY!!!), house made sauerkraut, house cured pork, Winchester Gouda, and house baked beer bread. We were surprised how much you could taste the pork belly in the sausage. Most sauerkraut you find in the US tastes horrible to us and is way too sour (no offense meant…). The Linkery is one of the few exceptions with a very mild distinguished flavor as it should be and by far the best sauerkraut we have had in San Diego so far (seconded by Cafe Chloe). Kentucky-fried local pastured quail, baby collard greens, Kennebec potato mash, Green Flash Superfreak gravy. Wonderful potato mash and collard greens. The coating of the quail was too thick so that it was hard to get a good taste of the quail meat. Taza chocolate cake, German-style Good cake but not one of their best desserts. We would really like to see some old “classics” from their first location back on their menu like Oaxacan chocolate ice cream and the chocolate lava cake. On a side note, we still don’t understand why this type of cake is named “German” chocolate cake as you would not find it in Germany. French press of Zirikana coffee from Rwanda (roasted by Intelligentsia Coffee) This coffee had a very interesting cherry-like flavor with some notes of tropical fruit. This dinner was a good representation of “typical” dishes at the Linkery – their eponymous links, food prepared in a simple way to let the highest quality ingredients talk, large variety of local beers. We are looking forward to many more years to come at the Linkery. Congratulations again, Jay !

Based on my also completely unscientific guess I would think that 15% is very optimistic. In my exeperience at least 1/3 of people I know (perhaps more likely half of it) couldn't care less what they eat for lunch at example my company. Food is good for them as long as it keeps them ggoing.

Full review with photos: Cafe Chloe While foodies love to discover new places and restaurants, at the same time they like to come up with top lists of their favorite ones for different cities. We are no exception to this typical “foodie behavior”: there are certain places that we love to go to over and over again, and because we visit them so often and get to know the people there quite well, they start to feel like a second home or living room to us. In San Diego we were fortunate enough to have two of those “second living rooms”: the Better Half Bistro in Hillcrest and Cafe Chloe in East Village. With quite some substantial pain to us, the Better Half Bistro unfortunately closed its door last June – but happily we still have Café Chloe which we never get tired to visit. On so many occasions have we ended a long and tiring week at work with a nice dinner at Cafe Chloe, and it is always amazing that within just a few hours we are reenergized to start into a nice weekend. Cafe Chloe was founded by Tami Ratcliffe and couple Alison McGrath and John Clute about five years ago, and even though East Village might not look like some touristy place in Paris (but some arrondissements in Paris don’t look that inviting either) once you step inside the restaurant, a lot reminds you of a bistro somewhere in France. Cafe Chloe has a nice casual and relaxed atmosphere with its wine bar in the center, and several small tables and bistro chairs throughout the cozy room. One of our favorite places is the elevated gallery which is a quieter place for two people, and which has a nice view throughout the restaurant. They also have a few tables outside; a nice option on a beautiful summer night (of which, of course, we have plenty in San Diego). We also admire their great taste in desiging the whole place, starting from the two stone dogs greeting you at the entrance, over beautiful paintings and other decorations, such attention to detail is rare to find elsewhere – and again adds to our feeling of “being home” at this place. As already mentioned above, Cafe Chloe recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. We started visiting them shortly after their opening, and over the years we got to know many of the wonderful staff at Cafe Chloe by name. By now they also know many details about us, e.g. our preference for a slow pacing of the meal etc. which makes all of our visits even more relaxing. Cafe Chloe’s chef, Katie Grebow, creates a wonderful menu with her own interpretation of French (American) bistro dishes. We also enjoy that they don’t make the same mistake of many other restaurants with a small menu to not change their menu often enough for their regular visitors. They always have two daily specials, one meat and one fish entrée, and even their “regular” dishes have small seasonal changes. We have to yet have a dinner at Cafe Chloe which disappoints us, but at restaurants as Cafe Chloe which consistently deliver great food, there are still those special nights when somehow everything works together, and you have another “perfect” night, like the one we had recently: Mimosa with house-made peach sorbet Cafe Chloe doesn’t take reservations (except for one table for parties of five) so that sometimes you have to wait for a table, but that is an excellent “excuse” to start the evening at the bar with a mimosa with house-made peach sorbet. Pork meatball with small salad This was a new addition to their Small Plates section and reminded us of a German “Frikadelle” Chicken Pate with grilled bread, pickled carrots and mustard Cafe Chloe has an always changing Charcuterie du Jour plate with outstanding house-made charcuterie by Sous-Chef Jacob Rodriguez. Pinot Noir - Domaine Henri Delagrange, Hautes-Cotes De Beaune, 2007 The Pinot Noir had a nice acidity and gentle tannins with a berry taste. A simple but elegant wine which paired nicely with the different courses. Cider-braised Wild Boar with sautéed apples, braised red cabbage and buckwheat Spaetzle. One of the best main dishes we had at Cafe Chloe and perfect “German comfort food” on this rainy night. We wished they would put it on their regular menu ! Cheese plate with kumquat compote, wine gelee and honeycomb We still had some wine left and decided to have some cheese instead of dessert. This was a wonderful evening at one of our most favorite places in San Diego – thank you, Cafe Chloe, for this beautiful place !

South African Bobotie (lamb) with saffron rice, green beans and some chutney

Full review with photos: Lucques Suzanne Goin has left quite an impact in the dining scene of Los Angeles over the last decade with the opening of several well respected restaurants such as A.O.C., Hungry Cat, Tavern and most prominently Lucques. Her talent is widely recognized and represented in six nomination for James Beard awards including one for her cookbooks, “Sunday Suppers at Lucques”. As much as we like especially Hungry Cat (we have visited both places in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara), our visits so far to Lucques always left us with mixed feelings. The food and service were mostly good but never really outstanding, and we always felt like that the restaurant had much more potential but for different reasons was never able to fully utilize it. On a recent trip to Los Angeles we thought it was perhaps a good time to try out Lucques again for one of their well-known Sunday Suppers. Lucques is kind of hidden on Melrose Ave, and if you don’t really know where it is it you can easily miss it. It’s a small building with ivy on the front wall, and once you step inside you feel like entering somebody’s living room. The main dining room has a very comfy but elegant feeling with brick stone walls, a fireplace in the middle of the room and large mirrors on the walls that make the room appear much larger than it is. There is also a beautiful patio in the back which is a nice option especially in the summer. Unfortunately our evening didn’t start without problems. We had asked for a place in the dining room when making the reservation since we anticipated cold weather for that weekend, but were initially guided to the patio. After a short discussion we were then shown a table in the dining room which was clearly one of the worst in the house (directly at a pass where most of the guests and servers are walking by all the time) even though there were several other tables available. After another discussion we were given a much better table. Interestingly, we saw the same behavior also later in the evening when the restaurant was nearly empty and a new group of guests arrived; they had a very long discussion to get one of the booths (instead of the table they were first offered) even though none of the booths were occupied. It’s surprising that the staff isn’t more interested to let the guest feel more welcome especially if the requests are so easy to accommodate. The service throughout the evening was professional but at the same time inattentive - we had to ask for the cocktail menu and later for the dessert wine list, dishes were brought out too fast, we asked for coffee after the dessert but were given just the bill and had to remind our server. We started the evening with two cocktails: A Temple Black (Miller’s Gin and house-made grenadine with orange, Seven-up and a hint of anise) which was nice and mellow but had also a nice kick from the gin. And we also asked the bartender to mix us one non-alcoholic cocktail which was very good, it had different fruit juices and a nice tartness by some lemon juice. The bread service at Lucques is always very good, and we love their Lucques olives and almonds. Arugula and blood orange salad with roasted dates, Marcona almonds and Parmesan. The roasted dates and the almonds were the highlights of the salad. The vinaigrette had a little bit too much vinegar. Braised veal cheeks with soft polenta, cavolo nero, turnips and Pecorino salsa. This dish was surprisingly bland, and it doesn’t happen very often that we have to add salt in a restaurant. We liked the sides (polenta and vegetables) more than the veal. Greek yogurt tart with honey, Schaner farm’s citrus and pistachios Good but somehow unremarkable tart Overall this dinner at Lucques was far from really disappointing, but at the same time service and food wasn’t at that level you would expect from a restaurant with such a reputation. We will be back in the future but it will take awhile as there are so many other good options close by.

They are very busy on the weekends but they mentioned that during the week buidness can be quite slow but I seems to pick up a bit over the last few weeks. It would be very sad if they can't survive.

All photos at: http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/gjelina-los-angeles.html On our increasingly frequent weekend trips to Los Angeles (we have to confess that over the last few years we have started to discover LA’s great food scene and are hooked by now…) we usually arrive late on Friday night, and are always looking for restaurants which are open after 10pm and serve good food. In the past, Pizzeria Mozza and Animal have been our favorites on those nights, but since we are always interested to find new places we decided this time to check out a new one: over the last year Gjelina on Abbott Kinney in Venice Beach got many good reviews and is currently one of the up and coming restaurants in LA. The kitchen under the helm of Travis Lett (opening chef of NineThirty in the W hotel) has a strong focus on local and seasonal food with a Mediterranean influence. The interior of the restaurant is similar to the food: very rustic and simple, but at the same time inviting and somewhat hip and modern. The main dining room has brick walls and floors and wood plank ceiling. Upon entering the restaurant you immediately feel the energy in this room, and two communal tables close to the bar give the opportunity to meet new people for dinner. The restaurant is relatively dark and has its signature, several electrical lamps in all sorts of shapes and sizes, mounted over the bar. In addition to the main dining room the restaurant also has a quieter patio surrounded by high walls which especially during warmer weather might be a very nice place to dine. The menu consists of different small plates including salads and vegetables, entree plates and pizzas from a wood-burning oven. For this visit we decided to choose a few small plates and pizza. Selection of Charcuterie with toasts, mustard, preserves & pickles Salami, Sopressata, Prosciutto with red beets, pickled cucumber and onions, two types of mustard and toasted bread. Overall it was a good start of the night but compared to all the other dishes it was nothing special. Unfortunately we didn’t have the chance to ask if they make their charcuterie in-house. Grilled local squid with a warm lentil salad and Salsa Verde Great combination of very tender squid and an excellent lentil salad. The Salsa Verde gave the dish a nice kick. PEI mussels with homemade chorizo, confit tomato, white wine and grilled bread Large and extremely tender mussels, but the real star of the dish was the sauce which got its taste from the mussels, white wine and tomato confit and had large chunks of chorizo in it. The bread was great for dipping the sauce. We didn’t leave a drop of it on the plate and it would have been a great soup even without the mussels. Crispy Niman Ranch pork belly with soft polenta, bitter greens and apple cider It’s hard for us to see pork belly on any menu and not order it. This version was good but not outstanding. It was a little bit dry, but the bitter greens were a nice contrast and helped to balance the richness of the pork belly. Charred Brussel sprouts with dates, bacon and vinegar Such a simple dish but so good. The Brussel sprouts were tender but still had a nice bite. The sauce had a slight sweetness from the dates which balanced the bitterness of the sprouts and vinegar. And which dish isn’t brought to perfection by bacon ? Pizza with shaved asparagus, confit shallot, farm egg, Sottocenere and parmesan One of our favorite pizza places in LA is Pizzeria Mozza. We love their high quality toppings and even their dough is becoming thinner over the years, but especially the crust still resembles bread more than pizza. We are always on the lookout for real thin pizza (but not too cross) and we might have found it at Gjelina - Very thin pizza with a great thin crust made in a wood-fired oven – our new favorite in LA. And the quality of the toppings at Gjelina didn’t disappoint either. Banana chocolate bread pudding with fresh cream & caramel and outstanding espresso The bread pudding was unusually soft and nearly liquid, and had a great banana taste. Also, it’s quite an advantage to have one of the best coffee shops of LA almost next to the restaurant – Intelligentsia. So it didn’t come as a surprise that the espresso was one of the best we had in any restaurant. Similar to Intelligentsia, the espresso was served with a glass of sparkling water. Service throughout the night was very professional and efficient. We never felt rushed even though we were at the end some of the last guests in the restaurant. We also liked that our waitress mentioned that she will ask the kitchen to pace our dishes slowly. She also made sure that dishes did arrive in the best possible order to combine the best flavors – both seafood dishes at the same time as well as the pork belly together with the sprouts. Overall we went to Gjelina without any high expectations besides reading some good reviews beforehand, but were very impressed by the quality of both food and service. Gjelina will definitely become a part of our regular LA rotation list.

All photos at: http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/bistro-lq-los-angeles_07.html Bistro LQ opened less than a year ago but is more and more becoming one of our favorite restaurants in LA. Chef Laurent Quenioux has an interesting and impressive background with a start in France and beginning his apprenticeship with 14 and working in numerous restaurants before he came to LA and was involved in several restaurants/positions (including executive chef of the Dodgers). One of his last restaurants was Bistro K in Pasadena which got very good reviews but we unfortunately never had the chance to visit. So we were very excited when Bistro LQ opened end of July 2009 and have since then visited several times and were never disappointed by the food and creativity of Chef Quenioux. It is not only the kitchen at Bistro LQ which delivers, but also the team in the front of the house under the guidance of Eric Bouty is doing a similar outstanding job to let every customer feel welcomed. Our last visit was no exception when he greeted us and mentioned that he saw our names and discussed with the chef that we could get a completely new 9-course tasting menu since we had the last one just a few weeks before. This was of course an offer we couldn’t reject. Amuse-Bouche: Mussel with red beet and salmon caviar. Very tender mussel and a nice contrast by the earthy red beet 1st Course: Dungeness crab with fennel apple slaw Good balance between the sweetness of the crab and the slight sourness of the apple and fennel 2nd Course: Foie Gras (Torchon style) with black truffles, oxtail pastry and frisee. The foie gras worked nicely with the braised oxtail and flaky pastry. 3rd Course: Miso Soup with scallop, Foie Gras and shrimp One of the highlights of the evening – the Foie Gras gave the miso soup a great depth and richness. 4th Course: Sea urchin tapioca pudding with yuzu and oyster in yuzu martini gelee This was the only course we had in a previous tasting menu but we weren’t disappointed to have it again. The tapioca pudding with the uni gave a very smooth taste of the sea which is amplified by the oyster/gelee. (And as chemists we also like the presentation in small beakers… ) 5th Course: Smoked haddock with blini pancake, ricotta lemon mousse and Sevruga caviar Another strong seafood course with a nice variation to the standard smoked salmon with blini. 6th Course: Skate with cippolini, fava beans and raspberry sauce The skate and cippolini were both very tender but the fruity sauce brought the whole dish together by providing an interesting sweet contrast. Intermezzo: Lychee Sorbet Very refreshing sorbet as a palate cleanser before the meat courses 7th Course: Squab with pistachio flan and blueberry sauce Meat was very tender with crispy skin and had a nice gamey flavor. And again it was a great dish were many different flavors worked well together. 8th Course: “Mixed Grill Plate” – hanger steak, heart, kidney, sweetbreads and sunchoke puree Not your standard mixed grill plate but great presentation of different meat flavors and textures 9th Course: Cheeses The cheese cart at Bistro LQ is well known for its large variety and we always let Eric arrange a selection with only the Epoisses as our favorite constant. The condiments are always very impressive and range from truffle honey to red paprika mustard to sweet onion jam to cranberries. 10. Course: Several fruit based sweets – unfortunately forgot the details… Good contrast to the next dessert course but most of these were quite sour and could have been a little bit more balanced 11. Course: Chocolate cake with crème anglaise and whipped cream Good finish of the tasting menu with a light chocolate cake. Mignardises So far we haven’t had any disappointments at Bistro LQ and this visit was no exception. Together with the excellent wine pairing which always supports each dish without overwhelming it this restaurant also presents a real bargain with the 9-course tasting menu and wine pairing for $125/person. The name Bistro LQ doesn’t really cover the food at this restaurant since Chef Quenioux cooks food which goes far beyond “conventional” bistro food. The techniques and the “heart” of the restaurant might be French, but the ideas one finds in the dishes combine influences from all over the world and won’t disappoint anybody interested in creative and innovative food.

I guess we have to agree to disagree. I wasn't talking about the tacos at Superrica (which are really disappointing ) but some of their other menu items like the chorizo special which are OK but nothing special.(But I agree that their fresh tortillas are great). So far I had excellent experiences with their seafood and liked also their cocktails (which are often unusual takes on well-known classics which I often like more than standard cocktails). Dutch Gardens has the advantage of having a beer garden if you want to sit outside but only underwhelming food.

Hungry Cat and Bouchon are two very good options. I know that a lot of people like Superrica but I think it is overrated. It's not horrible food but also nothing special. Something more unusual - Coming myself from Germany I am always surprised how limited German food is the US. You mainly get food which is typical tourist food in German but nothing what really resembles the many different regions in Germany. Unfortunately even this tourist food you get in the US is often of very low quality (I haven't yet found a decent German restaurant in Southern California). The only exception I recently discovered is in Santa Barbara - Brummis. A small family-owned restaurant on upper State Street which serves manyn of the "classical" German dishes but on very high quality level.

I guess it's a matter of opinion as to what is funny and what is not. Really? Taking money from an advertiser that has nothing to do with food is a selling out? The show still works the same way on screen as far as I can tell. I do not see them "toning it down" to appeal to a mass audience and the content is still as varied as it always has been (to kick it off we get a non-food focused Panama and then Turkey with almost nothing but food!). As far as influencing the show, like I said, it is not evident. Now, you can be all conspiracy theory and say it was all a plot by big bad Chase to send him to Turkey so he can eat at this place that they own and hang out with the cute chick who in reality works for Chase PR. I don't buy that because the show would've worked exactly the same with or without Chase and a 2.5 second plug for them helped pay the bill. With DVR and TiVo most advertiser are resorting to one trick or another to get you to see their products. That's all there is to it. Again, when he starts shilling for a food-related company/product that I am pretty sure he does not believe in, I'll be the first to bash him as a sellout. When on Top Chef, the contestants are asked to improvise a meal using nothing but "Product X", that's how you know advertisers, in this case whoever makes "Product X", ARE influencing content and script. Figured and example might help. I am not saying that Chase is influencing the program but how do you know that not other (travel-related) companies are trying to influence for example where he is going or what places he is visiting during a show ? And I am not saying that there is so far any clear evidence that this is happening but just seeing in what stupid way they advertise Chase during the show gives me at least less convidence that this might not happen in the future.

"Sure, the Chase thing was blatant and bit annoying, but kinda funny" - I don't see where it was in any way funny. It was only annoying. "Why is this "selling out"? - For somebody who always tried to portrait himself as "different", "outsider, not following the mainstream" and making jokes about the mainstream this is a sell out. "It does not matter and has no real impact on the content of the show!" - How do you know ? How do you know that other companies / tourist organizations don't influence the content of the show ?

I like Anthony Bourdain and what he is doing a lot but I am really surprised how much people are willing to overlook just because he is Anthony Bourdain. If any other person on TV would do such product placement everybody on this (and other) boards would be disappointed and would call it a sell-out. For some reason people tend to be very uncritical about Bourdain which I think is unjustified. Bourdain as somebody who is never shy of making comments about other people and what kind of losers they are loses a lot of credibility by doing this kind of product placement.

A few restaurants you might look into: Terra (flies under the radar but good, affordable food) Bite (Tapas style restaurant) Kous Kous (good Maroccan restaurant) Pappalecco (Very good gelato) Extraordinairy Dessert (for very good, rich desserts) And I know some people like Hash House A Go Go but we haven't good experiences with it. Only obscenely large portions of mediocre food.