hollywood
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Posts posted by hollywood
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Beachfan I would love to hear a bit more about the ethnic spots you mentioned. I love Zankou Chicken & Bombay Grill, and have had a good meal at Guelagetza, but I am not familiar with the other spots you mentioned. (Except for Phillipe's, where I have not been.) I am in the West Hollywood area, and am always on the lookout for places nearby.
Do you like Jitlada? It is my favorite Thai.
Has anyone been to Mori Sushi on Pico? It is OUTSTANDING. The best I have had here (though I have not been to Ginza Suhsiko--not enough equity in my house yet to take the necessary 2nd mortgage). The fish is amazing and creatively presented. And the fresh wasabi is a must.
mixmaster B,
If ethnic food intrigues you, I suggest picking up a copy of Gold's Counter Intelligence and reading his bits in L.A. Weekly. In the latter, he and Huneven regularly list favorites around town, many of which are ethnic. Jitlada is OK. However, if you go over to the 5100 block of Hollywood Bl., you'll find Sanamluang Cafe, Ruen Pair, Palms Thai and Kruang Tedd among others.
I like Mori Sushi a lot but it is expensive. For bargains, I find my self returning to Hide on Sawtelle altho others like Sushi Sasabune in the same area. If you are interested in Ginza SushiKo, be aware that it will soon close shop here and relocate to Manhattan where there is more money to be had.
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Therefore I conclude that primadonna chefs ought to realize that they are not the center of the universe, the arbiters of all taste, and that their basic job is to cook food for their patrons.
Of course, but "... the real issue here isn't how we can force someone to eat steak that is cooked 'correctly,' but how it is we can eductate people about it and hope they take to it. " (Steve P)
Isn't Fat Guy correct? If we miraculously convinced every one to eat steak or tuna steak rare, wouldn't that stiffle creativity? We'd all be clones of one type of taste. Of course, the reverse is not true, we don't want every one ordering steaks well done. Steve, honestly, don't you enjoy being one of the cognoscenti? Isn't it the case that you'd have no fun being an aristocrat if every one else had good taste as well?
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hollywood, were these by any chance filled with seasoned ground meat, lamb, perhaps? the empanada/sambusek is probably a much better cross-cultural example than steak. I suppose the debate there would be over fillings and seasonings.
Actually, these were dessert pastries, but I seem to recall she makes bourek (?) as well. If the debate turns to fillings and seasonings, my response is: fill me up.
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Can you find dry ice in France? Might help.
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The statistical universe for food is everybody. That's a lot of people. We have to fairly assume that some who profess a preference for well done steak will try rare and eventually like it. Some won't. Some will never try. So it goes.
Crossculturally, steak may not be the best example. I was having my hair cut the other day by a lovely woman of Persian Armenian extraction. She was kind enough to serve me two delicious pastries she had made. Great stuff and light. Later we got into a discussion of her problems in ordering steak out. She has ordered well done but doesn't find it to her liking. Culturally, I think she is from the kill all the germs school. I ended up suggesting that she try ordering medium well.
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Generally, when asked this type of question, I refer to a standard response about foie gras, wine, etc. The other day, however, I was in the store adjacent to American Rag & Cie on La Brea (in LA) and noted various totem items of the sort I also like that sort of evoke the spirit of the place. Things like Ricard pitchers, match strikers, etc. And I have always coveted one of those official signs designating a place a one star hotel. Beyond that, having sufficient funds, I'd run over to Galerie Document and snatch up some stone lithos, e.g., Mucha, Cheret, Lautrec.
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That's not true. Everybody has seen the movie "Pretty Woman" and everyone has heard the aria from La Traviata that is in it. If the version of the aria they used was sung by a singer who sang off key, everyone would know it and it would screw up the entire ending of the movie. How come we aren't taught to think of steak the same way? Or is off key singing more more obvious than burnt steak?
I seriously doubt that everyone would know it. In fact, I had totally forgotten this aspect of the film.
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I find it sad that LA in the late 80's was the home of many great restaurants. We lost them - chefs just got too weary of the star gazers and the skinny stars themselves.
lizziee,
Hello again. I have no way of knowing if you are correct as to why chefs have left our town. Could it just be economics? How many families (fragmented tho they may be) can afford to eat at such fine dining spaces often enough to keep the establishments solvent? Let's face it, Paris gets customers from the entire world to draw upon. Ditto New York. SF & Napa are loaded with dinks. These are folks who can afford frequent fine dining. I suspect there was a financial shakeout and we adjusted the number of fine dining chefs/spots to fit our pocketbooks. It might seem more tragic to say the chefs wearied of this or that, but there is the obnoxious bottom line to contend with.
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Hollywood - I don't have much experience drinking Coudelet. It's the perfect case of being on the wrong side of the highway. My gut always tells me to discount second bottlings from growers who are famous for a top bottling. I think places like Domaine Gramenon where all they make are Cote de Rhones have more of an incentive to make a bottling with some distinction to it. But I have some friends who swear by Coudelet so who knows. Limestone having an impact and being on a hillside are two different things. And I can blame my lask of oyster eating on my wife who likes clams on the halfshell but not oysters. Go figure.
Wrong side of the highway in terms of appellation, perhaps, but value, how about that? Certainly, I'd agree that Perrin red is pretty blah but the Coudoulet! As for oysters, clearly there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in your Plotnickiism. Get thee to New Orleans and start eating: Oysters Bienville, Oysters Rockefeller, on the half shell at Acme or Felix's. As for your better half, let her eat pompano or trout marguery or crawfish etouffe.
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With advance apologies to the board and to Msgr Knox.
There was a young man who said: God,
I don't like liver, truffles or cod.
Yet a friend with good taste
tells me my life's a waste
since my palate's objectively odd.
Said God: what's so hard to believe?
I've got logic tricks here up my sleeve:
If I say something's good,
then enjoy it you would
P.S. Kindly address me as "Steve".
Touche. More verses, please.
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Tommy - Here are a few good Cote de Rhones that are usually available in town for less than $20.
Clos des Mure
Roger Sabon Cuvee Prestige
Domaine Reamejeanne
Domaine de la Mordoree Lirac
Those should be about $11 each.
If you want to graduate to the next category,
Domaine Cayron from Gigondas
Domaine Aphelanthes (any of their three bottlings)
Alain Graillot - Crozes Hermitages
All around $20-$23
If you want to splurge a little,
Domaine Gramenon La Meme
Les Cailloux Chateuneuf du Pape
Jerome Bressy Rasteau Gourt de Mautens
Andre Soumade Rasteau Fleur de Confiance
Between $30-$45
The next level jumps to about $60. Of course there are wines in between those prices but I don't think the quality changes that much. But starting at $60 and continuing through $165 a bottle it starts getting really interesting. Wine at around $60 which are stellar are,
Beaucastel Chateaunef du Pape
Jamet Cote Rotie
Ogier Cote Rotie
Domaine Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape
Thierry Allemand Cornas
The high end wines of the region(s) are
Guigal La Landonne, Mouline, Turque $165 - $250
Chave Hermitage - $135-$200
Beaucastel Hommage Jacques Perrin $250
Henri Bonneau Reserve des Celestins $300
Les Cailloux Cuvee Centenaire - $200
Roger Sabon Le Sescret de Sabon - $300
Now go out and buy them and report back to us.
Steve,
Given the price of Beaucastel Chateauneuf and others, what do you think of Coudoulet de Beaucastel as a wine value? Is it "Baby Beaucastel"?
As for this hillside business, I thought it was the limestone in the soil that made the difference, no?
On the topic of oysters, have you been to New Orleans? You could gorge on oysters there.
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But a strict reading of Plotnickiism would say the following.
Forgive me for coming late to the party, but just where is P'ism clearly set forth in one confined space, treatise, etc.?
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what does one do with a half bottle of anything? baffling.
Inhale it. Just consider it an appetizer.
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Hollywood - I wish I could help you but the last vintage I bought Bordeaux in was 1995. And even most of what I bought from that vintage I sold off. But I always thought the best value for classified Bordeaux were wines like Grand Puy Lacoste, Leoville-Barton and Angelus. And even those are not cheap and I have no idea what newer vintages sell for today. But back around 1995 they were selling from about $45-$75 a bottle. But I could give way more info on Rhone wines and they are cheaper too
Cheaper=good. Sign me up as a Rhone Ranger.
As for Nirvana, where would they have been without The Replacements?
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Steve,
If your palette is as sophisticated as it would seem, perhaps you could offer some views on second and third growths of vineyards you appreciate. This might be more meaningful (and affordable) than lengthy threads about (debatable) first principles of things epicurean.
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If the mother at Bofinger had not ordered her steak rare, would you still be drinking domestic wines, or as you prefer to call them, new world?
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Hollywood - It's not about whether they are good or not. The lack of a codification system doesn't encourage growers to accentuate certain aspects of the vineyards. Pisoni Vineyard is one of the more famous souces for Pinot in Ca. And there are good wines that come from that vineyard. But they do not have the type of delineation that wines from say Chambolle-Musigny have. Or the typical way of saying this is they lack terroir. So because Ca. wines are not terroir driven, they are less interesting. But if you are the type of person who likes lots of ripe fruit, you might prefer Ca. wines to French wines.
As for new world wines in general, I used to drink tham all of the time. But I stopped a bunch of years ago and sold all of my inventory off and replaced it with European wines.
So, forget "new world" pinots? I think Domaine Drouhin (Oregon) would be surprised to hear that it's wines don't respect the terroir. Guess you haven't tried Louise or Laurene? If by not having "the type of delineation" you mean they haven't been around that long, you win.
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Hollywood - The problem with Ca. pinot noir is that it isn't codified. What is good about Burgundy is they have maximized each sites potential through the AOC system (that is different then whether each grower has maximized the specific potential of their site.) As such, Chambertin tastes completetly different than Musigny. It's the lack of codification that makes Ca. wine less interesting. People who produce wines in Santa Maria are trying to make wines that taste the same as ones made in Paso Robles. That aspect of it alone makes French wine generally (in a significant way)more interesting than Ca. wine.
So the pinot noir you would not dream of drinking in New York (?) is Central Coast stuff? Or, all California pinot noir? Or, all California, Oregon and Washington? And just because it's not codified? How about if it tastes good? I would think lack of codification could lead to more pleasant surprises, no?
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We could also ask the 3 questions relative to Plotnickiism: do you understand it? Do you appreciate it? Do you enjoy it?
Wasn't it Immanuel Kant who said there's no virtue in being readily comprehensible at the loss of all basic insight? The question here is: What's the damned insight?
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I shudder at my temerity in putting new words into StevePs mouth, but I assumed he meant "enjoyment" rather than "appreciation".
Maybe, maybe not. At times it seems that such hard won understanding eliminates all enjoyment.
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As to your story about the two brothers, you are just really describing enculturation (there's that word again) based on location. It even affects me. For example when I'm in a place like the Central Coast of California, I can enjoy a local pinot noir. But it isn't something I would ever dream of drinking when I'm back in NY. And I'm sure that if I lived in Australia I would acquire a taste for Shiraz even though I think the stuff is fairly deadly. But I don't think that has anything to do with an objective view of wine and it's complexities. And when the brother who lived in Britain commented that French wine was "dull and boring," that's like me saying I can't see what people see in the ballet. Because the truth of it is I do not know how to appreciate the ballet so that's why I don't like it. That's completely different than knowing how to appreciate it but still not liking it.
I'll go out on a limb here and state the following Plotnickiism. I think there are very few things that people come to understand where they do not learn how to appreciate it as a result of that understanding. Chew that one over for a while.
By your own terms, I wonder if you understand pinot noir. You might want to revisit this one. As for understanding leading to appreciation, its sounds tautological to me.
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White Port
in Wine
Fans of WPLJ used to drink white port and lemon juice.
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Nick--maybe the way to approach Steve's statement is like this: imagine someone watching a movie like Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" or viewing a performance of a Mozart opera like "Cosi fan Tutti" for the first time. Even if you don't read the subtitles or surtitles-- if the work or performance is good--the inherent emotion and the drama conveys or transcends your limitations--even if you don't understand the language and are new to opera and Japanese film. You sense what's going on even if you can't fully appreciate it or understand it or articulate why, but, some people just aren't going to get it.
Steve may be on the "Seven Samurai" path. I opt for "Rashomon." So call me egalitarian! And I feel certain he's wrong about Hendrix.
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Slaedums - You mean playing upside down or in reverse wouldn't warrant different technique? You lost me there. Just your point about pickup positions alone and how he would have to manipulate the tone to take advantage of it necessitates unusual technique that someone like Otis Rush wouldn't have to resort to. And string bending which I pointed out earlier is another. How about strumming? I'm sure there are more points to add to it as well. Of course this isn't to say that these variable aloe make up Hendrix's greatness. But they certainly add to his unique sound.
You've got the right string but the wrong yo-yo. He wasn't playing "upside down." He just inverted the order of the strings on a right handed guitar so he could play them lefty right side up. And so castles made of sand slips into the sea eventually........
WEBER GRILL RESTAURANT
in The Heartland: Dining
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Weber does do good grilling books although I believe Williams Sonoma does better.