hhlodesign

Langer's in MacArthur Park. I haven't tried NY Pastrami, but I love this place! You can get some fake IDs and crack while you're there.

I noticed we added some catagories Brunch: Cafe Campagne - those Oeufs en Meurette! My God! Macrina - If I can stand the wait Cyclops - If I can't Late night: The hot dog stand on Western and Bell with cream cheese, pico de gallo, and sriracha - Did I really just admit that?! Le Pichet Flying Fish

Re: El Gallo Giro Real lard in the tortillas I'm guessing?

Who's got suggestions for one Mexican meal in OC. I'm bringing my girlfriend down from Vancouver who has never had good Mexican food in her life! We're flying into John Wayne, but are willing to drive anywhere in OC. Maybe as far as Long Beach, but not south to San Diego. I was thinking you can't get any better than the Carne Asada Burrito from Alberto's, but I don't want fast food to be her first mexican experience. What are your opinions of Las Brisas (owned by El Torrito.) I loved it in high school, but that was before I knew any better. The view is unbeatable, I know, but we are all about the food. I'm thinking of an authentic divey hole in the wall (Santa Ana?) Thanks for any input.

I should also point out that they used a special gelatin called agar agar which can withstand heat without melting. They wanted to roast the scallop in the oven with the jelly and herbs around it but needed the jelly to not melt. Such a great preparation of scallop! Here's a close-up:

And after: I can't rave enough about this dish! I had mentioned to Charles (the Chef de Cuisine) that my favorite foie gras preparation so far in my life had been the foie gras creme brule at Danube in NY. It is a savory dish with sweet corn in the custard. I have been raving about it for years. I admire that fact that Charles took this as a challenge to not only top my Danube dish, but top it with a similar dish. This is one of the most creative dishes I've ever seen! Another being his sweet take on the classic Mistral Pea soup (see below). The sweet corn foam was the perfect compliment to the cold panna cotta, and the pine nuts adding the perfect amount of texture and taste. Tarragon and a slight hint of mint just made the dish perfect. This is quite possibly the best item I had ever eaten! Luckily, William has a 6 megapixel camera, so we can glean close-ups from the original pictures: I make no appologies! It was too good to leave sauce on the plate. Espescially when you have Macrina potato bread to soak it up with. The blue is a Perisieil di Beaujolais. Quite possibly my favorite blue cheese. Maybe because it was incredibly salty. The ones I remember were akind of Munstrer, an aged gouda, and I forgot the rest. All were good. the item in the shot glass was the orange foam and apricot jelly on top. The classic version of the Mistral pea soup is served with a seared scallop in the middle of the bowl: I love the idea of making a dessert version of the same dish. Not only did the dish resemble its savory counterpart, but the flavors really worked well together. So it was not just gimmicky, but was a dessert that could stand on its own without the gimmick. This might have been the best meal I've ever had in my life!

Brunch today at Boat Street Cafe. The Eggs Benedict were served with a slice of tomato, on a Tall Grass Bakery sandwich roll (my favorite sandwich roll!) toasted. With a light covering of hollandaise. I like my eggs as runny as possible and think they did a fairly good job with them: We also had the baked eggs with rosemary ham and buttery crumbs. And a side of Isernio's Sausage. I think the baked eggs dish was the better choice, but I had to try the benedict once.

So from what I gather you're going to spend, what, 30 minutes, at the Getty gift shop and then leave? ← Tour the grounds. I know the buildings and gardens pretty well. I have a few favorite spots. It's more for the views of LA and the architecture than the collection.

I actually lived in LA for many years. Grad school at UCLA. Moved in 1999. So I do have a bit of an idea that this proposed itinerary is stretching a bit, espescailly considering Friday traffic. But that's all part of the LA experience. I was thinking of hitting the Getty right when they open at 10am. then splitting a burger at the Canner designed Westwood In-N-Out at 11am. That can put us downtown around noon. Snap a few picts of MOCA, Disney, LA Cathedral, Bradbury (all within a few blocks of each other) then off to Olvera St. and Phillipe's around 1:30pm. Which gives us between 2:30pm and 7:30 for shopping and sweets, ending up on Melrose Ave. I think we can do it. Thanks for the input though.

Wow! I got an 8pm for a friday night at Providence! I can't wait to try a place that is getting such high praise from such a tough crowd. Our LA intinerary looks like this: In-N-Out Burger (breakfast) Getty Center MOCA Disney Concert Hall LA Cathedral Bradbury Building Olvera St. Phillipe's the Original (lunch) Boule (gifts, no more room for food ) Shopping on Rodeo Shopping on Melrose Sweet Lady Jane (snacks for the next day) Providence (dinner) Drinks around Melrose Hollywood (suggestions?) Pink's or Roscoe's or Tommy's (late night snack) ALL IN ONE DAY!!! Too Ambitious?

OK, I'm sure that your experience was not a good one. But I would think that the above sentence is in context to the level of service expected vs. the level received. It could not have the been the "bar none, the worst" judging all restauraunts on a standad scale....could it? I must say that my personal experience was one of the best I've ever had. I can't wait to hear the details!

Lunch: Baguette Box Salumi Matt's Dinner (proximity seems to be key here): Marjorie Jai Thai - close cheap takeout Mistral (I hang in the kitchen and they feed me I can't afford it otherwise!)

Remember, they are only open Tuesday through Friday. If I were you, I would call first, ask for Gina, and mention that you are training up from Oregon specifically for lunch at Salumi and see if she can set up a special lunch for you. It's really quite the experience. Get a large group together (I know where you can find interested people ) and you can even reserve the back room!

The Chef de Cuisine at Mistral said that he had a faboulous meal by himself at Gilt. He didn't mention he was a chef, but the kitchen came out and treated him very well. He says that most times he eats alone at nice places in NY, they guess that he's in the industry and treat him well. He also raved about Momofuku

The chef's whimsical tasting menu at Marjorie is $32. Add a good bottle of wine, tax and tip, and you'll still be under $200. That's for a 4 course meal with a good wine! Tell them Henry sent you and they might throw in an extra course The room is nic, dark, and very romantic; Ask for the corner table where you can sit next to each other. If its a nice evening, the patio is even more romantic. The Inn at el Gaucho is walking distance. So is the Hotel Andra (a bit further) or the Ace Hotel (a bit cheaper).

I remember eating it several years ago at Daimo on Granville around 70th? Just off the Arthur Laing bridge, in the same complex as the Dairy Queen. I've also had it at stir-fried at several Chinese restaurants. (-Ling, too lazy to log-out)

They are absolutely potatoes! I'm guessing the secret is super high heat. Much mroe BTUs than we can get at home, and stir fry them very quickly.

I was not enthused about Volterra, sadly, it didn't live up to the promise of its menu. If higher end Italian is what your intersted in, I think Tulio or Il Terrazo Carmine might be closer substitutes than Cafe Lago. ← In my opinion, the best Italian you're gonna find in Seattle (I'm assuming now that you're gonna be driving) is at La Spiga in Capital Hill, or La Medusa in Columbia City. Walking distance from your Hotel is La Vita e Bella. Can be inconsistent, be have found it to be either very good, or above average on most occasions. If you really want to take a drive, cross the Lake and get thee to Cafe Juanita in Kirkland. Hands down the best Italian in the Seattle area. Its Northern influenced. And Holly Smith really enjoys what she is doing over there. Probabley about the same distance as the drive to La Medusa. My order of Preference: 1. Cafe Juanita 2. La Medusa 3. La Spiga 4. Volterra 5. Tulio 6. Cafe Lago 7. Le Vita e Bella I've never liked Il Terrazzo Carmine (but that's just me.) And you probably will never find it anyway, even if you have the address, and a map, and a handheld GPS device!

There were only two of us eating, but since its so hard to find good Szechuan food in Seattle (I know, Seven Stars Pepper is OK ) I just had to order everything. I even showed some restraint and left off a few dishes. We're gonna get the boiled beef dish next time (Sway Tzu Rho). That's gotta be spicy! Also the twice cooked pork (Hway Guo Rho) or "return to the wok meat." I'm sure that's what you guys are refering to up thread. And the table next to us orderd the Fish Fragrant Eggplant - Yur Shang Chie Tzi. That looked very well prepared.

Just want to point out that the service was impeccable. Lorna and I grilled the servers pretty hard, because we wanted to know everything about each item on the plate. I think only one time did the server have to go back into the kitchen to ask. The wine pairings were extremely generous. Some very nice wines that I felt privaledged to try with such a great meal. Thanks Brian, Quang, and Tim!

The scene in Goodfellas where they slice the garlic paper thin with a razor blade and it melts in the pan. Brilliant!

I've read lots of good things about Lark and Crush. I had a great dinner at Veil a few weeks ago, and read a rave review about their food in this month's Seattle Magazine. Veil's foie gras torchon is second only to the one I had at French Laundry. I've not had dinner at Mistral yet, but have had quite a few of their desserts, and they are amazing. It's not cheap, but I would suggest Mistral as well! (ETA: If you are looking for a breakfast place, I know that Cafe Campagne does this egg dish with fries and foie gras and red wine sauce! My bf ate breakfast there once and Jacques Pepin was also there...so he bought a Jacques Pepin cookbook from next door and waited until Jacques was finished breakfast and got an autograph! ) ← Again, I'd have to chime in with a nudge towards Mistral. It's walking distance from your hotel, and the chef there will tailor the menu to whatever you want. You won't find a better meal in the city! I can't stress enough how much I think this is the perfect place considering the limitations of your request! Other otions within walking distance from your hotel (that haven't already been mentioned) Marjorie: Not a seafood heavy menu. Many options for the wife. The best roast chicken in the city! Marco's Supperclub: Directly across the street from your hotel. The fried sage leaves are amazing! Also not a seafood heavy menu. Lamprea: 1 block away from your hotel. Many claim it to be the best food in the city. I find it very good but but just stopping short this side of exceptional. Service can be stuffy, but also very professional. Worth trying if you're serious about food. Same price point as a place like Mistral. I like Mistral much better I don't drink coffee but many of my friends love to go to Cherry Street Coffee. Your hotel is right between 2 locations on 1st ave. (I don't think 2 locations constitutes a chain) they also enjoy Vivace in Cap Hill. And yes, Cafe Campagne's oeufs en meurette is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Poached eggs (make sure you ask for them runny, I've had them overdone before) on garlic croutons with red wine and foie gras reduction and a basket of fries to soak up every last drop of that wonderful sauce. mmmmmmm. It's right next door to the Sur La Table (which is where I bought the Jaques Pepin book)

Got a peak at Ume Sake Lounge in Belltown and met the owner Cody last night. It's in the old space that used to house The Bada Lounge. Looks like they are going for more of a restaurant / lounge as opposed to a bar. I hope the focus on the food will draw a more sophisticated crowd than that of the Bada Lounge. The design looks like it might be interesting. They are looking at the end of May to open. I think they'll be cutting it close by the looks of the progress.

I was dining witha friend at Danube last year. We ordered the tasting menu and mentioned that we would like to save $ and not do the wine flight. The server disappears for a few minutes, then returns to tell us, "The chef is not very pleased that you will not be enjoying our flight of wines with the tasting menu. So we'd like to throw in the wine flight for free." They then proceed to to serve us multiple wines with every course (i.e. the foie gras course had 3 glasses; sauternes, tokai, and ice wine) and even gave us numerous additional courses! It was one of the greatest dining experiences I've had. Needless to say, we tipped VERY well!

Here's a cut and paste from a recent trip to Michael Mina in SF. I realize its not NY, but found the topic fitting: I should also mention that Ling and I ordered a half bottle of burgundy to go with our main courses. The bottle did not show up until 15 minutes after our mains had arrived. We took small bites and eventually stopped eating so that we could enjoy our wine with our meal. When it arrived, I noticed that the vintage was not the one printed on the wine list (2002 on the list, 2001 on the bottle.) This was not a big deal, but I would have liked them to point this out to me, rather than the other way around. You can read about the whole expreience here: Michael Mina I thought they should have at least comped the bottle. Asking too much?