Valentino

[Carolyn Tillie]

I finished off my week in Laguna Beach by having dinner with good friends at Valentino, reputed to be one of Los Angeles' better restaurants. Accompanied by good friends "E" and "J", it was to be a memorable evening regardless but over-all we were all EXTREMELY disappointed.

An amuse of Buratta cheese with sea urchin and an oven roasted tomato. There's a couple of points; first, I have always looked at an amuse as being one bite. If there are multiple ingredients, then they should be consumed together. What was served was a tad too large to take in one bite - although I tried. I regretted it. Cheese of any form with uni is a mistake. The two textures are too similar and the salty component of each just dissimilar enough to be disparate. It was wrong on so many levels. It was served with Bellavista Franciacorta Brut NV which was quite nice and at least helped clean the palate.

Our first official course was marinated Mediterranean red snapper served layered with Black Mission figs, green zebra tomatoes, all topped with freshly-made potato chips. Served with the continued bubbly service. This was a very odd combination - don't get me wrong; they were all very good ingredients but like the amuse, one ingredient seemed to have nothing to do with the other. We all tried various combinations; the fish with a bite of fig or the tomato with fish and none helped the other. We were all asking ourselves, "what is the point?" Especially with the potato chips? There was no underlying core that brought or held the dish together.

Crispy soft shell crab with orange sauce and mixed baby greens. Served with Venica Tocai Friulano 2006. It was a bit laughable to me that a very famous actress was sitting next to us getting the exact same course we had just finished. When she received the crab, she oooh'd and aaaah'd over how exceptional it was. Well, it was far from exceptional. The crab was limp and lifeless and hardly as crispy as it should have been. The orange sauce could have been interesting but did nothing to heighten the dish and the greens were just there for color.

Culatello with Cremona's candied spicy (mustard) fruit. Served with Michele Chiarlo Barbera d"Asti "Le Orme" 2003. Finally a winner. This was an amazing platter of prosciutto. The candied fruit had a bite of spice and was well complemented with the wine. Interested that the best course of the evening was something that didn't have to be prepared - just sliced and served.

Cumin pappardalle with squab ragu with fresh tomato spuma (foam). Served with La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino 2001. For starters, this was an amazing wine. But it was a horrendously wrong pairing with the dish. The cumin flavor of the sauce screamed for something like a Viognier or a Gruner Veltliner, not a deep, rich Brunello. Secondly, I found the pappardalle al dente to a fault - having to tooth through hard pasta is detracting enough. But the spiciness of the cumin sauce overpowered whatever delicate squab flavors might have existed.

Veal ossobuco risotto with radicchio served with Corino Barolo "Vigna Giacchina" 1995. Well, the Brunello worked a bit better with this dish but it was still wanting. The risotto was heavy and laden and the osso buco could easily have been simple short rib meat. There was simply nothing special about this dish.

Angus beef tenderloin in Barolo reduction continued with the Brunello. One would think that a simple cut of grilled meat might be the highlight of the meal. How could it be so bad? Starting with an insipid layering of over-cooked fanned zucchini across the bottom of the plate, this piece of meat is no better than what I could purchase from a local Safeway. All three of us only a few bites, deciding to bring them home for some wanton puppy-dogs instead of suffering through them here in the restaurant. Such a pity.

The cheese plate. We advised them up front to not bother with a dessert course - cheese is always preferable. Served with some stunning 1934 Henriques & Henriques Madeira "Verdelho" were three cheese: Testun from Piemonte, Brescianella from Piemonte, and a creamy goat Blue from Lombardy. Again, how can one ruin cheeses? They weren't over-accompanied they way I found them at Stonehill Tavern. They were simply mediocre cheeses, although the Madeira was amazing.

This evening was all about my friends in whose company I relished our time together. But for being one of Los Angeles' best restaurants, this ranks up there with one of the worst haute cuisine meals I have ever experienced. Thankfully, they felt as I did...