Tag Archives: Dessert

Thanksgiving – Pork Insanity

On our third night of ThanksGavin craziness, after Wednesday, and the incomparable thursday, we move into our traditional Friday evening at my cousin Abbe’s. This year Abbe settled on roast pork sandwiches — a meal with deep South Philadelphia roots.

We begin with the pork roasts going into the over, basted in white wine. They came pre spiced from Fiorella’s on Christian Street in the Philly Italian market. They only do pork (specializing in sausage) and have been in biz since the 19th century.

Broccoli Rabe sauteed in garlic.

Roasted long-hots. Serious peppers.

Parker 93 points, “The 2008 Vico made from 100% Mencia with 30% whole clusters and aged for 9 months in seasoned French oak. Opaque purple-colored, it offers up a slightly reticent bouquet of damp earth, mineral, incense, black cherry, and black raspberry. Dense and loaded on the palate, the flavors are already complex and mouth-filling. Impeccably balanced and with a 45-second finish, it has the stuffing to blossom for another 2-3 years but can be approached now. It is a great value.”

A very nice super tuscan.

The 2001 Beaucastel, RP 96! “Beaucastel has been on a terrific qualitative roll over the last four vintages, and the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape (which Francois Perrin feels is similar to the 1990, although I don’t see that as of yet) is a 15,000-case blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the balance split among the other permitted varietals of the appellation. This inky/ruby/purple-colored cuvee offers a classic Beaucastel bouquet of new saddle leather, cigar smoke, roasted herbs, black truffles, underbrush, and blackberry as well as cherry fruit. It is a superb, earthy expression of this Mourvedre-dominated cuvee. Full-bodied and powerful, it will undoubtedly close down over the next several years, not to re-emerge for 7-8 years. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025.”

The Merlot was great too, tasting more like a Pomerol than a Cal Merlot.

Chef/Host Abbe chops grilled artichokes (from Claudio’s in the Philly Italian Market).

Our token white, “2009 Dönnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spatlese Even the “off-vintages”, if there are any, for Donnhoff’s most renowned wines get high scores, and are of the finest quality and greatest longevity. Niederhauser Hermannshohle is one of two famous single vineyards which Dönnhoff farms, and the 2009 delivers a wallop, serving up a subtle olfactory treat of blood orange, pear, stone fruit, and talcum powder. In the mouth, incredible concentration comes to fore, as vivid flavors of orange pulp, blueberry, and wild cherry balance racy acidity, luscious mineral notes and a creamy, almost decadent, mouthfeel! A succulent, loaded offering that promises to delight for several years to come…that is, if you can possibly resist drinking it now!”

The heart stopping cheese selection. Camembert, Epposises, quince paste.

More options.

The bread.

And Thursday night’s Tapenade.

The wine keeps on rolling. A 2005 by Raul Perez, spectacular. And the Hall, “The dense purple-colored 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain reveals abundant aromas of cassis interwoven with hints of bay leaf, licorice, and underbrush. Moderately high tannins give pause, but the sweetness of the fruit as well as the level of glycerin and concentration bode well assuming the tannins fall away at a reasonable pace.”

Some folk don’t like the other white meat, so panko crusted pan fried flounder was on the menu for them.

The pork roasts emerge!

Cousin Matt invested in a meat slicer just for the occasion.

The pork was intended to be assembled into sandwiches. Here is salad, artichokes, and provolone fresh from Philly’s Italian market.

Chef Abbe presides over the fish, the broccoli rabe, the “juice” and rolls.

A fish sandwich.

My pork sandwich, with the spicy peppers, cheese, artichoke, broccoli rabe, etc. Pork is soaked in the juice (gravy) ala French dip style.

Mom levers her special “Apple Drapple” Cake out of the pan.

Lo and behold, a second pecan pie!

The Apple Drapple, dressed for my son’s second birthday.

 

ThanksGavin Calendar:

Wednesday night dinner

Thursday night Thanksgiving Feast

Friday night pork roast (this post)

Saturday Deli Brunch

Thanksgiving Proper

Thursday night has finally arrives and with it the serious consumption of traditional Thanksgiving fare. Last night we whet our whistles, CLICK TO SEE, and you’ve seen the echos of the past, but here is the real thing. Blow by blow.

When I arrived my father had already cracked this. The order was wrong but the wine was right. “A profound effort, the 2000 Figeac‘s opaque purple color is accompanied by a terrific bouquet of camphor, graphite, black currants, licorice, and smoked herbs. With well-balanced, powerful tannin, concentration, and pinpoint precision, finesse, and purity, this expressive effort will drink well between 2004-2018.”

A few appetizers. Bear in mind that EVERYTHING is made from scratch. Homemade guacamole (like mine, but not spicy — I make a special shotgun guac with Jalapenos, cyranos, and haberneros).Tapanade with olives, vegetables, garlic and olives. Olives, bread etc.

Flowers from Robertson’s, overpriced but lovely.

The room.

The next two wines. A 2002 Bonnes Mares (yum) and a nice CNDP. “Three separate tastings of this wine left me with the impression that there is a lot more to them than meets the palate. One of the finest estates of the appellation, Clos des Papes tends to produce wines that require 4-5 years of bottle age before they reveal themselves. That may be the case with the 1998, but I am still calling it relatively conservatively, especially when compared with other efforts. The color is very evolved, and not darkly saturated. The bouquet is top-notch, offering attractive cedar, dried herb, black cherry and raspberry scents that are intense yet delicate. Similar flavors emerge on the palate. Medium to full-bodied, with a restrained, elegant style, particularly for this vintage, Clos des Papes’ 1998 tastes as if it emerged from a different year because it was not exhibiting the power, unctuosity, and jamminess possessed by many 1998s. However, there is a lot to the wine, all of which may be revealed with further age.”

My father carries in one of the two turkeys. Multi hour BBQ.

Pounding through the wine. Parker gives this 92, one of my favorite Rhone wineries, “That may explain the open-knit, complex notes of tree bark, black cherries, licorice, seaweed, pepper, and floral notes in the 1998 Beaucastel. The wine is medium to full-bodied, has nice, sweet tannins, and is surprisingly open and approachable. This wine has reached the beginning of its plateau of maturity, where it should last for at least a decade or more. Atypically forward for a wine from Beaucastel, my recollection is that the actual percentage of Grenache, which never exceeds the Mourvedre in their final blend, was much higher in 1998 than in other years.”

The stuffing.

bread.

One of the two cranberry sauces. This is the “relish.”

Mom carves as well as cooks.

Turkey number two. You never know.

Sweet potato.

Brussel spouts, made fresh and not bitter in the least. My cousin-in-law made this one.

The gravy.

Roasted beets.

The turkey plate.

Corn soufflé. One of the few things not made by my mother and aunt.

Chugging through more wine. The 1994 Lagrande: “In comparison to the more open-knit, flattering style of the 1993, the 1994 is a backward, less precocious, more tannic wine that needs another 5-7 years of cellaring. It is a wine that recalls the style of the more tannic vintages of the sixties and seventies. The healthy dark ruby/purple color is followed by copious quantities of smoky, toasty, new oak. There is an impression of ripe fruit, but, for now, the wine’s personality remains dominated by excruciatingly strong tannin. Give this wine 5-6 years of cellaring, as patience is definitely a requirement for purchasing the 1994 Lagrange. It should last for 15-20 years.”

Also a Shiraz from my dad’s cellars. We had some cork issues but it came out okay.

Salad, because you need something to wash it down.

The second cranberry, the jelly (homemade of course).

The full spread.

And the official 2010 plate!

Mom presents the pecan pie.

Snickerdoodles made fresh by cousin Abbe, Grandmom D’s brownies and blondies made by cousin Matt.

The chocolatt cake and whipped cream.

The world’s best pecan pie!

This lovely PX returns from last night for yet another round. Motor oil soaked in sugar!

My dessert plate.

Full. Full. Full!

And last but not least: the Chefs!  My mother on the right, my aunt on the left.

 

ThanksGavin Calendar:

Wednesday night dinner

Thursday night Thanksgiving Feast

Friday night pork roast

Saturday Deli Brunch

 

Thanksgiving – The Prequel

Restaurant: Umbria

Location: 7131 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia. 215-242-6470

Date: Nov 24, 2010

Cuisine: Modern American

 

Our traditional family feast, which we could dub the Thanksgavin, begins with the Wednesday night forefeast (to borrow a term from the Greek orthodox). In 2010 it was at an American place in Germantown outside of Philadelphia, called Umbria. Curiously the name might lead one to believe it was an Italian restaurant, but no.  regardless, it was very good. There were 14 of us.

Yesterday I blogged a bit about our PAST THANKSGIVINGS, and tomorrow I will cover the main event itself.

We really don’t mess around with the wines at these dinners. For the white lovers we had a brand new “2009 J.J. Prum Riesling Wehlener Sonnenuhr SpatleseFrom the sultry bouquet which exudes saline minerality, bounded by a medley of baked pear, raspberry, and lime skins…to the sweet, succulent attack of white fig, lemon and lime skins, and orange cream…to the mid-palate laden with pepper and dark blueberry and candied Meyer lemon flavors…I think that you can get the picture. Namely, this rich, vibrant wine is one of the most complex I have had the pleasure of tasting in 2010! Lithe minerality is present on the back palate and rich lemon ice notes reverberate on the 75+…yes, more than 75 second…finish. Pure ecstasy in a bottle? Quite possibly so!”

Next up. Parker gives the Nuits-St.-Georges 93 points, “An assortment of candied cherries explode from the glass of the 2002 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Perrieres. This seductive wine’s character is drenched in black cherry syrup, rocks, and earth. Medium-bodied, it has outstanding depth, concentration, and a long, expressive finish that reveals copious quantities of ripe tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2018.”

Then the 91 point “2004 Brunello di Montalcino is a fresh, vibrant offering bursting with dark cherries, violets, underbrush, minerals and sweet toasted oak on a medium-bodied frame. The wine reveals terrific balance in an energetic, focused style, with firm yet ripe tannins. The finish is long, clean and refreshing. This is a gorgeous effort from Loacker. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2019.”

And then the 94 point, “2005 Shardana is an awesome Carignano endowed with exuberant dark fruit, smoke, licorice, sage, rosemary and tar. This is a fairly big, masculine wine with great intensity, depth and roundness. It needs another year or two in bottle for the tannins to settle down. The Shardana is formidable, though, and a terrific choice for hearty cuisines. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2021.”

The menu tonight.

The room, or at least half of it.

Bread.

“Roasted butternut squash ravioli, sage hazelnut and wild mushrooms.” A fall take on an italian classic.

“Mixed green salad, asagio cheese, balsamic vinaigrette.”

“grilled fennel sausage, sweet and spicy fig sauce.” Wow! Wow! The sausage itself was amazing, and the sauce was basically what you would get at a thai or vietnamese place for fried spring rolls. Wow! The combo was amazing, with the sweet tangy goodness against the rich meaty sausage.

Escargot special.

Special “crab and wild mushroom soup.”

“Filet of salmon, cedar roasted, maple glaze.”

“lump crabmeat, fresh herbs, extra dry vermouth.” This emphasized the crab, without a lot of added fat or butter. It worked.

“Pork loin chop, apple bourbon grilling sauce.”

Grilled swordfish special.

Beef short rib special. The meat was seriously falling from the bone here, with a wonderful smoky flavor.

Hmmm.  Not sure. But it was a white meat or fish 🙂 This might have been the swordfish, and the above the chicken.  Hard to remember.

For the deserts, it was time to bring out the big guns — sweet wise — the motor oil vicous PX. Pure sugar in a bottle. Yum!

Carmel almond sundae. Wow!  This was amazing too.  The nuts toasted into a praline like whatever, and the homemade carmel with a bit of sea salt.

Pound cake with fruit.

Classic “creme carmel.” Good, and I love flan, but not as divine as the sundae.

ThanksGavin Calendar:

Wednesday night dinner

Thursday night Thanksgiving Feast

Friday night pork roast

Saturday Deli Brunch

Riviera Country Club – Gluttony with a View

Restaurant: Riviera Country Club Sunday Brunch

Location: 1250 Capri Drive Pacific Palisades, California 90272. Ph: 310 454-6591

Date: Nov 21, 2010

Cuisine: American

Some member friends of ours graciously invited us to join them for some Sunday gluttony at the Riviera Country Club. Someone at the table must be a member to eat here as is typical with most clubs

The day was gorgeous too, the “rain” (LA has these little midnight drizzles we call rain) had washed the air clean and left us with a brilliant clear day. The old club house is gorgeous.

They have a rather extensive buffet brunch. Some good raw bar fare. Not the frozen stuff. Oh and Larry David was eating there too.

The extensive smoked fish section.

More smoked fish.

The obligatory introduction of “sushi” into nearly every buffet.

Beats, chicken, bay shrimp and avocado, and more.

Seared Tuna saldad, heirloom tomato caprese.

Terrines, meats, and cheeses.

Salad bar.

Round one of three — my plate.

The “warm section,” included eggs benedict, four types of sausage and bacon properly crisped.

Omelet bar of course.

The meats. Turkey because of the season, prime rib. I can’t handle carved meats this early in the morning.

The fresh waffle/pancake bar. The homemade glazed walnuts were killer.

My plate — round two. Notice the evidence of my preference for syrup on breakfast meats.  This plate was not recommended by my cardiologist. Sweet +  salty + fatty = Yum!

Half the deserts. Waffles were just a warm up.

More.

And the view right out the windows (the ocean is at the far end). A brief stroll burned off 0.05% of the calories. This was a very good traditional brunch. The quality level was extremely high. Like a snake, I will need no other sustenance for at least 24 hours!

Food as Art: Hatfield’s part 2

Restaurant: Hatfield’s [1, 2]

Location: 6703 Melrose Ave, Los angeles, Ca 90038. 323-935-2977.

Date: Nov 18, 2010

Cuisine: Modern American

 

I went back to Hatfield’s with friends to try it again. You can read about our PREVIOUS MEAL HERE.


They had the same Amuse, crab with quinoa and a light curry flavoring. It was okay, but certainly not mind blowing.

At one time I had two cases of the Gros Frere et Soeur 1998 Richebourg. This is my last bottle, and I’m sad to see it go. Not only were there only a couple hundred made, but it was last sighted on the internet for $1,332 a bottle. Oh well. Richebourg is one of my favorite wines, particularly when as balanced as this one. Some find it too subtle. Not I.

 


The Prix Fixe menu.


The regular menu.


The other half of the regular menu.


“Roasted baby beet and mizuna salad, french feta, falafel, balsamic vinaigrette.”


“Sweet corn soup, poached lobster, jicama, roasted hon shimeji mushrooms.”


I love these French style soups with the “pour in” around the stuff, I don’t know exactly why. I also love corn soups when done right.


“Warm creamy crab buckwheat crepe, pickled beets, marinated radish, fine herbs.” This was very yummy, particularly the guts of the crepe. Oddly, it was reminiscent of a high end version of that crab omelet thing they have a IHOP (haven’t been there in around 20 years — just so you know).

“Steamed skate wing salad, wild greens, fried maitakes, garnet yams, harissa.”

“Warm summer salad, corn agnolotti, cherry tomatoes, zucchini coulis, fava beans.”

“Charred octopus, caramelized fennel, saffron vanilla braised hearts of palm, red wine olive puree.” The fennel tasted like caramelized onions. Overall this was a very sweet (and tasty) dish with a variety of unusual textures.

“Slow cooked beef short rib, blue lake beans, braised radish, horseradish potato puree.”

“Sauteed Loup-de-mer, braised shelling beans, english pea puree, charred pea tendrils.” I always require my pea tendrils charred, otherwise The Day of the Triffids is a possibility.

“Brown butter-roasted cauliflower”, golden raisons, corn, etc.  — again (we had it on the previous vegetarian menu).

“Pan roasted duck breast, caramelized endive and cherry, pistachio pistou, celery root puree.” This was about as good as a duck breast dish gets (and I’ve tried plenty). The duck was medium rare, and perfectly tender.

The dessert options.

“Chocolate Carmel Semifreddo, salted peanut crunch, bitter chocolate sorbet.” Wow. This was a good dessert. Sort of like a chocolate caramel penut butter cup. There is a new trend to mix salt and caramel. Having always been a fan of the sweet/salty (I put syrup on my bacon), I’m loving it.

“Warm pear strudel, poached sour cherries, black walnut praline ice cream.” I only tasted the ice cream. It was pretty wonderful.

A repeat for the petit fours as well! At least the main menu changes up a lot. It takes a lot to create new dishes and it’s nice to see a place that is willing to experiment. Hatfield’s seems to me to spiritually pick up where Sona left off, with bright Franco-American market driven cuisine. I like it. Somehow it isn’t totally WOW, but it is very good. These are not easy dishes, and each was very good, nothing fell particularly flat. Our last meal at Sona before it closed, for example, felt limp. The chef’s here are as bold as a Ludo (SEE MY REVIEW HERE), but there is also a lower failure rate among dishes. I’d like sometime to try the chef’s “anything goes” menu and see what happens.

Food as Art: Hatfield’s part 1

Restaurant: Hatfield’s [1, 2]

Location: 6703 Melrose Ave, Los angeles, Ca 90038. 323-935-2977.

Date: Aug 27, 2010

Cuisine: Modern Cal French

Last night I ate at Hatfield’s, so as a sort of prequel I dredged up last summer’s meal here.  TO SEE MEAL 2 CLICK HERE.

Some of my foodie friends had recommended Hatfield’s.  It’s now the 4th place we have tried in this space:  Citrus, Alex, Mason G, and Hatfield’s. Most of the restaurants were quite good, but there just seem to be these spaces that have a curse about them. Hopefully this most recent entry sticks around, it’s very good. They also have a bunch of prix fix options, including vegetarian ones. I’m always a big fan of set dinners.

Crab, cilantro, and corn amuse.

Because it was just me drinking, I went with wine pairings on this particular evening. As one person it’s either getting very drunk in my attempt to finish off a single bottle all by myself (and hence avoid the wrath of Dionysus) or pick from the generally very small selection of half bottles most restaurants have. Wine pairs provides a nice third choice.

Tuna salad, with an aioli. This was really good.

A bright arugala, goat cheese, and wild strawberry salad.

The middle wine.

Fresh homemade pasta with heirloom tomatos and pesto/pistou.

Pork belly, with corn, a sweet potato puree. Rich on richer.

The meat wine. I’m not a huge Malbec fan, but this one was pleasant.

“Brown butter-roasted cauliflower”, golden raisons, corn, etc. Very nice.

A very rare lamb or beef with a mashers type puree underneath.

A kind of fruit tart.

“Sugar and spice beignets, venezulan chocolate fondue, preserved ginger milkshake shot.”

The Petit Fours, little cupcake/soufflé like things.

Very nice new entry in the “fine dining” category. Everything was very fresh, with bright innovative flavors.

TO SEE MY SECOND HATFIELD’S REVIEW, CLICK HERE.

Food as Art: R.I.P. The Hump

Restaurant: The Hump

Location: Santa Monica Airport — Now closed!

Date: Dec 5, 2009

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

_

For twelve years the Hump was one of my absolute favorite LA restaurants. It combined cutting edge LA Japanese, unparalleled ingredients, a cool location and great decor. Last year they got shot themselves in the head and served whale meat to some journalists disguised as high rollers and got themselves closed. Personally, I found this very sad. I myself, despite having eaten there 40-50 times and having numerous omakases ever ate anything illegal — as far as I knew. Nor for the record would I ever eat a primate or cetacean.

That being said, I wanted to post the only complete omakase from the Hump that I have photos of. Unfortunately, they aren’t great photos either, some being from my cel phone, but we shall get no more. Typhoon, BTW, which is owned by the same people and located below is still open and is a very good place as well, it’s just a different think, as a bit less elegant than the Hump was.

Uni (Sea Urchin) over Ikura (Salmon Eggs).

Tai (red snapper) and some other sashimi. I loved the sashimi at the hump. One of these has Yuzu, the other radish, and they are dusted with million year old salt.

Soem various cuts of tuna/yellowtail. Ponzu and jalapeno.

Traditional Japanese egg custard. I don’t remember what was in this particular one, often shrimp or mushrooms.

A whole main lobster, converted into various tempura and sashimi. There is also some vegetable tempura, and some endive with some lobster something on it. Oftentimes at the Hump the lobster was so fresh the head squirmed on the plate.

A close up of one of the endive things. Gold foil. I think it was roe.

Various bits of fish, all yummy i’m sure.

The lobster head returns for lobster miso soup.

Sauteed mushrooms.

Kobe beef, cooked at the table.

Some sushi. I was notorious at the Hump when not getting the Omakase for having these Mega large plates of sushi come to the table. The Hump had 3 custom porcelain slabs, about 18 inches by four feet. I’d often have one totally full.

The remains of custom homemade sorbets.

Oh Hump. Why did you have to go over to the dark side. I miss thee.

For more LA area sushi, see here.

The New Cal Cuisine: Rustic Canyon

Restaurant: Rustic Canyon [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 1119 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90401. 310-393-7050

Date: Aug 25, 2010

Cuisine: Farmer’s Market Californian

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Having lived for 16 years in LA I’ve watched the evolution of California Cuisine. When I first came here we were still in the fading years of the 80s eclectic, typified by places like Spago or 90s fusion like Matsuhisa or the much missed Abiquiu. Today, it’s all about being ingredient driven, and Rustic Canyon is one of our many fine examples of this trend.

Burrata with peaches. You can pretty much never go wrong with Burrata or Fresh peaches.

An heirloom tomato (this very buzz word a legacy of the trend), cucumber, yogurt, goat cheese salad.

Tonight’s pick from my cellar. I love my burgs. RP gives it 93, “The dark colored 1997 Latricieres-Chambertin has profound prune, plum, and licorice flavors. This satin-textured, explosive, deep, masculine wine is tannic, structured, and powerful. Blackberry juice, mint, and plums can be found throughout its deep flavor profile and opulently flavored, persistent finish. It will require cellaring patience yet has the potential for mid- to long-term aging. Projected maturity: 2003-2012+.”

Sweet corn soup, with Pistou. This dish had an unctuous foamy texture, and brought out the very best in sweet corn flavor.

A trio of crustini. Each with very interesting (and delicious) flavor profiles. Tomatos and basil, new style. Anchovies (not the over salted sort) and a sweetish tapanade, crisp goat cheese and olives.

Homemade Gnocchi, with fresh Genoese pesto. This brought out the lovely brightness of the basil.

Sweet corn (again :-)) Agnolotti. Yum. Fresh pasta, which you never saw 10 years ago.

Cinnamon beignets with a foamy chocolate cappachino sauce. This is really a variant of the traditional Spanish churro with chocolate. And that’s not a bad thing because both are delicious! These were hot hot out of the frier.

Food as Art: Sushi House Unico

Restaurant: Sushi House Unico (SHU)

Location: 2932 1/2 Beverly Glen Circle – Bel Air, Ca 90077 (310) 474-2740

Date: Nov 12, 2010

Cuisine: New Style Sushi

Rating: A great “Nobu” clone with some dishes of its own.

 

Nearly 15 years ago now when I first ate at Matsuhisa I was blown away. I was already a veteran Sushi eater, having started going to Washington D.C.s one (then two) places in the late 70’s, and having been to Japan 2 or 3 times at that point (now it’s around 20). At the time it seemed like a culinary breakthrough. Classic sushi was great, but here was a whole new cuisine based on “modernizing” and combining Japanese elements with some other sensibility. Fundamentally it seemed intensely creative. But nowadays half the restaurants in LA have Miso Cod or Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno. In Food just as in any other art, creativity is surprisingly rare. SHU is very much derivative of this tradition, but unlike many of the places (Sushi Ryoku & Katsuya you know who you are!) does add a dash of its own style. Now we had read that SHU combined Japanese flavors with Italian. As a lover of both cuisines I didn’t really see this. It was more like a 95%/5% split in the Japanese favor. A few dishes had an occasional ingredient pulled from the Italian palette (like Olive Oil), but that was about it.

 

The menu, left half.

And right.  There is also a separate Sushi menu and a specials of the day menu.

“Edamame,” the usual. They just put it on the table, which some places do.

This is unfiltered Sake, served cold. It looks like the Japanese soda Pocari Milk. I liked it, smoother than many filtered Sakes, with a nice “rice” flavor.

“Miso Soup w/ Tofu & Green Onion,” the classic. Certainly well done, but I object to the presence of the spoon.

“Tuna Carpaccio. Thinly sliced Tuna w/ arugola, extra virgin Olive Oil, Yuzu & bottarga,” was very tasty, bright, soft, with a pronounced citrus zing and a good dose of black pepper. While it did have Olive Oil, I’d hardly call it Italian — but I liked it!

“Wild Yellowtail: Tomato Sashimi,” was nice. The sauce had a LOT of zing to it, very vinegary in a good way, with a little hint of spice afterwards.

“Heirloom tomato salad with Jalapenos, onion, cilantro and Jalapeno dressing.” I only tried the dressing, as I detest raw tomatoes (one of 2 foods I don’t like). My wife liked it, although it was a chopstick challenge. The dressing was on the side and I used it on some other dishes as it had a great, very bright citrus, vinegar, jalapeno tang.

“Salmon Carpaccio, thinly sliced Salmon, w/ capers, arugolo, extra virgin Olive oil, sea salt & lemon,” I didn’t try. In fact, I didn’t order, but it was so pretty I photoed it from the next table over.

“Crispy Risotto w/ Spicy Tuna Tartar & Sliced Jalapeno” was a very nice dish, but the Risotto name was a total misnomer. It’s the standard “friend crispy rice cake,” topped with spicy tuna. But it was very good, even though I’m not a spicy tuna fan. Spicy tuna is to Sushi as Spaghetti and Meatballs is to Italian.

“Broiled Miso Marinated Black Cod,” the Nobu classic and one of my wife’s favorites.

“Roch Shrimp Tempura w/ spicy creamy mayo” is another Nobu classic, but it was done just as well here.

Click the pic for a zoom. Starting left to right across the top:  Toro, Salmon, Albacore, Uni, Japanese Scallop, Eki (squid), Fresh Water Eel, and Tamago (Egg Omelet). The sushi was excellent. It was just a notch below what you get at Nobu, the late Hump (sob), or other extremely top LA places. So extremely yummy, but not totally sublime. Bear in mind that I am an extreme sushi snob with over 30 years of practice.

The unasked, but welcome fruit plate. I was too slow with the camera.

The trendy interior.

And exterior, right next to Vibrato Jazz Grill.

Overall, SHU was a very good place. It did the “classic” Nobu dishes well, and added enough originality to give it some flavor of its own.

Food as Art: Saddle Peak Lodge

Restaurant: Saddle Peak Lodge

Location: 419 Cold Canyon Rd, Calabasas, CA 91302 (818) 222-3888

Date: May 27, 2010

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Great ambiance and terrific game oriented food.

A couple of months ago we went to Saddle Peak for a special Zagat sponsored diner. This place is always fun, in some ways because of its unusual location and vibe. The food is always very good too.

The cool sky made one speculate on the possibility of werewolf invasion.

The menu for the night. But we we went for a longer form menu instead that included all this and more.

The Amuse. Some kind of “meaty” cappuccino. I’m always partial to these creamy little soups. Perhaps because I love cream.

“Fijian Albacore Sashimi with crispy rice, ramp vinaigrette, avocado and pea greens.”

The game tonight was meat. So I went Bordeaux (from my cellar). Parker gives it 94 points and says, “This wine is of first-growth quality, not only from an intellectual perspective, but in its hedonistic characteristics. More open-knit and accessible than the extraordinary 1996, Ducru’s 1995 exhibits a saturated ruby/purple color, followed by a knock-out nose of blueberry and black raspberry/cassis fruit intertwined with minerals, flowers, and subtle toasty new oak. Like its younger sibling, the wine possesses a sweet, rich mid-palate (from extract and ripeness, not sugar), layers of flavor, good delineation and grip, but generally unobtrusive tannin and acidity. It is a classic, compelling example of Ducru-Beaucaillou that should not be missed. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2025.”

“Scallop, english peas, garlic.” The sauce was nice and buttery rich.

“Wild mushroom agnolotti with roasted mushrooms, parmesan, herbs, and ricotta salata.”  This was the highlight of the meal — but I love pasta.

Let’s see it again from a different angle.

“Crispy berkshire pork belly sherry agri-doux frisee and tomato pepadew confiture.”

“Seared La belle farms foie gras study of Philen Farms organic apples, chips, gastrique, fondant, brioche and sherry maple sauce.” Yummy!

“Wood grilled California squab, warm truffled wild mushroom salad, pea tendrils and sun-choke puree.” I’m not usually a poultry fan, but this was very good.

“New Zealand Elk tenderloin with sweet potato-celery root puree, currants, bacon, wilted arugula and sauce chasseur.” The Elk was awesome.

“Deconstructed lemon meringue pie!”  Regular lemon meringue is one of my favorites. This did capture the flavors, although call me old fashioned, but I’d probably go for a great example in the traditional form.

The cool “game room” lamp on the way out.