Event: Monday, July 29 - Tastemade's Love at First Bite (LA: Santa Monica)

Tastemade, a video making app for food lovers, invited food bloggers and industry cohorts to their studios in Santa Monica to attend a tutorial on how to get started with their new app for iPhone users.  Before the presentation began, however, we were treated to a glorious spread of food and drink prepared by local chefs and small businesses around Los Angeles.  Thanks to Alyse Gilbert of Tastemade I got how to see how they are "connecting the world through food."  It was Love at First Bite.

Beverages

There were many wines featured at the event, including Truth be Told, which brought out a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet to share with wine aficionados.  However, the first drink that Celeste Perez, of Six Taste Food Tours and Empress LA, and I went for was The West Side Pisco Punch made with Peruvian Campo de Encanto.  It was impressively smooth... even smoother than the easy to drink Chamisul soju, a personal favorite.  It might be the reason why the bartender said that on one occasion he had finished an entire bottle by himself without even realizing it.  Impressive alcohol tolerance or just plain smooth liquor? You decide.

Bites

Our first stop on the tour around the studios was at the Cooking with WOW table.  Whitney Oakes Webster (ahhh... I see where she got the name) prepared an array of gazpacho filled into the centers of hollowed out cucumbers.  There were also row after row of colorful figs stuffed with folded curls of proscuitto, soft burrata, honey and garnished with vibrant, green basil.  They were beautifully presented, and we kept popping them into our mouths... to taste the different colored figs, of course.

Next, we hurried over to the Bean & Thyme kitchen to try some of their porchetta sandwiches that smelled like heaven.  Although delicious what really blew my mind away was the cauliflower sandwich.  Now, believe me, I would never order a vegetarian sandwich on my own accord... let alone one made with cauliflower, my mortal enemy of the vegetable world.  However, with a bit of melted homemade American cheese and some runny eggs through the center of the sandwich, Chef Paul Osher turned my vegetable world upside down.

Sharing with kitchen with Bean & Thyme was Bruce's Prime Pickle Company.  The Chief Pickler himself Bruce Kalman was on hand to share his curried cauliflower pickles with golden raisins, cucumber kimchi, and Bloody Mary asparagus with garlic, horseradish and dill pickles.  The cauliflower here was also mind blowing.  There must be some kind of magic in that kitchen, I guess! Thanks for sending me home with some of those cleverly pickled cauliflower.

Way across Stage C were sounds of sizzling that prompted an immediate dash in that direction.  It turned out that Gavin Mills, chef and owner of Mills + Company was grilling up some grass fed beef sliders.  The charcuterie master put incredibly flavorful and juicy beef in between the softest bread possible.  At the same time his wife Jessica Mills was spooning chicken liver mousse over crostini and topping them off with pickled blueberry.  Did I mention that the mousse was equal parts chicken liver and butter? Uh... mazing! Thank you Jessica for also sending me home with a jar of that luxurious decadence.

Sweets

There is no such thing as a food gathering without dessert, right? Well, there was no shortage of dessert vendors at the event.  Celeste and I moseyed over to The Cheesecake Dude for some of the best bites I had all night.  Heather Kuklin (yes, she is The Cheesecake Dude) wowed us with three kinds of "totally awesome" cheesecake... a simple blueberry, Nutella banana, and the awesome maple and bacon.  Sweet, salty, and smooth all around, the maple bacon cheesecake was unlike anything I have ever tasted.  The Cheesecake Dude also made vegan and gluten free cookies that tasted nothing like the typical vegan or gluten free cookie.  Had you not read the sign that said that the cookies were vegan and gluten free, you would not have known.  But had you read the sign, you would not have believed it.

Down the stretch of desserts were the much talked about kouign aman, which described as caramelized sugar croissants.  Baked on Oceanview makes these mini versions of the traditional French pastries as well as mini versions of a seasonal summer peach pie. 

Also on site was also an old fashioned bubble gum machine except that it was filled with peanut butter and jelly macarons.  No coins needed.  We were also presented with meringues that were frozen with liquid nitrogen and when popped in would show us how to breathe like dragons.  What a way to end the night.

Thank you to Alyse and the entire Tastemade team for putting together this well organized and fun event.  It was great to see some familiar faces (shout out to Amy Shuster of Backyard Bite) as well as some new ones.  I'm looking forward to creating videos with the app and doing my part to connect the world through food.  Until the next event, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Check out my Flickr set for more pictures from the Tastemade event Love at First Bite.

ML - 20130803

Post 96: Two Times Quartino (Chicago: Near North Side)

In my very short trip in Chicago, most of which was spent in the suburbs by O' Hare Airport, I managed to come across Quartino twice.  The first time was a planned dinner with an old friend.  The second time was accidental... the result of a digestive walk after consuming Chicagoland staples on Ontario Street.  Quartino, is a tapas restaurant, but one that specializes in Italian small plates rather than the traditional Spanish snacks.  The menu is extensive, ranging from pizza to pasta to risotto.  There is a section for salumi and formaggi, and three of the eight folds in the paper menu are dedicated to wine.  Quartino was an ideal place to meet Jen, my friend from back home who had recently moved to the Windy City.

Whether sitting at the bar in the afternoon or settling down for dinner in the evening, the meat and cheese charcuterie is one that must be ordered.  The full platter is of salumeria tasting is two selection of meat and cheese each, three spuntini, and an assortment of olives.  The star of the salumi on the menu is definitely the house made duck proscuitto, a seasoned duck breast that is smooth and fatty, peppery and fragrant, vibrant and beautiful.  Another highlight is the fontina val d'aosta, a cow's milk cheese that is creamy and soft, and perfectly spreadable over crusty bread.

And now we turn to the dishes we ordered for dinner the night before.  The first thing we ordered was crisp calamari, which has become a must as an Italian appetizer.  It was cut in wide curls, and it was so fresh.  It was not overcooked to the point of tasting like a rubber band, just tender in the middle and slightly crisp from the breading on the outside.  The lemon and organic tomato sauce only added to its freshness.  It had to have been one of the best calamari plates I have ever had.

The next item we ordered was the sea scallops, grilled with beautiful sear impressions with a hint of lemon and caperberries.  There are not too many ways to grill sea scallops, so I appreciated that the restaurant served them on a bed of vegetables and sliced peppers in a buttery sauce.  The peppers gave a pleasant kick to an otherwise mild dish.  It wasn't completely out of the ordinary, but it was just different enough to make this dish have its own personality.

When Jen and I saw that angus beef carpaccio was on the menu, we had to order it.  Any carpaccio, tartare, or steak for that matter, is simply a favorite of mine.  Topped with shaved celery, parmigiano reggiano and extra virgin olive oil, the dish was a perfect balance of savory protein, salty dairy, and light greens.  I really liked that celery leaves were shaved along with the stalk.  The celery leaves gave the dish a very clean taste.  My only wish was that the cheese was grated as thin as the beef, but it was good nonetheless.

For a more substantial dish, we also ordered the roasted Tuscan sausage and peppers.  It was the first truly meaty dish that was served during the meal.  Even though the calamari and the scallops were hot dishes, the sausage and peppers were the first dish to make me feel warm.  Thanks to this dish I had forgotten all about the elements in the Windy City.  It was raining, and the wind was definitely blowing hard.

Of the four risotto dishes on the menu, we selected the mushroom risotto made with portobello, balsamic and pork stock.  The risotto was creamy and hearty, cooked to just al dente.  The comforting, hot food was a smart way to cap off the meal to make us feel full and satisfied. 

Even though we were absolutely stuffed, we had to have dessert.  Okay, so maybe I had to have dessert, and I conned Jen into joining me for dessert.  First were the zeppole, freshly made Italian doughnuts that were like a cross between giant donut holes and mini cream puffs.  They were dusted with powdered sugar on top and served with chocolate dipping sauce on the side.  Chocolate, of course, made the deep fried ball of dough that much better.

We also got chocolate cake.  What's wrong with us? Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs that night... maybe not just that night.  The torta al cioccolato topped with vanilla gelato sealed the deal for the night.  The hot chocolate cake melted the gelato too quickly, so I had no choice but to order another scoop.  Jen looked at me like I was crazy, but a cold gelato must be eaten the proper way.  I made sure to walk up and down the stairs to the bathroom a number of times to somehow stir up the digestion.  I'm not sure it worked out the way I had thought.

It had been years since I had eaten with Jen, but it seemed like we made up for all the lost meals in one night.  I was very glad that we were able to catch up while trying a variety of different Italian dishes all done tapas style.  With all the food that we had ordered for two people, I was surprised that we didn't even order from the pizza or pasta section.  That, I guess, will be saved for next time.  It was good to see both Jen and Chicago again.  Jen, come back and visit soon! Until the next business trip, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20121018-19

Post 58: Be Happy... Chatting over Tartare (LA: Beverly Hills)

Back when I still had full use and employment of my teeth, a long lost friend and I decided to throw on our bourgeois attitude and roll up to Chaya for a five-course chef's tasting.  I had B.H. tattooed on my aura for that meal.  And if the letters B and H didn't mean Beverly Hills at that time, it meant be happy for the two of us.  And we were as happy as two long, lost friends could possibly be... we watched beautiful people sit and just be as beautiful as their food... and we chatted as puffy, white clouds rolled away in the big, blue sky... and we chatted as the big, orange star we call the sun lowered itself to cast a shady gloom over my risotto... and we chatted until the last dollop of vanilla caramel ice cream camouflaged itself against the ceramic dish it came in.  These are the three dishes from Chaya Brasserie that made us the most happy.

Melon y jamon
compressed melon, burrata cheese, salame, arugula, aged balsamic vinegar reduction

The first time I had melon and cured Italian meat in combination, I was a recent high school graduate vacationing with family in Canada of all places.  It was the Fairmont resort somewhere in the wilderness of Alberta that introduced me to my first combination of sweet melon and salty Italian prosciutto.  I hadn't had a serious relationship at the time, but I knew I was in love.

There's something about the contrasting sweet and salty flavors and the rough and smooth textures that makes complete sense... like when smooth slices of salty ham is placed on top of fibrous triangles of pineapple on pizza... when sprinkles of course sea salt is introduced to smooth, sweet caramel anything.  I love that I can take the salami or prosciutto and fold it over a freshly cut piece of melon.  I breathe a sigh of happiness when I do it... as if burdens have been lifted from my shoulders and pressures from life tip toe away from my heart.  I feel the same comfort when I wrap myself in blankets at bedtime.  It's not the same blanket wrap that I do when I'm freezing in the middle of winter or the blanket wrap that I do at the end of a tough day.  It's a light, delicate wrap.  A peaceful one that produces a sigh of happiness.  The kind you do on vacation.  Yes, that one.  And each bite is like having your head hit the fluffiest of down pillows... again and again... happiness.

Salmon tartare and mi-cuit
tartare: wasabi tobiko, cilantro blossom, pickled daikon radish squares
cucumber raita, wild arugula, ahi amarillo aioli, seaweed jelly
mi-cuit: sovid, wasabi creme fraiche

It's not quite tuna tartare yet not quite salmon sashimi... it's a profound dish in its own right.  The seemingly simple dish of salmon tartare actually produced a couple of wows.  The tenderness of the salmon protein became even more supple as the light layer of olive oil marinated with the salmon's own natural lipids.  Is anyone thinking about bikini mud wrestling besides me? Not so much? Hey, the analogy works.

What else works are the uniquely shaped but uniformly sized pieces of salmon.  They fit together like a chaotically constructed Jenga set teetering on the edge of collapse, yet they remain as stable as the Bird's Nest in Beijing.  So rather than being distracted by which piece of salmon is bigger or smaller than the other, the tongue can simply relax and focus on how fresh the salmon is... and the brain can say, "wow, this is good... wow, wow, wow."  The brain will be so pleasured by the bliss of deliciousness that it won't know it's fish at all.

Spring pea risotto
Japanese green risotto, sugar snaps, English peas
Parmesan, mascarpone, curry, basil, confetti flowers

Normally I wouldn't find rice and vegetables to be very exciting, but the spring pea risotto invoked a sense of happy relaxation in me.  It was as beautiful tasting as it was beautiful looking, albeit the image was marred by both the lack of natural lighting and my lack of savvy with photo editing.  But no matter... what's good is still good.

The feeling of intense absence of tension in my body was brought by the sudden surprise of curry in the waves of creamy rice.  I had a feeling that it was Japanese curry powder, which unlike Thai or Indian curries, is a bit more subtle and slightly sweet.  The taste is not as prickly on the tongue as a Thai green curry or an Indian masala.  Other surprises came in the form of a pea here and a pea there, just the right amount of healthy vileness and just the right amount of pleasant, non-shocking discovery.  This was the kind of dish that I could eat by the pool.  I wouldn't mind replacing the obligatory poolside cocktail with this risotto dish either.  Swirling a big, metal spoon around in creamy, not firm, not mushy, perfectly spiced rice is so much more gratifying that twirling a swizzle stick in a martini glass.  It's just not the same.

The final dish was a beef duo of short rib and tenderloin with porcini puree and daube sauce.  It was... alright.  And the dessert tasting was a chocolate croissant bread pudding with vanilla caramel ice cream.  I was already too happy to be bothered with a sugar high.  But no matter... good food and a good friend to jumpstart a Friday evening creates a casual, lingering happiness that carries over into the start of Saturday.  To the start of a happy weekend, everyone... let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Esther of e*star LA posted on her off-menu tastings at Chaya Brasserie here.

ML - 20110610