To every foodie, there is an transcendental moment in their life, when they first see and taste the best food in the world. For me, that moment is Providence.
On my first trip to providence there are 3 dishes which shocked my world:
Japanese Kanpachi with Dashi Gelee--The kanpachi shashimi was extremly fresh and tasted clean, to serve with any liquidy sauce would taminate the fish. Therefore, the fish was served with a dashi gelee.
Santa Barbara Sea Urchin Sabayon, and mango ice cream with lime soda.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Greyhound, Gin & Tonic gelee & Mojito - These are basically jello shots with a rubbery ballon like skin while the inside is liquidy bursting with flavors.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Urasawa Experience 6/6/2008
Urasawa is the most talked about restaurant in any foodie communities. As a foodie want to be, I feel obliegated to give it a try. What make urasawa so special is: 1. its humble price at $300 a pot, 2. it obtains 2 star michelin statues and is the best japanese/sushi restaurant on the west coast. 3. its sibiling restaurant in NYC recently receives its 3 star michelin rating.
I did not take any photo during the dinner such that I can fully enjoy the interaction with the chef. For photoed reviews please visit:
http://www.feast-blog.com/my_weblog/2008/06/urasawa---los-a.html
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=4699639&blogID=401186794
And here is my Urasawa experience:
Urasawa is situated in the second stories of a shopping mall on rodeo drive. The lighting is bright and gentle. The shop isn't big, with only a sushi bar and two small tables.
Hiroyuki Urasawa is a very nice and humble person. With a smile on his face at all time, he truly loves what he does.
1. The dinner started with a Junsai salad - Junsai is known as "water shield" in English, and a summer delicacy in Japan. The plant is a member of the water lily family, and grows in clusters sometimes large enough to cover large bodies of water, hence the name. The most prized part of junsai is the slippery, gelatinous layer that covers young sprouts. Here, it was mixed with summer vegetables, shrimp, vinegar, scallions, and gold flake and was taken as a shot. The junsai had a slimy, yet crispy texture that made the dish slide easily down my throat. Perfect combination of texture and acidity, a great starter.
2. Next, I was served with "Nasu", a grilled japanese eggplant served below room temperature. Teh eggplant is soft with a clean flavor, and the cold temperature made the dish very suitable for the summer. The sweet soy dipping sauce is typical of japanese cuisine.
3. Next was 3 pieces of seared o-toro, topped with a bit of grated radish, a bit of wasabi. 4. Goma tofu, Kyoto-style - Tofu made from sesame seeds, stuffed with sweet Uni (urchin “roe”), topped with freshly grated wasabi and gold leaf, served in a light dashi seasoned with shoyu and mirin.
5. Yamaimo "Chawanmushi" - The egg custard here was served with uni, tai, ebi, eel, and gingko, all topped once again with gold. Though the ingredients are luxurious, it tastes like a typical chawanmush.
6. Tempura with shrimp.
7. A grill is served with beef wrapped vegetables on top, a bit of sake was poured onto the grill to give the dish a steam finish. The beef is very tender, the vegetable gave the dish a nice contrast.
8. The sashimi offering - Spanish o-toro, tuna, red snapper, and uni.
9. Seared fatty tuna - fatty tuna seared on hot stone.
10. Shabu Shabu--Foie gras, sweet shrimp, and Wagyu beef. Becareful to not burn your tongue.
11. pickled ginger
12. Nigiri Sushi: Toro, Seared Toro, Buri (similar to yellowtail), Tai (similar to red snapper), Aji (Spanish mackerel ), Shiitake, Uni, Amaebi (Sweet shrimp ), sea eel....
The nigiri sushi enjoys a perfect proportion of rice and toppings. Almost all sushis were brushed with yuzu and sweet soy. At first, the sweet and sour flavor woke up my palate, but as times gwent on, I got tired of the flavor and couldn't taste the fish.
13. Sesame ice cream with green tea
14. Tamago - Egg custard.
Overall, Urasawa is a good restaurant, and Hiro is a gracious chef. We exchanged lots of interesting conversations. For example, Masa does not like Jean George, and once charged him $8,000 for 5 guest. Hiro thinks the best chef in the world is Joel Robuchon. The food is overly dependent on luxury ingredients, so everything tastes like butter. Maybe because Urasawa is situated in a mall in LA, the connection to a japanese garden and japanese culture in general is lost. Urasawa is a good restaurant, but is limited by its location and customers.
I did not take any photo during the dinner such that I can fully enjoy the interaction with the chef. For photoed reviews please visit:
http://www.feast-blog.com/my_weblog/2008/06/urasawa---los-a.html
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=4699639&blogID=401186794
And here is my Urasawa experience:
Urasawa is situated in the second stories of a shopping mall on rodeo drive. The lighting is bright and gentle. The shop isn't big, with only a sushi bar and two small tables.
Hiroyuki Urasawa is a very nice and humble person. With a smile on his face at all time, he truly loves what he does.
1. The dinner started with a Junsai salad - Junsai is known as "water shield" in English, and a summer delicacy in Japan. The plant is a member of the water lily family, and grows in clusters sometimes large enough to cover large bodies of water, hence the name. The most prized part of junsai is the slippery, gelatinous layer that covers young sprouts. Here, it was mixed with summer vegetables, shrimp, vinegar, scallions, and gold flake and was taken as a shot. The junsai had a slimy, yet crispy texture that made the dish slide easily down my throat. Perfect combination of texture and acidity, a great starter.
2. Next, I was served with "Nasu", a grilled japanese eggplant served below room temperature. Teh eggplant is soft with a clean flavor, and the cold temperature made the dish very suitable for the summer. The sweet soy dipping sauce is typical of japanese cuisine.
3. Next was 3 pieces of seared o-toro, topped with a bit of grated radish, a bit of wasabi. 4. Goma tofu, Kyoto-style - Tofu made from sesame seeds, stuffed with sweet Uni (urchin “roe”), topped with freshly grated wasabi and gold leaf, served in a light dashi seasoned with shoyu and mirin.
5. Yamaimo "Chawanmushi" - The egg custard here was served with uni, tai, ebi, eel, and gingko, all topped once again with gold. Though the ingredients are luxurious, it tastes like a typical chawanmush.
6. Tempura with shrimp.
7. A grill is served with beef wrapped vegetables on top, a bit of sake was poured onto the grill to give the dish a steam finish. The beef is very tender, the vegetable gave the dish a nice contrast.
8. The sashimi offering - Spanish o-toro, tuna, red snapper, and uni.
9. Seared fatty tuna - fatty tuna seared on hot stone.
10. Shabu Shabu--Foie gras, sweet shrimp, and Wagyu beef. Becareful to not burn your tongue.
11. pickled ginger
12. Nigiri Sushi: Toro, Seared Toro, Buri (similar to yellowtail), Tai (similar to red snapper), Aji (Spanish mackerel ), Shiitake, Uni, Amaebi (Sweet shrimp ), sea eel....
The nigiri sushi enjoys a perfect proportion of rice and toppings. Almost all sushis were brushed with yuzu and sweet soy. At first, the sweet and sour flavor woke up my palate, but as times gwent on, I got tired of the flavor and couldn't taste the fish.
13. Sesame ice cream with green tea
14. Tamago - Egg custard.
Overall, Urasawa is a good restaurant, and Hiro is a gracious chef. We exchanged lots of interesting conversations. For example, Masa does not like Jean George, and once charged him $8,000 for 5 guest. Hiro thinks the best chef in the world is Joel Robuchon. The food is overly dependent on luxury ingredients, so everything tastes like butter. Maybe because Urasawa is situated in a mall in LA, the connection to a japanese garden and japanese culture in general is lost. Urasawa is a good restaurant, but is limited by its location and customers.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The Joel Robuchon at the Mansion Experience 09/14/08
Entrance
Dining room and its many dwellers.
Since it my first visit, I would like to experience Robuchon to the fullest. I went ahead with the 16 courses tasting menu, it's going to be a long night. Course 1:L'Asperge Blanche The texture of panna cotta is smooth, but the acidity that should have been present was somehow overwhelmed by the accompanying of seasalt. Also, I was wondering where my amuse buche were, which distracted me from tasting the food.
The Second course: La Tomate Since it is just half a tomato seasoned with salt and pepper, I did not take any picture. And it tastes like half of a tomato seasoned with salt and pepper.Le CaviarThis is caviar prepared three ways. Start from your left is Caviar in gelee of green asparagus. The richness of caviar hiden in the jelly totally overpowered the asparagus flavors. In the middle is caviar on top of smooth cauliflower cream, there is better balance between the flavors. However, since the texture of cauliflower cream is similar to that of the asparagus gelee, it is a bit boring. On the right hand side is a sushi made of couscous and caviar, the vingearetter couscous complements the caviar nicely.
The fourth course: eggyolk in spinach ravioli with trumpet mushroomOriginall, this dish is designed to be paired with morels, but I guess morels were not avilable. The pasta is over-cooked, so it is soft and damped. I did not taste the spinach, everything is masked by sea salt and cream.
Fifth course: Scallops RoyalMy favourite dish by far. The use of sea salt is actually approriate here and draws out the sea flavor of the scallops. The buckwheat tuile on top of the cup gives a nice crunch which was missing in previous dishes.
Sixth Course: sea urchin on mashed potato with a hint of coffee. Comparing to the sea urchin royale I had in providence, this sea urchin treatment is stale. The sea salt and cream covers the natural sweetness of the sea urchin. 
Seventh Course: Truffle langoustine ravioli with chopped cabbage. The langoustine is not as sweet and live as the santa babra variety I had in providence. Also, I couldn't tell the effect of the truffles.The eighth course: coral and ginger perfumed teaIt tastes like soup from a vietnamese restaurant. 
The nineth course: Green pea veloute with onion custard. It tastes like green pea soup with onions.
The tenth course:Smoked tuna with curry sauce: The tuna is overpowered by sea salt, and is in desperatly need of some acid. The green curry sauce with rather cold and blank. The cauliflower couscous is great.
The eleventh course: The veal chop. The veal chop is dry
. The twelveth course: Bean sprout risottoThis my favourite dish. The crispy bean sprout adds a nice texture to the so famaliar risotto.
Yougurt sorbet on red fruits granite. The granit taste like raspberry sorbet, the yougurt complements the acid of the red fruit.
Le Caramel: Caramel, dry fuits and chocolate rice all layered together, it is something to die for.
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