Author Archives: Anne

Posted on September 27, 2007 by Anne| 4 Comments

Matcha Yogurt Cake

I’ve had a small can of matcha powder that Blue Lotus sent me ages ago when we decided to do a blog-by-mail sort of trade-off. I used a bit of it on tofu, but always wanted to bake with it and didn’t have any good recipes. After seeing this yogurt-matcha cake, however, I knew I had a game plan.

I love yogurt cake regardless, and this marbled one seemed to be an elevated version. I used full-fat Greek yogurt for body and richness, and a good amount of the matcha powder to get a nice, strong tea flavor. In the end, I had some of the matcha batter left over so I made small madeline-like cakes with them.

The flavors combined very well, and it wasn’t overly sweet which makes it perfect for breakfast with a nice cup of tea or coffee. I can’t say my marbling technique produced the best results (the cake looks like a smiley face!) but it will be fun to practice and get better.

I’m looking forward to making more marbled cakes in the near future:).

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Posted in loaf cake, Matcha cake, yogurt cake

Posted on September 24, 2007 by Anne| 5 Comments

Arrivederci Supper

In a strange stroke of coincidence, everyone in my family is leaving this week- everyone, that is, except for me! My sister left for Italy yesterday, J leaves for Texas today, and my parents are also traveling to Italy on Wednesday. Basically everyone decided to desert me at the same time! Of course I’ll be fine, and my best friend M and I do have some fun plans up our sleeves during the coming two weeks, but it is odd to think that everyone is gone all at once. So, in a nod to the Italian vacations of my sister and parents, plus the fact that I know poor J won’t get a decent meal over the next three weeks (he’s working on a project that will involve long hours and little free time) I decided to whip up an Italian meal for J’s last night at home.

I’d seen a dish on Everyday Italian awhile back that I had wanted to make, but kind of forgot about it. When I discovered a repeat of that episode on my Tivo, it reminded me how appealing the dish seemed and I decided to go ahead and try it. It’s a dish called Lasagna Rolls, and I loved the idea of having a small roll or two of lasagna as opposed to a big slab of it. I knew I wanted to play with the recipe a bit to make it lighter- the days of J and I eating giant bowls of pasta and polishing off an entire baguette are long gone- so I printed the recipe and made some changes.

First of all, I left out the prosciutto and replaced it with sliced crimini mushrooms sautéed with garlic, thyme, olive oil and vermouth. I did keep the one box of squeezed-out, thawed spinach but only used 1/2 cup of ricotta, which I combined in the Cuisinart with one ounce of grated parmiggiano reggiano, one egg, salt and pepper. I then mixed the pureed mixture with the sautéed mushrooms. For the béchamel sauce, I used only 1 tablespoon of real butter, then 1 tablespoon of Smart Balance spread with the 4 teaspoons of flour called for in the original recipe. Instead of using whole milk, I used fat free half and half, plus the fresh nutmeg and salt/pepper. I know a lot of cooks insist you don’t use fat free replacements in recipes, but the resulting béchamel was smooth, creamy and thick. I wanted to get whole wheat lasagna sheets but couldn’t find them (anyone know of any??) after going to three stores, so I bought regular ones which I boiled for eight minutes- which is about two less than called for. You want the pasta to be a bit more al dente than al dente;) since it will finish baking in the oven. After spreading my spinach/mushroom mixture onto each lasagna noodle, I rolled them up, set each seam-side down in a baking dish filled with béchamel, topped each roll with a bit of homemade marinara and grated parmesan, then baked, covered, in the oven for 20 minutes. After another 15 minutes of baking, uncovered, the dish was done. I could hardly wait to sink my teeth into it!!

Hot, bubbling and golden brown……..yum

I wanted it to rest for a bit so I roasted some asparagus and zucchini, warmed a mini baguette in the oven and whipped up a simple dressing of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fresh garlic, honey and black pepper for a mixed green salad. We popped open a bottle of Grand Archer 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and sat down for our meal.

How were the lasagna rolls? They were so good that I’m actually craving one right now as I write this at 9:00 AM in the morning! In all honesty- you do not miss any of the extra cheese or fat in the béchamel. Each roll was crisp on the cheese-coated tops, and the ricotta/spinach/mushroom filling was just creamy enough. The béchamel soaked into the bottom of each roll and the touch of marinara really tied the dish together. Any sauce left on the plate was quickly sopped up with our slices of warm bread. I rarely make baked pastas, but this will definitely be making an appearance on our dinner table often, especially during the cooler months. We really loved it, and I can think of lots of delicious variations (salmon and chive filling w/ béchamel, roasted eggplant instead of mushrooms, etc) that will work with the basic concept of the rolled lasagna.

You can find the original recipe here.

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Posted in Baked pasta, Giada recipe, home cooking, Italian cooking

Posted on September 21, 2007 by Anne| Leave a comment

Family Dinner, Thanks To Food Bloggers

These days, I have to admit that 99% of anything I read (that isn’t work-related) focuses on food. Whether it’s any one of the cooking magazines I have a subscription to (Food & Wine, Bon Appetite, Cooking Light, Gourmet), the Food Section in any given newspaper (conveniently available online), my numerous cookbooks which have long-ago filled to capacity the giant bookshelf that my dad made for me, or the seemingly endless supply of food blogs floating through cyberspace. I guess it’s embarrassing to say that nary a novel has found its way into my hands in ages; after all, with the vast and never-ending world of unexplored (by me, anyway) food blogs out there, who has time to read anything else?!

My name is A, and I am a Food Blog Addict.

The one great benefit of reading so many food blogs is that my recipe collection has expanded to the point where I couldn’t possibly live long enough to try all of them. That’s a good thing, right? I mean, thanks to all of the wonderfully creative cooks out there (since you’re reading this blog, I’ll assume that you are one of them) my taste buds have been tickled by flavors and textures that may have never been brought to my attention had it not been for the detailed descriptions and wonderful photography of these budding (and often professional-level) chefs. Even if I can’t read the language its written in, I get inspired just by looking at what cooks around the world have been creating in their kitchens thousands of miles away.

One such blog caught my attention early on due to its adorable title and tagline: Chubby Hubby: Musings on food, wine and marriage. It’s now been updated to Chubby Hubby: Dining, Whining and Marriage but the wonderful insights on food, the gorgeous photography and witty writing have remained the same. Based out of Singapore, CH and his wife S travel often and always share new and unique experiences with the reader. They have such an eye for quality and beauty but always keep their tone down-to-earth and honest, so that anyone (whether you’re a world traveler or not) can gain something from reading about their adventures. One particular recipe that caught my eye awhile back was Pork Riblets Braised in Vietnamese Caramel Sauce from Molly Stevens’ book, All About Braising. The photo of the deep, brown riblets stuck in my memory and I vowed to make them one day.

I finally got my chance last weekend since my parents, sister and friend were coming to dinner. I don’t recall EVER making ribs, but I do have some experience braising so I decided to give it a go. I bought some beautiful pork baby back ribs at How’s market and opted to not chop them into smaller riblets. The recipe is very easy to follow and has such few ingredients that at one point I wondered how it was possible to get such beautiful ribs (as seen on CH’s site) out of just shallots, sugar, fish sauce, water and black pepper?! After caramelizing the sugar (the key is to get it nice and brown) I added everything else in and let it braise for 90 minutes. I have to admit that the smell of the fish sauce (which I LOVE) was a bit overwhelming at first but mellowed out after cooking for awhile. I followed CH’s recommendation to make it two days in advance, so after it cooled to room temperature, I stuck it in the fridge. The day of the dinner party, I simply scraped of the now-hardened fat off with a spoon, discarded it and reheated in the oven.

The ribs were tender, sweet, salty, savory and downright succulent. The cracked black pepper really stood up against the sweetness of the dish, and the braising liquid was the perfect thing to drizzle over the lightly fried brown rice (cold brown rice stir fried with a touch of oil, 1 chopped red onion, 2 eggs, scallions and cilantro) I made as well. I also made a big bowl of Asian coleslaw which was just sliced red cabbage, green cabbage, red bell peppers, carrots, red onions and green onions dressed with a mixture of rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, lots of fresh ginger, a touch of sugar, a bit of creamy peanut butter and a dash of soy sauce. Steamed sugar snap peas drizzled with sesame oil, sea salt and sesame seeds capped off the meal.

For dessert……..another big “thank you” goes out to the food blogging world for introducing my eyes to the wonder that is David Lebovitz’ contribution to the web, DavidLebovitz.com. The noted cookbook author, chocolate maestro, teacher and all-around dessert extraordinaire is a favorite of the food blogging community, and his latest book, The Perfect Scoop, has been praised by cooks everywhere. One particular ice cream recipe that has garnered manic, Beatle mania-like buzz is his Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream, another dish that I’d filed in my “MUST MAKE/EAT!” file after I’d read about it. I did make it, and well………I’m going to say with utter confidence that it was, quite simply, the best ice cream I’ve ever made in addition to the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. WOW. AMAZING. LIFE-ALTERING. I knew even before I froze the base that it would be divine…..I sipped so many teaspoons of it that it almost didn’t make it to my ice cream maker (yo- quality control, ok??). It’s too bad my one photograph of the delectable dessert is so horrible that it’s almost an insult to the wonder that is this ice cream. The best thing about this recipe? You probably have everything you need to make this in your kitchen right now. So don’t delay, and don’t be timid- it is easy to make, and just remember that the darker your caramel, the deeper the flavor.

This soooooooo doesn’t do it justice….*sigh*

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Anne| 3 Comments

Goodbye Summer……..

Wow- here we are, midway through September and I already find myself closing the bedroom window before I go to bed. For most of you, that probably sounds the normal thing to do this time of year, but for us Los Angeleninos, it feels a bit premature. It isn’t unusual to have a scorching September, but it seems as if Fall has come a bit early (well, I guess actually on time) this year. Although I was stomping my feet about summer ending so soon (after all, my friend M and I haven’t filled our quota for beach trips this season) I have to admit that the cool air feels nice. It also beckons me to fire up the oven and really start cooking again.

“X” marks the spot

What better way to say farewell to summer than to take the last of its best fruits and make it into something you can enjoy all year? My parents brought over an enormous bag of tomatoes from their garden, and I spent Sunday morning making a large batch of Mario Batali’s Basic Tomato Sauce (my favorite!). I’d never made it with fresh tomatoes but it turned out great, and I’ll have homemade tomato sauce on hand for the next few months.

Peeled and ready for the pot

First, I cut an “x” at the bottom of each tomato. After blanching them in hot water for a couple of minutes, I dunked them in ice water and slipped the skins off. I opted to keep the seeds in and pretty much followed the recipe after that. I did add a few tablespoons of sugar to offset the acid in the tomatoes, and pretty soon the house filled with the wonderful scent of garlic, thyme and red sauce.

Bubbling caldron of Batali sauce

I don’t have much experience canning (just once) and I didn’t have any jars, so I just filled up some of the Gladware that I had and stuck two in the freezer and one in my fridge, to be consumed with a big batch of whole wheat spaghetti and olive oil soaked tuna later on this week.

I see lasagna, ravioli, eggplant parmesan and pizza in your future………

Although I was wrapping up the last of summer to be saved in my freezer, the process of slowly simmering something on the stove and actually spending a couple of hours in the kitchen made me look forward to all of the cooking adventures that await me in the Fall.

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Posted in Batali recipes, Italian cooking, Tomato sauce

Posted on September 12, 2007 by Anne| 2 Comments

Sunday Supper With Friends

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Work is nutty and I keep forgetting to take photos, so I have lots to write but nothing to show for it! I should be back in the kitchen soon now that the weather is finally cooling off. I’m really looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and cooking!

Speaking of cooking……..wonder what chefs eat on their day off? We got together with a few friends at our house last weekend, and Matt announced that he would bring the food- he only asked that I provide the dessert. Even though I tried to talk him out of having to go get everything, he insisted, so we just sat back and waited to see what he’d bring.

Purchased tart shells from Nicole’s

I sort of cheated on the dessert- I purchased ready-made tart shells at Nicole’s, but I did make the vanilla-bean pastry cream by hand. Trust me- I’m usually the one who HAS to make each and every single thing by hand and I almost always end up with sore feet, frantically trying to finish it all before guests arrive. Lately, I’ve been trying to accept the notion that you don’t need to make everything so complicated, and summer (well, I guess it’s the end of summer now!) is the perfect time to really get into that idea. The raspberries and blackberries at the Farmer’s Market smelled so good, I couldn’t resist buying them, and I know that Nicole makes perfectly buttery, sweet tart shells so I thought, why not? I simply brushed the inside of the tart shells with melted dark chocolate (to keep the tart shell from getting soggy), piped in some of the pastry cream, topped with berries and finished it off with a grating of chocolate. They were cute and delicious at the same time.


Back to the main course. Matt showed up carrying many large foil containers and we carefully laid it all on the table, buffet style. He brought roasted Peruvian chicken from Pollo Ala Brasa, along with an ass-kickin’ but very flavorful green sauce, plus an array of condiments and salads from Carousel in Glendale.

We all made big plates for ourselves, sat on the patio and noshed on the succulent chicken, hummus, babaganoush, cabbage and dill salad, tabbouleh and a fantastic sauce made from ground walnuts and pomegranate juice- wow. Such an explosion of flavors. The extra-thick yogurt with jalapenos that also came with the food was such a great compliment to the spiciness of the green sauce. Sopped up with big, warm rounds of pita bread, it was the perfect Sunday evening supper.

Good food, great friends, lots of wine and a patio- the perfect way to start any week!

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Posted in Carousel Glendale, fruit tarts, Pollo ala Brasa

Posted on September 7, 2007 by Anne| 3 Comments

Restaurant Review: Hatfield’s

I’d long heard wonderful things about Hatfield’s, a small, cozy yet elegant restaurant on Beverly Blvd and had waited for a special occasion to finally try it. When my promotion at work came through, J and I jumped at the chance to go ahead and have dinner at the much-lauded restaurant and made reservations for last Friday night.

We arrived just in time for our 6:30 PM reservation (I couldn’t get any later) and walked into the charming space. When our hostess seemed like she was going to sit us on the patio (in the 99 degree heat?!) I quickly asked for a table inside and she obliged, no problem. Phew. I hadn’t planned on sweating through the meal that I’d looked so forward to trying, not to mention the traffic on Beverly isn’t exactly subtle. Sitting on the front porch would have been a deal breaker for sure. Anyway, we were seated at a nice two-top, given menus and left to figure out what to order.

J quickly decided on the three-course “Daily Market Menu” which, at $42, is a real bargain. I figured out my appetizer and entree, then we ordered a bottle of French rosé and sat back, eager to start our very first Hatfield’s experience. Instead of the usual bread basket, Hatfield’s serves big, round gougeres- basically a savory cream puff shell with no filling but topped with cheese. Wowza. These were totally addictive and quite frankly, dangerous!!! Soft, tender and bright with cheese, the gougeres were just perfect with the rosé. Next came our amuse bouche- a small shot glass of sweet pea and tarragon and a tiny deviled quail egg with smoked trout. Both were absolutely excellent and a great pairing- I would actually love to order both as an appetizer if they were on the menu.

J’s first course was a fresh, clean salad of summer corn, tomatoes, beautiful baby purple fingerling potatoes, avocado and frisee all mound on creamy dressing (pictured at the top of this post). Simple yet delicious, the quality of the produce really was the star of the dish. Everything tasted wonderfully fresh and sweet. My warm crab and buckwheat crepe, marinated breakfast radish, pickled beets, fines herbs was also delicious- tiny cubes of sweet beets sat next to a crepe blanketed over a mound of crab meat seasoned with a bit of lemon and folded in a light creamy dressing.

For our main courses we both had fish- J’s black cod with warm summer beans, vegetables and crunchy breadcrumbs was tasty, but we both felt the fish wasn’t sturdy enough to stand up to the other ingredients on the plate. Maybe a firmer fish would have worked better? (coz um, we know better than seasoned chefs, right?! not…..but that’s just how we felt!). It tasted good, regardless, and the beans were a real treat. My olive oil poached halibut, herbed asparagus, hedgehog mushrooms with pickled ramp vinaigrette was pretty perfect- the firm fish was cooked perfectly and all of the flavors melded together so well.

Black cod

Olive oil poached halibut

We decided to share J’s dessert of a ricotta cheesecake with strawberries……..oooooo, I was in heaven. It was so light, airy, refreshing and the strawberries were so lovely with the creaminess of the cheesecake…..it reminded me so much of the “rare cheesecakes” that are popular in Japan. No thuddingly dense New York cheesecake here. I would order this in large batches if it was available. The perfect summer dessert. Yes, I’m officially gushing.

Cheesecake w/ strawberries

Along with our bill we got two, homemade chocolate bars which were similar to Kit Kats but the base was a crunchy and dense hazelnut crust. Another “wow” item. Even with the two sweet things at the end, we walked out of Hatfield’s feeling great. It’s nice to eat a three-course meal and not feel like you need to be carried out by a forklift, you know?! So many places can be heavy-handed with the oils and fats (which isn’t always a bad thing, of course!) but Hatfield’s really uses a lighter touch. The service was also friendly yet subtle.

Gourmet Kit Kat

We’ll definitely be back!

Hatfield’s
7458 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
www.hatfieldsrestaurant.com
323/935-2977

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted on September 5, 2007 by Anne| Leave a comment
HAPPY BIRTHDAY J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(c) 2007 http://www.bergoiata.org/

Just want to give a very happy birthday shout out to my dear J. Thanks for all of your love and support- and always letting me take photos of food before you eat it!!

More food blogging to come………….

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted on August 30, 2007 by Anne| 4 Comments

Best Food-related TV Show Ever: After Hours With Daniel

(c) 2007 iN DEMAND L.L.C. All rights reserved. MOJO is a service mark of iN DEMAND L.L.C.

I recently (finally) got TiVo, and I can finally record shows and watch them later. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as having a full queue when you get home after a long day- a queue filled with shows I actually want to watch, that is. Having the ability to record various programs automatically has also given me a chance to watch a bunch of shows I didn’t even really know existed. You can set the recorder based on show topics or titles, so it’s really opened up a new world or TV for me. And that’s saying a lot since a big part of my job is to watch a lot of TV!

Ok, enough about my love for TiVo but it just introduced me to my new favorite show ever- After Hours with Daniel on MOJO. I’d never even heard of the network before, but of course I had heard of the world famous chef, Daniel Boulud. Owner and chef of multiple restaurants (most famously the Michelin two-star Daniel) and culinary icon, Daniel Boulud apparently has had a tradition of having late night suppers with other chefs and luminaries. MOJO has turned these dinners into a series- each episode is a different dinner at a different restaurant with varying guests- and the show is such a fun, intimate, honest and completely entertaining look at how chefs (and their well paleted friends) eat and socialize.

Take, for example, a recent dinner at Maremma, an Italian restaurant run by Owner/Chef Cesare Casella- a Tuscan native with the most charming, what-on-earth-is-he-saying accent I’ve ever heard. Thanks to subtitles, you can hear all of the amusingly competetive banter between he and Daniel as they do the prep for tonight’s meal. At one point Daniel shows Casella a cake that he made for dessert- a huge round of brioche stuffed with cream- and says to the Italian chef “You see- the French inspired the Italians to make cannoli with this cake,” to which Casella replies “Oh yes, the Italians took the French idea and made it more refined,” while Daniel jabs back with “No, the Italians simplified it.” They laugh, drink a glass of wine, marvel at some gorgeous California artichokes that Daniel will also be serving at dinner and do the hug/kiss thing, then depart for the afternoon.

Tonight’s guests include Craft Owner/Chef and Top Chef Head Judge Tom Colicchio, actor/comedian Mario Cantone, actress/wine buff Lorraine Bracco and a couple of other NY area chefs and writers. They all sit at a private dining table with Daniel and Casella- and the food parade begins. Although each dinner for each episode is at a different restaurant, Daniel almost always contributes a dish or two- and tonight he starts with the artichokes and then some sea scallops with garlic butter (when you see the amount of butter Daniel dollops onto each scallop, it’s almost frightening!). There’s a lot of “ooooohs” and “aaaaahs” from the table, a decent amount of wine poured, then the real fun begins. One of the guests tells a great story of how he accidentally fell into the catering business after bragging to a friend at an event that the food was crap and that he “could do better food with one hand tied behind my back.” Two weeks later he gets a call to cater an event- an after party for an up-and-coming comedian named Steve Martin, who, incidentally, is a vegetarian. Mario Cantone does his dead-on Julia Child impression- and everyone is laughing so hard that they can hardly keep the food in their mouths. After the impression is over, they all stand up and toast to Julia. Daniel continues the “French are better than Italians” jokes to which Casella tells a hilarious story about how the French would not have underwear if it wasn’t for the Italians- and his crazy accent and animated manner of speaking makes it come out like “Da Frinch, dey didn’t hove no UNDERWEEEEEEER! NO UNDERWEEEEEER!” and Colicchio just looks like he is gonna absolutely die of laughter. The main course that Casella made- a roasted baby goat- arrives to much applause and everyone digs in, relishing every bite. The stories and jokes continue until everyone seems so full that they just can’t eat anymore. Cantone jokes that he can feel the brioche on his ass.

I’ve seen several episodes, and all of them have the same, wonderful elements that make the show so utterly interesting, entertaining and heartwarming all at once. Daniel’s bravado (well-earned, of course!) and unexpected humor, the restaurant chef’s insights, the two chefs working together, the personalities of each different guest, the food itself and the stories that pop up during these meals make such a perfect combination into one perfect show. The restaurants and chefs showcased are amazing- Wylie Dufresne and his wd-50, Shea Gallante and his CRU….obviously Daniel is such a legend in the culinary world that all of these young chefs look up to him and are honored to have him host these dinners in their restaurants.

Few shows (if any, quite frankly) give you such access and paint such an intimate portrait of real chefs doing their thing, but After Hours With Daniel really hits the mark. I get so excited when my TiVo has a new episode on it- and every single one I’ve seen so far has been so completely satisfying. I urge you to check it out!

Maybe one day, Daniel will invite a food blogger to one of these dinners…….*sigh.* I’m sure I’d keel over from intimidation after the first introduction, but one can dream, no?

After Hours With Daniel
Airs Wednesdays, 10 PM EDT on MOJO

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Posted in After Hours with Daniel, Daniel Boulud, Food shows, MOJO

Posted on August 27, 2007 by Anne| 4 Comments

Restaurant Review: Red Pearl Kitchen, Hollywood

I know, I know- it’s my fault for even considering going to a place that seems to be a mish-mash of all Asian cuisines, but a friend was in from out of town, we all craved Chinese food and we were in West Hollywood. Unfortunately, we weren’t really close enough to Alhambra, San Gabriel or Monterey Park (or even the second-best China Town, for that matter) and we were hungry for something spicy. Maybe it was our growling tummies that made us choose to go to Red Pearl Kitchen- a hipster, trendy, barely-Chinese restaurant on Melrose. Besides, the gorgeous design would impress my out-of-towner friend, right? Anyway, it was a visit that we all regret and I will never make that mistake again. I really, REALLY should have known better than to dine at a place that has pad thai, spicy tuna on crispy rice, a Kobe beef hot pot (?!) and General Tso’s tofu all on one menu.


We drive up to an all-female team of valets, which I thought was pretty cool. Walking into the restaurant, we were impressed by the Asian-fusioned decor. I did get a bit worried, however, when I realized that we were one of only two tables in the entire restaurant, and it was 7:30 PM. Regardless, I told the hostess about my reservation (which I had made on Open Table) and she promptly seated us in the enclosed patio, which again, was quite lovely. Our very cheerful and helpful waitress took our drink orders, we perused the menu, then decided on a few things to share. I’d say we were off to a good start.

First up: Baby Greens with Sesame and Soy. Bland, bland and bland- a pile of mixed greens were barely dressed with anything remotely resembling soy or sesame, but the vegetables were fresh. It just lacked any decipherable flavor. Our veggie spring rolls arrived, looking nice and crisp, but they, too, were bland, and the accompanying red sauce didn’t have any flavor either. I detected some five-spice in the actual spring rolls but it just didn’t go well with the vegetables inside. Then our Ginger Chicken Pot stickers arrived- nice and golden brown on the bottom- my friend M and I were excited.

That excitement quickly faded, however, after I took my first bite and realized that the filling completely mushy. Luckily, I took a look at the inside of my half-eaten pot stickers and figured out why- the ground chicken was raw. Yup. Raw chicken. Unfortunately, M had already popped one in her mouth. My friend JR quickly returned his offending pot sticker to the serving plate. I called the waitress over, showed her the uncooked poultry and she whisked the plate away, apologizing profusely. When I told her that I didn’t want another order, she said she understood but brought another round of drinks, on the house, instead. Smart girl. The meal pretty much didn’t recover after that- we were served what is probably the only fried rice dish in memory that I’ve had to add salt to. Or what I thought was salt- with no salt & pepper on the tables, we had to ask for each. The only salt they claimed they had was mixed with some strong herb, so it wasn’t ideal for adding to all of the dishes. Honestly- the shrimp in the fried rice were like little hockey pucks- in both texture and flavor. Who doesn’t season shrimp?!?! It didn’t contain a single grain of salt, I can tell you that, and were so overcooked that you could probably use them in place of rubber bullets. Our Shao Hsing-Garlic Cashew Chicken was so-so but by that point, we were pretty disgusted with the whole meal. We left most of it and decided to stop by Famima for some real food (*chuckle*).

Look- I realize that it takes more than one visit to a restaurant to truly get the whole picture of what a place is about, but can one really return to a place that unknowingly served them raw poultry??? I’m not a chef but I do realize that after browning the pot sticker, you put some water in the pan, put a lid on it and let it steam long enough for the filling to cook all the way. Judging by how brown the bottoms were, I have a feeling that the cook thought they would burn so he or she took them out too soon. I suppose if any of the other dishes had been good, I’d have some reason to return, but nothing was worth going back for. The menu is a mish mash of Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai cuisine- maybe they should just focus on one thing, although I have a feeling it won’t last long enough to do so. They don’t even give you fortune cookies with your check, although the valet leaves a gingerbread cookie and an almond cookie in your car. Cute. But I want my fortune cookie.

To add insult to injury, I checked my Open Table account today to see that they didn’t credit my Open Table account with the 100 points I should have gotten. I think that pretty much is the nail in the coffin.

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Posted in Hollywood restaurants, Red Pearl Kitchen

Posted on August 21, 2007 by Anne| 7 Comments

Restaurant Review: Osteria Mozza

We finally made it out to Osteria Mozza a couple of weeks ago. The much-hyped, Mario Batali/Nancy Silverton-owned restaurant has been the hardest table in town to get, so we wanted to wait a bit before making our way over there. Normally a place with so much hype ends up not being able to live up to it, and although there are undoubtedly a few detractors out there, we had a wonderful experience. I thoroughly enjoyed every single dish, but the stars of the menu, for me, were the pastas. Oh, the pasta at Osteria Mozza………..I could eat those dishes every day and never get tired of them. Also, now’s a good time for the disclaimer- these photos are crap. As the evening wore on and it got darker and darker, I just didn’t want to use my flash so unfortunately, most of the photos came out too dark and fuzzy.


The restaurant itself is gorgeous- bustling and warm, busy but comfortable….it’s so very New York and I fell in love with the chocolate brown and pale blue color scheme. The bar is among the most beautiful I’ve ever seen…..gleaming bottles of liquor sat on high shelves which also showcased the many different shapes of wine glasses and goblets.


So- we started our meal with a nice amuse of mozzarella wrapped with basil and prosciutto which was a nice way to kick off the meal. Having been seated at the mozzarella bar, we could watch Nancy Silverton and her chefs prepare the small plates of bruschetta-like dishes which was very entertaining. In fact, I think I’d like to sit at the bar on future visits to the restaurant. Our waiter informed us that everything needed to be ordered at once, so we chose carefully. We picked a couple of things from the antipasti, a couple of pastas and a couple of mains. After taking a sip of the Brunello that J ordered (sorry- can’t recall the name now!) we sat back and spied on what seemed to be the entire staff of Bastide who were sitting at nearby tables. They seemed to be having a jolly good time, and the value of the bottles of wine and liquor on their tables was enough to send ten kids to college. Ok, I joke but they were getting pretty serious with their libations. And why not? If I worked at one of the most touted French restaurants in Los Angeles (which is set to re-open sometime soon), I’d get my drink on at what some would call the best Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. Damn, I wish I was European;)!

My plate with the octopus and burrata crostini

Ricotta with honey and hazelnuts

Onto the food. We got our grilled octopus with celery and potatoes since I’d heard so much about it, and it was as tender and delicious as people had described. We had to get the crostini topped with caramelized shallots, escarole, bacon and that lovely burrata that shows up on many of Nancy Silverton’s menus, and well, I mean how on earth could you go wrong with that combo on crusty bread? The kitchen sent out some fresh ricotta with honey and toasted hazelnuts which came with the same crusty bread…..wow. Those hazelnuts were some of the freshest, crunchiest and most flavorful I’ve ever had. A true winner.

Ravioli with ricotta, egg and browned butter

Orecchiette with crumbled sausage and swiss chard

Pockets of heaven……..

Now for the pastas: my friend Mika and I had eyed a patron eating the ravioli while waiting for our table, and we had to practically tie our hands to our sides so we wouldn’t reach out and grab it off his plate. Just imagine one, giant yet delicately-skinned ravioli swimming in brown butter and sage, filled with creamy ricotta and a single, gorgeous runny egg yolk that runs all over the pasta and cheese once you cut into it. Um yeah………we almost squealed out loud when we saw the near-orange yolk mix with the rich butter. It tasted as good as it looked and we just wished that we’d ordered two instead of one. The homemade orecchiette with crumbled sausage and swiss chard was spicy, fatty and chewy- and I mean all of that in the best way possible. My absolute favorite was the agnolotti- tiny pockets of pasta filled with braised meat. Little pockets of heaven, actually.

Fish….branzino, I think

Steak

For our secondi we had the branzino (I think) which was roasted with lemon and mint. The fish was perfectly cooked but the mint was a bit overpowering for my taste. The steak was mouthwateringly delicious and nicely rare. Side dishes included the cannelinni beans with roasted tomatoes- simple, light and delicious- and the roasted potatoes which were shatteringly crisp on the outside, warm and tender on the inside. I don’t even want to know how much olive oil it took to make those potatoes so crisp but they were divine.

At this point you’re probably wondering how on earth we still kept eating, but we couldn’t pass up dessert. We shared the torta della Nonna which really reminded me of a Japanese cheesecake- not too sweet, but creamy and slightly lemony. Topped with pine nuts, Mika and I devoured the whole thing while J tried to get bites in between.


During the entire meal, I kept looking around and the beautiful interior, the bustling mozzarella bar and the waiters putting finishing touches on the dishes at a table set up with various condiments and additions. The vibe in Osteria Mozza is indescribable and just very different from a lot of Los Angeles restaurants- I can’t put it into words other than to say it’s way more East Coast-style. Everyone is buzzing, eating, chatting and there’s a palpable energy that seems rare in this town……I don’t know exactly what it is but I look forward to returning to get another dose of it.

Osteria Mozza
6602 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 297-0100, www.mozza-la.com

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Posted in Italian restaurants in Los Angeles, Los Angeles restaurants, Osteria Mozza