The Divine Dish

Langham Huntington Pasadena Launches Special Cocktail Menu

Posted on Apr 08, 2014 under Archives, Los Angeles | No Comment

The Langham Huntington Pasadena has launched a new special cocktail menu of four new drinks available only at Langham hotels in the United States.

The cocktails were created by master bartender Alex Kratena. He is the head bartender at The Langham London and has won numerous best bartender awards around the world.I recently visited the Langham Huntington Pasadena to sample the new drinks.

Alex first made The Social Club, a concoction with vodka, lillet, vetivier, rose water and California citrus. This drink represented the Pasadena location.

Next came the Back to the Future with talisker, port, sherry, citrus, cacao and raspberry and represented the Chicago Langham. This was my fave for presentation because it featured a smoke element and the rocks surrounding the drink were actually edible chocolate.

The third drink was Skylines with aquavit, fino, citrus, cedarwood and bitters, representing the Boston Langham.

The last libation was Lady Pink with fino, rhubarb, citrus, agave and bitter orange, representing the Langham in New York.

Each specialty cocktail will be available at the participating hotels through the end of the year.  I also sampled some great bites at The Tap Room bar.

The Tap Room is the Langham’s bar and lounge and features hand crafted cocktails, a wide variety of wines, premium artisanal beers and upscale bar bites. Guests can choose to sit in front of the fire or overlooking the resort’s beautiful Horseshoe Garden on cozy couches or intimate tables. I started off with a lovely tuna tartar with shallots, chives, paprika oil and parmesan crisps. I also sampled the Kobe sliders with a bacon tomato jam and caramelized onions served on brioche buns.

Dessert was the decadent chocolate lava cake with a strawberry St. Germain consomme and raspberry sorbet. Both the cocktails and the bar bites were delicious. Head to the Tap Room at the Langham Huntington Pasadena to sample the great new libations and stay for a bite and enjoy the view. Located at 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue in Pasadena, reservations at 626.568.3900.

 

 

All-Star Chef Classic Lunch

Posted on Mar 25, 2014 under Archives, Los Angeles | No Comment

Last weekend, LA Live hosed the first All-Star Chef Classic, a three-day event featuring over 28 renown chefs.

 Saturday included two events. I attended the first, the “All-Star Lunch”, which celebrated women in the culinary industry with a five-course lunch prepared by chefs Nancy Silverton, Nancy Oakes, Waylynn Lucas, Dominique Crenn and Naomi Pomeroy. The event was held in the custom built Restaurant Stadium which housed roughly 270 diners.  French pastry chef Florian Bellanger and master maitre d’ Donato Poto hosted the event.

Special guests included Ludo Lefebvre, Pierre Meneau and Marc Meneau.

The five-curse menu began with a carrot, mushroom and hazelnut herbed crème fraiche mousse by Chef Naomi Pomeroy.

The second course was Chef Nancy Silverton’s lovely gem lettuce salad with a dressing of champagne vinegar, shallots, lemon juice and olive oil.  It was accompanied by labneh toast. This was my fave of the day.

The third course was Chef Nancy Oakes’ seared scallop over polenta al negro, topped with uni, crab and lardo panzanella.

Next came Chef Dominique Crenn’s lamb topped with preserved lemons and cabbage. We loved the dried cabbage on top.

The afternoon lunch ended with Chef Waylynn Lucas’ dessert of a  buttermilk cake topped with textures of grapefruit, pistachio and coconut.

 

LA Food & Wine Festival Kicks Off

Posted on Aug 22, 2013 under Archives, Los Angeles | No Comment

Over 120 chefs and 200 wineries will converge beginning tonight for four days and nights for the third annual Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival taking place along Grand Avenue, in Santa Monica and in Beverly Hills.  Tastings, seminars, cooking demos and live music are all part of the city’s largest epicurean gathering.

The festivities kicked off tonight with Giada’s Festa Italiana. Hosted by the Food Network star along the cultural hub of LA on Downtown’s Grand Ave., guests enjoyed the flavors of Italy by some of the city’s most renowned chefs including Gino Angelini (Rivabella), Fabio Viviani (Café Firenze), and Ori Menashe (Bestia), and vintners that include Barrymore Wines, while serenaded by a pop-up performance from the Los Angeles Opera’s Josh Guerrero.

Members of the press (that’s me) got to enter a half hour early.  Here is what I sampled and saw:

Most of the wine booths were down the middle of the red carpet with the food booths on the side.

Wolfgang Puck even had a wine.  And that’s Chef Gino Angelini (Rivabella) hanging out before the crowds came in.

Along with lots of wine, there was plenty of great Italian food.

Sponsors The Cosmopolitan and Jenn Air had a lounge and a big booth.

And lots of chefs, restaurants and food.

Chef Justin Smillie from Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria brought some fresh tomatoes.

The Bouchon booth was very crowded and Chef Thomas Keller did not want to take a pic by himself, so he obliged me and jumped up next to one of his chefs.

Chef Conant was amongst the crowd.

Looking forward to trying the new Bucato in Century City.

Tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday there are many more events for foodies to enjoy lots of great food.  To see the schedule and buy tickets, go to www.lafw.com,

Dinner at Bestia

Posted on Mar 03, 2013 under Archives, Los Angeles | No Comment

Bestia, the newest hotspot for LA downtown dining, is appropriately named for a few reasons.  It’s a beast to find, park and get a reservation.   It seems everyone wants a table to try Chef Uri Menashe (formerly of Osteria Angelini) innovative take on Italian fare.  I visited last on a Tuesday night to a packed house.

Located in an old industrial warehouse in the Arts District of downtown, the only clue tipping diners off of Bestia’s location is its spray painted name and valet stand on the alley below the restaurant.   Inside, Bestia has an upscale urban architectural fell with exposed brick walls, concrete floors and an open kitchen.  The L shaped interior space is divided into a main dining area with small booths, communal tables and a long charcuterier bar featuring a salami counter with marble tabletops.

I recommend trying to snag a seat in the middle of the restaurant so you can view the open kitchen, salami case, and have a view of all the tables.  Another good spot is at the bar right in front of the salami table, where you can view chefs slicing a variety of meats for the delicious house cured meats appetizer.  Here is what my friend and chef in training Travis and I sampled at Bestia.

The wine list is predominately Eastern European including lambrusco, pinot grigio and moscato from the Friuli wine region.  I started off with a lovely bubbly salamino lambrusco.

Antipasti are both traditional and adventurous including a housemade selection of cured meats, grilled sardines, roasted bone marrow, chicken gizzards and beef heart tartare.  We began with the marinated olives including cerignola, castelvetrano, taggiasche, gaeta and picholine.

Next we sampled the delicious and hearty chicken liver crostini.  We loved the the thick meaty chicken liver paired with aged balsamic and sea salt over a big piece of charred bread.  Yum.

Our salad choice was the Bloomsdale spinach with shaved carrots, radish, baby fennel and sieved egg with a lemon oregano citronette.  The citrus dressing paired well with the slightly bitter spinach and vegetables.

Bestia is known for their house cured meats, so of course we had to try the salami plate.  Here we were served a selection of all the cured meats paired with pickles and a lovely tangy mustard and crunchy bread.  We loved this combination.  When we return to Bestia we will definitely order the meat board and the chicken liver crostini again.

Main courses include a variety of rustic handmade pizzas, pastas and a small selection of seconds including dorade, braised pork and hen.  We tried the guanciale pizza with ricotta, brussels sprouts, chili oil and breadcrumbs.  The crust was heavenly, light and charred.  Our only complaint was that we would have liked a bit more guanciale included.

Our pasta dish was the fave of the night, Cavatelli all a Norcina.  Plump ricotta dumplings, housemade pork sausage, black truffles and grana padano.  Often times truffles overpower when used in a pasta dish, but here they blended perfectly to create a bowl of dumplings that we wanted to dive into.  I noticed many other tables using the house bread to soak up every last drop of this sauce.  It is worth a trip to Bestia simply to enjoy this dish.

Desserts, made by Menashe’s wife pastry chef Genevieve Gergis, are seasonal and include chestnut doughnuts with coffee gelato and whipped cream, crème fraiche panna cotta with huckleberries and a persimmon and pistachio cream tart with buttermilk gelato.  We tried the light and airy spiced chestnut zeppole with whipped cream and coffee gelato.  Travis loved the strong coffee taste of the gelato.  We also were served the creme fraiche panna cotta, also lovely, served with winter citrus meyer lemon cookies.

If you’re looking for rustic Italian cuisine at a reasonable price, head to Bestia.  Located at 2121 East 7th Place, reservations a must, 213/514-5724.