The Divine Dish

Dinner at Maison Akira, Pasadena

Posted on Nov 26, 2009 under Archives | No Comment

A few weeks ago I visited Maison Akira in Pasadena for dinner and to interview the chef and owner, Hirose Akira.
Offering five small rooms with gilded walls, large mirrors, flowing red floral drapery, flickering candles and contemporary Impressionist artwork, this intimate restaurant offers dishes as luxurious a its design. Couples can dine on renowned Chef Akira’s compelling French creations with Pacific Rim highlights. My friend Todd and I started with an amuse of steamed egg and smoked salmon, below.

I had an appetizer of a trio of tuna tartare, Kona kampachi sashimi and seared scallops, Todd had the brandy flamed Maine lobster bisque.

The chef made his specialty, miso marinated grilled Chilean Sea Bass with Grilled ratatouille for me and Todd had the angus beef with Cabernet Sauvignon sauce and a potato gratin.

For dessert, I had the signature Timbal Elysee Laserre, a vanilla bean ice cream with cookie tuile and berries.  Todd had the flourless chocolate cake.

I interviewed the chef after our fabulous dinner, interview is on the last blog.  Maison Akira is located at 713 East Green Street in Pasadena and is a perfect place to get a great meal before heading to the Playhouse for a play.

Interview with Chef Akira Hirose

Posted on Nov 19, 2009 under Archives, Chefs, Interviews | No Comment

Chef Akira Hirose was born in Kyoto Japan and traveled to France to study the art of cooking.  He soon met renown chef Joel Robuchon and trained under him at the Nikko Hotel in Paris.   In 1981, he came to America and worked at the famous L’Orangerie before returning to Japan to open Azay le Rideau, a French retaurant in Kyoto.  He closed it after five years to return to Los Angeles with his wife.

He then served as chef at several well known restaurants in LA, including the Peninsula Beverly Hills, Citrus and The Tower.  He opened Maison Akira in Pasadena in 1998.  I visited Chef Akira at his restaurant and after a wonderful dinner we sat down for a chat about his background, philosophy about cooking, and his journey to open his own restaurant.

 

Bouchon Beverly Hills Opening

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 under Archives | No Comment

Tonight I attended the opening of Thomas Keller’s Beverly Hills location of Bouchon.  The restaurant is huge  and located across from the Montage Beverly Hills.

We walked the red carpet to the entrance which is located in the back.

Chef Keller was greeting guests as we entered.   The main area of the restaurant is up a dramatic staircase.

The staircase led to the upstairs main dining area, kitchens and outside patios.  There was a huge turnout of people for the opening, including a bunch of celebrities.  We saw Pierce Brosnan (so handsome!), Fred Savage, Don Johnson, Cheryl Tiegs, Larry King, Ryan Seacrest, Jay Leno and Julie Louis Dreyfus.  I am sure there were more famous people there, but those are the ones we spied.

There were a variety of different types of food offered at stations set up throughout the dining area.

We headed into the main kitchen to sample more food.  We took samples of everything.  It all looked delicious.

We made our way to the bar outside of the kitchen to try out the food.  My plate is above, my friend Dalbert’s is below.  The butternut squash soup and ham and cheese sandwich was my favorite, but everything was fantastic.  All of the chefs did a terrific job of getting the food out.

After sampling the kitchen fare, we headed to the seafood bar.

The seafood bar offered mussels, oysters and shrimp.

We headed over to the caviar bar to sample some caviar before going to the outside patio.

We headed back inside to try some of the amazing cheese.

I spotted ad hoc Chef Dave Cruz, who made me a spectacular meal at ad hoc a few months ago, manning the popcorn machine.  He helped co-write Keller’s new book, Ad Hoc at Home.

The host of the night, Chef Keller, stopped for a photo with Chef Cruz.

A band was set up in the back providing some nice music for the event.

Jay Leno was nice enough to pose for a photo for us.

We headed back to the kitchen to get some more fabulous food.  There were at least a dozen chefs in the kitchen, all working hard to feed all the guests.

We were allowed access into the dessert kitchen, which is a baker’s dream.  Look at the size of that kitchenaid!

These hard working chefs were trying to keep up with the demand for the delicious desserts.

All of the desserts were very tasty.  My fave was the lemon tart, Dalbert loved the chocolate desserts.

We went back inside to check out the bread area, which was also amazing.

We also got a fabulous swag bag full of goodies, here is what was inside.

Inside the swag bag was a Bouchon silicon mold, Bouchon coffee, Bouchon chocolate baking mix, and a lovely vase.

The restaurant is beautiful and all of the food was fantastic.  I recommend making a reservation for breakfast, lunch or dinner at Bouchon the next time you visit Beverly Hills.

Dinner at the Polo Lounge, Beverly Hills Hotel

Posted on Nov 16, 2009 under Uncategorized | No Comment

Last week my friend Nicole joined me for dinner at the famous Polo Lounge.  Since its opening in 1912, the Pink Palace’s famous restaurant  has been the Hollywood meeting place.  Home to some of the Rat Pack’s greatest binges, the lounge oozes fame, fortune, charm, and grace.   The understated traditional elegance of the historic room is lush with dark green and cream striped walls, huge comfortable leather and velvet booths, and soft live piano music.

We sat inside in a plush booth and ordered up some martinis.  Here is what we ordered, all delicious.

The chef sent out an amuse of fresh tomato and mozzarella cheese, a nice way to start.

I started with the pan seared duck foie gras, served with sweet white poached peaches, brioche French toast and a vanilla ver jus gastrique.

Nicole had the chilled Maine lobster salad with grapefruit and lambs lettuce with a sesame brittle.  Both yummy.

For the main courses I had the porcini crusted dry aged New York steak, it was huge, with creamed spinach, gremolata bone marrow, tiny potatoes and some mixed mushrooms.

Nicole had the caramelized sea scallop risotto with young leeks, lobster mushrooms and a carrot emulsion.  Very tasty.

Our waiter knew we both shared birthdays recently, so he brought us this nice dessert, in addition to the chocolate souffle and cappuccino souffle we had already ordered.   We were very full by the end of the evening.

We spent about five hours enjoying dinner.  The Polo Lounge is the perfect spot to take guests or even to just enjoy a nice dinner with a good friend.  Reservations recommended, open 7 am to 1:30 am, 310/276-2251, Beverly Hills Hotel, 9641 Sunset Boulevard.