Archives for September, 2010

Food and Wine Taste of Beverly Hills, Day 2

Posted on Sep 30, 2010 under Food and Travel News | No Comment
Interviewing Ted Allen at festival

Interviewing Ted Allen at festival

On the second day of the festival, I interviewed Food Network’s “Chopped” host Ted Allen.  It was hot as Hades and he was nice enough to spend a few minutes talking about  “Chopped Champions” and some upcoming projects.  You can view the interview at www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpwV6M6Ib10.

I also got to interview Chef Roger Mooking, star of the Cooking Channel’s Everyday Exotic.

Interviewing Roger Mooking

Interviewing Roger Mooking

You can view the interview with Roger at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rik9Pzrsb9A.

Cookign Channel food truck

Cooking Channel food truck

We went to see the LG Cooking Competition, but on the way we stopped off and sampled some food.

mini hot dog

mini hot dog

Salad

Salad

pork sandwich

pork sandwich

The Bazaar chef

The Bazaar chef

The Bazaar chef made an awesome mozzarella shooter.  Really good.

mozzarella shooter

mozzarella shooter

scallop

scallop

We headed over to the LG booth to watch  “The Taste of Something Better” culinary competition.  The event was held to determine “America’s Top Amateur Chef” with three finalists making it to the cookoff. Guest judges included Ted Allen, Tim Love, Ludo Lefebvre, and Michael Voltaggio. The event was hosted by Sissy Biggers, who provided a play by play as competitors Lou Kostura, Paula Mannino, and Brett Youmans took their places in the kitchen. After an hour, Pennsylvania’s Brett Youmans was named the winner with his orange scented lamb skewers, securing a trip to Seoul, South Korea, to compete in LG’s annual global cooking competition this fall.

Judges Ted Allen and

Judges Ted Allen and Tim Love

LG contestants

LG contestants

Giving out the prize

Giving out the prize

The festival still had a day to go, but we were pretty full so we headed home.  The event will be held again next year over Labor Day weekend.

Food and Wine Taste of Beverly Hills Festival, Day 1

Posted on Sep 30, 2010 under Archives | No Comment
food and wine set up

food and wine set up

The first annual Food and Wine Taste of Beverly Hills epicurean extravaganza was held on Sept 2 – 5 at the space adjacent to the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  The event showcased top chefs and restaurants from Beverly Hills and beyond.

Over Labor Day weekend, guests enjoed food, beer, wine, cocktail tastings, and chef demos within the Grand Tasting area over four days.  The Grand Tasting showcased over 50 chefs and restaurateurs.  Here are pics from the Grand Tasting event.

media check in

media check in

We checked in inside the hotel and then headed off to taste some food and drink wine.

hula girl stand

hula girl stand

Hula Girl provided some refreshing libations.

Hula girl drinks

Hula girl drinks

Across the way was a stand advertising “bacon wrapped bacon,” so we headed that way…

Bacon wrapped bacon booth

Bacon wrapped bacon booth

Makin' the Bacon

Makin' the Bacon

Bacon wrapped bacon

Bacon wrapped bacon

Thick slabs of bacon were served with lettuce and heirloom tomatoes.  Yum, one of our faves.

Chefs from Fraiche

Chefs from Fraiche

The chefs from Fraiche served up a nice foie gras sample…

Foie gras sample

Foie gras sample

Terroni booth

Terroni booth

The Terroni booth had chefs rolling fresh pasta for their samples.

Fresh pasta

Fresh pasta

Terroni pasta dish

Terroni pasta dish

Nonna Italy served up a nice meatball.

Nonna Italy

Nonna Italy

Meatball

Meatball

The Il Cielo booth had some great pizzas.

Il Cielo booth

Il Cielo booth

proscuito pizza

prosciutto pizza

salmon pizza

salmon pizza

mini slider

mini slider

The Border Grill booth served pizzas.

Pizzas

Pizzas

little pork tacos

little pork tacos

We also had little pork tacos.  We stopped by to speak with Mark Peel, from Camponile and Tar Pit, who was making some killer grilled cheese sandwiches, my fave of the night.

Chef Marc Peel

Chef Marc Peel

Camponile grilled cheese

Camponile grilled cheese

Chris and Me at festival

Chris and Me at festival

After sampling lots of wine and small dishes of food, we headed home.

Dinner at Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood

Posted on Sep 21, 2010 under Archives | 1 Comment
Gordon Ramsey at the West Hollywood London

Gordon Ramsay at the West Hollywood London

I recently visited Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant at the London West Hollywood hotel for a story for lowfares.com.  The restaurant is located in the ultramodern London West Hollywood, perched just below the Sunset Strip.  The hotel oozes Regent Street sophistication with English bulldogs and wrought-iron balconies. The 200 rooms are spacious with sweeping views of Beverly Hills and beyond, faux alligator upholstered chairs, marble bathrooms, and grey suede walls.   The boutique hotel also has a well-equipped gym and rooftop pool.

London lobby

London lobby

We liked the British accents, especially the English bulldogs everywhere.

English bulldog

English bulldog

The London’s namesake restaurant from Hells Kitchen chef Gordon Ramsey is glamorous with distressed white wood, gold blinds, tooled leather seats and velvet banquettes.   The hillside dining room has stellar city views and the menu showcases small plates with local ingredients.  Here is what we sampled:

Botani muscat

Botani muscat

We had a wine sampling to go with our tasting, and our fave of the night was the Botani muscat from Spain, from Bodegas.  Really great wine for a fabulous price.

waiwera water

waiwera water

I also have to mention the Waiwera water.  We loved the look of the bottle and it was the best bottled water I have had.  It’s from New Zealand and it’s the first time I have sampled this water.

Local halibut ceviche

Local halibut ceviche

We started with the local halibut and shrimp ceviche.  Delicious and expertly plated.

ceviche

ceviche

My friend had the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market salad, I devoured the black truffles on top.

farmer's market salad

farmer's market salad

Next came some foie gras and potato dumplings served with blistered cherry tomatoes.

foie gras and dumplings

foie gras and dumplings

Next we had the sweet butter poached lobster with blue lake green beans and sugar snap peas.  The lobster was cooked perfectly.

lobster with sugar snap peas

lobster with sugar snap peas

Our main was a lovely filet with mushrooms and onion ragout and a potato mash.  The reduction sauce was amazing.

filet

filet

For dessert, Chris had a chocolate cylinder with passion fruit, mint granite and coconut ice cream and I got the chocolate mousse cake.

chocolate cylinder

chocolate cylinder

mousse cake

mousse cake

We both thought the restaurant was a great place for a date or to enjoy the views of the Hollywood Hills.

Me and chris, GR London

Me and chris, GR London

Next time you find yourself on the Sunset Strip or in WeHo, head to Gordon Ramsay’s for dinner or just grab a drink in their swanky lounge.   Located at 1020 San Vicente Boulevard, reservations at 310/358-7788.

Dinner at Roy’s Restaurant Rancho Mirage

Posted on Sep 21, 2010 under Archives, Palm Springs | No Comment
Roy's restaurant Rancho Mirage

Roy's restaurant Rancho Mirage

Roys restaurants are renowned for their upscale exotic Euro-Asian fusion cooking.   Chef Roy Yamaguchi opened his first Roy’s in Honolulu 22 years ago and today his haute-cuisine chain stretches from Atlanta to Tokyo.

I stopped by the Rancho Mirage location, which opened in 2002, for a sampling of the Hawaiin fusion cuisine and to include the review in an upcoming iphone application.   The 7,,200 square foot location features and exhibition kitchen, a lounge area, bar seating and an outdoor patio.  Here’s what my friend Chris and I sampled.

1988 drinks

1988 drinks

We headed to the bar and tried their famous “1988” drink, a blend of tart grapefruit and tangy pomegranate with Ruby Red Vodka, Lychee Liqueur and Patron Citronge Liquor.  Strong and tangy and a great way to start off the meal.

szechuan spiced pork ribs

szechuan spiced pork ribs

Our waiter brought out some Szechuan spiced pork ribs from the chef.  These are smoked and grilled in a mongolian sauce and were spicy and good, and a huge portion.

Lobster California Roll

Lobster California Roll

I am a sucker for a good California roll and these included avocado, cucumber and lobster and were fantastic.  Also a huge portion so plenty to share.

Lobster roll

Lobster roll

Garden salad

Garden salad

Chris got their garden salad which was a basic simple salad, but a good pair for the lobster rolls if you are sharing like we decided to do.

Surf and Turf

Surf and Turf

I ordered the combination surf and turf, a petite filet mignon, lump crab oscar on top and a Maine lobster tail.  It comes with a poblano mash and asparagus.

Filet

Filet

I thought the filet was very good and cooked perfectly.  I would order the lump crab oscar on the side next time as the sauce was a little strong for me.

lobster

lobster

The lobster tail was cooked well and had a ton of lobster meat.

misoyaki butterfish

misoyaki butterfish

Chris tried their signature Misoyaki Butterfish, very similar to a sablefish or cod.  It comes with a tri-pepper soy vinaigrette.  We both really liked this dish.

chocolate souffle

chocolate souffle

For dessert we were served Roy’s melting hot chocolate souffle, a flourless chocolate cake with a molten hot center served with vanilla ice cream and a raspberry sauce.  This was delicious.  We also were given a bread pudding.

bread pudding

bread pudding

This was also yummy, but we were so full we took it home to Paul and he finished it immediately.

Roy’s restaurants can be found in varies cities, including locally in Pasadena, so you don’t have to travel to the islands when you get a craving for traditional Hawaiian fusion food.  Roy’s Rancho Mirage is located at 71959 Highway 111, reservations recommended at 760/340-9044.

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