The Divine Dish

Tasting Dinner at RED O

Posted on Nov 25, 2012 under Archives | No Comment

Last week we attended a book signing and margarita/guacamole demo and tasting by Chef Rick Bayless at his RED O restaurant.

We were also invited to come back for a tasting which we gladly did.  Here is what Travis and myself sampled for our tasting menu.

We started with a Mojita Roja cocktail made of white rum, mint, Tres Agave nectar and prickly pear puree.

The crab tostaditas featured dungeness buttery crab with tomatillo avocado salsa, grilled pineapple and onion.

We then received a trio of ceviches, including albacore, ahi tuna and baja yellowtail.

We then tried the tortilla soup with chicken, crispy tortillas, Jack cheese, avocado, and thick crema.

Next came a mixed plate with sopes and a duck taquito.

The duck taquitos came with toamto-arbol chile sauce and arugula.

The pork belly sope was topped with black beans, salsa negro and sesame seeds.

The beef short rib sope was topped with roasted tomato green chile sauce and a queso anejo.

Our duo of tamales included a fresh corn and goat cheese and a savory beef short rib tamale.

The corn tamale included fresh ground corn masa steamed in corn husks with roasted poblano chiles.

The short rib tamale was made with fresh ground corn masa steamed in corn husks with short rib and smoky chipotle chiles.

The pollo en mole poblano included grilled young chicken, homemade mole poblano, black beans and watercress salad.

The cochinita pibil was and achiote marinated suckling pig with black beans, pickled red onions in a roasted habenero salsa.

The camarones al mojo de ajo was our fave of the night – wood grilled Mazatlan blue shrimp with slow cooked garlic, spinach, Veracruz style white rice with sweet plantains.

For dessert we enjoyed a trio of sundaes and some nice goat cheese cheesecake bites.  The cheesecake came topped with caramel corn and a Mexican root beer sauce.

RED O is located at 8155 Melrose Avenue, reservations at (323) 655-5009.

Interview with Chef Rick Bayless

Posted on Nov 10, 2012 under Archives, Chefs, Interviews | No Comment

I recently visited Chef Rick Bayless’s RED O restaurant for a quick demo and tasting for media  on margaritas and guacamole and to celebrate his new book, Frontera: Margaritas, Guacamoles and Snacks.  I sat down and chatted with Chef Bayless about his philosophy on food, the emergence of Mexican cuisine in the US, and his latest projects.

 

Award-winning chef-restaurateur, cookbook author, and television personality Rick Bayless has done more than any other culinary star to introduce Americans to authentic Mexican cuisine and to change the image of Mexican food in America. Rick is fourth generation in an Oklahoma family of restaurateurs and grocers. From 1980 to 1986, after studying Spanish and Latin American Studies as an undergraduate, and doing doctoral work in Anthropological Linguistics at the University of Michigan, Rick lived in Mexico with his wife, Deann, writing his now-classic Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking From The Heart of Mexico (William Morrow, 1987).

In 1996, Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-Class Cuisine (Scribner) won the IACP National Julia Child “Cookbook of the Year Award.”   At the 2001 James Beard Awards, Mexico–One Plate at a Time, (Scribner) companion to the first season of the Public Television series by the same name, was singled out as the “Best International Cookbook.”

In 1987, having moved to Chicago, Rick opened the hugely successful Frontera Grill, which specializes in contemporary regional Mexican cooking.  In 1988, Food & Wine magazine selected Rick as “Best New Chef of the Year,” and in 1991, he won a James Beard Award for “Best American Chef: Midwest.” In 1995, he won another James Beard Award for “National Chef of the Year” as well as an award for “Chef of the Year” from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). In 1998, the Beard Foundation honored Rick as “Humanitarian of the Year.” In 2002, Bon Appétit honored him with the “Cooking Teacher of the Year Award.”
On the heels of Frontera Grill’s success, Rick opened the Topolobampo in 1989. Adjacent to Frontera Grill, Tobolobampo is one of America’s only fine-dining Mexican restaurants.

In 1996, Rick began a prepared food line of salsas, chips, and grilling rubs under the Frontera Foods label. Frontera Foods went on to open Frontera Fresco—a food kiosk in the historic Marshall Fields (now Macy’s) building in 2005 in Chicago.

“Mexico—One Plate at a Time” is currently beginning its 9th season on PBS.

RED O, on Melrose Avenue, is the first Los Angeles restaurant by Rick, and his only outside of Chicago.  The menu features both authentic Mexican fare and lighter “California-style” dishes that are updated seasonally.

Fall Seasonal Menu Tasting Dinner at Pitfire Pizza

Posted on Nov 01, 2012 under Uncategorized | No Comment

Tonight I joined a dozen food bloggers and journalists to taste the new fall seasonal menu at Pitfire Pizza.  Known for rustic seasonally driven ingredient pizzas cooked in a wood fired pit, Pitfire Pizza opened its first restaurant in 1997 in my neighborhood of NoHo.  Our tasting took place at the WeHo location on Fairfax.  Each season, Pitfire adds extra salads, pizzas and pastas featuring seasonal ingredients to their menu.

We started off with a lovely roasted pear salad with roasted bosc pears, dates, ricotta cheese, pine nuts, mixed lettuces and a fig and olive vinaigrette.

Owner Paul Hibler chatted with us about the new menu and let us know that each of the seven Pitfire locations was designed by a different architect to fit each neighborhood.  Also, he shared the secret to the chain’s thin supple crust – the dough is tossed and cooked to order in a 600-degree stone oven. The result is a tender and crunchy pie.

Next up was the Farmer’s Market Platter, featuring grilled bread, kale with golden raisins and pine nuts, fall squash with honey and mint, farro salad with roasted mushrooms and hazelnuts, and roasted brussels sprouts and a heirloom bean dip.

Next came a rye rigatoni with bacon and brussels sprouts.

Pizza is the main attraction at Pitfire and we got to sample a nice selection of new items for the fall menu.  The nice thing about Pitfire is that in addition to the new fall menu items, diners can also design your their own pie, with ingredients such as natural fennel sausage, applewood smoked bacon, natural spiced salami, and some of the best gorgonzola, goat cheese and organic vegetables around.  Here are the pizzas we sampled:

The crowd favorite was the brussels sprouts and bacon pizza with brussel leaves, cream, bacon, garlic and parmesan.

I also loved the roast pumpkin pizza with sage roasted winter squash, wild greens, fontina cheese, toasted pepitas and pumpkin seed oil.

The 15th anniversary Tuscan pizza features mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese, grilled chicken, roasted potatoes and a basil pesto.  I loved this pizza and it will be offered at all Pitfire locations for just $7.99 during the month of November in honor of the chain’s 15th anniversary.

We ended the dinner with a nice dessert of wine poached pears, ice cream and a rye crumble.  We were also given a nice swag bag with a gift card, T-Shirt, chocolate chip cookie and copy of the new menu.

Visit any of the Pitfire Pizza locations in North Hollywood, West LA, West Hollywood, Downtown and Culver City to sample the new fall seasonal menu items, for hours and addresses visit www.pitfirepizza.com.

Brunch at Bacchanal Buffet, Caesars Palace

Posted on Oct 29, 2012 under Archives | No Comment

On my last visit to Vegas I sampled the new Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace.  The buffet was recently named the best buffet in Sin City by USA Today.  Combining nine distinct restaurants in one modern setting inspired by glass, wood and steel elements, the buffet is huge in size and flavors.

The buffet’s 500 plus dishes feature traditional items such as prime rib, chilled king crab legs, and dozens of egg dishes, as well as a specialties including shrimp and grits, hand made dim sum and baked to order souffles.  Stations include Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, American, seafood, pizza, deli and dessert.  A unique feature is that each station has plated, made-to-order and mini-dishes.  Here is what we sampled for our brunch:

A team of seven chefs oversee all preparation creating an interactive environment.  We enjoyed as much as we could eat which was about half of the brunch items while enjoying the view of the Garden of the Gods pool area.  I am looking forward to visiting the buffet for dinner on my next Las Vegas visit.  The Bacchanal Buffet is open daily from 7 am to 10 pm, serving breakfast from 7 to 11 am, brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 7 am to 3 pm, lunch Monday to Friday 11 am to 3 pm, and dinner daily from 3 pm to 10 pm.  Breakfast weekdays runs $21.99, weekend brunch is $41.99, lunch weekdays is $28.99 and dinner daily is $44.99.