The Divine Dish

Tasting Dinner at BierBeisl, Beverly Hills

Posted on Apr 27, 2012 under Archives | 1 Comment

BierBeisl might be tiny, but the new Austrian restaurant in Beverly Hills delivers huge flavors in a variety of schnitzels and sausages.  At the helm is former Patina Chef Bernhard Mairinger, recently named a top rising chef for 2012 by Zagat.

I visited the eatery a few days ago and was excited to try the charcuterie plate and schnitzels.  The modern layout offers diners seven seats at the bar overlooking the small kitchen and about 15 tables, so reservations are a must.

Nick and I started with the famous charcuterie plate which had a variety of cured meats, mustards and sauces.

We also enjoyed the house-cured char with heirloom beets and fresh horseradish served over a nice herb salad.

The selection of Austrian and Czech beers is amazing.  We enjoyed a nice pisner and staropramen.

Next came our main dishes, a kasekrainer sausage infused with Swiss cheese and served with tarragon mustard and fresh horseradish.  This was similar to a Polish sausage and filled with flavor.  We loved this dish.

Equally tasty was the juicy bratwurst served with tangy sauerkraut and tarragon mustard.  Other sausages on the menu include the Debreziner- a spicy thin coarsed sausage, Weisswurst – slow simmered in mild and served with a pretzel, Polish, traditional Wiener and Bier Cabanossi.

Next came the crispy veal schnitzel, my fave of the night, served with lingonberries and lemon.

We ended the meal with the famous sachertorte and the coffee hazelnut schnitte – both decadent and rich.

Last was a taste from BierBeisl’s schnapps bar – we choose plum schnapps.  A perfect way to end a delicious Austrian meal.

Now is the perfect time to visit the eatery as they are offering two great specials.  In honor of Sigmund Freud’s Birthday, order any two sausages from May 6 – 11 and get a third sausage free.  Additionally, on May 4 is a special menu pairing featuring Weingut Juris (Austria’s premier red wine producer) wines.

Next time you find yourself in the 90210, stop by BierBeisl for a little taste of Austria.  Open for lunch and dinner, located at 9669 South Santa Monica Boulevard, reservations are a must,  310/271-7274.

Interview with Joe Bastianich

Posted on Apr 20, 2012 under Archives, Chefs, Interviews, Other interesting people | No Comment

I caught up with restaurateur, winemaker, and host of MasterChef US and MasterChef Italy Joe Bastianich on the new redesigned set of MasterChef in Culver City.

Bastianich, along with partners Mario Batali and his mother Lidia Bastianich – has established some of the country’s most celebrated restaurants in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles including Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, Lupa Osteria Romana, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jamόn, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, Del Posto (New York),  B&B Ristorante and Carnevino (Las Vegas)  and Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza (Los Angeles). The beginning of 2011 marked Bastianich and Batali’s  first overseas venture with the opening of Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza in Singapore.

In summer 2010, Bastianich again partnered with his mother and Batali, as well as Italian retail pioneer Oscar Farinetti, to bring Eataly, the largest artisanal food and wine market in the world, to New York.

Additionally, Bastianich operates three wineries in Italy and one in Argentina.   He has authored several books on wine, including the award winning “Vino Italiano” with Sommelier David Lynch.

Bastianich is an accomplished author whose passion for the culinary arts has been recognized with professional awards from Bon Appétit magazine and the James Beard Foundation.

I talked with Bastianich about his love of food and wine, MasterChef US and Italy, and his upcoming memoir, “Restaurant Man,” scheduled for release on May 1, 2012.

 

Cocktail and Small Bites Tasting at Blvd 16, Westwood

Posted on Apr 20, 2012 under Archives | No Comment

Last night, Kris Ferraro from Wagner Junker PR Agency and the Hotel Palomar hosted a lovely “new cocktail and small bites” tasting at the Blvd 16 restaurant and lounge located inside the Palomar.

After starting with some champagne for the small group of bloggers and food writers, we watched as the bar’s mixologist made our first cocktail – The Lyder Side.   Composed of Bols Genever Gin, hibiscus liqueur, lemon and orange juice and agave, this turned out to be our fave drink of the night.  Very refreshing and not too strong.

Our first small bite was a tasty satisfying hummus dip with warm pita chips.

Next came a nice tuna appetizer with roasted red peppers, tuna and avocado over a round slice of watermelon.

Our second cocktail was the Pisco Sour, with Kappa Pisco, egg whites, lemon juice, agave and Angostura’s Bitters.  This was our least favorite.  I took my friend Dalbert with me to the tasting and we are both lightweight drinkers, so we thought the floating bitters overpowered the drink and it was a little too sour for us.  We both agreed that we would like the drink without the floating bitters.

Next came a duo of flatbreads, a stinging nettle pesto, goat cheese and tomato sample and a salmon with lemon creme, asparagus and diced tomato sample.  We loved these.

Our last cocktail was the New Old Fashion with Jameson Irish Whiskey, blood orange and maraschino liqueur and Peychauds bitters.

This was also very strong and a good pairing for our next courses of sample appetizers.

Chef Richard Hodge explained each of our appetizers.  He changes the menu seasonally and uses market fresh ingredients.

We loved the mini sliders, yummy angus beef topped with crispy onions, smoked tomato black pepper aioli and jack cheese.  These were our faves of the night.

Our last appetizer course was the fish tacos, fried cod with pickled habenero, shredded cabbage and creme fraiche in a corn tortilla.  These were very very spicy.

For dessert we were given a nice crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside spoonful of creme brulee with a strawberry slice on top.

If you find yourself on the Westside, Blvd 16 is a great place to chill out with some tasty cocktails and bites from their bar.  A plus is that you can create your own selection of small appetizers 2 for $5, 3 for $8 and 4 for $10.  Located inside Hotel Palomar at 10740 Wilshire Boulevard, 310/474-7765 for reservations.

Florence for Foodies, Nude and Food Walking Tour, Florence

Posted on Apr 18, 2012 under Archives, Italy | No Comment

I had been emailing Nat and Sam from the Florence for Foodies walking tour for about a month, so I was very happy to finally meet with both of them.  They started Florence for Foodies about two years ago and it has grown into the top rated walking tour of Florence.  I went on two tours with them, the Nude and Food and the Venus and Wine tour.  Both women are licensed guides, which in Florence means many hours of studying history and art and taking lots of tests to get a certificate enabling you to call yourself a guide.  I met with them the first day I arrived and they were nice enough to give me a private tour of Florence and let me know where to go for shopping and eating until I took their tours a few days later.  They really hooked me up and I made two new good friends.

The Nude and Food tour begins at the Accademia (sorry, no pics allowed in there) to view Michelangelo’s masterpiece David.  Sam gave us a great history of the artist and the sculpture, and we didn’t have to wait in the huge lines.  We walked straight in and right to the huge nude of David.  We spent about an hour at the museum and moved ahead to the food portion of the tour.

We headed to Bar Pasticceria amidst the open San Lorenzo market vendor stalls for a bite of traditional Florentine breakfast.

We enjoyed some cappuccinos and Italian coffees and samplings of muffins and cakes and good conversation among foodies from America and Britain.  Next stop was the Mercato Centrale, a must for any foodie visiting Florence, with stalls and stalls of all kinds of great food.

The inside market is huge with meats, cheeses and all kinds of other lovely things to eat on the ground floor and vegetables on the upper second floor.  We sampled a variety of great food here, including:

We started at the peanut and dried fruit stand and had a nice mixed sample of both.

Next we moved on to the Nerbone stall to try a staple of Florentine food – the lampredotto – a sandwich made out of cow stomach.  We had samples of both the shoulder and the stomach and both were good.

Next came a cheese tasting with various stages of aged Parmigiano Reggiano cheese – the good stuff.  Only cheese from a certain region (basically Parma to Reggio Emilio) can be official Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and it must have the official stamp on the outside of the cheese wheel.  Much more on that subject will be in my posts from the cheese factories in Parma, but here is what we sampled at the food market.

Sam gave us a history of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and then we sampled different ages of cheese – 1 year to 3 years aged and some including fennel and truffles.  My fave was the one with truffles.

If you aren’t planning to go to Parma, Reggio or Bologna on your Italy trip, I highly recommend buying your Parmigiano Reggiano at the food market.  Prices vary, but you can get a vacuum sealed kilo for around 15 euro.

We moved on to another butcher stall to taste some Parma ham and salami.

Here is what we sampled:

We also got time to walk through the market on our own to view the many stalls and buy products.  Here are some of the spots I visited:

After a short break we met up at Conti, a stall that sells pates, spreads, olive oil, vinegars and many other products.

Here we tasted different toppings for cheese as well as a very nice vinegar sampling.

We tasted everything from three year vinegar to 50 year vinegar, each got sweeter as it aged.  An outstanding tasting.

Next we moved on to a nice local wine shop where we tasted lots of wines.

After we were very tipsy we walked back to central Florence to taste some gelato at Perche No, the best place for gelato in Florence.  I visited several times during my stay in Florence and still dream about the gelato served here.

We sampled tons of gelato here.  Three large cups with three different flavors in each cup!

My fave was the pistachio, zabaione and chocolate mouse combo.

I also went on the Venus and Wine tour, sorry no pics allowed in the museums, which is a nice tour of the Uffizi highlights and some good wine.  Florence for Foodies also offers a ghost tour and private tours.  I highly recommend going on the Nude and Food tour right when you arrive so that you can get all the great info on restaurants from Nat and Sam and enjoy visiting them during the rest of your stay in Florence.  The Nude and Food tour runs 89 Euro and is well worth it, all of the folks on my tour agreed it was one of the highlights of their trip.  You can make reservations for tours at www.florenceforfoodies.com.