The Divine Dish

DineLA Summer Restaurant Week Launch

Posted on Jul 09, 2013 under Archives, Food and Travel News | No Comment

Tonight The LA Tourism & Convention Board and American Express hosted travel and food writers to a preview of their upcoming summer DineLA restaurant week.  Over 330 restaurants, from Southeast Asian fare to traditional steak house, rustic farm-to-table to white table cloth, will celebrate Los Angeles’ diverse dining options with prix-fixe deals from July 15 to 26.

Simon from Bouchon mixed writers drinks while appetizers were passed at Scarpetta.

The passed appetizers that we tasted will be featured as first plates for Scarpetta’s DineLA menu.  We sampled puree of Brentwood corn soup with mushrooms sotto’olio.

We also sampled a lovely pork terrine with porcini mustard, arugula and pickled cherries.  Yum.  We snuck in the Scarpetta kitchen to check out the action.

After we sat down, Scarpetta Chef Freddy Vargas spoke to the crowd and talked a bit about Scarpetta’s DineLA restaurant week menu.

We loved the variety of breads and sampled a nice braised veal and bone marrow agnolotti with fava beans, thumbelina carrots and gremolata breadcrumbs.

After a sampling of DineLA menu items at Scarpetta, we crossed the street and headed upstairs to Bouchon’s main dining room.

We sampled some refreshing daiquiris before heading into the kitchen.  General manager Stephen Cook shared some info about Bouchon and their DineLA menu before posing for a quick photo with pr folks Ty Brentsen from the Brandman Agency and Stacey Sun, DineLA Director.

We headed to the very clean streamlined kitchen where Chef David Hands met us and discussed appetizer items on the Bouchon DineLA menu.

In the kitchen we sampled a nice variety of appetizers on the DineLA menu including chicken rillettes with pickled grapes, mustard and grilled pain de campagne, Scottish salmon tartare with hard boiled hen eggs, red onions, capers, and creme fraiche on toasted croutons and truffle soup.  We also sampled a nice toasted wheat-berry, purslane, English cucumber, green grapes and Marcona almonds salad with buttermilk dressing.

We walked through the kitchen and got a quick look at some yummy fries.

I also got up and personal with a very delicious looking fresh crab in the fish walk-in fridge.

Chef Hands let us to the oyster bar where we tasted some very fresh yummy oysters.

We then sat down in the dining room and sampled a variety of dishes included in the DineLA menu, including market fish with potatoes, roasted peppers, mesclun salad with young market greens and shaved vegetables, braised fennel in a shellfish sauce, hand rolled cavatelli pasta with yellow corn, mushrooms, spinach and corn pudding, and steak frites.

We headed out to the garden area for a nice dessert, olive oil infused ice cream with shaved melons, provided by Chef Charles Olalia of Patina.

All of the writers received a great gift bag with desserts from Bouchon and a $100 dining card from Patina!

Thanks to all of the folks at Scarpetta, Bouchon, Patina, the LA Tourism and Convention Board, The Brandman Agency, The Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau and BluPrint PR.

DineLA Lunch menus will have  $15/$20/$25 price options,  dinner menus will have  $25/$35/$45 price options.

To make reservations and to view a complete list of participating restaurants visit www.discoverLosAngeles.com/dineLA.

Dinner at Culina, Beverly Hills

Posted on Jun 25, 2013 under Archives | No Comment

Located in the heart of Beverly Hills in the Four Seasons Hotel, the modern Culina offers guests the option of dining at the authentic crudo bar, inside in the urban rustic spacious dining room or outside on the garden patio. The al fresco dining area features beige and yellow low chairs and comfy banquettes amidst a living wall of succulents and a modern fire and water fountain.

I recently visited with my friend Travis for a story on outdoor dining.  Here is what we sampled:

We started off with a nice mix of table olives.  The crudo bar is a unique feature at Culina, offering wide variety of fresh seafood.  We sampled the tonno, mackeral and kampachi.

Next came a nice set of arancini balls with truffle, wild mushrooms and fontina cheese.

Travis sampled the special octopus salad which was tender and perfectly prepared.

I stuck to trying the two salads, the culina caesar with tuscan kale, romaine, olives, parmigiano reggiano and a lemon anchovy vinaigrette and the rustica with kale, sundried tomatoes, garbanzo beans, artichokes, pine nuts and prosciutto.

We loved the pastas which included my fave, a bucatini alla carbonara with guanciale, pepper, egg and thyme and also a nice tortellone di ricotta with ricotta, egg yolk, lemon, crab, butter and basil.

We also sampled a nice proscuitto burrata pizza with heirloom tomatoes, arugula and rosemary oil on a whole wheat crust and a main course of branzino with tomatoes, capers and lemon.

Desserts included a warm chocolate cake with amaretto sauce and a trio of pistachio, fig and coconut ice creams.

Culina is a perfect location for a romantic date on the outside patio, to meet up after work for drinks and appetizers at the crudo bar, or for a relaxing Italian meal.  Located in the Four Seasons Beverly Hills at 300 S. Doheny Drive, reservations recommended at 310/860-4000.

Interview with Chef Stefan Richter

Posted on Apr 17, 2013 under Archives, Chefs, Interviews | No Comment

Chef Stefan Richter was born in Finland, but spent the majority of his childhood in Germany where he began culinary training in his early teens. He worked his way through various European and Asian kitchens. In 1998, he joined master chefs Grant McPherson, Sotta Kuhn, Jacques Torres, Jean Philip Maury, and Marc Poidevin as part of the creative team for the opening of the Bellagio Hotel, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas as Executive Sous Chef. Since then, Stefan has moved to Santa Monica where he reimagined LA Farm into  Stefan’s at LA Farm, serving  New American cuisine with European flair. Stefan has also opened the restaurant group, Stefan’s Restaurants, which includes a full-time catering and event company and three steak houses in his native Finland.

I sat down with Stefan at his restaurant and we chatted about his experiences on Top Chef, his food philosophy, and his upcoming projects – burger restaurants.

 

Interview with Norbert Wabnig

Posted on Apr 07, 2013 under Archives, Interviews, Other interesting people | No Comment

Born in Vienna, Norbert Wabnig and his family moved to New Orleans in 1955, but returned during summers to Vienna, where he apprenticed in the kitchen of his uncle Franz Blauensteiner’s restaurant, Gausthaus au Stadt Paris. After graduating from the University of New Orleans, Wabnig moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career with his band Wendell Nightfall Troupe. To support himself, he took a job at what is now The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, which he later bought in 1978^.

The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills is amazing.  I was lucky to sit down with Norbert, literally break bread and talk about cheese.  Here is our chat: