The Divine Dish

Interview with Chef Duff Goldman

Posted on Nov 30, 2012 under Chefs, Interviews | No Comment

Chef Duff Goldman opened Charm City Cakes in Baltimore in 2002.  His Food Network show “Ace of Cakes” ran for 10 seasons.  Chef Duff recently opened a west coast branch of Charm City Cakes here in Los Angeles as well as his new Cakemix workshop.  Cakemix allows guests to decorate their own cake and offers classes on cake decoration.  I sat down with Chef Duff to talk about Charm City Cakes West, the new Cakemix and his upcoming projects.

 

Tasting Dinner at The Bazaar

Posted on Nov 30, 2012 under Archives | No Comment

There is only one word for Jose Andres The Bazaar.  Amazing.  Food, amazing.  Atmosphere, amazing. Innovative dining, amazing.  His restaurant at the SLS Hotel features over 90 Spanish tapas style plates.  Diners can choose to sit in the tranquil Blanca room, above, with cool white chairs and soft sofas or the livelier Roja room, below, with deep red velvet chairs and an open kitchen.

Then there is the food.  The wonderful food.  Eating at The Bazaar is a culinary adventure filled with whimsy, fun and surprise.   I went for a tasting menu that ended up including over 25 plates.  The meal is in my top 5 eating experiences, right up there with cooking with Lidia Bastianich in Italy and chatting with Hubert Keller after he cooked a tasting dinner for me in SF.  So, here is what Dalbert and I enjoyed at the fabulous The Bazaar.

We started with watching the preparation of our drinks.  First was the nitrogen mixing for the caipiroska, a cocktail with fresh lime sugar and vodka.

We started our marathon meal with an American sturgeon caviar and  bagel and lox cones.  These were beautiful and delicious.

Next came the jicama wrapped guacamole with micro cilantro and corn chips.

Our next course was olives two ways, both modern and traditional.  Both varieties exploded with flavor, one of our faves of the night.

Next was an extraordinary dish which tasted like an intensified omelette.  It was called tortilla de patatas the “new way,” with potato foam, egg 63, and caramelized onion.  We mixed this up to fold in the egg.  This was fantastic and another fave.

Next came some buttery King crab with raspberries in a raspberries vinegar.

Next was the Mediterranean mussels.

Next was the amazing ham served with Catalan style toasted bread.  This is a must order at The Bazaar.  So tasty.  There are a variety of types of ham plates and prices, we luckily got a bit of all of them on our tasting plate.  Delicious.

We really loved the ham dish especially paired with the outstanding toasted bread.

Next came a series of three steamed bun dishes, including King crab, sea urchin and oxtail.

Next was a fish ceviche and avocado roll with jicama, cilantro and coconut.  We were amazed that the outside of the roll was avocado.  Amazing presentation.

Smoked yellowtail and crispy rice followed with yogurt, grapes, capers and radish.

White asapargus with miso and walnuts followed.

Next was another one of our faves, the very tasty caprese salad with a modern twist, using liquid mozzarella with cherry tomatoes.  Amazing.

Time for more drinks, so I tried the passion fruit up with orange rum, passion fruit and ginger laurel syrup with a passion fruit foam.  I loved this drink.  Dalbert had the spectacular magic mojito, served in a shaker and strained over cotton candy.  That’s right, cotton candy.

Next was the sauteed shrimp with garlic and guindilla pepper.  We really liked this dish.

Another fave was the yummy croquetas de pollo, chicken bechamel fritters.

Seared squid came next with artichokes and chicken escabeche.

We were very surprised at the next dish.  We both don’t care for brussels sprouts so we were amazed that we loved this dish so much.  Another must order next time we visit.  Brussels sprouts with lemon puree, apricots, grapes and lemon air.  Amazing.

Another outstanding dish followed, seared Wagyu flank steak with piquillo pepper spheres.

The Bazaar is known for their famous Philly cheesesteak, so we were very excited to see this dish coming.  It was spectacular.  Air bread with gooey cheddar inside topped with Wagyu beef.  We could have eaten these all night.

After all that food we didn’t think we could stand any more, but then came dessert and how could we turn that down.  The Bazaar offers a wide variety of desserts including patisserie desserts, cupcakes, bonbons and candy.  We tasted the yummy hot chocolate mousse with pear sorbeat and salty hazelnut praline, a lovely lemon tart with berries, rice crispy bonbons, and saffron candy with edible paper.

Everything is exceptional at The Bazaar.   Just go.  Located at 465 South La Cienega Boulevard, reservations a must at 310/247-0400.

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.