Bouchon Beverly Hills

This is part 4 of the Los Angeles Eating Adventures Series. The other posts in this series include Peking Restaurant, Scoops Westside, and Sushi Zo. 

It seems fitting that on Oreo's 100th birthday (OK, I'm technically late by a day or two), I have a post that prominently displays Thomas Keller's version of this delicious cookie, the TKO ("Thomas Keller Oreo).

I really love the concept of the chocolate sandwich cookie. Cookies & cream has always been one of my all time favorite ice cream flavors. In fact, there was a time when I used to carry around crushed Oreo cookies with me just in case I happened to need it.

Not surprisingly, the first time I tried Thomas Keller's version, I completely fell in love. So enamored, I began to hunt locally for a similar cookie. I tried making my own. Though the homemade cookie is a valiant substitute, it still wasn't quite the same.

It still looked like I could only enjoy this cookie sporadically, whenever I visited New York.

Then, this past Christmas while in LA with Bryan's parents, I unexpectedly stumbled upon a snowman shaped TKO.

My jaw dropped. There's a Bouchon in LA?

Up until this point, I really though I had visited every single Bouchon Bakery in the world.

There's the original one in Yountville (right down the street from The French Laundry). Then there's one in Las Vegas inside the Venetian. In New York there are two: One in the Time Warner Building in Columbus Circle and one in Rockefeller Center (right across the Good Morning America studios where I saw Brad Pitt behind glass).

And I thought that was it.

I had no idea there was one in Beverly Hills.

How could I miss this one? Are there others of which I am not aware?

Most Bouchon Bakeries are pretty similar, so I won't repeat myself here. You can read all my other Bouchon posts to get a sense of the bakery. Instead, I'll share some holiday specific bakery items they were selling at the time.

Aren't these snowflake cookies adorable?

That's an expensive Buche de Noel, maybe because of the gold? I think it's cute there's a little chocolate macaron on top. It is supposed to be a mushroom?

How could I resist? Of course I bought some cute snowman TKOs. Sadly, the family dog got a hold of them and I never got to eat any of it!! At least I snapped a photo before they were devoured! :(

Holiday decorations on Rodeo Drive.

Someday. Someday there will be one in Boston, I hope?


Bouchon Bakery
235 N Canon Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Cooking for a Cause + Giveaway!

We take this short break from the Los Angeles Eating Adventures Series to tell you about a great food and charity event happening in Boston in a couple weeks!

I am so excited to tell you about a really exciting food charity event that's coming up in a few weeks here in Boston.

On Friday, March 30, 2012 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston, the East End House will be holding its annual Cooking for a Cause. It'll be an incredible evening where some of the area's best chefs and mixologists, along with wine, beer, spirits, and coffee vendors, will come together to create a fantastic evening of food, cocktails, wine, and entertainment.

The event benefits the East End House,  a community center in Cambridge that reaches out to under-resourced families in Cambridge. The East End House offers all sorts of services to the community, including an emergency food program, child care program, after school programs, and training workshops for adults.

The line up of local chefs is pretty impressive. There are many excellent chefs from Cambridge, such as Tony Maws from Craigie on Main, Jody Adams from Rialto, Peter McCarthy from EVOO, and Mary Dumont from Harvest.'



Tony Maws from Craigie on Main

One of the many courses in the Ultimate Chef's Tasting at Craigie on Main

Jody Adams from Rialto


Wavy black ink risotto with New England razor, mahogany and littleneck 

If you haven't had a chance to try out those new restaurants in Kendall Square yet, you could sample the dishes from several of those chefs at this event, such as Chef William Kovel from Catalyst, Chef Michael Leviton from Area Four, and Ming Cao from Fuji, the new Japanese restaurant in Kendall.

Peter McCarthy from EVOO


To see the entire lineup, check out the event website here.

Tickets are $125 each, and can be purchased at this link.

Giveaway!!!

The organizers at East End House were kind enough to give me TWO TICKETS (worth $250) to this event to give away on this blog. They would love to get the word out about this event.

Here are the rules for the Giveaway:

To enter, you must do both steps below:

1. Comment below telling us one of your favorite Boston restaurants. You must include either your twitter handle or your facebook information in the comment below so we know you fulfilled item #2 below

2. Tweet or post on your facebook page about this contest, including a link back to this page (see below for an example)

Enter to win 2 tickets ($250 value!) @tinyurbankitchn for this incredible wine&dine event @EEHCookingCause http://bit.ly/xwAKwb

One entry per person.Giveaway ends March 21, 2012 at midnight, EST.

Good Luck!   

Just for fun, a few more pictures from restaurants participating in the event. (Yes, these pictures show you how woefully behind I am in writing posts. Posts will be coming soon for these, hopefully!)

Area Four

Deauxave

Chez Henri
 
Island Creek Oyster Bar

Disclaimer - East End House is giving me two free press passes to attend the event for free

Sushi Zo

This is part 3 of the Los Angeles Eating Adventures Series. The other posts in this series include Peking Restaurant and Scoops Westside.

Could it be?

A sushi experience in the US that actually mirrors the experience I had in Japan?

From my many experiences eating sushi in Japan, I've come to the conclusion that sushi in Japan is nothing like sushi in the US. Although the sheer availability of fish in Japan has something to do with it, I've always noticed that the dining experience is different.

You can read my detailed thoughts about it here, but certain things are different in Japan. The sushi chefs don't let you put wasabi in your soy sauce; they instruct you whether to use soy sauce at all; and they hand you the pieces, one morsel at a time.

Imagine my curiosity when a good friend of mine told me, "we found a place in L.A. that serves sushi just like in Japan! Piece by piece, and they are really strict about wasabi!"

After finding out that this restaurant also had one of the highest Zagat ratings possible (29), along with one coveted Michelin star, I was more than just curious.

I really, really wanted to check this place out.

Sushi Zo sits in the unlikeliest of places. It's on the edge of a strip mall in Culver City. The interior decor is spartan, and the overall ambiance is very casual.

Maybe casual is not the right word, since the restaurant is not exactly the most relaxing atmosphere.

The chalkboard in front dictates that everything is omakase only. This means you do not order from a menu. Instead, the chef just chooses what he wants to serve you (taking into account any dietary restrictions that you tell him at the beginning). You tell him when you're full. The price is a mystery, although it usually ends up costing anywhere from $100-$150 per person.

Other seemingly strict rules include the no cell phone sign and a specific note that says they do not sell cut rolls (perhaps they've tired of the "can I get a California roll?" inquiry). The chef will be stern with you, instructing you whether you are allowed to add soy sauce or not to your sushi. Mixing wasabi paste in your soy sauce? Out of the question.

The last time Bryan went, he attempted to take a photo of his food, only to be told by the sushi chef - No Photos! As you will soon see below, this policy was not strictly enforced when I came, at least not until after my entire meal when I tried to snap a picture of the chefs. Then they yelled at me. Oops! I put away the camera after that.

A Story of Thirty Courses
I'm thrilled I was able to capture images of every single item to share with you. Here are my thoughts about each course. I've tried my best to match up the photos with the descriptions, which should go in order from left to right and then down.

Enjoy!

We started out with (1) Kumamoto Oyster. It was super sweet and fresh, with hints of lime. Next was what turned out to be the only traditional sashimi dish: (2) Maguro (Tuna) Sashimi with a dab of wasabi on top and soy sauce. The quality of this tuna was only average, and not as good as the tuna I've had in New York or Japan.

The third course (3) Abalone with Yuzu came in a shell and was quite interesting. It was hard, almost crunchy. Definitely exotic and interesting. (4) Sea Urchin with Squid was gorgeously creamy, sweet, yet salty at the same time. The squid was actually soft, like noodles.

(5) Hirame (halibut) was a "no soy sauce" kind of dish (the chef told us not to add soy sauce!). Instead, he sprinkled some sea salt on top. The fish was a bit cold but the rice was warm (the way it should be). Overall, I found this one to be OK but not that exciting.

The (6) Albacore Tuna was the right temperature (not too cold like the previous one) and had a nice flavor accented by a dash of lime. I was surprised at how tiny the piece was - it was smaller than any piece of sushi I'd ever seen in any restaurant! I loved the (7) Mackerel, which was buttery, salty, and delicious.

The raw (8) Scallop was sweet, creamy, and had a strong wasabi essence -- a "yes soy sauce" dish. The (9) Yellowtail was solid, though again a bit smaller than I liked. The flavor was alright, but I've had better. (10) Chutoro (fatty tuna), one of my favorites in general, was creamy, flavorful, and the rice had excellent texture. The chef flavored this one for us by brushing on some sort of soy sauce.

(11) Embodai (pompano), a mild, white fish, came with ponzu sauce.

(12) Kampachi came topped with a small dollop of yuzu kosho and was dense, slightly creamy, and quite tasty.

(13) Kimidai (golden eye snapper ) was OK, but the fish was just a bit cold compared to the warm rice.

(14) Skipjack Tuna was served with yuzu soy sauce and was absolutely delicious.

(15) Black Snapper with Truffle Salt was the perfect temperature and had pretty good rice texture. I absolutely loved the truffle salt on top. What a good idea!!

(16) Seared Black Cod with Miso Vinegar had a nice soft texture, although I didn't love the fish flavor. The sauce was creamy, (maybe mayonnaise based?) and pretty sweet.


*Wow, if you're seriously still reading, I am impressed if you made it this far. I know, it's a long post, but there were so many courses!!!*

The (17) Yellow Striped Bass was a "meaty" fish and was slightly cold, but overall pretty good.

The (18) Sea Perch was kind of sweet, like scallops, and the accompanying rice had decent texture.

The (19) Orange Clam with Truffle Salt was a bit too salty and had a really strong wasabi component! The clam itself was nice and sweet, with a toothsome bite. I found the (20) Herring to be a bit chewy and less fatty than something like mackerel.

(24) Sayori (needlefish) had a clean taste with a texture like halibut or sea bass. The fish was soft and just slightly cold, and was served with a sweet ponzu-like sauce.

You often don't get good (25) Ika (squid) in the US, but this one was excellent, being slightly chewy yet still soft enough to enjoy.

The (26) Red Snapper, though slightly too cold, had a nice, soft texture and a good, clean flavor. The chef served it with ponzu sauce, salt and wasabi. 

The (27) Salmon was unusual. If you look really closely, it's served with a thin layer of transparent seaweed on top.

I loved (28) Anago (saltwater eel) when I was in Japan. Cooked with truffle salt, it was very soft, fatty, and flavorful. There was a nice combination of flavors from the vinegared rice and the sweet seaweed, though overall the anago was still not as good as those I've had in Japan.

(23) Monkfish Liver was creamy, with a subtle liver taste but pretty strong seaweed flavors.

The (22) Mirugai (geoduck) was toothsome almost crunchy in texture and topped with lime and truffle salt.

The (29) Uni and Ikura (sea urchin and salmon roe) was actually very fresh and not stinky at all! The uni still wasn't as sweet as those you find in Japan. Nevertheless, it's among the best I've had Stateside.

Are we stuffed yet?

Just like in Japan, you know your meal is coming to and end when you give you your (30) Toro Maki.


And then when the (31) Tamago (sweet egg) comes, you know it's over. This last piece is virtually like dessert.

Finally, (32) a simple, sweet drink just to clean your palette.

Epilogue
Wow, that was a crazy long post. How often does one write up over thirty courses?

This is one of the closest dining experiences to Japan I've ever experienced in the US. From the strict rules about soy sauce to piece-by-piece way in which the sushi was served, many aspects of Sushi Zo remind me of Japan.

The variety and selection of seafood is excellent, and the overall quality is very good. In terms of execution, I found certain pieces to be perfect, while others were just a bit off (e.g., temperatures of the fish vs. the rice).

The omakase for our meal was predominantly nigiri sushi, with only a handful of non nigiri pieces in the beginning and the end. The nigiri pieces are the smallest I've ever seen served at a restaurant. It's hard to tell from the photos, but the rice underneath is about 1.5 inches long.

In some ways, having tiny pieces is fun because you get to try so many more pieces in one meal. Overall, however, I felt that it was harder to fully enjoy the optimal chewing and tasting experience for each nigiri piece because it was just a bit too small.

I'm really being pick at this point, though. Seriously, this is still one of the best and most authentic sushi places I've visited in the US (the other being my all time favorite, Sushi Yasuda in New York). I appreciate the vast selection of high quality seafood that they offer, and I love the authentic sushi bar experience where they hand you one piece at a time, each one individually custom-flavored.

I do wish they were a bit more flexible (e.g., letting you order something other than an omakase, letting you take pictures more often). However, it's cool that they offer such an authentic experience, and it's true that many of the top sushi restaurants in Japan operate this way.

The omakase ranges from $100-$200 depending on how many pieces you eat. You can probably get out for well under $100 during lunch. I can't quite remember, but I think our dinner was in the $150 range.

Sushi Zo
Culver City 9824
National Blvd Unit C
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Scoops Westside

This is part 2 of the Los Angeles Eating Adventures Series. The other posts in this series include Peking Restaurant and Sushi Zo. 

On the west side of Los Angeles, not too far from the glitzy restaurants that Hollywood stars frequent, sits a tiny little ice cream shop that serves up some really unique flavors.

You know me and ice cream. It's something my body has been accustomed to having ever since I was about two years old. I'm a sucker for creative ice cream flavors, and I seek out cool places that aren't afraid to be creative.

What's even cooler about this place? It's run by a fellow food blogger - a person who decided to give up his day job as a commercial bank analyst to pursue his passion for all things food.


Meet Matthew Kang. Matthew write the LA-based food blog Mattatouille. I first met Matthew at the Community Dinner at the first ever Foodbuzz Festival in 2009. Matthew took a huge leap at the end of 2010 by quitting his day job to focus full time on opening up his own ice cream shop. Scoops Westside just passed its 1-year birthday a few months ago, which is a testament to all the hard work Matthew has put in this past year!

When Bryan and I arrived, we had a really hard time trying to decide what to order. As a huge, huge fan of grape nut ice cream in Boston, I knew I had to try the famous "brown bread" ice cream. The original brown bread ice cream is made from grape nuts and is probably similar to the ones I've had out east. The version at Scoops Westside, called brown brown bread ice cream, takes grape nuts, coats them in brown (?) sugar, and the mixes them with dulce de leche ice cream. What results is a sweeter, more intense, rich, and caramel-y ice cream chock full of grape nuts.

It was fantastic, though potent! I can see it getting too sweet for me if I eat too much, but the mixture of flavors works quite well.

Bryan got the pistachio honey, which was quite nice with a strong pistachio flavor.

They have so many other types of interesting flavors. The lavender honey ice cream had a lovely floral fragrance that I loved. It was probably one of my favorites.

I tried their nondairy strawberry lychee and blueberry lavender "ice creams" (I think they are made with soy), which were light and refreshing, but really not at all a replacement for ice cream. Think of it as something completely different, like sorbet or sherbet.

Matthew is a coffee aficionado, and also offers "pour over" coffee from Intelligentsia (as well as other hand-picked artisanal brands, like the Colombian one shown above). I must say Matthew has great taste in coffee (and he's highly skilled in making that perfect pour), because I absolutely loved the flavors of the coffee.

I almost feel like I'm back in the chemistry lab (my former life!) playing around with flasks.

In my haste, I almost missed Joshua Lurie from Food GPS, another LA-based food blogger who hang out here a lot (see top picture). We chatted a ton about the LA food scene, and they gave me some great recommendations for places to visit near the SLS Hotel (Jose Andres' Samm inside Bazaar), which is where I was dining later on that night.

I love the variety of flavors at Scoops, and they change constantly. You can always follow their twitter feed to find out the daily specials. Some more interesting ones that have jumped out at me include unfiltered sake toffee, cheddar Irish Cream, Coconut Wasabi, Maple Black Truffle, Yuzu Basil, Pandan Cheesecake, and Lemon Jalapeno. If I lived nearby, I swear I would stop by every so often just to try some of these crazy flavors!!

In terms of texture, the ice cream is lighter than the heavy cream stuff we have here in the East Coast. Maybe they are more health conscious out there? At the end of the day, I guess I'm a super premium ice cream girl at heart, so I still prefer the thick, almost "doughy" ice creams we have out East. Nevertheless, this ice cream is still fantastic, and kudos to Scoops for offering such creative flavors.

Definitely check it out!

Scoops Westside
3400 Overland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Peking Restaurant

This is part 1 of the Los Angeles Eating Adventures Series. The other posts in this series include Peking Restaurant, Scoops Westside, and Sushi Zo. 


I am absolutely stunned that it has taken me this long to tell you about this place.

Year after year, trip after trip, we always come here whenever we are back in LA. Whether it be with his parents or his high school friends, we never tire of visting this place for a tasty, satisfying lunch.

Simply called "Peking Restaurant" (Bryan and his friends all call it "Beijing"), this unassuming dive in a strip mall in Westminster has been the spot Bryan and his friends visit for authentic, cheap, and fantastic Northern Chinese food.. Bryan grew up eating here (it was really close to his church) and never fails to return every time he is in Los Angeles.

So what makes this place so special?

They make so many things really well. A must-get is the "Roast Beef with Green Onion Pancake" (niu ro juan bing), a scallion pancake wrapped around beef, chopped scallions, and a hoisin-like sweet sauce (see picture up top for cross sectional view). They do a fantastic job on this, and I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it anywhere else. The outer pancake is wonderfully crispy, and the beef inside is flavorful and delicious. It's by far one of their most popular items.

Another signature dish (which we also always get) is their potstickers. Often they will ask you right when you sit down whether you want the roast beef roll and/or the potstickers.

"Yes and yes, please!"

Their potstickers are juicy and flavorful, and the gorgeous crispy bottoms can't be beat. It's hard to find this particular style of potstickers in the US, so it's always a treat to get them here.

Their handmade dumplings are quite authentic and look just like the ones I had in the real Beijing. These are delicious as well, and a nice, lighter contrast to the crispy potstickers.

The spareribs are another favorite of the family, something they order often when we come together.

They make an admirable soup dumpling (xiao long bao). Although not as refined as the ones from Din Tai Fung, they are still quite tasty and perfectly enjoyable to eat.

One of the best things about this restaurant is that you can get handmade noodles in any noodle dish for only an extra dollar. This is definitely money well spent. The texture of the handmade noodles is fresh, chewy, and overall so much better than dried noodles.

Bryan's favorite soup is Da Lu Noodles, a thick, eggy soup filled with seafood and vegetables. It's served with the chewy homemade noodles that we all love. It's warm, comforting, and delicious.

If you're not in the mood for soup noodles, you can opt for stir fried homemade noodles instead. Here, we've ordered a combination dish full of all sorts of goodies like beef, pork, shrimp, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots. Though it's perfectly tasty, this dish doesn't stand out the way some of their other dishes do (aside from the homemade noodles, which are already a huge treat!).

The decor in this family-owned restaurant is simple, but the food that comes out of the kitchen is really special.

On top of all that, the prices are really reasonable! Most of the appetizer-like dishes (like the roast beef scallion pancake and the dumplings) hover around $6-$8 for an order. The main dishes are closer to $10-$12. A family of four can easily get out of there for well under $50 and be really, really satisfied. Please note, they will only accept credit cards for orders over $30. Otherwise, it's cash only.

This place is definitely worth visiting if you are like Bryan, a HUGE fan of homemade noodles and dumplings!


Peking Restaurant
8566 Westminster Blvd
Westminster, CA 92683