Great Eats in Los Angeles with the Family

This is most definitely not the first time Los Angeles has been featured on this blog. After all, Bryan grew up in Orange County, and every Christmas, we go back to the area to visit family, see friends, and enjoy the great weather and food. We've gone to Disneyland countless times, and I can't even tell you how many times I've gone to Din Tai Fung or South Coast Plaza Mall.

However, I never visited LA as a true tourist. Bryan's family lives in Orange County, and thus we typically stay around that area during the holidays. If we do go to LA, it's usually to see a specific friend or family member, not really to see the city.

So this past summer, I finally had a chance to visit LA as a proper tourist with my family. Yep, all six of us - my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, Bryan, and I - met in LA and, over a period of four days, visited some of the most famous sites in the city.

Not surprisingly, I was put in charge of the food.

We definitely enjoyed a great variety of places - from famous, known classics to off-the-beaten-path delightful finds. Here's a sneak preview of where we went, with posts to follow!
Seriously the best pizza I've ever had on the west coast - founded partly by one of Bryan's favorite chefs and one of the Project Food Blog judges.

Japanese food with a Peruvian twist - the first restaurant of a very famous Japanese chef whose food is heavily influenced by South America.

Uni Spaghetti and other fun, Japanese-Western fusion dishes at this off-the-beaten-path hidden find in a strip mall in Cypress, a city 45 minutes outside of Los Angeles.

Probably the most famous "beef roll" in Southern California, and definitely the best one I've ever had.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts as we explore some great eats in the Greater Los Angeles area!

Food Photogaphy & Styling Workshop at BAASIC

What a whirlwind weekend!

On Saturday I hopped across the river to Boston University to give a food photography workshop at BAASIC 2012, an annual conference put on by the Boston Asian American Student Intercollegiate Coalition (BAASIC).  I was thrilled to meet people from so many different schools all over, such as West Point, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy, Northeastern, Clark, Simmons, Tufts, and more!

I spent about 30 minutes giving an educational presentation about basic food photography techniques. For a summary of the talk, check out my post on ITASA at Georgia Tech, where I gave a very similar presentation.

Then, I put them to work!
We took a very difficult-to-style dish, Taiwanese meat sauce over rice, and tried our best to make it look as pretty as possible.

Check out their creations after the jump, and vote on facebook for your favorite!

Students took to heart my strong suggestion promoting the use of natural light, flocking to the windows to take their photos.

I gave them all sorts of props and tools, such as different colored plates, Asian bowls, colorful sheets of paper, and various types of utensils.

Of course I also provided some standard garnish, such as cilantro, scallions, and a few sauces. But that was it! 

Here are the results of the students' hard work. I think there were six teams, and I seem to only have five different dishes on my camera, so I'm not sure what happened to the 6th one. I did find a candid picture that seems to include the 6th one, so I've included that picture at the end. Please enjoy these photos, and vote on facebook for your favorite!

A classic but beautiful presentation.

Check out that creative artistic swirl with the Sriracha sauce.

Nice use of contrasting colors!

Domo-kun!

Pac-man!

I don't think this group took a picture with my camera, but I found this picture on my camera.

I regret I did not have a chance to take pictures of all the groups (it was a bit crazy with everyone running around trying to style their dishes in the very crowded classroom), but I managed to catch a few.

Thanks again to all who came to my workshop. It was fun teaching you all a litte about what I do, and (of course), playing with food together.

Troquet

 
My friend Peter is a huge wine enthusiast.

Although he lives in a two-bedroom condo, his two ceiling-high wine "caves" occupy a bulk of his kitchen area. He's on multiple mailing lists from the city's best wine vendors, and he's always seeking out the best wine deals in the city.

Recently, he couldn't stop raving about Troquet. More specifically, the wine selection and, most importantly, the wine prices at Troquet.

It's like a little "best-kept secret" of Boston.

Troquet is a beautiful French-inspired classy restaurant in Boston's theater district. Diners enjoy a relaxing view of Boston Common from the second floor dining room. Troquet's wine prices are unusually low compared to industry standard.

Restaurants typically mark up wine prices about two times what you'd pay in a store. Wines by the glass are marked up even more, with the price of one glass equaling the wholesale price of the bottle. Typically, cheaper wines are marked up more (percentage-wise) than expensive wines.

What's so incredible about Troquet is that, at least for higher-end wines, it's not uncommon to pay below retail price for the wines. Troquet has a fantastic wine collection, and some of these harder-to-get wines go up in price on the open market over time. Suddenly, something at Troquet appears cheaper than what you'd see at a local wine shop.

At the end of the day, however, it really comes down to owner Chris Campbell's philosophy about wine.

"[W]e try to sell high-end wines at just a few dollars over retail. I want to turn over our inventory. I don't like seeing wines on the list too long. . .   I prefer to mark up short, turn it over, and reinvest the money." [source]

According to Chris Campbell, markups go down as the prices of the wines goes up. You'll get best deals on wines that cost over $100, which, as I mentioned before, may sometimes be at or below retail.

If you really want a deal, you can always try stopping by the wine bar (first floor), where they often offer "bin end bottles" (the last few bottles of a case that they can't put on the wine list anymore) for just a few dollars over retail.

OK, but what about the food?

Having a superb wine selection and excellent prices are useless if the food and atmosphere do not match. Thankfully, I'm happy to report that the food and service at Troquet are quite good. It may not fall into my initial list of "best restaurants in Boston." However, it's hard to argue that any other restaurant in Boston comes even close to having this good of a food quality + wine value combination.
 
It was late summer when we came, so tomatoes were heavily featured on the menu. The Yellowtail Kampachi consisted of thick, generous slices of yellowtail over gorgeously sweet heirloom tomatoes and tomato jus. The fish was fresh and good quality, but nowhere near as good as any sushi-level yellowtail I've ever had.  The bright, intense citrus-tomato jus was excellent - slightly tangy and full of that late summer tomato flavor.
New Zealand Langoustines $21
With green papaya, champagne mango, & tamarind glaze

The panko-crusted langoustines were perfectly fried with a lovely, solid "crunch." The langoustines themselves were fresh and very sweet. The slaw underneath had classic Asian flavors of sugar and soy sauce. I personally found the slaw a bit too sweet, but Bryan and Chia Chi thought it was a refreshing balance with the savory, fried langoustine. In fact, Bryan's first words were "it's a good mix of flavors and textures."

Casco Bay Lobster Crepe ($21) with coral emulsion, butter sugar corn, & chanterelles
Ricotta Cavatelli $18/$28
With wild mushrooms, parmesan, & black truffle

This was by far everyone's favorite dish overall. The fresh homemade cavatelli had a nice chewy texture, and the sauce was excellent. It was deeply flavorful and well-seasoned, both from the intense mushrooms and the strong black truffle flavor. We shared one plate between the four of us as a "mid-course" (between our appetizers and entree). It's the type of intense, rich dish that you wouldn't want to eat in large volumes, but works perfectly as a "primo" to your main entree.

Assiette of Vermont Lamb $39
With Moroccan chickpeas, spicy harissa, & anise caponata
The Vermont lamb was cooked three different ways. The seared lamb loin was a perfect medium rare with a nice, intense "lamb" flavor.

"Mmmm that's tasty!" said Bryan.

The shank was a bit fatty and, frankly, a bit  undersalted and flat in flavor. Contrast that with the last piece, the fried lamb belly, which was a tad too salty.

Despite these small mishaps, everyone agreed that the lamb was the best entree of the evening.Rice Crusted Atlantic Halibut $36
With fresh udon noodles, hon shimeji & soy glazed pork belly

Bryan ordered the halibut because he was intrigued by the fresh homemade udon noodles (you know he has such a weakness for homemade noodles). Sadly, the udon was not as chewy as he would have liked, though he did enjoy the rice crust on the halibut. I personally didn't love the hon shimeji broth - I found it a little unbalanced - too sweet and not enough wine or umami to offset it. The fish was slightly overcooked, though the crispy rice on top was quite nice, giving an unexpected nuttiness to the entire dish.
Maine Dayboat Sea Scallops $36
With caper raisin puree, nicoise olives, & hearts of palm barigoule

The scallops were huge, sweet, and executed perfectly with a nice char on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. Unfortunately, perfect execution of a mediocre recipe just won't get you that far. The sauce that accompanied the scallops was rather monodimensional and a tad oversalted. The scallops were fine, but the sauce did not help. If anything, the saltiness detracted slightly from the sweet juicy scallops.

Wines
Of course, the wines were the stars of the show, and we took full advantage of the excellent wine prices (don't worry, there were four of us enjoying a long, multi-course meal!). Yes, we even bought a bottle of wine from 1989, probably one of the oldest bottles of wine I've ever drunk!

Troquet has an incredible wine list, and their prices are really, really reasonable. They turn over wine quickly, so the selection constantly changes and can be a pleasant surprise.

Their cheese come from Formaggio Kitchen, and they offer a nice assortment of creamy, stinky, and hard cheeses from which to choose. At $18 for a choice of three generous blocks, it's a reasonable price considering the quality.

The cheese plate also comes with your typical accompaniments, such as sliced apples, candied nuts, and a jelly of sorts.

All in all, the staff at Troquet took very good care of us as we enjoyed our self-designed multi-course meal. As we walked out, I declared that the best way to enjoy this restaurant would be to sit at the bar, order the cavatelli to share, and share a bottle of wine, preferably one that's typically hard to find (without paying exorbitant markup fees). Heck, maybe I could even score a great deal on a "bin-end" bottle.

Perhaps I'd finish the meal with a tasting of cheese before rushing off to catch whatever cool show was being performed in the theater district that night.

Troquet
140 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

Behind the Scenes - the filming of Kitchen Nightmares Relaunch Night

Some of you may know that I made a brief "cameo" on Kitchen Nightmares on the first episode of the season when Gordon Ramsey came to Boston to "fix" La Galleria 33 in the North End. We weren't allowed to talk about our experiences until the week of the airing of the show. Now that the show has aired, I will share with you my actual experience that night.

It was early May, 2012. I had just won Saveur's "Best Food Blog Award" for Restaurant/Dining. Soon after, I received an interesting email from one of the producers at FOX.

"Would you be interested in dining on camera for this episode, and giving us your thoughts on the food/changes as Chef Ramsay's surprise guest?"

Surprise guest? Really??

I was intrigued, but also a bit anxious. I had searched around on the internet, and saw that another food blogger from Rhode Island had gotten criticized quite a bit by the public after they featured her heavily on one of the shows.

Nevertheless, I agreed and asked three friends to join me (Bryan was away on business at the time).

The moment we arrived, we knew this would be no ordinary dinner.

My friend Loren holding up the waiver forms. Chia Chi Sun and Peter Sun in the back.

First, there was a huge line outside the restaurant. Word had gotten out that Gordon Ramsey was filming in Boston, and reservations that night were open to the public (if you could nab one). There was an initial line to "check in", where we all signed our lives away on multiple waiver forms (essentially, they can do whatever they want with your image with no compensation to you).

Furthermore, as a media member, I had to promise to keep everything top secret until now, basically.

They did not want to overwhelm the kitchen all at once, so they only let people enter in small waves to emulate what a real restaurant would be like.

After about thirty minutes waiting outside in the wet rain, our names were called. We'd been lucky. Some folks waited well over an hour in the rain.

We stepped inside.


"Welcome to La Galleria 33."

The two owners, Lisa and Rita, stood at the front of the house. The environment was warm, quaint, and really cozy.

I told one of the producers, "this is really, really nice! I love the exposed brick. It really makes it cozy."

"Wait! Can you repeat that for the camera? That's perfect."

It wasn't until later that I realized why they loved my statement. Gordon Ramsey had torn down all this artwork to expose the brick. I had inadvertently said exactly what they wanted to hear.

I repeated it for the camera, though that particular statement didn't make it onto the show.

There were cameras everywhere - a huge one in front of the restaurant, multiple cameramen walking around the dining room, a hanging boom mic dangling over our heads. It was almost comical, in fact.

It was hard to act naturally when the cameras and microphones were hovering over us, but we tried.

What I didn't realize until later was that our table was bugged! The "plant" on our table actually had a microphone wire coming out of it, and there was a huge security-type camera pointed at us the entire time. If you watch the show carefully, you can tell which shots are taken with the "security" type cameras. They are usually lower quality and everything is a bit distorted in a weird, fish-eye, spherical kind of way.

Scene from Kitchen Nightmares where Jen is trying the arancini and says,"It's fried perfectly. I like it."

The restaurant coordinator, holding a clipboard in one hand and sporting a headset, came up to our table and warmly welcomed us to the restaurant.

"Thank you so much for coming here tonight. I want you guys to be honest. Really tell us what you think. Any feedback would be really helpful to the restaurant. Enjoy!"

A friendly and sweet waitress named Sarah (who became a major character in the show), handed us our menus and told us about the new small plates concept as well as the "special" that day, the branzino. We ordered a variety of dishes (including two orders of the branzino), as well as a bottle of wine.

The meal did not start out well.
The bread arrived. It was comically hard. Peter had trouble biting it, and I had a really hard time pulling it apart.

The wine was reasonably priced (we got a $50 bottle), and the wine list had a nice variety of lower price choices. Sarah, in her nervousness, forgot to pour Peter his glass of wine. Not a huge deal, but it was a bit funny.

Shortly afterwards, Sarah came by and offered us an appetizer "compliments of the chef."

It was a small plate of Cheese Agnolotti with Pesto. Unfortunately, this was one of the most awful dishes of the night. Although the flavor of the pesto was reasonably good, the entire dish was much too oily.  Furthermore, the homemade agnolottis were not evenly cooked. Some were not yet done and had pretty hard skins. Others were OK. We did not finish it. For me, it was just too oily.
 Thankfully, the Basil Arancini was much better. An unusual shape, these arancinis (deep, fried risotto balls) were square, sort of like a deck of cards, and green inside (from the basil).

"It's perfectly fried. I liked it." I said. Not surprisingly, this was the only statement of mine that made it onto the actual show.

I did think it was perfectly fried. The execution was good, and the dish was fun to eat. My friend Loren thought that the heavier breading (which oddly reminded him of frozen chicken patties), overpowered the subtleties of the risotto. I agree that it's harder to taste the nuances of the basil flavor. Nevertheless, the dish is enjoyable to eat, even if it's not exactly that authentic.

One of the best dishes of the night was the Chicken Liver Crostini.  We all thought that this appetizer was perfectly executed. The topping was not too "livery", making it more friendly to those like me who don't particularly care for the flavor of liver.

The coordinator stopped by again.

"How is it so far?"

He had been working very closely with me up to that point, wanting to know when I was going to tweet, what I was going to tweet, etc.

We gave a ton of honest but very constructive feedback. I mentioned the weaknesses of the agnolotti, and praised the chicken liver crostini. We gave specific feedback regarding various aspects of the dishes we had tried.

He looked a tad nervous. He asked if we could only tweet publicly our positive comments. These people are really trying hard to turn things around.  "We really want to help this restaurant out."

So much for true reality TV.

It's understandable, though. It's their first day trying to execute a brand new menu with a new concept. They are on camera. Gordon Ramsay is yelling at them. It's not surprising that the staff is super, super nervous.

Not Entrees, but "Small Plates"
We started with the Cioppino, a fragrant seafood stew. Although the flavors of the stew were pretty tasty, the seafood was unfortunately overcooked and suffered a bit in texture.

My friend Peter ordered the Chicken Marsala. He thought the chicken breast was very tender, likely achieved from being pounded so thin.

"It's good, though the sauce does not really taste like marsala.  It tastes more like chicken with sauce." (whatever that means, maybe chicken jus?).  Overall, Peter said he enjoyed the dish and that, for $15 in the North End, it's not bad at all.

My friend Chia Chi ordered the Linguini with Clam Sauce. The fresh, homemade pasta was cooked a decent al dente (within acceptable range, though I personally though it could be just a tad more al dente). Peter and Loren wished the noodle strands were longer (for some reason they were all cut in half). Everyone agreed that the flavor of the clam sauce was excellent, and they were generous with the amount of chopped clams. Peter thought the clams were fresh, although Loren was convinced they were canned (no proof, though if they had used real clams in shells then it would have be indisputable).
The Gnocchi was another winner. Nice, pillowy soft, it had fantastic texture. The tomato sauce had pretty good flavor, and our most critical friend, Loren, actually said he would consider coming here for this dish. Though I liked the texture, I personally thought the sauce was a tad salty and not particularly deep in flavor.

I ordered the Asparagus risotto with Black Truffle. We all thought the black truffle must be missing - there was absolutely no black truffle flavor. The risotto was cooked just a tad  under (with a slight crunch in the middle), and the dish was a bit soupy. There was inconsistency in execution, because the same risotto that was later served with the branzino was perfectly cooked.
 Speaking of the branzino, the Branzino over Asparagus Risotto ($24) was the daily special. The risotto was perfectly cooked, though the dish was a bit boring in flavor because the asparagus was merely blanched, not roasted or grilled. The branzino was a bit undersalted and overcooked, though the skin was nicely seared. It was unlike most branzinos I've seen in Italian restaurants because we were only served the filet, not the entire fish.

We had wanted to get two orders of the branzino. Because they had run out, the chef recommended that we get the Porchetta ($24) instead. It was little dry, though it was properly salted.

Dessert

We tried two desserts. It wasn't until later that we found out that the Tiramisu was featured quite a bit on the show. It was one of the few original dishes that Chef Ramsey actually thought was good. The tiramusi had a nice dark espresso bitterness and the marscapone cheese was denser, thicker, and creamier than what I typically encounter. Overall it was pretty good.
 Similarly, the Olive oil cake with Fruit was solid. The tartness of the berries offered a nice contrast to the spongy and light olive oil cake.

At the end of the day, standouts were Chicken Liver Crostini, Liguini with Clam Sauce, and the Gnocchi. The Chicken Marsala and Basil Arancini are nontraditional, but still enjoyable to eat.  Desserts are pretty good. The risotto is hit or miss, and the meat dishes are probably their weakness.

Overall, they seem to execute basic pastas well (although I'm still not sure why the agnolotti failed so much!)

We briefly met Gordon Ramsay. I shook his hand and said "nice to meet you." All he said was "sorry about the branzino" and then he ran off. I thought he was apologizing because it was overcooked, but Loren thinks it's because they had run out. That makes more sense, I guess.

Service was understandably slow, but I think this restaurant has promise. They were able to execute some of the dishes quite well. They just need to keep working at it, getting their act together so they can consistently put out good dishes.

Walking out the first time in the show. We actually did not visit the restaurant twice, though in the show you see us walking out after the initial "bad" dinner as well as the relaunch dinner. In fact, we only went to the relaunch dinner. I guess there were just good "exiting" shots of us.

Have I gone back?
Not since May. It's really hard when there are so many excellent options in the North End. If La Galleria 33 were down the street from me in the Harvard/Porter Square area (where there's such a dearth of Italian restaurants), I'd probably go pretty frequently. However, if I'm making the trek all the way out to the North End, right now, it's not my top choice.

Having said that, their prices are pretty reasonable, and I like the idea of small plates for those of us who don't like to eat that much.

After watching the show, I kind of feel like I know these owners, and I really do hope they succeed. They've made major improvements already, and hopefully it can only get better from here.

Our group walking out of the restaurant - the closing scene of the entire show was us saying good-by and walking out.

Credit: Thanks to Fox for providing the images of the food and of me dining at the restuarant. There are also three screenshots from the TV show.

O Ya

There are very few restaurants that have mastered the combination of exquisite artistry, extreme attention to detail, and stunning flavor combinations. There are even fewer restaurants who are able to create dishes that are "transcendent" - dishes with flavors so interesting, complex, and mind-boggling, they delight and surprise you to no end. These are flavors that stick with you forever; flavors you still taste in your mind years later.

A few more recent memories come to my mind, such as the consomme at Le Bernardin, the cherry gazpacho at Joel Robuchon, or the black truffle xiao long baos at Din Tai Fung in China. By and large, however, those tastes are rarely encountered at home.

But not never.

Near South Station down a dark alley is nondescript wooden door. If you squint and look really hard, you'll see a tiny sign way up high that says O Ya.

Welcome to one of Boston's gems, O Ya. You could call O Ya a Japanese restaurant, but it's really much more than that. Chef-owner Tim Cushman, who trained under Nobu Matsuhisa before moving to Boston, uses basic Japanese cuisine as a canvas on which to experiment with flavors from all over the world.

O Ya has won many, many awards and has been recognized by all sort of well-known figures. Chef-owner Tim Cushman won the James Beard Foundation Award in 2012 for Best Chef Northeast. New York Times food writer Frank Bruni named O Ya as the best new restaurant in 2008 when it first opened. O Ya has the highest Zagat rating of any restaurant in Boston (29), and was named as a "top highlight" by Andrew Zimmern when he visited Boston.

Tim's wife, Nancy Cushman, is a sake sommelier, having completed multiple levels of Sake Professional Course in Japan under John Gauntner, one of the world's foremost sake experts. O Ya has a dizzying array of sakes, and they offer sake pairings with their dishes.

Eating at O Ya most definitely comes at a pretty price. If you eat a la carte, small plates (which could contain a couple pieces of sashimi, nigiri, or other ingredients) range from $8 to $20 each. You most likely need to order several of them. Don't be surprised if you end up spending close to $100/person.

There are also a couple different types of omakases (chef's tastings). The normal omakase is a tasting of dishes off the regular menu and costs $175. The Grand Omakase, which also includes off-menu, "special" items, costs $275.

Please join me as I take you through the Grand Omakase, one of the most beautiful, exquisite, and incredible meals I've ever had in Boston.
Kumamoto Oyster watermelon pearls, cucumber mignonette
Compressed watermelon spheres and tiny chopped cucumbers sit delicately on top of sweet Kumamoto oysters. The dish is beautiful, light, and refreshing, a perfect prelude to the meal.
Santa Barbara Sea Urchin & Black River Ossetra Caviar Yuzu zest
It's hard to go wrong with creamy uni and strong, salty caviar over rice. It takes me awhile to get used to Tim Cushman's rice, which is mushier, denser, and a bit wetter than traditional Japanese sushi rice. The flavors of the toppings, of course, are fantastic.

Hamachi Nigiri spicy banana pepper mousse
This is one of the most popular dishes at O Ya, and it's easy to see why. The marriage of yellowtail (hamachi) with jalapeno is a classic combination, supposedly first "invented" by Nobu Matsuhisa, Cushman's mentor. Cushman has taken that concept and put his own spin on it, using spicy banana peppers instead.
Langoustine Tempura ao nori, spicy langoustine sauce, lemon zest

House Smoked Wagyu Nigiri yuzu soy
My first time seeing beef on nigiri, it works here because Wagyu beef is so well marbled with fat and is melt-in-your-month soft.
Wild Salmon verte sauce, house pickled ramps, salmon roe Kindai Bluefin Chutoro Republic of George herb sauce
Kindai Bluefin is a type of farmed bluefin tuna that's touted as being more sustainable than wild bluefin tuna (which is rapidly being depleted). Opinions are very mixed about whether this type of tuna is actually more sustainable or not. Nevertheless, several restaurants have embraced it as a way to provide environmentally-conscious diners with an alternative to bluefin tuna.

Chef Cushman did a great job of dressing this tuna up with this herbaceous pesto.
Fried Kumamoto Oyster Nigiri yuzu kosho aioli, squid ink bubbles 
This is another classic signature dish that you'll also see on the normal omakase. Though it seems hard, you must pop the entire piece in your mouth in one bite in order to enjoy the fascinating mix of flavors - the warm fried oyster, the bright yet spicy citrus notes from the yuzu kosho, and the salty umami from the squid ink bubbles. It's an ingenious dish, and one of my favorites.
Uni "kabob" soy, shiso, olive oil snow  

This artistic dish almost looks like a piece of art painted on the white plate. The olive oil "snow" uses molecular gastronomy techniques to achieve the unique powdery texture, which pairs well with the creamy uni and floral shiso leaf.
Madai white soy ginger, myoga, lemon oil

Geoduck reed shiso vinaigrette, verjus
Kanpachi Baby Hamachi jalapeno sauce, sesame, apple, myoga

Kindai Bluefin Otoro wasabi oil, lots of green onion

Arctic Char yuzu cured, smoked sesame brittle, cumin aioli, cilantro
Foie Gras miso, preserved california yuzu
This creative, powdery version of foie gras, which is served with preserved yuzu, reminds me of David Chang's well-known dish shaved foie gras course at Momofuku Ko. It's a delightful little bite, and this is coming from someone who doesn't really love foie gras!
Hokkaido Sea Scallop perigord truffle, sake sea urchin, jus, chervil 
This is one of those dishes that I still remember to this day - it was so incredibly perfect. Raw scallops from Hokkaiddo (the northern part of Japan) are thinly sliced and served in a delicate sauce topped with shaved truffles.
Shiso Tempura grilled lobster, charred tomato, ponzu aioli "Farberge" Onsen Egg black river osetra caviar, gold leaf, dashi sauce, green onion 
The "onsen egg" on the regular menu is already incredible, consisting of a single egg cooked at low, low temperatures (I'm assuming sous vide by the texture) in a gorgeously flavorful dashi broth. The Grand Tasting elevates this dish several, several notches by topping this luxurious egg with osetra caviar and a gold leaf. The presentation and flavors are equally stunning.
Grilled Chanterelle & Shitake Mushrooms rosemary garlic oil, sesame froth, soy
I never knew how good mushrooms could taste until I tried Chef Cushman's version of mushroom "sashimi." Frank Bruni of the New York Times called this the "best dish of my entire journey", praising its "magnificent taste" which "settles all debate over umami." The flavors of this dish are absolutely gorgeous, capturing the strong earthiness of the mushrooms with just enough soy and sesame oil essence to enhance, but not overpower, the dish.
Seared Petit Strip Loin of Wagyu 
Though it may seem surprising at first, it actually makes sense my favorite steak in Boston comes from a "Japanese" restaurant. Japan is where Kobe beef originated, and it's a country that's meticulously obsessed with the quality of its beef (not to mention everything else, really). These tiny little cuts of Wagyu are phenomenal, perfectly salted and seared on the outside and meltingly tender on the inside.

Simple citrus palate cleansers in preparation of dessert.
Foie Gras Nigiri balsamic chocolate kabayaki, raisin cocoa pulp
The Finale. It's most definitely worth the wait for this final dish, a dessert that is yet another signature dish and truly one of their best. Seared foie gras "nigiri" is served with a balsamic chocolate sauce and raisin cocoa pulp. The warm, nicely browned, savory foie gras is perfectly balanced by the sweet, dark balsamic chocolate sauce and the fruity raisin cocoa pump. These pair gorgeously with the glass of dessert wine that comes included with this one course.

I savor my one bite, slowly, trying to make it last as long as possible.

What an incredible end to an incredible meal. Throughout the entire night, we've had the privilege of sitting right at the bar, watching the chefs prepare one course after another. I would most definitely recommend getting one of the counter seats. You get a much better view of all the action that's happening in the kitchen.

What can I say? I don't think there's another tasting menu in this city that's grander, more sophisticated, and more impressive than this one. Just the sheer number of different tastes, different presentations, and variety of ingredients is mind-boggling.

A truly transcendent meal.

Sayonara to an unforgettable evening.

Yes, that's Guchi from the famed Guchi's Midnight Ramen at his "day job"

O Ya
9 East St
 Boston, MA 02111