Foodies – Page 6 – thosecoolkims

Dinner at Circa 59

So after we got fully settled into the Viceroy, we headed out to dinner at Circa 59, the restaurant in the newly remodeled Riviera. We pulled up to the Riviera, completely unprepared for what we were about to see!

In short, it was visually amazing, if ever so slightly slightly derivative. It’s a little bit Philippe Starck in its grandness and glamour, but no worse for it. It’s very impressive to look at, and very well thought out. It deserves to do well, and we hope it succeeds. Here’s the view as we pulled up:

Here’s me sitting on one of the fancy couches:

And here’s Carrie!

Some neat shots of the interior:

Our meals were OK…Carrie had salmon with a jalapeño pesto sauce, and I had red snapper with Spanish chorizo and shrimp. Both were pretty good, but not enough to knock your socks off.

In all, we’re glad we went as the Riviera re-opened in October and we love checking out the newest stuff, but we’d probably rate the food as a 3 out of 5. Definitely not bad, but lacking the sort of bang and innovation you’d expect from the sheer looks of the surroundings.

Still, we were plenty happy, as you can see here!

See the rest of the pics here.

The Day of Love

This year we decided to skip the crowded restaurants and just enjoy a home-cooked meal for Valentine’s Day. We were shopping at Sprouts on Friday night and discovered they were selling Lobster Tails for $4.99 each, and it inspired us to cook up a Seafood Feast!

We were pretty excited that we actually pulled this off! One of our favorite meals ever was a “Seafood Feast for Two” at an incredible restaurant in Seattle. We tried to replicate it in this meal. Basically, we got two mini-lobster tails, 4 crab legs, a dozen shrimp and a tilapia fillet to share. Add fresh asparagus and a baked potato and – voila! – that’s a serious seafood restaurant classic!

One thing that was kinda funny was that once we got the Lobster Tails home, we realized we didn’t know how to cook them. Thanks to the FoodNetwork.com, Ed grilled ’em up just like a pro.

And finally, it just wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without a sweet ending. We got these Petits Fours from The Great Dane Baking Company, the same place we got our wedding cake. Awww!

Another Amazing Evening in Food and Wine!

Tonight was the highly anticipated Winter Truffle Tasting Menu & Wine Pairing Dinner at Brittany and Wade’s house. We are going to try and recap this incredible evening as best as we can, but we are buzzing off not only the delicious wines that were paired with every course, but also from the incredible food and company!

As usual, Brittany artfully set the table to impress. We were celebrating her birthday tonight … and nothing could be more appropriate than the way she played close attention to every detail!

Love the chandelier plates!

For those of you who don’t know, Wade is an incredible chef. No formal training, he is fueled by a passion for delectable tastes, a close study of all things food, and a sharp artful eye! Anything he’s made for us has been simply divine, and tonight was no exception. If it wasn’t for Wade, I wouldn’t know that I liked guacamole, olives, cream-based soups or truffles! Reid was also there to do the wine pairing, and honestly, I tasted the 4 best wines I’ve ever had tonight! Thanks to Reid, Ed & I are definitely sculpting our wine tastes!

On to the good stuff …

Appetizers

Prosciutto de Parma with Truffled Honey

AND

Strawberries and Cream
Paired with: Domaine Allimant-Laugner Cremant D Alsace (Sparkling Wine)

I knew the night was off to a good start with this opener! Prosciutto? Strawberries and Cream? Bubbly??? Enough said!!!

First Course

Caesar Salad with Black Truffle Cacio de Bosco Crisp
Paired with : 2007 Chateau Guiraud Bordeaux Blanc Sec (Sauvignon Blanc)

The presentation on this dish was lovely. The onion ring around the salad, the gorgeous truffle crisp on top … and that crouton on the bottom! Everything about this was impressive, and the wine was my favorite of the evening.

Second Course

Potato Leek Soup with Fresh White Truffle (and Cauliflower puree!)
Paired with: 2007 Broglia Gavi

I wish I would have gotten a better picture of this soup! I have never enjoyed creamy soups before, but I ate every last bite of this dish – right along with everybody else! The texture was wonderful … it coated your mouth with a comforty-warm feeling, and that crisp white wine refreshed and reset your palette each time. Probably the most impressive pairing of the evening, this course got many compliments!

Third Course

Linguini with White Truffles and Chanterelles
Paired with: Domaine Pierre Guillemot Sabigny-Serpentieres

Again, this photo does not do this dish justice. This was Ed’s favorite of the evening. It had a hearty satisfying flavor without being overpowering or heavy. This was my favorite Red Wine of the night!

Fourth Course:

Braised Short-Rib over Black Truffled Mashed Potato with Brussel Sprouts.
Paired with: 2005 Chateau Belles-Graves Lalande-de-Pomerol

There is no way we cold possible tell you how savory and delicious this short rib was via internet. Literally, the meat shredded on contact. We could’ve had seconds … and thirds … but we respectfully restrained. Simply put, this was delicious! And, I love me some Brussel Sprouts! (This dish also has a fancy special kind of ginormous mushroom with it, but I cannot remember the name)

Desserts

Assorted Belgian chocolates and adorable Petit Fours from the Great Dane Baking Company! Paired with Vanilla Haagen-Daas Ice Cream with Truffled Honey on top! Decadence!

This night was one for the books, and we feel so lucky to know such great friends with such talents!

Our chef and wine expert:

The birthday girl with the chef:

We are extremely happy guests!

Happy Birthday, Brittany!!!

More pics here:

Winter Tasting Menu and Wine Pairing

Korean BBQ + Tacos = Kogi!

Tonight we finally made it to Kogi, which is a taco truck that travels around various neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The thing that makes Kogi special is that it is run by 2 young Korean chefs + 1 Hispanic chef, and the tacos are the most yummy fusion of Korean BBQ style meat, ginger and kimchi (!) and your standard taco fare!

The other thing that makes Kogi different from any other taco truck is that you have to do a little homework to track them down! Basically, they Twitter their location, and that’s how you find out where they are and/or where they’re going to be! This is a crappy picture, but here we are on the hunt:

We found them tonight in Venice Beach, on Abbott-Kinney at The Brig. What can we say, chasing them down this way adds that extra bit of satisfaction once you bite into your taco!

Ed had found out about Kogi first, and we have been dying to check ’em out. We were in L.A. tonight for the First Fridays event at the Natural History Museum – The Bird and The Bee played there tonight, and they are one of my most favorite bands as of late! They were awesome. Anyhow, the crew we were with were all game to chase Kogi down! We bought a ton of tacos, and sampled a little of each. We had the Korean Short Rib Taco, the Spicy Pork Taco and the Spicy BBQ Chicken Taco!

Who’s in for another chase?

The Olde Ship is jolly good!

It’s often been said that English food is bland, tasteless, and boring. As we found out on our honeymoon, however, it’s simply not true. Actually, English cuisine just tastes so familiar to the mainstream American palate. Meat, potatoes, overcooked vegetables, fries (ok, “chips” in English parlance), lots of gravy! In any case, we were feeling nostalgic for England. Why? Who knows? Maybe it’s the fact that we just got two Christmas cards from our distant relatives in Exeter and Devon. Or maybe it’s just because our honeymoon in England two years back was such a proper jolly good time and the memories of the trip randomly came back into our heads. Well, no matter, because we needed no excuse to have a proper English meal.

The Olde Ship in Fullerton is the real deal, or at least as real as it’s going to get Stateside. It’s staffed by real subjects of the Queen and really does look and feel like the countless pubs we visited while during our honeymoon. For being in California, where we’re pretty accustomed to themed but obviously fake facades on many buildings, this one looks and feels like England, both inside and out.

Was it good? Is the Queen Mother’s favorite color baby blue? Of course! Ed had steak and kidney pie with a Newcastle, and as you can see here, Ed enjoyed it VERY much. So full of meat and gravy goodness.

Here’s Ed admiring the dish he’s about to eat:

The excitement is building…

And a closeup:

That’s some grubbing!

And what about Carrie? There was no way she could say “no” to fish and chips! That was definitely our favorite pub food while we were in England. So, here’s Carrie smiling with excitement:

And the closeup. Mmmmmmm….

It’s good!!

We wish we had pics, but there was a pirate party going on in the bar. No kidding. There were about 30 adults all dressed as pirates. And we’re not talking cheap and cheesy costumes; many of these people went all out! They were singing Christmas songs with lyrics adapted to the pirate lifestyle. It was surreal, and we never did find out what the occasion for the pirate party was. Or, maybe they’re actually pirates and this was a normal, usual night out for them.

In any case, we highly recommend a visit. It’s super fun, and the food is undeniably authentic!