Hachi: Awesome Sushi Lunch Special

Update (March 2011): unfortunately both of our favorite chefs have left Hachi, plus they raised the prices of the lunch special so we haven't been going back.
I love Hachi in West LA for their omakase; it's my go-to omakase place in LA (I prefer it over Sushi Zo, Sasabune, Sushi Sushi, Echigo).  They have a nice variety of fish and unique preparations, plus the chefs are really nice (in contrast to Sushi Zo, Sasabune, Sushi Sushi).  Prices are comparable, if not a little cheaper than the previously mentioned places ($65 - $85 per person), and for some reason it's always pretty empty so you don't really need reservations in advance.  I went for lunch today and we ordered two of their lunch specials, which I think are the best quality lunch deals in town.  We ordered the bara chirashi ($11.50) and the Hachi chirashi special ($12.00).

Both lunch specials came with miso soup and a salad with ginger miso dressing.  Pretty standard, but the salad greens were very fresh (and not just iceberg lettuce) and the dressing was very nice.

For the bara chirashi, the chef cubes most of the ingredients, including tamago (egg), unagi (freshwater eel), avocado, ebi (shrimp), tai (snapper), and then also adds ingredients such as negitoro (tuna belly with scallions), ikura, salmon roe, gari (pickled ginger), minced takuan (pickled daikon) and masago.  I adore this dish.  It may not have as much sashimi as the hachi special chirashi, but the combination of all the ingredients makes for a delicious bite, every single bite.

The Hachi special chirashi was topped with a generous amount of very fresh sashimi including hamachi, salmon, tuna, scallop, seared albacore, ebi, ika (squid), tai, ikura.   You really can't go wrong with either, although I prefer the bara chirashi.  With the miso soup and salad, you leave absolutely stuffed and blissfully happy.

Hachi Sushi and Robata
12009 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 473-9603

Test Kitchen Review: Marcel Vigneron

Marcel is in the black on the left.  The bald guy bending down is Alex Resnik

Sorry, blurry pictures!

Marcel Vigneron, the runner up from Top Chef Season 2 has always fascinated me; I'm drawn by his obnoxious personality (is this guy for real, or is he just playing it up for TV) as well as his interesting, molecular gastronomy inspired food.  He's made several reappearances on various seasons of Top Chef and will be competing in this year's Top Chef Season 8 All-Stars, and is quite the polarizing but always mesmerizing character; I'm looking forward to seeing how he does this season.  Another bonus for Top Chef fans, Alex Resnik, another polarizing cheftestant from this season's Season 7 Top Chef (see: stolen pea puree controversy), was Marcel's sous chef for the evening.  When I saw that Marcel was doing a 3 night stint at Test Kitchen, I quickly made a reservation to check him out.  We went Sunday night to sample his 6 course tasting menu for $55 per person.

Amuse bouche: salty potato with cherry tomato over dried chlorophyll

 This was a nice little bite that burst into your mouth, although nothing particularly memorable about it.

KOMBU CURED HAMACHI: crispy rice, pineapple, avocado

This was my favorite dish overall.  The fish was resting on a very thinly sliced piece of pineapple, which didn't overwhelm the dish with sweetness but was the perfect foil for the delicate dish.  The foam was dashi foam, and I loved the hint of freshness from the shiso leaf with the faint heat from the very thinly sliced jalapenos, crunch from the rice crisps with the silky fish.

SCALLOBUT (Scallop and Halibut Cheek) with flavors of puttanesca, artichoke

I loved the scallop part of the dish, so smooth and silky and really went well with the various sauces and boldly flavored accompaniments on the dish.  There was a parsley puree, capers, anchovy (I love anchovies), and it was sprinkled with Kalamata olive powder.  I found the halibut cheek (on the right) to be a little dry.

WAGYU BEEF TONGUE AND FRIED EGG: radish, beet, arugula, beans

 This was a nice, somewhat deconstructed salad.  The beef tongue was chilled, as was the beets, radish and fresh arugula.  The egg was breaded, probably with panko crumbs and then fried, but the yolk was still nice and runny once you cut into it.  It was sitting on a puree of refried? beans and there were little cubes of bacon for that extra meatiness.  It was a nice dish.

VADOUVAN LAMB CHOP: cauliflower, amaranth, mint

 The lamb chop was coated with vadouvan spices, which is a little like a French / North African inspired curry spice blend, served on top of a cauliflower puree and cauliflower couscous with pomegranate seeds, preserved lemon, mint and almonds.  The lamb chop was topped with a fois gras foam, which I thought was cool.  Unfortunately, this was probably the most disappointing dish of the evening.  I expected it to be bursting with flavors, but it was a little bland.  Also, my dining companions found the meat to be a little tough and chewy, although my chops were ok.  I just expected this dish to be the best when I saw it on the menu, but it turned out to be all of our least favorite dishes.

RICOTTA FRITTER: baby peach panna cotta, agave

I liked the rich, cool creaminess of the baby peach panna cotta paired with the warm savoriness of the ricotta fritter. 

MACADAMIA "SPONGE CAKE:" textures of strawberries

This was Marcel's version of strawberry shortcake and while it looks deceptively simple, it was actually quite interesting.  There was a sprinkling of ground pepper on the plate and the foam to the left was peppery as well, which I think was an interest contrast to the strawberries and highlighted the flavor of the strawberry.  On top of the strawberry foam to the left was a sphere of fizzy strawberry that burst when you put it in your mouth.  It was interesting.  I didn't particularly care for the sponge cake as it was dry, but I did like the various peppery strawberry flavors.

We had a decent 2008 Argentinian pinot noir which was very drinkable and went well with our meal.  Overall, we enjoyed our meal; it wasn't perfect, but we did have a couple of dishes that we liked very much.  It was just enough food for me, although some of my dining companions were still hungry.  I'll be very interested to see what Marcel does next!  Service was pretty good; they did a nice job in describing the (complex) dishes.  It was pretty empty when we showed up at 6:30pm but packed by the time we left.  Overall, I liked the experience better than my previous Red Medicine experience at Test Kitchen.  I'm really disappointed that I missed Michael Voltaggio during his one night stint at Test Kitchen; I'll have to do a better job at checking in to see who's coming in next.

Test Kitchen
9575 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA  90035
Reservations can be made through Opentable

Belgian Ale Flight and Another Stout Flight

Rich, W. and K. were over last night and we tried out some more new and interesting beers.  Upon my request, we started with a Belgian Ale flight as Belgian Ales are generally my favorite kind of beers.  Not too bitter (hoppy), not too fruity, just enough spice and fruit to keep it interesting while still refreshing.

We had two trappist ales (made by monks), the Orval and the Trappistes Rochefort 10.  We also had a Tripel Karmeliet, which has always been one of my favorite Belgian Ales.  The Rochefort 10 was a quadruple, which also made it the strongest and most alcoholic, and the Tripel was a triple (duh).  What was interesting to me is that when we started drinking it, the beers were actually too cold and didn't have much flavor, in the taste or the finish.  However, once they started warming up, the flavors really started becoming more pronounced and complex.  The Orval grew on me, but I still preferred the Rochefort 10 and the Tripel; I felt like the Orval's finish was too short and overall it wasn't as complex as the other two.  Still perfectly drinkable though. I enjoyed the Rochefort 10; it was very rich and started to taste more porter / stout-ish, with some oakiness and smoky flavors.  It's pretty strong though, so I wouldn't drink more than a couple of sips.  I still like the tripel; crisp with some spice and citrus and an almost creamy long finish .  It was really interesting to taste them all side by side, they were all incredibly different.

Next, we had a lovely dessert-esque stout flight:

We had Southern Tier's Imperial Creme Brulee stout, Great Divide's Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout and AleSmith's Speedway Stout.  I loved the Creme Brulee Stout, so rich and tasted just like dessert!  It just tasted like vanilla buttercream frosting to me.  I think it was a little too sweet for some, but I enjoyed the taste.  Probably couldn't have more than a few sips though.  I also liked the Yeti.  By this point though, the beers were starting to blend together.  I can't really describe the Speedway Stout.  It was good, but I think I preferred the other two.  I think the Speedway was a little more bitter.  Good times!

Another discovery: I went to Bevmo, a large California chain liquor store, for the first time, which just opened about 5 minutes from my house.  They had a really impressive beer selection (to me, a novice); about three aisles of mostly craft / imported beers.  It was actually a lot better and bigger than Whole Food's selection, which is where I usually pick up my craft and imported beers.  Prices were a lot more reasonable too; the Tripel usually goes for 11.99 at Whole Foods and was 9.99 at Bevmo.  I was also impressed by their liquor selection; better than most wine stores.  I didn't spend much time looking through it, but I'm not so impressed by their wine selection.  They were having their famous 5 cent sale (buy a selected bottle, get a second for 5 cents), but I wasn't interested in any of the wines.  They all seemed to be mass-produced wines; nothing intriguing to me.  I've cut down a bit on my wine purchasing and generally buy from a small selection of mostly Pinot Noir mailing lists to maintain my allocations (this year, I only bought Kosta Browne, Rivers Marie, Sea Smoke, and Copain), or at wineries / vineyards during wine tasting.  Otherwise, I buy everyday drinkers (<$12) from Costco (usually the Norton Malbec) or Wine House (usually Italian wines and sometimes South American wines).


Bevmo
3212 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 453-5600

Lululemon Fall Purchases

I finally got my jeggings (jean / leggings), the Lululemon polocrosse pants in black denim after much persistence and patience.  I really didn't want to pay full price for them, and Lululemon only has a 14 day return window (and on full price items only), so I had to buy and return them a few times and continually check in on all the stores in my area for markdowns (all stores and online price differently, which is annoying), before I finally saw some other colors marked down in the Santa Monica store last week.  They didn't have any in my size, so I had to convince them to give me a price adjustment on the pair I ordered online.  They gave me a little bit of a hard time, saying that they don't do price adjustments, but made a special exception for me.  It was a little annoying, but the end result was good, so I'm happy.  I'm totally in love with these pants; I've been wearing my black pair all the time, so it'll be good to have another pair to alternate it with.  They are dressier than regular yoga pants with the right shoes and top; I wear them out to dinner and around town all the time.

Yesterday, on my home from an awesome, but ridiculously sweaty yoga class with Meaghan Townsend at Up Dog (she's my favorite new teacher that I've tried in a long time and also the owner / founder of Up Dog), I rewarded myself with pair of pants that I've had my eyes on for a long time: the Dance Studio Pants II in coal.  I've been debating about them for so long because they are inexpensive I probably wouldn't work out in them (and that's the point of Lululemon clothes for me); they are more of a casual around town pant, but they are the most wonderfully comfortable pants that I've ever tried on, great for those days when you don't want to wear something tight.  They remind me of my circa 1998 Abercrombie and Fitch track pants with the stripe down the leg that I still wear today, but even better. The fabric is very soft, and not shiny slick track pant-ish (and doesn't make noise when you walk), and the fit is just the right balance between loose, but still streamlined silhouette with some attractive ruching for style down the side and in the back.  I debated for the longest time between the size 2 and 4 for the longest time and ultimately went for the 4 for comfort.  What finally pushed me over the edge was my upcoming trip to Asia; these will be the perfect pants for those long flights.  I'm actually looking forward to the fall weather so that I can wear my new pants.  I'm not planning on wearing jeans this winter if I can avoid it; I'll be living in these new pants and my yoga pants all the time.

EAT, Pray, Love: The Movie

Last night, my mom and I went to see Eat, Pray, Love.  Both of us have read the book, so we were excited to see the movie in the theaters.  I think because we had already read the books, we enjoyed the movie more than others, since we knew more of the backstories that weren't shown in the films.  It's always challenging adapting a book into a two hour movie, particularly this book, with its three distinctive parts in Rome, India and Bali.  It's just hard to fully flesh out each section with all the characters and experiences.  I could see how people who haven't read the book would have difficulty getting into the movie, but I got into it and enjoyed actually seeing the lovely places and cultures from the book.  The book has also gotten mixed reviews, but I quite liked it.  Not so much the main character, the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, but more the adventures and experiences in the three very different places.  At times, like many others, I found the main character melodramatic, selfish and co-dependent, but for me, the book wasn't really about her personal journey of self-discovery, as it was exactly that, personal and something I didn't really relate to, but more about the wonderful places she went and the interesting people she met.  In fact, it was reading the book that inspired my trip to Rome a few months later and my trip to Bali a year later.  Rome and Bali are now two of my favorite places in the world, Bali being my favorite place in the world.  I went to Rome to eat (and see some historical sites along the way) and it did not disappoint.  I had some of the most memorable meals in my life in Rome, plus I found it quite reasonably priced.  Bali is my favorite place and I've been there twice in two years and am trying to convince K. to go again with me next month.  I love everything about it, the beauty, the spirituality, the tranquility, the people and also the delicious food.

Rome Colosseum

Rome Spanish Steps

The Vatican

Yabu: Cold Soba for the Scorching Heat

My favorite food in the world for hot days like these is cold noodles.  For our local noodle fix, we go to Yabu in West LA on Pico.  They are known particularly for their homemade soba, but have a variety of small dishes which are always delicious.  We usually order the goma ai (spinach with sesame), homemade cold tofu, shrimp shumai, gingko nuts, beef tataki, and my mom and I usually order soba, while K. orders udon and dad orders yakitori.  Something for everyone.  My favorite cold soba is the yamakake soba; so refreshing and I enjoy the slippery coolness of the yamakake.  It's a really good hangover cure as well.  For hot soba, I like the duck soba; flavorful duck in the warm clear broth with scallions.  It's a casual place, with lots of families with young kids and drunk older men at the sushi bar, and relatively reasonably priced.

Beef tataki: beef carpaccio lightly peppered and seared on the outside with a nice citrus / ponzu marinade

Chicken meatballs.  Nanbankan is better, more delicate

Mmmm...beer...icy cold Kirin...

Mushroom cold soba.  Not a huge fan of the mushrooms; they didn't have much flavor and were difficult too eat, too slippery

Yamakake soba, my favorite

Blurry shrimp shumai, one of K's favorite food in the world, tasty with a little bit of mustard

Yabu Restaurant
11820 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 473-9757

Late September Farmer's Markets

We've been on a really good farmer's market streak over the summer; I don't think I've missed a weekly farmer's market run for at least the past month, maybe longer.  In some cases, like last week, I've even gone twice to two different markets! I think there's something about the summer and warm weather that inspires the desire to eat lots of fresh produce and fruit.  I've also been entertaining a lot and want the best for my guests too!

On Wednesday, I saw the beginnings of fall produce; a couple of stands with pomegranates, apples, and butternut squash / acorn squash.  We bought mixed salad greens, spinach, string beans, pomegranates (not very good, should still wait a couple of weeks), grapes, avocados, okra and bitter melon.

Nothing more fall-like than squashes

I like how they called the apples ugly but tasty

I think apples may be better on the east coast

Not sure exactly what dragon fruit is, but it's pretty

I'm a big fan of okra, sauteed simply with some soy paste

Grapes still looking good and getting cheaper; $2.50 /lb for organic isn't bad