EFFEN Vodka Party at La Vida

EFFEN is a wheat-based vodka from Holland that is targeted for the club scene and "younger drinkers."

EFFEN boasts their focus on "design" as evidenced by the good looking box and bottle its product comes in, along with the rubber grip of the bottle, which will make busy bartenders' lives much easier. Rushing and grabbing bottles in a busy night club? Yep I can see how a gripping a glass bottle will be hard and how that rubber sleeve would really help.

Photo courtesy of EFFEN

It's also evidenced by the EFFEN by Design events they've been putting on around the country. I was invited to one held at La Vida in Hollywood. They had invited Vanessa de Vargas, an interior designer, to speak about interesting architecture in Los Angeles. The four cocktails (created by La Vida's even director) are named after historical and architectural landmarks like The Parker and The Coonley Playhouse.
Two of the four cocktails were made with the plain EFFEN vodka while the other two were made using the black cherry flavored vodka. The regular vodka runs at $25.99 at BevMo - not a bad price - though the Black Cherry flavor seems to run above $30.

La Vida's new executive chef is the former Chef de Cuisine at Rivera, Joseph Panarello. While I didn't get to have a full meal here, the passed hors d'oeuvres did give an idea of what he was doing at his new gig.
We all loved these little lamb chops. I probably ate about four. I'm looking forward to having a full dinner here soon.


Disclosure: The party was hosted by EFFEN vodka and I received a bottle of their regular vodka.

Get Ready for Hungry Cat's CrabFest VI ! (CrabFest V Recap)

June 27, exactly a month from now, marks CrabFest VI at The Hungry Cat in Hollywood. That not only meant that I had to call and make a reservation immediately, but I also better hurry and review ... last year's CrabFest V.

Shows you how much I procrastinate. Wow.

CrabFest at The Hungry Cat happens one Sunday a year, where a crab-centric prix fixe menu takes over the restaurant. Last year's $60 menu included 5 courses + 2 sides.

Bartender Matty Eggleston has long since been gone from Hungry Cat, but he had developed the cocktail menu there at the time. I'm not sure how much of it had changed, perhaps not at all.

The ones manning the bars that day made solid drinks and Matty was actually on his day off and was eating crab at the counter.

I didn't like the drink I ordered but I loved the Black Eyed Plum that LA&OC Foodie ordered, made with plum, lime, and cachaca.



Our feast started with the Crab Roll "amuse", sitting enticingly in front of me.
I loved the creamy crab salad, not overwhelmed by the mayo, it let the fresh and sweet Maryland blue crab meat shone through. I loved it on top of the crisply toasted dinner roll. Too bad this was an "amuse" and I only got one. If this was a la carte, I would've ordered another.

"Pride of Baltimore" crab soup, grilled bacon fat, cornbread.
A hearty bowl full of crab flavor. I don't know if you can see it, but there was a lot of crab meat floating in the bowl.

Whole pan-roasted softshell crab, haricot verts, pancetta, corn.
This was probably my favorite course of the day. Not heavily seasoned, the focus is on the crispy yet meaty soft shell crab with a big burst of juice when you bite into it. The juice from the crab combined with the pancetta was decadent, but the haricot vert is there to cut it.

Two sides were served to provide a break from all the crab: tomato and pecorino cheese, and potato salad.
The juicy tomatoes were pretty impressive, and it paired nicely with the mild sharpness of pecorino.

The main attraction came with little wooden mallets. Steamed Maryland blue crab, six for each person.
Sure, cracking the crab for the meat was a lot of work, but it's all part of the fun, and the sweet crab meat inside is well worth the effort.

The aftermath:
That might or might not be all mine. Uhm.

For dessert: peach crisp.
It was unfortunately served cold. Cold crisp, really? It was okay, and perhaps they would be too overwhelmed with the crowd if they have to heat up their crisps for each person, but I would've enjoyed the dessert more if they did.

Well, regardless. We came for CrabFest. The steamed crabs and the rest of the crab courses were well worth the $60.

Here are LA&OC Foodie's and Mattatouille's much more timely reports of the same feast.

The Hungry Cat
1535 North Vine
Hollywood, CA
323-462-2155

Pizza Fusion: Going Vegan and Gluten-Free for a Night

Pizza Fusion is NOT a vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free place.
It does, however, carry options for all of the above, and is pretty well-known for their gluten free crust, giving those with celiac disease the rare opportunity to eat a pizza. So when the owners of Pizza Fusion invited me over to taste the food they offer, I decided to try these vegan and gluten-free stuff for myself.

DISCLAIMER: I went for an invited tasting, so we ate for free.

I went with LA & OC Foodie, the perfect partner in crime since he was doing a Meatless April (and I guess now he's attempting a Meatless May too ... tsk tsk.)

I don't know if Pizza Fusion is the first sustainable chain, but this franchise that started in Miami not only serves organic and sustainable products but also didn't stray from their environmental mission in building their locations. Even their floors, walls and toilets.

Pizza Fusion carries some microbrewery beers on taps and also a selection of organic wines. LA & OC Foodie ordered a flight of 4 beers (20 oz total, %10).
I don't remember what beers he ordered but I remembered I liked the Unibroue Blanche de Chambly the best.

I opted for the lemonade instead ($3.00) at first... I gave in and got a beer later - the Blanche de Chambly. Uhm.
The lemonade is not too sweet like most others, which makes it even more refreshing and thirst quenching.

The owner recommended the stuffed zucchini, "Zucchini al Forno" ($6.99), so we got an order of those too.
Roasted zucchini stuffed with walnuts and vegetarian stuffing. We definitely didn't miss the meat or the chicken/turkey broth in this, the stuffing had plenty of flavors already. Perhaps too much actually. I thought the zucchini didn't need so much stuffing and less would actually balance the flavors better. I did enjoy the texture that the walnuts gave to this.

Because those flip-up menus and ads sometimes do work and this looked good, we got a half order of the Pear & Gorgonzola salad ($5.99)
Using great fresh products, can't go wrong with this salad.

We ended up getting a non-vegan (but vegetarian since LA & OC Foodie is doing his meatless April!) on a gluten-free crust, and a vegan pizza (with vegan cheese) on a normal crust. Hedging our bets, so to speak.

Here's the Farmer's Market Pizza with Gluten-Free crust (personal size, $9.99)

As you can see below, the gluten free crust is noticeable thinner than a normal thin crust. It's rather cracker-like also, probably what one would expect from a non-gluten crust.

For the vegan cheese at Pizza Fusion, you have 2 options: either the Follow Your Heart soy cheese, or the Daiya cheese for a bit extra - $0.50-$1, can't remember. Because Quarry Girl raved about the Daiya cheese (which she then asked Pizza Fusion to carry), we opted to try it.

We got this cheese on the Very Vegan pizza (personal size, $8.99+extra for Daiya).
Upon first taste, Daiya cheese certainly had strong flavors, one that you wouldn't expect from a vegan cheese, and one that you wouldn't get from the Follow Your Heart soy cheese (according to LA & OC Foodie)

I ended up liking the normal-cheese-gluten-free-crust pizza better but LA & OC Foodie liked the vegan-cheese-normal-crust better.
It's certainly wonderful that those with celiac disease can have things they normally wouldn't be able to at Pizza Fusion, like the pizza, and also brownies. We tried a gluten-free vegan brownie ($4.99) a la mode (with vanilla gelato - not vegan).
The brownie was surprisingly chocolate-y and decadent, almost reminiscent of fudge though not as rich and thick. It was moist but the flavors are there, although the texture was just a little bit off. Not necessarily bad, but I definitely noticed a difference between this gluten free version and others.

I have some vegan friends and I also know a couple of people with celiac disease. It was really nice to find this place so I can take him later and let him have some pizza and brownie. Personally though, I'd still go with the bbq chicken, sinful cheese, and gluten crust :P Luckily, Pizza Fusion has all that, too. Something for everyone.

They also have the following weekly specials, in case you're planning a visit!
Vegan Monday- Free Daiya Cheese Upgrade on Any Pizza or Free Vegan Strawberry Sorbet on any Large Vegan Pizza Soy or Daiya
Wine and Dine Tuesday- Up to $20 off Organic/ Sustainable Bottles of Wine
Draft Beer Wednesday- $1 off Any Draft Beer
Gluten-Free Thursday- Free Gluten-Free Vegan Brownie with Any Large Gluten Free Pizza


Pizza Fusion - Hollywood
7950 W. Sunset Blvd.
Suite 104
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 375-3390
www.pizzafusion.com/hollywood/

Kabuki: Sake, Sushi, Hollywood.

When a media invite came from Kabuki Hollywood came in my mailbox, I had doubts. It wasn't their fault because I had never been, but because my last experience at a popular/hip sushi place in Hollywood involved a bone in my toro (*cough* geisha house *cough*). But the desire to meet their sake master sommelier Yuji Matsumoto outweighed any reservation, and so I went.

Despite the swank interior, Kabuki's price point is actually cheap, especially considering it's a sushi joint in the Hollywood/Vine area (their rolls start at $3.95).

Photo courtesy of Kabuki Hollywood

Kabuki's sake list isn't extensive but had something for everyone. For our meal Yuji Matsumoto prepared three types of chilled sake.
We started with the lightest body sake (from right to left): Kikusui 'Junmai Ginjo' Niigata, Mizbasho Ginjo Gunma, Nanbu Bijin 'Tokubetsu Junmai' Iwate.
I loved loved the Nanbu Bijin, which probably meant I like heavier body sake. Or maybe that the Nanbu Bijin is just awesome.

Our meal started with their five new dishes which have been around in Kabuki in Las Vegas and Arizona but are new to the LA locations.

I was happily surprised to see a plate of ahi poke as the first of these new dishes.
This Hawaiian dish is somewhat hard to find in Los Angeles, especially among not-so-fresh version at Whole Foods and not-quite-the-poke-I-remember versions at various places around town, but Kabuki's version is fragrant with the sesame oil and seeds, complemented well by the wakame and is actually quite like what I remembered from Honolulu.

The yellowtail carpaccio is a rendition of Nobu's original yellowtail carpaccio, but at probably half the price (although with thinner slices of fish).
The jalapeno slices make the dish. Don't eat a slice of fish without a jalapeno.

Because some of the new dishes came out of the Midwest location, we see major influence from the Mexican cuisine in their new Baja Roll.
California roll topped with spicy sauce and salsa, pretty interesting.

They also had lasagna sushi: california roll topped with melted cheese. Some of you will probably balk at the notion of cheese on top of sushi, but seeing that cream cheese in sushi like Philadelphia rolls had become so mainstream, I guess why not cheese?

After trying out their new items, we got some nigiri sushi, including some toro.
I actually thought the pieces of fish themselves were not bad at all, they are pretty fresh, good quality fish for the price. What's lacking for me was their rice, though. Too dense, too cold, too hard for my taste. Although not every piece had cold rice, I did get a couple of the inconsistently cold ones, if I had to do over I'd probably order the sashimi platter like another blogger did.
The sashimi comes with a special condiment that I actually really liked and thought as quite unique: chopped wasabi stems. This has a nice texture and fragrance to it on top of the kick.

For my main entree I got one of their signature dishes, the Koshou Beef
A bit overcooked and so the beef was a bit tough, but the flavors were good.

Kabuki has won awards for their Kid's menu, and their choices of kids' sushi, teriyaki, bbq ribs, or tempura are printed on a fun playbook that teaches them about sushi and sea creatures. I dare say it's healthier than the chicken nuggets on my kid's menu. Oh, and they get Calpico soda, too.

Photo from Kabuki Hollywood

As you can imagine, Kabuki has a much more extensive dessert menu than most Japanese restaurants. Between the almost-dozen of us there, we tried pretty much a bit of all of them from the Chocolate Pyramid Anglaise that has more of the consistency of ice cream, to the "Freddo" which is pretty much a bowl of asian shaved ice with all the usual toppings - can't go wrong with that.

My favorite dessert was the coconut sorbet in the shell, complete with bits of coconut inside.

With their low price point, it's easy to see Kabuki as the better dining options in that area (in fact, the place was pretty busy for a rainy weeknight) and I was pretty happy with the quality of the food we got for what it was. Granted I haven't really eaten sushi rolls in years (except for that time I was stuck in Los Alamos for 2 weeks and ate a sushi roll with green chile - new menu idea for Kabuki?) but I certainly know people whose idea of a sushi meal equals creative, westernized rolls. They do have pretty good fish on hand, if they work on their rice a bit they can be much better.

Kabuki
1545 Vine St
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 464-6003

Grub: Top Chef Betty Fraser's Cozy Home

Top chef contestant Betty Fraser and grub gal pal Denise deCarlo outfitted a 1920's duplex in Hollywood into the home of their cozy restaurant, Grub. Their brunch service has gotten plenty of positive feedback and even won Citysearch's Best Brunch award.

They recently started their dinner service and wanted to get more word out, and since we met during The Food Event, Chef Betty invited me and a friend over to try out their dinner on the house.

Going to Grub felt like going to a friend's house during the holidays. From the patio seating to the warm interior decorated with christmas lights and a motley selection of artwork, Grub's feel is casual at its best.
Even though it was pouring outside, Grub had a steady trickle of customers who are obviously neighborhood locals. Not surprised, a charming place like this would be a neighborhood destination for sure.

Instead of bread, Grub serves a basket of vegetable sticks and pretzels with dip - a fun change.
Grub has a pretty cheap drink menu with $4.25 sangrias and lemon basil champagne cocktail that sounds absolutely delicious, but I decided not to indulge that night and went with a blueberry lemonade instead. They give you a big glass of this really refreshing drink for $2.50.

Per our waiter's recommendation, for appetizer we got "Our Famous Spicy Lemon Hummus" ($6.25)
I wasn't expecting to get hummus here, but this really was quite good. The hummus was full of flavor it was hard for me to stop eating it.

Grub has a pretty big dinner menu with a lot of 'green' and salad choices and sandwiches, but this night I went with their California Crab Cake ($16.95)
The crabcake was unexpectedly spicy! I ended up not eating most of it since I couldn't really handle the spice (me=weaksauce), luckily the greens helped keep the spiciness at bay. The highlight of this dish for me was actually the creamed corn - also spiced up. A bit of spice, plus the sweetness of the corn all molded together in cream was so good. (Disclaimer: I'm a total corn lover)

I did think the crabcake's portion was small especially compared to the steak. My friend ordered the Drunken Steak ($21.95)
Marinated in Stone Pale Ale and cooked to medium rare, this steak was super tender. It was a little bland for me to just eat the meat though, but the mushroom onion pan sauce took care of that.

We were stuffed but I've been eyeing their dessert menu. Their smallest item thought 1/4 of their Big-Ass ice cream cookie sandwich, so they split that for us.
Here's 1/8 of a Big-Ass Ice Cream Cookie sandwich:
Still pretty big and definitely pushed me over the edge! But talk about indulging, there's nothing better than chewy chocolate cookies and ice cream.

Grub also offers a big selection of sandwiches and burgers and a variety of their famous mac-n-cheese which I want to try next time.
And I definitely can't wait to try their award winning brunch.

Grub
911 Seward St
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 461-3663
www.grub-la.com

DineLA 2010 Restaurant Week Launch! What's on Your Agenda?

The 2010 Dine LA Restaurant Week is here! Has everyone started dining out?

Last week Dine LA held a launch party at the Hollywood Roosevelt and dozens of Los Angeles chefs, restaurateurs, and media people gathered over cocktails served up by the Library Bar.
Starting from the refreshing arugula gimlet to the interesting umami-driven-but-I-probably-can't-drink-a-whole-glass-of Shiitake Manhattan (shiitake infused bourbon, yes) to the sweet strawberry cocktail as a finisher, Library Bar was hard at work to keep us happy.
My favorite was definitely the arugula gimlet. I haven't been to Library Bar before but am definitely planning a visit after this party!

We mingled over Mexican food provided by the Roosevelt hotel, me trying to find all the LA chefs around and listening to Villairaigosa gave a short speech.
Chefs in attendance were almost everyone in town from Joachim Splichal, Ludo Lefebvre, John Sedlar, Ben Bailly, Mark Gold, Josie Le Balch, Akira Hirose, Keizo Ishiba, and many many more.

On one of the tables they had a chef's coat that all the chefs in attendance had been signing. I recognized Josie, Neal Fraser, and David Myers among others (it's hard to read signatures :P )
I wonder what they'll do with this coat ... it might fetch a fun price for an auction!

During the launch party they also released their Los Angeles chefs/restaurants family tree, the first ever! It looks something like this, but is actually more interactive than that, so you should just go on their website and check it out.

It's quite interesting to see which restaurants have been responsible for launching these great chefs! Spago, Campanile, and Patina are definitely some of the more productive ones.

Dine LA has also been running a DineLA-a-Day! daily giveaway of $100 certificates to various restaurants! You can check out this page for the day's giveaway, and be sure to look at the hints (you may need to refer to the family tree).

So far here's my agenda (and other tentative plans):
Lunch at Cube
Lunch at Fogo de Chao
Petrossian
The Lazy Ox Canteen
Ortolan

If you still can't decide from the menu, feel free to check out my old dineLA reviews.

Checking out BoHo at 50% Off

Back in May, BoHo had an awesome special: 50% off all food on Tuesdays.
Thanks to Twitter, Choisauce and I managed to set up a last minute dinner date and off to BoHo we go.

Many many foodbloggers told us to get the Oyster Po' Boy sliders so we listened.

Fried Oyster Po'Boy Sliders (gougeres, tartar sauce, applewood bacon, arugula - $9)
Best dish of the night, for sure!! There were four sliders per order, 4 hot and crunchy fried oyster in puffy gougeres. The juicy fried oysters were so addicting! We wanted to get another order but we have so much food coming still ...

Ratatouille (baby summer squashes, eggplant, roasted peppers, tomato - $8)
The ratatouille was not at all like what I thought ratatouille should be like, to say the least.
Rather bland and uh .. "healthy tasting", none of us actually digged this.

Hot oven-roasted beets (goat cheese, lemon-onion confit - $8)
The beets were your standard beet/goat cheese dish

Baked Fennel pizza (applewood bacon, caramelized onion, gruyere - $14)
The fennel pizza was actually pretty good although Choisauce said the one at Church & State was inarguably better.

Beef Short rib Shepherd's Pie (baby carrots, mushroom, red wine, Yukon potato mash, Vermont white cheddar - $16)
Another dish that didn't look anything like what it's supposed to be -- a pie, in this case. Not a bad dish - solid and comforting on a cold night.

Pile o' Ribs (applewood smoked baby back ribs, Belgian fries, bbq sauce - $19)
The ribs themselves were not bad at all, pretty tender. What we were confused about is the sauce in the metal container. It wasn't ketchup for the fries. It wasn't quite your typical BBQ sauce either ...

Besides the awesome oyster sliders, the rest of the dishes were pretty good but not particularly notable. But then the desserts came .... Oh, those desserts!

Summer Peach crisp (almond streusel, vanilla bean ice cream - $8)
I love peach crisps, and this was a really good one, with a great scoop of vanilla bean ice cream to boot.

Brown Butter Blueberry Tart - $8
We all had a hard time choosing which dessert was our favorite ... I believe this one ended up being Choisauce's favorite though.

Chocolate cake bread pudding, vanilla bean ice cream - $8
The heaviest of the dessert, so rich and decadent. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I love this dessert! Among the three, I was having a real hard time deciding too ... maybe the crisp after all?

It's too bad BoHo is no longer offering 50% Tuesdays, but even without that I would go any night for the oyster po boy sliders and the desserts. The rest (so far) I can do without, tho I heard the burger was good.

BoHo
6372 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 465-8500
bohorestaurant.com