Archive for the 'Small Plates' Category

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MB Post – Los Angeles (Manhattan Beach)

Published by Gastronomer on June 15, 2011 in Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Media Event (this meal was free), New American, Restaurant Review and Small Plates. 6 Comments

It usually takes a lot of convincing to get me to dine anywhere west of Hollywood on a weeknight, but all it took was a straightforward invitation for me to make the trek out to Manhattan Beach Post to try Chef David LeFevre’s food. LeFevre is a former industrial engineer who honed his cooking chops under Charlie Trotter before earning a Michelin star as the executive chef at Water Grill in downtown Los Angeles. M.B. Post is his first solo venture.

Chef LeFevre has ditched fine dining for family-style fare at his new beach-front digs. The rustic, soulful, and communal dishes coming out of the kitchen reflect the style of food that the chef personally enjoys preparing and eating.

Housed inside the town’s former post office, the setting is casual and boisterous. The Astronomer and I dined here on a Monday night, along with our friends Lien, Kat, and Christina, and the space was impressively packed. It turns out that the Manhattan Beach crowd was hungry for a “social house.”

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José Andrés Washington D.C. Restaurant Tour: Minibar, Café Atlántico, Oyamel, Jaleo, Zaytinya

Published by Gastronomer on August 30, 2010 in Media Event (this meal was free), Mexican, Molecular Gastronomy, Small Plates, Spanish and Washington D.C.. 15 Comments

A tour of D.C.’s food scene wouldn’t be complete without examining Chef José Andrés‘ restaurant empire. The Think Food Group owns five highly lauded eateries in the metropolitan area: Minibar by Jose Andrés, Café Atlántico, Oyamel, Jaleo, and Zaytinya. Located within walking distance of one another in Penn Quarter, each restaurant has a different vibe and a distinct culinary viewpoint.

On our second day in the city, we enjoyed a progressive lunch at Chef Andrés’ restaurants. My feelings were lukewarm at best after dining at The Bazaar by Jos é Andrés in Los Angeles, so this tour offered the perfect opportunity to experience the chef’s cuisine on his home turf. I was hoping to be wowed.

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Minibar by José Andrés

With Minibar tucked into the second floor of Café Atlántico, our first two stops turned out to be one in the same. The six seat Minibar (yep, just six seats!) serves an avant-garde tasting menu with upwards of 30 courses. “This is food that owes as much to art and science as it does to gastronomy, food that is as much about the brain and eye as it is about the tongue and stomach, food that forces the diner to rethink food and its presentation,” states the restaurant’s website.

As a tremendous fan of Spanish molecular gastronomy, I was most excited to experience Minibar. Unfortunately, we were only given a taste, literally and figuratively, of what the restaurant had to offer.

“Olives Ferran Adria” arrived on a porcelain spoon in a shallow pool of olive oil. The spherified green olive encompassed all the qualities of a great olive, minus the proper texture. I’ve experienced these spheres dozens of times, but the sensation of the thin membrane popping and unleashing a flood of flavored liquid never gets old. [Watch Ferran Adria and José Andrés explain the spherification process here.]

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Last Day in Spain: Breakfast in Girona, Lunch in Figueres, Dinner in Barcelona (a side of Dalí, too)

Published by Gastronomer on August 16, 2010 in Barcelona, Figueres, Girona, Middle Eastern, Restaurant Review, Small Plates and Spanish. 8 Comments

Our last day in Spain began bright and early. The Astronomer and I grabbed breakfast at the train station—a flaky croissant for him and a ham and cheese sandwich with a tall cup of orxata for her—before leaving Girona for the town of Figueres. The simple fare was just what we needed to get us through the morning.

We arrived in Figueres an hour later, slightly groggy, but also very excited. We penciled in a half-day in the city to visit the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a museum designed by the artist to honor his hometown. Home to hundreds of Dalí’s original works, the museum is a must-see for anyone visiting Catalonia.

On our walk from the train station to the museum, we encountered a portrait of Dalí reflected onto a mirrored cylinder. It was definitely one of the coolest and most innovative public art pieces I have ever seen.

In true Dalí fashion, the museum’s facade was a spectacle. I couldn’t decide which element was more visually arresting—the giant eggs teetering around the perimeter or the gold Oscar-like statues holding down the fort. Or maybe it was the sky-high trees that were perfectly coiffed.

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San Sebastian Pintxos Crawl: Bar Zeruko, A Fuego Negro, Gandarias Taberna

Published by Gastronomer on June 14, 2010 in Restaurant Review, San Sebastian, Small Plates and Spanish. 21 Comments

In Basque Country, tapas are referred to as pintxos, and the hours between lunch and dinner are dedicated to the sport. It’s customary to order a small bite and drink at each bar, consume them jollily on the premise, and then move on to the next joint. Grazing is the name of the game, and one should feel properly full and slightly tipsy by the end of the night.

Whereas the bars in Barcelona and Madrid kept their tapas behind glass cases along the bar, in San Sebastian, the pintxos were beautifully laid out for all to see, covet, and drool over. The Astronomer and I dedicated one evening to exploring the city’s pintxos scene. We had a list of buzzed-about places in hand, but in the end, we trusted our eyes and noses to lead us in the tastiest direction.

Our first stop on the San Sebastian pintxos crawl was Bar Zeruko. We hadn’t planned on dropping in here, but the extensive collection of colorful and unique pintxos on display proved impossible to resist. The Astronomer and I ordered two glasses of cava and tucked into a few choice morsels. We tried to limit ourselves to one dish apiece, but ended up greedily hoarding more.

Our first bite was an egg-on-egg extravaganza consisting of fluorescent caviar paired simply and successfully with a slice of hard-boiled egg.

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Cata 1.81 – Barcelona

Published by Gastronomer on May 31, 2010 in Barcelona, Restaurant Review, Small Plates and Spanish. 9 Comments

After days of indulging in stick-to-your-bones traditional Catalan fare, The Astronomer and I were ready to sample some of the region’s modern cooking. We hoped to visit Albert Adria’s Bar Inopia and Carles Abellan’s Comerç 24 to satisfy this portion of our culinary itinerary, but we were turned away when we visited. A note to travelers similarly guided by their stomachs: you’ll have to arrive early to get a seat at Inopia, and for Comerç 24 you should make a reservation several weeks in advance. It’s also best to visit the city on Tuesday through Saturday to avoid limited restaurant options.

Fortunately, a great dining alternative is never far away in a food-centric city like Barcelona. After a bit of research, The Astronomer suggested that we head to Santi Olivella’s Cata 1.81. Slightly larger than a shoebox, Cata 1.81 is a pioneer of modern tapas. The restaurant is also known for its stellar wine collection and market-influenced menu.

The dining room is bright white with even brighter orange accents. I loved that every table was carved out in the center to create a sturdy well for wine bottles, decorative floral arrangements, and even the bread basket.

The Astronomer and I were served a mountain of olives during our two and a half week stay in Spain, but none tasted as delicious as the ones served here. The language barrier kept us from getting the full story on how they were made, but we had an inkling that soy sauce was the secret ingredient that took off the olives’ characteristically briny edge.

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