Bouchon is Too Subtle for My Taste Buds

Last November, I was lucky to be invited to the Private Grand Opening of Bouchon and although it was a fun experience, I definitely wanted to go back and a sit down meal. Finally, a few months a later, I went with friends for a Sunday lunch. It was definitely a different vibe from my last experience. Literally, day and night, but it was a relaxing 3 hours that gave us a chance to catch up.

One thing I love about my friends is that we enjoy dining family-style, even from a la carte menus. That's how four out of six of us were able to share 10+ dishes, as a way to experience more of Bouchon's menu. However, the meal started with their housemade bread, which was crusty on the outside and soft in the inside. It was so good, we asked for one more.

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As we were enjoying the bread, our appetizers started arriving. The first one I tried was the Poireaux en Vinaigrette et Oeufs (mimosa chilled leeks, piquillo peppers, eggs mimosa and a red wine vinaigrette) and I thought it was okay. I liked eating into the leeks, but the egg was a dry crumble and just wasn't very appealing.

We also ordered a bowl of Moules (mussels). There's not much to say about them. Overall, they were fine as is.

The last appetizer to arrive was the Frisée aux Lardons et Oeuf Poché (frisée salad with lardons, poached egg, bacon vinaigrette and toasted brioche). I absolutely liked breaking into the egg and eating the runny yolk mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. Maybe, I'm just too much of a bacon person, but this salad needed more of it. I could taste hints from the bacon vinagrette, but it was too subtle for my taste.

Suffice to say, the appetizers we just had didn't do much for me; however, the complimentary charcuterie board with various meats and pickled veggies were way up my alley. I gravitated the most towards the beets and the duck proscuitto.

Now it was time for entrees, but not before we devoured everything on that charcuterie board. Two in our party opted to order their own individual entrees. One was the Croque Madame (toasted ham and cheese sandwich on brioche, fried egg and mornay sauce served with French fries) and the other was the Moules au Safran (Maine bouchot mussels steamed with white wine, mustard and saffron served with French fries). I actually did try one of the mussels with some of the broth spooned into it and it was absolutely delicious.

Along with the two entrees mentioned above, four others arrived with them. First, there was the Truite aux Amandes (pan-roasted trout with haricots verts, almonds and beurre noisette). The trout was beautifully presented and I also enjoyed eating the delicate white fish meat, although I found it a little bland overall.

One of the specials on the menu board was the open faced Tuna Nicoise Tartine and was highly recommended by our waiter. It was nicely prepared and it tasted fine, but just like the trout, it needed something else to take it up a notch, flavor wise. I almost wished that I had asked for pepper. That may have livened it up a bit or perhaps I'm expecting too much from a tuna sandwich.

The third entree was the Poulet Rôti Grand-Mère (roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes, button mushrooms, lardons, pearl onions and winter savory jus). Everything was there to make this a really good dish. There was crispy chicken skin to enjoy. I thought the sauce was seasoned well. I love all kinds of mushrooms. Unfortunately, the chicken breast was dry. Pouring the sauce on the chicken helped, but it would have been better if the meat itself was juicy.

Our final entree was the Plat de Côtes de Boeuf (red wine braised beef short ribs with caramelized Savoy cabbage, glazed sweet carrots, parsnips & jus de boeuf). If I hadn't tried the Moules au Safran, I would have said that this short rib was the best of the four. The beef was tender and the red wine added great flavor; however, that broth from the Moules au Safran and the mussel itself was absolutely stellar.

It was soon dessert time and we started with the Tarte au Citron (lemon tart), which I absolutely loved. Tart in all the right places and simple in its presentation. You don't need bells and whistles when something so simple can stand on its own.

Our second dessert was the Ile Flottante (meringue with vanilla creme anglaise, almond & caramel). I enjoyed the light texture of the creme anglaise and how this dessert wasn't overly sweet. It was just right.

Third to arrive was the Chocolate Bouchons, the signature dessert the restaurant is named for. It's a fudgy chocolate cake sprinkled with powdered sugar that is in a signature shape, similar to a cork. The chocolate bouchons aren't on the regular dessert menu, so if you do see it on their specials menu and you are a chocolate lover, this is one dessert you may want to consider ordering.

Last, but not least, we were served a complimentary Pot de Crème (infused custard), which came with short bread cookies. I would have been fine without it, although a smear of the custard on the short bread cookie was quite tasty.

To end, I enjoyed my time at Bouchon. The food was well prepared using great ingredients and the service was awesome. Our waiter really catered to us and when one of my friends asked if Chef Keller would pose for a group picture with us, he was happy to do so. They were also nice enough to let us take a peek into the kitchen.

There's definitely quite a few positives to Bouchon, but is it a restaurant I'd return to? Probably not in the near future, unless it's on someone else's dime. Overall, I just need my food to have stronger flavors with more zing for my tastebuds, which I didn't really get at Bouchon. For those who like more subtle flavors in the food they eat and can appreciate a fine dining experience, Bouchon offers that and more. For me, there's still a lot of restaurants on my to go list and I'm not getting any younger. :)

Bouchon
235 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 271-9910



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Winner Announced for Wine 102 Class and Lunch Giveaway

Thanks to all of you who participated in the Wine 102 Class and Lunch Giveaway from San Antonio Winery! After counting up all the various entries and running them through Random.org, a toast goes to Dao Nguyen (bluepupae) for being the winner. She and a guest will be enjoying a wonderful afternoon experiencing good wine and food at the San Antonio Winery on 02/21.

If you didn't win and you'd still like to go to the class, click here for more info! San Antonio Winery would love have you there.

Before you catch your breath, stay tuned for another awesome giveaway that will be posted this week. Maybe, you'll have better luck next time around.

Marvelous Mumbai Vegetarian Street Food at Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se

When it comes to choosing a restaurant to bring my dining group to for a meal, there are a lot of restaurants listed in my to go list. At times, it may take several months, even a year before I cross a restaurant off that list; however, as soon as I finished reading an LA Times Review about Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se, I knew I had to go there. Who could resist a restaurant that specializes in Mumbai Street Food? Within minutes, an outing appeared on my group's dining calendar and it took only minutes for the event to fill up. Apparently, I wasn't the only one interested in Mumbai street food.

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Before, I talk about our meal, I want to briefly talk about Owner, Sailesh Shah. A few days before this outing, I got an email from him offering to put tables and chairs together for our party as well as mentioning that if there's anything we needed from him, all we had to do was ask. When I did end up calling him with a couple of requests, he was more than happy to accommodate me and when we arrived, he was very welcoming. Another to mention is that when he talked about his food, there was such passion in his voice, that it was catching.

In fact, his whole family is passionate about food. Both Sailesh and his wife, Shruti, developed the recipes and do the majority of the cooking at the restaurant. Interestingly, there's one particular dish that only Sailesh will prepare because he has such exacting standards about how he wants it to turn out. For our lunch there, two of the 12 dishes we ordered were even prepared by his teenage daughter and 10 year old son. I already see a restaurant family dynasty in the making. You can read more about Sailesh and Shruti in the India Journal.

So let's get into the food now. Currently, the all-vegetarian menu at Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se consists of nearly 100 items and encompasses everything from Punjabi classics to South Indian standbys to Indochinese fusion cuisine, but for the purposes of our visit and with two exceptions, we centered our meal around the Mumbai Street Food mentioned in that LA Times article. The beginning of our 12 course meal started with the Dahi Batata Puri which are wheat puffs filled with potatoes, sprouted mung beans and black chana. They were topped with green and red sauces, fried noodles, cilantro and sweet yogurt. A puri is meant to be eaten in one bite so as to capture all the flavors, and the crunch of the crispy shell all at one time. The Dahi Batata Puri was definitely a wonderful bite. I enjoyed the textures and both the sweet and the little bit of heat that came from the ingredients.

Next to arrive was the Sev Puri which was a mixed flour cracker with potatoes, onions, splash of lemon, fried noodles and cilantro. I really enjoyed the crunch that came from both the cracker and the fried noodles and the lemon added a nice hint of tartness that was refreshing.

Before our next dish arrived, we all received our order of the Priyush. The Priyush is a housemade lassi drink with saffron, cardamon, almonds and pistachio. It's a drink that's been a part of the Indian culture for 100 to 200 years and is made from scratch at the restaurant. In fact, it actually takes 3 days to make. This is a must have drink. Actually, as soon as Sailesh told us about the ingredients, I was already sold. I really enjoyed the use of the cardamon and two types of nuts. It's creamy and just thick enough to enjoy without a straw.

Following the Priyush came the Sabuduna Vida with an outer layer made of tapioca and crushed peanuts and a filling of potatoes and green chilis. This particular item had an interesting texture that I didn't necessarily dislike, but wasn't in love with either. I'm not even sure how to describe it, but it was a little dry, chewy and stretchy but also had a little crunch from the peanuts. I actually enjoyed the filling more the than outer part, especially after adding a little spoonful of cilantro sauce which added some lovely peppery notes.

If you're only going to order one thing there, you have to get the Dabeli, a potato slider with Dabeli masala spices, pomegranate seeds, peanuts, green grapes and a tamarind and garlic sauce. While I wasn't so into the texture of the Sabuduna, I was all about the textures and the flavor combinations of the Dabeli. You get tart, sweet, sour, nutty and a little pungency fom the garlic sauce. Then there's the juicy crunch of the grapes and the pomegranate seeds and the nutty crunch of the peanuts. This was was one of my favorite items of our meal.

Soon, the Kachori arrived, which is deep fried wheat batter stuffed with green peas, coconut and spices. Green peas and coconut aren't ingredients I'd think to mix together as a filling and in all honesty, the Kachori wasn't a favorite. On its own, it tasted a little dry. It only improved with the addition of the cilantro sauce and in fact, I only liked it with the cilantro sauce.

Following the Kachori was the Samosa Chat, which was a deep fried samosa stuffed with potatoes, green peas, lentils and onions in a red and green sauce topped with cilantro. I've definitely had my share of samosas, but this was the first time that I've had it doused with different sauces. I actually didn't miss having a crispy samosa to bite into because those sauces really added more nuances of flavor than a samosa could ever have on its own.

Moving right along, it was time for the Dal Vada which were made up of roasted, crushed lentil batter with onions, coriander and tamarind sauce. The Dal Vada had a texture similar to corn bread and sometimes like corn bread, was a little too dry on its own. Dipping it in the tamarind sauce added both moisture and nice hit of sourness.

The next dishes actually came from the Indochine section of the menu and were recommended by Sailesh so that we could sample the Indian-Chinese fusion food that they represented. First, there was the Chinese Fried Rice that was cooked using Indian spices. It was actually quite addicting and I could have easily eaten a big bowl of it just by itself. This dish should also be noted for the fact that it was prepared by Sailesh's young son.

Sailesh's teenaged daughter cooked the Mixed Veg Manudura which were vegetarian meat balls made with cabbage, green bell peppers, carrots and daikon in a Chinese brown sauce. A few of us found it a tad salty when eaten on its own while the rest of the group didn't; however, when eaten with the rice, it was just right.

I mentioned earlier that there was one particular dish that only Sailesh would prepare from the menu and it's the Pav Bhaji, a tomato based sauce made with mixed vegetables, garam masala, topped with cilantro and served with garlic bread. Along with the Dabeli, the Pav Bhaji is a must order. It's eaten simply with bread dipped into it, but I could easily see myself pouring this on pasta. I can't even begin to describe what it tastes like, but there's a complexity to the flavors that is clearly evident with every bite. All I know is that you can not leave Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se without having tried it.

Two more dishes to go and one of them is Puneri Missal. Ingredients included sprouted mung beans, black chana and cilantro with a sauce made from red onions, tomatoes and garlic Sauce with deep fried toppings. This would be the perfect dish for a cold night. It reminded me of a lentil or bean stew but very much prepared using Indian spices.

Last, but not least was the Masala Bhath which was a rice dish with garam masala spices, cauliflower and bell pepper. Sailesh had mentioned that the Masala Bhath was pretty spicy and initially, I didn't think so. However, as you ate into it, there was a little bit of a slow burn at the back of your throat. It wasn't incendiary hot, but the heat made its presence known.

The perfect drink to have at the end of the meal, according to Sailesh, was the Kashimiri Soda, a housemade drink made with club soda, cumin, black pepper, lemon and salt. Apparently, its sole purpose is to help with the digestion of one's food, especially if you've just eaten a meal that was heavily spiced. I decided to try it just because I was curious as to how it would taste and I loved it. It was actually a great palate cleanser and although I only took small bites of everything we ordered, 12 dishes is still a lot and I found that the drink actually had a settling effect on my system.

Overall, our meal at Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se was fantastic and made even better because of how welcoming Sailesh was to our group as well the passion his whole family put into the preparation/cooking of our food. Regardless of where you are coming from, Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se in the city of Artesia is definitely worth the drive and your taste buds will love you for it, too.

Mumbai Ki Galliyon Se
17705 Pioneer Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 860-6699




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Wine 101 Tasting and Food Pairing at San Antonio Winery and Prize GIVEAWAY!

Last month, I was invited by PR Rep, Dienna D'Olimpio of Barbara Bishop and Associations, on behalf of the San Antonio Winery to attend a Wine 101 Class and Food Pairing Lunch at their downtown Los Angeles location. Although I've visited San Antonio on my own in the past and more recently, I went to last year's Boutique Beer and Food Pairing, I've never taken one of their classes. Truth be told, I'm actually not much of a wine drinker, but I'm always interested in learning more about both food and beverages in general. So I decided to take her up on her offer.

For the event, Wine Store Manager, Michael Papalia told us all about the ins and outs of wines. I have to say that I absolutely loved having him as a presenter. He was funny, knowledeable and willing to take any question. If he wasn't sure about something, he told you, but for the most part, he really knew his stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have a very good picture of him, but you can see him below in front of a slideshow presentation that had all his talking points.

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His talk started with Tasting Techniques and that it's basically a two part process. First, you hold your wine glass, swirl the wine in the glass and than take a sniff. The swirling actually causes evaporation and concentrates the aroma so that you can really get a sense of what the wine smells like. Second, it's time to slurp, which involves, taking a sip and holding the wine on your tongue and breathing in. By breathing in, it agitates, aerates and accelerates the evaporation which allows you to better appraise the acidity, alcohol, sweetness and texture of the wine.

Towards the tail end of the Tasting Techniques talk, we were served our first course: Puma Goat Cheese, Orange and Roasted Eggplant Salad with French Vanilla Glaze, Basil Oil and Microgreens. It was paired with a Champagne Duval-Leroy Brut from France.

As we were enjoying our first course, Michael went into more detail about how to evaluating wine. It starts with sight. Hold the wine glass against a white background and make sure the wine is clear and brilliant and not dull, hazy or murky. Now comes smell and you are using your nose to check on the aroma of the grape and to ensure that what you smell is actually intrinsic to the grape itself. Does the wine smell fresh and properly fermented? You're also sniffing for depth and complexity. Can you smell hints of cherry or chocolate?

Finally, it's about the taste. Does the wine feel smooth, velvety or round on your tongue? What's the level of astringency coming from the tannins? When it comes to your palate, sweet is detected at the tip of your tongue, acidity on the sides of your tongue, saltiness at the upper front of your tongue and bitterness towards the back of your tongue. As this portion of the presentation ends, we get pours from three different wines to pair with our second course. Those three wines were a 2008 Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley), a 2006 San Simeon Chardonnay (Monterey) and a 2008 Maddalena Vineyard Riesling (Monterey)

I haven't been to too many wine and food pairings, but what I found interesting is that we got to sample two of our 4 courses with 3 different wines, as opposed to just one wine. It really gave you a great side by side comparison. The second course was Broiled Miso Alaskan Cod on a Potato and Chive Pancake with Miso Glaze and for me, the Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc was a perfect match because I thought the light crispness of this wine paired well with the light delicate fish.

As we are finishing up our second course, Michael goes on to discuss the grapes themselves. Some quicke facts he mentioned include:

• There are some 24,000 names for varieites of wine grapes
• There are 5,000 truly different varieities
• Only 150 are planted in commercially significant amounts
• There are only 9 grapes that are considered to be classic.

Those 9 grapes are follows: White Grapes (Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon) and Red Grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Syrah). Other grapes that are also gaining importance include White Grapes like Gewurztraminer, Muscat and Pinot Blanc and Red Grapes like Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Petite Sirah and Tempranillo. Soon after this discussion, three more wines were poured for our third course and they were a 2006 Luigi Bosca Malbec Reserva (Argentina), a 2005 Maddalena Merlot (Paso Robles) and a 2006 San Antonio "Cask 520" Bordeaux Blend (Paso Robles).

These wines were matched with a Roasted Ancho Pepper Crusted Rack of Lamb on Roasted Wild Mushroom Risotta with a Pinot Noir Coriander Sauce. As I mentioned, I rarely drink wine, but when I do, I stick with whites because I don't care for the strong taste of the tannins in red wines. Surprisingly, I didn't taste much of the tannins in either of the three wines, but perhaps, that taste was lessenened when eaten with the lamb, which also has a strong flavor. I remember favoring the Malbec, but have no particular reason why.

Halfway into enjoying our third course and through the end of our dessert course, the focus switched to Wine Making, where Michael talked about the fermentation of the wine. Simply, it's a natural process where yeasts convert natural sugars to alcohol (which stays in the wine) and carbon dioxide (which dissipates). With white wines, the juice is separated from the skin and seeds after crushing while with red wines, the entire grape is used because the skin adds both color and tannins. For rose and blush wines, the skins are used for a short time to add color and then removed. After fermentation, the wine is put in either wood barrels or steel barrels to age. To read about the whole process, click this Wikipedia link. By this time, we are getting a pour of a La Quinta Syrah Port N.V. to be served with dessert.

Dessert was a Island Mango Mousse with Candied Macadamia Nuts and Toasted Coconut Shavings. I have to say that if I dislike something more than red wines, it's port, but perhaps, I haven't had a good brand before? The port that I sampled was quite smooth and maybe, with a hint of chocolate or caramel? I really enjoyed it with our light and fruity dessert.

Other pieces of information that came from Michael towards the end of the event included:

• Dry wines have no sugar
• Wines that are aged in oak barrels will pick up flavors from the barrel itself
• The oak for the barrels come from trees between 100 to 150 years old
• Right now, the running cost of a French oak barrel is around $1000 while an American one is around $300
• Wines that are aged in steel barrels will have the flavors intrinsic to the grape itself
• Barrels are used up to 2 to 3 vintages (up to 10 years depending on the wine)
• Whites are usually aged for 8 to 10 months while Red are aged from 10 months to 2 years or longer.
  
• White wines should be stored in 40-50 degree temperature.
• Red wines should be stored in 60-65 degree temperatures. If it's too cold, it'll taste bitter.
  

With all that came the end of the this Wine Class. Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I learned a lot of great information. I thought that wines were paired well with the food and even better, I liked being able to compare and contrast between 3 different wines for two of the courses.

San Antonio Winery
737 Lamar Street
Los Angeles, CA 90031
(323) 330-8745

Be sure to visit www.sanantoniowinery.com for information on upcoming 2010 wine events.

Prize Giveaway!

Now that you've read about how much fun I had at the Wine 101 Class, here's a chance for you and a guest to attend the Wine 102 Class on February 21, from 1 to 4 pm for free! The total cash value for this prize is $110.00 and includes the class, the wines and a 4 course lunch. What a perfect way to spend a Sunday Afternoon. There are several different ways to enter and each way gets you an entry!

1. Leave a comment on my blog and let me know why you'd like to win this prize.
2. Follow Pleasure Palate on Twitter
   
3. Follow San Antonio Winery on Twitter
   
4. Fan Pleasure Palate on Facebook
5. Fan San Antonio Winery on Facebook
6. Join the Pleasure Palate Dining Group
   
7. Friend Me on Facebook and Mention this Contest on your Facebook Profile
8. Tweet: Win a Chance for Two to Attend a Wine 102 Class at San Antonio Winery via @pleasurepalate: http://bit.ly/c1wMYb

Only comments will be counted as entries. If you just comment, that's one entry. Remember, to gain extra extries, you can do any or of all the things listed from 2 to 8, but please comment back here so that I can keep track of everything you've done. That'll be helpful when it comes time for me to choose a winner utilizing ramdom.org.

Contest Ends Monday, February 8 at midnight. Winner will be chosen randomly. Please leave some kind of contact info in your comments so that I'll be able to email you if you've won this prize!


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