Bites: July 3, 2008
By Richard Foss
Still Spitting Out Feathers … After eating crow last week for accidentally placing a restaurant in the wrong city, this week I need to do so for a typographical error in French. In my review of Le Petit Jardin, I absent-mindedly added an “e”: and made it Petite Jardin. Both words mean “little,” but one is male, one is female – and since Jardin is a masculine word, the adjective must match. However you spell it, the food at Petit Jardin is still excellent … .
For Sake’s Sake … I went to the Tokyo Table sake night last week, and like everyone else, I didn’t win the guess-that-sake challenge. In a room away from the other tastings, they had set out two unlabeled flasks – you had to try a sip of each, and then without leaving the table, guess what each one was. Since we had all tried these two sakes, along with about 20 others, in the next room mere moments before, this should have been easy – but over a hundred people were there, and nobody got both right. I didn’t really mind, because it was a fun evening of ambling from place to place trying delectable modern Japanese food and sipping sake. All the same, it would have been nice to win that bottle of fine sake and $100 gift certificate to the restaurant. Your next chance to win it yourself is July 16 – call (310) 657-9500 … .
Sweet Dandelion Wine … Murano Restaurant in West Hollywood is presumably named after the island near Venice, most of a country away from France, but its cuisine is described as Italian-French fusion. (The closest foreign country to Murano Island is actually Slovenia, but Slovenian fusion hasn’t caught on much in L.A., or anywhere else that I know of.) Anyway, Murano has a new chef, Joe Anguiano, who has cooked at star restaurants like Le Cirque in New York, Miro in Santa Barbara, and Bistro 45 in Pasadena before settling in here. His new summer menu has some interesting items like pork porterhouse with roasted figs and sautéed dandelions, or white corn agnolotti with squash blossoms, pecorino, and aged balsamic. It isn’t at all Venetian, but really, do we care?
Still in Style … Wine and cheese go together like … like cheese and wine, y’know? Culinary best buddies. So it was no great brainstorm that Maison 140 in Beverly Hills decided that a sunset pairing menu would be a great weekday draw. The inspiration was not just serving wine and cheese, but having a representative of the winery there to answer questions – and to sell the package of wine tastings with various cheeses for only $25, which is a pretty fine bargain for Beverly Hills. In July, the wine is St. Supery, and the cheeses are always from Froma on Melrose. Reservations can be made at (310) 407-7795 … .
Sunday Garden Dreaming ... Bistro Garden has a great idea about how to wind down your weekend – have a three-course Sunday dinner with a glass of wine for a mere $39. There are two choices for the first two courses, plus a chocolate soufflé for dessert. Stretch that weekend as long as you can, and call (818) 501-0202 to reserve.
Is there a Slovenian restaurant in L.A. that I ought to know about, or any other unusual culinary outposts? Let me know – I’m at Richard@richardfoss.com.
Published: 07/02/2008
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