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Oanh Love
Hi! Welcome to my myriad of foodie excursions! If it is comestible I will eat it! I use to be a picky eater but I realized that I’ve been missing out! If you don't open up your palate, YOU HAVE NOT LIVED. I learned to appreciate other cultures through different cuisines & I have TONS of favorites! Caribbean (I’m an east coast girl at heart! Jamaican patties were my staple!), Middle Eastern (I CRAVE basmati rice.. like CRAVE), sushi & Izakaya (if I die tomorrow I would like to have uni and ankimo to be the last thing I eat), Italian (I am WEAK to burrata with EVOO & balsamic dressing drizzled all over on a bed of sour dough), Philipino food (Pork sisig is SO effin good!), Indian (garlic naan dipped in tikka marsala MMMM!), AUTHENTIC Mexican (lamb soup from a Mexican crawl in East LA WOWED me!) and to my own very ethnic food such as Vietnamese (bo kho, bo luc lac, bun rieu, etc. etc. ETC!), Hainanese (I love Savoy!) and French (uhh EVERYTHING!). I'm the happiest when I find a great hole in the wall, appreciate the occasional fine dining experience (not too often to lose its luster), and best of all, good ol’ home cooking. I just love ALL FOOD.
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Eateries & Experiences

Monday, June 7, 2010

Part II: Taste of the Nation LA

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BLT Steak
Brian Moyers
Shortrib tortelli "caramelles," sweet corn, chantrelles, summer truffle

I never been to BLT Steak before but I always wanted to try it.  When I saw what they were making I KNEW it was going to be good and I was right!  This is my second favorite dish at the event.  The sweet corn, chantrelles and summer truffle sauce was just divine for the shortrib tortelli.  It was rich with a a slighly viscous consistency.  Savory and absolutely delicous.  I am going to make sure that I will dine here someday.
Bistro LQ
Laurent Quenioux
Macedoine salad, uni dressing, Maine lobster
Chilled porcini soup, mirabelle coulis, foie gras chantilly/espuma
Soy milk white chocolat ice cream, american cavier
Assorted macaroons

Bistro LQ is a participant for Plate by Plate's 2010 8th annual Tasting Benefit this year and I was so excited to see how their cuisine tasted like today.  Everything was delicious!  I was not able to taste the macedoine salad.  I can't wait to see them at our tasting on August 14th!


Simon LA
Kerry Simon & Marius Blin
Cumin spiced skirt steak on roasted tomato and arugula, chimichurri sauce

While I was devouring Bistro LQ's delicious bites I was waiting for the skirt steaks to be BBQed.  I was told by one of the chefs that it takes awhile but the wait was worth it.  The skirt steak was in a cup filled with arugula and it was very tender and nicely spiced.
Fraiche
Elderoy Arendse
Albacore tuna tartare, harissa aioli, potato chip
This is another restaurant on my list to try and the tuna tartare on a chip was very flavory.  Can't wait to try the eatery someday!  As for the strawberry soup with a scoop of mascarpone and a cookie (or what it seems to be a cookie) was very good too.  The mascarpone did not have a hint of any sourness and was creamy and great with the strawberry and cookie like a strawberry shortcake.

Cache
Josiah Citrin
Market-driven seasonal creations

I am still yet to try any of Chef Josiah's restaurants which include Cache and Melisse so I was curious with this one.  The small tart was interesting but didn't scream out anythning to me.  Pretty light in flavor.  I liked the flat bread creation more because it had more savory taste but still light as well.  It was pretty thinly sliced from the bread to the ingredients.

Grace/BLD Restaurant
Neal Fraser
Grilled pork sliders, onion and bacon jam, violet mustard

I had a bite and it was just like a juicy mini slider.

M Cafe/Chaya Brasserie
Shigefumi Tachibe
Tuna tartare and beef skewers, yakitori grilled

I did not try the tuna tartare but the yakitori beef skewers were absolutely delicious!  The white sauce tasted like a horseradish concotion.  The beef was very soft and broke apart very nicely.  Very memorable.

8 oz Burger
Govind Armstrong & Jacob Wildman
Tuna melt with albacore confit and cucumber salad

I would think that 8 oz Burger would serve well... a mini burger.  The tuna melt was still good but I'm curious about their signature dishes.  I didn't quite like the cucumber salad.  I thought it was too sour and overpowering.
XIV
Michael Mina & Steven Fretz
Braised and grilled Piedmontese beef cheeks, lime hoisin glaze, summer corn foam, micro cilantro
Hamachi tartare, nuoc cham gelee, caramelized lapxuong, peanut carmel powder, compressed cucumber

By the time I was extremely full I was told it was a must that I tried the beef cheeks at XIV.  My friends were right.  It was very good because it was incredibly soft while the corn foam and hoisin glaze was a great sauce for it.  The hamachi tartare was interesting in terms of texture and layers of different flavors.
Public/ 25 Degrees at The Roosevelt Hotel
Tim Goodell & Jeremy Strubel
Seasonal Specialities

After the beef cheeks from XIV I am dead full BUT I still tried this.  As much in pain I was this was very delicious.  The sausage was very soft with a good amount of saltiness and went well with the strip of bacon and greens.
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2 comments:

Cafe Pasadena said...

I appreciate your wunderful pics, but you're not saying a word about these latest food adventures...

And, I luv macaron's. if you tried them how were they?

June 7, 2010 5:50 PM
Oanh N. said...

I'm just uploading the images right now. It's a tedius process where I have to upload each one one by one. I will input my thoughts in soon after.

Yeah the macaroons at Bistro LQ were very good!

June 7, 2010 5:52 PM

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