Sunday, February 5, 2012

DineLA II part II

I was still going strong at the end of week 1 of Jan 2012 DineLA with only 3 restaurants under my belt, literally.  I started off the second week on a bright note with Sunday dinner at Spago with 2 fellow first year MSTPers.  We got there early enough to start things off on a good note.

The cocktail menu apparently changes once per month.


(Not) fruity soup!
Delicious scallops from the sea to my mouth.
No decision-making required.


Once again, we asked and were seated in the patio area next to the waterfall.  Despite not being a fan of fruit in savory dishes, I bravely tried the Celery Root and Apple Soup with bacon confit, roasted apples and wild mushrooms.  After a few bites, the guilt set in.  I really should not have doubted Wolfgang Puck.  The apple chunks had clearly been soaking in a savory marinate and had just a hint of fruitiness.  Alternating with the bacon chunks, the apple made eating the soup an exciting journey.  The others enjoyed the Dungeness Crab Risotto with Spanish Saffron for appetizer.  I also ordered the supplemental agnolotti, which was chestnut filled instead of the sweet corn from the October DineLA; it was sweater but still made me want to melt into a puddle of cheesy joy.  For entree, I had the Pan-Sauteed Maine Diver Scallops with confit fingerling potatoes, hazelnut brown butter, and mache salad.  Dessert was better than last time because I didn't have to choose.  Still, I liked the flaky pastry better than I liked the warm citrus cake, which were both more interesting than the chocolate cake.


Two days later, I had dinner at Katsuya on my own due to a classmate canceling last minute.  That's okay, I ate enough for two anyways.  Since I was by myself, I sat at the sushi bar in the back.  It was a bit quieter there, and I got to watch the sushi chefs at work.  The chefs were great and happy to occasionally chat a bit to help liven up my meal.  My waitress was excellent and was happy to answer questions and offer suggestions.
Warm sushi.

Asparagus, mushrooms, and potatoes.  Oh my!

I ate all but the shell and the flower.

I ended up only eating half of this fish, only so that
I didn't destroy my new resolution to
eat more according to my daily demand on the first day.

Then I had dessert, and the resolution went out the window.

I had two baked spicy tuna nigiri and grilled vegetables to start. (See!  I can eat healthy!)   I followed that up with a lobster dynamite in the shell. (Okay, not so healthy.)  And then, clearly because that was not enough protein for one night, I also enjoyed a baked sea bass.  Although the lobster dynamite was quite delicious, the sea bass definitely won for best dish that night.  The mushrooms had been placed underneath the fish so that they had the lovely taste of the sauce.  In addition, it was overall a much lighter dish than the buttery and cheesy lobster.  Dessert was another mixed plate.  It was all tasty.  The chocolate cake had the best flavor, but the fruit was the best fit after the meal I had.


Because I could not resist, I went back to Spago for lunch on Friday.
It is never too early.

See the gradient from healthy to not healthy from top to bottom.

The lunch entrees lacked the finesse of dinner options.

I couldn't even start eating for a while
because of how pretty  this dessert was.

This time, I abstained from alcohol before the meal.  That's okay, because my friend enjoyed a nice champagne based cocktail.  This time, I had the Italian Prosciutto and Burrata Salad with Roasted Quince with micro arugula and old balsamic for appetizer.  A lot of new vocabulary for me in that name, but it essentially tasted like delicious savory pancakes.  I was clearly on a seafood/fish streak because I ordered the Steamed Scottish Salmon Hong Kong Style with stir fried bok choy, lotus root, snap peas, and jasmine rice.  The salmon was a little more cooked than how I liked it, which landed the entree had merely good instead of great.  Unfortunately, my friend did not enjoy her extra salty Ricotta Gnocchi with Slow Braised Veal Ragout.  To my wonderful surprise, the highlight of the meal turned out to be the dessert that I ordered a la carte.  It was a roll cake with caramel sauce and chocolate gelato.  Finally, a dessert with the wow factor in both presentation and taste that I had been anticipating from Spago.  It also went wonderfully with the port.

Although I originally wanted to end this whole experience with lunch at Spago, a mix-up with Scarpetta the weekend before meant that my long-awaited outing with my roommate got canceled.  Unable to let that stand, I booked Friday dinner at the Capital Grille.
Add caption

I had previously eaten at the Chestnut Hill one during Boston's Restaurant Week, so I knew what I was getting into.  The Beverly Hills one was much more...Western?!  For the meal, it focused on red-meat supplemented with Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce.  We ended up taking the sides of mashed potato and spinach home.  Dessert was pretty, but way too heavy after the protein-heavy meal.  Not worth a repeat, especially given all the other dining gems in LA.

At the end of two weeks, I was a lot poorer in terms of finances but a lot richer in terms of abdominal fat and gastronomical experience.

1 comment: