Wine Review- Cline

Hi Boys and girls! I know its been a great while (nearly a year) since I've updated, but I'm back! And I'm excited to continue on the tradition of good food, wine and music for the new year. 2010 so far has proved to be a "luxurious" year, as I found this little gem at a local world market for less than $20.00. I like Cline's "ancient vines" zinfandel as a daily drinker-- as it goes perfectly with almost any weeknight chicken dinner I can concoct, but I *LOVE* their new release called "Cashmere."

True to its name, Cashmere tastes a lot more expensive than
$20.00. A blend, it artfully amalgamates some of my favorite varietals, zinfandel, grenache and syrah. The final product is blissfully silky, rich and smooth with a clean finish.

And how can anyone NOT drink to finding a cure for breast cancer??



Wine info:
Name: 2007, 2008 Cashmere
Vineyard: Cline
Region: Central California
Cost: ~$20.00

La Paella, Mid City (W)

I love tapas, and it isn't necessarily because I'm all about the chorizo, shellfish and other seafood, but moreso because I love the experience of trying all sorts of small plates and sharing dishes with the company so we can compare our thoughts about the food. I recently went to La Paella, and got to try a few of their small plates as well as their famous paella, and I was not disappointed.

We ordered the: Chorizo and sauteed mushrooms, spinach with raisins and pine nuts, manchego and patatas bravas, as well as the Paella Marinera. It was all, oh-so-good. The patatas bravas were perfectly spicy, which was a terrific complement to the slight sweetness of the spinach and raisins. The mushrooms and chorizo were a hearty yummy morsels.

The paella was terrific, it came with mussels, clams, lobster, bay scallops, and prawns. It was light on the saffron and the perfect texture. The waiter served it in a giant pan and it could have served 4. Needless to say, we were only able to finish MAYBE 1/3 of it before we had to pack up the rest.

La Paella
476 S San Vicente Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 951-0745

Wine Review, AKA What I'm Drinking Lately

In my recent search for Adelaida, I went on a wine-shopping spree at Bristol Farms, determined to try other wines outside of the staple 6-7 varietals that I usually get, so I splurged a little bit and picked up the Provenance 2005 Merlot from Napa Valley. It got rated fairly high, and I was excited to try it.

I have to say, I was certainly not disappointed.

This little bad boy is packed with flavor, without compromising the prototypical smoothness of a merlot. It has a nice blackberry taste, and a clean, woody taste lingers on the palette on the finish. I served this bottle with lamb seasoned with coriander and dijon mustard, and a mushroom risotto, and it was all a terrific meal.



Provenance Vineyards
2005 Merlot
Napa Valley- Rutherford Region
~$35.00

Wine Review aka What I'm Drinking Lately

A few weeks ago, my personal sommelier DH told me that Adelaida's Pinots were a must-try, so I had been searching high and low at various Bristol Farms for them. Lucky for me, I a certain someone was nice enough to personally order a couple bottles online for me, and I got to try it over the weekend.

Personally, I'm not big on Pinots because I tend to like my wine a lot more full bodied, fruity, chocolatey and oaky, and I often feel that pinots taste a bit watered down for my tastes, but I know that DH is a big bad cab boy, so I knew it couldn't have been a typical pinot.

And it was not. It had the smoothness and clarity of a pinot, but it had an amazing, lasting finish of cocoa, vanilla and oak. This is a definite must have in your collection for a lighter Italian fare, I think it would go terrific with basil, pancetta and fontina cheese. Yum.

Adelaida
2004 Pinot Noir
Paso Robles
~30.00

Takao Sushi, Brentwood

I recently went to a lovely dinner with a very sweet fellow food/wine enthusiast who treated me to an awesome omakase experience at Takao in Brentwood.

I love omakase style sushi because I think it gives me a chance to experience different types of things I may not normally order, and also, it is always exciting to see what the chef can whip up.

They have different levels of omakase by price: $60/$80/$100, and we went with the $80.00 one, which came with about seven courses, many of which I cannot remember due to the multiple orgasms my mouth was having, but I will try to re-construct the meals as best as I can.

We started with an interesting crab and apple salad, which consisted of thin apple slices, spring greens in ponzu sauce and a few shreds of fresh crab. Following that was a series of various nigiri, and the "new sashimi" (photo above), which included uni with cavier, tuna and avacado and snapper, all drizzled with truffle oil (which made it amazing). We were also served fresh clam miso, which was delicious, although it was hard for me to eat at this point, because I was stuffed, and a baby squid calamari.

The chef, Takao, is one of Nobu Matsuhisa's creations, as indicated by the creative use and fusion of ingredients, and nouveau sauces, very reminiscent of Costa Mesa's Ikko, also a restaurant with a Matsuhisa student.

The interior is unassuming, but very cute, and in a cute part of town.


Takao Sushi

11656 San Vicente Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90049

Get Directions

(310) 207-8636

Echigo Sushi

Tenacious D and I met up for sushi a couple weeks ago and I wanted to try someplace new, so we decided to try Echigo on Santa Monica and Amherst. While the decor is nothing to write home about, the sushi certainly is. We shared a couple bottles of hot sake and picked a few items off of the a la carte menu.

We had the: toro, hamachi, crab handroll, unagi and maguro. The sushi was served promptly by a friendly waitstaff and I was incredibly impressed by how fresh everything was. The yellowtail was amazing, and the tuna was ruby red in color, attesting to its freshness. The crab handroll was to die for, so much so, that Tenacious D had to have a second order.

The prices were reasonable, as well-- we each had a feast of sushi and drinks, and paid about $45.00 each for a wonderful dinner! The only slight criticism I had of the place was that the slices of fish were a little on the thin side-- these were no fat slabs of fish, and the sushi rice was a little too moist. However, overall, this place gets 4.5 stars.

Echigo
2217 Santa Monica Blvd # 201
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 820-9787

Bar Pintxo, Santa Monica

Recently, Jessica and I went on a nice day of shopping and perusing the promenade, and she told me that Bar Pintxo started a new happy hour deal, $6.00 for an assortment of 6 tapas and $3.00 for a glass of sangria. Never turning down a great happy hour, I excitedly agreed to check it out. Bar Pintxo sits on the corner of Ocean and Santa Monica, and is an adorable Spanish-inspired cafe that serves tapas, sushi style-- they are displayed in a glass case, and the chef will whip them up as you order them.

The menu was decent, they had the following optins: Fresh Tomato and Serrano Jamon on Grilled Bread, Radish, Jicama, Avocado, Cilantro and Lime, Endive Topped With Roquefort Cream, Anchovy and Walnuts, Fresh Tomato with Manchego Cheese, Jamon Sofrito with Fried Leeks, and Russian Salad with St. Loup.

I had a glass of the white sangria, a glass of the red sangria, the Fresh tomato and serrano jamon, radish jicama, avocado, fresh tomato with manchego, and the jamon sofrito. We also shared a croqueta, for the heck of it.

In short, the white sangria is better than the red sangria (rare, I know!), and I thought the menu was decent, but not mind blowing. I would have liked to have seen other options that were more savory or higher priced, but I suppose for $6.00, you can't really be too choosy.

The olives, however, are to die for.