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.

What I'm Drinking Lately, AKA Wine Review

I'm not big on whites, but every once in awhile, the crispness of a good Chardonnay is really great. I received 2 fantastic bottles of Chardonnay recently, so I had to share the knowledge. First, because I'm a member of Groth's wine club, I received their 2007 Chardonnay as my quarterly shipment.

At first, I was disappointed because I was hoping for more reds, but I thought what the heck, why not bring it over to the Onoda's holiday dinner, especially since I know my little Fauxnoda, Angie, has a penchant for the whites. We chilled it for a bit before opening, and I have to say, I think this is my all time favorite Chardonnay that I've ever had. It is unusually full bodied for a white wine, slightly citrusy, hints of pear and my favorite ending: vanilla-y oak. So good! Their past Chards have done well (ranging scores: low 90's), so wouldn't be surprised to see this one ranked just as well.

Groth Vineyards

2007 Chardonnay

Oakville, California

Price Range: ~$20.00

Another bottle that I had been holding out for, is part of a set that one of my favorite people, Christin got for me as a Christmas gift. She is way too generous, and got me the "explorer" wine package from Williams Sonoma. One of the bottles I've been eyeing for awhile was the 2006 Hope Estate Chardonnay. My roommate and I decided to open it up over our salmon and spinach salad dinner last week, and we were definitely not disappointed.

This Australian-based Chardonnay is definitely much lighter than Groth's full bodied Chardonnay, but it certainly does not disappoint. It is slightly flowery and almost carbonated, because of the citrusy zest it gives off. It has a nice crispness to it, lending itself to taste more like a Pinot Grigio, but it is definitely a Chardonnay on the finish. I would buy another few bottles of this to serve with a strawberry-spinach salad, or a quiche lorraine. Delish!

Hope Estates

2007 Chardonnay

Hunter Valley, Australia

~$12.00-$15.00

Additionally, as a part of the "explorer" package that wonderful Christin gave me, there was a red that I had also been saving, the 2004 Mt. St. Helena's Cabernet. Angie and I decided to have a Pizza/Entourage night, and I thought it would be a nice bottle to share over Pizza.

I'm really glad I shared this with Angie, because she tends to like the lighter, less full bodied reds, and this was perfect for her. This cab was very bright and berry forward, without being too heavy on the tannins. It was very smooth, and went down easily. Definitely went will with the pizza, but on a more formal tip, I would serve it with Fraiche's short rib ravioli or braised ribs. A softer meat, with lots of texture.

Mout St. Helena Brand

2004 Cabernet

Napa Valley

~$23.00-$30.00

What I'm Drinking Lately, AKA Wine Review

One day I was meandering along the wine aisle, and my favorite pseudo-sommolier suggested I try Bogle's 2005 "Phantom," a blend of Petite Syrah, Old vine Zinfandel, and Mourvedre grapes. His eyes twinkling, he said, "I know what you like, and you're going to love this." I didn't bother opening it for awhile, because I laid it down in my mid-range shelf and forgot all about it. When I finally got around to opening it last week, I was blown away.

The first words that comes to mind when drinking this, are "lush" and "complex." When it first hits your lips, you are immediately introduced with big berry flavors, some star anise, and it finishes with a smooth, velvety vanilla and oak close. It is smooth and light on the tannins, without compromising any complexity.

I had a glass of the Phantom with grilled salmon and a spinach salad at home, and it was phenomenal. I want to buy a case of it.



Bogle Vineyards
2005 The Phantom
Red Blend
Lodi, CA
$15-20