Bouchon - Beverly Hills

I can’t believe I forgot to order oysters.  I had been thinking about them all day, but when I made the decision to try the escargot for the first time in my life, I lost all train of thought.  Nevertheless, I have no regrets because the escargot at Bouchon in Beverly Hills was not only edible, it was fantastic.  Ever since opening his world renowned restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, Chef Keller has been culinary royalty.  Keller’s latest restaurant, Bouchon in Beverly Hills (also in Yountville and Vegas) is his take on the casual French Bistro.  Here’s Keller in his own words.

French bistro food is my favorite - steak frites, a two-inch high quiche with bacon and onions, a salad with an egg on top finished with a perfect vinaigrette, a croque madame, some oysters and a glass of champagne. These are foods that represent the most important kind of cooking there is because they're rooted in tradition. So when I thought of opening a restaurant that's more casual than The French Laundry, I decided to explore and deepen the culinary heritage that I admire so much. A Bouchon can be, and should be, whatever you need it to be. It's a casual place, a social place, a place where people come to relax talk and to eat. A kind of home.

-Thomas Keller

The Mrs. and I began the evening with a glass of wine at Bar Bouchon, a tiny and separate bar on the first floor.  It’s a great place to share some small plates, but we were there for the real deal.  After an elevator ride to the second floor, we entered the main dining room that was buzzing with activity.  It definitely looks like a high end bistro in Paris. We were seated next to a fifty-something year old slime ball with a bevy of twenty-something year old beauties who were obviously using him for an expensive meal.  And after tasting the french onion soup, I can’t say that I blame them.  True to the bistro style, everything we ordered was relatively simple, loyal to tradition and just worked.  

For my main course I ordered the Gigot D’Agneau, a roasted leg of lamb with herb scented panisse,artichokes à la barigoule and lamb jus,  The Mrs. chose the Moules Au Safron, Maine bouchot mussels steamed with white wine, mustard and saffron served with French fries.  Although neither dish blew us away, we certainly appreciated the simple bistro food done right.  We’ll definitely be returning soon, and next time I won’t forget the oysters.

Rating out of 5

Where:

235 North Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Our Dinner for Two: $102 + tip

With Drinks: $158

Rivera - Downtown Los Angeles

After decades of culinary dormancy, downtown Los Angeles is finally coming into its own, and leading the charge is chef John Sedlar’s Rivera.  Glowing bottles and electronic murals illuminate a modern den where patrons are treated to Sedlar’s Southwest meets Spain infused tapas. A couple of hours before heading to the Clippers game across the street, three of us indulged in enough tapas to soak up the custom made cocktails.  

The housemade nixtimal tortillas with “Indian butter” (guacamole) was a nice starter before we sunk our teeth into the real goods.  The playa bar ceviche (ahi tuna, serranos, lime & avocado) was a little fishy for my tastes, but maybe I’m just used to eating my raw fish with soy sauce.

The chile pasilla relleno (pickled mild chile, burrata cheese, served chilled) was very good, but even better was the piquillos rellenos (stuffed spanish peppers, chorizo, golden raisins & gruyere). The choros al vapor (mussels, chorizo, aji amarillo-pisco broth) was fantastic and I will certainly be disappointed the next time I eat mussels that aren’t accompanied by chorizo. The tamal (braised pork short rib, seasonal mushrooms & guajillo sauce) was a fancy, but decent tamale. Finally, we closed with the mole (kurobuta pork chop, mole & peruvian sweet potato).  Not a huge fan of mole sauce, but thankfully Rivera’s wasn’t a melted Hershey bar like many seem to be.

While the food was good to great, it’s the drinks that make Rivera exceptional.  The bartenders are experts of mixology and delight in creating bespoke cocktails for those brave enough to roll the dice.  The drink menu is akin to a J.R.R. Tolkien novel, each one so vibrant, fantastical and unexpected.  Tequila and mescal are the spirits of choice and anchor many of the best cocktails, including my favorite, The Barbacoa.  A mix of jalapeno, chipotle, ginger, red peppers, mescal and beef jerky garnish, the Barbacoa is the perfect blend of sweet, tart and spicy.  Coming in close second is the whisky based Blood Sugar Sex Magic, an impossibly harmoniously blend of rye whiskey, red pepper, agave nectar and basil, that is a meal unto itself.  Rivera is a welcome addition to the downtown scene that will have me coming back, not so much for the food, but for the drinks to wash it all down. 

rating out of 5

Where: 

1050 S. Flower St. #102

Los Angeles, CA 90015


Our Dinner for Three: $154 + tip
With Drinks: $256

Kiwami - Studio City, CA

Toss a shrimp tempura roll anywhere on the twenty mile stretch of Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley and you will either hit a struggling actor, writer, porn star or burgeoning sushi joint.  Sushi is to the Valley as Charlie Sheen is to rehab.  In fact, the Japanese call Ventura Blvd, “Sushi Ginza”, which translates to sushi corner. Some are glorified bait shops while others are among the best in the world.  The fantastic Sushi Nozawa in Studio City is home to the “Sushi Nazi” where the Seinfeld writers who once worked across the street were inspired to parody him as the Soup Nazi.  

Nazis aside, for my money the greatest sushi chef in L.A. goes to the venerable Katsu-ya Uechi.  Whether he laces his baby tuna sushi with baby crack rocks is unclear, but ever since our first visit eight or so years ago we’ve been hooked. Katsu-ya opened his first restaurant in 1997, tucked unceremoniously in a Studio City strip mall between a pet shop and a hair salon.  It was the first restaurant Mrs. Glutton and I spent over a hundred dollars on a meal.  We did it at a time when we were dead broke, but the second we bit into a hand crab roll money suddenly became no object.  Katsu-ya created a monster.  He created a lot of monsters.  And as his reputation grew, so did his empire.  The SBE Group soon came calling and infused their Phillip Stark hipster flair to new restaurants in Hollywood, Brentwood, Glendale and Downtown Los Angeles with locations in Miami and Las Vegas coming soon.  While the quality of the sushi in these mega joints hasn’t declined, the intimacy of the culinary experience has.  And it is for that reason Katsu-ya Uechi returned to his “Sushi Ginza” roots and opened Kiwami in December of 2008. 

Kiwami is aptly translated to mean the ultimate.  While not the hole in the wall that his first joint is, Kiwami is a humble stand alone building dressed in modern zen clothing.  Since opening, Mrs. Glutton and I have virtually abandoned the others in favor of Katsu-ya’s personal sushi bar.  This is where the legend himself calls home and concocts his ridiculously tasty creations.  He even has a private sushi bar in the back where patrons can spend a little extra to experience the master’s work.  While tempting, the Mrs. and I always opt for the main sushi bar where we are treated as regulars and slipped sushi cut form the belly of the fish that were swimming less than twelve hours earlier in the waters off Japan or Greece or New Zealand.  

So, let’s talk about a typical meal.  After cleaning the pallet with a few gulps of Kiran Light, we always start with the baked hand crab roll.  Actually four because we’re gluttons.  Despite being one of the more simpler dishes, the baked crab roll garners the most “holy craps” from anyone we’ve ever dined with.  It’s like the movie, Office Space.  It bombs at the box office because it has no stars and looks like nothing you want.  But then you try it and it’s great.  And when you try it again it's even better.

Next we order the yellowtail with jalapeno.  This is an impossibly fresh slice of yellowtail tuna rolled between a thin slice of cucumber and jalapeno in a ponzu sauce.  I swear I could eat my body weight in tuna and not get full.  

Next up is the whitefish or halibut carpaccio.  This baby consists of thinly sliced whitefish with a thin slice of cumquat and baby tomato with oils and pepper.   The sweetness of the cumquat mixed with the peppered oils is an unexpected but happy marriage of flavors. 

The next dish is the stomach filler.  Spicy tuna on crispy rice (Top).  Almost every sushi restaurant does this now. It’s like their bread at an Italian restaurant.  But no one does it better than Kiwami.  The perfectly seared cube of crispy rice, topped with fresh tuna and a slice of jalapeno is pure comfort food. 

Now that we’ve calmed our cravings, we finish with the sushi.  This usually consists of tuna and Goldeneye or New Zealand snapper with ponzu.  All of it just melts in your mouth.  Perfectly simple, simply perfect.  

This review is shamelessly positive, but like I said, I’m an addict.  Chef Katsu-ya completes me.  Socrates once said, “Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.”  With all due respect to the gadfly of Athens, he never ate a baked crab roll from Kiwami.

Rating out of 5:

Where:
11920 Ventura Boulevard
Studio City, CA 91604

Our Dinner for two: $97

With Drinks:             $113