Dining date: 3/28/12 I’ve made pork belly confit once and it turned out great. It can be crispy and tender both at the same time, and is usually succulent and full of flavor. However, it was a ton of work, and cooking something in two pounds of lard didn’t make me feel good about my…
Dining date: 3/24/12 Black cod with miso is a dish commonly found in Japanese restaurants in LA. As far as I’ve read, it was popularized by Nobu Matsuhisa (being one of his signature dishes), though a number of Japanese chefs/restaurants have their own renditions (Roy Yamaguchi of Roy’s is another popular one that comes to…
Restaurant Komasa 351 E 2nd St Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dining date: 3/20/12 Komasa seems to be one of the most popular restaurants in Little Tokyo, garnering lines as reliably as Daikokuya. From my perspective, there are a trio of Little Tokyo sushi restaurants that are clearly more popular than the rest – Hama, Sushi…
Dining date: 3/18/12 Growing up, my family would often celebrate special occasions at Great Eastern restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown, ordering a host of dishes to share family-style. Over the years, there have been a number of staples including this dish of clams in black bean sauce. Like many dishes I often ate when I was younger,…
Dining date: 3/11/12 While browsing the web for recipes in which to use my sous vide machine, I came across one that struck me immediately. It’s Michael Voltaggio’s recipe for crispy chicken thighs, posted on the Williams-Sonoma database. It’s very similar to a recipe I’ve prepared a number of times that includes brining chicken thighs…
Dining date: 2/26/12 When I first started to cook sous vide at home, one of the things I wanted to make was lobster. Like most seafood, it can be a bit challenging for me to prepare since it’s so easy to overcook. With sous vide, I could ensure it would be cooked perfectly each time. I…
Dan Moody Pop-Up Batch Restaurant & Bar 8631 Washington Blvd Culver City, CA 90232 Dining date: 3/1/12 Dan Moody is probably best known in the food world for being sous chef to Ludovic Lefebvre through LudoBites 6.0. Since then, he’s been doing his own thing, showing up here and there with his own iteration of…
UMAMIcatessen 846 S Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90015 Dining date: 3/3/12 UMAMIcatessen is the latest concept from the ever-busy Adam Fleischman (Umami Burger, 800 Degrees Pizza), his interpretation of a deli featuring a number of mini restaurant concepts including Umami Burger. The setup kind of looks like a food court (although it’s currently all full…