Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Paella Thursdays at La Cachette Bistro

Sometimes what draws people to try a dish isn't just the list of ingredients, or the fact that it's a special menu item, but how excited the chef is about it.

I received an email from Chef Jean Francois Meteigner from La Cachette Bistro, saying that he had found spanish rice, piquillo peppers, saffron, etc and will start doing paella every Thursday at La Cachette Bistro. When I came in to try it, Fabrice Lorenzi (the GM) also mentioned how proud Chef Meteigner is of his paella. How could you not try it?

It's a classic paella with generous amounts of seafood. Last Thursday the Spanish rice, piquillo peppers, chorizo, were cooked in saffron with mussels, clams, prawns, scallops, and chicken.
The short grained Spanish rice is supposed to be very important to make a true paella as long-grained rice wouldn't absorb the liquid it's cooked in appropriately. Here, the rice is cooked perfectly al dente, surrounded by the fragrance and flavors of everything else. From the seafood to the chicken, everything was prepared wonderfully. Not just the bone-in chicken wing, I even enjoyed eating the white meat which here was tender and moist.

Other seasonal specials are of course available.
Morel mushrooms from Oregon are built into a beautiful feuillete.
The light and flaky pastry contrasts nicely with the chewiness and earthiness of the morels.

The cherry cobbler also came with a special touch: a homemade vanilla ice cream made with tempered chocolate and corn flakes.
You may not be able to tell they were corn flakes when you eat them but they added a really nice crunchiness. To top it all off: the chunks of tempered chocolate combined with the cherry filling was divine. I want chocolate to accompany all my cherry cobblers from now on.

The paella is served every Thursday and is priced ~$26.

La Cachette Bistro
1733 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 434-9509
www.lacachettebistro.com

5 comments:

nelehelen

i love paella!!!! mmmmmmmmmmm and its right in my hood.. i dunno y i never go.. even when they were in century city i never went!

Banana Wonder

This is sad, but I've never really had paella, unless you count the one time my uncle made it from a box. Maybe it's time I head west

gourmetpigs

Helen: You definitely should! Jean Francois is great, and you'll love him (I never did go to the Century City one tho)

Anna: Never?? The box doesn't count :P Let me know when you're westbound ..

stuffycheaks

I was disappointed with LCB when I was there last, but I might have to give the paella a shot. and that mushroom feuillet too!

weezermonkey

Paella by a Frenchman, eh?

Sounds interesting. :)

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