Thursday, January 1, 2009

The 2009 Michelin Stars

Los Angeles
Melisse **
Providence **
Spago **
Urasawa **
Cut *
Gordon Ramsay at The London *
Ortolan *
Osteria Mozza *
Sona *
Sushi Mori *
Sushi Zo *
Water Grill *

San Francisco/Napa Valley
Coi **
The French Laundry ***
Chez Panisse *

New York
Jean Georges ***
Le Bernardin ***
Aureole *
Eleven Madison Park *
Fleur de Sel *
Gramercy Tavern *

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

NOLA: The Beignet Hunt

I stopped at almost every cafe on the streets of the French quarter featuring beignets, hunting for the best ones and encountering disappointments.

In the end, the best beignets are that of the well-known commercialized brand. I guess there was a reason for its commercial success after all (sorry mom and pop shops).

Cafe du Monde's beignets are puffy, fluffy precious things, "lavishly covered", as they say, (shake the bag with the beignets and powdered sugar to cover em up) with powdered sugar. Their beignets are nice and fluffy, while the other places' beignets are too dense for my taste.
They're perfect, really.


Cafe du Monde
Various locations in New Orleans, LA
http://www.cafedumonde.com/

Cafe Du Monde on Urbanspoon

Monday, December 29, 2008

Getting My Ramen Fix at Santouka LA

The Santouka in Costa Mesa has garnered quite a bit of fame, but when the LA outpost opened I was still skeptical whether or not it will be quite as good. However, as the reviews come flooding in, it seems like the LA Santouka is pretty good after all, and even more consistently so than the other outposts.

I've tried both the miso (pictured below) and shio ramen, which were both good, but yes, the shio ramen's broth stands out.
The noodles themselves were nicely done, although compared to the broth and the meat, this is not Santouka's strongest point. Pork slices were nice, tender and flavorful. The meat was actually quite sweet. There were only two pieces, alas ... I think three would've been perfect :)

The broth at Santouka is very flavorful without being as fatty as Daikokuya - and indeed has more 'depth' than daikokuya or chabuya's. You can actually still see some of the spices they've put in. All in all I loved it and won't mind going there every other day!

They also have ramen sets which come with hardboiled egg and either natto or ikura with rice.
The only bad part about Santouka is that because it's inside Mitsuwa it closes fairly early (7:30 pm) :/ I rarely can make my way there in time if it's not the weekend.

Santouka (inside Mitsuwa)
3760 S Centinela
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 391-1101

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