A must see documentary for anyone who loves food and appreciates all the work and effort that goes into preparing an exceptional dish.

This is a classic story of a chef who comes to the United States in search of greatness and who pushes himself and all that works with him to be the best.

The dishes one sees at the beginning of the film are works of art of a young chef.  Of course with being so young and talented one gets the sense that his food is received as being arrogant and of trying to hard.  I began to think of the great artists who probably had to endure the same criticism during their time to only be truly recognized for their greatness once their time had passed on this planet.

For a bit I felt that this chef would face the same fate as he went from job to job.  A fate of suffering.  Years go by and I suffered as well even though this was mere minutes.  Luckily through this time of suffering he continues to prepare for greatness waiting for an opportunity to appear and luckily that opportunity is embodied in Drew Nieporent of Nobu fame.  A character that I only read about and saw on Anthony Bourdain’s shows carrying left over Toro for his chef friends to feast on into the late New York nights. Through this film I was able to see the passion and the experience of a true restaurateur who is there not to stifle the creativity of a chef but to provide him a platform to perform and excel.  By the end of the film all I can is that I am truly happy for Paul Liebrandt.  It is great to see someone who has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to receive the recognition he so truly deserves.

This documentary is currently showing on HBO and can be viewed in its On Demand library.

For more information about the documentary please visit http://www.amatteroftastethefilm.com/

It’s Sunday morning and I’m hankering for a good strong cup of coffee so I decide to go visit the new Intelligentsia in Old Town Pasadena. This is the first Intelligentsia east of the 5 freeway in the greater Los Angeles/hipster area. I’ve been to other high-end coffee shops before like LA Mill and understand the thought and mission behind these establishments. Provide the best in season coffee from small organic farms and brew in the best way possible to produce the perfect most flavorful cup of coffee.

When you enter Intelligentsia you are greeted with a simple printed menu with coffee and tea choices.

Behind the bar there are two espresso machines.

A section for siphoned coffee that looks like they are heated by infrared burners underneath.

And a section for individually brewed cups of coffee.

Against the wall there are large stainless steel containers that look like they hold gallons of coffee but they actually hold filtered water and there are digital temperature displays at the top holding the water at the correct temperature for coffees and teas.

As I reviewed the menu and approached the barista I have to admit I was in a Starbucks frame of mind. Blurt out some crazy multi layered coffee order as quick as possible, give my name so they can write it on the cup, pay and run over to the pick up area. Instead I was greeted by a chill barista with a hey buddy calm down tone. I immediately got what this place was all about. Take your time because we’re going to take the right amount of time to produce the best cup of coffee. This isn’t a race but a true experience so take your time ordering and ask all the questions you like because we like talking about coffee then take a seat and chill out. We’ll serve your coffee when it’s truly ready to be served.

That being understood I ordered siphon brewed Kenya Thiriku, which was roasted on 8.11.10. They describe it as follows:

Effervescent acidity of marmalade and lime. Rhubarb, peach and blackberries with an underbelly of dark chocolate and fig bars. Hints of spiced rum in the finish.

When it was ready they called me up to the bar and informed me that if I needed sweeteners or dairy products to cloud the true flavor of this awesome coffee it was on the counter by the front of the store. They didn’t actually say that but I got that vibe. Hey buddy this is good coffee don’t mess it up by adding anything to it. Enjoy the pure flavor of these perfectly roasted beans that are brewed with the purest water at the optimal temperature.

So I sat down and happily drank my coffee sans milk and sugar with my croissant. It was a pure cup of good coffee that went down smoothly. It wasn’t too hot. It didn’t have a kick or bitter taste to it. It tasted just right. I can go into some frilly description but it just tasted right.

As I sat there I observed the other customers as they approached the barista. They too were searching for a menu board. They looked confused and apprehensive. One customer brought their coffee back to the counter and said that it was not hot enough and asked if it could be microwaved. I saw the barista’s eyes widen and they politely told the customer that there were no microwaves on the premises. Microwaving coffee is considered a cardinal sin in the coffee world and the good news is that another person in this world has learned this fact.

Is America ready for these types of coffee shops? The answer is yes. We’ve had good and now we’re ready for better. I feel like Will Ferrell in the movie Elf. Congratulations you’ve done it. World’s best coffee! Keep doing what you’re doing Intelligentsia.

It was Cinco de Mayo and having just arrived in New York we did want to stress on having to meet a reservation time.  So based on what we read and heard we decided on the Spotted Pig, which is known as New York’s first Gastro pub. It is owned by April Bloomfield (Chef) and Ken Friedman and located in the Meat Packing District of New York.

As our cab started to enter the area one could hear a real loud crowd much like what one would experience at a stadium.  We realized that we were passing the Bier Garden at the Standard Hotel, which is outdoors, and underneath what appears to be a freeway underpass.   I could see the taps of the outdoor bar with hundreds of people around surprisingly celebrating Cinco de Mayo.   More and more wasted twenty something’s roaming the streets with their sombreros and serapes.  It always cracks me up to see people in the early stages of getting buzzed with lots of smiling faces.

With one turn our cab took us into a quiet and quaint little neighborhood away from the raucousness and there we spotted a spotted pig hanging over a door of a quaint tavern.     And that’s what the Spotted Pig really is a quaint candlelit tavern in a building that dates back to 1836.

As we enter we were lucky to score the last table.  The tables are tiny with small stools to sit on.  The windows are filled with plants in old food tin cans.

It has charmingly rich colored cluttered walls filled with anything and everything that has to do with pigs.   On one of the walls is a chalkboard with all the scribbled specials.

Its a simple place that you truly feel at home.  There is no pretentiousness or attitude so one can truly enjoy a meal.

As we strained to read the menu against the candle on the table we were surprised to find simple dishes with some amazing ingredients.

We placed our order and shortly thereafter our small table was filled with the following dishes:

Grilled Octopus with Fennel & Pickled Onion

Thick cuts of octopus perfectly grilled and topped with the nice sweet crunch of sweet shaved fennel and followed by the always welcomed vinegary flavored pickled onion that helps to open up all the other flavors of a dish.

Sheep’s Ricotta Gnudi with Brown Butter & Sage

Gnudi is like gnocchi the Italian boiled potato dough.   This turned out to be their most popular dish and it was no surprise.  The sheep’s ricotta provides a deep rich flavor in a surprisingly light and airy package.  Topped with brown butter and sage takes one over the top.

Soft Boiled Araucana Egg with Sardine and Ramp Soldiers

Now this dish I had to have.  When I was younger we raised chickens.  And being a suburban chicken farmer (6 chickens in all) one always did research on other chickens.  The thought of getting colored eggs from a chicken always fascinated me.  Unfortunately you had to order at least 36 chicks.  So my dream was never realized.  Now in front of me stood a softly poached Araurana egg surrounded by delicately toasted small slices of bread and a mixture of sardines and ramps.  I delicately tapped the top of the egg to crack the shell and carefully removed the shell to see the glorious bright and rich yolk of the egg.  I took a piece of the toasted bread and spread some of the sardine mixture and then dipped it in the egg yolk.  It was spectacular.  There is something great about dipping bread into egg yolks.

Ramp Champ

Now this time of year in New York ramps can be found on many menus in New York.  Ramps are like green onions or scallions that grow wild on the east coast.  Their flavor is like an onion.  And champ is an Irish dish that is basically mashed potatoes.    In this case milk or cream is warmed up and ramps are added with butter.  The mixture is then poured over boiled potatoes and then mashed.  More butter is then added.  It is just the best comfort food.

To drink we had Spotted Pig Bitter which is a cask beer and defined as followed on the Spotted Pig’s website:

Cask-conditioned ale is the traditional beer of Britain. It is unfiltered and undergoes a secondary fermentation in the cask. When that fermentation is finished, the beer is left with a very light natural carbonation and a subtle depth of flavor. The yeasts, its job finished, drops to the bottom of the cask and leaves the beer clear. It is pulled up to the bar by a hand pump, just as it is in England’s Pubs. Cask ales are best enjoyed at a gently chilled cellar temperature. We hope you enjoy this handmade artisanal beer, brewed from the finest malt and hops.

The beer is smooth and mellow, which is great since it did not over power any of our selected dishes.

As our cab took us back through the craziness of the Meat Packing District the early buzzed happiness of the youth had now turned to serious contemplated looks of what had taken place that night.  New York the city of millions of stories.  As we drove off I kept on thinking on how I wished we had a place like this in Los Angeles.  This would be a place I’d happily go to on a weekly basis.   The dishes and the ambiance put us at ease and provided the stage for great simple food memories.  I love a place that makes you feel at home.   This will definitely be a place we’ll have to stop at each time we visit New York.

It’s 11:45 AM and we have a 12-noon reservation at Ko.  We scramble out of our Midtown Manhattan hotel and jump into a cab.

How could I let this happen?  This was one of the hardest reservations to get and I give myself only fifteen minutes to get there?

As usual we encounter crazy New York traffic crawling at 5 miles per hour with drivers tooting their horns.  I kindly ask the driver,  “Can you make it? “ He simply says, “I’ll do my best.”

The driver then turns into Nicholas Cage from Gone in 60 seconds and acted as if he was driving the 67 Fastback Mustang Eleanor.  It was quite a ride.  At one point we were helping to escort a siren blaring ambulance through traffic.

We arrive at the corner of 1^st Avenue and 10^th Street and jumped out of the taxi frantically looking for the restaurant. It’s hard to spot so we have to resort to looking for the address number on the storefronts.  I spot a small lucky peach on a very small smartly decorated door.
We rush in and find a true hole in the wall.  A plywood wall covered hole in the wall.  I could not believe how small it was and as stated in other articles it was a bar that only seated twelve people.  Ten lengthwise and two widthwise.

The location was actually the first of the Momofuku restaurants that housed the popular Noodle Bar.  As the popularity of the restaurant grew of course they needed more space and moved it to a larger location.

As our eyes begin to wander around the room the host/waiter patiently asks, “Did you bring the print out?”  I calmly go through my bag and produce what I consider to be Willy Wonka’s Golden ticket that confirms our reservation.

He escorts us to the first two seats at the bar and places in front of us a card that reads:

Lunch Menu $175

Lunch Pairing $95

The lunch pairing wasn’t just a wine pairing.  It included wine, sake, and beer.  If we didn’t want to do the pairing we could pick from a very extensive list from their bar menu.

Since we’re in New York and I didn’t have to drive we went with the pairing.

As we sat down we really started to look around the restaurant and started to really ponder the vibe of the restaurant and what they wanted to accomplish.

First, it’s all about the food.  There’s nothing fancy about Ko everything is minimalistic.   You’re sitting at a bar and staring at a kitchen and it’s the staff.  And if you’re really into food you’re really going to enjoy it.

Second, cooks rule.  When you read the Momofuku cookbook and the various articles about Ko you understand that David Chang felt like the cooks were getting the short end of the stick.  As the cook’s slaved away in the kitchen they would make a menial salary while the wait staff in front would make a killing through tips.  With Ko being so small and the cooks serving the food all the tips would go to them.

Third, the kitchen is not meant to produce massive quantities of food in short amounts of time.  But is meant to be a stage for the awesome preparation, plating, and presentation of dishes.

Behind the bar I saw the following:

A large convection oven filled with dishes set to a 150 degrees.

Two commercial stoves with griddles, burners, and a grill.

The cookware of choice is All-Clad with some skillets that appear to be cast iron.

There are many clear plastic containers filled with ingredients strategically placed around the kitchen in refrigerated drawers under the bar counter in compartments overhead that the chefs used small knives to fit into the container crevices to pull down.

Everything is tight and efficient in this small kitchen,

There are three chefs working behind the counter with what appeared to be an apprentice chef in the back room that peaked his head out ever so often to get instructions.  The chef’s would give empowering instructions and I’ll I could make out was:  “Just make it taste good and keep it simple.  Words to cook by…

The Chef working in front of us was Tyler Lyne from College Station, Texas.  He asked us, “Do you have any allergies we should know about?  We stated, “No.”  He responded, “Great.”

The Office at Ko

Even the restroom or what they affectionally refer to, as the Office is also all about food. It was probably the coolest little restroom I’ve ever been in. They have a bookshelf filled with all the real cookbooks.  Cookbooks written by the best chef’s in the world and of course I had to take a picture.  It must be a great place to read.

Now I would love to give you a blow-by-blow recount of exactly what we ate with pictures and mouth-watering descriptions but honestly #1 they don’t allow picture taking which I applaud and #2 I really wanted to enjoy the food and be in the moment.  I didn’t want to have a notepad next to me scribbling away about ingredients, taste, etc..  That would be insane since each dish was a fusion – yes I said it a fusion of ingredients.  Lots of Asian ingredients combined with the best local ingredients. Each dish was meticulously and thoughtfully planned and prepared and one could tell hours of preparation were invested.  To try to capture this would take numerous visits to Ko and on top of that the menu is always changing.  What ever is fresh and of the best quality finds it’s way to Ko so there is no set menu.   For our lunch they received a call the night before that there were fresh soft shell crab available.  It ended up being deep fried tempura style in a bento box.  It was awesome.   In all we had over 16 dishes.   I honestly lost count and the pairing didn’t help either as we had a new wine, beer, or sake with each dish which they generously poured.

Lunch took over 3 1/2 hours.  The one dish I had to jot down on my Iphone in my stupor was their signature dish Shaved Foie Gras Lychee and Pine Nut Brittle.  As we watched them prepare the dish an excitement started to build amongst the diners.  We all stopped talking and starting to really concentrate on what the cooks were preparing and the questions began.  What is that?

In a bowl they combined the following:

Canned Lychee – which has been drained and quartered.

Riesling Gelee – Combination of Riesling, gelatin sheets, and rice wine vinegar.  They basically make a gelatin, allow it to set and then scrape it out so that appears like shattered glass.

Pine Nut Brittle – combination of caramelized sugar, glucose, and isomalt.  Roasted pine nuts, unsalted butter, and kosher salt.  Spread out on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and allowed to cool.

On top of this they shaved their personally prepared frozen foie gras.  It is a decadent delight of rich buttery foie gras, sweet lychee, and crunchy pine nut brittle.  With each spoonful the foie gras delicately melts into your mouth with gentle layers of sweetness and saltiness followed by the ever-important crunch.

To say that we got our money’s worth is an understatement.  We had the freshest in season ingredients, prepared with extreme care and style, and plated in the most unique manner.  The food is cutting edge and is truly American since it brings together all the best ingredients America has to offer.

Every time I plan a trip to New York I have to try and go to some exclusive place to make the trip more of an experience and a definite time to remember. For the last 4 years I kept on hearing and reading about Momofuku. Great stories about Chef David Chang and the care and love he shows for each dish he prepares.

So what is Momofuku? It’s the name of his restaurant group, which is comprised of five restaurants:

noodle bar, ssäm bar, ko, milk bar & má pêche

Which one should I try to visit?

My trip is for only 4 days so the planning for a reservation had to be well planned out in advance.

The first four restaurants require no reservation, but I’m guessing there will be some waiting involved.

Ko is a restaurant that seats 12 and is basically a bar where the diners sit and face the kitchen.

After visiting the site and reading the FAQ section I realized that I would have to register to make a reservation on their online reservation system. Highly efficient I have to say.

Then I read further. Lunch is only served Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It is a 3-hour event. Dinner is served 7 days a week and takes 1 1/2 hours. Reservations for lunch can only be made 2 weeks in advance and dinner one week in advance.

So lunch sounded like it was the meal to hit at Ko and I would have more chances to get a reservation if I started 2 weeks in advance.

The reservation system opens every day at 10am Eastern. Since I live on the West Coast that’s 7am for me.

To prepare to get the reservation I registered on the site and set my alarm for 6:55 am the following morning.

My alarm goes off the next morning and I queue up the site. A countdown clock shows with the amount of minutes and seconds before the reservation system opens up. I felt like I was waiting for the stock market to open.

7am hits and a drop down appears. How many diners? The selection shows 1, 2 & 4.

I select 2 and the screen refreshes to show a grid of dates and times. I see X’s and checkmarks. The check marks are the available times. I only saw one check mark so I clicked on it. A pop up window appears saying sorry someone already snagged that time.

Yikes! This is going to be tough. But it made me really want to get a reservation.

I did this for the next couple of mornings to get ready because I really felt like I could not make a mistake or no food for me.

I then pulled out the calendar to figure out which day I could start to try and get a reservation. It turned out to be a Saturday.

That Saturday I was up really early cooking for a Baby Shower and the alarm on my Iphone goes off. I see the screen and I rush to the computer. Five minutes before the reservation opens up. No problem.

The site comes up. I log in and I’m ready to go.

The clock is ticking down and I continually hit the enter button.

7 AM hits and the screen refreshes.

The magic question appears. How many? I click two.

The grid appears. I click to the next screen to get the first available date two weeks away,

I see Friday, 12:00 PM – Check Mark.

I click it.

Yes! I don’t get the Sorry Pop Up.

Screen refreshes I start screaming yes this is going to happen.

But wait another clock appears showing 180 seconds and it starts ticking down.

What? All of a sudden I feel like McGruber. You have to be kidding me.

The screen states that I have to enter a credit card number to secure the reservation. If I fail to make the reservation my credit card will be charged $150. I have 24 hours before my reservation to cancel.

Credit card? Where’s my credit card? I start yelling. Of course I can’t find my wallet with my credit cards. Get me a credit card I yell.. I need a credit card. My wife is looking freaked out at me saying what’s your problem. I yell credit card! Where’s your credit card? “In my purse!” she yells. I dive into the purse and luckily I find the magic card.

I rush back to the computer and this only took me 45 seconds.

I quickly and nimbly type in the credit card information like I’m saving the world if I miskey just one digit.

I click submit and the screen refreshes.

The confirmation screen shows and I am informed my credit card has been accepted. An email confirmation is on its way.

I scramble to get my email up and there it is.

Willy Wonka’s magic ticket. The email says print this up and bring it with you.

Print button hit. Print out generated.

Next stop New York City and Momofuku’s Ko.

Now I need to go out and buy the cookbook so I can prepare for the feast.

French Bistros File Record Bankruptcies as Le Big Mac Reigns 

By Ladka Bauerova

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — It’s lunchtime in Paris and the packed restaurant has neither checkered tablecloths nor carafes of red wine. It’s a McDonald’s and the French are lovin’ it.

While rising prices and record low consumer confidence drive the French to throw their culinary pride to the wind and embrace le Big Mac, traditional bistros are hurting. About 3,000 independent French restaurants filed for bankruptcy in the first half, a record 27 percent higher than the same period a year earlier, according to Paris-based statistics office Insee.

“A hamburger patty and fries in a bistro around the corner from my office costs almost twice as much,” said Alexandre Cavanel, a 27-year-old computer programmer, as he tucked into his 8 euro ($10.70) double cheeseburger menu meal with colleagues at a McDonald’s in Paris’s Opera district.

McDonald’s, accused by Jose Bove — the activist farmer who ran last year for president — of serving “malbouffe,” or junk food, said French revenue will increase 12 percent this year. In contrast, the fate of traditional French restaurants may worsen as a slumping economy drives more people to swap offerings such as duck dish “confit de canard” and “blanquette” of veal for hamburgers and fries, economists said.

France may have slipped into its first recession in more than 15 years in the third quarter, Insee said Oct. 3. Consumer spending will stagnate for the rest of 2008 as employment and the real estate market deteriorate and credit for new investment dries up, the statistics office said.

“Clearly, the current economic environment speaks in favor of cheaper products,” said Dominique Barbet, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in Paris.

Wine for Lunch

That trend is evident also in other industries. Retailers including Carrefour SA and Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA report consumers buying unbranded products and switching from supermarkets to discount chains. Groupe Danone SA, the maker of Activia yogurt, last month introduced cheaper products to offer shoppers alternatives.

Many French restaurateurs and cafe owners are concerned that rising prices and growing unemployment together with the global financial crisis will stop people from dining out.

“Fewer people eat in restaurants now, and when they do come they don’t order like before,” said Clara Vega, a manager of La Cote d’Azur cafe on Rue Quatre Septembre in central Paris. “They used to order an appetizer and a meat dish with a glass of wine for lunch. Now they buy a crocque and wash it down with a carafe of tap water.”

A crocque is a popular French snack similar to a grilled cheese sandwich. A steak with fries costs 13.70 euros while a crocque goes for 5.20 euros in La Cote d’Azur.

Rising Bankruptcies

Falling consumer spending and a ban on smoking in cafes have eroded business, resulting in more restaurant bankruptcies in the wealthiest Paris neighborhoods as well as in less affluent ones, court records show.

“L’Instant de Plaisir,” in the 12th arrondissement, met with the same fate as “Manhattan” on the Champs Elysees and “Le Consul II” on the opulent Avenue Friedland in the past six months, according to the Tribunal de Commerce.

“We are disturbed by the rise in bankruptcy filings and fear the consequences for our businesses,” Union des Metiers et des Industries de l’Hotelerie, a hotel and restaurant association, said in a Sept. 25 press release. “Restaurants, particularly cafes in rural areas, have seen a brutal decline in their business.”

Meanwhile, France has cemented its position as the biggest earner outside the U.S. for McDonald’s Corp., accounting for about 13 percent of total sales.

Cheap Meals

“Logically, people are switching from restaurants to fast food,” said BNP’s Barbet.

McDonald’s, which is based in Oak Brook, Illinois, and opened its first French restaurant in Strasbourg in 1979, is doing better than ever. Sales at the company’s 1,115 outlets in France will rise this year to a record 3.35 billion euros, McDonald’s said this month. The company is opening 29 new restaurants in France this year.

“In the short term, we will probably benefit from the current economic crisis,” Jean-Pierre Petit, chief executive officer of McDonald’s France and southern Europe, said in an interview. “Offering food at accessible prices and correcting our negative image helped us win over clients who used to eat only in traditional French restaurants.”

Still, even McDonald’s is wary of the economic morass.

“It’s never good to have an economic crisis because sooner or later it will catch up with you,” Petit said. “That’s why we aren’t just offering cheap meals. We are also offering a wider selection of products.”

`Malbouffe’

Since becoming CEO of McDonald’s France in 2003, Petit has added salads, Danone yogurts and bite-sized snacks to the menu, overhauled interior design and opened about 30 outlets a year. While there are fewer McDonald’s outlets in France than in Germany, they generate more revenue per customer, he said.

At the McDonald’s Opera restaurant, Cavanel’s friend Jerome, also a computer programmer, said he enjoys eating at McDonald’s even though it makes him feel a little guilty.

“I know it’s malbouffe, but malbouffe can be good every now and then,” he said, declining to give his surname. “We eat differently from the Americans. We eat less, and only at meal times. And we can’t afford a proper lunch every day.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a77FzqH2MlN0&refer=home#

The list of the top 50 restaurants in the world provided by Restaurant magazine is out!

Check out the restaurants 

I’m a sucker for reviews on Mario Batali restaurants. In my opinion he can do no wrong and I consider his restaurants to exude the truth. The truth to me is what food is supposed to taste like using the simplest preparation.

Enjoy… Click here to read.

Last night with my wife I tried Osteria Mozza. A collaboration between Mario Batali, Nancy Silverton, and Joseph Bastianach. The executive chef is Matt Molina.

I have been to Mario Batali’s restaurant Babbo in New York and was very curious to see if he could bring the same type of quality of food and service here to Los Angeles.

I want to give you a blow by blow to try to convey my experience.

The evening started at 6pm and we were invited to try a glass of Proseco Sorelle. This is an Italian sparkling wine, which was light and the perfect way to cleanse the palate, and to kickoff a wonderful evening of fine dining.

Our waitress explained to us how the menu works. People usually start with a couple of dishes from the Antipasti course that is shared family style.

Followed by a dish from the Primi course that is usually shared.

Then each person gets a dish from the Secondi course.

You don’t have to do this, no pressure, but it is recommended.

We appreciated the advice and made our selections.

We were then asked if we would be interested in speaking to the Sommelier about selecting a wine to accompany our meal. We said yes please and minutes later the sommelier appeared.

Selecting wine can be a very humbling experience especially when dealing with a Sommelier. This was a great experience. The Sommelier asked all the right questions on gauging our taste in wine. He knew what we ordered to make thoughtful wine pairing suggestions. He also asked us how we looked on time. We explained that we had an hour and half before we had to dash to catch a musical up the street. This was communicated to the wait staff and the experience began.

We were first greeted with a bite of a mozzarella that was made in house. A thin layer of mozzarella spread over with a vegetable pesto and then rolled and sliced. Olive oil is then drizzled over and served on a small plate. The cheese was very light and creamy and was a great way to break the ice on what to expect from Chef Molina.

For the Antipasti course we ordered:

Crispy Pigs Trotter with cicoria and mustard. The meat from the pig trotter is flattened into a patty and lightly fried. It is paired with a chicory salad with a sweet vinaigrette.

Little Lettuce Gems. 5 different types of lettuce with sliced hard boiled eggs, fried pancetta and a delicious vinaigrette. This salad was so simple and just delicious. It goes to show how incredibly fresh ingredients can make such a difference in such a simple salad.

From the Mozzarella bar we ordered Burrata from Basilicata served with braised leeks, celery, scallions and herb salad.

With the first course we drank a Vino Rosato- Cerasuolo, Cataldi Madonna Montepulciano Abruzzo 2005. It was a light wine that didn’t over power the dishes but added to the flavors.

For the Primi course we ordered Spaghetti with clams, pancetta & spicy Fresno chile pesto.

Now I didn’t want to order this dish. I really wanted to try something I’ve never had before, but we wanted to see how they did a classic Italian dish. It’s just like ordering a chicken breast from a restaurant. A good restaurant will find a way to exceed your expectations with a simple genuine ingredient. The clams were incredibly fresh and absolutely gave you the taste of the sea. The pasta was al dente and the pesto has the right amount of kick to not blow you out of the water but put the little smile on your face that is followed by that nod of satisfaction.

With this course we drank Dolcetto d’La Martinera Rocche di Manzoni. This was a sweet wine from the Northern part of Italy that went great with this little spicy dish.

For our Secondi we had Grilled Whole Orata wrapped in fig leaf with olio nuovo and Beef Brasato with polenta and a horseradish gremolata.

The Orata was served tableside by the waitress. She separated the head and opened up the fish. She then drizzled it with olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt. The fish was incredibly tender and flakey with a hint of smokiness from the fig leaf. What was most important to me was that I could taste the delicate flavor of the fish. There was a respect for the ingredient and they allowed it to speak for itself.

The Beef Brasato was decadent. Fork tender beef that melted in your mouth. When you braise meat you get that strong beef flavor that can dominate the dish. You need that little kick of the horseradish gremolata to keep it from being one-dimensional. And then following it up with a creamy polenta that was so simple and delicious. It was a great marriage of flavors all the way around.

The thoughtfulness continued during this course. Before serving the dishes our waitress asked us if we still wanted our third selection of wine. We said yes and had the Chianti Classico Riserva.   A delicious Chianti that complimented both dishes and added to their flavors without overpowering.

For the Dolci course we ordered Bombolini with lemon mascarpone, and raspberry sorbetto.

The best way to describe this dish is crispy little fried donuts with a light center. It is served with a tart mascarpone and sweet raspberry sorbetto. A delicious little desert.

We were taken care of in every way this evening. I felt like a guest in someone’s home where every detail is thought out and executed to make your stay as memorable as possible. The wait staff did an incredible job of pacing the meal to not make us feel rushed. The Sommelier made superb selections of wine. And Chef Molina and his kitchen staff prepared delicious dishes. I really could not find anything to complain about only to praise them for covering all the bases and beating my expectations. Osteria Mozza has set the bar in Los Angeles as being the best restaurant. I look forward to seeing other restaurants catching up to the new standard.