Biergarten in Koreatown. You might know it for its impressive craft beer selection, juicy Drunken Chicken and apparently 8:2 guy-to-girl ratio. It’s safe to say this isn’t a fancy place and you’ll never have to fret over a dress code. But this coming Monday and Tuesday, Biergarten will be all about the fancy as Chef Joseph Mahon, former executive chef of Bastide, and bad-boy sommelier David Haskell, formerly of Le Cirque and Bin8945, will take over the restaurant! Lah dee dah!
The dynamic duo has created a five-course tasting menu ($56) with the option to pair each course with wine, sake, soju or beer ($54). And if you’re STILL hungry after all that you can add on a couple more courses for an additional 10 bucks, no charge to pair those with drinks.
Those on a budget will appreciate the fact that you have the option of selecting beverages a la carte, too.
Here’s the dinner menu:
Carrot curry pudding
Coconut soup with mussels, tapioca, cilantro, basil and pistou
Wild mushrooms, white soy, sesame rice paper
Fried chicken with bacon, radish, arugula, celery and buttermilk dressing
Confit pork cheeks with bearnaise mousse
Waffle surprise
Extra bonus is that Matt Kang of newly opened Scoops Westside will be bringing “a bunch of ice cream” which Haskell will do pairings for! Reservations can be made by emailing Neil Kwon at Neilskwon [at] gmail.com or by calling Biergarten after 4pm at (323) 466-4860.
EVENT: MONDAY, DECEMBER 13 to TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14 from 6 to 10:30pm
Last night, I, along with several bloggers and media types, converged onMagnolia Bakery in Mid-City for a cupcake and prosecco party which previewed the new fall flavors. It was the dessert party to end all diets as we were told that we could ask for whatever we wanted: cookie bars, mini cheesecakes, icebox cakes, specialty cakes and of course cupcakes. “Pace yourself,” the publicists warned me right before they released me to the counter. And honestly, I tried to…OK, not really, but how could I help myself? I was literally a kid in a cupcake shop.
I immediately started off with the cup of the “famous” banana pudding, made with vanilla wafers, bananas and vanilla pudding. So creamy and delicious, but I had to restrict myself to only a couple of spoonfuls, especially with the general manager, Marianne Bonner, coming at me with two plates featuring the new fall flavors. See video.
Now, I wasn’t all that enthused by the S’mores cupcake, the cupcake of the month, with honey graham cake, chocolate center and meringue icing. That honey graham cake was a bit too dry for my taste. Waah. However, I did enjoy the pumpkin spice cupcake which is a lovely autumn treat; and the orange with orange cream cupcake, a nice bit of citrus on the gloomy day, seemed to be a crowd favorite.
Surprisingly the caramel cake made me shudder. I mean, caramel is one of my favorite flavors ever. But yeah, wayyy too sweet for me in that I felt like my teeth would fall out after the first bite. Then again I had just polished off a couple of cupcakes and some banana pudding, so take that for what it’s worth
No, actually my fave flavors are still the plain jane standards, the red velvet and the chocolate. But if you’re looking for cupcakes to delight the costumed crowd at that upcoming Halloween party, I highly recommend the pumpkin spice one with its maple cream cheese frosting and toasted pecans. And you can’t go wrong with the red velvet cupcakes and the Devil’s Food cupcakes with caramel cream cheese icing either.
The specialty cupcakes are $3.25 each, while “Classics” vanilla and chocolate are $2.75 each. It’s a minimum of a dozen for advance orders. You can also get an assortment of the classic flavors in mini form for $18 in a clear container or $20 in an egg carton.
For your consideration, here’s a list of some of their other fall treats:
Krissy Lefebvre showing off Ludo's newest tat, le coq.
Last Friday, me and a bunch of my blogger friends, converged on Gram & Papas in downtown L.A. for Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s fourth pop-up restaurant, Ludo Bites 4.0, which runs til May 28 but is all booked up. Anyhoo, if you don’t have Twitter, read L.A. food blogs or own a TV, Chef Ludo is a Top Chef Masters contestant and the tres beau, tatted-up French chef behind a very successful pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles.
Suffice it to say, where Ludo pops up, so do his blogging fans. And on this night it was me, Lindsay and Sam of LAist, Diana Takes a Bite, estarLA and Sarah (KCRW), who isn’t a blogger but we love her anyway. Hee!
Since we’re all foodies and couldn’t make up our minds of what to get what with our varying preference and certain food aversions (I try to avoid red meat), we settled on ordering every single item from Ludo’s menu. A perfect way to appease everyone and get a taste of everything.
Naturally there were many items that I wish we didn’t have to share like the creamy white asparagus veloute, rich ham soup, seared foie gras pina colada and the two desserts but at least, should I get an opportunity to go again, I’ll know what I’ll order for myself.
Here’s the menu (listed in order of appearance ), which changes but you can click here for the updated one. All are pictured except the baguette with honey-lavender butter, which is basically bread and incredibly yummy butter. Heh. (I want to have my own tub of that butter to use in all my meals.)
By the way, sorry for the photos. Diana was kind enough to supply some light for some of the photos but it just doesn’t compare to the lightbox, which Ludo’s wife, Krissy, said they didn’t have room for at this pop-up space.
Appetizers
Red Snapper Tomato Ceviche, jalapenos, red onions and Meyer lemons ($14)
Steak au Poivre, shallots, polenta bone marrow, roasted eggplant puree ($27)
Monkfish, jardiniere de legumes, vadouvan ($24)
Rack of Lamb, fresh goat cheese, smoked eel, artichokes, potato mousseline, mint ($26)
Dessert
Dark Chocolate Souffle, vanilla black pepper ice cream, chocolate cream ($13)
Strawberry Chantilly ($12)
I love Ludo’s reimagining of food, like the cauliflower ice cream, pina colada foie gras, polenta bone marrow, brie chantilly napoleon and potato mousseline, or what Krissy called, “butter with potato.” All were deliciously executed. I didn’t get to eat nearly as much as my dining companions since I avoided the steak and only took eeny bites of the lamb (which Lindsay was in love with) and the escargot which almost changed my mind about its snailness since it was so tasty. But I was still stuffed and quickly slipping into a food coma by the time we polished off the dark chocolate mousse.
Regarding wine, since it’s BYOB here, estarLA picked up a bottle for us from Domaine LA on Melrose Avenue. The 2008 J. Wilkes Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir was a very smooth vino with hints of orange zest, cardamom and cherries. Unfortunately, it was the last bottle in the store but Jill, owner of Domaine LA, has created a virtual list of wine suggestions just perfect for dinner at Ludo’s.
Ludo Bites at Gram & Papas
227 East 9th Street
Los Angeles, California 90015 (map)
(213) 624-7272
Twitter: @chefludo & @frenchefwife
Wow can you believe that our Santa Monica Pier is gonna be 100 years old? An amazing feat in a city that rails against age and is big on “out with the old and in with the new.” The actual Centennial Day ceremony takes place on September 9 at the pier and involves a 100-foot cake, Robert Redford and a large-scale fireworks. But The Fig at the Fairmont in Santa Monica will also be doing some pre-celebrating of the century-old landmark in its own special way. With a gourmet twist on pier junk food classics:
ON A STICK
Cheese on a Stick $6
Wagyu Corn Dog $9
Lobster Corn Dog $7
Scotch Duck Egg $7
ON BREAD
Pancetta Burger with Sun Dried Tomato Relish $14
Cheese Steak Sandwich $10
Bratwurst on a Pretzel Roll $9
Cashew Butter, Roaring 40s and Jelly Sandwich $8
IN A BASKET
Parmesan Fries $6
Sweet Potato Fries $5
Blue Cheese Filled Buffalo Chicken $9
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers $8
And yes, I’ve already asked if they were gonna do special cocktails, too, for the occasion. Spiked root beer floats and milkshake cocktails! But unfortunately, there are no plans for that…but I did get them thinking.
In any case, you can enjoy your lobster corn dogs and bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers either at the restaurant or take it to go and walk down to the pier to make the tourists envious. This special “Pre Pier” menu will be available for lunch and dinner starting Thursday, September 3 and run through to centennial day on Wednesday the 9th.
EVENT: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 to WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
The Fig at the Fairmont
101 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, California 90401 (map)
(310) 576-7777
