A Barcelona Delight: Cinc Sentits

Spring Peas from Llavaneras with five herb ice cream and mint powder

Little neck clam in gelee with asparagus soup

Red Snapper with braised vegetables cooked in cellophane bag

Iberian suckling pig marinated for 14 hours served with apples in two textures.  The left is apple sauce, the right is a baked apple.

Petit Fours

There's much debate in the foodie blogosphere about where to dine in Barcelona. Everyone is saying Spain is putting out the best new foods. I may be in the minority, I may be crucified, but I must speak the truth. I am not in love with the food in Barcelona.

In general, there's little variety in flavor profiles. How many ways can you stretch Iberico ham and Manchego cheese? And the tapas have been a starchy potato on top of starchy french bread. And everything's a bit too fishy. That's my impression of the food after trying everything from fine dining to street food for a week.

There is one stand out and that's Cinc Sentits. Located in the Universitat area in a small sleek modern space, it just received one Michelin star. The more molecular dishes still put taste as a priority over technique. The reverse has been the downfall of many a modern dishes. The restaurant prides itself on harvesting local ingredients. The food was delicious. The service impeccable. The stand out was the suckling pig and the seasonal peas with herb ice-cream.

Enjoy the pictures as you turn asparagus green with envy.

www.cincsentits.com

Wilshire Restaurant: Well Prepared Local Food

Amazing food on the Westside with global flavor. We had our engagement party here and served mac and cheese, kobe beef sliders and hors d'oerves and cocktails. Then stayed after to have dinner in a private room.

Thai-style fried whole snapper with fish sauce

Indian-flavored cumin chicken with lentils and greens

Green musssels in yellow curry sauce

mini ice-cream sandwiches

Outstanding in the Field, Camarillo, CA McGrath Family Farms

Outstanding in the Field is an organization that encourages diners to eat farm fresh food. And by fresh, I mean straight from the soil, through the rinse, and onto your plate. It's a movement to make people aware of a fresh organic more sustainable way to shop for foods and feed your body. They travel the country in a big red bus and organize dinners at farms. They match local chefs with local farms and local produce. They set up one big long table for diners and prepare the meal on the farm. It's a unique special romantic experience. If only we could all live this way.

The menu for the evening:

Cocktail Appetizer:
goat cheese crudite with squash blossom relish

First Course:
Farm Fresh roasted carrot and squash salad

Second Course:
Haricot Vert soup

Third Course:
Fresh Caught Ventura Harbor Snapper with farm fresh beats

Fourth Course:
Grilled Pork Belly with farm fresh turnips

Fifth Course:
Lavender infused pound cake with farm fresh strawberries

From their website:

Outstanding in the Field is a roving culinary adventure - literally a restaurant without walls. Since 1999 we have set the long table at farms or gardens, on mountain tops or in sea caves, on islands or at ranches. Occasionally the table is set indoors: a beautiful refurbished barn, a cool greenhouse or a stately museum. Wherever the location, the consistent theme of each dinner is to honor the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table.

Ingredients for the meal are almost all local (sometimes sourced within inches of your seat at the table!) and generally prepared by a celebrated chef of the region. After a tour of the site, we all settle in: farmers, producers, culinary artisans, and diners sharing the long table.

Chimera Restaurant: Hidden Find in Monteverde Costa Rica

A week into our vacation in Costa Rica, we had been accustomed to the routine of local tica plates for lunch which consisted of rice and beans, plaintains, and some stewed mystery meat. The Ticas know how to do their rice and beans, but even so, a tica plate everyday does begin to make the palate wander. Then came a ray of sunshine found in Monteverde, a place that's known for cloud cover. Chimera restaurant is located in the town of Santa Elena on the road leading to the Cloud Forest Reserve. It serves tapas style food using local farmed ingredients. Behold our delicious samplings: stewed white beans with bacon, coconut tamarind shrimp, coconut rice, hearts of palm salad, a hearty tortilla soup, local spice onion rings and for desert local-spiced apple cakes. The flavors and quality of execution far exceeded the local standard and elevated local food to a higher level. HIGH RECOMMENDATIONS for Chimera.

Citrus at Social Hollywood

Commit this word to your memory: gougers. Gougers are French cheese puffs. They are like delicious bite-size popovers stuffed with a mild cheese and they are heavenly. Just one of the many heavenly creations at Chef Michel Richard's Citrus restaurant at Social Hollywood. Chef Richard won a James Beard award, so the bar was set high. And he met our expectations. The menu is inspired california-french flair, well-prepared, well-plated and oh so tasty. The crab toast was sumptuous, to die for. The onion tart's texture was a bit too mushy for our liking. And for dinner, the table ordered the 72-hour braised short rib, the lamb, a gorgeous poached lobster, and lobster burger served with giant french fries fried in clarified butter. Sinful.

Of course, my personal highlight was the dessert. In addition to the gourmet kit-kat bar, we also ordered the orange souffle. Now I know me some souffles. This souffle was the most technically successful I've ever had. Foamy, rich, luscious texture in the middle with just the slightest crispy top. Cutting it with my spoon was like cutting through air. Very flavorful. It was a party in my mouth.

Yes the scene is very Hollywood, the music at the club next door is unbelievably loud, the waiters are probably better actors than they are waiters, but all is forgiven when the food is this good.

Good Steak at Bistro Laurent Tourondel

I dream of them. Popovers! Those flaky puffy hollow bread rolls common in the East Coast are made to perfection at BLT Steakhouse. It is step one in this overall sensational steakhouse experience. We started with giant popovers, a nice blend of textures, crunchy on the outside and chewy, warm and buttery on the inside. Next came a roasted beet salad, not amazing, but satisfactory.

Then we chose the jumbo lump crab appetizers served with house-made cocktail sauce from their raw bar. Then came the centerpiece. The Rib Eye, seared to heavenly perfection in buttery sage goodness, served with a whole roasted garlic and marrow and bone (if you're courageous). We had asparagus and green beans for our sides, both prepared perfectly. Crunchy buttery hot flavorful veges to support and enrich the steak-eating experience.

The service was excellent, the food was robust in flavor, plentiful in portion and gorgeous to look at it. One of the better steakhouses in Los Angeles. Highly recommend. If not, just for those popovers alone!

CRAFT not so crafty

I was so excited to visit Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craft. I've been a fan of his since watching Top Chef. I figure he knows what the hell he's talking about. It took me $213 to learn that celebrity chefing is all hype. Our meal was boring. Ron's NY Strip steak was decent at best. Although the cut of my braised beef short rib was good (all meat, no fat), the marinade was ho hum. It tasted like a mediocre bourginion at best, without any subtle flavor of anything. We also had for appetizers quail in a wild blueberry jus which was fine. And our spinach salad was saved by the thick slices of bacon in it. The food was prepared well in a classical sense. But there was nothing special or memorable about the flavors. The price we paid for this meal was not worth the bland dining experience.

And the music they played- we were going to slit our wrists with our steak knives. Dreary slow songs from unrecognizable musicians who all sounded like James Taylor knock-offs.

To be fair, there was one dish that was a home run. We ordered the donuts for dessert. They did manage to perfect a donut. Crispy on the outside, gooey and chewy on the inside. Served with a chocolate mousse, vanilla bean creme fraiche and an apricot lemon jelly. We were so pleased to be having donuts for dessert. But as for the meal, there are better steak houses in Los Angeles for less strain on your wallet. Not recommending!