Dinner at Hinoki & the Bird (Century City)

Being the "foodies" that we are, my husband and I love when exciting new restaurants open up around the city.  I especially love when Los Angeles Magazine publishes its annually "Best New Restaurants in L.A." issue and provides us with a list of great places to try.  The most recent of these issues came out in December with its list of the "Top 10 Best New Restaurants of 2013."  Fortunately for us, we had already tried out the #1 (Trois Mec) and #2 (Bestia) places on the list.  Then, a Saturday night came about recently where we had no plans, so we picked up the magazine, looked at the list, and decided to check out the #3 restaurant called Hinoki & the Bird.

Hinoki & the Bird is located on the ground floor of "The Century" building in Century City, which is known for being the most expensive condominium building west of the Mississippi.  As for the name, hinoki is a type of cypress tree that is meant to represent the spirit of Japan, and the hinoki wood is used to perfection in one of their signature dishes (more on that later). 


The interior is a mixture of both wood and industrial design.  We were seated outside on the enclosed patio, which had a large fireplace as its centerpiece.  The ambiance was both cozy and noisy.

The place was packed, and the tables were very close together, which made it a little difficult to hear each other across the table.  However, we had no trouble overhearing the conversations of all of the other diners seated around us.  Everyone really seemed to enjoy everything that was brought to their tables.


Hinoki has a specialty cocktail list, and since I've been trying to expand my horizons when it comes to cocktails, I ordered a Classic Negroni, which consisted of gin, sweet vermouth & Campari, on the rocks, with an orange twist.  The drink had one of my favorite new cocktail trends, the single, giant ice cube, used because it melts slowly and keeps your drink cold, but without watering it down.  The drink was delicious and really helped whet my appetite.

Hinoki has an eclectic menu, full of Californian and Asian influences.  The menu is divided up into various sections including a raw bar, fun bites, inspiration, simply grilled, and vegetables and grains.
We started off by sharing a couple of small plates.  The first was fried clams with black garlic aioli.  The clams were quite large, and the batter was crispy and crunchy.  The side of black garlic aioli was an interesting touch, and the richness paired well with the brininess of the clams.

 
The second small plate we shared was the chili crab toasts. In this dish, the sweetness of the crab was a bit overwhelmed by the chili spice, however the fresh strip of cucumber on the bottom helped cool down the heat quite a bit.


Next, we ordered a "main" dish which was the hinoki scented black cod.  With this unique dish, the chef ignites paper-thin sheets of hinoki wood and lays them, still smoldering, over charred clumps of oyster mushrooms and a crispy-skinned piece of black cod. The wood perfumes the restaurant, so you can always tell when somebody across the room has ordered it.  The hinoki wood imparts a delicate smoky scent to the dish.

This was definitely the stand-out dish of the evening.  One of the best preparations of cod that we've ever had.  It was super flaky, tender, and buttery.  The earthiness of the mushrooms was a great accompaniment to the fish.  The mound of mashed sweet potatoes were a tasty, yet completely unnecessary, component of the dish.  Just the cod and mushrooms alone would have been more than satisfying.


Next, we ordered another small dish which was the crispy marinated chicken lemon sauce. The chicken was good and crispy on the outside, yet juicy and tender on the inside.  They tasted like really good chicken tenders.


Finally, we decided to order one dessert to split. We chose the miso donuts with caramel dipping sauce.

Although the donuts were perfectly fried, and not greasy, we both thought that the coating of miso was a miss because it made the donuts too salty.  The caramel dipping sauce was good, but we both couldn't really handle more than just a couple of bites of the dessert.

Overall, we had a great meal at Hinoki and the Bird.  I would definitely recommend the hinoki scented cod dish, as it was one of the very best fish dishes that either of us has ever had!  The menu was innovative and very creative, the atmosphere was nice, and I would encourage all adventurous diners to give this one a try.

Eating our way through Portland

For the first time ever, I traveled out of town, with my husband, for Thanksgiving.  Usually, we have a lot of family over to our place, and we prepare the Thanksgiving meal.  However, this year we decided to travel to Lake Oswego, Oregon to visit my husband’s brother’s family who lives there.  Lake Oswego is a beautiful suburb about 10 minutes south of Portland.  After enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving, and spending a few days with family, we decided to spend the end of our trip exploring the fantastic food scene that Portland has to offer.  

 

Before we left L.A., I did some “serious research” into some of the must-visit, foodie places in Portland.  I read reviews on yelp, scoured the food blogs, and watched a lot of food network.  I took notes and gathered a nice list of places that I wanted to try.  With our limited time, there were only so many places from my list that we were able to get to, but we had some really great food.  We only had two days in Portland, but I felt like all we did was eat for those two glorious days!  So, here are the highlights, as best as I can remember, after I woke up from my food coma:

The Country Cat (7937 SE Stark St.  Portland, OR 97215): 

For our first dinner, we decided to check out The Country Cat.  This place has been featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives”, on an episode entitled “Meat-Lover’s Paradise”, so we were immediately intrigued.  They serve brunch and dinner daily.  Everything at this place is made from scratch, and they are big on the farm to table movement which is quite popular around the Portland food scene.  The place is owned by a husband and wife culinary team, Adam and Jackie Sappington, and the eclectic menu highlights various flavor profiles from Adam’s southern upbringing, balanced out by classic Northwest styles. 

 

We were pretty hungry when we arrived, so we each quickly ordered starters while we examined the menu.  I have a new found respect for gourmet deviled eggs, so I ordered those, and my husband has never met a soft pretzel he didn’t like, and these were described on the menu as “soft and buttery”, so he couldn’t pass them up.  

Now, the reason this place was on the “Meat-Lover’s Paradise” episode, was because of chef Adam’s love for all things pork.  He is known for his artful butchery, and he purchases and carves a whole 160-pound heritage pig, on-site weekly, utilizing everything available to create a pork lover’s dream menu. Perfectly punctuating this unique aspect of the restaurant is the popular Whole Hog plate which features  a brined pork chop, crispy pork belly, and braised  pork shoulder, served over white corn grits.  My husband decided to order the Whole Hog plate, and it was quite tasty.  I liked the braised shoulder meat, while he favored the pork belly with all its fatty goodness.

I ordered the fried chicken with mashed potatoes and country gravy.  Fried chicken, when done right, is one of my favorite comfort foods.  This chicken was done right, as it was nice and crispy on the outside, and really juicy on the inside.   It was one of the better fried chickens I’ve had in a while.

 

Overall, we were quite satisfied with our meal at The Country Cat, and could understand completely why it is so popular with the people of Portlandia.

The next morning, our goal was to find one of the “pods” of food carts which have become all the rage in Portland.  There are a couple of locations in the heart of the city that have dozens of these food carts to choose from.  Well, we found the place, but were disappointed to discover that most of the food carts are closed on Sundays.  Bummer!  We looked to our trusty cell phones to find another breakfast location.  Luckily, we figured out that we were only a few city blocks from the top breakfast place on yelp, Mother’s Bistro & Bar, so this is where we headed.

Mother’s Bistro & Bar (212SW Stark Street in Portland, Oregon 97204):

The chef/owner of Mother’s Bistro & Bar is Lisa Schroeder.  Lisa was working in marketing, when she realized there was no place that served the kind of food she would make if she had the time. She concluded that what the world needed was a place which served “Mother Food”—slow-cooked dishes, such as braises and stews, made with love. Lisa soon gave up her business career and enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America.   In 2000, chef Lisa opened Mother’s Bistro & Bar in downtown Portland.  Mother’s  Bistro claims to offer “refined versions of traditional home-cooked dishes.”  The menu is full of made-from scratch, slow-cooked recipes, utilizing the best available ingredients.  Mother’s serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, and also has a full bar.  

We went to Mother’s on a Sunday morning and the place was absolutely packed.  They told us that the wait was about 45 minutes, but we found a spot at the bar after about 20.  I started with their famous Bloody Mary, and my husband had a Manmosa, which is the same as a mimosa, only super-sized.  

The entire menu looked delicious, but I finally decided on the Eggs Benedict.  The eggs were perfectly poached, and it had just the right amount of Canadian bacon for my liking.  The Hollandaise was thicker than I like, and a little bit too lemony, but overall, it was a yummy dish.    

My husband ordered one of the daily specials, which was a Cajun Hash.  It had Andouille sausage, potatoes, and some kind of herby, mustard sauce.  It was served with two over easy eggs on the side.  The hash was good on its own, with a good amount of spice from the sausage and mustard, but once it was mixed with the runny egg yolk, the dish was delicious.

We thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast at Mother’s Bistro, and would highly recommend it to anyone heading to Portland.

Since the portions were so big at Mother’s, and since we didn’t eat breakfast until around 11:00, we held off on any more meals until dinner.  For dinner, all my pre-trip research led us to a spot called Le Pigeon.
  
Le Pigeon (738 E Burnside St., Portland,OR 97214):

Le Pigeon serves up adventurous, French-inspired food, by Portland rockstar chef, Gabriel Rucker.  The entire restaurant is made up of a large open kitchen, about seven communal tables, and a chef’s counter where you can watch all the action happening in the kitchen.  It is fairly dark inside, so my photos do not do the food justice, but trust me, it was all quite beautiful.  

Chef Rucker takes classic French techniques, along with eclectic Northwest ingredients, and transforms them into carefully executed, and creative dishes.  He recently received the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year Award which goes to show that he is definitely doing something right.

Le Pigeon is only open for dinner, and the seasonal menu changes on a regular basis.  Guests have the option of ordering starters and entrees al la carte, or in the alternative, they can do either a five course or a seven course tasting menu.  Since so many of the items on the menu looked amazing, we decided to go all out and try the seven course feast.

Our first starter course was a Nantucket Bay Scallop Ceviche, with papaya habanero sorbet, cucumber, tomatillo, and trout eggs.  The scallop was super fresh, and by setting it on top of the sorbet, it stayed quite chilled and was very refreshing.  It had a nice citrus flavor, with a hint of heat from both the habanero and the tomatillo.  It was a great way to start off our meal.

The next course was Smoked Duck Breast, with yams, cranberry vinaigrette, oyster mushrooms, and a parsnip cream.  The duck was cooked perfectly.  Because of the cranberry vinaigrette and the yams, the whole dish had a very Thanksgiving-ish flavor profile, which I loved.  

For our third dish, we had Ricotta Cavatelli with a suckling pig ragu and sage hazelnut gremolata.  The cavatelli was a house-made pasta, with ridges around the outside of it.  This pasta was perfect because the ridges really helped the rich ragu stick to the outside of the pasta.  The ragu had a deep, intense flavor.  The gremolata, which is basically a condiment made of herbs, gave the dish some added texture.

Next came our first entrée course which was called Chicken Royale.   The dish consisted of a couple of small, perfectly cooked pieces of chicken which were accompanied by little pieces of lobster, foie gras, and shaved truffle.  The dish was incredibly decadent with all of those rich ingredients.  

 

The second entrée course was Grilled Venison with bone marrow pumpkin pie, onion chutney, and a brussel slaw.   The venison was tasty on its own, but with a bite of the bone marrow pumpkin pie, it was definitely kicked up a notch.  Truth be told, I felt that one of the only missteps of the entire meal was serving a cold slaw on top of the warm venison.  But overall, another unique and enjoyable dish.

 

We were served not one, but two separate desserts.  First was one of Chef Rucker’s signature dishes, a profiterole with fois gras ice cream.  This ice cream was silky and luxurious. 

 

Finally, the second dessert was another seasonal offering of gingerbread cake.  The cake was light and moist, and came with some fresh whipped cream on the side.  The cake had just the right amount of spiciness, without being too overwhelmed by the ginger. 

It was an excellent way to end a wonderful meal.  We left Le Pigeon stuffed, but very satisfied.

Tasty n Sons (3808 N. Williams, Portland, OR 97227):  

The next morning we headed into yet another Portland neighborhood to a local favorite called Tasty n Sons.  I first heard about Tasty n Sons on another T.V. show called “Unique Eats” which airs on the Cooking Channel.  The show was profiling places in Portland, and after watching the segment on Tasty n Sons, my mouth was watering, and I told my husband that we had to go visit this place on our trip.

After all of the rich food and wine pairings at Le Pigeon the night before, I decided that a nice, spicy Bloody Mary sounded like a great way to start off breakfast.  The Bloody Mary was delicious, and it had a whole smorgasbord full of garnishes including the traditional celery, but also a pickled carrot, beet, mushroom, and an olive.

I started my meal off with the “breakfast board” which included a soft-boiled egg, house-made beef jerky, chicken liver mousse, bacon, crusty bread, beets, apple slices, and labna, which is a strained yogurt.   The board arrived and we dove right in as everything on it looked fantastic.  It was a perfect breakfast charcuterie board.

Along with the breakfast board, my husband ordered a dish from the “smaller plates” part of the menu, which was potatoes with an over easy egg and aioli.  The potatoes were diced and fried, but they were then covered in a spicy sauce which made them a little soggy.  The eggs were perfectly cooked, and the still-runny egg yolks were great when mixed with the potatoes.

 

Now, our two starters could have easily been our entire meal.  However, I really came for a dish that was featured on the “Unique Eats” episode, which was the steak and eggs, served in a cast-iron skillet, on top of a cornmeal cake, with jalapeno butter.  The dish had three large pieces of steak, which was perfectly cooked, alongside of some cheesy, creamy scrambled eggs.  The steak and eggs were laid on top of a cornmeal cake, which tasted like corn bread with a bit more crispiness.  To top it all off, there was a giant slab of jalapeno butter in the middle of the plate, which could be used to spread on the pieces of steak, or just melted on to the cornmeal cake.  

 

We couldn’t come close to finishing everything, as we had clearly ordered way too much.  However, everything we had at Tasty n Sons was creative, unique, and most importantly, very tasty.  This was definitely a place I would recommend, and would most likely return to on our next trip to Portland.

 

Salt & Straw Ice Cream (2035 NE Alberta St., Portland, OR):

The last place we hit on our culinary exploration of Portland was the Salt & Straw ice cream shop.  They call Salt & Straw a “farm to cone” ice cream shop.  This is because all of the ice cream here is all hand-made in small batches, using only the best local, sustainable, and organic ingredients Oregon has to offer.  Their ice cream is made with 17% butterfat, which makes it some of the silkiest and creamiest ice cream you’ll ever taste.  

 

Another thing that makes Salt & Straw so unique is the crazy, gourmet flavor combinations they come up with, which constantly change with the seasons.  Some examples are:  “The Elvis”, which is banana pudding ice cream, with marionberry jam, along with homemade peanut butter cookie dough and pralined bacon;  “Pear with Blue Cheese”, which is a pear ice cream with aged crumbles of blue cheese mixed throughout; “Honey Balsamic  Stawberry with Cracked Pepper”; “Coffee and Bourbon”; and “Spiked Egg Nog.”

 

Our very favorite flavor at Salt & Straw is their Sea Salt Ice Cream with a Caramel Ribbon.  The actual ice cream is flavored with sea salt, and not overly sweet.  The caramel is home-made and abundant throughout.  It is absolutely, hands-down, the best ice cream I’ve ever had!  I also gave the olive oil ice cream a chance, which sounds like it would be bad, but was actually rich and decadent, and quite enjoyable.  The Salt & Straw has the ability to turn non-traditional ice cream foods into magical ice cream flavors.   This is definitely a must-try place for anyone headed to Portland.

Overall, we had a great time on our Portland food adventure.  Everywhere we went the food was creative, unique, and full of flavor. It's clear to see why Portland t is now being called the foodie capital of the Northwest.  From coffee shops, to artisan bakeries, to craft breweries, to James Beard Award winning chefs and restaurants, Portland has something to offer for all tastes and budgets.  It is definitely a very food-centric city, and a great place to explore.

Dinner at Church & State (Los Angeles)

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were going to be journeying to Downtown L.A. once again, so we took the opportunity to revisit a restaurant that we had enjoyed a couple years ago called Church & State.  Since we visited the south of France earlier this year, we have a new found love for French Provencal cuisine, and have been trying to find a great French restaurant in L.A. that is comparable to the amazing food we had while in France.  Church & State is a classic French bistro, in the old, industrial area of Downtown L.A.  In fact, it is located on the ground floor of the original National Biscuit Company (i.e. Nabisco) building, which was built back in 1925.

When it first opened back in 2008, Church & State was one of the first restaurants to open in the now bustling Arts District of Downtown L.A.   The cuisine is traditional French bistro fare, including such classics as steak frites, escargot, moules (mussels), roasted bone marrow, steak tartar, and duck confit, along with a selection on French cheeses, and an all-French wine list.  In addition, they have a full bar, and a great selection of unique, craft cocktails.

We each started with one of the craft cocktails, mine was called an "impromptu", and although I don't exactly recall the ingredients (it's been a few weeks), I do remember that it was quite good.  Our server also delivered some fresh, crusty bread for us to nibble on as we studied our menus.

Before we even ordered, our server also gave us an amuse, which was a gougeres (cheese puff).  This little one-bite wonder was warm, light, cheesy, and delectable.  I could have eaten several of these yummy morsels.

Our first mission was to each pick an hors d'oeuvres.  There were a lot of options on the menu which sounded great.  The hors d'oeuvres menu is pictured below.

Being a fan of charcuterie, I decided on the "small" version of the charcuterie board for my first course.  The various meats on the board were duck prosciutto, pork rillette, chicken liver mousse, and one other that I can't recall.  The server explained that all of the meats are made in-house.  The board also contained some lovely, brightly colored, pickled vegetables, along with some whole grain mustard.  We were also provided with even more fresh, crusty bread to eat the various meats with.  The meats were all delicious, and the vinegar in the pickled veggies provided just the right amount of acidity to balance out the fattiness of the meats. 

For his first course, my husband tried one of the house specialties, the moelle de boeuf, or roasted bone marrow.  Church & State is well known for their bone marrow offering, a staple on their menu since the beginning of the bone marrow trend in foodie-land. After having skipped it on our first visit, he decided go for it this time.  You can see in the picture that it arrives having been roasted in the split bone, and is served with some crostini and a marinated radish salad.  Our server explained that you are supposed to scoop the marrow out of the middle of the bone with a spoon, spread it on some bread, and then top it with a bit of the radish salad.  We had a similar experience at The French Laundry which served (back when it was legal in California) a foie gras pate to spread on toasted brioche, which was delicious.  However, my husband felt that the bone marrow at Church & State trumped the French Laundry foie gras.


The bone marrow was decadently rich, and basically tasted like the melted fat you would get on a really good ribeye steak.  The best description I’ve heard is that it tastes like “animal butter”.  Indeed it has a fatty, gelatinous texture which can be off-putting to some, but is cancelled out by some crunchy, toasty bread.  It is similar to foie gras, in that it absorbs flavor very well.  We both thought it was fantastic, and enjoyed every bite of its heart-clogging goodness. 

The next step was to each decide on an entree.  Again, the menu was loaded with French classics.

My husband went with the Scottish salmon, green lentils, red onion and crispy bacon.  The salmon was well cooked, and the mixture of the lentils, onion, and bacon, was an excellent accompaniment to the fish.

I chose the duck breast and leg confit.  The duck breast was tasty, however, it was a bit dry and needed a little more seasoning.  However, the leg confit was absolutely delicious!  To make duck confit, you basically poach the meat in the duck fat.  This method of cooking the duck allowed the leg meat to retain its moisture, and imparted tons of flavor.  The sauce was also tasty, but the leg confit did not even need any of the sauce.

Even though we were more than full at this point, we decided to split a dessert.  We decided on the pot de creme au chocolate et cafe, which was basically a chocolate coffee custard, topped with a chantilly creme.  It was a lovely end to our meal, but not particularly memorable.  It was a solid effort, but I do not feel it compared to the rest of our excellent meal.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Church & State to anyone who enjoys classic French bistro fare.  The first courses of charcuterie and roasted bone marrow were definitely our favorites, but the entrees were great as well.  It is a delicious French experience in the heart of Downtown LA.

Dinner at Orsa & Winston (Los Angeles)

Last week was "preview week" for one of the most highly anticipated restaurant openings of this year, Orsa & Winston, which is the newest offering from Josef Centeno, former executive chef of the Lazy Ox Canteen, and famed chef of L.A. hot spots, Baco Mercat and Bar Ama.  Chef Centeno is expanding his culinary dominion in Downtown Los Angeles by opening a new, fine dining establishment, which he has affectionately named after his two dogs.  Orsa & Winston is a small, intimate space, with an open kitchen concept and only about 30 seats, and is expected to be one of the hardest reservations to secure in the coming months.

I had been reading a lot about the opening of Orsa & Winston on different foodie websites, and luckily, through Mastercard's priceless.com website, I was able to score a reservation during the restaurant's "preview week," which occurred this past week, before it finally opens up to the public on October 2nd.

So this past Friday night, my husband and I put on our fancy clothes, and made the long trek to Downtown L.A. to give Orsa & Winston a try.  When we arrived, we were greeted with a smile, and immediately seated at our table for two.  On our table was a very vague menu card, which described the 5-course, prix fixe menu for the evening as follows:  Raw,  Egg,  Rice,  Meat,  and Dessert.   There were no other descriptions, only these five little words, so we really had no idea what was in store for us.

Our server arrived shortly thereafter, and explained that although we had already pre-paid for the set 5-course menu, the chef was also offering a 9-course, "omakase" menu, for an additional charge.  "Omakase" is a Japanese phrase that means "I'll leave it to you" (from the Japanese "to entrust"), and is usually used in sushi restaurants.  However, it can also simply mean that the customer will leave the selection of dishes completely  up to the chef.  This allows the chef to be even more innovative and surprising in the selection of dishes that are served.

As it turns out, since it was "preview week," Chef Centeno himself was working in the kitchen on the night we were there.  Therefore, we decided to go for it, and order the full, 9-course omakase menu.  Our server told us that it was actually the very first night that the 9-course menu was being offered, and that we were the very first table to have ordered it!  (We were hoping to get our photo put up on a wall or something, but alas, it was not to be.)  We also decided to do the wine pairings that were offered with each course. 

Now, each dish was explained to us in great detail by our servers, and I tried to take some notes about each course as we went along.  Obviously, the menu was of no help in trying to recall all the details of each dish, but hopefully, my descriptions and photos will be a suitable guide through the delectable parade of courses which were dished up.

The first item we were served was an amuse-bouche, which is a small starter served before the first course.  The amuse is meant to prepare your mouth for the rest of the meal.  The amuse was a celery seed panna cotta with mountain caviar and champagne grapes.  The server explained to us that the mountain caviar is actually not fish eggs, but seeds from the Broom Cypress tree, which have a similar type of texture as caviar.  The panna cotta was smooth and creamy, and paired well with the acidity of the grapes.  The mountain caviar provided just the right amount of texture to the dish.

The next item was our first actual course, which was the "Raw" course.  This dish was Kampachi (a type of yellowtail) with persimmon and an anchovy jus.  First off, the dish was beautiful.  Secondly, it was delicious, and was definitely one of my favorite courses.  The thin slices of fish were light and delicate, and paired perfectly with the sweetness of the persimmon and the saltiness of the anchovy jus.  This dish was paired with a Kerner, which is an aromatic white wine from northern Italy.  We thought the wine pairing worked well with the subtle flavors of the dish.

Next, we were served some bread, which was a cross between Japanese milk bread and Italian focaccia, along with some house-made oregano butter.  Our server described eating the bread to be like "biting into a cloud." She was quite accurate in her description as the bread was super light and fluffy.  It was delicious.

Our second course was burrata cheese with fresh snap peas and a Meyer lemon marmalade.  Again, I thought the presentation of the dish was just beautiful.  The burrata cheese was extremely fresh and gooey, and worked very well with the crispiness of the snap  peas.  The Meyer lemon marmalade tasted like candied lemon peel, and complemented the other items perfectly.  This dish was paired with a sweet Riesling.

The third course was the "Egg" course.  Our server called this dish "Breakfast in a Shell" and said it was one of Chef Centeno's signature dishes.  The dish was a coddled egg, with crispy pancetta, topped with a sherry whipped cream.  The dish was actually served in an eggshell, and our server advised us to mix it up in order to get to the pancetta at the bottom.  It tasted like a very sophisticated  bacon and eggs, and was simply scrumptious.  They paired this dish with a dry sherry.  However, neither of us felt that the sherry paired very well with this dish.

Our fourth course was a seared mackerel with sofrito and fresh Lima beans.  Again, the presentation was lovely.  Mackerel is a darker, meatier type of fish, so the texture is quite different from the earlier Kampachi dish.  The fish was very lush and tender, and paired extremely well with the flavors of the sofrito and the Lima beans. The wine pairing was a nice rose, which worked extremely well with the dish.

The fifth course was the "Rice" course, and was another one of our favorites.  The dish was a Japanese koshihikari rice, prepared risotto style in a pecorino stock, with uni and razor clams.  The rice was super rich and creamy, but paired impeccably with the salty, briny taste of the uni and clams. This course was served with sake, which was not one of our favorite pairings.

The sixth course was the "Meat" course.  This course consisted of a piece of Kurobata pork tenderloin and a piece of pork cracklin, along with a chicken liver mousse and a huckleberry gastrique.  The piece of tenderloin was good, however, the cracklin piece with the crispy skin had a lot more flavor.  Not being a big fan of chicken liver in general, I only took a small taste of the mousse, which turned out to be quite tasty, and worked well with the pork.  The mousse added a touch of sweetness, and a silky texture which was a nice complement to the meat.  This plate also included some golden beets and sauteed beet greens as the sides, both of which were also quite tasty.  The pairing for this dish was a Bourgogne, which I felt paired well with this course.

Because we ordered the 9-course menu, we were served a second "Meat" course as our seventh course.  This dish was a slow roasted, boneless beef short rib, served with mushrooms and a red wine and bone marrow reduction.  The beef was incredibly tender, and had a great depth of flavor.  The reduction had just the right balance of sweetness from the red wine to richness from the bone marrow.  The dish was succulent and delicious, and was another one of our favorites of the night.  This dish was paired with a big, California Syrah, which matched up well with the rich flavor of the meat.

Before dessert, we were given an intermezzo (palate cleanser), which consisted of  compressed melon, with a passion fruit granita, topped with a ginger sabayon. The ginger was quite strong, and combined with the acid from the fruit, definitely helped to cleanse my palate of the richness that had coated my mouth from the beef and bone marrow.

The eighth course was the first "Dessert" course, which were sauteed, caramelized figs topped with a balsamic glaze.  The figs were served warm and were incredibly sweet.   Since I am not a big fan of figs, this was probably my least favorite dish, but I still managed to eat several bites.  I think if you like figs, you'd likely find this dish to be a luscious treat.  This course was paired with a dessert wine, which was a very sweet Grenache.  I enjoyed the wine, but paired with the very sweet figs, I was a bit overwhelmed with the sweetness.

And finally, our ninth course was a second dessert course, which was a  pear and ricotta cake with a marscapone mousse and a berry sauce.  The cake was served warm, and was not overly sweet, which made it a great way to end a fantastic meal. Our final wine pairing was a dry Alsace Muscat.  I thought this pairing worked well with the dish because the wine was not sweet, so it balanced well with the sweetness of the cake. 

Overall, I would say that we thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Orsa & Winston.  We felt that every dish from start to finish was beautiful, imaginative, and well-crafted.  The unique combinations of flavors were subtle, yet complex.  The wines were unusual and adventurous, and we felt that the majority of them paired well with their dishes.  It was a great dining experience, and we would definitely recommend checking out this exciting new addition to the Downtown L.A. restaurant scene.