Magnum: A Meal as Powerful as Its Namesake?

Magnum, the collaboration between Chef Joseph Mahon and sommelier David Haskell, lands in Koreatown on Monday & Tuesday of next week for a two night pop-up that should defy genres and be full of surprises.  Mahon, who recently left Bastide where he was the executive chef, will be preparing a five course tasting menu priced at $56.  Haskell, who formerly owned Bin 8945 in West Hollywood and most recently was the director of operations at Vertical Wine Bistro will be providing a drink pairing for each course for $54.

Mahon was one of this publication's favorite chefs during his tenure at Bastide.  This author ate there over ten times and was a particular fan of the fried chicken.  If five courses of Chef Mahon's food are not enough for you, for an additional $10, you can expand your tasting menu from five to seven courses.  Just like a magnum holds double the wine (1.5L vs 750ml) of a standard wine bottle, the Magnum meals are on tap to provide double the flavor.  A version of Mahon's fried chicken is on the menu below:

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 béarnaise mouse
Waffle Surprise

The pairings are likely to include some nods to Asia/Korea to reflect the setting in Biergarten with sake, soju and beer all rumored to make appearances.  If you aren't up for a full pairing, you can opt for beverage by the glass or the pairings can be shared between two guests.  The meal promises to be "an evening of unquestionable palatability" according to organizers. I should hope so.

Magnum will be available between 6 pm and 10:30 pm on Monday December 13th and Tuesday the 14th at Biergarten.  Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at (323)466-4860 after 4 pm.

Biergarten is at 206 N. Western Avenue in Koreatown.

Mahon's fried chicken at Bastide

Savory: Paul Shoemaker's work in progress

When I heard that former Bastide chef Paul Shoemaker was opening up a new restaurant, I was interested. When I heard it was going to be named Savory, I became very interested. Last weekend, a friend and I drove out to Malibu (20 miles on the Pacific Coast Highway) to check out the month-old restaurant.

We got there a few minutes early and understandably our table wasn't ready, so we grabbed seats at the bar and waited. We waited and waited more than half an hour past our reservation time. The hostess offered us some food and/or drink and assured us our table would be ready soon, which it was several minutes later. My companion chose the olives, which she enjoyed very much; the plating was particularly attractive. Another staff member said that they still haven't worked out the timing as it is not uncommon to wait significantly past reservation times, especially on weekends.



We began our meal with the pizza, described on the menu as pizza, burrata, tapenade, tomato. ($15). The pizza bottom was charred and the top was somewhat undercooked. When we picked up a slice it was quite limp, so much so that the waiter commented that it was not supposed to be like that. He offered to have the kitchen make us another one and we accepted.


The second version of the pizza (pictured above), which arrived concurrently with the appetizers, was charred on the bottom but this time was not limp and was able to hold the toppings. Significantly better but probably not a dish I'd rush to order again, although the burrata was of a superior quality.



We shared the tomato soup and the goat cheese ravioli with tomatoes as our appetizers. The tomato soup (above) was served in a large bowl, with generous servings of a delicious liquid and crunchy crostini floating on top. The ravioli (below) was one large raviolo, with fresh halved cherry tomatos of several colors and chanterelle mushrooms on top. This was also a successful dish and had nice clean flavors. I prefer several smaller ravioli to one large one, but that is personal preference, although they should change the menu to indicate raviolo as ravioli is plural. This kitchen certainly has a winning way with tomatoes.



For our entrees, we shared the beef and the halibut and added a side of beets. The beef is described as beef, rosa bianca eggplant, smoked salt. It is a skirt steak served sliced in a sweet sauce on a rectangular plate with the eggplant. The plating of this dish was less attractive as it looked sloppy but the beef was cooked medium rare as we had requested. The sauce made this dish too sweet for my taste and was not a favorite. However, the halibut was served on a bed of lentils and was well prepared. The top layer was nicely seasoned, the fish had good flavor and the texture was firm. A recommended dish.





The beets were good but we were getting quite full so didn't do them justice.



A particular highlight is the draft beer selection, which includes my favorite beer Tripel Karmeleit, from Belgium, which is rare to see on tap. Beers are priced at $8. The wine by the glass selection is small but well curated and is priced from $9 - $12. The bottled beer selection includes several large format (750 ml) options including St. Bernardus ABT 12 for $26.

Overall there were some hits and misses but not a strong enough ratio of successes for me to recommend the drive out to Malibu at this time. Both the service and the food could use some refining. At this point it is a spot for locals, of which there are many looking for a good place to eat. If you grade on the Malibu curve, then Savory gets high marks, but Shoemaker's reputation indicated that he had higher ambitions. I hope he achieves them.

The Little Door: A Vacation on 3rd Street

Last month I had dinner with old friends at the Little Door, the long standing popular restaurant on 3rd Street with a beautiful outdoor courtyard.

I had never been before and the restaurant was packed at 9:30 on a Friday evening. As we were a large party we snagged the long table to the left of the entrance. We shared several starters and each got our own entree.



Above is the beet salad ($15), which was beautifully presented and is listed on the menu as a trio of roasted beets. The pink, red and golden beets were sweet and roasted to a nice texture. This salad did not last long on the table.

In contrast, the Spicy Ahi Tuna Tartare ($18) pictured below was a miss. It just didn't taste good or fresh. It was not finished by the group. Kind of mushy and bland, although still plated very nicely.



The Rosemary & Garlic Crusted Rack of Lamb was outstanding. It had better be at $38 and it was. The portion was also larger than I would have expected at a restaurant of this ambition that caters to the beautiful people, who are not known for their appetites, at least when it comes to food. The four juicy chops were perfectly cooked to medium rare and were flavorful. The chef graciously swapped out the Ratatouille and Potato Purée for the Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Haricot Vert. Despite this dish having four chops, I ate them all; those bones did not have a morsel of meat left on them when I was done with dinner.



The service was gracious throughout and we were able to find a reasonably priced red wine to drink (several bottles of) with our meal. The waiter told us an anecdote about how a customer once ordered a bottle on the list and drank it and only when the bill was presented did he realize that he had pointed, confirmed receipt of and drank a bottle of wine that cost over $1,000. Yikes! Thankfully nothing like that happened to us.

There is something magical about dining alfresco in beautiful courtyards. Both the Little Door and Bastide have this wonderful ambiance because of them, where for the duration of your meal, you feel like you have left the bustle of the city behind and you are on a relaxing but luxurious vacation.

The Little Door: 8164 3rd Street, Los Angeles. Phone: (323) 951-1210. Website: www.thelittledoor.com

Dining Deals around Los Angeles

Several restaurants have launched promotions recently in which their food or drinks are available at lower prices than their standard offerings.

I covered the White Plate dinners at Wilshire restaurant last week, in which an entree and beverage are only $15, but there are other great options to look for.

BLD restaurant, on Beverly Blvd, has a Plat du Jour every weeknight for $15 as part of their "Recovery Relief":
Monday: BBQ Smoked Beef Brisket
Tuesday: Country Fried Chicken
Wednesday: Smoked Chicken Ravioli
Thursday: Tweet-a-Dish
Friday: Beer Battered Fish Tacos

Last week Bastide launched a cocktail hour from 5-7 pm on Monday evenings only. Your choice of a soju martini, one of three wines by the glass or a rotating cocktail of the week plus the opportunity to munch on three of Chef Joseph Mahon's hors d'oeuvres such as yellowtail tartare, rillettes and summer corn soup can be yours for $15.

It appears that $15 is the magical price point right now for dining deals.

I would be remiss not to include the continuing Bar Food menu at Drago Centro, where a mini margherita or sausage pizza is only $4, kobe beef slides are only $7, and several beers and specialty cocktails are only $5. This menu is available whenever Drago Centro is open, not just for certain hours or days of the week, making this an affordable option to consider when in downtown LA.

Lunch on the wane? fewer options in LA

In recent weeks Bastide has ended its lunch service in favor of expanding to six nights a week, adding Monday, and Eva has shrunk lunch service to Thursday and Friday down from four days per week. Is this the beginning of a trend?

Sit down upscale lunch spots have been concentrated in the downtown and Beverly Hills / Century City business districts. Perhaps it is a location issue more than anything else?

As an Angeleno who enjoys eating real lunches and not just a salad or sandwich on the go, this is a disappointing series of developments and I hope this lunch retrenchment is over.

The Best Fried Chicken in Los Angeles is at Bastide

Bastide is known for many things: its beautiful patio, its succession of great chefs, a mercurial owner, a deep wine cellar. But who knew that this luxe and casual oasis is also serving the best fried chicken in Los Angeles? Put all those thoughts of what you think you know in the past because Chef Joseph Mahon is firing on all cylinders and his fried chicken is out of this world.

The menu listing is deceptive. I believe it is called tomato. It is a composed salad of red and yellow tomatoes, with some watermelon, crumbed cheese, greens and two pieces of dark meat chicken fried to perfection.

The chicken is flavorful and the skin stayed on. This is not pick up and eat it with your hands fried chicken but when you taste it you are going to want to. It is not greasy nor has the bread crumbs (I'm not a fan of the breadcrumb style at Huckleberry) that some do. Until now my benchmark for fried chicken in the Los Angeles area was Flossie's in the South Bay, but the chicken at Bastide is even better. Having just had the chicken at Larkin's last week, this was at another level of deliciousness.

I highly recommend you go, and go soon. Reservations recommended as it is a small restaurant.

Disclosure: I am a regular at the restaurant and known to the staff.

Bastide is located at 8475 Melrose Place. Phone: (323) 651-5950

Bastide - comfortable luxury

The latest incarnation of Bastide opened in December for lunch and in February for dinner. Bastide has been a revolving door of chefs and concepts since it opened to the public in 2002. Owner Joe Pytka has been described as very demanding but someone who gets results, which is why he has been a go-to director for difficult and creative comemrcial shoots for years. The 4 previous incarnations of Bastide have all been different, ambitious, expensive and formal.

Joseph Mahon is the 5th chef to helm the jewel box of a ship and he occupies the captian's chair with self assurance and confidence. He has evolved his menu over the past 3 months, with a strong emphasis on the seasonal and fresh. The plates are beautifully arranged but not overwrought, no Sona daintiness here. He has supplemented the printed menu with a series of specials reflecting ideas he is working on or great meat/produce he got his hands on in limited quantities.



Mahon most recently worked at the undistinguished 208 Rodeo, but previously worked at Sona in Los Angeles and Cafe Boulud and Bouley in New York, an impressive resume. David Bouley is a great chef but is also notoriously difficult to work for, so Ptyka is not the first tough boss that Mahon has had in his culinary career.

Over the course of eight meals in the past three months I have had the opportunity to sample many dishes on Manhon's menus. I have been there more often than not for lunch on Tuesdays since the new year. The service started out fine and has improved over time. Sommelier/manager Dario Dell'Anno is an excellent host and knows his list inside and out. He is often looking to introduce his customers to wines they haven't had before or wines from unusual regions, whether a white wine from Croatia or a smooth Zweigelt from Austria. The price point on the wines is also very approachable - unlike many of its peers, you will not struggle to find a wine for less than $50 at Bastide. There is not a wine by the glass list but Dario is always eager to find a glass of something that will work with what I have ordered when we are not up to a whole bottle.



Hands down my favorite dish on the menu is the Yellowtail, simply described on the menu as yellowtail, shaved vegetables. I have had this dish perhaps four times as I find it hard to resist. The vegetables usually include radish, green string beans, and asparagus and some individual green beans, with some diced nuts on top. The presentation is beautiful and the barely seared hamachi is just beautiful; something a sushi restaurant would be proud to serve. At $14 this dish is a great value and one of the chef's signatures.

Risotto is a tough dish to get right as it is so easy for it to become gloppy. The red wine risotto with mushrooms is a rich and hearty dish. I have had it several times as it is one of my favorites on the menu. I believe it has recently been cycled off in favor of the more seasonal Champagne Artichoke risotto, which if it is in the same league as the red wine risotto, I recommend.



Soups have also been a strong point. The winter onion soup with beef shank has been cycled off in favor of a potato soup. Recently a special of corn soup was on offer. The soup was sweet but not cloyingly so and had little bits of orange in it as well as a small amount of basil. It had a thinner consistency than I was expecting and hinted at the bounty of summer to come.

Hiding amongst the composed salads section of the menu is a Frisee salad with bacon, poached egg, crispy chicken thighs, shallot vinaigrette. I had this dish without the bacon. The poached egg sits atop the frisee salad with the fried chicken thighs to the side on the rectangular plate. The poached egg yolk gooily coats the salad once the egg white is pierced. Unlike Jonathan Gold who recently mentioned in an NPR interview that the only thing he does not eat is eggs, I love them, especially runny yolks. The fried chicken is crispy but not too salty. My only fault with the dish is that it feels like two pieces rather than one unified whole.

The baby lamb dish is very good. It includes loin cooked medium rare into slices, a large raviolo with forcemeat, ground shank and shoulder, peeled baby tomatoes, sliced cucumber, cooked greens and fried polenta. I was told that the raviolo component of the dish may be shrunk, to greater emphasize the lamb itself. The meat had a lot of "lamby" flavor, just a hint of gaminess. The polenta was the only part of the dish I did not care for. It was just an odd consistency.



Another favorite is the beef tenderloin tartare tartine (now thats an alliterative mouthful). The beef tartare is served on a flatbread open faced sandwich. The beef flavor comes through and the other components play a supporting role. (N.B. the beef tartare at the Tar Pit on La Brea is ill conceived as the Worcestershire sauce is all you can taste, so avoid that dish and get your tartare fix at Bastide, or the excellent version at Church & State). I have also tried the Smoked Salmon tartine, but it is rather boring and seems designed for those looking for something light and inoffensive, a sop to the ladies who lunch.

The only dish I have not enjoyed at all is the burger, which was just too rich and didn't really taste like a burger should. I have seen people at other tables order it and devour them, but it is not a dish I can recommend.

One last dish to think about is the foie gras special, which is almost always available off menu. He sources his foie from Sonoma Artisan Foie Gras, which is run by the Gonzalezes, a couple from El Salvador. Outstanding. After the hamachi, this is among the best dishes. You can see it pictured here.

Chef Mahon has a blog at which he updates his weekly specials. Check it out here to find out what tricks Joseph has up his sleeve this week.


Bastide is located on Melrose Place, just off La Cienega. It is only 2 blocks long and is quiet, a retreat from the hustle and bustle just around the corner. When it is warm enough, you can't beat the seating in the patio, which is right off the street. The main dining room only has 6 or so tables, so it has an intimate feeling, like you are at a dinner party at the home of a wealthy friend.

Pictures are top to bottom: Bastide exterior, the housemade butter served with radish, the yellowtail appetizer, corn soup, baby lamb entree, beet salad, lemon custard dessert.

Bastide is located at 8475 Melrose Place @ La Cienega. Phone: (323) 651-5950. Website: www.bastidela.com