First Impression: ink.sack

Cole Dickinson

The biggest opening of the year is a sandwich shop? That is what it has felt like for the past two weeks since Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio opened his sandwich shop ink.sack. The shop, open Wednesday through Sunday, has been slammed with lines out the door beginning at the 11 am opening time. Needless to say the inventory of sandwiches has not lasted until the 4 pm closing time. The sandwich shop was announced to the press and the public only the day before opening. How did Voltaggio keep it under the radar? He told me that the whole concept including the space came together in just 15 days, which has to be a land-speed record for a restaurant opening in Los Angeles.

Cold Chicken Sandwich

The menu is short, with seven sandwiches, four snack sides and two cookie options.  No sandwich costs more than $6, which is amazing for food from a celebrity chef.  The sandwiches are not huge, though Voltaggio enlarged them after feedback from Zach Brooks of MidtownLunch.  All the meats for the sandwiches are made by Voltaggio's team, led by Cole Dickinson, with the exception of the imported Spanish meats in the Jose Andres aka "The Spanish Godfather", a sandwich named for Voltaggio's mentor, whom he worked for at the Bazaar at the SLS.

The Cold Fried Chicken sandwich made with fried chicken, lettuce, pickles, house-made ranch dressing and Gindo's Spice of Life pepper sauce.  The sandwich is served cold, as the name implies, and the chicken had a nice crunch to it.  The Gindo's provides a nice little kick and overall this is a tasty sandwich.  At $4 it is the least expensive sandwich on the menu and a very good value.  Not quite at Bakesale Betty territory but very satisfying.

CLT

The C.L.T. (above) is made with chicken liver mousse, curried chicken skin, lettuce and tomato.  The chicken liver mousse is creamy and unctuous.  I wish the chicken skin had contributed more texture.  This is a rich sandwich and felt luxurious for a sandwich shop.  ($5)

Fruit with Bags

The Water Melon (top right) is fresh watermelon which has been marinated in sriracha sauce and lime juice and sealed in a sous vide bag.  This was one of my favorite items on the menu as it has real spice; each bite is refreshing and packs a wallop at the same time.  Jazz should add these to the Jitlada menu.  ($3)

Street Fruit ($3) is cut up pineapple, jicama, mango, melon, chile and lime juice, again sealed in a sous vide bag.  The street fruit is also a pleasing complement to the sandwiches, but packs a lighter punch than the Water Melon in terms of spiciness.

The sandwiches and sides are served in black bags with the customers names written on them, a fun and casual touch.  Below is the full menu, which is written on school notebook paper style lined sheets.

Menu

Voltaggio told me he eats several of the sandwiches daily and his current favorite is the Maple-Pepper Turkey Melt, which I hope to try on a future visit.

Good food at a reasonable price in a neighborhood without many good value lunch options equals a winner.  Is this fine dining?  No.  It is not supposed to be.  It is a sandwich shop opened in only two weeks.  If you are looking for Voltaggio's sit-down restaurant experience, ink , located down the block from ink.sack, opens in one month, so stay tuned.

Fruit

ink.sack: 8630 Melrose Avenue, E. of La Cienega. Open Wednesday - Sunday, 11 am - 4 pm or until they sell out.

Taste of the Nation: This Sunday in Culver City

This Sunday from 1 - 4 pm the annual Taste of the Nation fundraiser returns to Media Park in Culver City to raise money for Share our Strength, the charity devoted to ending childhood hunger.  100% of all money raised will go to local Los Angeles food banks, which have seen increased demand during the long recession.  46 restaurants will be participating, including newcomers such as A-Frame and Lexington Social House and classics such as Michael's and Patina.

This year Taste of the Nation will also be featuring local bars, mixologists and craft brewers.  Julian Cox, who gained renown for his cocktail program at Rivera, will be showcasing some of the drinks from his most recent project Sotto.  The Spare Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will be featuring Plymouth Gin cocktails and this is the first year that there will be a Craft Beer Tent which will feature brews from the Bruery and Eagle Rock Brewery among others.

Among the high profile chefs participating are Michael Voltaggio, Top Chef winner and chef/owner of the forthcoming restaurant ink, and this year's Food & Wine Best New Chef Ricardo Zarate, who will be showcasing dishes from his soon to open restaurant Picca.

For the sweet tooths in the crowd, Waylynn Lucas will be representing Fōnuts, her new doughnut concept. Lucas was the pastry chef at Patina and the Bazaar as well as for the whole SLS hotel, so if her past treats are anything to go by, these will be a hot ticket.

Tickets for the event are $25 for children 12-18 years old and $100 for adults ($125 at the door).  You can purchase tickets here - just click on the large "purchase tickets" link on the Taste of the Nation blog.  VIP tickets have already sold out, so I recommend you purchase your admission tickets quickly, before the entire event is sold out.

Taste of the Nation at Culver City Media Park: 9070 Venice Blvd, Culver City
Sunday June 12th, from 1-4 pm
http://tasteofthenationla.org/blog/

Angeleno Magazine's Chefs Night Out

On Sunday night, Angeleno Magazine hosted their 8th Annual Chef's Night Out at the Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica. The setting was the beautiful outdoor courtyard, the centerpiece of which is a large fig tree that is more than a century old. The event was sold out and hundreds of foodies and Angeleno subscribers mingled in the warm afternoon and evening, munching on food from many of the city's best chefs.

Pictured above are Michael Voltaggio, formerly of the Langham, and Ludo Lefebvre of LudoBites. Voltaggio served a market peach and burrata dish that involved dehydrated? peach on top of the creamy burrata. Lefebvre served a gazpacho which was described as an heirloom tomato smoothie, squid ink vodka gelee, seaweed tartar. Voltaggio's dish was the most interesting and unique preparation of the evening.

Below are four of the most talked about dishes of the evening. First is the Loup de Mer "En Ecailles" with heirloom tomatoes and cucumber-basil from chef Josiah Citrin of Melisse restaurant in Santa Monica. This was the best dish I tasted all evening. The skin of the loup de mer was crunchy and the whole dish was bursting with flavor.



The Cauliflower panna cotta with Transmontanus caviar from Chef Ben Bailly of Petrossian was another highlight of the evening. The panna cotta was so light and creamy and the salty roe atop provided a literal pop to the dish. Serving it in the caviar tins was also a visually arresting touch.



The beef tartare crostino from Angelini Osteria had black truffles shaved on it in front of the attendees. There was a large audience in front of the chef generously shaving the black truffles onto the crostini.



Voltaggio's dish was served in tulip shaped glasses that had to be held once picked up because they did not have a base. The "peach" had a nice crunch to it, in contrast to the smoothness of the cheese.



Below is a scene of the party in full force:



Ben Bailly (below left) and Josiah Citrin (below right) both made some of the signature dishes of the evening. Aside from the food provided by restaurants such as Josie, Wilshire, Street, 9:30 at the W Westwood, Fig, Comme Ca, Hatfields and many more, there were signature cocktails from Oxley Gin and a variety of wineries represented. The evening benefited LA's Best, an organization which provides supervised after-school enrichment programs for the youth of Los Angeles.



Don't forget to buy your tickets early next year as this year the tickets sold out!

Taste of the Nation 2010 Recap

Last Sunday over 1,500 food fans, chefs and vintners got together to raise money for Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to fighting childhood hunger in America, at the annual Taste of the Nation event in Culver City.

Over 40 local restaurants participated by providing sample size portions of their food. Attendees could try as many of the foods as they wanted, and fortunately the lines were manageable for almost all vendors, with the exception of the Gelato Bar, whose icy offerings were much in demand on a hot day.

Chef Michael Voltaggio of The Dining Room at the Langham in Pasadena did a cooking demonstration on the main stage and also got inked a new tattoo in honor of the charity event.

Mozza, Bottega Louie, Patina, Bar 210, Hatfields, The Bazaar, Sprinkles, and Loteria Grill were just some of the restaurants represented.

My favorite tastes of the day included the short ribs with potato puree from Hatfield's, the hamachi from Patina, the torchon of foie gras and the salad of heirloom tomato, watermelon and feta, both from Bottega Louie. Both of the Bottega Louie offerings were excellent and the watermelon and tomato salad was perfect and refreshing on warm summer day. I can't wait to get to the restaurant to try the full menu.

The FIG station was serving hot dogs, in order to promote their newly launched FIG Hot Dog Cart, which is available poolside at the Fairmont Hotel on weekends. It seemed silly to offer a full sized hot dog (they were quite large) at an event at which people were grazing from dozens of booths. I was also disappointed when after it turned out that both toppings on offer included pork (which I don't eat), they weren't willing to let me try one without the toppings (which I could see them adding literally in front of me.) "We are pork friendly," the smug member of the kitchen staff said. His attitude made me question whether I should bother returning back to FIG again.

Below are selected photos from the event:

Executive Chef Tony Esnault & Pastry Chef Waylynn Lucas of Patina.

Marcel Vigneron of Bar 210 with his pomegranate spheres.

Karen Hatfield of Hatfield's plating.

Sam Marvin of Bottega Louie.

The wonderful torchon of foie gras with apple gastrique and marcona almond brittle from Bottega Louie.

The albacore sashimi with onion sauce in a cocktail glass from K-Zo.

The delicious vanilla panna cotta from Mozza.