Dish of the Month: Branzino at The Tasting Kitchen

Of all the dishes I ate in March, none stood out for me as much as the Branzino at The Tasting Kitchen in Venice.  The whole fish was prepared with meyer lemon, picholine olives and pine nuts.  The fish was flavorful and delicate.  The sauce was absorbed by the fish so that each bite was juicy and packed with wow.

This fish was a dish that I spent time to get every last scrap of meat off of the fish bones as it was that excellent.  At $30, it isn't inexpensive, but it is well worth it.  If you see the branzino on the menu at The Tasting Kitchen, order it.  You will not regret it.  Chef Casey Lane has a way with fish and the combination of the olives and lemon is deceptively simple.  No pressure cooker was required to make this dish...

The Tasting Kitchen: 1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice.  Phone: (310) 392-6644.  Website: http://thetastingkitchen.com/

The Dude Abides: Barrel Aged Cocktails at The Tasting Kitchen

In the cocktail world barrel aged cocktails have been a topic of discussion since Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Clyde Common in Portland's blog post in April of 2010 describing his efforts and experiments with barrel aging cocktails.  Although he did not invent the concept, he is the indisputably the person in the mixology world who has been most responsible for popularizing barrel aged cocktails.  The Tasting Kitchen is one of the top cocktail destinations in Los Angeles and they recently added two barrel aged cocktails to the menu.  Their bar manager Justin Pike came to Los Angeles from Portland where he worked at Clyde Common, so dots are rather close to connect in this instance as they worked together for eight months.

The two barrel aged cocktails currently on the menu are King of the Dudes and a Negroni.  The King of the Dudes (above) is made with rye and mamajuana.  Mamajuana is made with a mixture of herbs and barks which are then bathed in red wine.  The red wine absorbs some of the harsher characteristics of the bark.  After several weeks in the bottle, the red wine is drained out of the mamajuana and Smith & Cross rum and honey are added to the mixture.  Once the ingredients have imparted their flavors to the alcohol (approximately two weeks) the beverage is removed from the bottle and the herbs and barks are left to flavor the next set of booze.  Next for the barrel process Wild Turkey 101 and Punt y Mes are combined with the mamajuana in a barrel and aged for six weeks.  The resulting combination of rye and mamajuana is an assertive boozy cocktail that lovers of Manhattans and Brooklyns will likely enjoy.  There is a lot going on in this drink.  The inspiration for the name of this cocktail came from a passage in Dave Wondrich's book Imbibe! about late nineteenth century "King of the Dudes" Evander Berry Wall.

The barrel aged Negroni (above) is made with Campari, Beefeater gin and Camparo Antica sweet vermouth. The aged Negroni is a lot mellower than a "fresh" one and some of the bitter edges have been worn smooth by six weeks it has spent in the cask.  Pike described the process as removing the "high alcohol juniper notes and adding in vanilla notes." I recommend getting a fresh one and an aged one side by side so you can experience the changes that aging imparts this classic cocktail.  Tasting Kitchen Chef Casey Lane stated "barrel aging a Negroni makes it a cocktail."

Next on the agenda for Pike is creating liqueurs and amari and barrel aging them.  In Los Angeles, barrel aged cocktails are also available at La Descarga.  In San Francisco, Joel Teitelbaum at Zero Zero is launching barrel aged Negronis tonight.  I look forward to trying more barrel aged cocktails as bartenders experiment and see what tastes good.  Get to The Tasting Kitchen and see for yourself.

The Tasting Kitchen: 1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd (Venice).  Phone: (310) 392-6644.  Website: www.thetastingkitchen.com

Fried Chicken & Waffles @ The Tasting Kitchen

Earlier this month Chef Casey Lane launched a brunch menu at his Venice restaurant, The Tasting Kitchen.  The highlight of the menu is his signature chicken and waffles ($18).  The dish is served with one large waffle, two pieces of chicken, some greens and pitchers of syrup and gravy.  This dish is spendy but is one of the top three fried chicken meals I can currently recommend in Los Angeles, along with The Lazy Ox Canteen and Flossie's.  (Alas as Joseph Mahon is no longer at Bastide or cooking someplace full time, his amazing fried chicken has been removed from my recommended options.)

The waffle is thicker (less fluffy) than a Belgian waffle, but softer than a traditional small waffle.  Kind of medium dense.  With some of the maple syrup, it did not last long on my plate despite its large size.  The chicken I had was a leg and a boneless piece.  They were hot and crispy with a nice ratio of skin/coating to bird.  The chicken meat itself was nice and juicy.

The brunch environment at The Tasting Kitchen is so relaxed and comfortable and the food so good, if it were a little less expensive I would be there every Saturday and every Sunday.  I can also vouch for the ricotta muffin ($5) which was a nice sweet and savory way to begin the brunch.  Brunch cocktails, whether mimosas, bloody marys or signature creations such as the Eye Opener, are the equal in quality and deliciousness to Casey's food.  So far weekend brunch is quiet, especially compared to the popularity of the restaurant at dinner.  Enjoy the calm while you can; its not likely to last.

The Tasting Kitchen: 1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice. Phone: (310) 392-6644.  Website: thetastingkitchen.com
Brunch hours: Saturday & Sunday 10:30 am - 2:00 pm

Matt Biancaniello wins LA's Best Bartender award from Table 20

Matt Biancaniello, head bartender at the Library Bar in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, was announced as the winner last night at a party at Elevate Lounge in downtown LA to celebrate the six finalists in Table 20's LA's Best Bartender competition. The other finalists included Joe Brooke from the Edison, Max Diaz of Cole's Red Car Bar, Devon Espinosa of the Tasting Kitchen, Dee Ann Quinones of Susan Feniger's Street, and Alex Straus of the Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica. Each of the finalists created a punch using Don Q rum and poured their hot and cold punches to the celebrants to get the attendees in a festive mood.

Michel Dozois's (above) of Neve Ice greeted guests and provided glasses filled with his ice to attendees as they walked in, so they could sample all six punches on offer. The location at Elevate Lounge / Takami, provided amazing views of downtown as it is on the top floor of a high rise building on the corner of Wilshire and Flower in downtown.

Matt Biancaniello (above) served an Indian inspired punch called Queen of the Night, which included star fruit with husk cherries floating in it, for a dramatic visual effect (below). The punch also includes pomegranate juice, roasted cumin seeds, and Don Q rum (of course).

Joe Brooke (below) arrived late as he, Alex and Matt had all just returned from BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource), a week long intensive educational program in New York City. He served a "State Fair Punch" whose preparation required the juicing of untold numbers of limes.

Devon Espinosa of the Tasting Kitchen in Venice (below) took a break from pouring punch to strike a pose.  The event was judged by five bloggers: Caroline of Caroline on Crack, Chris Archibald of Liquor.com, Liz Steinhart of FoodSheThought, Kevin Hsu of kevinEats and Victoria of Vixen's L.A. Happy Hours.  Alas Kevin was unable to attend do to a work committment, but the other judges were there in full force to celebrate the finalists and Matt's victory.

Table 20 founder Trevor Smith hosted the event and announced that the contest will happen again next year and that early in 2011, a "Bartender's Ball" will be held. Stay tuned for updates on that as more information becomes available. Table 20 is a new employment site for restaurants and bars, which recently launched in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Off the Menu: Burger at The Tasting Kitchen

Hidden entrances, one night pop-ups, off menu items, secret burgers: these are all catnip to the sometimes jaded foodie community looking for the next new thing. So when I sat down at the bar at The Tasting Kitchen on Abbot Kinney one night recently and saw another patron at the bar eating a burger, I looked at the menu again. No burger in sight on the menu. I asked the bartender, and he said it was a special bar item that night and the chef had prepared only six burgers. They were served with fries for $15. I'll have one I immediately replied, even though I hadn't planned on eating more food.



The burger arrived a short while later, with horseradish sauce on it and a generous helping of fries alongside. The burger was cooked medium rare as ordered and had a nice beefy taste. Is it the best burger in the city, no, but it was still very good.

Whether the burgers will continue to be a special or whether they will make their way onto the menu or whether they were a one-off only chef Casey Lane knows. But should you find yourself on Abbot Kinney and in the mood for a delicious burger and standout french fries, the Tasting Kitchen may beckon.

Hatchi Mix debuts at Breadbar Century City

On May 6th, the new monthly Hatchi Mix cocktail series debuted at Breadbar Century City. On the first Thursday evening of each month a guest bartender will present eight cocktails at $8 each and there will be food available both from the Breadbar menu and some special dishes. The first Hatchi Mix was hosted by Devon Espinosa (pictured above), from the Tasting Kitchen, who will be curating future editions by finding other leading bartenders to bring their shakers and recipes to Breadbar for a one night stand.

The premier Hatchi Mix, entitled Vive Le Cocktail, featured classic cocktails such as the Manhattan, Sazerac, Last Word, and Hemingway Daiquiri. Chef Nori Sugie created three dishes to be served with the cocktails. (He was not there so others executed his recipes.)


My drinking companion and I tried four of the cocktails. We began with the Hemingway Daiquiri and the Manhattan. The Hemingway was served in a highball glass rather than the traditional coupe. This drink was not my favorite due to the amount of ice in it and the method of serving it as if the theme of the night was traditional classic cocktails it made no sense to serve this in a different way as it didn't add to the drink. However the Manhattan was tasty and a nice beginning to the evening.


We moved onto the Last Word and the Sazerac (pictured above). They were both better than the first batch of two, perhaps because Devon mixed them. The Last Word, a Chartreuse based cocktail, was especially good and nicely balanced.

Devon did a good job of working the room and managing the bar, but I would have preferred it if he had been behind the bar more of the time. When the drink list is composed of classics, part of what is being showcased is the bartender's drink making skills, as opposed to recipes.

The restaurant and bar area were full while we were there, especially the outdoor seating. Hatchi Mix takes reservations, which are recommended as these special events are each for one evening only.


I sampled two of the three food dishes, the bone marrow and the chicken wings. The bone marrow (above) was successful but it would have been helpful if they had the narrow spoons often provided with marrow bones to get at the marrow deep in the bone. The chicken wings (below) were mushy and unappetizing and are not something I would recommend. Soft texture is not an attractive quality for chicken wings.



The next two Hatchi Mix events will feature bartenders Joel Black from Cana Rum Baron June 3rd and Julian Cox from Rivera on July 1st.

For more information on the Hatchi Series, check out the Breadbar website.
Breadbar is located in the Century City Shopping Center, directly beneath the movie theaters. Phone: (310) 277-3770.