Domaine de Canton Cocktail Competition

Last week many of the top bartenders in town gathered in the Fedora Room at First & Hope, the new restaurant, bar and music venue downtown, to compete for the title of best cocktail and for $500 towards this week's Manhattan Cocktail Classic. Each contestant had to create an original cocktail featuring Domaine de Canton, a ginger liqueur.



The judges for the competition included Alex Day, formerly of Death & Co and soon to be of an upcoming Dave Kaplan bar in Los Angeles, and Caroline of Caroline on Crack, both pictured above. The other two judges (not pictured) were Domaine de Canton founder John Cooper and Professional Drinker and author Dan Dunn. Each judge sampled an original drink from each of the dozen contestants before setting on the winner.


Contestants included those pictured above (Rhachel Shaw of Malo Cantina, Daniel Eun of the Varnish, and Joe Brooke of the Edison) as well as bartenders from the Edison, Copa d'Oro, Roger Room, SoHo house and others.

In an unusual twist the winning cocktail recipe was represented by someone other than its creator. Damian Windsor's beverage was represented and shaken by his wife Rebecca, and won first place.


Always the consummate host, Aidan Demarest, the beverage director for First & Hope and half of Tello/Demarest Liquid Assets, is pictured above with Domaine de Canton founder John Cooper.

For further coverage of this event, see Caroline's post.

To learn more about Domaine de Canton, visit their website http://www.domainedecanton.com/
First & Hope: 710 West 1st Street @ Hope St. Phone: (213) 617-8555. Website: firstandhope.com/

Sweet Rose Creamery: Now Open

Sweet Rose Creamery, the much anticipated ice cream parlor operated by Rustic Canyon and Huckleberry Cafe duo Josh Loeb & Zoe Nathan, opened today in the Brentwood Country Mart.

Sweet Rose is a collaboration between Loeb, Nathan and Shiho Yoshikawa, a pastry chef from northern California who helped launch Huckleberry. Twelve flavors were on offer today, including salted caramel, fresh mint with homemade chocolate chips, ginger and strawberry. The creamery has a classic ice cream parlor feel and has an emphasis on fresh ingredients. Even the cones are made in house.



Yoshikawa said that they looked to create "something that you want to eat every day. A place that takes you back, but is still modern." She has been working on the flavors since last summer and moved to Los Angeles just before New Year's Eve to work on Sweet Rose full time. Yoshikawa has always wanted to make ice cream and had talked about it with Nathan and Loeb when she helped open Huckleberry.

Loeb and Nathan both grew up on the Westside and they felt that the neighborhood has tons of food lovers yet was underserved as there was no great place to get ice cream. They wanted their ice cream parlor to use only good, natural ingredients. "Everything that we can get from the Farmer's Market, comes from the Farmer's Market, " Loeb said. Strawberries and fresh mint are some of the ingredients from the Santa Monica farmers market currently featured on the menu and they are excited for the summer fruits to arrive.



During the month of May, the hours will be Wednesday - Sunday 12 Noon to 9 pm. In June they may expand to a 6th day and could operate 7 days a week later in the summer. As Loeb put it, "we want to serve the community," so hours will be adjusted to reflect demand.

Loeb grew up going to Reddi Chick, the chicken basket restaurant in the Brentwood Country Mart, and has been there countless times so they feel right at home opening in the Country Mart. (I have also eaten countless chicken baskets there - good stuff.)

The ice cream is made fresh daily and over time there will likely be a core six flavors in the rotation, while the other six vary based on season and what tastes good. In addition to the fresh ingredients in the ice cream, there are a variety of toppings such as homemade marshmallows, chocolate brownie bites, pecan brittle and candied ginger.

If opening day is any reflection, expect lines of eager Santa Monica & Westside folks, students from the nearby Archer School, and families out for their ice cream fix. Prepare for long lines and the possibility that some flavors are sold out, as Sweet Rose Creamery is anything but a secret in the neighborhood.

Sweet Rose Creamery is located in the Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26th St, Santa Monica. Phone: (310) 260-CONE. Website: www.sweetrosecreamery.com

Toma Tequila Competition @ Ortega 120

Last week three finalists competed in the championship round of the Toma Tequila competition at Redondo Beach Mexican restaurant and bar, Ortega 120, for the honor of having their drink featured on the menu, and a cash prize.

A distinguished panel of judges including Josh Lurie of Food GPS, Hadley Tomicki of Grub Street LA, Carole Dixson of Feast LA aned Alan Kropf of Mutineer Magazine tasted the tequila cocktails prepared by the three finalists, Christopher day, Damon Hewlett, Nancy Kwon. The audience was also invited to sample each of the three contenders and the audience winner was Nancy Kwon's Naranja Dorada, which included orange bitters, kumquat marmalade and blood orange juice.

Photo above is of the finalists & the judges; photo below is of winner Christopher Day.



After deliberating, the unanimous selection of the judges was Christopher Day's "River Tam." (Recipe below) His drink is now on the restaurant's cocktail menu and was a focus of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations there. All three finalists were also invited to attend an upcoming Mutineer Magazine event.


"River Tam" By Christopher Day

Ingredients:
1 ½ oz tequila (preferably anejo)
½ a lime juiced (~3/4 oz)
½ oz habanero simple syrup*
3 small slices fresh ginger root
Club Soda

Directions:
Pulverize two slices of ginger in habanero simple syrup*, followed by adding in the tequila and squeezing in the lime. Add ice and shake. Pour into a lowball glass filled with ice (with a strainer if you don’t want to chew on bits of ginger). Top it off with club soda and give it a quick stir. Garnish with a wheel of lime, if desired.

*(1 cup water to 1 cup sugar; 4 fresh habanero peppers, stemmed and sliced in half)

Santa Monica Farmers Market Panel Series - Spring 2010

Thursday evening the Santa Monica Farmers Market had its Spring 2010 quarterly panel series entitled Menu Minuet: How Chefs and Farmers keep seasonal produce on the plate while maintaining consistency on the menu. LA Weekly restaurant critic Jonathan Gold moderated a panel of restauranteurs Akasha Richmond of Akasha Restaurant in Culver City and Mark Peel of Campanile and the Tar Pit in Los Angeles and farmers Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms and Romeo Coleman of Coleman Family Farms.



The Weisers have been at the Santa Monica Farmers Market since its inception in 1981, when they started out by selling apples. Since then they have diversified their offerings, a strategy also employed by Coleman, which is known for their lettuces and herbs. Both farmers emphasized that offering a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs enables them to diversity their risk and offer more unusual varieties without the danger that the failure of any one crop due to weather or customer tastes would ruin their season.

Mark Peel said that "he is too lazy not to use what is in season. With seasonal ingredients you just don't need to do a lot to them."



In the photo above Chef Mark Peel speaks with Farmer Alex Weiser while Jonathan Gold looks on.

The farmers market has expanded the range of produce available to both restaurants and consumers and many of the farmers have taken it upon themselves to introduce new varieties to the market. Cavallo Nero was virtually unknown here until it appeared at the Santa Monica farmers market. Akasha Richmond said she goes to the market to "but what we need and to buy what is new. I love buying local produce. It is fun; it makes it exciting."

Both farms featured on the panel each grow over 100 varieties of products over the course of the year. Seasonal produce means that products are only available for part of the year, although the growing season here in Southern California is much longer than in other parts of the country. As Peel said, "Peaches in July are exquisite. An epiphany. That's when summer is over, when the last peaches are gone."

Cinco de Mayo - Stick with the standards

Cinco de Mayo has turned into an excuse for drunkenness ala St Patricks Day, where everyone and their brother guzzles down margarita after margarita, often poor versions at that. I am all for boozing, but it had better be quality booze. So many non-Mexican/tequila joints jump on the bandwagon just to bring in hordes of thirsty crowds who just want drinks and plenty of them. I say, stay away from such joints. Stick to these 4 who make great margaritas day in day out.

Westside:

El Carmen has over 250 varieties of tequila and is serious about their margaritas. They have a fun mexican wrestling theme and always feels festive. They also have food to help you hold down that tequila. Tequila flights at various price points are available if you want to hold the cocktails and go straight for the spirit. This was the scene of an infamous birthday party of mine 5-6 years ago, so I have a special fondness for El Carmen.

El Carmen - 8138 West Third Street, The Grove/Miracle Mile neighborhood, phone: (323) 852-1552.

Lares Restaurant is a two story restaurant and bar. I favor the upstairs as it feels more airy and open. Live mariachi is frequently on offer. The tequila selection is nothing like that of El Carmen, but the food is significantly better and it is my favorite of this type of restaurant.

Lares Restaurant - 2909 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, phone: (310) 829-4550


Eastside & Downtown:

Malo is a full restaurant and bar offering the traditional standards plus a bar that is much better than it has to be. Look for Rhachel behind the bar - her margaritas are among the best in town.

Malo Restaurant - 4326 Sunset Blvd, Silverlake, phone: (323) 664-1011

Las Perlas is downtown nightlife king Cedd Moses's latest adventure, a mezcal bar offering a selection of mezcal and tequila sipping beverages and cocktails across the street from Cole's. Julian Cox of Rivera designed the drink menu. If you want to venture beyond a margarita, the Poblano Escobar is highly recommended.

Las Perlas - 107 East Sixth Street, Downtown, phone: (213) 988-8355

Taco Roundup on Cinco de Mayo

Inspired by LA Taco's recent taco tournament which anointed La Estrella as the best taqueria in town and a friend who recently moved to LA and is obsessed with tacos, I journeyed on a personal quest to try some of the more prominent taco joints in Los Angeles to see what they had to offer.

In each location (where possible) I ordered two carne asada soft tacos. I visited as many as four in one day. They were: Carnitas Michoacan, La Estrella 3, King Taco, Sky's Tacos, Tacomiendo, Tacos Por Favor, Tito's Tacos & Yuca's.

I don't eat pork or shellfish, which is why I did not sample carnitas tacos or get the famous fish tacos at Sky's.

Best of the bunch: La Estrella 3.

La Estrella is right next to where the train tracks cross Figueroa in Highland Park. It is basically a stand with three small tables connected to the ground.


The meat was just the most flavorful at La Estrella 3 and the cilantro onions and salsa were in just the right proportions.

Runners Up:

1. Tacos Por Favor


Tacos Por Favor on Olympic & 14th St is a Santa Monica institution. They operate efficiently and have tons of indoor seating. Even at prime time lunch the wait to order is relatively short as the line moves quickly. They also have a salsa bar with red, green, pico de gallo and sliced limes, which is a big asset.


The filling doesn't overwhelm the tortillas like at La Estrella. The asada had a nice grilled taste. The tacos come with tortilla chips. Tacos Por Favor uses vegetable oil and no lard.

2. Sky's Gourmet Tacos

Sky's Gourmet Tacos is a soul food take on the Mexican classic. Sky's is located on Pico Blvd near Hauser, South of the Miracle Mile. They have a small indoor dining room and several attractive tables with umbrellas outside on the sidewalk. According to their website, all of their dishes "are prepared fresh without trans fat, lard, artificial additives or preservatives."


I sampled one Authentic Taco which was a small carne asada taco with onions, cilantro and citrus juice and served with hot salsa over two corn tortillas. The salsa was legitimately spicy, which offers a good excuse to try the excellent homemade lemonade. I also got a beef "Famous Taco" which was significantly larger and came with lettuce, tomato, cilantro, cheese and Sky's sauce on two corn tortillas. The "salad" on top was unnecessary and I removed most of it (saving the sauce). Overall very good tacos and a refreshing twist on the classic without changing it beyond recognition.

The Others aka Nothing Special

Tacos from Carnitas Michoacan, King Taco, Tacomiendo & Yuca's were not worth going out of your way for. I had a hard time believing that Yuca's was the winner in LA Taco's bracket last year. Fun spot but their tacos were just fine. By far the worst tacos were at Tito's Tacos. The "tacos" there were absolutely disgusting. Despite being a native Angeleno I had never been there and wished I had kept my streak of 34 years without a Tito's Taco intact. Avoid at all costs.

Carnitas Michoacan


The tacos were extremely oniony, to the point that I could not finish them.

King Taco

King Taco is a fast food environment and the taco is not very tasty and the environment has no charm. There is a parking lot at the Pico & Alvarado location but it is difficult to find a parking space there. The least expensive but perhaps most bland/boring of the tacos sampled.

Tacomiendo


Tacomiendo is located in a strip mall on Gateway in West LA and reminded me of a bigger La Salsa but with food with less flavor. The carne asada was cut into the largest chunks of any taqueria I visited and the tacos were just boring. They also had a salsa bar. No reason to go there with Tacos Por Favor a short drive away.

Tito's Tacos


Tito's Tacos has been in business for over 50 years. I am not sure why people enjoy it. Their tacos come in a hard shell and contain enough shredded lettuce to keep a family of bunnies in food for weeks. I'd rather skip a meal than ever eat there again.

Yuca's


Yuca's has a great ambiance, it just feels authentic in that neighborhoody way. Bonus for outdoor tables adjacent to the parking lot. I just found the tacos to be fine (better than tacomiendo or king taco or tito's or michoacan) but certainly not worth driving out of your way for. The tacos had the least cilantro of any I sampled, maybe that is part of what holds them back.

La Estrella 3: 6103 North Figueroa Street @61st St, Highland Park. (323) 982-0179
Tacos Por Favor: 1406 Olympic Blvd @ 14th St, Santa Monica (310) 392-5768
Sky's Gourmet Tacos: 5408 West Pico Blvd @ Hauser, South Miracle Mile (323) 932-6253
Carnitas Michoacan: 1901 North Broadway (off I-5), East Los Angeles (323) 225-2729
King Taco: 2020 West Pico Blvd, Pico Union (213) 384-8115
Tacomiendo: 11462 West Gateway Blvd, West LA (310) 481-0804‎
Tacos Por Favor: 1406 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica (310)392-5768
Tito's Tacos: 11222 Washington Place @ Sepulveda, Culver City (310) 391-5780

Cart for a Cause - from Animal to Chef Greenspan

Last week was Animal chefs Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo's second and final week of manning Cart for a Cause. They put out my favorite of the charitable Tuesday lunches to date, an amazing fried chicken sandwich with corn on the cob. The sandwich was served with a slaw on a bun and the chicken breast was juicy and flavorful and the crispy breading stayed on the breast and didn't come apart. I could eat that sandwich on a weekly basis and be a happy man.



This week, Shook and Dotolo have passed the baton to Eric Greenspan, of the Foundry on Melrose and soon to be proprietor of his own grilled cheese mecca. He will be serving a choice of either a Greenspan Grilled Cheese Sandwich or a Salad of Ablacore Tartare. Each lunch costs $10 and includes a beverage as well.

Tomorrow Tuesday May 4th, the Cart for a Cause truck will be at 11766 Wilshire Blvd, at Granville, 2 blocks west of Barrington Ave in Brentwood/West LA between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm.


Each Tuesday a different chef prepares a gourmet meal in the Cart for a Cause cart, for sale at $10 each, and the proceeds benefit St. Vincent's Meals on Wheels.

To learn more follow Cart for a Cause on Facebook & Twitter

The recipe for Eric's Albacore Salad is below:

Albacore Tartare with Carrots, Garlic, and Pomegranate

FOR THE TARTARE:
1 oz extra virgin olive oil in fused with garlic
1 oz sashimi grade Monterrey Albacore,chopped into a near paste
Salt and pepper
6 oz carrot juice, reduced to ½ oz
6 oz orange juice, reduced to ½ oz

Mix all ingredients.

FOR THE CARROT AND GARLIC SALAD:
1 baby yellow carrot, shaved on a Japanese mandoline
1 baby red carrot, shaved on a Japanese mandoline
10-15 pomegranate seeds
1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced

Place the garlic in a small saucepot of cold water. Bring to a
boil. Strain. Repeat 2 more times, then fry the garlic. Mix with
other ingredients and arrange on top of the albacore tartare.

FOR THE POMENGRANATE PONZU:
6 oz Pom brand 100% Pomengranate Juice, reduced to ½ oz.
1/2 oz soy sauce
1/2 oz garlic oil

Mix all ingredients and drizzle liberally on the plate.

FOR THE CARROT PUREE:
1 large carrot, peeled
4 oz carrot juice

Simmer the carrot in juice until soft, then place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.