Thursday, February 5, 2009

Lost and Foundry

Giggles, Bax, Prim, and I tried The Foundry on Melrose last night.
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The vibe was lounge-y cool meets art-deco flapper.
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My dinner tonight got canceled [insert sad face here], so this concludes my dineLA foray this year. These sets were $44 for starter, entree, and dessert.

Complimentary stuff. All bad. So sad.
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Giggles and Prim started with the spicy albacore tartare with pears, honey, and soy vinaigrette. Light, refreshing, and quite good.
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Bax's crispy pork belly with grapes, almond, and eggplant was a tasty start, as well. It didn't hold a candle to Animal's legendary pork belly, but few things do.
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My calamari "a la plancha" with olive tapenade, grapefruit, and piquillo peppers was the loser appetizer. Very forgettable and meh. Looooooooser.
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Prim seemed to like her chorizo-crusted Jidori chicken with mashed plantains, and avocado citrus salad. The bite I had was fine but nothing special.
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Bax and I opted for the hangar steak with crispy fingerlings, mushrooms, and anchovy butter. The steak was nice and tender, and the anchovy butter was surprisingly yummy with its smooth saltiness.
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Giggles' entree was the best -- crispy skin salmon with crushed potato and orange fennel. The crunch of the skin contrasted well against the lightness of the medium-rare fish. Thumbs up for this one.
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Bax and Prim ended with chocolate banana bread pudding with rum raisin ice cream. It was only lukewarm and just not that yummy, which is a travesty because all bread pudding should be yummy.
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Giggles was the big winner again with her dessert. Of all the doughnuts I've had during dineLA this year, these spiced doughnuts with pineapple saffron sauce and chocolate hazelnut sauce were the best! Hot! Light! Sugary! Perfect with sauce!
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I got the flop of the bunch again. My honey crème brûlée with candied fruit and orange sherbet may have been colorful, but it was a sad specimen of a dessert.
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Everyone had a little, and we agreed. The consistency was off. The temperature was off. The fruit was gross. I ate the sherbet and called it a night.
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Special thanks to my co-workers for their thumbs.

If I'd had Giggles' set, I think I'd probably recommend The Foundry on Melrose. Based on my dishes, however, I'm hesitant to do so. I guess the best characterization of our experience was that it was a mixed bag.

Now I need to begin fasting to counteract all the gorging I've done these past two weeks. I hope you've enjoyed reading these entries as much as I've enjoyed posting them.

18 comments:

  1. I have really enjoyed your dineLA posts, even though I won't have the chance to visit (most of) the restaurants.

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  2. Thanks for making it sound so "meh" for me--does soften the blow. Bax thought it was great!

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  3. I had no idea how popular donuts were on dessert menus these days ... I must be out of the loop!

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  4. What a disappointment. It makes me sad to hear that your honey creme brulee -- which sounds sooo good to me right now -- doesn't taste good. Boo.

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  5. I'm sad you ended your gorging fete on a sour note!

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  6. Wow you have been busy the last couple of weeks. How have you not gained 20 pounds?

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  7. Totally jealous of your DineLA experience! :)

    And can I schedule a WeeMo food photo tutorial? 'Cuz my food photos sucketh! Yours are soooo prettttttty!

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  8. Argh. I just had a Blogger glitch and deleted a bunch of comments intended to be published. So, if you don't see your comment here, sorry! But I did read them, so thank you!

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  9. "lounge-y cool meets art-deco flapper"

    Such a great description. I immediately got a sense of this restaurant's style. Too bad it was only a mixed bag.

    I have really low tolerance for mediocre LA restaurants. With such amazing places to eat in the area, life is too short to waste on only so-so.

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  10. There's always that one person who orders the "perfect" meal. It sounds like Giggles is that person. Next time just copy everything she gets.

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  11. I agree that all bread pudding should be yummy. Loved the 3 thumbs down pic, lol.

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  12. I "dine" thru your experiences and every time you have a bad experience I feel sad. lol

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  13. dine la was made for us ;)

    in addition to being such a good eater you are an outstanding writer. just felt like reminding you ;)

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  14. I think I've been there, but have absolutely no memories of it that I can recall. Sorta sounds like your experience.

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  15. I am loving these dineLA posts.

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  16. I ditto Kelly.
    I ditto Nanette.
    How do you stay so stealth in your photography? I took one photo at dinner the night and everyone was looking at me.

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  17. it cracks me up that even the stuff you deem "bad" looks delish in your pics.

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  18. I guess it's a good thing I e-dined in L.A. with you...some of the experience without all the calories. ;)

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