Communal Feasting: Beast

We were excited to try Beast because we'd heard so many good things about it.  It didn't hurt that Chef Naomi Pomeroy had been on Top Chef Masters and was a James Beard Award finalist.

Maybe our expectations were too high.  Maybe it was an off day.  While the food at Beast was very good, it just didn't blow us away like our dinner at Aviary did the night before.

Beast is small.  There are two dinner seatings each night, Wednesday through Saturday, and all dining is communal.  What does this mean exactly?  It means you have to eat with strangers, much to our dismay.  I'm not sure why the restaurant makes no mention of this on its website.

Well, I'll tell you about this communal dining here.  You'll be at a big table with a bunch of other people for your entire $75 six-course meal.  If this isn't your idea of fun, I recommend skipping Beast.

But, if you can stomach the idea of dining with unknown companions for a fairly long meal, welcome.  Lucky for us, we quickly became friends with the young couple to our right.  They were like mini versions of ourselves -- Asian, Californian, 10 years younger, and hungry for food and fun.  Thank goodness for our little doppelgangers because the people to our left sucked.

Heirloom cauliflower soup, leek and horseradish mousse, sake-cured trout roe and crisp rye toast.

Pleasant start, although it wasn't very flavorful except for the roe.

Charcuterie plate: foie gras bon-bon, Sauternes gelée, chicken liver mousse, leaf lard cracker, steak tartare, quail egg toast, rustic pork terrine, pork sausage en croûte, duck rillettes and tête de cochon.

This plate of goodies was pretty impressive.  I saved the foie gras for last, of course.

Intermezzo.

Palate-cleansing sorbet.  Not much more to report.

Fennel-brined poussin presse, caramelized gil-feathered turnips, peacock kale, herbed foie gras butter, porcinis, duck and rabbit jus.

Pretty good chicken made even better with foie gras butter.  But it was still just chicken.

Square Peg Farm's catalogna emerald dandelion, Northern-Spy apples, crispy prosciutto, brown butter vinaigrette.

I wish I could tell you that this salad was out of this world, but I can't.  It was tasty enough.  Definitely fresh.  But nothing special.

Selection of cheeses from Steve at Cheese Bar, fresh quince paste, fried Marcona almonds, bee pollen shortbread, wildflower honey.

I can't lie.  I like cheese, but I'm always disappointed when it's a course during a multi-course meal.  Perhaps this makes me gauche.

Bandon cranberry clafoutis, brown sugar-crème fraîche ice cream, candied ginger and walnut crumble.

A candle for Mr. Monkey's birthday!  Now this was quite a good dessert, and I'm a salty girl.  Crumble gets me every time.  Nummy.

If you're looking for intimate private dining, don't go to Beast.  If not, I guess $75 is a pretty swell deal for six courses, even when one course is just cheese.

Understated Innovation: Allumette

My broken camera notwithstanding, it's been a good month.  After all, I did get a new point-and-shoot, and I do celebrate my birthday as long as I can.  We had a child-friendly dinner with my little niece and nephew on my actual birthday, but we headed to Allumette for a five-course tasting ($72) the day after with the Cruisers.  Thank you, Cruisers!

Allumette replaces Allston Yacht Club in Echo Park.  Same owners.  Different concept.  Better experience.

Housemade limeade and ginger beer ($4 each).

Both fresh and strong.

Complimentary grilled focaccia with potato-mascarpone butter.

This may be the tastiest bread course in Los Angeles at this moment.  Spread that creamy, buttery, cheesy potato goodness all over the focaccia and crunch and savor and sigh contentedly.

Kanpachi sashimi, spot prawn, oro blanco, pistachio oil.

A little tart.  A little nutty.  A lot of fresh.  A lot of yum.

Complimentary prawn head broth.

We wanted to pick this up and slurp it all and suck all the juice from that head.  Ok, we committed one of these acts.  I'll let you guess which one.

Poached octopus, beluga lentil, vadouvan butter, fried egg.

Tender and gently chewy, paired wonderfully with rich, runny yolk on top of mild, delicate legumes.

Complimentary fairy squid, cilantro flower, lime ponzu.

So tiny and pretty!  Tasted like it looked, if that makes any sense.

Alaskan halibut, king crab mezzaluna, Meyer lemon, whipped yogurt.

The best halibut I've had in quite awhile.  Halibut is often overcooked and dry.  Not here.  Not at all.  How was this simultaneously moist and flaky?  I don't know, but it was delectable with its cool and slightly sweet and sour accompaniments.

Squab breast, rillette fricassee, balsamic panade, blueberry.

You know I always love my tiny fowl.  Rejoice!  An itty-bitty bird in a happy garden!

Goat's milk flan, angel food cake, brown butter, tapioca.

Birthday candle fun!  I loved loved loved this dessert, and I'm not even a huge flan fan.  Delicate and not too sweet.  Fabulous way to end a nice dinner with good friends.  I dare say that Allumette is sort of like a chill, unflashy ink., Jr.  That's a compliment.

My point-and-shoot handled the low lighting like a champ.  Happy birthday indeed.

A Bold Brunch: Volt

During our Northeast quasi-road trip, we took a detour to eat at Volt, Chef Bryan Voltaggio's restaurant in Frederick, Maryland.  If you are a Top Chef fan, this may be as exciting to you as it was to me.

Unlike his brother's restaurant, Bryan Voltaggio's restaurant is airy, bright, and somewhat more formal, although not to the point of stuffy.  Servers are clad in suits but rock Chucks on their feet.  And you eat while listening to Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Death Cab for Cutie, and The Shins.  I loved the music.

Amuse bouche -- celeriac macaron with foie gras.

This light salty meringue-like cookie was a great start.  Mr. Monkey gave me the macaron with the larger dollop of foie.  Yay for me!

Cheddar-jalapeno biscuit and bourbon pecan sticky bun.

The bread basket was nothing short of incredible, and it kept coming!  Piping hot and glorious!  I only had these two, but Mr. Monkey indulged.  The biscuit was so perfectly flaky and cheesy with just a bit of kick.  The sticky bun was like candy.  I can't believe I'm raving about complimentary bread, but it was seriously rave-worthy.

We got the five-course brunch tasting menu for $55 -- a great bargain for food of this caliber.

Kampachi, ginger, chive, green apple.

Fresh and brilliant.  Do you know what brilliant tastes like?  Have this, and you will.

Ravioli, garlic scapes, Marcona almond, goat cheese.

Dreamy.  Creamy.  Garlicky.  Fab.

Halibut, asparagus, hen yolk, caper.

Possibly the best halibut I've had in recent memory.  Meaty yet delicate.

Beef, Kennebeck potatoes, green garlic, English pea.

A terrible miss.  Yes, you read that right.  This sucked.  The meat was full of chewy tendon.  We both left an ample portion on our plates.  Really disappointing after the previous excellent dishes.

Chocolate marshmallow, caramel, peanut.

This reminded me of the dessert that my friend had when we went to ink.  Deconstructed and delicious.  Good comeback.

Crumb cake to take home.

Who is the person baking stuff here?  I really want to know because that person deserves a medal.  I ate this the next morning and mmm-mmm-mmmed.

This meal was great, even with the sad meat.  You should take this detour, too.

Yes, Chef Dinner at Son of a Gun

We interrupt this Arizona weekend recap to bring you breaking news of an exciting dinner we just finished.  Chef Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster cooked at Son of a Gun tonight.  He is touring right now to promote his new book Yes, Chef: A Memoir.

Because this is breaking news, I present to you some beautiful...iPhone photos!

We're going old-skool with camera pics tonight!

Yes, Chef Cocktail -- vodka, mint, lemon, pineapple, berbere ($12)

Tonight's meal was served family-style and cost $85 per person.

Helga's pea soup, mint, ginger.

Fried Misty Point oysters, Addis remoulade.

Gravlax, mustard, pickled fennel.

Tokyo salad, mizuna, yuzu-shishito vinaigrette.

Fried Yard Bird, collard greens, rooster sauce, pickles.  AWESOME!

Sweet corn salad.

Sweet potato doughnuts, fennel ice cream.

Harlem chocolate truffles.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson's autographed book came with the meal.

Happy fans.  Chefarazzi, cha cha cha!

Huge thank you to my brother for getting us this reservation.  So sad that he couldn't come because he had surgery on his Achilles tendon today.  (Don't worry; the surgery went well!)  Thank you to the Oros for joining us!