Wow, Wagyu: Lunch at Gordon Ramsay's The Fat Cow

Visiting The Grove and the Los Angeles Farmers Market is easily a full-day adventure. Thankfully there's a concierge service to help you if you feel overwhelmed by all of the shops, dining, and people (lots and lots of people). We arrived at The Grove a little after lunchtime. It was a weekend day, so the place was full of hustle and bustle, but fortunately it was late enough for us to snag a table (without waiting) at Gordon Ramsay's The Fat Cow -- which is casual dining in a rustic atmosphere but with flavors you'd expect from a chef who's been awarded more than 10 Michelin stars.

The Fat Cow, which is less than a year old, is friendly and inviting. The menu is simple and many of the ingredients are locally sourced (and from the Farmers Market only steps away). There were plenty of great entrees to choose from, but I had to get The Fat Cow Burger. And it was ah-MOO-zing. 

The Fat Cow Burger is made of Wagyu beef, which is one of the most expensive beefs out there. It's known for being extremely tender, highly marbled, and superior in quality -- and I can say without a doubt that this was the best burger I've ever eaten. The Fat Cow Burger also has caramelized onions, arugula, smoked gouda, and a chipotle aioli. And let me tell you that the bun (both top and bottom pieces) was perfectly toasted and soft and fluffy. No rips or tears on the bread. Plus, it was branded with a cow, yet managed to keep a perfect bun shape. Also, the bottom part of the bun wasn't soggy at all! (And you know how the bottom half of a burger bun can get soggy and gross.) The Wagyu was delicious, but the perfect shape and flavor of the bun was truly a reminder that I was eating at a Gordon Ramsay establishment. I've watched enough episodes of "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares" to know that Gordon would never let a ripped or soggy bun touch a plate.

I had a nice cold Fat Tire beer to go with The Fat Cow Burger, along with a side order of truffle fries. At first I thought that the burger was too big and that I'd never finish it, but it was so juicy and flavorful that I cleaned my plate. Not a single crumb left.

Next time I'll have to get The Fat Cow Burger with a fried egg and bacon jam added. I realize that will probably give me heart attack, but I think it'd taste like heaven. I also want to try some of the specialty cocktails at The Fat Cow, particularly the "HK Antioxidant," which is made with acai liqueur, lemon, blueberries, mint, and "forbidden" bitters. Sounds like a healthy beverage to me!

I'll be back on the West Coast in less than two months, and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have time to head back over to The Grove for serious shopping and more Wagyu.

You Can't Kiss Your Lover After Dinner at The Stinking Rose

My good friends from San Diego braved the freeway traffic to visit me in Los Angeles and to take me to The Stinking Rose: A Garlic Restaurant. That's right. GARLIC. The restaurant's motto: "We season our garlic with food." (This probably isn't the place to take your date if you want to do any smooching later.)

Everything on the menu is made with cloves and cloves of garlic. In fact, the appetizer we ordered, called the "Bagna Calda," is an iron skillet full of garlic cloves that have been oven-roasted in extra virgin olive oil and butter and some anchovy. Also known as "garlic soaking in a hot tub," the appetizer is the perfect warm dip, and the soft and sweet cloves are just right for smearing on bread (along with the minced raw garlic spread on the table). We smeared it on garlic bread.

We also ordered a garlic pesto and fontina pizza, and because that wasn't enough cheese for us, we added an order of roasted garlic baked brie.

We ate all of this at a small table under a black and white striped tent in the middle of the restaurant. The decor is wacky and walls have murals of garlic characters playing basketball, garlic through history, and because it's in Hollywood there are celebrities portrayed in cartoon garlic form. 

At the end of the meal, I expected a tray of mints along with the bill, but instead we got these weird itty-bitty fruit candies that confused me (suck or chew?). But I guess that even an entire tin of Altoids isn't enough to freshen your breath after dinner at The Stinking Rose, so why bother with mints?

It's a funny restaurant, for sure. And if you're a garlic fan, it's a must-visit. All in all, this restaurant stinks. But in a delightfully tacky and tasty way.

Hearts Bursting

My cousin's beautiful wedding at Mountain Gate Country Club.
So much love. So much fun.

And I love these photo booth pics of me and my sister:

Newport Tan Cang Seafood Restaurant

I'm baaaaack. I just returned from a fabulous trip to the West Coast, visiting with family and friends and eating and exploring. And I have lots to share. But first things first... Where did I eat after landing in Los Angeles? Newport Tan Cang in Rowland Heights. Hello, flavorful Chinese seafood!

We started dinner with a huge, piping hot bowl of braided crab meat and fish maw soup, and then ordered more food than we could fit on our table's Lazy Susan:

• Chicken lettuce wraps
• Fried noodle with seafood and Chinese vegetables
• Sauteed peasprouts
• Shrimp with walnut
• Newport special crab (OMG!!!)

The entire restaurant smells like the garlic and green scallion special sauce that the humongous Newport crabs (and lobsters) are baked in. And that's not a bad thing at all. There's a bit of heat to the special sauce, and there's some kind of magic trick they perform to get the thick, juicy pieces of crab meat infused with the flavor of the sauce. It miraculously penetrates the crab shell and makes its way into every string of crab meat. I tried to figure it out for a minute, but then I decided it was better left a mystery, and I should just eat it. Which I did. The Newport special crab was definitely the star.

The other dishes were very good, and I think I ate most of the sauteed peasprouts (although I promise I shared). The lettuce wraps and the seafood with fried noodles were tasty, and I especially liked the shrimp with walnuts. I don't think I've ever had walnuts with shrimp, but I enjoyed the combination very much. Of course all of this was served with steamy white rice and washed down with hot tea and Tsingtao beer.

The wait to get into the restaurant was long, but well worth it. I'm definitely going back for some Newport special lobster the next time I'm on the West Coast.

Asian Comfort Food

The past couple of weeks have been hectic, and this coming week is going to be full of even more hustle and bustle. Unfortunately, being stressed out means not sleeping well and not eating well. For the past few days, my meals have consisted of small bites of Fiber One bars, a couple of pre-packaged salads, stale blue corn chips and Sabra hummus, and ginger ale. But a couple of nights ago, I did make some lettuce turkey wraps. And although I only had enough time to scarf down two lettuce leaves, the leftover basmati rice I made with it served me well when I decided to make some Asian comfort food today: good old-fashioned fried rice. 

The nice thing about fried rice is you don't need many ingredients, and your main ingredient is something that's already been cooked. The fried rice I made today is a modified version of Jean-Georges' ginger fried rice recipe, which I read about a couple of years ago in Mark Bittman's "The Minimalist" column in The New York Times. Jean-Georges fries his rice with leeks and tops it with crispy garlic and ginger, adding crunch to every bite. I didn't have leeks, but I did have garlic and ginger root on hand. I always do. I also had bacon, and because bacon makes everything better I took a couple of slices of bacon and cut it into small pieces and fried it. I used some of the bacon fat to fry up the minced garlic and ginger (about two tablespoons of each). I learned that frying the garlic and ginger doesn't require much time at all. The first time I tried Jean-Georges' recipe, I burned the hell out of the garlic and ginger. But now I know that as soon as you seen one of the minced pieces starting to turn brown, it's time to take that slotted spoon and scoop up all the bits (fast!) and let them drain on a paper towel.

Then it's time to fry the rice. I hate having to use more pots and pans than necessary, so I dumped the leftover rice into the same pan. (It absorbs the flavors of everything that was fried before, right?) Rice frying doesn't take long. As you move it around and break up the clumps, you'll notice it "reanimate" as it soaks up the oil and gets heated. When I was almost done frying the rice, I took the bacon, garlic, and ginger, and tossed it all together in the pan. Jean-Georges and Mark Bittman sprinkle the garlic and ginger bits on top, but I decided to mix it together.

I put my fried rice mixture in a serving dish, and using the same pan, I fried a couple of eggs (local eggs!) as part of the meal. There's just something about crispy egg whites and golden yolks on top of fried rice. And in a matter of minutes, I had everything in a bowl: fried rice with bacon, garlic, and ginger, topped with a fried egg, and sprinkled with some scallions. 

I realize this isn't exactly healthy eating, but it is comforting. And considering the weeks that I've had, and in anticipation of the week ahead, it's exactly what I needed.