Restaurant Review #253: Senor Gomez Courtyard, Simi Valley

Chicken, beef, and shrimp fajitas - $19.99

Senor Gomez is a little pricier than the average Mexican restaurant, but it's worth the money for the quality of the food, the plentiful portions, and the attentive service. It's also one of the only non-chain Mexican options in Simi Valley where the atmosphere is nice enough to dine in rather than do takeout.

The interior decor is a tad dated, but the lighting is low enough at dinner and the food delicious enough that you won't really notice.  If it's a Saturday night, you might get to enjoy some live music in the main dining room. There's also a pretty outdoor patio that can be very peaceful as long as the folks at the next table over haven't had too many margaritas.

I'm not sure what they do with their fajitas at Senor Gomez, but they're far tastier than the ones you'll find at your favorite chain restaurant. My favorite dish at Senor Gomez, however, and a more unique option, is the pescado rico ("rich fish", below), a huge portion of pan-seared fresh orange roughy smothered in pickled jalapenos, black olives, fresh oregano and a light tomato sauce with loads of umami. The flavors from the main dish seep into the side dishes to make them extra delicious.

The entree portions are so generous that you definitely don't need anything else, but all entrees come with soup or salad, and you won't want to miss the albondigas (meatball) soup. For sides, you can choose a baked potato or grilled veggies for a lighter alternative to rice and beans.

Pescado rico - $17.99

The chile relleno is good enough, but for $11.99 it's nothing special--you'd be better off ordering this item from a less expensive takeout place. If you want the usual stuff, Senor Gomez has it--tacos, enchiladas, tamales, burritos. But Senor Gomez also has quite a few dishes that you won't find on a typical Mexican restaurant menu, like paella a la mexicana, Baja crab cakes with sweet corn and avocado relish, and lobster in tequila sauce. There are many other things on the menu at Senor Gomez that I'd love to try, too, like the chicken mole and chili colorado. But I love the pescado rico so much that I haven't made it any further into the menu.

Senor Gomez is not just a good restaurant, it's also an interesting one that's suitable for everything from a happy hour to a casual dinner to a date night to a bachelorette party.

Senor Gomez Courtyard
2916 Cochran St.
Simi Valley, CA 93065
(805) 527-5763
Hours: Open: 11:00 am to 10:00 pm, 7 days a week
Senor Gomez website
Senor Gomez menu

Restaurant Review #234: Olivios Bistro, Simi Valley - CLOSED

Lobster ravioli - $17.95

Update: This restaurant has closed. 

Olivios Bistro is a new Simi Valley restaurant located in the Albertsons shopping center on Madera. We decided to try it because they were offering a gift certificate on Restaurant.com for $25 off $50.

Bruschetta - free!

The restaurant was nearly empty on a Saturday night, which is often a bad sign. However, with the place being new and trying to lure customers by offering discounts, I hoped it was just that no one knew about it yet. We were instantly impressed by how clean and crisp the restaurant is--all the tables are dressed in white linens, and the summer evening sun gives the dining room a pleasing natural glow.  

Bread - free!

The next pleasant surprise was the free bread our server brought us. Free bread is always a plus, but when it's a hunk of boring French bread, you don't feel like you're getting anything special. Olivios served us garlic herb rolls, sundried tomato foccacia, crispy, garlicky bruschetta, and olive tapenade. They even offered us seconds.

Crab cake appetizer - $11.95

The portion size of the crab cake appetizer was generous--it would make a good light lunch on its own. I appreciated that it came with salad, because I didn't want to pay for two appetizers. The menu didn't seem to have an option for an inexpensive side salad with an entree. They do have two salads for $5.95, but I'd like it if a small salad came with my meal or cost only a couple dollars extra. But this is only a minor complaint.

Corn chowder - $3.95

The corn chowder (the soup of the day) was also generously portioned, delicious, and a meal in its own right for a light eater.

Pappadelle - $12.95

The pasta at Olivios is obviously homemade. You can tell right away from the texture--it's lighter and has a different bite than dried, mass-produced pasta. If you like puttanesca sauce, you'll like this dish. It doesn't have olives, capers, or anchovies, but it is a salty, hearty, non-boring tomato sauce with ground lamb, eggplant, spinach, and tomato.

As much as I loved this dish, it would be difficult to return to Olivios and not order the lobster ravioli (lead photo), which was probably even tastier.


Cheese tortellini in pesto cream sauce - $11.95

The only snafu of the evening involved the cheese tortellini. The server must have misheard the order and brought out the wrong dish. I think a good server can avoid this problem by always reading back diners' orders before placing them with the kitchen. Our waiter brought the correct dish to the table within minutes, but in the restaurant's haste to make up for the error, the pasta was a bit undercooked, and I thought the sauce was too salty (but then, I don't really care for pesto in any case). Still, we were willing to forgive them since everything else was top notch.

Warm chocolate cake - $5.95

I have to admit that from the menu description, I thought this dessert would be pretty dull. Also, I'm not really a chocolate lover--I tend toward the fruity and vanilla-flavored desserts. But this cake was a very dark chocolate and had the consistency of a flourless cake. It was difficult to not eat more than my fair share of it.


Creme brulee - $5.95

All creme brulee tastes the same to me, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. Olivios is also offering a free dessert promotion on their website when you sign up for their email list.

Dining room

Overall, I think Olivios is one of the best restaurants in Simi Valley. The service is fantastic, the food is high quality yet affordable, the dishes are beautifully presented, and it's one of the few places in town that is a bit upscale (though it's still comfortable). I can't wait to go back.

Olivios Bistro

1230 Madera Road
Simi Valley, CA 93065
805-581-9983
Tuesday through Sunday 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 5:00 p.m. -10:00 p.m.
Though not mentioned on the website, a sign outside the restaurant indicates that they are now serving Sunday brunch--if you're interested, you may want to call first.
Olivios Bistro website
Olivios Bistro Menu

Restaurant Review #232: Saddle Peak Lodge, Calabasas

Cream of mushroom amuse bouche

Saddle Peak Lodge, named after the rock formation it sits under, has been around for more than 100 years in various incarnations, including a general store and a summer resort. Tucked away in the hills of Calabasas, sort of on the way to Malibu via Las Virgenes, you'd never know the restaurant was there if you weren't following a set of directions to it. That makes it all the more amazing that the place has been around for so long. We didn't have any trouble finding it with the directions (although we did get lost on the way out since it was pitch black and I was too busy thinking about my meal to think about which way I should be turning).

Saddle Peak Lodge is almost cave-like in the evening, cozy and dark with stone, timber, and lots of prize game heads lending weight to the restaurant's name. A seat by the window next to the patio gave us a glimpse of the scenic mountain surroundings. It's the kind of patio you'd love to host a special event on (if you could afford it--and if you can, the restaurant has several private rooms and special menus available for events).

We were invited to try the restaurant to experience a new event they are offering: every Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saddle Peak Lodge is hosting Jazz in the Canyon with the Gonzalo Bergara quartet. Since we were invited, our meal was on the house, and our experience probably does not completely reflect what the average diner might expect. It was apparent that the head chef, chef de cuisine, and general manager knew who we were, since they each came to our table and introduced themselves. Our waiter, however, clearly thought we were just regular guests.

Saddle Peak Lodge serves French-influenced American food using seasonal ingredients. The executive chef, Adam Horton, has a more impressive resume at 27 years old than most chefs will have in their entire careers. He attended the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, externed at Saddle Peak, then went to Europe, where he cooked at classical French restaurants with two and three Michelin stars, including Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. On returning to the United States, he worked at Melisse before heading back to Saddle Peak as sous chef. Horton has been named a top five rising chef by Gayot, and the restaurant’s numerous accolades include a listing in the 2009 Michelin guide, one star in the 2008 Michelin guide, a AAA Four-Diamond award, a Zagat Award of Distinction, and numerous best-restaurant awards. The chef de cuisine, Chris Kufek, also has impressive credentials, but for the opposite reason--he's self-taught. He's also only 25. General Manager Joshua Buckner has twenty-one years of restaurant experience and is also a musician.

We were seated very close to the band, which had me a bit concerned about the noise level, but it didn't turn out to be a problem. The music seems like it's meant to be part of the background--which is good since this is a restaurant, not a bar or club. 

Our meal began with a mushroom soup amuse. It was tasty, but not extraordinary in any way. I found it a bit awkward to sip from the cup because of its thickness; I wished I had a small spoon to eat it with.

Pretzel bread and pumpernickel rolls

Fresh bread arrived right away—a pumpernickel roll and a pretzel bread roll. I was pleased by the interesting choice of flavors and their dense, soft, moist texture. If I have any complaint about the bread—and this is hardly a complaint—it’s that the delivery of every course was so perfectly timed that I had scarcely any time to turn my full attention to the bread.

Salt and butter

The rolls came with butter and a high-end moist sea salt that tasted like it had a hint of anise. I tend to laugh when I see super-expensive salts at the grocery store, since you can buy a huge container of salt for 60 cents that basically accomplishes the same thing, yet when I encounter a really good salt in a restaurant, the memory sticks with me (Lucques comes to mind, for example). Now I will have to finagle some $15 salt out of someone as a gift.

Yukon potato blini, smoked salmon, creme fraiche and caviar

As a second amuse, we tried a mini potato pancake topped with smoked salmon, creme fraiche and caviar. The smoked salmon did not taste different than any other smoked salmon I’ve had, but I could have eaten a whole plate of the blini (the mini pancakes), which were denser and more moist than breakfast pancakes and had a hint of sweetness. Basically, take everything that’s wrong with an ordinary pancake—it’s too dry, it has no flavor, it’s sometimes bordering on greasy—and this blini corrects it. Too bad I couldn’t get it to last longer than four tiny bites. I think they should serve full-sized blini for brunch!

Fijian albacore sashimi with ramp vinaigrette, avocado and pea greens

The appetizer was a Fijian (from Fiji) albacore sashimi. Albacore is probably my favorite raw fish, but this dish didn’t do anything for me. The pea tendrils seemed overdressed and I guess I am just accustomed to eating my raw fish with fewer accompaniments.

Wild mushroom agnolotti with roasted mushrooms, parmesan, herbs, ricotta salata, and truffle butter

For me, the best and most memorable dish of the night was the wild mushroom agnolotti (agnolotti is basically ravioli, in case you were wondering). The pasta was obviously homemade, and it was perfectly cooked. The aroma of truffle butter wafted up from the plate—how can you not like any dish that has truffle butter? The serving didn’t look very big, but it was so rich that it must have taken me 30 minutes to savor every bite (granted, I have won awards for my ability to eat slowly). This dish actually reminded me of some fantastic pasta I had at Melisse (and that was before I even knew the chef had worked there).

Diver scallops with peas, pea tendrils and uni veloute

I’m not sure I can fully comment on the scallop dish since my friend ordered it and I only had one bite, but it didn’t wow me--except for the black garlic that came on the side. Black garlic is regular garlic that has been slowly fermented in heat- and humidity-controlled conditions for three weeks. I’d never heard of it, seen it, or tasted it before. It has a unique, rich, slightly sweet flavor that has been compared to molasses.

New Zealand elk tenderloin with sweet potato and celery root purée, currants, bacon, wilted arugula and sauce chasseur (hunter's sauce)

Saddle Peak Lodge has several game meats on the menu—elk, buffalo, and ostrich. Because game meats are lean and have a high iron content compared to the meats most Americans usually eat, they are challenging to cook. Horton uses the sous vide technique to cook the meat uniformly medium rare.

The elk tenderloin is a house specialty. I didn't think it was "gamey" at all; rather, it reminded me of filet mignon. It was perfectly cooked and so tender I could cut it with the side of my fork (no exaggeration). This dish normally costs $54, so to be able to enjoy it as part of an $85 tasting menu seemed like a real bargain, and the portion was so large that I couldn't even finish it. The sweet potato and celery root puree was delicious but I found myself wanting to separate it from the currant sauce so I could fully appreciate it on its own. The currant sauce acted as a sort of steak sauce (but much better than A1!).

Deconstructed lemon merengue pie: toasted meringue ice cream, lemon curd, liquid sable and graham cracker

The deconstructed lemon meringue pie was hit and miss for me. The cake pieces seemed ordinary, but the “pie crust” was incredible. It had that addictive quality that I find in Persian halva and Spanish turron. And despite the way it looked on the plate, standing up, it wasn't crunchy, but soft. The meringue ice cream seemed to be a feat of molecular gastronomy. It was very cold in places and had such a delicate texture that regular meringue would seem heavy by comparison.

Our waiter obviously didn’t know that we were special guests—and I think that was a good thing, because we got to see what the regular service is like. Our waiter was friendly and endearing, and all of the many servers who delivered and took away our plates, refilled our water and served our bread, were, well, perfect. It’s easy to feel uncomfortable in an expensive restaurant when you normally eat at Chili’s and hole-in-the-wall Thai places, but no one was even remotely pretentious or condescending toward us the entire night. I felt totally comfortable. And the comfy chairs, while not ideal for leaning over the table and eating, certainly encourage you to lean back, relax, enjoy some good wine, and take your time. They’re very conducive to a leisurely evening of good conversation and live music.

Considering that this was a four-course tasting menu with an extremely reasonable price tag of $85, I was surprised that the portions were so generous. For $40 extra (per person), we could have had wine pairings, too, which I also thought was reasonable. (Unfortunately, I did not indulge in those as I was driving.)

Saddle Peak Lodge's description of itself as "rustic yet refined" is perfect and applies to both the food and the ambiance. The restaurant does have a dress code (how often do you see that?), but they basically just don't want you to show up in beach attire. Parking is valet only and has a $4 service charge (and they returned my car very promptly at the end of the night). Total, the tasting menu for two people with sparkling water came to about $100 a person, including tax but not including gratuity (thankfully, since the restaurant invited us, we only had to pay gratuity and parking). Not including the amuses, if we had ordered each dish from the regular menu instead of getting the tasting menu, we would have paid nearly $140 each. Perhaps the portion sizes were pared down for the tasting menu, but it didn't seem like it.

All in all, this was probably one of the best meals I've ever had, even if it wasn't one of my favorite meals I've ever had. The latter has nothing to do with the quality of the restaurant, the food, or the chef--it's purely a matter of my personal taste. I will probably always be someone who gets more excited about a bowl of spicy noodles than a gorgeous piece of meat. But I would really like to go back for the agnolotti, for brunch, and for any occasion that would allow me to sit on the patio during daylight hours. If you like really good food that is different without requiring you to be too adventurous or eat anything "weird," and if you want upscale food at a reasonable price in a comfortable atmosphere, Saddle Peak Lodge is a great choice.

Saddle Peak Lodge
419 Cold Canyon Road
Calabasas, CA 90265
818.222.3888
Saddle Peak Lodge website
Saddle Peak Lodge menu
Dinner Hours:
Wednesday through Thursday
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Friday 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Saturday 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Sunday 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Brunch:
Sunday 10:30 am to 2:00 pm

Restaurant Review #227: Bar Celona, Pasadena

Poblano pepper and bean dip with crispy flatbread

Bar Celona has been in Old Town Pasadena for years, but Chef Josef Centeno of Echo Park's Lot 1 helped re-do the menu recently. Though I hadn't been to Bar Celona before, I did remember looking at the menu and thinking that it didn't seem very interesting. This time, there were more things I wanted to order than I could afford (or eat).


Bar

We went on a Tuesday night because we wanted to hear the live flamenco music. Every Tuesday night, local flamenco band Cale plays in the bar area. They mostly played Gypsy Kings, which I enjoyed and is certainly crowd-pleasing, though I would have liked to hear more variety. You don't have to sit in the bar area to hear the music, as they play it through the restaurant's speaker system. Unfortunately, we were sitting right underneath a speaker and it was very loud. I also had to watch some drunk birthday girl twirling around in front of the band, trying to get attention all night. I guess what I'm saying is that the music is great, but you might want to sit in the dining room instead of the bar area. You'll still be able to hear the music.

We started with a non-Spanish hummus-like appetizer. The flavor was good, but it had that fermented tang to it, like it had been sitting around a day too long. So you may want to skip the poblano pepper dip.

But don't worry, it gets better.


Piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese, lightly breaded and fried

I have loved piquillo peppers ever since I had them at Jose Andres's Jaleo in D.C. I savored every bite of this dish, eating it entirely too slowly so that the fried breading got soggy. I also love chile rellenos, but I'm not sure that deep frying peppers is the greatest idea--they're so moist that you're lucky if the coating is still crispy when the dish arrives at your table. Eat this one as soon as you get it.


Flatbread with three sausages

The flatbread with three sausages sounded so boring, and $9 for what is essentially a mini-pizza is pretty egregious. (You're right--I didn't order it.) But the Spanish chorizos and the unique, tangy sauce were outstanding. The dish had a very rustic, homemade feel and was big enough that you could share it without feeling deprived of a decent portion.


Potato and pulled pork shoulder croquettes

I love croquettes, but they are almost never done right. Usually, croquettes are dry, and these were no exception. Pulled pork could have been a very flavorful filling (think carnitas), but in this case it wasn't. I think I'm just going to have to learn to make my own croquettes, because the only good ones I've had since Spain were in Puerto Rico. I wouldn't order this dish again.


Sweet potato and butter empanadas

I couldn't get enough of the sweet potato empanadas. The deep-fried pastry was light and flaky on the outside and gooey on the inside. The sweet potato filling was sweet and creamy and thankfully did not remind me of Thanksgiving. I'm not sure I ever saw an empanada while I lived in Spain, but authenticity be damned. The empanadas were delicious.


Chicken kebab

As I'm sure you can tell from the photo, the only bad dish of the bunch was the chicken kebab, which was overcooked and dessicated. It didn't seem like it would have had much flavor even if it had been cooked for the correct amount of time. Marinade, anyone?


Sauteed oyster and crimini mushrooms

The sauteed mixed mushrooms were very flavorful and took me right back to Spain. The name of the dish was slightly misleading, as there were plenty of (cheap) button mushrooms in the dish as well, but it was still more mushrooms than I wanted to eat in one sitting. This is a good dish to share, or, if you don't mind snooty looks from the waitress, take home the leftovers.

Plates range from $6 to $25, so the tab adds up fast--I could have gone out for sushi for the same price and about the same level of fullness. Though I didn't love the prices (especially for the sangria--$8 for one glass with ice in it, really?), they are customary for a tapas restaurant (I'm sure they're also necessary to pay Colorado Blvd. rent!). You can save a few bucks if you go during happy hour, though.

I also didn't like our waitress's snobby attitude, but I can't say that it was representative of the overall service at the restaurant (or even of her--could have been a bad night). I really enjoyed the food, the sleek decor with glowing red panels and warm yellow ochres, and the live music. I would definitely like to go back the next time I feel like splurging.

Bar Celona
46 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA
626.405.1000
Bar Celona website
Bar Celona menu

Restaurant Review #215: O2 Sushi, Simi Valley

Hawaiian ceviche

I found O2 Sushi on Yelp! while looking for a nice, independent restaurant in Simi Valley, land of many casual restaurants and chains. Simi Valley actually has a surprising number of independent restaurants - you just have to work a little harder to find them since they aren't in freestanding, multi-thousand-square-foot buildings with giant red signs. Perhaps even more surprising are the number of sushi restaurants in Simi - at least ten by my count.


Albacore roll (front) and scallop roll (back)

I will admit that I am skeptical of eating sushi in a place that doesn't have the culinary reputation of Beverly Hills or West LA or West Hollywood because for me, sushi doesn't have a middleground--sushi that's just okay is not okay. But after examining O2's online menu and prices, I felt confident that the odds would be good with this place.

We went early, around 6:30, thinking we would beat the rush, but when we got there and found the place full, we thought perhaps people in Simi like to eat earlier than people in LA. Like all sushi restaurants, you can choose between a table or bar. The sushi bar is the focal point of the restaurant, brightly lit with a backdrop of blue-grey fabric mimicking water and a school of silver fish swimming energetically toward the ceiling. Almost all of the tables run around the perimeter of the restaurant, so there is a considerable amount of privacy. I could even push my chair back without hitting the person behind me.



The teriyaki filet mignon ($20) cooked medium rare is a nice change of pace from the usual teriyaki chicken (which they also serve). Since teriyaki sauce can be very sweet, I wasn't sure it would be a good match for such a fine cut of meat, but this sauce was very subtle and the steak was beautifully presented on an oblong plate with vibrant green asparagus, an orange pepper, a single curled shrimp and a rectangle of cantelope. The entree came with standard-issue miso soup and a fresh green salad with a tasty soy vinaigrette--not quite Maggie's Farm quality (my favorite salad purveyor at the Santa Monica Farmers Market), but not bad for the middle of winter.



Teriyaki filet mignon

The Hawaiian ceviche (lead photo) was a ring of wafer-thin half slices of lime heaped with voloptuous wedges of whitefish, tuna, salmon and yellowtail, interspersed with cilantro and almost unnoticeable slivers of red onion and marinated in a succulent citrus-soy vinaigrette. I didn't care for the whitefish, which was a bit crunchy, but the tuna was especially supple. And for $11, it was plenty of fish, too.

The albacore roll and scallop roll were sloppily presented compared to the other two dishes, but that didn't affect their flavor. The portions were generous, the rice was loose and moist, and the fish was top notch. The albacore roll had the perfect amount of wasabi packed in, and the mayo in the scallop roll, despite looking a tad menacing, didn't actually have any flavor (and that was fine with me).

The service was slightly erratic, but friendly. The waitress seemed to expect us to know what we wanted to order almost instantly, and the arrival of the food wasn't well-timed. But honestly, I'd rather have the minor shortcomings of this restaurant than a technically perfect meal where I can't hear the person sitting across from me, I'm bumping elbows with my neighbor and I'm being rushed through my 7:00 reservation to accommodate the next reservation at 8:30. And, like every place in Simi, parking is plentiful and free, and there's no need to contend with a valet.

Overall, I was very pleased with the high-quality fish, the relaxed ambiance, and the reasonable prices.

O2 Sushi
2902 E. Tapo Canyon Rd. Unit A
Simi Valley, CA 93063
805.527.0202
O2 Sushi website

Restaurant Review #207: Maru, Valencia

A request to try Maru on the house was an invitation I couldn't refuse, and thank goodness I made the trek to the northernmost edge of Los Angeles's suburbs. Even if the meal hadn't had eight indulgent, generously sized courses (per person!) and even if it hadn't been free, my meal at Maru still would have been one of the best I've ever eaten.



Maru resides in Valencia Town Square, an enormous outdoor shopping center that can be intimidating to navigate (think Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade or Pasadena's Colorado Boulevard, folded in on itself). Fortunately, Maru is on the main drag and clearly labeled in blocky silver letters (albeit as "Maru Sushi"). On a Saturday at 5:00, the square was bustling and there were no street parking spaces nearby, but a free garage just around the corner offered plenty of parking in ample, SUV-sized spaces. Maru was nearly empty, but the night was young.

The long, narrow dining room accommodates quite a few tables yet isn't cramped at all. Every table has plenty of room between itself and its neighbors, making Maru a good choice for a quiet meal or a date. The decor is minimalist but classic, with small spotlights above each table and white linens. Unlike most Japanese restaurants, the sushi bar does not dominate the dining room, but is tucked away in the back offering a completely different dining experience to sushi aficionados. One potential drawback, though, it its proximity to the kitchen, where the aromas of homemade Yukon Gold french fries and short ribs might interfere somewhat with the delicate flavors of the raw bar experience.

Maru bills itself as French-Japanese and offers a menu so varied that it should be troublesome. After all, most restaurants that try to serve more than one type of cuisine don't do any of them well. This is not the case with chef Jason Park, the inspired young chef-owner who has run Maru for the last seven years and whose passion for his work shines in every delicious bite.

Park explained that what differentiates him from other chefs is that unlike the older generation of Japanese chefs who he believes had to go into the restaurant business to make a living, he chose his career solely for the love of food. Before opening Maru, he worked at several other restaurants in Los Angeles and one in Japan.



Freshness is extremely important to Park. Every week, he makes the trek to the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market (in traffic, no less), saying that for chefs, there is no comparable farmers market in the area. In fact, he knows some chefs who trek all the way to San Diego for their produce. For the most part, though, chefs with his level of dedication are rare in Valencia, he says, explaining that it's common in the area for restaurants to take shortcuts like using frozen produce.

Our seasonal market meal's opening act was soup and salad. The heirloom tomato salad with red pepper vinaigrette was a refreshing break from the day's unseasonable heat. The dish fulfilled a craving for fresh produce that I didn't even know I had until I took my first bite. The light, bright flavors of juicy tomatoes, crisp greens, cool cucumbers, and silky avocado drizzled lightly with a tangy dressing heralded the beginning of summer.



An espresso cup of broccoli soup provided a warm contrast to the chilled salad. Despite the absence of cream, the velvety soup was rich in taste and didn't have an overpowering broccoli flavor. The homemade pea ravioli (lead photo) was almost as stunning as award-winning Melisse's sweet corn ravioli. Fresh pasta done right is thin and delicate, allowing the dish's other ingredients to shine. The accompanying diver scallop was seared to a perfect crisp on the outside while retaining its moist, slippery inside. An out-of-this-world, savory-sweet vanilla sauce complemented the delicate sweetness of the ravioli and scallop.



What the hamachi usuzukuri, or yellowtail with a yuzu vinaigrette, lacked in innovation, it made up for in freshness. Maru's fish is flown in overnight from Japan. This dish was reminiscent of the ubiquitous albacore salad, but the hamachi was melt-in-your-mouth tender and beautifully presented. All of Park's dishes are as pleasing to the eyes as they are to the palate. Maru offers a great advantage to sushi lovers with spouses and friends who aren't fond of raw fish: everyone can go to the same restaurant and dine happily. Sushi eaters can have their pick of top-notch fish, and those who prefer their food cooked have more choices than just teriyaki chicken and tempura.



Pan-seared monkfish with a winter truffle vinaigrette served over sauteed spinach was a meaty, buttery fish (sometimes called the "poor man's lobster") with a crisp exterior. The spinach was rich and tender, but surprisingly, the accompanying truffles didn't seem to add a noticeable flavor. On the other hand, they didn't overwhelm the dish.



Weiser Family Farm's purple and gold fingerling potatoes don't need a lot of help to bring out their rich, creamy flavor which is a far cry from any supermarket potato. Park clearly understands this, roasting the potatoes to bring out their flavor, enhancing their richness with creme fraiche, and adding maple smoked bacon and a hint of onion for contrast.



The crispy duck risotto was the biggest winner of the night, which is saying a lot considering its competition. The risotto cake's crunchy exterior contrasted with its creamy interior and gave way to a center of tender duck meat. Medallions of melty-warm fresh mozzarella cozied up to their soul mate: a truffle oil-infused roasted tomato sauce. Sometimes truffles are overrated
(the monkfish dish perhaps being a case in point), but they really pushed the duck risotto over the top.



Less creative restaurants commonly serve steak with mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables, and maybe some A-1 sauce. Park seems to acknowledge this popular combination while turning it into something more exciting. The perfectly grilled skirt steak tasted like Korean barbecue, reflecting one of Park's original cooking influences: his mother. The paper-thin hand-made pasta it sat atop was bathed in a creamy sauce that merely hinted at the flavor of horseradish. Grilled wild arugula added a crunchy, bitter-sweet contrast.



The beef ravioli with hon shiimeji mushrooms in creamy ten-year balsamic sauce again showcased Park's agility with homemade pasta and savory sauces. The delicate pasta was nearly bursting with filling. The grilled greens on top are ramps, also known as wild leeks. They have an oniony, garlicky, slightly bitter flavor.



At this point in the meal, we had gorged ourselves silly and didn't think we could possibly eat any more. We suggested to the waitress that maybe Chef Park should send us smaller dishes or skip us ahead to dessert so we wouldn't waste any of his delicious food. His response to her was, "they'll eat well tomorrow," so he kept sending us dishes which we mostly took home as leftovers. At most upscale restaurants, it seems uncouth to ask for a doggie bag, but Maru is not so pretentious as to waste food for the sake of appearances.

The next dish was all about the french fries. Normally a cheap side, Park elevated the french fry to an art form. Every fry was perfectly cut and perfectly cooked, but what really pushed them over the top was their tantalizing smell. The fries came with a side of fork-tender short ribs (blessedly bone-free) with a sake-soy reduction.



Topped with marinated onion and cilantro, the pan-roasted lamb loin over crispy shiitake rice with Japanese curry sauce was like a deconstructed Indian dish but with unique flavors and textures. The lamb was perfectly cooked and I was thrilled to have a second serving of crispy rice.



At its worst, bread pudding is a soggy, eggy mess attempting to resurrect leftover bread. Bread pudding at its best is crisp and buttery, a marriage of contrasting textures with cold ice cream dripping down the sides and perhaps a judiciously used extra ingredient, Valrhona chocolate in this case.



Park's dessert menu consists of slight variations on the classic crowd-pleasing desserts. The yuzu-mascarpone cheesecake with fresh raspberries was rich but not too heavy, with a bright flavor imparted by the hint of citrus.



According to the server, the fresh berry cobbler topped with homemade vanilla ice cream is many patrons' main motivation for visiting Maru. The rustic, doughy cobbler was the ultimate comfort food, and despite the indulgences of the evening, we were able to finish the whole thing.

The incredible number of dishes described here represents only a third of Maru's menu (and that's not even including the raw offerings). With such a wide selection of fantastic dishes, it's easy to understand why Maru has many regulars. Surprisingly, Park's outstanding food comes with a very affordable price tag. The dishes shown here are actually smaller than the usual portions. Most appetizers are $12, most seconds are just over $20, topping out at a reasonable $38 for the New York steak. Most desserts are $8. There is an extensive list of California and French wines along with Japanese sake. Wine pairings are available.

Maru's service is phenomenal. Our server, Trisha, was friendly, attentive, down-to-earth, and personable, and at the start of the meal, she didn't even know we were reviewers. Fresh silverware appeared before every well-timed course. Busboys promptly cleared dishes and refilled drinks.

Maru could easily hold its own in any of LA's best restaurant neighborhoods, but Park's regular patrons, including a couple who eats both dinner and lunch at the restaurant every single day, are grateful for his chosen location. Besides , Park says of operating in Valencia, "I have a captive audience." Park explains that many Valencians used to live in LA and grew accustomed to a high level of cuisine, but moved north where the houses were more affordable when they wanted to settle down. Thus, there is more of a market for haute cuisine in the area than one might think. Though Maru has been open since 2001, it still seems to be an undiscovered gem. Get in while you can.

Maru
24250 Town Center Drive, Suite 180
Valencia, CA
661.290.2595
Maru Website
Closed Mondays
Lunch Tue. - Fri., 11:30-2:30
Lunch Sat., 12:00-2:30
Dinner Tue. - Fri., 5:30-10:00
Dinner Sat., 5:00-10:00
Dinner Sun., 5:00-9:00

Restaurant Review #205: Desserts at Patina, Downtown Los Angeles

Champagne Mousse, citrus salad, puff pastry, tangerine sorbet, mint pearls

When I was invited to Patina by a PR firm representing Ian Gresik, Patina's pastry chef, I couldn't have been happier. We scheduled our dessert tasting for 8:00 on a Saturday. Unlike most restaurants in Los Angeles, Patina was relatively empty at that hour, which is probably because much of their business comes from pre- and post-concert patrons at the adjacent Walt Disney Concert Hall. In fact, the restaurant started filling up as we were leaving around 9:30 or 10:00. The ability to enjoy dining at an upscale restaurant at a prime dinner time without the noise and the crowds is a real treat in Los Angeles.

Patina's dining room is sort of an odd space that looks almost like it was wedged into the building as an afterthought. The restaurant is L-shaped, with a glowing orange bar when you first walk in and the dining room coming into view after making a right turn. In this case, the setup certainly works to make the restaurant inviting for both dinner patrons and those who just want to stop in for a drink. The dining room ceiling is vaulted in some areas and almost uncomfortably low in others--I'm not sure if the idea was to create a space that felt both homey and airy, or if the space simply dictated that the ceilings had to be this way. The lighting is very yellow, which has the unfortunate effect of making the room look a bit dated. The light creates interesting patterns on the wavy wood-paneled walls that line the room, though. Booths along the wall face outward towards the other patrons and so do not provide the intimacy that many seek in such a seating arrangement, though they are a welcome relief from the setup of a banquette lined with uncomfortably-spaced, tiny tables that is common in so many of the city's top restaurants. All of Patina's tables are adorned with small vases of fresh, carefully arranged orchids, and details like the short, bubbly orange water glasses seem carefully considered to match the restaurant's decor.


Dining room

Our four-course dessert tasting menu consisted of miniature portions of a few of the treats that will be on Patina's spring menu. The first course, champagne mousse with citrus salad, puff pastry, tangerine sorbet, and mint pearls, was dazzling in its presentation. The mint pearls, a basic feat of molecular gastronomy, looked like caviar but had a consistency more like gelatin. They proved too elusive to hop onto a spoon for a solo taste-test, but combined with the dish's other elements, their subtle flavor added pizazz. Champagne probably described the mousse's color better than its flavor, but its taste was unique, with a subtle sweetness tinged with something slightly tart. The mousse's satiny texture can only be described as flawless. The puff pastry seemed over-baked and detracted from the dish's perfection, but given the amount of attention paid to the rest of the dish, its extreme crispness must have been intentional. The tangerine sorbet zinged with an intense citrus flavor.


Strawberry, lemon creme, mascarpone pearls, croquant ginger-strawberry sherbet

Strawberries aren't really a spring fruit, but Gresik says he would rather give his patrons what they like than adhere rigidly to a seasonal theme, and besides, the strawberries were surprisingly ripe. Gresik buys his ingredients at a local farmers market, which is key to achieving the intense and fresh flavors in his fruit-based desserts.

The combination of ginger and strawberry in a frozen treat was so perfect that I couldn't believe I'd never tasted it before (the brown sugar and ginger ice cream at Kiriko is another favorite of mine). The piquancy of the ginger enhanced the tartness of the strawberries. The lemon creme had a lovely texture, but seemed out of place amongst the more delicate flavors of the strawberries and the sherbet. The presentation was again carefully conceived, with the shape of the sorbet and the creme mimicking the organic shape of the strawberries, whose free-form presentation was tied together by the rigid geometry of the mascarpone pearls and the gradient red dot design (created with a tool, not done by hand).


Warm mojito souffle with lime sherbet

The warm mojito souffle sounded too trendy, and how could a souffle possibly taste like a mojito? I don't know, but it really did. The dish played on temperature, with the souffle arriving at the table piping hot and the sherbet served on an ice-cold spoon. The idea behind the setup was to poke a hole in the top of the souffle and pour in the sherbet, but purists will enjoy tasting these elements separately. While most sherbet seems a far cry from the fruit it's labeled after, by including a bit of lime rind, Gresik's lime sherbet actually alluded to fresh limes. I enjoyed this dessert, but more as a novelty than as something I'd want to eat over and over again, and I found the souffle a little too sweet.


Chocolate palet with affogato

The chocolate palet, a short disk of warm, rich, chocolate heaven, like a flourless chocolate cake but denser, came topped with a chocolate cigar that looked solid but was too delicate to touch without breaking it open and flooding the plate with a sweet, coffee-flavored substance. "Affogato " means "drowned" in Italian, and the term is also often used to refer to a dessert of ice cream drowned in espresso, which this dessert did, but in an unusual way.


Petit fours

Just when we thought we were at the end of the dessert tasting and I was commenting that I would gladly eat four more desserts, the pastry chef himself brought us a plate of petit fours, a variety of small desserts that may include cookies, pastries, and confections. In this case, the petit fours definitely leaned towards the confection side. We sampled a vanilla marshmallow, a sweet plum macaroon, a cinnamon truffle, an apricot gelee, peanut butter agnolotti, and a pistachio almond nougat. The agnolotti, a dessert take on a traditional Italian pasta, was the winner of the bunch, with its ethereal filling that captured all the flavor of sweet peanut butter with none of the heaviness.


Exterior

When asked about the inspiration for his unique desserts, which are a welcome change from the tired selections that tend to grace even the most otherwise innovative menus, Gresik explained that he dines out a lot and thinks about what he would like to eat at the end of a filling meal. Rather than traditional heavy desserts like cheesecake or flourless chocolate cake, he prefers concoctions that are light enough to still be enjoyable even when you've already had plenty to eat. His desserts are very successful in that regard, and given their ingenuity, are even reasonably priced at around $12 each.


Next door - Disney Concert Hall

Parking at Patina is a snap, but the convenience comes with a price. You can either valet your car at the door for $8, or park in the concert hall lot, also for $8, then walk about two blocks to the restaurant. For those who hate entrusting their most expensive possession to strangers, it's nice that Patina has a non-valet option.

My experience at Patina was one of the best restaurant experiences I've ever had. The service was nearly flawless and Ian Gresik's desserts were innovative and delectable. Patina recently earned a coveted Michelin star, and I'm certain that Gresik's creations contributed to the restaurant receiving such an honor. I'm already planning to go back--I only hope the main courses are as delicious as I know the last course will be.

Patina
141 S. Grand
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Patina website

Lunch: Tuesday-Friday,11:30am-1:30pm
Sunday, 11:30am-1:30pm on performance day only

Dinner, nightly:
Performance Evenings, 5:00 - 11:00 p.m.
Non-Performance Evenings, 5:00 - 9:30 p.m.