SAAM was very good and interesting a couple weeks ago. The dinner started with several bites of assorted molecular gastronomy and then settled down to some excellent main courses of scallops with a curry coconut sauce, asparagus risotto, a nice piece of fish on some sort of creamy sauce (cauliflower puree?), small gorgonzola balls, fried small potato balls and poached egg, duck breast with a confit meatball. Also had an excellent caipirinha made with liquid nitrogen and a two bottle limit.
Is SAAM still $50 corkage per bottle?
Two bottle limit at Saam @ $35 per…
Interesting, they dropped the price!
Great meal at Trois Mec tonight. We’ll go back soon. Our friends paid for the dinner tickets, so I bought the wines, Pattes Loup Chablis and Texier Cote Rotie, which were great with the food. The reserve wine pairing was very well conceived and I wouldn’t hesitate to order it. Mostly Louis-Dressner, Rosenthal, Selection Massale, and similar wines that I buy anyway. I liked Trois Mec tonight more than any of the half-dozen LudoBites dinners I’ve had.
Other than those I am involved with:
Totoraku
Jitlada
Wurstkuche
Sushi zo
Urasawa
where’d you pick Alan?
Factory Kitchen. brought 78 Remoissenet Volnay and 93 Ampeau Perrieres. Fun meal, kind of Playgroundesque but not as interesting or as salty. Pastas were very fresh, fillings a little heavy. Daughter and son loved it–much thanks.
I really enjoy Factory Kitchen. The old Valentino was always a favorite of mine and it is a pleasure to see the “old chef” with a place of his own. The pasta dishes were some of the best I have had outside of Italy and everything else was top notch as well. The only real drawback was the two bottle corkage limit. Not a real problem for a party of four but quite a drag for six.That may sound a bit petty, but we have been spoiled over the years in LA and I see many restaurants changing their policies.
Cheers!
Marshall ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Bourbon Steak in Glendale, a Michael Mina restaurant is pretty good, however what I learned is that Monday’s are 50% off all bottles on the wine list (Somm mentioned to me, I would call to confirm). They have some interesting wines that would be close to just under retail in some cases… Ceritas, Copain, etc.
Nice addition to Glendale.
We went to Factory Kitchen this weekend and the food was great. That being said, the service was confusing with at least three different servers taking our drink, dinner and dessert orders. Moreover, it was the loudest place I’ve been to in years. I know I’m getting old, but there should be at least some ability to have a conversation at a restaurant.
Tom, Unless you went to Factory Kitchen at 8pm on Saturday and Bestia at 5pm the evening of the Super Bowl, wasn’t Bestia louder? Aside from really loud music at a place like Lazy Ox, Bestia and Bottega Louie seem like the loudest places in town.
The din scene at Bestia is frenetic. It’s packed with people at the bar and waiting for tables, the room is always full and buzzing, and there is a ton of staff cranking out a ton of service. Neither place has any regard for sound attenuation as I think “buzz” is actually a plus for a lot of diners. Sotto has the same characteristics. Bestia isn’t relaxing, but the food is great. I think their edge over Factory is that the menu is just more extensive. We go to both a lot.
Agree with all points
Had to run errands in LA yesterday and stopped for a late lunch at Pizzeria Mozza. I love this place. Sat at the bar and had Nancys Chopped salad, squid dish with beans and olive oil, and the fennel sausage/red onion/scallion pizza. Delicious.
I know Mario is not the most loved restaurateur around but this place is solid. Best pizza I have found outside of Naples. The crust is perfection.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the food at both Bestia and Factory Kitchen are great. I had two basic thoughts about Factory Kitchen. First and foremost, I thought the service was odd at best. We were seated by one person, offered a drink by another person, offered a drink by a third person, our order taken by a four person, food delivered by a fifth person, third person returned to see if the food was good, coffee/dessert offered by fourth person. I was confused. I wasn’t expecting a fine dining experience, but I do think I should be able to figure out who to contact with an issue or to get another drink.
My comment about the noise was not specific to Factory Kitchen and there are time when a “buzz” in the restaurant isn’t that big of a deal. That being said, I found the noise level at Factory Kitchen (and Bestia) as obnoxiously loud. i would go back to both for their food, but I would go with the expectation of not having meaningful conversations with those around me.
Big fan of the pizzeria, not much of the osteria.
Funny story you might relate to. I am doing a big remodel in Hancock Park. I stopped over on a Saturday and saw the Kogi truck parked in front of another large project two doors down. I thought that those guys were really lucky with a koi lunch truck so walked on over. I ordered up some tacos. When they made them I asked how much and the said “you are from the party right?” Of course I said what party and they wouldn’t let me even buy the tacos. Turns out Nancy Silverton lives next door and had the truck for a party. No tacos for me.
Went to both Bestia and Factory last week. Bestia has such a ranged of great dishes. Their pizzas are solid. The oxtail agnolotti with cocoa is a gret dish.
Factory turned out some great dishes too. They’ve expanded the menu a bit and Angelo Sadi that they were going to try and do more seafood stuff on Th and Fri when sourcing is good. The mandilli pesto never fails to wow people we bring and that night’s version of porchetta was just great. The stamp attic pasta with veal ragu is another favorite. I just wish he’d make the modenesi pasta on more than the rare occasion.
Anyone going to the Maude truffle menu in November?
Oh man. I bet Maude truffle is impossible to get res for
John you have to react quicker when prowling the neighborhood…of course I am at the party! Bet she has a pretty nice house. La Brea paid off handsomely if I recall correctly.
Anybody tried Church and Key on the westside? Wine dinner with Peay coming up Monday - looks interesting.