Nightshade

The chinese characters you referenced originated from JL… the restaurant’s response was in english

I understand that. This conversation is getting really off the point of food at nightshadbe lol but what I was originally commenting on was attempting to help @Bookwich clarify what gwaimei meant since he asked for help from cantonese speakers. But here’s my point:

  1. if it’s an English phonetic transliteration of Cantonese words (as asserted by the restaurant) it’s not likely 怪美 and more likely 怪味, and;

  2. if in fact Mei’s family is from a non-cantonese portion of china or taiwan (as asserted by @J_L) and they probably used a Mandarin transliteration and in that case 怪美 would make more sense and the email responder from nightshade might just be misinformed not knowing the difference between cantonese and mandarin.

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She grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, where her family had a Chinese restaurant.

She says she grew up eating lobster like they serve at Newport Seafood.

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I emailed because I thought it was a fruit of some sort, like yuzu. I was not expecting adjectives.

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Anyone spent time at Duello yet (the bar at nightshade)? Heard a segment on Good Food about it and sounds interesting

Duello is inside simone

aaah that’s right! I knew that brain pedo lol.

We’re doing a whole roast duck beginning on Chinese New Year. We serve it sort of bossam-style. The duck itself is Cantonese-style starting with stuffed whole Liberty ducks seasoned with cinnamon, clove, five spice, etc. We marinate and cure it for a day then dip it in maltose syrup before letting it hang for eight days. When we roast it, it comes out this gorgeous golden brown hue. It’s served with pickles, hoisin, lettuce wraps, betal leaves, and some kind of seasonal jam. I still need to go to the market to figure out what kind of jam it’ll be. We’re hoping to price it less than $150.

How many people does that feed??? Might be nice to share in a group… :wink:

I refuse to eat/drink anything that comes from the Resnicks…

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Our dinner here late last Friday night.

Mei Lin’s Nightshade at Arts District in DTLA

Posted by LAFOODIEPANDA on FEBRUARY 3, 2019

EDIT

Mei Lin’s Nightshade at Arts District in DTLA

Nightshade, 923 East 3rd Street. Unit 109. Los Angeles, California 90013, $12 Valet Parking, www.nightshadela.com.

Much highly anticipated restaurant opening by Mei Lin, ever since she became the winner of BravoTV’s Top Chef, Season 12. Lin followed in the footsteps of her former boss, Michael Voltaggio, who was Season 6’s winner (Lin was sous chef at Voltaggio’s ink). However, this restaurant opening came a few years after that win, after Lin has traveled around the country doing pop-ups and special events. One can only imagine the expectations and the pressure she is under, whether it affects her or not. Unfortunately, for those who only know about her cooking through Top Chef, they will either fully embrace her creations at Nightshade, or they will be quite disappointed (that the dishes do not appear to be as creative as the ones she made on Top Chef).

For me, every dish ordered was presented beautifully and was solid, though there were true standouts.

The night started off with a bang with the Green Jade Tomatoes, refreshing with a delicious dressing.
The next dish of East Coast Bay Scallops was also delicious, only if eaten with a spoon, so that you can get enough of the coconut sauce for a well-rounded bite.

The Beef Tartare was our least favorite of the night. I thought it could be seasoned a bit more, while my dinner mates wanted more egg yolk jam so that the tartare would be more moist. The Tom Yum Onion and the Roasted Sunchokes were both delicious as well.

GREEN JADE TOMATOES, persian cucumber, gwei mei dressing

EAST COAST BAY SCALLOPS, coconut vinaigrette, crispy ginger, coriander

EAST COAST BAY SCALLOPS, coconut vinaigrette, crispy ginger, coriander

EAST COAST BAY SCALLOPS, coconut vinaigrette, crispy ginger, coriander

BEEF TARTARE, sesame, egg yolk jam, kochukaru

TOM YUM ONION, coconut dip

ROASTED SUNCHOKES, persimmon mole, seeded granola

The final three savory dishes we had were also the stars of the night. The Shrimp Toast was quite hearty, especially when taking the time to get the toast to absorb more of the curry sauce.

The Lasagna was delicious and quite ingenious using what appears to be wonton-skin as a substitute for traditional pasta.

The Szechuan Hot Quail was crispy and crunchy and had good amount of heat that lingered. Calling Szechuan Hot made me miss getting that numbing aspect from Szechuan peppercorns.

SHRIMP TOAST, cantonese curry

LASAGNA, pork ragu, tofu cream, prickly ash

SZECHUAN HOT QUAIL, japanese milk bread, house pickles

Desserts were not only delicious but also visually stunning. I particularly love the way the Almond Sorbet was plated, as well as it’s wonderfully refreshing quality from the mandarin orange ice, as well as the sweet pieces of mandarin orange that were plated under the sorbet.

The Silken Tofu reminded me of a spin on a more common dish of Chia Seeds with Pudding.

ALMOND SORBET, mandarin ice

SILKENED TOFU, rhubarb, shiso, basil seeds

Cute set up for Coffee, all 4 ounces of it

Food and service here were solid. Pricing may be a bit higher than expected for some people, with the bill averaging about $75 per person (tax and gratuity included for food only). If you can go in with toned down expectations, you may be able to appreciate your dining experience so much more.

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How many dishes per person to get fed?

Our party of 4 (hungry dudes) ordered one of everything on the menu.

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I like your style.

At least 3 (petite eaters) or 4.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt_0g3Jh5CQ/

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Ribs: The new poke/shakshuka/friedchicken…

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Unfortunately not as good as majordomo’s.

Second Visit, with some changes and tweaking to the menu.

Second Visit to Mei Lin’s Nightshade at Arts District DTLA

Posted by LAFOODIEPANDA on MARCH 3, 2019

EDIT

Second Visit to Mei Lin’s Nightshade at Arts District DTLA

Nightshade, 923 East 3rd Street. Unit 109. Los Angeles, California 90013, $12 Valet Parking, www.nightshadela.com.

Only a month since my last visit, there were already changes to the menu. Gone was the Green Jade Tomatoes appetizer, and new was the Squid Ink Bucatini. Modified was the Scallop dish which now features sliced Hokkaido Scallops rather than East Coast Bay Scallops.

Only a month since my last visit, there were already changes to the menu. Gone was the Green Jade Tomatoes appetizer, and new was the Squid Ink Bucatini. Modified was the Scallop dish which now features sliced Hokkaido Scallops rather than East Coast Bay Scallops.

In addition, their special was a limited Smoked 28 Oz ($84) or 30 Oz ($90) Bone-In, Dry Aged Short Ribs (smoked for 12 hours and served with butter lettuce leaves that were pre-made with a sauce and pickled vegetables). The Short Rib was well marinated and full of flavor, not to mention a good amount of fattiness to it. It was quite satisfying and was considered the best dish of the night by my dinner mates.

I found myself thoroughly enjoying this entire meal so much more than the one I had here a month ago. I guess days of tweaking dishes paid off. I was much more enthusiastic about the food here.

HOKKAIDO SCALLOPS, coconut vinaigrette, crispy ginger, coriander

HOKKAIDO SCALLOPS, coconut vinaigrette, crispy ginger, coriander

HOKKAIDO SCALLOPS, coconut vinaigrette, crispy ginger, coriander

TOM YUM ONION, coconut dip

ROASTED SUNCHOKES, strawberry mole, seeded granola

SQUID INK BUCATINI, cuttlefish bolognese

KOSHIHIKARI RICE congee, xo, crispy shallots, pork floss

SHRIMP TOAST, cantonese curry

LASAGNA, pork ragu, tofu cream, prickly ash

SZECHUAN HOT QUAIL, japanese milk bread, house pickles

SMOKED 30 OZ BONE-IN, DRY AGED SHORT RIB, lettuce cups, pickles

SMOKED 30 OZ BONE-IN, DRY AGED SHORT RIB, lettuce cups, pickles

SMOKED 30 OZ BONE-IN, DRY AGED SHORT RIB, lettuce cups, pickles

SMOKED 30 OZ BONE-IN, DRY AGED SHORT RIB, lettuce cups, pickles

To close out our meal, we went with the recommendations of our server, the Coconut dessert and the Guava dessert (which is a new dessert on the menu). I loved the Coconut dessert more because it was cold and very refreshing (thanks to the coconut lime granita).

DESSERTS: GUAVA, left, and COCONUT, right

COCONUT mousse, passion fruit, coconut lime granita, nata de coco

COCONUT mousse, passion fruit, coconut lime granita, nata de coco

GUAVA ice cream

GUAVA ice cream

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I’m skeptical about the dry aged short ribs. Smoking the meat for that long will most likely overpower any beef funk from the aging and it’ll be tender no matter what type of short rib you use. As someone who smokes a lot of meat and dry age beef at home, my guess is that you’re getting very little value out of using expensive dry aged beef for this. But I’m sure the margins are high on this dish so I get why restaurants do it.

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Yours was smoked? Mine was the non-smoked version and unfortunately it had a really tough bark that was hard to chew through. Other than that it was good but overpriced. But that squid ink bucatini with cuttlefish bolognese, wow, highlight of the night for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt_0g3Jh5CQ/?hl=en