Ahhh Hah!!!
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Animal Sake Party with Kamoizumi
I just couldn’t post my latest visit to Animal without finally completing a report on our Sake Pairing Dinner last October. 
Our host, Kerry Tamura, of World Sake chose Animal for this pairing because they creatively represent and perfectly highlight the cultural mix of eating in L.A. - an eclectic, California bounty with lots of Asian influences. Very fun for Sake pairing. It was a no-brainer for us as it’s our favorite restaurant, we really enjoy Sake and Kerry-san is a peach. This event was as much (maybe more) a social event as a serious Sake tasting - a big table in a crowded restaurant, meeting & dining with new people, fast coursing and Sake talk. I did my best to keep up. Photos were taken quickly and their late night lighting is never optimal.
Welcome pour of KomeKome “Happy Bride” & Junmai Daiginjo “Autumn Elixir” at seating.
The KomeKome was a nice light start of mild grape, liquid aminos & ocean. The “Autumn Elixir” has a lot going on - smooth, full-flavor, balance of earthy, sweet, tart, astringent.
Nigori Ginjo Nama “Summer Snow” w/Chicken Liver Toast / Beef Tendon Chip & Onion Pho Dip / Sirloin Carpaccio, Cabbage, Sesame Kochukaru / Rabbit Larb
(internet photo)
Unsure what’s best with “Summer Snow” but on its own is like drinking unicorns, cupcakes and babies in a glass.
Umeshu “Umelicious” w/Grilled Quail, Plum Char Siu, Yogurt, Orange, Cucumber, Mint
Plums, plums & plums (tart plum, sweet plum, plum candy). I think someone said 7K lbs of de-stemmed unripe plums go into the making of this port-like Sake. Kerry-san designed this pairing and it was my favorite of the night - like a salty, savory, creamy, jolly rancher.
2-Year Aged Nama Genshu “Red Maple” w/Foie Gras Loco Moco, Quail Egg, Hamburger / Flat Iron Steak, Pommes Aligot, Foie Gras Sauce
The story goes that the economy was bad in ‘08 so the brewers decided to wait and age the “Red Maple” for 2 instead of 1 year. Voila! A new flavor is born. It’s another port-like Sake, lots of honey & dried fruit, sharp, explodes deep. Great with the Loco Moco. RIP. I’m not a big flat iron steak fan, but those potatoes were creamy, buttery, cheesy, potato heaven!
Shusen “Three Dots” Junmai (warm) w/Tres Leches, Dulce de Leches Cake / Cheesecake Pudding, Guava, Passionfruit, Graham Cracker
“Three Dots” is Kazu-san’s favorite. Served warm it’s shroom-y, earthy, w/a slight honey finish.
The Finale… Kamoizumi Sachi 21-Year Aged Koshu ‘97
Pretty golden color. Lots of contrasting flavors, but like contrasting colors, it’s a beauty. First sip is milk chocolate, then molasses, Italian cookies (anise) w/a mellow back note of kombu/ocean. Surprisingly balanced.
My Sweetheart and Kazuhiro Maegaki, 3rd generation, VP of Kamoizumi Shuzo (Higashihiroshima, Japan) and the delightful, Kerry Tamura, of World Sake LA
Such a fun evening!
Dinner on an Early Friday Eve
After a month of planning meetups, group dinners, birthdays, wedding parties, am I forgetting anything? Oh yes, lots of compromising on restaurants - I wanted just one thing… dinner at Animal.
Tamagawa Junmai Kimoto “Time Machine”
Isn’t it pretty? We were thrilled they had it. They were thrilled we wanted it. We drank it all. More on this…
Chicken Liver Lover Toast
Sometimes I ask if I really love this or just order it out of habit? Then I take the first bite.
It really is one of my best bites of every year. I also like how it gets a slight tweak now and then. This time the bread was not a French baguette, it was more rustic, w/a darker crust, sliced thicker, fluffier, w/nooks for the toppings to seep into. The balsamic (gastrique?) - which I always fear will be overpowering - is the perfect foil for the rich, liver pâté. But that’s not really what I want to discuss. 
It’s the pairing with the “Time Machine” @beefnoguy! This was made for chicken liver toast. The flavors of sautéed vegetables, liquid aminos, mature citrus and hint of smoke fell in love with the liver pâté, syrupy balsamic & chives. At first I thought the sour sweet was coming from the balsamic alone, then I took a bite with no balsamic and it was the Sake! Okay, I’ll stop. But I don’t even want to think about what it would do to Foie Gras. Oh and just one quibble - I understand why they’d want to keep an open bottle so cold, but I wish it was a little less. It never got to the sweet spot temp… You’re creating a monster.
Chicken Oyster Yakitori, Smoked Paprika, Herb Crème
These are so good @PorkyBelly, I wanna’ slap you. You should get a badge for this rec, man. Crispy skin, tender, juicy with drippings & spices, a dollop of creme fraîche & herb sauce (no tarragon
). Big A popped one in his mouth, turned to the waiter, still chewing and said “one more of these”. He wasn’t messing around.
Sea Scallops, Leche de Tigre, Brown Butter, Fennel
This surprised me by being warm. Duh, seared scallops, brown butter. Lovely little spoonfuls of warm, citrus liquid and perfectly cooked, sweet scallops. It’s one of those Animal dishes where you need every component on the spoon to taste the vision.
Here comes the messy delicious…
Prawns, Roasted Garlic, Chili Lime Salt
Tad over-cooked, tasty tomalley, citrusy sauce w/a mild anise flavor, distinct flavor from the lime peels in the chili lime salt.
I’m spoiled by Holbox and Chi Spacca’s prawns, but these were very good.
Pork Belly Sandwich
Have to have! They got a little carried away with leaving the fat on but everything was sooo meltingly caramelized, juicy, tender,!topped with slaw on sweet, egg buns.
Eggplant Katsu, Yuzu Kosho Aioli, Togarashi, Cucumber, Radish Sprouts, Petals
Right again @PorkyBelly. Loved the deliciously crunchy Eggplant Katsu!
It’s jumped to the must have every time list… if they keep it. Does eggplant have a season?
Bacon Chocolate Crunch Bar, S&P Ice Cream
I have a confession to make. I didn’t love this dessert as much as everyone else at first. It had that hard layer of chocolate, plus overly smokey, almost burnt bacon. I was so sad when they took the panna cotta off the menu soon after opening. It was creamy, dreamy. Anyway, this is a dessert that has also evolved. There is still that hard to get thru chocolate bar (I can live with that), but the bacon situation has greatly improved. Loved it. The S&P ice cream was great with sips of the “Time Machine” just as Philip Harper exclaimed. And here’s another rarely mentioned tidbit - the soft crumble is dehydrated bacon & nutella.
Animal is still running on all cylinders. Chefs Shook & Dotolo have grown and expanded their business, but Animal feels just the same. The menu is vibrant and interesting, with new delights and familiar classics.
Side note: there is not and has never been a healthcare charge or any other service charge at Animal. It must be working because we saw at least 2 employees who have been there since opening. The service is still familiar & great.
I 
Animal.
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I would “heart” this report at least twice but FTC/Discourse would only allow me to do it once. Good stuff!
You’re getting better at your descriptions, and as a result of that I think I can imagine some of the pairings and why they worked.
I can kind of see why they paired the umeshu with grilled quail. Without knowing what was in this dish originally, I thought this was a weird pairing but now it makes a lot more sense with your details. I guess they are treating it kind of like an aged Riesling Spatlese with more viscosity and residual sugars, but then you have savory flavors muting out some of the sweetness, and tartness to bring it into balance.
I thought the story behind Red Maple was an actual request by Chris Pearce (President of World Sake) to have Kamoizumi age one of their namas for two years, since if you go to Kamoizumi’s Japanese website, there is no such thing or entry. Although Kerry’s story may be more accurate in origin, and perhaps Chris liked it enough that he demanded it for export and to have it made consistently just for that. It’s pretty good, although I think now my tastes are at a different level that I don’t find this as appealing… my latest favorite is the one year aged Junmai Ginjo nama by Houraisen, Sekiya Brewery (I find it to be better than Red Maple).
I like the Shusen pairing with dessert, that’s very creative. Shusen’s sweet spot is definitely warm/hot, probably around the 40 to 50 degrees range where it’s far more aromatic and enjoyable than chilled or room temperature.
Never tried the Sachi before but it sounds awesome. I would want to try Sachi with foie gras too.
Yeah the Time Machine is splendid, glad it is now part of the menu at Animal!
The chicken liver mousse and balsamic reduction is the dead perfect combination/pairing with the Time Machine’s acidity and umami, you hit all the right notes in your description for that. Also the acidity helps cut the fat and creaminess a little bit (exactly like the pairing of aged Riesling with acidity to pork or fish with cream sauce…it all makes sense now).
Last time I popped open a Time Machine with a friend, we polished it off without pairing it with anything…the umami levels in the latest bottlings are through the roof. Needless to say, super versatile with desserts, particularly anything with Japanese or Italian/French slants. Buffalo ricotta donuts, mochi donuts, olive oil cake, gelati and any good desserts with a bit of a savory edge to it etc.
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Thanks @beefnoguy! Wow!
I’m starting to get the hang of it and feeling a little comfortable. 
I’m lucky to have a great teacher. In fact, your reply really rounds out the report and informs some of my observations. Now, I’m looking forward to testing your observations and knowledge of these sakes and trying the Junmai Ginjo Nama by Houraisen.
I usually take a few notes on the menu card at these things, but there’s a lot going on and wanting to enjoy it I note only tidbits. One of the fun things about Kerry’s tastings is his stories. The Red Maple decision story was longer and if I think on it there probably was more to it - a collaboration of reasons & flukes resulting in that particular sake aging for 2-years.
Happy Sake Pairing!
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great report @TheCookie and terrific descriptions. glad you liked all the new dishes. animal was one of my favorite restaurants when i first tried and it still is (even with out the foie biscuit).
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I’m hearing we have to wait until august or september for our hamachi tostada, chicken liver, and foie biscuit 
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We need a dislike button.
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Bummer but Aug/Sept is actually oh good because Yelp says March 8, 2022. What do you think the delay is? Hiring & training?
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Maybe just the space itself? Is kinda closed in and small. With covid restrictions they’d be able to have like 4 tables inside (just guessing) and maybe they can’t do outdoor seating
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aren’t all the covid restrictions being lifted June 15th?
they’re still running jon & vinny’s goods out of the space, maybe they want to sell off most of their inventory before converting back to animal?
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Wow I just checked out the link. I had no idea they were selling that much stuff.
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Maybe they make more money this way
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Any word on the opening? 
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Still temporarily closed on their website. I checked this week.
I miss that kanpachi tostada.
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I hope the temporary part is true!
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Are you trying to say they’re not reopening? 
The first time I heard of Shook & Dotolo was when they were catering, roasting pigs and such for parties. I was so excited when they opened Animal and it immediately became our favorite restaurant. I’m happy they’re doing well with other projects but will be more than sad if Animal becomes a casualty of the pandemic.
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If all they care about is making money, sure, but that’s not why they opened Animal. You could say the same about Trois Mec: why reopen when they’re doing so well slinging kebabs?
True. Their other restaurants are great and the catering probably brings in a much needed revenue stream. But Animal’s food was their creative expression combined with a pitch-perfect take on the cultural diversity that is L.A. It would be a crying shame to lose this restaurant.
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I don’t think he’s saying they are never going to reopen only that they are going to wait wait it out and not rush back
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