@Ns1 Schramsberg, Chandon, Taittinger, Krug, and Roederer (sp?) all have their American/Napa outlets in the Napa/Sonoma area. They have to call it sparkling, but they all practice methode champenoise. Most people say Schramsberg is the best of them, but I’ve never been. I’ve only been to Chandon and Taittinger…Chandon is great if you want to learn more about the process, Taittinger is good if you want champagne with a great view. We were with friends and it was their first time in the valley so we picked the view for them.
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booking trip to Napa ASAP
I don’t love wine but I’ll drink the hell out of champagne. Thanks!
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@Ns1 You’re like my cousin who works the line at Chef’s Table at/by Brooklyn Fare.
I like them all!
Let me know if you make it to Schramsberg. It’s been 6 years since we started making regular pilgrimages up there to use our club perks, and I still haven’t managed to book a cave tour. It’s $70 per person, but well-regarded. I will have to commit to it next year.
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Sounds Lovely @attran99
Taittinger would be nostalgic for me. It was the first glass of champagne my parents shared with me.
Have fun! Looking forward to more!
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I love soft shell crab… ::sigh::
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Check out the twice-yearly Schramsberg parties. One in summer and in fall. $150 for club members and worth every penny.
They get the best restaurants/vendors (including Bottega) and crowd size is very limited because of parking. Maybe under 200 people, several hours of eating and drinking.
Will have to dig for pictures. You must do the cave tour.
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BubblyOne
ah, I see.
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@BubblyOne Alas, we’re not Schramsberg members. That may change after the cave tour next year. I have enjoyed the sparklers from there previously.
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Is champagne not merely sparkling wine from the Champagne region or France?
Arroyo Chop House
Originally our friends were supposed to meet us on the Westside, but we got talked into trying Arroyo Chop House. From the same owners as Parkway Grill (across the parking lot). I don’t remember very many posts on this place, but we decided to give it a try.
Complimentary Bread Service:
While generous, it seemed a bit wasteful: They delivered an entire loaf of a plain Country White to every single table, even for 4 of us, this was overkill. The actual Bread itself was only slightly warmed and tasted like a plain White Bread.
Chilled Jumbo Shrimp:
These were large, meaty, and not overcooked. The Cocktail Sauce was nicely spiced.
Filet Mignon:
Arroyo Chop House claims that all of their Steaks are aged a minimum 28 days, and are USDA Prime.
Caveat, as mentioned previously, we really don’t go out to eat huge slabs of Beef these days. The Filet Mignon was generally tender, but I found it a bit chewy. 
There was no perceptible “dry aged” taste. In fact, it didn’t really taste beefy at all. 
New York Steak (Aged 40 Days):
The New York was even worse: They claim it’s aged 40 days, and it had even less of a taste of anything. It was filled with gristle and was extremely chewy. 
Asparagus:
This was thankfully much better than the Steaks. Just cooked through, nicely tender yet still with a nice density to it.
French Green Beans:
Chilean Sea Bass:
This was incredible! 
Perfectly cooked Chilean Sea Bass, supremely buttery, flaky, light and a nice medium-rare. By far the best dish we had this evening.
Service was rather slow and mediocre, with our servers disappearing and not checking in on us the entire evening.
Arroyo Chop House feels like one of those typical American Steak Houses from yesteryear: Stodgy atmosphere, dark banquettes, and Steaks that are pretty mediocre. Just by sheer coincidence (special occasions, meeting friends, etc.), we’ve managed to eat at a Ruth’s Chris, CUT and Arroyo Chop House recently. Arroyo Chop House’s steaks were about on par with Ruth’s Chris, but the Asparagus and Chilean Sea Bass redeemed Arroyo just a bit.
The sad part is that for QPR, this place was awful. It was about the same price as Ruth’s Chris, and both places were about the same price as CUT by Wolfgang Puck’s American Steaks ($51 vs. $57)! And the New York we had at CUT was so much tastier, beefier, perfectly cooked and just flat out delicious compared to Arroyo Chop House and Ruth’s Chris that at this point, I’ll probably just go back to CUT if any of our friends insist on Steaks again.
Arroyo Chop House
536 South Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena, CA 91105
Tel: (626) 577-7463
Luv 2 Eat
Stopped by Luv 2 Eat before catching The Big Sick at the Arclight Hollywood.
Kua Gling with Pork Spareribs + Sator Beans (Stir-fried Pork Spareribs with Southern Thai Hot & Spicy Turmeric Curry Paste + Sator Beans):
Highlight of the evening! 
The Pork Spareribs were tender and meaty and I love that Southern Thai Turmeric Paste and the Sator Beans with it. Thanks again @CiaoBob.
Massaman Curry with Chicken (Braised Chicken with Potatoes, Carrot, Onion, Peanut, and Coconut Milk):
A touch on the sweet side for us. I think I like their Panang and Yellow Curries more, as well as that super complex Phuket Curry of course.
Eggplant Green Curry & Roti (Chinese Eggplant in Green Curry Sauce served with Roti.):
Their Green Curry with Eggplant was more balanced and less sweet than the Massaman Curry, and I loved the Eggplant and Bell Peppers and Potatoes combination. They all helped to enhance and even out the Green Curry. It was delicious with some Brown Rice.
The Roti that came with it was OK. A bit oily, it didn’t really remind us of a typical Indian Roti. This was soft, a bit flaccid and oily. The Eggplant Green Curry went much better with the Steamed Brown Rice.
Luv 2 Eat Thai Bistro
6660 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Tel: (323) 498-5835
Buil Sam Gye Tang
I remember hearing about this place on our old board, but thanks to @LAgirl @TheCookie for reminding me and finally pushing us to go!
Ginseng Herbal Tea:
Complimentary Hot Tea here is a nicely herbaceous, fragrant Ginseng Tea. 
A nice change from the usual Buckwheat Tea (which is also delicious).
Banchan:
Their complimentary Banchan were uniquely plated (different from @TheCookie’s visit). We felt a little like we were eating at an elementary school cafeteria or something! 
It was interesting that they served stewed Chicken Giblets as one of the courses, but that probably makes sense given how many Chickens they go through each day (all they serve is Chicken).
Han Bang Samgye Tang (Chicken Soup with Korean Ginseng, Sweet Rice, Sweet Potato, Jujube, Garlic, Mung Beans, Sunflower Seeds, Sesame, Green Onions, Deer Antlers, Milk Vetch Root, Korean Angelica, Wolfberry Fruit):
This was their basic Sam Gye Tang (Korean Chicken Ginseng Soup) but with more additions (mainly Deer Antlers, Milk Vetch Root, Angelica, Wolfberry Fruit).
Our waitress recommended that we add some of their Seasoned Salt to taste:
Unlike at Healthy Zone 52, which had no Salt dispensers on the table.
This was much more flavorful than Healthy Zone 52! The Chicken Ginseng Soup was more herbal, woodsy at times, but ultimately a delicious Chicken Soup!
The Young Chicken was moist and tender, and the Seasoned Salt really helped to make this dish come alive.
Cracking open the center of the Chicken, it’s stuffed with Sticky Rice and Jujubes:
Overall it was a warming, delicious, light Chicken Soup & Rice type of meal.
Buil Sam Gye Tang serves only 1 dish on the menu (with variations): Chicken Ginseng Soup, its namesake dish. And for them to focus on just 1 thing and to be open for so long, they must be doing something right. We’ll be back for more Chicken Soup when the weather gets colder. 
Buil Sam Gye Tang
4204 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
Tel: (213) 739-0001
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I think that’s your problem.
Going to a steakhouse and ordering steak.
Who does that??
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Does it say dry aged on the menu?
I bet they just wet aged.
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How was the fucking film?
Funny, heart-warming, definitely worth seeing.
@paranoidgarliclover I do, too! The soft shell crab from Morimoto is easily the best we’ve ever had before. For a more local option, Point Loma Seafoods in San Diego has them when in season and they are fantastic in a sandwich.
Fish tacos from Baja California Fish Tacos in Lawndale. Good as usual. I’m glad to have this spot so close to home when I don’t have time (or too lazy to drive) to go to Ricky’s or TBE.
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Napa Weekender (cont.)
We sent our friends on a wine tour of Napa with the guide we’d used twice over (we flew in later and met up with everyone for the last stop). Bruce of Wine County Safari is a bit of a wine snob, but he makes for a great time if you want to get a better sense of the smaller producers within the Valley. He was nice enough to curate the last stop at his house with one of our favorite cab producers, Delgadillo Cellars. The winemaker brought some snacks and shared his wine with our group. Ignacio and his father make two things, cab and a table cab. They’re only releasing their 2009 vintage now…you read that right, 2009. It’s pretty good now, but will only get better with age…we use this as our celebratory wine. While at Bruce’s, he also showed us his cellar and opened up a bottle from his personal reserve…it was quite the treat.
Saturday Dinner - TORC (downtown Napa)
Throughout the tour, our friends were getting recommendations for TORC so they changed the dinner reservation to TORC…a California farm-to-table place. There were 8 of us, so it’s a rather large party, but we ordered half of the menu and got to share everything. After drinking wine all day, the group was ready for cocktails. The bar here makes some fairly good cocktails…there’s a spicy margarita my husband ordered that was just fantastic. Overall, I found the food here solid, but I’ve been to a few other places in downtown that I’d have preferred over this…however, there were some real standout dishes here I would be happy to come back to try again. Should have made them go to Grace’s Table instead…would have had a more consistent meal and saved a few bucks.
Farm fresh deviled eggs - pickled onions, bacon…I forgot to ask what makes the filling green (my guess parsley and basil)…I like deviled eggs, and this was a good version
Tempura squash blossoms - black garlic, togarashi shichimi…the tempura overpowered the delicate squash blossom and I found it oily
Hamachi crudo - jalapeno, lime, avocado, heirloom corn (I couldn’t taste the difference), huitlachoche…it was good as a crudo but the huitlacoche sauce made it impressive
Pork belly - porcini mushrooms, white asparagus, Burlot cherry, black walnut sauce…it’s a pretty plate, some folks were wowed by this dish, but I thought it was okay
House made Ziti - summer tomato sugo, basil, Australian black truffle…this is likely the best ziti I’ve ever had. Well made, well cooked…the sauce was just right and the truffles made a simple dish a bit luxurious. I would come back for this dish alone.
House made Strozzapreti - octopus, bay shrimp, Castelvetrano olive, Meyer lemon, tomato confit…loved this pasta dish, too. The pasta is made with care here and cooked very well. I would come back for this one, too.
Lobster risotto - Maine lobster, Brentwood corn, sugar snap peas, tarragon, piment d’espelette…this one sounded better than it actually was…all I tasted was sweet. I think this one’s a clunker…and they say it’s the restaurant’s most popular dish.
Short rib - potato boulangere, summer picnic beans, ramps, red wine sauce…the best thing about this dish were the sides…they were more the star of the dish than the star of the dish
NY Strip (dry-aged 20+ days) - peas a la francais, macaroni gratin, beef jus…this did not have the pronounced beefy flavor I was looking for in a dry-aged steak…it was cooked well, but I loved the peas on the plate way more
Macaroni gratin - cave-aged Gruyere, Mornay sauce…this was creamy, but it wasn’t cheesy enough for me. I got very little cheese.
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