The weekend started off with balloons on the ground. Not popped but walked on. A little 3rd St madness near Ecco un Poco. Crema Catalana & Fig gelato. I thought they’d layer the fig over the crema, but the crema kicked things off for the fig!
I didn’t tell Brandon but that night at his counter was my birthday. And I’m so happy I was able to spend it at Hayato. I sit there, listen, relax, space out, chat and eat. I don’t know much about food, and I know even less about life, but his is one of my favorite mashups.
Watari Bune Junmai Daiginjo
Next up is Bell’s and a short stay in Los Alamos. I used to make a handful of road trips up to the Bay Area every year and I’d drive back down Wednesday. I could have justified Tuesdays but Monday was a little too early. With my schedule it didn’t make sense, I’d rather have spent that extra time in the Bay.
This meant though that I never had a chance to try Bell’s. Sure I could have driven up to Los Alamos from LA but honestly that never occurred to me.
I checked the menu a few times a week leading up to the reservation. The week before I noticed a corn risotto they’d had on the menu wasn’t there anymore. This bummed me out as I’d been looking forward to it.
I happened to check day of and what do you know?
!TOMATO RISOTTO!
roasted Red Torch tomatoes, Mimolette cream
Empty plate where Rusty’s Sourdough sat. Maybe my favorite sourdough I’ve had in a while as it wasn’t… showcasing the sour. I don’t know how else to say it. I have a high tolerance for sour and acid and something about expecting a sharp tang but then getting the subtle bite was really nice and paired perfect with the Salad of Finley Farms Lettuces.
Le Vieux Donjon, Roussane/Clariette
“Vitello Tonnato”
ris de veau, heirloom tomato, sourdough croutons, tonnato sauce
Chilled Summer Vegetable Potage
squash, Peruviana beans, basil pistou, feta, chickpea pansies
Steak au Poivre
5 oz culotte, Steve’s peppercorn sauce & frites
Saffron Angel Food Cake
passion fruit, white chocolate, strawberries
Gâteau Breton
The rest of the time up there was a lot of driving and wandering around which wound up leading us to Casmalia and Hitching Post #1.
This is another spot that was always in the back of my head. As soon as we arrived it all made sense. I had a Beefeater martini and a rib eye.
Plus artichoke, linguisa and a rack of lamb.
On to Bar Le Côte. A lot of fun. Some guy celebrating his 74th birthday (?) wandering around the dining room pouring tastes for the crew from some ’74 Burgess Cellars. He seemed to be a winemaker himself.
I’ve thought off and on about moving to a town like this and working in a restaurant as there’s such a different energy than anything in major cities, but it’s also hard to lose that connection to metropolis when it’s all you know.
We started off with oysters, uni, fries and Champagne. I love fries of all shapes and sizes so going from the fries at Bell’s to Hitching Post to BLC was a treat. Even though Hitching Post style are my favorite I think the energy of the day led to BLC with their spice blend being my top choice overall.
Dayboat scallop crudo
Pickled mighty cap black pearl mushrooms, crème fraîche, dill pollen
Domaine Du Bouchot, Sauvignon Blanc
Brentwood Summer Corn
wild Mexican shrimp, Santa Barbara sea urchin, shrimp
Whole roasted sea bream
Romesco sauce, grilled lemon
Arroz verde
Vegetarian paella, cherry tomato, summer squash, shishito peppers, basil
Spanish citrus olive oil cake
Plums, Caña de Cabra, honey, fennel pollen
Pedro Ximénez sherry, vanilla ice cream
Some drinks from Sawa. Glad I got to try this spot, thanks @porkybelly for the invite. Also thankful for the second piece of cheesecake.
My vote for new Monopoly piece.
Shiso Collins
Dashi Martini
Almost like a “clean” dirty martini
Matsui Sakura Cask
Boulevardier - Bartender’s (Perfect) Choice
Technically in the dictionary Saffy’s comes before Sawa but on this night it was the other way around. When we left around 11 Saffy’s was still movin and groovin
A few nights later I realized that if I walked a little further than I’d planned I would wind up at Horses. Made perfect sense. Somehow my favorite bar seat was open. It’d been a while so it felt good to be back after a break.
Tailspin, Insalata Verde & Boudin Basque to Liz’s Long Island & Ricotta Ravioli to Daiquiri & Marsala Custard
or team 
?
& 
hat similar to those A’s/Giants hats
