Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Dessert Hour with Chef Dan Moody at Scoops Westside (Los Angeles, CA)

Dessert Hour with Chef Dan Moody at Scoops Westside
3400 Overland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90034
323.405.7055
twitter.com/scoopswestside
Wed 07/06/2011, 09:00p-10:05p




Scoops Westside Exterior

On Wednesday evening, Chef Dan Moody popped up for one-night-only at Matthew "Mattatouille" Kang's seminal ice creamery Scoops Westside to showcase a foursome of desserts. But don't call his Dessert Hour--which really lasted for more like five hours--a pop-up; rather, the preferred nomenclature is "one-night food event."

Moody is perhaps best known for his stints at LudoBites versions 3.0 to 6.0. However, he's also cooked at Test Kitchen (where he made his infamous Foie Gras Powdered Donuts), and hosted his real pop-up, Relate, down in San Diego in February. He and Kang actually came up with the idea of Dessert Hour after bemoaning the lack of space for a second iteration of the pop-up. What was sort of interesting this evening was that, unlike at most temporary restaurants, the host in this case, Scoops, kept on serving its regular menu of ice cream all while Dessert Hour was going on--leveraging synergies, and all that.

Chef Dan Moody
Chef Moody's station in the back, replete with induction burner and, more importantly, the inimitable Dr. Tomostyle (not pictured).

Scoops Westside Interior
Playing to a standing room-only crowd.

Dessert Hour with Chef Dan Moody at Scoops Westside Menu
The night's menu--short and sweet (literally).

Cheesecake
Cheesecake [$5.00]
First up was Chef Moody's signature cheesecake, which has made appearances at both Relate and Test Kitchen. It was a classic preparation in essence: creamy and custard-y, with a subtle tanginess nicely set off by the cake's sugary berry accompaniment. I especially enjoyed the textural contrast provided by the crust.

Sweet Almond Gnocchi
Almond Gnocchi [$5.00] | Amaretto Gelée, Strawberry Yogurt, Strawberry Pâtes de Fruits
Served hot, the gnocchi were surprisingly substantial, showing off a sweet nuttiness further heightened by the application of amaretto jelly. As such, the incorporation of strawberry served to temper and balance the dish. The most unconventional dessert of the night, surely.

Julie Wolfson, Dan Moody
Moody with helper Julie Wolfson.

Banana Bread Pudding
Banana Bread Pudding [$5.00] | à la Bourbon Pecan Pie
Next up was a dessert that Moody originally served at Relate earlier this year--probably my favorite of the four. I really liked the sheer booziness of the pudding, and how its flavors meshed with the light whipped cream topping. The crunch of the nuts was quite satisfying as well, and I enjoyed the temperature contrast in the dessert too.

Matt Kang, Dan Moody
With Scoops Vestsiiide maven Matt Kang.

Build a Brownie Bar
Build a Brownie Bar [$5.50]
An interactive dessert: start with a base of brownie for $1.00, then add on some Scoops ice cream for $3.50, followed by a variety of toppings--strawberry pâte de fruit, cognac caramel, peanut butter sauce, Kahlua gelée, rum chocolate--at $0.50 each. We went with the Moody-recommended combination of green tea ice cream paired with caramel and chocolate, and the result was quite tasty indeed. Taken alone, the ice cream was superb, quite possibly the best green tea version I've had in fact. It was a smart choice here, conveying a wonderful astringency that deftly played off the almost cloying sweetness of the chocolate-caramel.

Overall, a fun time with Moody and company. The Chef was able to show off his passion for desserts, and a great time was had by all. Given the success of the event, don't be surprised if Dessert Hour Part Deux pops up soon. As for what's next for Moody, he will not be returning to LudoBites 007, but he is working on Relate v2.0, which is slated for an August release, so definitely be on the lookout for that.

Dan Moody

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow, did that guy just give you the bird?!?(playing to a standing room only picture).Love your site by the way.

Thursday, July 07, 2011 1:40:00 AM  
Anonymous Darin said...

I laughed out loud at Bill's picture.

Thursday, July 07, 2011 10:29:00 AM  
Blogger weezermonkey said...

Another LOL at Bill.

Thursday, July 07, 2011 11:05:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

was that jeff garlin next to bill?

Thursday, July 07, 2011 2:12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

kevin eats has really sunk if he has nothing better to post then this...the plates look like piles of crap and the concept is so bad..Is the kid even a chef?? because he helped Ludo hash out some crap in a pop up, he assumes he can do it too....Screw food trucks and pop ups

Thursday, July 07, 2011 9:05:00 PM  
Blogger Rodzilla said...

@anonymous, I enjoy the variety of posts. As for Chef Moody's background, I suppose you missed the links to the Relate pop-up, or relation-chef branding?

but you're totally right, Kevin's posting has "sunk" tremendously since the other week where 50 courses were covered on the opening night of Picca.

Friday, July 08, 2011 10:21:00 PM  
Blogger kevinEats said...

Anon: Ah yes, that's Bill Esparza from Street Gourmet LA for ya.

Darin, WM: You're not the only one!

Anon: I didn't know who Jeff Garlin was, but no, it wasn't him. Rather, it was davetheubergeek.

Anon: I understand where you're coming from, but lighten up!

Roddy: Thanks for the support man!

Monday, July 11, 2011 2:04:00 AM  

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