Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Kinjiro (Los Angeles, CA)

Kinjiro Restaurant
424 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
213.229.8200
www.kinjiro-la.com
Wed 12/31/2014, 07:05p-01:05a




Kinjiro Exterior

One of the more unfortunate shutters of 2014 for me was that of b.o.s., the highly-regarded but never-that-popular beef-centric restaurant from Jun Isogai and Chef David Bartnes. The eatery closed in September, lasting just under a year. In its place, however, comes a nomiya (tavern) concept from Isogai, one touting modern, artisanal izakaya-style cuisine. Named after a 19th century agricultural-focused statesman, Kinjiro soft-opened in mid-November and features the cooking of Chef Yoshikazu Kondo.

About the Chef: Kondo hails from Tokyo, but received his culinary training in France, Italy, and Spain in addition to Japan. He came to the United States in the eighties, and soon found himself at Chaya Venice under Executive Chef Shigefumi Tachibe. He eventually rose to the rank of head chef, a position he held until at least 1996. From there, Kondo-san bounced around various Japanese restaurants in Little Tokyo, including the now-closed Izayoi just down the street. His last position was that of second-in-command at b.o.s., so it was an easy transition for him following the place's closure.

Kinjiro Interior
Decor-wise, things haven't changed too much since the b.o.s. days. Major updates include the shelving out front (holding spent bottles of booze) and the large specials chalkboard in the back.

Kinjiro Menu Kinjiro Beverage List Kinjiro Specials Menu
Kinjiro's menu lists an appealing array of dishes in various categories, mostly classic, but with a few twists thrown in for good measure (note the italicized items). This is joined by a sheet of daily specials, which you'll want to pay close attention to as well. Drink-wise, there's a pretty healthy list of sakes, one that includes a few more unusual selections that you don't see too often. Other options include a handful of Japanese beers, shochu, and the requisite wines. Click for larger versions.

2013 Cascade Noyaux
Given that corkage was graciously waived this evening, we brought out the beers, starting off with the 2013 Cascade Noyaux, a sour blonde aged in oak for 14 months, then rested with raspberries and apricot noyaux (seeds) for another seven. The result of all that was on the delicious side, a deft blend of sweet, tart, floral, and funky notes lined with hints of nutty oak.

Kinjiro Japanese Wagyu Carpaccio w/ Arima Sansho
Kinjiro Japanese Wagyu Carpaccio w/ Arima Sansho [$18.00]
We began with a tasting of Kinjiro's "signature" items. First up to the plate was one of the tastiest carpaccios I'd had in a while. Made from chuck, the slices were appropriately beefy, and expertly balanced by the onions up top while the arima sansho added a wonderfully spicy counterpoint that brought it all together.

Kinjiro Ceviche (Octopus, Shrimp, Snapper, Scallops, Mango)
Kinjiro Ceviche (Octopus, Shrimp, Snapper, Scallops, Mango) [$15.00]
The restaurant's riff on ceviche delivered as well. I appreciated how each item of seafood was well-textured and distinct, yet cohesive, tied together by undertones of sweetness, spice, and herbaceousness, with a hit of yuzu on top. Nice bit of crunch from the included chips, too.

Kinjiro Free-range Chicken Kara-age
Kinjiro Free-range Chicken Kara-age [$8.00]
Kinjiro's karaage comes in a rolled, maki-like presentation, a higher-class touch that you rarely encounter. It wasn't just about looks though, as the chicken really satisfied, a juicy, flavorful bird with super savory skin and a great accompaniment in the form of that zippy sauce on the side.

2014 Three Floyds Zombie Dust
Next up to drink was the much-hyped 2014 Three Floyds Zombie Dust, oft regarded as the pinnacle of the American Pale Ale style. It was indeed a superbly-crafted beer, with a nose redolent of tropical, floral fruit intermingled with hops and a taste loaded with citrus fruit, a touch of malt, and more pine-y bitterness. I'd still give the edge to its closest competitor, Toppling Goliath's PseudoSue, though.

Kinjiro Agedashi Homemade Tofu, Mushroom Ankake Sauce
Kinjiro Agedashi Homemade Tofu, Mushroom Ankake Sauce [$11.00]
The age tofu was another winner, and a legitimate challenger to Raku's hegemony in the space. We adored the combination of sweet and earthy mushroom flavors against the mildness of the curd, and the nori on top was a perfect accent piece. Texturally, think silky and supple on the inside, with some chew on the skin. This is one you probably want to get.

Kinjiro Beef Tendon, Tongue, Sinew & Tripe Miso Stew
Kinjiro Beef Tendon, Tongue, Sinew & Tripe Miso Stew [$10.00]
Kinjiro's offal stew was also a pleasant surprise, with its deep, earthy flavors and myriad of textures making for a hearty course that paired gorgeously with the green, seaweed pesto-like condiment on the side.

2013 OWA Yuzu Lambic
I'd purchased the 2013 OWA Yuzu Lambic a while back, and had been waiting for an opportune time to pop it. Produced in Belgium by former Kirin brewer Leo Imai, the beer is comprised of fresh, one-year, and two-year wood-aged lambic, blended and matured for another year with the zest of Wakayama yuzu. The nose was intense with intoxicating aromas of citrus and spice; on the palate I got more sour yuzu, joined by a surprisingly pleasant salty, almost gose-like backbone. Clean and refreshing, and a bit more nuanced compared to the MAD Beer Sour (Sur) I'd had not long ago at Tokyo Fried Chicken.

Kinjiro Bone Marrow Dengaku
Kinjiro Bone Marrow Dengaku [$9.00]
This is of course the first time I'd had bone marrow done dengaku style, or miso-glazed and broiled. It worked out for the better though, with the trembling, gelatinous tissue conveying a richness that really linked up well with the sweet-savory nature of the miso while scallions on top offered up a blast of countering astringency.

Kinjiro Squid Ink Udon
Kinjiro Squid Ink Udon [$14.00]
Udon was soft and slippery, good to the bite and teeming with briny, ika sumi-enhanced goodness. Great texture on the rings of squid as well, and we were quite enamored by the chopped up bits of the cephalopod here too, which added a well-placed chewiness and savor to the pasta.

Tengumai Yamahai Junmai
At this point, we ordered up a bottle of sake, the Tengumai Yamahai Junmai [$45] from Ishikawa Prefecture's Shata Shuzo. We really enjoyed it, finding it super ricey and floral on the nose and smooth, clean, and flavorful on the tongue, with just a smidge of heat toward the rear. A great value to boot.

Raw Sea Cucumber with Ponzu
Raw Sea Cucumber with Ponzu [$8.00]
This might've been my first time having sea cucumber in raw form. Taste-wise, the namako didn't offer up much, so it was all about the heat of the momiji oroshi and tangy ponzu to go along with the crunchy, slick consistency of the delicacy.

Wasabi Potato Salad, Smoked Salmon, Ikura
Wasabi Potato Salad, Smoked Salmon, Ikura [$8.00]
Regular readers will know that I'm a sucker for potato salad, and the version tonight was certainly one of the stronger ones I've had. I loved the smoky, salty slant of the dish, and how the salad closed with a subtle, yet persistent undercurrent of wasabi heat. Seemingly simple, but gratifying.

2013 The Bruery The Wanderer
Moving on to another sour now, here was the 2013 The Bruery The Wanderer, which I'd wanted to try for a while now. It's a blend of oak-aged sour ale and the brewery's anniversary ale, with blackberries and Bing cherries added, produced in collaboration with San Francisco's City Beer Store. It smelled pretty fantastic--tart cherry and funk--and tasted even better, with loads of black cherry flavor, oak, malt, and a lactic sort of tartness, the whole thing finishing dry.

Fried Yearling Oysters
Fried Yearling Oysters [$10.00]
Baby oysters were lightly fried, their subtle salinity nicely augmented by the savoriness of the aonori batter. Excellent when taken with the richly-flavored wakame seaweed "tartar sauce" on the side, which did a great job in completing the dish.

Cucumber, Octopus, Tomato and Seaweed Sunomono
Cucumber, Octopus, Tomato and Seaweed Sunomono [$8.00]
A vinegared salad of sorts served as a fitting palate cleanser, the beautifully-textured slices of octopus highlighted by the nuttiness of sesame while the tangy veggies provided the desired levity.

2014 Revolution Brewing Unsessionable
IPA duties tonight were handled by the 2014 Revolution Brewing Unsessionable, ostensibly a middle finger to the burgeoning trend of session (low ABV) beers. Loads of bitter, pine-y notes on the nose here. The aroma belied the palate though, which I found particularly malty and caramel-laced, making for an easy-drinking tipple.

Wild Monkfish Tatsuta-age
Wild Monkfish Tatsuta-age [$10.00]
One of the tastiest bits of monkfish I've had came in the form of these tatsutaage, fried fritters that really showcased the meaty, satisfying texture of the anko. Excellent with a dab of the wasabi-tinged sauce on the side.

Santa Barbara Uni Tempura
Santa Barbara Uni Tempura [$15.00]
I believe that this was my first encounter with tempura'd urchin. The frying process seemed to minimize the creaminess of the roe, instead accenting its savoriness, taken against a wrapping of minty shiso. I appreciated the light batter on the other items included here as well, and everything went well with a blot of matcha salt.

Niman Ranch Pork Belly Kakuni, Half-boiled Free-range Egg & Daikon
Niman Ranch Pork Belly Kakuni, Half-boiled Free-range Egg & Daikon [$15.00]
Kinjiro's take on kakuni was on point, with the belly coming out chopstick-tender, but still with a nice bit of bite to it. You got all the deeply porky, savory-sweet flavors that you'd expect, with the added benefit of the runny eggs and a puck of daikon to even things out.

2014 Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam From The Wood
And now for a headier brew: the 2014 Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam From The Wood, an old ale brewed with cherries and aged in oak for 15 months. It was one of the silkiest beers I'd had in recent times, with a base of chocolate, malt, toffee, and barrel qualities intermingled with a subdued amount of sweet-tart cherry.

Dashi-simmered Stingray Fin
Dashi-simmered Stingray Fin [$15.00]
Stingray wing was delicate and almost crab-like in consistency, imbued with classic flavors of dashi, the bevy of subtly sweet, umami-rich notes working hand-in-hand with the zesty onions on top.

Free Range Chicken Thigh with Yuzu Kosho Pepper
Free Range Chicken Thigh with Yuzu Kosho Pepper [$10.00]
Chicken thigh was a crowd pleaser, the juicy, flavorful cuts eating superbly with the salty spice of yuzukosho. Can't go wrong with this.

2014 Fantôme Pissenlit
The 2014 Fantôme Pissenlit was a Belgian ale done in the saison style, brewed with dandelion flower "tea." It was certainly more interesting than your usual farmhouse ale, surprisingly malty on the nose, with grassy, spicy flavors and a fruit-like sweetness.

Wild Black Cod with Saikyo Miso
Wild Black Cod with Saikyo Miso [$14.00]
Here was a spot-on rendition of the ubiquitous tara no saikyo yaki. It was more refined than most, with the flaky, fatty fish conveying a restrained salinity that paired swimmingly with the miso's inherent sugariness.

Grilled Onigiri Rice Ball (2pc)
Grilled Onigiri Rice Ball (2pc) [$7.00]
The onigiri were excellent, with a fantastic nutty, toasty character from the grilling that really complemented the rice. Nice crunch from the takuan, too.

Santa Barbara Uni Pasta
Santa Barbara Uni Pasta [$14.00]
Kinjiro's take on the quintessential Japanese pasta dish displayed a nuanced presentation of the star ingredient, with the uni's lush, creamy nature melding with the nori on top in seamless, classic fashion.

2013 De Struise Black Damnation I - Black Berry Albert
The heftiest drink of the night was the 2013 De Struise Black Damnation I - Black Berry Albert, a blackberry-fermented imperial stout aged in Port barrels. It was a tasty one, with a distinct dark fruit character and a good amount of vinousness dominating over a base of stout goodness.

Wild Snapper Sashimi Ochazuke
Wild Snapper Sashimi Ochazuke
Wild Snapper Sashimi Ochazuke
Wild Snapper Sashimi Ochazuke [$12.00]
Up next was an excellent example of ochazuke, probably the best I've had in fact, a homey, well-integrated dish that smartly incorporated the rare slices of fish.

Miso Soup with Manila Clams
Miso Soup with Manila Clams [$6.00]
We ended the savories, fittingly, with a classic miso soup, one amped up in intensity by the incorporation of those clams.

2014 Off Color Dinosmores
The final beer definitely went in a more dessert-y direction: the 2014 Off Color Dinosmores, an imperial stout made with graham flour, marshmallow fluff, vanilla, and cocoa nibs. It really did recall its namesake treat though, with loads of marshmallow-y goodness joined by notes of chocolate, roast, and a subtle graham cracker character.

Black Sesame Mousse
Black Sesame Mousse [$6.00]
Dessert time; and you can be sure that we got all three on offer. The black sesame mousse was a winner, really conveying the focused, robust essence of kuro goma in a creamy package while the kuromitsu syrup on the side imparted additional sugariness to the fray.

Sake Kasu (Lees) Crème Brulee
Sake Kasu (Lees) Crème Brulee [$6.00]
Sake kasu was the star of the crème brûlée, providing a delightfully earthy, ricey, boozy flavor to the cheesecake-like custard.

Hojicha (Roasted Green Tea) Panna Cotta
Hojicha (Roasted Green Tea) Panna Cotta [$6.00]
Last up was a pretty amazing panna cotta, one imbued with the bittersweet, roasty taste of hojicha. The tea flavors paired well with the intrinsic sweetness of the dessert, and the maple on the side gave up an extra hit of sugar to boot.

What Isogai and Kondo-san set out to do here at Kinjiro was to really give izakaya-style cookery the care it deserves, to elevate it. To that effect, it's clear to me that they've succeeded, with top-notch ingredients and spot-on technique, execution, and flavors. In fact, it was probably my best izakaya experience to date, and as far as I'm concerned, Kinjiro sets the new standard for such cuisine in LA. Fans of Japanese dining will certainly want to keep this place on their short lists.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Twenty Eight (Irvine, CA)

TwentyEight Restaurant
19530 Jamboree Rd, Irvine, CA 92612
949.852.2828
www.twentyeightoc.com
Fri 12/26/2014, 07:00p-10:15p




I don't get to OC too often, but my latest trip down south was to visit Twenty Eight, Top Chef alum Shirley Chung's (she was my favorite to win Season 11) first solo project that soft-opened on December 10th (they've since grand-opened). She's teamed up with restaurateur/caterer Stacie Tran, and though her involvement here started out as a consulting gig, Chung has been brought on as partner. The idea for Twenty Eight (a reference to the age when she started cooking professionally) is to present food reflective of the Chef's Continental training, her travels, her years working in Vegas, and of course, her childhood spent in China.

About the Chef: Born and raised in Beijing, Chung developed an appreciation for food and cooking at a young age thanks to her grandmother, Liang Siyi ("Sylvia"), the Chinese Red Cross' deputy director of International Relations and daughter of influential scholar Liang Qichao. For educational reasons, her family eventually moved to the US when she was 17. Chung attended California State University Hayward, and after graduating with a business administration degree, worked in Silicon Valley for four years. Interestingly, she hosted her own radio show on 96.1 FM (KSQQ) during this period, and also met her future husband, who helped convince her to switch careers. To that effect, she left her job in tech and enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. After staging at The French Laundry, she moved to Las Vegas in 2004 to help Thomas Keller open Bouchon at The Venetian.

Chung then moved to Guy Savoy at Caesars and later joined Mario Batali at B&B Ristorante, Otto Enoteca e Pizzeria, and Carnevino, where she was CdC. In 2010, she teamed up with José Andrés and opened China Poblano at The Cosmopolitan, which was soon nominated by James Beard for "Best New Restaurant." At China Poblano, Chung was able to both learn about Mexican cookery as well as rediscover Chinese cuisine, which she'd never cooked professionally before. However, she left the place in early 2013 and found a spot on Top Chef: New Orleans, where she finished a very respectable third. With her newfound fame, she started Chung Lee Consulting and found Tran as her first client. Twenty Eight was supposed to open in June 2014, and the Chef was originally slated to return to Vegas to start her own place following the debut, but as a result of her coming on as partner, she's relocated to Orange County and is putting it all on the line here.

Twenty Eight Interior
Twenty Eight occupies the site of the old Kimera, and the former restaurant's red- and brown-heavy digs have been replaced by a decidedly more monotone affair.

Twenty Eight Menu Twenty Eight Menu Twenty Eight Cocktail List Twenty Eight Wine List
Twenty Eight's menu is fairly extensive, split amongst starters, mains, and sides, with varying degrees of Chinese influence. To drink, you get some slightly Asian-y cocktails, wines, and tea. Corkage was $20, but was graciously waived this evening. Click for larger versions.

Antidote
Antidote [$12.00] | Wild Turkey Bourbon, Fresh Lemon, Mint, Ginger, Honey Syrup
Our first cocktail was surprisingly subtle, with a sweet-n-sour combo of honey-ginger-lemon doing a good job evening out the potency of the bourbon here.

Shao Mai
Shao Mai [$6.00] | chicken, chinese lap chang sausage, shitake mushroom
Our first bites comprised two preparations of the dim sum staple shumai. This version featured chicken, the bird amped up by the smoky/savory weight of the xianggu and sausage while the wolfberry added a touch of sweetness.

Shao Mai
Shao Mai [$6.00] | beef, coriander, garlic chip
The beef dumplings were a bit more full-bodied, taken up a notch by the zestiness of coriander. The wrappers here seemed a touch more substantial as well.

Special Ginger Cocktail
Special Ginger Cocktail [$14.00] | Skyy Vodka, Fresh Pineapple juice, Fresh Ginger, Lime Extract
The evening's cocktail special was loaded with fruity notes of pineapple on the nose, with the ginger coming in later, joined by tangy lime and a slight undercurrent of booziness.

Beijing Street Style Grilled Lamb Skewers
Beijing Street Style Grilled Lamb Skewers [$10.00] | spicy cumin rubbed Colorado lamb belly, charred red onion
Next was the Chef's shao kao inspired skewers. Lamb belly was appropriately fatty, with a heavy char and a trace of cumin-y warmth. It might be interesting to have more types of skewers on offer in the future.

Hamachi Egg Rolls
Hamachi Egg Rolls [$11.00] | confit hamachi, farm egg, garlic chive salsa verde
The thinly-rolled chun juan weren't much to look at, but delivered taste-wise, showcasing the richly-flavored yellowtail in a crisp, fun package. Smartly paired with a zippy salsa verde, I could've just kept popping these.

Golden Lotus Negroni
Golden Lotus Negroni [$12.00] | Plymouth Gin, Suze Gentian Liqueur, Maurin Dry Vermouth, Orange Blossom Essence, Candied Hibiscus Bloom
The restaurant's take on the Negroni was my favorite of the three cocktails, a classically-leaning concoction with a great bittersweet character and an unexpectedly pleasant floral component.

Caramel Lace Prawns
Caramel Lace Prawns [$28.00] | gulf white prawns, sweet plum aioli, grapefruit, walnut caramel lace
Chung then sent out a version of the ubiquitous restaurant dish honey walnut prawns. The shrimp themselves were nicely cooked, snappy, meaty, and imbued with a sweetness that melded seamlessly with the plum aioli. The actual walnuts were also on point, but I wasn't quite as enamored with the citrus segments here, and the sugarwork didn't do much for me. I'd like to see this kept more O.G.

Tongue and Cheek
Tongue and Cheek [$19.00] | house cured pork head cheese and beef tongue, pickled baby carrot, California red mustard
Next up was seemingly a riff on the Sichuan staple fuqi feipian. Beef tongue was hearty and slightly smoky, while the head cheese veered slicker, more delicate, with a tasty porcine presence. Pickles and mustard provided the requisite acidity to counterbalance the meat. That being said, I would've liked some more traditional accoutrements, some more spice, some oil, some ma la in there.

Fried Calamari
Fried Calamari [$11.00] | lightly rice flour batter, crispy shallots, house pickled vegetables
Squid was lightly fried and still retained its texture, with its heavily salted flavors set against the crunchy pickles and cilantro. I was a fan of the crispy shallots, too. However, I could've used more pepperiness (including the Sichuan type), more heat here, not to mention some more tentacle action.

2014 Propolis Fructus
I brought along a couple beers, the first being the 2014 Propolis Fructus, an amber saison brewed with bittering aromatic herbs and aged in Syrah wine casks with strawberries, raspberries, and Brettanomyces. I'd actually never had anything from the brewery before (I think they only recently began distributing in SoCal), but this was a very promising introduction. Lots going on here--earthy, funky, herbal, spicy, bitter, tart, and fruity--but it really came together perfectly.

Fire Phoenix
Fire Phoenix [$28.00] | Top Chef signature winning dish, Jasmine tea smoked Jidori chicken
Next was one of my favorites from the meal, a dish ostensibly inspired by one that helped Chung defeat Brooke Williamson on Top Chef Duels earlier this year. The bird itself arrived superbly cooked, a lovely presentation of both white meat and dark that ate juicy and robustly flavored. The crux of the course, though, was the aromatic, smoky element, which really elevated the protein.

Bulb Noodles
Bulb Noodles [$12.00] | hand cut noodle, scallion, garlic, yellow chives
I was impressed with the hand-cut noodles as well. I found them well-textured, and perfectly set against the astringency of the scallion-garlic-chive combo. Even better with a squirt of lime. You could just take down a big plate of this and be satisfied.

Twenty Eight Roast Whole Duck
Twenty Eight Roast Whole Duck (Half) [$38.00] | lotus leaf crepes, sliced radish cucumber and scallions, Twenty Eight duck sauce
The restaurant's take on the classic Peking duck was an impressive spread. Taken alone, the meat was certainly very "ducky," and combined with the veggies, bittersweet sauce, and particularly good crepes (some of the best I've had), made for some tasty bites indeed. I did miss the crispy skin, though.

Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli
Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli [$11.00] | minced shitake, poach egg
A side of Chinese broccoli was spot on, a strong presentation of the bitter, crunchy vegetable that was dutifully heightened by the incorporation of heady shiitakes and luscious runny egg. The Chef has described her veggie preps as "sexy," and this certainly was.

Twenty Eight Dessert Menu
Time for dessert, which at Twenty Eight is the work of Chung herself, as there's no separate Pastry Chef currently. Click for a larger version.

Good Fortune
Good Fortune [$12.00] | dark chocolate mousse, coconut gelee, chocolate wafer, curry croquant, edible fortune
In lieu of standard fortune cookies, we had this instead, a worthy replacement in my estimation. There was an enjoyable interplay between the chocolate and coconut elements, but the key for me was the croquant, which added a wonderful crunch that really lifted the dessert.

Tofu Panna Cotta
Tofu Panna Cotta [$10.00] | house press soymilk, red bean ice cream, ginger espuma, roasted salty peanut crumble
Following was Chung's interpretation of douhua, traditionally a tofu pudding. This one worked for me, with the mild panna cotta melding well with the sugary red bean while sharp notes of salty peanut and astringent ginger completed the experience.

2012 The Bruery Melange No. 3
To go with dessert, we opened a bottle of the 2012 The Bruery Melange No. 3, a blend of Black Tuesday stout, White Oak Sap wheatwine, and Anniversary series old ale, all barrel-aged. It was a hefty beer to be sure, with a nose redolent of raisin, bourbon, and brown sugar. Taste-wise, I got more of the same, along with vanilla, spice, and a palpable booziness, with everything coming together nicely. The Bruery does high-power beers well, and this was no exception.

Persimmon Tapioca
Persimmon Tapioca [$8.00] | fuyu persimmons, brown sugar and five spice granites, thai basil
Here, the comparatively mild sweetness of persimmon was paired with the sugary spice of two granitas. Thai basil did help offset the strong, perfume-y flavors at play, though I would've liked more of it.

Selection of House Made Sorbet and Ice Cream
Selection of House Made Sorbet and Ice Cream
To close, the Chef sent a sampling of her homemade ice creams. We enjoyed the pumpkin and chocolate varieties, though everybody's favorite was the black sesame, which really did a great job conveying the nutty sweetness of the ingredient (it reminded me of tangyuan filling). Excellent use of the savory, crunch bits on top, too.

Twenty Eight's a restaurant that I'd been curious about for a while now. It's a worthwhile addition to the often lacking OC dining scene, and as far as I know, I don't think anyone else is attempting this type of cuisine in the area. Most of the dishes worked, giving up classic, comforting flavors in modern packaging, though a few could benefit from some editing. After all, I think Chung's at her best when she's sticking closer to her Chinese roots. This could be a game changer, so I'm excited to see where she takes it.