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Off to Eat in Thailand

TableConversation is heading across the Pacific to report on the food scene in Thailand.

We all know that Thai food is marvelous, especially in Los Angeles, which has its  own Thai Town. But it's necessary to taste the real thing, with all the nuances of flavor and ingredients available only in Thailand, to evaluate what we have at home.

For the next two weeks, I'll be eating at restaurants and food stalls, taking cooking classes and touring markets, floating and otherwise. Why pack a bathing suit when I'd rather be eating on the street than floating in a pool? 

First I'll go to Chiang Mai to eat the noodle soup kao soi (in the photo at top), northern sausage, green papaya salad (at right) and sticky rice, for starters. Then on to Bangkok for central food and as many sweets as I can consume.

Thai food three times a day, and maybe snacks in between. Doesn't that sound heavenly? Then back home to report the findings so you'll know where and what to eat when you head for Thailand.

From Pizza to Parrilla in Baja

What's a young guy who ran a pizzeria in Buenos Aires doing thousands of miles from home?

He's still cooking, not pizza, but Argentine grilled meats in Baja California wine country.

Angel Eduardo Garralda left Argentina seven years ago with his brother. Their first venture was a pizzeria in Ensenada. When the brother went home, Garralda moved on to his dream, grilling meats just like at home.

He's found the perfect place for a parrilla restaurant, a winery ranch that is as much like gaucho country as you can get outside the Pampas.

Each weekend, he grills away in a rustic open-air structure at La Casa Vieja winery. Visitors may be surprised to hear tango as they sample the wines. This is a clue that Garralda is on the premises.

The two enterprises complement each other perfectly. La Casa Vieja is one of the oldest properties in the Guadalupe Valley. Its grape vines are so old that no one knows when they were planted. The wines are historic, individualistic and just right to drink outdoors, with Garralda's food.

There's a red produced from Mission grapes, which may be a cross between European and indigenous grapes, says winemaker Thomas Toscano. Still in barrels, it will be released in April, 2010.

And there's a fragrant, dry, unfiltered Palomino, a white wine made in such small quantity that the latest batch is almost sold out. To show how casual this place is, the label is a handwritten strip of masking tape.

La Casa Vieja means the old house.  And that's what it is, an adobe house from the 1800s restored by Colleen and Humberto Toscano, Thomas Toscano's parents.

Sitting on the terrace, one looks out on olive trees and Las Brasas, the parrilla restaurant.  Garralda cooks steaks, ribs, Argentine style chorizo and other meats, brushing them with his own chimichurri, which he has bottled and sells.

But he hasn't forgotten pizza.  La Casa Vieja is constructing an outdoor adobe oven. When that's ready, Garralda will probably be the only pizza chef in Baja who sips mate while he works.   

Las Brasas is at La Casa Vieja Winery, Km 93.5 on Highway 3, the Ensenada-Tecate highway, near the town of San Antonio de Las Minas. Tel: (646) 113 6783. The restaurant is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to sundown.

La Casa Vieja Winery has a wine bar, sandwiches, cheeses and other food to accompany tasting, a shop selling local arts and crafts, homemade jams and jellies, olive oil and other products. Tel: (646) 155-3153. For more information, go to www.lacasavieja.baja.com.

    

A Winning Dinner at Beso

"Where's the flashlight?" That's what I wanted to know as I stepped into Beso on Hollywood Boulevard.

I was meeting people there, and it was impossible to see them or anything else in the dark.

The man at the door had no flashlight. "Make two turns to the right. There aren't any steps," he said. And I felt my way to the bar.

It was so dark that I couldn't spot celebrity owner Eva Longoria, nor did I think about the possibility of meeting her. But she was there, and I did.

That's not why I came, though. I had won a raffle, and the prize was dinner at Beso, an elaborate dinner that would explore the menu, introduce a new dish, and pair the food with wine. The eight winners were all food bloggers and Foodbuzz featured publishers.

The event was a Foodbuzz Community Table presented by Visa Signature, one of a series  held in various cities.

As we arrived, we were handed glasses of sangria and then started work on the long menu. First came Longoria's guacamole, a perfectly fine, classic rendition. Beso's star chef Todd English matched that with his own warm artichoke guacamole.

You wouldn't expect to find sesame oil in guacamole, but English had the nerve to add it, as unusual a concept as seared diver scallop with braised oxtail and horseradish, which appeared later.

That scallop put on quite a show in company with potatoes, beets, garlic, caramelized fennel, a dark layer of oxtail and, trickling over the top, pale horseradish crema (Mexican cream). This is a new dish. Although it sounds fussy, it works, and the scallop dominates the competition. 

Tacos, cut down to tasting size, were filled with ahi tuna, chicken adobo, plantain, steak and fish.

Big, colorful flatbreads came in two styles, one with shrimp, chorizo, harrissa, queso fresco and crema, the other with spicy tomato sauce, queso fresco and cilantro.

After those, we tasted roasted jidori chicken topped with fine, crisp Maui onion shreds and scooped up paella from an iron pan.

We didn't get to try Longoria's tortilla soup, but we did taste her chili-rubbed skirt steak. And for that she deserves a foodie Oscar. The meat was tender, sweet, spicy, smoky and delicious. Don't miss it.

And don't miss the Beso churros. These are as light as can be, unlike the thick, heavy fried sticks of dough that are so common.

Not just any wine will do with such assertive flavors. We drank a zingy Grenache rose and a fruity, slightly flowery Albarino, both from Spain, and a Malbec blend from Argentina. 

If you call the restaurant, a recorded message explains that the dress code is casual elegant. Eva Longoria's version of that was a short, sleeveless, simple black dress, casual and definitely elegant.

Beso, 6350 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028., entrance on Ivar. Tel: (323) 467-7991. Open for dinner starting at 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 

From Max to marche L.A.

Max has quietly morphed into marche L.A.  The only indication of this is the new name  pasted over Max on the valet parking sign.

Inside, the restaurant looks the same. Andre Guerrero is still the owner. Jan Purdy is still the pastry chef. And the previous wait staff carries on.

The big change is the arrival of Gary Menes, who jumped ship at Palate Food & Wine in Glendale to take over as chef.  Guerrero plans to remain in the background. "This is really Gary's show," he says. 

That show is all about freshness, getting the best possible ingredients from small producers, hunting out foods that are the best of their kind.

This is not unusual. It's the idea of the moment, the marching orders for restaurants that want to be on top. What makes the difference is how each place deals with its finds.

For Menes, it's a chef's dream--gather the greatest stuff you can locate, then go into the kitchen and cook with it. He will change the menu weekly. If something fabulous turns up midweek, he'll make room for it.  

The name marche (say marshay, and spell it with a lower case m) fits perfectly. It's French for market. Adding L.A. localizes it, although it's in Sherman Oaks, and sets it apart from other enterprises titled with the same word.    

Opening night was Tuesday, September 8.  The night before, the restaurant held an invitational pre-dinner. This gave the wait staff a chance to practice for real. Ray, the waiter at my table, exploded with delight over everything on the menu. Menes himself could not have been more enthusiastic.

We started with delicious small plates, including a bright mix of chopped castelvetrano olives and pistou overlaid with fine strands of orange peel.

Then came a real scene stealer, a simple line-up of pickled plum wedges.  Menes had seasoned them with cider vinegar, honey, sugar and more spices than you would have guessed.  They were extraordinary. 

The plums, olives and other appetizers are called petites assiettes, which means little plates.  Why use French words? "I think it sounds a little more elegant than saying small bites or snacks," explains Menes, who has spent time in France and French kitchens. 

Les plats, the larger plates, are small but substantial enough that two would make a decent dinner. Prices aren't precious. The appetizers are $3 to $12. The larger dishes are $8 to $18.

It's clever the way the menu is presented, the pages placed on sections pried out of wooden wine crates.

Not everything was perfect. Farmers market shoppers know that what they buy can have flaws. And that happened with Barbara's potatoes, named for the grower. One wedge was good, another dull.

A melon soup with cucumber, mint and chile oil was marvelous, sweet and fresh, except that chile seemed to be missing from the oil. A hint of heat would have given this dish an interesting edge.   

But the sweet, crunchy sugar peapods alongside skirt steak filet mignon practically stole the show. And the tender, flavorful steak (better than a real filet mignon) was a formidable rival. According to Guerrero, Menes wants this to be his signature dish.

Formed into a little roll, the steak had been cooked sous vide, then seared to caramelize the outside. A knob of bone marrow and a circle of Bearnaise sauce were also on the plate. 

If the waiter offers potato rolls to start with, don't miss them. The recipe came from Jan Purdy's grandmother, and they are heavenly--light, slightly sweet, and with tiny nuggets of tender yellow potato inside. The handchurned butter is uncommonly good.

Two desserts remain from Max, a chocolate bread pudding and flourless chocolate cake. The others are new and will change "if there is any exciting fruit at the farmers market," Purdy says.

For opening week, she combined roasted figs and pears with vanilla custard, added tiny meringue batons and a scoop of vanilla set on plum coulis. It was as wonderful as it sounds, and a perfect transition from summer to fall.

Marche L.A., 13355 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423   Tel:(818) 784-2915. Open Monday through Saturday from 5:30 to 10 p.m.

A Roadside Stop for Quail

Let me eat at a stand by the side of the road, as long as that stand is Las Gueritas.

The road is northern Baja's Highway 3, which runs from the coast above Ensenada to Tecate. 

Las Gueritas appears where it bends at the town of Francisco Zarco. If you're driving and keep your eyes on the road, you'll miss it.

It doesn't look like much, just a small sunbaked stand--actually a cart--in an expanse of dirt. But it has the best quail (codorniz) around--grilled over a wood fire, marinated Chinese style, cooked with mushroom cream sauce or in estofado, a thick tomato stew.

Las Gueritas has been there for many years. The name refers to the fair-skinned daughters of Lucia Villasenor Padilla, who does the cooking and runs the stand with her husband's help. Before, her mother-in-law was in charge.

The day my friends and I stopped by, they had run out of wood. This meant no grilled quail. Instead, we had quail that had been marinated overnight with oyster sauce, onion and garlic, then cooked in butter.

Our lunch included rice, salad, hot tortillas and cold Dos Equis beer and a taste of the stand's other specialty, pork (cochinita).

But the quail stood out, brown and slightly sweet from the oyster sauce. I liked it so much that I copied it at home. No quail in my larder, but Cornish game hens made a good substitute.

CORNISH HENS LAS GUERITAS

2 Cornish game hens, quartered
1 small onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup oyster sauce
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil

Combine the quartered hens, onion and garlic in a large storage container. Add the oyster sauce and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning once or twice.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet, preferably non-stick. Drain the hens and place in the skillet skin side down. Brown over medium high heat 10 minutes, turning once. Do not crowd the pan. If necessary, brown in batches, 4 pieces at a time.

If the skillet is large enough, combine all the pieces. Otherwise, place half in another pan, along with some of the cooking juices. Cover and simmer until just done, about 15 minutes.

Drain the hens and place on a platter. Cover and keep warm until serving time.

Makes 4 servings.

Las Gueritas, Highway 3 at the entrance to Francisco Zarco in the Guadalupe Valley, Baja California. Open only during the day.  Read more about it at  http://streetgourmetla.blogspot.com. Search for Las Gueritas.

Great Tastes in a Heat Wave

It's been too hot to eat, or to drink anything but ice cold water. Nevertheless, I made an exception for Monday's Club Culinaire Boutique Trade Show at the Sofitel Los Angeles.

This was the first such show put on by the club, whose members are chefs, sommeliers, restaurant owners, food purveyors and serious fans of French food and wine.

The hotel air conditioning alone was worth the trip. But the food was exceptional, and the wines were out of the ordinary.

It wasn't too hot to eat a slider of Angus beef that had been braised for five hours with red wine and herbs, or to nibble on soft slices of lardo, spread black truffle butter on bread that had just arrived from Germany, eat locally smoked salmon, try duck sausage with lingonberries and cream cheese, munch on fruit tarts and marvel at thin-crusted (really thin) pizzas imported from southern France.

The booths were manned by food and wine purveyors hoping to attract buyers, and what they showed was top of the line, like caviar, foie gras, lamb and veal, oysters from Santa Monica Seafood and jumbo shrimp from Contessa.

The California Olive Ranch set out tiny cups of its new Arbequina olive oil. Cheeses included burrata and fresh mozzarella, and there was plenty of bread to eat with them, thanks to La Brea Bakery's display.

Fresh produce included delicious tart-sweet pluots, grapes, New Zealand apples and vegetables that you would grab if you saw them at a farmers market.

The most over-the-top dessert was sweet red pepper mousse stuffed into tiny pastry cones. Yvan Valentin cappuccino truffles were irresistible, but that line only goes to  luxury hotels, not shops, darn it.

Thierry Cahez of Opera Patisseries Fines in San Diego walked around with trays of  brightly-colored macaroons in such flavors as passion fruit, raspberry and green tea.

Republica del Cacao offered tastes of artisanal chocolates from Ecuador, and Vinafer for Life, a Canadian enterprise,  showed brownies made with powdered wine, as in have a sip of Cabernet with your dessert, no glass required. 

The wines came from all over the globe. A Pinot Noir produced from the "Hindu clone" was from Oregon, not India. This clone is wise enough to adapt to any conditions and produce good wine, or so I was told at the Alloro Vineyards table.

The Hindu had done its work with Alloro's Pinot Noir Block 2006, an all-natural, unfined, unfiltered wine from the Willamette Valley.

Metzler Family Farms' splashy Z label made its wines stand out. Scarcity too. There are only 30 cases of the 2007 Tempranillo, which is due out October 1. "I only had one row [of grape vines]," Ron Metzler explained.

This San Joaquin Valley business goes back four generations but  started winemaking recently, releasing its first wines in 2006.

Canihan Family Cellars of Sonoma did better than Metzler with its 2006 Cabernet Franc, producing 100 cases. Half of those are already gone. If you can't get that, try for the 2006 Exuberance Syrah, an elegant, cool climate wine.

Always on the hunt for Malbec, I found treasure twice. Cuvelier Los Andes Grand Vin 2005, a blend of 62% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Syrah, 7% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot merges two worlds. Made in Argentina, it reflects French skill in orchestrating a blend. The label is owned by Leoville Poyferre, a second growth Bordeaux producer. 

The second find was the Familia Marguery Malbec 2007, 100% Malbec and aged entirely in French oak, half of it new. That wine rated a star and a place on my shopping list for Buenos Aires.

Chile was represented too. Terra Andina, the first to blend Chile's signature varietal, Carmenere, with Carignan, presented its 2007 blend, composed of 60% Carmenere and 40% Carignan. The wine is young and bright, just fine. However, I preferred the  2006-2007 Carmenere Reserve, with its delightful notes of red currant.

Time to go, and I wanted one last drink for the road. This time, the lure was the most popular beverage of the day, Eternal Artesian Water from New Zealand. Wine is great, but in L.A.'s merciless heat wave, New Zealand came to the rescue.

The Club Culinaire of French Cuisine is a non profit that stages dinners, an annual French chefs picnic and other events and presented the trade show in collaboration with Gayot.  For information on membership, go to www.clubculinaire.us.