Craft, Los Angeles
We were all giddy with excitement while waiting for our food to come, or was that our stomachs growling and body’s trembling from low blood sugar. Perhaps both. I know we ripped through the bread and butter as soon as it was set on the table. I barely got a photo before my friends ate it all up.
This was tonight’s set menu.
Choice of Appetizers House Made Charcuterie Baby Lettuce – Pecorino & Hazelnuts
Choice of Entrees Hawaiian Blue Prawns – Torpedo Onion & Anson Mills Grits Niman Ranch Pork Shoulder – Molasses & La Ratte Potato Salad House Made Ricotta Angolotti & Braised Mushrooms California Natural Ribeye – Gigante Beans
Choice of Desserts Meyer Lemon Semifreddo Market Citrus & Shortbread Chocolate Crepes – Salty Peanuts & Malt Custard
Unfortunately, we only choose the Pork Shoulder and the California Natural Ribeye. We didn’t realize, till later, that it was family style and that we should have at least added a pick of the Hawaiian Blue Prawns, as well. Oh well… our loss. Personally, I don’t care much for shellfish.
Once we selected our entrees, it wasn’t but 5 mins or so, that our appetizers came rolling out. The salad which featured hazelnuts was good, meaning not bad at all. I liked the hazelnuts addition. Made me dig for them, like a a toy in a cereal box, in my 2nd helping. Then there was the ocean trout – which looked like salmon, but isn’t as luscious and more tougher. As Miss B. said, “It has a fishy smell & taste”. And the liver pate wasn’t favored by our dinner party, as well. The foie gras dip with wine and spice gelatin was really good. I am not normally a foie gras type-of-guy, but this was amazing. After we ran out of the accompanied bread, we used the flat bread from the liver pate, and then the table bread to finish off and clean the bowl of the dip. Not sure what it was, but it was the combination of the mixture with the sharpness of the pink jelly.
Next came our entree’s – the pork shoulder and the ribeye. The pork shoulder was what I suggested and ordered, not all too surprising after all with my fascination with eating pig. The first bite, with much of the fat, was eye closingly yummy. But after that, the next bites, sans the fat, were dry, yet tender. In LA, fat can be construed as a negative thing, with its glamorous culture. But I don’t care. After living overseas, I realized that fat give much flavor and juiciness. The ribeye, with it glistening glorious fat, was cut in easy portions for everyone to share. Not something I would order myself, I was pleasantly surprised by it. I must concur with Miss M, that red meat is good.
I think, if I remember, we also ate other things… like green things (like vegetables) . . .but that wasn’t important. Yes, we are carnivores. But yes, I did eat vegetables – scroll up to read about the salad.
We were nearing the home stretch with our plates cleared off, then I remembered that we had dessert coming, with the chocolate crepes and the Meyer Lemon Semifreddo. The chocolate thing – and I don’t think it was crepes… was too sweet. It needed the requisite after dinner coffee. But the Meyer Lemon Semifreddo, which looked like a big pineapple slice, is one of my desserts that I will remember. It had a wonderous slightly sweeten lemon taste. Meyer Lemon desserts are my lists of new favorite lemon sweet things!
Craft is good.