Spago's

Wednesday. July 18, 2018

It is Dine in LA week and we picked Spago's , www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/3635.  in Beverly Hills for this outing. The tasting menu was specifically for the Dine In LA event.

We started out with 6 "amuse bouches" .

 Spicy Tuna Tartare in a  Seasame Miso Tuille Cone. The cone had a sweetness to it and it offset the spicy tartare nicely. Two bites and it was gone. 

 Savory Parmesan Marshmallow. Have no idea how this was made but it was soft and spongy like a marshmallow sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Looked like coconut. This was a one biter. 

Sesame Ball, Dungeness Crab, Thai Curry Spice and Sakura Shrimp.  Served on a folded piece of paper held together at one end with a teeny, tiny clothespin.

Heirloom Carrot-Kaffir Lime Puree and Chili Oil. served in a tiny galvanized pail with "dirt". Looked like you just pulled a tiny carrot from the garden and put in in your pail.

Yorkshire Pudding, Whipped Beef Tallow with Bresacla. Looked like a white disc topped with a dark cherry sitting in a wood bowl full of cocoa nibs.

Maple Macaron, Bacon (pork belly), Egg Yolk Jam sitting on tiny roasted coffee beans.

All the amuse bouches were excellent . Loads of flavor.

6 courses for dinner:

"The Egg", corn custard, caviar and corn water in a small egg shell sitting on a wrought iron stand Room temperature and a very delicate flavor.

Olive Oil Poached Ora King Salmon,  beet ponzu, red bulls blood leaves. I would venture a guess that this was "sous vide" Delicate flavor on the salmon and the beet ponzu gave it a very tangy twist.

Charred Octopus in a Coconut Bowl, lime, harbanero aguachile and avocado puree. You were supposed to scrape the inside on the coconut bowl to get fresh coconut into the dish. Personally I like my octopus not swimming in a liquid.

Baled Bone Marrow, Santa Barbara Uni with Manila clams, capers, chorizo and homemade sour dough toast. I really liked this dish, wish I had more of it.

Hand Made Agnolotti with summer truffles, sweet white corn and parmigiano reggiano. Brought to the table under a glass cloche with smoke inside. Impressive presentation

Grilled Plank Snake River Farm's Wagyu Beef  with burnt mustard-miso and red sorrel. I would not have taken this piece of beef as wagyu. No marbling, no fat inside. Tasted more like a high grade Black Angus. I have eaten a lot of Wagyu beef in the last few years and this was not the same.

2 Desserts:

Nectarines with Muscovado Caramel and lemon verbena sorbet. Light and very refreshing.

Maracaibo Creole Grand Cru "Cocktail", whiskey, lime Espuma. A thin chocolate bowl filled with the Espuma. Interesting and a delightful finish to dinner.

We also had a tray of the housemade breads along with a yogurt sauce. We asked for butter. The yogurt bit just did cut it for bread.

We had 4 bottles of wine tonight. Corkage is $50 if you bring your own which I did. Stan bought a bottle and brought a bottle. Wine list is not for the faint hearted. Wines ranged from about $70 to $21,000.  But do not bring a bottle that is on their list.

2005 Dom Perignon, Rose Champagne, 1998 Rochioli , Russian River Valley, Pinot Noit, 2005 Croix de Beaucaillou Bordeaux, and a 2008 Domaine de Montille, Pommard, 1st Cru, Les Pezerolles. All were excellent. I preferred the Pommard and the Champagne.

All the food was excellent. Some I liked a bit more than others. I was very impressed with the staff and how efficient the restaurant was run. Tonight they had a staff of 100 people. 50 in front and 50 in the kitchen. Everyone at the table received their food at the same time.  We got a tour of the kitchen which was massive. Pizza oven burns at 600 degrees and takes 3 minutes to cook a pizza. The clientele were for the most part dressed very casual. The staff was dressed far better then the patrons. I will say I was impressed with the restaurant.

We had such a good time we were talking about coming back to Spago's for al la carte.  This was my first time but Stan has been there several times. Quality of food and service makes this a real gem. My only complaint is when it gets dark outside it gets dark in the restaurant. Too dark for me.  The pictures I took of the food showed the difference in light. The restaurant seems like a high end neighborhood place to go. Not that pretentious.