Bob Schriner

On a night when it seemed all Los Angeles was drenched or submerged, it was nice to take a quiet, dry table at Wilshire. The atmosphere was upscale, yet comfortable, like that grad school professor who always wore jeans.

The bread on the table is like a handshake, it’s the first encounter that tells you the kind you’re dealing with. Wilshire met me with the perfect handshake, house made Challah bread that had a firm and crisp outer crust and a velvety soft center. This loaf was so light that at points I thought I could have been buttering cotton candy. OK I know that image might have left you slightly disturbed.

After a bit more bread and butter than a New Years resolute man should have, I was happy to see a salad coming my way. The pear and pomegranate salad seemed like a good call. The pear was sliced paper thin and looked so cozy on a fork with the endive. The candied walnuts, red onions, a nearly overwhelming blue cheese and of course pomegranate seeds gave this salad a diverse range of tastes.

Wanting to keep things light, but savory, I chose the Malaysian bbq halibut. The chutney on the fish was a bit heavy, but once my tongue got calibrated to the taste, delicious. The sautéed long beans resting under the halibut made me push through the fish to get to that wonderful legume. The beans were still firm and soaked in wholesome blend of flavors. The cucumber salad on the side was an ideal finish on this dish.

As sensible as I’d been with dinner choices, it only made sense that I chose the most decadent dessert option on the menu; the triple chocolate mousse. This tri-colored cylinder stood tall with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream and a smattering of Valrhona pearls, which could have been a dish on their own. The deep sinking spoon collecting each of the three chocolates felt righteous and guilty at the same time and magnified once it melted in my mouth. I was tempted to leave and come back in with a phony moustache just so I could order coffee and this dessert AGAIN.

All in all, Wilshire impressed me with décor and a highly diverse menu that merged various ethnic influences and a bevy of local produce. I am eager to got back and try their lobster bisque and the Chimay marinated skirt steak.

2454 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90403-5823
(310) 586-1707

Bob Schriner

Tucked away in a cluster of businesses Cache sits just off Main Street in Santa Monica and proves to be worth finding. As a way of celebrating the warm LA winter we chose to sit outside. The patio at Cache is like no other, for starters, it feels too nice to be outdoors. The rich décor and warm vibe make it hard to believe the open skies are over head.

Our waiter Brian arrived and went on a precision run down of the menu that had my head spinning by the third item. As much as I admired his knowledge of the food, ingredients and preparation, I had to stop him and say, “please bring me all of those.” Keep in mind, at this point, we’re just talking appetizers.

The first of the three starters was calamari. This was not your average calamari dish, not by a long shot. This happy squid was scored and cut into square pieces unlike the traditional ring. Also breaking the norm, the calamari was not breaded, but rather cooked in a wood fired oven in chorizo and Meyer lemon. This is now the only place in town where I can eat calamari, save your breaded onion ring rendition of said seafood for those who have not yet seen the light.

Foie gras was waiting for me as the Calamari dwindled, I’m a food separatists, so the spotlight is only for solos. The foie gras came with a seasonal fruit, which in this case was mango and set upon a thick crouton. The foie gras was rich and noteworthy  to me for having a thicker consistency, which I prefer. The mango was sweet, but not too sweet to overwhelm the delicious waterfowl.

The third starter, fire roasted bone marrow needed to cool a bit, so I left it for last. We had to ask for an espresso spoon to best retrieve marrow. The side of the dish was festooned with slices of toasted baguette that offered a convex helping of herbs and wild mushrooms. These little toasts were a marvel on their own, but with a generous liquefied marrow.

We got a visit from another waiter, he was dropping off an order of fries. At first I told the waiter we hadn’t ordered that. Then we were told that we had to try them, accompanied with house made aioli ketchup, mayo and mustard, you need to try them too. The Belgian style fries were crisp and seasoned with parsley and black truffle oil. This comfort food is fine tuned to please me.

I was doing so well with appetizers I wanted to continue to sample them all. With the dishes I had all being beyond my expectations I ordered the duck confit, which came in a mason jar with baguette toasts on the side. The confit was meaty, moist and loaded with herbs and carrots. If you only get one thing here this is it.

My entrée arrived, I was torn between the filet and the special, which was cod. Despite everything being so good so far, the cod was not on par. The sweetness just did not agree with me. I thought the consistency of the fish was ideal, but I just couldn’t get over the sweetness.

On the side I had the crushed fingerling potatoes. These almost mashed tubers were teaming with parsley and shallots making it a hearty accompaniment to the cod.

After a long pause,  I opted to share the strawberry shortcake with my dining partner. The dessert offered loads of fresh berries and house made whipped crème. This was ideal with a cup of coffee to end the night.

In the end, I walked out of Cache thinking that they really had it all. I’m going to take this review back in next week and use it as a checklist to order everything I didn’t get to try thing first time.

CACHÉ
3110 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 399-4800

Ongoing Events at Cache:

Live Music Thursdays
Join CACHÉ every Thursday night for live performances in the bar lounge and groove to the best in local talent. David Boyles performs his inimitable “organic hip hop / Southern-fried soul” acoustic music every other week with special guest artists in between. 2 sets, beginning at 9 p.m. No cover, no minimum

Happy Hour at CACHÉ
From 5-7 daily, meet at the bar or in the lounge for cocktails and delicious small bites.
Signature Flatbreads $7 Daily Sliders $7 Truffle Fries $7 French Fries $7
CACHÉ cocktails, well drinks and wines by glass, $7 Dos Equis beer, $4

Burger Nights
Every Wednesday and Thursday, Chefs Josiah and Nyesha cook up a delicious burger designed from Farmers’ Market ingredients.

Weekend Brunch
Cache serves brunch on Saturdays and Sundays with a new menu from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Our bar lounge menu is available from 2:30 p.m.

By Bob Schriner

When I heard La Cachette moved to a much larger new location just off Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, I wondered how the new home would compare. The Century City spot was intimate and quiet, that seemed like difficult traits to carry over to the beach boulevard. The Santa Monica site has a calm and relaxing indoor dining room that was a little too low key for our weekday visit. We opted for the patio, which was comfortable and buffered from the busy sidewalk by hanging plants.

Now I’ve always been an indecisive menu reader, something that was exasperated upon looking at the new La Cachette menu. Somehow I found it easier to order an appetizer…by ordering three of them. What can I say, I’m a friend of “and”, weary of “or”.

The first appetizer to arrive was a traditional French treat, duck confit rillettes with cornichons, Dijon mustard and thick homemade bread. The duck was so soft that it easily spread across the bread over a slight bit of the spicy mustard and blended together to make a remarkable taste. Tiny cornichons were a nice accent to this dish.

Can it be too much to follow up Duck Confit with Foie Gras? If you said yes, you need to sample the foie gras at La Cachette. According to Chef Jean-Francois Meteigner, the foie gras is never cooked in direct heat, but molded by hand in a towel as 130 degree fat was poured over the top. The dense terrine was served with a pot of rhubarb jelly with cooked rhubarb on top. A sprinkle of black pepper over the rhubarb on toast with a thick slice of foie gras was truly divine. I can’t think of a combination of flavors that was so diverse yet so cohesive.

Smoked Hamachi in a French Bistro seems unlikely, but it was real and it was wonderful. I marveled at how something so delicate and thin could be smoked and so flavorful. Just when I thought I had the chef pegged, I was thrown for quite the surprise. Ever ready to avert the main course I next tried the Fish and Langoustine soup served with a red pepper Rioulle on toasted flatbread with shredded Swiss cheese. The soup tasted akin to lobster bisque with the fish and crustacean pieces were the smallest pieces, almost a pulp. The soup had a warm wholesome feel, but was almost done a disservice by the rich dishes that came out first.

The entrée could wait no longer, the braised veal short ribs and sweetbreads with risotto was a decadent dinner indeed. The veal short ribs were so tender that I could have cut them with a stern look. Luckily, I used a fork instead and the meat just melted in my mouth. The sweetbreads were so rich that I was glad they were in smaller portions. If there is only one dish I could have had that night, this would have sent me away on a cloud.

Service seems to be one area where the new La Cachette was still settling into. On one hand, Chef Jean-Francois was very hands on, delivered many dishes personally and was on a full charm offensive with all of his customers. Our waitress on the other hand seemed out of place like an audio track that doesn’t sync up with the video. She did make some good wine suggestions. However, she made an awkward point to walk by after dishes were delivered by others to say, “Bon appetite.” As out of place as the waitress seemed, it hardly made for a bad outing. All in all, I think the new La Cachette deserves a visit from you, my trusty reader. I shall return soon.

La Cachette
1733 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.434.9509
www.lacachettebistro.com

Interview with Owner and Chef of LC Bistro Jean-Francois Meteigner

Q: How is the new La Cachette different from the old La Cachette:
A: The old La Cachette was a more traditional and upscale restaurant LC Bistro is a modern Californian French bistro with some Asian influenced flavors and ingredients like Korean chili paste with Wasabe ginger and soy but we use Harissa too which is more of a Northern African spice, we have a burger on menu with melted blue cheeses grilled onions, mussels have saffron in it Tumeric cayenne and curry too
then we have French food with the Cassoulet, Coq au Vin, Lamb rack Flageolets and then we move on to fun stuff: homemade salmon sausages, duck confit rillettes, homemade smoke trout and salmon cold Brandade with house cured cod, braised buffalo short ribs with coffee rub there are so many dishes to try at the bistro.

Q: Who are some chefs (past, present, living or dead) whom you admire?
A: Chef Alain Ducasse seems to grow into a bigger star as he expands around the world. What Joackim or Wolfgang do -those guys are unreal, BRAVO, I cannot do it, no sir I would go crazy.

Q: What is the signature dish at La Cachette?
A: Fish and salmon sausage sauerkraut, Buffalo Short Ribs, Bouillabaisse, House cured trout salad, Fish Soup and my mom’s seafood gratin.

Q: When at home what do you enjoy cooking for your family/friends?
A: When at home, which is never nowadays, my wife Allie usually cooks turkey meat loaf tomato sauce, meat balls and spaghetti, roasted chicken mashed potato, simple great home cooking but now the kids loves the bistro so much and want to eat there all the time and I’m letting them work in pastry to make money. Lots of Korean food too homemade from Allie’s mom, we love it! At the bistro we are going to be adding more risotto and raviolis to the menu. I am a quarter Italian and I love making risotto and different types of raviolis and polenta.

Everyone loves a nice piece of meat.  Especially when it’s hot, juicy and deliciously tender.  Some of the best meat in town can be found at BOA Steakhouse, a premium steak restaurant with locations in West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Las Vegas. The West Hollywood location is conveniently located in the Grafton Hotel on Sunset and plays host to a mix of travelers and locals.  The décor is cool and the service is top notch. Though the menu at BOA is “steak-centric”, it also includes a smorgasbord of seafood, clever appetizers and tasty salads such as the tableside Caeser which is created fresh at your table. BOA also offers a number of delicious signature sauces to compliment either surf or turf.  There are an abundance of eclectic choices of appetizers on the menu including Kobe Beef Corndogs, Smoked Salmon & Caviar and the divine premium Japanese Wagyu beef.  The Wagyu is saturated with flavor and just melts in your mouth and it is nicely complimented with Japanese XO sauce and Okinawa sea salt to dip.  A few good steak choices include the Kobe beef rib-eye, 40 day dry aged New York strip steak and Bone In Kansas filet mignon.
Savour every mouthful and dig into that big hunk of meat. 

Boa Steakhouse has a new location!
Boa Steakhouse
9200 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 278-2050

Located in Santa Monica, The Huntley Hotel is an easy study in boutique 101 offering contemporary charm and comfort amidst the hustle and bustle of the cityscape. Step into the lobby where eclectic furniture from post-modern to raw refined timbers, and soft leathers mixed in with the pale tones of elegant wall coverings transfer the beaches of Santa Monica into the hotel lobby. As you travel up the elevator, each level greets you with carpeted floors in warm earth tones and decorative Venetian walls that inspire a calm and quiet serenity. Take a stroll down to Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade with plenty of shopping and restaurants or hop down to the beach.
The Huntley Hotel
1111 2nd St
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 394-5454
www.thehuntleyhotel.com

In the middle of a hectic work week, nothing sounds better than a relaxing evening on the seaside. Thankfully Shutters on the Beach brings us Coast, a soothing mix of calm and class with rolling waves just beyond your table. If the tranquil settings weren’t inviting enough, Coast offers a Farmers Market menu on Wednesdays that has been causing a buzz. Haya and I were seated at a nice table on the patio with the famed Santa Monica Pier in site. When the time comes to order a drink I decide to try house specialty and the basil cucumber martini was an affirmation of this habit. A dry martini, with a basil leaf on top is not your everyday drink, but today, there was nothing better. Imagine drinking a caprese salad and getting a little tipsy in the process. There is something about sitting on the water that makes seafood irresistible. As such Haya ordered the shrimp cocktail alongside my crab cocktail. When the platter arrived I wanted to jump right in it, even though it was filled with ice. When strong presentation is met with such anticipation, stand clear of me and the plate. I could not believe how succulent and large the pieces of crab meat were. The shrimp was just as pleasing. While I had arrived with every intention of ordering the Farmer’s Market Dinner, there were a number of entrees on the menu. When our waitress explained the preparation on the Farmers Market Dinner, I was certain it was the right call. The first installment was a thoughtful tuna and hamachi crudo. The fish was sliced a little less than a quarter inch in thickness and lightly dressed in fennel, chili oil and mint with chunks of pink grapefruit. The compliment of citrus to the uncooked fish was flattering enough to make me and the tuna blush, brilliant. Couple my weakness for smoked pork with how impressed I was with the appetizers and you still probably can’t gauge how excited I was for the entrée to arrive. When the dish came out the spoiling of Bob Schriner continued. The smoked tenderloin was a real treat. The meat was very juicy and tender and the smoky flavor was even better with a little dab of BBQ sauce on the side of the plate. Served underneath the tenderloin there was a pair of crispy rolls filled with pulled pork, pumpkin hash and chestnuts that made my ascension into leisure eating free of any guilt.
The Farmers Market Dinner came with an apple dessert. Haya ordered the fresh fruit cobbler. Both desserts were splendid, meeting the peak where pleasure no longer cares about the thought of decadence. The apple dish had sorbet at its best, juicing Fuji, Pink Lady and Granny Smiths. Every bite I took of it made me with that there was a dinner remote with a slow-motion button so I could draw out every possible moment to savor this goodness. The sorbet was joined with crisp Granny Smith chips that you could see through as well as glazed Pink Lady apples and a pureed mix with apple butter. The fresh fruit cobbler should have had the word fresh in all caps because the distinction was pronounced by a natural sweetness that is lost in preservative process. The cobbler had mixed berries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream that I watched slowly melt into the rich fruit. Now that you’ve learned from my mistake of waiting until I had a bad day to visit Coast, don’t repeat it. Remember, Wednesday is the Farmer’s Market Dinner, but attending any other day of the week you will leave well served in an elevated state.
Coast at Shutters
1 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 458-0030

http://shuttersonthebeach.com