Bel-Air Bay Club
Good friends Tania and Paul were recently married at the Bel-Air Bay Club in Santa Monica, CA. Their wedding was fabulous and absolutely perfect for them – nice weather, gorgeous venue, delicious food, and great times. We hadn’t done any research about the location prior to the wedding other than looking up its location. Being a golfer, I had assumed that the Bel-Air Bay Club was a golf club but as we drove into the venue, I realized that that was not the case and had to do some quick research after the wedding to find out more about the venue. The Bel-Air Bay Club, conceived by Alphonzo Bell and built during 1927 and 1928, is comprised of two main building facilities that sit on 14 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Bel-Air Bay Club is, to this day, known as “the paddle tennis club,” having spawned several national champion players. In its prime the Club was such a center of social activity during the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s that many celebrities and prominent citizens frequented Club functions. Today, it is a popular destination for family and social gatherings as well as paddle tennis, volleyball, beach activities and Bridge.
The wedding ceremony and reception were held at the upper facilities of the Bel-Air Bay Club. We got there just a few minutes before the scheduled start time on the invitation. Thank goodness things were running a little late otherwise we would have been late since some of us still had to finish getting dressed! Anyhow, once we were ready we headed around to the grassy lawn are for the ceremony where we got to look out towards the Pacific Ocean. It had been a warm day in the L.A. area so it was still a little muggy but thankfully there was a mild breeze and we didn’t have to do too much moving around to cause us to sweat too much while awaiting and during the ceremony.
After the gorgeous wedding ceremony, we were all ushered back around the building to the patio area for a cocktail hour. Fortunately we were able to snag a small table and get in line early for some drinks as there was just one bar with a lone bartender. We were then served some delectable hors d’oeuvres.
- Duck Samosa in a golden pastry
- Lump Blue Crab Cake with mango-avocado salsa
- Bruschetta with prosciutto and romano cheese with lemon truffle vinaigrette
- Mini Truffle Cheese Sandwich with roasted tomato soup
- Lamb Lollypop with apple mint chutney
- Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio with red onion confit and lemon-grain cognac cream
- Lobster BLT with applewood bacon, heirloom tomatoes and hydro watercress
All of the hors d’oeuvres had great presentation and would have received maximal Iron Chef plating scores from me. I think the only dish that I had an issue with was the mini grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. The little sandwich was easy to take out of the shot glass and eat, but the roasted tomato soup was pretty thick so it was difficult to get to, even with the shot glass fully inverted!
Once cocktail hour was over, we were ushered into the main dining area for the dinner and dancing part of the evening. Good thing we didn’t gorge on the hors d’oeuvres since for dinner we still had a few dishes coming:
- Crab Martini – avocado soup, wild arugula, grapefuit, and a miso-sake dressing
- Wild Arugula Salad – roasted yellow and red beets, baby tomatoes, goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette
- Miso Soy Marinated Hawaiian Onaga – parsnip purée, radish cucumber salad, pea shoots and miso soy vinaigrette
- Grilled Center Cut Beef Filet Mignon – Yukon potatoes, parsnip, huckleberries and red onion confit
- Tahitian Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée – baked Tahitian vanilla bean custard with locally grown berries and fragrant mint
Being that we were at a wedding all the dishes didn’t come all at once and were well spaced out so we had time to digest each dish. Like the hors d’oeuvres, all dishes had great presentation. The crab martini was the only dish which I had some issues with. Don’t get me wrong, the dish looked really nice and there was a very generous piece of crab (Dungeoness?), but it was a little hard to eat altogether since the crab chunk was atop layers of arugula and the dressing was at the bottom of the martini glass. We realized we had to cut apart the crab and mix everything up before being able to fully enjoy the components altogether. Other than that, the only thing we thought could be a little better was the fish which was a little overdone. But being that the Club had to prepare food for at least one hundred or so guests and we were probably one of the last tables to be served I just attribute it to being under the heat lamp a little longer.
I haven’t emailed the bride and groom to find out where all the desserts came from, i.e. their wedding cakes and dessert table treats, but I’m assuming the cake and dessert table items were not from the Bel-Air Bay Club. That being said, I can’t really say that our post-meal sliders and milkshakes were made by Bel-Air Bay Club either, but we were served them there and so I’m guessing that the Club made them (even if they didn’t they are worthy of a mention but so were the other sweet treats):
- Mini Kobe Beef Slider – sriracha aioli, caramelized onions and soft slider bun
- Milkshake Shot – vanilla, strawberry or chocolate varieties rimmed with crystal sugar and strawberries
After a filling dinner, some dancing, the cake cutting, and some mass pandemonium trying to get some sweet treats from the dessert table spread, the sliders and milkshake did hit the spot, especially for folks like me that missed out on some of the goodies from the dessert table!
Overall, we were impressed with all the hor d’oeuvres and meal selections, and all the yummy desserts at the Bel-Air Bay Club. As you can tell, we really had to nitpick to find issues with the food that was served. All the food provided by the Bel-Air Bay Club looked really yummy and was delicious, and definitely helped to make Tania and Paul’s wedding a great one.
Bel-Air Bay Club
16801 Pacific Coast Hwy
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
(310) 230-4700
Short Order
After checking out the Tasting Table July feature on what burgers to try now, I saw a blurb on Short Order located in Los Angeles, CA. Being that it was grilling season and my wife and I being in the L.A. area for a few days around the fourth of July holiday, the Tasting Table feature was extremely timely and provided us with a great place to go for a meal. We ended up going to Short Order on July 4th, 2012 for a late lunch.
The restaurant is part of the Original Farmer’s Market block and has a prime spot right at the corner of West 3rd Street and South Fairfax Ave. For those that haven’t been to the farmer’s market it is a neat spot to check out filled with all sorts of vendors. Short Order isn’t the youngest kid on the block. Some research on the establishment shows that it debuted a few years ago.
Perhaps it was due to the late lunch time, but everything on the menu looked really good as we pondered what to order. It was likely a combination of both the late lunch and yummy selections as after our meal I definitely would like to head back and check out other menu items so I’d attribute it to more of the menu items being yummy. For our lunch we ordered:
- Ida’s Old School Burger
- Lamb Burger
- Short Order Spuds, with sour cream dipping sauce with North Country bacon
- “Independence” milkshake
The Independence milkshake was a special item to celebrate the 4th of July. As an ode to the nation’s birthday, it was also decked out with red, white and blue, made up of strawberries and blueberries, topped with a generous serving of graham cracker crumble. It came out before our food was ready and boy oh boy was it a tasty treat before our meal! Who says you can’t have some dessert first?
The rest of our meal came out shortly after the milkshake left us salivating and anxiously awaiting our food. Ida’s Old School Burger is comprised of grass-fed beef, Hook’s aged cheddar, SQIRL handmade pickles, rossa bruno tomatoes, griddled onions, iceberg lettuce and Short Order’s secret sauce. I ordered it medium-rare and I got what I ordered. The perfectly cooked burger was nice and juicy; each mouthful was perfect with its accompaniments and secret sauce. The lamb burger – Sonoma grass-fed lamb with feta, wild arugula and salsa verde – was ordered to be a medium doneness. Alas it came out a little past medium. Even though it was slightly overdone the burger still retained enough juiciness and was still delicious. Some people aren’t big fans of lamb, my wife being one of them, but even she could appreciate the lamb burger which did not taste too “lamb-y”. The Short Order Spuds, small bite sized pieces of delicately fried potatoes with the skin on, were good but I think we happened to get some of the dregs and a few that were a little more well done. Hopefully the following short photo slideshow of our Short Order experience doesn’t make your mouth water too much . . . I know mine is each time I watch it!
Overall, the food was great and I can definitely see myself returning if I’m in Los Angeles again. I’d love to try out more of their menu, including their adult milkshakes 🙂 With their fireplace and heat lamps setup, I can imagine Short Order getting extremely busy at night too.
Short Order
6333 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 761-7970
Further reading:
Bandolero Pop-up Restaurant Preview
LivingSocial voucher
After purchasing two tickets for the LivingSocial deal, I followed the instructions that I received and made dinner reservations for 7:15pm on Saturday February 18th for the pop-up preview of Bandolero Restaurant. Basically, LivingSocial, a Washington DC-headquartered online coupon company, was hosting Chef Mike Isabella’s preview of his upcoming restaurant venture in Georgetown to help kick off LivingSocial’s newly leased building in Penn Quarter where LivingSocial will host pop-ups, cooking classes, and all sorts of other activities in their new space.
I guess I don’t typically get to the Penn Quarter area at prime dinner time as I have never had any problems finding street parking in the area but this time we circled around the area a few times and could not find any street parking. So, as we were running out of time and wanted to make our reservation time on time, we bit the $16 parking tab and decided to park within two blocks at the E Street Cinema parking garage.
We walked into the LivingSocial building space (918 F St NW, Washington, DC) right at 7:15pm, had our IDs checked, and checked in at the lobby downstairs. We then headed up to the 2nd floor reception area where we each got a glass of champagne. Our table was already ready so we had only just sat down on the couches in the living area when our name was called to follow somebody up to the restaurant area on the 4th floor where we were promptly seated.
Michelada
Once seated at our table, before we had had a chance to get halfway through our glass of champagne, the accompanying first course drinks were served. The drink was the Michelada – milagro blanco, tomato lime, mole bitters, corona – essentially a tequila version of a Bloody Mary. The drink definitely served as a good appetizing drink. The first course came out shortly thereafter – warm chips and chicharrones served with:
- Guacamole – classic
- Sikil Pak – pumpkin seeds, jalapeno orange
- Salsa Roja – guajillo, tomato, garlic
The chips and dips were all very good but the chicharrones were definitely the highlight of this course. Light and crispy deep fried goodness just tastes so good!
Mmmmm . . . chicharrones
For our second course we went with:
- Albondigas – spicy pork meatballs, sofrito
- Sopes – lamb picadillo, chipotle goat cheese
This course was paired with a Margarita – milagro blanco, patron citronage, agave, grand marnier, lime, blood orange. I was tempted to select the blue crab taquito, but based on our server’s recommendation and the fact that I have Kiwi roots, I went with the lamb dish. For those who aren’t big lamb fans, the lamb was well made and did not taste very lamby. The sopes were delightful little pockets of flavor with the lamb topped with chipotle goat cheese and a little pepper slice. The spicy pork meatballs were also very good. Four of them came in a little bowl topped with some chopped veggies. The meatballs had good flavor but for my palate they could have had just a little more spice to them. In my opinion, the sopes edged out the albondigas.
Sopes – lamb picadillo, chipotle goat cheese
The third course was a selection betwen various tacos. We went with:
- Mahi Mahi – served with chipotle, avocado and lime
- Spicy Chicken – served with avocado, relish
At first we were a little surprised when the mahi mahi was presented – were we being served fried fish sticks?! However, after biting into the taco, it was apparent that we were having a delicious version of the classic “fish taco”. The mahi mahi was cooked perfectly with a lightly fried batter and flaky innards. My wife commented that perhaps the mahi mahi dish could have been better with corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas. I thought the flour tortillas were actually just right since the corn tortillas may have overpowered the mahi mahi. The spicy chicken dish, served on corn tortillas, was also very good. The shredded chicken had a great flavor profile in itself and went wonderfully with the topped lettuce, avocado relish, and little bits of cheese. I would say this round was a tie between both dishes. This course was paired with City of Gold – milagro reposado, cardmaro, St Germain, lemon.
Spicy chicken taco with avocado and relish
For our fourth course we selected the:
- Alahambres – hangar steak, chimichurri
- Mole Negro – pork ribs, sesame seeds
In comparing which dish was better in this round, the pork ribs definitely won. The tender meat slid off the bone with ease and tasted absolutely delicious with the sesame seeds and sauce. The hangar steak portions were extremely generous but perhaps this was the downfall of the dish. The hangar steak was served in a manner that almost made it look like three pieces of sushi/tuna sashimi on the plate with Chef Mike’s famous pizza sauce drizzled around it. The hangar steak was well cooked – I’d estimate they made it to be medium rare as it had a good dark sear on the outside with a reddish center. However, it just seemed the meat cubes were just a tad too large so it did take a little bit of chewing effort to polish off each piece of meat, even when cut into smaller manageable pieces.
Mole Negro - pork ribs, sesame seeds
The accompanying drink for the fourth course, Malverde, was comprised of sombra mezcal, cucumber, cilantro, agave, hellfire bitters. The drink definitely tasted cucumber-ry. Not being people that typically have such drinks, the drinks just tasted different. Perhaps it was due to the bitters in the drink that made it seem odd to the taste buds? The drink also seemed like an odd combination with the dishes in this course.
For our fifth course, aka dessert, we got to have both the Flan and Mexican Chocolate Pudding. The flan had canella and orange and was served with pickled mangoes, while the Mexican Chocolate Pudding was served with mezcal crema. Both desserts were good. The flan had a unique flavor profile, probably due to the canella. As such, the chocolate pudding edged out the flan in this round for me. Dessert was paired with a Sparkling Cocktail – el jimador blanco, prickly pear, and sparkling wine – a nice finish to a great meal.
Flan with canella and orange
At the end of the our evening, we didn’t see Chef Mike Isabella in the dining area chatting with folks like we had seen earlier in the evening so we asked somebody about it and instead we got to head down to the kitchen on the third floor to chit chat with Chef Mike Isabella for a bit.
Meet and greet with Chef Mike Isabella
What was our damage at the end of the night? Well, the tab came out and our sum was $0! Technically, that’s not quite true as I had been paid $119 apiece when I had purchased our tickets from LivingSocial. Was it worth it? Definitely! We ate and drank extremely well and we got to meet Chef Mike Isabella. Not only that but during dinner my wife and I both felt like we were on Top Chef during restaurant wars. The only thing missing from our popup restaurant experience was a feedback card! Thanks LivingSocial for a wonderful experience and I look forward to enjoying more such evenings in the future!
Overall, we had a wonderful dinner experience. If our preview is indicative of the dining experience at Bandolero, Bandolero will no doubt be a big hit. I don’t know what the final prices for the various courses will be, but the portion sizes were generous and if that carries over, I don’t see anybody complaining about Bandolero not being a good bang for the buck, or leaving hungry/thirsty! I must admit that I’m typically not the biggest fan of tequila but all of the drinks were good. I particularly enjoyed the Michelada and would definitely recommend that to start off your Bandolero experience. If I do make it to Bandolero after it opens, I’ll probably be trying the other dishes that I didn’t get to try but if I were going to have some of the dishes again, I would go for the sopes, mahi mahi, spicy chicken, mole negro, finishing it off with the Mexican chocolate pudding.
Below is a more comprehensive photo documentary of our experience:
Foodie Forays 