My friend recently decided to up and go to Vancouver, Canada to start a new job and a new life. He said he would spend his first weekend exploring as much of the city as possible, so I made him a mix of songs for getting ready to go out or just wandering around deep in thought.
The last time I went to LudoBites was 4.0 at Gram & Papa's. So, I'd say it's been awhile. HC (look for his play-by-play account on his Tumblr) and I originally planned to do a walk-in Friday night in the hopes of getting a table; fortunately, Fiona saved the day by offering us 2 of the 4 spots she just won.
Ludo was sick, so he wasn't his usual high-energy self, but the food still looked great. Thanks to the good lighting and my new iPhone 4S, some of my food pictures actually turned out pretty decent. I'm constantly surprised by the quality of pictures from cell phones these days.
Chicken Tandoori Crackling - the couple next to us (yes, they were a chatty bunch) were not fans of this dish. The liver mousse didn't taste too organy, but the chicken skin had a somewhat plasticky flavor to it
Sweet Shrimp, Miso Cream, Beans, Smoked Salmon
Monterey Squid, Burned Squid Dashi, Potato, Squid Ink, Ash - I'm not a huge fan of squid. Eaten altogether, I found the squid swallowed the rest of the flavors. Apart from the squid, the elements were good individually and together
Big Eye Tuna, Tahitian Vanilla, Somen, 7 Flavor Vinaigrette - the vinaigrette was great, but I wouldn't have noticed the vanilla if it hadn't been mentioned on the menu
John Dory, Squash, Spelt, Fennel, Tonka Beans - felt like the healthiest of all our dishes
Veal, Black Olive Tapenade Crust, Orange Carmelized Endive, Clementine Beurre Blanc - as much as I love olives, I found it made the veal a bit too salty for my taste, but the meat was tender
Brown Butter Almond Cake, Apples, Salted Caramel, Orange Creamsicle - HC seemed a bit disappointed that this wasn't actually a cake, but I did enjoy the almond crunch
Favorites:
Lobster Salad, Yuzu, Honey - loved the yuzu sauce in solid form. All the ingredients worked well together
Uni Crème Brûlée, Coffee - definitely the table's favorite. I could eat two of these by myself. This would be a good introduction to uni for a first-timer...as long as they also like salmon roe...and coffee foam
Foie Gras, Tamarin, Turnips, Daikon - HC warned me too late about the broth and I almost choked on the acidity upon my first sip. Fortunately, nibbling on the foie gras made the soup much more appealing. I adored the noodlelike daikon strips
Monkfish Liver, Cucumber, Cornichons, Mustard Seeds - you could hardly tell it was liver and I loved the pickled veggies
Lemon Meringue, Poppy Seed Crumble, Extra Virgin Olive Oil - despite the light looks of the creams, they were surprisingly heavy and made for an interesting take on the lemon meringue pie
Although Wing and I are both fans of the show Portlandia, she has written the following review for this show since she is more familiar with Carrie Brownstein's musical background.
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Portlandia, the IFC comedy show that gently pokes fun at the
eccentricity of the Pacific Northwest region (and hipster culture in
general), went on a national live tour in the past few months to help
promote the current second season. Tickets for the original LA show
were sold out, but we were lucky that they decided to add an extra
show on 1/16. The seating layout at the Echoplex was a little strange
that night, but it all was forgotten as hosts Fred Armisen (SNL) and
Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag) took the stage.
The show consisted of a whole lot of randoms: random bantering,
random music performances, random Q&A, and random guests. It was
clearly geared towards fans of the series with many in-jokes and video
clips sprinkled throughout the evening. Telekinesis' Michael Lerner and
Wild Flag's Rebecca Cole showed up as the backup band for Fred and Carrie on songs such as "The Dream of the 90s" and "Sunday Morning." Being
a huge fan of Sleater-Kinney, and having seen Carrie perform live with
Wild Flag, I must say, that it was a little weird at first to watch her
delivering jokes on stage instead of rocking out. She finally let loose
her signature windmill guitar moves during their last musical
performance, "Manic Monday."
All in all, it was an entertaining and extremely chill night. For
those of you who are all caught up on Portlandia and are craving for
more of the duo's randomness, go check out Thunderant,
which is kind of the early incarnation of Portlandia. Some of the
show's popular recurring sketches (i.e. Feminist Bookstore) were quite
possibly originated there. What are you waiting for?
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Fred and Carrie played to the audience the night of our show and joked
about it being better than the 1/17 show (our show is technically
supposed to the 2nd show since it was added later), but I guess it was
true. Can't believe how snarky the next night's audience was, according to LAWeekly. And I
liked the groupie couple. I thought they were really sweet.
The witty banter between Fred and Carrie was so effortless, it almost seemed rehearsed, but I knew it couldn't be since they were still doing it during the Q&A.
I'm not the biggest Sleater-Kinney fan, but seeing Carrie play that night actually got me into Wild Flag, who I am now excited to see at the upcoming Coachella.
I leave you with a clip they played during the live show (which seems to be coming true with the hipsters in LA):
More on their 2nd LA show: Photos from Losanjealous Review from Hollywood Reporter
