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Eva's fried chicken

This Tuesday, June 22, Eva Restaurant is offering an all-you-can-eat-and-drink deal with Eureka North County pilsner and fried chicken for $25 per person. Actually, the special is being marketed as all-you-can-drink beer with “free” fried chicken, but we all know nothing is free. In any case, Eva’s fried chicken is pretty darn good, which I’ve said before, so this should be a great way to experience it. And it’s the only food that will be offered on this night, so hopefully you like it! And if the night is a success, then the restaurant may continue the special deal on a weekly basis.

Eat My Blog, the charity bake sale that benefits the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, is back, bigger and better than December’s inaugural event. This time there will be more than 70 bakers, including the foodies behind the blogs Delicious Coma, Diana Takes a Bite, Eating L.A., Ravenous Couple, plus donations from local chefs, restaurants and mainstream media luminaries Evan Kleinman, Ludovic Lefevbre, Debbie Lee, Drago Centro, Valerie Confections, Starry Kitchen, LAist, Los Angeles Times’ Daily Dish, L.A. Weekly’s Squid Ink, and many more. Check out Gastronomy Blog for a complete list of participants.

The event is taking place this Saturday, June 19, at the West Hollywood Tender Greens from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Look out for noms such as Nutella blondies, carrot cake cookie sandwiches, browned butter brown sugar cookies, matcha mocha bundts with red bean filling, ube cupcakes and much more (complete menu here). There will also be The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf beverages to help wash it all down. The best part? Every is priced between $1 and $4 and all proceeds go to charity.

First & Hope, the gorgeous supper club in the not-so-gorgeous strip mall at the corner of 1st and Hope streets (clever, huh?) in downtown Los Angeles, certainly has lots of style. From the mood-changing lighting in the sleek dining room to the servers outfitted by “Mad Men” assistant costume designer Allison Leach, the restaurant screams class. I just wish the food spoke as loudly to me — in a good way.

I had visited First & Hope once before during its preview night when the atmosphere was close to mayhem. It was very crowded, and while the servers did their best, it was hard to get a good idea of what the food and drink should have been like.

So when presented with an invitation to have dinner at the restaurant under normal circumstances, I decided I would give the place another chance. I would have a proper meal and make a better-informed decision about First & Hope’s merits.

And I’ve made my decision: I would only come back here for one, maybe two, dishes.

You see, the menu sounds good; it reads like a food blogger’s wet dream, with foie gras, bacon and pork rinds littered all over its comfort food-centric offerings. But First & Hope leaves much to be desired in execution.

First, the cocktails. Nearly every one contains some kind of bubbly, no doubt an homage to the vintage style. I get it, but I thought the drinks were just OK, which was pretty much my summation after the preview party, too. I had an Elle for Leather, made with Famous Grouse scotch, vanilla syrup, “a touch of effervescence” and garnished with a vanilla pod. It smelled amazing due to the vanilla pod but tasted light on the scotch.

Elle for Leather. There's a blue tint because of the mood lighting.

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Hello, ladies! Courtesy of Balblair.

Balblair, a Highland single malt scotch whisky, recently held its U.S. launch at the Edison in downtown Los Angeles. I attended the party, along with Tara of When Tara Met Blog, Fiona of Gourmet Pigs, Esther of e*starLA and others, where we sipped on Balblair 1991 and 1997 accompanied by small bites such as bruschetta and chocolates, which went surprisingly well with the scotch. I preferred the 1991, which was smoother than the 1997, which was spicier.

What sets Balblair apart from other scotches I’ve tasted, including Macallan, Highland Park and Dalmore (check out Thirsty in L.A.‘s very thorough post on the Dalmore tasting at the Varnish), is the use of vintages, i.e., years, in naming, just like wines do. Most scotches use the number of years the liquor has been aged in their naming conventions. Balblair’s bottle design is also very contemporary, something you don’t necessarily expect from a scotch. Considering how many times I’ve heard that scotch isn’t just for old men anymore, it’s refreshing to see a company actually reflect that in its packaging.

Courtesy of Balblair

Balblair isn’t cheap, either — the 1991 retails for $129.99 per bottle, and the 1997 goes for $64.99. Wow. Balblair isn’t messing around. While I enjoyed the 1991, I don’t think I would pay $130 for a bottle of it. [Note: There are few things I would pay $130 a bottle for, mostly because I don't have that kind of cash!] Taste it for yourself and let me know how you like it: Balblair is available locally at the Edison, Checkers and Thirsty Crow.

Café Pierre, a French restaurant in Manhattan Beach, is holding its next monthly winemaker social on June 3 with Fred Brander of Brander Vineyard. Brander will be on hand to pour wines and discuss things that wine people discuss. (Can you tell I’m not a wine person?). Wines will include:

2009 Cuvee Natalie (sauvignon blanc blend)
2009 Cuvee Nicolas (sauvignon blanc/semillon)
2007 Bouchet (bordeaux-style blend)
2008 Colson Canyon Syrah

Café Pierre’s Chef Remi Lauvand will also prepare some appetizers to go along with the wine. (Read about Lauvand’s food in a previous post.) All this for the price of $20. Reservations are recommended but not required.

And if you can’t make it to this event, the winemaker socials take place the first Thursday of each month, with La Fenetre Wines on July 1.

Café Pierre
317 Manhattan Beach Blvd.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
June 3, 2010, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

I’ve been into Oaxacan Mexican food lately, so when I was invited to dinner at Guelaguetza with owner Bricia Lopez, who also owns the uber-tasty Cemitas y Clayudas Pal Cabron, I jumped at the chance. I had been to Guelaguetza once before, and mostly what I remembered was the awesome band that played that night in the restaurant. So I was glad to have someone who knew her way around the menu to guide me through dinner.

Oaxacan-style Mexican food is different from the kind of Mexican food most people are used to, i.e., tacos and burritos served with salsa and refried beans. Oaxacan food is all about the mole, that thick sauce made from chilis, bread, chocolate and all kinds of other good stuff, and Guelaguetza serves all kinds. My favorite was a lighter one made with almonds (sorry, didn’t catch the name).

There are three locations of the restaurant, the original on 8th Street in Koreatown, one on Olympic Boulevard also in K-Town and one in Lynwood. We ate at the one on Olympic, which is a large space complete with larder area up front, a fountain in the middle and two areas for live music. Your meals here start with an appetizer of tortilla chips topped with mole and queso fresco.

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The second installment of Michel Dozois’ Nights with Névé pop-up cocktail series, featuring the ice cubes of his company, Névé Luxury Ice, was held at Osteria La Buca. If you’re not in-the-know, Névé makes ice cubes that are much larger than what most people are used to seeing because the greater surface area of the cube allows the ice to melt much slower, making a better and much-less-diluted drink overall. And they look cool.

There were four tasty cocktails presented this night, two from Dozois and two from Steve Livigni of La Descarga. Even though I liked Livigni’s The Eloper, made with Dimmi (an herbal and fruit flower liqueur), vodka, lemon juice, cantaloupe puree, prosecco and a prosciutto garnish, my favorites of the night were the other Livigni creation, The Silenzio Dolce, and one of Dozois’ drinks, the Italian Stallion.

The Eloper

The Silenzio Dolce is made from Zaya rum, Averna Amaro (an herbal liqueur), blood orange juice and Nocello walnut liqueur with a sugar rim and blood orange rind garnish. The drink was sweet but not overly so, making it a nice after-dinner drink. Dozois’ I Luv Lucy made with Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, whiskey, lemon juice and egg whites was another sweet drink, but egg whites aren’t really my thing (at least not in my cocktails).

The Silenzio Dolce, nearly finished

The Italian Stallion made with scotch, Carpano Antica and Cynar, Italian bitters made from 13 herbs and plants. This drink had an earthy flavor from the Cynar, which I liked a lot. I would tell you about the Osteria La Buca appetizers that were passed around, such as the squash blossom pizza, but I had a lot to drink that night and can’t remember what else we ate. Hoo-ah!

Read more about the event at Thirsty In L.A., Eating L.A., Food GPS and Caroline on Crack.

Mike & Chris scarf. From Chocosho.

Maven Collective: On Saturday, May 1, go to the final sample sale featuring Mike & Chris, b.son, Anzevino & Florence (current season!), Gram, Sneaky Steve and more. Everything will be priced from $5 to $50 with both cash and credit accepted.

Maven Collective sample sale
324 Flower St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Saturday May 1st 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

1642: This new Echo Park/HiFi (Historic Filipinotown) bar is holding a night of romance (or whatever floats your boat) with its Slow Dance on Saturday, May 1. Gypsy Tailwind and friends will be spinning soul, rock, country and folk starting at 9:00 p.m. Expect craft beers and boutique wines.

1642
1642 Temple St, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Whist at the Viceroy Santa Monica: The Viceroy’s restaurant, Whist, is introducing Savor Sundays starting this Sunday, May 2, with family-style prix fixe menus through June 20. This Sunday’s menu features butter lettuce wedges; buttermilk fried chicken with bacon cheddar biscuits, collard greens, grits, mashed potatoes and market slaw; and pecan pie with whisky caramel and vanilla ice cream.

1819 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90401
$27/per adult, $12/per child under 12
Sundays, May 2 to June 20, 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The downtown location of Chaya, a Japanese-French brasserie mini chain, has recently launched a weekly beer garden menu available on its patio every Monday night throughout the summer. This is a once-a-week special menu offered in addition to its everyday happy hour menu, both of which are available all night from 5:00 p.m. to close. Not too shabby!

The beer garden menu features yakitori skewers ($2 each) grilled on the patio on new hibachis and include chicken, short rib, beef tongue, shrimp and shiitake mushrooms. I was recently invited by the restaurant to try the new skewers, and I liked the chicken the best, which shows mastery in grilling skills, I’d say. All the others were good, too, though the shiitake were a bit dry for my taste. Maybe top them with some of that teriyaki or chimichurri sauce that come on the other skewers?

Yakitori, from top: shrimp, beef tongue, shiitake, short rib and chicken

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Photo courtesy of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

More free stuff from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coming your way starting this Saturday! Coffee Bean has a new line of bottled coffee and tea drinks, and for the next two weeks Coffee Bean will be giving them away. From April 17 through April 23, get a free bottled cafe drink with a lunch or baked good purchase, and from April 24 through April 30, get a free bottled tea with the same such purchase (the freebies will be given out between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.). The bottled coffee drinks include Café Latte, Café Mocha and Café Vanilla, and the bottled tea drinks include Honey Rooibos, Jasmine Pearl and Peach Assam.