#michael cimarusti

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This week’s podcast guest is...

MICHAEL CIMARUSTI

... chef of Connie & Ted’s and Providence (L.A.’s #1 Restaurant, according to Jonathan Gold.)  We talk about Beck, his stint as a reggae DJ in college, and the Grateful Dead. He tell us about the time Rita and Ziggy Marley ate at Providence, and we argue over whether or not Miley Cyrus has ruined the Flaming Lips.  

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In Celebration of Providence Chef's Table

Since I've been a bit nostalgic in recent posts, and it's the last day of the year, I thought one more recap would appropriately tie up things for 2011. My life has been full of fine dining and amazing experience trying foods in various countries, states and cities. So many extraordinary food memories pop out, like Christmas dinner in Paris, but it was before I took food photos. The earlier experiences live on in my memory, and in some cases, travel journals. One of the tastiest, exciting and elegant meals I've had - probably 'ever' - goes back two years ago. The Chef's Table at the two-Michelin star rated, James Beard Award winning Providence in Hollywood takes the prize with flawless food and service. I took over 100 photos of that meal, which lasted over 6 hours (till past 2:00 a.m. on a Monday night!). After returning to the restaurant earlier this year, the sommelier still recognized and remembered me! I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Let me share some of the highlights of the 16-course tasting menu meal in photos.

Chef Michael Cimarusti and team

The chef's table had a view of the kitchen, with a glass partition. Chef Michael Cimarusti normally takes Mondays off in this kitchen, but to our surprise and delight, he was there that day for a special group dining (beside us...ha ha). We met and chatted earlier that year at Jonathan's Gold Union Station Speakeasy Cocktail Party, and he actually remembered that too, which impressed me even more than his stellar cooking talent and laid back demeanor.

Amuse bouche - trio of cocktails - greyhound, gin and tonic, mojito. They suggested what order to try these.

Amuse bouche - Cured Tasmanian smoked sea trout, a gruyere gougère, wasabi pea encrusted soy marshmallow and carrot soup with vadouvan whipped cream. Eaten from left to right.

Trio of breads. Bacon brioche, nori (roasted seaweed) focaccia, and white. Cold unsalted butter with coarse sea salt was served chilled along with the bread.

Tartar of Hokkaido scallop with nasturtium blossoms and grated wasabi, with crispy rice crackers.

Amberjack (kanpachi) sashimi, smoked sesame seeds, avocado, slices of summer truffle, soy crème fraîche and cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil from Provence.

I didn't take many notes during the meal, wanting to take quick photos and devour the food, but my dining companion spent about as much time writing as he did eating.

Santa Barbara sea urchin served in a farm fresh brown egg with champagne beurre blanc, fines herbes, toasted brioche bits, and American transmontanus caviar.

The warm yoke sat on the bottom of the shell. The lovely bird's nest holder elevated this gorgeous dish's presentation even further.

The movie star handsome sommelier, Drew Langley paired the wines with our courses.

We took advantage of the no corkage on Monday nights and brought multiple bottles of wine to accompany the meal.

General Manager Donato Poto, gracefully and expertly preparing the next course.

Santa Barbara spot prawns grilled over Japanese binchotan charcoal with prawn roe, rosemary, cold pressed olive oil and lemon wedges.

The prawns arrived on a rolling cart, drowning in a sea of 400 degree salt and rosemary sprigs. I absolutely love tableside dining, and it does not get any better than this.

Unagi (eel) over summer truffle carnaroli risotto, fried quail egg, eel jus, and  seaweed. The crispy barbequed eel skin really enhanced this dish.

Wild John Dory grilled over binchotan with burdock two ways, tomato confit, shiso, and lemon buerre blanc. The burdock was both fried and pickled.

At some point, Donato brought in a dish of seasonal white truffles, delicately perched on a bed of rice. The indescribable intoxicating aroma enticed us. But this item was not part of our tasting meal. We had an option to add on a course of risotto made with these truffles, but chose not to since our meal was already quite decadent.

Niman Ranch pork belly, cured 24 hours and cooked sous vide 7 hours, with carrot-orange purée, pickled ramps, mizuna, and carrot-ginger butter.

Chef Cimarusti performing finishing touches.

Wild French turbot with matsutake mushroom, rosemary, butter, and chervil. The sauce consisted of the turbot's braising liquid, sake and butter.

Saddle and tenderloin of Colorado lamb cooked sous vide and seared, cauliflower florets, tomato compote infused with vadouvan, biryani masala, chic pea panisses and fried parsley.

Our cheese course did not disappoint. Our cheese sommelier rolled in the cheese cart of well over 20 cheeses and made brilliant recommendations.

Cheese accoutrements of fresh figs, bread, walnuts and chutneys.

Among the cheeses we sampled were:

Ossau-Iraty-Brebris, a French sheep's milk cheese

Hooligan from Cato Corner Farm, a cow cheese

Sofia from Capriole Farmstead, a goat cheese

Tomme de chèvre, another goat cheese

Rogue River Blue, a cow cheese, beautifully wrapped in grape leaves.

Let me also throw in the cheese plate from another meal at Providence, containing a spoon of Époisses de Burgundy, a rather strong-smelling, funky classic cow's milk cheese. It's not for the faint of heart!

Coffee service with desserts began.

Calamansi gelée with white chocolate coconut soy milk soup and lychee-shiso sorbet.

Melon soup with blackberries, lime granita, vanilla ice cream and mint.

Banana Cream Pie. Compressed bananas with lemon fleur de sel, chantilly foam, banana bread streusel, graham cracker ice cream. This deconstructed, modern looking dish tasted of the tried and true comfort of the banana cream pie, my favorite type of pie. Perfect.

Milk chocolate-whiskey panna cotta, Bailey's ice cream, chocolate streusel and coconut raviolo.

Again, familiar flavors presented in a very modern way. The coconut milk spherification worked really well with these other creamy flavors, as did the salty sweet flavors.

Petits fours of coconut shortbread cookies, baby's breath jelly cubes, and house made caramel Tootsie Rolls. Even after four dessert courses, we were offered more house made sweets. A sweet ending to a remarkable and unforgettable meal. So much so that I felt compelled to blog about it 2 years after it happened. Even if I should never engage in fine dining again, I know I had a supreme experience. With that, let everyone's year end, and the new one begin, with similarly delightful experiences.

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Ed's Portuguese Fish Stew Recipe

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Lunch and the perfect oyster at Providence LA - Chef Michael Cimarusti

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Providence

Sometimes you cannot understand what you have not tried yourself.  A dumb girl at once told me she doesn't believe that offering smaller portions and raising the prices is a way to eat in a restaurant.

One who is of lower income means cannot assume that what is out of reach does not mean it is not worth reaching for.  Maybe if some people did not go out clubbing on weekends spending $100+ on drinks they could learn to appreciate fine dining.  Fine dining should not be a show of class but a form of appreciation for the culinary trade, to celebrate those who have achieved great skill in preparing intensely focused food and exceptional service of which the synergy creates perfect dining experience.

But enough of my social commentary on most of Beer Belly America, this was the time for my own foray into Michelin star dining.  The restaurant of subject would be none other than the amazing Providence, helmed by Michael Cimarusti.  Unfortunately the lighting was very dim inside so I was shooting at 1600 ISO (without flash) at f/1.8 which meant focusing in the dark was a pain. As you will notice the focus may be off in some pictures but as usual click them to view the larger version of them.

Originally we had plans for the 5 course tasting menu which I had mistakenly thought was priced at $65 (that was the anniversary price) but was actually $95.  In comparison the full 9 course tasting was $120 so we opted to go all out.  We begin with an amuse bouche of 4 items.  

From left to right:  Frozen mojito (like an adult icee), gel spherification of a tequila sunrise, a micro gruyere roll, shot glass of parsley soup with a parmesan foam and port wine reduction at the bottom.

It was a good start to the meal, I especially enjoyed the port wine reduction at the bottom of the shot glass which lit up my taste buds.

1st course to arrive was a kanpachi sashimi with rice crackers over creme fraiche.  The addition of lime leaves added a nice citrus element to the dish.  Rice crackers provided a good contrast in texture while the kanpachi and creme fraiche went well together resulting in a creamy mix.  I wouldn't have though of ever using creme fraiche with raw fish.

2nd Course: Santa Barbara sea urchin with champagne butter and egg topped with micro croutons.  I have to say the presentation and plating was really something for this.  Being that its served in an eggshell which rest on a metal nests on top of a real cross section of a tree.  I thoroughly enjoyed this dish as a fan of uni this had to be one of the best preparations of uni that I have ever had.  The server recommend we mix it around a bit while it was still hot to keep that creamy egg yolk from setting and becoming firm.  The micro croutons added a nice crunch to the very creamy texture of this course.  I wish I had an entire bowl of this dish to scoop up with some nice crusty bread.

3rd Course: Nancy's Scallops with dashi, buckwheat, and napa cabbage - I don't know who Nancy is but these scallops were of great quality.  Unlike the nasty STP treated ones you get at most supermarkets this scallop was firm and not overly moist and unusually very meaty in texture.  A great sear on the outside and cooked just barely under medium the other components help to bring this dish all together with a nice floral element to it.

4th Course: Wild striped bass with nori, cannellini beans, and lemon brown butter sauce - One of the weaker savory courses of the night, it wasn't bad just wasn't very impressed by the rustic nature of it.  Seemed more like a home cooked kind of dish but nonetheless it was tasty.  I did not really get any nori at all and the brown butter sauce was a bit too strong.  I like butter and all but the fish should have been the star.  The inclusion of fresh thinly sliced scallion strips on top provided a nice freshness to the otherwise butter heavy dish.

5th Course: Tasman Sea Trout with fennel, beets, blood orange - A strange dish in components I was pleasantly surprised by how it all went together.  The beets were mild in flavor and very tender yet not mushy.  The inclusion of a blood orange added some acidity.  The sea trout was cooked perfectly with that nice balance of firmness and oiliness to it.  The fennel I believe was found in the fresh dill sprigs and in the foam.  Finally the dehydrated trout skin added a nice crunch to this course as it desperately needed some texture other than tenderness.

6th Course: veal tenderloin with braised daikon disc, chanterelle mushrooms, radishes, black truffle fondue, and veal jus - main components but it all worked together well.  I enjoyed eating the chanterelles with the radish and a little bit of the tenderloin.  I liked the tenderness and perfectly cooked tenderloin but veal tends to be a very mildly flavored meat and tenderloin is the least flavorful cut.  I felt this course was designed for those who must have some meat, I would have preferred another fish course or at different cut of meat altogether.  The black truffle was a little lost to me and the daikon disc turned out to be a tad too salty. 

Cheese course: A wide variety of cheese, none of us at the table were experts so we let the fromager choose for us.  I must say he gave us a nice variety to try and there were definitely some highlights.  

Candied apples, apricots, walnuts, and figs were provided along with some slices of some sort of wheat nut bread.  In the middle was an American goat cheese and it was super creamy and my favorite of the night.

1st Dessert Course:  Lemon tarragon sorbet over a yogurt foam - A nice palate cleanser but overall it was an underwhelming desert.  The sorbet was too tart but I appreciated that the tarragon was subtle.  The yogurt foam underneath was good but it was out of place with the lemon sorbet in my opinion.  

2nd Dessert Course: Banana bread pudding, barley ice cream - This was a real dessert now, the bread pudding was everything I want in banana bread but without the carbs, this was more like a mousse/foam of banana bread.  The barely ice cream was very subtle in flavor but the toasted nuts underneath really helped that while adding texture.

Alternate Dessert Course: My dining companions opted out of the barley ice cream because they feared it to be too much barely flavor for them.  Honestly I don't know why as this alternative I found to be a little strange.  I don't quite remember exactly what it was but it was some sort of ice cream with tapioca pudding, a fruity gelee of some sort, and some sort of crumble.  I like to think I chose right.

We end the night with some mignardises, small confections to be eaten after dinner.  I wasn't too found of the chocolate marshmallow nor the fruit jelly but at least the micro macaron was a nice way to end the night.

In the end I think my case for fine dining stands.  This is not something I would eat everyday even if I had the money.  The meal alone took 3 hours but even in this economy as we see many mid casual restaurants pop up (many of which I am grateful for), fine dining has it place in our culinary world.  It is not something that can nor should be phased out because it is a place we cooks should strive to go for excellence.  That is not to say excellence cannot be achieved in a 50's style diner but in all honesty where else can we find customers who are open minded and willing to pay a lot of money for food from cooks who are willing to use the best ingredients and cook to the best of their abilities.  

I make the minimum wage but even a lowly cook like me knows how to save his money.  The case I make for fine dining can be formed into a sports analogy for those who need it.  The rich can afford court side season tickets and experience greatness everyday and most of us have to save money to watch one game and probably in a much worse seat, but it is for the experience so that we can go watch athletes perform their best in the best environment.  You can go watch a street court game for free but are you going to find players who have honed their skills for years and to play with the best?  Providence is a perfect example of excellence in this city and I know I will be back for more of this experience in the future.