60777 Thu Jun 10 15:21:25 -0700 2004 19 2 Los Angeles Area 0 321800 First let me assure all readers: no feather boas were insulted in the writing of this report. We had dinner at Bastide Saturday night with a party of five. We sat on the serene outdoor patio. Several people have commented that they found the restaurant plain but I think the décor is subtle, restrained, and very chic. Beautiful china, crystal, silver and linens. Even the silver butter cloche is Cristofle. The meal is paced slowly and deliberately to create a sense of anticipation. Service was flawless. I also received a proper fish fork and knife, which when absent at our first dinner here, created much resentment in my heart. The wine list is huge with an excellent selection of champagnes and burgundies. We drank Bruno Paillard Burt Premiere Cuvee and a 1997 Pommard, small producer escapes us. The wine list has a traditional (high) markup but it has it less expensive than some local places (L'Orangerie) and there are many less expensive options. Tasting menus only priced at $80 (Traditional Menu- 4 courses, Amuse, choice of first, choice of second, cheese tray, and dessert.), $90 (Seasonal Asparagus Menu- 5 courses), or Bastide Menu $110 (8 courses- for the table only). There is also a "Vegetable Menu" available. Amuse Buche - Shot glass with spicy tomato, cucumber, and cantaloupe gelatins with peeled tomatoes. Very refreshing with a hint of vinegar. Good palate opener although I wish it had been ever so slightly less firm. I started with a proper fish soup accented with shrimp and rouille. Lovely. I can never, ever resist a great fish soup by a classically trained French chef. Unfortunately it also provokes in me a bit of discontent and I start to dwell on how long it has been since we were in St. Tropez, why we don't ever play boule anymore, why we don't drink more pink wine on the beach, why A doesn't let you drink wine on the beach and wander around topless in a big hat. Luckily, I now know better and keep my mouth shut when I eat fish soup. This was very, very fine fish soup: briny, rich, with deep musky flavor and all of the secrets of the sea. This soup, along with a similar maybe even slightly better soup eaten last month at Le Bernardin in New York should be a warning to all chefs everywhere who persist in serving substandard fish soup. It can, and should be this good, so stop whining about not being able to find rouget and make me some good soup. I also had the filet of Dover Sole with fresh peas, pea puree, pea foam and earthy morel mushrooms. Dover sole has such a spectacular texture that it always a treat. What struck me about this dish was the clean, concentrated flavor of each element and how utterly light it was. Yes, light. In fact many of the dishes had a sauve, light quality and it is quality of the meal that seems to linger the most. A dish I would happily eat again was the roasted chicken with morels. This folks, is what chicken is meant to taste like. This was the most chickeny-chicken I have ever eaten in LA. This was similar to a Bress chicken eaten at Les Ambassadors in Paris. If I had access to chicken like this, I would cook chicken. Terrific flavor. (Mr. JudiAU would like to note that when I am not going into raptures about the perfect chicken of Bastide I will say nice things about the chicken available from Kendor Farms at the Hollywood Farmer's Market.) The menu listed this as "poularde" which is a term I am not familiar with. The chicken was bigger than a poussin and was raised in Pennsylvania. It sounds like a bastardization of moularde and poulet. Does anyone have experience with a "poularde." Foie Gras and "fancy restaurant" always seem to go together. I imagine they can't take it off the menu. Bastide's version is excellent and god bless 'em, edgy. They cook it au torchon, which in a modern kitchen seems to mean that it is vacuum packed and then poached. It produced a texture halfway between seared foie gras with its gelatinous, rich liver goodness and a terrine, with smooth and concentrated flavor. Rare, with a slight quiver, this was excellent and a highlight of the evening. I wish I had ordered it and eaten it all myself. Maximum delicousness. Also sampled: robust Maine lobster with green asparagus, and a delicate crab salad. Mr. JudiAU had poached white asparagus to start which was cooked more than we prefer. White asparagus is always cooked through but this was a bit much. We prefer the version at Spago. The cheese trolley arrived. Don't the words "cheese trolley" make you all happy and smiley inside? I ask to be served only raw milk cheeses. None. Nadda. Nothing. All pasteurized! Sacre bleu! Dear lord! Have the heavens opened and the gods decided to insult me? Nothing? I can't imagine why. At least some raw milk cheese is made in the US and/or gets imported. But he insisted. So I asked for whatever was in perfect condition. The cheese was all very good, deeply flavored, and with none of the overaging and ammonia notes that seem to crop up so frequently in French imports and certain unnamed Beverly Hills cheese stores. The standouts were a Brin d'Amour and an aged goat cheese. I also had a suspiciously good brie which demonstrated some truffly characteristics. Maybe he was lying. Melisse still wins for ultimate cheese trolly with an enthusiastic response to a request for raw milk cheese. I finished with a glass of Lemorton 1976 Calvados which had a heady, alcoholic aroma and was quite spicy, even vigorous in the mouth before a smooth finish. I have a bottle of the same vintage which I opened almost one year ago. I have been slowly drinking my way through it. The Bastide bottle had a much bigger kick than my bottle which is much mellower but with a similar smell and taste. I purchased my bottle at Caves Taillevent in Paris a few years ago. Are the differences solely attributable to the fact that my bottle has been open for a while? I am a little shaky on dessert. I doubt it has anything to do with the calvados or the barsac consumed by the rest of the table. I remember some "good chocolate thing" and that the signature Lavender vacherin with spiky meriunge was as perfect I remember. There was also "the exotic" which seemed to be a excellent version of the classic, boozy baba rum with tropical fruits. Bill: Horrendous All-time best celebrity sighting: Salman Rushdie with new wife I read yesterday in LAT that Alain Giraud is being forced out of Bastide and may be creating a more casual restaurant, which is what he has long preffered. I look forward to it. The ideas for the menu by the new chef, Ludovic Lefebvre from L'Orangerie, sound obnoxious. 8475 Melrose Place, L.A. 323-651-0426 Thu Jun 10 15:21:25 -0700 2004 0 JudiAU 1 321804 Lovely report, Judy! I was disappointed to hear that the chef from Bastide was leaving before I ever got a chance to try dinner there -- I'll guess I'll have to content myself with vicarious enjoyment through reviews such as yours. Thanks! Thu Jun 10 15:52:12 -0700 2004 321800 0 DanaB 1 321807 Wow! What a report. It seems you had a better experience than we had. This has caused us not to return but we will have to try it again once the new Chef gets settled, maybe a Chow dinner? AG's(soon to depart) cooking is good but not up to the level of other High End French Restaurants in LA. We really HATE the corkage policy(NO CORKAGE ALLOWED,we're not in Paris), god help you if you feel like a Cab. Is Donato still there? He always took great care of us at PRIMI(I still miss that place). Steven Boccho on one side and Mel Brooks on the other. DUCK CREPE! Thu Jun 10 16:04:51 -0700 2004 321800 0 russkar 2 321814 "We really HATE the corkage policy(NO CORKAGE ALLOWED,we're not in Paris), god help you if you feel like a Cab." Uhh...last time I checked they made cab in France, Bordeaux comes to mind. Geez Russkar, with your unlimited funds, it would seem that the wine list at Bastide would not pose a problem for you. Thu Jun 10 16:59:59 -0700 2004 321807 0 Grog 3 321821 CALIF CAB! Thu Jun 10 17:31:47 -0700 2004 321814 0 russkar 1 321816 Judy, great report and you certainly make Bastide sound exquisite. "I finished with a glass of Lemorton 1976 Calvados which had a heady, alcoholic aroma and was quite spicy, even vigorous in the mouth before a smooth finish. I have a bottle of the same vintage which I opened almost one year ago. I have been slowly drinking my way through it. The Bastide bottle had a much bigger kick than my bottle which is much mellower but with a similar smell and taste. I purchased my bottle at Caves Taillevent in Paris a few years ago. Are the differences solely attributable to the fact that my bottle has been open for a while?" Though I'm no expert in Calvados, I would assume that the effects of oxidation play a role in "mellowing" and "rounding" out your opened bottle. Port is susceptible to the same process. Wines that are not "fortified" certainly oxidize at a faster rate. Thanks again for your detailed account. Thu Jun 10 17:06:01 -0700 2004 321800 0 Grog 2 321822 Calvados is apple brandy from Normandy, not wine. I've noticed with Scotch that some seem to mellow and slowly fade away as they sit in an open bottle, while others become more harsh and alcoholic as they sit in the bottle. It is race between the alcohol and aromtatic organic molecules to see which will evaporate first, and it seems to depend on the particulars of the spirit and the storage. The better ones seem to mellow, presumably because the alcohol is evaporating faster than the aromatics. As for why your bottle was different than the one at the restaurant, maybe the restaurant bottle is stored in a bright location and the light is having a negative effect. Thu Jun 10 17:33:59 -0700 2004 321816 0 Bob Z. 3 321826 Bob, I never said Calvados was wine, though I can see how my comments may have eluded to that. That said, it is still, I believe susceptible to oxidation. Thu Jun 10 18:09:21 -0700 2004 321822 0 Grog 1 321819 Nice report, Judy. A poularde is "a pullet from which the ovaries have been removed to produce fattening; hence, a fat pullet." As opposed to a poule, which is just a regular hen, and a poussin, which is a pre-teen chicken. Thu Jun 10 17:23:53 -0700 2004 321800 0 Chowpatty 2 321824 Excellent. Thanks for letting me know. Thu Jun 10 17:46:59 -0700 2004 321819 0 JudiAU 1 321823 According to the LAT article yesterday, Bastide owner Joe Pytka wants cooking that "... was more 'fun' than the elegant cuisine for which the restaurant has become known." The new chef Ludovic Lefebvre wants to use Asian and Indian ingredients. He also says "I want to create new tastes. My recipes one day will be pieces of art." Later in the article we are treated to hearing his new ideas, "... beef with 'candied chocolate' and a sauteed chicken breast served with sweet caramel popcorn scented with ginger." Does one drink Petrus or Romonee Conti with caramel popcorn? Perhaps they will be augmenting the Alsatian portion of their all-French wine list... that will be served with Asian food. I think I am looking forward to the new casual place from Giraud more than the new Bastide. Thu Jun 10 17:46:24 -0700 2004 321800 0 Bob Z. 1 321830 Can we award Judy with this week's Thi award for gorgeous prose? Can we clone her mother-in-law? (Mine took us once to the Olive Garden...the only check she picked up in 14 years of marriage...) Thu Jun 10 18:37:06 -0700 2004 321800 0 Slow Foodie 2 321872 It could have been worse, she could have treated you to it twice. Thu Jun 10 22:50:34 -0700 2004 321830 0 WLA 2 321875 Hear hear on the Thi Award! Beautiful, sensuous and articulate writing...I felt like I took a long, lovely European vacation complete with a trusty friend. Thu Jun 10 23:25:18 -0700 2004 321830 0 Kishari 1 321911 a poularde is a "fat chicken" between the ages of 3-5 months. Fri Jun 11 12:10:35 -0700 2004 321800 0 Cheftoy 1 321949 Judi- Nice report. I have not yet tried Bastide. I'm a bit turned off by the no corkage, all-french winelist; and also hesitant to drop the $$. Anyhow, I don't recall Ludovic's ideas from the Times, but I will say he is an excellent chef. Personally, Alain's style (tending toward more subtle) is not the best for me. I tried a menu at L'Orangerie featuring a bunch of Ludo's creative/spice-oriented dishes. They were excellent. Funny how things become the trend ala Foie Gras Au Torchon. It's everywhere now, and done more than seared in France. I still prefer the seared with a great reduction. Hopefully Josie will get the seared Bobo Farms back on her menu! The torchon is wrapped tightly in a permeable cloth then poached. Nicholas at Little Door also does a nice version. I've also seen a lot of pea dishes/accompaniements lately. Patina, Josie, Sona all did them with a light fish. Sona has/had this pea "paste" with just incredible flavor. The Calvados mellowing is an interesting question. Since it's made from apples (and pears) there certainly isn't much tannin. Calvados is already aged for quite awhile in cask, and casks with plenty of air exposure (unlike wine) so mellows a lot by the time it is put in bottle. Evaporation of the alcohol might be a factor as the starting % is pretty harsh. Was it served at the temperature you're accustomed too. If it was at all warmer it would seem a lot more harsh. I also wonder if maybe there might have been different lots, and even bottling times. I'm not sure that an entire vintage is blended, or that the entire vintage gets bottled at the same time. Fri Jun 11 15:35:02 -0700 2004 321800 0 john gonzales 1 321988 We dined the same evening (first seating, indoors) and selected the asparagus tasting. Yes, the white aspargus were a little over cooked, but the Hollandaise was divine. The wild asparagus which topped the lobster course were too adorable, while the lobster (with sea urchin sauce) itself was not entirely as flavorful as ours at home. Could not figure out why. Very nice veal tenderloin as the entree, with someone doing too much work paring the potato and aspargus into interesting little designs. Do like the lavendar ice cream too. Have to say for $100 or so a head it seemed quite reasonable to me, particularly considering the enormous number of trained staff who do everything but give you a facial and organize your closet drawers alphabetically. Oh yes, the cheese cart was a little on the safe side (made me think of what we put together for guests who don't want anything "too cheesy". I was very sorry to read a report of Alain G. leaving. I think his restrained presentations were entirely appealing and suited to the context of this remarkably beautiful space (do you miss the old Le Restaurant too, nevertheless?). If they are to bring Arpege to Melrose Place, I don't think they can do it without importing Alain P.'s prices as well. I remember a foie grois dish (a few years ago) that by itself was over $100. I didn't recognize Salmon R. Must have been the blonde wig that fooled me. Clever man! Cheers, AZ Fri Jun 11 18:06:30 -0700 2004 321800 0 AZ 2 321999 Salman Rushdie didn't arrive until around 9:30 p.m. so you might have missed him. Fri Jun 11 19:07:43 -0700 2004 321988 0 JudiAU 1 322427 there have been two definitions given here, so I'm concurring with one - poularde is to chapon as pullet is to capon - a poularde is a lady capon. There is a very nice short essay by voltaire of a dialogue of a capon and a poularde/pullet.(1763) Tue Jun 15 18:07:45 -0700 2004 321800 0 Jerome 2 322570 Lovely reference. Thanks Jerome. Wed Jun 16 12:36:23 -0700 2004 322427 0 JudiAU