The Steak Best Witnessed at Chi Spacca

Question I often get asked is... "steaks, where is the best?"

Seriously, I get that question all the time and automatically offered up a super blase answer of "Black Angus?".

The entrance to Chi Spacca is by entering Mozza2Go

There is one place I am proud to go and have no problem in shelling major bucks in this regards. Honestly, It's this place was the only steak I am willing to go for as I can see them up grilled close and personal on their work station in the open kitchen.

That place would be here at Chi Spacca, part of the immensely popular Mozzaplex.

If you ever been to Mozzaplex, which is like 4 places within close proximinity of each other on that Southwest corner spot of trendy Melrose Avenue and desirable Highland Avenue. This corner included the tourist trap of pizza machine of Pizzeria Mozza, fine Italian courses of Osteria Mozza, the order-to-go take out counter of Mozza2Go, and this meat-centric cozy little restaurant of Chi Spacca.

Press Play to see the origin

The thing to remember about dining in on the 3 big names restaurants above (minus the 2Go) was that it might take a good reservations ahead of time for busy weekend evenings. I often made the mistake in thinking I could just strolled in to Chi Spacca and immediately think I can be seated at one of their counter even though it was next to impossible (so said on table reservation on their website). Lessons would be learned when I was denied twice for Saturday evenings.

The catch of it was simply that I had to put down a deposit for reservation. Obviously if I no-showed or canceled too late, then the business would lose out on a bill that evening. So without hesitation, they would charged that deposit at the end of the night. It's more than a guarantee assurance for the restaurant and a hindrance for the rest of us diner who are not fully committed days ahead.

Press Play to see the final stage before plating

Once you are ready to go, You would just need to head over to the location of Mozza2Go, where Chi Spacca is jointed with the take out space/accessories store. You would noticed something out of place right away as the hostess with her stand is standing by a left side wall by the store of Mozza2Go and would greet the patrons of Chi Spacca that arrived for their reservations. The side wall with an obscure seen door handle would popped open for the diners to be seated at the tables on the other side of the wall.

Press Play to see the perfect cut of the steak

My best description out of that would be like going to a speakeasy, but for a steak or Italian dinner.

I often prepared to sit by the counter seat close to the grill as I can see the action of how the steak are prepared and how the buzzy action of the kitchen staff prepared their menu items of pasta, pizza, or steak are worked. It's an eye-popping experience that will only leaved you impressed when you get to take it all in.

Costata alla Fiorentina 42 oz (Dry Aged New York Steak)

The steak as it is was everything you wanted. The way the cook prepared with seasoning and checking the temperature on the meat when it was on the grill was immaculate. Coming out and even cutting it to be plated was beautifully done. The presentation in this was on point. In fact, throughout the night, every steak was expertly mobilized to be evenly presented when arriving to the diners.

The steak that I placed the order was a 42 ouncer of a Dry Aged New York steak. My gosh, if you see the result of this, you will be in love by staring at it. It also didn't take long for it to be devoured as well. Would have gone great with a red wine, but we wasted no time in finishing this bad boy.

Puglia Burrata (was acquired from that region from Italy, special delivery for a cheese)

My other highlight of the night was their burrata that was imported directly from Italy. My gosh, so creamy when this was popped open for the world to see. The toast was also grilled to be crispy, perfect to be a compliment to that burrata that you'll be ecstatic about.

Butterscotch Budhino

The perfect ending to this dining experience has to be their desserts. Getting anything less from a Mozza restaurant would be a shock. The butterscotch budhino was the right call on this night. Rich and decadent, a sweet contrast that settled nicely after a hearty meal.

Here's the deal about coming here was that this restaurant was prominently featured on Netflix's Chef Table as the star chef Nancy Silverton explained her love of Italian cuisine in her life. It was more of her life story, but this restaurant on the show got me because of how the steaks was prepared and showed for display on the screen. There was just no way I was missing out on this.

If I saw that episode on Netflix... just imagine on how many others might have. Not just Los Angeles, but the world. So this will be a sticker shock on the wallet and many others will be happy to replace you on the reservation.

For that question above, no doubt about where to go for that best steak.

Chi Spacca
6610 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

LA's Most Underrated Fine Dining Spot @ Simon LA (Mid-City)

Another edition of a dining review that took place during DineLA week where we found ourselves in a predicament that had never seemed to happen before.

We actually have to beg people to come to this restaurant.

My man Gastronomnom was working hard on the twitter and Facebook outlets to see if we can find a person to fill in the last spot in our table. In a bit of surprise, for the last two weeks leading up to reservation date, no one has decided to take up on the offer. Was it because people in LA are not familiar with Kerry Simon or his restaurant? Surely people must have heard of him if they know who Ludo Lefebvre is.

Kerry Simon is probably one the most unconventional of all fine dining chefs in LA. In many articles I have read, one of his most famous menu dish was the "Junk Food Platter" which consists of marshmallows, cotton candy, and other weird snacks that can substantially raise your calories count in one bite.

Chef Simon started his distinguished career by taking a job in a restaurant kitchen because he needed to raise money to buy a guitar for his first true job passion.... a music career! Often labeled as the "Rock n' Roll Chef", he fell in love with the kitchen and decided to stick with it as a career changing move he never regretted. In his impressive resume, it included an apprenticeship in the Michelin Three Stars restaurant of Jean Morels' L'hostellerie Bressane had worked along side with an upcoming culinary superstar in the '80s (you guys probably heard of a guy named Jean-Georges Vongerichten).

In an ascending career span, he was able to open up a restaurant in Las Vegas, aptly named "Simon". Very shortly after that, Chef Simon decided to migrate to Los Angeles and helped opened up "Simon LA" in the first floor of the very posh Sofitel Hotel.

Watermelon Margarita - $14

I can't decided if this place was going to be a loud club lounge settings as they have very chic bar right in front of the restaurant. Before I make any judgments, a Midwest couple coming out of the restaurant in their very casual tourist looked out of their elements, but did seemed to enjoy themselves. Probably hitting back to their hotel room to write to everyone back home on how they met a few celebrities in the dining room. (kidding, none were spotted that night)

The dining room was elegant and was very dim lighted for a very soothing romantic atmosphere. I guess I was expecting a lounge type restaurant that seemed to be in vogue these days for many West Hollywood restaurants that get converted into dance clubs at night, but was pleasant surprised on how very mature the setting was without giving that hint of a conversion.

Jumbo Lump Crab Salad - Avocado, Micro Greens and Grapefruit

For a New American fare, I was anticipating a steak fare for meat lover, some fish dish for seafood lover, and a vegetarian dish just round up the main course selections. I was figuring almost all of the DineLA selections played it safe to cover all three bases, but they would still need to impress to ensure for future repeat businesses from the frickle LA diners.

All three selections of the DineLA starters choices are salads. I took the Jumbo Lump Crab salad is the only one selection at the time with proteins in the salad. I really did enjoyed the salad with the avocado on the bottom of the salad providing a stark additives for the crab. It was a pleasing cleansers before the main dishes to come.

I took the initiative of ordering a watermelon margarita. Somewhat sweet, but a solid drink that goes well with this interpretation of Chef Simon's crab salad. Cocktail drinks in the menu was worth exploring for future visits.

Grilled Skirt Steak - Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables

Much to my amazement, the grilled skirt steak I have ordered is probably the best steak so far in my DineLA experience. The medium rare selection was cooked to perfection as it was able to retain the juiciness and flavor with the texture of the steak not dried out when it was served. Balsamic root vegetables added some nice compliment and worked very well with the steak.

The steak was so good, it would be insulting to add A-1 steak sauce at this moment. It then got me thinking, if the steaks were cooked properly and seasoned correctly...would A-1 steak sauce be out of business? At this moment, who still uses that sauce anyways?

Cheesecake with Cotton Candy

One of the more bold and daring creations that Chef Simon has been marketed was for his desserts. I took a shot at the cheesecake only because it had the cotton candy. Yeah seriously, that was my only reason for ordering that dish. To my profound astonishment and going against rational that I had, I truly enjoyed the cheesecake. It looked like a half scoop of ice cream on top of the cookie, but it's really crust with a very rich cheesecake. Gastronomnom ordered the same dessert and was excited to find out it's cheesecake and not some random cream of cheese.

The cotton candy didn't do any harm to the dish or enrich the plate, which I think was only added for the show. Nothing more, nothing less.

Underrated and in many ways still uncharted for many of the LA diners. I think if the place got passes the initial press of their bizarre desserts and let their main dishes stand out, they probably can attracted serious foodies and casual restaurant patrons to dine here more than just the special occasions. The glamorous setting is a huge plus and the great service we have for the night definitely make our dining experience that night much better.

A return trip for other dishes in the future will be in the books. Definitely one of the most pleasant surprise in this go-around of the DineLA.

Simon LA
8555 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 358-3979

Grade:

The Place That Housed Beer Lovers @ Animal (Los Angeles)

A month ago, one of my friend Linden confided in me that his two new favorite restaurants of the year were LudoBites and Animal. He and his lovely fiance, Amy had invited a group of us to LudoBites and showed us around on what to order at one his new favorite place of the year. It was a fantastic meal that night as we ordered almost everything in the menu.

Given that the success of that meal from LudoBites was an excellent choice by Linden, I was more than curious about his other choice for the favorite "new place" of the year where he had mentioned about the decadent foie gras that was served here and the pork belly that was to die for.

It doesn't take me very long for my head to come up with a bright idea to visit Animal very soon. It comes very naturally I guess to suggest that I would like to visit this place to see if it fulfill the same satisfaction as I had at LudoBites.

CasinaVel Del Prete (Barbera d' Asti - 2007 Piedmont) - $47

The much ballyhooed and acclaimed chef duo of Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo known as the "Two Dudes" because of their TV show on the Food Network, which they have shown their audiences to defy conventional cooking as they have ushered in new ways of cooking for traditional American cuisine. Discussions about categorizing their food as New American would be still be too conventional for them as they continue to push the envelope on re-inventing the old classic dishes.

In many ways, the Two Dudes reminds me of the "Too Hot Tamales" of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. Just like the Tamales, the duo of Shook and Dotolo worked in the same restaurant before traveling to a new city together. In fact, the funniest similarity is that Shook and Dotolo both became TV personalities at Food Network on a show called "Two Dudes Catering". Just like the Tamales were able to do early on in their career was to reach to vast audience in define a niche for themselves and expose the type of food they want to cook.

The show worked out very well for the Dudes as it gives them both a chance to exert their personalities in their cooking without the retread of boring conventional cooking methods. It's an entertainment for the television broadcast, but does the unconventional cooking methods worked in the kitchen?

Throughout the night, I would get to see how the free spirited chefs with no boundaries and have many times on their show proclaimed "they play by their own rules" would leave their indelible mark in their cooking. In some way, it works. While other times, it left me wondering.

One of my friend Holly from The Michelin Project and her good friend Kat's 9 Lives had invited a few of their friends from the OC and various Yelpers to complete this dining extravaganza. We had a dining companion who was very well versed in ordering wines for our tables because the selections of wine was very limited in the menu. That was one beef I had with this place because the few wine bottles we had ordered doesn't seemed to fit with the courses we had (which the wines were suggested by the staff) .

In matter of fact, one of the beer our dining companion chose was much better suited than the two wines we had ordered for majority of the dishes.

Foie Gras, Biscuit, Maple Sausage Gravy - $22

Pig Ear, Chili, Lime, Fried Egg - $10

One of the dish that was agreed upon unanimously before we even looked at the menu was the pig ear. I think everyone was giddy because they thought it would be soft and tender like a liver. The ear was cut like a shredded strips and was topped with a fried egg. The playful look soon gave way to the chili and lime that accompanied the pig ear made it more spicy. The new hot taste was exciting and added an unexpected element to this exotic dish.

The big hoopla of the night was the very first dish that came out: Foie Gras with maple sausage gravy on top of the biscuit. The Foie Gras was cooked just about right where it delicately place on top of biscuit where it can be easily cut as it was very tender and would melt instantly right in your mouth.

Once you take a bite of the foie gras, the flavor just exploded right into your taste buds. The maple sausage gravy was something I couldn't stopped eating as well. It's not quite mushy like an average puree, but was very creamy with delicious bold flavor. The sausage is part of the supporting cast of the maple flavored gravy. Both worked with the biscuit, as all the components comes together for the foie gras.

Pork Belly, Kimchi, Peanuts, Chili Soy, Scallion - $12

One of the more inventive dish of the night was the kimchee pork belly. The pork belly was an absolute delicious succulent piece of heaven you want to repeatedly eat all night long. Their interpretation of of adding kimchee salad reminds me of an abstract Ceveche salad with pork belly replacing the hot shrimps as the components.

This is one of the dish that I thought the Two Dudes was able to redefine and made it one of their own. It was very unique in the fact they incorporated a Korean dish onto their menu and remade the pork belly dish as a fine example of anything goes with it.

Holus Bolus (syrah) 2007, Santa Ynez Valley - $50

Barbecue Pork Belly Sandwiches, Slaw - $10 each

Two other things that goes well with pork belly, the second wine we have ordered and the cold slaw. Finally, the wine have worked with a dish. We ordered a syrah (Holus Bolus) which has a nice robust flavor in the wine that compliment very well the pork belly sandwich we have just ordered. The cold slaw replaced the lettuce as the pork belly sandwich became Animal's version of a mini slider.

Fine interpretation of a classic burger? Perhaps. $10 for each slider? That was the reason it gave me some pause.

Sweetbreads, Creamed Spinach, Capers, Hen of the Woods - $12

Quail Fry, Girts, Chard, Slab Bacon, Maple Jus - $28

Balsamic Pork Ribs, Herb Butter - $37

Succotash (goes with the pork ribs)

Flat Iron, Artichoke hash, Truffle Parmesan Fondue - $25

The main courses are for most part the big attraction in wanting to fill up the tank while emptying your wallet. Their Balsmic Pork Ribs are excellent and very tender where the meat just fell off the bone. Well prepared and seasoned, it was one of the big surprise of the night. For $37, it was also the one dish that we were watching our budget. To go splurging without a discern taste, yes it would be worth it. Value for the price? To make that call, let's see if any pork ribs would cost that much in real life and judge it from there against other ribs. (To be honest, I had better ribs that was for half of the price for the same size of slab of ribs).

Two of the more challenging dishes were the sweetbreads and the quail leg. Let me get to the positive first about the quail leg, I thought that was the best main course of the night. Probably slight edge over the balsamic pork ribs. I thought it was very well breaded and very juicy in the meat that for a few second you would forget to swirl it around the maple jus. You probably don't need it as it can be a standalone dish without too many other components in that plate.

Unfortunately, it can't be said for the sweetbreads and the flat iron. From the look of the photos above, both dishes were surrounded and ganged up by supporting elements that was probably needed to cut down by two to three ingredients. The sweetbread isn't a main course, but might as well be enjoyed as such. It had a mushroom of Hen of the Woods (pretty much known as "Maitake" mushroom) where it got lost in the plate as other garnishes were all over the plate.

The flat iron suffered a worse fate, the truffle parmesian fondue overwhelm the smell and flavor of the steak. Its taste totally got lost where I'm not sure which component of that dish was suppose to be the main one, even though the flat iron was the first item listed in the dish.

For most part, a lot of these garnishes or ingredients could have worked. In all confessions, I did like the sweetbreads and quail legs by itself. If it is needed to add other components, it's still would be fantastic dishes. Forced upon to eat it with the said garnishes and ingredients, many of our dining mates wound up scrapping it off and leave it on the side. Eventually, maybe we can dipped it in the sauce or eat it separately.

Panna Cotta, Saba - $7

Bacon Chocolate Crunch Bar, S&P Anglaise - $7

Tres Leches, Dulce de Leche - $7

Brown Butter Berry Tart, Whipped Creme Friache - $7

The deserts are probably on par with some of my favorite restaurants, but would not be in the same class as some others (Melisse, Providence) that can end the night on high note. Yes, I could definitely say that Panna Cotta and Tres Leches were interesting desserts, but lack the high expectancy of the tartness we usually come to expect from these two popular desserts.

My favorite desert (and the most ignored in our table. *sigh*) was the bacon chocolate. I was in love with the bacon as it had a bit of the salt. It tasted very delicious with the chocolate bar and with the crunchy bar dipped in that Anglaise cream is an absolute delight. The Bacon Chocolate bar is probably the only thing that prevent me from disregarding the entire deserts lineup.

I do think their style of cooking would be greeted by the masses that are looking for something unconventional, but yet tasted so delicious. In retrospect, I did think most, if not all of their dishes were well thought out and were fantastically delightful when the place reaches the table. Presentation of the garnish on certain dishes can cut back a little to showcase the main proteins on the dishes.

If they can figured out on how to get more wines that matches with their dishes, they make a killing in this place with alcohol. Beer selections that include IPA is on hand. Seriously, no joke on this one, the beer worked wonders that night with so many of the dish which I have to say the selection of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen is the best. One more thing, Mexican Coke is served here.

When they start serving Mexican Pepsi, I'll surely be back in an instant.

Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-9225

Grade:

Once In a Lifetime Steak Dining @ The Cut (Beverly Hills)

Restaurant is in the Four Season Wilshire Hotel

Last Month, I sent out a S.O.S. distress signal in wanting to dine at the steakhouse of the other Wolfgang. Mr. Zwenier's Wolfgang Steakhouse on Canon Dr. wasn't that bad as the decor and ambiance of the place was stellar, but the food did not quite live up to the beautiful standard of the place.

Immediately my bat signal was able to reach to Burumun of Gourmet Pigs, Kevin from kevinEats, and Tangbro1 of Only Eat What Feed Your Soul. With some nifty date searching, I was able to get a 6pm dining reservation on a Saturday. Too bad that the daylight savings didn't start until the following day as we did not get too much natural lighting in a dimly lit room. This restaurant is very practical for a place to impress your clients or a natural place for a romantic dinner. Either way you'll score major points for taking your most important person to this much buzzed restaurant, which gather One Star from the popular Michelin Guide.

Our service was excellent throughout the night. They were at our table at the precise moment when we needed them, but yet not too overbearing as they give you a room to breath. Our server for the night was a lovely young lady who was fantastic for the handling of our table, even at to face of four tourists busting out their cameras (kidding guys!). There was another server assisting in our table that had a slight resemblance to Adrian Grenier of TV's "Entourage". He was a total dead ringer to the young TV star and the young man even admits that he gets mistaken for Vincent Chase.

Before anything comes out, our server brings a tray of various types of meat for display of demonstration. She was showing us the difference in the cut for Sirloin, Filet Mignon, Rib Eye, and Bone In steaks. It was fascinating to see the inside of the meat and at the same time I was just salivating by looking it.

We were also quickly served with our choice from their baked pantry for starters while we get to take in the atmosphere before we wait for our meal to begin.

Five different selections of pantry bread

Our first dish to come out of the kitchen was the Kobe Steak Sashimi with Spicy Radishes. I felt this dish had a nice spicy flavor to it without overwhelming the rare beef. It was beautifully presented and I think it was good start to our meal.

Kobe Steak Sashimi with Spicy Radishes ($22)

The next four dishes required a little bit of imagination as I was awestruck by the how beautifully the plates were laid out. Luckily, I'm not jaded yet as I don't see too often on how wonderful a dish can look, but taste delicious at the same time.

In the past, I did described on how I love the blue fin toro at Hama Sushi. It was beautifully cut with the fat maintaining its beautiful appearance and flavor signified by its wonderful streak. Even though my photo does injustice as the low lighting started to kick in big time (as they dimmed down the light even more), I felt lost by blue fin toro at this place. I think the blue fin toro at a sushi place that is handled by the right sushi chef can display the fatty part of fish with its original intent. The other components in this tartare dish destroyed what I liked about the raw fish. The ginger was overwhelming, but nonetheless I thought it's still a very composed dish. I got the impression my table mates liked this blue fin toro dish much more than I did.

The Prime Sirloin tartare did played wonderfully on the satire of a steak and egg. As we stirred the aioli on the ground beef tartare, I was briefly trying to imagine a dish of spam coming right out of the can. Thankfully, it tasted nothing like the fake product as the flavor was fresh and the small amount of quail egg provided more tangy texture to the beef. Wonderfully played on the presentation of this dish.

#1 Grade Blue Fin "Toro" Tartare, Wasabi Aioli, Ginger, Togarashi Crisps, Tosa Soy ($32)

Prime Sirloin Tartare with Herb Aioli & Mustard ($22)

The next two starters will complete our appetizers before our meal. The Warm Veal Tongue was my favorite of the night for the starters. I appreciate the complexity of the tongue mixed in with other flavor profiles such as sweet and tangy. Obviously playing fusion and while maintaining the tenderness, I was satisfy in that the sauces didn't masked the taste of the veal tongue. I was looking at this dish with so many things going on the plate, luckily the tongue still stood out.

The maple glazed pork belly was an odd choice for me because the name already sounded as if this dish still needed sweetness. In fact, I was right, it was too sweet. This dish badly needed to be more tender and slow cooked more like the short beef ribs we're about to be served. Best part of the night, we had a champagne of 2002 Jose Dhondt Champagne Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Mes Vieilles Vignes, which set us back about $122. The champagne ran out about now, but I was able to save it and wash down the pork belly and the blue fin toro tartare with no regrets.

Warm Veal Tongue with Marinated Artichokes, Cannellini Beans, and "Salsa Verde ($17)

Maple Glazed Pork Belly with Asian Spices, Watercress, Sesame-Orange Dressing, Rhubarb Compote ($16)

The two non-prime steak dishes were the 8-hour slow cooked Short Beef Ribs and the Tuna steak were a hit in my eyes. The chef took the liberty of evenly distribute the main courses into 6 pieces for each of us. Very thrilled about that so that we can get evenly cut meat and presented with no fuss.

The tuna steak I thought it was nicely cooked. In the menu, it stated that it qualify as a sashimi quality, which explains the rare feature on the inside. I felt mellow about the short ribs, but it all changes with the sweet pea puree surrounding the beef along with a touch of garam masala (mixture of spices) that gave it a hot, but not quite spicy taste. I felt a little pepper on the hotness as worked pretty well into dish.

8 Hrs Slow cooked Kobe Beef Short Ribs "Indian Spiced" w/ Curry Sweet Pea Puree, Garam Masala (R) - $39
Sashimi Quality Big Eye Tuna Steak (L) - $42

The moment of the night came when our steaks have arrived. We decided to take all four versions of the medium rare New York Sirloin steaks in the menu. There was a tasting sampler listed, but Kevin advised against it as he calculated based on his last visit that the value is not worth it with that order. The fact that we have six people gave us a chance to order variety of items and also drive down the per cost in the steak dishes. The four dishes of steak we ordered was a much better saving and value than if we had ordered the steak sampler.

(From R to L) Dry Aged 35 Days, Bone In, American Wagyu, & Japanese Wagyu

Let me preface before we start on the steak, I love all four steaks we have that night. The New York Sirloin is part of the many names for the cut of top loin steak. Think of it like a porterhouse steak that has being stripped of choice portion of the tenderloin. Because of the balance in flavor and tenderness, the top loin can be very expensive of a cut.

My two favorite cut of the night were Bone-In New York Sirloin and the 35 Days Dry Aged New York Sirloin. Throw in a little controversy, those two were the least expensive than the wagyu beef. Was there's a big bruhah? Let's break it down:

All of the steak were grilled over hard wood & charcoal before finished in a 1200 degree broiler. The bone-in steak was fantastic with the bone in to add in more flavor than without a bone. One of my dining mate asked me why I thought a cheaper priced steak like bone-in was better. Most people don't realized that bone-in steak or chicken tends to be cheaper and taste better with the bone kept in tact. Plus it aged well at 21 days than without. The Illinois corn-fed bone in steak was probably my 2nd favorite of the night.

U.S.D.A. Prime, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days - Bone In New York Sirloin (20 oz - $56) *1/6

The 35 Days Dry Aged Steak was my favorite of the night. Out of the four cuts, it was the most rich and distinguished flavor out of the bunch. As the picture showed below against the bone-in steak, it has some marble patterns. Not quite as much as the wagyu obviously, but a distinguished feel that separated from its Midwest counterpart. The dry aged sirloin melted in my mouth with its juicy medium rare meat. No way of describing it as it hit the height of ecstasy in my mouth.

U.S.D.A Prime Nebraska Corn Fed, Dry Aged 35 Days (top) - New York Sirloin (14 oz $59) *1/6

We are now heading towards the Wagyu territory and it really become the testament on whether or not wagyu at its price was worth it. Keep in mind of all the stories you might have heard of the cow being fed with beer and beer mush while being massaged with sake. This type of beef is often refer to as the "foie gois beef". It's often the most expensive steak to purchase and it's not easily cooked as many have tried to imported and cook it themselves at home. Failure will be theme of that story.

I do think both of the meat comes off very gamey. As you can see the texture of the meat, both of them are incredibly marbled and very high amount in unsaturated fat. The American "Kobe Style" which uses similar method as their Japanese counterpart. Because of the fact it's not raised in Kobe Japan, it's not considered a Kobe beef.

True Japanese 100% Wagyu Beef from Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
New York Sirloin (6 oz $120) *1/6

The Japanese Wagyu was the 100% real McCoy as it was very fatty. The rich aroma gave off a strong smell, while the steak may had been known for its marbling appearance, it's often times very gave out a dull color (compare it to the bone-in steak on the top picture). The juiciness and the strong rich flavor was very evident. For some, it's an acquire taste and I can see a lot of doggy bag taking the Wagyu beef home in that fancy "The Cut bag" I have noticed popping in every table that has the Wagyu beef.

The American version of Wagyu is not as rich or bold in flavor like their Japanese counterpart. Even though it's not my favorite, I still enjoyed the subtle tone of its rich flavor profile, but it lack the juiciness I thought it would had. Some of our dining mates thought this was the best, so it can be the sheer difference in the cut as I missed my luck.

American Wagyu/Angus "Kobe Style" Beef from Snake River Farms, Idaho
New York Sirloin (8 oz $75) *1/6

Seeing on how overall we enjoyed our meal, we tempted our faith in desserts as at this point I was getting full. Since we all wanted to share the desserts, we decided to cut in half and go ahead to order three desserts. Our Vince Chase look-alike server made an educated guess that we all wanted the Soufflé and crumble. Somehow someone in our table thought we should get the "donuts". For $14, that better be an orgasmic donuts.

Brooke Cherry Toasted Almond Crumble, Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream ($14)

It was a sweet surprise to see how much I enjoyed all three of the desserts, especially the crumble. With Ice cream mixing with the cherry toasted almond crumble, it was a delightful dessert. As in for the donut? Somebody mentioned it was better than French Laundry. I'm going to keep that in mind and skipped that when I decided to make my visit to Yountville.

Warm Brioche Doughnuts, Huckleberry Compote, Butter Pecan Ice Cream ($14)

For the souffle? Someone need to tell Notorious P.I.G. to mix in the ice cream first before crumbling the souffle. I might need to revoke her dessert credentials before she destroyed another dessert.

Just kidding!

Dark Chocolate Soufflé, Whipped Crème Fraîche, Gianduja Ice Cream ($14)

Overall, we were treated to a very good service and a very excellent courses. Not all of them were a hit, but was a winner in my book. Two wines, six starters, six main courses, and three desserts added up to a grand total of $185 for each foodie. Definitely not cheap and more of a luxury. I can safely say that I'll never look at Ruth Chris's or Outback the same way again.

I'll definitely will be back there soon. However, only for that real special occasion!

The Cut
9500 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310) 276-8500

Grade: