2009-10-29-dinela-restaurant-week-2009-rundown.txt

title: "dineLA Restaurant Week 2009 Rundown"
author: Chris
date: 2009/10/29
slug: dinela-restaurant-week-2009-rundown
categories: Food
keywords: dineLA, Food

<a href="/images/img_1062.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-77" title="Korean Short Ribs at Wolfgang Puck's &quot;Red Seven&quot;" src="/images/img_1062.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a>

Yum.

Any excuse to try new food experiences is a good excuse.  dineLA's "<a href="http://discoverlosangeles.com/play/dining/restaurantweek/participating_restaurants.html" target="_blank">Restaurant Week</a>" just wrapped up (ok, maybe not "just":  it wrapped up almost 2 weeks ago, but I <em>just</em> had a baby boy, so this post was delayed going to press) and I loved it.  Many restaurants in LA participate, which means they offer a prix fixe menu consisting of one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert.  I would have preferred two entrees and no dessert, as I think many participants scale back the portion of their entree for this offering.  So you don't get stuffed, but it's generally tasty.

Let me share the establishments that I visited during this event, along with pictures.  I won't be doing much post-game analysis, but wanted to share some food porn.

First I went to dinner at "Gordon Ramsay" at The London hotel in West Hollywood.  I later found out that Ramsay sold the restaurant and is no longer affiliated; maybe you should change the name then?  My selections here were pan roasted scallops, Pacific black cod, and a chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream.  One line summary:  Everything was tasty, but uninspired.

Next up, I went to Wolfgang Puck's "Red Seven" in the Pacific Design Center; conveniently and not coincidentally, this is the building in which I work.  I'd been to Red Seven before (due to convenience) and had found it to be a solid lunch spot to grab something tasty and slightly overpriced.  My expectations weren't not very high, but I was pleasantly surpised by the creativity of the dishes.  I ordered an heirloom tomato salad, Korean short rib with kimchi sauce, and a mango custard with candied cashews, raspberries, and pineapple.  All dishes were tasty and I feel that I received a good value (although I could have used bigger portions, natch).

The last restaurant I'll mention is Jer-ne in Marina Del Rey.  Situated inside a Ritz Carlton along a road I often drive, my wife and I had been wanting to try Jer-ne for a while, and now we had the chance.  First impression:  underwhelming; severely underwhelming.  The staff was more interested in chatting amongst themselves than finding us a table, and our waiter seemed clueless about the menu, not to mention that he exuded an air of "Joe Budweiser":  not the elegant help you'd expect from a fine restaurant.  Anyway, the food:  I ordered a butternut squash soup that was pretty good; the highlight here was the freshly torched cedar that really convinced all of my senses that it was autumn and this was an autumn dish (nice touch!).  My wife started off with some mexican shrimp that were big and delicious.  Filet mignon all around for the entrees, and they were small but tasty.  Finally, dessert:  My wife ordered a deconstructed peanut butter and jelly dish that looked as nice as some innovative sushi rolls I've seen; it was tasty too!  I ordered pumpkin creme brulee, and it didn't dissappoint.  One other note-worthy comment:  I ordered a drink that contained Patron Silver and muddled berries, but when it came out, it was basically Patron on the rocks with a few decorative berries.  If I was up for partying at the time, I would have been grateful, but to call this a cocktail from the bartender's menu is a generous title indeed.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisandkellypics/tags/dinela/" target="_blank">See my flickr highlight photos</a> of some of the dishes mentioned above.

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