To be sure!
I return with a dispatch from last nightâs DineLA menu.
Our first visit to this restaurant full stop. Open, Broadway-facing dining room with a light wood interior.
Dine LA menu: Whole table participation, $68pp. These are full-portion servings meant to share. Typical dinner order was recommended at 2-3 plates per person. Trying to square the math on QPR but maybe Iâll do it later ( or not).
You can also add from a la carte from the main menu to your Dine LA prix fixe, which we did.
Cocktail Round 1: Sour, White Negroni
People are not exaggerating when they say the cocktails here are something else. Wow! The sour was fluffy and creamy but also silken and pretty boozy. White Negroni was very floral and reminded me of a tea I have a dim memory of drinking in a Chinese restaurant.
First: Salanova Lettuce, woodear mushroom, black vinegar, horesradish
Yeah very dope salad. This one made me slap my head for not having thought of it before â crunchy/chewy woodear texture is perfect for a greens salad. Dressing was an emulsion that Iâll definitely chase in my own kitchen.
*Girlfriend is anti-frissee, but has audited this reflection and approves of my evaluation, her distaste notwithstanding.
Second: Sichuan Sweetbreads (a la carte); golden beet juice, K & K Ranch golden raisins
Very glad we decided to order a la carte, though it did push the bill up and up (duh!). Lightly battered but very crunchy, the golden raisins and the beet juice were very clever. Reading to me Taiwanese a bit; more distantly, the pickled radish that comes with Korean fried chicken.
Server said this wonât be on the menu much longer, likely, since the prices of sweet breads have risen. For the same portion, she said, they would have to charge twice the amount. The chef is trying to source domestically, but not looking good.
**Third: Tofu Dumplings, artichokes, shiitake, haricot vert ¡ [EDIT] Corn Congee, vadouvan, hazelnuts, pork belly **
Yeah! Girlfriend described this as a soft and forgiving matzoh ball made from finely ground meal. I would agree; this was a top choice between us last night. Straightforward savory broth but the artichokes and diced haricot verts reminded me of the zha cai my mom throws in at-home noodle soups, a little crunchy vegetal lift to something savory and deep. For me a must-order at your first visit.
Edit 7/26 - forgot the corn congee!
This felt like a Chinese-American kidâs fever dream or something, like all of their favorite things incorporated into the dish that could contain it. Sweet hazelnuts running into rich pork belly, which plays off of the corn and the savory brothy base. Canât speak for how this was before, but this was definitely a success.
Cocktails 2: Kingston Negroni
@mzonelli mentioned this in his post above. Would have to agree. Super boozy, medicinal, sweet, and delicious. You canât taste baijiu but itâs in here and I bet itâs just for the booze factor.
Fourth (a la carte): Duck Sausage, tofu skin, onion brodo
People this is the ticket! I legit had something like this for lunch actually (pork & shepherdâs purse meatball in tofu skin) but this duck sausage was something else. Soft and delicate and savory and light and ceaselessly satisfying. My favorite of the night, and my girlfriendâs second-place choice.
Fifth: Short rib, braised daikon, black pepper jus ¡ duck fat rice
The rice hype is real, people. How could it not be? Despite the pool of duck fat at the bottom of the bowl, this did not mush nor obscure the quality of the short grain rice. Excellent accompaniment with the last duck sausage and the short rib.
Unfortunately, the short rib was a bit of a let down. It needed like two or three more hours. We expended some great effort to portion this out with the spoon edge. But the flavors were all there, but my next visit, I will order a different main.
Sixth: Almond Jelly, dried hawthorn (?), nectarine, osmanthus syrup, finishing salt
Wow⌠I am not a dessert person, but this one was impressive on both technical and emotional levels. I love that this dessert is like celebrating all textures Chinese households love, chewy, bouncy, jelly, dull-crunchy, but speaking to both western & Chinese palettes with the sweetness level through the osmanthus. The finishing salt also was a welcome reprieve from the sweet-forward flavors.
This one was really nostalgic for me because I was not the greatest eater as a kid but inhaled so many bowls of almond jelly at the ends of big Chinese family get togethers. Hawthorn chips reminded me of all the hawthorn coins I ate from cheap plastic sleeves purchased from the 99. Oof. This dessert ruled. My girlfriendâs favorite!
Some Miscellany
- Alfonso, the runner, was incredible. Attentive and swift and very kind!
- We got a plate change around three or four. Iâm keeping tallies on this for the rest of the year I think.
- Table next to us were a bit anxious to get their plates changed.
- It gets loud in there. I think on the OpenTable feedback Iâm going to leave a note about that and inquire about whether or not theyâre getting some acoustic baffling in the ceiling. Easy to do and I donât think it would be distracting nor detracting from the decor.
- I didnât park in the nearest lot so canât speak for validation. I parked on the side street the way down from Pho 87.
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Your girlfriend is smart. Frisee is like eating crunchy grass. Itâs gross.
Food and drinks all look great. We have a dinner scheduled next month for Majordomo but might switch it up.
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Third.
And my wife @LouisianaMouth is Fourth. She hates it.
I supposes itâs the French that have foisted this on the world via the frisee salad where is is only made somewhat edible by being beaten into submission by the bacon and egg. And even there most of it remains lying in the bowl.
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Great report. Really want to go back.
TY
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Dang im like Switzerland on this one! Absolutely no opinion on frissee as such
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Fantastic!
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Frisee ratings:
Flavor: 3/10 (nothing memorable)
Texture: 6/10 (unique the way it tickles your tongue)
Appearance: 7/10 (nice curls; if only it had more color)
Overall: 5/10 (not my favorite, but it beats romaine)
Frisee: Threat or menace?
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Add Lardons, a poached egg, croutons and a sherry mustard vinaigrette and Iâm all in!
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But all that would still be better for me in a butter lettuce salad.
ProTips: Whole Foods sells a Savory Bacon in their meat counter which makes excellent Lardons. Grocery Outlet consistently has fresh local butter lettuce for the best price and recently their eggs were less than $4.
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how was the corn congee?
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For me itâs the slight bitterness and texture of the frisee that add contrast and make that salad!
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Add some hotaru ika to that delicious frisee, drizzle the whole concoction generously with synthesized truffle oil, and serve that as dessert. This constitutes the eighth level of hell for CiaoBobâŚ
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Damn I forgot to add that one! Editing now.
Iâm glad to know thereâs a fellow Grocery Outlet hunter here
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Frisee is great in a proper salade lyonnaise. Not an easy thing to find outside France.
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Sang Yoon (fatherâs office) ran one as a special back when he still had one restaurant. Boy was it good
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Haha, as I was reading this I thought, Donât forget a truffle product - he loves that.
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Incredible meal last night at Firstborn. Some bag on the Dinela week, but the DLA menu was a great example of what chef is producing. The food really shines like no other Chinese Iâve had. In fact, itâs a stretch to even call this a Chinese restaurant. The food could easily fit in any high end concept. The congee and the short rib were some of the best bites weâve had this year. Highly recommended.
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Seeing almond tofu makes me miss a certain restaurant 
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