So I got rez’s to LQ’s pop up this weekend. He’s doing his infamous seafood tower/cheese cart.
Has anybody done the seafood tower @ VWB? How big is this damn thing? I calculated it out and the tier 2 is (A LOT) cheaper than buying the tier 1 + assorted a la carte items, but it also seems like it’s too damn big for 2 people?
So if I were to get just the tier 1, what are some “must have” supplements?
@Ns1, I haven’t had it yet, but a friend of mine eats there all the time, saying that the Tier 2 is ideal for 3 people, but if you all are hungry perhaps you can tackle it? 
It’s more cost efficient to buy the tier 2, even if we don’t finish it; but i would feel terrible wasting such good seafood.
The langostines, king crab, and abalone already make up the $45 difference. It’s crazy.
I am so sad I’m going to miss this. When I’ve looked at the menu before I thought the tier 2 pricing was a typo…
Tier 2 is the most cost efficient. It’s good for 2 hungry people.
It used to be $30 less. It was so cheap you can’t help but feel bad because you know he is losing money.
The current pricing is still a bargain. One of the best deals in town and one of the few places you can get langoustines.
Get the spot prawns if they have any. The fried head is insanely good.
wtf, how did I never hear about this? This sounds like an AMAZING deal. Any chance I can still nab a ressie?
uh, i just called Vertical Wine Bistro and they told me they are no longer affiliated with chef LQ and that there’s no event happening this weekend.
Is this taking place somewhere else?
This event is happening @ Sangers & Joe
http://www.icontact-archive.com/PX0U1-9kSYMuL64iLIWFk458tF4JPHWH?w=3
There’s a 50/50 chance I may cancel due to other commitments, so if that happens I’ll report back to this board to see if anyone wants it (12/14 is all booked up)
13th is wide open. I would go 13th anyways to get the fresher seafood and less a chance of stuff running out.
thanks for the heads up; means if I gotta cancel the 14th I can still get my hands on this seafood.
Just booked for the 14th!! There was also a 5:30pm and 8:30pm available.
somebody beat me to the punch.
It’s a crazy good tower. Chef Laurent can get a bit obsessive, and that’s a great thing for us diners. Them prawns…
I’m really excited. Thinking it’s going to go really well with a bottle of bubbly.
Anyone else planning to be there?
so how was it @tailbacku ? I ended up on a business trip to SF and couldn’t make it.
dear mother of god:
ha! where did you get these pics from? That’s my wife in the background on the first pic.
Mini review:
When I saw the menu at the restaurant, I noticed that it wasn’t the same menu as what was posted online. You can see in the pic below compared to the menu that was posted earlier in this thread that many things are missing or the quantities got shrunk. Most notably the kiwa oysters being removed and the number of spot prawns getting reduced.
That was disappointing but I took it in stride and still wanted to enjoy my meal. We went with tier 2 and when the tower came out, I noticed that a lot of items were missing (no gamba shrimps, only one langoustine, etc). I asked them what the deal was and they said that they ran out of those items and substituted half a lobster instead. Couple issues with this. If you’re out of certain items, maybe let the customer know in advance instead of just taking the liberty to swap it out with something else. Secondly, if you’re going to swap, make it a somewhat even trade. They left out ~$60 in food and substituted a half lobster which was $18. Hardly fair. So Chef LQ came out, apologized, saying how demand was higher than he expected and for us to just enjoy dinner and he’ll make it right.
Dinner wasn’t off to a good start but we tried to enjoy the food anyways. In terns of the actual food…I wanted to like this meal more than I actually did. Something about just eating cold shellfish as your entire meal is somewhat unsatisfying. After a while, I wanted something warm to eat. The oysters were great although they weren’t completely shucked, meaning the oyster was still stuck to the shell. Made eating a bit more difficult. The live uni was terrible. The dungenness crab was awesome and very meaty. Lobster seemed a bit overcooked as it was rubbery. The bouquet shrimp was good but i was really disappointed about the lack of gambas.
The chef comped us his cheese cart which was nice. If you’ve never had LQ’s famous cheese cart, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Cheese was delicious as expected. Had some interesting condiments for the cheese as well.
When all was said and done, he charged us $70 instead of $110 for the seafood tower and comped us $20 worth of cheese and a glass of wine. I thought it was more than fair.
Would I go back and do this again? Probably not although I do like his food so I’ll be visiting his other pop ups in the future.
sigh, sorry to hear things did not go well. I think his tower is the most diverse (notably crevette grise whelks, bigorneaux, clams, langoustines, gambas) and closest to the Parisian version in LA. Hope he resurfaces on a more permanent basis.
Btw Vertical still has the tower listed on their site, does anyone know if its still similar to LQ’s?
ouch, sounds like a mixed bag. Guess it’s confirmed, don’t go out on valentine’s day.
