Vin Folk - Hermosa Beach

review forthcoming?

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https://www.vin-folk.com/menu

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Been trying to find a time to go food looks great

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Def need to make it out there. Kevin and Katya are monsters in the kitchen and good people.

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very good to excellent. salad with lap xuong and chili confit duck leg was the surprise highlight of the night. other highlights, funky dry aged ribeye, intense crab risotto, and perfecty executed puff pastry mussel tart.

review forthcoming @SithLord?

beets & radish, hoja santa, brown butter & yogurt

headcheese toast - pork head cheese, hokkaido milk bread, sauerkraut & sliced american

rye focaccia, chicken liver mousse

pritto - fried jidori chicken, zucchini & fennel pollen togarashi

mussels tart - puff pastry, fennel & whelk cream escabeche

yellowtail, fried shallot oil, ikra, aleppo & capers

jowl & mackerel, mackerel tonnato, assorted pickles & potato

beef tongue, hrenovina & tatsoi

chili crab - arborio rice, dungeness crab & egg

garganelli, shrimp, sauce nantuan, market veg & olives

30 day dry aged steak, nathan’s Al

chopped salad - winter lettuces & tubers, “nicoise”, lap xuong & black bean dressing, chili duck confit leg

orange creamsicle

gascon style flan, passionfruit caramel, yuzu sabayon

koko crunch, chocolate 6 ways

sans royal - hawthorn berries, buttercream, walnuts & cashews

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Damn looks delish will need to go!

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Damn those are creative dishes.

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stir crazy is the wine bar she’s shitting on

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Which is crazy, as it’s quite solid. I feel like most of the reviews I’ve read from her have all had some lace of vitriol for other establishments, and much is too focused on what she considers a “good” price point. Stoked vin folk is getting the accolade they deserve, but this writing sucks

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I like both vin folk and stir crazy. Stir crazy is definitely becoming more of a restaurant and less wine bar with snacks. Vin Folk strikes me as a restaurant with a great wine list.

Both have a place in my heart.

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Following up stopped into vin tonight and had a stellar meal. A spring pea chawanmushi made me forget how tired of chawanmushi I am. Delightful.

The head cheese toasts are stupidly good. Beef tongue amazing too.

White chocolate elderflower soufflé dessert also killer.

I will say they shot prices up a ton since last time but I ain’t mad

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A world-class very good dinner this past weekend at Vin Folk. They have been on my shortlist ever since I saw some of the early reviews. Their new listing on the Michelin guide I think is well earned.

Service is top notch, all of the staff was exceptionally friendly and attentive. I felt like everyone was looking out for us as if we were dining at their house. We had a bit of a slow start since we had to wait after our reservation time around ~35 min before seated for our table. But I felt they deserved some grace on Mother’s Day weekend Saturday, I understand you can’t always predict what tables will do.

Highlights for me - chicken liver mousse, lap cheong salad beef tongue, grilled dorade, and then the chocolate dessert. I think approaching as a tasting menu and trying an array of dishes is the move, combined with their glass pairings made for an exemplary evening. Somm was very friendly and killed it on the wine pairings and options. Some very interesting tastes from Uruguay and other locales. and shared they would get some good news this week.

Headcheese toasts - almost like an open face patty melt

Chicken liver mousse and jam - fire

Lap Cheong salad - probably the most interesting restaurant salad I’ve had in a long time

Beef tongue - the level of complexity in the beef tongue is contrasted perfectly with the tomato hrenovina condiment. An all-star dish.

Chili crab risotto with egg foam - very good flavors

Grilled dorade

Gascon- style Flan with passion fruit and lemon sabayon - the egg and density were a bit much for my taste here, prefer lighter but the sauces were exceptional

Koko crunch - whatever is going on here just works. Insanely delicious, plus a little milk on the side to cut through the heaviness. Feels like they concocted chocolate crack.

Definitely worth hitting up if you haven’t already.

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Dinner last night. Great little spot. Sort of bittersweet it isn’t closer to my home: I’d go all the time (goodbye, savings), but it’d probably be impossible to score a table and the prices would be 15% higher.

We had a reservation for the heated patio, but opted to sit inside. At 7:15, there were only a few other diners in the house.

Taiwanese popcorn chicken-inspired “pritto” alongside rye focaccia and roasted red pepper “ndjua” (which was entirely vegan). I would go back any day for a chalice of fried chicken & zucch (gluten free) and a glass of sparkling albariño.

Forgive the state of my plate, I was torn between being very hungry, and wanting to document.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the beets and radish with hoja santa and yogurt. I really liked that dish a lot. It reminded me of something you’d get at Destroyer. And when I mentioned that to our chef/server, they replied that most of the kitchen staff came out of Vespertine or Destroyer.

A kid at the next table said the yellow tail was their favorite dish, and we had to try it. It was good. I feel like I’ve OD’d on crudo; I’m down to appease a 12 year-old, but I would not get it again.

Chili crab risotto. Tasty. Interesting. Would get it again

Half chicken with black eyed pea “cassoulet.” Delightful dish for a cool night. Sort of prep that makes you think, “if I only had a stainless steel gratin dish at home, I could make this all the time!”

We also got the grilled cabbage, which I neglected to photograph due to more hunger. It was also very delicious.

They were out of the steak and the halibut, which were our first choices. But we made out well with the half chicken. Dessert was eaten before I could snap a picture. Strawberry tiramisu. Another stellar dish.

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