Saam @ The Bazaar....

Saam is the private dining room located at The Bazaar in Beverly Hills. They are open three days out of the week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) offering a 21 Course Tasting Menu to an exclusive 10 Tables lucky enough to get a reservation. Felix Meana (Service Manager ) of The Bazaar has worked with Ferran Adria at El Bulli for 5 years in Spain and has worked very hard to mimic a lot the service standards taken from Adria's training. We all know Jose Andres and Ferran are great friends who have worked side by side for a little while which adds to the success of this restaurant. I read a lot of reviews and hyped this place up for a year now. Now, I finally got the opportunity to eat here and all the rants and raves are very true. The food and service is phenomenal. Playful, elegant, modern, and tasty are 4 of the many words that can explain what The Bazaar is. Try it for yourself and experience the culinary journey of 22 courses and interactive dining.

Dragon's Breath Popcorn...(Praline of Popcorn dipped in liquid nitrogen and placed directly in the mouth.)

Look what I got in the mail...FINALLY

Its been a long effort to get the thermal circulator...before we called it a luxurious accessory and now its a kitchen necessity...lets begin. Adios to ghetto sous vide...

Burger Bar by Hubert Keller

Nice Concept and good quality burgers. I tried the 60 dollar Rossini Burger on the menu ...Kobe Burger, Foie Gras, Perigord Black Truffles, Madeira Sauce, Fleur de sel, Fresh Cracked Pepper, Delicious....

The "Surf n' Turf"...Lobster, Kobe beef, Portobello Mushrooms, and asparagus

Its humorous to me that I spent a hundred dollars for 2 people at a burger joint but this burgerjoint was worth it. Next on the burger list....Bradley Ogden's and Daniel Boulud's

Journey at Joel Robuchon Las Vegas....

mini wheat baguette, bacon bread, gruyere brioche

Le Caviar en infusion de corail anisée, en surprise

Osetra Caviar, coral gelee on a fennel cream served as a surprise

Les Palourdescuites au gros sel dans un beurre iodé, escortées d'une dentelle de sarrasin

Clams, roasted in seaweed butter and caviar, buck wheat tuile.

Le King Crab en duo d'avocat dans un cœur de romaine relevé à l'huile d'olive coraillée

King crab, avocado in a heart of romaine and olive oil with coral.

Beautiful bread cart...more then 20 different types of breads to choose from all done in house

La Châtaigneet le foie gras dans un fin velouté soyeux sur un voile virtuel de lard fumé

Delicate Chestnut velouté with foie gras, smoked lardons foam

La Langousteen transparence de daikon et nori, nage coralline aux oursins

Spiny lobster with daikon and nori, sea urchin "a la nage"

La Solecuite au beurre salé, petites capucines et matsutakés

Sole, cooked in salted butter, capers and roasted matsutakes

Le Canard et foie gras aux fruits d'Automne verjutés, zestes de pamplemousse confits et poivre noir écrasé torréfié.

Duck and seared foie gras with sweet and sour fall fruits, grapefruit zest and cracked black pepper .

Le Bœuf noix d'entrecôte émincée, épinards au wasabi et légumes arlequins

Beef ribeye, wasabi spinach and a medley of bell peppers

Cheese Trolley

Tableside Caramel Ice Cream

Tableside Raspberry Sorbet

Migardneses

This weekend I ate at Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas, the only three star michelen rated restaurant in Las Vegas. Service thoughout the entire dinner was absolutely insane. The attention to detail and knowledge from the front of the house staff was mind blowing. I did not expect any less from Joel Robuchon. The Food was executed very well to say the least. Simple, modern, and refined. That is all you can ask for in a great dining experience.

Moet Champagne Sushi Dinner

Seared Salmon Nigiri, Crispy rice, Soy Smoked Almonds, Avocado, Orange Yuzu

Hokkaido Scallop Sashimi, hearts of palm, myoga, yamamomo peach jus

Snapper Carpaccio with Olive Oil, Kinome, Sea Urchin, Caviar

Rare Wagyu Beef Tataki Inspired Lakalinau "Roll", Wasabi Pepper Sauce, Truffled Sprouts, Sesame Puree

Interesting....

http://cookingissues.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/fish-anesthesiologists/

Modern Cooking Techniques: Don't get it twisted

A lot of people either hate or love "modern cooking techniques," "molecular gastronomy," "food science" or whatever you want to call it. People dislike it because so many try to experiment with these techniques without any foundation of classic cooking. Classical french, Asian, Spanish, European, or any food style or race is the base of everything. Your grandma's, mom's, and dad's cooking is the "base" for our future culinary world. If you cannot cook and have zero knowledge of our culinary fathers and mothers, what is the point of adding kelcogel, transglutinamese, and liquid nitrogen to your food? It sure does not make the dish taste any better. Guaranteed. You do not just add an air or foam because of appearance or trend. You add a foam to balance a dish or add another dimension to your food. People need to understand this. To me, Molecular gastronomy is the process of taking classic techniques and totally transforming it to stimulate every sense of a human being. It is the modification of textures, aromas, and basically makes eating food fun again. The process of taking you on a journey from childhood and adulthood through food cannot be expressed with words.

I love cooking and respect my upbringing. Thank you to all of my mentors, you know who you are. I have so much respect for Escoffier and the long line of french chefs. Bocuse, Robuchon, Ducasse, T Keller, H Keller....to many to name...

Bottom line....for the youngin's, including myself....grab a foundation..."You'll never be a Grant Achatz unless you've worked for a Thomas Keller."- Bauti