Back in January, my friends and I went through a frantic scramble to get tickets to Coachella (weekend 1). Shortly after, I decided I was going to make a pit stop in LA for a food adventure enroute to Indio. I did extensive research on where to eat, as due to scheduling, I only had one meal (dinner) in LA and I couldn't mess that up. Oh, the pressure. I finally decided on Orsa & Winston, a new restaurant opened by Chef Josef Centeno. He also owns Baco Mercat and Bar Ama. Baco Mercat also had a food truck in the VIP section of Coachella!
Bar Ama is down the street from Orsa & Winston, and we stopped in there for a quick drink while waiting for our table.
I had no idea what was in store, but I was very excited. We decided to go with the five course tasting menu and wine pairing. It was bliss!
A la carte options were also available, and we decided to order the bone marrow and the fresh cheese cavatelli alfredo with black truffle butter.
The scene at the restaurant - I like the open kitchen and the light fixtures!
As an amuse bouche, we were served fennel panna cotta, with blood orange granita and asparagus. Panna cotta is usually something I see at dessert, so it was unique to have it served as a savory dish.
Our first real course, the "crudo" was ocean trout. Given that I grew up near Seattle, the type of fish I normally eat is salmon. This ocean trout was just as mouthwatering and melt in your mouth as any of the best salmon I've ever had!
Our next course was a "surprise course", a mushroom custard
We saw fried bone marrow on the a la carte menu, and it sounded too good to pass up!
We were now at our second course, though it felt like it was our eighth course at this point because we had gotten so much food! The soup course was spring pea mostact, pickeled grape, lobster.
The "grain" course consisted of geoduck (a PNW classic!), scallop, uni with sticky rice. I'm starting to realize that I'm not as huge a fan of uni as I thought I was.
Hand torn pasta with black truffle shavings
Our last pasta course was the a la carte cavatelli with duck confit. Also amazing cold, the next day.
As we got to dessert, we were completely stuffed. Our last course was a strawberry "shortcake" and it was a great closer to our meal.
Verdict: I really enjoyed our courses, especially the pasta dishes. Recommended!
Orsa & Winston
122 W. 4th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(212) 687-0300
Old Town Coffee Company
Raina loved this spot last year when she was in Indio, so she brought us here this year for breakfast. It is located in La Quinta in a cute shopping complex, and on Sundays, there is a farmers market right next door!
At Old Town, the cinnamon rolls are fantastic, the cinnamon was wafting out and had just the right amount of spice.
My sister and I also ordered a breakfast bagel sandwich on an everything bagel. I'm starting to see the redeeming qualities of everything bagels, I used to swear by sesame. Everything bagels are great bagels to make sandwiches with!
Yes, I bet the egg was microwaved along with the cheese, but it really hit the spot.
Old Town Coffee Company
78100 Main Street, Ste 102
La Quinta, CA
(760) 564-5233
In-n-Out
But of course, there was In-n-Out. I don't have any photos of that because we basically savagely inhaled any shred of In-n-Out that came our way.
Guess what? I'll be going back to LA in June, and I've booked a spot at Alma! I'm hoping to stop at In-N-Out as soon as I land, hopefully I can stop a few seconds and take a photo of the usual animal style burger with fries and chocolate shake.
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