Chihuly Glass and Garden Exhibit

This blog has nothing to do with food but just goes to show you that sometimes there's more to life than food.On our overnight food trip to Seattle, we managed to make a reservation to see the Chihuly Glass and Garden Exhibit.

If you are not familiar with this artist, I'm sure you've at least seen his marvelous hand glass blown work on the ceiling of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.  I've included a short biography at the bottom.  There is only one word to describe his work: MAGNIFICENT. The pictures speak for themselves.

Here is a short biography on Dale Chihuly. Dale Chihuly Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade. In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art. His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including twelve honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Chihuly has created more than a dozen well-known series of works, among them, Cylinders and Baskets in the 1970s; Seaforms, Macchia, Venetians, and Persians in the 1980s; Niijima Floats and Chandeliers in the 1990s; and Fiori in the 2000s. He is also celebrated for large architectural installations. In 1986, he was honored with a solo exhibition, Dale Chihuly objets de verre, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, in Paris. In 1995, he began Chihuly Over Venice, for which he created sculptures at glass factories in Finland, Ireland, and Mexico, then installed them over the canals and piazzas of Venice. In 1999, Chihuly started an ambitious exhibition, Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem; more than 1 million visitors attended the Tower of David Museum to view his installations. In 2001, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London curated the exhibition Chihuly at the V&A. Chihuly’s lifelong fascination for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions within botanical settings. His Garden Cycle began in 2001 at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. Chihuly exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London, in 2005. Other major exhibition venues include the de Young Museum in San Francisco, in 2008; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2011; and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2013. Chihuly Garden and Glass, a long-term exhibition, opened at Seattle Center in 2012.

If you are ever in Seattle, do not miss this spectacular exhibit.

Fran's Chocolates

We all love Fran's Salted Caramels. I was not aware it is from Seattle. Sandi knew it all along then I saw it in one of the guide books.  We all got excited and made note of the address. From our lunch at SkyCity in the Space Needle and a walk through the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit, we headed back to the hotel via Fran's Chocolate. It took us a good half hour walk.

We got all excited when we walked in. The aroma of the chocolates sent us to 7th Heaven. It was like little kids in a candy store. But wait..... we were big kids going crazy in the chocolate store! There was an assortment of chocolates including fruit dipped in chocolates and truffles. We had samples but before that, we already knew what we were going to buy. We all bought the Salted Caramels. The Gray Salt Caramels are dipped in 70% dark chocolate then finished with sea salt harvested off the coast of Brittany. The Smoked Salt Caramels are dipped in 39% deep milk chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt that is lightly smoked over Welsh oak. These salted chocolates are truly the best!

We all told each other we intended not to share whatever we bought. We were like 3 greedy piggies or should I say 3 fat piggies. Fran's Chocolates are available in specialty stores and some Whole Foods Markets.

SkyCity in the Space Needle

Mertz, Sandi and I flew to Seattle on an eating adventure. The problem was we only had one night and 2 full days to absorb the Seattle flavor. Mertz wanted to treat us for lunch to the restaurant at the Space Needle. Unlike the rotating restaurant in Vancouver, this restaurant actually had good food not to mention a fantastic view.

Though the Clam Chowder looked tempting, we didn't indulge since we all decided to order the Wagyu Burger; red onion-bacon jam, tillamook cheddar, aged provolone with steak seasoned fries. The Hearts of Romaine Salad with roasted garlic vinaigrette, grana padano cheese, olive croutons and Spanish white anchovy. I am the only one that eats anchovies so we asked to have it on the side. My starvation made me forget to take a picture of the salad.

The burgers were great. Mistake number one was not agreeing to split the burger which Sandi suggested. They were humungous and messy. We didn't order any alcohol since Mertz and I had champagne at 7 a.m. on the flight coming in. We did not order dessert because we had dinner reservations so we had to be fairly hungry to appreciate the food.

Right after lunch we headed down to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibition which was incredible. We had to work our calories off so we intended to walk back to our hotel via Fran's Chocolate.

Easter at Forma

What better way to celebrate Easter than to have lunch at Forma in Santa Monica. It started with a small party of three. Terri invited Sandi and me to attend mass at St. Monica's since she was doing a reading at the 11:30 a.m. Gary, Joyce, and Gunter were also attending the same service. The most important question was where should we eat lunch after mass. Forma immediately came to my mind. I knew that Sandi and Gary were going to go along with that and I was certain that Terri, Gunter, and Joyce would not complain. It was Terri's 1st day to have alcohol since she gave it up for Lent so instead of ordering by the glass, we ordered a bottle for the 3 alcoholics (Terri, Gary and me).

The restaurant was full at 1:00 p.m.which did not surprise me. Mario, the owner was at the bar working on this Easter Sunday. I was excited for the newcomers since they were in for a treat. We, of course, had to have the Crispy Artichoke Salad which was a hit. Sandi and I had to have the Cacio e Pepe; homemade spaghetti, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil tossed in Pecorino Romano and the Tortellini; mushrooms, light cream truffle oil tossed in Bella Lodi cheese. See note below on Bella Lodi Cheese.  We ordered both to split. The others followed suit except for Joyce who had the Jidori Chicken Sandwich with avocado, mayonnaise, greens, bell peppers and goat cheese on ciabatta bread with fries. She enjoyed the sandwich and the delicious fries. She only ate half of it so she could eat the other half for dinner. The pasta dishes are all finished by placing them in the big wheels of cheese which had been previously scraped for more cheese flavor. Everyone loved their dishes. Terri couldn't get over on how delicious the pasta was.

We were all full but we intended to order dessert. Before we got the dessert menu, two desserts arrived compliments of Mario which was very nice. A Chia Vanilla Petit Pot with blueberry preserves and a Nutella Bread Pudding which was so light in had a flan consistency. In our excitement, I forgot to take pictures of them; I only managed to take a picture of the "after".  I told everyone how delicious the Banana Pecan Tart with Chocolate was and that they had to try it. So we ordered 2 Banana Pecan Tarts to share.

Easter is not just about Easter eggs and bunnies. It's about celebration, giving thanks for all our blessings and spending time with family and friends. It was nice to see Mario spending time with his family. I thank him for the extra calories he bestowed on us.

Note:
Bella Lodi Known as the Black Parmesan, Bella Lodi cheese is an exquisite Italian cheese made by only one dairy in an ancient town of South Park Adda. The cheese is matured for 18 months, during which it develops its unique texture, colour and smell. It is often associated with its characteristic black rind. This peculiar blackened rind is achieved only when the wheels are hand coated with a mixture of clay called "umber" (ochre), grape seed oil and carbon black. The coating on the rind differentiates it from various Parmesan-style cheeses as well as is a tribute to the Lodi tradition. Bella Lodi is made without preservatives or added allergens, using milk that comes from cows in the Lodi area. It is white in colour, with an intense and fragrant smell; full flavour that is not too sharp or salty. The characteristics do not change much even in summer. There is a version of Bella Lodi that is produced with "GMO-free vegetarian rennet".

Birthday Celebration at Ink

Sandi and I celebrated Konnee's birthday at Ink day before yesterday. Konnee has never been to this restaurant and we wanted this to be special for our very special friend. I asked her permission of giving me the honor of ordering the food. She was happy to do so. Both my friends are not drinkers so I was the only one that ordered a glass of Rose Contadi Castaldi Franciaorta.

I ordered numerous plates to share. We started with the Fried Calamari; masa-potato crust with a curry emulsion. The very light and crisp calamari were wonderful dipped in the curry emulsion.The next plate was the Beef Tartare; bibimbap, crispy rice in a tofu dressing. This was unlike the tartare I previously had. It was even better and I don't know how that's even possible. After mixing everything together, the three of us were just in shock and could not believe how good it was.

Another plate came; Laughing Bird Shrimp. I would love to learn how this dish got its name. The avocado was freeze dried, shrimp crackers with escabeche dressing. They were nice and cooked to perfection. The Egg Yolk Gnocchi is one of my favorites. We were in awe of how the gnocchi is cooked without cooking the egg yolk inside which bursts in your mouth as you begin to chew. These little pillows sat on a French onion broth and had tiny croutons. The Sweet Corn, also a favorite of mine was a winner, although come to think of it, all the dishes I ordered were winners. The corn was just pure deliciousness with the cotija cheese and wonderful "foritos" house-made Fritos.

I love the Salt and Charcoal Potatoes which remind me of the briquettes. You are supposed to cut them in half and add some black vinegar which they supply in little bottles with a dropper. They recommend 2 drops, I recommend more than that and then a tiny scoop of the house-made sour cream. I never get tired of this dish.  I did order a 14 oz. Rib Eye. This is a new addition to ink (steaks) so naturally, I had to try it. It came with 2 sauces and though I tried them both, I preferred it without the sauce since it had a great flavor. Both Sandi and Konnee thought the same.

It was easy to decide on the dessert. The Hazelnut was out since it had coconut which I do not like. Konnee and Sandi just wanted to share 1 dessert since they complained of being too full. I ignored that and ordered 3 desserts to share. My favorite is the Apple, crème caramel, shortbread burnt wood semifreddo. Unbelievable....different textures and flavors. The Chocolate, caramelized milk, cookie, malt ice cream was also very good and not too sweet. The third was the Strawberry, malt pavlova, lemon curd, buttermilk-elderflower ice. We all got our daily fruit allowance for the day; we like to stay healthy!

Ink is still my favorite restaurant. Service was just as impeccable. Frank, our server took good care of us. Ink has everything for everyone and if you haven't been there, you will be surprised on how Chef Michael Voltaggio gets super creative and manages to keep your taste buds on the ball. I'm glad I don't live close to ink or I would have to be eating Weight Watcher's the rest of the days. It was a nice birthday celebration. My two friends are now officially Voltaggionites!

Ink is located at 8360 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles.

Black Truffle Epicurean Butter

It says: "Finishing Butter" and it is recommended to top grilled steaks, finish risotto, eggs or dip for lobster. I bought it simply because it was a black truffle butter. I love butter and love truffles so how can I go wrong.

I did not have any French bread. We only had 2 kinds of Rye bread. I first tried toasting the bread and having it with the butter and some black currant preserves. The black currant overpowered the truffle flavor.

The following day, I decided to have a piece of toast with the black truffle butter and Gouda cheese. That was a lot better. Though it went well with my coffee, I thought it would have been a lot better with a glass of either red wine of some of my favorite La Montina Rose.

I will try and use the rest of the butter as a finishing touch on their recommendations and then some. The little tub of butter is not cheap; it was $8.99 and could be found at your local Ralph's market. I looked at the ingredients and it list: black truffle base, cream, summer truffles.

The Habit Burger Grill

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this burger joint. We have eaten there numerous times and even more often since one opened up on the hill in Rolling Hills Estates.

I think my favorite burger is the Roasted Garlic Portabella Char with roasted garlic aioli. It comes with lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, mayonnaise and melted white American cheese on a toasted bun. The picture below speaks for itself. It's just pure deliciousness. The fries are not bad either, it's a nice partner that goes hand in hand with the burger. I like to mix a little mayonnaise to my ketchup. If you haven't tried it, do so as it might surprise your taste buds. A little creaminess to tone down the acidity of the ketchup.

The Habit Burger Grill has numerous locations all over the United States.