Le Grand Fooding Crush:
Paris – Los Angeles

We attended on Friday, April 26 and enjoyed the VIP section’s complementary flower and rosemary head wreaths (the closest we’ll ever get to Coachella) before digging in.

First we had Nancy Silverton’s (Mozza, LA) grilled beef tagliata with rucola & parmigiano drizzled with aged balsamico. The bite of the parmigiano with the chew of the beef was the second most decadent thing we tasted (the winner being the dessert that we’ll get to later).

After grabbing a flute of champagne from the gorgeous Veuve Clicquot bar, we ventured out of the VIP area and over to Roy Choi’s Kogi food truck to try the kogi classic short rib taco (remix). That taco just may have been our favorite of the night and we were sad when had finished our plate.

But there was plenty more to munch on elsewhere. We moved on to the pulled lamb sliders from Gregory Marchand (Frenchie, Paris). It was a fun take on the slider: lamb on the half bun with a soft goat cheese spread.

Next was something that didn’t look too exciting, but was so surprisingly delicious. Inaki Aizpitarte’s (Le Chateaubriand, Paris) fresh beans with herbs and brown butter reminded us to never judge a book – or a dish – by its cover again. We also realized if you cover something with enough brown butter we’ll gobble it up and beg for seconds every time. Aizpitarte’s beans were the best beans we’ve ever had.

The amberjack ceviche of lime, cara cara, watercress, and rice cracker from Josef Centeno (Baco Mercat, LA) was a light and fresh counterpoint to the bean butter bowl we’re still drooling over. And Jean-François Piège’s (Restaurant Jean-François Piège) drinkable pizza with tomatoes, anchovies, oregano, and cheese bread worked well as a spicy reimagining of “un amour de fromage.”

As we sipped the last of our Veuve Clicquot, we turned our attention to a dessert of chocolate cake with sweet cream filling and sea salted caramel on top. It was everything. But it meant our gluttonous evening had come to an end. Until next time, Le Fooding.