Monday July 26, 2010

I spent the better part of the day at Starbucks across the street from Christian’s apartment borrowing their free wi-fi because the Verizon signal sucked in his place. He ran errands, I edited pictures, updated the blog and made some more travel plans and set up some meetings for August. I went and took a quick nap (still feel like shit) and got ready for our 8:15 dinner reservation at a place I have been trying to get to called Animal. It’s one of the hot spots in LA right now that all of the LA chefs eat at. It’s a minimalist place owned by two guys named Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, Food and Wine magazine’s Best New Chef 2009. It’s situated in the old Jewish district of LA and supposedly they cannot advertise that their food is kosher for competitive reasons, but I can assure you since half of the things on the menu are made of that magical creature called pig, this will not be an issue. The place has very little decor, simple tables and chairs, nothing fancy on the tables and only seats 45 people. Getting a reservation isn’t that difficult with some planning during weeknights, but don’t be late (your table is given away within 15 minutes) and whatever you do, don’t ask to modify a dish…they put right on the menu that “changes and modifications politely declined.” The bar has 7 first come/ first serve seats so if you are in the area without a reservation, look for a small black front (nothing says “Animal”) and stop in and see if you can indulge in some amazingly delicious meaty creations…

We started with the crispy pig ears, covered in chili lime sauce and topped with a fried egg. (Oh, PS I got all of my cholesterol, thyroid and kidney tests back! I am all clear to eat like I want again! yay!) The pig ears were sliced thinly and yummy but the chili lime was overpowering to me…but that’s because I am a huge wimp when it comes to spicy foods. Christian loved it and devoured the whole thing.

Melted petit basque  baked with sliced chorizo and served with bread. The crispy edges of the cheese were simply to die for. (I literally woke up this morning thinking about it.)

Pig tails, “buffalo style” with celery and ranch dressing. I am not a huge fan of buffalo anything (again the spice factor) but I wanted to see how they did pig tails. They use every inch of the animal and I am always curious to try new things. I enjoyed them, but they don’t hold a candle to Hooters. HA. I KEED I KEED.

Barbecued pork belly sandwiches with cole slaw. I was starting to get really full so I just tasted a bite of it. It was an interesting  presentation of pork belly (like “comfort food”) smothered in bbq sauce on a buttery toasted bun. I didn’t even really taste the coleslaw which I normally hate. I would go back on an empty stomach and order these again first.

Rabbit loin, country ham, olive and upland cress. It was a bit salty for me but still really well done. Christian wasn’t going to try it but I talked him into a bite…it was a lot like pork. People, do not be afraid of rabbit. It’s yummy.

Flat iron steak, asparagus hash, and (drum roll please) truffle parmesan fondue. I also managed to talk him into ordering it medium rare instead of medium…changing one steak eater at a time! The truffle parmesan fondue sauce was enough to make me lick the plate, unfortunately it was his dish and I can barely get him to share one bite with me, let alone move the plate to my side of the table at any time during the meal.

Nectarine & mulberry pie with whipped cream… again, his dish so I barely got one sample of it …but it was amazing!

Bacon chocolate crunch bar with salt and pepper English cream glaze. I loved it, of course, but it was so rich I could barely eat half of it. I actually put some of the whipped cream from the pie on it to cut the richness of it. I know the chef would be pissed but it was good. Bacon and chocolate is definitely an acquired taste, so if you haven’t tried it yet, give it a shot. You might hate it, but then again you might love the burst of salt in the mouthful of sweet. So good.

We shared a bottle of Prosecco and Christian was literally buzzed off his ass. The restaurant manager at one point had to come over to tell us that they had run out of one of our dishes (poutine with oxtail gravy…so bummed I missed that) and he began harassing her about the poutine while flirting. It was funny for the first 5 minutes but then I had to tell him that she was busy and he needed to leave her alone and not bug her every time she walked by. I also had to tell her that we were not a couple and that she should not worry that we were trying to get her to come home with us, and that she should feel free to actually go out with him should he end up asking her out. Poor Ashley. I switched to wine and Drunky McDrunkerson had another glass of Prosecco before we finished our meals. At 6′5″/ 240+ pounds it’s always amazing to see him get loaded after a small amount of liquor.

He wouldn’t let me pay (although I didn’t try very hard) and we had a great night of Tweeting during dinner and ignoring each other because we were both tired, focused on the food and approaching getting sick of each other. We went back home to play with the strange and unusual animals he has. That is another entry altogether!