TVGasm Investigates: Brunch at Top Chef Restaurants

Watercooler

By vallegirl | Saturday, January 12, 2013 | 1:10 pm | 11 Comments
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Posted in: TVgasm Investigates, Watercooler

This amused my bouche!

Hola, Gasmiños! During this holiday season I was lucky enough to have brunch (because I’m fancy like that) at not one but TWO Top Chef restaurants. I feel your envy because that was some fancy food. For real. Lucky I have fambly that will pay.

How do these chefs stack up? Since I’m no Jeffrey Steingarten or that dick who didn’t like Chris Cosentino’s finale meal because Chris didn’t throw a shit ton of truffles, foie gras or lobster at him so it must have been pedestrian (yes, I may still harbor some resentment on behalf of a chef I do not know.) I was pretty much reduced to being Homer Simpson in front of a box of frosted donuts: sighing and moaning and barely capable to form a coherent thought from the food coma.

But they were two very different experiences at two very different restaurants, so let’s compare.

Street

Street is Susan “Chiclet Teeth” Feniger’s “casual fine dining neighborhood small plate bistro” if your neighborhood is Hancock Park adjacent and two blocks north of Mozza. That neighborhood eats really well. Mine? Not so much, unless you’re looking for really good cheap tacos. Then it’s awesome.

Anyway, Street, despite being owned by a super fancy, TC Masters alum, is really casual and not intimidating at all. Shorts and flip flops would not be out of place here. There’s a small indoor dining room, but the bulk of the seating is on the bi-level patio. Accounting for the random bouts of weather we occasionally have in SoCal, the patio is tarped and has plenty of heating lamps and, I kid you not, fleece blankets in case there’s a chill. She thinks of everything. You’re already enjoying your visit and ready to drop some cash as soon as you sit down.

As this was brunch, I, of course, started with a cocktail. The bartender kindly nudged me toward the Canton Ginger Kick which was very delicious and very strong. Goody, I was halfway to buzzed before I ordered. Instead of bread, they bring out a plate of this yummy but weird millet-popcorn-curry-marshmallow (?) thing that you just kind of stare at until you pop one in your mouth and realize millet, popcorn, curry and marshmallow are damn tasty.

But we were there for brunch, not booze and freebies, so we ordered the chicken & waffle croquettes, chilaquiles, and the infamous kaya toast that got Susan booted from Masters for being too simple. All I have to say is those bitches be crazy. It is simple, no doubt. It’s just toast, coconut curd and a fried egg with a side of sautéed greens for brunch. But the combination of egg and creamy coconut curd with just enough bread to hold it all together was heavenly. No lie. The chilaquiles and chicken & waffles were fantastic, too, but I get why she made the kaya toast and why it’s her most popular dish. It’s homey and comforting.

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vallegirl
About

Vallegirl has never actually lived in a valley, has a lot of time on her hands and likes to yell at kids about how things were in her day.  Currently in LA, she's also spent a lot of time in the great states of  New York and Florida so she's not crazy, it's just a cultural thing.

11 Comments

  1. 1
    Parisi LaRoe Parisi LaRoe
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    I want to go to Bitter Jen’s restaurant (if it ever opens) but I am so jealous you got to go to Volt. I have been dying to go.

    A real amuse bouche? I thought those were rare, like unicorns!

  2. 2
    zerocool
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    Super jealous!! Brian was my favorite that season – he was robbed of the title!

  3. 3
    TVKimmy TVKimmy
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    Color me 50 shades of jealous! That is awesome. :D I loved me some B-Volt, so I’m pleased it was so great.

  4. 4
    chaosbutterfly
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 4:59 pm

    Jealouss….I’ve been wanting to go to Volt, but I’m scared because I have no class and don’t want to get thrown out.

    Plus it’s hard to convince my friends to grab a zipcar and go all the way out to Fredricksburg, only to pay $35 for a brunch that isn’t bottomless or all you can eat. Even I shudder at the prospect, although everyone says the food is incredible.
    Drunken gluttonous philistines, the lot of us.

  5. 5
    2muchbravo
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 6:55 pm

    Where do you live Chaos? Frederick’s an hour from me. We ought to have an East Coast ‘Gasm TC restaurant tour. Doesn’t Isabella have a place in DC? Not that I want to give that douche my hard earned cash.

    I had an amuse bouche in NYC in December. Went up there to meet a friend for the weekend and we went to a Swedish restaurant that we frequent. Thanks to TC I realized it was an amuse bouche when they served it to us.

    I’m going out to the LA area in May. Perhaps I’ll make it to Street.

  6. 6
    carol
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 9:32 pm

    Some of my professional friends (ie friends from the work) have been on Top Chef. One of them even won. I hate to say it, but some of them can really cook and are amazing. But others have a great PR team/agent and that is how they got on the show (they don’t have that much skill in the kitchen but they have a personality that works on tv). Some of friends I knew before they went on tv and some I met after. It is interesting to see how different people react to the 15 minutes of fame. Some try and change into a TV chef, others use it to start a business or try and launch a cookbook, others just use it draw in patrons.

    Generally the contestants on Top Chef Masters are going to be better than regular Top Chef simply because they are more established in the food world.

  7. 7
    chaosbutterfly
    Posted January 12, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    I live in DC, so also about an hour away by car.
    By public transportation (my primary method of getting around) it’s almost 4 hours. x_x

    Isabella does have a place here, Graffiato.
    Again, I’ve never been, but it’s on the list. He is a giant douche, but not to the point where I won’t let him feed me, especially when there really are not that many places in DC where you can get delicious and affordable food. Beggars can’t be choosers.

    A foodie tour with the gasmii would be too much fun.

    @carol, which of your friends won?

  8. 8
    lindaw205
    Posted January 13, 2013 at 6:35 am

    I’m so jealous that you went to Volt! When I lived in VA we kept saying we were going to go there but we never did. Now I’m really sorry we didn’t go. I liked B Volt his season and hoped he would win.

    I doubt I’ll ever get to LA but the food sounds great at Chiclet Teeths place. Again, SO JEALOUS!

  9. 9
    Glitterous
    Posted January 13, 2013 at 10:37 am

    Good Stuff Eatery (Spike’s Dog-and-Pony Show) actually makes some damn fine food. Their village fries with dipping mayos are awesome and their burgers are about the best I’ve ever had. I’ve eaten at 10 different Top Chef restaurants and can say that Spike’s is the third-best (behind Girl and the Goat and Hubert Keller’s Vegas restaurant.)

    Oh, and Blaise, who talks shit like his mouth and his butt were accidentally reversed at some point, has a burger joint in Atlanta that is DEFINITELY not as good as Spike’s. So yeah, Blaise, take that.

  10. 10
    crankyguy crankyguy
    Posted January 13, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    Why is there a cartoon drawing of a penis pointing down on that chalkboard Street menu? Weird.

  11. 11
    chaosbutterfly
    Posted January 13, 2013 at 12:47 pm

    Good Stuff Eatery is delicious.
    Bonus: It won’t make you poor.

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