Thank you for coming back for our number two event. Tonight we are dining at Madeleines Restaurant located in Pasadena California on Green Ave a little passed Lake Ave. The place looks like a house, in fact it is a house with a cute sign in front.

Very Cute Entrance Sign

As you enter, the place splits in 3 ways, to the left is the main dining area, to the right is where the Wine Bar is located and straight ahead is to the indoor patio. I’m serious, this place still looks like a house and I think people live upstairs, possibly the Chef and the rest of the staff. There is a “No Trespassing” sign on the way to the stairs. Usually when I see a “DO NOT” I get curious and I “WANT TO DO” happen in my head. Luckily I have my leash on connected to Jen, so I was well behaved.

Dining Room Hall

Dining Room Hall from Other side

Wine Bar Hall

We were seated right away in this tiny room that looked like it sits about 10 people, a bar is available on the side and a fire place is lit to keep the room warm. We were greeted right away by our server Daniel and we chatted a bit about the place and what to eat. Since this night still falls in the Dine La week, we took advantage of that option. We made our decisions and asked Daniel if he could give us a quick tour of the place. And so we did, this is what we found.

Our Server/Bartender Daniel

Inside Wine Bar

If you were here, you would notice the decoration and art that smothers this place. They are all come from Glenn Green Galleries, I will show you some samples at the end of this entry.

Glenn Green Galleries

On our way back to the table we got to meet one of the managers, his name was Andrew Rouse and chatted a bit about the place. Did you know Mr. E = mc^2 had an office in this place during his Cal Tech days? Andrew was saying that back in the day, there was a rumor that he built an underground tunnel as an escape route out to the city. Well it’s not a rumor, after talking to Andrew; I snooped around and met a little mouse named Jim, who claims to be Remy’s double in the Disney movie “Ratatouille”. He pointed towards the huge fireplace by the main dining room. I asked him what he was doing in Pasadena, he told me that he heard about the new female Chef, and when he saw her, he was instantly in love.

Ok, let’s get back to reality, and get back to the table. They hook you up with this bread which is so yummy with their “Made from Scratch” butter. 2 kinds of butter, one has some orangey taste and the other has garlic and chives in it. I couldn’t stop eating it. Jen also brought wine from her collection, William Hill Estate 2004 from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bread and Butter

William Hill Estate 2004 Napa Valley

Wine Up Close

Alrighty, so here is what we have ordered. We started off with an appetizer called the “Seared Sea of Cortez Scallops with Saffron Risotto, Proscuitto Crisp, and Fine Herb Oil”. This was very good; I was close to not wanting to share with Jen. This is also not part of the Dine LA menu.

Seared Scallops

Now for the Dine LA Menu:

Jen chose the Farmers Market Inspired Soup and “Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Tart with Shaved Fennel and Basil Salad”. Did I tell you I love eggplant? Well again, I tried not to share with Jen.

Serving Soup

Soup final look

Eggplant Tart

Eggplant Inside

Taking some more pictures, I finally realize why I like to drink wine. I get to that good feeling after my 2nd glass.

How I see Jen during Glass One

After Glass Two

Fire during Glass One

After Glass Two

Finally, the food is here and I’m almost done with my third glass. Jen ordered “Australian Sea bass – Roasted Sun Choke and Fennel Slaw, Citrus Beurre Blanc” and I got “Rack of Lamb – Traditional Ratatouille, Garlic Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes”. They also had the Duck Confit, but when I heard Lamb, it’s over! Decision made.

Australian Sea Bass

Rack of Lamb

I took a piece of Jen’s Sea bass, it was great, but once you had Chilean Sea Bass, you get spoiled and it’s hard to try something different. It was well prepared, but my attention was at my rack of lamb. I definitely didn’t share this with Jen because she’s one of those “I don’t like the after taste of lamb blah blah blah” type person. She missed out, muahahahahaha.

During dinner, Andrew came back to visit to see how we are doing, and also got to meet the new Chef Margaret Alsop. At first I thought Cat Cora from Iron Chef was in the house, not saying she cooks with the same style but do you see the resemblance?

Me, Jen, Chef Margaret Alsop and Andrew Rouse

Iron Chef Cat Cora

We talked a bit about her experience and where she was from. She talked about the powers of Uni, (ok since she has been lagging about her bio, I’m going to make one up) She is originally from the New Jersey and decided to move to Japan and face her fears of Sushi. She learned that facing your fears is the best way to understand her. Years later after she was trained by her Sensei Master Yoshi Noya, she defeated all her demons of Sushi and grew a personal bonding with Uni. Now she can’t stop making everything out of it. Uni shots, Uni-colada, uni-corn, uni-icecream and the list go on.

Ok so that was fun, we had our discussion of my mission to find a gumbo replacement from my favorite place in Las Vegas Palace Station. I continued to finish off my lamb, since it was a Dine La portion, its not as much as the original dinner portion you see on the website. Another episode of Man vs FOOD, I defeated FOOD once again.

Lamb Perfection

Lamb Devoured

Finally to end the rest, Daniel hooks us up with all Three the deserts presented on the Dine LA menu. Creme Brulee
Served with homemade cookies, Pumpkin Blueberry Cake – Spiced Crème Anglaise, Candied Walnuts, Blueberry Compote and Roasted Pear and Frangipane Tart – Kirsch Whipped Cream, Brown Sugar Syrup. He also paired it with a mixture of fruit and champagne and wine to go with the rest of the dessert.

Creme Brulee

Pumpkin Blueberry Cake

Pear and Frangipane Tart

The dessert was great, it is really nice to get a variety instead of just one. We decided to hang around a little longer to take a look at the Art and as promised, here are some samples.

Art Samples

Art Samples

Ok that sums up our whole evening, and would like to thank you all for reading this entry. Now for my final comments about this place. I would definitely come back to this place, it is very cozy and its just a good place to hang out. It feels like home, they have a good wine collection.  This is a perfect place to set up a gathering for little events here and there as they have a good environment or setting for any type of event. Maybe next time I will disclose my discoveries of Mr E=mc^2’s underground tunnel.

The food was prepared well, I loved the rack of lamb, the sea bass was also great, but the lamb took all the attention.  I would come back to try some of the other ones as well. I also wanted to make a correction to others classifying this place as a French Restaurant, it really is more of an American restaurant with french influence.
I want to end this by thanking Daniel for being his hospitality and Andrew and Chef Alsop for spending time with us.  It was great meeting all of you and I hope to be back soon with some friends.

The past several years I have been hearing about this place, and somehow never got that chance to just stop by and give it a try. Always ended up at the usual places which repeated the cycle over and over. And now, finally decided to make Morton’s the very first My Eat Venture Event.

As some of you might already know, this is the first week for the “Dine L.A. Event” where a bunch of restaurants have a fixed menu that is reasonably priced lower than usual. Let’s just say it is more of a teaser of the complete menu. Well Morton’s was one of many that participates in this event, so we took advantage of this week to Launch our very first MEV Event.

I heard of the more popular locations in Beverly Hills and Downtown LA, but this one is in Woodland Hills which was pretty close to where I live so we decided on this spot. The moment we got there, we had two well-dressed men open the door and welcome us in. One of them was a guy named Mike who escorted us to our seat, while giving us a little tour of the place.

The first thing you see as you enter is their bar.

During that short walk, I could just smell all types of flavors as my mouth was salivating… Yummm. I know it’s rude to stare at people’s food, but darn it I can’t help it. For some reason my eyes also have the ability to taste. Could that be possible?

Anyway, we were approached by our server Karly, who is a very sociable, cute, down to earth type girl. She introduced herself to us and explained how they present the menu, I think I heard her say something about bringing things to us, then I thought about other steakhouses where they bring the whole Prime Rib to your table and give you your slice of choice. Being our first time, we did not know what to expect, and now she comes with a tray of Meat, Veggies and Seafood. First thing I did was taking the camera out and take a shot of that Lobster (live).

Karly explains all the cuts from Filet Mignon, Rib Eye (Bone-in), New York Strip, PorterHouse, also the selected veggies. It’s a good thing she doesn’t show any cooked meats, because I might actually eat it all on the spot.

Above is the Lobster, imagine if they have soft-shell Lobster served at that size, and roll it up like a Spider Roll, but this wont be a Spider, more like a giant Alien monster from StarShip Troopers. Yummm…

The pictures below are my favorite types of fish for grilling. Salmon, Chilenean Sea Bass, and Ahi Tuna, plus a portion you see an Alaskan King Crab Leg, gawd imagine how big this sucker is when fully assembled. Again referring back to the Giant Alien Monsters from StarShip Troopers, but this one has a built in rocket launcher and twin lasers from its antennas.

By the way, here is a picture of Karly, she’s an ex-Country Rock Star originally born and raised in Arkansas and then moved to New Orleans after high school to learn how to master the art of “Gumbo”. Actually I am just kidding about most of that except the Gumbo part. She claims to make good Jambalaya, Etouffee, etc (when you hear the first 2, expect Gumbo to be there). In short I challenge her to make me a good one, as I have not found a good replacement the gumbo I get at the Las Vegas “Palace Station” Oyster Bar. Sorry that’s for another blog entry. Sorry Karly if you do not like this picture of you, it’s all I have and its all your fault for being camera Shy. (This is what happens to those type of people who try to cover their faces or turn around real quick when you take a shot, they don’t know they look goofier than they should)

Now let’s get to the Food, we decided to take advantage of the Dine LA menu, I chose Morton’s Salad, Broiled Salmon Fillet with Lyonnaise potatoes and Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. Jen chose the Caesar Salad, Single Cut Filet Mignon with sauteed garlic green beans and the Double Chocolate Mousse. We also added a glass of red wine, Ahi Tuna tartare and Souffle.

Let us start with the Appetizers. Besides devouring the awesome dome bread they provided us, we ordered the Ahi Tuna TarTare.

Tuna, Avocadoes, Tomatoes and Sprouts with a lovely presentation on the sauce part which was I believe to be some type of cream with and balsamic sauce.

Now, let’s get to the main course, My Broiled Salmon Fillet, oooooooOOO so perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and medium on the inside. This is Chef recommended dish to be prepared medium. And on its base was Chef’s Beurre Blanc Sauce. I think that has something to do with white wine and butter, possibly some cream? Oh well, but its Perfect, it did not survive long!!!.

Now Jen’s Single Cut Fillet, Medium Rare, very nice size for a single. I took a slice of it right away. You can have this by itself which I always do for a first bite, but it came with a Béarnaise sauce. Perfectly prepared meat.

Now the Sides that make people go crazy… I’ll start with a new favorite, Lyonnaise Potatoes, this stuff drove me crazy, and I couldn’t stop eating it. I believe its sauteed Onions with Potatoes and Bacon and some secret ingredient that won’t let me stop eating it. Karly had to take it away so I can save room for the sweet stuff (again another joke)

And the other one was just as good, Sauteed Garlic Green Beans, so full of flavor.

And Finally Dessert Time, a very popular favorite “Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee” and Double Chocolate Mousse. This was served with the Souffle since that has to be made to order.

They were all excellent, but by the time I got to the Mousse, I pretty much hit my sweet Limit. I wish I could just try them all. Gawd I say that a lot these days, I just want this and that and everything.

So that was pretty much it on the things we have tried at Morton’s. We had such a blast, the selections were straight forward and simple, price is reasonable and about the same range with the type of quality they offer.

The people around were very friendly at that time, I even got to meet some guy who was having dinner with a Priest who knew the Priest of my childhood school. Karly was an awesome server; she kept up with our questions, gave us company and put up with our silliness. The Chef even paid a visit to our table to make sure everything met our expectations. Isn’t that Cool, we got to meet the Chef; he was nice enough to hang out for a bit and even take a picture with us. I wish I had a list of questions prepared for him, but he’s originally from the East Coast, from what I remember, New England. When he was a kid, he invented the New England Clam Chowder. (ok that was seriously made up just right now) Chef, please email me and help me out here so I can add some facts about your bio instead of coming up with clam chowder or Gumbo. Thanks

Here is a picture of Jen and myself with Chef Jason C. Pepin.

Some more pictures of us enjoying our first MEV event. (While overhearing the 2 behind us on a blind date, Not sure, but all I heard her talk about was how she wasn’t the type of girl who this and that and blah blah blah. Sorry I couldn’t help to not add that )

Jen was the only one allowed to drink tonight, as I was recovering from being in bed with a head ache for the past 3 days.

Finally Saying Good Bye

So as our final comments, Location, Service, Food was Outstanding. I will definitely come back to this one and maybe the other branches just to see the difference in atmosphere. Not anytime soon as My Eat Venture is in effect so we can provide you with more MEV Places.

Thank you for your time in reading this blog entry, I hope you enjoyed it so much that you want to just print the pictures out and eat it. I would also like to thank all the staff members at Morton’s, especially Karly and Chef Jason for making our MEV Event a memorable one.