Just to be sure every guest’s taste is satisfied, the salad may be ordered either with toasted or fried bread.
Instead of commonly seen lettuce, Darakjian uses purslane, a leafy succulent. Pristinely fresh ingredients are tossed to order in a dressing of just-squeezed lemon juice and a few drops of extra-virgin olive oil. Order the pita bread salad, fattoush, and you will instantly understand this chef’s philosophy. Inside the al dente pasta, nuggets of lemony vegetarian spinach filling or of subtly seasoned house ground beef make ideal canvases for the creamy sharp yogurt-garlic sauce that blankets them. The tiny agnolotti-like dumplings of Turkish origin (sometimes spelled manti) are about as addictive as buttered popcorn. (His kafta kebab, made with lean, hand-ground Angus beef, may not be greasy enough for some traditionalists.)īut there’s nothing “lite” about the house namesake dish, mantee. At Mantee, his food is a somewhat lightened version of classic dishes. Since then, Darakjian, 30, has honed his kitchen skills.
“We would come to breakfast and he had already laid out the table with the dishes he’d prepared himself.” But he’s been cooking from the age of 7 or 8, according to his mom, Sylvia Gabrielian. Before opening Mantee he trained in the kitchens of the Lebanese restaurant. This kitchen is headed by young chef Jonathan Darakjian, whose mother’s family owns Al Mayass. The family’s Beirut restaurant, Al Mayass (they are proud to tell you) made it onto Food & Wine magazine’s prestigious “Go List” of outstanding recommended restaurants worldwide. The proprietor’s family owns several internationally known eating places in the Near East. It turns out Mantee has a bit of a pedigree. Tables are spread edge to edge with mezes and other small plates: the best hummus you’ve ever tasted scattered with sautéed pine nuts stuffed grape leaves with garlicky yogurt sauce muhammara, the spicy dip of crushed walnuts, pomegranate and Aleppo pepper and plates of bubbling feta baked in tomato coulis.
And the guests? They’re partying like there’s no tomorrow. So why is the small dining room so empty?īecause most diners at this diminutive Lebanese-Armenian restaurant are eating out back in the impossibly romantic leaf-shaded patio with its lush potted plants massed in every corner under the golden light of Parisian-style iron street lamps. If you feel like splurging, there’s Myouka-Rangyoku aged saké or Dom Perignon.Like a classic storybook bistro, with smart burgundy awnings, lacy curtains and flower boxes at the windows, Mantee exudes a warm and welcoming aura. Desserts include green tea flan and homemade hot chocolate cake. If something is not perfect, they'll leave it at the fish market rather than compromise their standards. Quick to pamper its regulars but gracious to newcomers, Asanebo's chefs procure only the finest ingredients. Velvety ankimo (monkfish liver) arrives in ponzu sauce, nearly transparent slices of sea bass sashimi are lightly dusted with sea salt, and a generous dollop of caviar tops elegant dishes of lobster cocktail or toro tartare. Chopped premium sea eel, molded with rice and drizzled with a sweet anago sauce, reflects the sophisticated presentation, while a petite dish of barely al dente giant clam meat swimming in a broth redolent of sesame and chili oil may be a pleasant surprise. Many cooked dishes are worth seeking out, such as deep-fried uni in shiso leaf grilled Chilean sea bass with creamy pepper sauce soft-shell crab (in season) and seared toro with garlic cream. If you don't want to sit at the bar, there are a number of linen-clad tables squeezed into the small but attractive dining room. The friendly chefs combine imagination with artistry to create one memorable morsel after another. While many giant sushi palaces have mushroomed all over the city, Asanebo still offers a warmly intimate experience with top-rate fish at good (but not quite as great) prices. sushi enthusiasts discovered this little mini-mall gem in Studio City, it might have been described as a Matsuhisa for the budget-conscious.
Asanebo Restaurant Review:Before the masses of L.A.
0 kommentar(er)
