Lou

August 18th

Heirloom tomato tart, herb salad
Crémant d’Alsace rosé
Allimant-Laugner NV
 
Grilled local yellowtail,
pan-fried potatoes,
roast red pepper, tomato, olives
Rueda Garcia-Arevalo Verdejo “Tres Olmos”
Quincy Tatin ’06
Sicilia dell’Acate "Zagra"  ’06

Mixed Summer Fruits and Artisanal Cheeses
Muscat de Rivesaltes Ferrer-Ribière ’06
 
$55

{suppers of yore}

 ---------------

Salad of Seckel pear,
Rollingstone  anise and lavender Chèvre, wild arugula and almonds
Crémant d’Alsace rosé Allimant-Laugner NV
 
Niman Ranch pork chop, panzanella
Tasting flight of Mencia-based wines from the northwest of Spain
Ribeira Sacra Ventura ’04 “Viña Caneiro” ’06
Bierzo de J. Placios “Petalos” ’06
Bierzo Vinademoya “Leiros” ’03
 
Peach melba
Muscat de Rivesaltes Ferrer-Ribière ’06 
 
----------------

Salad of avocado and smoked trout
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV
 
Leg of Niman Ranch lamb,
Heirloom tomato & sweet onion gratin
Flight of brambly red wines:
Uvanis Navarra joven '05
Borie La Vitarèle Saint-Chinian '06
Tribouley Côtes Catalanes "Les Bacs" '06
 
Trifle of summer fruit
des Ormes Sauternes '00
 
$55

-----------------

House-cured bacon, lettuce,
and Sungold cherry tomato salad
Allimant-Laugner Crémant d’Alsace rosé NV

Slow-roasted Queen Charlotte salmon,
sweet corn succotash
Tasting flight of wine:
Kalmuck "Pink" (Gritsch) ’07
Mâcon-Villages Cornin ’06
Fenestra Alvarelhão Lodi ’05

Blackberry-raspberry crostata,
lemon verbena ice cream
des Ormes Sauternes '00

---------------- 

Salad of Blue lake green beans,
heirloom cherry tomatoes and basil

Allimant-Laugner Crémant d’Alsace rosé NV

Niman Ranch baby back ribs,
sweet corn & Pee Wee potato salad

Tasting flight of juicy red wines
Coturri Albarello '06
San Lazzaro “Polesio” Sangiovese '05
Sky Zinfandel Mt. Veeder '05

Stone fruit and blackberry cobbler,
vanilla ice cream

Château D'Armajan des Ormes '00

Grilled quail, fresh shell beans,
and summer squashes
Tasting flight of lighter-bodied red wines
from central and northern Italy:
Puiatti Cabernet Franc Friuli '05
San Lazzaro Sangiovese "Polesio" 05
Giusti Lacrima di Morro '05

Santa Rosa plum sorbet coupe,
blackberries, chocolate friands
Giatti Moscato di Asti

{suppers of yore}

Monday June 30

Pavé of summer squash,
eggplant, pesto
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV {biodynamic}

Grilled local white sea bass,
braised fennel, tomatoes,
sweet onions, black olives
Tasting flight of natural white wines:
Andre Ostertag riesling ’06 {biodynamic}
Preston “Madam Preston” ’06 {organic}
Cornin Mâcon-Chaintre ’06 {biodynamic}

Roasted fresh figs, lavender honey crème anglaise, macadamia nuts
Ferrer-Ribière Muscat de Rivesaltes ‘04

Monday, May 19th

The bad news: it's hot here in Hollywood, terribly so. The good news: Lou has a new five-ton York a/c, just in time for summer! Oddly enough, even though it's of much higher capacity than the former 25-year old a/c, the new a/c uses less energy than the old one: a/c efficiency has increased tremendously since the 1980s. Enough with the yammering! Please join us this Monday for grilled local yellowfin tuna and a flight of thirst-quenching rosé.

Speaking of roses, we'll be featuring a plethora of them throughout the summer, typically three or four at a time. Look for some wine geeky stuff (organic Beaujolais rosé from our friend Pierre-Marie Chermette [surely you have enjoyed his Beaujolais vielles vignes at Lou], only 12 percent alcohol; delicate, aged Lopez de Heredia rosato from Rioja) as well as some delicious old standbys (Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé).

Monday night supper: May 19th

Asparagus with fried La Quercia prosciutto and egg
Wenzel furmint '06 (Is dry furmint the answer to wine-killing asperge? Yes!)

Grilled yellowfin Tuna, white beans and artichokes, sauce vierge
Flight of thirst-quenching roses:
Chermette Beaujolais rosé '07 organic
Feiler-ArtingerBlaufränkisch rosé '06
Lopez de Heredia Rioja rosé '95

Strawberry Shortcake, Whipped Cream
des Ormes Sauternes '00

Monday, May 12th

Ragout of spring vegetables, pistou
Crémant d’Alsace Allimant Laugner NV

Red wine braised Muscovy duck leg, potato gratin
Flight of ducky red wines:
Veronnet Mondeuse “Cuvée Excellence” ’04
Braunstein Zweigelt ‘06
Buil & Giné Montsant “Baboix” ‘04

First of season cherry tart with almonds,
house-made vanilla bean ice cream
des Ormes Sauternes ‘00

Monday, April 21st
Real chicken!

Sharon Palmer raises chickens on her farm in Camarillo. Her chickens are cage-free and pastured, free to forage for their fill of worms and small insects. She now has a small chicken that she refers to as a "game hen." Palmer's game hen is a Cornish variety crossed not with a Rock but some other old heritage variety, and the result is a bird with a compact breast and dense, almost duck-like dark meat. We're serving these marvelous chickens for supper this Monday, April 21st paired with a flight of wine that is alternatively luscious, fruity, and mineral-y.

April 21st

Salad of Coleman red oak leaf lettuce,
avocado, nasturtium
La Rocca Brut '03
méthode champenoise organic hand-riddled

Roast Healthy Family Farms game hen,
bread salad, spigarello & figs
Wine flight
Domaine Montvac Vacqueyras blanc '06
dell'Acate "Il Frappato" '06
Chappelle des Bois Chiroubles '06

Bitter orange curd & chocolate tart
Ordonez Seleccion Especial Malaga '05 

Monday, April 7th:
Braised Niman Ranch oxtails

Asparagus with morels and nasturtiums
Bellenda Rosè di Valmonte NV

Oxtails braised in red wine
with fresh-ground polenta
Tasting flight of hearty red wine

Almond financier with candied citrus
and muscat whipped cream
Ferrer-Ribière  Muscat de Rivesaltes ’05

Monday, March 24th
Asparagus alert! It's now officially spring and the first local asparagus is starting to appear in the farmers market. The consensus is that asparagus is a killer of wine, though I believe that its destructive nature is over-played. Judge for yourself: Can (your choice of) Tissot Crémant du Jura or Wenzel furmint tame this beast of the vegetable kingdom?

The tasting flight for this Monday night's supper consists of three wines from north-central Spain, poured from lightest to fullest in body. The first wine is a simple and juicy Rueda from Garcia-Revalo. A while back we poured Garcia-Revalo's "Tres Olmos," a fantastically concentrated old vines, wild yeast fermented verdejo—as I write this, I think we will purchase the new vintage of that wine. The Casamaro is 100 percent tempranillo, and it has loads of bright fruit and a distinctive aroma of grapefruit. The second wine is a Ribera del Duero crianza from Fuentespina, also 100 percent tempranillo, but in an entirely different key. It's fairly chunky, smoky, and tannic—but surprisingly for an '03, not an alcohol bomb. The final wine on the flight is "La Planella" from Joan d'Anguera, one of our favorite Montsant winegrowers. D'Anguera was the first grower to introduce syrah into Spain, and "La Planella" indeed contains some younger vine syrah, as well as grenache, carginan, and cab.

Salad of delta asparagus, white beans, fried Lily's egg
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV
or Wenzel furmint '06

Roast Niman pork loin with Catalan spices, patatas bravas
Flight of red wine from the north of Spain:
Garcia-Revalo Rueda "Casamaro" '06
Fuentespina Ribera del Duero crianza '03
d'Anguera Montsant "La Planella" '06

Valencian orange tart, blood orange sorbet
Rottlan-Torra Moscatell NV

-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 16th:
Braised Niman Ranch lamb shanks
-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 3rd:
Braised Niman Ranch short ribs

 Salad of shaved fennel and celery, La Quercia speck, avocado
Rosé di Valmonte NV

Braised Niman Ranch short ribs, escarole, white beans
Tasting flight of Italian red wine:
Francesco Rinaldi Grignolino '06
Ca'Rossa Langhe Nebbiolo '04
Camporeale Nero d'Avola "DonnaTà" '05

Blood orange polenta cake
Domaine Ferrer-Ribière Muscat de Rivesaltes '02 biodynamic

$55

-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 10th:
Brasato of Niman Ranch beef
with organic hand-ground polenta
Salad of mâche, shaved asparagus, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pistachios
Rosè di Valmonte NV

Brasato with spigarello,
creamy polenta
Flight of Italian red wine
Adanti Rosso dell’ Umbria “Nispero” ‘05
Francesco Rinaldi Grignolino '06
Ca'Rossa Langhe Nebbiolo '04

Tangelos & blood oranges with rosemary honey and anise cookie
Zeni Moscato Rosa ‘04

A few years ago my cousin Judith gave me the neglected, hand-cranked corn mill that she used during her commune days in the 60s.  After years of enjoying Yonah Schimmel's freshly stone-ground corn muffins (I haven't eaten at Schimmel's in ages, but at one time they had a small grain mill in their basement), I knew that there was something to be said about fresh-milled corn. In addition, I knew that the best tamale places in LA mill their own masa.

When I finally got around to milling some of my own corn I was surprised how this simple act added additional layers of corn flavor to polenta and Southern-style skillet cornbread. The ephemerality of the fresh-milled flavor and aroma was also a surprise: just a few days later the cornmeal I'd milled earlier in the week—by no means rancid—no longer smelled like fresh hay or tasted of fresh corn.

Monday, February 25th:
Cassoulet with house-made duck confit and Toulouse sausage
Salad of Lola Rossa and oak leaf lettuces, warm black pepper goat cheese crouton
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV biodynamic

Cassoulet with housemade duck confit and Toulouse sausage
Tasting flight of red wine:
La Liquiere Faugeres “Les Amandiers” '05
Olivier Pithon Côtes du Roussillon  "Saturne" '05 biodynamic
Roc d'Anglade Vin de Pays du Gard '05

Oeufs à la neige
Domaine Ferrer-Ribière Muscat de Rivesaltes '02 biodynamic

A few words about cassoulet

A few years ago, Cook's Illustrated published a recipe for a "streamlined" cassoulet in which duck confit is simulated by frying brined chicken legs in bacon fat. Although bacon-fried chicken legs sound good to me I cannot fathom why you'd want to streamline cassoulet, unless you're pleased by the act of deracinating something that is, in its very essence, a slow food.

In France, wonderful confit de canard, duck fat, saucisse toulousaine, and the other assorted porky bits you need are available from good neighborhood butchers, and it is possible to cook cassoulet at home without too much difficulty. But even with access to these meaty staples of the southwest of France, a cassoulet cannot be hurried along -- sure, it might be possible to cook it in one day, if you wake up at 4 AM to get the lingot or (if you're lucky) Tarbais beans cooking and you did all of your shopping the day before--but typically, it's a two or even three day affair.

At Lou it takes us about a month to fabricate our cassoulet. Why so long? Because we make our own house-cured duck confit, and confit de canard is not yet a proper confit until it slumbers in duck fat for a few weeks. In addition, we make our own fresh Toulouse sausage. This is probably the last time we'll offer cassoulet this year, as it'll be too warm (hard to believe this chilly Friday morning, but it's true) in just a few weeks. As usual, we're pairing the cassoulet with an appropriate flight of red wine from both Languedoc and Roussillon, including a biodynamic Côtes du Roussillon, and Remy Pedreno's incroyable Roc d’Anglade '05.

The bad news: it's hot here in Hollywood, terribly so. The good news: Lou has a new five-ton York a/c, just in time for summer! Oddly enough, even though it's of much higher capacity than the former 25-year old a/c, the new a/c uses less energy than the old one: a/c efficiency has increased tremendously since the 1980s. Enough with the yammering! Please join us this Monday for grilled local yellowfin tuna and a flight of thirst-quenching rosé.

Speaking of roses, we'll be featuring a plethora of them throughout the summer, typically three or four at a time. Look for some wine geeky stuff (organic Beaujolais rosé from our friend Pierre-Marie Chermette [surely you have enjoyed his Beaujolais vielles vignes at Lou], only 12 percent alcohol; delicate, aged Lopez de Heredia rosato from Rioja) as well as some delicious old standbys (Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé).

Monday night supper: May 19th

Asparagus with fried La Quercia prosciutto and egg
Wenzel furmint '06 (Is dry furmint the answer to wine-killing asperge? Yes!)

Grilled yellowfin Tuna, white beans and artichokes, sauce vierge
Flight of thirst-quenching roses:
Chermette Beaujolais rosé '07 organic
Feiler-ArtingerBlaufränkisch rosé '06
Lopez de Heredia Rioja rosé '95

Strawberry Shortcake, Whipped Cream
des Ormes Sauternes '00

Monday, May 12th

Ragout of spring vegetables, pistou
Crémant d’Alsace Allimant Laugner NV

Red wine braised Muscovy duck leg, potato gratin
Flight of ducky red wines:
Veronnet Mondeuse “Cuvée Excellence” ’04
Braunstein Zweigelt ‘06
Buil & Giné Montsant “Baboix” ‘04

First of season cherry tart with almonds,
house-made vanilla bean ice cream
des Ormes Sauternes ‘00

Monday, April 21st:
Real chicken!
Sharon Palmer raises chickens on her farm in Camarillo. Her chickens are cage-free and pastured, free to forage for their fill of worms and small insects. She now has a small chicken that she refers to as a "game hen." Palmer's game hen is a Cornish variety crossed not with a Rock but some other old heritage variety, and the result is a bird with a compact breast and dense, almost duck-like dark meat. We're serving these marvelous chickens for supper this Monday, April 21st paired with a flight of wine that is alternatively luscious, fruity, and mineral-y.

Monday night supper is served from 6 to 11 PM. Reservations are available for groups of six or more (call us at 323 962-6369 after 5 PM to reserve).
 

April 21st
Monday night supper
Healthy Family Farms game hen
Salad of Coleman red oak leaf lettuce,
avocado, nasturtium
La Rocca Brut '03
méthode champenoise organic hand-riddled

Roast Healthy Family Farms game hen,
bread salad, spigarello & figs
Wine flight
Domaine Montvac Vacqueyras blanc '06
dell'Acate "Il Frappato" '06
Chappelle des Bois Chiroubles '06

Bitter orange curd & chocolate tart
Ordonez Seleccion Especial Malaga '05 

Monday, April 7th:
Braised Niman Ranch oxtails

Asparagus with morels and nasturtiums
Bellenda Rosè di Valmonte NV

Oxtails braised in red wine
with fresh-ground polenta
Tasting flight of hearty red wine

Almond financier with candied citrus
and muscat whipped cream
Ferrer-Ribière  Muscat de Rivesaltes ’05

$55
Monday, March 24th
Asparagus alert! It's now officially spring and the first local asparagus is starting to appear in the farmers market. The consensus is that asparagus is a killer of wine, though I believe that its destructive nature is over-played. Judge for yourself: Can (your choice of) Tissot Crémant du Jura or Wenzel furmint tame this beast of the vegetable kingdom?

The tasting flight for this Monday night's supper consists of three wines from north-central Spain, poured from lightest to fullest in body. The first wine is a simple and juicy Rueda from Garcia-Revalo. A while back we poured Garcia-Revalo's "Tres Olmos," a fantastically concentrated old vines, wild yeast fermented verdejo—as I write this, I think we will purchase the new vintage of that wine. The Casamaro is 100 percent tempranillo, and it has loads of bright fruit and a distinctive aroma of grapefruit. The second wine is a Ribera del Duero crianza from Fuentespina, also 100 percent tempranillo, but in an entirely different key. It's fairly chunky, smoky, and tannic—but surprisingly for an '03, not an alcohol bomb. The final wine on the flight is "La Planella" from Joan d'Anguera, one of our favorite Montsant winegrowers. D'Anguera was the first grower to introduce syrah into Spain, and "La Planella" indeed contains some younger vine syrah, as well as grenache, carginan, and cab.

Salad of delta asparagus, white beans, fried Lily's egg
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV
or Wenzel furmint '06

Roast Niman pork loin with Catalan spices, patatas bravas
Flight of red wine from the north of Spain:
Garcia-Revalo Rueda "Casamaro" '06
Fuentespina Ribera del Duero crianza '03
d'Anguera Montsant "La Planella" '06

Valencian orange tart, blood orange sorbet
Rottlan-Torra Moscatell NV

-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 16th:
Braised Niman Ranch lamb shanks
-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 3rd:
Braised Niman Ranch short ribs

 Salad of shaved fennel and celery, La Quercia speck, avocado
Rosé di Valmonte NV

Braised Niman Ranch short ribs, escarole, white beans
Tasting flight of Italian red wine:
Francesco Rinaldi Grignolino '06
Ca'Rossa Langhe Nebbiolo '04
Camporeale Nero d'Avola "DonnaTà" '05

Blood orange polenta cake
Domaine Ferrer-Ribière Muscat de Rivesaltes '02 biodynamic

$55

-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 10th:
Brasato of Niman Ranch beef
with organic hand-ground polenta
Salad of mâche, shaved asparagus, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pistachios
Rosè di Valmonte NV

Brasato with spigarello,
creamy polenta
Flight of Italian red wine
Adanti Rosso dell’ Umbria “Nispero” ‘05
Francesco Rinaldi Grignolino '06
Ca'Rossa Langhe Nebbiolo '04

Tangelos & blood oranges with rosemary honey and anise cookie
Zeni Moscato Rosa ‘04

A few years ago my cousin Judith gave me the neglected, hand-cranked corn mill that she used during her commune days in the 60s.  After years of enjoying Yonah Schimmel's freshly stone-ground corn muffins (I haven't eaten at Schimmel's in ages, but at one time they had a small grain mill in their basement), I knew that there was something to be said about fresh-milled corn. In addition, I knew that the best tamale places in LA mill their own masa.

When I finally got around to milling some of my own corn I was surprised how this simple act added additional layers of corn flavor to polenta and Southern-style skillet cornbread. The ephemerality of the fresh-milled flavor and aroma was also a surprise: just a few days later the cornmeal I'd milled earlier in the week—by no means rancid—no longer smelled like fresh hay or tasted of fresh corn.

Monday, February 25th:
Cassoulet with house-made duck confit and Toulouse sausage
Salad of Lola Rossa and oak leaf lettuces, warm black pepper goat cheese crouton
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV biodynamic

Cassoulet with housemade duck confit and Toulouse sausage
Tasting flight of red wine:
La Liquiere Faugeres “Les Amandiers” '05
Olivier Pithon Côtes du Roussillon  "Saturne" '05 biodynamic
Roc d'Anglade Vin de Pays du Gard '05

Oeufs à la neige
Domaine Ferrer-Ribière Muscat de Rivesaltes '02 biodynamic

A few words about cassoulet

A few years ago, Cook's Illustrated published a recipe for a "streamlined" cassoulet in which duck confit is simulated by frying brined chicken legs in bacon fat. Although bacon-fried chicken legs sound good to me I cannot fathom why you'd want to streamline cassoulet, unless you're pleased by the act of deracinating something that is, in its very essence, a slow food.

In France, wonderful confit de canard, duck fat, saucisse toulousaine, and the other assorted porky bits you need are available from good neighborhood butchers, and it is possible to cook cassoulet at home without too much difficulty. But even with access to these meaty staples of the southwest of France, a cassoulet cannot be hurried along -- sure, it might be possible to cook it in one day, if you wake up at 4 AM to get the lingot or (if you're lucky) Tarbais beans cooking and you did all of your shopping the day before--but typically, it's a two or even three day affair.

At Lou it takes us about a month to fabricate our cassoulet. Why so long? Because we make our own house-cured duck confit, and confit de canard is not yet a proper confit until it slumbers in duck fat for a few weeks. In addition, we make our own fresh Toulouse sausage. This is probably the last time we'll offer cassoulet this year, as it'll be too warm (hard to believe this chilly Friday morning, but it's true) in just a few weeks. As usual, we're pairing the cassoulet with an appropriate flight of red wine from both Languedoc and Roussillon, including a biodynamic Côtes du Roussillon, and Remy Pedreno's incroyable Roc d’Anglade '05.

The bad news: it's hot here in Hollywood, terribly so. The good news: Lou has a new five-ton York a/c, just in time for summer! Oddly enough, even though it's of much higher capacity than the former 25-year old a/c, the new a/c uses less energy than the old one: a/c efficiency has increased tremendously since the 1980s. Enough with the yammering! Please join us this Monday for grilled local yellowfin tuna and a flight of thirst-quenching rosé.

Speaking of roses, we'll be featuring a plethora of them throughout the summer, typically three or four at a time. Look for some wine geeky stuff (organic Beaujolais rosé from our friend Pierre-Marie Chermette [surely you have enjoyed his Beaujolais vielles vignes at Lou], only 12 percent alcohol; delicate, aged Lopez de Heredia rosato from Rioja) as well as some delicious old standbys (Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé).

Monday night supper: May 19th

Asparagus with fried La Quercia prosciutto and egg
Wenzel furmint '06 (Is dry furmint the answer to wine-killing asperge? Yes!)

Grilled yellowfin Tuna, white beans and artichokes, sauce vierge
Flight of thirst-quenching roses:
Chermette Beaujolais rosé '07 organic
Feiler-ArtingerBlaufränkisch rosé '06
Lopez de Heredia Rioja rosé '95

Strawberry Shortcake, Whipped Cream
des Ormes Sauternes '00

Monday, May 12th

Ragout of spring vegetables, pistou
Crémant d’Alsace Allimant Laugner NV

Red wine braised Muscovy duck leg, potato gratin
Flight of ducky red wines:
Veronnet Mondeuse “Cuvée Excellence” ’04
Braunstein Zweigelt ‘06
Buil & Giné Montsant “Baboix” ‘04

First of season cherry tart with almonds,
house-made vanilla bean ice cream
des Ormes Sauternes ‘00

Monday, April 21st:
Real chicken!
Sharon Palmer raises chickens on her farm in Camarillo. Her chickens are cage-free and pastured, free to forage for their fill of worms and small insects. She now has a small chicken that she refers to as a "game hen." Palmer's game hen is a Cornish variety crossed not with a Rock but some other old heritage variety, and the result is a bird with a compact breast and dense, almost duck-like dark meat. We're serving these marvelous chickens for supper this Monday, April 21st paired with a flight of wine that is alternatively luscious, fruity, and mineral-y.

Monday night supper is served from 6 to 11 PM. Reservations are available for groups of six or more (call us at 323 962-6369 after 5 PM to reserve).
 

April 21st
Monday night supper
Healthy Family Farms game hen
Salad of Coleman red oak leaf lettuce,
avocado, nasturtium
La Rocca Brut '03
méthode champenoise organic hand-riddled

Roast Healthy Family Farms game hen,
bread salad, spigarello & figs
Wine flight
Domaine Montvac Vacqueyras blanc '06
dell'Acate "Il Frappato" '06
Chappelle des Bois Chiroubles '06

Bitter orange curd & chocolate tart
Ordonez Seleccion Especial Malaga '05 

Monday, April 7th:
Braised Niman Ranch oxtails

Asparagus with morels and nasturtiums
Bellenda Rosè di Valmonte NV

Oxtails braised in red wine
with fresh-ground polenta
Tasting flight of hearty red wine

Almond financier with candied citrus
and muscat whipped cream
Ferrer-Ribière  Muscat de Rivesaltes ’05

$55
Monday, March 24th
Asparagus alert! It's now officially spring and the first local asparagus is starting to appear in the farmers market. The consensus is that asparagus is a killer of wine, though I believe that its destructive nature is over-played. Judge for yourself: Can (your choice of) Tissot Crémant du Jura or Wenzel furmint tame this beast of the vegetable kingdom?

The tasting flight for this Monday night's supper consists of three wines from north-central Spain, poured from lightest to fullest in body. The first wine is a simple and juicy Rueda from Garcia-Revalo. A while back we poured Garcia-Revalo's "Tres Olmos," a fantastically concentrated old vines, wild yeast fermented verdejo—as I write this, I think we will purchase the new vintage of that wine. The Casamaro is 100 percent tempranillo, and it has loads of bright fruit and a distinctive aroma of grapefruit. The second wine is a Ribera del Duero crianza from Fuentespina, also 100 percent tempranillo, but in an entirely different key. It's fairly chunky, smoky, and tannic—but surprisingly for an '03, not an alcohol bomb. The final wine on the flight is "La Planella" from Joan d'Anguera, one of our favorite Montsant winegrowers. D'Anguera was the first grower to introduce syrah into Spain, and "La Planella" indeed contains some younger vine syrah, as well as grenache, carginan, and cab.

Salad of delta asparagus, white beans, fried Lily's egg
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV
or Wenzel furmint '06

Roast Niman pork loin with Catalan spices, patatas bravas
Flight of red wine from the north of Spain:
Garcia-Revalo Rueda "Casamaro" '06
Fuentespina Ribera del Duero crianza '03
d'Anguera Montsant "La Planella" '06

Valencian orange tart, blood orange sorbet
Rottlan-Torra Moscatell NV

-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 16th:
Braised Niman Ranch lamb shanks
-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 3rd:
Braised Niman Ranch short ribs

 Salad of shaved fennel and celery, La Quercia speck, avocado
Rosé di Valmonte NV

Braised Niman Ranch short ribs, escarole, white beans
Tasting flight of Italian red wine:
Francesco Rinaldi Grignolino '06
Ca'Rossa Langhe Nebbiolo '04
Camporeale Nero d'Avola "DonnaTà" '05

Blood orange polenta cake
Domaine Ferrer-Ribière Muscat de Rivesaltes '02 biodynamic

$55

-----------------------------------------

Monday, March 10th:
Brasato of Niman Ranch beef
with organic hand-ground polenta
Salad of mâche, shaved asparagus, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pistachios
Rosè di Valmonte NV

Brasato with spigarello,
creamy polenta
Flight of Italian red wine
Adanti Rosso dell’ Umbria “Nispero” ‘05
Francesco Rinaldi Grignolino '06
Ca'Rossa Langhe Nebbiolo '04

Tangelos & blood oranges with rosemary honey and anise cookie
Zeni Moscato Rosa ‘04

A few years ago my cousin Judith gave me the neglected, hand-cranked corn mill that she used during her commune days in the 60s.  After years of enjoying Yonah Schimmel's freshly stone-ground corn muffins (I haven't eaten at Schimmel's in ages, but at one time they had a small grain mill in their basement), I knew that there was something to be said about fresh-milled corn. In addition, I knew that the best tamale places in LA mill their own masa.

When I finally got around to milling some of my own corn I was surprised how this simple act added additional layers of corn flavor to polenta and Southern-style skillet cornbread. The ephemerality of the fresh-milled flavor and aroma was also a surprise: just a few days later the cornmeal I'd milled earlier in the week—by no means rancid—no longer smelled like fresh hay or tasted of fresh corn.

Monday, February 25th:
Cassoulet with house-made duck confit and Toulouse sausage
Salad of Lola Rossa and oak leaf lettuces, warm black pepper goat cheese crouton
Tissot Crémant du Jura NV biodynamic

Cassoulet with housemade duck confit and Toulouse sausage
Tasting flight of red wine:
La Liquiere Faugeres “Les Amandiers” '05
Olivier Pithon Côtes du Roussillon  "Saturne" '05 biodynamic
Roc d'Anglade Vin de Pays du Gard '05

Oeufs à la neige
Domaine Ferrer-Ribière Muscat de Rivesaltes '02 biodynamic

A few words about cassoulet

A few years ago, Cook's Illustrated published a recipe for a "streamlined" cassoulet in which duck confit is simulated by frying brined chicken legs in bacon fat. Although bacon-fried chicken legs sound good to me I cannot fathom why you'd want to streamline cassoulet, unless you're pleased by the act of deracinating something that is, in its very essence, a slow food.

In France, wonderful confit de canard, duck fat, saucisse toulousaine, and the other assorted porky bits you need are available from good neighborhood butchers, and it is possible to cook cassoulet at home without too much difficulty. But even with access to these meaty staples of the southwest of France, a cassoulet cannot be hurried along -- sure, it might be possible to cook it in one day, if you wake up at 4 AM to get the lingot or (if you're lucky) Tarbais beans cooking and you did all of your shopping the day before--but typically, it's a two or even three day affair.

At Lou it takes us about a month to fabricate our cassoulet. Why so long? Because we make our own house-cured duck confit, and confit de canard is not yet a proper confit until it slumbers in duck fat for a few weeks. In addition, we make our own fresh Toulouse sausage. This is probably the last time we'll offer cassoulet this year, as it'll be too warm (hard to believe this chilly Friday morning, but it's true) in just a few weeks. As usual, we're pairing the cassoulet with an appropriate flight of red wine from both Languedoc and Roussillon, including a biodynamic Côtes du Roussillon, and Remy Pedreno's incroyable Roc d’Anglade '05.

Wednesday June 11

On June 11th Lou will host a special supper with Count Michael Goëss-Enzenberg, a great biodynamic winegrower from Italy's Alto Adige. Last spring, during our biodynamic wine fest, we poured Mr. Goëss-Enzenberg's Manincor wines and fell in love with them. Come to Lou on June 11th to meet this wonderful winegrower, taste across the range of Manincor wines, and enjoy a three course farmers market wine-pairing supper.

Stay tuned for the menu and the wines that we will serve. Supper is served from 6 o'clock until 11 PM, and reservations are recommended: call us Monday-Saturday after 5.

Wednesday
April 30

Extra-special winemaker dinner with biodynamic Roussillon producer Oiliver Pithon!

On Wednesday, April 30th, Lou will host an extra-special winemaker supper with the great biodynamic winegrower Olivier Pithon.

Mr. Pithon in his chai 

Mr. Pithon is one of a new generation of Roussillon vignerons who are rapidly redefining our expectations about dry table wine from that region.

Historically, the Roussillon was known for producing long-lived fortified wines from grenache and muscat—dry table wines were mostly unknown outside the area. In the past few years, however, a small group of winegrowers including Gérard Gauby and his student Jean-Louis Tribouley, Jean Gardies, and now Mr. Pithon have shown us that vines, often quite old, grown organically and biodynamically on crappy, schistous soil, can yield wines with both finesse and concentration—wines that are expressive of their place of origin and of the winegrowers that produce them.

Mr. Pithon grows a range of white and red wines, all grown biodynamically, including the crisp white wine (mostly grenache blanc and gris) “Laïs,” named after his cow. I admire a man who names a wine after his beloved bovine.

Laïs, Mr. Pithon's cow 

Mr. Pithon also produces more serious red wines, including his Saturne, which coincidentally we’re pouring by the glass at the moment. You’ll have the opportunity to hear Mr. Pithon speak a bit about his wine and his approach to viticulture, and  then we’ll  enjoy a three course farmers market menu paired with five of his wines.

The cost for the supper is $65 and there will be a single seating at 7:00 PM. Please stay tuned for details about the menu. Call us at (323) 962-6369 after 5 PM to make reservations.