Some food porn pics from my Cali trip

Just went for a few days and probably ate as much as I normally do in a full week if not more.

There are a lot of pics so I'll try to keep them in separate posts. Unfortunately my phone died on me at the first restaurant so I was only able to get 2 pics. So disclaimer - for the others I just pulled some pics from google of the dishes I ordered.


First restaurant I went to was Ink. Evidently the chef was one of the winners of the cooking show Top Chef on Bravo. (Season 6) His name is Michael Voltaggio.


I didn't see that season so I'm not familiar with his style on the show but the restaurant is certainly modernist cuisine.

So first I ordered the Japanese Scallops (after taking down some Irish Whiskey cocktail that was nothing too special)


Served raw with some fermented chili sauce, thai basil, and soy cured papaya. Definitely light and refreshing. I didn't care for the papaya by itself but if incorporated into the rest of it, it complimented the dish well.

Then I went for the foie gras terrine dish (not pictured) and honestly I just didn't care for it that much. It was served over a persimmon puree with some greens. The dish was just too sweet for my liking. I'm sure some people might enjoy it, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Next I had the lamb belly (stolen pic)


This dish was very savory and flavorful. I can't remember what type of beans those were but they worked well.

Next I ordered the apple dessert. It utilized what they called "burnt wood" ice cream. Never heard of it and a google search for it returns me to more pictures of this dish. (Another stolen photo, probably better since my phone camera doesn't do too well with low lighting anyway)

So this was a little more involved than it might appear. The ice cream is encapsulated in a shell of sorts that you have to pop open with your spoon. Makes for a pretty cool presentation. It's sitting on top of a corn bread cookie, and you can see some spherical cuts of green apple and there is some odd gelatin that has a very strong apple flavor to it and really added some depth of flavor.

I found another pic of it cracked open.


The best way I would describe this dessert is it's some sort of very modern deconstructed/rearranged apple pie a la mode from the future. And definitely a top 5 dessert that I've had in my lifetime. And I'm a fat arse so I've got plenty of experience.


Thankfully my phone was good for the rest of the trip so all future posts in this thread by me will be my own photos.

I'd give Ink an 8/10. It was perhaps a little too ambitious for my liking. I would definitely recommend if you enjoy modern cuisine or you're interested in molecular gastronomy. I'd guess that the price point here is much lower than a place like Alinea.