Dinner at Carson House – July 5 & 6, 2013

Imagine a place that is all shiny and new, with the most amazing prices ever to be found for a newly opened restaurant. I don’t know about you but to find a new establishment in Beverly Hills that only charges 24.00 for a steak or a pork chop is obscene. And not just any steak or pork chop, one that will make your taste buds dance and swear that you’ll never go anywhere else in the land of rich housewives. Yes Carson House delivers in so many ways, so many menu items, so little time.

The first night I went my server Jake was so personal and kind, he supported every culinary decision, and added some of his own. Then the very handsome and charming Chef Johnny Messina came to join my table and tell me about his Nonna’s meatball recipe, as well as his other fun facts about his engaging life. Then at the end of my glorious experience Steve Fowler the co-owner decided it was best for me to come the next night to sample the items of the menu that I had missed. So I did indeed go 2 separate nights, which is something I have never done before, I am not going to separate the two nites in my tasting notes, just tell my readers everything that I tried. Keep in mind this tasting was in two separate evenings.

Here’s the food I tried:

Starters:
Grilled Watermelon Salad with Heirloom tomato, basil, Dutch feta, lemon vinaigrette. The presentation of this is gorgeous, the combination works well too.

Seared Ahi with baby tatsoi, baby kale, Bing cherries, and sesame ginger vinaigrette, very nice, and fresh, good for the no carb eater.

Kale and Apple with organic kale, apple dates, candied walnuts, blue cheese. This one is so healthy, you can feel your body getting stronger as you consume, but really very delicious.

Brick Oven Cauliflower with house specialty with Feta Cream sauce. They serve you the whole cauliflower, and what a wonderful taste treat.

Philly Cheese Steak Pot stickers served with garlic tomato relish, interesting idea, very tasty, these are a favorite already. Very melty cheese and good philly cheese steak flavor.

Fries with Siracha ketchup. The ketchup adds a special kick.

Chicken Lollipops with chicken meatballs, buffalo plum glaze, blue cheese whip. I loved these, they are sweet and tender, a great starter.

Crispy Crawfish Mac and Cheese with corkscrew tubes, Gruyere, cheddar. This is so buttery and flavorful, another tasty sensation.

Tar Tar Tacos with romaine shell, papaya pico, wasibi guacamole, and seaweed salad. For the health concisious person these are a no brainer, especially with no carbs.

Kobe Corn Pops mini Kobe beef dogs, spicy yellow mustard. By far the best corn dog ever, this is a must try.

Flatbread Pizzas:

Whitey – roasted garlic, baby spinach, ricotta, crispy basil, and olive oil, crispy crust with a great punch of garlic and ricotta cheese.

Shorty – short rib, mozzarella, caramelized onion, and horseradish cream, wow this one is sweet and savory, the onions really are the delight of this pie.

Meathead – pepperoni, pork belly, prosciutto, chorizo, mozzarella, if you’re a sausage and peperoni kind of person then this pizza is for you.

Entrees:

Butternut Squash Ravioli, with sage beurre blanc, crispy sage leaf. This is not done the usual very saucy way, but it is very delicious and bursting with butternut squash flavor.

Tenderloin Medallions, Boulder Valley Farms, prime beef, basil jalapeno, chimichuri, red bliss mash potatoes. This dish is only $24.00, for the money it is amazing, as well as done to perfection.

Shake and Bake – ‘6 Point Farms Korobuta pork chop, panko Parmesan crust, apple compote. This dish is so special and cooked beyond perfection; the price is amazing as well.

The Shoals with P.E.I. mussels, littleneck clams, grilled prawns, chorizo, garbanzo, garlic cristini, and white wine broth. Good clean sauce, and the shellfish are very fresh.

Roasted Chicken – Mary’s free-range chicken, fingerling potatoes, fire-roasted corn, thyme. I enjoyed the potatoes the most in this dish, very flavorful, and buttery.

Wild Caught Scottish Salmon with sautéed red kale and faro. Another fantastic dish, very complicated, an astonishing work of art.

Cocktails/Wine I tried:

Rodeo
Akvinta (organic) Vodka, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Cucumber & Rose Petals, very drinkable with nice mellow cucumber flavors, you feel like you are at a spa.

Crescent
Prosecco, Orange Juice, Strawberry Puree & Mint Leaves. This beverage would be good for a Sunday brunch with all its effervescent nuances.

Roxbury
Absolut Pear Vodka, Lime Juice and Thyme Sprigs. Really good with lots of very clean pear flavors.

Brighton
Black Grouse Scotch, Spiced Apple Cider, Lemon Juice and Cinnamon. A delightful drink for the scotch lover, even with all of the added ingredients.

There were 2 other cocktails that were made for me on the second night, and I was asked to name them. They both were terrific. One I called Doheny, and the other Burton Way, we will see if they keep those names on their new menu.

Bubbles:

Wolf Blass Brut, Australia, NV, very well rounded, nice on the tongue.

Prosecco, Bolla Italy NV, just what you would want from an Italian prosecco.

Wines:

Sauvignon Blanc, Sterling 2011 Napa. This wine paired nicely with Whitey Flatbread Pizzas, just the right amount of fruit to enhance the pizza’s garlic cheese driven flavor.

Fume Blanc, Ferrari-Carano 2012. I would pair this one with the Seared Ahi, perfect combination of flavors.

Reisling, Kung Fu Girl, 2011, Columbia Valley. I tried the cauliflower with this wine, and I thought it worked great with the cheese sauce.

Pinot Grigio, Kris 2010, Delle Italy, a very nice compliment to The Grilled Watermelon Salad.

Pinot Grigio, Santa Margherita 2010, Italy. This wine worked perfectly with the Kale salad, it brought out the apples in the salad and in the wine.

White Blend, Conundrum, by Caymus 2011. This is a very special wine; I paired it with the sweetness of the Chicken Lollipops.

Chardonnay, Crème De Lys 2011, CA. Rule of them when in doubt Chardonnay is great with fish, in this case shellfish, try it with the The Shoals.

Chardonnay, Chateau St. Jean 2010, Sonoma. Very pleasant caramel flavors, went great with the Wild Caught Scottish Salmon.

Malbec, Trapiche ‘Oak Crest’ 2011, Argentina. Another no brainer this wine paired with the Tenderloin Medallions, what a great match.

Pinot Noir, Fat Monk 2010, Central Coast. I would try this wine with the Philly Cheese Steak Pot stickers; the wine is nice and light. It worked great with this starter.

Cabernet, Sledgehammer 2010, Central Coast, this wine worked very well with the Pork Chop with it’s nice leathery flavor.

Cabernet, Coppola ‘Directors Cut”, Alexander V. This wine went great with The Tenderloin Medallions as well.

Beers:

The Bruery – Bois
Deschutes Brewing – Obsidian Stout
Great Divide Brewing – Chocolate Yeti
Lost Abbey – Hells Lager
Angel City – Eureka Wit
Delirium Tremens

I did a flight of all these beers, and really took very small sips; my favorite was the Delirium Tremens. Mind you I am not a beer drinker, but I wanted to expand my horizons, and since they have such an extensive beer list I felt that this was the right place to do this at.

Desserts:

Apple Pie Raviolis – Vanilla Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce, really fantastic, the perfect ending to this glorious meal.

Smores – House-made marshmallows, graham cracker crumble, chocolate genach. Not really in my wheelhouse, but I have to say an interesting idea.

Ice Cream Sandwiches – Vanilla bean ice cream between house-made blondes. Now this is what I call decadent and oh so yummy. The blondes are worth all the fuss, soft and supple, truly the bomb.

The second night Richie Tricarico told me all about his involvement in Carson House and the struggles it took to get him here. He said that he had been involved in a very serious accident back in 2010, where he nearly lost his life, but has since recovered. He had some physical problems after the accident, but due to his past athletic nature he was able to over come any hardships and was so happy to be an investor and construction manager of Carson House. He did all the physical build out for the restaurant. He talked about his contribution to the interior. He built most of the unique tables, the very creative moonshine still. He said that the I-beam was so pronounced in the middle of the bar, he decided to embrace it instead and add more steel to the other interior components. He brought in his own reclaimed wood from his Kern County ranch that came from old broken down mining cabins.

There are so many details in everything this place is accomplishing, great cocktails, modern fun atmosphere, delectable food, staff member that are over and beyond the call of duty. This place rocks! It could just be a funky neighborhood venue or the greatest restaurant Beverly Hills has ever seen, what ever it is I call on all of my fun foodies to give this place a try, and soon. They might just catch on that their prices are below anyone’s in all of Los Angeles, so go check it out now.

Carson House
8635 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA. 90211
310-289-2800
www.carsonhousebh.com/‎

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