The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.
Koo Zee Doo
Lupini beans
Broa Corn Bread and Crusty White Roll with Salted Butter
Caldo Verde – Pureed potato broth with collards and chouriço plus Chorizo oil
Pasteis de Bacalhau – Potato and Salt Cod Croquettes
Lulas Estufadas – Fried and Braised Squid, Tomatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Peas, Olives, Cumin Marinara
Arroz de Pato – Baked duck rice with white rice cooked in duck stock, duck confit, and chorizo
Pudim de Pão de Chocolate – Chocolate hazelnut bread pudding with Crème Anglaise with Almond Praline
Bolo de Bolacha – Coffee soaked wafers, Buttercream, Passion fruit compote, topped with Chocolate Salami
Bolo de Amêndoa – Flourless almond cake dipped in Chocolate, fig-port wine reduction
Peregrine Coffee – Brazilian Roast
It pains me that it took so long to revisit my meal at Koo Zee Doo through photos and words because I fear I may have lost salient points, memories, and facts about the two hours during which I sat and watched David Gilberg and Carla Gonçalves prepare one of the most unique and satisfying meals of 2012. Having never truly experienced Portuguese cuisine or culture and finding both entirely underrepresented in the United States everything about this BYO was stellar; the reservationist who set up my tasting menu, the window seat with a full view of the bar, the rustic setting with brick walls lined with candle light, and even the classic Portuguese music playing overhead. If Kanella felt like a mom and pop spot then Koo Zee Doo felt like being invited to a friend’s house for dinner – an outstanding 5 course dinner for a mere $50 with service that was both friendly and educated as well as educational.
Admitting my naivety with Portuguese cuisine but led to believe both by friends and the staff that the dishes served at Koo Zee Doo are a somewhat upscale yet accurate take on the country’s food I can only say that beginning with the fibrous but flavorful Lupini beans served alongside toothsome and warm Broa and moving on to creamy, spicy soup and then progressing through perhaps the best salt cod dish I’ve ever had the meal started strong and only got stronger as the night moved on – the smoky yet subtle squid over creamy potatoes and briny tomato sauce leading into a grand finale duck rice with as much cracklin’ confit as rice beneath a perfect magret. Perfect in the savories and equally sublime in sweets it was a trio of mini treats that arrived last alongside Brazilian coffee that is apparently roasted in a local Kensington man’s garage and as much as I love bread pudding – this one a beautiful flavor and texture – it was the Bolo that truly stole the show; two bites of pure bliss that I’d be thinking about throughout the concert that followed and even well into my post-concert bites at Alla Spina and meals the following day.