Teich.Net :: All In

There’s a small (20 people max) place in West LA that I’ve heard about for a few years. Referred to as “Secret Beef”, this is a Japanese style BBQ restaurant. 9 courses, prix fix, BYOB, and often hailed as the best beef in all the US. The catch? You can only get in if someone else who’s on the list brings you. Lucky for me, Chuck (his original post) just happened to be going there this past Tuesday with 4 of his friends, and he invited me to tag along!

If you want the gory details, I’d suggest this Chowhound post. Barring the crab legs on the starter, it’s exactly the same as our meal.

My verdict - to tell you the truth, and I’m almost afraid to post this - disappointing. The meat was good. The throat was tough for me, and a bit unique. The rest of the beef was amazingly tender, with the best marbling I’ve ever seen. Ultimately, I eat for the taste, and that’s where I was let down. There was little to no “beef” flavor, mostly it was succulent, tender, grilled meat stuff. It may just be the style. I am far from experienced with Japanese BBQ. I’m used to steaks, thick cut American or Argentinian. For the person who appreciates this style, I’d easily believe this is the best version of it in the western world.

It is BYOB, so BYOB we did. 6 bottles for 6 people, including the star of the evening, a 750ml 2000 D’Yquem (thanks Steve!). Wonderful wine, darn good food, great ambiance, and a great set of people. If you get a chance, go for it!

Check out the full gallery.

Explanation of ratings

Attire: Whatever. Really. It’s the least style conscious place you can imagine. Wear what you wear.

I’ve written about the French Laundry before (visits one and two). This post is now two months overdue and I’ve struggled with what new to say about our lunch in May. While my giddy, over-the-top awe has mellowed over the course of our five meals there (which have included a few dishes that didn’t quite make it into the stratosphere), my general opinion that it offers the best fine dining experience in the US remains unchanged. That said, my compulsion to return as often as possible has waned as the price and familiarity have increased, so with the difficulty of assembling a party of four on 3 days’ notice willing to drop that kind of cash, I nearly took a pass when Chuck offered me a last-minute reservation in May. But, we did manage three people, it was a good time of year for produce, and a nice celebration for the week before starting my new job, so off we went! Rather than rehash the oohs and awes or detract from the memory with a few nitpicks, I offer notes from our latest meal through photos.

Check out video interviews with top Bay Area chefs and food writers talking about their favorite San Francisco dining spots. I felt some validation watching Thomas Keller, one of my food idols, coo over my personal SF favorite, Quince. And, I had never though of trying Campton Place for brunch!

As a side note: I actually found this site through a banner ad served by DoubleClick on Tastyr San Francisco Restaurant Reviews, a site I landed on from a comment about recommendations on a TechCrunch post. This is the first time I can remember clicking on a banner ad in ages. It’s not that I don’t like ads — I actually really appreciate the goods ones, they are just few and far between. American Express has done a pretty decent job with their My Card, My Life campaign, though I’m not sure how much the print ads or this Local Dish site contribute to my use of my Amex card. What this find does demonstrate is the value of real content in advertising and of matching little sites like Tastyr with truly relevant ads.

In getting to know new people, especially at work, the conversation usually includes where we’ve worked in the past. The fact that I used to work for an organic rainforest sorbet and gelato company (”ice cream,” for short) usually meets some surprise. I suppose the food industry and tech aren’t the most obvious career path bedfellows, but the mentality and skills of the entrepreneur translate well to starting or growing any small business. Apparently I’m not alone in this perspective: Chris made a similar observation about the common challenges facing entrepreneurs in response to an excellent column by Mr. David Chang of New York City’s Momofuku Noodle Bar and (the new) Momofuku Ssam Bar.

On a side note, we stopped by Momofuku Noodle Bar on arriving in NYC a few weeks ago. Chuck has been raving about it for ages, and he is note alone. We just beat the crowd at 5:30. We were blown away and still can’t stop talking about the pork buns. I just keep adding underlines to that piece of paper where I first wrote “meat is good.”

I’m sorry it has been so long since I have posted. It’s not for want of interesting food and wine experiences. Life has just gotten in the way of blogging of late… Some of the highlights from the last few months include:

• Noteworthy meals in London (Origin, Mela…)
• Two phenomenal tasting menus at Quince (it remains one of my Bay Area favorites)
• An excellent birthday dinner at Manresa that included a garden “salad” unlike anything I’ve ever had
• A first-time visit to “Two” (the reinterpretation of Hawthorne Lane) that, despite a few pleasantly surprising dishes that mostly came from the pasta and pizza section of the menu, didn’t leave us rushing for a return visit; the wines brought by our companions at that meal, on the other hand, still have us drooling
• A serendipitous cancellation at The French Laundry…

In other news:

• I’ve upped the ante on last year’s six tomato plants with ten now crammed into my relatively small vegetable bed this year, albeit it might much mightier Texas Tomato Cages. All three on the shadiest end are already huge; one at the opposite end is doing quite well; the rest in the middle are still a bit stumpy. Odd…
• And last but not least: Thursday was my last day at Yahoo!. It was a difficult decision and a sad goodbye for now. However, I am thrilled to be joining, starting tomorrow, a very cool startup called Aggregate Knowledge. More to come…

We have been meaning to visit Lure ever since San Francisco Magazine gave it an “excellent” opening review. Maybe it was all those months of having the idea of such addictive seafood in the back of my head, but the reality disappointed.
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After being on our list of places to try for more than a year, through all the opening hype, and then the relative silence, we finally made it to Myth with Chuck and Nick for dinner earlier this month. A brief recap.
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There are lots of new listings and updates on our Restaurant Guide and list of Restaurants to Try. Check them out and leave any suggestions or questions (not everywhere is listed yet) in the comments.

11585We just spent eight gloriously sunny days in Cabo with Oren’s family. New discoveries and updates are noted in our Restaurant Guide…

I love the food in Baja, though these days restaurants there seem to be generally more expensive than those of similar quality in the Bay Area. My favorites in the area (Mi Cucina and Café Santa Fe on the nice end and Gardenias Tacos for great-shimp-tacos–no-atmosphere) would rate higher on a Mexico- or Baja-only scale, but the top end doesn’t compare to what we have here and I have tried my best to keep the ratings in that broader context.

Unlike some people, I haven’t wiled away my time recently in New York City’s top restaurants, but in the last week two friends have separately asked for a recommendation on the best in French Laundry/Manresa-type “serious dining” in NYC. I can narrow down Zagat’s Top Rated (which currently has 10 restaurants tied for top food honors at 28) based on what I’ve read and the few I’ve tried, but if you had to recommend just one to friends looking to blow the bank on a single phenomenal meal in Manhattan, what would it be?