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Yes, It’s True. Borscht Is Now On My DeathbedFood List – At Least Playa’s Version

I love it when a dining experience has me asking, “Where have I been all my life?”  That happened to me this past Friday at John Rivera Sedlar’s Playa Restaurant.  I’d been meaning to get there ever since I met the Chef at The Taste this past Summer.  I could tell he was a legend in LA based on his St. Estephe history.  But, like other hot spots Foodies tell me I must go to (The Tasting Kitchen, Animal, Son of a Gun, Red Medicine), I just never made it.  With Dine LA ending, however, I had the push needed to finally get over to Playa.  And I’m SO glad I did.

Playa (Photo: LA Weekly)

I was thrilled to discover that part of their Dine LA menu was an homage to the forthcoming 26th anniversary of perestroika and the Chef’s invitation to Moscow 20 years ago to cook a Latin/Russian menu celebrating the dawning of glasnost.  Whoa, can I just say, you don’t see that everyday in restaurants.

I have particular affinity for this as I had gone to the, then, Soviet Union in 1986 with a group from college.  We flew to Tokyo, then took a ship to the East Coast of the Soviet Union where we took the Trans-Siberian Railway across Siberia, Moscow, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and ending up in Finland.  It was shortly before glasnost and the KGB was still in effect (following members of our group at times!).

In any case, the thing I remembered most from that trip was the food.  Truly awful.  No overstatement.  Things that should have been hot were cold and vice versa … and everything, except the bread, seemed greasy.  It was on that trip that I discovered Nutella for the first time in the hotel’s tourist store.

With its now famous picture of the knife spreading the delicious spread on bread, it was love at first sight for my sore eyes.  From then on, I took my trusty Nutella with me to every meal, contentedly surviving for the next two weeks on the simple beauty of Nutella on bread.  And, what with World Nutella Day just happening yesterday, I’m hugely comforted to know I’m not alone anymore …

Sorry, I digress.  Suffice it to say, I had to try the Russian-inspired items from Playa’s Dine LA menu.  Not only were several of the dishes that night DeathbedFood level, but the wine pairing at $20 was an incredible bargain – especially considering that one of the wines was a velvety 2003 Tempranillo.

Chiles Rellenos with Shiitake and Kale

First up on our first Dine LA meal were Chiles Rellenos … served on a Soviet-inspired plate. Unreal – in all my years of dining, I’ve never seen any dish served on a plate like this (even during my trip in the USSR!).

Corn Borscht with Proletarian Caviar & Beet-Habanero Afterburner

Next on the Dine LA menu was the “Corn Borscht with Proletarian Caviar and Beet-Habanero Afterburner.”  I’m not sure I fully understand the magnitude of this dish yet but, I can assure you, it surpassed any expectations going in.  Granted, I had been truly traumatized by my Borscht experiences in Russia (LUKE WARM GREASY SOUP) so I only ordered this dish out of curiosity.  The beauty was that the more you dug into it, the more it unfolded … the beet-habanero at the bottom melding into the corn chowder-inspired soup as smoothly as I’m guessing George Clooney operates with the ladies.  Plus the “Proletarian” name was way cool.  Too bad it was just the Dine LA menu … personally, I recommend it become a permanent part of Playa’s offering!

Salmon Stroganoff Romanoff

Salmon Strogranoff Romanoff?  Wowza!  First off, who thinks of doing a Salmon Stroganoff?  And next, who does a Hammer & Sickle on the plate using Paprika?  By marrying food and politics, Chef Sedlar may just have transcended the culinary world.  John Rivera Sedlar for President, I say!

Skirt Steak aux Cinco Chiles

The Skirt Steak with “Cinco Chiles” was another Dine LA dish.  While I thought the dish itself was lovely, what really struck a chord was the skull plate and the overall presentation.

Then, not on the Dine LA menu, the Chef said we must try the Maize Cake Bombay Taj, deemed to be one of Jonathan Gold’s 10 Best Dishes in 2011.

Maize Cake Bombay Taj (with Pork Belly)

I would never attempt to summarize a dish better than Jonathan himself who so eloquently summarizes why this is DeathbedFood for me now:

A “maize cake” is John Sedlar’s new unit of consumption at Playa: a thickish, palm-size patty of nixtamal, passed across a griddle just long enough to crisp the surface. It tastes a little like the thick, handmade tortillas you sometimes get at Central American restaurants. The surface of the Bombay Taj is smeared with a kind of masala paste, both tart and hot, and dotted with bits of chewy, pungent mango pickle and a bit of seasoned yogurt. The spicy maize cake supports three or four cubes of pork belly, cooked sous vide with duck fat to a melting softness and crisped a moment before serving. It’s basically a luxury-class carnitas taco but twisted 90 degrees, made new by the new platform, the sharpness of the pickle and the mephitic breath of turmeric.

And, finally, DeathbedFood Alert: Dessert from the Dine LA menu: Chocolate-Chile Ice Cream with Mezcal Crema …

Chocolate-Chile Ice Cream with Mezcal Crema

While you can see the caramel and ice cream to the left, it’s what you can’t see that well may be the best part … the chile-chocolate sauce next to it.  Unreal how the sweetness of  the ice cream and caramel, the hotness of the chocolate sauce, and the texture of the cookie all come together to make incredible impact.

So what’s next for Playa?  Pacific Standard Time which allows Playa guests, after having visited any of the PST art installations, to be presented with a SECRET MENU with dishes inspired by the art (from February 7th until March 31st).  I, DeathbedFood, approve the message of PST and will be dropping by without question!