Acclaimed US chef and TV personality José Andrés presents us with a truly unique experience on Spanish cuisine by merging the very best of classical Spanish dishes with nouveau culinary techniques. The liquid nitrogen, the spherication, the foams and gels are echoed from the ooh’s and aah’s of the intrigued (and gorgeously fashionable) diners from the LA scene.

I’ve visited the Bazaar on two very different occasions and I’ve always enjoyed every moment, whether it is a romantic dinner for two or a group celebration with twelve.

There are moments when you’re watching Ramsay’s kitchen nightmares on TV and a foul mouthed English chef is screaming at an American chef about a common error most restaurants make, which is having a menu that’s laden with a smorgasbord of choices rather than a short and simple offering. In this case, Gordon’s rule need not apply. With José being a master of his trade, he bends all the rules and he bends them like Beckham (sorry- bad joke). His menu basically gives Gordon’s whole ’simple menu’ concept the big rude finger, which is a draw card for me. José knows the dining experience at the Bazaar is tenfold better than a Ramsay establishment, and not many restaurants can pull off such a long and extensive menu.

The menu consists of two main sections – “traditional tapas” and “modern tapas”, there are pages and pages of options, most of them only satiating one mouthful. You can order everything imaginable, from a rustic Jamon Serrano w/ Pan con Tamateto to a futuristic cotton candy foie gras. Accompany it with a glass of syrah from Napa or serve it with a liquid nitrogen caipirinha. Have a 3 course meal, or put together your own degustation. Even the vegetarians are happy here. What’s not to love? Esquire magazine named The Bazaar their No.1 restaurant last year, so it’s not just popular with the ladies either.

The sheer amount of aesthetically beautiful dishes on our table is for food bloggers what celebrities at The Oscars are for the papparazzi – after all, this is Hollywood! So here, with little words, I bring you the red carpet gallery of Jose’s menu for your visual enjoyment:

Magic Mojito, served in a shaker and strained over cotton candy

Liquid nitrogen Caipirinha, prepared at the table
 

Sweet potato chips, Yogurt, tamarind, star anise

Gazpacho Cup

American caviar cone

Sea urchin, Avocado, steamed buns – our favorite, always! Comparable to Momofuku’s steamed pork belly buns

“Grn Asp Can” – a whimsical play on the canning culture of Spanish food along with Croquetas

Pisto manchego (Capsicum and zucchini stew with coddled egg)

Shrimp cocktail on pipette, where you squeeze the sauce in your mouth as you eat the shrimp

Jamon Serrano w/ Pan con Tamate

The “Not Your Everyday Caprese” salad with sphericated liquid mozzarella balls that explode in the mouth

Philly cheesesteak”, Air bread, cheddar, Wagyu beef

Boneless chicken wings green olive purée

Beef Hanger Steak

Brussel Sprouts

And moving onto the Patisserie for their vast selection of sweet treats:

White chocolate lollipop with black olive

Traditional Spanish Flan, Vanilla and fruit

Coconut and Berries

SLS Tres Chocolate Mousse

As much as I take pride in the amount of food I can order in one night, all of the above photos were actually taken on three separate visits to this favorite restaurant in Los Angeles. Without any hesitation I return for more things I have yet to try on the menu!

The Bazaar by José Andrés, SLS Hotel
465 South La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 246-5555
www.thebazaar.com

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tsp. Sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 tsp. Active dry yeast
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups lukewarm milk
• 1 cup Self raising flour
• 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve ½ tsp. Of the sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast and let it stand for approx 10 minutes until the mixture appears to be frothy. In a separate larger mixing bowl, beat egg, milk and remaining sugar. Add flours and salt (I like to sift this in) and beat for 1 minute. Beat in the yeast mixture and half of the butter. Cover the mixing bowl with glad wrap; leave it to rise in warm place until it has about doubled in size (takes around 1 hour).

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with some of the remaining butter. It’s really just like making tiny little pancakes. I find that it gets a little messy spooning small amounts of batter onto the pan so I used a piping bag. You can also transfer the batter into a zip lock bag, seal it and cut a small corner on the bottom to pipe with.

I piped ‘blobs’ of batter around 4cm in diameter. Cook until bubbles form on top, then carefully flip each one over and cook until bottoms are golden brown.

Makes around 50 blini. It may seem like a lot, but you’ll be surprised how quickly it goes!

Traditionally, you would serve these with caviar. Sturgeon roe is just one of the most divine flavours that make me weak at the knees. Unfortunately, due to illegal fishing, the numbers of wild sturgeon has dramatically decreased over the years. The Beluga sturgeon is currently considered to be endangered, causing the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to ban in 2005 the importation of Beluga caviar which originated in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea basin. Sterling, a Californian company, have started farming white sturgeon caviar that is almost similar to Ossetra caviar. Do not forget to handle caviar with a mother of pearl spoon, as metal utensils tend to impart an unwelcome metallic taste to the delicate and expensive roe.

You can purchase Sterling Caviar (pictured) from Simon Johnson for around $605.00 for a 125gm serving with your whole family on a special occasion. They also have 30gm servings at $163.00, which is a perfect size for two people. (Hint: Valentine’s day is coming up!)

My favorite condiments to accompany caviar on the blini are finely chopped hard boiled egg yolks, egg whites, chives, creme fraiche, capers, and red onions.

You can also serve blini’s with smoked salmon, making it a great canape at parties.

If you ever have chance to get your hands on Beluga – I would suggest not embellishing the flavour of the roe with anything at all. Known to be the largest sturgeon, it can measure up to six meters in length and consists of very large eggs, which makes it very desirable. Even though Beluga weighing up to 600 kilograms existed in the past, the endangered species rarely come in those sizes nowadays because of overfishing.