Maker's Mark Dinner at Red Medicine

*Post by Mark.

It took us nearly a year before we officially made it to Red Medicine. Chef Jordan Kahn's young career has already brought him through the kitchens of Thomas Keller and Michael Mina. Now he tries his hand at a modern cuisine that is not attempting fusion - as the restaurant's manifesto states - but is merely inspired by Vietnamese cuisine and Chinatown dives. In its first year, the small Beverly Hills restaurant has found its share of press. If not for the awards garnered by its inspired food, then for the restaruants' now-notorious unmasking and ousting of a well-known critic.

It wasn't so much that we were blacklisting the restaurant, just that for much of 2011, the sour taste of such shenanigans gave us occasion to dine elsewhere. Months after the media storm finally died down, we'd nearly forgotten to check in, but finally found occasion to give Red Medicine a chance when we were invited to Maker's Mark-sponsored dinner where bourbon cocktails would be paired with Chef Kahn's cuisine.

Maker's Mark Los Angeles "Diplomat" April Gallegos served as our ebullient host, taking us through the history of Maker's Mark as well as the whisky-making process (and gave us a number of great suggestions for hosting at home). These days, we rarely find Maker's on cocktail menus or in our liquor cabinet, so with managing partner Noah Ellis on hand to guide us through the evening's menu and their four specially designed Maker's Mark cocktails this would be a night for second chances.  

Our first drink was Red Medicine's take on a Moscow Mule (classically made with ginger beer and lime). Already one of our favorite cocktails, Red Med's version showcased a delicious housemade grenadine and a blast of carbonation after the drinks were mixed and allowed to sit for a few hours. The light, refreshing libation was paired with first round of food, consisting of four light(er) dishes.

First came the pork rillette. Nestled deep in a bed of greens and served with crispy slivers of bread,  the rillette was rich with duck fat and redolent of spice (cloves). The velvety texture of the spread was broken up by sweet chunks of lychee and crunchy bits of chicken skin and pistachio. 

The next dish used various leafy greens to camouflage a meltingly tender beef tartare, which traded the classic version's mix-ins (dijon mustard/cornichon pickles/capers/shallot/egg yolk) for Asian-inspired ingredients: water chestnuts, chlorophyll, nuoc leo (peanut sauce) and crumbled peanuts.

Continuing the "hidden treasures" theme, we found tangy, tiny tomatoes buried in a foam of sake lees (the thick rice paste that’s left at the end of the sake-making process), along with peanut, Malaysian spices, and lavender, and garnished with the crispy white rice crackers that accompanied many of the dishes.

The last dish of the first round was kind of stunning in its simplicity. Hiding beneath the blanket of rice crackers sat golden and nutty Brussels sprouts, tossed with caramelized shallots in a salty and slightly mouth-puckering dressing of fish sauce and vermouth. 

The second round of food, which alternated heavy and light dishes, was paired with Red Medicine's twist on a mint julep, which combined Maker's Mark with housemade pineapple syrup, mint, grapefruit peel and whisky barrel aged bitters. A little more substantial than the first drink, we could still imagine sipping this creation in the warmer months.

Providing a nice segue between the lighter first dishes and the slightly heavier entrees, the sweet corn, with Kelley's egg, turmeric crepe, black malt and shiitake delicately balanced its many elements: the dry, slightly burnt flavor of the malt powder and the earthiness of the shiitakes provided an anchor for the sweetness of the corn and the richness of the egg.

There was nothing delicate about the next dish, and we loved it. The creamy, luscious heirloom rice porridge, with egg yolk, hazelnuts, ginseng, and echire (artisan French butter), was one of the most decadent things either of us had ever tasted. Our apologies to our tablemates who were elbowed aside for those last few bites.

After the extravagance of the rice porridge, the sword fin squid - with onion soubise (a rich French sauce), young carrots, salted black bean and elderflower – brought us back to earth with subtlety and elegance.

Like the rice porridge, the Imperial Wagyu beef brisket was a bolder, more hearty dish. Fall-apart tender from a 36-hour braise, the meat got a sweet, salty glaze of palm sugar and fish sauce. Almost too much flavor on its own, it was perfect in little bites wrapped with the accompanying lettuce leaves and assortment of shredded pickled veggies.

We finished the savory dishes and moved onto the sweet courses. The first sweet cocktail was the first we tried with Maker's Mark 46 (which takes the original product and ages it a little longer using barrels with inserts of seared French oak planks). This creamy brew, which combines the slightly sweeter 46 with coconut milk, egg yolk, sugar and spices, would be a fantastic hit at any holiday party.

The first dessert played off the flavors of the cocktail: a coconut bavarois (a Bavarian cream dessert) with coffee, condensed milk, Thai basil, peanut croquant and chicory.

The final cocktail paired the 46 with Echire butter, sugar, Maldon salt, hot water and nutmeg. Another great seasonal drink, though the intense sweetness and heaviness from the butter forced some to quit after a few sips (in its defense, this was our second sweet drink in as many already sweet dessert courses).

In the last dish, the kitchen paired bitter chocolate with more savory flavors, utilizing kecap manis (an Indonesian sauce that tastes like sweet soy sauce), oats, and parsnip with brown butter and soy milk sorbet.

As we ambled out of Red Medicine, our full stomachs and contented tastebuds were glad to have given the restaurant and the whisky their respective second chances. The next day, a bottle of Maker's Mark found its way back into our liquor cabinet and we were even inspired to try our own Maker's Mark based cocktails.

*Disclosure - this was a hosted media dinner.

Comments

[lynn @ the actor's diet]

i still have to get my ass there!

[Gerard Brightman]

I'm loving all the green dishes. Those chocolates and the whiskey are great compliments. Hope I could try them soon. :)

[Angela]

Lynn-

You definitely should! Every dish was at least solid, and some of them were just phenomenal (the sprouts and the rice porridge were my favorites).

Gerard-
They really do a beautiful job with the plating. And yeah, whisky and chocolate are a great combo!