East Meets West

The East Meets West tasting event pitted the cultural culinary styles of the two revered SBE restaurateurs against each other in a friendly cooking challenge that would offer dinners the best of both worlds.

The tone was set in the dining room at Mina’s XIV with a costumed Geisha girl and Louis XIV impersonator circling the crowd to enhance the festivities of the themed evening. But even more impressive was when SBE head honcho Sam Nazarian did some laps through the dining room to welcome the guests.

With Chef Katsuya as a respected Haute Ambassador and Michael Mina as a former cover feature of Haute Living, the esteemed chefs each offered their own inside takes for our readers on the fun that was had by all.

The Best From the West with Chef Michael Mina

While my culinary travel schedule has been quite full this season, spending time in my kitchen at XIV for the East Meets West dinner event turned out to be as spectacular as I had anticipated. I spent a bit of time mentally preparing, and in the end it was a successful endeavor, as the plates from both sides were magnificent and our guests did not hold back from reveling in this culinary celebration.

For those of you who did not attend, you missed quite the treat as I hosted Chef Katsuya for this Iron Chef-style showdown on the first Tuesday in November. We invited the audience to be the judge: caviar by Katsuya or bluefin tuna Mina-style?

We chose the ingredients for the seven-course tasting menu together, and I believe they all worked beautifully, complementing the two different styles of cuisine. Caviar, Tai snapper, ahi tuna, bay scallops, Jidori chicken, and Kobe short ribs all made appearances in the most delectable forms.

Though it was just a friendly competition to bring some fun into the kitchen and the dining room, we playfully determined that the battle ended in a tie, with our diners as the blue-ribbon winners.

Cheers,
Michael Mina
XIV by Michael Mina
8117 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323.656.1414
www.sbe.com/xiv

Epicure from the East with Chef Katsuya

While it is never easy to cook in someone else’s kitchen, for this particular event I could not resist the temptation to let my culinary skills shine behind the doors of the Philippe Starck-designed L.A. eatery, XIV.

Chef Mina and his team were excellent hosts for the East Meets West dining extravaganza, and we could not have been more thrilled with the turnout of the crowd and the delivery of the dishes.

Incorporating my own signature touches to the evening, such as fried sticky rice topped with jalapeno to accompany the big eye tuna course was a treat, as was the special sushi station that Chef Mina’s team set up for me in the dining room.

As the first “food fight” of its kind on the Sunset Strip, I could not be more pleased with the entire experience and can’t wait to participate in more of these types of themed-dinner events with the SBE team.

Itadakimasu,
Katsuya Uechi
Katsuya L.A. Live
800 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
213.747.9797
www.sbe.com/katsuya

EAST MEETS WEST TASTING MENU

AMERICAN CAVIAR
By Mina
Smoked sturgeon croquette, hollandaise foam, micro chive
By Katsuya
Chawanmushi, matsutake ankake

JAPANESE TAI SNAPPER
By Mina
Tapioca-crusted, broccoli rabe, white soy vinaigrette
By Katsuya
Usuzukuri, fuji apple, soy-balsamic

BIG EYE TUNA
By Mina
Carpaccio, wasabi crème fraîche, yuzu vinaigrette
By Katsuya
Nigiri X 3

NANTUCKET “SUGAR DROP” BAY SCALLOPS
By Mina
Foie gras, cinnamon couscous, golden raisins, crispy garlic
By Katsuya
Truffle, sudachi

JAPANESE JIDORI CHICKEN
By Mina
Grilled breast, braised leg, pear cornbread, endive, radicchio
By Katsuya
Robata, negima, tsukune, braised egg, sansho

WAGYU SHORT RIB
By Mina
Star anise, horseradish, matsutake mushroom, Brussels sprouts
By Katsuya
Niku Jaga, Japanese style meat and potato

PETITE FOURS
By Mina
Yuzu, cashews, chocolate
By Katsuya
Persimmon, chestnuts, chocolate, financier-huile d’Olive