WHERE: Los Angeles (DTLA) / What happened to NoHo??

THE MENU: (2/20 - 2/24)

HOW+WHY: Our Story / LQ@SK

LQ @ SK / PARKING / CATERING / ARCHIVES

Contact us (anytime!): info@starrykitchen.com

First of all, Happy New Wave Weds! But I GOTTA RUN (even though that’s a bad pun with the song above, I really DO!)

Secondly, let’s take a LOOOOONG verbose break to read more about the LQ@SK tomfoolery, shall we (only if you want because it’s LONG!)

(Psssst- don’t forget it’s the LAST week for the SAVORY SAKE TOFU too)

Time for the Old School to SCHOOL the New School punks of today!

(aka the LQ @ SK OFFICIAL Press Release Announcement)

 

(photo courtesy of Julian Fang/@DJJewelz)

Re: some relevant “mumbo-jumbo” about LQ FOODING AROUND @ Starry Kitchen (aka LQ @ SK)

(ahem ahem)

Dear respective journalist with a slant and/or penchant towards news with a culinary slant:

(FYI- if you want to skip this jibba-jabba and get to the DEETS, just skip down to the… “DEETS” section below ^_^)

Have you heard about the acclaimed James Beard Award nominated Chef Laurent Quenioux FOODING AROUND @ crazy, cursing and banana suit wearing Starry Kitchen? NO! Well, here’s a convenient interwebs link before for you to peruse (at your leisure of course) to catch up on this fantastical news.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/05/your_next_pop-up_laurent_quenioux_starry_kitchen.php

Now that we have THAT out of the way, how about we give you the long of the short of it in this “PRESS RELEASE”?!?!

Now it’s time to gather around for…bullet point summary STORY TIME of how this came to be (YAY!):

• A long long LONG time ago in galaxy far, far away (from the valley) there was 7^th Street Bistro in DTLA
• (dramatic montage with lots of cool fades, wipes and music video jump-cuts fast forwarding through nearly 30 years of history)
•  LQ and Team SK have a fateful meeting in early 2011 at Vertical Wine Bistro and become instant friends (HUZZAH!)
• Months later, LQ doesn’t have Bistro LQ anymore (BOO!)
• Thankfully, SK conveniently still does and calls up with this message: “Hey LQ, why don’t you come to SK and do your own THANG! You COULD go and “pop-up” with one of your fancy-schmancy friends (that we love & who also make tasty food too. ) OR do the unexpected- come to “CRAAAZY” SK and make WHATEVER YOU WANT (with lotsa of techno music as an added bonus)
•   LQ loves SK
• SK loves LQ back
• LQ makes a decision to start FOODING AROUND @ SK (or “pop-up”, “pop-in”, “pop-out” or maybe even a “gelee jamboree”.. whatever you would like to call it)
• Months later LQ @ SK test-run happens (“fun times” soft run was Sun+Mon of this week
• Soft run already resulted in one beautiful “Love child” in a new LQ signature dish -> Teriyaki Rabbit Albondigas + Teriyaki Foie Gras

 

(photo courtesy of Danny Chen/@KungFoodPanda) 

• And now LQ comes full circle back at where it all BEGAN in DTLA with a new beginning (a whole lot more techno) in LQ @ SK - “Celebrate good times, come ON!”

And there you have it. Thanks y’all.

…

Oh wait a minute, you probably want the deets too, huh?!

DEETS (aka “Details)

FYI-We WERE going to do it every two weeks, but we were like “F’ IT! Let’s go ALBONDIGAS OUT!” (I know, bad joke, and TEAM SK takes responsibility for this bad humor)

•  LQ @ SK STARTS on June 5^th and will only be serving on (stated) Sun-Tues nights only
• Starry Kitchen is located @ 350 S. Grand Ave, and is a fun place for friends, families & lovers too!
• Current schedule of dates: Jun 5-7, 13-14, 19, 20 (more dates to be added later
• Reservations can ONLY be made through the LQ reservation form (http://bistrolq.com/SurveyManager/display/sid/4) and will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. Space is VERY limited for limited engagement dates! (no really, it IS!)
• Reservations are not set UNTIL an email confirmation is sent to customers
• Two seatings per night: 1^st – 6:30p / 2^nd – 8:30p
•  For MOST of LQ@SK, we will be sticking to a $45 Prix Fixe Menu (OH YEAH!)
• Menu items will change whenever Chef LQ feels like it!
• No exceptions, no substitutions, and please… No cry babies  (thank you!)
• For the time being, we are planning a 3-6 month run for LQ @ SK, but who knows
• PARKING (possibly the most important point): SK VALIDATES in DTLA for two parking garages -both California Plaza garages on Olive between 2nd + 4th, 350 or 300 S. Grand Ave lots
•  And while people wait for June 5^th, they can try the LQ Boudin Noir (w/ apple compote, mashed potatoes and mustard tapioca-liciousness) conveniently for lunch @ SK for the next 2 weeks

More about  all of us:

Laurent Quenioux is a French food culinarian (we made that word up) and BADASS! If that’s not enough, more on him here:

http://bistrolq.com/Chef/Quenioux

Starry Kitchen (Nguyen & Thi Tran) are immature lovers of Asian food that still live in the apartment they started out of (illegally!) If that’s not enough, here’s how they started:

http://www.laweekly.com/2009-12-17/la-life/the-restaurant-in-apartment-205/

And FINALLY, this verbose, seemingly witty and yet chock full of useful winning life strategies “press release” has come to an end… and if you don’t believe TEAM SK wears a banana suit. Here’s Nguyen Tran with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa below. Believe it!

 

(photo courtesy of TEAM SK’s blackberry camera | And Mayor Villaraigosa courtesy of just being there!)

Much love for all,

TEAM LQ@SK

HAAAAAPPY..FRIIIIDAY! :)

Well, if ya haven’t heard, we’re gonna be doing a “Double-Pop-Up” on Oct 24th by borrowing(aka “Hijacking”) the Mandoline Grill Vietnamese Food Truck (as pictured above.. With purdy pics of their own food!) @ Domaine LA! w00t w00t

(If I weren’t blogging from my trusty phone, I’d give ya a nifty link.. But darn I can’t but if you’re here.. You know how to google that mo’fo! ^^)

Now that I got some of that “rare” self-promotion outta the way (phew).. On to some more self-promotion (boo! ^^)

Today (-day..-day) is the last day of.. DINELA RESTAURANT WEEEEEEEEEEK!

(NoooooOOOOoOOOOOO)

So that also means its the last special day for Crispy Tofu Balls, Double-fried Sweet Ginger Chix Wings (well, at least for lunch), Vietnamese Eggrolls (again.. At least for lunch since these are on the Din-Dins menu!), Taiwanese Fried Pork Chop, Exotic Thai Fruit in Coco Milk & Young Banana + Tapioca in Caramel Coco Milk.. And blah blah blah (I’m sure you get the gist by now). If you didn’t know (by now), this menu is avail for BOTH lunch & Din-dins (only if you want it of course ^^), but…

Ya know, we had a REALLY good time with this menu, and its getting us to thinking… Well, nothing specific exactly, but we are thinking.. HmmmMMmmMM

(aka We’ll let ya know :D)

Otherwise, today’s ALSO the last day for the Savory Sake Tofu too.

I think that’s all I got.. Next time I gotta think of some clever limerick’s or haiku’s to end the Friday post with.. But today all you get is..

*muah*

(Cause everyone deserves a friendly platonic internet kiss every now and then, right? ^_^)

Much love,

TEAM SK

‘ello & HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY ya’ll! And today, by-golly, we’re gonna go against the grain and OPEN today. Thas right! So what if the banks are closed and I can’t get anymore money into my/your account until tomorrow… we’ll just have to live “wildly” today (like I am below in my ode to Abita Root Beef picture) and… enjoy some Pan-Asian Comfort Food?!?! :)

But anyway, we are O-P-E-N (for the 4 of you that were wondering… hope to see ya today! ^_^).

And if you didn’t know… RESTAURANT WEEK is STILL going on (it should be called Restaurant WEEKS, but then again I guess that doesn’t sound as cool) so we’re still offering our RESTAURANT WEEK MENU … AND we’re still doing the FREE MARGARITA deal w/ CASA too (check out there menu HERE foo’s). If you don’t know what to get at Casa ‘cause you haven’t been, here’s my PERSONAL recommendation of what makes me “bust-a-nut” when I’m here (no, really!):

• Turduckenizo Albondigas
• Sopa de Chile Poblano (you’re doing yourself injustice if you don’t get this)
• Braised Beef Short Ribs Birria (another self-injustice if you don’t get this)
• Tres Leches (you can never go wrong w/ TRES LECHES)

Alright? Alright!

Well, that’s it for today kids…

Oh YEAH, we broke one of our OWN rules because we’re doing RESTAURANT WEEK (i.e. it would have been a BIG ASS HEADACHE if we did): we’re NOT rotating anything in this week. This will be one o’ the few times we don’t rotate, so enjoy (and/or cringe) because that’s the way the “world turns” today folks.  But most likely, our BYE-BYE dish is probably: SAVORY SAKE TOFU!

(but we’ll see).

Toodles (& see ya for one last week of RESTAURANT WEEK… MAAAAADNESS!!),

TEAM SK

Running late, gotta run, enjoy this video (if I haven’t shared it before). It’s HILARIOUS! (we’re also considering their “secret” ingredient ^_^)

Oh yeah, today is the last day for both SAVORY SAKE TOFU and PEANUT-CILANTRO DAN DAN NOODLES!

Toodles,

TEAM SK

PS- Jonathan Gold doesn’t really look like that.. kinda.. not really. That guy’s a lil more “Indian” than Jonathan is. ^_^

Happy week…???.. OMG, do I TRULY not remember what week we are? Is that a good or bad sign, huh?!?!  I think it’s 16, or possibly 17… but I’m not sure. But WTH, time to revel in not counting the days (or…ummm.. WEEKS) and just trying to grow this mamma jamma. ^_^

SO the CRISPY TOFU BALLS are gone, and why do I bring this up?? Well, I think after 2 weeks of dinner services, we’re going to instate a new and fairly consistent rule: Whatever we rotate out of for lunch, we will continue for one more week at Din Dins ONLY!

What does all that jibberish mean exactly? EXPECT CRISPY TOFU BALLS for Din Dins this wk, and it’s your last chance before we take ‘em away for a lil bit. M’kay?! ^_^

WHAT ABOUT THE DINE LA ROUNDTABLE TIX!?!?!?

Oh yeah, as of this post you also have about 2.5 more hours to submit for the DINE LA ROUNDTABLE event tix.  In the last day, I’ve gotten some REALLY good submissions too. I’ll share ‘em tomorrow.  Good stuff :)

Okay, enough of this jibba jabba, and let’s get to the menu for this week.

BYE-BYE

• SPICY KOREAN PORK BELLY

As with anything tasty, they gotz to go!

HI-HI

• SAVORY SAKE TOFU (VEGAN!)
• KIMCHI FRIED RICE
• PEANUT CILANTRO DAN-DAN NOODLES (not veggie-friendly)

First, read the menu if you want a nice lil ol’ description on the tofu (don’t be deterred cause its Vegan… it’s still delish). Secondly,the DAN-DAN NOODLES aren’t veggie friendly only because we do use chicken stock to flavor ‘em. SO, if you can eat that, GREAT! If you can’t, you can at least say we didn’t lie to ya. ^_^

So much to talk about, and so little time… but why don’t you start off your week by watching this fun little romp of a YouTube video. It’s quite entertaining, and it stars… ADRIEN BRODY! LOL (thx to friend Justin Mandel for posting this on his Facebook page.. I just saw it this morning, “stole” it and felt like posting it here… and it’s HILARIOUS)

See ya soon… please?!?! ^_^

TEAM SK

Hello friends,

(and Bye-bye this week to BULGOGI BURGER & Pineapple Fried Rice too)

Well, that was quick and easy! ^_^

Otherwise…

Dear VEGANS, no need to curse at me for not wanting to serve you a leaf of lettuce or half a tomato as a vegan option and then rapidly punch my ‘nads for a “good-ole-time” (not for me of course)… you have a Vegan-friendly dish on the menu this week now: SAVORY SAKE TOOOOOOOFUUUUUU!

(I unfortunately don’t have a sexy-riffic picture of this so….)

(FYI- this cantaloupe approves this message too! ;D)

Well, we’re still short of staff and trying to find a new Sous Chef (let the whole wide world know… all 3 of you!), but until then we’re just gonna keep on truckin’ and keepin’ the hope alive (and some other phrases of inspiration that mean we’re gonna keep on FIGHTIN’ like a mutha trucker!! ^_^)

And if you don’t Facebook stalk me on a late Friday night (what.. some people do!), here’s some inspiration to show you that you CAN be a comedian and a one-hit-wonder pop-star all in one package (but hey, this tune is CATCHY and makes me wanna Party All the Time w/ Rick James too… YOOOOOWZA! LOL)

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

(UPDATE: OOOOOPS, somehow I didn’t post this yesterday BUT the direct link worked… Either way, enjoy some orchestral MAD WORLD goodness when you have a chance ^_^)

Happy New Wave Wednesday everyone!

If I haven’t told you before, while I DO love food (if you don’t check out our Facebook Fan Page at all or often, take a gander why don’t you to see how we stuff our faces.. or more like how I stuff my face since I’m kinda a human garbage disposal!), I also LUUUUUUURVE the internetS!! Why? Watch the video above… it’s pretty AWESOME-LY soothing version of the TEARS FOR FEARS song “MAD WORLD” … SWEET!! And, btw, it’s such a nice song… to eat Pan-Asian Comfort Food with too! (I know, I know… but a guy’s gotta try, right?)

Well, hope everyone’s enjoying their RESTAURANT WEEK(S). We just had our lone DINE LA meal at… PETROSSIAN (and it was FRICKIN’ AWESOME… thanks for trying to stuff us Chef Ben Bailly!). Just in case you wanted to see a sideways picture of us there, here you go:

Alrighty, it’s time to go. SLIGHT rotation update: yup, we’ve decided it’s gonna be the SAVORY SAKE TOFU make it’s way OUT at the end of the week. So if you like it… you know what to do!

On a similar note, all the items from the DINE LA menu (Chix Wings, Viet Eggrolls, CRISPY TOFU BALLS, Exotic Thai Fruit in Coco Milk & Young Banana + Tapioca in Caramel Coco Milk) ALL disappear (from the lunch menu) after this week too… or do they? Hmmm… something to consider. No really! Ya never know…

Ok, on that note, don’t forget: SK is a mustache friendly-zone. ^_^

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

Before we start, here’s the equation for the week: KOREAN PORK BELLY+Pineapple Fried Rice=*ka-BOOM* in yo’ mouth!

(seriously, I’ve had it ALL wrong.. until now!)

but…

HELLOOOO,

And WHOA! Can you believe we started the experiment middle o’ May last year, and then operated legitimately in February?!?! Madness I say… MADNESS!!!

(I mean, it still does blow us away… which is COOOOOOL!)

Alright, enough of that ‘cause we gots some important BIDNESS to get into.

Let’s start w/ the F’ING bad news first:

BYE-BYE:

The recently uncovered & discovered flava-combo-supa-dupa-power (Why Jebus…WHYYYYY)

• SPICY KOREAN BLACK PORK BELLY

&

• Pineapple Fried Rice

YEAH, these two combined… Holy MACKEREL Batman is that shiz’nit GOOOOOD! So if you haven’t had it, or were a fool to follow my previous suggestions of the Banh Mi being the best… now’s the time to make up for lost time ‘cause man o’ man, I almost “busted a NUT” when I ate it like this. “FOR REAL!” ^_^

HI-HI:

We got some notable dishes coming in today like the

• SAVORY SAKE TOFU (aka “not yo’ mamma’s tofu!” ^_^)

And a LIL bit of a fave for patrons and fans, and just because the KN felt like bringing it back sooner rather than later…

• Japanese Garlic Noodles

(And the village rejoiced w/ breath mints in hand! YAY!)

Note: just a warning that this next paragraph is ALMOST link-CRAZY!

And on a nostalgic and slightly off-beaten musical note, check my buddy Randy George and his MAD Theremin skills. This guy lived 3 houses down from me back in the hood of… CARROLLTON (Texas!) If you don’t know what it is (I didn’t either ya’ll) and/or didn’t check out the previous video (posted OVER year ago so of course you saw it! ;D), click the word ‘Theremin’ above for the Wikipedia link and/or… just watch this video for the nostalgic part (ZELDA!!!) of this paragraph

And yeah, I still go on wild-tangents for nearly-useless information… but hey, that ALSO makes Pan-Asian Comfort food taste better!:

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

Buenos dias (or whatever greeting is appropriate for the time of day you actually decide to read this post ^_^),

We hope everyone had a fun and relaxing weekend (we also hope part of that weekend involved us… maybe?!?!). If you didn’t know, ours was CRAZY with us finally opening on Saturday night, catering a Los Angeles Film Festival party AND also contributing/helping with the Eat My Blog charity bake-sale this weekend too.  All that on 2 hours sleep the night before too (I still can’t believe I survived all that ^_^).

Okay, enough rambling because it’s week… ah heck, I don’t even know anymore (that’s a good sign, right?) so here’s what’s coming in, going out and doing whatever they feel like this week:

BYE-BYE:

• SAVORY SAKE TOFU

This one’s pretty frickin’ delish. I dun care if you don’t like tofu, get a sample and see what you’ve been missing out on my meat-eatin’ friends!

HI-HI:

• VN BRAISED BEEF (from “Bo Kho”/Beef Stew)

This one was REALLY hard to name because the literal translation of this dish ain’t so creative as well.. just know this, it’s SUPER flavorful, SUPER classic and SUPER DUPER good with the stew/au jus so EVERY form (well, except maybe the salads) will be served w/ Au Jus goodness

• SPAM FRIED RICE (most definitely NOT veggie-friendly side)

If you don’t know what this is, can’t fathom it or think this tastes like crap (you’re WRONG I tell ya… WROOOOONG)… don’t worry about it.  More for us (and all the other people that like S-P-A-M too!)

Alrighty, that’s it for me right now.  No funny/nonsensical video from me today (you could easily just hit YouTube yourself after you read this post ^_^).

Enjoy, and come get this beef… it’s really… BEEEEEF-TAAAAASTIC! ;)

Xoxo,

TEAM SK