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In 2018, Maude Restaurant shifted the concept to highlight wine regions around the world. They covered Rioja, Burgundy, Central Coast, Piemonte in 2018 and started 2019 with Western Australia. When the Maude team picks their next location, the team (chefs and wine team) travel together for an immersive trip. They do this trip in secret as they do not let us, the customers, know what the next region is until one month prior to its launch. To date, most of the regions have been quite a distance from Los Angeles and the team has slipped away for up to a week to explore the region. For the April - June menu, Maude ventured to Sonoma County. Sonoma, with its proximity to the Russian River and sixty miles of California coastline, was the inspiration for the spring menu.The team flew up on a Saturday night after service and spent a whirlwind weekend in Sonoma where they foraged, fished and learned about fermentation. They then created a menu retelling their experience to us. Back in March, I attended an "Off the Menu" meal at Maude which was a sort of research and development of the Sonoma menu. Looking back and comparing the menus, I see the evolution of most of these dishes but for the Sonoma menu, the dishes were perfected and delicious. Our meal began with the Biodynamic Preparation. Inspired by a visit to the winery Littorai, where winemaker Ted Lemon farms biodynamically, there were five small bites displayed on a wood and wire tray, similar to what is used in biodynamic farming. The amuses included an oyster with yarro root, tempura stinging nettle, ramps, soft kogi panna cotta and sourdough bread with oak bark butter.
Maude has been open for five years! That means 51 menus and 530 Dishes and for me that means 43 menus and 450 dishes. For their fifth anniversary, Maude ventured to Chef Curtis Stone's homeland with a menu centered around Western Australia. Of course, I did not miss this menu as I have not missed a Maude menu since year one! Heading to Western Australia covers a large area. Western Australia covers an entire third of the continent and encompasses the Outback, beaches in the south and of course wine country. There are nine wine regions in Western Australia, including Margaret River, Great Southern and Perth. Per usual, my dining companions pulled wines out of their cellars to share at dinner. But, the wines they brought, while Australian, were not from Western Australia, but rather the well-known regions of Barossa Valley and other areas of Southern Australia. Of course, we enjoyed these during dinner, but we also ordered some gorgeous white wines from Western Australia. But, before we got into the wine, we started with a glass of Moon Bog Old Mate Pale Ale and house-made chips. Beer and chips definitely let us know that we were heading to Australia.  
Maude opened in February 2014 and I have been a local fan ever since. For the first four years, I would eagerly anticipate the new tasting menu that would feature a single ingredient as the inspiration. Every meal, I would marvel how they came up with the selected dishes, especially with such limited time. When Maude shifted to the great wine regions of the world, the team began visiting the regions for inspiration but then they would come home and create a menu based on their interpretations of their experiences. Again, I found myself in awe of the preparations and presentations, curious about the creative process. Well, this week Maude offered an "off-menu" meal, a sort of sneak peek into the next yet-announced wine region. This is the very first time that they offered this backstage pass and lifting the veil on their process. Getting an exclusive look at dishes and pairings as they are created in real time was a true highlight and that is why the Off-Menu Meal at Maude is the Please The Palate pick of the week.
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