TaStE WiTh ThE EyEs: Gina Lee's Bistro

2.19.2008

Gina Lee's Bistro

Thai Marinated Sea Bass with Spinach, Baby Bok Choy,

Chow Mein Noodles in a Coconut Lemongrass Broth

Crispy Fried Shrimp & Pork Won Tons

Hot & Sweet Sauce, Cucumber Slaw

Korean BBQ Flank Steak with Spicy Dressing

Scallion Fried Rice and Tofu Stir Fry

Bento Box: Selection Changes Nightly

Mini Ahi Burger, Crab Cakes, Chicken & Snap Peas Stir Fry, Beef Skewer on Mashed Potatoes

Ahi Burger, Selection from Bento Box on this Night

Korean Lettuce Wraps: Chicken and Tofu, Korean Red Bean Paste

Daikon & Cucumber Relish

Pistachio Crushed Mahi Mahi with Three Sauces

Mandarin Orange Sauce, Creamy Sesame Splash, Soy Syrup

Scott & Gina Lee have been my dear friends for many many years. They opened Gina Lee's Bistro, an Asian Fusion restaurant in Redondo Beach, over a decade ago. A while back I offered to help Gina start a blog so on this night I took some photos of the food as it was leaving the kitchen.

For dinner, I enjoyed the Thai Marinated Sea Bass paired brilliantly with a glass of Etude Pinot Gris from Scott's eclectic wine list.

Irene Virbila from the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Everything from Gina Lee's kitchen tastes fresh and vivid. There's also a logic to how flavors are woven together."
I couldn't agree more. The flavors are just so vibrant...

When you are in Southern California, I recommend a visit to Redondo Beach to have dinner at my friends' fabulous and unique restaurant. And be sure to tell them Lori Lynn sent you :)

8 comments:

Simona said...: Sea bass for me too, please...; February 19, 2008 6:09 PM
Lori Lynn said...: Hi Simona - they have so many great fish dishes, I also love the whole crispy catfish with ponzu.; February 20, 2008 9:07 AM
Maryann said...: Oh everything looks delicious. Lori Lynn, I was thinking of you yesterday. Barilla is having a photo contest on table settings. You are so good at this you should enter. Go to their site and check it out. The winner gets a 500 gift certificate at Williams Sonoma :); February 20, 2008 12:27 PM
Lori Lynn said...: Maryann - thanks for thinking of me!!!

I will definitely check out the table setting contest. It used to be my hobby. I would compete in the table setting competition every year at the Los Angeles County Fair until one year I was disqualified! My gorgeous entry of a Valentine's table set in BED (with rose petals and Champagne and caviar) was too much for the judges, oh my!

Now, I am content to set the table in my home for guests, and I sure have plenty of accessories!

Thank you so much, can't wait to look into it!; February 20, 2008 6:00 PM
Anamika:The Sugarcrafter said...: A very nice blog. I stoppped and read on and on. worth time spent.; February 21, 2008 4:29 AM
Proud Italian Cook said...: What a beautiful array of food here! Intense colors, flavors, and freshness really speak to me in your photo's! Lucky you, to have friends so talented! I would take Maryann's advice you would be perfect for that contest Lori Lynn!; February 21, 2008 10:56 AM
Vienna for Beginners said...: Oh my goodness, heaven help me get over this ugly food-envy! I know I would enjoy every single morsel of all of these fabulous temptations.
Please think a fraction of a moment of me here, no such food anywhere in sight. I may book myself on a flight ..... *help*; February 27, 2008 9:24 AM
Lori Lynn said...: Hi Anamika - Welcome! And thank you!

Thanks Marie - and I am very fortunate to have friends such as the Lees, and not only for their fabulous restaurant...

Hi Merisi - so glad you can visit my blog again :) your comments are so sweet...; February 29, 2008 4:47 PM

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Some Food Related Quotes

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch."
Orson Welles

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

"Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit."
Charlie Trotter

"Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore. "
Thomas Keller

"I love to make people happy."
Wolfgang Puck

"Fish sauce is to Vietnamese cooking as olive oil is to Italian."

The Little Saigon Cookbook by Ann Le

"I wish, I wish lunch could last forever...waiter, bring us one more bottle of wine..."

Jimmy Buffett

"My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual's knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis."
Emeril Lagasse

"Gordon Ramsay makes me laugh because he knows that I'm not a chef."
Nigella Lawson

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else."
Mario Batali

"I always knew the importance of it, since I was three or four years old my mother used to feed me wine and water. I grew up with wine as liquid food."
Robert Mondavi

Julia Child Quotes - TOUJOURS BON APPETIT!

“You should never apologize at the table. People will think, ‘Yes, it’s really not so good.'"

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport."

"It's easy to get the feeling that you know the language just because when you order a beer they don't bring you oysters." Paul Child on speaking French

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. "

"Life itself is the proper binge."

"It was a Morsel of Perfection."

"I was in pure, flavorful heaven at the Cordon Bleu."

Julia Child sees herself on TV, July 1962, she saw room for improvement, and still she can say it was fun : "There I was, in black and white, a large woman sloshing eggs too quickly here, too slowly there, gasping, looking at the wrong camera while talking too loudly and so on...But it had been fun."

She has her own opinions on kitchen equipment: "Clairborne sniffed at our use of a garlic press, 'a gadget considered in some circles to be only one cut above garlic salt or garlic powder.' I happened to like garlic presses..."

Understanding Julia's captivation by French food: "This is the kind of food that I have fallen in love with: not trendy souped-up fantasies, just something very good to eat. It was classic French cooking, where the ingredients have been carefully selected and beautifully and knowingly prepared. Or, in the words of the famous gastronome Curnonsky, 'Food that tastes of what it is.' "

"You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made. Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always." Julia's instructor, Chef Bugnard at Le Cordon Bleu

"Oh, 'crise de foie,' that French sole was so delicious!"

Julia's passion comes through loud and clear as she describes a fish dish: "La Truite's true glory was the Sole a la Normande, a poem of poached and flavored sole fillets surrounded by oysters, and mussels, and napped with a wonder-sauce of wine, cream, and butter, and topped with fluted mushrooms. 'Voluptuous' was the word. I had never imagined that fish could be taken so seriously, or taste so heavenly."

Julia's unique way with words, on Crepes Suzette: "The creature named Suzette may or may not have been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but whoever she was, she long ago inspired a magnificent dessert that is still one of our favorites."

"I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad. I was about 9 when my parents took me to his restaurant in Tijuana. They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad. And it was dramatic: I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so it looked like a wave turning over."

"With a handsome package such as Jacques's, you can neatly cut the top open at the table with a pair of scissors..." Julia on Salmon en Papillote, haha

"There's no reason to be intimidated by the idea of making pâté. You can just think of it as meat loaf."

From Julia's dear friend Jacques Pepin, "You are what you cook."

"Understanding egg yolks will make you a master of hollandaise sauce."

Julia encouraging us not to be intimidated: "When you know how to saute your meat so it browns rather than steams, you're cooking. What's difficult about that? You heat the pan, you dry the meat, you don't crowd it into the pan, and you're browning it. Is that difficult?"

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2.19.2008

Gina Lee's Bistro

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