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 Bellavino
Wine Bar & Restaurant
Bonus!
Yujean
Kang’s
Gourmet Chinese Food
It seems hard to believe, but it is
almost 6 years since wine connoisseur Richard Belloff,
opened The Bellavino Wine
Cellar-Wine Bar and Restaurant. At
the time, he appeared
uncertain whether he wanted to be the Westlake version of New York
City’s, Sherry Lehman,
Studio One, Café Boulud….or
all three….at one time.
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The Wine Cellar
portion was a breeze for Belloff since his skills and personal touch
brought to local consumers, a wine buying experience not seen in Ventura
County since the demise of Conejo Wine. He further expanded palate
education opportunities by organizing a series of well represented local
wine tastings featuring primarily popular California wines.
The Wine Bar
portion of the restaurant adjacent to the Cellar also became fairly well
accepted. Belloff’s choices of interesting and original “Wines by the
Glass” served in the inventively lit bar section appealed to the local
adventuresome wine demographic. The Wine Bar appeals to both the serious
and casual imbiber. |
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The hoped for casual fine
dining, however was a continuous problem. Belloff brought in a
well- credentialed local traveling foodslinger, personable
Rick Hyman who delivered
an interesting menu including the first Kobe Burger introduced
to the area. Belloff also offered light jazz on the weekends.
But the inside architecture of the bar area and the narrow
outside covered patio produced limited and somewhat
uncomfortable seating that did not measure up to the food.
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Bellavino Bar Attracts a Hip Crowd |
Hyman soon lived up to his
traveling foodslinger reputation and moved on to an ill-fated
experience in Santa Paula, He is now apparently settled, happily in
The Bay Area. with
a recent baby and completely in charge of a restaurant and a blog.
In then, came the impressive
Robert Grenner former
owner-chef of the ill conceived
“Cravings”
of Oak Park carrying
credentials from SaddlePeak Lodge
and Geoffry's at the Beach
Confidently, Belloff then broke through the adjacent store and came
up with a very spacious dining room, again imaginatively lit, and
supported by a changing array of interesting contemporary art on the
walls. It is one of most hip and engaging young rooms in The County
and now attracts an enthusiastic and aware clientele. Unfortunately
the menu and pricing that Grenner
Chef Amy McNelis is Serious About Food
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delivered was not in synch
with the room, the clientele and Belloff. Grenner left and was
replaced by the young. flexible and imaginative Amy
McNelis who had been the sous
chef under Hyman. Her resume is also impressive.
Amy graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of
America in New York It
is the #1 cooking school in the country and now has a sister
school in Napa in that converted winery.
Locally she has been in the
kitchens at Palm 71,
Eric’s
and upscale Rincon Catering in Carpentaria along with her previous stint under Hyman. She also
spent some time teaching at The Cordon Bleu Cooking School
in Pasadena.. Her current menus are very well priced and
interesting . The Kobe burger is back on the menu.
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Armed with this young talent,
Belloff became very aggressive. The restaurant recently offered a
wonderful 3 course dinner with matching R. Cohn wines followed by a cheese and virgin olive oil tasting. It was priced
at $40. It was easily a $75 value and sold out.
To further show off McNelis’
talents, Bellavino offered an amazing 3 course meal on
April 17
and
18
in a challenge to the tough dining economy. It was a selllout
at
$20 per person
plus tax and tip. Similar dinners are planned for the future.
Here’s the menu: It was an unbelievable value. Seating is limited.
Starters
Puree of Corn Soup with Avocado-Cilantro Crema
Or
Spring Salad of Baby Spinach, Fresh Peas, Mint
and Feta Cheese with a Citrus Dressing
Or
Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus with Lemon-Caper-Anchovy Dressing
Entrée
Grilled
Filet Mignon with Roasted Pepper Relish, wilted Arugula Greens
and Roasted Potatoes with Queso Fresco
or
Chipotle BBQ Pork Cutlet with Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa
over Sweet Corn Pudding and Tequila glazed Fajita Veg
or
Cajun Salmon with Roasted Garlic & Poblano Cream Sauce
alongside Black-eyed Peas and Braised Greens
or
Teriyaki Burger topped with Grilled Pineapple and Teriyaki Sauce,
served with Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges and Chipotle Ketchup
(Vegetarians substitute a GardenBurger™ patty)
Dessert
Coconut Flan with Pineapple-Brown Sugar Salsa
or
Chocolate Silk Cheesecake with Fresh Raspberries
or
Almond Financier Cake topped with Fresh Strawberries and Whipped
Cream
Dinners are served in the
dining room, covered patio or wine bar by amiable and professional
servers. Early reservations are crucial. Wine List is obviously
well thought out and fairly priced.
Bellavino Wine Bar and
Restaurant
3707 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Westlake 805-557-0212
Convenient Shopping Center Parking Most Credit Cards
Yujean Kang:
Gourmet Chinese Food in Pasadena???
Why? You may ask. Well, there are a
number of reasons to go to the Pasadena area at any time besides The
Rose Bowl Parade - or even “The Game”.
The compact Norton Simon
Museum is an extremely worthwhile
destination if only to relax and contemplate the magnificent work of
Henry Moore in
the contemplative Sculpture Garden. You can easily spend an hour just doing
that…The no hassle, easy park and enter museum also has a fine
collection of modern art combined with another section featuring
spectacular Asian Art.
Then there is the Pasadena
Playhouse which often offers very
interesting stuff in a theater that doesn’t have a bad seat. There
is also a small but worthwhile Japanese Museum in the heart of
downtown. If you want to combine any of this with some fun and
different shopping, the area has many stores that you won’t find in
the county or the “Dreaded Valley” all concentrated in or around a
convenient large upscale center.
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Then there is the mini restaurant
row on Raymond, one block east of the Fair Oaks Avenue off- ramp and
a block north of Colorado. It has at least 5 interesting restaurants
on that block.
 YuJean
Kang's is my
choice for a number of
reasons. Authentic
Chinese food is my favorite. And it is very hard to find
unless you are willing to venture to Monterey Park. Some folks find
that hard to do. Kang does it every time in Pasdena and even occasionally with
a flavorful
contemporary
touch yet always enhanced with the finest ingredients
available.
There is a reason for all of this . His family had
been in a Chinese restaurant
renowned
statewide for many decades. His father
ran this restaurant deep in the San Joaquin
for most of his life. Yujean spent his youth learning the business.
It was so well respected that it drew diners 200 miles away from
both San Francisco and Los Angeles, often perhaps as a stop-off on
Highway 99.
Yujean also learned a lot about
wine and thus thought about the Big Lights of Southern California.
So he opened a restaurant,
seemingly crazily … in Pasadena. Not so crazy. You see Pasadena is a
few miles north of the large population of Chinese in Monterey Park.
As that community matured
economically, many residents moved into the nearby prestigious San
Marino and South Pasadena area. So if you visit Yujean, you will see
a lot of knowing satisfied and well dressed Asian faces. That is a very good sign.
 I
won’t bother to make any specific recommendations because I have
never had a bad dish and the menu is broad. Prices are a bit above
the average Chinese Restaurant but below upscale other restaurants
serving comparable quality food. Wine list is extensive but I drink
Tsingtao beer with my Chinese food. Service is occasionally spotty
and slow.
Street parking is difficult but
there are nearby pay public parking structures and Valet parking in
front of the restaurant.
Yujean Kang's
67 South Raymond Pasadena
626-585-0855
Most Credit Cards - Reservations Suggested
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