paulette| la passion du macaron

SoG Score: Food: A | Ambiance: A
Type: French macarons
Address: 9466 Charleville Boulevard at Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Price: $1.50 a pop
Finally got the chance to go back to LA to try some of paulette's macarons- still haven't found any in the twin cities yet...


Five Stars ***** perfection
Rose: my favorite- light and fragrant, perfect with some jasmine tea, makes me really want to try a Pierre Hermé rose lychee macaron.
Sweet wedding almond (pictured): the ganache filling tastes like sweet chinese almond jello.
Caribbean chocolate: decadently rich chocolate with just the perfect amount of sweetness.
Four Stars ****would definitely have again
Peach
Chocolate coconut (pictured)
Columbian coffee
New Orleans praline
Three Stars *** mediocre at best
Violet cassis: the macaron is fragrant and delectable but the ganache filling tastes like grape jelly and is too overpowering Sicilian pistachio (pictured): slightly disappointing for one of the classic macaron flavors
One Star * save yourself from this one!
Orange blossom: perhaps it deserves half a star- promising flavor but tastes like soap.

Overall: delicate texture, not overly sweet, and ahhh so reminiscent of paris (depending on which macaron you try that is)

Hatfield's | Croque Madame

SoG Score: Food: A- | Ambiance: A-
Type: California/French
Address: 7458 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Price: $$$
For our one-year anniversary, Amy and I got to try one of the best up-and-coming restaurants in Los Angeles: Hatfield's. Rated 28/30 in the most recent Zagat Survey. The most memorable dish that we had was the Croque Madame: Hamachi (yellowtail tuna) on grilled brioche (special French bread) with prosciutto (Italian cured ham) and a quail egg (quail egg) on top.
Literally, it was heaven in your mouth. You could eat this dish by using your tongue only and that's exactly what we did. Mmm, definitely worth returning for.

amy's take:
definitely share jeff's enthusiasm about the croque madame and loved the panna cotta
the good: fresh ingredients from local farmer's markets, creative menu, tasty amuse bouche, good value for the high quality of food and service, also has a 3 course daily market menu for $46 and a 7 course tasting menu for $79.
the not so good: no cheese plate, skip the branzino as it was way too salty and was paired with an even saltier and overly buttered swiss chard.
Overall: definitely recommended: fine dining in a relaxed socal atmosphere