Opera Patisserie

Opera Patisserie.  It sounds, uh, French perhaps.  And like it should have a fancy storefront.  But no, Opera Patisserie is a wholesale bakery, specializing in mostly cakes, along with savory quiches, for the hospitality industry, with no physical retail store.  They are based in Southern California.

"Since 2002 Opera Patisserie has been creating desserts for the hospitality setting that are innovative and exciting as well as beautifully presented and delicious. The ingredients are some of the finest available such as chocolate from Belgium, fruit purees from France as well as the best local California products such as almonds flour and dairy items. Many of the items are Gluten Free."

That said, they do promise quality sourcing, chocolate from Belgium, fruit puree from France, yadda yadda, and they do actually offer a large number of gluten-free or vegan items.  My distributor offered most of their product line, so I was eager to try out items from across the menu, and happy that I'd be able to offer desserts to my gluten-free diners.

But alas, nearly everything we tried was ... really quite bad.  And we tried quite a few.  All awful, except one, single item.

Tartlets

Opera Patisserie makes tartlets in 8 flavors: Pistachio, Lemon Meringue, Key Lime, Chocolate, Coconut, Red Berry, Apple Crumble, and Salted Caramel.  They are all bite sized, use the same tart shells, and arrive frozen.  I've tried several, and they are all awful.

Apple Crumble.

The first tartlet I tried looked ok.  A cute little apple crumble.

But the tart shell was pretty horrible.  I don't like tart shells in general, but this was soggy, broke apart, and wasn't buttery or redeeming in any way.

The filling was cubes of apple (mixed with high fructose corn syrup of course), overly spiced with cinnamon/nutmeg, and was very mushy.

The crumble on top?  Also mushy/soggy.

Nothing good about this, clearly not an item that did well with defrosting.

Pistachio.

Next I went for pistachio, drawn in by the (clearly, fake) color, and creamy, pudding-like look of it.

It was no better.  And the ingredients in this?  Not so wholesome:

Cream (Milk, Carrageenan, Mono, And Diglycerides, Polysorbete 80), Food Color Green (Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Glycerine, Sugar, Modified Food Starch, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Vegetable Gums, Citric Acid And E 102, E133, Blue 1, Yellow 5), Almond Essence (Water, Emulsifier: Mono-And Diglyceride From Fatty Acids, Thickener: Xanthar (0.2%), Preservative: Potassium Sorbate (0.1%), Flavors), Unbleached Flour: Unbleached Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Pistachio Paste (Pistachios, Sugar, Canola Oil, Natural Flavor), Confectioner Sugar (Cornstarch), Pate A Glacer Ivoire (Sugar, Hydrogenated Vegetable Fat (Coconut, Palm Kernel), Skimmed Milk Powder, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin), Butter (Pasteurized Cream, Milk), Egg Yolk, Granulated Sugar, Egg Whole, Almond Flour, Vanilla Paste (Water, Alcohol, Sugar, Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Beans And Gun Tragacanth (Natural Thickener)), Water, Gelatin Sheets, Baking Powder (Baking Soda (For Leavening), Cornstarch, Sodium Aluminum Sulfate (For Leavening) Calcium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate (For Leavening)), Chocolate White 30% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Skimmed Milk Powder, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Natural Vanilla Flavor), Canola Oil, Cocoa Butter Chips.

I mean, really?

Anyway, this one was just as bad as the apple.

Soggy, soft tart shell.  Strange flavored filling that was medicinal in nature.  It didn't taste like pistachio, but seriously, how could it, given how much other junk was inside?

Chocolate.

The chocolate one was equally bad.

The tart shell this time was different - mushy chocolate, sorta like a mushy brownie.  The chocolate frosting offered nothing.

Cakes

The cakes, available round or in sheet cake form, sadly, are just as bad.  I'll give a few credits for at least attempting to have decent gluten free options?

GF Tiramisu.

"Gluten Free Lady Fingers, Mascarpone Mousse, Espresso Creme Brulee, Gluten Free Crumble." 

I started with the tiramisu, always a crowd pleaser, and general kinda hard to screw up.  Enough cream, mascarpone, and espresso soak and things generally work out, right?

But ... this was ... awful.  Served as round "individual" cakes, but our cafe cut them in half to be reasonable portions.

I'm glad they did, as I felt bad wasting even what I did.

The crust? Sawdust.  Above that, a brown layer (espresso?) that was a horrible gelatinous texture.  Cardboard ladyfinger in the middle.  Ok-ish creme on top.  Bitter crumble.

Not.  Good.

GF Red Berry Opera.

"Gluten Free Vanilla Cake, Vanilla Buttercream, Red Berry Compote."

I still kept trying, as the items often looked ok ...

This one suffered from me putting it in a togo container, but I assure you, that is not why it was awful.  It was just ... awful.

Dry cake.  Mediocre "buttercream".  And the strawberry compote?  Soooo bad.  Gummy.

GF Mango Cake.

"Vanilla Cake, Vanilla Buttercream, and Mango Compote."

What about ... mango?  Nope, this was horrible too.

Mushy, mushy cake.  The cream was not interesting.  The fruity layer cloying.  Not for me, at all.

Mini Assorted Cupcakes: Vanilla, Chocolate, Red Velvet.

And then there were cupcakes.

Yup,  awful cupcakes.  The cakes were stale and dry.  Really not tasty, at all.  The vanilla didn't taste vanilla, just plain.  The red velvet tasted identical, it was just red.  Chocolate cake not very intense.  But so dry and just not good, at all.

The vanilla and red velvet were frosted with what seemed to be the same frosting ... no signature cream cheese frosting for the red velvet.  Honestly, it was just a pink version of the "vanilla" one.  Both, just plain.  The frosting was sweet and fluffy, fine really.  I liked the random nuts and chocolate on top.

The chocolate frosting was the best, really thick and fudgey.

So, frostings decent, cakes horrible.  Sigh.

Red Velvet Cake.

"Red velvet cake with cheesecake mousse and red chocolate glaze." - GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake / Cheesecake Mousse / Chocolate Glaze / Chocolate Crumble." - Opera Patisserie

This might be called red velvet cake, but it certainly doesn't look like any traditional red velvet cake.  Instead of cream cheese icing on top, it had a "red chocolate glaze".  It was nicely decorated at least.

And ... that is about all I have to say positive about this item.

It tasted ... odd.  Really, really ... odd.  I don't have a better word for it.  It had a funk to it that I did not appreciate.

Red Velvet: Side View.

For the side, you can see further that this is definitely not your standard red velvet cake.  It was a layered cake, with layers of red velvet cake and cheesecake mouse, rather than cream cheese frosting.  But that is not what was wrong with it.

The cake layers were mush.  Soggy mush.  Sawdust like mush.  The cake was awful, exactly the style of cake that gives gluten-free a bad reputation.  I hated the cake.

But, cheesecake mousse had promise right?  Wrong.  It was a strange texture, tasted *nothing* like cheesecake, no cream cheese flavor at all, and had a horrible aftertaste.

And the red chocolate glaze?  I think that was the worst part.  The funk was most prevalent in that glaze.

This was just horrible all around.  Bad texture, no red velvet flavor, and an aftertaste that was hard to get away from.  Do not eat this.

Individual Desserts

The last category of offerings from Opera Patisserie is "Individual Desserts", a slightly amusing categorization as aren't the tartlets and cupcakes, um, individuals too?

This category also turned out to be the only decent items I had from Opera Patisserie.

Chocolate Dome.

"Crunchy parline base, chocolate mousse, and vanilla creme brulee and cherry in brandy." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Crunch Praline Base Chocolate Mousse with Vanilla Crème Brulee and  Cherry in Brandy." -- Opera Patisserie

Um, this was good.  Really, really good.  And yes, you are still reading about Opera Patisserie.

I'll start with the chocolate mousse, certainly the defining element.  It was ... really wonderful chocolate mousse, deep chocolate flavor (58% dark chocolate is used), creamy and rich, yet somehow light in texture.  A decadent mousse you felt a bit guilty eating, but loved every moment.  I would have been happy with *just* the mousse.

And it looked like just a chocolate mousse dome, but there was much more inside, exactly as described.

Chocolate Dome: Inside.

Yes, inside really was so much more.

The base was a thin crispy layer of chocolate mixed with some kind of crunchy praline, I think perhaps hazelnut, and it added just the right amount of texture.  Any thicker and it would distract, but this mixed in quite nicely.  I liked even the base, and it went so well with the mousse.

And then the middle, "vanilla creme brûlée".  Ok, it was not really creme brûlée, there wasn't a brûlée element here obviously, but there was a nicely set, rich and creamy, vanilla custard.  You know how I feel about creme brûlée, so I was thrilled by this component too.  Just like the chocolate mousse, it was really well done.  It helped cut the intense chocolate level quite a bit, but certainly didn't lighten the item up any, as custard isn't exactly a light offering.

And finally, yup, pieces of branded cherries, juicy and a bit boozy.  I did enjoy the chocolate and cherry pairing.

Put this all together, and you had texture and crunch, fabulous mousse, intense chocolate, and a bit of booziness ... really, what more does a dessert need?  I actually added a little whipped cream to lighten it up, but I decided that it wasn't really necessary.

I really enjoyed this, would happily get another.

Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Mousse.

"Vegan chocolate mousse and gluten free chocolate cake."

These come as squares, but our caterer cut them all in half.

Which was plenty.  This wasn't a great item.  But it wasn't awful.  Just, mediocre.

The cake wasn't dry exactly, but it was ... well, what you expect from gluten-free.  The mousse was fluffy, but not very strong in the chocolate department.

If you are vegan and gluten-free though, this could be exciting perhaps? It fared better than most of the offerings.

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Hinodeya Downtown

Hinodeya Downtown is, you guessed it, the "downtown" location of Hinodeya, a Ramen Bar.  The main (US) location is in Japantown in SF, but both SF locations are the first US based sites of a very long running ramen family from Japan.

"I LOVE “DASHI”

 Their tagline, simple, and to the point.  The key component of their ramen: quality dashi.

“DASHI” is a traditional stock of bonito skipjack tuna (katsuo) and konbu seaweed, making a broth brimming with umami, the savory fifth taste sensation. Enjoy a cultural taste of Japan through Ramen."

I'm not a ramen fan really, but this restaurant gets such stellar reviews, and was open with takeout during the COVID days, so, I finally went to check it out.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I ordered via Seamless (e.g. Grubhub), and the first time, my order was ready, literally, *exactly* at the time I specified.  I literally watched it come from kitchen to window, at 1:29pm, it was packaged up, and ready at 1:30pm.  Wowzer.  And the staff?  Really friendly, even a nod from the kitchen.  My second visit was no different, order ready promptly, friendly staff.  Same thing the third time.  This establishment has nailed takeout.

Setting

I don't know anything about the Japantown location, but the "downtown" location is indeed downtown, on the edge of Chinatown.  Open every day, lunch and dinner.

Storefront.

The street really was a bit sad during early COVID shelter in place, with most businesses closed (it *was* also Sunday), but Hinodeya had a nice curb appeal, the actual light up sign in Japanese, and more signage down on the street to draw you in.  

Since indoor seating was closed, I cannot comment on that, but, the takeout setup was well managed, a table to get your order from, etc.

Outdoor Seating.

The first time I visited, outdoor dining was also still closed.  I took my food literally across the street, to Washington Square park, to sit in the sun and enjoy the glorious afternoon.

The second time however, outdoor dining was open, and they had tables set up on the sidewalk.

Outdoor Tables.

Tables all had a QR code on them to scan to order, contactless.

I ordered in advance via Grubhub, as I was expecting to just go back over to the park, but since the tables were all vacant, I was offered a seat there, which I gladly accepted.  My order was packaged togo, but had I ordered there (via QR code or register) it would have been served normal dine-in style.

Decor was cute, the little lamps on each table.  They are making the outdoor dining thing work.

Food

The main attraction at Hinodeya is the ramen, definitely the signature dish, although the menu is rounded out by curry & rice dishes, sides (mostly deep fried items, like fried oysters, fried calamari, veggie or shrimp tempura, crispy chicken kara-age, different gyoza), plus "small bites", items like edamame (regular or spicy), takoyaki, marinated octopus, and more.

It is the small bites menu that drew me in.

Shishito Peppers. $5.

"Lightly fried and tossed in a savory soy glaze. 1 in 10 shishito can be extra spicy! Vagan." (sic)

The peppers were clearly extremely freshly prepared.  Hot and fresh.  Lightly fried and blistered.  Perfectly executed.

The glaze wasn't too sweet, but it had a sweetness to compliment the peppers (and, likely, would go well if any were spicy!), and not too much soy.  Balanced quite nicely.  Loaded with sesame seeds, and I loved the nutty notes and crunch they added.

Overall, just a really, really well executed dish, one of the best preps of fried shishitos I've ever had actually.

Since it was just me eating them, I got a touch sick of them and split into a second serving, but I can see munching on these with friends, while drinking sake and waiting for ramen, being the ideal eating experience.

***+.

Agadashi Tofu. $5.

"Age Dashi Tofu is a dish of tofu lightly dusted with starch, then deep fried , and served in Dashi -based sauce seasoning with soy sauce. It is one of the side dishes that has long been popular in japan."

I may not be a ramen girl in general, but I do appreciate good dashi (I do love sauces and flavor complexity after all!), and, actually, sometimes love agadashi tofu ... even though I generally don't care for tofu, either.  I'm glad that a chef I really respect made me try it once, and introduced me to it.  Deep fried, flavorful starchy shell, creamy smooth tofu in delicious broth?  Now that I can get behind (and soft tofu is really the only kind I like, it is basically ... savory pudding after all, and you know how I feel about pudding ...).

My order came loaded up with goodies: plentiful bonito flakes dancing on top, a nice handful of sliced green onions, and, a sole shishito pepper, which I was thrilled to see.  Beneath all this was the tofu. The dashi was packaged separate for takeout.

The toppings were great.  Fresh harsh green onion, standard bonito, and the shishito was even juicier than when I had them as a side dish before.  They certainly completed the dish.

And the tofu?  Quite good.  It was really lightly coated and fried, less of a shell on it that I am used to, but still nice.  The tofu was soooo smooth and creamy, it really is a shame that tofu gets such a bad rep (even by me!) as the other styles just don't compare.

Basically, all nicely done, ***+, a well executed and composed dish.  But of course, the dashi is key ...

Dashi.

I really appreciated that the dashi was packaged up separately, as it most certainly would have gotten the rest of the dish soggy pretty immediately.

I had high hopes for the dashi, given the restaurant's seeming focus on dashi perfection, and, well, it delivered.  It was complex, flavorful, and completed the dish perfectly.

My only complaint?  Not really enough of it.  I wanted to slurp up more of that incredible flavor!  Maybe I really *should* get ramen sometime ... hmmm ...

**** dish overall.  I'd get it again.

Spicy Edamame. $5.

"Tossed in hot sauce with garlic and dashi sauce,spicy and savory."

This was a fairly random order on my part.  I'm not quite sure what I was expecting since I don't really like edamame that much (not sure why, I used to ...), but the allure of the sauce, and every positive Yelp reviews of this dish in particular, drew me in.

I also grabbed an extra crispy garlic topping "just in case", as they were stocked at the pickup area.

The edamame was, well, edamame?   Steamed, warm, fine.  But I wasn't really there for that, after all.

I did really like the sauce, it was complex, and yes, sorta spicy, and it coated the edamame well.  Intense garlic too.  It made sucking on the pods that much more fun.    That sauce ... I think it could do great things on other dishes too.

***+, as I am rarely going to want edamame, but the sauce was interesting to try.

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Ramen Kobo WARAKU

Ramen.  Not really something I eat much of ... just not really my thing.  But I do like other dishes often served at ramen restaurants (e.g. casual Japanese appetizers), which lead me to discover Ramen Kobo Karaku.

""Ramen D2C"- Your Favorite Ramen, Straight From the Kitchen!"

Honestly, I'm not sure what this catch phrase means.  But as I learned about the establishment, I became enamored with their story.

The owner hails from Japan, moved here 5 years ago, has background in all types of Japanese casual restaurants (izakayas, udon restaurants, ramen).  He lost his job when COVID hit, met a ramen chef who was looking for work too, and was inspired by what he saw going on all around - a city full of people struggling to make simple food, trying not to order too much delivery due to the expense.  And thus the concept of Ramen Kobu Waraku was born, with a desire to have quality ramen and casual Japanese cuisine, delivered across the city.

"We wanted our ramen to be more affordable, heartier, and tastier than ramen dining, and to top it all off, we wanted to have our ramen delivered quickly to people, which is why we decided to run with a "cloud kitchen". We don't directly serve any customers, and our kitchen is too small for us to have a diversified menu however, we can assured you that you’ll be blown away by our signature Tantan Spicy Miso Ramen or Black Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen."

And the way to achieve this was by *not* getting a storefront, and working out of a cloud kitchen, at the big 60 Morris Street complex, alongside a slew of other businesses and virtual restaurants.

While I've had, uh, mixed success with the 60 Morris businesses, Ramen Kobu Waraku is a shining star. Clearly a quality establishment, and I really hope they thrive.

And if you wonder about the name ... I learned that "WA(和)" means "Japan" or "relax", "RAKU(楽）means "fan" or "enjoy", and "Kobo" is like a lab.  So ... a relaxing, enjoyable, ramen lab.  I'll take it.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

My order was via Seamless (or Grub Hub), and was ready quickly (also, when I visited, Ramen Kobo Waraku was offering $5 off your first order! Score!).  I choose to pick up at 60 Morris myself, and just ate immediately nearby outside, but you can also opt for delivery.

My First Visit: Sublime Takoyaki!

The first time I ordered, I went straight for the takoyaki.  Sure, I was a little tempted by other things on the menu, which of course had ramen (pork, chicken, or even a version with ground Impossible meat), rice bowls, and a bunch of other appetizers (including several flavors of karaage, steamed edamame, deep fried shisitos, chili bean sprouts, some very tempting gyoza, and seared pork belly ...), and even cheese foam boba drinks.  But I wanted fried deliciousness with tasty sauces.

And fried deliciousness with tasty sauces is *exactly* what I got.  I was blown away, even compared to takoyaki I had in Japan (sorry, Gindaco, I know you are popular, but, no comparison!).

Takoyaki. $4.95.

"5pcs deep fried Takoyaki topped with Takoyaki Sauce, Mayonaise, Aonori, Bonito Flakes. (sic)" 

The takoyaki were glorious.  Piping hot when I got them, I was glad I decided to just stay and eat right outside.

They came topped with the expected toppings, just like okinomiyaki, of bonito flakes and aonori, and came with a small pile of pickled shredded ginger as well.  The toppings were all standard, but good for completing a "perfect bite".

I asked for my sauces on the side, so they were packaged separately.

Now, as for the takoyaki themselves.  They were well prepared.  Crisp on the outside, oily and greasy, but not in a gross way.  Maybe I was craving this sort of thing.  Plus, smother it in sauce and mayo, and it helps cut the greasiness, heh.

Takoyaki: Inside.

But of course, it is what is inside the takoyaki that matters too.  Sooo often takoyaki are filled with chewy octopus.  Or negligible octopus.  Or are under cooked and doughy.  These suffered none of those common problems.  These were perfect inside.

The inside was creamy, gooey, but cooked through, filled with good sized hunks of octopus, not chewy.  I was really, really impressed with inside these balls.  The filling was simple, no additional flavoring inside, but it was just really really well done, and once you had a bite with the toppings and sauce, it was just glorious.

****+ for the execution on the takoyaki, definitely the best I've ever had.  At ~$5 for 5, the price was fine.

And about those sauces ...

Mayonnaise & Takoyaki Sauce.

The mayo sauce I believe was just mayo, Japanese mayo though, which to me is always a bit less tangy, thicker, richer, and definitely tastier.  It added the right creaminess when added to the takoyaki.  And the "takoyaki sauce"?  DELICIOUS.  Wow.  Such complex flavor, sweet and salty, I think there was some miso in it, sooooo much umami.  If you have ever wondered what umami tastes like, it is this!

The sauces together were the perfect finishing touch.

Perfect *****, all around

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