Visit to Los Angeles: In-N-Out and Michael Voltaggio's Ink

It's been over a month since I told you about all of the noodles that I ate when I went home to Los Angeles for a visit, but noodles were certainly not the only thing I ate. The number one thing on my list was In-N-Out. Conveniently, a new location opened up very close to my parents' house! Oh, how I missed you!

Grilled cheese animal-style with well-done French fries

Another thing I ate was a whole lot of food at Michael Voltaggio's ink. The chef was working in the kitchen that night, but I didn't want to sneak a photo of him.  

Entrance to ink.

I started with the $13 cocktail of tequila, jalapeno, passion fruit and mezcal plus a gigantic cube of ice. I really enjoyed the spicy kick of the jalapeno.

Tequila Cocktail

Our waiter suggested that we order three dishes each. We wound up ordering seven dishes total because nine dishes seemed like way too much for three girls to consume. These seven dishes turned out to be way enough for us. In fact, I was uncomfortably full by the time we finished our fifth dish. I wish we had ordered more of a variety of dishes. We somehow went very heavy on the meat and those dishes were quite rich. 

I was happiest with the first three dishes that came to our table. They were each creative, complex and composed of a variety of ingredients.

Brussels sprouts with pig ears, lardo and apple

The second dish was something that none of us thought about ordering but our waiter highly recommended it. I am super happy that we took his advice because I liked this a lot. There was a lot going on in the dish but it had interesting textures and was refreshing and clean tasting.

Carrots with coconut ice, cardamom soil and pea tendril mojo

This wasn't necessarily my favorite dish but I thought it was the most interesting. Who would have ever thought of egg yolk gnocchi?

Baja scallops with egg yolk gnocchi, mushroom hay

Next up was the symphony of meats. At this point in time, I can't remember which one I enjoyed the most although I believe it was the pork belly. Perhaps it was because it came out first. All of the meat dishes were good, but I knew that we had gone overboard on the meat and couldn't really judge them fairly by then because I was getting so full.

Pork belly with charcoal oil, bbq flavor and corn

Lamb shoulder with tongue, vadouvan and yogurt

Wagyu beef with carrots, tendon and horseradish tofu

Poutine with chickpea fries, yogurt curds and lamb neck gravy

We decided to push through our uncomfortableness and order a dessert to share. I wasn't too enthralled with it and thought that the apple could have used some more apple.

Apple with caramel, burnt wood ice cream and walnut

Overall, I quite enjoyed what we sampled that evening although I think we could have chosen our selections more carefully! Lesson learned!

In-N-Out
various locations around California

ink.
8360 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90069