A Michelin chef’s delicious and unusual chocolate cake ... with blue cheese

A Spanish chef from London brings her “pinpoint” cooking to Los Angeles for a night. Plus, the buzzy new mercado that’s opened in Orange County, “Foxy” coffee and the scent of a vegetarian. I’m Laurie Ochoa, general manager of L.A. Times Food, with this week’s Tasting Notes.

Chocolate for grown ups

Nieves Barragán Mohacho of Sabor in London making a guest chef appearance at Chi Spacca in Los Angeles.

(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)

As much as I love chocolate, I tend not to order chocolate desserts in restaurants. They are likely to be the least imaginative of a chef’s offerings, meant to satisfy a single-note sweet-tooth craving and often described with that overused chocolate adjective: “decadent.”

But all this week, since I was lucky enough to try the food of Nieves Barragán Mohacho, who presented some of the dishes from her Michelin one-star London restaurant, Sabor, at L.A.’s Chi Spacca on Tuesday, I’ve been thinking about her chocolate dessert.

This was no “death by chocolate” cliche but a complexly flavored chocolate and blue cheese cheesecake with a salt-sprinkled dollop of cream on top of a circle of Arbequina olive oil. The blue cheese didn’t aggressively present itself but rather revealed itself slowly as one of many intriguing layers melding with the salt and sweet of the cheesecake brought together by the olive oil.

Of course, chocolate, olive oil and salt are not unfamiliar flavors in Barragán’s native Spain, where the combination is often served on bread as a snack or dessert. José Andrés has a recipe in his book “Tapas: A Taste of Spain,” and in 2014 former Times Test Kitchen Director Noelle Carter published a recipe for Andrés’ elevated take of the dessert, Pan Con Chocolate, with chocolate flan, caramelized bread and brioche ice cream as its components.

As for the blue cheese, it’s not unheard of for Spain’s Cabrales cheese to be served with pieces of dark chocolate. And British chef Heston Blumenthal famously made a blue cheese-and-chocolate coulant partly in homage to France’s Michel Bras, who pioneered the molten chocolate desserts we now see around the world. (Watch Blumenthal make his blue cheese-chocolate dessert in this excerpt from his “Kitchen Chemistry” cooking series).

Barragán’s take is more mousse-like than a coulant but with more complexity than an ordinary chocolate pudding. It showcases her penchant for bringing together contrasting flavors — for instance, her wild berry tartaleta, in which the berry reduction was served beside a heady whiskey cream and dotted with super-tart lemon.

Wild berry tartaleta with whiskey mascarpone and lemon served at L.A.’s Chi Spacca by chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho of Sabor in London.

(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)

“Her cooking is very specific and pinpoint,” said Armen Ayvazyan, who can be found behind the stoves at Chi Spacca these days after the closing of the Barish at the Hollywood Roosevelt. “I think she’s inspired by a lot of Japanese cooking,” an influence he noticed in some of the restaurants he visited recently in Spain’s Basque country.

He brings up the sushi-like seared tuna Barragán served at Chi Spacca fanned around a sauce smartly based on ajo blanco, or white gazpacho, with almonds for crunch. He also admired the skill of her monkfish tempura served with a sauce of sweet chili jam aioli for dipping — one of my favorites of the night.

Afterward, I longed to try more of Barragán’s cooking. Maybe she’ll follow through on the thought she expressed that night to possibly open a place in Los Angeles — she loved our farmer’s markets and seemed inspired to cook here more. Until then, the closest we might get to that chocolate dessert without going to London is to return to Chi Spacca where one of the desserts is chocolate mousse served with crisp sourdough bread, cocoa-candied almonds and, yes, a drizzle of olive oil.

The scent of a vegetarian

(Illustration by Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times; Photos via Getty Images)

Susanne Rust has a terrific story that examines the question: Do vegetarians smell different than meat eaters? It’s a surprising and fascinating read.

Also ...

Cesar Marez, a manager at Mercado Gonzalez Northgate Market in Costa Mesa.

(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)

• Sarah Mosqueda and Cindy Carcamo report on the hot new Orange County gathering spot Mercado Gonzalez, a massive supermarket and food hall from the family behind the Northgate chain. They not only describe what customers will find at the Mercado — including “the first outpost of the famous Churrería El Moro outside of Mexico — they report on how the changing demographics of Orange County led to the market opening in Costa Mesa instead of a more traditionally Latino area like Santa Ana.
• Food’s Stephanie Breijo wrote about the death at age 44 of butcher Jered Standing, whose Hancock Park shop Standing’s Butchery was founded “on the premise of animal welfare, sourcing directly from farmers who prioritize free-range habitats, heritage breeds and all-grass diets.” His death is a huge loss for Los Angeles.
• Daniel Miller and Ruben Vives report of the food truck kingpin accused of taking money for trucks that were never delivered.
• Breijo also got an inside look at director Quentin Tarantino’s new cafe Pam’s Coffy next to the Vista Theater, which he also owns. Of course, it’s named for Pam Grier, star of “Coffy,” “Foxy Brown” and “Jackie Brown.”
• Assistant food editor Danielle Dorsey put together an excellent guide to eight Black-owned spots that define the Crenshaw corridor.
• Dorsey also compiled a guide to the best new and talked-about places to eat and drink this month.