Fine Dining - The BEST Restaurant I've Ever Experienced: chi SPACCA

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

🥩🔥🍎 chi SPACCA: The Perfect 10 on the Tchotchke of Mediocrity 🍎🔥🥩 This week, I finally crown my very first perfect restaurant: chi SPACCA, the Italian butcher by Nancy Silverton and the best dining experience of my life. On Valentine’s Day 2023, I discovered what true excellence tastes like, from cozy, candlelit vibes and flawless service to indulgent bites of steak, marrow, and candied apple pie. It was decadent, joyful, and unforgettable… even if our server’s beef & bone marrow pot pie presentation went a little sideways. 🥔 Onion Rings & Mashed Potatoes That Redefine “Sides” 🥩 Beef & Bone Marrow Pot Pie: Messy, Beautiful, Delicious 🥬 Salanova Lettuce Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette = Good for a Salad... 🍖 Bistecca alla Fiorentina: Dry-Aged Steak of the Gods 👩‍🍳 Cozy Vibes and a View of the Chefs at Work 🍎 A Whole Candied Apple Baked Inside a Pie (Yes, Really) 🌹 Valentine’s Day 2023: A Meal I’ll Never Forget ⭐ Reading Only 5-Star Reviews in Yelp from Strangers 🏆 The First-Ever Perfect 10.00 on the Tchotchke of Mediocrity 💬 COMMENT BELOW: What’s the best meal you’ve ever had in your life? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, full Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, cursed Yelp): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: youtube.com/@finediningpodcast 🔗 All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast Patreon Producers: Sue Ornelas & Joyce Van Patreon Subscribers: David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, & Travis Langley Free Patreon Followers: Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Michelle Elmer, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, & Aaron Hubbard 👉 NEXT WEEK: We've got to balance the scales, so I'll be going to the worst restaurant I've ever dined at and crowning a 0.00 on the bottom end of the Tchotchke of Mediocrity.

Do I have the same favorite restaurant as Anthony Bourdain? I've been lucky enough to eat some incredible meals in my 37 years on this earth, but none are more memorable than Valentine's Day, 2023, where a little bit of research led me to Chisbaca, an Italian-style butcher from celebrity chef, Nancy Silverton. The most tender, dry-aged steak I've ever put in my mouth cooked simply to highlight the savory natural flavors of one of my favorite foods, the Bisteka a la Fiorentina, has proven worth the insane price tag that comes with it. Oil, fat, salt, beef.

I've had it four times in my life, and you could buy two and a half Nintendo Switch 2s for the same amount. I'd say it's totally worth it, but I've dined and dashed every time. You're never going to catch the Beef Bandit. Beef Bandit, coincidentally, my only fan's account here. handle. Today, on the podcast, I revel in the glory of cheese spaca while telling you all about its history, menu, and why it's so great before turning to Yelp and using confirmation bias to validate my proclamation that Chief Spaca is the best dining experience I've ever had.

Stay tuned. This is the Fine Dining Podcast. Your table is ready. Take your seat. The flavor of the day is mediocrity. Wouldn't you like to try a five? Guarantee it'll be the perfect five. Fine tiny, better than you thought, worse than you hope. Fine tiny. We don't treat mediocre as a joke. Breaking every single place we've been,

compared to the perfect five out of ten. Hello, and welcome to the five. Dining Podcast, the quest to compare all restaurants to Chili's. I am your host, Michael Ornellis, and I'm going to jump right in by telling you about my history at Cheesbacca before outlining the story of the restaurant itself. I'll then review it, read some Yelp reviews, and oversee its coronation on the Chotchke of mediocrity. So starting with my history of Cheesbacca, I remember I was looking for a place to go on a date for Valentine's Day with my long-term girlfriend, Joyce. She's been on the podcast many times, largely on Patreon, but we were looking for a place that we wanted to go

out. And I stumbled across a list of supposedly Anthony Bourdain's favorite L.A. restaurants. Number one, in and out burger, which feels biased. And I'm of the opinion that in and out is very good, but you can find better burgers. So I skipped past that. because also that's not a great Valentine's date. And I came to an entry called Chi Spaca. I know it sounds like cheese paca, which I wouldn't be a fan of. I honestly should bleep the first part of the name of this place, cheese paca.

But I heard that it was an Italian butcher. And it's part of a block of restaurants, famously Moza, Osteria Moza and Pizzeria Moza, which is a very famous, very acclaimed Italian food restaurant, which I love pasta. But this was by Nancy Silverton. And it was my first bout with any of these. And I was like, okay, let's go to the one that is the steakhouse. And we went and we sat at the bar, which I don't like bar seating typically.

For restaurants, you kind of feel like an afterthought. you feel like they're trying to turn over your place, I think, too quickly. And here, a big part of the appeal of getting the bar seating is you overlook the griddle and the grill and you're right there while the chefs cook your meal, while they cook every meal. And it just highlights how hungry you are and how delicious everything is going to be. So the view while you're there, sure, it's a little bit hotter because you are by a grill, you're by flames, but it was an incredible experience. I remember the first bite of steak just kind of transporting me.

It was one of those transcendent meals where you take a bite and it's just perfection. And I remember overdoing it, getting mashed potatoes, getting, I want to say brocolini. getting onion rings, and we split a, I want to say it was a 52-ounce porterhouse steak. This thing is massive. It goes on the cooking surface in front of you, and you just feel primal. And it is just one of the best nights of my life in terms of food and service and atmosphere and connection, both with my partner and with the service staff. And I remember it so fondly, I've been back three times once my dad came to town and I made him take me because I don't have the money for this other than a very rare special occasion. So I kind of leaned on my father to be like, hey, do you want to treat me? And he

obliged. And I remember him who, by the way, my dad is not easily impressed. I feel with a lot of the foods that I show him or music but that's another I don't get that but I feel like every time I'm like this is a great steak he kind of I don't want to say dismissive but he's like yeah it's good but you know whatever when we went to cheese Baca he was blown away and that to me got my attention and then another time my mom came to town and we went with Joyce my partner another great meal. And then very recently, to refresh myself for this episode of the podcast, I went again. This was a belated birthday dinner for me once again with Joyce. And I took notes and I took scores. And while if I'm being completely honest, I don't know if I would call the experience I

just had a full 10 out of 10. It was still incredible. But the point of this episode is to talk about the single best meal of my life, which is Valentine's Day 2023. So, cheese baka will get a 10 on the Chachkee of mediocrity. They are very consistent, but the thing that I'm reviewing is based on a meal I just had, but the thing going on the Chachkey is based on this meal that I remember. So that's my history with Chisbaka. We are now going to jump into the history of Chisbacca as we go into this week's Eat Deats. Eatery details. Eatery details.

Cheezpaca is the creation of Nancy Silverton, a James Beard award-winning chef famous for founding Labreya Bakery and the Moza restaurants in L.A. It's a tiny Italian steakhouse on Melrose Avenue, right next door to her Pizzeria Moza and Osteria Moza, that food and wine, once dubbed a a meat speak-easy. In other words, it's an intimate carnivores paradise known for spectacular steaks and house-cured charcutory

all served in a cozy 30-to-35-seat dining room. Chisbaka actually began as a weekly family-style salumi night pop-up at the Moza cooking school space. Chef Chad Colby would prepare house-cured Italian meats for Thursday night dinners and their wild popularity convinced Silverton and Colby to turn it into a full-fledged restaurant in February 2013.

The goal was ambitious, a meat-centric menu pursuing perfection in every dish, inspired by traditional Italian flavors, but with a bold Los Angeles flair, meaning that it flakes on plans if you try and make them. The name Chi Spaca means cleaver, or literally, she who cleaves, in Italian, which suits this restaurant's whole animal nose-to-tail approach. Silverton and team are dedicated to using every part of the animal, and they even established LA's first certified in-house salumi cured meat, programmed to make authentic Italian charcutory on site. They had to work closely with health officials to get this dry curing operation approved.

No other restaurant in Los Angeles had done anything quite like it before. As an Italian steakhouse, Chief Spaca is famed for its colossal cuts. The showstopper is the Bisteka a la Fiorentina, a massive dry-aged teabone steak, often 42 to 50 ounces, that comes out deeply charred on the outside and ruby red inside. The carnivorous extravagance continues with things like a 42-ounce tomahawk pork chop. The thing dreams are made of

larger than my head, one writer exclaimed, and a rich bone marrow pot pie that's definitely not for the feign of heart. I got it. My heart is different now. One of Cheesepaca's secret weapons is actually bread. Nancy became obsessed with the rare Ligurian Focacia di Reko and spent a year mastering this delicate cheese-filled flat bread for the restaurant. It's now a must-try, not my words, highlight on the menu.

It's cracker thin, golden, and oozing cheese. Diners often start with that feccacia and an effetati misty platter, a board piled with the house's phenomenal salumi, think fennel pollen-dusted salami, silky pattees, speck ham, and more. These offerings showcased the restaurants Italian soul and craft even before the huge stakes hit the table. The late Anthony Bourdain was a huge fan of cheese faca and famously raved about it. After his first meal there, he gushed, that was amazing. I really, really, really appreciated it and enjoyed it, calling the experience amazing in general.

He even ranked Chief Baca among his favorite places to eat in the U.S., specifically for a great steak. Bordane went all in on the menu during his visit, sharing a 50-ounce Florentine steak, sampling the house-made salumi, digging into cheesy zucchini blossoms and grilled octopus, and indulging in that signature beef and bone marrow pie. When a globe-trotting chef of Bordane's caliber raves about a spread like this, you know it's something special. I do have to say that bone marrow pie, which I will talk about later, is creatively perverted, but in all the best ways. Chisbaca quickly earned critical acclaim in the food world. Angelino Magazine, Bon Appetit, and L.A. Weekly all hailed it as one of the best new restaurant openings in L.A. when it debuted, and later on, G.Q. and Esquire named it among the country's top restaurants. It even made Los Angeles Magazine's list of the city's 75. best eateries. And for a pop culture stamp of approval, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has cited

Cheese Baca as a personal favorite, reportedly marveling, they cure their own sausage when praising its house-made meats. Despite its high-end food, the vibe at Cheese Baca is unpretentious and cozy. The dining room seats only 30 to 35 people with candlelit tables surrounded by walls of Italian wine bottles, so it feels like an intimate dinner party among France. A wood-fired grill anchors the open kitchen, perfuming the place with smoky aromas and treating guests to a little theater of live fire cooking right in front of them. It's the kind of place where you might roll up your sleeves and grin through a primal hands-on feast. One writer joked that his taste buds were punched in the face by an unapologetic intensity of meaty flavors, and he left with grease stains on his shirt and a happy carnivorous glow. That writer, Agatha Christie.

How did she eat Chisbacca before her death? That's the mystery. Though Chisbacca's heart and soul remain in Los Angeles, its reputation has spread. In 2023, Nancy Silverton opened a second Chisbaca location in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first expansion of this concept outside the U.S. Still, the original Los Angeles restaurant remains unique, a one-of-a-kind temple of wood-fired Italian butchery. It stands as a testament to Silverton's vision for bold flavors, uncompromising technique, and the simple joy of sharing an extravagant meal around the table.

And in 2025, it remains excellent. So I'm going to talk about it. That'll do it for this week's eat deets. So now that we know the history of cheese baka, let me gush. Let's talk about everything that was good about it. And just that. Nothing was just there. and definitely nothing was labeled not good.

So play the jingle. So I literally just have a whole page of good. So let's get to get to it to it. First off, let's get to it. First off, the decor of the good. this place. You walk in and it's like a little marketplace where they sell some of the ingredients that are touted at Moza and at Cheesbacca. There are a couple cookbooks. There are some wines. And right when you walk in, there's a host who greets you. And I swear I didn't even know

where I was before I was already being led to the table. So it was, very attentive, very nice, very efficient, and we get walked in. The place is kind of dimly lit. The back wall behind us has a bunch of wines on it. Off to the right is this big open kitchen where that bar seating is. And really not that many people. It really doesn't feel crowded despite the fact that it was full. And then off in the corner, there's a walk-in with all of the cured meats, which I've actually not tried. So next time I go, I will get that board and try the salami and whatever else they offer, but sounds like it's amazing.

And then I get to my table, and there's a card on it with the Chisbaka logo and the Chisbaka name. Just wishing me, happy birthday. Happy birthday. Thank you for celebrating with us, Saluti, the Chisbaka team, which is nice. and also generic. You could write that for anybody without customizing it, but I don't mind.

It's fine. It's a nice little touch. It makes you feel welcome. It makes you feel like your table was reserved because it was waiting for us when we got there. It didn't just feel like on a whim they see this kind of sloppy looking guy. I did dress up, but I know what I am. Walk in and, you know, it's not like they're just going to,

like seat me in the back like they're they're making a statement of like hey you belong here and i appreciate that there are butcher knives hanging overhead by the cook station which is the logo of the place i know you can't see it when i hold it up if you're just listening to the podcast but literally since the place translates to she who cleaves a butcher knife is their logo i kind of want them to have a mascot just a guy in a big butcher knife foam costume he'll just be called butch that'll be his name but yeah butcher knives overhead that i never saw them use but i think are just there for vibes the drink guy i don't i don't know fancy terms i am out of place at a place like cheese baka but the drink guy came immediately asked sparkling water still water

and of course since we're classy people we say tap water because i don't want to pay $19 for a bottle of Aquapana or something like that. But, you know, we're still there to spend good money. So we made up for it with the food that we ate, but, you know, I don't want to, I'm not looking to be fancy just for the sake of it. Our server made it over pretty quickly after to welcome us to the place. I do remember this guy. His name was Daniel, if I remember correctly. I definitely had him when I went with my dad. I do remember him being very knowledgeable, very personable, which I love a rapport with a server. I love someone I can kind of joke with. I kind of like someone who's a little bit mean or at least sarcastic back to me. And he had a vibe

that seemed like he was that. But when I actually listened to his words, I think he was nicer then I was assuming he would be like he looked like he could be a comedian therefore he looked like he could roast me therefore I assumed he was but he was actually very pleasant and I make a lot of self-deprecating jokes and he kind of wasn't having it like it's almost like he's not allowed to agree with the things that I say that are self-deprecating which is very kind But it also means that my banter feels like it falls flat because I'm joking most of the time, or at least just being what I think is honest. But regardless, he was a very attentive server, and he did one of my favorite things that a server can do, and that is give you an accurate expectation of your wait time. So what we ended up ordering was a salad, onion rings, beef and bone marrow pie, the besteka a la Fjorentina, and then we got a dessert later, and then a starter bread.

Now, the faccaccia diureko is what is recommended. It's what they're known for. It's the cheese stuffed bread that I, because I'm a big baby, I'm a fussy little boy. Michael is a fussy little boy. Michael is a fussy little boy, baby. Michael is a fussy little boy. Michael is a fussy little boy. Dusting that one off after a while.

I'm not going to have the cheese bread. But I will say, one of the things that I remembered and that set the tone the very first time I came was ordering just their white bread. It is a sourdough. put on the griddle, cooked, toasted around the edges, it's nice and crispy, doused with olive oil, cooked in the oil to give it that nice crunch around the edges, and with big crystals of sea salt. And I am not lying to you when I tell you that that is the best bread that I have

ever tasted in my life. And I love bread. I don't believe that people need to overcomplicate their bread. I think if you just have a good, solid, a little bit yeasty bread, I am in heaven. And this was perfection. And it's been perfection every time I've had it. And it is specifically that mix of the oil, salt, and the light griddling. It is incredible. I'm going to put a picture of it on screen right here so you can look at it. But my God, it's, it's, as, As good as it was the first time I laid eyes on it two and a half years ago, and part of the experience I remember was watching that bread be cooked for the first time and just salivating, sitting there at the bar, looking at it, knowing that that's going to be mine. That is my order of bread. And then getting it, it is so good.

It's called Pane Bianco, which is literally just white bread in Italian. It is, yeah, it's perfect. It's not complimentary. I will say that. It is not complimentary. It is not even really close to complimentary. It's like $16. This is a fancy restaurant.

Everything is expensive. This whole experience is expensive. I don't recommend it if you are trying to save money, but if you are looking to have an unforgettable experience and you do have the money to burn, that is where I recommend cheese baka or a very special occasion. but this is something that the average person would save up for. And so the bread, no exception to elevating that bill for you at the end. But, boy, is it good.

10 out of 10 on the bread, easy, easily. So, yeah. Now, I did mention the server setting expectations for me. We ordered the bread. We ordered our salad. The salad was brought out relatively quickly, after the bread. We actually, it was a late addition. We had already ordered everything. And he had already told us, from the time you get your bread, it's probably going to be an hour or so before

you see more food because the steak and the bone marrow pot pie take time. Now, that is always the move. Tell people what to expect because I might get impatient. I'm usually not. I'm usually pretty chill at a restaurant. I don't really care how long something takes unless it's ridiculous. But telling me, this takes this long, this is how long it's going to take, I always think that is an MVP server move. That is a 10 out of 10, two thumbs up server move, and you will never go wrong for it. And especially giving people that warning before they order is another great move. some people order something and they don't know how long it's going to be and they may order something different if you tell them how long it's going to be. So if you're a server and you know

they're ordering something where either the kitchen is backed up or it just takes a long time to prepare, give your customers that warning. It will never go badly unless they are just absolutely a jerk of like, well, how long does it take to cook steak? I don't know, dude. But they're telling you their process takes this long. No complaints. No complaints here. Also, whenever you get up, they fold your napkins. It's one of those places where like, you know, you have the cloth napkin, you put it on your lap, you get up to go to the restroom, you put it on your table in front of you. They will come by and they will fold it. Now, maybe that's for you. I think honestly what it is is so the restaurant looks less sloppy so people walking around aren't seeing these disheveled

handkerchiefs all over the place. It's so they see a nice, neat, folded thing. So I started feeling guilt because I did get up a few times because I wanted to take some pictures and videos of the grill area once there was nobody seated at the bar. So I was kind of getting up and down, up and down, up and down. And I started feeling guilty. So I was folding my own napkin after a while because I was just like, I don't want to impose this that they have to do this to me.

I know it's the restaurant policy. there was never any sign of negativity or not wanting to do it or whatever all the details that come with doing the job it seemed like everyone did happily which i also always appreciate you never want to catch an eye roll it makes you feel bad when you say something to a server and they're just like i guess no this was hospitality at its finest this is one of those places where it really feels like their number one concern is that you have an enjoyable experience. And you just don't really see that at chain restaurants. I still love chain restaurants and occasionally you do get a really fun server who has good

banter and who, you know, feels like a buddy and they're there to hook you up or make it sound like they're hooking you up or whatever it is. but there is a step beyond that that I feel like you only really get at these types of places and once you experience it it really puts another tier to what service can be

and Chisbaka had it and I also will say we had a revolving door of people helping us we did have a main server but we also noticed that the host was setting the table next to us after a party left for the next party

we had another server that kind of came around a few times and she was very pleasant as well and then a guy who initially I thought was a Somalié because of the way he was dressed and the fact that the first time I clocked him he was carrying a wine bottle and seemed very like his form holding it seemed very professional but upon further observing this guy I'm pretty sure he was the manager and a restaurant where a manager is not afraid to get their hands dirty and also seems to be doing it happily and get in there and just do things to make sure everything is running smoothly instead of just laying back and assuming this is the responsibility of the host or the servers. I think that's a sign of good management. So again, just everything

about this place, the vibes, the food, and the service were immaculate. Now, that's everything about the service and the vibes atmosphere. I guess that's the term I use. So now let's actually talk about the food. I told you about the bread, 10 out of 10. Then we got the Salanova Lettuses, I think. I don't know. If Lettises is pronounced differently in Italian,

let me know, like Lettuches or whatever. Fine herbs, lemon vinaigrette. This thing was very simple. my theory in general is that salads are not worth it. They're not worth the space that they consume. If you are going out to a place like this, I feel like you're doing yourself a disservice to get a salad. We got this on a whim, largely because we got that warning that it would be an hour before more food was in front of us, and we didn't want to wait that with nothing. So we got a salad, and it was very fresh.

It didn't have a lot of ingredients, just a lemon vinaigrette and herbs, and it was good. It was a 7 out of 10 salad. I don't know if a salad can reach 10 out of 10 for me. I don't remember what I gave the Thai chicken crunch from CPK. That's about the highest scoring a salad will get from me. But I don't love salad. It fills up space in a place like this, but when you're not eating for an hour, it does the job. And this was good.

So then we got a side of onion rings, beef and bone marrow pot pie, and the Bistaka Furentina. I will talk about the onion rings first. These are gigantic. The seasoning in the breading tasted too subtle, in my opinion. Now, mind you, this is off my visit that I had last week. I remember my mind being blown by the onion rings when I went a few years ago. So either my palate has changed. I've had one too many bloomin onion.

or something, I don't know, but this batch wasn't like, it didn't blow my mind. It was still very good. And if you look at the video of this or a picture of this, they are huge. They're not quite the size of donuts, but they are large onion rings. The batter is generous. The onions themselves are large, so it's not like too much of a batter to onion ratio. So my only issue is that I wish that the seasoning was either more pronounced or less pronounced. It was in this middle ground that just for some reason didn't quite cut it for me all the way.

So either let the onion be the primary taste and not distract from it with the seasoning or double down on the seasoning and make that the thing that we're supposed to notice. I still went 7.5 out of 10. These were very good onion rings. They have been better in the past in my experience, but they just, they didn't scratch the itch that I thought they would. But now everything from here on out was kind of just a wild time. The beef and bone marrow pie with mashed potatoes. Let's start with the mashed potatoes. These were perfectly creamy, buttery, whipped. It was maybe one of the best non-garlic mashed potatoes I've ever had. I went 10 out of 10 on these potatoes. These were just everything you want from a mashed potato. They were, like, they stuck together without being firm or lumpy or anything like that. That, like, whipped and creamy is the best way to put it, but not at all.

All liquidy or runny, I guess. These were unreal, 10 out of 10 mashed potatoes. Now, this came on the side of the beef and bone marrow pot pie. Now, we all know what a pot pie is, right? It is a meat and sometimes vegetables cooked into like a flaky, not croissant, but croissant-like flaky crust. Like a pie. Like, it literally, it is a pie. It's called a pot pie.

And my God, this one is served around a bone. And the bone is in the middle, and they make a whole presentation of sticking that utensil that is just for pulling bone marrow out. It's like if a spoon was spaghettified by a black hole or something, and it's just like long and skinny, and you stick it in there and you kind of pull up and it brings the bone marrow out. Now, they make a presentation because it's hot, they reach in, they pull the bone marrow out, and they kind of spread it over the top of the pot pie so that the bone marrow kind of melts in a little bit. Now, if you've never had bone marrow before, think beef jelly. That's probably the best way to put it. It is not quite fully gelatinous, but it is kind of in that ballpark of texture. and it's so savory and rich and flavorful and they spread it around.

Now, the lady that did the bone marrow presentation for us was a very, very sweet server. We only had her for this, but she completely botched it. Like she pulled the thing out and it just kind of like rolled off the side onto the plate below it. and then she's blindly kind of pulling this spoon around underneath to try and scoop it back up but because it's not a proper spoon it's kind of getting away from her

and then she lifts it up and rubs it onto the pot pie and it was very charming I literally did not mind was not bothered whatsoever by the fact that this whole ritual that they have of serving the pot pie was messed up because not even in a laughing at her

kind of way but it was just very disarming, fun, funny, a little bit charming, and she played it off really well. I did get a video of it, and I do think maybe my hand being in the way with the camera, even though I was back a little bit, might be why she kind of fumbled, not necessarily under pressure, because there are no stakes to this, but because like the angle that her hand had to be at to, in her mind, avoid my filming, my phone or whatever. It was very silly. And then you take a bite of this thing.

And it is, I wrote a savory masterpiece. This thing was so rich. The crust was perfectly flaky. It is what the ideal pie is. And I would almost liken it to like a pecan pie, which is, I think the crust tends to be a little flakier, generally. There's just like a stew inside. like meat juice with beef chunks and then pie crust and then melted bone marrow on top. You will never taste something this savory in your life, but my God, was it good?

I went 10 out of 10 on this as well. So for those keeping track, the bread, the mashed potatoes, the beef and bone marrow pie, all 10 out of 10. My lowest score for anything so far is a seven. Moving on, the Bisteka a la Fjorentina. They told me that I could choose between a costata Furentina or the Bisteka a la Furentina. Basically, a dry-aged New York strip or a dry-aged porterhouse, which my understanding is the filet plus the New York strip on one thing. So we were like, well, we'll do that.

Our waiter did recommend the other one specifically because he said the dry aging looked better on that batch. However, I tend not to prefer dry age for my steaks. I've had a couple experiences where I've had dry aged steaks where I was just like, oh, it tasted kind of funky. And in hindsight, I think it might have just been a lesser than batch. This was delicious. I didn't mind the dry aging at all. I am now curious what just straight up the New York strip would have tasted like, but this thing comes out.

It's got a big T-bone. This thing, you had two very distinct flavor profiles between the filet and the New York strip, both delicious, but just different levels of savouriness and maybe a little bit earthier on the filet side is kind of what I thought from it. It was so tender, I will say, the one that we got this time, there was one bite that was just a little too well done, a little too tough. But this is my fourth time having this steak and three times it was perfection. So I'm still giving it a 10 given the spirit of this episode is to talk about cheese baka as my 10 out of 10 and to specifically remember that Valentine's Day 2023 dinner that I had. The salt and the fat on the New York strip were prominent. I'm a big fan of very light messing with a steak. Like, I just make, I just do salt and oil, avocado oil, beef tallow, or olive oil with my steaks.

I've kind of gotten away from olive oil because they have lower smoke points. But when I cook my own steak, I'm not doing a lot to it. I think over-seasoning a steak honestly can be a mistake. I think it's not the way to do it. So this kind of followed that philosophy. So for my personal tastes, this is a perfect steak. All the flavors that I like in a steak are there. The fact that we were offered to different types, textures, flavor profiles in the filet and the New York strip.

Incredible. The crust of the steak had a very noticeable. texture when you bite it, snappy, kind of in the, this is the weirdest comparison, but kind of like when you talk about a hot dog being snappy, it just had a little bit of like something to break through and not in a tough way, just in a satisfying skin kind of way. So the crust was great. Everything still melted in my mouth, 10 out of 10 for the Bisteka, Furentina. Three out of the four times I've had it are like three of the five best steaks I've ever had in my life. This is the one that was not. But again, like I said, this is about the restaurant,

not necessarily my recent refresher meal. And then we get to dessert. And they had a little tray off to the side by the cooks area that had these apple pie, almost like pie on a window sill Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny floating through the air level of pie. But they're many pies, and it's called the whole candied apple pie. And I was like, does that mean we're ordering a whole pie? And they were like, yes, but what you're really ordering is a whole candied apple. Now, typically when you get an apple pie, it is slices of apple baked into a pie. This is a candied baked apple, I think. I may be wrong on if it's baked, but it is a whole

candied apple. And then almost like an inner tube around it, this sugar crystal covered crust that wrapped it like a hug. It was beautiful. It was affectionate. It was literally an inner tube of pie with an apple in the middle. The apple just absolutely melted away. It was so delicious.

I thought that the sugar crystals gave this thing the perfect texture. I do that when I'm baking blueberry muffins. I think being able to, like, get a little bit of crunch from sugar crystals. It just takes a dessert to a whole other level of freshness, of sensory experience. Oh, it was so good. And the apple was delightful. There was vanilla ice cream that came with it, which I liked. It had crem frish.

Cremfresh? I don't know. You know what I'm talking about, though. That, yeah, that I thought was a little too dairy for me. It just tasted like, I'm not a big sour cream guy. And this had a little bit of like a sour taste to it. And I just felt like that wasn't the thing I would have paired with the sweetness of all this. I mean, honestly, I've said it many times.

My sweet tooth is insane. So I don't need a different flavor profile with my sweet personally. So I didn't love what the crem fresh added to this. I thought it detracted in my opinion. But that's just my flavor profile. You might be an adult with a more refined palette. And to you, I say, cheers. I eat Dunkeroo's.

So, you know, we're different in that way. And for those of you who don't know what Dunkeroo's are, little cheap vanilla cookies that you dip into literal cake frosting. It's terrible, but I like them. Even if they do make the back of your throat get like a chemical burn, not great, but I dunk. Believe me, I dunk. All right, that was stupid. Yeah, I thought this pie maybe needed a little bit more.

more moisture. I think the vanilla ice cream without the creme frash I would have gone to more often, but because they were kind of like the vanilla ice cream was melting into the creme frash and they kind of had this combo flavor that was sour that I didn't care for as much. I just went to it less. So it's not like the moisture wasn't there, but it just, uh, it wasn't what I wanted. And then in the bottom of the crust, it did taste a little like there was a hint of of bitterness and I don't know what that was almost maybe like a like a brandy or something was cooked into it I don't know but that element I also could have done without it wasn't as off putting to me as the crimfresh but the apple itself the presentation and the crusts were so

good still gets an eight out of ten so that is all of the elements I think that I have written. Oh, no. I have one last element that I wrote, and that is literally on the drink menu. There was a section that said anal caliche, which I think is Italian. I want to say an alcaliche. I think it's non-alcoholic. Based on the context of everything I read in there, it seems like that's their list of non-alcoholic drinks, but I'm a child. And seeing the word anal caliche made me laugh. Okay, that is all of the good elements of Chisbacca. We already know the score of this place, but before I christen the Chochie of mediocrity with cheese faca, let's see what other people think about it. And this week's Yelp from Strangers.

We need a little yelp, a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. A one star, two star, three star, four, or bye, aye. So get a little yelp, a little yelp, a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. Give us those complaints while you literally white and die. Yelp! All right, this is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to Yelp and read out our favorite, 5, 5, 5, 5, and 5 star reviews of the very restaurant that I dined at, because it's my 10, and I'm not here to hear the slander.

Five star review. This first five star review is from 1N, it's O-A-N-H, which I think is a Vietnamese name. 1N from Orange County, California, written June 24th, 2014. Mind-blown, holy shit, cheesebaca is the quintessential of meat indulgence. It is just so fucking good. Not good or bomb.com, fucking good. It is no doubt my top five places ever. When dining here dress appropriately.

And what I mean by that is leave that tight dress at home, ladies. it ain't the bizarre. Expect to really eat because everything on the menu is so delicious, you will look five months pregnant in that cute little bandage dress number you got on from the uncontrollable face stuffing. I emphasize this because I made this mistake and thank the Lord to find out it's not that kind of place. So what to order? Sharkoutery. While you wait for the feast to come, this is an excellent start, but don't stuff yourself with this. The best is yet to come. Bone marrow beef pot pie.

The reason why I live is this dish. My God, it's the best thing I have eaten this year. So much flavor you mind will be blown. A must. Razor clams. This was so damn good, there was no sauce left on the plate. Butter lettuce. Even the salad was so full of flavor.

This had such a nice citrus dressing, delicious salad. The rest, like the pork shop and porterhouse, were amazing. but not sure if it will be on the menu all the time. Bottom line, everything is so delicious here that you can't go wrong with whatever you order. Gah! Love this place! Yeah, I think that encapsulates the way I feel, but it is a little bit of a dated review. Honestly, a lot of the reviews I found, I wanted to pick ones from a really long time ago

because I wanted to see how the menu has evolved, and a lot of people mention that. So five-star review. All right. This next five-star review is from Rocky N from San Pedro, California, March 3rd, 2013. Saturday, nose-to-tail feast review. Meat. Meat. Wine.

Wine. Meat. Meat, meat, meat, meat. Wine, meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, meat, wine, meat, meat, wine, meat, wine, meat, wine, meat, wine, meat, yum. I also hear that they will not be offering this menu for too much longer. Lucky to have gotten in on something that's so much fun. What a dumb review.

I mean, it's a great review, and it's honestly the level of writing that I'm at. So I appreciate that. But meet, meet, wine, wine, meet wine. How about those two Yelp reviews? You can get three more over at my Patreon, the extended Yelp from Strangers segment, at patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. In addition to that, you can get a free full fine dining episode every single month. That covers a restaurant that is exclusive to Patreon.

That's patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. Thanks so much. Hope to see you there, dinamaniacs. There's one last thing to decide. Is Chisbacca better than Chili's? Well, let's put it to the Chili's test. Yes, duh. It gets a 10.

It's a 10.00. Put it on the board. And with that, Cheespaca is officially better than Chili's. Better than the Chili's. Jetty good. Thanks for listening. Tune in next week for the official season three finale.

I'll be doing the inverse of this and going on about my 0.00 out of 10 dining experience, which, weirdly, was way less about the experience and actually about how bad the food was. And since it's the week of Halloween, my guest and I will be in costume. Yes, I will have a guest for that one, because he's the guy who took me to that place, and he has to answer for it. And once this season is done, I'm officially announcing that I'm doing a bridge season. That's right.

Season 3.5, baby. I'm going to fill in some gaps from my back catalog covering the history of chains that I only reviewed in the first handful of episodes of the podcast. So I didn't do eat deeps for the first few restaurants. And then a few Yelp from Strangers specials in December where I will be reading Yelp reviews from places that I went in the first 20 episodes of the podcast because the Yelp from Stranger segment didn't exist until my Cheesecake Factory episode, which I believe was episode 20. So this is kind of meant to just make a more complete body of work for the podcast. You can also get a brand new episode on my Patreon dropping on Halloween, where I cover Ruby Tuesday. I went across the country to dine at one, and you won't want to miss it. Also, I learned that Buffalo Wild Wings has a fast casual equivalent, like how Hooters has Hoot's Wings.

It's called Buffalo Wild Wings Go, and I'll be trying that out in the bridge season to give B-dubs another shot at glory on the Chotchky of Mediocrity. Thanks so much for watching. If you like my content, you can follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Fine Dining Podcast or Blue Sky, fine diningpodcast.bysky.com. If you really want to get a hold of me, I'm very easy to talk to and access on my Discord. There is a link to that in the description of this episode or at fine diningpodcast.com where you can also go to join my newsletter and get emails from me.

That is another one in the books. Join me next week as I cover the worst restaurant I've ever been to. Thanks so much for watching. Have a fine day. Well, there's another one in the folks. We judge the service up to the cooks. And while we may have gotten a couple of dirty looks, no, the journey can never stop that from the box.

down to the top We got a new Embo And everything's On lock And that's because Chimley's To let her

To a T It's the public on a stone Eautopathy So now we got A brand new Kind of test That's the words

We got to know Could we shivering A ya Triple Dip We got the babes A main course Something little in the middle Yeah, so now it's got to be the lock

For what we use When we put things up on the charge game We are a day So there's another one in the books Yeah, there's another one in the folks And we will see you next a week And next a week, baby Have a fine day!