Brightest Young Things

all words and photos: Kimberly Cadena

I love Masa 14’s happy hour but hadn’t eaten dinner there before last week when I tasted their new fall menu. I shared a table, talked food photography and drank lots of Spanish red wine with Chad from Eat More Drink More, Leo from Thrillist and Lindsay, the quietest, most low-key food blogger I’ve met (it’s possible we scared her. Sorry, Lindsay).

We had:

• First course (L to R) Tuna Tiradito (pineapple/ coconut milk/ cilantro/ pico de gallo) and Yukke (Korean beef tartare/ quail egg/ kimchi/ rice crockers/ miso mustard/ crispy shallots).

• Second course, Hot & Sour Soup (chive shrimp dumplings/ scallop sausage/ wood ear mushroom) and Tom Yum Soup (coconut milk/ chicken abodabo/ masa dumplings/ thai basil)

• Third course, Stuffed Squid Abodabo (chorizo/ adobo/ sushi rice/ pico de gallo), Salt & Pepper Calamari (three pepper flour/ thai basil/ garlic/ scallions) and Oven Broiled Oysters (kimchi/ miso siracha butter/ bacon/ Oaxaca cheese bread crumbs).

• Fourth course, Coconut Crusted Scallops (curried cauliflower puree/ fig/ coconut kaffir lime foam), Carne Noodles (rice vermicelli/ oyster sauce/ snow peas/ smoked brisket/ shrimp/ poached egg) and Smoked Wagyu Brisket (wasabi parsnip puree/ tat soi/ hot & sour sauce/ truffled huitlacoche).

• Dessert, Pumpkin cake (pepita brittle/ apple compote/ cream cheese/ praline pumpkin ice cream).

Looking at our menus before dinner, I was most excited about the dessert. Brittle? Cream cheese? Praline pumpkin ice cream? Oh God, yes please! But no, do not order. It lacked flavor and was sort of… lifeless. Marked it as “is not living up to its potential” (queuing up elementary school report card flashbacks). But, it was pretty much the only item that wasn’t good.

Almost everything that came before it was tasty, and some plates were delicious. The Hot & Sour soup, Carne Noodles and Smoked Wagyu Brisket were all so good I was eying plates to see if anyone wasn’t finishing theirs so I could stab it. I want to go back and try the Salt & Pepper Calamari and the Oven Broiled Oysters hot (by the time we got to them, they were lukewarm - our fault, not theirs, but even warm they were good). And I’m not one to get excited about fruity drinks, but both the spiked strawberry lemonade and the Passion Fruit martini made with Grey Goose Pear vodka were delicious.

In sum, check out Masa 14’s happy hour, it's a can’t miss. And go for dinner sometime too - cool people, delicious food and interesting drinks – definitely date-worthy.