MA BE’S MENU: READING BETWEEN THE LINES

Understanding the modern menu is tricky business. Even when it’s written in English you almost need a primer to decipher what is being served. This ought to help. (NOTE: Data in lower case is item being described. Primer notes follow menu listing.)

(menu)

STARTERS (1,2) FRESH OYSTERS WITH maui onion, FRESH GINGER & lime salsa.... 7.50 (3) STEAMED CLAMS WITH DICED VEGETABLES AND saffron.... 8.00 (4) thinly sliced tuna & salmon MARINATED IN LIME & OLIVE OIL WITH CUCUMBER SALAD... 8.00 (5) SALMON AND AVOCADO TERRINE WITH TOMATO AND fresh coriander.... 8.00 (6) goat cheese, basil & bell pepper flan with raddichio, arrugola & fennel.... 7.00 (7) LOBSTER AND CRAYFISH SALAD WITH FRESH haricots verts AND A FRESH HERB DRESSING... 9.00 (8) sweet carrot & GINGER CREAM SOUP.... 4.50 (9,10) BAKED EGGPLANT ROLLED WITH smoked MOZZARELLA & raddichio.... 7.50 CARPACCIO OF BEEF WITH FRESH ARTICHOKE HEARTS & PARMESAN.... 8.00 BUFFALO MOZZARELLA WITH MARINATED EGGPLANT AND ZUCCHINI.... 6.50 (11) crispy duck salad on a bed of mixed baby lettuces with walnut oil dressing.... 8.00 (12) GAZPACHO “california style” WITH FRESH TUNA AND SALMON.... 5.50 GRILLED JUMBO SHRIMP WRAPPED IN PANCETTA AND FRESH BASIL.... 9.50 SALMON, WATERCRESS & MANGO SALAD WITH CITRUS DRESSING.... 7.50 (13) GRILLED SEASONAL MUSHROOMS WITH FRESH GARLIC, extra virgin olive oil.... 6.50 MIXED BABY LETTUCE SALAD.... 5.00 PASTA (14) * VEGETABLE RAVIOLI WITH RED & YELLOW BELL PEPPER PUREES AND PURPLE BASIL.. APPT: 6.50 / ENTREE: 12.00 (15) pappardelle WITH WILD MUSHROOMS AND SQUAB.... 13.00 (16) * ANGEL HAIR WITH SCALLOPS & SHRIMP IN A FRESH TOMATO & cilantro SAUCE.... APPT: 7.50 / ENTREE: 14.00 (17) black ravioli WITH CRAB AND LOBSTER.... APPT: 7.50 / ENTREE: 14.00 * GARLIC LINGUINI WITH FRESH TOMATO AND BASIL.... APPT: 6.00 / ENTREE: 11.00 (18) pasta sampler FOR TWO OR MORE.... 13.00 PER PERSON FISH -- MEAT -- POULTRY (10) mesquite GRILLED AHI TUNA WITH ARTICHOKE, SWEET GARLIC AND LEMON THYME.... 17.00 (19) red snapper with coarse black pepper in a pinot noir sauce.... 16.00 (20) * GRILLED NORWEGIAN SALMON WITH zucchini blossoms IN TOMATO & CILANTRO SAUCE.... 18.00 (21) john dory GRILLED WITH AROMATIC VEGETABLES AND SAFFRON.... 18.00 SAUTEED SHRIMP WITH GARLIC, TOMATO, WHITE CORN, RED ONIONS AND BASIL.... 19.50 (22, 10) SCALLOPS AND LOBSTER IN A light orange ginger BUTTER WITH baby vegetables.... 22.00 (23) * GRILLED BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH sweet garlic, ROASTED EGGPLANT & BELL PEPPERS.... 15.00 10: mesquite CRISPY DUCK WITH PEAR, GINGER & SPINACH MARMALADE IN A MERLOT SAUCE.... 18.00 CRISPY SWEET BREADS WITH GRAPES, HONEY & VINEGAR.... 17.50 (24) grilled calves liver and crispy onions with sweet garlic mashed potatoes... 15.00 (25) SAUTEED VEAL paillard WITH CILANTRO AND LEMON.... 19.50 (10,26) VEAL CHOP MESQUITE GRILLED WITH shitake mushrooms AND chipolini onions.... 22.00 GARLIC ROASTED LAMB RACK WITH A LIGHT CRUST OF FRESH BREAD CRUMBS & PARSLEY.... 22.50 DRY AGED NEW YORK STEAK WITH HOMEMADE FRENCH FRIED AND GRILLED SEASONAL MUSHROOMS.... 19.50 VEAL SHANK “FANNED” WITH CARMELIZED PEARL ONIONS AND SUMMER VEGETABLES... 16.00 (27) lamb loin in puff pastry with basil, fresh pasta & julienned vegetables.... 22.00 1. No self-respecting modern menu would offer ordinary onions when big bucks can be spent for what are considered the sweetest onions of all. 2. A touch of friendly exoticism for what is essentially diced Maui onions and lime juice. Helps sell the oysters, which are traditionally slow moving unless there is an interesting sauce. 3. Trendy and expensive, saffron adds color and prestige. 4. Bonus points: not called carpaccio , sashimi or ceviche. 5. See No. 16. 6. An amazing foodie feat: Somehow includes every trendy foodstuff of the last five years and a quaint misuse of an established food term--typically flan is a dessert made with egg custard. 7. French green beans: At their best they can never be too rich or too thin. 8. It really is sweet. New agricultural technology can be used to slow a carrot’s growth, and this causes it to be sweeter. 9. Smoking is out for people but in for cheese, meat and fish. 10. Foodie nostalgia. 11. Pre- radicchio foodie nostalgia: a variant of the signature dish at Ma Maison, the kitchen that lured chef Claude Segal from Paris to Los Angeles. 12. Sleek, not chunky; mild, yet zingy; fresh and tart--much like the ideal Ma Be customer. 13. But of course. 14. Asterisk signifies dishes made with no oil, butter or dairy products--perfect for those who feel they must sacrifice during the entree course so they may pig out at dessert. 15. Fat ribbon pasta--what automatically comes to mind when someone says noodles. 16. See No. 5. Two cunningly different words for the same exotic parsley. The word cilantro adds a Southwest touch. 17. Squid ink puts this ravioli in basic black; it’s the only pasta that wouldn’t feel out of place in an after-hours club. 18. For those still caught in the grazing trend. 19. For Claude Segal groupies--this is one of his signature dishes. 20. Outrageously expensive and practical at the same time: After the flowers are used, there are all those zucchini left--handy as vegetables. 21. Ugly fish with a dignified name. Used for its tasty meat; chefs like it because it doesn’t mush up. 22. Light tells you it’s good for you; butter tells you it’s not. 23. Garlic without fear: It’s blanched twice, then roasted for an hour; takes the edge off the odor. 24. You can bet “sweet garlic mashed potatoes”--not liver--sells this dish. 25. Can be either a medallion (fat) or a scallop (thin). 26. Sweet, but not as sweet as Maui onions. Chipolinis are tiny, odd-shaped and imported from Italy. 27. For members of the thirtysomething generation who think Beef Wellington is for their parents, but eagerly devour the remarkably similar lamb wrapped up in pastry.