There's always a new restaurant opening in Westwood, whether in Westwood Village or further south along Westwood Boulevard. I'm not sure why the turnover in the area seems higher than in other places, but I suspect it has to do with very high westside rents battling against a very budget-conscious college market.
The most recent opening I noticed is Fresh Corn Grill, a few blocks south of the campus area on Westwood Boulevard. We stopped in for lunch.
Sushi Sasabune is famous in Los Angeles for omakase. The restaurant used to be located in a tiny shack (quite literally, a shack) on Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA, with fluorescent lighting, flimsy tables and chairs, and no atmopshere whatsoever. But night after night, Sasabune was bursting at the seams with devoted fan of the fresh fish.
Sasabune has finally moved to a much larger, cleaner, airier space on Wilshire Boulevard (the space used to be a Todai - thank God it's not there anymore). We went recently to check out Sasabune's new digs, and to see if the sushi in a larger, higher volume operation would be the same.
It's Cinco de Mayo (that's "5th of May" if you took French in high school), so don your sombreros, head out to the local cantina, and start the fiesta! LA is a veritable goldmine of Mexican joints, with everything from upscale Border Grill to the taco truck on the corner (though we're not sure the taco trucks have blended margaritas). Here are eight places around LA to celebrate the victory of the tiny Mexican militia at Puebla. Get there early, since places will fill up fast on a Friday afternoon.
Baby, you look fabulous, even after partying all night
on the Sunset Strip.
The best way to blast that hangover for good so you can do it all over again tonight, though, is to go out for breakfast. Not eat breakfast, for how do you expect to shimmy your svelte little self into that strappy, form-fitting thing? Go out for breakfast. Pull back your hair and put on your Prada sunglasses. We're getting pancakes in LA.
Now, for the LA-uninitiated, the above scenario might well seem the standard, taking place right in front of The Standard. I mean LA couldn't possibly know how to make a mile-high stack of thick, fluffy, hot pancakes glistening with butter and dripping with maple syrup; and even if it could, no one would actually eat them, right?
Ha. Uninitiated.
There are lots of places to get pancakes in LA, and not all of them serve paper-thin, fruits, nuts, and flakes tenuously held together with non-fat soy milk and garnished with low-fat air. LA joints know how to make not only plain Jane buttermilk pancakes, but pancakes that are all dressed with everywhere to go: laced with Kahlua and Bailey's, filled with Oreos, or covered with caramel. And the breakfast/brunch set certainly knows how to dive fork-first into a stack. With their Prada sunglasses on, of course.
In the kitchen, Italians celebrate Easter with a fabulous brunch of asparagus flan, crespelles filled with vegetables, and a strawberry crostata. Blanching Spring's vegetables takes only a minutes. Sea salt can be grey.
Around town on the dining scene, SIV visits the brand new Ford's Filling Station. The Hatfields, who opened Cortez in San Francisco's Adagio Hotel, are coming to LA to open a new restaurant called Hatfields. Nook Bistro shares the secret of its Caesar Salad.
In wine, drink clubs are the new book club, and if you want to do a tasting at home, you need some basics. Like wine glasses. The Wine of the Week is 2003 Domaine Olivier Pithon Côtes du Roussillon, "power with finesse" for about $19 retail.
It sort of reminds me of that very buxom bar/restaurant that was sued several years ago. The chain of prime rib restaurants, Lawry's, has been sued for discrimination in hiring. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the class-action suit in Federal court in Los Angeles this week accusing the Pasadena branch of the restaurant of continuing the policy of using women servers only - a policy that dates back to 1938.
One of the attorney's for the Commission has said that the practice denies men of the higher-paying jobs of serving, relegating them to lower-paying jobs like busing tables.
Do the mean really want to wear those mud-brown dresses and silly bonnets?!
On the restaurants scene, chefs are taking cobblers and crisps to the next level. SIV goes for midnight munchies at Magnolia Hollywood, then writes about camera-equipped kitchens for bi-coastal chefs. Tropicalia Brazilian Grill sizzles.
In the kitchen, a recipe for the chili from downtown Walt Disney Concert Hall and many ways with the artichoke. Giada de Laurentiis' new cookbook makes elegant dinners.
The Wine of the Week is 2003 Domaine de la Begude to perfectly pair with an Easter leg of lamb, but don't forget about the Greeks. Passover begins next week, so a few choices beyond Manischewitz.
[photo: LA Times]
You might not know exactly where the Beverly Hilton is in Beverly Hills, but you certainly know about the Beverly Hilton if you watch the Golden Globe Awards, which are hosted there every year. The "new" owner, who purchased the hotel from Merv Griffin two years ago, has planned to tear down some existing structures on the hotel's property to build condos, including the old-school Trader Vic's restaurant. Apparently, the legendary Polynesian restaurant, famous as the godfather of the Mai Tai, is one of the hotel "elements that no longer work."
Who serves the best sushi in Los Angeles? Coming from New York--I moved here two weeks ago--I am determined to find out where to go for great sushi. Everyone I ask has a different opinion, but the majority of people agree that the small sushi joints, the ones tucked away in the strip malls, are the best. Earlier this week, I ate at Ike, located in Hollywood. It came strongly recommended from in-the-know LA foodies. They knew what they were talking about. The fish was amazingly fresh; the giant clam was shockingly good, and tasted just like the sea. Sit at the bar when you go.
Sushi Ike
6051 Hollywood Blvd #105
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 856-9972
In the kitchen, Regina Schrambling elevates humble grits. To help in the kitchen, a Vietnamese cookbook, the recipe for the Shaker sugar pie with coconut from a restaurant called Golden Lamb in Ohio, and picking up Spring produce at LA farmers' markets.
On the restaurant scene, LA looks at the other coast and snickers at Mario Batali's new venture, Del Posto. Back at home, SIV gives two stars (**) to French restaurant Maximilians in North Hollywood. Venerable Valentino had a new chef Dan Dickman of old Rocca, then he left! 3rd Stop is a great place for beers on tap.
A sweet back-story on Au Bon Climat and Qupe wineries in Santa Maria, and SIV's wine of the week is 2003 Ampelos Cellars Evans Ranch Syrah, from the Santa Rita Hills. Good for barbecue, and retails for $26.
And of course, we've already talked about the Westwood farmers' market closing.
In the April 2006 issue of Food & Wine magazine, Kate Krader outlines a week-long road trip she did around southern California, starting in LA, through Santa Barbara, with a quickie side trip to San Diego. While she does dine at some top-notch spots like Spago and Providence in Los Angeles, it's not all about high-end dining. A recap of her whirlwind food and wine tour through La La Land:
I love Indian food, but I still have a lot to learn about the nuances in the cooking from region to region, ingredients, and technqiues. The best way to learn of course, is to keep eating it!
Recently, I have been enamored of a small restaurant in Santa Monica. Chandni is a vegetarian restaurant. Now I'm not vegetarian, but that doesn't mean that I can't have an incredible meal there. There are standard dishes that you will find in the "vegetable" section of any Indian restaurant's menu like saag paneer, bengan bhartha, and gobi aloo. However, I have been forcing myself away from these standards to try things like bindhi masala (okra) and khumb (mushroom) curries. The best thing I've had at Chandni is the bhara mirch, a bell pepper that has been stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes (similar to what's inside a samosa) and simmered with a rich, creamy, spicy tomato-based sauce.
Chandni Indian Vegetarian
1909 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA
(310)
839-0482
Though the big St. Patrick's Day hype and parades are elsewhere in Chicago (a green river!) and New York, you can still don your green leprechaun tights in and around LA for food or drink or both (just expect some strange stares if you really do dress up like a leprechaun) Plan ahead,and get there early - it's going to be a mob green scene:
The 21st Los Angeles Marathon is this coming Sunday, March 19, 2006. The race begins and ends in downtown and LA, and since one of the events associated with the marathon is the traditional "carb-loading" dinner the night before, the official carb-loading dinner will be hosted by the marathon's organization at the Wilshire Grand Hotel Ballroom. It costs $20 per person, with one seating at 5:00 pm, one at 6:30 pm.
If you're planning to race, or even if you're not, and want to do some carb-loading in the downtown area, Fodor's has listed a few Italian eateries where you can get your fill of bread and pasta: Ciao Trattoria (815 W. Seventh St., (213) 624-2244), Tesoro Trattoria (300 S. Grand Ave., (213) 680-0000) , and Zucca Ristorante (801 S. Figueroa St., (213) 614-7800).
But the race is a few days away, so don't forget your protein today!
I would say
that compared to the average person, my palate is fairly well-travelled. However, in the grand scheme of global cuisine,
I've got a long way to go, baby. I've hit up the majors, but Bosnian was something new to me.
It's not all that different from cuisines native to the same Mediterranean and Balkan regions, but it does have its own quirks that make it unique. Bosnian cuisine shares things like pita bread, feta cheese, various meze, and the use of flaky phyllo dough with its neighbors around the Mediterranean and Middle East. However, the phyllo dough is used to make Bosnian burek, a pastry filled with a spiced meat or cheese mixture, then rolled into a long tube that is coiled then baked. The spices are similar to those used in Greek moussaka.
Bosnian cuisine also has kebabs and sarma, which sound exactly like Greek dolmades wrapped in grape leaves. However, sarma can be wrapped in sour cabbage and served with sour cream, making them more Balkan and eastern European.
I've only come across on Bosnian restaurant in Los Angeles, called Aroma Cafe. It's a small, bright place, that, like many of the lesser known "ethnic" cuisine restaurants in the area, has a small corner dedicated to the sales of Bosnian gourmet food products.
Aroma Cafe
2530 Overland Avenue (2 1/2 blocks south of Pico)
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 836-2919
www.aromacafe-la.com
After cooking a delicious meal, one of the most frustrating experiences happens when you are left with dishes full of stains that refuse to go away.
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
Morbid thoughts? Have a cookie
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