A lovely display of baked goods, ready to cook, and deli salads were festooned in a most comfortable environment. My meal was a roast beef sandwich on "rustic bread":
"Rustic" scares me as a social construct. Could mean the difference between homemade goodness and sawdust. The bread was just like the Lionel Poilâne style that I had crafted myself years ago from a non yeast starter. Bubbly and moist. The beef was perfectly pink and devoid of fat, seasoned with horseradish sauce, pickled onions, and arugula. On the side was was looked like a cup of sunomono. It was actually fresh sweet pickles, not too sweet and riddled with plump coriander seeds. All in all, a perfect lunch.
For my dainty little dessert, I opted for the thumprint cookie with orange marmalade:
Again, not to sweet, firm but flaky, and the jam in the middle was just enough of a confectionery bite to sate my sweet tooth.
Now, more reasons to venture out into the Century City - I'm exhausted just thinking about it...whilst visions of those biscuits with country ham that were sitting in the display are dancing a minuet in my anti-Westside head!
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When Steen came to visit, we ate local and it was great. She was all excited to have a real döner from the Turkish place near our old apartment. We ate Bavarian (lots of pork and gravy with a side of 2 dumplings.) Many things we tried, yes we did.
One of the most interesting things I learned to love was Leberkäs. (Literally translated it means Liver-cheese.) the name is in no way appealing when you translate it but by no means don't let that stop you from trying it.
We were out sightseeing and wandering the city in general, when we both got a bit 'peckish'. I pulled her over to Vinzenzmurr, the local butcher shop that is a bit more than just a butcher shop. Always good for a kaiser roll filled with something tasty, we opted for one Schnitzel and one 'meatloaf' semmel. (I can't seem to recall the name right now. Damn Germans...)
As we were sharing our rolls, someone walked by with a Leberkäs semmel, and Steen said "What's THAT?!!?!"
"Huh?... Oh, that's a Leberkäs. Its like a fried bologna sandwich."
Her look of disbelief and sad puppy-dog eyes said everything.
"We can get one next time. Promise."
Well, we never did, as far as I can remember. I saw this in my local grocers and decided to have at it.
It doesn't smell really, but yes, it looks like liquid meat. I'm not a fan of spreadable meats in general, so off to the oven right away with this bad boy.
Finished baking after 45 min. Smells great and the crunchy crust is awesome.
There are many ways to enjoy this delicacy, but I usually go for either a slab on a roll with sweet mustard. There is also a 'traditional' breakfast that consists of a slab with a fried egg on top and a side of Brez'n or maybe german potato salad. If you get to Munich, you gotta try one. It took me 3 years before I did, and now I need one a week to satisfy my soul.
—Christian
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And today's special from my favorite ice cream shop on Heliotrope is:
Strawberry/Balsamic and Spiced Pumpkin Seed...
As those bears in Silverlake say, WOOF!
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"I clambered over mounds and mounds
Of polystyrene foam
And fell into a swimming pool
Filled with fairy snow
And watched the world turn day-glo
you know you know
The world turned day-glo you know"
-Poly Styrene (c) 1976
The dulcet tones of the X-Ray Specs danced in my head as I devoured my atomic orange chicken at Dino's Burgers in Lincoln Heights.
Mark moved to the east side, to a deluxe house in the sky. Of course, being the food fiend that I am, I knew that any trip to his new hood would have to be couched with some sort of iconoclastic meal. My searching came upon a lot of talk about this brightly colored chicken at Dino's on 7th Street.
The overhead menu says nothing of the bird, until the kind counterman handed us a laminated sheet that declared the chick in all of its glory. 1/2 a chicken, beans, rice, tortillas, fries, and cole slaw for just a little bit over five bucks! And on a real plate - fancy!
Now, the beans and rice were very good indeed; the slaw, forgettable but wholly edible. But that chicken! Moist, juicy, delicious, and just as bright as the China Syndrome and Three Mile Island combined! The sauce is what made it, a perfect tang that I imagine tenderized the meat to its consistency. The bonus: the chicken sits on the soggy (yes!) fries, thus the juice and sauce infuse the spuds. I am crying right now as I type.
I have been wanting to trek back down to Dino's again, but schedule has not permitted. According to Gold and other food bloggers, there are other Dino's locations that I have a better bird on the grill. Maybe a Dino's reconnaissance mission might be in order, but a quick turn off the 7th street exit is fine by me. Glow on!
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You know what's weird? I was reading through The Wednesday Chef some time ago and came upon a recipe that sounded too good to pass up. I bookmarked it, later printed it out, and finally set about making it. The recipe was called Ana Sortun's Flatbreads with Spiced Chicken and Pistachios. Can you blame me? Getting back to weird... It sounded great, but I had no idea by just reading it that I'd had this before. It was always called some sort of pizza. Like "Mediterranean Pizza" or something like that. I remember first buying it at a little Armenian deli by my parents' house, then variations at Trader Joe's, and finally at Jon's Market. None of them were this particular variety, but they're all similar. It wasn't until they were done cooking that I realised it!
I've mentioned before my very good fortune to live in a city with so much diversity, specifically in regard to food. I live in Korea Town (more on that in an upcoming post) and am therefore surrounded by Korean Restaurants and two Korean supermarkets, there's a Columbian restaurant around the corner from my house, Mexican and Salvadorian restaurants too numerous to count, a terrific Thai place a block from here, and anything else you can dream of just a short drive away.
Our local market, Jon's, is within walking distance, is a big grocery store, but not one of the major chains. That means that the vegetables aren't always flawless, but you can buy parsley root. It's a compromise, and one that I'm willing to deal with. If I need flawless produce and every single brand of canned carrots, there's a Pavillions and a Ralph's less than a mile from here. What makes Jon's great is their huge deli case (Want feta cheese? They have six different kinds to choose from, including the superior French variety), and all of the ethnic specialty items they stock. So, it was really easy for me to gather the ingredients required in the recipe. They stocked all of the spices listed below, and also offer fresh lavash. I've made this again since then with lavash from Pavillions, and it wasn't nearly as good.
---------------------
Flatbreads with Spiced Chicken and Pistachios from The Wednesday Chef
Makes 8 servings
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 red bell peppers, 1 minced, 2 roasted, peeled, seeded and cut into strips
1 small onion, minced
3 scallions, minced
2 teaspoons sumac, more for garnish
2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon za'atar, more for garnish
1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1 egg
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup lightly toasted, finely ground pistachio nuts
4 large rectangles of lavash
Pepper to taste
1 cup thick yogurt
1. Cut chicken into 2-inch chunks and place them in a food processor. Process to a smooth paste until it forms a ball, about 1 minute. Add minced red pepper, onion, scallions, sumac, Aleppo or cayenne pepper, za'atar, salt, egg, cream and pistachios, and pulse together just until incorporated, about 6 pulses.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees; heat a pizza stone if you have one. Cut lavash into rectangles, about 5 by 6 inches. Cover each piece with about 1/3 cup chicken mixture, spreading to edges.
3. Place on a heavy baking sheet or pizza stone and bake 12 to 15 minutes, until crips and chicken is cooked through. While still hot, sprinkle with additional sumac and za'atar. Serve warm with a dollop of yogurt, and strips of roasted pepper on each.
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The only change I made to the recipe was that I used ground turkey instead of the chicken. I figured I'd just save myself a step and I wasn't disappointed.
It sounds like a lot of work, but really wasn't. The flatbreads emerged from the oven smelling wonderfully, their edges crisp and cracker-like, the toppings surprisingly moist. VERY flavorful. I've made it again since, and would gladly serve it to guests. The spread could easily be made a day ahead and applied to the lavash at the time of cooking. I served them cut into strips with yogurt, roasted red peppers, and eggplant spread on the side.
-steen
tags: middle-eastern-food, flatbreads, recipes, food, eating
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I used to live on Griffith Park Blvd. and had some really fond memories of Hart Times Pizza. In particular, they make a yummy BBQ Chicken pizza. Sadly, I'm now just outside their delivery range. Hunter and I were running errands out in Silverlake a couple months ago, so Hard Times seemed like an obvious choice for lunch.We walked in, saw Hunter's ex-boyfriend, chatted with him for a sec, then made our way up to the counter to deal with indecision. Lots of options and everything sounded great. I decided I'd come back some other time for pizza, so that made things easier. Hunter and I settled on sandwiches, me an eggplant hero, and him a chicken hero with ranch dressing. We rounded out our meal with sodas and an order of pasta aurora (pasta shells, artichoke hearts, and parsley in parmesan dressing).
Hunter didn't rave about his hero. He chose it based on the counter boy's suggestion but it got mediocre reviews. My sandwich, on the other hand, was perfect. The breaded eggplant was crisp on the outside and tender inside, covered with sauce and cheese in a decent roll. I would definitely get it again. The pasta salad was ok too, though it needed quite a bit of salt and crushed red peppers. Does that make it not ok? It was kind of bland but became tasty with the spices.
If you're zooming around on Hyperion and don't feel like dealing with the cool people at Say Cheese, you could do worse than eat at Hard Times.
On a side note... I wonder where they got the photos on their website. The pizzas are all clearly from different restaurants, and that woman... What's up with that?? LOL
Hard Times Pizza
2664 GRIFFITH PARK BlVd
Los Angeles, Ca
323.661.5656
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Bob and Willy are musicians. They've played together in bands over the years, and otherwise geek out frequently on music talk that often sounds like Greek to me. (I'm learning, though!) One fine spring day, Willy called and asked Bob to help him on a job at a studio on the West Side. My old man couldn't make it but kindly offered up my services. There was a promise of lunch, so I agreed.The work was easy, but finding food wasn't. Though we were only a couple blocks from Sawtelle and all the fine Japanese restaraunts situated thereabouts, it was a Monday so most places were closed. We walked around and finally spied an open place on the second floor of a mini-mall.
Daichan Kaiten Sushi is a revolving sushi bar. There weren't many people there because it was kind of early, not quite noon, so we chose two seats at the very long bar and picked stuff off the conveyor. Well... Not the best sushi I've ever had. Not even the best revolving sushi. LOL It did in a pinch, but I wouldn't go back. The sushi was ok quality-wise, but they had some weird offerings too. Take, for example, this oddly cooked looking tuna with tartar sauce. No thanks.
Next time I'm in the area on a Monday, I'll get in the car and find something better. Or there's always fast food.
-steen
tags: revolving+sushi, Sawtelle, restaurants, reviews
Daichan Kaiten Sushi
11301 Olympic Blvd. #203
LA, CA 90064
310.914.5028
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We hung out with Willy last week and, as often happens, our conversation turned to food. He told us about an izakaya way, way, WAY down in Orange County, called Kappo Honda. His description was sufficient to get Bob and I to travel the 40 miles to try the place out. I could not have been happier about it.
I am a sucker for ethnic foods and Japanese cuisine in particular, especially sushi bars and izakayas. The latter is kind of ironic since izakayas are essentially bars that serve food, and while I don't drink, I love this sort of Japanese tapas and the chance to eat a really wide variety of items in one sitting. There's a yakitori/izakaya place that I love in Little Tokyo but it closes early so we rarely go there. Kappo Honda had many of the same offerings, but they're open til 1am 7 days a week. If I lived in OC, you'd find me there a lot.
We picked up Willy at his studio in Long Beach and drove our to Fountain Valley. The restaurant wasn't too crowded so we chose to sit at the bar, directly in front of the grill. A glass window kept the smoke out of our eyes but afforded us a great view of the action. A substantial menu (menu page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the daily specials) was a bit overwhleming and made choosing difficult (the best kind of difficult!) but service was very friendly and very fast with food being served up so quickly that I had photos of almost everything before I could even take a bite.
In capable hands.
Food over flames, and Bob's mug reflected in the glass.
Lamb chops.
Yaki Onigiri (with unagi (left) and pickled vegetable (right)).
Chicken hearts and duck.
Onion.
Beef steak.
Chicken meatballs and chicken breast.
Beef tongue, quail eggs, shishito peppers.
Asparagus with pork, okra with pork.
Shirasu Oroshi (young sardines with grated radish).
Clams and onigiri on the grill.
Grilled little neck clams.
Baked green mussels with spicy cod roe mayo.
I also ordered hiyayakko (cold tofu), and Willy had a bunch of other dishes including grilled mackerel, stewed pork, and roasted duck. He was a warrior and managed to keep eating long after Bob and I threw in the towel... Everything was delicious, and I mean DELICIOUS. Fresh and wonderful, charred, moist, and just so tasty. We were most intrigued by the grilled clams (grilled clams?!?) and I have to say, I will be grilling clams at my next BBQ. The shells were crusted in salt and hot as hell, but they housed big, plump clams that were filled with liquid like water balloons.
Everything was as good as it looks in the photos. If you live in Orange County, you have no excuse not to go. If you're a little bit crazy like Bob and me, make the loooong drive, you won't be disappointed. They have tables and tatami rooms in addition to the bar, and it'd be a great place for a small party (if you need a reason to go). Share it with your friends!
-steen
tags: Japanese+food, Izakaya, restaurants, Orange+County
Kappo Honda
18450 Brookhurst St.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(714)964-4629
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I suck. I've been absent. I've been so damn busy. I have a list of dining experiences I keep meaning to post about, but life keeps getting in the way. Excuses don't help, huh? I just need to find the time, I guess. As my great friend, Betka, likes to say, "Why not now?" By the way, that's Bob in the photo, not me. =)A couple months ago (see how bad I've been???) Bob, Hunter, Charlie and I drove out to San Gabriel for Dim Sum based on a recommendation on Chowhound. With plenty of dim sum options much closer, I ask myself why I keep trekking farther and farther from home to eat what's essentially the same food. In a word, quality. OMG Mission 261 is so delicious.
The restaurant was very big and ice-cold inside. I was pretty chilly throughout the meal, though I'm sure that if it had been full to capacity, the a/c would have been welcome. We went during the week, though, and were among the only people in the dining room. Mission 261 is different from the other dim sum places I've been to in that you ordered from a menu. There were no steam carts here. I admit that I was worried about ordering from a menu, thought that might lessen the experience. I was wrong. In the end, I didn't mind at all, in fact I was happy to have missed out on the "hard sell" I've noticed at, say, Ocean Seafood.
I wish Mission 261 was around the corner from my house; I'd eat there every day. Everything we ordered was perfect, in fact, the chicken feet and siu mai were the best I've ever had. We ordered many of the usual items, like the aforementioned, chinese broccoli, steamed rice noodles with shrimp, roast chicken, etc., as well as other buns and dumplings. The problem with me waiting so long to post about it is that I'm forgetting things. I'm sure of it. What I do remember is that everything was really delicious, we especially loved the deep fried dumplings with dried shrimp which were actually sweet and had a coconut coating. I'm making myself hungry just writing about it....
-steen
tags: dim+sum, chinese+food, restaurants, eating, dining
Mission 261
Fine Dining and Banquet
261 S. Mission Dr.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626.588.1666
Dim Sum Served: Mon – Fri 10:30am to 3:00pm
Sat, Sun, and Holiday 9:00am to 3:00pm
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Danube
http://www.davidbouley.com/
One of the loveliest restos I have yet to dine - in the middle of a Klimt painting. Excellent service - doesn't hurt that my kid sis and her BF know people in the know. Our two course a la carte excursion seemed to blossom into five extra courses! Let's see how I do.
Amuse - lobster cappuccino: not so much, but this was not an augury of bad tidings by any means.
1 - Foie gras with pomegranate - a generous portion and absolutely perfect. I slight bit of char on the perimiters to foil the buttery flavor with the tart tinge of the fruit reduction. Marvelous.
2 Lobster bisque with ginger (compliments of the chef) - one piece of lobster and a few pieces of soft fragrant ginger in a smooth creamy base. Thanks!
3. Goulash with spaetzle - the beef was way tender, but the sauce was amazing. Probably eating the pasta with the sauce eclipsed the actual meat.
4. Pan seared hallibut, with fava beans and ginger (compliments of the mutha-fucken' hoooooouse!)
5. Deserts! Real apple strudel with Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Quite nice, but...
Elderberry gelee with white chocolate mouse (compliments of the chef)- indescribable. We all wanted to have seconds.
AND chocolate creme brulee with banana ice cream (again, compliments of the chef)- brilliant as well.
Sis' BF had a desert with pumpkin seed ice cream that was really fun to boot.
AND each of us got a chocolate souffle with chocolate chip ice cream (dare I say, at the risk of sounding redundant: COMPLIMENTS OF THE OOOONLY CHEF!)
And a plate of tasty treats from the Bouley bakery that we could not consume and a take home bag of extra sweets for "the lady" - no, not me.
More to come about the Little Owl and Sbarro in Times Square (yes! The ironic, bitter funny part) - to follow soon.
The Little Owl
http://thelittleowlnyc.com/
What a charming little place. 20 seats and jam packed full of happy looking diners in the middle of the West Village.
Started with the boquerones salad - I could have had seconds. The waitress described this as a "deconstructed Cesar salad" but it wasn't that fancy. Perfectly large white anchovies with romaine and bread crumbs - exactly what a starter should be -- got me started. The pork chop was all that. Must be since it was called "The Pork Chop." I wonder how they get the flavor to permeate through all that thickness, and the dandelion greens underneath were a perfect foil. I found myself fool heartedly trying to consume the juices from the bottom of my plate with my fork to no avail. The funny thing is that the chop was "medium rare" (?!?!?!?) Could this be? I thought that the fear of various creepy crawly things were a genuine fear. Didn't seem to factor into the equation as the meat tasted perfectly cooked. The raspberry beingets were more like mini jelly filled donuts, but one order for three with the Nutella was just enough to end the meal. Big ups to the team for this one. Loved the cozy space and vibe throughout.
Teany
http://www.teany.com/index.html
Moby's tea room in the lower East side was an apropos apres culture trip after my jaunt through the Tenement Museum: http://tenement.org/vizinfo.html.
Yes, Moby, the bald headed techno hippy who has changed the face of TV commercial soundtracks forever. A simple order of grilled farmhouse cheddar toasts with ploughman’s pickle and sliced tomato and the de rigeur soy chai latte was a lovely afternoon snack in the middle of profound gentrification. One sight of note: the two ladies sitting at the window reading their books and not speaking to each other. Reminds me of that Sandra Bernhard routine where she is a child coming home for lunch, announcing to her mom that she will "have a side order, ma'am!) and ignores her!
Sbarro
http://www.sbarro.com/
OK, for people who have traveled to NYC and are not the sorts who think that waving cardboard signs in front of Al Roker's face is a good time, the 7th Ave/Sbarro combo might bring upon small shutters. But in the pouring rain awaiting my matinée of "Grey Gardens" http://greygardensthemusical.com/ , it was a somewhat welcome respite from the downpour. Shockingly, the pizza station had a man actually throwing the dough in the air, and not in that showy way that Lucy tried to master back in the day. So, I felt that perhaps I was going to be afforded something passable. I had a slice of white and indeed, it was just fine and not objectionable in any way. The supposed "best pie in NYC" is often a lot of hype and truth be told, the best pizza in New York, in by book, was at a little family owned joint in Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn, of which I cannot remember the locale. What made the Sbarro experience was the crowd: groups of junior high school students, German pensioners, people who had flashed their "Hot Grannies from Duluth" signs for the Today Show cameras. For people who are itching to get to New York because it is so damn hip, I invite them to spend some quality time in the 40s with a requisite slice in the basement dining hall of Sbarro. Even Hollywood and Highland ain't this good.
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