Best of the week's food press

The Cynthia's fracas has been covered everywhere, but if you want to see what all the fuss is about, the L.A. Weekly tried to get to the bottom of the inflammatory email going around town. In a nutshell, there's probably better places to take your business than Cynthia's on Third St.

J. Gold does a nice round-up of Thai food, but I'm still on the lookout for a really reliable place in Thai Town with a more ambitious menu than Sapp, for example.

Excellent dim sum article in the L.A. Times. Anyone want to check out New Concept?

And of course, the item that has L.A.'s gastronomes even more excited than Cynthia's rudeness, the news that Nancy Silverton will partner with Mario Batali in an L.A. Italian restaurant featuring his father's famous salumi. Read about it in David Shaw's interview.

A night at Grace for tsunami relief

It was just our luck to hit Grace on the night Neal Fraser was cooking at the Sundance Film Festival. But we wanted to help the tsunami victims by stuffing ourselves, and so five of us ventured to Grace. The comfortably elegant space was quieter than usual -- perhaps Neal's usual patrons followed him to Park City. We decided everyone would get tastes of everyone else's food, so we all got to taste all 10 dishes -- all except Josh, who is a pescatarian of sorts and turned down the meatier tastes. Grace is the perfect place for him, though, because not only do they have lovely fish choices, there are several seriously vegetarian dishes. We started with crab salad, langoustines with truffle foam, foie gras two ways and tuna carpaccio.

Crab salad
The langoustines were wonderfully buttery on a bed of perfect risotto. I thought the foie gras had a few too many flavors going, between the huckleberry compote, pistachio crust with cocoa nibs, red wine gelee and cherry quince compote. Just the little pot of foie gras mousse with the red wine gelee would have been plenty to start with, actually.

Langoustines with truffle foam
For mains, we had the pink peppercorn and hemp seed crusted tofu steak (that would be Josh), the pork shank, the buffalo, the steelhead salmon and "air, land and sea" -- a cute name for beef shortribs and duck proscuitto-wrapped scallop. The tofu steak was actually quite nice, with nutty, delicate brussel sprouts on the side.

Tofu crusted with hemp seed
The pork shank was reminiscent of a Chinese pork pump -- very tender, sort of a carmelized cider glaze, and huge! Easily enough for two. I have to confess I chose it for the sides -- garlic rapini and smoked shallot and chorizo home fries -- yum! These were little browned bits of porky goodness that soaked up all the juices from the shank with a wonderful roasted finish. The buffalo was also outstanding, the salmon a bit more pedestrian. And it seemed the Air, Land and Sea had way too much going on. Generally, each dish is perfectly prepared and beautifully plated, with a fascinating selection of accompaniments -- it's just that sometimes there are a few too many nuts, fruits and spices on the plate fighting for your attention.
Perhaps John can add our wine selections, as I failed to take notes. We barely had room for dessert, but enjoyed tastes of the carmelized banana and hazelnut cake with wonderful hazelnut brittle on the side.

Banana hazelnut cake and Morning After pastries
The verdict: Still a great restaurant, but I'm not used to so much rich, decadent food. Get a salad, and share the pork shank. The back room is even quieter, if conversation is a priority. And thanks to Tara (rhymes with Sara) from Citysearch for organizing the dinner!
Grace Restaurant
7360 Beverly Blvd.
(323)934-4400

Mateo's paleta man

Ice cream update

OK, forget gelato. This is L.A., we might as well stick to Persian or Mexican ice cream. After brunch at Farmer's Market (borek with bacon and eggs for Matt, huevos con calabacitas for me) we tried Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruti Bars, a Mexican ice cream parlor in a mini-mall at Pico just west of Crenshaw. I was hoping for even more flavors of paletas (Mexican popsicles), but the tamarindo I tried was intensely flavored, definitely one of the best. Mateo's makes an ice cream flavor that makes the rosewater at Mashti Malone's look like Kool-Aid. Leche quemada ice cream is usually translated as "burnt milk," like the Mexican milk fudge I love. But Mateo translates it as "smoked milk," and he isn't kidding! This stuff tastes a lot like you dropped your vanilla ice cream in an ashtray...but in a good way. I think I'll be back soon for a whole cone of the stuff. It's definitely an acquired taste, so get a tasting spoon before you commit to a cone. And be sure to try the wonderfully fruity paletas (tuna fruit, anyone?).
Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruti Bars
4222 W. Pico Blvd.
(323) 931-5500

Chillin' in Glendale

Beautiful downtown Glendale has two new ice cream operations, but I can only recommend one. The new branch of venerable Persian ice cream parlor Mashti Malone's has opened a gleaming, clean shop on a little passageway between Brand and Maryland. I've probably been going to the one on La Brea and Sunset almost since they opened 22 years ago, but this one is much more pleasant than fighting the grimy parking lot at the original location. Try the rosewater, the pistachio, the mango, the saffron -- everything we tasted was creamy and divine.
Mashti Malone's
143 N. Maryland Ave.
Glendale
Another gelateria (why, all of a sudden, are they multiplying like fruit flies?) has opened at the Glendale Galleria. Don't bother, unless you need to quiet restless children and it's the only way you can avoid a trip to Cinnabon. Melt Gelato looks ok from a distance, with Italian-style cases and a few interesting flavors. But they serve the gelato in scoops balanced atop narrow paper cups. You can only get one flavor for $2.95, which completely contradicts the point of gelato: packing two or three flavors into a wide cup, then flattening off the top. Also, there was no coffee or espresso flavor, so like, what's the point? The flavors were overly sweet, the texture was gelatinous. My daughter's Swiss chocolate wasn't too bad, if you must. But skip the caramel apple. I still haven't found gelato nirvana in L.A., and I guess there was no way it was going to be in a chain store in a mall, anyway.
Melt Gelato
Glendale Galleria

Best of the week's food press

In case you missed some of the week's tastier articles, here's a few I enjoyed:

The New York Observer went to a screening of "Decoding Ferran Adria," a new documentary about the legendary, inscrutable Barcelona chef of El Bulli. It's an Anthony Bourdain production, so it should be entertaining. No U.S. distributor or TV outlet as yet.
***
Recently we were looking for a restaurant in Arcadia on a cold, stormy night. Who knew we could have eaten at Zelo Gourmet Pizzeria, which J. Gold says serves up a mean pie. Instead, we had some Chinese food that was just ok, because the famous Din Tai Fung Dumpling House was packed to the gills.

My ex-husband recently advised that I should try to find pleasure in other things besides eating, since eating is merely for nourishment. Sorry, but no dice. Anyway, both David Shaw and Laurie Winer weigh in on the apparently hot new book "French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure." I myself aim for a French woman-esque approach to food, and any diet book that recommends French bread and tagliatelle sounds good to me. But I must point out -- most of the French women I know smoke, live at the top of six flights of stairs with no elevator, and are rather neurotic about food and many other subjects.

A Valentine's Day proposition

If you insist on taking your beloved to a fancy restaurant on Valentine's Day, you probably should have made reservations already. But here's why I don't think that's a very good idea, especially for those of you who love to eat. That's a tourist holiday. It's worse than New Year's Eve. Slapdash prix fixe meals with random hearts strewn on top do not equal romance. My suggestions:
-Take all your single friends to have Chinese food in the San Gabriel Valley.
- Canoodle with your sweetie and some fiery mole at Monte Alban. Sneak in some tequila.
-Buy something sweet and beautiful at Boule or Joan's on Third, take it home and consume with all your loved ones.
But speaking of Boule, they're hosting an event on the Friday before Valentine's Day which sounds quite lovely, without the annoying pressure of a formal dinner.
The lovely little jewel box of a bakery is doing an event based on pairings of chocolate and wine, "going beyond champagne into nuanced tastings" with chefs David and Michelle Myers. Their chocolate is quite wonderful, so it sounds good to me, plus I love red wine with my chocolate. Unfortunately, I'll be in New York consuming pizza, bagels and all that Gotham sort of food.
Boule Chocolate and Wine tasting
Friday, Feb. 11, 7:30, $50
420 N. LaCienega
call 310-289-9977

Tsunami relief Eat-A-Thon

Have you been wondering how you could enjoy the fine drinkables and edibles at Silver Lake Wine or Buddha's Belly and benefit the tsunami victims at the same time? Well, even if you haven't, here's how: LA.com is sponsoring an Eat-a-thon on Wednesday, Jan. 26. Eat at any of the places listed here and the eateries will donate a portion of their proceeds to Operation USA. Restaurants include Ammo, Grace, Jar and Minibar and many more. Eat a steak, help a human.

What are your New Year's resolutions?

Strange how mine all have to do with food...
1) Make every bite count. This basically translates to more chocolates from Picholine, fewer Fig Newtons from the office vending machine.
3) More vegetables, and better ones. Cook that broccoli rabe wilting in the fridge, experiment with something wierd like rutabagas.
4) No more steam table food from Variety's Wednesday night catered dinners -- bring real vegetables, fish, etc. from home.
5) Learn to cook some other kind of fish besides salmon and trout. Start with the black cod recipe in today's L.A. Times.
6) Buy some decent glasses for your friends, so Eating L.A. will not be reduced to serving champagne in blue tumblers from the Cannes Monoprix, like I did on New Year's.
7) Try more restaurants, blog much more!

Blast from the past: L.A. restaurants of the 1920s

On Saturday, the L.A. Culinary Historians sponsored a talk by L.A. Times food writer Charles Perry called "The Bluebird and the Pink Rat: L.A. restaurants of the 1920s." It was a fascinating look at the local scene during the roaring twenties, which apparently didn't roar all that hard in L.A. due to Prohibition. Because of L.A.'s large midwestern community, L.A. was the only large city that voted to ban alcohol, making self-service cafeterias the dominant type of restaurant during the decade.
Perry covered some of the era's most colorful eateries, such as the Cliff Dwellers, a southwest pueblo-themed place on the bluff at Beverly and Virgil; the Temple of the Sun, an Aztec castle-style cafe in the Glendale foothills, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, modeled after the expressionistic silent film; and several jail-themed restaurants with where patrons dined in jail cells with warden servers. It all makes today's pallid, corporate theme restaurants look pretty pathetic.
The Pink Rat cafe was a wonderfully colorful place, by all accounts, that only lasted six weeks. Located in the Westlake district, it was advertised as a "taste of old Paree," with gothic castle decor, waiters dressed like pirates and shimmy dancing. It was all too much fun for the local clergymen, who managed to shut it down quickly amid unproven allegations of alcohol sales. While L.A. had some fine French eateries such as Victor Hugo's, the 20's for the most part were not a period of fine dining, with plain midwestern food, steaks and chicken dominating nearly every menu.
The Culinary Historians sponsor historical lectures once a month at the downtown library, with appropriately-themed snacks often served afterwards. On Feb. 26th, they have an event coming up where Perry will lecture on the cuisine of "Mildred Pierce" after a screening at the Alex Theater in Glendale, including a pie raffle. On Valentine's Day weekend, the lecture is on the history of See's Candies -- with samples!
For info on the lectures, check the food section of the Times, or call (213) 228-7102.