Indochine update

OK, I went back to Atwater's Indochine so that my faithful commenters couldn't accuse me of being "unfair" by not liking my meal or of my "tastebuds not working that day." I ordered a chicken pho and a cold cuts bahn mi -- the only type offered. The chicken pho, recommended by the nasty commenter who suggested that "Gingergrass asked me to give Indochine a bad review" -- as if!, was quite good, or at least much better than Pho Cafe. The broth had a nice chickeny flavor and the rice noodles which were hopelessly gummy in the bun dish fared much better in the warm broth. The bahn mi was pretty lackluster on first taste but after a minute in the toaster oven and application of chili sauce and sweet brown soyish sauce, it wasn't bad. I suggested they offer a chicken or other flavor bahn mi -- the manager seemed surprised that some people don't eat head cheese -- and he thought it was a good idea. Everyone there is quite nice, although with at least 11 employees milling around the small cafe on a quiet afternoon, there's a bit of a Three Stooges quality to the service. So, I hope this is fair enough. If you want a good bowl of chicken noodle soup, Indochine's your place. As far as the other dishes, you'll have to see for yourself.

Running with the llamas: Los Balcones del Peru

camarones a la piedra
It seems like a veritable stampede of local food writers and Chowhound posters have made their way to Los Balcones del Peru lately, and I think a good part of the reason is that the Arclight-adjacent neighborhood desperately needed some reasonably-priced new restaurants. We were going to a play, not a movie, but it's a convenient location on the way to anything in Hollywood. When we arrived, it was empty, so surely service would be prompt, right?
I hadn't read Jonathan Gold's review first, but I managed to order the dish he raved about anyway, as it sounded like one of the more interesting dishes on the menu. Camarones a la piedra is called a "warm ceviche," but it doesn't really resemble a ceviche -- the shrimp swim in a bright yellow sauce vaguely reminiscent of hollandaise, made with amarillo peppers. The sauce has corn kernels in it, corn being a very Peruvian ingredient, and the shrimp are surrounded by batons of yuca. The whole thing is covered in finely sliced red onions. It was an interesting combination, definitely different from any other cuisine, yet it needed a lot of the spicy green aji sauce to really bring out the flavors.
Matt had the saltado mariscos, which was sauteed calamari, shrimp and tomatoes on a bed of french fries served with rice, and pronounced it excellent. The fries I stole were indeed tasty. Some of the dishes have combinations that sound rather odd -- there were a few that combined bananas, eggs, steak or chicken and potatoes, I think -- but it all makes for a good change from the typical Mexican or Brazilian menu.
They had a nice-looking flan for dessert, but we needed to make an 8:00 curtain, so I took one of the alfajores cookies to go. My car is now covered in a snowdrift of powdered sugar, but those things are amazing. Two nice big butter cookies enclose a thick layer of dulce de leche, but somehow the whole thing isn't too cloyingly sweet. One cookie is enough for two to share, though.
The verdict: The price was right ($33 for two entrees, three soft drinks and a giant cookie) and there are some interesting dishes I've never tried before. Unfortunately, the service was extremely slow and not particularly attentive -- it would have been nice to have more bread to sop up my yellow sauce, Matt's second soda didn't arrive until he was nearly finished, and I was never offered a refill on my iced tea. If you're trying to make a movie, it's probably a good idea to let them know as soon as you arrive. Still, it's good to have another option in the area.
Los Balcones del Peru
1360 N. Vine
(323) 871-9600

Drinks report: Bodega De Cordova

After seeing "The Passenger" the other night, with all its scenes of languid drinks in Spanish cafes, naturally I needed to hit a Spanish cafe, and fast. We decided to try the new Spanish wine bar Bodega de Cordova on Fairfax -- I knew they didn't serve much food, so first we fueled up with some tangy squash soup and an ahi tuna burger at M Cafe. The Bodega is hidden in a small storefront across from the Whole Foods driveway, and there's virtually no parking for miles around -- possibly a slight problem unless you live walking distance. They've decorated the space with Spanish posters and corrugated metal, and classical guitar plays in the background. The friendly servers are happy to explain the Spanish wines and give tastes of them, but it took me a few tastes before I found one I liked. The tapas menu is very small, mostly just simple things like olives, almonds, cheese and bread. And of course, with L.A.'s draconian alcohol laws, you can't take your glass of wine to the sidewalk table for even a millisecond.
Verdict: It's a cute place to stop in for a glass of wine after a movie at the Grove, maybe...but it's kind of hard to imagine fitting this into an evening, since you can't get a real meal, and anyone in your party who doesn't want wine is out of luck. I think this type of place might better fit into the lifestyle of New York or Barcelona.

Indochine: It's no Gingergrass

Bun rice noodles at Indochine -- it looks better than it tastes

I've been looking forward to the opening of Indochine on Glendale Blvd., because it's really close, I'm getting more interested in Vietnamese food, and it will surely be less crowded than Gingergrass. We took the Chowteen for a test dinner Friday night -- he's not the most adventurous diner, but felt comfortable with ordering the porkchops. I was happy to see him polish off a chicken spring roll as well.
The fried spring rolls were ok, but didn't have the nice fresh flavor of the ones at Gingergrass.
The waiter had obviously been instructed to explain to patrons how to wrap up the spring rolls with the vegetables, how to dip the beef in pepper, etc., but it didn't seem like he had been instructed that three diners need three sets of silverware and three napkins.
I ordered the beef stew served with a baguette, which was tender but kind of fatty, covered in a vaguely anise-scented sauce that seemed a little too redolent of school cafeteria food. It was certainly better with some chili sauce, however. Matt had the bun cha gio thit nuong -- rice noodles with chicken and spring rolls -- which seemed more or less flavorless. Sam's pork chops were kind of dry, but not bad in a jerkyish kind of way. Nothing really seemed to have any kind of sauce or flavor unless it was doused in chili sauce.
Verdict: The green and orange decor is cute, and it's nice that it's open until midnight, but I can't imagine having any desire to return to Indochine. I hope this isn't what authentic Vietnamese food is supposed to taste like, or I'm cancelling my imaginary trip to Vietnam. Oh, yeah, it was $30 for the three of us, and they don't serve beer or wine.
Anybody been to Pho Fresco?
Update: I've been back to Indochine a few times, mostly to get chicken pho to go. The pho is actually pretty tasty, much more flavorful than Pho Cafe in Silver Lake.

Vodka pairing at Table 8

mussels with grapefruit, Table 8

Litty and Melkon from Modern Spirits Vodka invited me to a vodka pairing dinner at Table 8 Tuesday. Like pretty much everyone else, I'm normally more of a wine pairing person, but I wanted to see how this concept worked -- and try the restaurant, of course. It turned out to work pretty well, and I never missed having a glass of cabernet with my steak.
We started with a green bean salad with duck proscuitto and carmelized tomato, which paired nicely with the celery peppercorn vodka. Melkon told us about the intriguing "reverse bloody Mary" made at Voda with the celery peppercorn vodka and seasoned tomato juice ice cubes.

Next up was steamed mussels with preserved grapefruit, paired with grapefruit honey vodka. I enjoyed the plump, meaty mussels. Two quibbles here, though -- it's pretty hard to improve on traditional ingredients such as wine, butter and garlic when preparing mussels, and I'm not sure grapefruit was up to the task; and the grapefruit honey vodka was very pleasant, but with the grapefruit in the mussels, it might have been a bit too much citrus.
The main course was grilled kobe style beef with roasted mushrooms and some sort of lovely braised greens -- I think they might have been romaine. The accompanying black truffle vodka was earthy and flavorful on its own, but the subtle truffle taste was pretty much overpowered by the assertive beef with its deeply-flavored mushroom gravy.

A plate of assorted cheese was served with pear lavender vodka. I never would have thought of serving cheese with vodka, but why not? These are sipping vodkas, and although they make excellent cocktails, the flavor of the infusions comes through best straight up. I loved the strong lavender flavor -- this one would also be good with a mild goat cheese.

For dessert, the maple ginger creme brulee was a light yet creamy taste with bits of candied ginger hidden in the smooth creme. The maple flavor wasn't very pronounced, but it didn't matter. I love the candied ginger vodka, which makes a killer cocktail with sweetened fresh lime juice and club soda. It might be interesting to contrast the flavors of the food courses, though, rather than matching them -- maybe the astringent grapefruit vodka would cut the richness of the creme brulee, for example.
In other cocktail tips, Litty told us about one of her newest cocktail creations -- tea-flavored vodka is combined with fresh-squeezed orange juice and a dash of sweet balsamic vinegar. Sounds intriguing...
The verdict: Table 8 had good service and a stylish look. While the dishes weren't extremely adventurous, everything was well-prepared and the vodka pairing concept definitely made for interesting conversation.

Kids in restaurants: yea or nay?

Where do you stand on the kids in restaurants controversy? The New York Times article "Rowdy Children in Coffee Shops" has been at the top of the most e-mailed story list all week. It was picked up all over the web, including of course on Amy Alkon's blog, where she titled her piece more colorfully -- "Get Your Brat Out of My Face!" Amy is famously anti-small children in restaurants, happily documenting each surly, screeching toddler at the Rose Cafe on her blog. I guess I don't hang out at coffee shops that much, because I find screaming children at Target and Trader Joe's to be a much bigger problem, but despite being a parent, I guess I'll come down on the anti-kid side here. If you need a muffin that badly, then get your kid to behave. If you have the kind of kid who doesn't always behave in public, take them to places where they won't be noticed. Zankou Chicken never seemed to care what mine did, but it didn't occur to me to take them to fancier places because it just seemed like I wouldn't have that much fun with them there. They're fine now that they can play with their cell phones -- you just have to wait it out.

Pizza wrap-up

Finally, the pizza marathon is over. Read my article Any Way You Slice It in VLife Weekend for the whole rundown. Dana and Rachel also tasted pizzas, so the opinions are not all mine. I know some people like Mulberry St., but our taster didn't, so we left it out. And unfortunately I never got to Pace or the place on Larchmont.

A little Chinese taste

Charles with a huge helping of bean curd
After the Thai food presentation, Charles and I had a bite at Good Taste, a well-hidden little Chinese diner on College St. in Chinatown. Free parking and super-low prices are two reasons why this place is a good find on a busy Saturday, but we thought the food was pretty solid, too. We especially enjoyed the home made bean curd ($6.55) which comes with a rich brown sauce with ground pork. It was lightly fried with an eggy coating, and the bean curd inside was custardy and soft, a perfect counterpart to the savory sauce. The shrimp with boy choy ($7.95) was light and simple, just the thing for a relatively healthy lunch. But if you're really watching your pennies, check out Good Taste's dinner and lunch specials which are all $3.95 each including soup and rice. Choices include shredded pork with fried bean curd, squid with pickled vegetables, fish filet in Chinese rice wine and the aforementioned home made bean curd, as well as all the usual suspects. Plus, they deliver. (I don't know how far, but good to know if you're near downtown.) What's not to like?
Good Taste
625 W. College St., #109
Chinatown
(213) 628-8288

Jet Tila's history of Thai dining in L.A.

I found out about Thai food on my 17th birthday. At the time (I know, dating myself again), Thai food was pretty much unknown in L.A. I'm pretty sure hardly anyone in West L.A. had ever tasted pad thai or had a Thai ice tea, let alone the more unusual dishes. We were looking for somewhere different to go for my birthday and picked up one of those Underground Gourmet-type guides at a bookstore -- the type of thing Jonathan Gold would have written if he, too, hadn't still been in high school. We opened it randomly to a page for Tepparod Thai, located off of Vermont near where Fred 62 is now, and drove all the way up there from Santa Monica. Just walking into the restaurant, which was very atmospheric, was like taking a trip to Asia, and we were immediately seduced by the combination of sweet, spicy and sour flavors. I remember being repelled, however, by a chicken curry served with heart and other organs intact. Still, it was the beginning of a lifelong fascination with Thai food, mostly in L.A. -- all of this a prelude to the Society of Culinary Historians' program on the history of Thai food in L.A. at the Downtown library.
I took a Thai cooking class with Jet Tila, so I knew his family was one of the first families in the Thai food business in L.A. He talked about how his parents' Bangkok market started importing coconut milk, curry paste and other Thai ingredients for the first wave of Thai immigrants in the 1970s, about his dad's initiative to grow Asian vegetables in Mexico for year-round availability, and how irradiating fruit will soon make it possible to kill the bugs that prevent fruits like mangosteens, Thai bananas and Thai mangoes from being imported to L.A.
Jet's suggestions for Thai restaurants include Yai and Ruen Pair, which are also my two favorite Thai town places, Sunshine in North Hollywood, Sunset Thai on Sunset for Thai breakfasts, and Hollywood Thai, which I walked by last night and wondered about. He also recommended Ganda, in the same mini-mall as Ruen Pair, for Thai snacks and good steam table food -- I'll have to try that one. During the Q & A, Charles wondered why you don't see mee krob on menus that often anymore. Jet wasn't sure, but I was just wondering the same thing. It's certainly not the healthiest dish, but if anyone knows where to get a good one, let us know.

Watch out for that "Internet gossip"!

Whoops...I didn't mean to cause any trouble for the Tail O' the Pup when I referenced the Chowhound post where a patron heard the stand might be closing. My post was picked up on L.A. Observed, and today the L.A. Times says the Tail O' the Pup owner is worried that "internet gossip" could affect his new lease. Next time I'll be sure to call the owner before reporting anything like this, but as they say in the newspaper business, news is news.

Thursday linkage

In the shameless colleague promotion department, check out Army Archerd's new blog. "Hollywood's first blogger" reports on show business news of course, but also celeb-related restaurant news like the sale of Matteo's, one of Frank Sinatra's favorite restaurants. The new owners and manager David Slay intend to keep the Hollywood institution intact, Army reports.

The New York Times reviews Suzanne Goin's Lucques Sunday Suppers, which looks to be a fine holiday present for someone...like me.

Here's a useful article from last week's San Francisco article, "Was it something I ate?" on what to do if you suspect food poisoning. I could have used this article when I got sick last year from eating at a popular not-to-be-named local non-ethnic restaurant.

All the pizza that's fit to eat: D'amore's and Petrillo's

I was supposed to meet Tara and John at Petrillo's in San Gabriel Tuesday night for yes, more pizza. At least I thought it was in San Gabriel. It's conveniently located across from several bahn mi shops, so you can pick up lunch for the next day too, and has a cute old neon sign.

Inside, mostly Latino families and white couples are ordering large, rectangular puffy pizzas cut into squares. There's a pretty large menu of Italian pasta and main dish staples, and a sad wine list. After a few minutes of snacking on their soft but tasty bread, my phone rings. "We're here!" says Tara. It turns out they're at Mama Petrillo's, in Temple City. Who knew there could be so many completely different Petrillo's in the San Gabriel Valley?
Mama Petrillo's isn't located conveniently to much of anything, but has a nice vintage neon sign, the same contingent of families (no Asians to be seen in either one -- too much cheese?), a somewhat smaller menu of pasta dishes, an even sadder wine list, and the same square cut pies. Fortunately John has brought a delicious cabernet-merlot from Alto Adige, courtesty of Silver Lake wine. I'm not sure Mama Petrillo's server had ever seen Reidel glasses before, but I'm glad he brought them. We had everything on the pizza -- sausage, pepperoni, peppers, etc. The toppings and cheese had a good over-the-top feeling, but the crust was a little cardboardy and underwhelming. I'm still imagining the more billowy crust I saw people eating at the San Gabriel Petrillo's...oh well, another time.

Mama Petrillo's with everything
Sophie and I also tried D'Amore's in Sherman Oaks. Zero atmosphere, although supposedly the original Canoga Park location is a little nicer. They bake slices to order, so even if you don't want a whole pie, you can choose your toppings and get a freshly-baked crust. Again, the thin and crispy type of crust is not my favorite, but they certainly do a respectable job with it. If you live in the Valley or Westwood, I imagine it's pretty nice to be able to get a D'Amore's pie delivered to your house. However, I'm skeptical that flying in water from Boston really makes a difference.
below, an East Coast-style slice from D'Amore's

Whatever's going on...

I know a few people who might be upset about the iconic Tail 'O the Pup closing in a month or so unless they find another spot to move to...

We heard that Sterling Steakhouse wasn't answering its phone last week, but a commentor says they're still open, so we'll see where that leads...

Last week was the Hindu holiday of Diwali, which is celebrated by consuming large quantities of one of my favorite sweets, burfi. The New York Times had a great article Festival of Lights, Parade of Sweets explaining the tradition. Thanks to Shali, we celebrated with some boxed burfi at the office.

Interesting article in the L.A. Times food section on The real cost of a free meal, about Esquire critic John Mariani. It sounds like he definitely crossed the line, but in fact it can be pretty hard to say exactly where the line is. Even the most reputable publications let their feature writers and editors attend familiarization dinners, which often result in news articles about new places. This seems reasonable, because it's their job to find out about new places. The top critics usually don't attend these dinners and always pay for their own dinners when doing a complete review. But there's plenty of grey areas that seem to be unavoidable in the business. I think the best advice for the reader would be to use round-up articles such as the ones in Esquire as a general source of info on restaurants, and use the reviews in reputable daily papers for a more critical look at a restaurant.

A tale of more pizzas: Cheebo, Damiano's, Casa Bianca

I love pizza, but pizza three days in a row is stretching it even for me. Tuesday night was Casa Bianca, as a sort of control, since many people think it's the best in town. We waited about a half hour and were seated in back next to a cackling party of cacaphonous girlfriends. I ordered a small fried eggplant and garlic, which was about as big as a medium other places, and cheap to boot. Matt had a medium sausage and mushroom. Both had a nice balance of sauce and cheese, and the thin, crispy crust managed to stand up to the toppings. I like eggplant on pizza, but breaded, fried eggplant seems to be gilding the lily. The sausage was particularly tasty, with strong fennel flavor. However, crispy crust is not my favorite -- I prefer a slighty chewy, slighty yeasty regular crust. The price is right and the flavor is nice, but the inevitable wait makes it hard to run over to Casa Bianca when the pizza urge strikes. Verdict: Very good, but not my style.

Wednesday was lunch at Cheebo with Ramin. I had the sausage, since many of their unusual toppings don't appear on the eat-in menu. Cheebo's rectangular pizza is served on a wood plank, and their takeout menu lists pizza add-ons like burrata, pine nuts and cheddar cheese. I wish more L.A. pizza places would offer interesting options like this -- in places like Portland, Oregon, it's accepted that people will want to branch out beyond pepperoni. Also nicely balanced, also good sausage. But I don't love their slightly sweet, oil-brushed crust which is a little too soft. Service also left a lot to be desired -- the server spilled ketchup on Ramin, said he would comp him a dessert, added it to our bill anyway, and gave us the table closest to the kitchen door, which the servers had to squeeze past everytime they entered. Verdict: good if it's convenient, especially for takeout, but not the pizza of my dreams.

Thursday we had Damiano's Mr. Pizza delivered to the office. For some reason, people often dismiss Damiano's -- they're turned off by the dingy interior, or they figure anything they drunkenly consumed after late-night clubbing in the 80s couldn't have been that good. But actually, Damiano's has been my favorite pizza so far on this quest, although the crust didn't seem quite as perfectly done as when we had it delivered to the blogger party late at night. We all took bites and said, "yeah, that's pretty good." Then after a few more bites, we all dived for second pieces and realized that Damiano's comes near what I call "total pizza-osity." It's not delicate or gourmet, and you probably can't get it with goat cheese, but it sure hits the spot. Verdict: You'll probably want to have it delivered if possible. If you haven't tried Damiano's since that Wall of Voodoo show in 1984, give it another try -- you may be very pleasantly surprised.