Taste test: M Cafe de Chaya

If there's one thing that bugs me, it's a restaurant that doesn't have its concept figured out -- the menu lacks focus, the servers are out to lunch when you want to be at lunch, etc. So I'm happy to report that M Cafe on Melrose has its concept down to a science that should probably be replicated in health-conscious upscale enclaves across the country. I'm sure it helps that the cafe is owned by the proprietors of the Chaya restaurants, who must be doing something right to have lasted so long in this fickle town.
All of M Cafe's food is organic and macrobiotic -- free of white sugar, dairy and eggs. There's no meat, but there is some seafood. As you walk in the door, there's a section with pre-made food if you need to grab and go -- bento boxes with salmon, tofu and seitan, wraps, sandwiches and salads. Otherwise you order from the deli case and the hot foods menu, pay at the counter and sit down and the servers bring your order in just a few minutes. Joe and Mike at Variety recommended the barbecue seitan sandwich ($9.95) and the ahi tuna burger ($11.95), but it was so darn hot that we opted for salads and sushi. I had a beet quinoa salad and a seafood/seaweed/pasta salad and Amy had the millet salad with a few tuna and veggie rolls. Unlike most ultra healthy food, the salads actually had flavor, especially the millet with roasted squash, lots of garlic and garbanzo beans. There were lots of tempting desserts in the display case, including tofu cheesecake, so I tried a green tea chocolate truffle. Barely sweetened, it wasn't exactly Boule quality, but the intense bitterness of the chocolate grew on me and it was just the right size for a small dessert. Skip the kinako soy-dust covered truffle, though. I mean, soy dust -- really.
Update: Tried the barbecue seitan (wheat gluten) sandwich -- nice zippy bbq sauce, good sloppy pulled-pork kind of feeling. With a big, soft wheat bun, it's kind of bready, but good for those who need a heartier, yet still healthy meal. And the accompanying kale salad with peanut sauce was a painless way to sneak in those healthy greens. They also have the cutest little takeout containers -- I'm starting a collection!
Verdict: A great place for light, healthy eating. Of course, quality like this doesn't come dirt cheap, but it's within range of other places in the neighborhood. The only drawback is that if the few tables inside fill up, the broiling outdoor tables are pretty much unusable on a day as hot as yesterday.

News and notes

Great story in the L.A. Times on health ratings for Chinese restaurants. On the one hand, I feel like there should be some concession to traditional food preparation methods such as air-drying ducks. On the other hand, couldn't they just get rid of some of those bugs the inspector keeps seeing in plain sight? Despite the fact that food-borne illness has supposedly gone down 13% since letter grading started, I kind of agree with the restaurant owners that point out that their customers don't get sick and keep coming back. I won't mention the name of the only place I've ever gotten actual food poisoning (as opposed to a slight funny tummy from sushi or something), but it's a reputable non-ethnic restaurant with a standard salads, steaks and burgers-type menu, so go figure.

Flor Morena Fine Foods is now open in Silver Lake, serving soul food, Mexican food and sandwiches and salads. I plan to try it soon, but most of their menu would be a calorie splurge -- chicken fried steak, ribs, fried chicken and catfish po'boys are a few of their featured dishes. There are a few tables to eat in but I think they're counting on a lot of takeout business.
2742 Rowena, Silver Lake
(323) 665-3567 (call for hours)

Tangy event: Julia Child meets California citrus

The Pasadena Museum of History is hosting JULIA CHILD IN ORANGE GROVE PASADENA on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7:30. There will be a panel discussion about Child's early life in Pasadena and influence on American cuisine. Chefs from Le Cordon Bleu California School of Culinary Arts will present tastes including:

· Duck Rillette withTangerine Marmalade on a Wheat Crisp

· Fruit Nut Bread with Candied Grapefruit and Citrus Butter

· California Lemon Crepes

· Tequila Lime Sausage on a Corn Biscuit

· Pork Tenderloin with a Kumquat Glaze on Brioche

· Tangerine and Tarragon Sherbet on an Orange Florentine Cone

· Orange Grande Marnier Bombé

TICKETS: $25 general; $20 Museum members include tasting, program and exhibition entry. Reservations recommended; please call 626-577-1660, ext. 10.

Ask Eating L.A.: Staples Center

Jon asks, is there anyplace to eat that is walking distance from the Staples Center?
Eating L.A. doesn't get to the Staples Center often, but at the moment I don't think there's much besides The Original Pantry and The Palm, depending on whether you want your meaty American food low-end or high-end. If you don't mind driving a bit, I would recommend Mercado La Paloma, which is close to USC. However, the excellent Yucatan place Chichen Itza in the mercado is only open until about 6:30. Restaurateur Fred Eric still has plans to open something nearby, so maybe there's hope. Any ideas, readers?

Cooking with Rodelio

sea bass carpaccio with ponzu and jalapenos

Last night I took a class at Chefs Inc. on Pico from Rodelio Aglibot, the chef at Yi Cuisine. I'm not exactly sure why he picked the theme "Sea Bass from Start to Finish," but I've liked the small bit of his food I've sampled, and it didn't threaten to break the diet. Chefs Inc. is a nice little facility at the corner of Veteran that offers all types of cooking classes, including several Monday night classes with well-known local restaurant chefs. Rodelio is a friendly, laid back guy with an eclectic approach which incorporates his native Hawaii and his parents' native Phillipines into touches from other Asian countries.
We started with making sea bass, corn and shitake salad, which involved sauteed corn, scallions and shitakes mixed with flaked cooked seabass. We then tossed this mixture with a soy-based ginger garlic viniagrette and served it on a bed of lettuce. It was a wonderful, light dish, but I might cut down the full half cup of sugar in the recipe when I make it. I find that some of L.A.'s pan-Asian style chefs tend to go very heavy on the sugar in their main dishes.
Then we mixed up a tandoori rub for roasted baked sea bass using an unusual mixture of ground carrots, miso, cilantro and lemongrass. This was probably the hit of the night, and Rod says it's one of the most-ordered dishes at Yi. I thought it was the only dish that really brought out the flavor and texture of the seabass to its full advantage.
We moved on to carpaccio with ponzu, which had a tasty sauce and a nice presentation, but seemed better suited to an albacore-type fish. This would be easy and impressive to serve to guests if you could get some sushi-quality fish and slice it thinly.
We finished with seabass fritters. Chef Rod improvised and threw in the leftover corn kernels, which was a nice touch as I love corn fritters. These were served with a lime sour cream sauce.
It was a fun night of cooking and learning tips from a pro, and I'll definitely try a few of these dishes at home, perhaps with a less-endangered type of fish.
Chef Rod reported that he's consulting on a wine bar to open later this year on Spring St. downtown which will have a very minimal tapas menu, and he also has plans to open a new restaurant in Northern California.

Taste test: A whiff of Aroma

One of Silver Lake's newest full-service restaurants is Aroma, a neighborhood Italian spot which took over the improbable former location of Puspuseria Usulatan in the mini-mall next to Silversun Liquors. The room has been completely redone, with a partially open kitchen and a few tables in the first room, and a step up to the main room which accomodates a dozen or so tables. My confrere Chris Rubin first recommended Aroma when he stopped by and found the chef used to cook at Valentino. Indeed, he has a sure hand with classic Italian preparations. If you're in the mood for standbys like veal marsala, seafood linguini or fettucini Alfredo, this is the place. At first glance, the menu seems almost too traditional, but the specials show a little more variety, so make sure to listen to the whole list. To start, we tried a seafood salad which combined shrimp, mango, arugula, capers and asparagus.

mango shrimp salad
It wasn't a combination I would have come up with, but somehow it all worked well. The mango salad was refreshing, but our other appetizer, the mushroom timbale in mascarpone sauce with parmesan crisps, was so rich that I could only eat a spoonful or two. The mascarpone might be overkill on that one.
Our mains were a veal chop with mushroom sauce, the seafood linguini ($14), scampi with garlic and white wine ($14) and veal marsala. Matt enjoyed the huge veal chop (around 17.95, I think). My scampi was a little tough, but it's hard to get good shrimp. The roasted potatoes and carrots and green beans were just the right amount of side veggies, and the garlic and white wine sauce was great to sop up the potatoes with. I'm a garlic lover, so I didn't mind the large slices of garlic dotting the sauce, but they might have seemed a little unfinished for some people.

scampi with garlic and wine sauce
I didn't really check out the wine list, since we brought two bottles of zinfandel. Corkage was $6.We tried all three desserts -- a kind of bland, wobbly panna cotta, a liquory tiramisu that wasn't bad but could have used some of the mascarpone from the mushroom dish, and a nicely creamy but cold crème brûlée.
The verdict: Aroma is a pleasant spot with competently-made Italian food, but not exactly a "worth the drive" destination. I wish the menu had more imagination or some modern touches, and a little less cream sauce/wine sauce/caper sauce. It's very similar to Cafe Capriccio on Vermont in terms of prices and menu. The room is a little spare and cramped, and they might want to rethink the thrift shop art, which doesn't seem to be hung with any irony.
Dinner for two should run $50-$60 with a glass of wine each or corkage and your own bottle.
Aroma
2903 W. Sunset Blvd.
(323)644-2833 (closed Mondays)

Rambutan raves and rants

Last night we revisted Rambutan in search of less-greasy, healthier Thai food. Here's the good news:
The good: We enjoyed both of our dishes, as well as the nutty, flavorful brown rice. The beef salad was as good as I remembered, not as funkily spicy as you would get at really authentic places like Yai, but clean, perfectly cooked to medium rare, and flavorful despite its lack of heat.
The Pad Gra Pow (chicken with basil, garlic and bell peppers), although way spicier than I'm used to it, was also savory and clean-tasting. The spicy sauce was awesome when poured over the brown rice. These dishes proved that it is possibly to eat flavorful food that's fairly healthy.
The bad: First of all, the noise level on a Friday night was very high just with the conversation. It's a small room, and when it's packed, there's nowhere for the sound to go. Do not go on a first date, at least not on a weekend. As if the ear-splitting conversation wasn't loud enough, then they cranked up the generic KCRW/Sade/"chill" music while we were eating to definitively shut out the possibility of any conversation at all.
Then, the chopsticks. Why? Thai people do not use chopsticks. Is it supposed to look classier or more authentic? Well, it doesn't. The rice they serve is impossible to eat with chopsticks. I hate having to ask for forks.
And finally, the food. I actually liked both dishes, but it seemed like the heat levels were switched. Spicy beef salad is called spicy on the menu, and yet had barely a shiver of heat. And Pad Gra Pow, which has been a mild dish at the countless other Thai restaurants I've ordered it in, was assertively spiced, almost too much for us.
I'm glad Silver Lake has more upscale options than it used to, but I'm afraid the noise level is going to make me think twice next time I'm thinking about Rambutan.

Zanzabelle sweetens Silver Lake

If you were wondering about the huge plastic giraffe that appeared recently in the yard of a little cottage near the Coffee Table, the mystery has been revealed. The giraffe is Zanzabelle, the star of a 1949 French stop-motion animated film, and she is the mascot of the new dessert cafe on Rowena. Inside Zanzabelle, antique cash registers and vintage store fixtures help display old-fashioned toys and quirky candies, like the potato-shaped Idaho Spud candy bar.

Zanzabelle offers around a dozen flavors of the excellent Dr. Bob's ice cream, including the hard-to-find cappucino crunch, as well as cupcakes, cookies and brownies. That's about it for now, but it's only been open a week. Sophie pronounced the chocolate cupcake "too chocolatey," as if there could really be such a thing, but perhaps the dense, dark cupcakes were more to an adult's taste. The front yard has cafe tables and mini-Adirondack chairs for outdoor snacking, and it's open from 11 to 7 Tues.-Sat. (noon on Sundays).
Zanzabelle
2912 Rowena
(323)663-9900

A Night of Cheese

Tuesday night I joined Barrie Lynn, the Cheese Impresario, for a wonderful evening of cheese and wine on her roof atop the Rossmore Apartments. With a 360 degree view of the entire city at dusk, it was a lovely setting for sharing some amazing cheeses. The historic building was familar from several movies and TV shows, and indeed Barrie Lynn found her apartment through a location manager friend.

La Tur cheese from Italy
We drank two wines from Judd's Hill Winery -- a 2001 Syrah and a 2000 Cabernet. Without even knowing my preferences, Barrie Lynn managed to find just the kind of cheese I like. It's taken my entire life for me to really appreciate the full range of cheeses from around the world. Growing up, we only had Swiss or jack in the house. I never liked cheddar and still don't. As I travelled more in France, I began to appreciate both soft and aged chevres, the occasional camembert and real parmigiano, but it's really just been in the last few years that I've delved into things like Midnight Moon goat gouda or dolce gorgonzola.
The presentation was beautiful, with several wedges of cheese identified by china cow-shaped cheese tags, some nuts and dried fruit, wonderfully zingy unpasteurized mustard, pear paste, duck proscuitto, two honeys and homemade sundried tomatoes.
Our favorite was La Tur, a very runny Italian cheese from the Alta Lange region that was like an earthy, sensual brie. It's a sheep/goat/cow mix. A cow's milk cheese called Le Brouere from Vosges, France seemed at first like a typical hard, dry gouda-type cheese, but on the tongue it developed a rich caramel flavor. The Italian aged provolone and the French Valley D'Aspe sheep's milk cheese were also nutty and flavorful without being too rich, since the La Tur was as rich as it gets. I loved the syrah with all the cheeses. The cabernet was less fruity but went nicely with several of the choices.
Barrie Lynn is a fascinating woman -- a marketing consultant in real life -- who enjoys sharing her wide knowledge at monthly cheese tastings, so check the calendar on her site.
Even if you don't have a panoramic terrace available, Barrie Lynn's tasting showed how easy and fun it would be to put on a little cheese tasting party for your friends using some unusual varieties and accompaniements.

Silver Lake Wine hurricane benefit

There's already so many hurricane benefits that it's hard to keep up, but this one sounds like a good one.
NEW ORLEANS RELIEF FUNDRAISER
SUNDAY September 11th
12pm-6pm
$20 per person = 4 tickets, $5 per additional ticket, Cash donation preferred.
This Sunday we will be holding a fundraiser for New Orleans Relief. Come and enjoy kegs of Abita Amber, Abita Turbo Dog, and many wines by the glass along with food by Dan Mattern (AOC), Chris Kidder (Literati Cafe), and many others. You'll have to see it to believe it. Every penny from each ticket sold will go directly to help the people of New Orleans. This is a special event for a special cause. It is very important to us to make this event as successful as possible so please spread the word. Tell all your friends, forward the e-mail, whatever it takes.Thank you in advance.No Reservation or limit to the amount of people.Additional parking available at the Bank of America lot across the street, the lot behind Gingergrass, and where ever else you can find it.Questions?? Call the Store @ 323 662 9024
silverlake wine
2395 Glendale Blvd
LA, CA 90039

Ask Eating L.A.: Huckleberries and Farrell's

Here's an Ask Eating L.A. doubleheader.
Aaron Rowe asks, "Several top restaurants, including Campanile, use huckleberries seasonally in their desserts. Where can I get them in L.A.? I have tried the farmers markets in Santa Monica and Calabasas."
Eating L.A. says: Aaron, just a few weeks ago, uber-Chowhound JudiAU reported seeing them at the Hollywood Farmers market from the wild mushroom guy. She eats them with cream skimmed off the top of raw milk. Sounds fantastic. I have to say, I've never had a huckleberry -- a type of Californian native wild blueberry -- but I'll definitely see if he still has them.

And native Valley boy Jeff asks, "Are there any Farrell's ice cream parlors left? I need to order a Zoo."
Eating L.A. says: As a non-Valley dude, my childhood ice cream memories run more to Wil Wright's and Blum's. But I remember my friends talking about the wonders of birthday parties at Farrell's, where they would ring a bell and run around the table if you ordered the massive Zoo ice cream concoction.
Anyway, Jeff, apparently there is a sort of nouveau-Farrell's at a giant miniature golf amusement extravaganza called Mountasia in Santa Clarita. If bumper boats aren't your thing, there are also two Farrell's locations in San Diego. Pig's trough, here we come!

Oh, dear...it's restaurant closure time

(Note: do not read if squeamish.)
August must have been a cruel month for the local restaurant world, which seemed to be plagued by a veritable swarm of vermin infestation. Among the beloved L.A. eateries which were closed for a day or two each to rid them of their little beasts:
Zankou on Sunset
Daikokuya in Little Tokyo
Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles on Pico
Fred 62 in Los Feliz
Posh places did not go unscathed: Both the Bel Air Hotel and the Beverly Hilton had infestations, as well as the governator's own Schatzi on Main in Santa Monica. The inspectors must have been working overtime in the city by the bay: They also shut down the Buffalo Club and the Main St. Coffee and Tea Leaf. Read the most recent report here and weep. I'm no alarmist when it comes to cleanliness, though -- I'm just presenting this because people like to be informed, but I'll continue to eat at all these places.
I guess there's a few ways to look at these closures:
-One theory says that every restaurant has a certain amount of exposure to dirt, vermin, etc., but that the ones that got busted will now be even cleaner than the ones that didn't.
-Another theory says, the better the food, the lower the rating. This could well be true, since at the moment Ruen Pair and New Concept are both sporting C's.

Speaking of squeamishness, where do you stand on double dipping? (When someone bites off a tortilla chip and then sticks it back in the guacamole for a refill, for example.)
Here's a hilarious recent thread on Chowhound that illustrates how diverse opinions can be on cleanliness:
Original post: "I'm not finicky but I don't like communal eating from the same bowl when people are dipping chips into their mouth and using the same chip to dip again into the bowl. It's gross. Earlier this week I was at a Mexican restaurant with business acquaintances and we ordered a bowl of guacamole and the chips were so large that each chip required two bites to finish and two of the guys were double-dipping. It was too late to ask for a separate bowl for dipping but I don't know why restaurants just don't bring small separate plates like they do in Italian or Mediterrean restaurants for olive oil and bread dipping. I didn't say anything as I'm not going to get together with these people again but I'm sure it's a common occurrence. Has this happened to you? How have you handled it?"
One amusing reply: "I know - it's awful! Another thing is, how do you get people (politely) to not use their hands to get the chips out of the bowl in the first place? I mean, they're just digging around in there with fingers that have just been near their mouths, touching every other chip - until restaurants start providing individual chip-tongs for this, I'll have to keep bringing my own pair - but that still doesn't help me with my dining companions who have already infected the chips. Until restaurants start providing individual-sized hermetically-sealed portions of chips and salsa, my stopgap solution is to re-dip (with chip-tongs) each chip I take from the microbially-swarming communal bowl into a dilute bleach solution lightly flavored with cilantro (I find fresh cilantro best complements bleach flavors - dried won't really work, use any other fresh green herb instead)."
Another reply: "Have you tried inserting the tines of your fork (gently) into the back of the hand of the offending dipper. Works for me."

Bahn mi odyssey

Despite the fact that I try to hit Baguette Express whenever I'm in the San Gabriel Valley, I'm not sure I've ever written about it on the blog. We were looking for a cheap dinner so we used a precious gallon or so of gas and drove out to the SGV. Our first stop was Baguette Express, where we ordered the most expensive thing on the menu: cajun shrimp bahn mi, at $3.99. Vietnamese bahn mi are some of the all-time best sandwiches, since the small, flakey baguettes, the carrot, radish, cilantro and jalapeno garnish and the savory filling combine in a way that is way, way more than the sum of its parts.


The shrimp variety is excellent, although not as decadently saucy as my favorite, the barbecue pork. I like Baguette Express because it's clean, modern and air-conditioned, has plenty of seating, makes great Vietnamese iced coffee and boba drinks and has a good selection of bahn mi fillings. They were out of spring rolls, though, and we were still a bit hungry. So we moved on to Saigon Sandwich just down the street. I guess we were paying a price for the pleasant calmness and choice of shrimp at Baguette Express -- all the sandwiches at Saigon are $1.50 each. How do they do it? I don't know, but our beef sausage sandwich was pretty darn good, although greasier than the ones at Baguette Express.


And they have sardine, too. This block is like ground zero for bahn mi, with Ba Le just across the street and someplace called Paris Sandwich opening soon.
For dessert, we contemplated the wonderful mango/coconut drinks with harsmar (frog ovary fat) at Hui Lau Shan and the human-flesh textured konjac health drinks at Bin Bin Konjac but ended up with regular boba at Lollicup. This Lollicup also serves massive white piles of shaved ice, lavender milk tea and several other delicacies I might have to investigate. Speaking of Lollicup, they're opening on on Vermont and Fountain in Los Feliz, which is far too close to my house for the temptation of boba. Anyway, our meal ended up costing about $16 including our boba dessert drinks -- not bad for a nice little tour of Valley Blvd.
Baguette Express (400 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel)
Saigon Sandwich (718 E. Valley Blvd.)
Ba Le (725 E. Valley Blvd.)
Bin Bin Konjac (301 W. Valley Blvd.)
Lollicup (301 W. Valley Blvd.)
Hui Lau Shan or "Healthy Desserts" (250 W. Valley Blvd.) (closed!)
Archived comments:
Matt said...
I could eat a dozen of these yummy things and still want more.
Doran said...After both you and that glutton Pam mentioned Bahn Mi sandwiches yesterday, I felt strangely compelled today to make the trek to Baguette Express for the Cajun Shrimp bahn mi. Mmmmmm, definitely worth the gallon of gas. In addition to the terrific food, the service was also first rate. Thanks for the tip.

Taste test: Pistachio Grill

Alison and I tried a Persian lunch at Pistachio Grill mainly because it's one of the few ethnic restaurants within striking distance of my office. The Wilshire Blvd. location, next to the now-closed Cecchi Gori Fine Arts Theater, has easy street parking and is convenient to Wilshire Blvd.'s various screening rooms. Tucked in next to the theater, the restaurant has a shady patio with a tinkling fountain located well off the street. We started with the restaurant's signature pistachio hummus. Dryish and a bit gritty, it was not at all like the suave hummos at Mandaloun, for example, but it was tasty anyway.

Above, basmati rice and chicken fesenjun; below, pistachio hummus and bademjan with beef
Chicken, lamb, fish and cornish hen kabobs are available but we opted for two of the stews. Chicken fesenjun with pomegranate walnut sauce was a bit oily and perhaps not quite as pungently fruity as other renditions I've had, but it was still a welcome change of pace from my usual supermarket sushi and deli sandwiches. Bademjan was a comforting, hearty beef, tomato and eggplant stew, "like Grandma's brisket, only with a really good gravy," Alison said. It was similar to an Indian balti dish, but could have used a bit more assertive spicing or a little heat. I was also curious about Ghormeh Sabzi, which includes green onion, parsley, spinach, kidney beans and herbs fried with beef, but that will have to wait for another time.
Verdict: With L.A.'s ample selection of Persian food, it doesn't equal some of Westwood's excellent restaurants. But Pistachio Grill is a pleasantly hidden place for a different business lunch or pre-theater dinner. Most lunch dishes are $8.95 and include basmati rice.
Pistachio Grill
8560 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills
(310)854-1020