Farmer's Market: Moishe's and the Village

The arrival of Moishe's at Farmers Market a decade ago was a good thing for those who have had enough Gumbo Pot jambalaya to last a lifetime. It's a great place to try muhammara if you haven't had it, the wonderful Lebanese spread made of red peppers, walnuts, olive oil and pomegranate syrup. I was pleasantly surprised by the spicy red hummus -- usually hummus kind of bores me and I go for babaghanouj, but this one has a real zip to it. Moishe's also has the usual chicken and lamb kabobs and freshly-made felafel.
3 carts

stuffed eggplant and salads

Just adjacent to Moishe's is another mideastern stand, The Village, which is one of the few places in all of L.A. that offers Turkish food. The specialty is the Turkish pide, like a Turkish pizza, which offers toppings like fried eggs and eggplant in addition to cheese, tomato, etc. I was happy to see that the Village also has a good selection of Turkish salads. I tried the stuffed eggplant, the broad beans with tomatoes and one with kale and beans. They were really flavorful and unusual, although you might want to ask to have the eggplant heated up.
2 carts

NEW: Farmers Market, the Guide

Eating L.A. introduces the first in a series of L.A. eating guides with a guide to eating at Farmers Market. I haven't tried every stand yet, but I'm working on it, so every so often I'll post a collection of reviews of Farmers Market stands. Eventually I'd like to add guides to Grand Central Market, Mercado La Paloma, Wat Thai and more.
And thanks to the Chowhounds for inspiring me to taste some things I'd never tried before at our Farmers Market tasting buffet. Each stall will get a rating of Farmers Market shopping carts, from one to four.

Littlejohn's English Toffee
All the cool people start with dessert, right? So I'm going to give up the best thing first, and that's the English Toffee at Littlejohn's. Littlejohns English Toffee also makes a credible praline and several nice varieties of fudge, but the action here is the English Toffee -- buttery, rich, with the perfect shattering effect as it hits your teeth. You may want to have dessert at Bennett's Ice Cream, but if you do, you really should pick up some English Toffee for the ride home. However, it is extremely unlikely that it will actually make it all the way to your house.
4 carts

Bennett's Ice Cream
Bennett's is not exactly Fosselman's, but they get an A for effort. It's the same type of old-fashioned American ice cream -- not high in butterfat, not gelato -- just good old homemade ice cream, but with some pretty nice flavors. I'm fond of the watermelon and cranberry sherbert, while my son likes the mocha almond fudge.
2 carts

Patsy D'Amore's Pizza
D'Amore's Pizza is notable for its history -- it's not only one of the oldest booths at the market, but the late Patsy D'Amore is said to be the man who brought pizza to L.A. His daughter continues to run the stand, which makes a very nice floppy New York style slice. Again, it's not the best pizza in town, but it's a solid contender.
2 carts

100 years of Pasadena

tea sandwiches at the Huntington Ritz-Carlton
Kathy contributes a report of a recent trip to visit two Pasadena restaurants: the newly opened La Maschera and the formal afternoon tea, a 99-year-old tradition, at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa.
La Maschera, opened earlier this year, is the latest addition to Old Town's Italian restaurant assemblage. Co-owner and chef Adnen Marouani adds Tunisian touches­ such as corn on the flatbread style pizza or tasty mini-lamb sliders with caramelized onion, spiced with cumin and coriander. At a recent eight course tasting dinner, paired with five Italian wines, we sat in the restaurant's attractive wine bar lined with cushioned wooden benches, softly lit by Moroccan sconces.
Movies are projected on the wall­: that night it was "Casablanca" with French subtitles -- ­ weird, but it worked. The wine list has more than 150 choices. We began with Le Carline, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, then the terrific crisp and organic Castello di Arcano Œ 04 Pinot Grigio from
Fuilli-Grave followed by an 03 Barbera and a elegant Super Tuscan.
Highlights included the lamb sliders, market-fresh greens topped with strawberries, dried prunes and a pear and orange zest dressing, the lasagne alla piemontese, the olive tapenade brushed rack of lamb accompanied by vegetarian couscous and the velvety tiramisu. There's a Happy Hour Monday through Thursdays from 5 pm to 7 pm with a seven reasonably priced appetizers, including those tasty lamb sliders ($3), and wine by the carafe or glass.
La Maschera
82 N. Fair Oaks Ave.
Pasadena
626/304-0004

Afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa:
There wasn't a white-haired little old lady in sight, contrary to my expectations. Friday afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton however, was still a mostly feminine occasion. Spring dresses with flowery patterns were the outfit of choice. Tea is served at the end of the updated lobby bar: lots of mullioned windows with views to the lawn and upholstered chairs and settees to sink into. Although every table was filled, the tables are spaced far enough apart that other conversations don't intrude. There's a pianist and dulcet tones, so after sipping a spot of tea from Waterford china cups and partaking of the tea sandwich and pastry caddy, all worries evaporate.
There's no rushing here. I tried the Himalayan Peak Darjeeling Organic tea (bags, not loose tea -- not exactly traditional). In addition to the black teas, there's Japanese green tea served with popped rice (Genmaicha) as well as four tisanes. Among the precisely cut sandwiches, I liked the shrimp served on a round of sourdough with citrus cream, a sliver of Mandarin orange and micro-greens and the hard-boiled egg wheel on walnut rye. You can't escape the cream: there's caper, citrus, mini crème brulees and double clotted cream. I began with the currant scone, lathered with Devonshire cream. For my very last desert, after the assortment of pretty tarts and cookies, I finished with a tall glass of ripe strawberries, doused with Chambord, and of course, whipped cream. -- Kathy A. McDonald
The Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa
1401 S. Oak Knoll Ave.
Pasadena
626/568-3900

Instant addiction: Menupages

When I was researching my trip to New York, I used Menupages constantly. Now the handy site has expanded to L.A., and it already has listings for 3400 restaurants. No more hopelessly flailing around to find a restaurant's website, which can be strangely hard to Google. It's a comparison eater's dream, and hopefully they'll keep adding places so that it can be a truly comprehensive resource.

Erotic writing, sensual snacks

Eating L.A. departed from the usual menu of restaurants and restaurant news to try something a little different this weekend: An erotic writing class complete with delicious snacks to help the creativity flow. I took a Saturday afternoon workshop in Erotic Freewriting with Marilyn Friedman, who runs the Writing Pad in her pristine, modern Silver Lake duplex. Not only is Marilyn really skilled at facilitating freewriting, but her friend Susan Yoon makes a mean cupcake. The assembled writers -- two guys and about six women -- got to know each other over grilled zucchini crostini with ricotta, mint and manchego cheese. On the side was a shooter of watermelon gazpacho with a proscuitto chip -- yum! We then read some erotic poems out loud, worked on autobiographies and other exercises which gradually and effectively took the writers deeper into a frame of mind where we could write longer pieces and then read them aloud with positive feedback. Well, except for my last piece, which I was too embarrassed to read as I was already blushing while I was writing it. During a break, we had Susan's wonderful deep chocolate cupcakes with mascarpone frosting and raspberries -- dubbed "Aphrodite's Nipples" to match the theme of the class.

Marilyn offers several other freewriting workshops, including one for screenwriters, so if erotic writing doesn't turn you on, there's other ways to get a really satisfying mental workout with creative snacks that get the juices flowing. If you feel like you'd like to write but just aren't sure how to begin, freewriting is a great way to start putting something down on paper. And no, I won't show you my stories.

Weekend news

Meson G will become an outpost of Red Pearl Kitchen. Owners Tim and Liza Goodell already operate Red Pearls in Huntington Beach and San Diego, and they felt the location would be better suited to Red Pearl's more casual Southeast Asian theme. Meson G was a beautiful room, so I hope they don't hang too many Chinese lanterns, but the small plates weren't quite worth their rather high prices. Meson G closes at the end of May; Red Pearl is slated to open in September.

Eating L.A. noticed that the odious Brown's Deli on Wilshire has been closed for a while now. They seem to be gutting the rather large space but it's not clear what it will be.

...I'm not sure which we'll mourn less, that or the closure of Eurochow in Westwood. I had never been there, but I heard it wasn't good. I'm pretty tired of overpriced faux Asian eateries -- is Red Pearl any good?

L.A.'s rising stars

M Cafe's Lee Gross with wild Scottish smoked salmon benedict (photo Cynthia Rose)

Eating L.A. was lucky to be invited to the StarChefs.com Rising Stars Revue Tuesday, an awards and tasting event at Loews Santa Monica hotel. StarChefs is a website catering to chefs with job boards, recipe development, etc. and editor Antoinette Bruno, despite being based in New York, spent several grueling months tasting all over L.A., coming up with an excellent list of up and coming chefs. It was fun to meet Ludovic Lefebvre and M Cafe's Lee Gross, and to taste dishes from all the other winners like Grace's pastry chef Elizabeth Belkind, Josie's Jill Davie, Hungry Cat's David Lentz and Water Grill's David LeFevre. There were almost too many samples to try, but I really liked the Belvedere's spicy lobster with truffle emulsion, Josie's short ribs tagine over toasted couscous, Ron Mendoza's pistachio ice cream, Belkind's sweet corn creme caramel and the salty bitter chocolate caramels from Kristy Choo at Jin.
Providence's Vincenzo Marianella was mixing up some powerful-looking Rhode Island Red cocktails, but I stuck with some really nice wines like the Robert Sinskey Vineyard Reserve Proprietary Red and the Lillypilly Semillon dessert wine from Australia.
Here's the recipe for the Rhode Island Red, in case you feel like getting schnockered in a really tasty way:
6 fresh raspberries
1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 ounce agave nectar
1 1/2 oz. tequila (He calls for Gran Centenario Plata)
1/2 oz. Chambord
Ginger beer, preferably Bundaberg
Citrus zest, for garnish
Muddle raspberries with lemon juice and agave nectar in the base of a cocktail shaker. Add the tequila and Chambord. Shake vigorously. Strain into a Collins glass with crushed ice and top up with ginger beer. Garnish with citrus zest.

Wisconsin cheese: who knew?

I've had wonderful American artisan cheese from California, Louisiana and Vermont, but for some reason, I always thought of Wisconsion cheese as plastic-wrapped blocks of cheddar that might be ok melted on a burger, but not much more. Apparently I was quite ignorant, as the Wisonsin Cheese Board recently visited Table 8 to introduce the state's wide range of cheeses to L.A., and I was very impressed with the selection. Some of the most interesting varieties come from Carr Valley Cheese, whose master cheesemaker Sid Cook was there to explain his cheeses. The top photo shows Carr Valley's Mobay, which combines sheeps and goats milk with a layer of ash in-between. Carr Valley has invented several new varieties of cheese, including goat's milk Cardona and Cocoa Cardona coated with cocoa powder.
I also enjoyed Winona's Montforte Blue, a creamy, luscious blue (pictured above) and its Gorgonzola, which would be great in salads.
Kirsten Jaeckle told us about her family cheesemakers, Roth Kase USA, descended from a long line of Swiss affineurs. Roth Kase had some wonderful cheeses including the manchego-style GranQueso, Vintage Van Gogh and Grand Cru Gruyere Reserve.
Studio City's Artisan Cheese Gallery carries several of these cheeses, so if you're assembling a cheese plate, consider some Wisconsin cheeses. They even tempted me with a 5 year aged cheddar which blew away any other cheddar I've tasted.

Taste test: 25 Degrees

onion rings with garlic and chipotle dipping sauces at 25 Degrees

As soon as Matt saw a photo of the burger at 25 Degrees, he was eager to try it. But I wasn't looking forward to paying more for parking at the Hollywood Roosevelt than the cost of the burger itself. So when we got tickets to see The Fall at the Knitting Factory, we took advantage of the Knitting Factory's more reasonably-priced parking and stopped in at 25 Degrees before the show. The sceney burger joint was a bit more diner-ish than I'd anticipated -- I thought it would be more secluded and clubby, but it's right on Hollywood Blvd. with an unmistakable coffee shop bustle. The combo of flat-screen TVs playing Shadow of a Doubt, red-flocked wallpaper and chandeliers is appealingly quirky, not to mention the winsome milk bottle wine carafes.
The food: Matt got a special burger with chiles and roquefort, while I wimped out at the last minute (I'm occasionally beef-o-phobic) and got a turkey burger with Midnight Moon cheese and carmelized onions. Although Matt asked for his burger medium, it came medium rare, but we agreed that was probably preferable to show off the beef. The blue cheese somehow amplified the beefiness of the burger, and Matt really liked it although it was pretty messy. The turkey burger's meat didn't have a lot of flavor, but with the sauce and onions, it was still a mighty savory package. The onion rings would be genius if they could somehow get the batter to stick to the onions -- we were left with a pile of batter and lots of naked onions, but the garlic parmesan mayonaise dipping sauce was so good it was hard to complain.
The verdict: People have complained that 25 Degrees is pricey, but I don't know where else you can get burgers with specialty cheeses, onion rings with amazing sauces, a good selection of beer and wine and get out for $40 for two. I'm sure Father's Office would have been even more. The cheese and toppings selection is excellent (next time I'll try the shitake mushrooms on a burger). Service is a bit spotty, with one lone waitress valiantly trying to cover all the tables, and waits for menus, food and check were all quite long for a diner. But 25 Degrees is a fun place to grab a bite before or after a movie or concert in the area.
25 Degrees
7000 Hollywood Blvd.
(323) 785-7244

Monday news

The cute little cafe Mornings/Nights on Griffith Park Blvd. suffered an electric wiring fire last week. Will Campbell reported it on blogging.la. Loss was estimated at $140,000. It's too bad, because they were very nice. Love the comment on Will's post "And to think it could have been L.A. Chinese Food." L.A. Chinese Food on Sunset is likely the scariest restaurant in Silver Lake. I used to have friends who ate there in the 1980s and apparently lived to tell the tale, and inexplicably, it looks exactly the same now as it did in 1986 when I moved to Silverlake.

It looks like the excellent Yucatan stand Chichen Itza in Mercado La Paloma may be opening a larger downtown location. Good news for cochinta pibil lovers, as theirs is one of the best around.

Like Mike at Franklin Avenue, I'm fascinated by the heavily Filipino Eagle Rock mall, and not just because it has a Target and the best Chinese chair masseuse in town. The mall already has branches of Jollibee and Goldilocks bakery, and now it's getting outlets of some more places straight out of Manila. Seafood City is a supermarket which looks to be taking over a huge portion of the mall, while the adjacent Jollibee-owned Chowking will apparently be Chinese/Filipino fast food.

Taste test: What's up, Tiger Lily?

salmon dynamite

I'll try not to hold it against the new Los Feliz restaurant Tiger Lily that they stole the name of a perfectly good Woody Allen movie (ok, my dad produced it, but still). Kathy and I decided to try Tiger Lily for some some drinks and appetizers before a full-moon hike in Griffith Park. The huge space, formerly home to the Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop, has a spare Asian look now, with an open ceiling and a larger patio. The small room which used to be the bar is now the main dining room with comfy booths, while the large room is more loungey with an illuminated bar.

The food: The menu is Asian fusion with a few Indian/Malaysian touches (the owner also owns East India Grill). We asked if they had any special cocktails, but the recommended saketinis didn't tempt us, so we ordered unfiltered sake, a salmon dynamite appetizer, miso-marinated black cod and a "crispy beef salad."
The salmon dynamite was about what you'd expect -- mayonnaisey, spicy, tasty if you like that sort of thing. But there was no sign of the crispy rice cake it was supposed to rest on, just a clump of loose sushi rice. We enjoyed the black cod, also served on sushi rice, although I think that dish is hard to mess up. The crispy beef salad was less successful -- although the baby greens and curry-flavor dressing were fine, there were only a few tiny shreds of some sort of deep-fried beef substance present -- more of a beef garnish than an actual ingredient. And the generic won ton strips that top the salad don't win any prizes for originality.
By the time we left, the cavernous space was starting to fill up, but it's hard to see how they're going to keep a place that size full -- I guess they're expecting a large late-night bar crowd. Some interesting cocktails or a happy hour promotion would certainly help interest the neighborhood.
Verdict: I'm not sure I'll be back to try the main dishes (in the $20-$30 range), since the food seems like pretty generic sweet, crispy Asianish food, but it's a perfectly fine place if you need to meet, oh, 50 people or so for a drink.
Tiger Lily (open 11:30 am to 1:30 am daily)
1745 N. Vermont
(323) 661-5900

L.A.'s toughest dining reservation

herb garden at the Getty Villa

Guest blogger Kathy recently visited the refurbished Getty Villa. Here's her report.
There's no dropping into the Getty Villa. I made reservations in January for a May visit. Although major pre-planning is required, once you show your tickets at the gate the rest of the visit is effortless. Evidence of the reported $275 million renovation is all-around: from the 3-story parking garage topped by grass to the garage's oil rubbed bronze finished elevators complete with spot lighting to the completely rearranged galleries to the new Café. Forget the sweet, smallish Getty Café of before -- in its place is a vast heated patio and dining room in the most contemporary of glass and concrete structures a striking contrast to the recreated, ancient Roman villa which it overlooks. Ordering and payment is done inside at the counter; pleasant servers deliver drinks and food to the table and continue to hover nearby. The menu is very familiar, California-style Italian with small plates (piattino), salads, pressed sandwiches, pizzas and six piatto principale. The Mediterranean theme seems appropriate; I'm glad they didn't go super authentic and serve the ancient Roman delicacy of peacock tongue. (Credit the comprehensive audio tour for that appetizing fact.) Jenny and I shared the fresh pasta with herb sauce and market veggies.The pea shoot tendrils stood out; the homemade pasta was a bit too al dente and so oddly shaped it was hard to eat. We also split the grilled chicken and green olive salad, dotted with chopped celery and served in tangy vinaigrette. I wish the cook had plucked some sprigs from the perfectly planted herb garden to add more flavor. Pluses included the focaccia accompanied by virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping on each table.The pricey crystal stemware immensely improved the basic Italian Pinot Grigio. There's also the world's most elaborate espresso cart where I started my visit with frothy cappuccino and intensely chocolate biscotti with hazelnuts. Despite the overcast, the many gas heaters keep the temperature just right outside. Dining here is extremely pleasant and relaxing. With the villa as backdrop and the ocean beyond, it's one of those it's-hard-to-believe-I'm-really-in-Los Angeles experiences, as long as you remember to plan ahead. --Kathy A. McDonald
The Getty Villa Cafe
17985 Pacific Coast Highway
Open Thursday-Monday ­

Weekend news

I know, it doesn't seem like I've been eating much lately...well, I've been eating plenty, but mostly at places I've already written about like The King's Head, Malo, etc. I promise, more reviews coming soon. In the meantime...

The Original Pantry Cafe will be dry no longer, according to Chowhound poster Surfside Chef. He says former mayor Richard Riordan is converting the Pantry's next-door cafe into a New York-style bar, which should be a convenient stop for Staples Center crowds. Guess it's not as hard to get a full liquor license if you used to be the mayor...

And Doughboys is coming to Hollywood -- hopefully in July. The location is likely to be on Highland near Ammo. This is welcome news, because more sourdough semolina waffles with cherry compote and mascarpone cheese can only be a good thing.

Tiger Lily is now open in the old Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop space on Vermont, offering an Indian and Asian-influenced menu and tapas. The website says the space is "perfect for speed dating parties." Whatever...

The martians visit Trader Joe's

It's so cute to read about the New Yorkers making their first tentative forays to Trader Joe's. Today New York Times shopping reporter (now there's a job) Alexandra Kuczynski, takes her turn. Among the things we learn: she gives her dog vitamins and she drinks Jana skinny water, which Hungry Girl totally slammed today for "tasting like a wet nap."
But more importantly, the Manhattan Trader Joe's DELIVERS. Jeez, just when I was feeling superior for having shopped at Trader Joe's for 20 years. Also, do our Trader's have the Hawaiian black sea salt? Sounds interesting.

Speaking of Hungry Girl, check out her site if you're a girl or a guy who is trying to watch your calorie intake. Although she does tend to focus on processed snack products, it's still fun to subscribe to the free email newsletter full of handy tricks like how to make fettucini out of no-cal shirataki noodles or how to make the green tea frappucino at Starbuck's slightly more healthy (tell them to hold the melon syrup).

Restaurant news, hi to lo

From the sublime to the mundane, in approximate order...

Wolfgang Puck is getting close to opening his new steakhouse in the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel, which will be named Cut. Steak still seems to be the concept du jour. But the Chowhounds are up in arms that Puck has revamped the menu at Vert and taken off some much-loved dishes such as the Alsatian tart and the fritto misto. Guess they were a little too fer-en for the tourists.

Also in steak news, Mastro's is opening a Thousand Oaks location...they do make a mean Manhattan, but don't people ever get tired of steak?

Gayot says the new restaurant from the Grace team in the old Opaline space will be called BLD -- breakfast, lunch, dinner, got it? Apparently a market and charcuterie are also planned -- it all sounds very promising.

In the old House space on Melrose, Jay Fagnano, formerly of Indigo and ex Incendo, is opening Jay's Larchmont Grill.

Several notches below these places, but still important to our hoodies:
Farmhouse Thai on Virgil and Marathon, which wasn't very good, is changing to a Vegan Star restaurant (probably Thai as well), a growing genre around L.A. these days. Stay tuned.

And there's two new pizza options in the Silver Lake area -- I haven't tried Rocco's yet (in the old Vito's location), but I've heard it's quite good. We did try Rudelli's (323) 644-4930, which was cheap and had a good crust but was otherwise eh.