The scoop on the Black Dahlia

If you never considered brutal murder and ice cream in the same thought, think again.
Scoops Gelato on Heliotrope is rolling out a custom flavor of gelato to coincide with the September 15 release of Brian De Palma's "The Black Dahlia," and the 1947project’s Crime Bus tour of Black Dahlia historic sites. Scoops’ gelato maker Tai Kim hasn’t yet decided on the ingredients, but he says they could include squid ink, black sesame, jasmine, basil and tomato, to represent the young girl who looked so striking and died so terribly. Some of Scoops' unusual rotating flavors include brown bread, chocolate/wasabi, dill/cheesecake, Arnold Palmer, sunflower Seed/coffee, avocado/banana, olive oil/salt and Japanese pumpkin. The Black Dahlia gelato will debut on Friday, September 15 and be available at Scoops during regular business hours on Saturday, September 16 and for the Crime Bus only on Sunday September 17. Scoops is at 712 N. Heliotrope Dr., just north of Melrose, and is open Monday-Saturday, 12pm-9pm.

Hawaii, part two

Midway through our week on Oahu, we ventured into Honolulu. It seemed like a snarling hell of traffic compared to the laidback North Shore, although it really was nothing compared to the mainland. After climbing Diamond Head we were ready for lunch, but I was a little wary of taking my sweaty, starving children to recommended local foodie stops like Ono Hawaiian Foods or the Side Street Inn. We compromised with the cheap and very air conditioned Like Like Drive Inn, which like so many places in Honolulu, has a really nice vintage sign.

It's kind of like a Hawaiian Denny's, only with more local dishes. What are malted waffles, anyway? I had a very tasty mahi mahi sandwich in an eggy batter, like a really fresh Filet o' Fish. Matt had the loco moco (above), a Hawaiian dish involving rice, a hamburger patty, brown gravy and a fried egg...I think you really had to grow up with that one to appreciate it, but he polished it all off.
At sundown we hit the classy House Without a Key oceanfront bar at the Halekulani Hotel, where we ordered a plate of tender lemongrass beef skewers and some drinks and listened to Hawaiian music.

The high point was a birthday hula dance for a 95 year-old "auntie" who had fragrant leis heaped around her neck by the hula dancer, whom she toasted the dancer with a mai tai. I can think of worse ways to turn 95.
After Honolulu we mostly stayed close to home, lunching on the sand at Ola restaurant at Turtle Bay Resort and guzzling garlic shrimp scampi and shave ices between kayaking, snorkeling and picnicking at Waimea Falls.

My favorite grinds of the whole trip was a li hing mui (sour plum) shave ice with vanilla ice cream and adzuki beans...best flavor combo ever. Second place goes to the super fresh mahi mahi I got at the supermarket and sauteed with a coating of crushed macadamia nuts, served with local Kahuku corn and spinach from the Sunset Beach farmer's market. I didn't get to hit the Island Shack, which a commenter recommended, even though it was right across the street from our house. But I did finish up the trip with a perfectly-fried fresh warm malasada rolled in sugar and some spam musubi from Ted's Bakery...a tasty farewell breakfast.

Island Girl: Eating L.A. goes to Hawaii

Eating L.A. has fled urban Silver Lake and the steamy asphalt of the Sunset Junction Fair for a week...we're holing up on the North Shore of Oahu sampling the local specialties. Since we have a house, we're mostly cooking and exploring the bounty of Foodland, but we get out every now and then. So far we've been to Ku Aina Burgers in Haleiwa for pineapple and avocado burgers and Ted's Bakery, just up the street from our house, for chocolate coconut cream pie. Yesterday after renting kayaks we got plate lunches from a church fundraiser next to Aoki's shave ice...yummy kalua pork and shortribs (pictured). Sam's a new convert to Hawaiian macaroni salad. I love shopping here...so far, I've had amazing yogurt in coconut (haupia in Hawaii), mango and guava flavors, pretty lavender poi english muffins, a nice malasada from Teds, poke, super fresh shrimp from Fumi's shrimp stand that we ate with spaghetti...and we've hardly even started on the restaurants yet!

A dose of Brown Derby History

It was great hearing everyone reminisce about the Brown Derby restaurants at yesterday's Southern California Restaurant Historical Society meeting. I have a special fondness for the Derbies, because as a child, I spent lots of time at the Beverly Hills Brown Derby, drinking Shirley Temples, which were also invented there, and enjoying the yummy pumpernickel toast and mini-hamburger plate (they didn't call them "sliders" back then!). There was a good turnout, including local luminaries Gary Owens, Art Fein, Billy Wilkerson Jr., L.A. Observed's Kevin Roderick, Franklin Ave.'s Mike Schneider and former Ambassador Hotel publicist Margaret Burke, left, in her dazzling sweatshirt which covers all the historic L.A. nightspots. Mark Willems, author of the book "The Brown Derby Restaurant," talked about his research with owner Bob Cobb's widow Sally Cobb. The Cobbs, of course, gave their name to the Cobb Salad. Rebecca Goodman from the Save the Derby coalition, showed historic photos and talked about coalition's successful effort to have the Los Feliz Derby declared a historical monument, so it won't become zillions of condos anytime soon. There was a fun film compiling lots of scenes from vintage films and cartoons filmed at the Derby, including the famous "I Love Lucy" episode. The real treat was longtime Derby caricaturist Jack Lane telling stories of the old days and bantering with Gary Owens. Lane made illustrated inscriptions in copies of his book on the Derby Wall of Fame for some attendees, and the meeting finished with a taste of the Derby's famous grapefruit cake. Thanks again to Chris Nichols and L.A. Time Machine's Jonathan Foerstel for a great event.

Taste test: La Morenita Oaxaquena

La Morenita Oaxaquena, in eastern Koreatown, falls into the area I call Grasshopper Gulch. Roughly bounded by Olympic and Third and Vermont and Gower, it seems to have a large Oaxacan population with several Oaxacan restaurants and trucks, plus the odd mini-mart offering chapulines or grasshoppers and cheap shipping to Oaxaca. La Morenita is a homey, clean little place in the mini-mall at New Hampshire, next to the dubious-looking Hawaiian barbecue restaurant. It's got all the usual Oaxacan specialities -- you got your enmoladas, your entomatadas and your enfrijoladas al gusto. See here for a description of the difference between these three. I picked up some chicken with mole negro and a chile relleno to go. The mole seemed a bit muddy and insipid compared to say, Monte Alban. But the chile relleno rocked, filled with chicken, coated with eggy goodness and drowned in an incendiary tomato picadillo sauce. The owner was really nice, they also have seafood cocktails, grasshoppers, of course, and all kinds of aguas, including tuna. No, not actual tuna, but the cactus fruit drink. I might not get the black mole next time, but they also do an interesting-looking breakfast menu, so I'm sure I'll be back.
La Morenita Oaxaquena
3550 W. 3rd St.
(213) 365-9201

Surfas replies: They're hanging in there

About the eminent domain debacle, Surfas responded:
"We hope to have some time before we have to make any decisions. Right now, we are waiting for Culver City to give us a time frame and if this is anything like other City projects, it may take up to a year or even longer. Surfas has no intention of going out of business and we will not be cutting back in any phase of our operation including the web , commercial design and installation of industrial kitchens, food development and equipment supply, store presence etc..

Our company is strong and will continue on the same growth pattern we have always set. We have been in several different locations over the (almost) 70 years since we opened the doors in 1937. All changes in our past have been exciting and this one will be too. You will find the only difference may be that we will be located at another address perhaps next year or in 2008. If Culver City doesn't want us, another city will. As soon as we have more information, we will post it on our website.
Thank you for your interest."

Cool event of the week: Jam Session

The crew over at Machine Project Events, who did the cool moonshine demonstration, are hosting another culinarily-related event on Sunday.
Who: The Fallen Fruit collective
What: a communal jam-making session
Where: Machine Project
When: Sunday August 20th from 12 - 3pm
How: We ask that you bring along any of your home-grown or public fruit (see fallenfruit.org) and any clean, empty glass jars you have. At the end everyone will leave with a jar of communal jam. The kinds of jam we make will improvise on the fruit that people provide. We are looking for radical and experimental jams as well, like basil guava or lemon pepper jelly. WeÂ’ll discuss the basics of jam and jelly making, pectin and bindings, as well as the communal power of shared fruit and the liberation of public fruit.
...I only have lemons in my backyard, but just yesterday the kiddies and I were snacking on some nasturtiums on Silver Lake Blvd...those might be good in jam!

News 'o the day: Surfas to close?, and more

Surfas to close?
Could it be true that the beloved cookware supply and recently opened cafe at Surfas could be closing less than a year after it opened its sparkling new location? We would hate to lose those grilled cheese and fig sandwiches and lavender lemon bars, but apparently clunky warehouses are not cool enough for Culver City's rapidly gentifying downtown. Owner Les Surfas, whose father started the company in 1937, has refused to accept Culver City's offer to buy the Surfas warehouse through eminent domain for a large redevelopment project. Surfas contends that even if his retail outlet remains, he can't afford to run the business without the warehouse right around the corner. He lays out his case in a long Q & A on Culver City blog thefrontpageonline.com, and it looks like there could be another side to the story. Either way, it would be a sad day for the cooks and eaters of Los Angeles to lose the Beluga lentils, artisanal olive oil and bizarre kitchen gadgets that attract chefs from far afield.

Moving into the House: Apparently "upscale diner" wasn't the right concept when Scooter Kanfer owned The House on Melrose, because it didn't last all that long. Now Jay Fagnano, who used to own Tahiti on Third (before it was Yi), is opening Jay's Larchmont Grill in the cozy bungalow space. Jay's will open for lunch Aug. 21 and for dinner Sept. 5.

Bel Age Blowout: Superstar British chef Gordon Ramsay will be behind two new restaurants in the restyled Bel Age Hotel. The hotel had a killer Strip-adjacent location and a swank rooftop pool, but its haute Russian restaurant and busy bar mitzvah business wasn't exactly cutting edge. The hotel will reopen as The London in late 2007.

Taste test: Spitz is nothing to spit at

sweet potato fries and doner kebab sandwich
The most well-conceived new spots pick one or two things and do them right in a pleasant setting. Whether or not you like Sprinkles and Tender Greens, you have to admit they have great concepts. Eagle Rock's Spitz is another example of these one-shot operations, and we thoroughly enjoyed our first visit there. The concept is doner kebab -- rotating spits of classic lamb and beef meat or chicken, stuffed into focaccia or lavosh, with lettuce, cucumber and various sauces and garnishes. Sides are pita strips with hummus, seasoned fries or sweet potato fries. Carbo-phobics can get kebab meat or falafel on top of a salad. There's also great coffee from Lamill and tasty gelato from San Francisco's Gelato Classico.
With almost all the seating on the outdoor patio, it's the perfect place for a warm summer evening.
We tried both the lamb/beef and the chicken doner kebab. If you're used to the actual chicken pieces in Zankou's chicken tarna, for example, the thinly-sliced pre-formed meat in Spitz's kabobs might seem a bit industriel, but it's pretty tasty stuff, if a bit salty. With the grilled bread, all the garnishes, the tzatziki sauce and the chili sauce, it's a savory, spicy package that doesn't overfill you like, say, the steak burrito I had the other night. The sweet potato fries were nicely cooked and the lychee and espresso gelato provided a cool creamy finish to the meal.
A trip to Tarjay, a kebab sandwich and some gelato...what more can a person ask? The only way to improve this outing would be to first stop for a brutally effective chair massage from the mannish-looking Chinese masseuse outside Target.
Spitz
2506 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
323) 257-5600

Pasta gets Cubed

Do you get the idea that pasta has become a hidden indulgence? You don't hear much about it anymore, and yet I'll bet most people probably eat as much of it as they ever did. It can't really be much worse for you than cheese or proscuitto... And just think how good it is if you combine all three of these ingredients! You can do just that at Cube, where I stopped by the opening tasting last night to try some delicious things like Salumi's mole salami, raw sheep's milk cheeses and pizza with figs and gorgonzola. Cube used to be the Divine Pasta Company, and all of Divine's handy frozen raviolis, fresh pasta and pizzas are still available. But now you can also sample dozens of artisanal cheeses, charcuterie and lots of fun mustards, honeys, etc. They have a light menu for both lunch and dinner with panini, pizza from their wood-burning oven, all their pastas and cheese plates, and they're open until 11 at night in case the urge for some cocoa cardona cheese hits late. And next year, if the beverage licensing gods smile upon them, there will be wine too.
Cube
615 N. La Brea
(323) 939-4148

Wally's Central Coast Wine & Food Celebration

Imagine if the guys from "Sideways" ate some magic toadstools and got lost in a giant wineland, where every which way they turned, jovial fellows offered them glasses of vintage pinot noir. And the only escape was to accept morsel after morsel of tempting snacks...that's what Sunday's Central Coast Wine & Food Celebration at Wally's Wines was like.

Pinot noir was definitely the star, but there were some other excellent selections as well, like Qupe's 2004 Rousanne and Kunin's 2003 Syrah. And the Pinots from the likes of Sea Smoke, Melville and Au Bon Climat were exceedingly nice, too. We tasted brisket from Santa Barbara's Bouchon and tri-tip from the Hitching Post, but for once it was the desserts that were calling my name.
I went back for seconds on Grace's white chocolate ice cream with cashews (left photo) and Szechuan peppercorns. Campanile had refreshing, intense raspberry and passion fruit popsicles and Literati had ethereal little squares of puff pastry topped with panna cotta and huckleberries (right photo).

And it was for a good cause -- a benefit for the Michael Bonaccorsi Scholarship Fund at UC Davis. Some people went home with some darling puppies from the auction...hope they weren't too tipsy when they put in those bids!

BROWN DERBY at the Restaurant Historical Society

The folks at the Southern California Restaurant Historical Society would like me to let you know that the next meeting is "A Brown Derby Tribute" on August 19 from 10 a.m.-noon at "the Derby" next to Louise's Trattoria, 4500 Los Feliz Blvd. Speakers will be Jack Lane, master caricaturist from the Hollywood Brown Derby, Mark Willems, Author of "The Brown Derby Restaurant: A Hollywood Legend," and Rebecca Goodman of the Save the Derby Coalition.

Japanese explosion

Gonpachi concept on La Cienega
No, not Hiroshima. I'm amazed by the continuing explosion of Japanese restaurants in upscale areas of L.A. It's even more remarkable when you consider that there is barely a passable Chinese restaurant anywhere west of Downtown, or of the San Gabriel Valley, for that matter.
To wit:

• As widely reported, L'Orangerie is closing to become an outpost of Nobu, while Nobu's original and much more unpretentious Matsuhisa will close.
• But La Cienega need not despair, because an outlet of Tokyo's Gonpachi will soon open near Ed Debevic's old spot. Concept is said to offer soba and tempura, and the drawing looks like a super cool Japanese inn, or maybe a recreation of Yamashiro.
• Just a few doors down from the darling Sake Miro House on La Brea, one of my favorite little spots, Shabu Shabu Ya is opening soon with a slick modern design.
• Of course, an outpost of Studio City's wildly popular Katsu-ya has opened in Brentwood so Westsiders won't have to go over the hill...Katsuya dropped the hyphen for its Brentwood location.
• There's a new izakaya called Ebisu in Little Tokyo in the old Mandarin Deli spot, from the Daikokuya folks, another one of my favorite spots.
• And the Chowhounds are wild for West L.A.'s new Sushi Zo on National in Palms...omakase should run about $50. I hope to try it soon.

Kicking it Old School at the Pacific Dining Car

I guess the Pacific Dining Car was a fitting place for a Santa Monica High mini-reunion -- after all, those attending all had old Hollywood family ties, and being from the classes of 1975,76 and 77, we're no spring chickens. I walked into the train car dining room and spotted a table of middle-aged men wearing suits -- could those be my high school friends? No, thank heavens, it was a gathering of much older coots. Interspersed with ribald reminiscences of teachers and students, we all ordered salads and set to catching up. The butter was delicious on the spongy, yet strangely tasty bread. The ice tea was solid as well. We talked some more. My filet mignon caesar salad arrived -- unlike most steak salads, the steak wasn't in strips, but in juicy, warm perfectly cooked nuggets of of prime beef. The salad was a bit overdressed, as were my friends' Cobb salads, but those succulent knobs of cow made it all ok.
More glasses of ice tea, a bite of chocolate cake and we all dispersed, looking not too much worse for having weathered the Bicentennial pep rally (complete with red white and blue streakers), the McGovern campaign and the Malibu Optimists Stamp Club. The Pacific Dining Car probably charges about the most for a salad that any restaurant can get away with, but it's worth it.
Pacific Dining Car
1310 Sixth St.
(213) 483-6000

COMMENTS FIXED!

Whoops, in an effort to reduce spam, I turned off comments by mistake. I've turned them back on, so please leave some comments!
thanks,
Pat