What's even newer? Norman's is closing.

We're sorry to report Norman's is closing on Nov. 11, although no one is really surprised. It's too bad that a restaurant with excellent food, a great sommelier and killer pig couldn't make it in L.A., but the Sunset Millenium complex has already killed several other restaurants like Central and Rika. It's really too bad that Norman's didn't decide to locate closer to central Beverly Hills, as the Sunset Strip location just didn't seem user-friendly. I also think it's possible that well-heeled Angelenos might have a certain aversion to Caribbean food, no matter how haute, associating it with calorie-packed, lard-laden peasant fare.

Authentic Cafe, which managed to hang on for around 20 years, has finally sputtered to a close. It's being reconfigured as Terroni and so far the same owner's name is on the license. Authentic seemed cool when it first opened, but it's a great reminder to restaurant owners everywhere to take a close look at your menu and decor every five years or so and make sure it meets the tastes of your customers and the quality of newer establishments. Well, unless you're Musso and Frank, then just leave it as is.

New York's BLT Steak is getting ready to move into the old Le Dome space...Lots of migration from New York lately, with Mario Batali, Craft and BLT all coming to L.A.

Downtown L.A. continues to sizzle, with J Restaurant the latest high-profile addition. Located near the Staples center, it has a chef who used to cook at L'Orangerie, a Mediterranean-influenced menu and a huge bar/club space upstair. Address: 1119 South Olive St.

What's new?

Sorry about the slow posting...lots of kid issues to deal with and besides, even food writers can't always eat in new restaurants. But if you have a good one to suggest, please go ahead. Here's a few short takes:

We tried the Shichirin Japanese tabletop grilling at the Los Feliz Asian fusion spot Tiger Lily the other night. This would be a good spot to dispel the awkwardness of a first date...you could sip white lychee martinis while grilling tidbits of steak and tuna and feeding them to each other, and the smokeless charcoal won't leave you smelling smoky like some of the Korean places. We also liked the grilled lamb with coriander-mint vinaigrette and the Szechwan rib-eye. And it's pretty much impossible to resist the popcorn rock shrimp with chili aioli.

I don't think I ever wrote up my trip to the Oinkster...here's the capsule version:
-- hamburger is good and juicy, but the bun falls apart
-- pulled pork has a great intense smoky flavor, but don't forget to add sauce at the counter. Also the bun falls apart.
-- fries are nicely crunchy, but ask for them well done and eat them fast, because as soon as they get cold they lose all flavor.
Basically, a good stop for a quick bite if you're near Eagle Rock, but not worth a special trip.

Oh, show me the way to the next Ghetto Gourmet...

Tuesday's Ghetto Gourmet dinner was another fun dinner party with a bunch of strangers who weren't strangers anymore by the end of the meal. Sitting at a long table in the courtyard of a midtown streamline moderne apartment building, Eating L.A. met a nice academic-type couple who just moved from Oakland to Long Beach, a pair of veteran acting coaches, Austrian and Japanese ex-pats, another food blogger, a famous writer ...a little of this and a little of that. There was poetry, a spontaneous singing of "Alabama Song" by the entire table, accordian and saxophone and several delicious courses from chef Shaun Oster. After tuna carpaccio with pomegranate seeds, we moved onto sweet potato spring rolls, steamed white roughy with green mango slaw and a lovely dessert of apple puffed pastry with brie ice cream. The mildly cheesy ice cream was the hit of the evening and a nice way to finish off another installment in the travelling sideshow that is the Ghetto.
Update: Wow, just found out that columnist Joel Stein was there and we didn't even meet up...next time, perhaps!

Return of the Ghetto Gourmet

Do you ever wish that some really cool folks had invited you for a three course meal at their happening pad, and all you had to do was bring a bottle of wine? Well, the Bay Area's Ghetto Gourmet is returning to L.A. next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurday for three more dinners in Koreatown and the Hollywood Hills. Last time it was a really unique experience with entertainment, new friends and good food. Of course, your friends won't make you pay, but then you'd have to eat their cooking instead of a professional chef's food, so there's that...

Thai Patio: Elvis has left the building

crab purses appetizer

As you all probably know, Thai Elvis moved out of his old stomping grounds along with the Palms Thai restaurant several months ago. The space is now occupied by a restaurant named Thai Patio which turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. It was surprising because their other branch is in the odd patio area between Whole Foods and K-Mart on Third St., which has harbored some pretty scary restaurants in its time. So I had no idea that Thai Patio was a serious Thai restaurant -- and in fact I still have no idea if the Third St. outlet is of equal quality. steamed whole trout

Thai Patio hasn't changed the decor much from the Palms days, although the tables seem to be more spaced out. They've added a patio, natch, along Hollywood Blvd., with comfy chairs screened from the street by plants -- I imagine this caters to the late night smoking-and-sate crowd. We were invited to try the restaurant, but I would have gladly paid myself, since you don't have to exactly twist my arm to get me to try a Thai restaurant.
The menu is pretty similar to the Palms, with all manner of exotic meats on the back page and some unusual dishes like raw beef salad along with all the Thai standards. We just weren't in a frog or boar kind of mood, so manager Scott sent out some yummy little crab purses to start, packed with crab meat and fried into cute little packages. We also tried a perfectly steamed trout in a fragrant tom yam goong type broth and shrimp curry in a complex red sauce dominated strongly by kaffir lime leaves. A solidly flavorful, meaty bowl of boat noodles finished the meal. If you want your food spicy, though, be very clear, since the servers are a little nervous about burning the non-Thai clientele. (Pet pet!)
The stage formerly occupied by Elvis will be put to good use, with costumed Thai dancers performing on weekends. Thai Patio is going for slightly more upscale feel and some of the dishes are a bit more expensive than in your neighborhood Thai greasy spoon. But don't let that dissuade you from ordering the whole fish or the shrimp curry, because they're well worth it.
Beer and wine are available.
Thai Patio
5273 Hollywood Blvd.
(323) 466-3894

Short takes: Gerlach's Grill, Carmine's

Lately I've been trying a few places for dinner around South Pasadena and Pasadena when I pick up my kids at school. Last week we had a hearty, traditional Italian meal at Carmine's, where my daughter likes the (gag) plain spaghetti on the kid's menu. My son's Hawaiian pizza seemed undistinguished, but my eggplant parmesan was a massive, tasty calorie bomb that anyone who grew up in the Northeast would probably love. They have a nice patio, a busy bar and delivery too, so it's easy to see why so many local families like Carmine's, although the food is pretty standard old-fashioned Italian.

This week we tried Gerlach's Grill, which you would never notice unless you comb Chowhound obsessively or happen to be buying wine at Gerlach's liquor next door. The take-out stand's menu is a wondrous combo of Middle Eastern food, Mexican food and healthy grilled fish dishes, which sounds like it could be a disaster but they pull it off competently, if leisurely. Lamb burritos and calamari tacos are some of the popular dishes here, but there's also a good selection of fish including salmon, swordfish and mahi mahi. I tried a grilled salmon plate (10.95) which came with a soup or salad and sauteed cabbage. Sam had a steak sandwich which was made on a pita; he devoured it like the insatiable carnivore he has become. A humongous side of hummus was creamy and a bit spicy.
A friendly supervisor from the electric company across the street who was picking up a salmon salad gave me several tips 1) call ahead to avoid a wait, since everything is cooked to order 2) order the fish medium rare so they won't overcook it 3) try the excellent fish soup when they have it and 4) pick up a good bottle of wine from the adjacent store.
If you live in the area, this is a great place to stop by and pick up dinner when you don't have time to cook -- and even satisfy some people who want fish tacos and others who want lamb kebabs.
Gerlach's Grill
1075 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena
(626) 799-7575

Sampling Red Pearl Kitchen

Just a few weeks after its opening, I was invited to sample Red Pearl Kitchen, the Hollywood outpost of the San Diego and Huntington Beach pan-Asian spots owned by Tim and Liza Goodell. The Goodells formerly owned Meson G in the same spot, which had a knockout orange and brown modern design. But the upscale small plates spot never really found its audience, as we say in the business, so they changed the concept to a Red Pearl Kitchen. The Pearl has some killer cocktails, dim sum and other pu pu type items, tour-of-Asia dishes like shaking beef, mee goreng and General Tso's tofu as well as a nice Asian-inflected dessert menu.
Matt had a potent ginger mint julep and I had a giant Singha beer, which I powered through as we tasted tuna tartare on eggplant tempura (pictured), yummy salt and pepper shrimp, shaking beef and an more unusual bowl of udon with bacon and egg. The kitchen has a good hand with the fryer -- the salt and pepper shrimp were our favorite dish -- although the chefs have obviously been instructed not to scare anyone with the spice levels. I've become a big fan of Far Eastern flavors in desserts, and I enjoyed the subtly-flavored yuzu tapioca triangle paired with lychee sorbet, while Kathy loved her cardamom pot de creme. The room has been redone with a translucent red screen in front of the formerly open kitchen and lots of big lanterns, along with a new Chinese red color scheme.
Red Pearl Kitchen isn't trying to be an authentic San Gabriel-valley style Asian restaurant, but it's a lively scene with well-priced, tasty food and a good-looking lounge, just the right place to meet up with friends for cocktails and aps or desserts.
Red Pearl Asia
6703 Melrose
323-525-1415

Guest post: Griffith Observatory

Kathy got a preview of Wolfgang Puck's cafe at the renovated Griffith Observatory. Here's what she had to say:

Café at the End of the Universe

Scheduled to open Nov. 3

Forget the churros, oversized pretzels, popcorn and hot dogs ­favorites once found at the Observatory's funky, parking lot-adjacent snack bar. Instead, look for chocolate croissants, pressed panini, fresh fruit and packaged salads next month, when the Wolfgang Puck-catered Café at the End of The Universe opens at the Griffith Observatory, newly renovated for the out-of-this-world sum of $93 million.

On the Observatory's new lower level, the Café has drop-dead city, Hollywood sign and sunset views, but no foods cooked on site. While the chocolate chunk cookies and grilled veggies andwiches at the press preview seemed serviceable enough, the menu seems more Getty Villa than Griffith Park. And although the café looks like the perfect place for a sunset cocktail, there's no spirits on the menu.

Cool upcoming food events...

Too busy to eat this week, but here's some news and events to tide you over.

Chef John Sedlar hosts a benefit for the Museum Tamal at the much-heralded Mozza before it opens to the public. The reception is Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. $75.00 per guest includes a short presentation, beverage, light supper, service and tax. Listen to KCRW's Good Food on Saturday for more info, or maybe the Museum Tamal website will add more info.

The first Taste of Los Feliz fest on Sunday Oct. 8 from 5-8 pm benefits Hope-Net food pantries, with participating restaurants including Alcove, Greenleaf Vegan, Hollywood Gelato, Il Capriccio, Yuca's and Tiger Lily. Tickets are $35 and location is on Vermont between Prospect and Franklin.

We tasted some amazing beers from Quebec's Unibroue at Bottlerock's pre-opening party, and now the new Culver City wine shop is doing a beer tasting featuring these great Belgian style beers. Tasting is Thursday, Oct. 19 from 6-8, tickets are $25. Email bottlerock@mac.com for tickets or call 310-836-WINE.

Taste test: Swan Thai

For my first foray into North Hollywood Thai food outside of the Thai temple, I picked Swan restaurant, because I thought their menu of small plates would be fun to try for lunch. But we weren't given any menu with small plates in the $2-3 range and I didn't see any lying around. By then we were engrossed in the regular menu so we chose three regular-sized dishes which turned out to be some of the best Thai food I've had in ages (well, since I did the Renu Nakorn report, anyway). We ordered the more familiar Crying Tiger beef and the Nam Sod Kao Tod crispy rice salad and then took a flyer on a dish called "Thai Acacia Curry," (pictured above) described as "fish and tamarind paste curry with Thai acacia omelet and vegetables." This dish certainly sounded unusual and we had a moment's hesitation when it arrived, giving off a strong fermented fish smell. But when we dug in we found a dish of shrimp and omelet triangles floating in pungent and flavorful red curry gravy with a perfect spice level -- nothing to be scared of there. Acacia is a feathery green plant often used in Thai omelets, and it was akin to having little slices ofspinach frittata in your curry -- unusual but tasty.
The crispy rice salad (photo at left) with ground pork and ginger was delicious, with a little burst of spicy or cilantro or peanutty flavor in every bite, but the rice wasn't as ethereally crispy as at the Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas. The crispy beef tidbits of the Crying Tiger were already good, similar to Korean grilled shortribs, but the smoky, sweet, fiery dipping sauce elevated it to a whole other plane. We finished with a creamy, refreshing dish of coconut ice cream with corn and green beany things strewn throughout the ice cream, topped with clear gelatinous blobs -- palm seeds perhaps?
I am so annoyed that all the good Thai restaurants are in North Hollywood now! But it's not that far, so I'm also looking forward to trying Sunshine, Krua Thai and Sri Siam, and maybe returning to Swan to demand the small plates menu.
Swan restaurant
12728 Sherman Way
North Hollywood
(818) 764-1892