Spiffing up Luna Park

I think every restaurant, even the busy and successful ones, should take a look around every few years and see if a little updating is in order...lest you end up saddled with a bunch of food fads from the last decade. Luna Park, which amazingly has already been open since 2003 (how did those four years go so fast?) has a new executive chef, Todd Butler, a new patio and a few new menu items. Of course they haven't messed with the make your own s'mores or goat cheese fondue, since the loyal customers wouldn't like that. But Butler, who comes from Virginia by way of Firefly and Indigo, is also making pizza now, with toppings like Moroccan meatballs or bacon, egg and cheddar, in a new gas and wood-fired oven. There's new curtains on the cozy booths, planter boxes buffering sidewalk diners from La Brea Blvd. and a quinoa risotto with sugar snap peas and sweet corn. At a recent press dinner, I was still grooving on their tender broccoli rabe, which was served with bacon-wrapped monkfish. Plus they still make a mean mojito and the prices are still reasonable for the area, with entrees all in the $15-$16 range. Butler says he's going to continue to add to the comfort food menu offerings, possibly drawing on his southern heritage. It's nice to see not every place is resting on its laurels...

Breakfast at Cora's and strolling Santa Monica

My wonderful yoga teacher Erin held yoga classes on the beach this summer... I finally made it for the last class, and it was beautiful doing yoga next to the Casa del Mar as the mist burned off over the ocean.
After all that yoga I needed a hearty breakfast at Cora's. There's lots of people waiting for patio tables on weekends, but it's not hard to score a stool at the counter. Not that I needed more burrata after Mozza the night before, but the burrata caprese omelette looked awfully good.
Heirloom tomatoes were roughly chopped on top of the omelette, which came with brioche toast and one of their grilled hunks 'o potato. On the way to the Promenade, I was happy to see that Chez Jay still looks the same as ever, since nearly everything else in Santa Monica has changed drastically since I went to high school there.
Maybe I shouldn't have had quite such a hearty brunch, because when I got to the Promenade, the Sri Lankan festival was already in full swing, and I was too full to try anything. But the rotis, short eats and stringers all looked unusual and good...there used to be a Sri Lankan restaurant in Hollywood but now I think there's just one in the Valley.
On my way back, I saw that Joe's Pizza from New York looks to be opening fairly soon on Broadway, next to a Kiwiberri, of course, which will make four or five yogurt places within a two block area. I guess I should get to Santa Monica more often...or at least for next year's Sri Lankan festival!
Updated: I forgot to mention that a branch of Farmer's Market's Monsieur Marcel is moving to the Promenade, in one of the middle stalls, replacing one of the generic snack bars there.

Taste test: Even Eating L.A. goes to Mozza

If you don't mind eating a decadent meal on a backless stool, it's not too hard to snag a seat at Osteria Mozza's mozzarella bar. At 7 on a Friday night, the restaurant is fully booked, but just a few people are waiting in the bar. I like the marble counters and cool blue color scheme much better than Pizzeria Mozza's burnt orange walls. While I waited for Kathy, I ordered a potent and tasty cocktail made with bourbon, fennel honey and lemon -- like the hot toddies I used to make at bedtime, only chilled and refreshing. Once we were seated, sommelier David Rosoff helped us choose a reasonably-priced Barbera which proved an excellent foil to our extremely rich dishes. We watched Nancy Silverton assemble all manner of burrata-laced goodies and our crostini with burrata, bacon and escarole arrived (top photo). I'm a sucker for wilted escarole, and these were some rich little morsels. Grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon was the only somewhat light dish we tried, and I could eat this every day. I've never had such tender, meaty octopus, and the lemony dressing cut the rich flesh perfectly. As I often did when I travelled in Italy, much to the horror of Italian waiters I'm sure, we had appetizers and pasta instead of a meat course, even though the grilled orata looked pretty choice. At some point, director Ron Howard settled in behind us with three young writerish fellows in t-shirts with slogans, proving again that you can almost never be too casual in L.A.
I had the orecchiete with sausage and chard which was as rich and delicious as our first courses, if not quite enough for a whole table as S. Irene wrote. If you're sensitive to salt, the food here might seem over-salted, but as I'm kind of a salt hound it was just right for me. Kathy's garganelli pasta had a meaty ragu that was a little too meaty-tasting for me; we ended up each preferring the one we had chosen. We also had a delicious beet side dish with a wonderful salsa verde -- sort of like a pesto that works better for beets. When it was time for dessert, all I could think of was the butterscotch pudding from Pizzeria Mozza, which isn't on the menu at the Osteria, so suddenly nothing else appealed to me. Portions are on the modest side, but for $120 including an entire bottle of wine and two cocktails, that was certainly one of the best meals I've had in a very long time. Service was extremely attentive and competent, even if you're not Ron Howard, who had the mussels, by the way.
Minor cavils: Nearly two hours straight of the Beatles Greatest Hits doesn't strike me as the best restaurant music, and when the Beatles finally ended, the soundtrack changed to even-louder undistinguished rock 'n roll. Is this a Mario thing? In a New York-feeling place like this, maybe some great vintage jazz or something more instrumental might work better. And those backless stools are a little rough for a two-hour meal. That is all.

Eastside bits and pieces for the weekend

Eating L.A. hears that the place called Yxta Restaurant that wants to open in the new building on the corner of Hillhurst and Prospect may run into trouble from the neighbors...they've applied for a 56 indoor seats and 78 outdoors, with full liquor license and live entertainment. Neighbors say it's a sports bar concept...ugh. With people already testy about Home staying open later and applying for a dance license, it's going to be tough to push this one through.

More details on Gingergrass's planned expansion into Burbank on Magnolia near Porto's...it's going to be a small operation, mostly for takeout. Most of the food will be prepared in Silver Lake and trucked over to the Valley. With a busy takeout business (you can even order online now!) maybe Gingergrass should open a takeout shop in Silver Lake too.

For extreme coffee lovers: Pazzo Gelato is now making sorbettos flavored with single origin coffee varietals from Intelligentsia...sorbet instead of gelato to let the subtle varieties shine through, according to the glacier.

Taste test: Tokyo Table -- Towering Pile 'o Toast!

yum, honey toast...

It was a mini-reunion of ex-colleagues and even though one was enceinte, I chose Tokyo Table since besides sushi, there's plenty of cooked items on the vast menu. When this place opened, I dubbed it "the Japanese Denny's" judging solely by the laminated menu full of color photos. Apparently the restaurant agreed the menu gave a Dennys-ish impression, and they're working on a more subdued presentation. The space isn't at all reminiscent of a coffee shop though -- on the bottom floor of a La Cienega office building near the new Tanzore, it's sleek and elegant enough for a business lunch or party, if a bit impersonal.
This review is going to have to go in reverse order, because it's time to get to the toast. I had never had Japanese honey toast before, and I was a little skeptical because it sounds so darn sweet, but Ramin and Chris insisted. After our mains, we chose the caramel variety, and soon a tower of extra thick brioche-style bread arrived drizzled with what tasted like Lyle's Golden Syrup. The thick pieces were deceiving, though -- they had been hollowed out with the bread cut into cubes and possibly deep-fried? I don't know what they do to it, but the stuff is insanely delicious in a very over-the-top way. You can keep your deep-fried Oreos and such, I'll stick to caramel honey toast.
Annnyway. Shaved ice with a scoop of red beans and a scoop of ice cream can be had in a pleasant green tea/lychee combo, and is a refreshing counterpoint to the honey toast orgy.
Tokyo Table's food comes from the "if it isn't usually served with mayonaise, let's add some anyway" school of Japanese food, so it's not exactly your healthful light lunch, but it's pretty tasty stuff. We started with a sushi pizza (above), which thank god doesn't involve cheese or tomatoes: rather it's a slab of sushi rice, with seaweed standing in for crust, cooked bits of seafood topping, jalapeno and what else but grilled mayo instead of cheese. Evy's unagi bowl had a lovely presentation in a giant black bowl. Ramin's stacked seafood salad looked light, but managed to squeeze in some mayo both on the side and zigzagging over the top.
Our accomodating server held up the dishes so I could get a good shot -- Japanese restaurants are used to customers taking photos. Tokyo Table is no Urusawa, but it's a fun place for groups and much more reasonably priced than most of the La Cienega tourist traps. There's also an array of fruity cocktails (not sure if they're made with soju or actual vodka) and a good sake list.
... just don't forget to try the toast.
Tokyo Table
50 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Beverly Hills
(310) 657-9500
(Also, they deliver at lunch and dinner and are open until 1 am every night)

From other lands...

There's a great article in this week's New Yorker about hunting for matsutake mushrooms in the forests of Oregon. I knew mushroom hunting was a pretty high-stakes game, but I had no idea that Cambodians are the most fervent hunters or that they live in Gold Rush-style camps complete with prostitutes, gambling, karaoke and bowls of steaming pho-type soup.

I wish I could have gone to this dinner at New York's Gramercy Tavern with a tasting menu accompanied by aged beers, from NY Times writer Eric Asimov. I'll take the one that tastes like bananas foster, please.

And also in the New York Times, a fun piece on artsy restaurants in Beijing with food from the provinces -- caterpillar fungus chicken soup, anyone?

New Silver Lake wine bar and today's links

EatingLA is glad to hear that our little patch of Hyperion is growing a wine bar, from no less than former La Terza proprietor and Campanile manager Claudio Blotta. Barbrix will occupy the former Scientology school across from Baller Hardware, opening in a few months, we hope.

New to the L.A. food blogosphere is Josh Lurie's FoodGPS. Josh eats out an awful lot, all over the world, but especially in L.A. He also contributes to New Angeles magazine's food column.

And blogger and OC Weekly writer Luke Y. Thompson tries snails and balut at Asian Garden Mall in Westminster. Balut, of course, is the famous dish of hard-boiled fertilized eggs with duck fetus inside. And yet, he doesn't like sausage...how is this possible?

A peek at Intelligentsia Coffee

Eating L.A. got a peek inside Intelligentsia this morning on our morning jog. It opens at noon today (Friday) with an opening party tonight. They're still putting a few finishing touches on, but the sign painter graciously gave me his cup of freshly-made Ethiopian coffee. Intelligentsia's Kyle (pictured), a finalist at the World Barista Championships, told me that coffee will be served from both the expensive Clover coffeemaker and another system of near-equal quality which makes more at a time for peak hours. The cup I tasted was super-smooth with some hints of berry.

Most of Intelligentsia's coffees are medium-roasted -- the taste should come from the bean, not the roast, Kyle said. Or as he put it, "Would a real foodie order a well-done steak?" Even if you're a dark roast lover, try out some of their more nuanced varieties just to see the difference. The store is spacious with elegant marble counters, a shady patio in front and a lots of beans for sale (pictured). Intelligentsia serves croissants and baguettes from BreadBar and cupcakes and other pastries from Echo Park's Delilah Bakery.

Open in time for Sunset Junction: Flore Vegan Cuisine

The Sunset Junction area is uber-busy this week, with everyone spiffing up in time for the Sunset Junction fair. Flore Vegan Cuisine opened Thursday and owner Miranda reports it was packed the very first day. They're open for breakfast and lunch right now; dinner may follow later. Dishes include blueberry buckwheat pancakes, tofu scrambles, seitan tacos, tempeh salad and avocado, grapefruit and fennel salad.
Flore Vegan Cuisine
3818 W. Sunset Blvd.
(323) 953-0611

Jitlada in the news; good day at the Times

Jonathan Gold makes it back from Italy to try Jitlada, pronounces it "most exciting new Thai restaurant of the year." I'd have to agree.

Nice Calendar section today...a good look at artisan beer "At the Tippling Point," covers one of my favorite subjects pretty thoroughly. It is truly perplexing how L.A. can be so far behind points north and south in artisan beer brewing, but the scene is slowly improving.

And we like My Favorite Weekend this week, mostly because we liked Evan Handler so much on "Sex and the City." It's not that his choices are so revolutionary, but just the idea of running into him at Whole Foods or the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills makes us feel good.

Wednesday news

Lowenbrou Keller, one of L.A.'s kitchiest treasures will close this month, according to EaterLA. It's not really surprising, since did anyone you know ever go there because they actually liked the food? But still, it's sad to see these old places fade away one by one. We hope Clifton's can hang on for a few more years...

"What's not to like?" says the L.A. Times' Susan LaTempa about the York in Highland Park...we haven't been back since the soft opening, but we tend to agree.

And if you can tear yourself away from Sunset Junction this weekend (the food's not too good there anyway, although it's a chance to try out the new Intelligentsia Coffee and get some Pazzo Gelato), the Fallen Fruit project and Machine Projects are holding their annual fallen fruit jam-making workshop Sunday at 12, at 1200 N. Alvarado in Echo Park.

Taste test: Elf Cafe

I went to Elf Cafe a month or two ago, but just now got around to writing about it. Here's some of my review from the Los Feliz Ledger.
Out front on Sunset Blvd., a punked-out young couple enjoy a leisurely dinner while their infant slumbers away in a designer stroller. Several parties show up with wine bottles in hand, taking advantage of the $5 corkage and quickly filling the restaurant's nine tables.
Right now, Elf is the quintessential Echo Park restaurant: no sign in front, deer line drawings on the front of the organic menu, no reservations, cash only. The owners also have a band, Eastern music-meets-electropop act Viva K. Despite the rather precious trappings, the service is genuinely friendly and attentive and the food is clearly made with care as well. Chef Timothy Maloof, who also runs a packaged raw food business out of the space, is from a Lebanese background, but the menu ranges beyond the Middle East to a few Greek-inspired dishes, Moroccan vegetable tagine and French vegetable tarts. It's homey food, like you might have whipped up in your kitchen if you had all morning to spend at the farmer's market. Some dishes have a hint of hippie cooking, like a sturdy brown rice pilaf with the roasted fennel and beet plate. Others are light and modern, like the cool Greek cucumber and dill-laced yogurt soup that helps cool off a warm summer night. Elf's Greek white lasagna, a version of pastitsio, is satisfying with garbanzo beans and potatoes standing in for the usual ground lamb, a good choice for those used to meaty dishes. Confirmed greens lovers will like the kale salad with avocado, hemp seeds and a bright citrus dressing, although it might be easier to eat with smaller pieces of kale. As the restaurant evolves, the chef might try varying the ingredients more with the seasons (an autumnal pear tart stays on the menu even in prime summer fruit season) and creating some more imaginative presentations, but for now it's enough just to have a pleasant restaurant in the neighborhood. And it couldn't be more adorable, from the elfin band member/servers to the pierced parents on the sidewalk.
Dinner for two with two starters, two mains and one dessert ran about $60, reasonable enough for the organic origins and attentive service.
Elf Cafe, 2135 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park (no phone)

Hooray for the bottled water backlash!

The L.A. Times follows up today on the bottled water backlash, after a popular N.Y. Times article a few days ago. The L.A. Times article focuses on the marketing efforts by companies like Brita and Nalgene to cash in on the backlash, and why not? I've always thought it was crazy to spend so much money on little plastic bottles of water -- I can't believe it when I see tiny ladies at Trader Joe's carting huge cases of water out to their cars. I have a high quality reverse osmosis filter at my kitchen sink (eons better than a Brita pitcher), which can provide up to a few gallons a day of great-tasting water. It's a hard call for restaurants, since bottled water is a big contributor to profits, but I applaud the restaurants that are serving filtered water instead. Even though I'm not all that concerned about plastic bottle toxicity, I'm thinking of getting one of these snazzy Sigg bottles at Whole Foods for my desk at work, since plastic bottles sometimes pick up a funny taste after a while.

....I'm back! Not much food news to report from the Big Sur campground, so straight to the news...

The L.A. Times catches up with the Thai temple food court closure and reports that the temple is working to find a way to re-open the food stalls, possibly using shuttles from an outlying parking lot. The last time I went for Songkran (Thai New Year), it was pretty out of hand, with hour waits for the food booths. A victim of its own success, unfortunately.

...more later, ciao!

New Italian in Echo Park and more...

Just days after the news that Two Boots Pizza is coming to Echo Park comes news from SilverlakeBoulevard that 15 will be a new Italian restaurant on Echo Park Ave. They're applying for a full liquor license and plan a TV for watching sports events -- not a great sign -- but apparently neighbors have already gotten them to shorten their hours.

The Chowhounds are all atwitter that the food court at the Wat Thai temple could be closing because it causes parking problems in the neighborhood...sad news indeed for lovers of Thai street snack.

On Third St., a new place with the rather peculiar name Food Court L.A. in the former Masquer's Cabaret space -- it will include a bar and feature "comfort foods with a pan-ethnic twist" -- wonder what that means?

On Beverly Blvd. at Serrano, a new Salvadoran restaurant called Jaragua looks a little more upscale than the usual mom 'n pop pupusa joints....

And My Secret Recipe, the Korean octopus spot on Third St., hasn't gone out of business...they've just condensed into the corner of the mini-mall they occupy to make room for a new yakiniku spot called TenRaku. Apparently yakiniku is like Korean barbecue, only Japanese, only aimed at Korean diners...if that makes any sense.

...and now, Eating L.A. is adjourning to the woods to eat bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes, drink bordeaux and do yoga under the redwoods...see you next week.

Jitlada redux: more great southern Thai tastes

curry soft shell crab

After our first time trying the Southern Thai menu at Jitlada (report here), we wanted to try a lot more dishes...so we needed to assemble several more people. Seven proved to be just right -- more than that can be unwieldy when trying to share lots of plates. We concentrated on the seafood selections mostly, and John said it was one of the best meals he's had anywhere lately -- and this guy eats everywhere. First Jazz brought us a little amuse (how do you say that in Thai?) of haw mok -- the steamed seafood custard was perfumed with kaffir lime leaves and filled with chunks of scallops and more -- a lovely start. Also on the menu were the wonderful blue crab salad, showered with lemongrass slices in a piquant, spicy sauce; fat steamed mussels in a delicate broth; amazing softshell crab curry, one of the milder dishes; zingy rice salad with a similar flavor profile to the blue crab salad, but sweeter and less spicy; clam curry with betel leaves which gave an earthy flavor to the soupy curry; a whole bass showered with fried garlic and a multi-layered chili sauce to go on top; and fishballs stuffed with egg in yellow curry sauce. fish balls in curry stuffed with duck eggs

This was the only thing remotely "wierd" that we ordered but it was actually great -- I was skeptical of fish balls since it seems most Thai restaurants use the bouncy, premade Superball variety; but Jitlada's seem housemade and cleverly formed around hardboiled duck egg yolks, served in fragrant curry sauce. John was a little disappointed that we ordered everything just slightly spicy, so he had them make their incendiary beef curry just for him, and we were all happy. raw blue crab salad

We were thoroughly stuffed, but couldn't resist the sticky rice and mango, which one of our party said was the best they've had; the fried bananas, which were crunchy bits of freshly fried pleasure unlike any lame versions you've had before; and housemade coconut ice cream, which in the Thai style is just coconut milk with no dairy.
This has got to be one of the most exciting, centrally located, reasonably priced dining experiences in the city right now, so don't miss it, and try some of the unusual Southern Thai dishes from the menu on the back page.