Little Dom's update, Svelte closes and more

Little Dom's, which is still getting its sealegs, is not yet ready for the Monday $5 pizza night that was mentioned in a few places...the restaurant hopes to start it up when it's fully operational.

We've been hearing more and more about chef Josef Centeno, who recently left Opus, coming to Silver Lake. Apparently he has his eye on Michelangelo's spot, but let us emphasize that it's all hearsay right now and we haven't yet had time to contact Centeno.

I'm sure you all have more important fish to fry, but my daughter for one is bereft at the demise of Svelte frozen yogurt next to Hard Times Pizza in Silver Lake. I warned her that as soon as Pinkberry moved up the block, it would be curtains for Svelte...lots of empty spaces in that minimall and across the street too.

Hungry? Check out Justoneplate for a luscious photo of a featured dish from a top L.A. restaurant, along with the recipe and a Q & A with the chef. The latest addition is Amarone, with a very enticing strozzapretti pasta with shrimp dish from chef Giuseppe Musso.

Getting your Mideast feast on...cheaply

It all started when I was faced with a tiny tub of $4 hummous and a $5 box of pita chips at the Atwater's Farmers market. The hummous and other dips from the guys that sell at farmers' markets is pretty good stuff, but the prices seemed way too high. In a fit of pique, I drove over to Whole Food for Life market (3070 Los Feliz Blvd.), which seemed like the closest Middle Eastern market. They had the requisite pita bread for 70 cents or so a bag, and I also picked up a bag of maneishe bread and a tub of rich, oily, delicious eggplant salad. The next week, I wanted the full-on shopping-in-a-hectic-Yerevan-market experience, so Matt and I stopped in at Super King (2716 San Fernando Road). For $20, I got a pint of creamy hummus, a pound of marinated chicken breast kabob chunks, some 50 cent pita bread, and so many vegetables I haven't had time to cook them all. It's nice to see people actually buying vegetables at a supermarket, since at Ralph's they usually seem to concentrate on the potato chip and soda aisles.
But my family ate up all the pita bread, and I still had hummus left for lunch. A trip to Sasoun Bakery (5114 Santa Monica Blvd.) was in order. If you don't patronize Sasoun (there's one in Glendale too), you're missing out on one of L.A.'s best and most flavorful bargains. I got a wonderfully tangy spinach borek and two fresh maneishe breads, covered in sumac and thyme and sesame seeds -- much better than the pre-packaged variety -- all for about $4. A Middle Eastern tour of L.A. has got to be the best way to perk up some boring brown bag lunches. Next stop: the Russian delis of West Hollywood.

Historic L.A. food sites: the original Taix

It must have been really cool when L.A. had a French quarter...probably not quite New Orleans, but still. I thought the French quarter was near new Chinatown, since the French hospital was there until recently. But apparently the original location of Taix French Restaurant was at 321 Commercial St., where the twin towers prison is now. I like its modest European look, much Frenchier than its new location on Sunset which opened in 1962. Is there anyone out there who remembers the original location?

Taste test: Green Zone goes organic, Chinese-style

While I was in Palm Springs I missed a great group dinner with Citysearchers Tara de Lis and Martha Burr. Martha, who has made documentaries in China, had invited a group to her friend Jill's organic Chinese restaurant, which opened a year or so ago. Tucked into one of those innumerable San Gabriel mini-malls that houses a promising-looking Hunan restaurant, a Taiwanese place and a foot massage parlor, Green Zone looks like it should be on the Westside where people clamor for organic food and Eames Eiffel chairs. But since it's located in the SGV, you can feast on wild-caught fish and organic chicken and have enough left over for a blissful hour-long footrub next door.
The menu isn't strictly Chinese -- it's more like fresh, light food with a mix of Chinese and Japanese dishes.
You can, and should, start with a mixed appetizer plate with prawn tofu wraps, salmon triangles and shrimp roll. We particularly liked the crunchy cigarillo-like shrimp rolls stuffed with cabbage and shrimp paste. Since it was blustery outside and Kathy was hoarse from her Sundance ordeal, we had a big bowl of soothing wonton soup with Taiwanese-style noodles, wontons and dumplings. The wontons were luscious, stuffed with really flavorful shrimp, with no msg in the deeply-flavored broth. Next time, I could have just bowl of the wontons and be happy.
We also had grilled organic tofu with a savory sauce and a dish of organic broccoli. Then we tried a seabass salad (pictured at left), at $6.25 and Hainan chicken rice (at right), made with Mary's chicken($6.75). I loved the garlicky lemongrass rice and the ginger chili sauce the chicken was served with.
Also on the menu are beef sukiyaki hotpot, seafood pasta, beef or vegetarian soba and even a tuna sandwich and guacamole. All the servers, including Jill's Abercrombie-clad teenage daughter, are exceedingly friendly and helpful, and the tranquil modern-woodsy decor is a welcome change from the fluorescent uniformity of other restaurants in the area. To drink, there's organic juices, sodas and teas, or byob.
Green Zone is a real gem, a great alternative when you've had enough dim sum and bahn mi to burst and want something clean and light. And leave time for a little foot action afterwards.
Green Zone
534 E. Valley Blvd. #5
San Gabriel
(626)962-9567

Little Dom's: What's up with the ladies' room?

Looking for a place to have a really intimate chat with your galpals? Look no farther than the communal ladies' room at Little Dom's, which features side by side commodes for conversational ease. At first I thought maybe one was a bidet, but no...so what's the deal with these?

Anyway, we had a quick taste of the new Little Dom's the other night...it was super-crowded with insanely hirsute dudes, cute young things, and everyone else in Los Feliz who has eaten at Farfalla one too many times. After a rather lengthy wait despite our reservation, the hostess kindly sent over two glasses of Prosecco to ease our pain, which was a nice gesture. Matt, who liked the old-fashioned Italian East Coast style menu, was very happy with how his meatball and mozzarella sandwich, served on a panini-type roll, held together as a unit without dissolving into messy pieces like many meatball sandwiches. OK, maybe $14 is a little pricey for a meatball sandwich, but it came with an arugula salad on the side, and of course you're also paying for those cool vintage speakers and kitschy fish on the walls. I had two appetizers -- first was a ring of baby beets topped with a meltingly good round of burrata, the creamy flavor nicely cut by the light vinaigrette on the beets. The other appetizer was shrimp and fried artichokes with a mint-laced dipping sauce, and it was like the best possible bar food -- bits of fried artichokes and shrimp dipped in the lemony sauce were just the sort of tapas-like thing I love, although I could probably have eaten twice as much of it. I like how the menu toggles between basic stuff like spaghetti and meatballs and more modern dishes like bluefish with cavolo nero, although one more interesting pasta might be welcome. We just wanted a light meal, so no dessert, but butternut squash fritters -- now that sounds tempting.
With its comfy, instantly-aged decor and casual buzz, Little Dom's is a welcome addition to the neighborhood -- but make a reservation if you want to dine between 7:30 and 8:30.

New York Times does Sunset Junction

Following on the heels of some glossy Japanese magazine that devoted double page spreads to Intelligentsia, the sneaker store and Secret Headquarters (they have a copy on display at Intelligentsia), the New York Times visits Sunset Junction and gets it mostly right. The only thing I'm not sure about is what all those "buzzing clubs on Fountain" are (I guess Little Temple?) and whether the Cheese Shop of Beverly Hills would agree that the Cheese Shop of Silver Lake is "easily the best fromagerie in the city."
The NYT certainly hearts LA...just a few days ago, they did 36 hours in Hollywood for the second time in 18 months.

What's happening at Michelangelo?

Silver Lake's Michelangelo Pizzeria has lots of local fans, for its thin crust pizzas as well as its handsome staff members. But like the Backdoor Bakery down the street, Michelangelo's owners are also having trouble with their landlady, who would like to open her own eatery in the cozy spot and cash in on Silver Lake Blvd.'s theoretical riches.
Michelangelo has also run into trouble getting the new Eagle Rock location off the ground due to permitting issues, and is now faced with looking for a new space in both Silver Lake and/or Eagle Rock.
There's still a chance the landlady will relent, and Michelangelo's owners say you can help by signing a petition at the restaurant, which already has some 2,000 signatures. The petition will also be online soon at Michelangelo Pizzeria Ristorante.

Conversation and cochinita: Yuca's launches salon

Here's a fun idea: Talking and munching at Yuca's new Food for Thought night, the fourth Friday of each month. The first one is this Friday, Jan. 25, from 6-8 at Yuca's on Hollywood, 4666 Hollywood Blvd. From the Yuca's folks:

Present your L.A. Public Library card and receive a free beverage.
Who knows, you might want to hang around for the conversation part. Topics change according to the movement of the stars, or the wind, or whatever…we welcome all comers, and suggest you bring your appetite along for the ride.

(borrowed photo from OishiiEats)

Taste test: Terroni

...Just a quick bite of Terroni, the newish Italy-by-way-of-Toronto cafe on Beverly Blvd. where Authentic Cafe used to be. If there was anywhere that needed an update, it was Authentic, with its turquoise and pink color scheme and circa 1986 menu. Terroni is a perfectly modern interpretation of a buzzy Italian cafe, and quite different in feeling from most overly-serious or faux-rustic L.A. Italians. It's all open kitchen, bright colors and snazzy chairs for a much more contemporary feeling. The menu also seems different from the typical L.A. Italian menu, thank goodness. We tried a pleasant salad with briny olives, pine nuts and Cambozola cheese and a pizza with homemade sausage and smoked scamorza cheese. The thin-crusted pizza was a bit salty with those toppings, but tasted pretty much like one you'd get in Italy. We loved little touches like the fresh parmagiana grater box (do they sell those?) and the little dish of pickled red peppers instead of boring dried pepper flakes. Ramin insisted on trying dessert -- frozen Nutella mousse sounded good, but the flavor was too restrained and the presentation was kind of foofy (those are cake croutons on the left, not salad croutons!). Amp that baby up with a layer of actual Nutella in the middle, guys! I liked the feel of Terroni a lot, and I'm sure I'll be back to try some of the interesting-sounding pastas. But I might wait for a business lunch -- it's a little pricey for everyday lunching.
Terroni
7605 Beverly Blvd.

Little Dom's opens Thursday!

The aged wood and stained glass interior looks like an old New York Italian joint...

We peeked inside Little Dom's on Hillhurst this morning and it looks ready to go...in fact, the baguettes have already been delivered. Little Dom's will be open just for dinner starting tomorrow, adding breakfast and lunch in a few weeks when they're up to speed. What struck Eating L.A. about the menu is that while it's very simple with lots of traditional Italian fare (chicken cacciatore, meatball sandwich, spaghetti & meatballs), there's plenty of things we really want to taste. (Assuming they're well-executed, of course!)

The back room has cozy maroon booths and black and white photos

Side dishes of roasted brussel sprouts with bacon, sauteed sweet pea tendrils and crispy speck had me excited (yeah, sorry, brussel sprouts and speck excite me). I also want to try the fried artichokes with shrimp, mint, garlic and capers, and the chickpea fries with fontina fonduta, and the grilled blue bass with roasted baby yams and cavolo nero, which is the priciest entree at $24. Everything else is reasonably-priced, at least for increasingly dear Los Feliz. The take-out deli portion, in the space next door, will open in a few more weeks.

The dinner menu also features a pizza with optional toppings and Little Dom's famous rice balls. Breakfast and lunch prices are a tad lower on some items.

Palm Springs weekend: 2008 edition

an apartment building near my hotel
Eating L.A. spent the weekend at the Palm Springs Film Festival, and as at most film festivals, eating wasn't the raison d'etre. It can be hard to get a square meal at a festival -- in Cannes, I've subsisted for many days in a row on nothing but squiggles of pâté piped onto mini-toasts, and in Park City, I've resorted to alternating energy bars with sandwiches sold outside of screening rooms. Friday night, I went to a party at one of Palm Springs' newer restaurants, the Tropicale. The restaurant/lounge is owned by former partners from L.A.'s Tahiti and Indigo, and it definitely had a more Hollywood feel than most places in the desert. The hors d'oeuvres were tasty and I liked the flat-screen TV fireplace in the lobby, the spacious heated patio and the kitschy tropical mural over the bar. On Satruday, I was happy to find a new cafe just down the street from the Trina Turk boutique. Jake's Ready-to-Eat (right) has prepared foods, lush salads (Asian chicken salad at left), meaty sandwiches, two darling patios and even a full patio bar for evening cocktails, and it's a real step forward for the area. Saturday night, it was charcuterie and chocolate fondue for dinner at a cocktail party at the stylish Viceroy hotel, and Sunday, the awards brunch was held at Spencer's Restaurant -- like most of Palm Springs, a bit staid, but so relaxing, you feel like melting. Bit by bit, Palm Springs restaurants are starting to improve, but it's an extremely slow process.

LaMill Coffee opens: too spiffy for scruffy Silver Lake?

chandeliers and murals in the red-walled cafe

LaMill's interior designers Scott Mangan and Nick Bianco at Rubbish Interiors went all out for LaMill Coffee's elegant interior, having custom green croco-vinyl chairs made, recovering vintage sky blue slipper chairs, ordering up a hand-painted French mythological mural. Then there's the one of a kind pounded brass espresso machine from Italy and the marble-walled WCs... It's très Parisien, but it is too much for the scruffy-bearded dog lovers of Silver Lake?

consulting chef Michael Cimarusti of Providence

Yes, it's out with the free dog biscuits and in with the Asian pork belly with arugula with the closing of the Backdoor Bakery and the opening of LaMill. I'm just happy there's finally more than one place to get a really good cup of coffee in the area, and LaMill's cappucinos are the stuff of dreams. Well, wide-awake dreams. Welcome to the hood, and we hope you decide to stay open late for the dessert-starved denizens of the area. The pounded brass espresso steamliner

LaMill gears up: an early report

Chowhounder Revets2 got an early taste of LaMill Coffee, which still plans to open Friday morning. I've taken the liberty of reblogging his (her?) report, because you really don't want to read the whole annoying LaMill thread where various posters debate whether the baristas at Intelligentsia have attitude or not.

"Went to the last soft opening lunch at the new LA MILL CAFFÉ.
It's more like an experience. so at opening, if you're dashing in before work to get
a quick cuppa joe and expect to clock in on-time, don't.
Expect:- an elegant and modern european café, not an american coffee house- coffee for coffee geeks: chemex, siphon, a one-of-a-kind in the US, barely out of the
box, hand pounded, 80th anniversary, Marzocco, clover, etc.- specialty coffee drinks that would take 1st prize at any World Barista Championship.
Simple, innovative, out of this world food (loved my BLT made with pork
belly)- professional, knowledgeable service.
LA MILL owners, Michael and team members get high marks for this unique venue, for lifting up the third world communities who supply them, for being earnest and true to an original vision.
Approach the opening with PATIENCE. new ventures are challenging.
Go with grace and enjoy the ride.
And if you want the real deal, maybe wait until the middle of next week, not
friday." Revets2 on Chowhound

Taste test: Meltdown's cheesy goodness

Meltdown's cozy patio -- kids' menu too, take your baby!

Even though we're basically a Hollywood-and-points east blog (god forbid we should invoke the dreaded Eastside label), we do like to mix it up now and then. Especially since every other Saturday I'm stuck near Culver City around lunchtime while my son tries to get beyond his green belt in karate. It's hard to tear yourself away from Surfas, but I still hadn't tried Meltdown, the charming little grilled cheese restaurant that's now open on Saturdays for lunch. I said it about The Point and I'll say it again: Those people in Culver City really know how to launch a concept. Simple idea: grilled cheese with numerous variations, soup, coleslaw, quirky sodas. That's it. Good quality ingredients. Nice outdoor patio with heaters. Super clean, efficient service. It doesn't seem that hard but I can't say there's one place over around Silver Lake that would fit that description. Of course, Culver City was lucky to have super-wide sidewalks and lots of underutilized spaces.
Anyway, I had a perfectly-executed classic tuna melt on marble rye bread -- I should have gone with the half sandwich and soup because it was easily enough for two meals. The tomato soup wasn't quite as creamy as I might have liked, but someone who actually likes tomatoes might enjoy it. The array of sweet melts like goat cheese, fig and honey or brie and apricot is intriguing, so I'll definitely be back to finish exploring the melts.
I also had time to walk around and check out all the new restaurants still under construction, like the styley Akasha, below, which is going to be groovy and organic and biodegradable and stuff. Further up the street, there's another M Cafe de Chaya and Father's Office II opening soon. Excellent, beer for Saturday lunch!

Silver Lake's newest pho: Lu Subs

You'd have to be a food detective to figure out that a new pho shop has opened in Silver Lake, hidden between Ralph's and Citibank on Glendale Blvd. Lu Subs started out as a water shop and recently branched into pho and inexplicably, Italian-style sandwiches and subs. "Do you have bahn mi?" we asked. "No, Italian sandwiches," the Vietnamese manager said cheerfully. We tried to explain that the people of Silver Lake would like bahn mi, please, and he said he would take it under consideration. We didn't try the pho yet, but there's chicken, beef, beef ball and shrimp varieties at the reasonable price of $4.99 or $5.99 for the steak/shrimp/beef ball combo. Also spring rolls, French dip, subs, and Vietnamese coffee. Open every day, 9 am to 8:30 pm. A few tables, zero atmosphere, and do not try to park at the very rear of the lot, it's virtually impossible to back out.
Lu Subs
2470 Glendale Blvd.
(323) 660-8313

Our recs for Restaurant Week

The DineLA restaurant week coming up Jan. 27-Feb. 8 has a large selection of restaurants, but we're guessing you're not just dying to try the cafe at American Girl Place. Here's some recommendations of places where it might be worth trying the discounted Restaurant Week prices: All'Angelo -- Beacon -- Grace -- Roy's -- Table 8 -- Violet.
But some, we don't quite get -- if you can't get out of Carousel or Mani's for $25 or Pete's Cafe for $34, you're doing something wrong.

Why does my pizza have barbecued chicken on it? R.I.P. Ed LaDou

How did pizza toppings go from pepperoni and mushroom to barbecue chicken, smoked salmon and brie? The trend towards ever-wackier toppings was largely launched by Ed LaDou , one of the originators of the "California pizza" revolution. LaDou, who was just 52, died of cancer Dec. 27 in Santa Monica. Wolfgang Puck tasted the creative pizzas LaDou was making in San Francisco and hired him as pizza maker when Spago opened in 1982. He later went on to open Caioti, and as the original menu consultant for the California Pizza Kitchen chain, he really left his mark on the pizza world. It's not his fault the trend has often resulted in baroque and unsuccessful concoctions -- he was said to say that the only thing you can't put on a pizza is something that doesn't taste good. And the pizzas that came of the early Spago were wonderful, certainly no comparison to a chain CPK pizza today.

What's closing: Silver Lake's Backdoor Bakery

I'm not shedding too many tears for the imminent demise of Back Door Bakery on Silver Lake Blvd. I know some people love this place, but the dogfights at your feet, undercooked or rotten fruit in the pastries, lack of ability to make an iced tea (at least a few years ago) and general griminess have always turned me off. They did have their good sides -- they used to give tours of the bakery to school groups, which the kids enjoyed, and my daughter's nursery school class painted one of the tables there. And I had a few breakfasts there which were fine as long as you avoided the pastry products.
But the departure of the Back Door and Eat Well mean there's two spaces available where someone with actual hygiene standards and good food can move in, which can only be a good thing. I'll get an update later today on the plans for the space.
Update: The commenters below referring to non-payment of salaries, etc., are referring to Eat Well, not the Backdoor Bakery. I have no knowledge of the financial particulars of the BackDoor Bakery, or of Eat Well, for that matter.

Go Rameniac!

As I explained to students when I spoke at Patric Kuh's foodwriting class at UCLA, many of the best personal blogs are the most focused. I gave The Great Taco Hunt and Rameniac's blog as examples of blogs that concentrate on one thing and do it really well. Well, Rameniac got a huge feature in today's L.A. Times food section listing his favorite ramen spots! (It looks like the traffic may have temporarily crashed his blog, so check back later.) Of course I can't help but be a little snarky...but isn't it great that bloggers are out there to help the Times find interesting restaurants?

What is and isn't opening in L.A.

EaterLA did a handy wrap-up on what is and isn't opening around town -- what the heck is happening Downtown? So many announced restaurants, so few that look to be opening soon.

In Silver Lake, Crackhead Minimall continues its transformation into Good Eating Minimall with the imminent arrival of Garage Pizza, joining Saito's Sushi, Agra Indian and Nadpob Thai. There's more Italian coming to the minimall further down Sunset, as well as Mongolian barbecue. We also hear there's changes afoot at Michelangelo's on Silver Lake Blvd. Eat Well seems to be permanently closed -- a great location for someone if they can manage to banish those pesky critters for good.

In Echo Park, Cafe Stella's owners are getting Artisan off the ground, while we await the arrival of Two Boots Pizza. Meanwhile, 15 is packing them in.

Any Eagle Rock and Highland Park updates? We're planning on trying Brownstone Pizza soon and for shame, I still haven't been to Bashan...any other recs in the area?

In South Pasadena, diners are awaiting the re-opening of Gus's Barbecue in February, hoping the new owners from The Original Top's Burgers will keep the great neon sign and revamp the menu. There's some details of the new menu on the website, including succotash with edamame, chopped salad with mango and gruyere mac 'n cheese.