Date syrup: a love letter

I'm not sure if you all are aware of the utter deliciousness of date syrup. I was first introduced to this wondrous substance when staying at a friend's house in France. Her father, an Iraqi Jew living in the South of France at the time (he now lives in Chiang Mai) is an amazing, if improvisational, cook. After dinner every night, he would lay out a casual spread of pain complet (freshly-baked whole wheat bread), nuts, dried fruit, tahini and date syrup, which was available at a chain of French health food stores. We would sit on their rooftop, dip the bread in tahini and date syrup and nibble on nuts as the sun set over the Mediterranean. It's not quite the same on my smoggy patio, but fortunately date syrup is widely available at Super King, Jon's Market or any other Middle Eastern market. My favorite use is drizzled on Greek yogurt with a sprinkling of walnuts, but its sweet, slightly fruity tang works on ice cream, toast and pretty much anyplace else you would use maple syrup, molasses or jam. Also, on Epicurious, there's a wonderful-sounding recipe for Olive oil couscous cake with creme fraiche and date syrup, and searching in French, I found a tip that a spoonful is good for coughs. So, if you've never had date syrup, perhaps now is the time for a trip to Super King.

Fix Coffee review from baby-friendly blog

(photo of Fix Coffee via Reservation for Three)

Suebee reviews the new Fix Coffee on Echo Park Ave. on her new blog Reservation For Three. She used to blog at Silver Lake Boulevard, but after moving to Echo Park and having a baby, she decided to review with an eye towards which restaurants are baby-friendly. She says Fix has gelato, panini and sandwiches in addition to really good coffee, so EatingLA will have to stop by soon.

King Hua: Easy dim sum in Alhambra

Wolf berry pudding -- dim sum dessert

My favorite dim sum for several years has been at Sea Harbour in distant Rosemead. I soon grew to prefer ordering from a menu with pictures to flagging down a cart, especially since I've been flagging carts in Chinatown since I was just a wee lass. So when I heard that several chefs or other personnel from Sea Harbour had decamped to the new, closer King Hua in Alhambra, I was itching to try it out. Steamed egg tofu with fresh scallop in dry scallop sauce

The only trouble was that it was about 110 degrees in the San Gabriel Valley the week I heard about it, as Jonathan Gold noted in his review, which just didn't put me in the mood for dim sum. So we finally convened a small group to eat there, only to find Abby's much larger Pleasant Palate group also sequestered at the rear of the restaurant. It's a large place with a huge parking lot; even though we made reservations, there was no "sweating hordes," as Gold described, waiting at 11 am on a Saturday.
King Hua was much better than I had expected, although some items perhaps lacked the delicacy and finesse of their Sea Harbour counterparts. The menu is identical, with all the greatest hits like eggplant stuffed with shrimp and shark fin dumplings. Kathy thought the pan-grilled pork with dried scallop bun was one of the best dim sum items she's had and we all liked the bizarre "seafood salad roll," which is basically a blob of shrimp and mayonaise deep fried in breadcrumbs. I thought fried corn pastry were going to be my new favorite food, but they were too chewy with rice flour to truly delight. Rice noodle with chicken and bitter melon was bitter and slimy but in a very good way. Steamed egg tofu with scallops, my favorite dish at Sea Harbour, acquired an oddly murky brown gravy. Shrimp and chive dumplings

Have you ever found a dish you love more than the way it actually tastes?That's how I feel about wolf berry pudding. It's got wolf or goji berries, which are healthy, it clears the palate after salty dim sum, and it looks like the inside of a lovely little aquarium. Somehow it doesn't matter that the actual flavor of it is just sort of sweetened clear jello.

Verdict: Well worth a try if you've exhausted the other dim sum choices or are just looking for a less-crowded place. Also handy if you want to hit Fosselman's, Target or Costco afterwards.
King Hua
2000 W. Main St., Alhambra
626-282-0905

Carne Asada 1, Supervisors O: Taco truck law overturned

The controversial law requiring taco trucks in unincorporated L.A. County to move every hour or face huge fines has been overturned due to "vague language," reports the L.A. Times. Back to the drawing board, you taco-hating supervisors, to try to write up a law that makes some sense!

L.A. Staycation: Super King market in the L.A. Times

(click here for the larger version via LATimes.com)

I know, it's a little late, but I just now caught up on my Sunday L.A. Times. Great cartoon by Mimi Pond (full disclosure: we were in baby group together) about San Fernando Road's Super King market. She caught the full we've-fallen-down-the-hole-into-Kazhakstan vibe perfectly. Here's a link to Mimi's cartoons for the L.A. Times.

Reservoir getting ready; Michelangelo opens this week

Reservoir's owner/chef Gloria Felix tells us that the Silver Lake Blvd. restaurant is on track for opening end of September/early October. The beer and wine license is in place and she'll start out doing dinner only, 7 nights a week, hopefully adding weekend brunch once it's up and running. Cuisine will be fresh, seasonal and California-inspired.

In other Silver Lake news, Michelangelo should open later this week on Rowena -- looks like some competition for Nicky D's next door!

And LAist reports on the opening of Naturewell, a new smoothie shop near Cafe Flore on Sunset.

Beijing-style yogurt at Alhambra's Blue Cherry

Chowhound's resident Chinese expert Jerome posted recently about Blue Cherry in Alhambra, which has the usual frozen yogurt but also makes Beijing-style yogurt in-house. The yogurt shop makes a refreshing stop after a savory, salty meal at King Hua or Pho 79. Frozen yogurt in plain, mango and blueberry is all-natural and quite nice and creamy, with the usual fruit toppings available. But even better, you can take home some Beijing-style yogurt for breakfast the next day, or try some on the spot in the little ceramic crocks that are apparently just like the ones in Beijing. The small size yogurt pictured above is $2.00 for about 8 oz. and it's really tasty yogurt -- tangier than Greek yogurt but rich and creamy at the same time, with some sugar already added. So even if you missed out on going to Beijing for the Olympics, you can get a little taste of the city at Blue Cherry.
Blue Cherry
137 W. Main St.
Alhambra
626-281-8568

What's in store for restaurants: The Western Foodservice Expo

The Trader Vic's commemorative mug in gold. The folks at mug creators Tiki Farm say the new Trader Vic's is still on track for Downtown L.A. near the Staples Center.

EatingLA slogged through dozens of aisles of fry-o-lators and white chefs' coats at the Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo this week to see if there were any food trends worth reporting. This show is mostly big on restaurant equipment, with just enough food samples to make a lunch of French fries from the Washington Potato booth, cheese from Wisconsin Cheese and ravioli from someone in Massachusetts. How about a ready-made bar complete with rainbow-colored martini sugar?

The Gourmet Food aisle and the Nightlife booth -- with several breweries and a few liquor companies -- were the best parts, as well as the Thai area. But it wasn't all just Crocs and biodegradable takeout containers -- there were several interesting booths.
At the Stone Brewing Booth, we sampled some of their excellent IPA and some complex Riptide Stout from Scotland's Brewdog. Stone's Stuart Knight also introduced us to The Bruery, a new Belgian-style craft brewery out of Placentia in Orange County. Their beers are available at Silver Lake Wine, Pure Luck and the Stuffed Sandwich.

Not sure why soaking your feet in mud is part of the Restaurant Expo...

We tried a new line of liqueurs called La Tradicion based on Mexican aguas like jamaica, tamarindo, and horchata -- a little odd, but I'd check out the tamarindo since I'm a sucker for that flavor. And at the Thai pavilion, where Tommy Tang was hanging out (remember when his restaurant was the hippest place?), we tasted longan, lichee and tamarind and found out that they actually make wine in Thailand -- Monsoon Valley red or white, pictured at left.

So it was an interesting afternoon, and hopefully we'll never go to a restaurant that sells all those frozen potstickers and taquitos they were displaying.

Sri Lanka Day festival this Saturday

Last year I happened upon the Sri Lanka Day festival on the Santa Monica Promenade and was surprised at how big it was. It runs from 10 am to 10 pm Saturday Aug. 23 and there's dancers, various booths and tons of Sri Lankan specialties like rotis, short eats and stringers all along the Promenade. There are hardly any Sri Lankan restaurants in L.A., so here's your yearly chance for Sri Lankan food, which is kind of like Indian, but more oriented towards street food/snacky stuff, I'd say.
There's also Miss Sri Lanka America and Miss Teen Sri Lanka pageant, and a parade with dancers, drummers and more at 4 pm.

Gyenari -- hard to pronounce, easier to eat

I wish I had taken this picture of the Bright Bloom dessert, but I didn't...

It's funny how incredibly important geography is in L.A. At a press tasting for the new Korean BBQ restaurant Gyenari, on Culver City's most hopping block, the Westside crowd were all like, "This is so much more convenient than going to Koreatown." Well, it's not more convenient for me, but I can still see the appeal of a place like Gyenari. (First Gjelina, now Gyenari -- why not just call your restaurant Gynecologist?)

There' s a patio and large bar area in front

While I'm extremely adventurous when it comes to Chinese and Thai food, I sometimes find Korean restaurants kind of intimidating. Plus I've been to a few where, frankly, the meat just isn't that great. The cavernous, loungey Gyenari is undeniably Americanized, but two days later, I'm still thinking about the delicious caramelization we achieved after playing with our Gyenari Galbee beef shortribs on the gas grill. I also loved the shrimp and kim chee mandu dumpling -- like an uptown potsticker.

Galbee shortribs, pre-caramelization, with Kurobata pork belly in front

Other dishes we tasted included a very solid bibimbap with shortribs and japchae glass noodles -- anyone know a good place in Koreatown for these?

Another good thing about this dinner was that there were actual vegetables -- unusual at a tasting dinner -- from panchan of kimchee, asparagus, zucchini and spicy shredded radish to fresh veggies with the black cod in garlic sauce, and there's several vegetarian dishes on the menu. Dessert of banana cream pie and green tea donuts with raspberry buttermilk dipping sauce was nice, but even better was the incredibly refreshing Bright Bloom -- a large dish of milky shaved ice topped with an array of fresh fruits and mango sorbet. So if the eight miles from Culver City to Koreatown seems a tad far, or if you'd like a sparkling lichee martini with your non-threatening Korean BBQ, Gyenari is worth a try.

In the Times: Thi and Animal

In the L.A. Times today, Chowhound editor Thi visits several places to get Vietnamese and Chinese breakfasts, including his current obsession Pho Minh in El Monte, which has apparently become the newly-appointed pho capital of L.A.

S. Irene and I are definitely on the same wavelength today...I was as disappointed by the eggs benedict at Anisette as she was (just have a croissant, was her recommendation.)

And although she was harsher on Animal than I was, I can see where she's coming from. Fortunately, we ordered most of the dishes she seemed to like, including the asparagus salad (pictured at left), the raw amberjack and the ribs. And although Animal seems to promise a sort of noise-to-tail eating, there's nothing resembling the grouse, ox tongue, chitterlings, tripe and snails found on the menu at St. John's in London.

Finally, Josh Lurie of New Angeles magazine has a nice story on high-end coffee tasters.

(Times links seem funky today, go buy a paper and support journalism in our city.)

L.A. Chinese mystery continues; more Silver Lake news

L.A. Chinese across from Rambutan on Sunset is surely one of L.A.'s scariest restaurants, from the peeling sign to the prison cafeteria interior to the seeming indifference to actual customers. I may have eaten there 20 or so years ago, but more recent reports say the food never really changed. Apparently it's been closed up for a few months, and there's plastic sheeting covering the windows, so I took a look around to see what was going on. The lady at Tiffany's pet shop next door snapped "No changes. No changes!" when I asked what was going on. However, she did pass along the helpful info that grey cats tend to have a good temperament. Anyone know what's going on there?

Gobi coming to Sunset

In the same area, Gobi Mongolian BBQ is finally making progress next to Andiamo. Interestingly, the space used to be home of one of L.A.'s few Afghan restaurants, Magnolia, so it's just moving a few countries east. Should open around October, according to a worker.

Reservoir looking good

Esther asks, "What's going on with Reservoir?" Well, it's looking much closer to completion...we'll let you know if we get any more updates.

And the L.A. Times does an interesting story on Vegan Spot in Silver Lake...did this ever appear in print? Who can tell anymore. Some people are scared of fake meat, but not the Vegan Spot, which offers fake Reubens and Philly cheese steaks, as well as vegan Twinkies. Has anyone tried them yet?

Daisy Mint chics up Pasadena

a crystal chandelier and ornate picture frames decorate the storefront Daisy Mint

Back in January, a Chowhound poster first tried the new Pasadena Thai fusion spot Daisy Mint and wrote a glowing review cryptically titled Pasadena Discovery. I took note, but the location near Pasadena City College seemed a bit out of the way, so it took me this long to get there. Started by a couple of ex-designers, the space is adorably decorated in the latest spinster-chic style. (Seems to be an increasingly popular style!) The menu includes most of the Thai staples, like slightly sweet but well-constructed drunken noodles, beef salad and various curries. But there's also a few Korean or Vietnamese-inspired dishes and Amerasian specials like steak with scalloped potatoes. No liquor license, but a vast selection of teas includes a refreshing if rather sweet lemon Thai iced tea. Fusion often means sweet, and I guess this place is no exception.
terrific colorful eggplant salad

But the tangy, spicy dressing on the eggplant salad was a big hit, and the large charbroiled sections of eggplant were a nice change from the usual chopped presentation of this dish. Sophie's chicken satay had bit too much curryish marinade for her, but I thought it had a good flavor. There's a choice of white or brown rice, prices are exceedingly reasonable, and the Chowhounds seem to love the pho, the garlic greenbeans and the salmon with creamy cilantro sauce. Don't come here looking for a super-authentic Thai experience, but rather for a lively atmosphere, an interesting selection of Asian flavors and, bonus, no corkage!
Update: I've returned to Daisy Mint several times, and found several more excellent choices. In particular, the kimchee fried rice is addictive.
Daisy Mint
1218 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
(626)792-2999

R.I.P. Chris Rubin, local food and wine writer

I'm sorry to report that Chris Rubin, longtime food, wine and travel writer for publications including Travel & Leisure, the L.A. Times, Variety and the Los Feliz Ledger, died Friday in Los Angeles of complications of cancer at just 49 years old. Here's the Variety obit for Chris. Most recently he was L.A. editor for Gayot Publications. Chris had a wicked sense of humor and a way with words. His love of food, wine and fine spirits was matched only by his intolerance of smokers...no patio dining at Cafe Stella for Chris! A world traveller and bon vivant, he left us at far too young an age, and with who else could I have discussed obscure bands of the 1970s and 80?
Here's an article Chris wrote on Kopi Luwak, the coffee harvested from civet droppings. And here's a Variety article on how to deal with sommeliers, and an L.A. Times piece on Tom Leykis and his wine collection.

Tart tries again

An invitation to a tasting preview alerts us that the country-modern, culinarily-problematic Tart at the Farmer's Daughter motel is trying for yet another comeback with recently-hired chef Lauren Kyles. With a great patio, this could be the perfect alternative to the yawn-inducing restaurants of the Grove -- if they can just get the food, service and consistency to all come together this time around. Developing...

Viet Wrap 'n Roll coming soon to Atwater

The space next door will be fashionably minimalist, with raw concrete floors

EatingLA spoke to Viet from Viet Noodle Bar today about his new sandwich and wrap offshoot next to the noodle bar. The compact Viet Wrap 'n Roll, at 3133 Glendale Blvd., is nearly finished, with a stainless steel ordering counter up front and room alongside for several small tables to eat in. Viet says just a few more weeks until permit issues are taken care of, at which time he'll pop a hole in the wall to make a doorway from the groovy cafe next door. He promises fish noodle and beef noodle wraps, as well as bahn mi -- hooray! -- in varieties like chicken, beef and more.

Denise Hamilton embraces vanishing Hollywood in "The Last Embrace"

Hamilton starts the tour at the refurbished Du-par's

When mystery author Denise Hamilton set out to write her latest novel, "The Last Embrace," she didn't want her characters to only frequent old Hollywood standbys like Musso and Frank and the Pacific Dining Car. Hamilton, a former L.A. Times reporter and successful novelist, is also a major foodie, who breaks into every conversation with a tale of the amazing turkey eggs she picked up at the farmer's market or the homemade jams they make at the Russian deli she took me to on our last literary tour of L.A.
Cochinita pibil tostada, aguas of cucumber and jamaica at Loteria

So she carefully selected the bars and restaurants that appeared in the story, although the stock of spots that were around in the 1940s is dwindling each year.
"The Last Embrace" is a noir thriller inspired by the story of actress Jean Spangler, who disappeared in 1949, just two years after The Black Dahlia was found. Hamilton and I set out on a recent tour to see some of the places the characters eat and drink, while chatting about her inspiration for the book. Pig detailing on vintage tiles at the Pig 'n Whistle

Our first stop was Du-par's and Farmer's Market, where the real Spangler was last seen buying produce the day before her torn purse was found in Griffith Park. Although the starlets of 1949 were likely stuck eating diner food, we decided to take advantage of today's wider choices and had a cochinita pibil tostada, huevos mexicanas and cucumber and jamaica drinks at Loteria Grill.
Hamilton explained that the Spangler had been mixed up with notorious gangster Mickey Cohen, who figures in the book. But she also incorporated a fascinating plotline about stop-motion animation, inspired by the work of Ray Harryhausen.

Though closed for many years, period details survive from the Pig's early days

Sci fi enthusiasts like Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury and Forrest Ackerman used to meet up at Clifton's Cafeteria, which is also mentioned in the story, along with the original Canter's in Boyle Heights and Taylor's Steakhouse.
We moved on to the Pig 'n Whistle, which of course was closed for more than 50 years until Chris Breed restored the building and re-opened it next to the Egyptian Theater. The manager showed us the back room, where studio execs and tout Hollywood used to strike up jam sessions. Of course, the book also mentions plenty of long-gone nightspots like the Trocadero and Slapsy Maxie's.
The book's protagonist, a former OSS female spy, spends a lot of time researching Spangler's disappearance in phone booth at a drugstore lunch counter. I spent plenty of my childhood at similar lunch counters at Schwab's, Newbery's and Owl Rexall, but they're all gone now.

Hamilton tries an orange phosphate at the Fair Oaks Pharmacy

So we stopped by the Fair Oaks Pharmacy in South Pasadena for excellent orange phosphates and chocolate egg creams, just like the femme sleuth would probably have ordered. I thought that might be the only counter of its type in the area, but L.A. history expert Chris Nichols later told me about Canoga Park's DeSoto Pharmacy soda fountain, another well-preserved piece of history.
Too bad it was a little early for a drink at the Frolic Room or the Formosa (they liked their cocktails in those days!). But I felt like I had revisited all the historic spots after reading "The Last Embrace," which deftly weaves together the end of the studio system, the plight of female spies after the war, Hollywood gangsters and their world as well as the real actress's rumored involvement with illegal abortionists and Kirk Douglas. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to savor the era of the Black Dahlia and Raymond Chandler against a backdrop of historic L.A.

Fresh & Easy coming soon to Alhambra

I have no idea why, but the post I did when Fresh & Easy opened in Glassell Park continues to get more comments than pretty much anything else on EatingLA. Is it spam? Who knows, but mostly the commentors seem to love it. Anyway, for all those rabid commenters, Fresh & Easy is also moving in to Alhambra soon on Main St. across from Target and King Hua. For me, it's of no use -- I do maybe 75% of my shopping at Trader Joe's, 15% at farmer's markets and 10% at Ralph's or Pavilions with occasional forays to Whole Foods and various ethnic markets, so I don't need to add another kind of market to the mix. But apparently it makes sense for some people. So enjoy.

News bites: Palate, Panda, beer and more

Skillet airstream food truck in Seattle

Glendale is smokin' hot. Never really thought I'd say that, but S. Irene agrees. Not too surprisingly, she loved Palate Food & Wine. I'm glad I snagged a weekend rezzie yesterday before this came out. This place is one of the few restaurants that's been good since it's very first week -- here's my review from May.

And also in Glendale: People see Panda Express as "healthy," "with real flavor" and with "lots of vegetables," according to the L.A. Times article Panda Express Thrives on Orange Chicken. Although a serving of orange chicken has about the same fat and calories as a Big Mac, actually I'd take the orange chicken too. But did you know the 1,100 store chain started as the Panda Inn in Pasadena with the first outlet in the Glendale Galleria in 1983?

Almost in Glendale: Atwater's 55 Degrees is doing a Belgian beer flight Sunday Aug. 17 from 5-9:30 pm for $18 for five beers. Call 323-662-5556 for reservations.

And Details magazine visits gourmet and oldschool food carts and trucks around the country in the story A Street Cart Named Desire, including Highland Park's El Pique taco truck. The ones in Portland, Seattle and New York are pretty snaz...

Bustelo coffee gets cool

No matter how often I go to Intelligentsia and Lamill, I don't seem to be able to turn into a permanent coffee snob. In fact, until the fancy places opened up, I usually drank Cafe Bustelo espresso in the festive red and yellow cans, which is only about $4 for 12 oz. at your friendly neighborhood Hispanic market. I still think it's pretty solid stuff for the price, so when Bustelo offered to send me a sampler of some of their new products, I said, "Si, por favor!" Bustelo Cool Cafe con Leche is a small can of coffee similar to the Starbucks Doubleshot. It's got a nice flavor over ice, and it's sweetened with evaporated cane juice, not high-fructose corn syrup. I wouldn't mind it even stronger though, because if I'm going to use 130 calories on coffee, I'd like it to really wake me up. Even better was a new type of Cafe Bustelo they sent, Supreme by Bustelo premium gourmet espresso. I'm not sure which local stores carry it, but if you want a really well-priced dark roast coffee, give it a try. My current mix is half Bustelo, half Peet's French roast -- what's your favorite coffee for a sturdy dark roast taste combined with a decent price?

All these products are also available at JavaCabana (email me if you want a discount code for the website).
Product rating: Bustelo Cool -- 3 spoons (out of 5)
Bustelo Supreme -- 4 1/2 spoons (out of 5)

Cocktail paradise: The L.A. Home Tiki Bar tour

host Alan Smart in his impeccably-detailed Echo Park tiki bar

As a lover of both cocktails and outlandish home decor, I couldn't pass up the 1st Annual L.A. Home Tiki Bar Tour, organized by one of Tiki Central's members Kevin Murphy. I'm sort of a tiki tourist -- although I'm not a regular at Tiki Oasis or anything, I've harbored a fondness for the aesthetic ever since The Third Eye club re-launched the exotica craze...ack, that was 20 years ago! Saturday afternoon, about 40 people all dressed in their finest aloha wear boarded a large tour bus which drove us to our first stop, Mark and Jem Noland's mint Living Conditioned home in Porter Ranch. Mid century modern flirted with tasteful tiki in their lovely home, where their daughter (left) welcomed us at the door in a pint-sized Hawaiian hostess gown. Gem, who bakes organic goodies under the name Little Brownie Bakeshop, supplied us with treats throughout the evening, starting with coconut cupcakes, while hubby Mark mixed up a different tropical cocktail at each stop, using all fresh-squeezed juices. When the Nolands bought their house (right) just a few months ago, it already had original tiki art on the walls and all the original appliances and bath fixtures. Mark's mai tai (most of the recipes were from Beachbum Berry's books) was super-refreshing, not at all cloying like some tropical cocktails. We moved on to Fog Cutters and sushi at Darrell's beautiful 1930s-style tiki room in Silver Lake. Then it was Mark's original Bamboozle cocktail, whose coconut flavor paired well with spicy beef from Northridge's excellent Lum-Ka-Naad Thai restaurant, at Peter and Lauren's lavish tiki lounge in their 1949 moderne Silver Lake home, complete with red-lit wooden tiki in the backyard. Next up was Planter's Punch and Jem's brownies at Alan and Michael's amazing Halekahiki bar in their Echo Park basement, a womb-like Tiki wonderland where nearly every inch, including the ceiling and beams, was covered in exotic detailing and vintage surf and Hawaiiana items. The evening ended woozily with crudites and something combining champagne and rum back at the Waikiki Womb at Kevin's staggering Glendale backyard, which includes several fountains, a bamboo bridge, a sandy beach overlooking the pool, and indoor and outdoor tiki bars. Those tiki people really know how to mix up some good cocktails...who knew rum could be so versatile? But most of all, they really know how to decorate a bar!

(a vintage tiki tableau, above)

Here's the recipe for the Bamboozle:
1 jigger Barbancourt rum
1 jigger Lemon Hart rum
1 jigger maraschino liqueur
1 jigger cognac
1 jigger coconut cream
2 oz. guava juice
4 oz. pineapple juice
Blend well, serve over ice...relax.
(This should make at least two cocktails, maybe more)

San Diego: burgers, brew, pizza and 'cue

The chowteens and I took a quick trip to San Diego this week, and although most of the time we were too busy basking in the warm ocean to worry about food, we managed to hit two of San Diego's best places for burgers: The Linkery and Phil's BBQ. Kathy and I had a more civilized, adult meal at the Linkery last year, with some amazing cask-conditioned ale. Of course the joys of their ales were lost on the kids, and possibly the grass-fed burger (left) with pastured egg, pineapple and house-cured bacon was a bit baroque for Sam as well, but I love their menu and my Mission Brewing Amber Alt was just right with the housemade chorizo sausage. We also hit Phil's BBQ which I gather draws some controversy from San Diego Chowhounds over whether it's "real" barbecue, as it's not wood-smoked, but rather grilled. Phil's huge new location, on nondescript Sports Arena Blvd. amid tons of chain restaurants, is rather daunting, with a long but fast-moving line, beepers to tell you when to pick up your 'cue and a fend-for-yourself table policy. But it's hard to complain -- prices are reasonable for huge amounts of good-quality food, the charred bits on the chicken and ribs are perfectly distributed, although the sauce is a bit sweet, it has a pleasant tang with a little bite, and the coleslaw was one of the best I've had. And although my ribs were were terrific, Sam said his BBQ cheeseburger (right) topped with an onion ring was even better. We were pretty stuffed from Phil's, but we stopped by Extraordinary Desserts anyway. I'm afraid I have to agree with some of the Chowhounds -- the desserts are extraordinary to look at, but for me, the flavors aren't strong or distinguished enough to make them worth the calories. But San Diegans are still lucky to have a pleasant nighttime patio place to get desserts, and Sophie said she would be glad to host her sweet 16 party there.
(apple pie with caramel sauce, left; chocolate Viking cake with caramel, right)

Roy's opens in Pasadena

native dancers at Roy's; below, Roy himself

The seemingly ageless Roy Yamaguchi, who opened 385 North in L.A. back in 1984, came back to town last night to open his 37th Roy's Restaurant in Pasadena. Located just across the street from Vroman's bookstore and the Laemmle cinemas at Colorado and El Molino, it gives moviegoers a place to stop in for a Pomegranate Patron Mojito before catching a specialty film. Watch out for the Hawaiian martini though -- the combo of vodka and coconut rum is a bit headache-inducing. At last night's opening benefit party, fusiony appetizers like shumai meatballs and duck confit puffs were delish, but the crush of Pasadena haute society all attired in aloha wear, paired with the nearly naked native dancers, paired with two Hawaiian martinis was all a bit much, so we retired to the quiet of Vroman's.

Central Coast Wine, Food...and Beer!

Roasted tomatoes were paired with pesto and burrata at Mozza's stand

Yes, I know it's probably considered heresy to make a beeline for the Firestone Brewing booth at Wally's Central Coast Wine & Food Celebration, with some of the top wineries in the state participating. But the day was hot and steamy and Spago's softshell crab sandwich and heirloom tomato tart were crying out to be paired with Firestone's new Union Jack IPA. More tomatoes appeared in Spago's tart paired with a softshell crab sandwich

I got in plenty of wine tastes too, starting off with whites and roses, including the spicy, unusual Sea Smoke Gratis chardonnay and the refreshing Plata Rose of Syrah. It was a bit muggy for red, but the Qupe Bien Nacido Hillside Estate Syrah stood up well to the Hitching Post's terrific pulled pork sandwiches. Other great tastes included cherry tomatoes roasted on the vine with burrata from Mozza and tuna handrolls from Sushi Roku. By the time I got to Jar's pork belly sandwich with homemade pickles, I was getting pretty full, so I shared the rich bite with a frisky whippet named Giselle who came with Barrie Lynn, the Cheese Impresario. I couldn't choose between ricotta berry gelato from Gail Silverton's Gelato Bar and strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberry ice cream from Spago, so of course I had both. Gelato from Gail Silverton's Gelato Bar

This event, which benefits the Michael Bonaccorsi Scholarship Fund at UC Davis, is always a great chance to try wines from all over the central coast along with some wonderful tastes of L.A. and the central coast...now if only they could hold the next one in February!