Spam tacos and mead? Got Tums?

No, it's not an April Fool's joke...Patina's Spotlight Cafe will offer Spam tacos (and mead, which goes so well with Spam, right?) tomorrow, April 1 at the Spamapalooza event in honor of ticket sales starting for "Spamalot."
Two tacos for $3 or three tacos for $5, if you can eat that many.
Other activities at the Music Center lunchtime event will include killer rabbit throwing, cow tossing and a can o'Spam scavenger hunt.
Patina Spotlight Cafe
125 N. Grand Ave.
Downtown

In the news: Bees in Silver Lake, Canele's new spring prix-fixe and Pasadena's best website

Amy Seidenwurm, from the LATimes article

Silver Lake beekeepers Russell Bates and Amy Seidenwurm belong to a club called the Backwards Beekeepers and say keeping bees is like having "50,000 pets" in the L.A. Times article Urban Beekeepers. Go, locavores!

Canele introduces a very affordable $22 prix fixe menu on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, says Atwater Village Newbie. Homey dishes include porcini risotto, ziti and meatloaf.

The Hometown Pasadena website relaunches with an appropriately Craftsman-like design and a good section on Pasadena-area Eats & Drinks. Hometown Pasadena is also a book, and both the website and book are published by Colleen Dunn Bates, publisher/editor of guidebook Eat: Los Angeles, to which I contributed. Stay tuned for an updated edition next year.

Umami's new flavors: scallop burger, "rare" veggie burger and more

open-faced scallop burger and eggplant fries
Umami Burger has added some awesome new items to the menu, and several new employees have been added to help deal with the crowds, particularly in the evenings. But when I arrived a few minutes before 1 pm on Monday, I was again the only person there. After I sat down, the whole place filled up almost instantly -- strange, everyone seems to eat lunch at 1:15. I had almost decided on the Hatch chile burger with five kinds of chiles when the owner, Adam, told me they were also making the scallop burger he had told me about earlier. He also swore that they had been working on the fries, which most people felt had too much fluffy interior and not enough crispy exterior. So when my friend Diane arrived, she ordered the Umami burger and fries, while I had the scallop burger and eggplant fries -- I can't resist anything with eggplant in it. A plate of various pickles arrived for us to taste, with standout spicy slices, tangy pickled carrots, and a chutney-like mixture. My scallop burger was served open-faced, the better to highlight the flavor of the grilled scallops that were somehow formed into a loose patty enlivened by seaweed, basil and a creamy sauce that was somewhere between aioli and hollandaise. If the scallop burger was this good, I can't wait to see what he's going to do with the lobster roll that's coming soon. The eggplant fries were nice and crispy and the regular fries were improved from the first time, but I hear the malt liquor-battered onion rings are the best way to go. Although this place is all about the meat, the new veggie burger, "full of umami flavors like mushrooms," Adam says cryptically, is served "rare, au jus" with some sort of faux blood (beet juice?) to satisfy the umami-craving vegetarians out there. With easy parking and two minute drive from my office, I think I'm going to have to work my way through the whole menu here.

Cupcake Challenge 2009: Brave tasters report back

Melli Belli's lavender and gingerbreak cupcakes from Happy Go Marni

I was taking a sugar break this year, so a few bloggers with much sturdier sweet tooths than I took on the Cupcake Challenge judging this year. I really hesitate to use the phrase "cupcake porn," but if you check out these blogger's posts, I warn you, you're going to be wanting a cupcake.
HC from LA and OC Foodventures reports that that cupcake makers kicked up the creative ingredients this year, with flavors like lemon blueberry mascarpone and the Oinkster's chocolate brioche bread pudding.
My new Twitter friend Happy Go Marni reported that among the more unique flavors was a lavender cupcake from Melli Belli -- and this year she remembered to bring Tupperware. I remember that the best part of last year's challenge was scooping up all the leftover cupcakes to bring back to happy family members.
Winners to be posted soon.

Craft Beer Fest tickets now on sale and two more beer events

For those of who asking how to get tickets for the Craft Beer Fest L.A. on May 9 at the Echoplex, they're now on sale through Ticketweb. Including the service fee, it's $36.25 but I'd say it's well worth it, with unlimited tastings all day, food, music, and educational talks about beer, cheese and more. No, it's not available on Goldstar -- there's no discounts, since the proceeds all go to the 826LA charity. This is a homegrown event with all real craft beers and local food artisans like beer gelato from Scoops, and I'm gonna get my ticket right this minute before they sell out.

If you need beer before May 9, there are still Goldstar (discounted) tickets available for Learn About Wine's American Craft Beer revolution event on Saturday, April 25 at 4 pm. It's $39 on Goldstar while they last, $69 full price.

Discounted tickets are sold out for Drink.Eat.Play's L.A. Beer Festival next weekend, but regular price tickets are still available at $40 for the two-day event next weekend. This one has lots of local beers as well as the big producers, so you can compare Bohemia to the Bruery, should you be so inclined.

Is the Frequent Flyer now the Culinary Compendium?

When I was just a wee college lass, a friend of mine used to bring the Trader Joe's Frequent Flyer up to Northern California for us to marvel at. He was from Orange County, and at the time none of us were familiar with the joys of Trader Joe's, but we enjoyed the folksy copywriting and antiquey design. The latest edition has been dubbed the Culinary Compendium, and Notcot posted about it yesterday.
It's amazing that the flyer still has the same funky clipart and writing style as it did back when there were only a handful of stores in Southern California.
I know some of my friends have switched to Fresh & Easy, but I'm still a very faithful TJ's shopper, since I have two starving teenagers who are too used to eating JoJos and Tofutti cuties and Just Chicken and Cranberry Oatmeal to make a switch. How many food stores and/or farmer's markets do you shop at each week?

Cowboys and Turbans: Yippiyay for the naanwich

A very filling chicken naanwich is $7 including spinach, salad or masala fries.

Perhaps Cowboys & Turbans will be the spot to break the curse on the little restaurant space adjacent to the El Rey Theater. If you ate at Electric Lotus in its first two years back in the '90s or later at Electric Karma on Third, you'll recognize C&T owner Baba, who sold both of those restaurants after launching them to focus on his catering and music businesses (he worked with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and other artists).
Cowboys & Turbans is a more modest spot, offering a compact menu of chicken or tofu naanwiches, chicken or tofu tikka masala, dal with spinach, tandoori tacos and chicken skewers and quesadillas. We walked over from the office to try the chicken naanwich, which is basically what happens when you're eating Indian food and load your chicken tikka masala and basmati rice onto a naan and then fold it up like a sandwich. The tikka masala sauce was very tangy and spicy -- maybe even too much for some people but perfect for me. The spinach was also pleasantly zingy. The naan got a bit soggy on the walk back to the office, and the addition of rice made it a little too filling, since I don't normally like rice in my burritos, either. But this food had plenty of flavor, and Laura's masala fries, which were skinny fries sprinkled with a little curry and paired with curryish tomato sauce, were pretty tasty too. Baba's latest venture is just the spot for a quick lunch or dinner whether you work in this restaurant-challenged stretch of Wilshire neighborhood or are catching a show at the El Rey.
Tip: Ask for lettuce instead of rice on the naanwich; get the naan separately for to-go orders.

Cowboys & Turbans
5515 Wilshire Blvd.
323-936-7070 (free delivery)

Street's beverages: exotic beer, wine and tamarind ginger coolers

Here's the beer and wine lists from Street go with the lunch and dinner menus on EaterLA. Naturally, the beer list includes more refreshing, lighter beers from the countries the food is inspired by: Hue from Vietnam, Tusker from Kenya, Flying Horse from India. But there's also some nice craft brews like Unibroue Maudite and Allagash White. I really like the looks of the non-alcoholic drink selection, too, since I'll probably be having lunch there before I make it to dinner.
Finding the right ones for spicy foods from so many countries was undoubtedly a challenge. Gruner Veltliner is often recommended for Asian foods; it'll run you $50 a bottle at Street. There's also a biodynamic Pinot Noir from Oregon ($90) and a "Clean Energy" Nero d'Avola from Sicily. If these are too pricey, try the Tinto Roriz tempranillo from Portugal for $7 a glass.
How do you think these wine and beer choices will pair with ingredients like ginger, chutney, garlic chile paste and kimchi?

Street date close for Street

Susan Feniger's soon-to-open Street on Highland opens Monday for lunch and dinner. There's plenty of news, as well as menus, over at EaterLA, as well as a veritable multimedia overload on the restaurant's own site. So I just thought I'd post the menu items that have me most excited.
To start (or for dessert?), I'd like the much-touted (by Feniger) Kaya Toast: toasted bread spread with coconut jam, with a softboiled egg and dark soy sauce. ($10)
Also, some Japanese shizo shrimp: marinated shrimp roled with shizo, nori and crispy dough ($12).
To share with the table, we'll take some Thai bites: baby collard leaves filled with tamarind palm caramel, toasted coconut, peanuts, dry shrimp, ginger and chiles ($12).
Definitely the Vietnamese corn with pork belly for a vegetable side dish ($6).
Bloggers and commentors are already going nutso about the price of the $16 beef pho, so instead I'll try the Malaysian black pepper clams ($12).
Main dishes are usually not as fun as all the sides, and I think I'll skip the New York strip steak and the chicken kebabs. But the Egpytian-style baked fish with roasted lemon, roasted pepper sauce, braised greens and Kushary ($26) sounds healthy and different.
The Globe Trot tasting menu ($35 per person, and $15 for beer pairing) also sounds like a good way to go, with so many unusual things to try.
Yes,, these aren't exactly the same prices as food you eat on the street, but the menu looks tons more interesting than most other places around L.A., so let's wait and see before we freak out, ok?
Now, I wonder what's for dessert?

(photo: kushary from the LATimes)

Cool million for the Larchmont Grill?

The Larchmont Grill occupies a charming 1914 craftsman house on Melrose and Larchmont, but that location has had trouble holding on to restaurants.
Think your luck is better? Now it can be yours for just $1,095,000.
"Not a very inspiring menu, but a handy place for a business lunch or an early dinner with the young 'uns," said EatingLA when Larchmont Grill opened in 2006.
(The restaurant remains open for brunch, lunch and dinner while it's on the market.)

Ciro Marino of Marino Ristorante dies at 76

Ciro "Mario" Marino, owner of Marino and one of the godfathers of Los Angeles Italian restaurants, died Wednesday of lung cancer. Here's the Daily Dish's writeup, with video of his famous ricotta cheesecake. I'm so glad he was able to make it to the first meeting of the Southern California Restaurant Historical Society back in 2006 to tell us about the old days hanging with Sinatra at the Villa Capri. Condolences also to sons Sal, owner of Il Grano; Mario, who continues to run Marino; daughter Rosanna and son-in-law Stefano Ongaro of All'Angelo, who are all continuing the Italian restaurant tradition in L.A.

Luscious Dumplings: A love story

What can you say about a fried pork dumpling that died a slow, happy death in my stomach? That it was crispy, with plenty of well-browned caramelization on the surface. That it was stuffed with succulent, lightly-spiced, juicy pork. That it attained a whole new level when dunked in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and chili sauce. And that it sacrificed itself along along with a half dozen or so of its sisters for the good of my appetite.
I pulled up to the deservedly popular Luscious Dumplings on my bike Sunday, thinking 1 pm was a reasonable hour for lunch. But the waiter showed me that the menu already had more than half the items crossed off, so although Josh and John hadn't arrived, I quickly ordered before anything else ran out. Fortunately, the signature pan-fried pork dumplings were still available. We also got steamed dumplings with chive, pork, shrimp and egg, brisket noodle soup and pork and pickle noodle soup. All dough, all the time. When the dumplings arrived, we all pounced on the fried ones first, since fried things are usually best when nice and hot. It took a while to ruminate on their lusciousness, so when we got to the steamed ones, they weren't quite as hot and didn't seem as exciting in comparison. Still good though, especially with a little sauce. The brisket soup (above) was good stuff -- almost like something a Jewish grandmother would concoct, with tender meat, a fragrant broth and hearty spaghetti-like noodles. I was bummed that they ran out of the tofu plates, but this was a beautiful bike ride on a sunny spring day, so I imagine I'll go back soon, a bit earlier in the day.
Tip: It's cheap -- order lots of stuff and you'll be so happy to find it in your fridge later that night or the next day.

Luscious Dumplings

704 W. Las Tunas Dr., #E4

San Gabriel
626-282-8695

Rough time to open an upscale restaurant? Villa Blanca debuts in Beverly Hills

This interesting Gourmet article by Colman Andrews, It's Up to You, New York, New York details the risky balancing act of opening pricey New York restaurants The John Dory and the Corton in these economic times.

But the same goes for L.A., where Cecconi's seems to be doing ok with the showbiz despite mixed reactions from Chowhounds.

Now Villa Blanca, from the owners of West Hollywood's Sur, will replaces Trilussa at Brighton Way and Camden in Beverly Hills. Trilussa closes this weekend; presto change-o and Villa Blanca will debut with a "visually exhilarating" interior and a "striking, sexy" new bar just two weeks later. Former Koi executive chef Francis Dimitrius will head up the kitchen, but although it's within the Golden Triangle, it actually sounds fairly casual, with dishes like Shrimp and Chorizo potato pizza, Guinness-battered Chilean Sea Bass and chips and a "memorable classic burger."

Craft Beer Fest L.A. debuts: by and for local beer geeks

The newly created Los Angeles Craft and Artisanal Beer Appreciation League (LA Cabal) has announced the first annual Craft Beer Fest L.A. on May 9 at the Echoplex.

The Craft Beer Fest will be an all-day benefit for 826LA, the groovy tutoring organization founded by writer Dave Eggers. It's a locally-organized, grassroots-style event with an emphasis on quality craft brews and food to go with it. Highlights include:

• Vegan food from Pure Luck
• beer cupcakes
• beer gelato from Scoops
• burritos from the Burrito Project
• Beer and cheese pairings from Hot Knives
  
• and beer strictly from California craft brewers such as The Bruery, Craftsman, Firestone Walker, Hangar 24, Port Brewing, Lost Abbey, Sierra Nevada, Telegraph and more.
  

Tickets are an extremely reasonable $30, with all beer and food included as well as four bands. Hot Knives' Evan George says the event is meant to foster a craft beer community in L.A. and geared to beer connoisseurs, and will be the first of many events. "It's a bunch of beer geeks forming a non-profit," he explains.
LA Cabal sounds like an awesome idea, and was founded by Ben at Pure Luck, Alex Macy, formerly of Red Carpet now of Bottle Rock Downtown, Bob Kunz of Father's Office, Hot Knives and Kevin at Artisanal Ales.

Yes, there's another beer fest coming up:
Don't get confused: There also Drink.Eat.Play's L.A. Beer Fest going on April 4 and 5 in Culver City -- but the more beer the better, right?

J. Gold, Bazaar, Suzanne Goin among James Beard nominees

Congratulations to Los Angeles area James Beard Foundation nominees:
for journalism: to Jonathan Gold, and to Andrew Knowlton and Epicurious for websites; and to San Francisco-based Chow.com, parent of our beloved Chowhound;
to Barbara Fairchild and Dorie Greenspan for Bon Appetit columns and cookbooks;
to Philippe Starck for the design of Bazaar;
to Suzanne Goin for outstanding chef;
to the Bazaar for best new restaurant and to Patina for wine service.

Final awards are handed out May 4 in N.Y.

Do you agree that L.A. was again kinda robbed?

Jones Coffee brews up a storm in Pasadena

Jones is a cozy spot for buying beans or whiling away the hours

I'm no coffee geek, but I do require two sturdy cups of drip-brewed coffee before I can leave for work in the morning. I've tried Intelligentsia, Lamill, Monkey and Son, Blue Bottle and Ristretto, among others, but so far Peet's Espresso Forte (fresh from a Peet's store, not the supermarket) tastes the most like I want my coffee to taste. Even though I started on Peet's when I lived in Berkeley years ago, I still feel like I'm buying an overly corporate product, so I keep trying other beans. Everyone said I should try Jones Coffee Roasters in Pasadena, which has its own farm in Guatemala. It's been around since 1994, but it was new to me. The roasting operation and a small cafe are housed in a light industrial building on Raymond Street, near the Humane Society. There's free wi-fi, seating and a bookshelf full of interesting-looking titles as well as snacks from tamales to soup. I bought a pound of espresso beans to take home -- they didn't taste as good in the electric drip maker as the Peet's, but they made an excellent latte in my little espresso pot. Jones is kind of a hidden gem, and I'll bet the cappucinos they make far surpass my own, so I'll definitely go back to try some drinks on the premises and check out the bookshelf. The prices are extremely reasonable -- just 99 cents for a small cup of coffee, $2.05 for a cappucino or latte and $2.25 for an iced coffee. They also have classes in being a home barista, cupping and brewing, if you need to take your coffee geekdom up a notch.
latte art at Jones

Jones Coffee Roasters
537 S. Raymond Ave.
Pasadena
626-564-9291

Palate after Frank Bruni: A dissenting view

Rillettes are now served in a crock, instead of a Mason jar.

I usually love reading a witty and devastating takedown of a restaurant, like Leslie Brenner used to do in the L.A. Times. But visiting Palate Food & Wine after reading a review by the most influential critic in the entire country, I couldn't disagree more.
Clearly the staff had a few issues to address after Bruni's recent blog post titled The Lesser Los Angeles, and our waiter confided that there had indeed been a "big meeting" that morning. He also admitted that it was entirely possible that Bruni had suffered some of the clumsy service he encountered. "It's not a 3 star New York restaurant," he pointed out. "It's a place where the average check is $45."
He was attentive and helpful throughout the meal, actively recommending cheese selections or pickle choices for the charcuterie. Although we didn't get to talk with wine director Steve Goldun, our waiter was completely knowledgeable about the wines as well. The pacing was fine, the glassware was fine -- we were a party of eight at prime Saturday night dining hour and not only were there no service glitches, nearly everything we ordered was utterly delicious. They confirmed that the mason jars were too hard to serve the potted meats in, so they've switched to ramekins. Big deal. Duck and tuna rillettes were fine, but the La Quercia speck included with the porkfolio was amazingly smoky and complex, worth ordering as often as possible. I don't remember being too impressed by the pork belly (above) last time I ate there, but this was a different preparation, with a much crispier skin and wonderfully bitter, rich Spigarello broccoli on the side. Prawns with garlic and pistou were fresh and simple, bombarded with just the right amount of garlic. Others in our party enjoyed asparagus with sunny-side up egg and velvety celery root soup with ham and pears. With several bottles of good French wine -- my favorite was the Domaine Gauby at right -- this was no $45 meal, but it was a good and interesting one.
My only two small complaints? Like nearly every other restaurant, Palate is fairly noisy, so it's nearly impossible to converse with a larger group. And while I didn't feel anything was particularly underseasoned like Bruni said, it might be nice to put small saltcellars on the table just in case -- for the egg with the asparagus, for example.
I liked Palate when it first opened nearly a year ago, but more recently I had heard about mounting inconsistencies. Perhaps Bruni's rather scorching post was a wakeup call to remind Palate how seriously diners take their service experiences.

Food blogging panel at SXSW -- audio now available

I'm sure South by Southwest is totally awesome, what with the bands, barbecue, movies and interactive wonderfulness. Unfortunately no one has ever offered to pay me to go there, so I'll have to make do with this MP3 file of the panel Secrets of Successful Food Blogging that was posted by blogger Nose to Tail at Home. Serious Eats also put together a helpful collection of Twitters about the panel. However, I can't believe the organizer of the interactive section said "There seems to be a burgeoning food blog scene out there I wasn't particularly aware of." Jeez, EatingLA is almost five years old. Let us know if you listen to the panel and get any good tips.
One of the most important points they concluded with for people wanting to start blogs: You need to be either entertaining (like Dooce), timely (like HuffingtonPost) or useful (hopefully like EatingLA). Oh, and good pictures. Still working on that one, although I still hate the term food porn.

Loving Angelenic's Twitter: Blogger harrassed at Mother Road

The Downtown L.A. blog Angelenic has switched mostly to Twitter for now, since I think he needs to focus on actual work. But Rich has some good 140-character stuff: Blogger Sinosoul (TonyC) tried Mother Road, which I wrote about the other day (although I haven't been there myself) and was hassled for taking pictures and told he should have identified himself as a blogger first.
This restaurant needs more than an updated website -- it needs an attitude makeover!
I have rarely been told I can't take pictures -- only by Joan's on Third years ago, and more recently I saw Alain Giraud ask another photographer not to take pictures at Anisette -- but I'd say that in this business climate, a restaurant has nothing to gain and possibly a lot to lose by worrying about people taking photos instead of making good food, customer service and marketing.

Cowboys & Turbans: ready for the Slumdog Special?

I kind of feel like I've been burned once too many times by the tiny diner next to the El Rey Theater on Wilshire. There was the barbecue place where the links weren't bad but took forever to come out and the staff seemed stunned to have a customer, the short-lived incarnation of Doughboys that closed abrubtly, another place just called Diner...
So now apparently it's called Cowboys & Turbans: Street Food from India. I'm not sure where the cowboys come in, but there's a nicely-done website with a menu that includes a naanwich with chicken or tofu and tandoori tacos, and the Slumdog Special, presumably some combination of the other dishes. Maybe I'll give it a try next week -- they have free delivery! Let's hope it lasts longer than some of its predecessors.

Saturday: Chocolate samples and win a trip to Paris (Vegas)

Can you tell today is going-through-the-inbox day? Chocolatier Jacques Torres will sign copies of his new book "A Year in Chocolate" Saturday at Madame Chocolat in Beverly Hills (212 N. Canon Dr.) from 3-5 pm. If you purchase a book for him to sign, you might find a trip to the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas hidden in one of the books...plus there's chocolate samples, so even if you don't win, you get dessert.

Save the date: Top Chef truck rolls into L.A. June 12-13

Breaker, breaker, Top Chef is en route

This seems awfully far away, but if you're a Top Chef fan you'll want to make note that the Top Chef 18-wheeler semi truck will pull into L.A. on June 12 and 13 ... in "a more grandiose and interactive way than ever before," according to the release. Check back with the website to see where it will park, and catch cooking demos, meeting with the chefs, contests and hopefully free stuff.

Around the blogs: Barbrix on track; the Lab; communal tables

Barbrix on Hyperion, which was delayed by the inevitable permit and parking snafus, is on track to open in April, says co-owner Adria Blotta. Here's some more details from EaterLA, along with a bizarre comment thread. And yes, it was a Scientologist school before (it moved just down the street)...but why would anyone care? Don Dickman, former chef at Rocca in Santa Monica, will do "a changing Meditarranean/Californian menu" of shareable plates. We're just happy wine will be $5-$9 a glass, rather than the over-$10 prices at many local winebars.

CarolineonCrack stops by The Lab gastropub, a new USC-run watering hole she calls Baby's First Gastropub. It doesn't sound perfect, but I'm sure it's a lot better than the previous choices in that neighborhood.

Grubtrotters looks at communal dining tables around L.A., mostly on the Westside. Are there any other good communal tables around the near-Eastside? I like the one at M Cafe de Chaya on Melrose, and then there's Canele, too.

Mother Road:Hank's Downtown gains next-door restaurant

Has anyone tried Mother Road next to Hank's dive bar in the Stillwell Hotel? The website is still a work in progress, but rumors of great burgers are already floating around the blogs. The idea of a Route 66-themed restaurant seems kind of fun...
Update: They sent me some more info and a menu: it's open 11-11 daily, with a burger and wine happy hour from 4-7.
The menu hits most of the All-American/Californian classic: mac 'n cheese, fish tacos, spaghetti, cuban sandwiches, shortribs and desserts from Susina. Here's the burger selection:

Burgers from Mother Road

new haven 7.99
classic 8oz ground chuck, choice of cheese,
lettuce, tomato & onions on sourdough

americana 7.99
americana spiced 8oz ground chuck, pepper jack,
lettuce, tomato & onions on a potato bun

sonoma 8.99
8oz ground chuck, applewood bacon, cheddar,
lettuce, tomato & onions on a potato bun

royale 17.00
12oz ground chuck, short rib, truffle cheese,
lettuce, tomato & onions on a sesame brioche bun

Frank Bruni: Animal bacony and fun, Palate is pallid

Both the NYTimes' Frank Bruni and the San Francisco Chronicle's Michael Bauer paid recent visits to the provincial outpost of L.A., mostly to try Bazaar (foie gras cotton candy, pictured at left). Bruni also writes about Animal, where he can't hear his guests and finds the cooking unevent, but nonetheless seems to enjoy the chefs' wholehearted embrace of all that is porcine. But read to the end of his blog post The Lesser Los Angeles, where he totally savages Palate Food & Wine.
I enjoyed my early visits there, but lately I've heard of several people having experiences similar to Bruni's. Despite a promising start, it sounds like Octavio Becerra needs to pay considerably more attention to the front of the house and some to the food as well. Have you been there lately?

Green thumbs down on my winter garden

Carrots just the right size for Polly Pocket

Here are nano-carrots I grew this winter. I'll spare you the sight of the baby spinach that never attained adulthood. It's not a lost cause, though -- my arugula and Italian parsley are flourishing, and the basil plant I bought a year ago is still hanging on. I've also grown a total of three sugar snap pea pods! Obviously I'm not exactly self-sustaining yet, but hopefully this summer I'll grow more than last year's five tomatoes. Is it too early to start planting them?

Silver Lake Wine at the Standard, $5 lunch at the Park and new spots Downtown

Magnolia's new space Downtown near the Staples Center

Just bits and pieces for today...

Silver Lake Wine is now selecting tastings for the Standard Hotel Downtown on Wednesdays from 5-8 pm. $20 for a flight with snacks from the Standard lobby restaurant. Hopefully our friend Charles, who sometimes dj's there, will stop by to spin some tunes.

The Park, already one of the most affordable full service restaurants in town, celebrates one year in business with $5 lunches this week, including a sandwich and a side. If you can't make it from March 17-20, they're introducing $5 Burger Wednesdays -- that's right, burgers including fries for $5 at lunch or dinner on Wednesdays. Happy Birthday, Park!

Still lots of action Downtown:

Popular Hollywood spot Magnolia grows a Downtown outpost near the Staples Center at 825 W. 9th St. It's open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, with a full bar and specialty cocktails.

Also branching out is Chaya Downtown, at 525 S. Flower, with the familiar Franco-Japanese menu, sushi and sashimi. I know Kathy's first question will be, "Is there a happy hour?" I'm happy to report that there's an expanded happy hour, from 3 to 7 p.m. Chaya's head chef Shigefumi Tachibe is said to have invented the ubiquitous tuna tartare (his sushi knife is in the Smithsonian!), which is quite a claim to fame.

Boho opens Tuesday in Hollywood

We brought you a preview of Boho's decor last week, and the Arclight complex gastropub is now ready for its closeup starting Tuesday. Even if you're undecided about the mismatched chairs and thrift shop paintings, courtesy of Spacecraft, you'll want to check out the primo beer list with selections like Green Flash's Le Freak, The Lost Abbey's Avant Garde, Stone's Dry Hopped Old Guardian and Alesmith's Nautical Nut Brown Ale. And that's just San Diego county. There's another 21 or so craft beers on tap from Belgium, Oregon, Maine, New York and more, as well as gastropub fare like pizza, charcuterie, pastrami and burgers from the Oinkster's Andre Guerrero. No offense to the Arclight cafe, but Boho, you've got much more to offer.

Dim sum ride goes bigtime

Several people borrowed Flying Pigeon bikes from China for the ride.

I finally made it back to the Flying Pigeon Bikes dim sum ride today, happy that the destination was Luscious Dumplings in San Gabriel. But when Flying Pigeon's Joseph and Adam saw how big the turnout was -- about 35 bikers and three babies -- they realized we would never all fit in the tiny dumpling shop. There were a few more people than usual, and a wider age range, due to the spread on the brothers in the bike feature Revinvent Your Wheels in the March Sunset magazine.These flaky pork rolls danced on the edge between sweet and savory...pork pastry!

Nearby Mission 261 is closed for remodeling so we backtracked to King Hua, where I've eaten several times. But my tablemates, several on vacation from Sacramento, were happy to let me go crazy on the dim sum checkoff sheet and get things like chicken salad buns, shrimp dumplings with chives, flaky pork pastries, seaweed salad and all the usual favorites. Despite a change of plans, someone's flat tire and some sleepy toddlers, it was a great ride. The next ride is a month from now; check the blog for details. The Flying Pigeon store re-opens around April 1 in its new location next to the Bike Oven at 3714 Figueroa Ave.
If you haven't noticed, Sunset magazine has become super-hip and foodie-friendly. Not only did they feature Flying Pigeon, but EatingLA got a great shoutout in Blog Roll section. Plus this month has a really complete tour of "Tehrangeles" -- Persian Los Angeles, a blurb on Esotouric and a big story on food carts in Portland. The only thing that's still retro about Sunset is that you have to buy a physical copy to see most of these stories.

More films about mushrooms and beer

I like how the Berlin Film Festival had a special Culinary Films section. L.A. doesn't yet have its own Food Film festival, but here are some recent films that could be included if we did.

Beer Wars
This one's not for another month, but on April 16 the Beer Wars movie is blanketing the country with simultaneous screenings hosted by Ben Stein. In L.A., the documentary will show in Burbank and Alhambra. Check out their website for a great list of beer links as well as theater information.

Know Your Mushrooms

Documentary Know Your Mushrooms has music by the Flaming Lips and was inspired by a conversation mushroom enthusiast Jim Jarmusch had with "uber myco visionaries Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans." It screened today at SXSW and will show at the Newport Beach Film Festival in April and then presumably be available on DVD and/or download.

Alhambra farmer's market stands in for a trip to Asia

This time of year there's tons of great citrus.

I probably won't be getting to the marketplaces of Singapore or Beijing any time soon, but in the meantime, the Alhambra Farmer's Market on Sunday morning is the next best thing. It's a manageable size, bigger than Atwater and Silver Lake but smaller than Pasadena and Hollywood, with oceans of free parking. And like Atwater, the prices are a good deal lower. Being in Alhambra, it naturally caters heavily to the Chinese/Vietnamese community, and also has plenty of Filipino and Latino-oriented produce. The cooked food stalls are a little disappointing -- just a smattering of pupusas and kettle corn, too bad there's not a dim sum or pho stall. But there's a good variety of fresh produce, from jujubes to sugarcane. The vast array of Asian greens stands out, some of which I've never heard of or seen in a restaurant.

Chrysanthemum greens, $4 lb. What are these good for?

Here's the pomelo man. Just pomelos. He must have a tree in his yard.

Ana's Farm sells free-range regular and black chickens for around $3.75 a lb. The only problem is that the chickens still have the heads and claws. Yikes! But they do taste better than supermarket chickens.


These are the petite eggs from the black chickens for $4 a dozen. The proprietor says they have a stronger flavor than regular eggs.

Alhambra Farmer's Market
corner of Monterey and Baystate Sts.
8:30 - 1 Sundays

Julienne's Sue Campoy: A lovely tribute

It's a busy day today so I'm going to point you to Hometown Pasadena, where Colleen Dunn Bates has written a lovely elegy for Julienne founder Sue Campoy, who was influential in bringing well-prepared foods and baked goods to San Marino and surrounding areas. Campoy died last Wednesday at 70. Here's the L.A. Times obit as well.

Some L.A. non-food blogs we love

Franklin Ave.'s 200th Rate-a-restaurant lunch at Pacific Dining Car, from another great blog, LAisMyBeat.

I just wanted to give a little shout-out to a few blogs that take on other subjects besides food, gasp!, but are still integral to enjoying life in L.A.

Jesus Sanchez has been doing the Eastsider L.A. blog for only a little over eight months, but he's ramped up to an amazing nearly 100 posts a month in some months. I've never meet Sanchez, who this week is taking it a little easier to attend to his actual life, but he does a great job of infusing news of the real Eastside and the near-Eastside with local flavor and balance.

Congratulations to Variety colleague and fellow L.A. blogger Mike Schneider on his 200th Rate a Restaurant review for FranklinAvenue. Schneider no longer lives on Franklin Ave., but he and his wife Maria have been blogging for longer than most everyone at this point, and their blog combines restaurant reviews, TV and radio musings and local color like personalized license plates and freeway sign observations in a uniquely L.A. way.

I love neighborhood blogs, because no one else reports the details that only nearby residents really care about. Two of my favorites are:

Blackburn and Sweetzer -- Tasha Nita Adams goes heavy on the shopping news, as befitting her stylish Third St. neighborhood, but also scoops plenty of restaurant info in this fast-evolving neighborhood; and
The Atwater Village Newbie is no longer a newbie at all -- he's now got a stylish blog nameplate and more than three years of neighborhood blogging behind him, but he's still going strong with news of a neighborhood that is continuing to deal with crime while being in the throes of gentrification.
There's plenty of other fascinating blogs that focus on local topics, such as transit issues, Downtown L.A., and Highland Park. Most of these bloggers make either no money at all or just a few pennies from blog ads, so let's thank them for providing the news that hopefully someday we'll all get paid for reporting. Do you have any favorites I haven't covered?

Jonathan Gold's Standard: 14 carats out of a possible 24

Animal's Vinny Dotolo cooks up the succulent pork belly

With 29 restaurants, dozens of wineries and several hundred hungry foodies, it was inevitable that we wouldn't get to taste everything at the L.A. Weekly's first (annual?) Gold Standard event. But given the daunting task of organizing such an event (one restaurant owner explained that both the health department and the fire department had made several nitpicking passes before the event opened), the Gold Standard mostly did what it was supposed to: exposing people to a L.A.'s vast range of fascinating restaurants. We got there fairly close to opening time, and quickly scored pretty much the best taste of the festival: meltingly luscious chunks of pork belly with kimchee from Animal. Alas, the lines grew quickly after that, and we never tasted the fresh mozzarella at Mozza, caviar at Sona or the Mexican delights of Babita and La Casita Mexicana. But at least I was able to introduce my friend Beth to the fiery, crispy wings of Kyochon, (above) who magically kept their chicken crispy and hot; to Jazz's famous rice salad from Jitlada and to the friendly bacalao purveyors at Lou. We also enjoyed duck with kumquats and frisee with quail eggs at Anisette; loved beet risotto cakes with pulled pork at Upstairs 2; more pulled pork on polenta at Palate and smoked salmon with dates at the Hungry Cat. Not surprisingly for an event with J. Gold's stamp on it, pork was in ample supply. Many food critics get less excited about desserts, and it wasn't a dessert-heavy event although we liked Clementine's banana pudding and chocolate cherry cookies and Providence's chocolates, and were happy to try Lamill's coffee after all the wine. I'm guessing next year this event will have to move to a venue with better crowd flow, but it was still fun to try all those things while Gold and his wife and kids wandered around chatting with guests.
Those who managed to try 20 or more restaurants probably have much more eating stamina than we did, and EatingLA bows down to their appetites. I'll link to them if those pork-stuffed lazybones ever get around to posting.
Here's some Chowhound reports.
Here's one from UncouthGourmands.
And here's a list of suggestions for next time:
1) Book a larger venue, like Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, with no narrow passageways between rooms;
2) More trash cans, and empty them throughout the event;
3) Better check-in procedure at the door -- there's really no reason for a line just to get in; and
4) I'm not sure how to fix the long lines for food. They have to be able to sell enough tickets to put on the event -- maybe encouraging the restaurants to prepare the plates more efficiently would help this dilemma.
Jitlada's Jazz keeps her cool while dispensing the world's hottest beef curry and tangy rice salad.

ps: To those who couldn't get in or got in late because of valet parking problems, I only half feel badly for you. We parked a couple of blocks away, which made a nice walk afterwards, and there's plenty of parking at Target too. Learn to deal.

Golden State freshens up Fairfax

Let's Be Frank bratwurst with fries

With its funky mix of oldtime delis, thrift shops, slick record stores for djs and Yiddish music shops, Fairfax Ave. has always been where alternative meets yenta. In the swinging '60s, Fairfax was ground zero for head shops and oddball coffeehouses in the vein of Nova Express, which formerly occupied the space that owner Jason Bernstein has turned into Golden State. He spent months clearing out the faded auras of underage William Burroughs fans, and the remodeled space is airy and casual with brick walls and an open kitchen.
Four or five taps showcase a carefully curated selection of rotating beers (most at $6 a glass), with extensively annotated tasting notes available to study the choices. Breweries featured include Craftsman, Green Flash and Bear Republic.
The smartest new restaurateurs are building on the best-quality local products to stock their menus. Chef Samir Mohajer, owner of the Cabbage Patch, consulted on the menu which includes natural sausages from Let's Be Frank, Craftsman beers, and Scoops ice cream. It's the first place to buy the famously eccentric Scoops outside of Hel-Mel, and Tai Kim created special flavors for Golden State including chocolate sorbet with Green Flash IPA and Sauvignon blanc pear sorbet.Scoops flavors include fig pistachio, peanut butter Butterfinder and strawberry balsamic

Jeff liked his Farmhouse burger with Harris ranch beef, Fiscalini cheddar and brown sugar bacon, and I tried a savory bratwurst. Sweet potato fries were more baked than fried; tasty but it takes a fork to eat them. Regular fries with curry ketchup and hazelnut romesco sauce went mighty well with my complex Allagash Curieux barrel-aged beer, the only one they carry from outside of California. We sampled a bit of the menu, but I'm sure I'll be back for lunch soon as I want to try the jalapeno cabbage slaw and grilled cheese sandwich (no booze before 5 pm on weekdays though -- too close to Fairfax High.)
Here's more on the great fish 'n chips at Golden State.

The Golden State
426 N. Fairfax Ave.
(323) 782-8331

Reservoir opens tonight!

Via Daily Candy comes word that Reservoir opens tonight in the former Netty's space on Silver Lake Blvd. Start clicking on those Google ads, kids, so EatingLA can afford to check it out for you. Or if you try it this weekend, report back -- TIA.
Does anyone remember when Netty's opened, or what was there before? According to this article, Netty's launched in 1987.