Bike bender riders end up stuffed, buzzed and happy

Stop #1: El Mar Azul seafood tostadas and coctels

EatingLA and FoodGPS' first Bike Bender tour was an epic win, as the kids say, with pleasantly cool weather and at least 30 enthusiastic riders. For our first try at organizing a bike tour, we picked Highland Park for its accessibility by Gold Line, easy biking, and proximity to the Verdugo Bar.
After meeting up at the Heritage Square Gold Line station, we rolled out to the stop #1, the El Mar Azul Seafood truck at Sycamore Park. Owner Felipe was ready for us and managed to serve everyone fairly quickly, with fresh shrimp and avocado tostadas enlivened with onions, hot sauce and his secret mayonaisey sauce. Picnic tables at the shady park made it easy to accomodate the group comfortably, and one rider who had a flat tire was luckily able to change it at her house next to the park and catch up before we left.
After a short hill, stop #2 was the El Pariente truck at Ave. 50 and Monte Vista. El Pariente specializes in birria (goat), and Food GPS' Josh tried a big bowl of birria soup, while the rest of tried various combinations of birria, carne asada and chicken tacos. The selection of four homemade salsas, each hotter than the one before, is a bonus at this truck which also makes its tortillas by hand. Picnic tables under an awning also make this truck more comfy than the usual truck.
Stop #3 was Galco's Soda Pop Stop, well-known to foodies but always a good pitstop for a soda or a head start on the beerdrinking. My sister Joan who was visiting from Berkeley picked up some vintage candies at Galco's.
Stop #4 was a real treat arranged by our friends at the soon-to-open Eagle Rock Brewery. We got a tour of the facilities, which are actually located in Glassell Park, and preview tastes of three of the beers that brewmasters Jeremy and Steve might be planning when the brewery opens in late summer. The Jubilee holiday ale was especially flavorful.
The beers, bikes and tacos tour ended stop #5, the Verdugo Bar, where the riders sampled a keg of Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA and bottles of Firestone Hemp ale and Nectar ale. We also tasted a box of pastries from Glassell Park's Butter Tart bakery, a little treasure we didn't have time to visit.
A few partiers stayed on for the bar's opening at 6, while the rest of us carefully wobbled our way back to the Gold Line stop.
It was a rousing good time, and we're already thinking of the best destination for the next tour.
Thanks to Verdugo Bar and Eagle Rock Brewery and to graphic artist Cheyne Gateley, who designed the awesome spoke cards.
Here's Josh's report on FoodGPS, with more info about Eagle Rock Brewery.
There's more photos on this comprehensive LA.com recap from Andrea Adleman.

Corked: Wine biz insider mockumentary opens in L.A.

"Corked" first appeared on my radar because a high school buddy, Jeff Weissman, who stars in the comedy mockumentary, has been tireless in promoting the project on his Facebook page.
Now some more buzz is building for this labor-of-love project, made in Sonoma County and directed by Ross Clendenen and Paul Hawley, son of Clos du Bois/Kendall-Jackson winemaker John Hawley. Weissman plays a winemaker based on Hawley in the pic, which takes on the sometimes-pretentious wine biz in the same way "Best in Show" took on dogshows.
Corked opens at L.A.'s Downtown Independent cinema (formerly the Imaginasian Center) on Friday, June 5 and will play for a week with wine tastings every evening, natch.
Here's what the Hollywood Reporter had to say:

Drier and frothier than recent mockumentaries made by recognized Hollywood comics, "Corked!" is a pithy delight. It's a brilliant lampoon of winemaking and will go well with either Milk Duds or organic popcorn. - Duane Byrge

What should we call the non-Eastside?

Not really food-related, but it's a question that often comes up in restaurant discussions. Can we find a better name for the Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Echo Park area? It's not the Eastside; this article from today's L.A. Times A Title Bout Between Two Eastsides makes that clear, although the ironically misspelled iconic burrito purveyor El Tepeyac, the epicenter of the true Eastside. Last night I met Abel Salas, editor of the new arts magazine Brooklyn and Boyle, and we agreed it was time for the greater Silver Lake area to get its own name. I've been trying to push for the near-Eastside, but it hasn't caught on yet. The non-Eastside? The faux-Eastside? Greater Silver Lake? Vote in the poll in the left column, or leave your suggestions in the comments, and try to be civil, please.
(And yes, I suppose it's also ironic that the Eastside event to take back the neighborhood's name was held in a wine bar.)

Sprinkles Cupcake truck looks ready to go; Locali's Icecycle rolls to Larchmont

Sprinkles cupcake truck via Los Angeles magazine's Lesley Bargar Suter

Rolling dessert edition: I might have preferred a French fry truck, or even the creme brulee cart, but behold the Sprinkles cupcake truck, soon to be jousting for space with all the other upcoming trucks on the streets of L.A.

Also rolling out right now: The Icycle from Locali is heading to Larchmont Village with Ruby Jewel ice cream sandwiches and other frozen treats.

Silver Lake Wine adds Barnsdall Park tasting

Wine, architecture and ice cream...sounds like an inspired combo for summer evenings. Silver Lake Wine is launching a Friday evening tasting on the west lawn of Frank Lloyd Wright's incomparable Hollyhock house in Los Feliz starting this Friday from 5:30 - 7:30.
Also, the Coolhaus ice cream truck will be there with its architecturally-inspired ice cream sandwiches.
Silver Lake Wine will present four selections of boutique, small production, and artisanal wines from around the globe. Ticket prices are $15 in advance up to six hours prior, and $25 online or at the door less than six hours prior at Barnsdall's site, and some of your wine-tasting dollars will go to help support the park's programs. If you've never been to the art gallery at Barnsdall Park or toured the Hollyhock House, for shame. Get over there.

Reservoir: time for a rethink already?

I have to admit, I haven't tried Reservoir yet, mostly because I don't have $100 or so to drop on a meal at a place where I've heard the wine list is poor, the pizza is "stodgy" and the noise level and service are chancy. But S. Irene went several times for the Times, and gave Reservoir half a star. As EaterLA would say, the S. stands for satisfactory-ish. She agreed that the wine, pizza and noise were all problematic. Like S. Irene, I want to like Reservoir, so maybe it just needs a little tweaking to make it more attractive. Chowhound Silverlaker summed it up pretty well:

Upscale restaurants need to realize that their target auds (um, I guess upscale diners) know how to make salmon at home, they know how to roast or pan sear a chicken breast -- chances are if you like gourmet eating, you eat fairly well at home (we do). So w the economy on shaky ground, I'd rather go to Gelson's and make a high-end'ish dinner for me and my husband for $20-$25 bucks, then eat an equivalent for three times that at some "bistro." Again, if we're gonna spend $70 or more, esp now, we want to go places w great cuisine (and great cooking) -- animal, angelini osteria, canele, palate, whatever. Last time we were at Michelengelo's, we spent over $60, they raised the prices at their new location -- sorry, I can go to Surfas and get great quality raviolis and have a terrific Italian dinner for $20.

New restaurateurs needs to recognize more people eating at home and they need to step up their game (and prices).

-- Silverlaker on Chowhound

What did you think of Reservoir? Is it worth it for a special occasion, or is this a "we don't feel like cooking kind of place" for you?

Taco table tour continued: Nolden and York

A commentor on my last taco table post suggested the table at Nolden and York, in front of the tire shop, and tonight I needed some meat after living off of corn and veggie burgers for the past two days. The spit of pastor here looks much different from the one just down the block -- there's no pineapple, and it has a reddish hue instead of the crispy burntness of the other place. The carne asada is of the bubbling hot tub variety, rather than the freshly grilled variety. I wasn't loving the carne asada taco, as I prefer it crispier. Plus something I put on it was powerfully spicy, which basically killed my taste buds while I was prepping the two pastor tacos.
After a glass of water and just a tiny dollop of salsa, I tried the pastor. At first, the sauciness of it was too unfamiliar. The interplay of the meat and a tomatoey base was reminiscent of an Italian grandmother's ragu that had been simmering all day, or a casserole of ratatouille. Normally I like my meats all crispy around the edges, but the pastor marinara of the Nolden stand is a different animal all together, and one well worth investigating.
Tip: All these tables along York only come out after sundown, so don't go looking for them in the light of day.

Bacon apple pie disappears before I get seconds

On Sunday, my son insisted we make a bacon apple pie. I didn't know that videogame geeks discuss such things on their forums, but apparently they do, and the geeks even provided a handy link to this recipe from the Bacon Blog. The recipe looked a little more reliable than the last gamer recipe he tried, for microwave brownies in a mug, which was fairly disastrous. It's basically a conventional apple pie with bits of crispy bacon larded, so to speak, throughout. The salty bacon played off the sweet, tart apples quite nicely. This pie must be served warm, of course, and should you happen to have some homemade cinnamon ice cream around, it would make an ideal topping. All I had was Trader Joe's tart vanilla frozen yogurt, but that worked pretty well too. After we decided on that recipe we looked at some others, and Rachel Ray's version with bacon/brown sugar crumb topping looks like it could also be worth a try. I was looking forward to taking a piece to work the next day, but Sam ate almost the entire thing by himself, because when you're a teenager, you can do that.

Cocktail tales: Eating LA's Jamaica Me Loca

I'm no expert mixologist, but I like to muddle around in the cocktail arena once in a while. So I accepted the offer to try a bottle of Rosangel Hibiscus-infused tequila because hibiscus, also known as the Mexican jamaica drink (or the main ingredient in Red Zinger tea) is one of my favorite flavors. It seemed like the perfect base for a summery cocktail, but what would be the best mixer? Tasted straight up, it wasn't bad, although jamaica can have a bit of a Hawaiian Punch quality if it's not blended with the right amount of sweetener and citrus. At Whole Foods, I picked up a bottle of Ooba sparkling hibiscus-lime drink. But the Ooba and Rosangel alone on the rocks still wasn't quite right.
For the next time, I added Trader Joe's margarita mix and a few drops of orange bitters over crushed ice. Perfect! I dubbed it the Jamaica Me Loca, since there's already a rum-intensive drink called Jamaica me crazy.
Here's the approximate ratio:
1 1/2 oz. Rosangel hibiscus tequila
4 oz. Ooba sparkling hibiscus-lime drink
1 oz. good quality margarita or sour mix
3 splashes of orange bitters

Combine over crushed ice and enjoy!

Historic L.A.: Fred Harvey restaurant in the Times

Fred Harvey restaurant interior photo from Hollywood Locations

It's good to see the Times keeping up the history articles in the face of shrinking editorial space, not to mention giving Steve Harvey something more interesting to do than the goofy signs beat. Today Harvey (any relation?) tells the story of the historic Fred Harvey restaurant at Union Station, closed since 1967. The headline, Business still booming for an old railway restaurant is kind of misleading, since it's only used for private events now, but at least it's well preserved.
A few years ago, after I went to a great Society of Culinary Historians presentation about Fred Harvey restaurants, which were generally located near train stations from the 1880s to 1940s or so, I made sure to try El Tovar at the Grand Canyon, one of the few still in operation. If you ever get there, I recommend the blue cornmeal pancakes with prickly pear syrup.
Have you ever eaten at a Fred Harvey restaurant?
Also, does anyone know about a recent posting soliciting proposals for another restaurant at Union Station? I can't remember where I read about that.

Tibet Nepal is as exotic as it gets in Old Town Pasadana

steamed chicken momos

Eating at Tibet Nepal House for the first time, I couldn't help but imagine how cool it would be if the cozy storefront was a real Nepalese themed restaurant: The power would only be turned on for alternate evenings, grimy urchins would make the rounds selling Chiclets, while a huge dessert menu would offer apple strudel and German chocolate cake to stoned backpackers. Oh, right, we're in Pasadena here, not Katmandu. vegetable curry sampler

Old Town Pasadena is decidedly less exotic, but while it has a reputation as a restaurant wasteland, Tibet Nepal House is sufficiently quirky and ethnic to make it worth a try if you're in the neighborhood. With Tibetan prayer flags and some bronze buddhas, there's a bit of ambiance to help you forget all the surrounding chain stores. And what's not to like about a place with a large "We serve yak!" placard at the entrance. Actually, we weren't in the mood for yak, nor for thukpa, the sturdy roasted wheat pasta native to Tibet. So we started with the steamed chicken momo dumplings, basically like Chinese dumplings with Indian dipping sauces. I had a daal-bhaat takkari plate, basically the same vegetable curry sampler as in an Indian restaurant, but the spiced cabbage had a different flavor than an Indian dish. Matt tried Tibetan chicken phing (above), quite a tasty noodle dish reminiscent of pansit. The menu at Tibet Nepal is huge, divided into Nepal cuisine which is quite similar to Indian but a little heartier and heavier for the cold winter nights; and the doughier Tibetan cuisine. I'm not sure which country the goat fried rice hails from. OK, we skipped the butter tea also, so I guess we missed some of the native specialties, but at least returning to Old Town will be a lot easier than a trip to Nepal. Matt likes fictional beasts, so he had to try a Yeti beer, which went well with the mildly spiced food.
The best part: The noodles with some sriracha made a wonderful lunch the next day at work. Prices aren't rock bottom here, due to the location, but we had a lot of food plus a Yeti for about $45.
Tibet Nepal House
36 Holly St.
Pasadena

BISTROLQ takes over Mimosa

Wow, I was wondering if Laurent Quenioux's new place would displace one of the entrenched bistros on Beverly, and apparently the answer is yes. It's moving into the Mimosa space at 8009 Beverly Blvd. Mimosa opened in 1997 and was always a reliable place for dishes like bouillabaisse, onion soup and moules.
Well, at least there shouldn't be a long build-out, changing from old school bistro to new style bistro.

Chink's Restaurant: What would they say in L.A.?

And now for the obligatory Cannes film festival post...this Thai restaurant was spotted by Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells. France is almost as notorious as Japan for mangled English words and signs, so I'm not surprised that Chef Puki didn't realize this might be offensive to the thousands of English speakers who visit Cannes each year.
Most likely, Penelope Cruz wasn't eating at Chink's when she suffered a bout of food poisoning at the festival a few days ago.

Street vendors on Twitter

Nothing too new for L.A. here, but Serious Eats has compiled a nationwide list of trucks and carts that signal their location and specials using Twitter. Whether you're planning on opening a soujouk corndog cart or a satay-stuffed pupuseria truck, you'll want to use the #streetvendor hashtag so your friends can find you.

Sean's Burgers bye-bye, hello to Mini Bites

Sean's Burgers lasted just two years in the famous Jay's Jayburgers spot at Santa Monica and Virgil. The tiny stand is set to become Mini Bites, which promises "better taste, better service." Note the fresh new picnic tables to the right. Also: help wanted!

In other East Hollywood/Silver Lake adjacent news, here's some early Chowhound reports on Territory BBQ on Hoover.

Barbrix kicks Hyperion into high gear

Two colors of cauliflower, green beans and garbanzos make a pretty plate

When I moved near the rather desolate strip of Hyperion where Barbrix is now located, there was not much around except the terminally grungy Zen Sushi and even older spots like the Flying Leap and Casita del Campo. Comfort Cafe and KP's Deli came and went, and I still haven't been to Speranza, but despite way too many body shops, Hyperion is looking much, much better. Fix Burgers and Tomato Pie Pizza moved in, Fritzie's spruced up into Sila and Zen died and was reborn as the much more pleasant Barbarella.

But enough with the history lesson -- Barbrix, located in a former house-turned-Scientology school, is the best thing to happen to Silver Lake in some time -- at least since Intelligentsia opened, anyway. With reasonably-priced, user-friendly wines, a choice selection of small plates and a cool patio for summer evenings, owners Claudio Blotta and Adria Tennor Blotta and chef Don Dickman clearly knew exactly what the area needed, even if it did take a while to finish construction. Inside, both front and back bars and several tables in-between are all packed, and the opening week noise level is pretty high. Outdoors is much quieter, with the patio thankfully far removed from the street and a screen of bushes already starting to take root. Wines by the bottle are priced as low as $19, but Kathy decides on a glass of Bien Nacido Syrah, while I try the Niepoort Twisted from Portugal -- it's just $6, but the Bien Nacido at $9 is clearly more fully realized. Portions are tiny, which keeps the prices down, so this probably isn't the place to take your 250 lb. male friend from Texas unless you're hitting the steakhouse later on. Dickman's menu is set up like that of AOC, but it stands on its own with some lusty Mediterranean flavors.
One grilled sardine with mint aioli (above) is perfectly nice at $6, but he seems a little lonely on the plate. Roasted cauliflower pops with garlicky flavors; all the vegetables are top quality. The lovely McGrath farmer's plate (left) is also a welcome selection, since so many wine bars neglect the vegetable aisle. All three cheeses we selected were wonderful, especially a ripe, mellow Epoisses and Barely Buzzed Utah cheddar, which is rubbed with espresso and lavender. Service was amazingly cheerful and competent for such a recently-opened spot.
This was just a quick visit, so I'll try to get back soon to try the garlic sweetbreads, ginger shortcake and maybe some wine from Croatia or Slovenia.
Tip: Park around the corner on Tracy or Griffith Park Blvd. to avoid the valet charge, if you can't walk. If you're not familiar with that stretch of Hyperion, look for Baller Hardware right across the street.
Barbrix
2442 Hyperion Ave.
Silver Lake

The ABC's of BLT Steak

P is for popovers, the enormous airy cheesy bread puffs the restaurant is known for. Don't miss these. (Here's the recipe, by the way.)

BLT -- anyone who's been to New York or loves steak knows this doesn't stand for bacon lettuce tomato, but for Bistro Laurent Tourondel. Tourondel is the Frenchman who launched several New York restaurants and then expanded into a dozen or so other cities with his modern steakhouse concept. L.A.'s BLT Steak opened last year in the former Le Dome space, with all the elements a Sunset Strip restaurant needs: a patio open to the Sunset Plaza people parade, killer cocktails, food much better than the neighborhood deserves and a pretty, open design.
BLT Steak invited a few writers last week to taste some dishes from new chef Brian Moyers, formerly of Nobu and the Beverly Wilshire's BLVD, along with wine pairings from beverage director Jared Heber -- and Tourondel himself stopped by to say hi as well, though he must not get much time to cook these days.
Here's what you need to know at BLT, ABC style.
B is for barigoule, the tangy artichokes with lemon and garlic that sit under the halibut entree below -- a healthy alternative to the mega-steaks.
G is for gnudi, little pillows of ricotta that are kissing cousins to gnocchi, and do a nice job of sopping up the sauce from the intensely meaty, tender shortribs -- my favorite dish of those we tried.
K is for Kobe sliders on the bar menu -- $16 for three, and there's also a nice selection of craft beers, and a TV that pleased last week's basketball fans. Someone Twittered recently that these were well worth a try.
and R is for rhubarb tart, which you should definitely save room for if you can go easy on the popovers.
BLT Steak
8720 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood
(press dinner)

Food porn Friday: donut fries

This is for you, Laura. Actually I hate the term "food porn" -- why ruin porn by confuzzling it with donuts? -- but trompe l'oeil food is kind of funny. Like the "spaghetti" ice cream I had in Berlin, also with raspberry sauce standing in for marinara.
These donut fries are from Psycho Donuts in San Jose, Calif., with bavarian cream and raspberry sauces.
--From Thisiswhyyou'refat via Buzzfeed

Eating L.A., J. Gold make the press club finalists

It seems like the local food writing world isn't covered very heavily by the L.A. Press Club awards, but I'm happy to say that Eating L.A. snared two finalist positions in the best individual blog category. Congrats also to columnist finalist Jonathan Gold, who appears on the Food Writing panel at 826LA tonight with moi, and to other media peeps that made the finals including Nancy Rommelman, Ted Johnson, Evan George, Matt Welch and Amy Alkon.
Here's the two posts that were nominated, although they also judge based on the whole blog, I believe:
Denise Hamilton embraces vanishing Hollywood
and
Cherrypicking in Leona Valley

Figueroa Produce: the anti-Fresh 'n Easy, plus 99 cent organics

The piece de resistance of Figueroa Produce is the 99 cent organic produce selection -- take that, Whole Paycheck! It's not huge, but there's some good stuff.

I wanted vegetables. But I didn't have time to hit the Pasadena farmer's market, and a family can only survive for so long on Trader Joe's plastic-wrapped produce. So I decided to check out Figueroa Produce, a store so quirky it could only exist in Highland Park. Highland Park, home of legions of taco tables, vast selections of soda pop and such cultural hybrids as Vietnamese comfort food, is one of the last refuges of the true bohemian spirit in L.A., and this medium-sized market perfectly reflects that cultural caldo. And they freely hand out 10% off coupons, which is nice too.

At the entryway, you'll find the bakery shelves, which are well-stocked with Middle Eastern items such as really cheap pita bread, pita chips, sesame cookies, as well as tortillas and six rolls that make perfect banh mi for $1.79. The meat counter has an absurdly low price for marinated carne asada meat -- something like $2.99 a pound, and it was pretty good stuff. There's also a smattering of items from just about every nationality, quite a few organic items, and lots of spices. Here's a tour of this rather interesting and extremely reasonable store, which is like the anti-Fresh 'n Easy.

Like nearby Galco's, Figueroa Produce has an interesting soda selection, but it's inexplicably slanted to the root beer side of the soda spectrum.

I know they have this squirtable dulce de leche and sweetened condensed milk at any Latino market, but it fascinates me anyway.

Another mystery: there's quite a large stock of organic cocoa beans, but what do you do with them?

All the fixings for traditional yerba mate tea are stocked, including the bombillo cup.

Figueroa Produce
6312 N. Figueroa St
Highland Park

Quenioux gets his own place on Beverly Blvd.

Laurent Queniuox, who consulted at Vermont for quite a while after leaving Bistro K, is closing in on his new place, BISTROLQ, set to open in early summer. It's not Downtown, like he was mulling previously (perhaps just as well as it's getting overcrowded there) but on L.A.'s mini-restaurant row of Beverly Blvd. near Fairfax. We're not sure exactly what the address is yet, but he promises indoor and outdoor dining, air conditioning, and a beer and wine license. Could this be L.A.'s answer to Portland's Le Pigeon? We can only hope.

Here's a few of the dishes he's planning:

• sea urchin tapioca pudding with yuzu kocho

• eel braised in red wine and served with dried plum and chanterelle grits.

• Main courses of baby goat, wild hare or partridge

(photo LAWeekly)

El Bulli's new pizzeria in the Times

Check out ex-Variety editor Phil Gallo's story El Bulli chef wants a piece of the pizza on the controversy over Ferran Adria's proposed pizzeria in Barcelona. It sounds like the pizzeria could basically subsidize the money-losing temple of molecular gastronomy. I miss talking restaurants with Phil, but I'm glad he's doing a lot of music and now food writing.

Barbrix, 100 things to try in L.A. and more on the blogs

FoodGPS has menus and more on Barbrix, Silver Lake's newest hotspot. We haven't tried it yet, but early reports are very encouraging. I'm kind of excited about garlic fried sweetbreads with harissa aioli, the McGrath farmer's plate, and grilled Greek sardines (just $6!)

CarolineonCrack made a super-handy list of 100 foods, cocktails and experiences to try in L.A. before you die, move away, get too old, have a baby, etc. I'm happy to see there's still plenty of things I haven't tried yet, from cocktails at the Edison to Animal's loco moco.

The LATimes posted a photo gallery from the Craft Beer Fest. Must be nice to have a professional photographer available to roam the streets!

Barbrix, above, from their website.

EatingLA and FoodGPS cook up the first Bike Bender

Eating LA and FoodGPS are joining forces for the first Bike Bender. We plan to meet at 1:30 PM on Saturday, May 30, at the Gold Line’s Southwest Museum station and guide participants on a food-focused bike tour of Highland Park and Glassell Park. We’ll hit multiple stops along a 10-mile route, showcasing the neighborhood’s range of eateries, both indoors and out. You’ll also get a behind-the-scenes preview of a hot new area business that should debut in June. Our tour will culminate with kick-ass kegs of craft beer at Verdugo Bar.

The tour will cost $15 per person, which will cover the cost of the beer. Other than that, pay your own way at each of our casual, low-priced stops. Space is limited, so reserve now using PayPal. At this stage, we’re not sharing the specific spots, but these are all places that Josh and I have been to and highly recommend. For more info, check out the Bike bender FAQ.

Tales from the first L.A Craft Beer Fest

Thank goodness the Taco Zone folks showed up when the vegan food ran out!

I shudder to think what this morning would have felt like if I had used all the tasting tickets from yesterday's Craft Beer L.A. fest. My notes are a bit hazy but I think I tried around 12 or the 28 beers available to taste. I know the people who didn't buy a ticket ahead of time had a long wait to get in, but those who bought online got in quickly at 2 when there was still a good selection of food. We tried Golden State's refreshing cucumber salad, Hefweizen vegan cupcakes, Hefweizen and Ommegang ice cream and sorbet from Scoops, and some wonderful cheeses (especially the Beemster XO gouda!) from the Hot Knives guys supplied by Nicole's Gourmet Imports.

The Bruery's limied production Cuvee Jeune wild ale was a startlingly interesting citrusy lambic.

It was great talking to the brewers and beer connoisseurs including Patrick Rue from the Bruery, Mark Jilg from Craftsman, Christina Perozzi, the beer chick and the Verdugo's Ryan Sweeney. Perozzi moderated the Craft Beer Roundtable, and it was nostalgic to hear Sierra Nevada's Steve Grossman talk about the influence of New Albion, which was the first beer I ever wrote about, and have Perozzi exhort the crowd to "give it up for Fritz Maytag!" who helped reintroduce craft brewing to America with Anchor Steam.

Hot Knives' Evan George, right, and helper furiously cutting the cheese samples

My favorite beers? Of course, I didn't get them all, but I'd have to say the most interesting were the Bruery's Cuvee Jeune Young Lambic, Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA and Uncommon Brewers' Siamese Twin Belgian style Dubbel. Also notable were Taps' strong but well-balanced Barleywine and Craftsman's tasty Scotch Isle Ale.

All those cervezas needed to be topped off with my first lengua taco ever. Ay carumba!

It was so encouraging to see how many people turned out to try an amazing range of California-brewed beers, raising a ton of money for 826LA in the process. And I never get tired of beefy guys asking me whether I'm a hophead or not. (Yes, I am). But next year, please have it in a nice green park, so we can move out of the darkness and sweltering heat of the Echo. Who else went?
Here's an excellent report from the Uncouth Gourmands blog.
Were you able to get in? What were your favorite beers?


Loving the beer-flavored gelato and sorbet at Scoops

Bar Celona hits the tapas sweet spot

Crispy pork belly with a fried egg and brussels sprouts

Finding good grub in the largely soulless corporate corridor of Pasadena's Old Town can be challenging, but it can be done if you know where to look. Last week FoodGPS, Glutser and EatingLA were invited to try out the menu that Josef Centeno consulted on for Bar Celona, and found some very lively tapas going on. Centeno drops in once a week or so, our server told us, so although he's not cooking there every night, his influence is clearly felt. Ordering a cross section of the tapas menu, we found several good choices.

Salmon conserva (above) blew away Palate's tuna conserve, likely because it tasted like a one-to-one ratio of salmon to butter. Blistered padron peppers with Spanish sea salt would be the perfect accompaniment to a frosty beer, while sweet potato empanadas came with a zippy Romesco sauce. Octopus salad mixed it up with buttery white beans, and while the crispy pork belly might not have reached the heights of Animal's, the fatty part played nicely off roasted brussel sprout leaves. The larger entrees weren't quite as exciting -- seafood paella was well-spiced, but too heavy on the orange flavor, while sea trout with chard also hit the orange juice note way too hard, and was slightly overcooked.
As with Opus and Lot 1, it's not clear that Bar Celona is the best possible showcase for Centeno's food, and hopefully he'll soon be able to open his own restaurant Downtown. It's a huge space with at least four separate areas, when a more intimate space might be preferable. But for now, Bar Celona is really cooking with a strong tapas menu, and certainly worth a stop in between expeditions to H & M and Neo 39 shoes.
Bar Celona
46 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena

(press dinner)

Beer, tea, vegan food, bikes and more this weekend

So much going on in the spring...

I'll be at the Craft Beer Fest L.A. at the Echoplex. Hopefully you already have a ticket, but if you didn't plan ahead, there will be some available at the door. Say hi if you see me, I think I'll have a Beer Geek L.A. nametag.

Team Midnight Ridazz sponsors a photo exhibition called Pics: or it didn't happen, images from the L.A. bike scene at the Bike Oven with food from Doomie's. The Downtown vegan restaurant isn't open any more, so get your vegan treats at the Bike Oven, Saturday at 7:30 pm, 3706 Figueroa, Highland Park

Pre-Mother's Day, Algabar Home & Life hosts a matcha-whisking demonstration Saturday from noon - 2 pm and debuts its new tea-flavored marshmallows. The trunk show and celebration runs noon to 5 pm. 342 S. La Brea Ave.

Got any room left? The Los Angeles Barbecue Festival takes place both Saturday and Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, promising "more beer, more pitmasters and more seating" than last year.

Taco table godhead in Highland Park

Tortillas are made on the spot with a rolling machine

I was trolling around some blogs deciding where to pick up a snack on the way home when I came across Eat Drink & Be Merry's amazing post from February on Taco Stands and Tables around northeast L.A.

The roasting pineapple moistens crispy bits of pork.

I knew I had to try the Disco Ball $1 taco table, as Dylan called it, with its nopales, pastor con pina and handmade tamales. See those charred bits on top of the pastor? They might look burnt, but when they combine with some less-charred bits and crumbles of roasted pineapple, the combination of salty, crunchy, porky and fruity is pretty amazing. Plus there's grilled onions and peppers, other meats like tripas, chicken and carne asada and some deeply flavored salsas. All that would be pretty great, but add tortillas made right in front of you by the meat griller's lovely assistant, and it's kind of the rock opera of pastor tacos.
This taco table is just to the left of Antojitos Guerrero, which is at 5623 York Ave.